BIRTHING

Up on its scintillating surface 

this day, like all others, appears to be about 

the places we go, things we do, people we see.

But that’s just its craftily engineered veneer.

Deep beneath its sensorial skin, 

today is really about birthing.

Our mother gave us physical birth 

along with something else, something 

equally loving, equally astounding.

She put the oxygen mask on first, 

showed us how birthing is done,

showed us that it can be done. 

Note that none of our birth

was actually in our control, 

--and for good reason!

Knowing neither what was happening, 

nor what we were doing, 

we’d likely have botched it badly

or worse, knowing human nature, 

we may have opted not to go through with it. 

After all, what was your first reaction? 

You cried.

And what of the new year? 

What will we do with this gift

from the Mother of all mothers,

born of the most primal habit 

of the universe: giving birth. 

No, the places, things, people:

They are not the why of our being,

but the what, the when, the where,

and the how of our own giving of birth.

The why? The why of our ways 

is to carry on what Mother conceived,

to give birth to life, to love, to joy.

NOW IS A GOOD TIME

However you spent the Christmas holiday this year…

Now, before the global glow is gone…now that we've gotten a little distance from it but the memories are still strong…now is a good time to think about everything that happened (or didn’t that we’d hoped would) and ask ourselves…

Was I the kind of person I aspire to be? Did I say or do anything I wish now I hadn’t? Did I use the opportunities at hand to convey genuine kindness, respect and maturity? If not, why not? Really, why not? (We’re at our growing edge here.) And please note: I’m not suggesting that others didn’t contribute to any discord that may have occurred. I’m saying reflecting on someone else’s role won’t help us--or them!--one iota as much as considering our own role and reasoning.

In short, let’s ask ourselves, “What was I thinking?”

It’s not a good time to take down the tree or the trimmings. It’s not a good time to forget all the fun. And it’ll never be a good time to let go of the laughter, the stories, and the gaiety galore. But now is a good time to let go of the petty little disagreements and disappointments over the things that didn’t go just the way we’d hoped. Now is a good time to cling to the beautiful little serendipities, the ones that no one saw coming but everyone loved. Now is a good time to learn from our own less-than-helpful thinking.

No need to wait for New Year’s to make decisions about being the kind of person we want to be. Let’s be that person right now! Now, while the memories are still fresh, let's give ourselves the gift only we can give: the opportunity to learn from ourselves.

Now’s a good time to remember the Walton family doesn’t exist.

TODAY. LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT. LET’S TAKE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.

THIS CHRISTMAS

We unpack decorations, we light up the tree,

all the time thinking how happy we’ll be,

when we finally sit down to savor it all,

the laughter, the love, the sweet folderol.

But what is the “this” of this Christmas for you,

What is the bliss beneath all that you’ll do?

For some it’s the glitz, the glitter, the glam,

For some it’s the hustle, for some it’s the ham, 

For some it’s the chance to make merry, be wild, 

For some it’s the shepherds, the manger, the Child. 

It’s hearing a story as old as the hills

while gathered ‘round carols in halls decked with frills.

But what about those for whom Christ isn’t real,

If Christmas is Christmas we care how they feel.

For Christian and Jew, Muslim and None, 

all celebrations of life, of love, are but one.

Let’s ponder with Mary the bigger "Yes!" here;

true Christmas bliss can be shared far and near.

Isn’t this just what our world needs today,

and isn’t this “this” what Christ came to convey?

So let’s gift each “other” all the peace love can bring, 

now that’s a song even angels can sing.

WELLBEING

“Write one good sentence.”

This was Ernest Hemingway’s answer to the question, “How do you write a book?”

For about a year and a half I’ve been reaching out to you twice a week with these posts, prayers and poems. My goal has been (and remains) to focus on the one subject that I think has the transformative power to positively (and instantaneously) shape e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g else. That one subject: thinking about how we think.

Most of the time, most of us don’t do this. 

Notice, I seldom write about current events or opinion in mass or social media. In part, I’m steering clear of the divisive or derisive. But in particular, I steer clear here in order to focus all our brain power (yours and mine) on what lies beneath the thinking that up on the world’s surface, is revered as the reigning wisdom. 

Question: What is the singular purpose of every sermon or political speech you’ve ever heard? Answer: To shape how you think. 

Unfortunately, both politics and religion already have or are quickly coming to a screeching halt as either the means or the messengers of authentic wellbeing--a wellbeing we don’t just desire--A WELLBEING THAT IS EVERY ANIMATE AND INANIMATE BEING'S BIRTHRIGHT. Sadly, I say this even of Christianity--and I’m one of its pastors.

One of my favorite sayings is…”If you see a snake, never mind where it came from!”

Never mind the individuals who espouse the thinking that got us here, both politics and religion are being co-opted by long, sharp, ego-infused fangs of thinking that are blatantly unsurvivable for any but the very most privileged perpetrators of their poison.

Learning to write one good sentence is something we begin doing as toddlers with “Me want Mommy.” or “No sleep!” But it does not and cannot end there. Neither can learning how to think. Rather, it’s a commitment we must--and can--continuously make to ourselves and each other for the rest of our lives.

Just as a single “good sentence” is the secret to writing a whole book, thinking a single “good” thought upon another, and another, is the secret to transforming the whole of our thinking, feeling, acting…our living.  

There, I did it again! We pastors tend to talk a lot before we say anything. Guilty as charged! But I love writing to you (whoever you are) about these things and will continue to do so. In return, please remember, your wisdom is welcome here…and in the world. 

Life. Let’s think about it. Together.

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.

COGNITIVE RECLINE

It’s coming, I can tell, the older I get, the less I remember, the more I forget. It’s a gradual reclining, like my favorite chair, that goes with graying and losing my hair. I still can recall all my grandkids names, but I suck at playing their video games. That roll of their eyes I’ve learned to ignore, But oh, how I hate when they insist I snore. And never mind asking, “ Where are the keys?” Where’d I park the car? Help me! Please! I had more to say. But what? Can’t remember. Will someone please tell me, are we in December?! Well there, I’ve fessed up to my very worst fear, yet I can’t complain, most of me’s still here. Cognitive decline? No, not there quite yet. But cognitive recline? That’s a pretty sure bet. I still think I’m ingenious though others think me daff. So I’ll let my lucidity go, just don’t take my laugh.

FIRST AUDIENCE

FIRST AUDIENCE

Something funny’s going on here.

I write these words (hopefully) for your benefit, right? (My ego likes to think “I’ve got this one!”) But when I honestly ask, “How do they apply to my life?” sometimes I get this uncanny “custom tailored” (read: Gulp!) feeling. For instance, when I finished writing “Unstick,” I felt like I heard a voice saying, “Jer, this is precisely the kind of thinking YOU will personally benefit from greatly!” It’s as if I’m my own first audience.

And that’s my point. When it comes to our thoughts, even though we may think we’re directing them toward someone else--like it or not--WE ARE OUR OWN FIRST AUDIENCE. 

This is what’s so wonderful about wisdom: No need to argue over where it came from--God, parents, universe, life, subconscious, soul, experience, Holy Spirit, divine spark, life force--all of the above. Fact is, it’s here. And it’s in each of us. Further, being wisdom, it just makes good organic sense that it must speak TO us before it can speak THROUGH us--in order to be authentic-- which it cannot not be.

I’m not talking here about our self-critical voice (the one that likes to chop us up into bite size pieces) or to the voices of the world on their constant creep. The good news is, we know this voice when we hear it. Softly, compassionately, intimately, it only speaks truth--and only in love. 

Yes, we do need to stop everything to hear this still small voice. But isn’t wisdom worth it? And besides, isn’t it easier to hear the hard stuff from deep within our own loving selves rather than from somewhere else?

Nothing funny about that.

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT BEING A GOOD FIRST AUDIENCE.

RE-MIND

My mind is rambling, 

scrambling to hold on 

to its turf, its tenure, its toys.

It’s tossing me carrot after carrot 

hoping to bait me back to the good ol’ days, 

the good ol’ days of painting by number,

of playing king of the hill and winner takes all,

of producing by the hour, minute, second.

Truthfully? It seems threatened, insecure,

needing to be the one in control of me. 

But my heart is saying to it, 

“Hey, everything’s okay. You can let go. 

You can let me lead. For just the moment. 

He’ll be back before you know it, 

back to leading from his left,

checking his quiver of to do lists,

maintaining his labyrinth of labels.

I just want him for a while. 

I want to feel with him, 

and for him to feel me. 

I want to play pretend with him,

help him color outside his lines again,

and fly like a kite in the true blue sky

on the sweet winds of surrender. And serenity.

I want to re-mind him that he’s already free,

always has been, always will be.” 

UNSTICK

UNSTICK

You know the story.

In the ‘93 movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a frustrated, self-pitying weatherman assigned to shadow the Punxsutawney, PA groundhog. Again. While there, he goes from the initial, if shocking, realization of his situation, to denial, to acceptance and finally, to affirmation. And that’s the movie!

Murray’s Sad Sack story actually sounds a lot like the prodigal son who also “came to his senses” (Luke 15) and whose new life began there in a pigsty the moment he rethought who--and whose--he really was.

What caused the striking and life-liberating transformation in both? It wasn’t a change in their situation. No. It was a change in their thinking about their situation!

Yes, we know this story--because it's our story. It’s ancient and archetypal yet exceedingly relevant today. It begs us to look at our own lives, especially where we feel stuck. Oddly, it’s in the Punxsutawney, PA’s and the pigsties of life where some of our own most authentic and lasting changes begin. Why? BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE WE FINALLY DECIDE TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE'RE THINKING.

Look what can happen when we do.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait till we’re neck deep in a personal disaster. We can proactively think about how we think. And who knows? We may get similar surprising results! We may even discover places we’re stuck and didn’t realize it.

Or, to put it another way, unless you and I think somewhat differently today than we did yesterday, well, it’ll just be another groundhog day.

 

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN UNSTICK OURSELVES.

VISITATION

In the night I had a dream, 

in the dream I was lazing, 

gazing down from miles above,

from miles above this true blue ball.

While I hung there in limbo’s oblivion,

perched on the cusp of space's space,

I saw below a nightcast mountain range

and there, traversing on its wrinkled way, 

I saw a thin line, a Titanium white band

snaking its way down through deep valleys 

and up over high mountain passes.

Then I saw, midway on the skin thin ribbon, 

a super white dot, a spot so white

it shimmered like a sparkler on the 4th.

Suddenly a beam of that white, a stream 

as white as the dancing dot, shot upward

leaving behind it the trail of a tracer. 

And I knew. I knew It was coming for me. 

Then, enveloping my fleshly frame, 

it tractor-beamed me down, down, 

until I became the spot, yes, I became

the sparkling dot on the liquid line, 

that sizzled like a dynamite fuse,

through a darkness thick and creamy.

In the morning meaning came for a visit:

Mine was an out-of-soul experience.

LOGGING

How many specks are there in a log?

When Jesus said, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye,” notice what he didn’t say: ”...take the SPECK out of your own eye. No, he said, “log.” Definitely, LOG.

The moral? Judge ourselves first then, if we have any time, energy or interest left (which we won't), we can focus on the other guy.

But maybe there’s more...

Is he suggesting that we use our natural tendency (read: highly refined practice) toward judging others not to their detriment but to help us identify and work on our own flaws? (Yes, I know I’m on thin ice here. Gulp!) Does each judgment we make instantly offer a rich and readily available treasure trove of boots-on-the-ground intel from which we can learn and grow personally? After all, my interpretation of your words, actions, and motivations may or may not be accurate (frequently not!), but it is a surefire way for me to get to know my own seedy little self--that is, if I dare look in the mirror. (Like I said, thin ice.)

It's actually an empowering message that frees us both and if we choose to practice it, one which will most certainly be relationally transformative as well.

Finally, with his words, “take the log…” Jesus offers both clarity and solidarity: He knows...and wants us to know...we can do this! Yes, it’s work. No, it’s not for the faint of heart. But, at its core, what he’s encouraging here is our wakefulness and mindfulness--our consciousness--for the betterment of all. Besides, he's got our back.

Did somebody say it’s Advent?*

TODAY...AND THROUGHOUT THIS ADVENT SEASON.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S GO LOGGING.

*Advent is the 4-week “season” prior to Christmas that focuses on preparing our hearts to re-celebrate the birth of Jesus. Its theme: Wake up!