Lent Week 3 ~ Quote of the Day

 

I guess you could say I have a working-class spirituality.  I think you have to put a little sweat equity into what you believe.  You have to practice what you preach.  Justice does not just happen.  Compassion is not a spectator sport, but something I have to exercise as I roll up my sleeves to do my part in creating a better community.  I need to put in my hours as a volunteer.  I have to join the prayer crew and put my life on the line to make a difference.  The world will change not by wishes, but by the labor of love we call faith.  Spirituality is not a spa, but a construction site, where we build hope one heart at a time.  Steven Charleston

 

As you read the quote this morning, ponder, where are the calluses on your soul from having worked out your faith?  Paul says to the church in Philippi, “Work out your salvation/faith/life with fear (or awe or contemplation or openness) and trembling (or the beautiful uncertainty that we don’t know what we don’t know.  We all still are students in the class of Failure 101).  See Philippians 2:12.  We participate with God in building/remodeling our faith.  We participate in a Divine Dance where God infuses and inspires us.  God nudges us.  God works to escape through us, but our agendas and busyness make it difficult to sense the traces of grace.

 

Where have you had a working-class spirituality ~ sweat on the brow, callus on your hands, muscles strained and labored breathing kind of faith?  This might connect to the Morning Meditation from Tuesday, because my spirituality works hardest (perhaps too hard?) in times of difficulty.  In times of trouble, in times of ache when achievement won’t come, no matter how much I plot and plan, this is difficult.  In times of struggle and stress, working with God for justice, those can be the hardest moments.  When people keep choosing cruelty over compassion, hate over healing, bullying over vulnerable love.  When people keep skipping Failure 101, because they are perfect in their own minds.  Consider, who do you want to be with at a party?  Someone who has a bit of dust on their soul, ache in their voice, and laughter in their heart OR someone who continually says, “Well, I was born perfect and have achieved everything I ever wanted with barely breaking a sweat”?  Over-confident people have made gods of their own image and worship at the altar of the ego.  Too often, we are lured and led by such certainty as history rubs her forehead saying, “I am tired of repeating myself!!” 

 

I love Charleston, who says Spirituality, and the church/religion/faith, is not a day at the spa but a construction site.  So grab a hard hat, hammer, and roll up your sleeves today for the ongoing invitation of Micah to participate in God’s justice, to embody God’s love/kindness, and remember your human-size-ness each moment this day.  Amen.