The Woodcarver

...taken from "The Active Life" by Parker Palmer

Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand
Of precious wood.  When it was finished,
All who saw it were astounded.  They said it must be
The work of spirits.
The Prince of Lu said to the master carver:
“What is your secret?”
 
Khing replied: “I am only a workman:
I have no secret.  There is only this:
When I began to think about the work you commanded
I guarded my spirit, did not expend it
On trifles, that were not to the point.
I fasted in order to set
My heart at rest.
 
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.
 
“By this time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.
 
“Then I went to the forest
To see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand
And begin.
 
“If I had not met this particular tree
There would have been
No bell stand at all.
 
“What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits.”

walk......

"Create in me a clean heart, oh God"

Today I began my Lenten self-examination by walking the labyrinth. This ancient spiritual tool has guided many on their journey. I found the experience to be very moving and meaningful. If you have not experienced the labyrinth walk, I encourage you to give it a try.

Lent.....

“Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1

With the approach of Lent, we are called again to turn our thoughts inward. Piety is a funny word. It is hard to define in simple terms that anyone can understand. The simplest of definitions will define piety as religious devotion and reverence to God. I don't find this definition to be much clearer. St Thomas Aquinas defined piety as a deep sense of respect for God and the church. So I assume then, that practising our piety is the way that sense moves us to draw closer to God and the church. A common and I believe quite useful practice for Lent is to complete daily Bible readings. You can find numerous calendars of readings for Lent online. We are urged during this season to “give something up.” But, more importantly, we should be thinking about “taking something on.” Take on a daily reading of scripture to help you draw closer to your God.

Hope....

Today as I was driving home from some errands I came up a hill and noticed in a field off to the side, a tractor. My first thought, temporarily forgetting that we have had more snow this winter than for several previous years, was that the tractor was working up the ground in preparation for planting. Then, reality kicked in, and as I drew nearer I could see that the tractor had been left out there last fall and the bottom half was completely buried in the snow. I felt rather foolish at the ease with which I forgot that we have, in my opinion, far too much snow. My enthusiasm and desire and hope for spring gets stronger each day, now that the days are getting longer and the sun stronger. I believe that hope is a wonderful gift from God.

In Romans 15:13 we read “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Our God is a hopeful God, and God's hope for us is that we will choose to be hopeful in return. You see, a person who has hope has a reason to live. A person who has hope has a reason to reach out to others. A person who has hope has been hugged by the Holy Spirit and strengthened to do God's work.

My hope for you is that you are also hopeful, and that you are moved inspire hope in others.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield..

There was an episode of the old TV series Star Trek that had the above title. In the episode, the Enterprise picks up two survivors of a war-torn planet who are still committed to destroying each other aboard the ship. The two are unique in that they are each black on one side and white on the other. But the colors are on the opposite sides on each of them. One of them is a “slave” and the other is a “master”. The crew of the Enterprise are surprised at the war between the two, since on the show, racial differences are non existent on earth. The crew do not see the two as different, since they are both white and black. Their difference lies in the fact that their colors are on different sides, and to the two that makes a huge difference.
As a society today, we often find differences between ourselves and others. We are not the same color, or we don’t share the same religion, or we live in different areas, or we don’t share the same beliefs. I wonder when or if we will ever get to the place where the crew of the Enterprise was on that episode. They saw the two aliens as the same. They saw the two as the same, both black and white. Imagine how much we could accomplish if we stopped seeing ourselves as different from others, and started seeing all of us as children of God.

Fire and ice....

I was reading a novel this morning, and a passage struck me as interesting. A mother said to her kids each morning, as she held out her two hands to them, “we are offered each day a cup of joy and a cup of sorrow. Which one will you choose today?” These words stayed with me as we left to go to church. I found myself unable to stop thinking about them during the drive there.

When the readings began in church, the first reading went like this: “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given.” Sirach 15:15-17 I would beg to differ with anyone who says that God doesn't speak to us. I don't think a message could be much clearer. I don't think that all messages from God are this direct, but I believe that a lot of the time we are so absorbed in our own issues that we don't hear God even when the message is this clear. Thank you, God, for reminding me to listen.

Julian of Norwich...

Julian of Norwich was a fourteenth century mystic. She was an anchoress – that is, a type of hermit who lived in a cell attached to a church, and who engaged in a form of prayer called contemplation. Contemplative prayer is distinct from vocal and meditative types of prayer, where we use our mind, imagination and other faculties in an attempt to understand our relationship with our creator. In Contemplative prayer, these activities are halted or restrained, so we can seek a deeper connection with God, as one source put it, a connection that is “too deep for words.”

That is all very interesting, but the point I wanted to make about Julian is about an experience she had. When she was 30 years old, she suffered from a severe illness, and, believing she was dying, had a series of intense visions or revelations about God. These were later recorded in both shot and long form named “Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love.” What happened to Julian of Norwich is regarded by most as a perfect contemplative experience with God. Her writings have been studied and written about in great detail over the years. What I really wonder is, if someone came along today and professed that they had had an experience similar to that of Julian, how would we treat them? Would we embrace them and listen to their story seriously? Or would we back away and try to get away from them? I suspect that anyone with a story like Julian's would not be taken seriously. So I ask myself and you, what would have to happen for us to believe a modern day Julian of Norwich?

People.....

The Chinese character for “people” is composed of two simple brush strokes. It is probably one of the easiest words for someone not studied in the Chinese language to write. Each line is supported by the other – if we remove one, they both fall. The two strokes are dependent on each other, just as we, as members of a Christian community are also dependent on each other. Our responsibility is to love and support those around us. Who would have thought that a simple symbol could express so much....

Confused....

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” Luke 6:35

Once again, I am more than slightly confused. I have read and reread this passage of scripture hoping that a light would come on and it would make sense. I feel like someone has hidden my lamp under a bushel (memories of another great story) and as a result, I can't see. I wondered why I would be considered ungrateful and evil if I do the things asked of us at the beginning of the passage. Then it struck me. It is not us that are ungrateful and evil by helping others. Rather, it is the ungrateful and evil we are asked to help.

If we take on this challenge and keep it foremost in our minds each day, we will certainly make the world a better place, by our actions and by the effect it will have on others who see us acting this way. We will truly be living the second great commandment, that of loving our neighbour as ourselves, even if that neighbour is not “our kind of people”. God calls us to move closer to the people that we most want to move away from. Which way will you move?

Encouragement....

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vine dresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” Luke 13:6-9

There is an important lesson for us in this parable. As the story tells us, in order to get a plant to produce fruit, it needs regular care, including watering, fertilizing and pruning. Anyone who has begun to prune a tree in their yard can attest to the fact that pruning a young tree actually encourages it to grow and branch out. Yeah, yeah, I know, the lesson here is so simple you are probably wondering why the heck did he bother? Can't he find anything else to write about? Actually I can, but I LOVE this parable and the message that we have all heard before. But let me ask you this question. Who have you pruned today? Who have you watered today? Who have you nurtured in order to encourage them to produce fruit? EXACTLY! That's why we ALL need the reminder! So start looking for those trees (people) that are in need of pruning (encouragement) and get clipping!

The narrow gate.....

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.” Matthew 7:13

We are expected to do many things in our lives. If we work, as most of us do, we are expected to show up at our jobs as scheduled, and to do our jobs to the best of our abilities. If we have families, we are expected to look after and care for the members. Responsibilities can often seem to tie us down and keep us from doing what we want to do. I know there are lots of days when I feel there is so much I could be doing if I didn't have to go to work.

God also has expectations for us. There is a certain way in which we, as Christians, are expected to act. That way often seems to us to be a very narrow path, with not much room to move from side to side. I'm sure you, like me, often resent and rebel against the path. Sometimes it is just easier to take a different wider path that doesn't seem so restrictive. But when we follow a wider path, we meet up with more distractions that keep us from focusing on our Christian mission. When we follow an easier path, we don't have to work as hard. By passing through the narrow gate, we stay on track with God's purpose for us. The right way is never easy, but it is guaranteed to be the most rewarding.

99 & 44/100% pure....

I remember as a child watching the commercials on TV for Ivory Soap, and the claims by the company that their soap was 99 & 44/100% pure. I remember thinking that the soap was about as close to perfect as one could get. It was amazing to think that there was less than 1% of that product that was not pure. I used to wonder what the difference would be if the manufacturers managed to increase the purity of the product to hit 100%. How much better could the product possibly be if it went from 99 & 44/100% to 100% pure?

I find it hard to think of things that I can say are 100% pure. Even gold is reported to be 99.9% fine or pure. Something that is 100% pure must be completely made up of only one thing. In trying to think of an example of such a thing, I was repeatedly drawn to the image of God's love. That love is very definitely 100% pure. It has no artificial colours or preservatives. It needs no perfumes or ingredients to keep it together. And that love is available to us simply by our asking, without conditions or restrictions. It is indeed 100% pure.

Looking for a good book

I recently took a trip. As I was packing my suitcase I went over in my head the list of things I needed to pack. After I packed all the essentials, I began to assemble the things I would take in my carry-on bag. I had just finished the novel I had been reading, and I wondered if I had another good one. I quickly scanned my shelf of unread novels, but none of them seemed to appeal to me. I left the search for a book and continued packing.

As I went downstairs to get a pair of shoes, I passed by the coffee table and saw my Bible. I remembered setting it down there the previous week. I chuckled to myself that it would be a good book to take to read. I walked away, and then the impact of what I had just thought struck me. There I was, looking for a good book to take on my trip. There on the coffee table was the ultimate “good book”. I went back, picked it up, dropped it in my carry-on, and I was done packing. So, the next time you are looking for a good book, guess what I would suggest........

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

There is a song, written by a Harry McClintock, called “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” It is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise. The hobo, who has no responsibilities, no job, no cares at all, sings the song as he travels on his perpetual journey. The song peaked at number 1 on Billboard Music in 1939, and the lyrics are worth looking up. One verse goes like this:

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go
Where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall
The winds don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

This song has an important message even today. The hobo lives his life as a wanderer, travelling from one stop to the next without cares or worries. He has no agenda, no deadlines, no commitments. We envy the simplicity of the hobo's life and the freedom he embraces. We might even wish on some level that we could somehow get that “perfect” life, or one like it. We search sometimes endlessly for our own Big Rock Candy Mountain. We try our hardest to get that life that we think can only be found there. We keep working towards that life. And, in the end, many are disappointed.
The reason so many of us don't get to that Big Rock Candy Mountain is because we are looking for it “out there” somewhere. Instead, we should be looking around us. The perfect life is right here and right now. We are blessed beyond all belief. As you sit in your seat reading this, look around and count the people in the room. Take a guess at how many are here. You are blessed to know each of those people. And they are blessed to know you. Now try to think how many people you know that aren't here. 50? 100? 500? More? Even more blessings.
Although many of us would likely not admit it, we are a lot like that hobo. We are searching for the Big Rock Candy Mountain where all the things we don't have can be found. We go through our lives searching for the “perfect” life, but not finding it. We expend so much energy working towards that perfect existence, that we fail to realize that we already have it....

The Prayer of Jabez

I just realized that it has probably been 10 or more years since I read the book, “The Prayer of Jabez” by Bruce Wilkinson. For some reason, the prayer kept coming to my mind tonight, so I had to look it up and read it again. It has brought back a lot of memories of the time when I read the book and studied the prayer. Here it is.

Solitude.....

“But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.” Luke 5:15-16.




Solitude is defined as a state of seclusion or isolation. It usually refers to a lack of contact with people. It does not, however suggest a lack of contact with God. In fact, I find that it is when I am the most withdrawn from the physical world and its activities, and away from other people, that my mind is the most clear. It is also at these times that I am most open to hearing God's voice and to welcoming God's presence.

Human contact is essential for survival. But there are times when we need to “get away.” Sometimes, to really hear the Divine voice, we must remove all the distractions of life,including our own thoughts and concerns. Then we are able to embrace our encounter with our creator, and hear the voice of wisdom speaking to us.

Caught and set free....

I have always had a hard time understanding passages of scripture like Matthew 16:25. The verse is “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” I have heard sermons preached on this or similar themes. But it wasn't until this morning in church as I listened to the dismissal that I really understood. The leader said the following words: “Remember that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has caught you and freed you, so that you may go to be fishers of people. And on this mission, may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.”

For some reason, when I heard those words, the picture finally came together. A simple oxymoron helped this person, who thought he must be missing some vital knowledge, to understand a message that was so simple, it eluded me. You see, what I learned today was that God wants to take us one by one and wrap us in his protective and loving net. When we realize that we have been “captured” by God and pulled from the waters of our previous lives, we have the hook of our past mistakes removed from us. God cleans us up, heals us, and then frees us to go back into the world and live our lives as changed individuals. We are then free to joyously live as followers of God's way, and to be, as the Gospel says, “fishers of people,” bringing others to the net.

Hospitality

The word hospitality derives from the Latin “hospes”, which originally meant to have power. In Greek history, hospitality often involved offering protection and guidance to strangers. Today, hospitality is rarely about protection, rather it involves etiquette and entertainment, caring for guests' needs whether those needs are food, lodging or other comforts.

Some writings have referred to the type of hospitality shown by Jesus as “radical hospitality.” In other words, Jesus' hospitality knew no boundaries or limitations. Jesus welcomed everyone, but most especially those who were turned away and shunned by society. In the tenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus prepares to send out his Apostles, and spends considerable time telling them what they can expect on their journey. He warns them that they may not be welcomed by everyone, but tells them, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

Hospitality is an often neglected part of our Christian life today. Our lives have become so busy with all the things we are involved in that we sometimes don't even sit down to a meal with our family, let alone with people invited to our home. Today we can “tweet”, “text”, “face book”, “instant – message”, and “converse” in many other ways. With the rapid growth in communications, we have moved away from not just the telephone, but also from the old social events like sharing a meal. Recently I shared a meal with friends that I had not spent time with in a long time. During the meal, I remembered all the great things about sharing conversation over a meal. No other form of communication can even come close in providing the feeling of warmth, friendship and love we experience around the table when we share a meal. If it has been a while since you invited a guest or guests to share a meal with you, I would suggest you do so. Hopefully it will be as rewarding an experience for you as it was for me.

Forgiveness

DELETE......
DELETE......
DELETE......
DELETE......
DELETE......

That is the sound of God forgiving all the things I did today that I ought not to have done...

NEW DOCUMENT........

It is a new day! What will I do differently??

Prepare......

“A voice cries out: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.....then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed....” Isaiah tells us in this passage of scripture that, if we are going to invite God to be with us, we need to prepare for that arrival. We must do like we would do for any guest that is invited to our home. We must make preparations, whether those preparations are to clean up, rearrange, prepare food, whatever we need to do ahead of the guest's arrival.

It is hard to begin a routine of regular formal prayer without some planning. As Isaiah suggests, we must forge a path in the wilderness of our hearts and minds that will allow God's presence to be with us. We have to ready ourselves mentally to be a destination for God's spirit. Then, when we invite that spirit in, the path is clear and easy. Access is unimpeded.


Have you ever walked along a beach on sand that was dry and hot? If you have, you will know that it is hard to keep your footing. The loose sand causes you to slip and slide as you walk. Now imagine that same journey on a boardwalk that runs along the same beach. Walking is much easier. Getting to our destination is quicker and more efficient. While I would never argue that God can not be with us unless we made these types of preparations, they are still important. God requires no preparation.They are important because they help US to focus on the event that is about to happen. The preparations are for us. We clean up our house to get ready for the visitor, and as a result our visit is enjoyable and beneficial.

Do as I ought, not as I do......

Conflict can be a bad thing. It can prevent us from moving ahead on something as we spend our time and resources trying to decide WHAT we should do, rather than actually doing what we KNOW we should do. Just watch the Parliamentary channel sometime if you want to see a lot of wasted time. I think that our Government would be much more effective if its members stopped bickering and squabbling for the cameras and directed that energy to more productive uses. But sometimes conflict can be good for us. When our inner self is very conflicted over a particular decision or choice we are trying to make, we can be torn as to how we should proceed. When we finally make a decision, we may later look back on that decision and wonder what the heck we were thinking.

The Book of Romans speaks to this topic in a section appropriately titled “The Inner Conflict.” A particularly relevant passage follows: “I do not understand my own behaviour; I do not act as I mean to, but do things that I hate... for though the will to do what is good is in me, the power to do it is not: the good thing I want to do, I never do; the evil thing which I do not want – that is what I do” Rom7:15, 18b-19

Here, in a few lines, is the ongoing human dilemma we face every day. We KNOW the right thing to do, but instead we do what we WANT to do. Now if what we want and know are the same, we have no problem. But more often that not, the two are different. After we act, we get that gut feeling of knowing we have not done the right thing. Call it instinct. Call it conscience. Call it God continually encouraging us to do what God knows we should do. Call it whatever you want. What we call it does not matter. How we respond matters. Are you and I willing to listen to the voice of God, the voice of reason, the voice of what we KNOW we should do? And are we willing to do it?

The next time I sit in church and ask forgiveness for the things I have done and the things I have left undone, I hope I can honestly say that I have listened to that inner voice and eliminated at least some of the conflict.

Contemplation vs Action

The study of differing forms and styles of prayer can lead one to an ancient method of approach called Lectio Divina. This method of prayer has, at it's peak, a closeness and comfortableness with God known as contemplation. The process involves the steps of reading scripture, meditating on what one has read, and praying about or with the studied passage(s). Ideally, these steps will lead the person to a level of indescribable closeness with God, in the deepest part of one's being. This has been described as “resting” in God.



Thomas Merton, a 20th century writer, uses an image of a spring and a stream to compare contemplation with action. A spring can only remain vital if its waters flow upward and outward (in streams).If there are no streams emerging from the spring, the spring becomes a stagnant pool. The outflowing of water gives the spring a chance to replenish itself and circulate its water. Likewise, if the stream loses its contact with its source, the spring, the stream dries up. Merton compares the spring to contemplation. If we are able to reach the point of genuine contemplation, that contact with the Divine will cause us to spring upward and outward. Our actions that result are like the streams that flow from the spring. Our contemplation with God gives life to our own inner spring. The resultant streams of action that flow out from us help to quench the thirst of the world around us.

So, to summarize, contemplation without action is like the spring without the streams flowing out of it, stagnant and useless. Likewise, the streams or our actions, when not resulting from contemplation, cannot serve God's purpose for us.

Digging a hole to China.....

When I was a kid, one of my goals,as I recall, was that I was determined to dig a hole down into the earth until I came to the other side (of the earth, not the sod). I bet you that most kids have at one time or another thought that they could do this. What an ambitious goal. One lone person with one small shovel is going to dig his or her way to the other side of the earth, probably shovelling through in China (although I am not sure if geographically speaking that is where you would end up). I knew I would be amazed when I reached my destination, not because of the feat I had accomplished, but rather because I couldn't wait to see all the people standing upside down........

Kids have the most ambitious dreams and plans. I'm going to be Prime Minister. I am going to fly to another Solar System. I am going to find the cure for all the diseases in the world. Now, fast forward 30 or 40 or 50 years. I bet the dream now sounds something like this: I'll try to get to church this weekend, if I am up to it. I would love to help so and so but I just don't have the time. I would love to see our church grow but I don't know what to do. What happened to that great childhood dream of digging a hole? When did we move from one extreme of desire to the other? When did apathy and excuses get a foothold on us?

“I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

This passage is taken from the 49th chapter of Isaiah, from a section labelled as “The Servant's Mission”. It was part of our readings for January 15, 2011. The preacher on that day explained what the passage means. What I took from it is simply this: No matter how big a dream you can dream for yourself, no matter how much you think you are doing to help the world, God has even bigger plans for us. That is not to say that we are not doing great things, many of us are. But Isaiah is telling us not to ever become comfortable with what we are doing. Keep looking for new challenges. God's world is full of them, and it is our duty as God's people to rise up and meet these challenges head on. Together, with God's help, we truly can change the world.

You're doing the right thing......

Recently I had a problem. The nature of that problem is not important. What is important is what I did about it. I thought through all the possible ways the problem could be resolved, and after some careful deliberation I concluded how I would like to see the problem solved. In determining how the problem should be worked out, like many of us, I tried to figure out which end would be best for me, not for the other people involved. I can admit it. I am selfish and like things my own way.
I decided to pray to God for the end most suited to my needs. God told me I was doing the right thing. I was pleased. I waited as the problem came to a head and was eventually resolved. However, I was not so pleased to find that the ending was indeed NOT the one I had prayed to have happen. God had played a trick on me, or so I thought. I couldn't figure out why I had clearly gotten the response that I was doing the right thing, only to then be let down.
The next Sunday I was sitting in church and reading the bulletin. I came across a notice about the Week of Prayer for Christina Unity. I couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of the day, and could not figure out why. There had to be something about it. Later that day, I as talking with a friend about the problem of the previous week when it struck me like a brick – God told me I was doing the right thing. I assumed that meant asking for a particular resolution to my problem. But God was trying to tell me that praying was the right thing to do, and that prayer is important every day, not just when we need a problem solved. Will this valuable lesson learned stick with me? I pray that it does.