Readings
for Easter 6:
Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 148:7-14; 1 Peter 3:3-18; John 15:1-8
May 1, 2005
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino, CA
…in him we live and move and have our being…<p>
Jesus said, “You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken
to you. Abide in me as I abide in you.” It is as if Jesus knew that everything
that could be said with words had been said, words would no longer work to transform
their hearts, and now it is time to just “be”, in silence, with
God.
Paul, however, loved to use words to teach and convert people. St. Paul is a brilliant teacher. He appeals to the people of Athens who do not know the God of Jesus Christ, teaching them by first using the knowledge they already have. He uses artifacts and poetry of ancient Greece: He says, “Let me tell you about the “unknown god” to whom you have set up this altar. This is the god your poets refer to as they eloquently speak of the one in whom “we live and move and have our being.” You have known this god all along. Paul names for them this “unknown god”—it is the one God who created the world and all that is in it; it is the one God who calls us to himself through Jesus Christ.
Paul uses the same oratory techniques as did Socrates and other ancient Greek thinkers. He uses rhetoric and words to invite people into a process of transformation, a transformation of repentance: to turn away from old ways of ignorance, to move toward acceptance of the assurance of new life in Christ.
But we live in a world that bombards us with words: the spoken word, the written word, the virtual word—words coming at us all the time. We are constantly trying to assimilate all these words, all this information [TMI], sorting words into meaningful categories. There are times when I wonder if our minds, bodies and souls can take in any more words.
Two weeks ago I finally had chance to reflect on this. I traveled to Virginia where I attended a CREDO clergy conference. CREDO stands for Clergy Reflection, Education, Discernment Opportunity. The Conference was held at a gorgeous Episcopal Retreat Center with an interesting history. In the 1920’s a woman who owned a second home and 150 acres of prime land along the James River, Annie Rose Walker, experienced a family tragedy. Her 21 year old nephew committed suicide. His family was devastated. One by one the local clergy in the area were approached to ask if they would give this young man a proper burial. They all refused, except the Episcopal priest. The Episcopal Church was the only church willing to offer pastoral comfort and a proper burial for this young man. In gratitude, Ms. Walker bequeathed her 150 acre property to the Diocese of Virginia, valued at $1,000,000 (at a time when a million dollars really meant something). The trustees of the Diocese thanked Ms. Walker but also pointed out that it would be very expensive to maintain such a property, so she went a step further: she endowed the property with $14,000,000 to be invested and used for the perpetual upkeep of what became their Diocesan retreat center, called Roslyn.
The pastoral presence, not words, of a priest and a community of faithful Episcopalians made a difference in the spiritual life of a family in need. Later, countless others have had their lives transformed as they came for spiritual renewal at this wonderful conference/retreat center.
However, my conference was jammed pack with words—teachings, workshops, one-on-one consultations, small groups and dinner discussions. But, the beauty of this place beckoned me to awaken early and to take tranquil walks, and moved me to reflect upon our “spiritual oasis.” This led to the question: “How can we at St. Jude’s lead people to spiritual transformation without simply being one more source of assault of words upon body, mind and spirit?”
We say, “St. Jude’s is a spiritual oasis where lives are transformed.” It is our vision of this beautiful church campus; it is also a vision of our way of life. We’ve developed this land to be an inviting sacred space, appealing to the senses that reach souls without words. Our “oasis” reaches the souls of people for whom words are not useful in transforming their lives: the pre-Alzheimer seniors and the OSF autistic children. We are living out this vision more and more with each passing year--as our physical campus continues to grow in beauty, and as our community of people continue to grow in spiritual unity with God and each other through Christ.
However, we do not have a $14,000,000 endowment. St. Jude’s has improved in beauty and function under the faithful leadership of volunteer property managers [Tom Dyer and Jean Chandler]. Numerous assistants have lent their loving touch in weeding, planting, watering and nurturing various plots throughout our “oasis.” Others offer a vision of the whole plant, attending to the concerns of how one area is integrated into another, and so forth. When I returned I was delighted to see that the parking strip along McClellan Road was transformed into a gorgeous, weed-free planting area, completing the curb-side appeal of the north side. Together we are developing a unique, very inviting property in the heart of Silicon Valley—a property that beckons the passerby to leave the hustle and bustle of every day life to enter a peaceful world.
But, our “spiritual oasis” is not simply a landscape project. A professional landscape architect and a lot of hard labor could produce an even more physically appealing space. What makes our space a “spiritual oasis” is the process by which we improved the landscape: loving care and countless hours of cooperative work, building teams of people who do this as service to God and community. This requires a strong commitment of faith, and an awareness that our purpose is not for self-satisfaction, but for the glory of God. This is a deeply spiritual challenge: to continually give up selfish desires for the well-being of God’s purposes. This leads me to another insight I received at my CREDO conference.
During my conference a temporary labyrinth was set out on the floor of the library. We were invited to walk the labyrinth as part of our spiritual reflection and body-mind-spirit integration. When I first heard of the labyrinth many years ago, I dismissed it as “strange”. Then I worked at Grace Cathedral during the time they were creating not one but 2 labyrinths. I learned about how it is about 4000 years old--an ancient pattern found in cultures world-wide: in Native American culture, Celtic and even mystical Judaism. All labyrinths have a path which winds in a circuitous way to the center. Taking this ancient “archetype” known to human kind, Christians used this as a pilgrimage tool in the 12th C to emulate a journey to Jerusalem at a time when it was unsafe to make an actual pilgrimage. Just as Paul uses the words of an ancient Greek poet to describe the God in “whom we live and move and have our being”, Christians use this ancient archetype as a prayer tool to go on a pilgrimage, to carry us to an inward path of awareness, where we abide in God “in whom we live and move and have our being.”
I found this meditation tool extremely helpful in moving me out of my head, into my body, and opening my heart to God’s spiritual presence. The labyrinth helped me travel deep within my soul, moving through layers of consciousness, to reveal God’s presence. This was the first time it awakened my soul to the possibility that this ancient meditation tool could be a source of God’s presence which bridges the gap between people of different cultures.
One day at my CREDO Conference, I was walking the labyrinth when Paul, a priest from Korea, who has a ministry in Chicago, began walking in as I was walking out. Paul and I had difficulty understanding each other’s language earlier during the conference, but we made every effort to try. As we walked in silence I discovered peace listening to his soft footsteps, his gentle breathing. I wondered if God was speaking to him in Korean or English, then silently laughed at the foolishness of my thoughts, and centered back on my own journey. When I finished my walk, Paul was still in prayer at the center, weeping. I sat down at the entrance and continued to pray with him. It brought me a special peace. Later he shared that it had been difficult for him at the conference—he was the only Asian--but my presence helped him feel welcome, helped him overcome a feeling of alienation. Words had been in the way, but now we were able to commune with God and each other.
There has been talk of adding a labyrinth to our spiritual oasis here at St. Jude’s. You may or may not agree that this would be an appropriate addition to our spiritual oasis. My experience has reinforced my belief that a labyrinth could be an added opportunity to invite Christians and non-Christians in, to walk this meditation path, to assist them in finding deeper integration of body, mind, and spirit. It might be an opportunity to reach seekers, without words and language barriers, who can be refreshed by our spiritual oasis, have their lives transformed, and engage in a spiritual quest which may one day lead them to know this same God “in whom we live and move and have our being.”
AMEN
| Updated 5/14/05 |
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