“Often there are things on the horizon that point logically to a transformation of society, especially for the underprivileged, but he cannot co-operate with them because he is spiritually and intellectually confused. He mistakes fear for caution and caution for fear. Now, if his mind is free and his spirit unchained, he can work intelligently and courageously for a new day.” (Howard Thurman, “Jesus and the Disinherited”)

“This impulse at the heart of Christianity is the human will to share with others what one has found meaningful to oneself elevated to the height of a moral imperative.” (Howard Thurman, “Jesus and the Disinherited”)

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:31ff)

I find this statement by Howard Thurman to be powerfully indicting to someone like me who has always worried about having enough in my life. With all the times I have worried about such things, I have never had to go without — I have never been in a situation where I would have been in any manner shape or form called “wanting”.

However, I have found myself in many situations looking for unusual and, many have said “irresponsible” ways to share out of my abundance. And yet, I feel that this has not been enough when I read the statement “…share with others what one has found meaningful to oneself elevated to the height of a moral imperative.”

It is a moral imperative for all Christians to give to G-d what belongs to G-d – and the way we can do this every day is to share with others the things we have found most meaningful to us. We must work hard freeing our mind and our spirit from the things that bind us to this earth – things like stuff, and money, and other possessions. The more we work for the betterment of our fellow humans, the more we understand Matthew 25:31ff.

Pastor Dave

“The way to dissolve our resistance to life is to meet it face to face. When we feel resentment because the room is too hot, we could meet the heat and feel its fieriness and its heaviness. When we feel resentment because the room is too cold, we could meet the cold and feel its iciness and its bite. When we want to complain about the rain, we could feel its wetness instead. When we worry because the wind is shaking our windows, we could meet the wind and hear its sound. Cutting our expectations for a cure is a gift we can give ourselves. There is no cure for hot and cold. They will go on forever. After we have died, the ebb and flow will still continue.” (Pema Chodron, “When Things Fall Apart”)

“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:8-12)

Pema Chodron has hit upon a message – one I have been trying to get across in my devotions for the last week or so. That message is: learn to lean into the challenges that life presents us. When we learn to meet the challenges of our life “face to face”, we learn more about ourselves and about life and about our faith than we ever will if we just shrink from these challenges. As Chodron says, “After we have died, the ebb and flow will still continue.” As I tell my soccer players, we cannot play the game if we are backpedaling – that is true for soccer, it is true for life. If we turn our backs, the game goes on whether we want it to or not.

 Have you ever seen a baseball player run the bases backward? Have you ever watched a tennis player face the wrong way while trying to play the game? Of course not. I have found that one of the hardest skills to teach my daughter’s soccer team is the “header”. When there is a corner kick, it is the most opportune time to use their head to score a goal. The trick is to get over the fear of the ball hitting them, and to lean into the opportunity to use their head to connect with the ball.

 Chodron says again: “…no matter what the size, color, or shape is, the point is still to lean toward the discomfort of life and see it clearly rather than to protect ourselves from it.” (Pema Chodron, “When Things Fall Apart” p. 25)

 We must lean into any effort that is worth putting our time and effort if we hope to make any progress – it is true in our sporting life – it is true in our day-to-day lives – it is true in our faith lives as well. It is the best way become “fully known” with our trust in G-d.

 Pastor Dave