The Power of Palms - sermon for Palm Sunday

“The Power of  Palms”

Rev. Alison Longstaff, March 29, 2015
Bath Church of the New Jerusalem
Psalm 143 portions; John 12:12–16; HS 7518, 7596 portions

Heavenly Secrets 7518. (Condensed)

"Fists," or palms of the hands, signify power, because the "hands" signify power.  Arms correspond to power; including the shoulders and the hands, right down to the fingers. The reason for this symbolism is that the body exercises its power by means of the shoulders, arms, and hands.

Heavenly Secrets 7596.  (Condensed)

“Spreading out the palms” is a physical gesture or action, which represents a pleading from the heart. There are bodily gestures or actions that correspond to every emotion or feeling. For example, falling down on one's knees corresponds to humility, casting oneself down flat onto the ground corresponds to even an greater personal humility, while a spreading out of one's hands towards heaven corresponds to pleading from the heart, and so on.  In the Word, all described gestures or actions symbolize the actual affections to which they correspond, because they physically express such affections.

[A heads-up.  I will be inviting you to move your arms during the sermon.  I am hoping most of you will be trying what I suggest. In any case, know that I give you permission to do so, to deepen your experience.]

I had my shoulder to the wheel this past week.  I have been giving the Chocolate Church a hand by performing in their “Jubilee” fund-raiser.  So if I haven’t responded to your emails, please don’t think I was giving you the cold shoulder.  Don’t judge me out of hand.  I have had my hands full.  My right hand barely knew what my left hand was doing, I have been so busy.

One thing I love about Bath is its community spirit.  It has a way of standing shoulder-to-shoulder, of walking arm-in-arm, and working hand in hand, when something needs support. I hope no one was close-fisted when it came to buying tickets for the show. Because the 17-degree lean on the Chocolate Church tower is forcing the hand of the building preservation committee. While no one should be reduced to a hand-to-mouth existence by supporting the Chocolate Church (or any church!), it is otherwise all hands on deck!

(With apologies if I been a little heavy-handed with these idioms. But what better way to show you my hand?) 

Here we are on Palm Sunday, and the connection between these hand-shaped leaves and human hands is strong.  Palm branches take their name from their resemblance to human hands. And, as we see illustrated in today’s story, ancient peoples frequently grabbed them and waved them as an extension of the hand, in praise, celebration, and adulation.

We Swedenborgians love symbolism. We know that the study of Biblical symbolism, and indeed all symbolism, can enrich and deepen our understanding of human nature, of the Bible, and of how God works with us.  So pay attention this morning, and open your mind to the remarkable way our language and our bodies reflect our spiritual realities.  Our physical and spiritual realities are far more connected than most people think.

Do you talk with your hands?  Actually, we all do, more than we realize. We hide or show our hands based on how safe and connected we feel.  Fold your arms across your chest.  Your body is saying that you are unwilling to communicate (in most cultures).  Even putting your hands in your pockets can disclose a certain level of disengagement.  If our hands are tied it means we are unable (or unwilling) to get involved at all.

We show our palms to show openness.  Putting both hands over your head, or “hands up,” says around the world that we are unarmed, mean no harm, or even that we surrender.  We are showing that we have no weapons, or that our hands are far away from our weapons.

For this same reason the open palm and open hand symbolize truth and honesty.  Two open palms say, “Trust me.”  “Arms wide open” is a universal expression of welcome and affection.  We are letting someone in to our personal space.

The connection between our bodies and our internal state can be so strong that what we do with our bodies can also change our inner state.  Do you want to feel more closed and defensive?  Cross your arms.  Do you want to feel more relaxed and open? Open your palms. In fact, study subjects who have been told to lie while showing relaxed and open palms had a much harder time not being truthful; and in a separate study, individuals made to open their palms while being questioned were more likely to tell the truth.

So, right now, open your heart space—maybe even set your elbows on the back of the pew. Relax your hands. Uncross your legs. Relax your jaw.  Open your lips slightly.  All of those things happen naturally when we feel open.  Doing these things with your body can actually cue your nervous system that you are safe and relaxed.  (Did you sigh?  Your body was releasing stress.)

Arms crossed over your chest is a defensive posture for a primal reason—you are protecting your heart.  Fists up, shoulders up and head ducked is even more defensive—shielding your neck, chest, and vital organs.  People who feel frightened often hug themselves.  Trauma victims sometimes curl right into a ball.  Our inner state is mirrored in our bodies in a correspondential way.

Spread your fingers, wrists bent back and palms facing up (fingers are pointing away from you, not back over your shoulders).  You are saying, “I’ve got nothing,” or “I don’t know,” aren’t you?  Shrugging your shoulders emphasizes the gesture.  Now with elbows bent slightly, wrists neutral, and palms facing forward, spread your hands. You have put yourself in “orans,” whether your hands are hip-height, waist height, or shoulder-height.  Orans is a posture of prayer and blessing going back to very ancient times. You might notice me holding this posture with one or both hands at the end of this service when I say the prayers and blessings.

If you spread your hands and stretch your arms up high over your head you are probably showing jubilation, joy, and celebration.  You could also be acknowledging a beloved figure or leader. It is as if you are reaching out towards them, asking for connection, blessing, and recognition.  Put palm branches in those hands and your shout of adulation becomes that much more expressive.  Today we use poster-boards or foam hands instead of palm branches in our crowds of greeting and celebration, but the impulse and the meaning are the very same.  We are extending our reach.  We are increasing the volume of our shout of praise and cry of recognition.

If you don’t agree with me, you might look down to find your hands on your hips.

According to Swedenborg, hands, palms, fists, and arms symbolize our power or our “reach.”  They symbolize the expression of what is going on inside us, especially in regard to the intention of our hearts.  The show our friendliness or hostility. They show our interest or disinterest in connection.

Spread one hand, palm facing up, and extend it forward.  This shows supplication.  It is a form of submission or a request for help.  You are handing over your power. Perhaps you are asking for a hand.  Turn that palm down and suddenly you are saluting Hitler.  This one-palm-down gesture is a universal sign of dominance and oppression, especially if you lift that hand above shoulder height and lock your elbow.  You are being high-handed and declaring that you have the upper hand.  You are indicating that you might rule with an iron fist.

Face your palm forward and bring it close to your shoulder.  You are ready to swear allegiance or take an oath. Place your hand over your heart and you are expressing love or devotion.

If you are even-handed, it means you are fair, or that you share power; you neither take nor surrender more than your due.  Someone who is even-handed would never palm the proceeds.  Besides, such sleight of hand, might mean you get caught red-handed.  If that happened, your friends might wash their hands of you.

Today’s common hand shake is a ritual from ancient times. It is our way of saying that we do not have a weapon in our hand.  In fact, the Roman soldiers’ full lower-arm grab was their way of checking that there were no weapons concealed up the sleeve either, because there have always been people who try to get around the conventions.

In the Biblical book of Judges a man named Ehud got an upper hand by being left-handed.  Ehud’s job was to carry the Children of Israel’s tribute money to the king of Moab.  Being left-handed, Ehud carried his dagger on the opposite side of his body than the usual.  In this way he was able to sneak a weapon into the Moabite king’s presence.  Ehud’s underhanded tactic helped the Children of Israel overthrow the Moabites and be restored to freedom.

In fact, to this day the word “sinister” carries the suggestion of deviousness or even ill-intent because left-handed warriors often had the advantage of surprise. They were perceived as sneaky. But “sinister” is simply the Latin word for “left.”

Finally, we humans can be known to bite the hand that feeds us.  Not long after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people turned their backs on Him.  He was their beloved Saviour one week, and despised and rejected the next.  He didn’t do what they expected Him to do (overthrow the Romans).  He was instead a threat to the religious leadership, because He taught that doing good was more important than following religious rules. For this reason they first tied His hands and then nailed those hands to a cross.

As we head into Holy Week, and prepare to walk with our Lord through this darkest time, may we pay attention to the powerful meaning of hands.  The hands that came to heal us will be nailed to the cross instead.  Are we able to admit in humility that there is something inside each of us that does this to the Divine?  Are we able to remember with gratitude there is another part inside each of us that recognises the Lord for Who He is, and that reaches to comfort Him on His walk toward the cross?  It is these same inner hands that will tenderly wash and anoint our Saviour for burial.  And it is these hands that will be lifted in prayer and praise on Easter morning when He rises again.

Amen

The Readings

Psalm 143 portions

Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
    In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

John 12:12-16
The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.  So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord-- the King of Israel!"
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

Idioms heavily sourced from:

http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap2.html

Heaven and Hell - a sermon, March 22, 2015

“Heaven and Hell”

Rev. Alison Longstaff, March 22, 2015

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Morning Has Broken; God Is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him; Lord, Look Down From Heaven

Psalm 139:1-12, Luke 17: 20-21; HS 8153

After I began this sermon, I quickly realized I had material for many, many sermons.  There are so many possible points of exploration when it comes to talking about heaven and hell; I could not possibly discuss them all in one short (or even long-ish) sermon.  I found myself sectioning off paragraph after paragraph and setting them aside for other sermons so as to keep this one from being too long.  Stay tuned for “Heaven and Hell, Part(s) Two,” (and “Three,” and “Four….”).

This morning we are going to explore the following three questions relating to heaven and hell:

1. What are heaven and hell like? (Harps, wings, and clouds vs. a lake of fire?)
2. Where, or rather, when are they? (Happening right now, or coming sometime in the future?)
3. Who is responsible regarding where we end up?

First out of the gate, I must mention that Emanuel Swedenborg wrote an entire book on Heaven and Hell.  Heaven and Hell is far and away one of his easier books to read.  He wrote in Latin in the 1700s, and even in translation, he is one of the least “sound-bite accessible” authors I know.  A class on how to use Twitter could have transformed his accessibility to today’s audience!  Nevertheless it is a fascinating read, and will certainly change how you explore this topic.

1. Meanwhile, today we ask, what are heaven and hell like?

We've probably all seen the Philadelphia Cream Cheese commercial with the winged angel (eating cream cheese) on the clouds. She’s perky and cute, and just lacks a harp and blond hair to capture the perfect stereotype of an angel in heaven. 

Hmm.  Heaven will be sitting on a cloud, playing a harp?  Really?  I ask you, do you think a brilliantly wise, loving, and all powerful God would make our eternal existence break down to that?  (Can I at least keep my cell phone?)

We have also all probably seen images of the burning fires of hell, especially in jokes.  In one joke there are several Canadians revelling in all the glorious heat (after all their ice and snow and cold. “Mainers” could easily be substituted for “Canadians” in that part of the joke).  The devil keeps turning the heat up, frustrated because the Canadians aren’t suffering enough. Everyone else is moaning and wailing all the louder. But the Canadians just unzip their parkas and grin, enjoying it even more.  Finally, the devil decides to turn the heat right off and turn up the freezer instead, thinking that making it really cold is the way to make the Canadians suffer. There are icicles hanging from the icicles and frost even on the devil’s eyelashes when he comes to see how badly the Canadians are suffering. Instead he finds them jumping up and down with joy.  “Bring on the beer!” they shout. He stares at them in bewilderment. “Hell has frozen over!  That means the Maple Leafs must have won the Stanley Cup!” 

(You might have to be Canadian to truly appreciate that joke.)

In any case, we see the stereotypes.  Heaven is all clouds and wings and smiles; hell is endless suffering, usually in a lake of burning fire.

If you believe what Swedenborg says, heaven will be a lot like earth, except without corruption, greed, stress, or lack, and with a lot of amazing beauty and magic that we cannot imagine now.  Our days will be filled with learning and doing useful activities that we love with people that we love. 

There will be art, music, plays, and time to travel for rest and recreation, because we will still have rhythms of work and play there.  But the point will be providing service to all others from our gifts and talents, doing what we are best at and truly enjoy.  We will LOVE it, and love each other, and truly understand that the God of love created us exactly to participate in this wide reality of joyful, enriching human service and interrelationship.  And our capacity for joy and wisdom and service will simply grow each day forever.

Hell, Swedenborg tells us, is the eternal suffering that comes from wanting to steal from or harm others, of constantly wanting to have more than others, and of wanting to look down on others and control everyone else.  It is the hell of not being allowed to achieve any of those things, at least not for very long, because they involve harming others.  Those in hell are kept far away from those in heaven, instead being grouped with others just like themselves.  When we are in hell we spend our days scheming how to cheat and steal from the others (who are just like us), plotting how to control them and look down on them and harm them.  Sometimes we are allowed to succeed, and in those moments we feel a certain triumph or joy.  But because it is hell, and we are stuck with people just like us, sooner or later the shoe is on the other foot, and we are the ones being trampled and hurt, robbed and dominated.  And we never seem to realize what a dead-end we are in, which is why it is seen as eternal misery.

Swedenborg says that the joy of heaven and the suffering of hell come from our own patterns of seeing, believing, and behaving, even now, not just down the road.  The harps and wings or lake of fire are metaphoric images chosen by our collective imaginations to illustrate what these spiritual realities feel like.  We know what a heated argument feels like.  We already know what it is to burn with anger and resentment and frustration.  And if you have ever had that feeling of being trapped in a hell from which you thought you would never escape, you know just how eternal hell can feel.  Despair convinces us that our suffering will never end. (Rather like some Maine winters….)  

On the other hand, haven't we all experienced “cloud nine”? Have you ever felt like you were flying through your day with ease, or soaring on the wings of good fortune?  Have you ever felt so happy you just wanted to sing?  All these metaphors exist because they describe how heaven feels.  We aren’t supposed to believe in a literal lake of fire any more than we are to believe we will be up in the physical clouds after we die.  We imagine angels to have “wings” because they can get through and over anything—because they seem so much smarter and “loftier” than we are—not because they actually have wings. They don't need them. 

Anyway, heaven and hell are states of being, and we have been travelling in and out and through them our whole lives, whether we realized it or not. 

2.         We have already begun exploring where, or when is heaven or hell. Since Emanuel Swedenborg teaches (as do many others) that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies, it follows that heaven and hell are spiritual too, not physical places. They aren’t located somewhere in the sky or under the earth; they are states of mind or states of being.  They are inside us and with us all the time, not “out there”.  We carry the potential to “be” in either one in each moment.

Swedenborg said, “Heaven is not ‘up there’ but where the Good of Love is; and the Good of Love lives inside each person, wherever that person might be.” (Heavenly Secrets 8153)  So perhaps when Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is within you,” this is what he meant.

On earth we experience both—times that feel hellish and times that feel heavenly—all through life, and these experiences help us to choose who we want to be.  Do we want to stay stuck in old, broken, unconscious patterns of thought and behaviour, or do we want to do the work that moves us into better, kinder, more conscious patterns (heaven)?  We sometimes “choose” heaven and sometimes “choose” hell alternately throughout our lives so that we have enough experience to determine where we really want to stay. 

Sadly, we have probably all experienced or watched someone we love choose the (pretend heaven but) actual hell of addiction.  Some people need to choose that hell again and again to become ready and able to get out of that hell and stay out.  Addictions are a perfect example of how hell can masquerade as heaven. Addictions cause increasing torment for the addict and often try to suck everyone with whom the addict is in relationship into the suffering as well.  It takes an especially strong kind of angel to stay in relationship with an active addict without getting sucked into their hell along with them.  God always provides a way out, but it can be agonizing to watch that someone we love struggle to escape—the sick thinking and the lies can so thoroughly trap the one we love—and to wait for them to choose differently can feel like an eternity of suffering.

In any case, if we believe Swedenborg, no one is ever “sent” anywhere we don’t want to be; (not forever).  You and I may “send” ourselves (or be dragged into by others) some pretty dark places; but ultimately we always have the choice to ask for Divine help and get out of even the darkest hell.  And the minute we choose for heaven, our wish will always be granted, if not immediately, then as soon as is possible while making sure we can handle the transition.  Some extractions can be as complicated and lengthy as the most elaborate extreme mountain rescue—but you can bet that the angels on the job LOVE what they do, and they do it with focus, compassion, and God’s guidance.

3.         And so finally, who is responsible for whether we “end up” in heaven or hell? 

The answer is: We are each individually responsible for where we end up.

Now, while we are each individually responsible for where we end up, we are only partially responsible for many of the times we visit heaven or hell along the way.  Other people can “put us through hell,” the same way others can draw us into greater peace and happiness while we walk this earth.  But ultimately, we choose who and how we want to be.

Into every single one of our relationships and life experiences we bring our own selves, with our own patterns of listening, interpreting, reacting, and responding.  We bring with us a great deal of the heaven or hell we find in these relationships because of our own patterns and habits of response. We are often far more responsible for the problems in which we might find ourselves than we might realize.

Just the same way that there are many dynamics in our culture, our families, and our society that can be unhealthy, you and I can have internal perspectives and habits that are unhealthy that we can’t even see.  All of these things will remain invisible to you and me until we realize them and learn different perspectives.  Just watch a few episodes of Madmen for a great metaphor of this process at work.  The characters in that show innocently and blindly chain smoke, litter, drink while pregnant, suffer profound sexism, and many other things that would shock us today.  We see those things differently now because of our growing and changing awareness of how they have been harmful.  In this same way you and I can begin to see in finer detail the way some of the personal dynamics and patterns of behaviour that we learned as “normal” in our childhood are actually contributing to the problems in our relationships today. And then we can begin to change them. 

If only “choosing to be in heaven right now” was as easy as it sounds.  More often it is about as easy as, well, if I were to choose to go complete a 5k run this afternoon, at my current level of training and conditioning.

I could “choose” it all I wanted, but I would be dreaming.  I’m not remotely prepared for such an ambitious goal.  If I even tried, I can guarantee it would not put me in heaven, (and would possibly be a fast track to a personal hell).  I simply couldn’t do it.  ("Hashtag: Epic Fail,” as they say these days.)

No, I would need to start with a commitment now, and then train and prepare for several months to be able to make that “choice” a reality many months from now.  “Choosing” would mean more than simply flipping a mental switch. It would include “practice” and training to develop a whole new set of strengths and abilities.  It would take time.

The spiritual journey is a lot like that.  It takes commitment and focus too.  It takes discipline and intention. The practice isn’t always comfortable.  But it is often deeply satisfying, and it is tremendously worthwhile especially if you value a greater ease in managing your own inner happiness, and especially if you value enhanced well-being in all your relationships.  If you value those things enough, you will persist in the spiritual disciplines necessary to run that spiritual race, and you will keep returning to the practice because of the ongoing rewards, no matter how many times you temporarily step off the path.  

Day by day, starting right now, you and I can choose to leave behind our not-so-heavenly reactions and feelings. Taking baby steps and sometimes falling down, we can repeatedly and persistently invite heaven to live within us. It already dwells within the Goodness of Love within us from God.  May we be open to tapping into that and letting it work in and through us with increasing strength right now, each day.

Jesus Himself took this very human journey on Himself in solidarity with us and to give us strength.  He allowed Himself to be betrayed and “put through hell” indeed when He let Himself be crucified.  What better example could He have given us, to show us that we can survive the hells we travel through on earth and survive even death itself, because the point is something better and more lasting and far more meaningful beyond? 

My question for you is, what do you think?  What do you feel? What system of looking it these questions sits the most comfortably in your body?  I invite you to use your rationality, your experience, your intelligence, and your intuition as you find your way through these very big questions for yourself.  And I especially ask you to consider, what belief system makes you a kinder wiser, more compassionate, open, and giving person? Because that is the path to heaven.

Amen

The Readings

Psalm 139: 1-12

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

Luke 17: 20-21

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Secrets of Heaven 8153

Heaven is not “up there” but where the Good of Love is, and the Good of Love is found inside each person, wherever that person might be.

Dealing With Despair - sermon March 15

“Why Is My Pain Unceasing?” - Dealing With Despair

Rev. Alison Longstaff, March 15, 2015

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Jeremiah 15:15–21, Matthew 16:21–28, DP 214

Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?

One nice thing about pain is that it feels so good when it stops.

In our Scripture readings, we heard a lot about suffering.  We heard a pain-filled cry to God to end the suffering in Jeremiah.  In the gospel reading, Jesus is warning the disciples about the terrible suffering he will endure.  Peter objects, and Jesus shouts at Peter, “Get behind me, you Satan!” in a shocking, very un-Jesus like moment.  He says, “You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Peter was the voice of the tempter when he declared that such suffering and death should never happen to Jesus.  Jesus knew it was imperative to focus on the spiritual work about to be accomplished and not on the suffering.  He had to focus on His Divine mission and not be distracted.  Perhaps Peter was the voice of the demon attacking Jesus, trying to convince Jesus to opt out of the suffering.  This would explain the intensity of the rebuke.

Jesus had to keep his eyes set on the Divine, to accomplish his mission.

Life on this earth includes suffering.  Even here in North America, with our insurance policies, relative wealth, and myriad safety measures, we can’t seem to escape suffering.  We often think we shouldn't have to suffer.  We keep creating more ways to protect ourselves, as if constant comfort and total security were the answer to all our problems.

So why are we still so restless and unhappy?  Some of the countries that rank highest for overall national happiness are places like Nigeria and Bhutan.  What’s that about?  Nigeria suffers from extreme poverty, and many people live in mud huts.  How can they possibly be happier than us?  Well, it seems they have a deep reliance on God.  They are a very Christian country, and they live their faith in every way they can.  They are desperately poor, yet they sing and pray and share the little they have with each other, and they are happy.

Toronto journalist Jonathan Power interviewed Olusegun Obasanjo, a Nigerian who became a Christian and a preacher after being unjustly imprisoned.  In his three years of captivity, Obusanjo became a sort of chaplain to his fellow prisoners. He says, “The time I had real joy in my life was when I was in prison.  I felt then that there was just God and me, and my fellow prisoners whom I must try and help." (Power, 2003)  Extreme hardship robs us of everything … but God.  Perhaps this is why some of the most loving and deeply spiritual people are also people who have suffered great hardship.

In the midst of the deepest suffering God becomes all we have left, and this breaks ground for a deep and rich faith to grow.  I’m not saying we should all discard our current lives and go live in a third-world country so as to really suffer so we can experience God. Suffering will find us, no matter where we live, nor how much money we have.  I am saying that it is good to remember that suffering can be our greatest teacher.  God wouldn't allow anything to happen if it didn't serve some purpose for good.  So even the painful times in life—perhaps especially the painful times—are carefully overseen by God to deepen us and eventually bring us joy.

My one objection to books and philosophies like The Secret is the way they can promote the idea that we are solely responsible for what happens to us in our lives.  The idea is that if we cultivate a good attitude, we invite good things into our lives, and conversely that we invite misfortune by having a bad attitude.  The logical conclusion to this is that if we just work hard enough to have a great attitude, nothing bad will happen to us.  But if that were true, those Indonesians and Japanese must have had terrible attitudes to invite such massive tsunamis onto themselves.  The Hebrew nation must have somehow invited the Holocaust. Every victim of every tragedy could be blamed for their misfortune.  Such a belief might give the rest of us some sort of security, but I can’t believe in a God or universe that works so simplistically (and harshly).  We mortals are simply not that powerful.

 

“It must be their fault.  If only they were positive like me, they’d be okay,” is the underlying thinking  when we judge victims of hardship and illness.  This thinking is problematic, in that it promotes a strong reliance on our own efforts for “salvation”, and there's no mention of reliance on God (or Spirit or Higher Power or anything outside of oneself).  I understand the appeal of this idea.  But it falls flat whenever we come up against anything more powerful than our own positive thinking.

My mother lived in chronic physical pain for many years of her life.  She had fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis and depression, which meant that everything hurt, inside and out.  She was on all sorts of pain medicines, which only helped a little, had their own strange side-effects, and caused other problems.  I don’t know how she managed.  I can’t handle chronic pain for even a day.  I get grumpy and whiny and can be very impatient when waiting for my next dose of pain reliever.  She had chronic pain for over twenty years!  Did I mention that she also got regular migraines?  She tried every treatment in the world, from steroids to vitamins to acupuncture to moose meat, and nothing helped.  She was told again and again that it was all in her head and that she “should” be happy.

She died in 2008, in terrible pain to the bitter end.

I loved her.  It was terrible to watch her suffer.  I admit that sometimes I got impatient with her.  I thought, “Surely she can do something differently!”  I judged her for not trying hard enough, and for not trying the right things long enough.  My judging came from how hard it was to see her in such pain. 

But my judging never helped her. My impatience never helped her.  No one’s judgment or “should”s helped her.

Again and again, the best and only thing I could do for her was to love her to bits, and spend time with her, and believe with my whole heart that God had a plan.  Period.

Have you ever heard someone say, in the midst of some awful situation, “I suppose God has a lesson for me,” as if he or she could stop the suffering if they could simply figure out what the lesson was and learn it?  I don’t think God works that way.  I don’t think God ever sends suffering to teach us a lesson.  I think God allows it sometimes, only when He can also bring some long term good out of it for everyone involved.

Did my mom suffer for over twenty years because there was some lesson she was refusing to learn or because she didn't have the right attitude?  I can't believe that.  I know she did the best she could.  She got dealt a rotten hand.  She didn't invite her pain onto herself any more than she invited the childhood abuse she suffered at the hands of her father—any more than my classmate’s two-year-old son invited death from liver cancer onto himself either. 

Sometimes terrible stuff just happens.

Yes, a positive attitude can greatly improve certain aspects of our lives; it can improve our coping, and can spin off some terrific side effects.  Optimism and hope are our wings, and when we have them, they lift us up and over a multitude of life’s hurdles.  But sometimes, through no fault of our own, our wings get plucked or broken.  Sometimes a hoard of locusts swoops down on our rich and thick harvest of positive thinking and in a heart-beat, strips it to dead stalks.  Sometimes we are left walking or crawling down life’s muddy road, not flying, experiencing every bump and ditch and thorn and mud puddle.  “The rain falls on the just and on the unjust,” says God in the Gospels.  Or, to quote contemporary wisdom, “Shit happens.”

So we must set our minds on divine things, and not on human things.

There is so much in this life over which we have no control.  There are all sorts of forces at work around us, and we are far less powerful than we think. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts.

We want a happy, comfy life now.  God wants us to have a happy, comfy life for eternity. 

From The Divine Providence by Emanuel Swedenborg, passage number 214:
The Lord’s Divine Providence pays attention to things that matter forever, and pays attention to short-term things only so far as they work in unison with the things that matter forever.  Short term or temporal matters usually have to do with earthly wealth and status, which is fame and fortune in the world. But what matters forever is our spiritual well-being and our spiritual character, which have to do with our becoming ever more loving and spiritually wise—these impact our eternal happiness.  We mortals see the worldly values of wealth and social standing as disconnected from our eternal happiness, but the Lord sees that they are connected.  And so the Lord’s Providence must give our eternal well-being priority over our earthly fame and fortune, until they work in unison.

We are part of a great tapestry.  Stuff that looks bad to our eyes now is allowed to happen because God sees a bigger picture.  But don’t forget, God isn't some cold, distant artist.  When we suffer, God suffers along with us.  S/He knows what it is like to be a mortal.  He was one, in Jesus.  Jesus suffered to bring a much better outcome for every one of us down the road.   And in the very same way the disciples couldn't see why Jesus allowed Himself to suffer, we often can’t see why we or our loved ones are allowed to suffer.  We can’t see God’s plan, but it is there.

Bad things happen, and not all the positive thinking in the world can save us from it.  No one is that powerful, no matter what we'd like to think.  All twelve steppers can tell you that powerlessness is the first and most important thing to learn.  We have to embrace and face life on life's terms, not ours.  Facing our powerlessness throws us finally and completely into God’s arms.

“Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?”  Set your mind on divine things, and not on human things.  Spiritual growth or personal growth involves finding our relationship with suffering, not avoiding it.  Why else would God invite us to take up the cross to follow Him?  Jesus fought through temptation after temptation on his journey to the cross.  He showed us the way.  AND He showed us that it will come out all right, no matter how hopeless it looks along the way. 

God loves us desperately.  S/He doesn't want us to suffer.  But sometimes the most loving thing He can do for us is to let us have our experiences, good and bad.  Eliminating the struggle for us eliminates the joy and triumph we will feel when we finally arrive at the finish line.  Suffering calls forth qualities in us like endurance, stamina, and patience. It frequently teaches us compassion and opens us up to the Holy Spirit.  It is like spiritual roto-tilling, breaking up old and set things inside us, turning us upside down, and making room for new and wonderful things to grow.

Suffering helps us to appreciate more fully the truly good things in life.  It also teaches us how precious are the times of peace and good fortune.  We no longer take them so much for granted.  Suffering deepens us, whether we like it or not.  And it reminds us who’s really in charge of the universe, and that it is not us.  It teaches us to trust in God; and to set our sights on divine goals and not on human ones.

For those of you who are in the midst of suffering, take heart.  Every single thing in life is in God’s hands.  Not one hair of your head falls without notice.  No matter how long the night may seem, the spiritual morning always brings comfort and joy.  You are intimately loved and cared for, and every single detail of your life is being woven for your eternal blessedness.  Even if you cannot see it; even if you rail against God for your suffering, it is all covered.  Your spiritual insurance policy is in God’s Divine Providence, which is wise beyond all human wisdom and compassionate beyond all human understanding.

All manner of things WILL be well.

           

 Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?

“…They shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the LORD.

 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (Jeremiah 15:20-21)

“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 31:24)

Then surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life;
And you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23)

Amen

Revised from a sermon preached August 2008

Reference: Nigeria: Happiest Nation on Earth?

by Jonathan Power, Published on Monday, December 29, 2003 by the Toronto Star

The Readings

Jeremiah 15:15-21

O LORD, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away; know that for your sake I bear reproach.
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?

Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.
And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you,

for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Matthew 16:21-28

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

The Divine Providence 214

The Lord’s Divine Providence pays attention to things that matter forever, and pays attention to short-term things only so far as they work in unison with the things that matter forever.  Short term or temporal matters usually have to do with earthly wealth and status, which is fame and fortune in the world. But what matters forever is our spiritual well-being and our spiritual character, which have to do with our becoming ever more loving and spiritually wise—these impact our eternal happiness.  We mortals see the worldly values of wealth and social standing as disconnected from our eternal happiness, but the Lord sees that they are connected.  And so the Lord’s Providence must give our eternal well-being priority over our earthly fame and fortune, until they work in unison.