Widening Circle of Gratitude

 

 

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others ~ Cicero

 

As we enter the month of June, I invite you to reclaim gratitude as a source of the Sacred.  In many ways this builds upon the Easter Sunday invitation of completing the sentence, “I have seen the Lord…” every day.  This continues to build upon the invitation to examine and explore what is being caught in the net of your life.  When we only focus on what is missing, incomplete, not enough, the tangled/twist tears in the net of life, we will end up seeing only what is lacking.  We can end up seeing ourselves as missing, incomplete, and not enough.  In some ways it is a chicken and an egg issue.  Do we project our own feelings of “less than” on the world, finding more than enough evidence by just scanning the headlines?  Or does the daily encounter with the world, which is so hurting and full of harm, cause our souls to ache?  Or is it both?

 

Gratitude can be a prayer practice and posture to see deeper.  For those who already feel like your mind is raising objections to practicing thanksgiving, there is good science behind gratitude.  Go ahead, Google that…you will find scientific research that noticing and naming the good is healthy and healing.  The daily practice of finding “reasonably happy” is a holy way to live.  We need to be careful not to be tripped up or trapped by either/or thinking.  Even things that are amazing (example: ice cream) have a downside (ice cream headaches or extra calories if I eat too much).  But on a humid Florida day when I feel the cool refreshing Cookie Two-Step ice cream on the tip of my tongue ~ well I taste heaven while still on earth. 

 

For each of us to name and claim gratitude for the people and places that fill our hearts, even when it would be hard for us to give a rationale for why this person or place is so meaningful.  Why does preaching on Sunday morning make my soul sing?  Why does listening to “O Love” by Elaine Hagenberg bring joyful tears to my eyes?  Why does laughing feel like a holy act of rebellion in the world today?

 

Yes, I could answer those questions with more words.  OR I could invite you to join me in sharing your gratitudes and thanksgivings.  To do that, would fill me with gratitude and would be a way to see the Lord as we prepare for Pentecost this coming Sunday.  May you feel the singing swell of thanksgiving filling your hearts during these summer months.  Amen.

Circles of Concern Two

 

Yesterday, I shared with you the ancient prayer for peace within.  Join your voice with mine in praying these words: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...courage to change the things I can…and Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. taking, as Christ did, this sinful (read: broken, bruised, gone astray) world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that God will make all things right if I surrender to God’s will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with God forever in the next. Amen.  

 

Part of what I love about the extended version of this prayer is that phrase, “reasonably happy”.  What a great invitation and invokes the question, “what is reasonable?”  We probably all have a different definition of reasonably happy.  For some people, reasonably happy means material things and vacations to exotic places; for another it might mean basic needs of food and shelter; and for still another just a new pair of flip flops!  I offer you this question to let rummage and roam around your life.  What does reasonably happy mean to you?  Are you willing to leave space that reasonable people can have different perspectives?  That one person’s understanding might seem foolish to another.

 

When I hear that phrase, “reasonably happy” I think of things like: eating my vegetables which always make me feel better, choosing kindness (even when I don’t wanna), and being open to God in the ordinary and every day.  What would it mean understanding that I don’t control everything, but I can control my reactions and responses.  It makes me think of Victor Frankl, who endured concentration camp during World War 2 and saw his family killed, Frankl wrote, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”  Sit with that for a moment.  Re-read it.  Frankl also wrote, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  Go back, rewind, and re-read those two quotes. 

 

Your agency is found when we accept that within our control are words and actions; within our control is to be awake and aware of what is feeding and fueling life (is it fear or fascination); and that what we offer this world can be a peace, serenity, and wholeness.  To take this world with its brokenness and seek God’s prayerful will.  This is the prayer of my heart and hope for my life this day and this week. Amen.    

Circles of Life

 

The best way to live life is to act on the advice we give to others ~ Author Unknown

 

Within each of us, there is a deep desire to be heard.  Within each of us, there is a teacher, preacher, and sage who longs to impact and influence others.  Within each of us, there is a prayer that we might leave our corner of the world better ~ clear out the cobwebs or clutter of where we find ourselves. 

 

And, one of the tensions we experience/encounter is that our circle of concern is larger than our circle of control.  A personal example is my children.  They are definitely in my circle of concern.  I want the best for them.  I would prefer that they learn life’s lessons the easiest, most pain-free way possible (unfortunately we usually learn more by doing it wrong than by getting it right).  I want them to be safe, happy, not get hurt by others, and know they are always loved.  These are my heartfelt concerns.  What of that list can I control?  Very little. I can’t constantly hover and hang around their lives to defend them when someone says something that hurts or harms them.  I can’t intercede or interrupt or interject every single second trying to avert disaster or remove potential pitfalls of pain.  What is in my control are the words I share, the energy I give, and showing up with love in their lives.  Do you start to sense how much larger my circle of concern is than what I can control?  You could draw this by making a big circle listing all your concerns, then circle the things that you have full control over within that wider circle. 

 

If this is true in my small corner of the world, when I extend and expand beyond the four walls of my home, you start to sense one source of the fuel that feeds the anger, anguish, anxiety in the world today.  I am concerned about shootings at schools, racism, sexism, discrimination against LGBTQ, clean water and earth, poverty, hunger, the war in Ukraine, polarization, and the circle of concern enlarges every time I scroll my newsfeed.  But, what can I do?  Where does my control begin and end? 

 

This is usually where we want to say that you are more powerful than you know, you have agency, you can make a difference.  And, our circle of control usually isn’t as large as we’d like.  I wonder if we, as a culture, were able to talk more about this, if it would help?  I wonder if we were willing to hold the beautiful tension between concern and control what might happen?

 

Of course, none of this is new.  It is echoed in the Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...courage to change the things I can…and Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. taking, as Christ did, this sinful (read: broken, bruised, gone astray) world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that God will make all things right if I surrender to God’s will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with God forever in the next. Amen.        

 

Today, I invite you to read this prayer several times.  Let it simmer and soak and sing to your soul.  Let the truths found within these words interrupt the stories we tell ourselves.  May the Serenity of the Sacred; the Peace of the Holy Presence; and the Lingering Love of God be found as we embrace and embody this prayer today.  Amen.

Prayer Part Three

 

Authoring God, as I wind down and wrap up this week, I know You are faithfully and loving helping me write the stories I tell ~ about myself, others, the world and Your presence. Honestly, God, I often miss the plot points. I can get caught up in whether the punctuation is correct or whether the verb tenses agree. I get stuck in the negativity and don't see the possibility. Sometimes the pain and ache of the story can overwhelm me. The grief for the shooting at the elementary school this week, the lives of young children extinguished...this following so close on the shooting in Buffalo that was fueled by racism. I wonder, where is this story going? I wonder about the bigger story of humanity and creation. I wonder how I, as a featherless biped, through social media posts, sermons, and being a pastor can help? Enter the story of each of our lives O God afresh and anew. Enter the story we are telling in our hearts. I pray for You to interrupt the story with creativity that spurs hope. I pray for You to edit the story with new words of imagination.

I pray for you to re-write the story with fresh new lines of faith to trace for these days. Open my heart, O God, to hear the story of Your love being found in moments when morning has broken, like this morning. Open my ears, O God, to hear the story of Your presence in family and friends whose support feeds my life. Open my soul, O God, with courage to share that today is like a fresh piece of paper placed in a typewriter (Okay, that metaphor might be a bit dated, but go with me.) Help us hear and live that great hymn as our soundtrack: "I love to tell the story of Jesus endless love." May those words set my soul surging and help keep me open to You, O God, whose wisdom can guide all of us through the wilderness of these days. Amen.

Prayer part two

 

Yesterday I invited you to listen and lean in to God’s still small voice.  One way you can do this is through five deep belly breaths with slow, controlled exhales.  Let’s do that now:

Breathing in through your nose a breath so deep the oxygen reaches your right pinkie toe.  Then, exhale slow and steady, pushing out all that pain or toxics that if kept inside could poison us. 

Breathing in through your nose, which are connected to your ears/eyes/mind.  Exhaling all the ways we can be so captivated by the cynical and critical ways of life.

Breathing in deeply the One who still sings to the depth within you.  Exhaling all the chatter that is saying, “You don’t have time for this slow breathing silliness right now!!”

Breathing in a love that will not let you go.  Exhaling all that which says, “You gotta keep struggling and striving, otherwise you won’t get anywhere.”

Breathing in stillness.  Exhaling noisiness.

 

Breathe and be.

Breathe and be.

 

In the stillness, what do you hear?

 

Listen.  Lean in.  May the Sacred sing you a soft lullaby that guides your whole day.  Amen.

Prayer

 

Yesterday's heartbreaking, soul aching shooting of innocent children at a school in Uvalde, TX leaves us all grieving. This follows last week's racially motivated shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. I woke up this morning with a heavy heart for parents who now are planning funerals and frustration at leaders who refuse to pass legislation that, while may not stop this epidemic, could help. With the psalmist I find myself crying out, "How long, O God". I can feel inept and powerless and even discouraged that I could make a difference.

But then I remember the Hebrew concept of Tikkun olam ~ literally means the healing of the world. There are so many beautiful stories about how in the beginning the light or spark of God was shattered into a thousand shards and settled into every - all - living beings. Our call in the world is to not just let our light shine, but to join with the lights of countless other people that we might collaborate with our still Creating God in healing this broken, bruised, grieving world. It is a calling we may not complete in our live time, nor can we stop sharing and shining as long as we have breath.

On Sunday, we invite you to wear ORANGE to honor the children in Texas and our African-Americans brothers and sisters shot in Buffalo. We wear ORANGE because every day 35 people are killed with a gun, more than any other country in the world! We wear ORANGE because we believe God is calling us to help in the healing and restoration of this world.

Please pray with me:

God wrap Your loving embrace around all families who are grieving today, especially the families in Texas and Buffalo. God inspire and infuse our imagination to work toward a world where such stories don't happen every day. Let our heartbreak turn to hard work. Let our frustration guide us to meaningful action. Let Your presence move us deeper in the holy work of creating a world where the shards of light come together. Hold all those whose hearts are heavy and help open the ears of those who can make a change and inspire us to cry out for Your justice here on earth. In the name of the Light of the World, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Morning Meditation

 

What new insight arrived in your awareness yesterday as you paid attention to the stories you told yourself?  What new ideas are percolating?  Did you see some seeds of God’s presence trying to sink into your soul?  What is still perplexing you about why you tell the stories you tell? 

 

How can we be more open to God, the gardener, of our soul?  There is an ancient story about a prophet named Elijah.  Elijah lived in a time when the King and Queen were leading the people astray from the relationship with God.  Imagine a world where the leaders don’t act in the best interest of the people!  I sense that wasn’t too difficult given the headlines today.  There is a story in 1 Kings 18-19, about Elijah facing down priests who worshipped the god of Baal, which was the religion of the Queen of Israel at that time.  Notice that religious tension and differences is a tale as old as time.  Elijah wins by having God bring fire before Baal even sends a spark.  You would think Elijah would be elated, rather he is afraid because the Queen is not happy, so she puts a price on Elijah’s head.  So, Elijah runs away so fast he leaves skid marks in the sand to get out of Dodge and flees to the wilderness for safety and shelter out of fear. 

 

There is a story Elijah is telling himself here.

 

Out in the wilderness, Elijah takes shelter under a tree where an angel makes him breakfast.  Elijah goes and hides in a cave.  Elijah tells himself, “It would be better if I was dead.”  Notice the tension?  God provide, Elijah pouts.  God offers nourishment, Elijah only sees the broken and bad.

 

There is a story Elijah is telling himself here!

 

Then, the ancient writers say this, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.” A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.  When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:11-13).  Feel free to go read the entire story.  It’s okay.  I’ll wait.

 

A quiet voice is how God speaks and sings.  Or your Bible might have the translation, “A still small voice”.  Amid the cacophony and chaos and constant 24-hour-news-cycle and dinging of our phones with “alerts”…the still small voice of the Sacred.  Not in the whirlwind of worries, but in the question, “What are you doing here?”

 

That’s a holy question.  How would you answer, “What are you doing here?  You can answer that question with all that is filling your calendar, all that you are catching in the net of your life, all that is filling your days.  Or you can answer, “What are you doing here,” on a deeper level.  For example, I am trying to live from a grounded place of grace and let the light of love shine through. I am seeking to practice laughter’s healing art with as many people as I can.  I am seeking to live from a place where life is an adventure…like all adventures there will be unexpected exit ramps and people will say things that hurt…but there is also a generous and gracious and generative God that is at work in the world too. 

 

What are you doing here?  You have a response to that which is impacting the story you tell yourself.  And God is seeking to help co-author your response to that question.  May you today take time to listen, lean in, and learn from the One who comes with a still small voice today.  Amen.