A little more light

 

Monk's Window in Cistercian Abbey

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer

Bernard of Clairvaux, August 20, 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. 

In my senior year of college, I took an art history course on Cathedrals and the Arts. We looked at lots of religious history and architecture, and how it changed over the centuries. The abbey churches of the Cistercians stood out as a turning point from the heavy, dark architecture of Romanesque churches to the lofty light filled cathedrals of the Middle Ages. There is a particularly notable feature about Cistercian windows. While they are often still “stained glass” they are usually far more translucent than we might expect. There is far more light than color.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Bernard of Clairveaux, a notable monk who significantly expanded the Cistercian order. There are lots of things we could focus on about Bernard and his order - their rule of life, their particular place on the landscape of monastic Christianity (they are a stricter version of the Benedictines), or the way Bernard’s sermons inspired the Crusaders. Hmm. Lots of deeply problematic and tragic history associated with the Crusades. We have enough tragedy in the world right now, I don’t think we need to think about more. And all of us have had to adopt a new “rule of life” in recent months, but unlike those monks, it is not one we have chosen for ourselves. And while no doubt we have found opportunities to connect with God because of it, our current rule is not one we want to become permanent. We long for the time when in person gatherings will be the norm again. 

So, given the state of the world at present, I think there is far more value in us reflecting on the simple beauty of Cistercian architecture and the invitation in today’s beautiful Gospel passage from John. There is no doubt each of us, our communities and the world could use more light and more joy in our lives. Jesus said to the disciples, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” Full disclosure, John is my favorite Gospel. I love the poetic language, the imagery, the themes of light and darkness. And today’s passage is no exception. Jesus is inviting us to abide in God’s love, to know his joy, to find a joy that is complete. 

Here is the thing my friends. Joy and love can be words that we use lightly or easily. They are familiar. They adorn greeting cards, and we talk about enjoying a good meal or loving some new gadget we bought. I almost want to put an asterisk by those words today. I want a footnote that says, “But not in the usual sense.” The enjoyment of a thing or an experience can be wonderful and meaningful, but it is fleeting. The love and the joy of which Jesus speaks is not fleeting or temporal. It is not attached to any material thing or any particular experience. It is foundational to our very being. 

That’s the thing. The very important thing. It is there. Always. The question is whether or not we are letting it in. It is like the light and those cistercian windows. We have a choice. We can have tiny windows that let very little light inside. We can close ourselves off from the world and from each other. We can focus too much in our heads and get ourselves stuck on all the scary “What ifs.” We can lose ourselves in our tasks and our desire to be productive, allowing the cultivation of relationships to keep falling to the bottom of the list. 

Or we can put connection first. Jesus tells the disciples that they will abide in God’s love by following the commandments. At their heart, those are really about maintaining connection, about maintaining a right relationship with God and with each other. That is how we access that love and that joy of which Jesus speaks. We find it by staying connected to God and to all those whose presence points us to God. To those who embody God’s love. To those whose presence fills us with joy. 

I hope that as we remember Bernard today, as we hear our Scriptures, as we hear Jesus’ invitation, we will find more and more opportunities to let the light into our lives. It is there. Always, even on the days when we feel exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated or just plain sad. Sometimes we might just need to take a walk outside and look around. Sometimes we might just need to call a friend. Or look at a favorite piece of art. Or read a good book or a favorite poem. Or do something silly with a child. Or cook a favorite food. Or listen to music that heals our soul. There are a myriad of ways to bring more joy and more love into our lives. And the most marvelous thing is that when we connect with that joy and that love, when we connect more deeply to God, we are connecting to that which endures. It can never be taken from us. Thanks be to God. Amen.