Sweetness

I recently was talking with a friend who was recounting her experience as a young child in church. She does not remember any words that were spoken. All that she remembers was a “sweetness” that she experienced within her. As years passed, she left the church. After much of her life she longed to recapture that sweetness but was not sure how to find it. What baggage from life would need to be unloaded in order to reach that inner sweetness and then to find a place where it could again be nurtured? Children are deeply spiritual. They come into the world connected to God. We do not need to teach them to be spiritual. They already are. What we need to do is give them safe spaces in which to explore this relationship. The stories of our tradition give them the words to begin to make meaning of their lives. In seminary I did some work on children’s spirituality. I interviewed young children and adults. The main thing that we explored was their first memory of something they would consider to be God. Most adults had memories from very young. On looking back, they knew that was an experience of God though at the time they had no words for the experience. Most of the experiences shared were in nature though there were a few in church. I think all could use that word “sweetness” to describe those moments. That sweetness is like being held in pure love. As we all move through life there are many forces that invalidate that sweetness or cause us to move away from it. There is often no safe place in which to grow it or just to let it be. The sweetness can become deeply buried. CCC provides many safe places for all of us to reconnect with that original sweetness given to us at birth. Spend some time connecting to that sweetness within. If you cannot find it that is ok. Find a group or person where that relationship can be explored. There are many online opportunities now and there will soon be times when we can be together physically. I am grateful for this amazing community where we can grow the sweetness together.

The Desert Sanctified

We have officially entered desert time. A time when we purposely make our way through the wilderness of our inner and outer lives. Thomas Merton said that Christ sanctified the desert. The only way we can discover this sanctification is to enter it. Jesus purposely went into the wilderness after he had been baptized. He had come so close to God and God had come so close to him. He needed to explore this relationship and begin to discover the treasures hidden there. He knew that his life was changing – or that he was called in a different direction. Has something ever stirred you so much that you began to question what you were doing in your life? Maybe you experienced a humming (as Jane Fonda has called it) deep within your soul? How do I follow this humming? Merton says that we must move into our own darkness. Once we spend time there, we will discover that it is being made holy.

Many years ago, I told the Godly Play story of the Good Shepherd at a home for children who had recently suffered abuse. As I entered the house it felt warm and inviting, and many of the children were just finishing their evening meal. I was told where I could go to tell a story for anyone who would want to come over to the circle. The children finished eating and I sat down to begin building the circle – inviting all who would like to join me there. There was one little girl who would not get near me. She stayed hidden behind a toy chest but would stick her head out from it as the story progressed. I began by moving the Good Shepherd and the sheep through the warm green grass and beside the cool water. I would notice her peeking out while I continued with the story. The Good Shepherd then showed the sheep how to get through places of danger. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the little girl slowly inching closer toward the circle. The ordinary shepherd did not lead the sheep but let them scatter. When the wolf came the ordinary shepherd ran away but the Good Shepherd came and stood between the sheep and the wolf and brought the sheep home to safety. When the wondering part of the story began the little girl was right beside me. I wondered if any of them knew the green grass or the sound of the Good Shepherd’s voice. I also wondered if any of them had known places of danger. When this wondering was introduced the little girl began to spill her story. She told her story with emotion – her place of danger. She also knew about Jesus and that he loved her. To respond to the story, she drew a large sun smiling and wrote Jesus loves. By going into her darkness, she found it sanctified — her life had changed God is with us as we move through our own wildernesses. The call is not to stay there but to allow God to transcend our deserts and bring us into the resurrection. I am sure you have a resurrection story too. How have some of your deserts been sanctified?

"The Kingdom of God has Come Near"

Mark 1: 14 and 15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of god has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." John was arrested - this could not have been good news to the ears of Jesus yet he continues his path to Galilee proclaiming the good news. He then said - the Kingdom of God is near; repent and believe. Last March all of us experienced our own bad news as we entered into a world-wide pandemic. Like John's arrest - the news of this pandemic was not good at all. I remember being immobolized for a while but thinking surely this will be over in no time so that we can all go back to our life as usual. It is now January 25th as I write this and we are still in it. Over 400,000 people have lost their lives, families are forever changed and many have lost their jobs and need assistance. Fractures in our society and great inequities have been revealed. Life will never be the same. Yet, what does it mean to hear the words of Jesus now to repent and believe in the good news? Thomas Keating often says that to repent is to change the ways in which we have been looking for happiness. These last 10 months have given me much time to reflect on how I have lived. What can I let go of that does not bring me happiness? Are there some old ways of living that no longer matter? Did I clutter up my time with things that served no purpose? Were there behaviors that I thought were fulfilling only to find that they were not? Mark's passage continues in verses 16 - 20 as Jesus begins to call his disciples. They left their old lives behind and immeddiately followed him. We too are being called in our time to follow Jesus in new ways. How will life be different now? If I am not careful, I may slip back to my old ways and forget the voice that said to leave all of that behind to follow him. As horrific as this time has been we have also been gifted. The two experiences of chaos and creation are never far apart. Perhaps there is no better time than now to reflect on the work of the Holy Spirit within us and ask yourself: *what have you lost? *what have you gained? *what can you leave behind? *how will you keep from bouncing back to old ways? I am actively doing this myself. I pray that as a community we share our gifts and support one anotherr as we live into the transformation that has occurred within us. The Kingdom of God has come near!