Author: Cherie Renae

Too often, we look to others to affirm our truths. It’s true that divine inspiration unfolds over time, and our perceptions deepen as we listen in love to one another. But we do not need group approval to think, speak or believe. True authority comes from the Spirit; we each are responsible to pay attention. It’s not always an easy responsibility…

I awakened this morning to a wind storm. Fresh breeze, indeed! It’s a reminder that holy inspiration doesn’t always waft gently and sweetly. Sometimes it bursts in with gale force winds, blowing your hat away!

We are not ‘entitled’ to success, riches, health, relationships – nor anything else. All are gifts to embrace with open arms, but without expectation. We are not entitled to any outcome. Understanding this enables us to lead passionate, fearless lives. We cannot lose!

We cannot control those around us, we can only control how we react. Do we respond with love and concern, or with anger and fear? Do we enable others to be their best, or do we shackle them to their worst? Our reactions are that powerful.

Our society’s ‘achievement’ mentality has become error, because it pervades our every waking moment, and we are not created for constant stimulation. Even in our leisure, we overstimulate with television, computer, telephone. Step away. Go outside. Look, listen, smell, touch. Stay outside until the impatient urge to action stills. It will take practice. It is practice for life – for your life.

We are called to be transparent. We fear being vulnerable, but we are strongest when we choose to expose our authentic selves. If our energies are not consumed with maintaining masks, we are free to put our energy into joyful living.

Balance is not optional. Daily, we must pay attention to our body, our mind and our spirit. Each must be fed, exercised, nurtured, listened to, and allowed to listen. Anger, resentment, fear, shame and stagnation result when we are not balanced.

Interviewer: What do you say when you pray?

Mother Teresa: I listen.

Interviewer: What does He say?

Mother Teresa: He listens.

There is a reason that the Hebrew word for ‘Spirit’ is the same as for ‘breath’. It is not a metaphor, but a reality. With every breath, we truly renew our Spirit. We bring the Holy (eternal, greater) Spirit into our bodies with each inhalation. It is when we cease to bring the eternal into ourselves that our spirit flees and we die.

I have a vision of sinking into holy waters and taking a deep breath of Spirit. The Spirit waters are viscous and I am struck with terror, for I am choking and drowning. My lungs, accustomed to vapid air, are not prepared for the rich nourishment of Spirit.

Then the feeling passes and I feel euphoric. It is as though this is the first time I’ve ever truly breathed. I look down. Through the patchwork of cracks in my shattered self, light shines brightly through, casting a beautiful and complex design upon the Spirit waters around me. I realize that the light is love, pouring through me because of the cracks in my being. I realize that this Love light shines brightest through the most broken vessels. It can shine brightly through me only because of my brokenness.

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Two weeks later, while kneeling before cross & candle at a Taize service, I hear the voice of the Eternal.

“This candlelight is beautiful & holy. But if you could see the people around you with My eyes, you would see such a blessed brightness that you could scarcely bear it through squinted eyes.”

Then I see a vision of beams of light shining brightly from each person in their broken places, intersecting & colliding with beams from others, dashing off at odd angles & creating beautiful patterns of light in the air & glorious prisms of color at each intersection. I view flash after flash of rainbow light, and I am blinded by the glory of those loving & loved faces gathered there.

It occurs to me that I have no idea what pain and hurt must exist in that room, to create such beauty.

I’ve been noticing how tradition/ritual can be a barrier to entry.

For example, at one church, you cannot serve at the communion table unless you wear pantyhose/socks and closed-toe shoes. Do we really think Jesus wore crew socks and enclosed shoes? During services, a former pastor at St. Mark Lutheran wore Birkenstocks on her otherwise bare feet. Apparently, she would not be welcome to serve communion with her Episcopal peers. I’m not trying to pick on a particular denomination – I identify as a Celtic Christian, and that tradition is strongly supported by the Anglican Communion. My point is, the state of one’s feet should not be a condition of participation, and traditions such as these are not only socially irrelevent, but they keep people away.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the elegance of formality. My grandfather wore slacks, a dress shirt and fedora every time he left the house, even to go for a walk around the neighborhood. I would love to see a return to men wearing hats and women donning gloves. But our relationship with God, either in a private or public setting, should be different. Romans 10:15 does NOT say ‘how beautiful are the well-heeled feet who bring good news.’ Jesus didn’t focus on external trappings; to the contrary, he had pointed remarks for those who did.

If our mission is to spread the good news to all, shouldn’t we should welcome people in their place of comfort, rather than ask them to conform to our own? I freely admit, I’m talking out of my own calling. Ever more strongly, I feel compelled to reach out to people and make them feel welcome as my sisters and brothers where they live, not where the church lives; to bring the holy out of buildings and into the streets.