tom's november 2002 article

Article from Epistle to the Presbyterians, November 2002

(Before reading my reflections below, please read the remarks Judy Christian made during worship October 27 that follow.)

“For the past three years, I have traveled throughout Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties, meeting, dining and worshiping with members of the sixty-nine Presbyterian churches. I will never forget the first time I visited this church, two years ago.

To start, I met with the adult members of the congregation to discuss the Duffield Presbyterian Center, our presbytery’s camp and conference center. Although most of you have had little to do with Duffield, you recognized the importance of Duffield to the presbytery and embraced the opportunity to support its outdoor Christian ministry. I was very encouraged. When I walked into this beautiful sanctuary for worship, I was moved beyond words – nearly to tears – by your music ministry, as I have been so many times since then. Then, you began singing to your children, letting them know that this is where they belong. How refreshing it was to find a church that welcomed and nurtured its children in worship and in every way. I gave the sermon that day and you were warm and gracious. From that day on, I have followed your path more closely… reading The Epistle each time it was published and driving down from North Tonawanda whenever I could to worship with you.

It is here that I have heard the most moving and meaningful sermons of my life. I am inspired by your presence in the community, by your commitment to your children, by your music. You open yourselves up for the deepest and most meaningful conversations, even when you don’t agree with one another. In everything you do, your faith is truly alive! How much easier you make it for someone like me, a widow, to teach my daughter that this is a place where she is welcome, the place to turn to with questions and for encouragement during difficult times. I will forever be grateful that this path has led me to you and I want you to know that from this day forward, Katie and I choose your path as our own.” - Judy Christian from the pulpit during worship October 27, 2002. Judy, our campaign manager and an elder in North Presbyterian Church, North Tonawanda, now has moved to Jamestown, in part to be near to and to join our church family.

Last weekend, Katy and I went to Borders Bookstore not once, not twice, but three different times. Katy and I share a profound love for reading and writing and, thus, a store like Borders with its endless armamentarium (we also like words...this one means “supply” or “inventory”) of books, its comfy array of easy chairs to plop into while perusing our newest “finds,” and a cappuccino bar is easily addictive. Here is the report of my most recent “haul”:

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer

This book is exactly the one I needed to read at this moment in my life. In middle age, I appreciated Palmer’s reflections on vocation: “It is not a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.” Through personal reflection on his own life’s experiences, Palmer helped me to see that as we live into our own true selfhood, we find more than personal fulfillment. We also find communion with others and ways of serving the world’s deepest needs. I have had this book in my possession for three days and, already, I have read it a second time!

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

“Cheese” has been a #1 International Bestseller which means I may be the only one among us not to have heard about it or read it. But as I sat in one of those cushy Borders chairs, and by the time I got to about page 45, this book had “Session Retreat” written all over it! “Cheese” is a story about four main characters- two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two “Littlepeople” named Hem and Haw who are the size of mice but act a lot like people- who live in a “Maze” and look for “Cheese” to nourish them and make them happy. When they come to see the “handwriting on the wall” (They keep moving the cheese; Get ready for the cheese to move; Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old; The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese; Move with the cheese; Savor the adventure and the taste of new cheese; They keep moving the cheese) they discover how to deal with change in a way that leads to greater fulfillment and integrity. A fine parable, I thought, not only for my own life but for the church’s life as well.

Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life by Philip Simmons

Philip Simmons was diagnosed in 1993 with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Suddenly having to learn the art of dying, in the midst of doing so he also discovered the art of living. A truly wonderful book, I want to offer a brief excerpt that will explain why I wanted you to read Judy Christian’s testimony and then, again, offer my vision for our church.

“My illness is just a particular form of the universal human malady. We all suffer the limitations of our humanness: not just our aches and pains but our fear, our anger, our pettiness, our grief. Fact is, we do practice being human in every waking moment. And the more mindfully we practice, the more often our conflicts dissolve, the more easily we create new possibilities for relationship and community.”

“On a recent evening I attended my son’s and daughter’s first piano recital. Children, parents, and grandparents packed the small old church in the village center. Amelia, at age six the youngest performer on the program, had to go first, and I endured a stretch of terror watching her march solemnly to the front, climb onto the piano bench, and play a flawless rendition of that immortal classic, ‘Fuzzy Baby Bird.’”

“It turned out to be a wonderful recital. Amelia and Aaron played well, but, more to my surprise, so did everyone else, and we were treated to what I had least expected: an evening of good music. Still, in the midst of it, I found myself growing sad. With my weakened and trembling hands I can no longer play the piano or guitar as I once did, and the more beautiful the music I heard that night, the more keenly I felt the loss. I knew such feelings came from what the Zen Buddhists call small mind, from my grasping, fearful self, unable to let go and simply enjoy the moment. So I took heart, thinking that at least someone was playing, that these children were carrying on where I no longer could.”

“But then something more happened, something I can barely put into words. All of a sudden it was as though I were playing the piano but playing through these children. Only it was no longer a matter of “me” and “them.” We were playing the piano. For a few moments, I broke though into what is called big mind, that state of being in which the illusion of our separateness falls away, when our attachments dissolve, and we experience the boundlessness of our true nature.”

Judy Christian’s reflections testify to a church trying to live into “big mind” in which illusions about our separateness- from each other, from God, from creation, from others whose thoughts, theologies, and circumstances are different than ours –increasingly fall away to reveal the oneness of everything. “Small mind” reduces, flattens, and ultimately ruins life because “small mind” is rooted in fear that seeks to divide and conquer. “Big mind” is grounded in love and forms community, communion, and, finally, compassion.

All that I do and say as pastor, preacher, teacher, and theologian is in the service of forming and shaping “big mind” among us. It is in many ways a grand experiment since “big mind” rarely is found in churches as congregations tend mostly to reflect the values and thinking of the culture around them. (No surprise since we are members of that culture.) But when St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Have the same mind among yourselves that was in Christ Jesus...”, I believe he was talking about “big mind.” Kindness. Generosity. Mercy. Hospitality. Justice. Shalom. “Big mind” is, I think, what Jesus was encouraging when he said, for instance, “Love your enemies” and when he told the story of a father welcoming home his prodigal child. Moving from fear to love is THE work of the church. I see it, that movement, happening here in our church. Not without setbacks. Not without discouragements. But slowly, truly, surely. “Big mind” is the path we have chosen. Let us continue to make the journey together!

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