Ease and security in the midst of chaos

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar

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. 

Our text from Proverbs today closes with these lines . . . “but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.’” Those lines got me thinking. Will be secure and will live at ease. Ooh. That sounds wonderful. Especially today. There is much that is weighing on our hearts and souls these days. It might be challenges in our own lives, our own families, or our communities. Or perhaps it is just the sheer volume of heart wrenching news headlines that come at us. A global pandemic. Oh, and it is the holiday season, which can come with its own set of complicated family dynamics and challenging memories to navigate. 

At first, those lines make me want to know where I find that magical elixir. Where is the way forward that does not have so many challenges? That life, that one that looks like a permanent vacation on a tropical island. Where do I find that? 

But then I catch myself. I catch my magical thinking. I catch my wishing for something that I know is impossible. A life free from suffering. Proverbs is not giving us the recipe for a life free from suffering, it is offering us an invitation to find peace and security, to find ease and comfort in the midst of challenges. 

While I think it is right and meet to be wishing and working for the outside circumstances to be different. I am inordinately grateful for all of the ways and all of the people who are doing that. All the hard work that is happening - particularly by medical and scientific professionals to bring healing and relief. We can and should do much to alleviate unnecessary suffering - from illness, from injustice. 

And we cannot and will not eliminate everything. So, we have the invitation to find peace and comfort in the midst of it all. I think this means having practices that help us stay grounded and connected to God. It can be tempting to think this means we have to be like Nicholas Ferrar whom we remember today. That we have to found a new religious community and try to pray without ceasing. I am sure most of us are too exhausted to even begin to contemplate that, let alone attempt it. 

This is when I find it helpful to remember that with the right mindset, much of our daily life can be prayer. Prayer is not limited to being on our knees in the right place with the right words. We can live prayerfully wherever we are, whatever we are doing.

A number of years ago, I read a book that I continue to go back to when I am struggling with prayer or feeling like I am “failing” at spiritual practices. The book is called Sabbath in the Suburbs. It is written by Mary Ann McKibben Dana, a Presbyterian Pastor who lives in suburban DC. She and her engineer husband have three kids in elementary and middle school. They undertake the goal of practicing a sabbath every week for a year. They choose Saturdays because that is the only common day off. The book chronicles their efforts. There is a moment from the chapter on Advent that has stayed with me. Mary Ann looks at her combined to do list of church and family tasks and realizes that a full on sabbath where you stay home and really rest is just not possible that day. So, she decides she is going to go through her task list “sabbathly.” Mary Ann reminds us that it is our attitude, our disposition that matters. Real life happens. We are not always able to live up to the lofty goals we set for our own spiritual journeys. But the realities of life do not mean we have to beat ourselves up for failure. We can simply adjust our mindset and seek to carry the spirit of sabbath with us. If our mindset is in the right place, even our tasks can be prayer.

We can honor the legacy of Nicholas, a legacy of prayer and devotion. We can discover what it means to find security and ease. Not because the world has somehow dramatically changed around us, but because we have changed. The transformation has happened in our hearts and minds. Even in the midst of whatever crises and challenges we may face, we will know that peace of God, because we have kept ourselves grounded and connected to God and to the practices that restore our souls. AMEN. 

Peace in the midst of chaos

                                 

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

October 21, 2020

Eph. 3:4-12; Psalm 122; Luke 12:39-48

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.

Verse 7 of our Psalm for today says, “Peace be within your walls * and quietness within your towers.” Ha! I thought when I read this. Peace? God, you are funny. Home life is slightly organized chaos while we all try to work from home and educate children in the midst of a pandemic. Life in our wider communities seems unstable and worrisome as cases are rising again in so many places, including my own state. Our national life seems to be in turmoil as there is bitter division and deep fears as we approach Election Day. And the whole world is still in the grips of a pandemic.


And that list did not include any of the challenges and difficulties that were around before we went into quarantine, like systemic racism or climate change or the ever widening gap between rich and poor. Peace? Really God, I want to say, You have got to be kidding me. How can we possibly find peace at a time like this.


But blessedly I have some wise people in my life whose voices intervene in moments like these. “Molly,” they say, “Take a deep breath. Pause. Reflect. You are getting yourself in a frantic state that is not actually going to help anything. Remember that story about Mary and Martha? You are doing your Martha thing. Time to find your Mary. Sit. Rest. Trust.” Ah. Right.


And I think of that oft quoted wisdom pictured above.




Oh, I think, maybe that is what God means. “Peace be within our walls” is not about some magical other world where nothing bad happens. It is not about all our present difficulties just disappearing at the snap of a finger. It is about us finding peace in our souls in the midst of it all. It is about us holding on to that peace, that strength, that resilience to get us through this time.




C.S. Lewis writes of this same kind of experience in A Grief Observed. He writes, “When I lay these questions [of why his wife died or why he is suffering] before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of ‘No answer.’ It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.’”


In the midst of everything that is going in our world, we, like Lewis, are given a gift of peace that we may not fully understand, but here is the important thing for us to remember - it is God's peace. It is bigger than all of us, bigger than the things of the world, bigger than our fear.


It is not a peace of easy answers or simple solutions. It is the peace that comes from letting go. The peace that comes when we stop trying to figure everything out. It is the peace that comes when we choose trust over fear. When we chose love over indifference. When we chose possibility over certainty.


That is what God offers us. A gift of peace. It is not a gift that will always come easily to us. It is far too easy for us to be sucked into the 24 hour news cycle or find ourselves catastrophizing all the what ifs of tomorrow or next week or next year.


And so we need to keep up the practices that help us slow down. That center us. That remind us we are beloved of God and that we can indeed find peace amidst the chaos. We need time for prayer. Time to nourish our bodies. Time for rest. Time for laughter. Time for that which brings us joy. Time for that which restores our souls and connects us to the grace that is the “foundation of everything.”


The world may seem frantic and harried. There are times when it can seem like the fear is going to get the best of us. But it need not. We have a choice. We have an invitation, an opportunity to experience the beautiful gift of knowing the peace of God in our hearts. It is my prayer that in the midst of all the challenges and the struggles of these days we remember that the peace is not contingent on what happens out there. It can always be found in our hearts, when we are connected to God and each other. Amen.

The Fruits of Putting God First

Splendor of Creation in Maine

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer

Ezekiel 24:15-24; Psalm 79:1-8; Matt. 19:16-22

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. 

“Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money* to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’” Well,  considering that you can see that I am still in my home office, and am present in chapel because I have my computer and the router downstairs is connecting me to the internet, you may have guessed that I did not follow through on Jesus’ command to the rich man before writing this sermon. In fact, I could not have written it without a most essential possession  -  my laptop! 

Now, if any of you have a Saint Francis moment after hearing this Gospel lesson, I am sure Amazon Marketplace or Ebay would be glad to help you sell all your possessions. Like Saint Francis, there is a good and noble history in the Christian tradition of choosing poverty as a way to serve God. I am not sure, however, that it is the path all of us are called to take. I think, actually, there is another layer of meaning in this reading. And it is one that can be particularly meaningful to us in these times when we may feel overwhelmed by all the anxiety in the world at present. 

It is worth asking why Jesus told this man to sell all his possessions. Was it really about the material goods or was there something else? I think what Jesus is emphasizing in his command to the rich man is that there is nothing that should come before your relationship with God. 

I don’t actually think Jesus is saying that possessions are all bad in and of themselves. He and the disciples needed clothes, shoes, food, and the occasional boat to travel around and conduct his ministry. It is not about the stuff. It is about how we view our possessions. Are we putting them above our relationship with God? 

At its root, the Gospel is asking us to check in on our priorities. Are we connected to God? Are we sufficiently grounded or are we finding ourselves distracted, frustrated or anxious? There is plenty to be anxious about in the world right now. The weight of the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism weigh heavily on our hearts. There is much uncertainty about what our work and family lives will look like in the coming weeks. We could set ourselves spinning about all kinds of scary what ifs or simply be emotionally overwhelmed by the magnitude of suffering in the world right now. 

In some ways those are the easy roads to go down, we could just fall into them slowly bit by bit, task by task. We need to choose God. Choose Faith. Choose Hope. It does require some work on our part. But here is the really good thing. It is a small amount of effort for an immeasurable reward. We know this. It is why we come to chapel. It is why we cultivate the relationships in our lives that are life-giving. The ones with people whose wisdom and sense of humor always helps us find our center and keep a broad perspective. The people who help us see God and ourselves more clearly. It is why we spend time in the splendor of creation. It is why we take a few minutes to sit and breathe deeply, to savor a cup of coffee or tea or a delicious meal. It is why we read books that make us laugh, that make us think, that warm our hearts. It is why we spend time with friends and family, particularly those of another generation -those who see the world differently, connecting us to the past and the future. It is why we do all of these things and whatever else feeds our souls.

So, consider yourself reminded that you will be a better follower of Jesus, a better human being, if you put your relationship with God first. Take note of the myriad of opportunities we have to do that each day. Yes, we have tasks and important work to do. And, we must always make time for that which really matters. For in so doing, we will be enriched. Our hearts will be more open, and we will be less anxious. We will have and be able to share more grace and peace. No doubt the world could use more grace and peace. May we always have the courage to choose God, and may we share the fruits of that choice will all those we meet. Amen. 

Pentecost 2020

Pentecost Mobile at St. Alban's, Simsbury

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

Grace Church, Hartford

Pentecost 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 our Gospel today, Jesus comes to the disciples and tells them, “Peace be with you.” This is such an important message that he says it twice. The disciples were hiding in an upper room. They were hiding out of fear - locked away from the world (this might sound familiar to us in  our current circumstances?). 

It was not peaceful in that room. No doubt it was filled with anxiety and worry. Nor is it quiet in our lives or in the world right now.

So Jesus comes into a room filled with fear and anxiety. What does he do? Just tell them to stop worrying? Offer platitudes? Or an abundance of data to counter their fear? No. Jesus didn't try to argue them out of their fear. He just calmly stated that God’s peace was present with them in that room. 

Jesus’ statement about peace is a fitting one for Pentecost, as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. I think we often expect the Holy Spirit to show up in our lives as if it were Pentecost. With great fanfare and in a way we understand. It would be great. It would be so helpful, if there were flames and a rushing wind. We certainly would not miss that. And then if the messages were spoken clearly and articulated, in our language, just for us, just what we needed to hear, we would be all set. But it does not usually happen that way. More often it is like Jesus quietly arriving in the midst of our anxiety to proclaim the truth of God’s peace. 

C.S. Lewis writes of this same kind of experience in A Grief Observed. He writes, “When I lay these questions [of why his wife died or why he is suffering] before God I get no answer.  But a rather special sort of ‘No answer.’ It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze.  As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.’”

In the midst of fear, anxiety and uncertainty in our own lives, our own communities, in our world, at this present time, we, like the disciples, like Lewis, are given the gift of peace that we may not fully understand, but it is God's peace. It is bigger than all of us, bigger than the things of the world, bigger than our fear.  

It is not a peace of easy answers or simple solutions. It is the peace that comes from letting go. The peace that comes when we stop trying to figure everything out, when we stop needing to get it right all the time. It is the peace that comes when we choose trust over fear. When we chose love over indifference. When we chose possibility over certainty. 

That is what Jesus came to offer the disciples, and that is what Jesus offers all of us. A gift of peace. It is not a gift that will always come easily to us. It is a gift that asks something of us in return. It asks us to be open to receive it. We have to be willing to let go of all that stands in our way, all that can keep us separated from God and from each other. We have to be willing to admit it is not about us, about our desires or our achievements. We have to be willing to trust that it is not even about our vision for our lives or for the world. It is about God's vision, God's dream, and how we might make that into a reality.

It is about a world where everyone, every single person, has the opportunity to know that peace of God that surpasses understanding. Where everyone knows the gift that comes from grounding ourselves in the knowledge that we are beloved of God. It is about a world where everyone can know the peace that comes when we truly are willing to let go, to live into our daily prayer that God's will be done. 

The world may seem frantic and harried. There are times when it can seem like the fear is going to get the best of us. But it need not. We have a choice. We have an invitation, an opportunity to experience the beautiful gift of knowing the peace of God in our hearts. It is my prayer on this feast of Pentecost that each of us would be on the lookout for the ways that Jesus is quietly showing up in the midst of our lives, in the midst of challenges, in the midst of our fear and anxiety. Jesus is showing up to offer us the gift of peace. May we always be open and ready to receive that beautiful gift. Amen.