A+ha.

O Come All You Faithful.

I was listening to Christmas music on an early run this morning and heard the familiar tune and words: "Sing choirs of angels, sing in exaltation..." I stopped for a moment--right in the middle of the street--and wondered what that would sound like. What would it sound like if choirs of angels started singing in exaltation? And then believe it or not, I heard it. A choir of angels. They were singing from inside of me: inside of my heart, inside of my head, deep from my soul. And I started to weep as I realized the simplest truth: the choirs of angels aren't outside of us. They are inside. And they are beautiful: their voices, their light, their very being is amazingly holy and beautiful. Glory to God, indeed. 

Playlists. Rituals. And Soundtracks.

Very few people know that before I get ready to preach I have a playlist that I listen to. It's kind of a pre-game ritual: songs that pump me up. The playlist varies according to the season of the year. For example: Lent and Advent have a bit more of a meditative feel while Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost are a bit more upbeat. No matter what the season, though, there is one song that is always on my list: Honky Tonk Woman by the Rolling Stones. I'm not exactly sure when I started listening to this one as a part of the ritual, but it's been at least six years. It has a good beat and I can dance to it and besides--it's my favorite song. Oh, yeah: dancing is an important part of the warm up ritual, too. Moving. Getting going so that I can get others going (or at least try to get others going). I one of those people who believest that moving and music are pretty holy...and this is a holy ritual every week. 

What are your rituals? And what music provides the soundtrack for those rituals? 

 

Holy Now.

Everything is holy now.

 

Bewitched.

I owe a lot of my childhood development to TV shows (I know--that explains A LOT). One of my favorites? "Bewitched." I always wanted to be Samantha. Actually, that's not quite true: I really liked Serena the best...

Anyway, here's some of life's great lessons learned from that classic, campy show:

• Pretending to be something you're not is a recipe for disaster. (Samantha was always trying to be a regular human instead of a witch in order to make Darrin happy--what kind of marriage is that, anyway??--which seemed to land her in trouble pretty much on a daily basis)
• Things aren't always as they seem. (thanks, Gladys Kravitz, for being so nosy and assuming the worst)
• Things sometimes are EXACTLY as they seem but we choose to ignore the facts. (ditto Gladys Kravitz)
• And there's no way we can do life alone (the Tates, Endora, Dr. Bombay and Aunt Clara were always popping in to help out).

Thanks, Samantha, for the reminders: be yourself, pay attention, and surround yourself with people who uncondtionally love you "as is." Seems like pretty good advice.

 

Where did you see God today?

Keep your eyes open today. Pay attention. Look.

Tonight: talk about or journal where you saw God today. 

You just might surprised at where you did (or didn't) see God.

And you'll find yourself much more present to what's happening right now all day long.

The secret to living a happy life???

I've been preaching the benefits of daily sharing your highs and lows (and hearing someone else's highs and lows) for years now. It's ritual. It's communication. It's relational. 

And now...in case you needed a different reason...it's also a tool for living a more satisfied, full, happy life. 

Check it out:

 

An invitation.

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a hundred times.
Come, yet again, come, come.
--Rumi

Oops. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm a klutz.

“Gaining enlightenment is an accident. Spiritual practice simply makes us accident-prone.” Suzuki Roshi

I am one of the clumsiest people I know. Truly. The records in my doctor's office hold the proof: broken bones, torn ligaments, inflamed tendons...all of which happened while I was having fun (or attempting to, anyway).

I guess the way I look at it is this: if living full-out means risking injury every now and then, then I'll keep the crutches close by. What's the alternative: sitting on the couch? Watching the world go by? Living in fear that I might get hurt? (and I'm not just talking physical hurt here...)

That fear 'thing' is easy to give into, I know. After all, how many times do I worry about what others might think about me? (answer: waaaay too much). What if they think I look silly? What if they tell others that I'm making a fool of myself? What if they laugh at me? What if they don't like me the way I am?

Oh, wow. All of those "what if's..." are intended to keep me safe but after awhile they start to really add up and do a number on my heart and soul.

Not cool. 

So here's to living an accident-prone life. Practice living each and every day. Jump in there. Dare to step out. Try something that opens you up. Live fully. Wholeheartedly. You just never know when enlightenment will set in...

Breathe.

I was having a hard time focusing on my workout this morning. Not because I didn't want to. I did. Really. But sweat was dripping in my eyes. My feet felt like cement blocks. My abs felt as though they were being torn apart. It wasn't pretty. So when I heard a perky little voice from the front of the room say, "Only one more minute until we switch it up!!" my first thought was "#*$@!" quickly followed by "you've got to be freaking kidding me..." and a whole lot more swearing.

*Note: I believe those thoughts were all in my head. I apologize to those around me if they weren't. 

Anyway, just as the swearing in my mind was hitting a crescendo, the perky voice came back with: "And don't forget to breathe..." which prompted the voices in my head to laugh hysterically. "Breathe? Who can breathe? I'm trying too hard to do these crunches..." 

Oh. Yeah. I heard it. "I'm trying to hard..." Breathe. D'oh.

I could translate this gem of an insight into hundreds of different feel good "Aren't we all just trying too hard?" stories about work, family, relationships, government, religion or any other hot-button topic. But I'm not going to. Not right now, anyway. You get it. I get it. We all get it. It's the simple truth that makes life less painful, way more full and a whole lot more fun:

Stop trying so damn hard. And don't forget to breathe. 

More to come...

You? A Minister? Huh.

"YOU? A minister? Huh. Wouldn't have guessed it." That's been the most common response to the "what do you do for a living" question that I hear when introducing myself in workshops, classes or at a convention. As I've spent a lot of time in workshops, classes and conventions this year (a LOT of time), I'd guess that I've heard this response at least...oh, say...a few hundred times. Easily a few hundred times. Usually I just smile and say, "Yup." But every now and then out of sheer curiosity I'll take the conversation one more step and ask, "Why does that surprise you?" I've found that the answer to that question is most often this one:

"Because you seem pretty (cool, sane, fun, approachable, easy going, open minded, decent)." 

Those things are all true, BTW. I am all of those things and more. And I'm a minister, too. In a Christian church. The United Church of Christ, to be exact. And I love it. I love being a minister. I love being a part of a church--a community where people sometimes agree and often times don't. I love it that we all get together week after week after week to share life and ask questions and wrestle with answers and wonder what it in the world it means to be fully human and fully holy. I love it that I can ask people what they are going to do with their "one wild and precious life" (thanks, Mary Oliver, for that beautiful image) and challenge them with Dr. Phil's "how's that working for you?" question, too. Because in their searching and reflecting, I get to search and reflect, too. That's the thing: we are in this life together. All of us. Connected. One. We belong to one another because we belong to God. 

And that's why I love the church. It's the best place I know to be reminded of these truths, to be reminded of who we are and to whom we belong, over and over and over again. Without these reminders, we forget. We start to think that life is all about us. And when we think that life is all about us, we lose our sense of compassion. We lose our sense of empathy. We become selfish and mean and generally downright awful people--and that's not good. Not good for us. Not good for our relationships. Not good for the world.

It saddens me to think that there are those in the world who don't associate "cool, sane, fun, approachable, easy going, open minded and decent" with the church. I hope to change that.