Pentecost: Leah

 We are in Ordinary Time in the church year with no major feasts. It’s also the heat of summer and that can make us feel like we don’t have any energy. Day follows day in a similar pattern. Ordinary time—day in and day out, the same things happen. It can be rather numbing.

I wonder if that’s how Leah felt. After all, she was not the pretty younger sister. She was the responsible, older sister with ‘lovely eyes.’ She worked to keep her brother Laban’s household running smoothly. Then as the wife of Jacob, she did the same. Day after day she did what was expected of her as the older sister, the one in charge, and the one who could take care of any problem.

Being the ‘responsible one’ can be quite a heavy load. You don’t want to disappoint anyone so you keep trudging forward ‘doing your duty’ day after day. The routine can blur our sight, so we don’t see God. Yet, God is there whether we take time to notice or not. What can Leah’s daily life tell us about where God shows up in our own daily lives as we live up to expectations of all kinds? And how that might be different than we expect?

Expectations are something we all have. We have expectations of ourselves. Expectations of God. Expectations of our family and friends. We also try to meet the expectations of our employers, children, friends, etc. All those expectations can pile up pretty high, as they did for Leah. She had Jacob, her sons, the rest of the tribal group, and her own self-expectations. Think about your own expectations and how you try to measure up.

How do we release some of those expectations? Jesus invites us to be yoked with him. He says Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. We are to share the burden with Jesus just as two oxen share the load of a plow or wagon. What can be too much for one animal, can easily be pulled by two. In the same way, the work that feels too heavy by ourselves can be shared with God and with others. Jesus promises rest for your souls when we don’t try to do everything alone. Just like Naomi learned last week, it is the community that upholds us in the hard times of life.

The Pulpit Commentary notes Jesus is inviting us. The Commentary says, “there is work to be done, therefore enter on it. The yoke is the service that Christ gives us to do [and] that Christ speaks of it as though almost identical with his yoke.” We each have gifts to use in the daily work and it goes better when God is part of the work.

Leah may have found her work tiresome because she didn’t recognize that in the serving of others she was doing God’s work. Brother Lawrence is famous for his words of wisdom found in Practicing the Presence of God. He found joy in finding God in all the parts of his life as a monk. After his death Father Joseph de Beaufort, of the monastery, compiled the book noting, "[Brother Lawrence] had always been governed by love, without selfish views; and that having resolved to make the love of GOD the end of all his actions, he had found reasons to be well satisfied with his method. That he was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts."

How many of us are willing to pick up a straw, or piece of trash, or open a door for the love of God? I have to admit I don’t really think of those things as being actions that show God’s love. However, when you stop and think about it…anything that makes life better for someone else is the hand of God.

If we take seriously being yoked, and co-workers, with Christ then truly anything we do that moves the Kingdom of Beloved Community forward is God’s work and God is present.

Finding Holy Ground: Touch

Were you more aware of the smells around you last week? Have you been more conscious of seeing and hearing God in all things? There is Holy Ground all around if we can just let ourselves experience it. As Barbara Brown Taylor notes, “Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.”  (Altar in the World)

And so, we come to the fifth of our senses: the sense of touch. Have you ever stopped to think about how many things you touch each day? We touch the alarm clock when it goes off. We touch the sheets and toothbrush. We touch the coffee pot and cup. We touch the keyboard and the cell phone. We touch the hand of a friend or spouse. We touch the fruit in our lunch. The list is endless. How many times are you really aware of what you are touching? Do you take time to feel the texture of the skin of the orange, or wrap your hands around the warmth of the cup of tea? Do you pause to caress the cheek of your child or feel the smooth fur of your pet?

In times of crisis, the touch of a hand can be just as important, or even more important than words. Reaching out to touch and hold someone who is ill, or grieving, or sad is a powerful way to give comfort, and to be the hand of God. Touch brings Holy Ground to that moment. 

For me, I’m afraid that usually it’s more a cursory touch and much more often it’s really absent-minded. I don’t necessarily feel the steering wheel in my hands or the warm water when I’m washing dishes. My mind is somewhere else entirely. Brother Lawrence (1614-91) is famous for his words recorded in Practicing the Presence of God. Despite being assigned to washing dishes in the kitchen, he took time to really find God in the work. He touched God in the dishes and noted, “We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.”

There is a well-known song (Holy Ground) that reminds us

This is holy ground

We're standing on holy ground
For the Lord is present
And where He is is holy
This is holy ground
We're standing on holy ground
For the Lord is present
And where He is is holy

These are holy hands
He's given us holy hands
He works through these hands
And so these hands are holy
These are holy hands
He's given us holy hands
He works through these hands
And so these hands are holy

These are holy lips
He's given us holy lips
He speaks through these lips
And so these lips are holy
These are holy lips
He's given us holy lips
He speaks through these lips
And so these lips are holy

(1982 Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.), Birdwing Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

We may think that we don’t have the time, or the concentration necessary to realize that we touch God every time we use our hands. I wonder if we did pause to really touch a few things, if we’d find ourselves touching the hand of God. The well known image from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel can be a reminder that God touched Adam and touches us. It is that touch that gives life! Why don’t you try this week holding and really touching something, or someone? Feel the smoothness or roughness. 

We find the Holy Ground of God in all our senses, as we’ve been discovering over the past few weeks. Next time, we’ll move on into finding the Holy Ground in ourselves and others.

Easter's Special Grace

When the women visited the tomb on the first Easter morning, they didn’t expect anything more than grief. They were prepared to anoint the dead body of their beloved Teacher and Friend. Instead, they were met by the Risen Lord. Their lives were transformed.

If we take seriously our Easter experience, we too can be surprised and transformed into a new way of living. We can be ‘Easter people’ living into a life filled with grace, even while we are in the midst of the day-to-day living.

Christian mystics through the centuries and Celtic Christianity call us to see that there is Holy in each and every aspect of our lives. For Celtic Christians, the day was imbued with prayer to and interaction with the Trinity. Brother Lawrence is credited with praising God even in the menial kitchen tasks of scraping the pans and washing the dishes. He was able to do that because he understood that God is present and revealed in every second, every action. When we are able to see our day-to-day tasks in that way, we very well could find our lives transformed.

There can be many distractions every day. We may not see the Risen Lord in front of us. Mary did not recognize Jesus at first. She thought he was the gardener. Our own pre-conceived ideas, messages from our past, or from society, may make our vision blurry. I’ve borrowed some topics from other bloggers, and added some of my own thoughts, as tools to help us learn to be aware and see God in all things.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll look at some ways to renew our souls and open our eyes as well as nurturing not just ourselves, but one another. Come along on the journey to ‘recharge’, ‘play’, ‘mentor’, ‘speak’, and many other topics.

One way to start being transformed by prayer like using this Celtic Trinity Blessing from the Carmina Gadelica:

God’s blessing be yours,
and well may it befall you;
Christ’s blessing be yours,
and well be you entreated;
Spirit’s blessing be yours,
and well spend you your lives,
each day that you rise up,
each night that you lie down.