Month: January 2018

When church people read the word stewardship, they immediately know they are going to be asked to give money to the church. It is strange to me that we call asking for money at the church a “stewardship drive” when stewardship is not at all about giving. The word means to carefully manage something for someone else.

Yes, I get it, we are to be good stewards of our money and give to the church, but that is tithing, not stewardship. We are called, from the beginning of the earth, to be good stewards. Having “dominion” over all is to have the responsibility for all that is on earth. It does not mean we can do whatever we want with it. Doing what we want is what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden, where they were to be good stewards. That darn piece of fruit was the first act of willfulness, of going our own way.

When we put what we want before what we are called to do by God, that is called “sin”, missing the mark. Sin may or may not be evil, it is simply going  our own way. Instead we are called to be stewards, to take care of something that is not ours. If you were to take that view about everything, from your car, to your house, to your kids, to your significant other, how would that change you?

When we live life in stewardship, we serve all of creation.  When we are good stewards we take care of our car, our house, our relationships, and ourselves. That is one I have to work harder on, being a good steward of myself. You see I am not my own, I am “owned” by Another. To truly take care of myself means that I carefully manage myself because I don’t own me.

Apply this to your relationships, both with your significant other and your friends. Carefully managing relationships honors the other and makes both of you free from ownership, of having to control something. And then, let’s apply stewardship to our most important relationship, our personal relationship to God. Are we carefully managing that as well?

Being a good steward is not easy because it means that we realize we don’t control things, we only manage them for another. God is a good steward of his relationship to us, we call that Grace. And as stewards, are we offering back that grace to God? Sound crazy? It isn’t. God needs us, we are the expression of God in the world, so each time we offer love and stewardship to the world, we return our grace to God. Let us allow our stewardship for all things bless God.

TMM

Do you own anything? That seems like a strange question but it is important. I teach college students and when you ask many of them what they want to be when they grow up they talk about “things” to possess or a six figure salary. They almost never talk about being happy or satisfied with life. They want possessions, to own things.

I try to tell them that owning and possessing both come with a price. It is clear that getting what you want means you are “owned” by what you want. The pursuit of having leads to being a slave to the process, to that pursuit. I have written elsewhere about how much is enough and possessing things is never enough.

I don’t know who first said this but a number of minister friends of mine talk about showing them your checkbook and they will show you where you worship. In this day and age, there is not really a checkbook to show. I guess today it would be, “show me your debit card expenditures”. There is some truth to this in that where we spend our money tells what we are pursuing but not what we worship.

I grew up in a home with very little money. Now, I didn’t go without the essentials of food, clothes and shelter, but I did not get much of what I wanted, only what I needed. To get what I wanted meant I had to work for it. Coming from having very little has led me to treasure what I do have and to work for what I want. People who come from oppression, either economic or social, have literally never had even all that they need. From this sort of life, possessing something becomes paramount in life. So, for most of my students, I think I will give them a pass because that is where they come from, never even having what they need.

So, what is my point? St. Francis told his monks and all that would listen that they were to possess nothing. These very profound views from almost 800 years ago still ring true today. We do not possess the Earth, we are but stewards of the Earth. St. Francis applied this to all things we might have. When we don’t possess things, but instead see ourselves as renters of those things, we find freedom.

Our true forefathers of this land, Native Americans, knew this. They knew what God wanted, for us to be free to be one with the land, to honor it, to preserve it and to use it for the good of all. It took white men from Europe to change all of that. They not only enslaved people, they enslaved the land. Consider that white people abused the land exactly the same way as their slaves. This is because both were mere possessions to them.

When we are caught up in having what we want, in possessing as much as we can, be behave like our white forefathers, we begin to see the whole world as something to be possessed and owned. We also treat others the same way. Does Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler now make sense? “Give up all you own and follow me”.

Today, will you become a mere tenant with me? How about we truly become free and see all that we have a a gift and not a possession. I promise it will make you free.

TMM

Have you ever made a sacrifice? My parents sacrificed so that I and my brother could be successful, go to college, have a good life. To sacrifice of course means to give up something and they gave up having fancy things, better homes, so that their sons could have a chance to be successful.

As you consider what you have sacrificed, think of this as a natural response to the needs of others, those close to us especially. What can be sacrificed? Well, just about anything, but it has to have the consequence of self-denial. It is not a sacrifice if you give up your seat at a meeting for example and then take another seat. If you give up that seat and you have to stand for the entire meeting, that is a sacrifice.

It is also not a sacrifice if you have two of something and you give one away. That may be generous or even incredibly generous, but it is not a sacrifice, you still have enough. A sacrifice always means you do without, not just that you have less. So, think of this: what have you sacrificed? And for whom? And, if you have, was it worth it?

Scripture talks about making sacrifices. The Temple was the place in the early days of the people of Israel. Before that, Abraham in the wilderness with Isaac, that was going to be a tremendous sacrifice. In war, many have made the “ultimate” sacrifice of their lives to save others or the sacrifice of a healthy body so that others might not be injured. These are sacrifices that represent doing what is best for another, without considering the cost to oneself.

The sacrifice God made was to give up being God and to become Jesus.  God did it because God saw the need of others and that is what mattered. Interestingly, it really doesn’t have to do with dying so much as giving up the privilege of never having to die.  The sacrifice of the Cross was just that, giving up being God and, choosing human instead. The Eucharist is the celebration of God becoming human, body and blood, totally human.

We are taught to present ourselves as “living sacrifices”. What does that mean? That we die? And what are we doing without that we need? We die to ourselves, we give up what we think is best for us and choose another path. And, that path has no guarantee that we will get anything in return. If it did, then it would not be a sacrifice.

Too many Christians do not understand sacrifice. When bad things happen, they say “why me God?” Or “why is God punishing me”? But, you know what they never do? When all of the good things of life happen to them they never ask “why me”? To be a mystic is to always ask why me? When there is a beautiful sunrise, a mystic thinks, why has God honored me with this sight? This is living a life of sacrifice, to give up what I think I want and need and risk it all on a life that may or may not be fun, happy, or easy.

So, let’s risk it each day. Let’s sacrifice getting our way for once and just take the risk that God will accept that sacrifice. And please note, God is not required to accept that sacrifice. Why should we get rewarded for what we are supposed to do every day? To give up our own life without expectation of reward is to sacrifice. That does not sound easy and it isn’t. But it is worth it…..but to know that you have to risk it.

TMM

I have several friends who identify as pagan. That is a frightening word to so many people, but it simply means of the earth, or farm, or out in the country. Native American spirituality is pagan; Shintoism is pagan; and Hinduism is pagan. Does that mean these religious traditions are evil? Most certainly not because if Christians and Jews are honest, their own faith traditions derived from pagan practices.

Let’s see, Easter (Oestra), Christmas (Yuletide); All Saints Day (Samhain). The list continues on…..and it should because these old holidays are based on the Earth and people’s relationship to the Earth. As Christianity spread, instead of disrespecting these older traditions, those early Christians simply chose to explain those old traditions through new “eyes”, the life and presence of Jesus, the Christ.

My family heritage is the clan of Fitzgibbon, the lineage that leads back to Limmerick in Ireland. As I read about Celtic Christianity and traditions, it is clear that these traditions are interwoven with the “old ways”. And why shouldn’t they be? All of creation is the presence of God, is it not? “Consider the birds ……the flowers….” Jesus himself used many examples that call  us back to our relationship to all of creation. So my pagan friends are just as valued and meaningful to God as the Pope, the pastor, or us. The difference is that in Christ we have discovered that we can have a personal relationship with the One God.

These days, there are so many who would just continue to take from Mother Earth, disrespect her, tear her to pieces and think nothing of it. Sadly, a whole bunch of these folks are using Christian to describe themselves. How sad it is to realize that our pagan brothers and sisters are the ones who know better. How foolish have we white Christians been in American for not listening to our Native American brothers and sisters.

We are taught that we are taken from the earth and to the earth we will return (ashes to ashes, dust to dust) and yet we think we are better than that, more intelligent, more refined. Jesus was not refined, he was a country boy from a region most people scoffed at and though of as rural and backward. Hmm, I think we just came full circle: pagan=country; Jesus=country. Many of His miracles arose simply because he knew that he was part of, not outside of, all the Earth and in Mother Earth there has always been healing power.

So, am I trying to turn you, dear reader, into a pagan? No, that is not the point. The point is this, if we truly want to be one with the Living God, then we must honor all of Creation. We must embrace and care for Mother Earth, her lands, her animals and, oh yeah, EVERY living thing. Yes, every living soul on this earth deserves our respect and love. That is the narrow path we are called to, that is what it means to love our enemies. That is loving our neighbor.

So, go sit on the porch, or in the woods, or at the park and look at the face of the living God. Look at the people you pass in the mall, the grocery store, or pass in traffic because you are looking at the face of the living Christ. Yes, God’s kingdom has come.

TMM

In the Star Trek series and movies, Spock’s farewell was always, “live long and prosper”. And before you ask, yes I can still make the Vulcan sign of greeting. And no, I don’t belong on Big Bang Theory, I am not smart enough. Anyway, this prosperity thing is the goal of so many. It is the theological foundation of no small number of churches.

This word represents much of what is wrong in this world. To have opulence, wealth, affluence, success…..the list of words goes on. These days we sum it up with the word rich. I once had an employee who was being paid a near six figure salary for a job they had just begun to learn how to do. In a year that person demanded a raise. I met with the person and their significant other (who made a seven figure salary) and simply said, “how much is enough”.? These two were affluent.

I am not suggesting they were bad people, because I know for sure they believe themselves to be exemplary Christians. What I am suggesting is that they are the epitome of the Prosperity Gospel. Think 20,000 member churches in big cities. But before it seems like I am bashing rich people, let me say that this idea is not a new one. The Protestant Reformation introduced us to Calvinism. Calvinism with its ideas of predestination and election, led to the Protestant Work Ethic, which basically teaches that through hard work and prosperity, one demonstrates that they are among the elect.

So there you have it, the preachers of the Prosperity gospel are simply really good Calvinists. Now before my Reformed readers leave, there is much more to Calvanism that prosperity and election. Many do not actually accept the predestination idea anymore. The point is, even the Church has taught this idea that our path in life is toward prosperity and God. That one path.  And this idea has spawned hundreds of years of shame, guilt and confusion.

The path to the Father is inward not outward. It may or may not be prosperous but rest assured it is not easy. Hence, Jesus saying that the path is narrow. That does not mean few find it or get to walk it. It does mean that the path inward to the Father (who has always been right there inside) is a direct path governed by love and love alone. It is easier to just not choose such a path.

Choosing such a path, a narrow path, means we have to give up! I have noted before, giving up our way, the path we think we should be on, and our ideas of what is best for us, that is the narrow path. It is also the path to Joy and Love. That is true Prosperity in God, to know and grow in the Love of the One who has always loved us. That is what it means to have “riches laid up for you in heaven”.

So what do you say? Let’s take Spock at his word let us live long and prosper. Prosper in the joyous and loving relationship the Creator of the Universe has already established within us. In this way we will live out a gospel that is opulent in love, rich in joy, and in the good fortune of loving others as much as we love ourselves.

It won’t involve a Rolls Royce or a 20 room mansion or affluence that makes us famous. It will involve giving up, letting go, letting God in all the way. And then living out John 10:10 life in abundance. Now that is prosperity.

TMM

Okay, start here, the pronunciation is “lan’yap. In the South, especially in Louisiana, this is a common word to hear. What does it mean? Well, you can go to the dictionary, but it means “a little something extra”. Something not expected, a true gift. Think baker’s dozen (thirteen doughnuts instead of 12 for you young people).

Now that the language lesson is over, let’s think about this idea. Have you ever given a lagniappe? Have you ever given a little more than was necessary or expected? What about at work, have you ever given a little more to the task? Ever give your significant other a little something extra? This is a hard tradition to imagine in a world that is dedicated to materialism and getting all you can.

In life, we always have choices. The greatest choice for Christians is whether to give up or not. Sound strange? It shouldn’t, because we are called to give up who we are in favor of who Christ showed us we could be. This is not easy because we are asked to be completely opposite of what society expects us to be. What we have been taught we should be.

In monastic terms, this is called “conversion of manners” and that is a good way to see it. But to do this means you have to let go of all that you have been taught you should be, all that you think you should be and become who we are all called to be, the Living Word to the world. This is scary stuff to all of us.

Maybe this will help, the Eternal Father offers each of us a lagniappe. A little something extra that isn’t expected or earned. We call that grace. Grace is the lagniappe that we don’t expect as we let go of who we should be and recognize who we are created to be. And, we cannot see it until we “give up” all of our shoulds and accept who we actually are, God’s good creation, every one of us!

And here’s the rest of the thought. We walk through a life and a world filled with lagniappes given by God and only when we see it from God’s point of view do we actually notice. There’s that conversion of manners again. Add to that this question: when was the last time you or I gave a lagniappe A little bit extra that no one notices until after you are gone?

TMM

The beautiful poem by Robert Frost is often remembered because of the choice of two roads to followed and the poet choosing the road “less traveled by”. This is the part of the poem we hear often. But, that is not the end of the poem, it ends by saying “and that has made all the difference”. That is the part we must not forget, that the road less often taken can make all of the difference.

I have heard and read this poem often. Most even get the title wrong. The title actually is, “The Road Not Taken By”. Read the poem again and view the poet’s thoughts. Both roads are inviting, neither is a “bad” path to take. He even says that he has in mind to come back and take the other one…..but doubts that he will. The beauty of this poem is that it is about more than choices.

The poem is also about following the path we choose with a sense of wonder and expectation. It is also about making our own choices, not following the choices others make for us. That is important because all too often we follow the path of so many others, mostly because we are afraid to be alone. The poem is about that as well, to take a less traveled road is to have faith, to be able to go alone if necessary.

This is the difference for Christian people. The path that most take is the church’s path. It is not a bad path, it is well worn and there is lots of company. Most of us know this path very well, we have taken it. It is safe and familiear.

The other and less traveled path is the contemplative path, the mystical path. This is the one that stops often and is awed by the love of the Creator of the Universe for each of us personally. This path can get very lonely and is not so easy. You see, on this path you have to let go of preconceived notions, old beliefs, and instead open wide to all that The Creator is and all that you can be.

A lot of people will never try that path and it is okay. But, sadly, they will also never know a wider, warmer world filled with mysticism, awe and Joy. And it does make all the difference.

TMM

I have been on many athletic teams and the goal was always to come together as one unit, to have everyone perform their role at their very best. Those special moments where is comes together are magical and hard to forget. I have had those moments as a runner, “back in the day” which was a bit more than 30 years ago.

There are other examples of “becoming one”, the most poignant being marriage of course. While the words say “to become one flesh” we all know that doesn’t happen. Marriage is about two individuals coming together by agreement. Each retains who they are and yet, their togetherness is one. I have done marital therapy for many years and those times when a man or woman says “he/she completes me” I knew it was not go well. A relationship based on needing the other person is doomed to fail. It means that one feels incomplete and unfulfilled.

The best relationship is one in which who you are is enhanced and complimented by the other. Whether marriage or friendship, this principle is true: the “becoming one” is based on choice and commitment, never on need. This kind of relationship makes each person want to be better and to do things out of a sense of giving and appreciation.

We are now and have always been one with God. This is hard for many religious people to accept because they were taught that salvation is that moment when we find God’s forgiveness and accept the atonement of Jesus on the cross.  But is that really true? Did Jesus have to die for God to love us again? That simply does not make sense if you believe in a loving God.

Here is a different view to consider. Salvation is that moment when we realize that the Creator of the Universe resides inside of us and always has. Our becoming one has always been and salvation is the discovery of that. The rest of the Christian life is the process of growing in the relationship that is always, every day, voluntary on our part. God does not complete us because, again, a relationship of need does not work very well. We are a creation in whom God is “well pleased”. We are, instead, in a relationship that makes us better than we ever thought we could be and we want to do all that we can to make the Other proud of us. When we realize that we choose every day to acknowledge our relationship with God, that is call free will.

Over my 60 plus years, I have come to realize that I value the God who is within me because that Member of the relationship never gives up on me, not ever. Repentance means to turn and go a different direction. We don’t repent from the sins we commit. We repent from choosing to go our own direction. Much that I was taught at church kept me from growing my relationship with God. Scripture teaches that we much each “work out our own salvation”. It is a process not a destination, the goal of which is to become one with the One who loves us most.

TMM

There is this interesting thing with cell phones called “face time” where you can actually see the person you are calling. I am a child of the days of Dick Tracy and the “two way wrist radio”. Who thought that it would ever really be possible. Of course, there is a bit of privacy lost with face time since the caller can see you now. If I call, please have clothes on!

Seriously though, face time does matter. Email and texts are very impersonal and people cannot really express emotion and you cannot see the look on their face when they say it. I often really mess up texts, leave out a punctuation or something and it gives the wrong message. I have learned how to apologize and use that skill often. But, face to face interaction makes a big difference so maybe this whole face time thing is a plus.

This got me to thinking about something I read from Richard Rohr, that Jesus came to earth to show us God’s face, to make it easier to love God. Think about that, Jesus came as our “face time” with God. He said, “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. That was always plan A, for us to have a face we could learn to love.

I can hear this now, “hold on, we never got to see Jesus, so what is  your point?” And, honestly, that is just not true. At the Abbey, all visitors at the gate are welcomed in because St. Benedict taught that it is the face of the living Christ you are seeing. Mother Theresa said much the same about her work among the poor and sick of India. You see, every day we get to see the face of the Living God if we will just bother to look.

Why don’t we look? It can be terrifying is why. When we take a close look at others, we see ourselves and that image is rarely the Beloved that we are. It is, instead, that face we know that even God has a hard time loving. It is hard to see ourselves as God sees us, which is as his Beloved child. So, prayer, in any version you or I offer up, that is our face time with the Creator of the Universe.

Today is the day for us to have face time with God. Not just in prayer, but in living in a world where we look at each face as the face of God. I wonder what our world would be like if we actually did this? I am thinking, this old social worker might just be out of a job!

TMM

Now, before you stop at the title here or begin to worry, a cell is neither a room at a prison nor a telephone in your pocket. It is the small  sleeping area a monk has. Usually this sort of cell has a bed, a small desk, a few books and a few memorabilia. It is the only private place that is totally the monk’s world. It is the place where each day begins and ends. In some ways, it is the monk’s grave or coffin.

It is not morbid to realize, as the liturgy says, that each night we have a “perfect death” and each day a rebirth. That is how we are supposed to live, one day at a time, one complete cycle of life and death, each day. But, it takes time and patience to get to the place where we allow life to happen in just this way, one day at a time. Think of the model prayer, “Give us this day…..” The whole prayer is predicated on “this day”.

Let’s return to our cell. In the Rule of St. Benedict, he tells the monks that when questions come, issues arise, they should return to or stay in their cells and learn what the cell has to teach them. In a lovely devotional, I recently read, this was interpreted for us in every day life as, stay in the moment. Learn from this moment, this here and now, all that it has to offer.Stay there!

Learning to live in the moment means we have to slow down, we have to listen with our hearts, we have to stop being distracted from what is going on around us. Celtic spirituality embraces the natural world around us, Gaia (Mother Earth). It is from her, after all, that we are born and to her we return.  This is the world we are part of and that we were created for. What if each moment we were hoping to be surprised by joy, wonder, awe, and curiosity by the world all around us?

I work every day to experience the moment, to let it happen. Am I very good at it? Not really, but I keep at it, keep staying in my cell to learn all I can, to be in the moment. It is easy for me professionally because for some 40 years I have spent countless “moments” with clients as they talked about or experienced their lives. It is different when it is  my own life, much more patience is needed and if you are like me, the last person you will be patient with is yourself.

Today, I am rededicating myself to the moment. To see and feel and hear and experience all that this day, these moments have to offer. If you were to join me, I wonder how much worry and fear and dread would leave from the world around us? Stay in your cell, you are completely safe there, you are in the Living God.

TMM