Puppies, Love and God

Praying for the laity and clergy of the Mountain Sky Conference as we prepare ourselves to gather for Sunday worship.

When I was at Glide, one of the teachers talked about how he keeps a scrapbook filled with pictures of puppies. When a child begins to act out, the teacher pulls out his scrapbook and shows it to the child. Almost immediately, the behavior of the child would change: the child would let go of anger or feelings of distress and begin to soften. In no time at all, the child would be able to reengage with the class.

I’ve thought about the teacher’s tactic often. What is it about puppies that disarms and delights us?

I once attended a lecture on spirituality and love. The speaker talked about how everyone craves love, but all too often makes the mistake of seeking it “out there”. As the song goes, “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” But the love you feel is not coming from out there. It’s coming from within you. For instance, the speaker said, when you see a puppy and feel love, it’s not coming from the puppy. The love is already in you and has been released.

I John 4: 7-12 reminds us:

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.”

“If we love, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.”

There is within each of us a wellspring of love, whose source is God. How can we, as the Body of Christ, help one another release this love that dwells in each of us? In an age where anger, hatred, and division seem to have the upper hand, how can we hold up a mirror to one another, reminding us that we are made in God’s image, that God dwells within us, and that inside us there is a limitless supply of love?

Spirituality for Our Times

I write this from a retreat center south of Denver. Following the conclusion of a weeklong cabinet meeting, I stayed on to enter into a period of silence. I recognized within my soul a hunger to be in quiet communion with God as I ponder our life together as a new conference.

My time has included periods of prayer, long walks, rest and reading. As I browsed the retreat center’s library, “Wisdom Distilled From the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today” by Sister Joan Chittister seemed to literally fall into my hands. It is an exploration of St. Benedict’s Rule, formulated in 5^th century Rome. Chittister beautifully breaks it down into guidelines for our present age.

Chittister wisely notes: “Spirituality is more than churchgoing. It is possible to go to church and never develop a spirituality at all. Spirituality is the way in which we express a living faith in a real world. Spirituality is the sum total of the attitudes and actions that define our faith.”

I have been reflecting on that paragraph ever since reading it, as I consider that across our conference, Sunday Schools, Bible Studies, Prayer Circles, and Adult Classes are getting back into gear after a summer hiatus. As Sunday School teachers pull out curriculum for our young people, what do we hope will be transmitted to them? Are we simply happy to offer some familiar Bible stories or are we helping our young connect spiritually in ways that will assist them as they grow to adulthood? What spiritual practices do we teach that can help them in their daily lives? Are our Adult Ed and Bible Study classes places where we attend mainly to socialize or have a good debate, or are we helping one another wrestle with God, seek a deeper understanding of scripture, open ourselves up to a fuller prayer life, in order to help us connect what we learn in class together to the demands of 21^st century life, where there never seems to be enough time, where health problems arise, where loved ones break our hearts, where we think we hunger for more but what we really hunger for is meaning in the midst of it all? If spirituality is the way we express a living faith in the real world, are we giving one another the tools to face a challenging world? How are you expressing a living faith in the real world?

Our time of worship, too, ought to be a time of individual and corporate spiritual growth (because communities share a spirituality as well).  Our worship should help us not just regain a spiritual balance so we can face the demands of the new week, but should challenge us to greater connection with God and one another. It is this connection that needs constant tending if our spirituality will be mature enough to help us navigate the complexities and crushing disappointments of life.

May you find your spirituality stretched in new ways tomorrow and may you bring that newfound wisdom into all you do in the coming week.

SPIRITUAL CROSS TRAINING

For the past two weeks, our TV has been tuned to the Olympics, watching the winter sports event from S. Korea. My love of the Olympics began in elementary school, when one of my teachers introduced the event to us. I love watching young people from all over the world compete together in a spirit of good will.

There was a tipping point, over the years, when the athletes were no longer older than me. This was not a happy moment! Instead of dreaming about being an Olympic athlete (doesn’t everyone?!), there came a time when I “aged out” of the Olympics (except for maybe the luge). The Olympics were reserved for younger people who were dedicated in their commitment to better themselves in order to be the best in their sport. Once they reached for the gold, it seems they either became Olympic commentators, coaches, or simply slipped out of the public eye.

As United Methodists, we know we don’t peak early in our discipleship. John Wesley reminded us, we are “moving on to perfection.” But for many of us, our continued growth as Christians slowed sometime early in our lives. We have forgotten that every day is an opportunity to deepen our spirituality, expand the sharing of God’s love, and follow more closely the ways of Jesus.

This is the season of Lent, a time to prepare ourselves for Easter through prayer, fasting, study and self-examination. It is a time of Cross Training, of preparing ourselves for the risks of discipleship by committing ourselves more fully to Christ and community, no matter what it might cost us.

Whenever you enter worship, be prepared for a spiritual workout. May your soul be stretched. May your heart discover that it can hold still more love than you thought possible. May you fall head over heels in love with God all over again, and then leave to put into practice what you’ve learned.

The Christian walk is rigorous. It is demanding. It at times feels as if we are pushed beyond what is comfortable or even possible. But keep your eyes on the cross, and then the empty tomb. With God, nothing is impossible. Dare to be your very best, for God’s sake. Day after day after day, dare to be your very best self.