Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom
Argula von Grumbach, July 14, 2020
May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
My mom is a teacher. Over the years she has taught math, writing and literature to kids. She spent all of my childhood teaching grown-ups how to build their own houses. She and my dad built the house in which I grew up. She loved that work and teaching, and the school liked having someone who was not a professional engineer or contractor on the faculty. It reinforced their point that anyone could learn to build a house. So my mom spent years teaching people how to heat and cool their houses; how to build their house appropriately for the climate in which it was situated; and how to build the proper foundation for their house. Over the years, especially in the summer months, I sat in on some or all of many of her lectures. I couldn’t help but think of all her lectures on foundations when I read today’s Gospel.
I thought of her teaching her students how to calculate all the factors. What kind of ground is it? Is the house going to be on posts or is it going to have a full basement? Then my favorite part was the slide show. There were loads of photos of all the different kinds of foundations you could build, and lessons in how to pour concrete correctly. How to spread it. How not to get stuck in it. How to be sure it sets properly. Foundations are complicated!
And building a solid, strong foundation matters, just about more than anything. That is the lesson that I have carried with me from those lectures. Here is the thing. It does not actually matter whether you are building a tiny little shingled cottage or a mansion or a skyscraper. If you don’t get the foundation right, the building will not stand. It will not last. It does not matter whether the building will be a smart home where you can control the lights and the heat from your phone or an off the grid house that is made from salvaged materials. It does not matter whether the countertops will be granite or the bathrooms will be made of marble. What matters is the foundation.
The same is true for our own lives, particularly our spiritual lives. What is our foundation? How are we grounded? Our foundations do not all have to look the same. It depends on our context, our climate, and what we want to build. But it is not about keeping up appearances. What matters is the substance - not the looks.
So where are we finding substance and strength these days? What might need shoring up and bolstering in our lives? What might be mere window dressing that we can let go of because it does not actually impact what really matters?
For me, I am finding substance and strength in two important things, which I think are intertwined. They are connection and learning. In this world of remote work, it could be very easy (particularly since my personality tends this way) to become supremely task oriented. To make my day all about the “to do list.” But that could so easily lead to isolation. Strength is found in community, not in isolation. I am grateful for the ways in which more time at home allows more meals and activities with my family. I am grateful for the gift of technology that allows me to stay connected with friends and colleagues who are at a distance. And another one of the many reasons I am grateful for this chapel group is that you all help me stay connected - to community and to God. You also help me keep learning. There is so much uncertainty in our lives right now. So much unknown. It can be easy to pull back and just focus on what we already know. Or easy to think that we have to have all the right answers. My communities, my connections remind me that I don’t need to figure it all out right now. The point is to keep learning, keep gaining wisdom and finding new perspectives.
Having a strong foundation is not about being immovable or stagnant. It is about being grounded and connected, so that I can weather whatever changes come. We do not and we cannot know what the next weeks and months will hold for us. What we can know is that we can thrive in the midst of whatever if we have grounded ourselves in relationship with God and with those whose presence enriches and enlivens our journey. AMEN.
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