Tending Home

 

As we explore Earth Week, honoring that from dust (earth/soil/mud) we are made and that we have a mixture of soil and star dust in our souls this reminds us of the truth that we are what we experience in the world.  We are not separate from creation, but so tangled and twisted, we don’t know where the earth ends, and we begin ~ despite our amateur attempts to conquer and control.  After all, you cannot make it rain or be sunny today.  After all, the squirrel in your backyard doesn’t do tricks to entertain you.  After all, I can barely make a tomato grow despite all the effort and energy I pour into that plant.  Creation tells us of the fragile, fleeting parts of life ~ all life ~ including yours and mine.  Creation tells us that death and resurrection didn’t just happen but are happening right now around us and within us.  I love this poem/prayer:

 

God our (Creator/Animator/Artist/Director/Divine Conspirator)
You created the world and sent your own Son to live among us,
made of the same stuff, breathing the same air,
marveling at sunrise and sunset just as we do.

Help us to participate in the life around and within us as your life,
as you are living in us and we are living in you and in each other.

God of love and life, restore us to your peace,
renew us through your power and teach us to love all that you have created and to care for the earth as your gift and our home.

 

May we tend our home (not just the physical structure that provides a roof over our heads ~ but all creation as home) with a loving touch and careful caress worthy of the holiness that is woven into every blade of grass and breathing being.  May our acceptance move beyond other featherless bipeds to realize the relationship God knit together was with all God crafts and creations.  From the beginning to this day, we are in a the partnership with all that is and all that God calls holy.  Amen.

Prayer of St. Francis

 

As we are exploring Earth Week, it is holy to return to the prayer of St. Francis.  I encourage you slowly to read these words, especially paying attention to the holy relationships he affirms with all creation:

 

O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God,
to you belong praise, glory, honor and all blessing.
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation
and especially for our Brother Sun, who brings us the day and the light;
he is strong and shines magnificently. O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon, and for the stars
which you have set shining and lovely in the heavens.
Be praised, my Lord, for our Brothers Wind and Air
and every kind of weather by which you, Lord, uphold life in all your creatures.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water, who is very useful to us,
and humble and precious and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire, through whom you give us light in the darkness:
he is bright and lively and strong.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Earth, our Mother,
who nourishes us and sustains us, bringing forth
fruits and vegetables of many kinds and flowers of many colors.
Be praised, my Lord, for those who forgive for love of you;
and for those who bear sickness and weakness
in peace and patience – you will grant them a crown.
Be praised, my Lord, for our Sister Death, whom we must all face.
I praise and bless you, Lord, and I give thanks to you,
and I will serve you in all humility.

 

Let these words settle, simmer, soak, and sing to your soul, causing you to live the words in new ways this day and for countless days to come.

Morning Meditation ~ Earth Week

 

One of my favorite authors is John O’Donohue.  I encourage you to read slowly this poem, prayer of his:

 

FOR A NEW BEGINNING

 

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

 

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

 

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

 

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

 

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

 

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

 

May the Easter-ing promise that prods you to risk going to the tomb stir within you.  May you find courage to reach for the spices that sit with layers of dust in the cupboard of your soul (like trying to write your own poem or explore a new relationship or try a different way of being in the world right now).  May you continue to trust that the unknowingness is part of the holy foolishness of Easter.  We celebrate that as an Easter people, we know that we do not know.  May God show up disguised as your life when you stumble, fumble, and fall splat on your face.  May You open your soul’s senses to a world that risks time and time and time again telling us a holy mystery of life.  Amen.

Morning Meditation ~ Earth Day

 

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished ~ Lau Tzu

 

According to the University of California, 1 out of 10,000 acorns will grow into a tree.  If, if, that acorn doesn’t get gobbled up by a squirrel or smooshed under your foot or washed away by a rainstorm to the sea, it will take another four to five years before it becomes a small tree.  If, if, that small tree can weather storms, winds that whirl, and human activity, the tree will continue to grow and eventually shed 10,000 acorns of its own.  Moreover, acorns need just the right amount of rain and sunlight (neither of which the acorn can control) to flourish.

 

Why do we think that everything we do needs to be spectacular and successful?  Why would I think that every week my sermon must hit it out of the park?  I’ve done the math; I’ve preached about 1200 sermons.  I’ve posted almost 2000 times to my blog.  I am nowhere close to 10,000 acorns to produce one single tree.  Or when it comes to parenting, I’ve known my eldest son for almost 8000 days.  At least I am getting closer to the 10,000 mark, but why would I think that every conversation with my children needs to be transformational?  And what about the fact that there are other elements of weather in the world that can impact and influence whether some action of mine takes root?  We are addicted to progress and quick to criticize or become cynical when an effort gets smooshed or squelched or silenced.  Yet, creation tells a different truth.

 

On this Earth Day, what is creation trying to teach and tell you as you hold this truth?  Pause ~ go outside to soak in the smells, sights, sounds, and sensations of creation in this moment.

 

Richard Rohr on April 3 said it this way,

We all want resurrection in some form. Jesus’ resurrection is a potent, focused, and compelling statement about what God is still and forever doing with the universe and with humanity. Science strongly confirms this statement using its own terms: metamorphosis, condensation, evaporation, seasonal changes, and the life cycles of everything from butterflies to stars. The natural world is constantly dying and being reborn in different forms. God appears to be resurrecting everything all the time and everywhere. It is not something to “believe in” as much as it is something to observe and be taught by.  

 

This day and this week as we celebrate Creation as God’s first testament ~ the way God’s is seeking to communicate and commune with us daily ~ I encourage you to be awake and aware of what the snails, trees, blades of grass are trying to sing to you.  I encourage you to live our Creation Justice Covenant and honor the web of life that we are all inextricably woven into and connected within, where your actions do reverberate to all beings.  I encourage you to find ways to celebrate and honor all that reflects God’s handiwork ~ turn off the computer, go outside, let the weather and winds and world and expanding and evolving galaxies tell you something you need to hear.  Amen. 

Prayer Sentences #5

 

Sometimes it is good to rewind and review where we have been in the last week.  This is not an evaluation ~ there are no grades ~ just a wayless way we are all trying to travel.  We started the week with this thought:

 

May I cease to be annoyed that others are not as I wish they were, since I am not as I wish I was.

 

Maybe there was an idea you had on Monday that seemed fabulous and filled you with enthusiasm.  Now today, you are wondering, how could you be so foolish?  Who was that person who thought that would work?  Or maybe you were able to engage one person as God’s beloved rather than someone you had to fix or save or cajole to catch up with you.

 

We continued the week with this beautiful invitation:

May the reality that I cannot know the whole truth never keep me from bearing witness to what I can and do see.  I love blending that sentence with the with from Wednesday: Before I see someone as a problem, may I see him/her/them as a human being.

 

Both are true.  We find ways to speak the truth in love and other times I want a rewind button to shove my words back in my mouth because my idea now is cringeworthy.  It can be tempting to run away.  The cliché we live by include that the grass is greener on the other side…or that things will be better when I am there (on vacation, new volunteer opportunity, or  a different group of friends).  Yet, we know that our problems tend to sneak into the luggage when we escape on vacation or relocate to a brand-new city thinking ~ “New place, new me!”  Too often the same old me shows up in the mirror of the bathroom before all the moving boxes have been unloaded!  Genesis 2 tells how the first human was lonely and God tried to make a companion.  I love how God originally thought that the porcupine or platypus or python would be a good mate!  I want to say, “Really God, a snake?!?”  But it was only another featherless biped who helped us flourish and find our fullest expression.  After years of fanning the flames of fear from 9/11 to political speechifying that vilifies the other to economic gaps that keep us further apart than the Grand Canyon to church buildings that confine us and tell us who is in our tribe.  Because of all this, we prayed this prayer yesterday, May my limitations be doorways to partnership and relationship rather than reasons to feel shame and isolation.  And after twenty-four hours, I think, “Boy that one is going to take some time.” The neuro pathways in my brain have formed ruts that make this difficult.  The invitation to let my vulnerability be a way of connection to others is not something I practice.  Perhaps today’s prayer sentence will help you find a way to live our interconnectedness:

 

May I take joy in bearing witness to great deeds and works without having to be the source of them.

 

May you find one moment today when someone else’s joy lets lose your joy.  This could be because it is their birthday or anniversary.  It could be because they just returned from a trip.  It could be because they share an insight or idea or new volunteer opportunity.  May you and I find ways to taste the goodness of life without always needing to be the cook in the kitchen creating the meal.  Alleluia and Amen.

 

If, in moving through your life, you find yourself lost, go back to the last place where you knew who you were, and what you were doing, and start from there.
-Bernice Johnson Reagon

Prayer sentence 4

 

I invite you to breathe in and slowly exhale.  I invite you to rest in the promise that you don’t have to earn or deserve your way to God’s grace, forgiveness, and love ~ no matter what a preacher said growing up.  God isn’t Santa Clause watching you to see if you are naughty or nice.  God doesn’t keep a score card or give us badges for our salvation sashes.  God doesn’t have accounting problems.  Grace is.  Full stop.  And because of this holy truth, I offer you these wonderful words from Justin McRoberts and Scott Erikson for today:

 

May my limitations be doorways to partnership and relationship rather than reasons to feel shame and isolation.

 

May you find ways to let this truth wiggle and work and reach out to others who might share in the collaborative and cooperative conspiracy called, “life”.  Amen.

Prayer Sentence #3

 

This week, we are letting one sentence prayers from Justin McRoberts and Scott Erikson interrupt and inspire our lives in this art project of life.  It is fascinating that just a few words can stop us in our tracks.  Yesterday, we held onto the truth that while my point of view is a view from a point, that doesn’t mean I keep silent or stand stuck on the sidelines of life.  I can show up and speak up, but I also hold the truth that what I offer you right now, by this evening might seem lame and past its expiration date.  How I think now is not how I thought five years ago.  To be sure, there are some constants that continue to be threads in the quilt of my life, but the stitching from a few years ago can start to fray and fall apart.  I also trust that God who is the original seamstress of Genesis 3:21 (you should really pause and go read how God makes clothing for Adam and Eve.  It is as if God is saying exasperatedly, “Take off those itchy fig leaves and wear this!”  By the way it doesn’t tell us exactly what God crafts or creates.  I wonder what the clothing is we make for ourselves that God prayerfully invites us to take off to put on different ways of being?).  I know that while I seek to speak the truth in love, I also know that tomorrow my words might be dust in the wind or mist in the air ~ not really landing.  I can try with my heart to speak the truth in love and end up hurting someone.  Maybe in addition to speaking the truth in love, I need to listen and learn as well.  I can find ways to live the truth that the words, “listen” and “silent”, have the same letters, both are important.  This leads me to the prayer sentence for today from Justin McRoberts and Scott Erikson.

 

Before I see someone as a problem, may I see him/her/them as a human being.

 

Let these words wonderfully interrupt and inspire your life on this day.  Alleluia and Amen.