Things Have a Way of Working Out: Being Present
“Things Have a Way of Working Out: Be Present”
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B July 15, 2018
Psalm 24 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
First Presbyterian Church of Sandpoint, Idaho
Preached at FPC in La Grande, Oregon as Sabbatical Pulpit Supply
Pastor Andy Kennaly
This summer I’ve been preaching a sermon series called Be(e) Keeping: A Journey Into Contemplative Faith. One year ago, my wife, Shawna and I had just started a three month Sabbatical, which involved travel through parts of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Europe. It was a chance to visit with long-time friends and re-connect with host families, especially in Germany. This summer’s sermon series is a direct result of that Sabbatical experience. Contemplative Faith and inner experience involves honesty, awareness, humility, gentleness, patience, and today we’ll explore being present.
The focus of last summer’s Sabbatical involved three main areas and an over arching theme. One area was Celtic history and Christianity, another involved the Reformation and was timely at the 500th anniversary, while the third area was Franciscan spirituality and exploring the alternative orthodoxy of St. Francis of Assisi. These three main areas and all the travels from Ireland to Italy and everything in between were tied together by the larger theme of Contemplative Prayer through Bee Keeping.
One thing bee keepers know about is the three foot rule. Honey bees know where they live. They can fly five or six miles round trip and still find their home, using the sun and other reference points to make a bee line to and from the hive, and explore other nectar sources along the way. If you move a hive less than three feet at one time, they can still find their way home. If you move a hive more than three feet, bees can get disoriented and lose their way home, eventually dying because they really didn’t pay attention. If you move the hive a long way, like two miles, then the bees come out of the hive, instantly recognize they are in unfamiliar surroundings, so they do some orientation flights to learn the new place. Sabbaticals are like that. Little breaks close to home are helpful, but sometimes you need to get away to break with familiar patterns. Extended time is needed because this process involves patience, and a more focused awareness than business as usual.
During my Sabbatical, the congregation in Sandpoint had a parallel journey, and so, for example, they had a bagpiper at their outdoor service at City Beach on the Sunday we were in Scotland. They hosted a retreat on Celtic Spirituality, tying in themes of our visit to many “thin places” of spiritual depth. They followed our itinerary each Sunday and used a map to show where we were as we journeyed. Although the Sabbatical took place last summer, it’s lessons continue and meaning is discovered in new ways as we gain perspective and appreciation.
This morning, we read scripture from Psalm 24 and Mark’s Gospel, and these bear witness to the mystical journey of life both in an external sense as we look around at the larger world, and an internal sense because at its core, the journey of faith is about heart-perception and inner work. It’s radical in the sense of going to the root of what really matters, rather than staying superficial or surface level to maintain comfort and status quo. Hearing the words, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it…” are only truly absorbed through a stance of humility and openness. That Jesus hears what those busy apostles had done and taught as they were sent out two by two leads to an invitation because having experiences is one thing, but finding meaning and purpose is another. He says,
“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while.”
Perhaps this is one of the first documented attempts at a Sabbatical? They take a boat across the sea into a foreign land. Some lessons cannot be learned at home, in the comfort zone, within patterns that are familiar.
When you look at the itinerary of the Sabbatical we went on last summer, you may wonder where there was time for rest. We basically had several “once in a lifetime experiences” all in a row, back to back over the three months. Travel to Ireland, a retreat at Glenstal Abbey, touring Dublin, visiting the Wicklow Mountains and the Glendalough Hermitage; going to Scotland and renting a canal boat, which is like being in a motor home that floats, and I stood at the tiller navigating at 4 miles an hour for days and days from the Falkirk Wheel to Edinburgh and back, mostly in the rain; touring London for a few days with friends and seeing the KEW Gardens and The Hive Exhibit; visiting Buckfast Abbey in Devon in southwest England within Dartmore National Park; renting a large canal boat with friends to float along the border of England and Whales, visiting World Heritage Sites along the way; taking a ferry across the English Channel from the cliffs of Dover to the Champagne region of France; basing much of our travels from our friend’s home, the Powell family, in southern Germany, and visiting Reformation Exhibits in Wittenberg and Berlin; going on a personalized ApiTour, beekeeping tour to Slovenia, a land of beekeeping, then an overnight train through Munich back to Germany; borrowing our friend’s old motor home and connecting with new friends in Switzerland and hiking the Alps to summer pastures where dairy cows ring those giant bells hanging from their necks, and we visited a cheese maker; driving that old motor home into Italy on the multi-day drive to Assisi, where we spent a few days walking the footsteps of St. Francis, then back to Germany through Austria and a couple gondola rides in Innsbruck to the top of Europe’s steepest ski slope where we hiked through the melting early snow on a sunny September day. Using mostly public transportation we traveled by car, taxi, bus, train, subway, funicular, gondola, boat, bicycle, foot, and airplane; there were lots of places and special people all along the way.
There are so many stories to tell, but let’s focus on one for now. Early in the Sabbatical, renting the first canal boat in Falkirk, Scotland, we received a one-hour orientation on how you drive the boat, how you navigate the locks, and then they said, “You’re on your way” as they point us to the Falkirk Wheel, a multi-million dollar piece of engineering linking the Union Canal with the Clyde-Forth Canal. It’s a rotating boat lift that you float into, either raise or lower by about 8 stories, and then float out of. But it’s also a world heritage site, so there are tourists lining the dock taking pictures as you navigate the canal boat onto this lift. Plus, throw in some wind and rain along with inexperience and its quite interesting.
Standing at the tiller in the stern, the back of the boat, I realized that to navigate through the Falkirk Wheel, I would need confidence in my ability to do something I hadn’t done before and the time for that was right now. With a canal boat, you have forward, reverse, and neutral, but if the propeller is not spinning, you have no steering. The tiller is connected to the rudder, so in order to steer, water has to be flowing one way or another. No gear, no steer, so piloting a canal boat, ready or not, you are fully committed. As Captain, there was no looking back, no dreaming forward about the future; I had to focus on being in the flow of the present moment, harnessing the movement and trusting the outcome. You can look up the Falkirk Wheel on You Tube to get a better idea of how it works, but basically we successfully made it through, including the long tunnel and two locks that come after the wheel. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBH9SE-Kw8&t=158s).
Not only was this a specific event near the beginning of the Sabbatical, but that moment gave shape to the larger experience. Even as we faced the pressures of connections, truck traffic, crazy drivers, persistently cool and wet weather, maps and navigation computers that don’t always coordinate, wrong turns, narrow roads, unfamiliar foods, and language barriers, as we worked through the itinerary, even though it sounds busy, we settled into a restfulness. The experiences themselves gave space, such as staying a few days at Glenstal Abbey in Ireland, or Buckfast Abbey in England, both with traditions of bee keeping. Even canal boats on the two separate trips we had, one in Scotland and the other in England and Wales, they have a unique pace and a strange mix of needing to pay attention while at the same time, enjoying a no-wake speed and quite evenings moored along the shore.
As we came through the Falkirk Wheel, and actually made it look easy, I shouted out to Shawna, who was up in the bow, “Things have a way of working out!” and found myself repeating this over and over as contemplative faith and practicing the art of letting go bore witness to the Reality of Grace and the trustworthiness of God’s stead-fast love, through one situation after another as we went through country after country.
“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” is an invitation to engage in some of the most important work of all: inner transformation. A Sabbatical is an intentional time, a unique opportunity, to renew relationship, both with friends and family, but also the primary relationship as you invite God to work in your heart, to increase awareness, to enlighten your spirit, to heal your soul. “Things have a way of working out” became a way to summarize an experience of deep trust in God and God’s faithfulness. It helped us get through the stressful things, and when blessed with the countless, amazing and special times, these were savored even more.
Contemplative Prayer through Bee Keeping was the overall theme of this adventure because keeping bees has been a tradition at many monasteries for centuries. The honey is valuable, the wax is used for candles, and the bee keeper learns about life and faith as they manage the hive and come alongside something much larger than themselves. Bees have been doing their work for millions of years. They are very sophisticated and have developed communications and a way of functioning that are mysterious and effective. For me, keeping bees is an exercise that helps me Be Present. Paying attention to what is before you, right now, right here, partnering with other living systems, being part of a natural cycle; these are all aspects of spiritual connection and discovering God in all things and all things in God. The more release of ego-centric control, the more practice of letting go of thoughts and distractions so you can be present in the midst of God’s Presence, the wider the invitation to allow God room to work in your heart.
As we prayerfully read the Gospel this morning, we see Mark is painting a picture through his story, of Jesus recognizing tremendous human need, and how we participate in a world filled with so much pain and suffering, and how most of that is self-inflicted. Jesus knows that the normal operating system used by our hearts and minds needs transformed, and he’s showing us how and why we can claim our True Self in Christ. “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” points to our need do to our own inner work. No one can do it for us, even if they wanted to, just as we can’t do inner work for others, even if we wanted to. Resting in God’s Presence, free from distraction, is harder than it sounds.
“As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
One of my pastor friends reminds us that the word “compassion” is more than sympathy or good feelings. Jesus is experiencing something gut wrenching; he is troubled and moved, and it’s the contemplative stance that provides the foundation for his action, his moving about in the towns, villages, cities, and farms, sharing healing from the inside out. It’s because he spends time alone with God that his awareness is able to perceive at a heart level, and his response comes from the power of the Living Christ.
One of the things mentioned in the Lilly Foundation’s materials as they provide funding for Clergy Renewal involves the fact that Pastors, upon return, can get depressed. Remember that! Three months without the normal pressures of preaching, teaching, pastoral care, of ‘being on’ most of the time, emotionally appropriate in all circumstances in our role of pastor; three months allows a different type of awareness level to be experienced as these things can be gently set aside. When the Sabbatical is over, even though it may be great to come back and there’s appreciation and excitement to reconnect with people, revitalization to approach things in fresh ways, there is also a grieving because something has taken place that cannot be repeated. Once in lifetimes have come and gone. The break from the pressures is over.
But this is also part of learning the art of letting go, of being present in the moment, aware of the God “who has founded the earth on the seas and established it on the rivers” as you flow with the water. And in that mix of experiencing the depths of faith, the unity of all things, the divine image which permeates everything, the renewing of relationship, there is also, potentially, a pain, as we discover not only our own limitations, but that we, ourselves, are our own limitations. We are the veil, and what I experienced was a type of suffering and sorrow entering in, stronger than I’d expected. I was surprised at how much grief I actually experienced after my wonderful Sabbatical was over, even though everything was great, and it was good to be home.
Another reminder, that “Things have a way of working out.” What helped me in this process was a more consistent practice of Centering Prayer, especially as Cynthia Bourgeault explores it through her books about the Wisdom Tradition. Also, exploring about how we create our own pain, learning more about what Eckhart Tolle calls, “The Power of Now,” has been very helpful to claim Christ’s peace beyond understanding. Even ecstatic religious experience can hold us back if we cling to the past as some sort of ideal, the good old days of spiritual fervor. Even heavenly visions can be misleading if we fixate on them or long for a future in a better place in the sweet by and by.
The Living Christ is fully present right here, and right now, and it’s our calling to allow God room to work shaping our hearts to perceive this Good News. Contemplative prayer cuts to the root, sets the foundation, inspires the strength for action that expresses love, and acceptance, and spiritual disciplines like Centering Prayer, walking meditation, mindfulness training; these are important tools to take seriously. I travelled thousands of miles for that lesson to really sink in, and I’m still learning.
How can I share about three months of interactions? How do I communicate what the feeling is like to be involved in a conversation through a translator, knowing that the other person is not seeing a full picture of who you are as a person because so many things get lost in translation? How do I share what the gut reaction was as I travelled from Assisi celebrating the humble St. Francis who lived simply, in poverty, sharing healing and love as Jesus did with those society cast away, and then going to the tomb of the Emperor Maximilian the I in Austria as his tomb dominates the central portion of the church itself, with larger than life bronze statues paying him tribute even in his death? The arrogance of Empire religion contrasted with someone who lived purity of heart! How do I honestly share what a delight and relief it was to be free of American news cycles for three months, and rather than focus on American politics, to hear a more global perspective on issues we face as a species?
We can be thankful for the unique opportunities a Sabbatical provides. We can appreciate the renewed relationships and rest from the pressures of life’s usual patterns. We can learn as we look back and mine for meaning. We can be gentle to ourselves as grief unfolds and is released. We can look forward to new ideas and approaches, future opportunities that we may not have thought about otherwise. But most of all, rather than looking back, or peering forward, we can be present in the moment in ways that raise our awareness of God’s goodness and love. We can lean into trust and claim faithfulness and promise as, in Christ, things have a way of working out, because, in Christ, we are and experience God’s glory.
God has never been or ever will be more divine, more radiant, more holy, and more present than this moment. May our hearts learn to perceive! And may God be glorified, now, even as forever. Amen.