This is the Wednesday post of a series of pieces from
Uncovering Joy - tales of urban spirituality.
Uncovering Joy – A Holy Mess
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pasture; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name‟s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” Psalm 23
It seems as though one of the things we often do in the Church is try to encourage people to search for a relationship with our God. This is said in many different ways. Most of the time, I think it is in reference to how we can become closer to the life of God‟s Reign. In such cases as this, there is encouragement to spend time in prayer. We are also prompted to make time for meditation or another variation on walking out into the wilderness and taking time to reflect on the graciousness of our God.
Earlier I tried to make reference to the joy of God‟s Reign that is around us throughout the day. We are given the gift of being a people who are able to uncover the joy of God‟s Reign as we go about the day. We can engage the day with the vision of the God‟s Reign that is already a part of the way we see, feel, touch, taste, and breathe that which is right in the pathways of the journeys within our faithful lives.
Then again, there is also a spilling-over - an unexpected tickle – that stirs up our hearts like an Advent prayer as we wait for the coming of the Christ of God. I’m not quite sure it is something we plan to enter. Rather, we fall into it or stumble upon it or have it dumped on us until we are awakened to see the Reign that is already coming down around us. Sometimes it involves a complete turn-around. Yes, it is like repentance - a new direction - a new way to consider the day - a hand that reaches in and pulls us - a tap on the shoulder that draws our
attention to something remarkable and breathtaking – the Reign of God in the middle of the meantime of ordinary life.
This spilling-over of God‟s Reign is not something that happens when life is merely good. In many ways, we become soaked by this spilling over no matter what we are facing or how we are feeling. We become a soaking mess in as many different ways as there are differences among us and around us. There is no appropriate way to see it coming. There is no way to bring it about. You may be doused by something that passes right by me though I am in great need of a good soaking. And then, on the other hand, wham! I am overwhelmed by the spilling forth of God‟s Reign and you may not feel or see or hear a thing.
One of the essential aspects of this spilling over of God‟s Reign upon each and every one of us is that we take the time to share the experiences with one another. It may be something we throw into our daily conversations. It may be in the way we act with others. Letting people know why it is that we do something is usually called a witness. That is often a difficult word to spit out for many of us. Then again, it simply may mean that we are tying the vision of God‟s Reign together with the concrete realities into which we travel each day. A simple retelling of an episode of the day that made us look up and look differently at the world can be inspiring for others. That sharing may become a reminder to enjoy the day no matter what the condition of the day may be.
When I use the word enjoy here, it is not that I mean that I am having fun – although it might mean that. More so it has to do with having my life opened up to the glory of God raining down upon us – the good and the evil – every moment of every day. Joy is all about being healed or whole or grounded right when we are wounded or broken or off balance. So when we enjoy the day, we are willing to see things as they are and also willing to be caressed by promises and hopefulness. God‟s gracious Reign has a way of simply being poured out upon us so that we are shaken into another experience of the abundance of God‟s domain.
One of the experiences of life that I just hate is when I am out to dinner with others and I knock over my drink or the drink of someone near me. It changes everything. My pants may be wet for the remainder of the evening – a reminder of what was spilled. The table cloth may be stained – a visual warning to anyone who walks by us. There is no taking back that spilling-over. It happened. It interrupted everything - for a moment or for the rest of the evening. I notice that when I am at a restaurant I make sure I arrange things around me so that I will not cause anything to spill over onto any of us around the table. My strategy for controlling the situation doesn’t always work.
A spill is a spill. Sometimes I can control the damage and at other times, the water or wine or beer just flies and all y’all just better watch out because there is going to be a mess. When the Reign of God spills over into our lives just as we are attempting to have everything in place and in order and under control, it is the power to awaken us and shake us and move us in a direction we cannot control. The Reign of God breaking into our lives makes a holy mess of everything. That is not a bad thing. A mess that comes about by God‟s never-ending (eternal is another way to say it) outpouring of the character of God‟s Reign begins to make us aware of how much we have allowed the ordinary things of the day to control us and leave the vision of the Reign of God sectioned off in another part of our lives.
There is always something more to do and somewhere we must be and someone with whom we have to meet. All of this can leave us bound up with what is or what we think must be. When the Reign of God spills over into our patterns and expectations, it is a time of refreshment - joy bursting forth. We are given a moment to look with fresh eyes at what is driving us and moving us. Those kinds of moments are not special – they are quite common. Some of them might come in moments of hilarity. Some may come in times of utter distress. Some may come within a glance while we are attending to something else. But - they come. God’s Reign spills over again and again – even as we turn to look elsewhere.
I’m known for my love of throwing water from the baptismal font. It doesn’t need to be a baptismal Sunday or another rite in which the font is central to the action at hand. It may be a “field trip” with the children during their lesson time when the adult are busy with the collection of the offering. We are invited to be a people able to see ourselves as a people who get wet and stay wet. Our baptismal date with water never ends. The water that drowns us and brings us to new life in Christ is a sign of what will come - all along the journey of the followers of Jesus. There is never a time when this baptismal covenant comes to an end or becomes dried out. Our worship spaces and our living spaces must carry the thrill of getting soaked by water that reminds us of whose we are and what we become when we have had the Reign of God spilled out over us. What a holy mess we are called to make in the world. What a holy mess will be made of us each time we are surprised by God’s touch and God’s invitation to live wet with the experiences of the gift of eternal life.
Now, can we become wet with planning? – Of course! We can plan on devotionally dipping our hands into the font or showering under the spray of meditative prayer or retreating to an ocean of contemplation. We can also take those disciplines and let them remind us how available and refreshing it is to have our lives awakened – no matter how it happens for us.
Another way to plan to get wet is as simple as taking advantage of the flow of things that come to us and move around us and spill over us as we, the followers of Jesus, are drenched by the promise of life that is whole and full of joy. This too is a discipline because we are invited to ask ourselves when we have gotten wet today. That is a reflective process. Then again, we are invited to become familiar with the moments in the day when we are getting dumped on by a holy mess of baptismal water that brings the Reign of God right into our laps. This is joy in the present mess of things. This is the valley of death beginning to be a place where refreshment is possible and new life can emerge and begin to reshape us. This is taking a moment to rest in the abundant beauty that our God has already set up for us so that we may experience life and all its bounty.
Psalm 23 notes that “goodness and mercy” will follow us all the days of our lives. I like the image of God’s goodness and mercy following us like that of a prankster who is setting up moments within the day when we will get drenched with a surprising presence of God‟s Reign. As we come to another bend in the road that may cause us some anxiety, here comes a squirt in the face or maybe even a full bucket of water poured over us – God following us with a hearty reminder of that love that will not let us go. We can expect that kind of an adventure. We can expect to have God‟s Reign spilling over into all the highs and lows of this day. Remember though, a simple flick of water may have the impact of a waterfall or being hit by a stream of water from a broken fountain that leaves us completely drenched - embarrassingly drenched - and utterly refreshed.
TRRR
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