Steadfastness and Encouragement: lectio divina

Romans 15: 4-6

⁴

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

⁵May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My thanks to a fellow student, Liz, who led a lectio divina meditation on this passage at chapel yesterday. I'd like to share those steps and this passage with you.

Read this aloud the first time and just let it wash over you. Take it all in and sit for a minute with it.

Read it a second time and listen for a word or phrase that speaks to you particularly and spend a couple of minutes meditating, focusing on that word or phrase.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

⁵May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Read it a third time and be open to whatever feeling, emotion, or image comes to you, and focus on that for a minute or so.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

⁵May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Read it a fourth and final time and let the passage lead you into prayer.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

⁵May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The phrase that struck me yesterday was "steadfastness and encouragement." That is truly a gift of God's presence with us. The image I had was of a grand and glorious choir singing in harmony, and I could hear the chord. My prayer is one of hope, that the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant for us all that we live in harmony with one another.
Amen.

Soul Keeping: Spiritual Wholeness

The soul is not some metaphysical construct, not separate from the body, mind and emotions. The soul is the same essence as, is the spark from, the Divine, and so theologians struggle to find metaphors for something that is omnipresent within each person. Ronald Rolheiser defines it: "Our soul is not something that we have, it is more something we are. It is the very life-pulse within us, that which makes us alive."(Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing, New York, NY: Doubleday, 1999, p. 12) So, keeping the soul cannot neglect the physical self, the mental self, the emotional self, or any part of one's self. Keeping the soul is central to each person's health, wholeness and well-being. Paradoxically, why then is soul keeping such a challenge, especially for ministry?

There is a certain inherent arrogance, yet vulnerability in many of the helping professions. Feeling the call to ministry, to teaching, or to service says on one hand that one knows that she has something worthwhile to give, while on the other, when facing burnout, fearing that there's really nothing worth giving inside. This echoes the dynamic in the soul as the desire to give, and give—pouring out energy, is balanced against our need to seek union and communion with the divine, with the still small voice in ourselves. Rolheiser explains that the soul has two functions: it must keep us energized and vibrant, full of desire, and it must keep us glued together or integrated, in oneness, and that "these two functions of the soul are always in a creative tension." (Rolheiser, p. 13-14.) If these two functions are out of balance, then going to the extreme of either can lead to one's end: a wild dissipation of energy or a slow stultification or turning completely inward and stagnant. Soul keeping then must include the practices that provide energy, the practices that encourage oneness, and the practices that bring those two into balance. Through life's demands, as ministers and as people, we lose touch with either our desires or our integration, or sometimes both. As we seek recovery in our spiritual selves, we then have to recognize our default soul patterns, and have to find compensating practices, and incentivizing and motivating practices to restore balance. Soul keeping is about finding and owning the spiritual practices that both fill the energy well, and sustain the integrated self: mind, body, spirit. It is not just about the reflective and quiet; it must also be about the vibrant and exciting. Soul keeping may be alone or within community or sometimes, too often, in spite of the community.

Where to start then, with those practices? "This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know," says Mary Oliver, "that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attentiveness." (Quoted in Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004, p. 34.) Thus out of the tension of the soul's creative functions must come attention, and also intention, a stretching toward (from the Latin tendere) that is both readiness and resolve. (Webster's 9th Collegiate dictionary) Webster's Dictionary alternatively defines attention as notice or observation. First, then, in soul keeping, especially as ministers, we need to open our eyes, our ears, our selves to what is around us. Especially in things that don't nurture our souls we are barraged with what's going on, and that is much of the problem, because it leads to inattention. "Two streams in our culture contribute to our inattention. One is secularism, which regards the human self as a social construct with no created core; the other is moralism, which regards all concern for self as "selfish." (Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness, p. 35.) To pay attention, we must know or discover the love of God the creator for each of us, and we must reflect that love for and in ourselves and in everything else as part of God's creation. We are unique souls, loving, loved and lovable. We must tend ourselves, and love ourselves.

All of the practices that we have discussed, have done, and continue to do link together, and as well link to that great commandment of love present in all of the great faith traditions. It is, in summary, to love ourselves, our neighbors and our God. I define spirituality as being in relationship with yourself, others, the Other--as you experience or express that which is greater than you, and with all of creation/the universe. We are all spiritual beings, and it is my hope that in sharing these practices with you that you and I are becoming more spiritually, mentally and emotionally healthy and whole and able to be in loving relationship with ourselves and with others and with God, the Divine and Whole Other. Perhaps we are not yet Olympic caliber in our emotional, mental and spiritual health, but we have practices that point the way.

Thank you for sharing yourselves, your stories, your sacred time and for listening attentively to my stories as well. My thanks also to those classmates, colleagues, teachers and spiritual leaders who companion me and have guided and are guiding my own work and journey on this path for spiritual wholeness. I hope that they see the fruit of their work and of the Spirit reflected here. I suspect this will be my final posting on this blog for a while, as I must focus on other projects for a while. I welcome your comments both here and directly.

Sabbath in Blessings—attention and gratitude

In the first two chapters of Genesis there are three blessings: at the end of the fifth day when God blessed the birds and sea creatures to be fruitful and multiply; at the end of the sixth day when God blessed the animals, creeping things, and humankind to be fruitful and multiply. "And on the seventh day God finished the work that God had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that God had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation." Genesis 2:2-3. Abraham Joshua Heschel notes that, "It is, indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word qadosh [holy] is used for the first time … How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: 'And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.' There is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of holiness." (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1951,1979, p. 9.--a wonderful book!)

To create a mini-Sabbath, a brakha or blessing can also set aside time. Time can become holy as we pause to honor gifts received or grace perceived. In the Jewish tradition there is a rich practice of saying blessings that are rituals designed to increase mindfulness, gratitude, relation and connection. "We begin in the silence that precedes any sound or movement. Jewish tradition asks that we not say a brakha until we have quieted the mind and focused our attention on the blessings' purpose." (Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing, New York: Bell Tower, 1998, p. 31.) The spiritual practice of blessing is to open to the sacred, and "each acknowledgment of divine abundance cycles more blessing into the world." (Prager, p. 13.) In the Jewish Orthodox tradition, the goal is to say one hundred blessings a day, thus opening the world to the divine at least one hundred times each day. (Mary Beth McCauley, "100 Blessings")

With a deep breath I reached toward the basket of warm dinner rolls and lifted it up, closing my eyes to be alone with the sensations. Steamy-hot, just-baked bread. I inhaled its warm sweetness. For just a moment it seemed that I held the fertile earth sprouting ripening wheat and saw the dough rising in an extravagant explosion of yeast. My fingertips touched the hot loaves. I sang: "Barukh Ata Adonay, Eloheynu Melekh Ha'Olam, ha'motzi lechem min ha'aretz. A Fountain of Blessings are You, Source of Life of all the Worlds, Source of the nourishment that is this bread, which You bring forth from the earth."

After sharing the bread the husband spoke:
"I grew up so angry!" he said. "All these blessings, these brakhas and prayers that I had to memorize. Always some rote formula to recite, another phrase to mumble. When I finally discovered Buddhism, it was such a relief. I embraced meditation and cultivated a practice of insight and mindfulness. … One day, … I was with someone and he stopped what he was doing to make a brakha. Like you just did. Suddenly I got it! All those years of cultivating mindfulness and I didn't see. Making a brakha, the act of blessing, it IS a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is what blessing IS." (Prager, p. 2-3)

The hallowing of time in blessing, as in observing Sabbath, gives an important foundation for the ritual practice of blessings. "In making a brakha we separate out time before we consume, use, or enjoy something of the world in order to create a space where something other than thoughtless appropriation can unfold." (Prager, p. 13.) This personal ritual has a form and spontaneity, and is done with intention, and not only can address our hopes, but also our fears. When hearing thunder, for instance, one woman prays, "Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, for Your strength and Your power fill the world. … Isn't that better than [telling a fearful child], 'God is bowling'?" (McCauley, "100 Blessings".)

While the practice of a full 24 hours of Sabbath is something I would recommend, the practice of blessings ties Sabbath to attention, gratitude and mindfulness in a powerful abbreviated form that can create a spacious and relaxing time in a much shorter amount of time all through the week. Bless you, and the blessings that you share.

Spaciousness/Sabbath keeping

(This is an excerpt from a longer reflection on spaciousness, found here.)
While many practices emphasize a special or sacred place, spaciousness or Sabbath keeping is about making time special or holy. While it would certainly be wonderful if you could make 24 hours each week special and spacious, it is possible to create a sense of spaciousness and Sabbath in less time.

Especially in the caring professions, we must make an intentional choice, an attentive choice to create space. Spaciousness is something we are called to in our lives and practices. "From the biblical Hebrew, the letters yodh and shin combine to form a root that connotes 'space and the freedom and security which is gained by the removal of constriction.'" (Gerald May, "Entering the Emptiness" in Simpler Living, Compassionate Life, Denver, CO: Living the Good News, 1999, p. 43)

There are three primary ways of having spaciousness in one's life: form (uncluttered and open, physical), time (pauses from demands) and soul (inner emptiness, openness and possibility). (May, p. 42-49) We are reminded of the fourth commandment, to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. "Sabbath was meant to be a day of spaciousness in form, time and soul. It was to be an uncluttered day, a day not filled up, a day of rest and appreciation, a day of freedom just to be." (May, p. 44)

He also talks about the way that we fill our spaces or dull our awareness with television, phone calls, or a drink, to name a few. He challenges us to "realign our attitudes toward spaciousness. We must begin to see it as presence rather than absence, friend instead of enemy." Even our practices of prayer, meditation or reflection have become filled with spiritual activity, allowing no real space.

At the time, when I read that, I realized that what I most wanted and needed at that moment was some spaciousness. So after I'd put my daughter to bed, put in a load of laundry, and finished that thirty pages of reading, I looked for a spacious moment. I lit two beeswax tapers and turned out the light. I stretched, working the kinks out of my body from sitting all day. I chose several pieces of recorded music that have been spiritually connecting to me, and I sat down and stared into the candle flame, and just let myself be.

It may not have been much more than 15-20 minutes, but what a gift it was.

Then in another essay from Aurora Levins Morales, from her book Medicine Stories, she talks still more powerfully about spaciousness. She talks about leaving victimhood behind. "So what comes to mind is the high price we pay when we settle for being wronged. Victimhood absolves us from having to decide to have good lives. It allows us to stay small and wounded instead of spacious, powerful and whole. We don't have to face up to our own responsibility for taking charge of things, for changing the world and ourselves." Being spacious is freeing.

Find a motif for spaciousness in your everyday life. I am a tea drinker, and my favorite tea is Earl Grey, which is flavored with oil of bergamot. I usually buy loose tea and brew a pot each morning. I ran out a week and a half ago, but had a box of Earl Grey tea bags that carried me over for the week of class. The box of 25 bags cost $1.69. It takes two bags to make a strong enough pot of tea for my tastes. I was going to meet a friend Friday night and on my way I could pass the tea store in Harvard Square, so I went in early to get my tea. They sell their tea in grams, not pounds, so I always have to stop and think about the conversion, but last night I was too tired to ask for it in grams, but I thought I remembered how much I had paid the last time. So I asked the person at the counter for $25.00 worth of bin 212 (which is the Harvard Square Earl Grey) because I said I couldn't remember how many grams. He did a quick price check and said, "That's 250 grams. That's a lot of tea." I was struck by how odd it seemed to me that he would think that. He's selling tea, after all. I said, "I have a tin that size that it fits in, and that way I don't have to worry about running out and having to get it so often."

I realized that the whole thing around loose tea and this particular flavored tea has layers of meaning for me. I calculated that if I bought boxes of bagged tea, instead of loose, that I could get 6 months of tea for the same $25 that currently lasts me two months. So, I started to do that as I was looking for ways to save money as I started back to school. But then it seemed like I had to buy tea every time I went to the store, and I don't really have room in my cupboard to store two months worth of boxed tea. So I went back to buying loose tea. In reflection now, I realize that I like the ritual of putting the loose tea in the tea ball in the morning. I like being a "real" tea drinker with a teapot--it feels like part of a heritage of tea and civility, and soothing, and a tea bag doesn't quite meet those ritual requirements. Making tea is also a part of my morning quiet/meditation time, so it is a part of that ritual, so the ritual elements of the making are important somehow. I like having an abundant supply of tea in the cupboard so that I don't feel like I'm operating from scarcity. I like going into the tea store and asking for my favorite blend. I like that personal interaction around this symbol of civility and spaciousness, rather than throwing the box on the conveyor at the grocery store.

The hymn that came to mind as I was thinking about this and about the reading from Gerald May that talked about spaciousness again was what I used as my morning prayer:

O grant us, God, a little space from daily tasks set free.
We meet within this holy place and find security.

Around us rolls the ceaseless tide of business, toil, and care.
And scarcely can we turn aside for one brief hour of prayer.

Yet this is not the only place your presence may be found;
On daily work you shed your grace, and blessings all around.

Yours are the workplace, home and mart, the wealth of sea and land;
The worlds of science and of art are fashioned by your hand.

Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought as you would have it done;
And prayer, by you inspired and taught, shall then with work be one.
(New Century Hymnal, #516, text by John Ellerton, adapted)

May each of us find some places and moments and ways to be spacious. May you clear space, pause, and open yourself to the power that you have when you let the Divine and Holy be in your heart and life. And the next time you have a cup of tea, I hope that you take some space too.

p.s. How do we make Sabbath happen for ourselves as ministers or caregivers while we create it for others? See "Unhurried Worship" for some ideas. Alternatively, reflect on this story by Barbara Brown Taylor, and what it says to you about taking time for yourself.