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Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your
eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the Holy is drawing
near. Frederick Buechner
During Lent, we are welcoming the wisdom of others to sing,
stir, and swirl in our souls. This week,
we will lean in and listen to Frederick Buechner. Buechner was a Presbyterian minister,
preacher, and author. He wrote 39 books,
including novels, memoirs, and theological works. He enrolled at Princeton University, but his
education was interrupted by – in Buechner’s words – “two years of very
undistinguished service” during World War 2 serving all over the United States. After the war, he graduated from Princeton
and began his career as a writer. He lived
in New York City and attended Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, where George
Buttrick was the minister. It was in one
of Buttrick’s sermons that Buechner was inspired to attend Union Theological
Seminary. After graduating, he was hired
at Exeter in the religion department. He
eventually retired to a farmhouse in Vermont.
Each day, I will offer a different quote, and I invite
you to engage in sacred reading.
First, read the quote above slowly, and notice/name
your response. Let it tickle your
imagination, let it roam around your heart, let the syllables of the words
stumble around your soul. Pay attention
to your response to the quote. Does the
quote make you smile or feel like sandpaper to your soul? Does the quote evoke or provoke a passionate
reaction, or taste like bland bread without any salt? Sit with the quote over a cup of tea/coffee
for a few minutes.
Second, re-read the quote, this time letting the
words/images/ideas intersect your life.
For example, with the quote above, think about what brought tears to
your eyes last week. Where was there a
lump in your throat or a shiver down your spine or a sense that this world is
more than we can comprehend and control?
Our Celtic friends call such moments “thin places,” where the line between heaven and earth blurs.
Or perhaps we could say that this is the moment when the heaven in you
escapes your soul into the world.
(Remember the goal of religion is not to get you into heaven, but to get
heaven out of you while on earth).
Third, re-read the quote, and sit silently with
openness to what these words might mean to embrace and embody this day in you.
Finally, consider the quote: how might these words
inform and inspire your living today and this week? Try to set a concrete intention given what
the quote evokes and provokes from you.
May you and I continue to pay attention to the lumps
and bumps that leave us stumped, but are clearly moments that are traces of
grace in the world today. Amen.
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