The Wonderment

March: Prayer of Brokenness

The Quest for Meaning and Church of the Larger Fellowship theme for March 2012 is brokenness. Many prayers arise from the experience of brokenness. When I speak of brokenness, I am not talking about the doctrine of original sin, but the basic human experiences of hurt, disappointment, shattered sense of self or belief, and intense wrenching change. Here is one of my prayers.

 

Prayer:

Blessing of brokenness, how much we might wish to avoid you, yet here you are in our imperfections, in our shattering, and in our healing. When we prayed for the unbarring of our hearts, for opening to greater generosity and greater compassion, in our arrogance and in our unknowing we had not imagined that the locks would need to be cracked, barriers torn down, humility embraced. When we lose enough to grow grateful, when we hurt enough to bear mercy for and to others, when we find the courage to forgive in our own experiences of imperfection, we find ourselves turning back to the blessings of brokenness, blessings from which goodness may grow, flower, and fruit. Grant us these and the many known and unknown blessings that can only be found and shared in and because of this breaking. May we help one another in our times of trouble and in our imperfect ways to do the best we can, to love generously, to love boldly, to love steadfastly, in every season. Amen.

 

Seeking Wisdom - A Story for All Ages

A Wisdom Tale for All Ages: First Sunday in Lent 2012

This is a wisdom tale I wrote, and like all wisdom tales, some of it may seem very familiar and some of it may seem very strange, for it begins with a stranger coming to town.

Once a seeker went to a community in the desert seeking wisdom. The one who answered the door welcomed the seeker in and asked how the community could help. "Wisdom," the seeker said, "I want wisdom." 

 

"Excellent," replied the doorkeeper. "Tell me, do you know how to weave baskets?"

 

"I've never woven a basket in my life. Why? What does that have to do with wisdom?"

 

"We weave baskets here. You will need to weave baskets to stay."

 

So the seeker stayed, having no idea how to weave baskets, but watched, and asked questions, and learned. After some time, the seeker's baskets were fine and wonderful. The doorkeeper returned to the seeker.

 

"Did you find what you were looking for?" the doorkeeper asked.

 

"I know how to weave a basket now. So if I find some wisdom lying around, I have something to put it in.”

 

“Oh,” replied the doorkeeper, “well, then, I have a question for you."

 

The seeker waited, wondering if this would be the question of all questions that would unlock the hidden treasury of wisdom.

The doorkeeper asked the seeker, "Do you know how to grow mustard greens?”

 

“I’ve never grown a mustard green in my life!” replied the seeker.

 

“We grow mustard greens here. You’ll need to join the others to stay and find wisdom.”

 

So the seeker stayed, having no idea how to grow mustard greens and more than a little suspicious that this was some trick the community was playing just to get some free labor. But after a while, the seeker was too busy learning how to grow mustard greens.

 

“Did you find what you were looking for?” the doorkeeper asked.

 

“I know how to weave a basket and to grow mustard greens to put into the basket. But I am not sure about wisdom yet.”

 

“Well then,” said the doorkeeper,  “I have just one question for you…”

 

“Wait!” said the seeker. “Whatever it is, I’m not sure I want to learn any thing new! I understand that we have to be ready to learn, and it takes time to learn well just as with a basket or growing mustard greens. I understand that others have plenty to teach. This is the way we grow in wisdom, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes,” said the doorkeeper. “But do you know how to make garlic and greens soup?”

 

“You’re jesting. Of course I know how to make garlic and greens soup! I learned from my grandparents and my parents! I come from a village famous for its soup!”

 

“Excellent!!” smiled the doorkeeper. “Then would you mind teaching us?”

 

Valentines & Steadfast Love

The next day and a half, panic will grip the hearts of many: will the expressions of love we offer be acceptable to the ones we give our hearts to? Yes, Valentine's Day is Tuesday, the festival of flowers and chocolate and cards. It is a day of declaring love and recommitting to our relational promises. It is a day of judgment.

Let me share this wisdom: the relationship continued or broken on the strength of what is or isn't offered on Valentine's Day is not in good health. That's a relationship that is living in constant testing, multiplying conditions of what each person must do and meet to keep it going.

Loving perfectly may be outside our human capacity, but there is a vast difference between loving well and manipulating people with tests that are called proof of love. How will you care for and grow in steadfast love in your existing relationships?

Steadfast love shows itself every day, in thousands and millions of ways, from refraining from berating one's partner in life to a kind touch in passing. Steadfast love calls us back to forgiveness, invites us daily into generosity, and keeps opening our hearts when we would really be far more comfortable closed and afraid. Steadfast love is most evident when we are most challenged, least feeling able to be loving, but we stay the course and keeping loving anyway -- that's why we call it "steadfast" and not "fleeting". 

 

Steadfast love belongs as a spiritual practice and human possibility to all of us. Steadfast love is not limited to our partners, our families, or our friends. The Bible teaches in fact that the surest proof of our capacity for steadfast love and way to grow it is how we welcome and care for strangers and for our neighbors (only a handful of exampes: Gen. 18:1-5, Deut. 10:19, Leviticus 19:34, Book of Ruth, Matt. 25:35, Hebrews 13:2.)

This Valentine's Day - and every day - how will you and those you already love be caring for strangers and attending to the dreams and cares of your neighbors?