"Do not speak unless you can improve upon the silence." A Quaker saying

At some point yesterday, I realized I had reached it. The saturation point, that is. The saturation point for information, ideas, thoughts, words. For the last months I have been taking in every tidbit of news and conversation about the world….politics, economics, religion, opinions, arguments. Make no mistake about it, it is all, for the most part, good stuff, important stuff. But something clicked inside me yesterday and I knew that my mind was full to overflowing. I had ceased to take in anything else that was helpful. Like a sponge that had soaked up all the dishwater it could, I was beginning to feel heavy, sudsy, full. Like the ground that is too full of rain, I was going to begin to overflow my banks, to flood.

Last night I had to come home and simply turn it all off. I put on my pajamas, crawled under the covers and proceeded to look at the most recent issues of National Geographic Traveler. When I say look, I mean 'look.', no reading just looking at the pictures., like a child who had not yet learned to read the words.When my eyes could take no more, I just closed them and drifted off to sleep. It felt like a very healing thing to do.

The ability we have to be in constant access of information has its place. As a world, we are more informed than perhaps ever before. This is a good thing most of the time. But there is also the space needed for silence, for reflection, for stopping the world and simply listening to the sound of your own heart…or last night, the roar of the incredible winds outside the house. It was a contemplative time, a much needed time of 'no input', a time to create some sacred space to rest in the silence, to keep company with only myself.

I don't think I am alone in this need. I have a friend who, sometimes when I call to see if she is interested in doing something will say:"No, I need to be a hermit.". Being a hermit, keeping company with oneself often adds up to a prayerful time, a time of ultimate communion with the Holy. It is  good and a very needed thing, not only for this time, but for all time.

The movie version of one of my favorite novels, The
Secret Life of Bees, opened in theaters last week. This beautiful story, by
Sue Monk Kidd, of friendship, transformation, redemption and a deep mystery has
enchanted readers for several years. I have not seen the movie yet. In fact, it
is one of those books I loved so much that I am a little nervous to actually
see the film version. But since I know my curiosity and the good reviews will
get me there, I picked up the novel again to acquaint me again with the
compelling characters.

The young girl who is the central character receives
powerful life lessons from an older woman who happens to be a bee keeper. She teaches
her ‘bee yard etiquette.’ “She reminded
me that the world was really one big bee yard, and the same rules worked fine
in both places: Don’t be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you.
Still, don’t be an idiot; wear long sleeves and long pants. Don’t swat. Don’t
even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates, while
whistling melts a bee’s temper. Act like you know what you’re doing, even if
you don’t. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be
loved.”

As always, my powerful need to underline in books has this
passage readily visible as you flip through the pages. Here is something to
remember. I think of this wisdom every year around State Fair time when bees
fly around anything sweet they can detect. But these words are about so much
more than bees and our urge to resist being stung. They are words to remember
whenever we are afraid….and there are so many messages meant to keep us
fearful. Resisting our fears, being smart and not swatting can get us far in
life. The idea of not even thinking about swatting takes intense practice. Remembering
the escalating effects of anger is also important. Think how many conflicts
could be solved by taking a few moments to whistle!

And most importantly, sending love. What might happen to the
world if, in every situation, in every relationship, we began by sending love? Isn’t
that at the heart of the gospel of every faith tradition? This is not a secret.

You probably won’t find many bees left in these waning days
of autumn. But bee etiquette is helpful in pretty much every situation. It
might be good to give it a try.

Have a blessed
weekend………

“For at last I believe

 
 life itself is a prayer,

and the prayers we say

      shape
the lives we live,

just as the lives we
live

      shape
the prayers we say;

and it all shapes the
kin(g)dom

      which
expresses itself in and among us,

            and for which we are guerrillas.”

                  ~Ted Loder,
Guerrillas of Grace 

This morning I was searching
through some prayer books in preparation for devotions for a meeting.
I began looking through this book of prayers by Ted Loder which I hadn’t
picked up for some time. I had forgotten how beautiful the prayers were
and was once again struck by the challenging title and some of the very
challenging prayers within. 

Have you every thought of yourself
as a ‘guerrilla’? It is a startling label, isn’t it? Guerrilla
is something one associates with war, with countries far from our shores,
with chaos and the rag tag nature of conflicts uncontrolled. To be a
guerrilla is to be ‘a member of an irregular armed force that fights
a stronger force by sabotage and harassment.’ Wow!  

And yet when I look at the
ways in which Loder uses the term in relationship to prayer, it all
makes sense. To see our whole lives as prayer…communion with the Holy…is
to certainly live an irregular life. To allow our prayer to shape our
lives and lives to shape our prayer calls on us to arm ourselves with
a deep, abiding sense of God’s presence in every movement we make,
from the most mundane to the most significant. To be present to that
prayerful living means we go against a strong force of all that will
distract us, all that will sell itself to us as ‘more important’.
To be a guerrilla of grace is to sabotage the spaces of fear and despair
by offering compassion and hope.  To be a guerrilla of grace is
to upset the apple cart of injustice through the harassment of justice
and liberation. 

As I read the scriptures, it
seems to me Jesus was just such a guerrilla, always throwing the mirror
up in the faces of those who would keep people from living into the
fullness God had prepared for them. In that spirit, how can we do any
less than continue to shape the prayer of our lives, and the life of
our prayer, into an ever unfolding glimpse of the peacable kin(g)dom?

I sat in a meeting today made up of United Methodist clergy that serve churches in the Twin Cities area. These churches are small and middle-sized. Only a couple are what could be considered large. Some are thriving. Others are struggling. Some even are on the verge of closing. At one point the speaker said:" Even those churches who know that their buildings will close soon, need to understand what their legacy is. They need to name it and celebrate it."

Legacy: a gift by will especially of money or other personal property.Legacy: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. So says Webster. The word legacy is one of those truly beautiful words to say. It rolls off the tongue and sounds quite elegant. It is a word that conjures up an understanding of what it means to have a past, a past that is understood, celebrated and gives meaning to today’s living.

What does this word mean to you? Have you thought about your own legacy? What is it that you have carried forward from your past that you want to hand on to your future, to the future of your family, to the future of your faith community, to the future of your country? In the meat of this beautiful word so much lives and breathes.

I have a collection of cards that I have taped on the door of my office. Each card has a little saying that has inspired me or made me laugh. One such card reads: "I hope it will be said we taught them to stand tall & proud, even in the face of history & the future was made new and whole for us all, one child at a time." Every now and then my eyes will fall on this card as I leave my office after a long day of meetings, a long day of time I sometimes cannot account for. When I glimpse these words, I stop and think of the work I do. I think of the children and youth I come into contact with and I hope that a part of the legacy I leave will encompass these words. Taking the word ‘child’ to mean the children of God, I hope this legacy extends beyond age, beyond the walls of this place, beyond this present moment.

History can sometimes take us on twists and turns we did not choose. But a legacy that encourages us to stand tall and proud, one that empowers us to see the future,new and whole, will always see us through.

"In this day, give us your strength,
Enough to last the day.
In work and play, in rest and sleep,
Enough to last the day.
Supply and feed us in our need.
Give us today our daily bread,
Enough to last the day.
The manna for our bodies, strength,
Enough to last the day.
Supplying, satisfying and full"
     ~Frances Ballantyne

Have you ever noticed that when you go camping or even on a trip, you take just what you need? Well, at least most of us do. Our family has always been reminded when we travel of what is really necessary for any given day. There is a wonderful simplicity that is held when you have just a couple of changes of clothing, a sleeping bag, a cup and plate, enough silverware to eat a meal and a good book. Even if you throw into the mix a tent, a flashlight, toothbrush, soap and toothpaste and a towel or two, it adds up to very little.

As Americans we are often shocked at the small refrigerators of people in other countries.Their kitchens are not equipped for large amassing of produce or frozen foods. Most people around the world buy what they need for a day or two at most. Living this way allows you to connect with the neighborhood grocer, the farmers at the market, your friends down the street.It is a way of living that promotes community and a reminder of the ways our lives are interconnected. I long for that at times.

We traveled this weekend and I was once again reminded of how little is really necessary for a good day, a really good day. A little bit of food, clean water, a book for passing the time, comfortable shoes for walking, a few layers of clothes to weather all the changes of season in a day.  It really doesn’t take much and yet we often spend so much of our time storing up food, money, resources for a rainy day that may never come. We don’t know. It could but we just don’t know.

So this prayer jogged my memory, and my conscience, to remember to ask for only what I need…enough to last this day. The scriptures are filled with stories of those unwise people who tried to hoard bread or money and ended up with rotting resources. It is a good lesson. The scriptures are also filled with stories of the wise ones who learned what it was like to treasure the gifts of this day, this moment in time, and to be thankful for having enough to last this day.

As for me, I want to follow the ways of the wise ones, savoring the simplicity of what is given for the good of this day. Tomorrow, who knows what will be needed? We’ll just have to wait and see.

“Every long journey is made
of small steps

Is made of the courage, the
feeling you get

When you know it’s been
waiting for you

The journey’s the only thing
you want to do.”

~Ann Reed

 I have the blessing these
days to be surrounded by young people who are living the journey of their
senior year in high school. They are all involved in searching for colleges,
assessing their skills, developing their dreams of their future. They also seem
to be keenly aware of all the ‘lasts’ they are living. The last time for this
sports season. The last homecoming dance. The last MEA weekend get-away to a
friend’s cabin.

It is a bittersweet thing to
observe. Here are the friendships that have sustained them for nearly twelve
years. These are the systems, the institutions they have come to know well and
in which they are comfortable. Soon that will all change. At least those that
flow in and out of our house seem to be living both the excitement and the
narrowing grief of moving from what they have known and what is yet to be. This is a lesson they will learn over and over throughout their lives.

 Right now these young people
are mired in the details of filling out college applications, taking tests,
weighing each test and paper for how it will affect their GPA. Senior pictures
have been taken and turned in to the yearbook staff. Another last. Soon most will hit send on their online college applications and the journey will unfold on the other side of their preparation.

 As the adults in their lives,
we can only try to provide a non-anxious presence. We can offer our thoughts,
our ideas, our hope, but it is their life to dream, theirs to shape, theirs to
live…step by step. In the midst of it, my prayer is that I can remember to
savor it all and to be a witness to this amazing unfolding journey.

“We cannot know what you go
through or see through your eyes

But we will surround you the
pride undisguised

In every direction whatever
you view

You’re taking our love there
with you.”

Have a lovely weekend………………………

"She opens her mouth with wisdom and kindness is on her tongue.: Proverbs 31:26

I drive by my children’s former elementary school several times during any given week. I also glance down onto the playground in hopes of seeing the children playing, running wild, and generally having a good time…the true work of childhood. A few weeks ago I noticed that red material of some kind had been woven into the chain link fence. The material spelled out the words: Take time. I thought it was a perfect recess message. Take time each day for running wild, blowing of steam, exercise and playtime.

A week or so later I was driving by again and I saw that the message had expanded: Take time to be. How very Zen! I wondered whether elementary children actually needed such a message. Perhaps in these times of over scheduled children, they do. And then I thought maybe that the message was really for the teachers, the adults, those on ‘playground duty’ to remind them to notice these beautiful children. Why not take their lead in how it is we walk in the world?

Yesterday I drove by once more and saw a completely different message: Take Time to be Kind. Ahh…..what a good playground message. What a great workplace message. What a great life message. Kindness is a virtue meant to be spread around or written in red where we can always be reminded. Remember the bumper sticker:Commit random acts of kindness? It is a message that never grows old.

There is probably someone in your life that could use a good dose of kindness. Today might be the day to Take Time. Today might be the day to simply be. Today might be the day to Take Time to be Kind. I think we will all feel better if we follow those red letters. Care to join me?

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."
— Lao Tzu

A friend this morning told me that she had sat having her morning coffee as she watched the leaves fall from the tree near her deck. She remarked: "As I watched them let go, I wondered what I needed to let go of. What am I holding on to that needs to be released?" It is a great metaphor, a great question. And I love the idea that it was the wisdom of that tree that birthed the big question in her mind.

Of course in telling me her story, the question got passed on as these things often do and so now I, too, have been asking myself this question. "What do I need to let go of?" Outside my office window the enormous oak tree is in a curious state: some leaves very brown, others yellowing, still other are as green as July. Obviously this tree represents a varied state of letting go, much as we often do. There are parts of my life that are going along just fine and I have no need to release a thing. But other parts are yellowing and need to continue to turn brown…..and finally let go.

Letting go is a scary thing. As I watched a leaf fall slowly to the ground just now, I wondered about its fall. Will it be soft? Will it collide with the gravel and get scratched up? Will it fall into the cold water that still stands from an earlier rain? Will it land on the playground equipment and get carried away on the shoe of a child playing beneath the giant tree? Letting go…a scary but necessary thing for growth. I know this lesson from watching this same tree for many years.

And so I ask myself again….and I ask you…what things must be ‘let go’ to make room for the growth that is to come?How might each of us learn from the wisdom of the trees that, each year, release the life that has been in order to embrace what is yet to be?

These are big questions for our very big lives.

I woke up early…my usual practice…on the shores of Lake Koronis. Tiptoeing out of the retreat house where I am staying, I walked out to be greeted by the first frost of the season. At this particular retreat house, coffee does not arrive until well after I am awake, so I headed toward my car to go into the small town near by in search of the first cup of the day. My eyes were drawn to the night sky, blue with purity and the lack of city lights to diffuse its clear beauty.The chill of the early morning shot through my still sleepy senses. Opening my car door, I saw it….frost on all the windows. I was not prepared and had to reach in for a seldom used credit card to do the dirty work of clearing my windows. That accomplished, I started my drive into town. Over the lake the sky was just emerging with the pink-gold shine of dawn. Overhead the silver-white full moon shown like a beacon in the sky. Here I was…on the cusp of a new day.

Yesterday, Sally Dyck, our Bishop, talked with a group of United Methodists about these times in which we are living. She spoke of what we have known to be the church and how what has been is no longer and yet what the church will become is still unknown to us. She encouraged us to be open to what we will be called to as leaders in the church, what our faith communities will be called to, as we live into what it means to be the church in a new day. Here we are…..on the cusp of a mystery.

Last week as people talked about the changes in our country, the flagging economy, the upcoming elections, there were expressions of anxiety but also hope, uncertainty but also inspiration. We cannot know what we will learn from these times. We can only live on the cusp of what is to be with faith and with an assurance that we do not travel alone. We travel with one another, held by the One who has sustained us from the beginning.

"Our true home is in the present moment.
To live in the present moment is a miracle.
The miracle is not to walk on water.
The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment,
to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.
Peace is all around us–
in the world and in nature–
and within us–
in our bodies and our spirits.
Once we learn to touch this peace,
we will be healed and transformed.
It is not a matter of faith;
it is a matter of practice. "

~Thich Nhat Hahn

It seems the majority of my conversations these days are consumed with the economic crisis in our country and around the world. No matter how a conversation begins and what the topic is, it seems the subject pretty quickly veers off, mirroring a sense of anxiety and lack of control. I don’t know about you but It is easy for me to become obsessed with listening, analyzing and stewing over every little detail reported by the media, every new comment delivered by the government and Wall Street.

This morning I woke up tired….tired of thinking about it all. I know it is a significant time in our history and that the pain is being felt, and will continue, for some time to come and I don’t mean to diminish that. But, at least for today, I need a break. I need a break from all the worry, from the speculation, from the fear mongering. So I thought of all the things that I can do instead that will help me see the things that are right in front of me, those things I may have some influence on, some control over, that will give me a break from it all. I was reminded of a colleague who when asked how he is, in even the most stressful of times, always says:"In all the ways that matter, I am just fine."

Here are just some of the things I thought of: I can take a walk, taking in the beautiful fall colors, kicking the fallen leaves as I go. I can buy some pumpkins for my front porch. I can make cookies and enjoy the wonderful smell that will waft through our house. I can read a good book, hopefully one with a wonderful story set in a place I’ve always wanted to go, maybe even one with a little romance. I can play in the backyard with the kids next door who always make me laugh and bring me such joy. I can visit a friend who is in the hospital. I can listen to some wonderful music and dance around my living room. I can make a big pot of soup and invite friends over to share it. I can sing a song at the top of my lungs. I can sit in my rocking chair and simply rock. I can call my Mom. I can clean out a drawer or a closet. I can say a prayer for all the children of the world. I can pray for their safety and for those who care for them. I can make a list of all the blessings in my life. I can treasure this day which God has made and be glad for all I have. I can reach out to those who are less fortunate.I can pray for the wisdom and discernment of those who are making important decisions on our behalf. I can pray for their honesty with themselves and with us. So many things I can do.

It is times like these, when it is so easy to focus on what can’t be done, that it is good to take stock of what can be.Times like these can remind us of what is truly important, what ultimately sustains us, what bring us joy. Someone much wiser than I said:" Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you."(Philippians 4:8-9)

I think the apostle Paul got it right. Sound advice for taking a break in difficult times.

Have a blessed weekend………………………..