Spirituality is...Opening Your Eyes

What are we scared of? Why are we frightened of the dark?

Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's nothing but a spark

Everyone's longing. Everyone's longing to be wise.

What if its simple? Easy as opening  your eyes.

               "Breathe" by The Kennedys

  

Spirituality  can be transformed, enhanced and nurtured through readings and writings in sacred texts. However, while we manage to find plenty of spiritual encouragement in everything from TV sitcom theme music to elegant 15th century poetry, we seem to have problems finding it in a text designed for spiritual encouragement. The bible.

Too often the bible is written off as an archaic rule book we really don't need or it is studied at such a close and scrutinizing range that we miss the larger point of living in the world with a faith based on love.  The problem isn't just the fact we rarely read anymore - but the lens we look through when we read it.

Not long ago I heard a woman say, “I love C.S. Lewis”.  That certainly made my ears perk up!

“Which book do you like best?” I inquired. “Screwtape Letters? Great Divorce? Mere Christianity?”

“Oh,” she replied, as if antennas had started growing out of my ears. “I’ve never read any of his books!”

“But you love him?” I asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ve seen those Narnia movies several times!”

Whether I like it or not, we are becoming a nation of “see-ers” more than a nation of readers. As a writer, that’s something I would like to rail against. However, I have to admit I do it too. With limited time and patience, watching a 2 hour movie sometimes seems easier than reading an 800 page book.  

I’ve often wondered what would happen if we turned the Bible into a movie, or better yet, a series since the story is much too big for one film. Series films worked for Harry Potter, Narnia and Lord of the Rings. Why not the Bible?  They could cast different directors to do the different parts.

In my perfect world the following directors would be cast:

For the creation narrative – A great naturalist director like David Attenborough. It would, of course, be narrated by Morgan Freeman (or James Earl Jones, if Mr. Freeman is busy).

For the lives, dramas and loves of the Patriarchs, their wives and children – Nora Ephron, queen of the romantic comedy/drama would be great.

For the laws of Leviticus through Numbers – Morgan Spurlock, of “Supersize Me” and “30 Days” fame can do a documentary where he tries to live by the whole law for 30 days.

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon – Definitely Merchant and Ivory – with Emma Thompson cast the “the Beloved”.

Prophets – Michael Moore could do an investigative documentary on the lives of the prophets and their messages and if he’s still too controversial, then a turn by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour might be interesting.

Who better to tell the gospel story with its miraculous conclusion than the master of happy endings, and resurrections – Stephen Spielberg?

Nick Cassavetes, director of acclaimed memoir movies like “The Notebook” and “My Sister’s Keeper” would do a great job with the epistles.

And for Revelation, with its vibrant imagery and final battle, there can be none other than action-disaster maven Michael Bay.

Armageddon: This time it's personal!

Maybe, if we filmed it that way, people might be willing to give the Bible a second chance (or even a first look).

Reconnecting with God can be enhanced greatly by reconnecting with the love story set before us to help us understand the nature of God in relationship.  Sadly, many people have a preconceived view of the bible which acts as a deterrent to their investigation of scripture.

• “The Bible is so anti-woman.”
• “It’s nothing but a bunch of rules that don’t matter anymore.”
• “The Old Testament God is so angry; I can’t stand to read it. It’s like being trapped in a car with my grandfather who is throwing a raging fit and telling me how messed up I am.”
• “It’s a series of folk and cultural narratives that have nothing to do with my life.”
• “The Bible is just used to shame and keep us from asking real questions.”

 On and on the stereotypes about the Bible persist.  And yet, when you find yourself saying one or more of those sentences you aren’t revealing anything about the Bible; you are showing what lens you’ve been looking at it through.

Whether you see the Bible through the lens of a child who was preached to or punished with Biblical edicts, or from the academically detached lens of literary criticism, you aren’t giving it a chance to permeate your heart, mind and soul with the living truth and inspiring examples it has to offer.

Seen differently:

• ·         “The Bible lifts up women as examples of courage, faith, hope and life”
• ·         “Living by codes like “do unto others” and “love your neighbor” can make your life better and joyous.”
• ·         “The Old Testament God tries time and time again to make a lasting love with the people of Israel, and every time they fail that relationship God forgives them, brings them back and tries again. The Old Testament is the story of a God who never stops reaching.”
• ·         “The stories of rage, regret, love, sacrifice, ambition, and hope are still played out in our relationships with each other to this day.”
• ·         “The Bible wants us to think, like Thomas did, and shows Jesus revealing answers to the questions and proof to the doubts. The Bible repeatedly encourages us to ask, seek, reach and knock.”

How can the same Bible create both of those lists?  It isn’t the book, it’s the eye of the beholder that matters. If you aren’t happy with the way you see the Bible and its wisdom, then change your lens and look again. Stop seeing the bible as an "old book" and start seeing it as a new hope.  Recognize it as a love story - between God and the people of Israel (OT) and God and everyone else (NT).

At it's core spirituality is about openness.  In terms of the bible -

Open the book

Open your mind

Open your heart

Open your life

Open your eyes.

 

Spirituality is...a Forever Change

Xena: See how calm the surface of the water is. That was me once. And then....(throws a large rock in)....the water ripples and churns. That's what I became.
Gabrielle: But if we sit here long enough it will go back to being still again. You'll go back to being calm.
Xena: But the stone's still under there. It's now a part of the lake. It might look as it did before but it's forever changed.
"Xena: Warrior Princess" - Episode 1.3 Dreamweaver

 
 One of my favorite lessons in middle school science was the Mobius Strip. They are easy to make. Take a strip of paper, give it a twist then tape one end to another creating one strand. The curious thing about the mobius strip is that because of the twist - you can trace the entire surface of the strip in one continuous movement without ever coming to an end or an edge.  It is both changing and unending. It's good sometimes to remember spirituality follows that form.  Why is it good to remember? Because it is so easy to forget.

The Myth of Lost Faith

I've heard it. I've said it. You've heard it. And maybe, just maybe, you've said it too.  "Lost faith."   I usually encounter the myth of lost faith when talking with a group of people or listening to prayer requests.  However, when you stop and think about it - its something that seems to hang in the air around religious conversations  like a mosquito swarm.

•      "Please pray for my son-in-law. He's lost his faith."
•      "I used to be active in youth group but when I grew up I saw church as hypocritical and I just lost my faith in it."
•      "I don't want my students reading ideas from the Jesus Seminar.  They could lose their faith."
•      "I'm going to a pastor's conference on reclaiming those who are lost to faith."  
•      "Losing my Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in American and Found Peace" is a book by former LA Times religion reporter William Lobdell. 

Surrounded by so much rhetoric and repetition it becomes easy to believe lost faith really happens. However there exists numerous forms of evidence to suggest faith really doesn't get lost at all. It changes, it causes ripples in the calm waters of our being, and it may seem to disappear beneath the surface but the fact remains that once you've had a spiritual experience you are forever changed.

Part of the reason for this myth is the tendency of evangelists to promote spiritual change as a "one time only" kind of deal.  When they are talking to someone about Christianity they really play up how gaining a relationship with God through Christ is going to change you.  What they fail to stress is that once you change - you're gonna change again, and again, and again.  So we see the phenomenon similar to William Lobdell's situation frequently.  People's lives are a mess, they embrace Christianity and change, then they get disappointed (in Lobdell's case he traces his change of heart to years of reporting on the Catholic sexual abuse scandals), or they embrace something else and they change again, claiming to have lost faith.  Only they haven't lost it. They have changed it and chosen to believe in something more comfortable, or less disappointing or more reflective of where they are in life.

People marvel and feel spiritual awe when they encounter the beauty of a deer drinking from a creek, or look at the sonogram of their new baby getting ready to enter the world.  They may place the credit for this awe on God, science, or nature, or kismet, but the fact remains the spiritual experience is still a part of their being - they haven't lost it at all. These feelings change them and add to the complex system they understand in life.  What is seen, can't be unseen. The rock is in the lake and nothing is the same again.

Jesus frequently describes the idea of teaching about faith as "planting seeds" and uses quite a few seed parables to remind us faith life is a process which involves change at every juncture.  When you plant a seed the ground is changed and the seed is changed. As it grows the plant will change. When it is harvested the fruit will change and the harvester will change from having the experience of gathering fruit. The ground isn't lost, the seed isn't lost, the fruit isn't lost.  It's all just changed.

mmmm....change is good.....

Once we rid our thinking of the myth of lost faith - spirituality regains its place as a connection we all can share.  When we no longer have to hold on to our faith with such a tight grip that we can't read, hear, see or learn things that challenge us, we open ourselves up to a more adventurous faith and a stronger bond with God.  When we don't have to label people as "lost" - we find our commonness with them creating the pathway to peace, not the highway of suspicion, superiority or seclusion.

Think of the great things that happen in our hearts and in our world when churches stop scrambling for programs to keep from losing attendance, and start programs designed to bring more of heaven to earth. Imagine the peace that could be found in families when we stop thinking someone who is experiencing spiritual change is "off the path" and start embracing them with love so they can find a steady path to walk upon.  Without fear, we can revel in the times we share spiritual moments with one another, knowing after that interaction or experience we will not be the same again.

There are people who fall into depression. There are people who seem to have given up on life.  There are those days we have when our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and we wonder if it wouldn't just be easier not to believe.  However, that is not a loss of faith. It is a blockage of a faith that is still there.  Even in the most angry heart a shadow remains of the good, the God, and the positive spiritual experiences.  With medical treatment, connection or persistence that shadow can guide us like a sundial back to a place where our faith is waiting.

Spirituality is not being seduced by the calm water and pretending the ripples never happened.  It is also not being caught up in the ripples and thinking the calm water will never return.  Most importantly, spirituality is not pretending that when the calm waters do return that everything is the same as it was before.  Spirituality is the forward moving, continuously changing lake of our soul.  May we refresh it, and be refreshed in it, always.

Spirituality is...Having Without Possessing

The wise:
Teach without telling
Allow without commanding
Have without possessing
Care without claiming
The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

I have to admit that every time I come across that verse from the Tao Te Ching I normally get distracted by the "teach without telling" part and end up thinking of "wax on/wax off" from The Karate Kid.  However, in a culture as beset by economic issues, consumerism and downright fear as our modern western culture, I have been paying more attention lately to the "have without possessing" part.  How do we "have and not possess" and, what's so wise about that?

To possess something is to own it fully and have the power to use it at your will. The American Heritage Dictionary tells us the word possession came into Middle English from the word posidere -  posse (to be able) and sidere (to control or inhabit). To possess is to use one of the first words we learn once we realize there are other people in the world besides ourselves: Mine.

Let's face it. Someone else's toys are just cooler.

To have something is to be able to access it, to use it at your discretion but to also understand that it is something meant to be used not held or secluded from others.  When we possess something - it is ours to keep. When we have something it is ours to use and to share.  We should be cautious though. Whether it is money, property, credit, glory or fame - the desire to possess is mighty indeed. 

One of the stories in the Jataka involves a turtle who could not stop talking. On and on he talked until everyone he knew became quite bored with him.  He was very unhappy where he resided because few would come by to listen to him talk anymore. One day two geese came by and he started talking to them. He praised their feathers and their abilities and spent most of the day chatting them up. When it came time to leave they said they enjoyed his company but had to depart.
     "Take me with you," the turtle begged.
     "We can't," the geese responded. "We are flying far away and you cannot keep up."
     The sad turtle looked around, and seeing a stick came up with a brilliant idea.
      "Wait!" He said as the geese were leaving. "You two can hold this stick in your beaks and I will clamp onto it with my strong mouth. You can use that to fly me to the next pond where the people don't know me and I can make new friends."
      "It's too dangerous," replied the geese. "If you were to let go of the stick you would drop to your death."
      "My mouth is very strong," the turtle replied.
      "Yes," said a goose. "From all your talking. But during the flight you would not be able to talk at all or you would drop."
       "I can do it," said the turtle. "I have discipline and since I know talking would mean my death, I know I will not talk."
        So the two geese decided to give it a try.  Holding the stick between their beaks they took off with the turtle clamped on tight.  Everything was working as planned.  Until....
        A group of children saw the geese and began to clap and cheer for them.
        "Look at those geese!" Exclaimed the child calling to the heavens.
        "That is the smartest thing we have ever seen. Look how cleverly the geese are carrying that turtle!"
        "Way to go, Geese!" One child called.
The turtle was incensed. The children were mistaken and giving credit to the wrong parties! After all it was the turtle who figured everything out.
        Unable to withstand the geese getting all his praise the turtle cried out, "This was MY IDEA!!!"  and in doing so, let go of the stick and fell to his own demise.

Good thing they didn't have cell phones then...

Instead of having the knowledge that his idea worked, the turtle wanted to possess the idea and have credit for it was well.  Because he could not give or share, he ended up losing it all.

Spirituality is the ability to have without needing to possess. That doesn't mean it is wrong to own something - a story you wrote, a house or a degree - but when the ownership of a thing becomes more important than the actual use or value of it -  you're headed for spiritual trouble.  Jesus seems to give the same message through the gospels.

"If someone asks you for your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic too" (Luke 6:29). Jesus isn't advocating we run around naked  and give away all our clothing, but that we recognize that the value of people is more important than the value of clothing, and we give to those who need. Jesus wants us to have clothes (consider the lilies in the field) but not simply to possess them.

In the big picture, we realize our life is God's given to us to use, to enjoy, to share in this world. Our life is something we have, not something we own or can always control.  In the day to day - our talents, our gifts and our passions are something we have but we have them in order to develop them, share them and make the world better with them. They are not something we own that needs to be hidden away or kept from others.

The spiritual practice of having something, without possessing it, is the ability to celebrate all that is within our grasp and let go of the stress of simply hoarding up more to own.   Now, if we can just get that wax on/wax off thing down -- we'll all be okay.

Spirituality is...Ready To Sail

Cast your fate upon the water
Catch a big wave by the tail
And when a good wind comes your way
Be ready to sail.
"Be Ready To Sail" by Claire Lynch

It's been an interesting week as we watched to see what would happen with the prediction the world was going to come to an end on May 21.  I don't think very many people actually believed the world would come to an end, but it did make a lot of people stop and think, "am I ready for the world to come to an end?"   We all know life on earth is fragile and beautiful and it can change course or end at any moment.  However, things like the rapture prediction make us stop and take stock about what we have done, what we have left undone, and what we have yet to do.

The thing that concerned me most about this apocalyptic prediction - and in fact most evangelism based on eschatology - is that it tends to use fear to fuel its path instead of faith. The message is usually "You better be afraid because if you aren't found worthy, you will be left behind in torment."  The messengers hope by giving you a sense of fear, you will choose to change your life.  A much better message would be one of faith. "Something amazing is going to happen someday, and I think you would like to be a part of it, and until then - you can be a part of the amazing that is happening now - because the "now" is amazing." sounds like a better message to me.

Spirituality responds to the message in its positive stream. Spirituality isn't asking you "Are you willing to burn?" but rather - "Are you ready to sail?"

Don't get the idea, though, that spirituality is simply about floating along life's waves bouncing up and down like an untethered fishing bobber. There are several things that have to be done in order to sail.

You can't just  buy a boat, jump in it and hit the water.  You have to have a boating license and take some safety classes. There are a lot of things to know - everything from how to tie/trim a sail to who has the right of way in the water, to passing etiquette.  Failure to learn before attempting to sail can be dangerous, frustrating or at the very least, funny (in a "laughing at you, not with you" kind of way).

Maybe he shouldn't have skipped the first 30 minutes of class...

Spiritually, we need to learn too. We don't need a license to be spiritual - but the more we read, know and understand about ourselves, our world and our God - the more smooth the sailing will be.  We don't have to "learn it all " (that's not even possible!) but we should always remember that spirituality, like sailing, is a learning journey.

Coracles or Catamarans

A coracle is a rudderless, keel-less one-person boat made of wicker covered by animal skin used for ages in Ireland and Scotland. It doesn't have much directional ability (although some direction can be achieved by paddling, not very much overcomes the force of the current).  Legend has it that Saint Columba, who founded the monestary at Iona, set sail in a coracle and let the waves take him until he ended up in Iona. The journey and the boat are often used as an allegory for sailing on faith.

A catamaran has rudders, keels, and two hulls (instead of a regular mono-hull boat). Catamarans are used for ferries, vacation boats, racing, and transport.  Having 2 hulls makes them more stable, and controllable than regular boats.

Spirituality is able to embody both types of sailing.  Sometimes you do need to "set out" and "see where God takes you."  It may be a new job in an arena you've never worked before, or a mission trip where you can't begin to predict the outcome. There is something faithful and fulfilling about setting out in faith, using the skills you do have, and discovering where you wind up.  An adventurous spirituality is a gift and greatly to be valued.

Other times, you need to rest in the stability of a boat that has a solid foundation, and good bearings. You need a map to show you where you are going and you want to be able to steer your journey as much as possible. When you are ill, you ask for information about the treatment, side-effects and successful outcomes. Being ill makes you vulnerable enough, you need as much guidance and surety as you can find to navigate those waters.  It's not a lack of faith to need to know where you are going, or what a loved one is going to experience. It's simply a time for a spiritual catamaran to pull you safely through.

Coracle or Catamaran?  A healthy full life will have times for both. So learn as much as you can about the seas of world you will be sailing - the ocean of family, the lake of work, the river of life -- and make sure you are picking the best boat for the time at hand.  Then you won't have to be so worried about whether the rapture may come, or illness may strike, or a new person may enter your life - because no matter how rough or calm, dark or clear, choppy or still the water is - you'll do fine on your journey - because you are ready to sail.

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?