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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
...and Linda A. Johnson
Every now and then I have moments when I am just blown away with what I can only describe as a sense of wonder at the Mystery and beauty of this thing we call “life.” I’m not sure what to make of it, but it seems to be happening more often for me as the years go by. It’s just a gentle awareness of what a wild and privileged ride it is to be a human being. To be alive in a human body for whatever time we have on earth. To have human senses and capacities. To be aware that every breath is a gift, that every bird, every tree, every aspect of Creation is a potential message from Beyond. To be stunned by the beauty of a flower or the exquisite splendor of a color or the miracle of freshly squeezed orange juice. To have your heart broken wide open by your love for a child, a grandchild, a beloved pet, a long-term friendship, or a brand new friendship, To just be in awe that the acorn contains the oak tree, and that everything that is, including we ourselves, is made of stardust.
Now I know how obnoxious it can be when someone’s “having a moment” and waxing on poetically about the ineffable and the sublime and you’re not there at all! Forgive me if you’re feeling a zillion miles away from wonder right now. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not really.
Because I love these moments. They stun me with joy. They take my breath away and give it back again. They make me feel fully alive. They bring me to my knees with gratitude.
Richard Rohr often says and writes that there are two things that can break a human heart open to the fullness of the Divine Presence and to the threshold moments or “liminal spaces” through which we step into our own next phases of spiritual growth and awakening. These two things are great love and great pain. I’ve been around long enough now to have experienced them both in plenty of different forms. He’s right. Great love and great pain are indeed the gateways. Of course the love is more fun and lots more pleasant. But it also takes us to places of extreme vulnerability and usually brings all our “stuff” to the surface. As Rohr puts it, "relationships don't solve our problems; they reveal them." And the pain, well, it’s a powerful catalyst that plays a crucial role in getting us where we need to go. Someone once told me about a book called, Pain: The Gift No One Wants. I guess I didn’t really want it either because I never read the book, but I obviously resonated with the title. Pain is ultimately one of Life’s greatest gifts. It’s part of the package that contains wonder. And yes I do mean that. But back to wonder…
One of the greatest sources of wonder for me comes from stopping now and then to reflect on all the little chance encounters and events and synchronicities that can completely change the course of our own lives and countless others. “If I’d taken a different way home that day…” “If we hadn’t taken that class together…” You know what I mean…
Trish Kalhagen of our congregation was taking a walk one day in the woods. She crossed paths with a woman named Dona Palmer. They started talking. Trish wound up inviting Dona to join our church’s week day morning zoom devotional group. Dona did and has been with us for a couple of years now. When she was a young woman Dona spent several years in a convent preparing to possibly live as a Catholic nun. She made a good friend there named Linda. That’s Linda in the picture above. Dona and Linda both eventually left the convent and got married and have lived deep and rich lives of loving service. They stayed in touch. Linda wrote amazing poetry that was never published. When Linda died a few years ago, Dona eventually felt called to compile some of her beloved friend's poems and publish them. This was quite a labor of love as you can imagine, but Dona saw it through and the book was recently released. Dona mailed me a copy, and it is absolutely incredible.
I’m going to end this week’s “Few Words” by sharing one of Linda’s poems with you that just might speak to you deeply, as it did to me and others in the Morning Devotional Group.
These random crossings of paths in which we sensate beings made of stardust strike up a conversation using the miracle of human language, and then proceed to speak to each other’s hearts, minds, and souls, and enter into communities that because circles of support and encouragement in which sorrows are shared and joys are celebrated...
It's all just so darn wonder-full.
Grace and Peace to you all,
Bryan
“Silently, I Watch Them Unfold”
By Linda A. Johnson
Silently,
I watch then unfold.
From little girl to woman,
Little boy to man,
they struggle with love’s questions—
What color is love?
What shapes does it come in?
Where is it born?
How does it grow?
Slowly,
so very slowly,
they learn that
love is not a gift captured in cardboard and
red ribbon.
It isn’t a butterfly caught in the fingertips of a
fearful child.
It isn’t the magical imagery of our
silvery
glittery
dreams.
Love
(they learn)
Is a knife that
cuts our hearts into a thousand
tears—giving us so many more pieces of itself
to share with the world.
Love is a broken
rainbow
that cracks our lives in two—and then
becomes a bridge to a world
much larger than just the two of us.
And, finally, they learn that love is a silent
night pushing us, alone and solitary, into the stars that fill the
heavens with
God's love.
I think, in the end, that love is God’s Christmas in our lives.
lajohnson,12/23/03
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