Sermon for Sunday, April 29, 2007Soul Foodby Rev. Cindy Bates |
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Scripture: Psalm 51:10-12
Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.1 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God? what is good and acceptable and perfect.2 Have you had any good soul food recently? Now, I am not talking about that great little Korean restaurant down on 6th Street in Denver. I am not even talking about that awesome gumbo John Mann made for the Mardi Gras Youth Auction on Friday night. Nor am I talking about that health food bar I was eating the other day that claimed it was so good for my body, mind and spirit, that if I ate it, I might have an irresistible urge to hum. I really would like to know what you do for soul food? What feeds your soul, your spirit? We live in a culture that sometimes feels obsessed with taking care of our bodies… how we should exercise, what we should eat. We stress the importance of education and taking care of our minds. None of us would argue that isn’t a good idea. But how often do we really engage in conversation about what we are doing to feed and nurture our spirits? The next time you are at a party or sitting at table with friends, listen to the conversation and observe what is discussed that might have anything to do with the spiritual well-being of those present. I think it is almost a “taboo” subject for most of our population, because we are afraid it is too personal. Or it is too close to talking about religion, a subject that can get too controversial. For whatever reason, it is not a very important discussion topic for most. Not talking about our spiritual well-being maybe isn’t all that significant but what if it means we are a people who are not doing much about it either. Now I know, it may seem that I am “preaching to the choir” here. If you were not interested in nurturing your spiritual self why would you even show up in church? And, after all, don’t we give you plenty of opportunity to nurture your spirit in this place with all of worship services and classes and service opportunities? I hope so! But sometimes I get concerned that we come to a place like St. Andrew where we can talk about such things related to our spiritual lives, issues that are important to us, things that really matter, but then we don’t know how to continue the conversation in our homes or in our workplace or when we find ourselves apart from this community. Life has taught us so very well that we need to compartmentalize… maybe even to the point of “what happens in church, stays in church.” Even as I reflect on what occurs when we gather here at St. Andrew to be intentional about nurturing our spirituality, we often talk more about external situations rather than what is really going on within us. It is always easier to talk about circumstances rather than grappling with what we really feel. Parker Palmer, in his book, A Hidden Wholeness, speaks of our nature as human beings as being very reluctant to be self revealing. He says, “Afraid that our inner light will be extinguished or our inner darkness exposed, we hide our true identities from each other. In the process, we become separated from our own souls. We end up living divided lives, so far removed from the truth we hold within that we cannot know the ‘integrity that comes from being what we are.’” When was the last time you really answered the question: “How is it with your soul?” My passion with this subject was forever instilled within me by my friend, Don. We met at a Two Year Academy for Spiritual Formation that was meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. Many of you have heard me talk about the experience. The Academy is a program for clergy and laity to come together to be very intentional about prayer and worship and nurturing individual spirituality. Don was a minister serving in a lovely little town in Michigan, so we “Michiganders” had lots of things to talk about. He loved jazz and was a gourmet cook and the kind of guy that made you glad you could call him “friend.” We were assigned to the same small covenant group that met together several times over the two year period. After the Academy ended, that small group of us tried to stay in touch by writing and calling, even though we were spread all over the Mid-West. But you know how it goes. You get busy. More immediate things crowd into your schedule. Long distant relationships are hard to maintain. What we didn’t know was our friend Don started struggling with depression and he went through a period of “dark night of the soul.” And, one October morning I got a call from Don’s wife. He had taken his own life. When the horrible shock of Don’s death began to settle into the awful reality of the loss, we discovered that Don had left a note that had a message that was especially poignant for his clergy friends. He said, “Never miss an opportunity to ask one another, ‘How is it with your soul.” It is such an important question. Even if I were not an ordained clergy who was expected to ask such a question, I pray I will never stop inquiring about the spiritual well-being of those around me. Both of our scriptures this morning speak to the essence of who we are as spiritual beings. It is paramount that we nurture and care for our spirits. I have always loved that wonderful line by theologian and philosopher Teilhard de Chardin when he said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Why is that so hard for us to grasp? Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast states our ability to compartmentalize or ignore our spirituality when he says, “Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that spirituality is a separate department of life, the penthouse of our existence. But, rightly understood, it is a vital awareness that pervades all realms of our being.” Just as Paul said, “If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body….” Our spirituality cannot be separated from who we are. I could probably convince you it would be a good thing to invest in something for your physical well-being, like say a place that advertised “24 Hour Fitness”. What would it take for us to invest in paying attention to our spirituality each moment of each of our days? When we are not paying attention to feeding our soul, we start running on empty and then it is impossible to see the world around us in holy, sacred ways. Last week when we talked about Paul’s conversion experience on the Damascus Road, we saw how everything changed for Paul in terms of how he saw things around him. Because he had experienced God relating to him, loving him into a new purpose and meaning for his life, he allowed that experience to permeate his being and be the Source that nourished his spirit even in some of the most harrowing, trying circumstances in life. For Paul, nothing in life was separate from his relationship with God. Because of that relationship he was transformed into seeing things from a spiritual perspective as opposed to seeing things from a very human perspective. He experienced “communion” with God. The other day a friend of mine said, “Communion is when the common ordinary moments of our day give way to union with God.” How would our lives be different if we really believed that kind of transformation could be possible for us? A few days ago, Laura Dravenstott introduced me to the music of Peter Mayer. I have come to think of Peter and his music in the same way I think of Carrie Newcomer and her ability to help us see the sacred in the most ordinary moments of our days. (You see I really do not want you to miss her concert with us next weekend! She’s wonderful!) Peter sings a song called Holy Now, and I have asked Tim Dwyer to come and sing it for us. For me, the words of this song speak profoundly of how I believe God desires us to not only see, but to experience life in all its fullness. Holy Now by Peter Mayer |
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When I was a boy, each week
When I was in Sunday school
Wine from water is not so small |
When holy water was rare at best It barely wet my fingertips But now I have to hold my breath Like I’m swimming in a sea of it It used to be a world half there Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down But I walk it with a reverent air ‘Cause everything is holy now Everything, everything Everything is holy now Read a questioning child’s face This morning, outside I stood |
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I do not want any of us to live in a world that is only “half there”
because we are not paying attention to who we really are and who we
are called to be. But I do believe we will only be “half there” if
we stop short of nurturing, caring for our spiritual selves. I am
not talking about becoming some pious person who always has a pat
answer for what it means to be in a relationship with God. I am not
saying that we should be so into caring for our individual spirits
that we become self-absorbed in finding our own spiritual path.
Quite the opposite, I believe we need one another if we are really
going to nourish our spiritual selves, in the context of a very
complex world that often says we should be doing otherwise. We need
one another to ask the important questions… to call one another to a
spiritual accountability… to remind ourselves about what is really
important in this life… to remember what it really means to follow
Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.
I love the words of Evelyn Underhill, modern day mystic and wise sage, when she articulates what it means to be a spiritual being. “The spiritual life does not begin in an arrogant attempt at some peculiar kind of other – worldliness, a rejection of ordinary experience. It begins in the humble recognition that human things can be very holy, full of God.” What do you need to claim who you are? What do you need to nourish your spirit? Nora Gallagher, in her book, Things Seen and Unseen, tells the story of a desert monk, Abbot Lot, who was trying with all of his might to be holy. In his struggle he went to Abbot Joseph for advice and said, “Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, my meditation and contemplative silence, and according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts. Now, what more should I do?” Abbot Joseph rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven his fingers became like ten lamps and he said, “Why not be totally changed into fire.” I believe if we are paying attention to what nourishes our spirits, we will be transformed, maybe even set on fire. I cannot say what your spirit needs. I cannot discern for what your soul hungers, but I really believe together we can make it happen. God desires that none of us should go hungry. |
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