Strength for the Journay

It is always such a pleasure to return to this wonderful community.

Over 30 years ago I came through those doors seeking a deeper engagement with the life of the spirit.  In this community I found an ideal place to purse that exploration—David Good’s theological guidance, moving worship, a welcoming community, thoughtful bible study and a remarkable commitment to mission.  This community literally changed the course of my life

That journey has continued and deepened over the years with insights from progressive thinkers in the Christian tradition such as Richard Rohr, an engagement with ancient mystical Christian thought especially Meister Eckhart, teaching from the Buddhist tradition and insights from the natural world by thinkers such as Jeremy Lent.   

So, I have first-hand experience of the way spiritual insights can profoundly shape, enhance and even change the course of our day to day lives.   

Over the past twenty years this journey has involved change but it has unfolded upon what felt like a stable foundation.  I was learning, growing and changing but the core felt steady.   

In the past months, however, my sense of standing on a stable foundation has been shaken.  Foundational things about how the world worked that I had taken for granted have been upended.  I carry on but find myself sad and even anxious in ways I cannot remember feeling before.   

So, I am working on regrouping—working on rebuilding a sustaining foundation.  Several aspects of this effort but one is returning again to the resources of our Christian tradition to see what support I might find there.  I’d like to share a part of that exploration with you today.  This is very much a work in progress, but I think one part of the way forward for me is trying to put even incomplete insights into words.  Thank you for making space for this with me today. 

In our church community in New London we follow a weekly set of scripture selections called the common lectionary.  Over the past few months several readings from the gospel of John have attracted my attention.  They come from a section of the gospel that is referred to as the Farewell Discourse.   

The farewell discourse begins after the last supper and then unfolds over four chapters ending just before Jesus’ arrest in the garden.   

In the farewell discourse the author of the gospel of John narrates a virtual torrent of teachings that Jesus offers to the disciples to help equip them for difficult times ahead.  Spiritual teachings intended to equip for difficult times—sounded like something I might learn from as I face my own difficult times. 

Let me say immediately that, of course, Jesus faced much more difficult times than I do.  The Palestine of his day was an occupied territory, poverty was profound.  Even more, Jesus sees what is ahead—he has challenged the powerful of his day and the secular and religious leaders are determined to silence him.  He knows that he faces betrayal by some close to him. He is acutely aware that he is in great immediate personal danger.  Even more heartbreaking he is, I think, very aware and must have been deeply grieve that his followers are also in danger.

In the farewell discourse the gospel of John describes Jesus speaking into this almost unimaginable challenge to equip his followers with the courage and strength to carry on without him.

As I’ve contemplated this text over the last few months three passages stand out.  Three passages that seem to offer insights that appear especially relevant to me as I wrestle with finding a new stable ground.

First a remarkable vision of a peace that is available regardless of the circumstances around us.

14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

I am far, far from an untroubled heart and I am afraid in ways I have never been before.  Of course, recognizing and engaging these emotions is key.

But what I hear in these words is also a call to remain open to possibility.  Open to the possibility that there is a peace in which my heart would not be troubled and I would not be afraid.  This vision of possibility is, I think, so important.  It is hard to journey toward a destination one cannot imagine.  In this passage I find encouragement to continue to long for and to seek what Paul refers to as the “peace that passes all understanding”.

I feel far from that destination but holding the vision of the possibility of peace, a less troubled heart and a greater freedom from fear encourages me on the journey.

So, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Second, I see a practical guidance for day to day of life as we navigate challenging times.

13:34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

While “love one another” may at first sound like a distant goal, I would propose that we can also see it as very much within our immediate grasp.  If we think of love as an emotion, it can be challenging to imagine extending it beyond a small circle.  As many have pointed out, however, love can be best understood as something we do.  You don’t so much feel love as do love.

And this doing of love can take so many forms—small and large.

At the June 14th demonstration in New London a wonderful person named Hugh Birdsall was passing out small handouts that said “Compassion Now…find someone to help…help them without expecting anything in return…repeat”.

Even as I am being shaken by what seems to be growing lack of love for each other in the world, at the same time I see numerous acts of love that build up our world every day—generosity, listening to someone who is struggling, offering a kind word to a friend or stranger, advocating for justice, making something beautiful and so much more--acts large and small.  This faith community alone has unleashed a virtual torrent of love on the world.

So I know that in both small and large ways everyone of us can take to heart the call to love one another.

I poignantly feel, however, the ways it has become harder to connect to this doing of love when my heart is troubled and afraid.  Holding back has become easier. The energy that the doing of love requires can be sapped.

But as I ponder this passage, I reminded that leaning into love—in whatever ways I can--is critical to navigating hard times.  From Cyprian Smith summarizing Meister Eckhart:  “Our task is to concentrate on the present moment and on its demands because it is here and here alone that time intersects with eternity.” Or from the Buddha “loving kindness is our greatest protection”.

Or Mother Teresa “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to do, what I can do.

Doing the work of love is the path—even if you don’t feel like it and even if you cannot do it perfectly. I am, therefore, working on leaning into the call of love in each moment.

So,  “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

Third, I see an understanding of who we are as human beings that opens a door to profound and mysterious possibilities.

14:18-20 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Amazing claim of radical unity and interconnection—"I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you”. The divine presence not just greater than us but intimately within and among us. A divine inner light at our deepest core.

Meister Eckhart: “God’s image…is in the ground of the soul like a living fountain”

Amazing claim that the depth of spirit that was in Jesus is also in every one of us. Cyprian Smith summarizing Meister Eckhart: “Questions about Jesus are always, at the same time, questions about ourselves because he is the archetypal human being, the basic human pattern which we are all more or less faithful copies of.”

As hard as this is insight is to grasp, I feel a deep empowering message of human possibility.  A sacred pattern deep within us which we can choose to ignore but which always remains present ready to be embraced.  A living fountain that we can choose to cover over but that will never dry up and remains ever at hand to water new life.

There are tragically so many ways we lose our connection to this inner depth, this living water.

As so many spiritual traditions have taught, reconnecting with this inner light…this fountain requires the engagement of faculties beyond our intellect.  We need more than theories, more even than believing.   We need to engage what St. Paul calls the eyes of the heart.  The type of knowing that is intuitive and direct.

A type of knowing that so many spiritual traditions teach us is cultivated by letting go and making space.  A type of knowing that we relax into.  A type of knowing that embraces silence and mystery.

A key part of my current journey is seeking this deeper knowing by committing more intently to practices such as meditation and centering prayer.

So, “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

This threefold vision—of peace that passes understanding, of love as action, and a deeper connection to the transformative power of the divine presence dwelling within and among us—encourages me to continue the journey toward a way of living marked by peace, hope and service to the world.

Progress toward rebalancing has, I’m afraid, been slower than I would like. But returning to these passages as guideposts—reminders that there is more depth available to us than what we often perceive—provides strength for the journey. When fear clouds my heart or discouragement saps my energy, I try to relax more deeply into each moment in the company of these calls to peace, love and connection.

With the grace of God, the guidance of ancient and modern wisdom, the company of so many wonderful fellow travelers, an ever more open heart and a good helping of patience I hope to find myself more deeply grounded in the wholeness that is our truest home.

Amen