This Fragile Earth, Our Island Home

In honor of the celebration of Earth Day this week, let's start with two questions.      Do you have a sacred place in nature where you love to visit, a place where you feel a deep spiritual connection with life?

     Do you have a special outdoor activity that you love to do that energizes your soul?

For many people such places and activities are connected to a favorite mountain or seashore, a special lake or river, a beloved forest, park, farm, garden, or even a treasured backyard. These places can be anywhere that one finds a connection with creation.

I have many special places that connect me with the sacredness of creation. One of my favorite such places in the world is Quetico Provincial Park in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Quetico is a protected park that can only be accessed by canoe by those granted a permit to do so. Permits are limited in order to preserve this pristine wilderness, a wilderness containing hundreds of lakes, rivers, and streams. The park is so pristine and remote that visitors are able to drink the clear flowing water right out of the lakes without filtering or boiling it first.

It dawned on me on a trip to Quetico many years ago that my family and I were only able to enjoy the sacred gift of this park because others before us had made the intentional decision to preserve this wilderness area. You and I do not have the power to create the beauty of the wilderness. It is a gift from the Creator. And while we do not have the power to create the beauty of the wilderness, we do have the power to protect and preserve it, and to be stewards of its sacredness. As you reflected upon the questions I began with and thought of places in nature that are special to you, I wonder if there were people before you who worked to protect those places to keep them wild and sacred.

What is true about nature is true about all that is sacred in life. The sacred is all around us--in nature, in the community of our neighbors, and in the love of friends and family. We don't create the presence of the sacred, but we are called to be protectors and stewards of all that is sacred in life, in nature, in all of the communities in our lives, and in all of our relationships.

In the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, there is a wonderful prayer that speaks of "this fragile earth, our island home." This phrase describes how the earth, and in fact all that is sacred in life, is indeed fragile. It is our calling to respect and protect our earth, as well as to protect all other people and things that are sacred and fragile as well.

It is said that the true character of a society can be measured by the way it treats its children, its elderly, and those who are most fragile. I would add how we treat the earth to this list, as well. In honor of Earth Day, I invite us all to recommit to preserving all that is sacred in our lives, including the sacred we find in nature as well as all that is sacred and fragile in the people and relationships in our lives that are most in need of our love and care.

Your Moral Bucket List

I have never really had an official bucket list, but am always intrigued to hear what others have on their lists. Typical items on such lists include going bungee jumping, rafting through the Grand Canyon, flying in a helicopter, learning and performing live comedy, writing a memoir, going on a medical mission trip, running a marathon, going on an extended silent retreat, and buying a motorcycle. The closest thing I have to a bucket list item is a desire to ride my bicycle across the United States. (Let me know if you would like to join me--maybe next summer?) This past week I read a column by David Brooks, a writer for the New York Times, that put a unique spin on the concept of the bucket list. The title of the Brooks column I am referring to is, "The Moral Bucket List." If you have not already read this inspiring column, I highly recommend doing so. (You can find the column easily with a search engine.) Because Brooks raises so many important ideas, the rest of my column for this week will highlight a few of Brooks' salient points regarding the virtues that he believes people with high moral character work to possess.

Brooks begins the column by reporting that he notices that some people he meets radiate an inner light. He finds these people remarkable in their vitality, their sense of humor, their deep desire to do good in the world, and their desire to care for others--all without any need to call attention to themselves. Brooks finds himself wondering how these people came to develop a bright inner light. He concludes that just as any other trait, skill, or attribute can be developed with practice over time, becoming a person who radiates an inner light is also something that can be developed with practice. Brooks describes a set of practices and experiences--what he calls the equivalent of a moral bucket list--that he believes are common to those who radiate a deep peace and joy in life.

One of the best parts of Brooks' column, in my opinion, is the distinction he makes between "résumé virtues" and "eulogy virtues." Résumé virtues are those traits and skills that will get a person ahead in the world and in the work place. Our culture highly values the development of such virtues. Eulogy virtues "are the ones that are talked about at your funeral--whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love?" In my experience, these eulogy virtues require us to make conscious and intentional choices over an extended period of time if they are to be developed. They often require a person to travel a road less traveled in the process, a road that will not readily be acclaimed by our surrounding culture. Brooks reflects on several practices that he believes are essential in developing moral character, practices which he believes are the source of the inner light he is drawn to in others. His list includes:

• Practicing profound humility
• Wrestling with one's inner weaknesses
• Being deeply rooted in connection and community with others
• Sharing energizing love, the kind of love that radically de-centers the self
• Finding one's deeper call, one's true vocation and purpose in life
• Taking a leap past one's greatest fears

Brooks refers to this list as a moral bucket list. While the specific details will be different for each of us, this map for developing moral character can be used by any of us at anytime.

The term "bucket list" of course refers to a list of things a person wants to do before he or she passes away, before a person "kick's the bucket." The things that Brooks is talking about though are not just things to do before you die, or things to do to make it easier for the person who will write your eulogy some day. Brooks is describing a set of practices, a set of habits, which will create an abundant life right now, a life characterized by spiritual and emotional depth in one's own life and in one's relationships. Such a life is quite noticeable by the light that it radiates, a light that others cannot help but notice and appreciate.

Recalculating Our Routes

I recently returned from a two-week vacation in Gruene, Texas, a small, quaint town located in a beautiful part of Texas known as the Hill Country, halfway between Austin and San Antonio. There are many things that make Greune special, including the Gruene Dance Hall, one of the most iconic places I have ever had the pleasure of listening to live music. Also special is the Guadalupe River, which flows through Gruene and is listed as at one of the top trout fishing rivers in America. The opportunity to fly fish on the Guadalupe River, and the nearby San Marcos River, and then be able to go out to listen to live music were two of the main reasons we traveled to Gruene. My wife and I decided to turn this vacation into a road trip, choosing to drive the 2600 mile round trip rather than fly. When we have the time we enjoy driving as it allows us to take in some of the side roads along the way and to explore some lesser-known towns, which gives us the chance to experience the local flavor of different parts of our beautiful country. We also like to use our time in the car to listen to local radio stations, as well as audio books. This time we thoroughly enjoyed an audio version of Harvard Professor Robert Putnam's new book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. Watch for an column on this though provoking book in the near future.

We were grateful on this road trip for the navigational software on our phones that made exploring the side roads so much easier, remembering that the last time we took a major road trip we had used a map! The navigational software gave us the confidence to take "the road less traveled" on occasion, and prevented us from getting lost (most of the time). One of my favorite features of the navigational software is that whenever the driver makes a wrong turn, a voice speaks, reassuring the driver that it is "recalculating a new route." Moments later, order is restored and the software spells out an alternative route to get to the desired destination. This feature helped us on numerous occasions.

Every time I heard the calm voice from our navigational software tell us that it was "recalculating a new route" when it realized we were heading in the wrong direction, I could not help but think of what I frequently hear people say when I facilitate wellness groups for Living Compass. In our wellness groups, it is common to hear a participant say, "I feel like that in this particular aspect of my life, I am not heading in the right direction. It's like there's this voice in my head that is telling me to change directions, possibly even to make a complete U-turn." The particular area of their life that they are referring could be any area of wellness--spiritual, relational, vocational, physical, emotional, or financial.

In fact, one of the reasons we named our wellness program Living Compass is because we believe that there is a living compass, a living navigational system that operates within all of us. It is that voice, that whisper, that we hear when our lives are heading down a road that does lead us to our desired destination. . That voice lets us know that we are off track, and if we are willing to really listen, that same voice can help us to recalculate our route and help us to get where it is we really want to go.

I personally believe that this internal navigational system, that small whisper within us, is a gift from the Divine, guiding us toward an abundant life. I am practicing trusting that voice more and more in my life, and I find that one of the gifts of listening to and trusting that voice is that it gives me more freedom to explore some less traveled roads. It allows me to explore some new opportunities with the confidence that if I do make a wrong turn here or there, there will be a calm, reassuring voice that gently lets me know that it is busy recalculating my route and then offering me a new way forward, much as the software did for my wife and I on our journey recently.

I believe it is wise for all of us to keep our hearts and souls open to this small voice within us, which may be beckoning us to make new healthy, life-giving choices. As you listen carefully to your internal navigational system what new opportunities, created by a change in course, might it be suggesting for you?

Resurrection and Resilience

Our Living Compass Lenten booklet for this year focused on the theme of "Practicing Resilience with All Our Heart, Soul, Strength, and MInd." We have been inspired by the responses from people across the country who have shared with us their own journeys of resilience this Lent. In my work as both a priest and a psychotherapist, I have had the privilege of walking with many individuals, families, and congregations over the years as they have demonstrated great courage in being able to bounce back and recover from difficult challenges as well. I have always been curious as to why some individuals, families, and congregations are able to be resilient, while others struggle to bounce back. As I reflect on the multitude of stories that I have heard it is clear that promoting and living into resiliency is an important and multifaceted endeavor, one that truly affects all dimensions of a person's life--heart, soul, strength, and mind.

There are several popular books that have been written recently about resilience. These books all agree on a few key practices that help aid the development of resiliency, all of which take commitment and perseverance. These practices include:

• Learning to let go
• Accepting "what is"
• Practicing patience
• Staying connecting to others
• Getting adequate rest, exercise, and practicing overall self-care

In light of the celebration of Easter this coming Sunday, I would like to suggest one more practice that I believe is the most important of all, and that is "Practicing resurrection." To practice resurrection means to make a commitment to put into practice core beliefs of the Easter story of hope and of life after disappointment, loss and death. The first step is to believe in resurrection, the second step is to put this belief into practice.

The resurrection of Jesus is God's hopeful gift to us and to the world. It is up to us to decide whether we will choose to receive, embrace and live into this gift of hopefulness. It is our choice to decide whether each day we will look at the possibilities of new beginnings and of hopeful new ways of looking at the world, our own lives, our own relationships, and our own communities.

Practicing resurrection elevates resilience to a whole new level. While the most commonly recognized meaning of resilience is to "bounce back," resurrection is much more than merely bouncing back. Resurrection is bouncing forward, not only recovering from a loss or difficult time, but also eventually transcending that loss and moving into a whole new, deeper way of living. Resurrection is not about getting our old life back, but getting a whole new life that transcends, and yet at the same time honors and includes memories of the old one. An organization, for example, that practices this kind of resilience is an organization that honors it's past traditions, while at the same time finds new ways to live out its mission and purpose today.

In the Gospel reading for this Easter Sunday, when Mary first sees the resurrected Jesus she does not recognize him. This is because he is not the person he was. Instead, he has been raised to new life; a life that is both connected to his previous life and yet at the same time is brand new. A Christian understanding of resilience then means to discover a life that is connected to our past and yet at the same time is brand new. God is always creating that new life in and around us. It is up to us to recognize it, to practice it, and to share it with others, not just on Easter, but throughout the year.

We at Living Compass wish all of you a happy and joyous Easter season.

Celebrating Rituals

During the next two weeks we will find both Jews and Christians celebrating some of the most sacred rituals of their respective faith traditions.  Holy Week begins this coming Sunday for Christians and culminates with the celebration of Easter the following Sunday.  Passover begins next Friday  and continues for the following eight days. Each sacred ritual will draw on ancient traditions.  Stories will be told.  Songs will be sung.  Prayers will be offered.  Faith will be renewed.  Community bonds will be strengthened.  

Rituals are essential for ordering our lives.  They help form our identities, both individually and communally.  Rituals are how we pass on wisdom and beliefs across generations.  It is clear how this happens through religious rituals, but have you ever thought how this is true for personal and family rituals, as well?

All families have rituals that make them unique.  Family rituals are common around the sharing of meals, bedtime routines, celebrating holidays, enjoying vacations, recreating, and participating in spiritual/religious celebrations.  Family rituals embody values and core beliefs that are important to each family and help ground and form the identities of the members of the family.  What family rituals have been important in your life?  Are there family rituals that have been passed on through the generations? What do they say about your values and those of your family?

For many years, when our children were young, I would make pancakes every Saturday morning.  Blueberry pancakes were a favorite, as were pancakes shaped in the form of each child’s initials.  The family time around the breakfast table was every bit as important as the meal we shared as it provided a chance to hear about each others’ week and to talk about plans for the upcoming weekend.  This simple ritual, among many others, helped ground and bond our family together.

The important ingredient in participating in rituals, whether family or religious, is how we choose to participate.  How we show up makes all the difference.  Choosing to be mindful and fully present means that we will both receive the most from and give the most to the experience.  If, however, we are distracted, simply going through the motions of a ritual, we will likely receive little and give little to the experience and to those who are participating with us.

As many of us prepare to celebrate the sacred rituals of our particular faiths, may it be a time for us to also remember the importance of the sacred rituals of our daily lives spent with family and friends.   And whether we find ourselves making blueberry pancakes for our family, telling a favorite bedtime story, or attending religious services may we do so joyfully and mindfully, choosing to bring our full selves to these most important and defining experiences.