"The first rule is simply this:
live this life
and do whatever is done,
in a spirit of Thanksgiving.
Abandon attempts to achieve security,
they are futile,
give up the search for wealth,
it is demeaning,
quit the search for salvation,
it is selfish,
and come to comfortable rest
in the certainty that those who
participate in this life
with an attitude of Thanksgiving
will receive its full promise."
     ~John McQuiston II, Always We Begin Again:The Benedictine Way of Living

My eyes fell upon these words today while leafing through this book I return to now and again.Given the conversations that I have had over the last couple of days and those I have listened to on radio or television, these words were somehow comforting, insightful. Many people are focused on the financial crisis we are facing as a country and that is spreading rapidly into the rest of the world. The news is unsettling, disturbing and once again,at least for me, points at the many ways we are connected that don’t seem readily obvious to us. Many people have been caught in a mortgage nightmare and a spiral of greed on the part of banks and lenders that is staggering. The rest of us are going on our merry way without the full knowledge of, yes-it is true!, we are all in this together. I have been reminded over and over of the Native American image of the Web of Life….when one part of the web is hurting or damaged, the whole web is shaken and involved. When will ever learn this message? Isn’t this what we are experiencing? Those people who were given loans that the lenders knew they could not afford and those that offered them, have succeeded in reminding us that we are surrounded by invisible lines of connection. Their pain is our pain. Their fear is our fear.

So John McQuiston’s rewriting of the rule of St. Benedict caught my attention. Striving for security is a futile pursuit, he says. The search for wealth? Demeaning. Salvation……a selfish desire. But Thanksgiving, now we are on to something. The gifts of life that come to us, whatever they are, call out for our Thanksgiving. And in living this gratitude paved road, life becomes a journey of hope and promise. Living with this kind of intention also has potential to change our lives…..positive change,miraculous change…..the kind of change that truly makes a difference.

Those that understand this situation better than I report that things are going to get better. It will simply take time. My heart goes out to those who have less time than others, those who may feel this pinch for the rest of their days. My prayer is that in this experience we will learn to remember……what harms one part of the web, harms the entire web.And we are the web.

Have a blessed weekend……………….

Nearly every morning when I arrive at the church I am greeted by our receptionist with a "Good Morning." I respond, likewise and then I say "How are you?" and her answer? "Blessed!" I know that she says this even when she does feel it. But I never think of it as being inauthentic. I believe she holds the idea that to state her blessedness, not only states a deep knowing of God’s presence in her life, and that even on bad days to proclaim oneself as blessed helps the feeling to grow and materialize.

Understanding our blessedness is a true gift. It helps keep the world in perspective. It helps keep our troubles in perspective. It opens us to the pain and sorrow of others and it allows our compassion and empathy to grow. Understanding our blessings helps us to live a life of gratitude, naming to ourselves and those around us the depth of goodness that comes into our lives each and every day.

The writer and artist Jan L. Richardson writes: "God of the ages, to whom the hours are nothing and everything: may I know each moment as a sacred guest to be welcomed, to be savored, to be sent with a blessing." When we proclaim ourselves as blessed, we also affirm our connection with the Holy in that moment. Welcome You who lives in this sacred moment…come into my life. Let me feast upon my time with You. Let my daily walk be a blessing that leaves footprints in the world.

How are you today? Blessed? Somehow after allowing that to be our answer to this routine question,answering simply, ‘fine’, seems so boring and untrue.

Yesterday was a day filled with meetings and places I needed to be. It was so full that I never made it to my computer to register the experience I had in the early morning as I drove to work. I have many routes that I can drive on any given day. Yesterday I decided to take a different bridge which brings me first through downtown St. Paul and along the beauty of Summit Avenue on my way to my office in Minneapolis. This is what I often think of as the ‘leisurely route.’ My experience yesterday turned this drive into something deeper.

As I came off the High Bridge that connects St. Paul with West St. Paul, I stopped at the red light that measures traffic on West. 7th Street. At this corner is The Salvation Army. The corner was bustling with people who had perhaps eaten breakfast there or slept there, I don’t know. All I saw were many ages of people, many with back packs, some with take away food containers, standing about ready to begin their day. I watched as one young woman on a bike was being playfully followed and spoken to by a man. At least I hope it was playful. It was difficult to know. Groups of 2 or 3 began walking away from the center headed toward downtown, perhaps to the Dorothy Day Center where lingering seems to be tolerated more. I wondered what their day held. Were they mostly homeless and jobless or did they represent the many who work but can’t make enough to meet their daily needs. I continued to wonder about the young woman.

Moving on up Ramsey Hill I came on to the historic Summit Avenue, flanked by the University Club anchoring the top of the steep hill and all the mansions built by the founders of Saint Paul. These homes are so beautiful, so spacious, so expansive, one wonders how a regular family of perhaps only four people could find one another in all those rooms. I have favorites whose flowers I watch grow and change over the summer season. I love this ride…looking at the landscaping, the specific details of architecture, the fine stonework and intricate woodworking. These homes represent people who have been successful and have lived elegant lives.

The quandry I found myself in was how to make sense of a world that holds these two extremes.And I recognize that these extremes are relative given the living conditions of others around the globe.  How do we embrace a world that cannot creatively solve the problems of homelessness and poverty when so much of the world has far more than they need? I recognize all the judgments and pitfalls that live in this thought process. I do not know the people I witnessed on the street or those who live along Summit. I cannot possibly know the circumstances of their lives. But my brow still furrows and my heart aches that somehow, as a society of the most privileged people on earth, we cannot figure this out.

I pray that the young woman is safe and that her day reflected, in at least some small way, the sunshine of the beautiful September morning.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful:for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart:for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the Children of God." Matthew 5:3-9

I have my work cut out for me today. Why? Here’s my horoscope:"If you’ve been wondering when you’ll meet that life-changing person, today offers the best chance of the month. Get out and be friendly. Someone has been waiting to meet you, too."

Wow! This opens up a vast realm of possibility. How might my life be changed? Who is this person? How will I know them? Will they know me? I’ll have to be on my toes, really observant, so as not to miss this moment, this life-changing person.

Now, truth be told I only put a small stock in my horoscope. I simply find it fun to read every morning. But I do like the idea that we meet people who change our lives all the time. People who inspire us. Those that challenge us. Others who fill us with great hope and those that make us commit to more fully live out our values in the world. Sometimes these are famous people we hear speaking who call us in some way to rise to the best of who we are. But most often those life-changing people are regular, every day people living extraordinary lives with courage and humility and deep sense of connection to others. They are parents, grandparents, children, teachers or friends. They change our lives by their commitment to traveling life’s journey with us through thick and thin, through joy and sorrow. They encourage and uplift, dry tears and share our laughter.They teach us by their example and accept us with grace.

The advice of my horoscope still stands. It is still a good idea to ‘get out there and be friendly.’ Someone is waiting to meet us…and we, them. It is in those chance meetings that we can once again form those relationships that will change our lives and make them stronger…..one person at a time. This is not a once a month experience but the gift that is offered to us each day. It’s good advice that doesn’t come from an ability to read the stars. It comes from an ability to read the human heart.

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a
vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a
series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over."
— Samuel Johnson

"Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God."  Karl Barth

It seems we are living in serious times. There is much to be troubled about, much to lament, much to worry over. The economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the upcoming election, the state of education…..you name it. There is plenty to occupy your time. As a self-described intense person, I can spend the majority of my days listening to and studying the climate of our culture….oh, yes, there’s climate change to worry about, too! Like minds attract one another, so it is not surprising that the majority of my friends also represent a certain intensity of personality. Together we can whip up quite a stew.

So it was a moment of grace this morning when I had a close encounter of a light hearted kind. I was driving on 494 East when what should pull up beside me at 60 miles per hour but the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. I looked over and laughed out loud. Tucked inside the hot dog shaped, bright orange car were two people chugging along as if they were riding in a normal sedan. I was forced to pull into the lane behind them. With this completely different view, I laughed even more. "I’m following a hot dog on the freeway!", I thought. Then just as quickly as you can say ‘mustard’ , the lanes on the bridge near Woodbury that’s been under what construction for what seems an eternity switched and the Wienermobile moved into the lane behind me. "I’m being chased by a Wienermobile!"

I thought about the people driving that sausage car. It seems to me it would be very difficult to take yourself too seriously driving such a vehicle. I thought of my friend who is probably equally as intense as I can sometimes be. To keep a lid on that intensity he wears two different socks. He says when he is in the midst of a serious discussion, when he wants to be perhaps more self-righteous than he ought, his eyes will wander to his mismatched socks. They remind him of all his frailties, all his imperfections, and he remembers to hold the seriousness of the world with a light heart.

The Wienermobile took the 94 East exit and headed toward Wisconsin, hopefully spreading laughter all the way across the border. It is true that there is much to be serious about in the world. But there is also the room for laughter, for silliness, for mismatched socks and crazy, wacky cars. It’s Friday and the weekend looms ahead. May we each have enough seriousness to make us humble and enough laughter to keep our hearts light with joy that is over flowing.

Have a blessed weekend………….

"I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
Who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
Who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
Who do what has to be done again and again."
         ~ Marge Percy, To Be of Use

Do you know people like the ones Marge Percy describes? I certainly do. Our world is full of them. They don’t often get the recognition they deserve….many times they actually shy away from that recognition. Our church is full of them. There are people who spend countless hours preparing, cleaning up, studying, praying, serving, washing hands that are hurt, feeding stomachs that are hungry….pulling like water buffalo day after day, week after week.

It takes much patience to do the work of change these days. Massive patience. I see it all around me…..in schools, in churches, in communities, in our country, in the world. As humans we would mostly like it if things stayed predictable, easy, the ‘way they’ve always been’. But the truth is the world is always changing, the ways we are called to live and be with one another are always growing and taking on a new shape. Our response to this movement can be one of openness and possibility or gritting our teeth and digging in our heels.  Both carry with them a degree of pain. But only one will create forward motion, only one will bring about growth.

As I read the scriptures, the evolving story of God in the world is one of forward motion. We are moving toward something. Throughout the Hebrew scriptures the people are often on a journey, a pilgrimage, in which each step brings about a greater understanding of how the Holy is revealed. As Jesus walked from town to town healing and bringing hope to those he met, he was followed by people who wanted to become a part of the Way. The Way he offered was a way of change in a world that reeked of oppression and injustice. And so he walked, patiently straining to move things forward.

Today I give thanks for all the saints who have labored, who have given their lives to do what needed to be done. Today I give thanks for all the saints who are laboring, who continue to give their lives to what needs to be done…..again and again and again.

"I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  Isaiah 43:19

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all………."
     ~Emily Dickinson

Over the last few weeks I have had many conversations about hope. Our faith community is entering a time of reflection and contemplation through our worship on the the theme "Harvest of Hope." Hope. As we have talked we have tried to differentiate between ‘hope’ and ‘wish’ or ‘dream’. Hope seems somehow deeper, more long lasting. I can wish for a new car but hope doesn’t seem to fit that kind of desire. Dreams are important and telling, whether awake or asleep, but hope is still something deeper than that.

One person described a particularly difficult time in his life when hope seemed nearly impossible. But through prayer and contemplation, he became acutely aware of the deep kindness that lives at the heart of the universe. That kindness became the well from which hope nourished his despairing soul. Not wishes, but hope.

As we come upon the anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow, I am reminded of the visible hope that I experienced the days following that very dark time for our country, for our world. Our house rests in the flight pattern for the airport so we are accustomed to the sounds of planes going overhead with regularity. Spending time outside in the beautiful fall weather seemed healing in those days. My memory may be colored but it seemed to me the sun shone particularly bright those days following the tragedy.though people’s hearts were heavy, tears welled in our eyes, the sun warmed our pain.

But it wasn’t even the sun shining that connected me with the deep sense of hope. It was the geese. You see, during those days our neighborhood was silent…no sounds of planes landing or taking off. Just the silence of the open, crystal blue sky. And then the geese would fly over head, honking, rising from the streams and fields that dot our landscape. They would rise majestically into the air headed south, doing what they instinctively knew how to do. I remember thinking, "They don’t know." They don’t know what’s happened. They don’t know our sadness. They don’t know they are supposed to be grounded, not flying.

But in later days I rethought that statement. They do know. They know that the sun will rise and set and the seasons will change. They know that there will be great joy and great tragedy and that time and life will continue. They know that hope is ‘a thing with wings that perches in the soul’…..and never stops at all.

"Water flows from high in the mountains. Water runs deep in the Earth. Miraculously water comes to us, and sustains all life." Thich Nhat Hanh

These days I am looking for what sustains. There are so many words flying around in the airwaves, so much rhetoric of hate and mean spiritedness, that I am looking underneath rocks and couch cushions for what it is that can sustain my spirit, my hope. I have been in the presence of those who have been tossed about by the circumstances of the world in ways that has drowned their internal self-respect. I listen to the nightly news and hear words that cut to the depths of our collective hearts. What to do? What to do?

A friend who has one of the kindest hearts I know said that last week he simply needed to go to the river. To go to the river and sit and watch its gentle power as it makes its way to the ocean."All rivers whether they flow east or west, have arisen from the sea and return to the sea." said Meister Eckhart, the medieval mystic. The river flows, always in connection to where it came from and where it will return. For me, there is such kindness and hope in that image. The river flowing out of the sea and back again reminds me of all the ways I am connected to the greater world and it is an important thing to remember when human words are being carefully crafted to tear us apart and make us believe otherwise.

Each day I have the blessing of crossing the Mississippi River at least 2 or 3 times. The concrete and steel that holds me above this mighty body of water can make me feel separate from its waters.But in truth, I am not.  Over the next days I, too, want to go to the river even if it is by way of a bridge. I want to remember the deep and spiritual ways I am connected to all that is. I want to hold on tight to that wisdom and not let the voices that screech pull me in other directions. I want to be reminded what really sustains and drink deeply from it.

For all kinds of reasons I found myself sitting in one of our local neighborhood coffee shops this morning. I sat having my morning cup watching the literal stream of people coming in to what is only one of the many shops that now dot our little area of the Twin Cities. The thought crossed my mind:"How did we live without these gathering places?" Meetings were happening all around me. People read the morning paper, worked on their computers, couples had conversations and others simply sat staring into the middle distance waiting for the caffeine to kick in. It was a diverse group in age….some in white collar work clothes,others dressed for construction, others in uniforms, kids in school clothes, still others, perhaps retired or on their day off, the casual clothes of weekends. It was fascinating to watch the employees greet people who must be regulars, knowing their ‘usual’, and sending each customer off with a hearty "enjoy the rest of your day."

While other countries have certainly had the coffee house establishment as gathering place for a long time, it is a fairly new arrival in our country.Instead we have had the small town diner or the local pub that has provided the gathering spot for people, that place where news is shared, where politics are discussed, where no one minds if you linger over a cup of coffee for hours. In fact it is actually expected, lingering is required.

As humans we have a great need to gather. As social beings we need those places where we can look around and see a familiar face, pull up a chair and be with our fellow human beings. In times past the local town square served that purpose. As suburbs grew, the existence of a downtown began to disappear. So the evolution that answers our need to gather seems to be the coffee house.In this spirit I believe that what is happening at these establishments is so much more than selling coffee. The local coffee shop is providing the circle in which we can gather, claiming our social nature and building an energy that infuses the community.

So the next time you stop by to get your morning fix, take time to think that what you are doing is perhaps so much more than getting a cup of coffee. Look around at your fellow human beings, your fellow travelers on this swirling, big ball of water and earth. We are in this together and we need a place to gather to affirm that fact….spoken or unspoken, realized or unrealized, it is true.

"We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race." Cicero

"For the first showings of the morning light
and the emerging outline of the day
thanks be to you, O God.
For earth’s colours drawn forth by the sun
its brilliance piercing clouds of darkness
and shimmering through leaves and flowing waters
thanks be to you.
Show to me this day
amidst life’s dark streaks of wrong and suffering
the light that endures in every person.
Dispel the confusions that cling close to my soul
that I may see with eyes washed by your grace
that I may see myself and all people
with eyes cleansed by the freshness of the new day’s light."
                   ~J. Philip Newell

My mother’s words echo sometimes in the back of my mind. "If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all." When the words are so ready to trip off my tongue…… a snide comment, a raw jab, a pious thought, a vicious insult, sometimes, sometimes, her voice stops me from speaking. And I am thankful for that voice that acts as my conscience and my silencer.

It is easy to add to the world’s "dark streaks of wrong and suffering" with words that hurt. Words often spoken in passion for a cause or words aimed to show the world where we stand on a particular topic can add to the mix of already present negative sentiment that abounds. Speaking with malice or self-righteousness only adds to a swirling dark cesspool that rarely, if ever, has any commitment to the common good. Words flung at another to degrade, demean or demoralize fail to recognize the "light that endures in every person." Every person. Not just those who believe the way I do, act as I do, live as I do.

I am saying this words, writing these words, for myself as much as for any reader. In the days past, in the present days, and in those to come, words are going to fly fast and furious as our country heads toward a national election. Truths and untruths will walk side by side, hand in hand. It will become increasingly more difficult to see what the original inspiration of those vying for office ever was.It will become increasingly more difficult to see their enduring light.

And so in the midst of it all, may our confusions be dispelled, may our eyes be washed with grace, and may we hold gently to the enduring light that rests within as we seek after the good for all the people. All the people.