Spirituality is...A Blind Date

"Most of us don't know where to start with God.  We've got a lot of excess baggage and "God as Told To Us By" and it can feel an awful lot like a blind date.  The trick with God, just like blind dates, is to suit up and show up. Who knows?  God might turn out to be someone you really like. Somebody you can actually talk to and go salsa dancing with. Somebody who gets your jokes.  The point is that until you try to meet God, you aren't going to know."                                                                                     Some Say God is No Laughing Matter by Julia Cameron

This morning I had a chance to have breakfast with some folks from my church I admire very much. We share a common faith in Christ, a love for all kinds of music, and a fondness for dry, cranky humor. However, in some ways, we are very different. They were raised steady and solid, lived in the same area most or all of their lives, and have an internal sense of who God is that would leads me to believe they have known God since childhood. They are raising their daughter in the church with the same solid sense of God's presence they reflect in their service and dedication.

I, on the other hand, came from a chaotic mixture of people and places where I learned to accept and appreciate different kinds of folks, but I wasn't taught anything about God.  I didn't' meet God until I graduated from high school, and when I did it was definitely a blind date. Fortunately,  that date led to a series of experiences culminating in a life given, a life received and a journey shared.  I wondered today, not for the first time, if my faith, my hope, my joyous relationship with beloved God - would be different had God and I started out sooner or if I began on more solid ground. When I asked God the question, I got a question in return. The conversation went like this:

Me:  God, wouldn't it have been better if I had known you from the start?
God:  What?  And give up our blind date?

There's something courageous, and entrancing, about sitting at the table waiting for God to walk through the door.  Even people who are raised in faith can usually point to a time when they transitioned from the God they were taught about in Sunday School to the God who invited them to dinner years later - the God who laughed with their joy during the appetizer or cried with them over their pain while the entree was being served, the God who encouraged them to order dessert, the God who paid the bill.  Ultimately for anyone to to get to know God, they must commit themselves to experience a blind date, and then take the next step - the trust to open our eyes and see.

"But everything is going so well..."

 The God who made us knows us, and longs to be with us -- so you wouldn't think it would be so hard to open up and reveal our honest thoughts and questions. And yet, particularly for those raised with a God more interested in punishing sinners than embracing souls, it can be the challenge of a lifetime.  If we have set ourselves on a course to have a blind date with God - we clearly desire to be with God -- so you wouldn't think it would be so hard for God to talk to us.  And yet, particularly for people who are too busy or too frightened to hear anything other than what they already believe, God is challenged to get through our defenses or distractions with a great message of grace and gifts.

Social science tells us we get what we expect.  So if we go on a date with God, we will pretty much expect what we were told by others who have shared the table.  Some people expect a God who shows up late, annoyed and instantly blames you for giving bad directions or choosing the wrong table. Some people expect a God who shows up with flowers and candy but spends the whole night wanting to hear you talk about how fantastic God happens to be. Some people bring a list, hoping God will open up a wallet and leave a huge tip without asking too many questions or insisting on a steady relationship. And, sadly, some people wait at the table as the candlelight grows dim, not really expecting God to show up at all.

Spirituality begins as a truly blind date and expects the God who is unexpected.  The God who breaks into a song at the table, or the God who moves the plates and puts down a map to show you some exotic place or unforeseen calling is the God who will show up if we allow it. I think one of the reasons Jesus acts so unpredictably throughout the gospels is to help his disciples understand the daily trust walk of following Christ meant you didn't always know what was going to happen, but you knew God was changing something, someone or some path.

Of course, all lasting relationships must eventually pass through the dating stage and become steady, hopeful, and directional. Yet, anyone who has been in a long term love will tell you that couples who are the strongest still manage to date quite frequently, and enjoy unexpected adventures along with daily bread.  But in order to get to that journey of an honest everyday life with God - no matter if you've known about God forever or for a day - you must be willing to "suit up and show up" for the date.

Would I give up my blind date with God? Never!
Would you?

Spirituality is...A Builder

"The religious leaders say that God desires a world that is pure and empty of sin, like a desert. They talk like a man's role isn't ever to be a builder, but always only an insanely jealous protector."
                 Aaron and Ahmed, by Jay Cantor

What's the difference between a mob and a community?  They are both groups of people with like-minded thinking, a specific purpose, a call to action, and committed followers. They are both groups of people who will sacrifice for what they believe in. They are both groups of people who want to change the world around them.  So what makes one group a terrorist cell, and another group a church?

The difference comes from the purpose and the product of the group at hand:

A mob is usually created out of powerlessness.  Powerlessness makes people sad or afraid; sad or fearful people became angry protective people; angry, protective people grouped together become a mob. The currency of a mob is force, and the product it buys is oppression.

Communities are created out of empowerment.  People who believe they are called to a purpose or idea become happy or secure people, which makes them a committed, focused people. The currency of a community is togetherness, and the product it buys is change.

Communities seek justice;  Mobs want vengeance
Communities try to listen; Mobs tend to shout
Communities want to heal; Mobs want to punish.
Communities tend to build; Mobs are desperate to protect


In faith life we have seen some of both groups through our history.  The communities of Iona and Skye sought to build a place of contemplation and spirit. The mobs of crusaders sought to punish those they considered "infidel" and protect their lands from diversity of faith.  The community of Taize seeks to build a type of peace through through prayer, song and inclusion. The mob of many churches seeks to protect their traditions through politics, dogma and exclusivity.  Over and over we realize - having a cross on your building, your car or your necklace doesn't show us whether you are part of a community or a mob. Only your actions can do that.

I don't think they are here for a bake sale.

Spirituality is a builder. Spirituality is the part of us that takes risks and recognizes that the space between us as people doesn't need a guard gate as much as a bridge. Spirituality values traditions but also seeks to reach out through them to new people in a new way.  Spirituality is the building, hopeful part of who we are as beings.

In Acts 28, the Apostle Paul has just gone through a time of trial and terror. Tossed by a storm, starved and shipwrecked he and the survivors wind up on the coast of Malta. What's the first thing the people of Malta do? Run find some arrows or weapons?  Draw a line in the sand and prohibit the castaways from going further until they have a chance to question them? No - the first thing they do is build a fire because the survivors are wet and cold. Spirituality builds.

Spirituality doesn't build unwisely. It takes effort to build something. You have to know the design and how to build, make sure you have the proper tools and proceed with care as well as hope. Spiritual people have all come in contact with someone whose goal is to knock down your construction or use your good nature for their own harmful purposes. Construction workers who reach in peace get burned many times. Yet, still, we build.

As you encounter new people, old people, new ideas, old prejudices or anything in between - remember to listen and pray and not just look for things that offend you or you might need to defend against - but look for the tools, materials and pathways to build something new, warm, or good.

Spirituality is...Just a Vehicle

The warm water beads as it runs down the curves
Of the beautiful surface so tan
She's polishing the Jaguar again

Hasn't run in a year or two
Nice car but the wheels don't move, anymore
Maybe she remembers
Maybe something's got her scared
It's too precious to be careless
And it's finally been repaired

So you never see her drive it
She won't risk it any more
It's too easy to collide it
And it hurt so much before

Could it be
That it's really just a vehicle
Standing like a statue all this time
Could it be
Its just a vehicle
She shines
"Just a Vehicle" by David Wilcox

One of the reasons we have trouble pinning down what spirituality is probably has to do with our tendency to use that word as a noun, which the dictionary affirms is rightfully done. However, when we transition our understanding not to the letter of the law but the spirit - the word suffers in its proper form.  You remember nouns - "person, place or thing."  Starting with that perception and marinated in America's consumerist, personality obsessed culture, spirituality can morph into something as useless as beautifully waxed sports car that sits in the window on display.

Where will I put the groceries?

 Spirituality is not a thing we can own like so many gadgets, machines or paintings.  We can't buy and we certainly can't sell it - even at the Christian Book Store.  Spirituality is not a person. We can find evidence of it in the behavior of people - Mother Theresa, Ghandi, The Dalai Lama, or Mrs. Wallace from our Sunday School class, - but no one human being is spirituality incarnate. We should never get so caught up in the star-culture (cult-ure?) that we get confused and lose our way.  Spirituality is not a place we arrive, but a method for getting somewhere.

While I hate to argue with the good people at Dictionary.com, spirituality in its purest and best form is a verb. It is an active, moving vehicle made to take us to our destination.  Every person has a different idea of where they want the car to go.  Some folks just want it to take them to a happy day, or drive them out of a valley of sorrow or a late night abandoned street called "Fear."  Others want to travel to realms they have never seen before - beautiful places like "Peace" or busy intersections like the corner of "Need" and "Community".  Still others want it to drive them all the way to Heaven, sometimes without leaving earth.

Our lives as spiritual people is often a search for the key that makes this car go and sadly most have a key in their own pocket, having picked it up long ago.  Just like there is more that one type of car - there is more than one key that can put the vehicle in gear. Some of the best keys are prayer, peace, reflection, giving, listening, opening. forgiveness and, of course, the master key that can start every car - love.  And once you start the car - you must drive it.

It's a risk, you know. You could run out of gas if you start out on a long journey of faith without enough fuel and provisions. You could get lost and need to find somewhere to stop and get directions (and, you would be willing to have to ask for them!).  In a world so full of doctrines, traditions and interpretations - you might even crash your car into someone's parked ideas.  Through the spiritual journey - some cars start out shiny and new, but end up looking like this:

Well, I don't have to worry about those window dings anymore.

When that happens, the amazing love of God, and the spirituality found in the love of others will drive you where you need to go until the frame can be healed, the metal melted and re-formed and the tires changed. Then, as the repairs are complete, your task is to get behind the wheel anew- and keep going.

Spirituality isn't something we have to be admired or gain status. Its a functioning vehicle of heart, mind and soul designed to take us, and sometimes passengers we pick up along the way, to all the places God would have us go.

Spirituality is...The Positive Opposite

 "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!"
           Reese's Commercial

“I’m spiritual but not religious.”

In a frenzy of twisted logic, this phrase has moved from catchy to cliché to a standard response in popular culture. Think about how easily it rolls off the tongue – like any of the other auto-responses we have in our cultural competency.

How are you?   I’m fine.
How’s your mom?   She’s good.
What do you believe?   I’m spiritual but not religious.

The great irony is that as this phrase has been repeated over time it has become the very thing it wants to repel. It is a recurring tradition trying to communicate the idea the speaker is not traditional.  Like many populist assertions, it loses more meaning every time someone says it.

Part of the problem is that “I’m spiritual but not religious” is a completely backwards communication technique.  People who say this aren’t telling you what they believe. They are telling you what they don’t believe.  It shares nothing of who they are and serves as a mere signpost of who they are not.  They are saying:

They are not church people.
They are not opposed to science.
They are not bigots.
They are not Bible thumpers.
They are not gay haters.
They are not judgmental prudes.
They are not closed minded.
They are not brainwashed.
They are NOT RELIGIOUS.

This phrase isn’t a state of being or belief at all. It’s a protest against everything the speaker has seen and deemed unseemly, unholy and unfaithful in the faith.  It’s a T-shirt with an arrow on the front that says, “I’m not with THEM.”

It is easy to see how one would want to set the record straight about belonging with a group like the one those sentences describe. I don’t want to be them. You don’t want to be them.  Heck, even some of the people who are them don’t want to be them. And yet, still “they” exist.

Unfortunately, when we spend so much energy defining who we are not, it doesn’t bring us any closer to who we are. We need a word to take those phrases and convey the positive opposite. A word that says:

I am part of a community.
I recognize evidence of the system this world is built on.
I accept people as they are.
I read the Bible so you can see it through me, not hear about it.
I love and I believe God loves all people.
I don’t judge others.
I am open minded.
I am assertive and unique.
I am spiritual, disciplined, and faithful.

Where can we find such a word?  How about – “city on a hill?”  How about “salt of the earth?”  How about “child of God?”  When our spirituality is noted, but our religion denied, what we are really doing is conveying the simple truth that we don’t believe in the crusades, the political gospel, or the social oppression of rights in Jesus' name. We are conveying that we think the “religious” establishment brings those things to the table, and we want none of it.  But, we are also saying we are shapeless, lacking in clarity, and blowing in the wind. That lack of foundation and definition is neither holy, nor healthy.

Spirituality and religion are like love and marriage. You can have either one independently, but everything is so much better when the two are together.

To have a whole faith, to be all that we are in God on earth and in heaven, we must reconcile the two halves of faith life and find a way to be religious and spiritual once again.  Like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials – we need to find a way to get religion in our spirituality and spirituality in our religion.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - definitely spiritual

 

To get spirituality in your religion – you gotta live what you believe and believe what you live.

So when we bring our battling couple, spirituality and religion, into the room of our heart and ask them to stay together, how do we keep them enmeshed?  Living what we believe is a matter of conscious action and choices. Believing what we live is a matter of mental/emotional action and commitment. Holding those two realities in a symbiotic relationship is a matter of faith.

We tend to think incorrectly about faith. We hold onto the idea that to “keep the faith” is to make sure everything stays the same. We believe what our parents taught us which their parents taught them which was handed down through generations. But it doesn’t really work that way – even in genealogy. Preachers, teachers, time, experience and inspiration all put their marks on the faith as it is handed from one to another. That’s the natural way of it. After all, people evolve – why shouldn’t faith evolve? Faith is not about “never changing yourself.” Faith is about “never giving up on God.”   Faith is not about following the old never-changing way. Faith is about following God’s way.

We tend to talk about faith like we have anything to do with it – we say things like “I have faith it will work out” and “My faith life is vibrant” – but faith doesn’t start with us (and we really shouldn’t take much credit) – faith starts with God.

A few years ago, I required surgery and was referred to a local surgeon. I met him once, for about twenty minutes, and two weeks later I trusted him to cut my neck open and remove my thyroid. I didn’t trust my surgeon because I just happen trust everyone with a scalpel (in fact, I fear sharp objects and men who wield them). I trusted him because I knew his credentials were checked out by the state of Virginia, my insurance company, and the hospital privileges department. He has years of experience performing this operation.  I had faith in him because his record justified that faith. I didn’t do all that work. He did. I just walked in the office believing.

Faith in God is the same way. We have faith in God because God has done the work of creating us, relating to us, saving us, loving us, teaching us and connecting us to God and one another. We have faith in God because God has been there. God has done all the work. We just walk through our world believing, and acting on that belief.

So when our pain at the hands of church makes us want to dump religion, or when the questions and complexities of what we believe make us desire to jettison spirituality out the window and drive down life’s highway on auto-pilot, we need to stop. Then we need to examine how we live and what we believe about it, and have faith.

Peanut butter and chocolate, love and marriage, spirituality and religion are all destined to be together. The more we heal and create pathways for that reconciliation the better we can rid our world of that silly catch-phrase.   Then we can say:

I’m spiritually religious.
Or
I’m religiously spiritual
Or better yet….

I believe.

Spirituality is...a Gentle Referee

 

"It's a one time thing. It just happens a lot."

   Cracking by Suzanne Vega.

 This Saturday I had the joy of offering the devotional at Upward Basketball. The games were held between teams such as the Leopards, the Minnows, the Pumas and the Polar Bears and the athletes were all in Kindergarten or First Grade. I remarked to a friend later that watching these games was not unlike watching kittens in uniforms play with giant orange balls of yarn.   Three of my favorite moments:

1. A little boy practicing shooting lost control of the ball. It hit a chair, bounced up and smacked him right in the face, knocking him over. With a huge smile he stood up, giggled, and said, "Thank you, Chair!" as he grabbed the ball and ran back to the basket.

2. Walking in the parking lot, two boys were ahead of me talking. One began to tease the other about his game. Before the parent admonished them to be nice they had the following exchange:

Little Boy:  Mark, I'm gonna call you "Mary" cause it's a girl name.

Mark:  (very seriously) - Girls play mean.

Little Boy:  (voiced hushed and dread-filled) - I know!

3. During the confusion over which way to run with the ball a girl fell and the ball bounced away. The three kids nearest her all ran to help her up as the ball rolled by unattended.

I would like to live in a world where we can all stop chasing the ball long enough to help one another up. I was completely captivated by the referee system for these little ones. 

The coach told me their goal at this age was to learn to dribble (not double dribble or travel), shoot, and stay in the boundaries. The referee (a high school volunteer) would blow the whistle if a child stepped off the court, took more than a step or two (or..three) without dribbling or double dribbled at length. You could see she would hesitate when she saw the beginnings of a penalty to give them a chance to remember what they were supposed to be doing, and then reluctantly she'd blow the whistle. Most of her time, however, was spent helping.  

She would move her hands to show the kids they needed to dribble, and any time a new team got the ball she would point to the correct basket and wave all the kids to the proper side. She told them when they were defense and encouraged them to put their hands up to guard. She didn't just tell each child once and expect them to remember. She reminded them again and again with a smile each time. I saw her tie more than one shoe.  She was, without a doubt, a most gentle referee.

Spirituality can be that way in our lives.  Too often we encounter religious doctrine or rigid people aimed at telling us what we do wrong, and penalizing us for misdeeds. Imagine how powerful communities of faith would be if we did more than blow a whistle when someone stepped out of bounds, but we actually reminded them along the way to watch their footing, or bent over to tie their shoe.  Instead of just calling out wrongs, spirituality exists to provide a guide to right. 

Jesus illustrates some of that in the well studied Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  Notice what he says and what he doesn't.

Jesus says:  Blessed are the poor in spirit....

Not: You wouldn't be poor in spirit if you made some time for church.

Jesus says:  Blessed are those who mourn...

Not: God doesn't give you more than you can handle; be blessed not depressed!

Jesus says: If someone wants to sue you to take your shirt, give him your cloak also.

Not: Counter-sue for false witness and character defamation! Get elected on an official board and let the judges you know you don't like judicial interference into private matters! Tell everyone on facebook what they did.

Jesus definitely calls out wrongs during this amazing sermon. He points out there are boundaries, and traveling (like looking at someone as an object of lust instead of a human being) is still against the rules. However,  the overall picture he paints shows us a faith that spends more time guiding ourselves and others to the light rather  than simply pointing out and punishing darkness.

Spirituality has a dual role in our lives. It does serve to enliven our conscience and point out to us when we are doing something God does not desire. It also serves to encourage our hearts to learn the basics of community and helps us remember them when we stumble and forget.

In the game of our lives, let's not blame the referee or hide from the striped shirted whistle blower. Let's listen, and be thankful. And let's not be so quick to blow the whistle that we can't take the time to tie a shoe here or there.

Spirituality is...Restless

“A few seconds are long enough for a revolutionary idea, a startling communication, a baby’s conception, a wounding insult, or a sudden death. Depending on how we think of them our lives can be infinitely long or ultimately short.”

                           Robert Grudin – Time and the Art of Living 

Our relationship with time has changed since humans first started measuring days with the movement of the sun. We used to use time to mark our lives. Now we live in such a way as to fulfill the requirements of time. We have forgotten time was meant to serve us, and now time has become the master. Aware that time is pushing us around, we tend to push back. 

Think about it.  How many times have you:

•  Stood in front of a microwave oven and said “Hurry?”
•  Refused to see a movie in the theater because it was three hours long?
•  Left a restaurant because there would be a 30 minute wait (only to spend 20 minutes driving in a car to another one?) 
•  Complained because a website took more than five seconds to upload?

Our perspective of time is skewed in favor of the fast, the convenient, and the instantly accessible. It’s indicative or our general feeling of cultural and spiritual restlessness.

This desire for time to speed by and for the things around us to “hurry up” makes the waiting place even more unbearable. Like school children who have stacked our books on top of our desk and slung our backpack over our shoulder, we watch the big hand of the clock inch s-l-o-w-l-y forward, tapping our foot impatiently. We are ready for the next adventure.  Why are we waiting?  We echo the same sentiment as David in the Bible, “How long, Oh Lord?”

David, the anointed King of Israel, spent more time in the waiting place than most people. He didn’t just sit around. For a time he was serving King Saul and learning how to lead an Army, and then he spent some time in caves hiding for his life. He made friends, got married, won battles, and prayed, prayed, prayed. Yet, again and again his prayers increasingly reflected his restlessness to be King.

Hear his words in Psalm 13

1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?

       How long will you hide your face from me?

 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

       and every day have sorrow in my heart?

       How long will my enemy triumph over me?

 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.

       Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"

       and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

                                                Psalm 13:1-4

We’ve been taught to think of the psalms as song, but they really were prayers that happened to be sung.  In this prayer we see David exasperated and exaggerating.  He sounds like a teenager who’s been grounded for a week begging to be let out early.

How long?

Is it going to be FOREVER?

How long are you going to hide from me?

I’m bored! I’m depressed!

This waiting is killing me!

Let me out or I will die!

All my friends, and even my enemies, are laughing at me.

Sound familiar?  It’s the song of our prayers as we wait for our circumstances to change. It’s the cry of our heart when we are waiting for the pain to stop, or the healing to begin. It’s the hope we send up when we need a job. It’s the complaint we grumble when the lab results won’t be back for a week. It is our restlessness showing we are ready to leave the waiting place.

How can you tell the difference between when God is asking you to wait, and when God has said the time for waiting is over?  The restlessness is usually a good clue. We get restless when it is time for us to make a change in our life. Suddenly, the same things we have done no longer feel good, or right. We spend more time looking out the window or down the track than taking stock of where we’ve come from and what we have. We are gathering our books. We are ready.

I’ve always advised people that the best time to consider quitting your job isn’t when you’ve had a terrible day at work and you realize you don’t like what you’re doing. The best time is when you have a great day at work, and everything goes right, but you still don’t like what you’re doing.  That’s when it’s time to prepare for a change. 

Restless energy is a great tool for spiritual revival. Take all that passion that is building for change and channel it into learning about God, being with God, and preparing to step away from the waiting place into the path that is waiting. What does David end his prayer with?

 5 But I trust in your unfailing love;

       my heart rejoices in your salvation.

 6 I will sing to the LORD,

       for he has been good to me.

                                    Psalm 13:5-6

David uses his time to trust God, and enjoy the fact that he knows God is with him even when it doesn’t always feel that way. David sings and remembers the good times, and good things God has done.

When you are in that place of reconnecting with God and going through a transition of life or love, use some of that time to reflect on the places you and God have been, and the places you and God are yet to go. Remember good times. Remember God’s love. Get ready to feel that love time and time again.

Spirituality is .... Clarity

Star Wars III
REVENGE OF THE SITH: ™ & © 2005 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Anakin Skywalker: If you're not with me, then you're my enemy.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Philosophers and seminarians spend a lot of time talking about the concept of "truth" and wondering if it is absolute or relative. Cases can be made for both a truth that does not change and for a truth that exists in time, situation, and motivation. What role does spirituality play in these discussions? Spirituality is lamp that shines the light so these things can be examined more closely. Spirituality brings clarity.

I developed a sense of spiritual clarity by accident as a young person.  Through the course of my life - three very different sets of people had a hand in my raising.  My parents were agnostic, work-focused, logical people with a rigid sense of rules and discipline.  In the world of my parents - everything had its place in the scheme of right and wrong and it did not change.  My Mamaw (Grandma - for you non-southerners) kept me all summer - every summer. A widow by the time I was born, she and her sons were subsistence farmers in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee. She was practical and didn't have time to worry about things outside of her land. If it wasn't about the crops, the garden, or the status of the tin roof on her house - then it didn't matter.  My Uncle Ernie and Aunt Shirley also were a big part of my development. Uncle Ernie was a Vietnam Vet who came back unable to function within the structure of conventional society and had found his peace and family in a MC (Motorcycle Club). In short, he is a biker. Not the "weekend warrior" type -  the outlaw, Harley Davidson, leather jacket every day "live this life" kind of biker. His form of truth is a "code" he and all the members of the MC live by.

Growing up with three very different influences gave me a host of opinions and options for every situation. For example - if a girl named Suzy hit me at school - the conversations would have gone like this:

Me:  Suzy hit me.
Mom & Dad:  What did you do to deserve that?

 Me:  Suzy hit me.
Mamaw:  Well, imagine that.  There's beans over there for you to snap....

Me:  Suzy hit me.
Uncle Ernie:  Hit her back.

In time I came to realize that all three responses have a place in daily life. There is a time for self-reflection - to ponder if you are indeed at fault in a conflict. There is a time to simply let things go and figure out what's really important.  There is a time to fight back - or at least stand up for yourself and the things you believe. How do you know which is the right response? Clarity.

Clarity is what the bible is calling us to develop when it reminds us that "for everything there is a season."  Jesus invites us to learn about clarity in Matthew 20 when he tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard. In that story a landowner makes a deal for workers to work all day for a denarius. Later he picks some more up at mid-day for the same wage, and then adds some for an hour for the same denarius.  The full day workers grumble (and most of us would too!).  "It's not fair!" The cry goes out.  Jesus seems to be reminding us that God is not "fair" - God is generous beyond fairness.  (And then to make sure we get the point, Jesus begins to talk about his death on the cross for us - celebrating the unfairness inside God's generous grace).

Some people need more work than money and they end up being chosen in the morning. Others have the capacity for some work (or maybe they just aren't morning people and missed the first call to labor) and get picked up at lunch.  Others can only work an hour but need the support the finance gives.  The spirituality of clarity helps us not look at the cost-benefit analysis - but the unique transaction the landowner makes with the individuals to bring them into the community of workers.

Spirituality is that part of us that triumphs over our "One Ring to Rule Them All" mentality, and our desire to have one way, one lesson, one truth out of each scripture and instead let the God who breathed it - keep breathing new life into it, and into us.

Clarity takes energy. It involves listening, learning, risking and hardest of all - changing.  Seems like just when you want the answer to be "fight!" the answer will be "let it go" and at other times when you are sure the answer is to drop the situation and focus elsewhere you will discover, instead, that you need to examine yourself and your actions.

We sometimes think of spirituality as a foggy meadow where God's gifts and desires lie hidden for us in the mist.  But, the ability to see clearly and walk with God confidently is truly a manifestation of the holy spirit. Clarity is the essence of light in the darkness.


So in the words of an age-old hymn....

Let us pray that grace may everywhere abound,
“Send the light! Send the light!”
And a Christlike spirit everywhere be found,
Send the light! Send the light!
Send the light, the blessed Gospel light;
Let it shine from shore to shore!
Send the light, the blessed Gospel light;
Let is shine forevermore.

Spirituality is ... A Choice

The pathway is broken
And the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to
Ginny Owens, "If You Want Me To" 

Years ago, the church I attended had a "spirituality class" they were promoting as part of an adult Christian education event.  It was the usual fare -- Potluck dinner, games for the kids, and class for adults.  What was supposed to make this so special was the spirituality expert the church had contracted to lead the event.  Instead of relying on in-house/in-region talent - the church had been given a donation to bring in a certified spiritual guru who taught classes in spiritual formation, ecumenical understanding, and meditative practices at a well known seminary.  Wow.  

We gathered for class full of anticipation and excitement. Around the room he had a gong, some chimes, colorful prayer flags, and an incense burner.  He talked in one of those lisping gentle voices and kept his eyes half-closed when he spoke of the Spirit - which made it look as if he could see Heaven itself or he was strung out on opium.  He clanged the gong at certain intervals, lit the incense, and chimed the chimes. He talked of history and mysteries. He lifted his hands to the heavens and drew a circle to bring us in.  It was, without doubt, the worst education experience I ever had.  What happened?

• The gong  gave me a headache
• The colorful flags distracted me (and one was hanging crooked, which really challenged my concentration)
• The chimes were atonal, and annoying
• The incense stirred up my asthma and its putrid smell hung in that room for days

Later that night someone asked me, "Well, what did you learn?"

"What I learned," I replied still rubbing my aching head. "Was that you can't 'make' something spiritual. It either is or it isn't." 

A few weeks later an elder of the church named Myra needed a ride to the doctor's office and invited me to lunch afterward. I didn't know her very well, and am generally awkward around people who are new to me. However, she put me at ease. She talked about her husband and how she had only known him 2 weeks before she married him, because he was going overseas to fight in WWII. He didn't write many letters, but did send her post cards from places far away.  She told me the night almost 2 years later when he returned home from the war was as nerve-wracking and exciting as their wedding night. She talked of getting to know him while already having been married to him, of raising kids, and the challenges of living on very little then living on more.  She told me how she missed him since he passed away, and how she knew the night she arrived in Heaven and saw him again would be as nerve-wracking and exciting as those nights before.  It was, without a doubt, one of the most spiritually enlivened lunches I ever had.  

Reflecting, I realize now that the main difference between those two events was me. The Holy Spirit was in both rooms but I was annoyed and uncomfortable with the guru. I chose to block out a lot of what he said. I was open and interested in Myra and chose to take what she said in.  He drew a circle that I did not want to enter. She drew a circle that I willingly stepped toward.  Spirituality - particularly allowing spiritual moments - is a choice we make.

Sometimes we tend to think of spirituality as something that "happens to us" or "happens around us".  However, our conscious choices determine whether the door is open or closed. We choose whether or not to be open and receptive to the call of God, or the inspiration of the Spirit.  We choose whether or not to make space in our lives for such encounters. We choose whether or not we will do what God tells us.  One of the great gifts of spirituality is the understanding that God doesn't push or puppet us. God gives us the choice.

• When pain and loss happens - we can walk away angry, or we can run to God for comfort.
• When joy and new life happens - we can congratulate ourselves, or we can share the blessing with God.
• When we have a test - we can study but not pray, pray but not study, or put both together.
• When we need some direction - we can search and reach, or stop and wait, or wander.

God has ideas about what God would prefer we do - but the choice is still up to us.  So, if you find your spiritual well seeming low or your heart of faith less than inspired - look at some of the choices you are making and see if you can discern which ones can open the doors a little wider.

How do we know what choices help us along a spiritual journey? In his closing comments to the Philippians the Apostle Paul gives us a good list.

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:8-9

 When Myra and I finished our lunch that day I told her that was one of the most spirit-filled, fun lunches I had experienced. She laughed politely and said, "Oh, I'm not sure I'm a very spiritual person."

     "How can you say that?" I asked, surprised.

     "Well, you remember that spirituality fellow we had at church a few weeks ago?" she asked, lowering her voice as if she intended to tell me a huge secret. 

     "Yes, I remember," I responded, my head feeling a phantom pain.

     "I must not be very spiritual," she continued. "Because I sure didn't get a thing out of that!"