Freedom Manifesto

The following is the result of an assignment for my yoga certification. Publishing it was encouraged, so here it is:

Alison Moore’s Freedom Manifesto

My desire for my life going forward is curiosity, compassion and a belief in transformation through creativity and play. I desire this to be my underlying resting state.

FREEDOM comes when I feel that I have choices and agency---when I feel I can change things that don’t work, and improve conditions that are not optimal. In the yogic principle of the union of opposites, the balancing attitude that I desire to cultivate is the simple acceptance of “what is.” These two attitudes may seem opposite (acceptance of what is vs desire for change), and yet I believe a healthy, balanced union of these two will bring me the greatest joy and serenity going forward.

“Acceptance of what is” shows up in compassionate non-judgment of what my body is able to do each day. Whether I experience a “good” practice full of obvious progress and feelings of strength and sweetness, or I navigate a “bad” practice because my energy is low and my asanas appear regressed, I wish to be peacefully present to what is. I wish to carry into each practice the knowledge that every single practice matters, and that the way I treat myself in a practice is the measure of the success of the practice, not how far I could extend or contract in a given asana.

Now, when I see something about myself that I want to change, I desire to notice it with curiosity and serenity. I want to say, “Huh. Interesting!” I want to have the willingness to approach the area that needs work with compassion and optimism and a sense of possibility. Previously I approached it with shame and the fear of what everyone else “must” think of me. My impulse was to hide the shortcoming or failure as quickly as possible. I do not wish to operate from fear of judgment or shame or a desire to hide anymore.

I want to continue to develop PERSPECTIVE or a “long view” which will keep me serene in the face of new challenges. Each challenge in the past has been surmounted, no matter how insurmountable each seemed at the time. When I remember this, I can face new challenges with more curiosity and creativity, and less fearful projections of “certain failure” and dire outcomes. “I got through those things and I can get through this.”

In relationships, I desire to be as authentic and “whole” as possible in each moment. This means I desire to own every piece of my life, and to tell the truth about my experiences with compassion and honesty. “The truth” is never harsh or unkind. It is neutral. The harsh or unkind comes when I attach blame or judgment or shame.  A whole lot of my work to this point has been in becoming free of extensive inner self-abuse and fearful thinking.  As these decrease, new space for honesty, clarity and compassion opens up.

As a speaker and teacher, I desire to lead from my vulnerability. I believe that this makes a space for truthful vulnerability in others. I wish to create SAFE spaces, which invite radical honesty and compassion and self-ownership in students and clients. My dream is that I will invite to these qualities and teach about these qualities and model these qualities as naturally as breathing. The goal of this shared vulnerability and mutual respect is REST.

To rest from hiding. To rest from pretending. To rest from struggling. To be FREE.

What would Brene Brown do?

When I show up with compassion and authenticity and a long perspective, life becomes lighter and easier. I am more patient and laugh more easily.

Authenticity is my freedom.  May I remain open to continuing the work gently and steadily that I might ever move into greater and greater authenticity.

January 13, 2018

Ask Why - a sermon

“Ask Why”
Rev. Alison Longstaff, May 31, 2015
Bath Church of the New Jerusalem
Deuteronomy 4: 32-40; Matthew 10:22-30; TC 508

Judgment comes from fear.  Curiosity comes from love.

When you find yourself judging, see if you can be curious instead.

True Christianity #508

One day there appeared to me a magnificent temple. It was square in form, and its roof was in the shape of a crown, with soaring arches rising on high all round. Its walls were continuous windows of crystal and its gate of a pearly substance. Within on the south side, and facing the west was a pulpit on the right of which lay the open Word, surrounded with a blaze of light whose brightness enveloped and illuminated the whole pulpit. 

When I approached nearer I saw this inscription over the gate, "Now it is permitted" which means that it is now acceptable for people to explore with intelligence the deep questions of faith.  - Emanuel Swedenborg

Today is “Trinity Sunday” in mainstream North American Christianity.  Many Christian preachers across the continent are tackling the topic of how God can be both three and one at the same time.  I sat through a Lutheran classmate’s sermon one Trinity Sunday back in Canada and felt deeply grateful to be Swedenborgian.  What a challenging theology!

Swedenborgians simply don’t do the trinity the same way most Christians do.  We are solidly anchored in the belief in one God.  There is one God, and Jesus was that one God come down to earth.  That is orthodox Swedenborgianism, (and yes, it has gotten us into trouble with other Christians through the years).

Why do we believe what we do about the trinity?  That is a great question!

But I am not up here this morning to argue for or against the various interpretations of the trinity through the ages.  I am here to support the questioning.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers,” said Voltaire.

Who here has read, The Shack by William P. Young?  I experienced a squirming discomfort with the representation of the trinity (as three distinct people) when I read it.  That representation of the trinity was simply “wrong” in my mind.  But fortunately I also felt curiosity.  Having walked beside and come to love fellow seminarians who had to work within the trinitarian model, I had developed a curiosity about how they navigated that whole puzzle.  I had seen and heard quite a few creative and redemptive interpretations, and I had to admit that The Shack’s speculative representation had a certain appeal.  I still prefer the Swedenborgian resolution of the Trinity, but within its paradigm it is a strikingly creative solution to a sticky conundrum.

Prejudice closed me to anything good that The Shack offered.  Curiosity opened me up to the story it had to tell, and left me in respect for the storyteller and the courageous tackling of some very challenging material.  In the end it was of no consequence if I “agreed” or “disagreed” with the interpretation of the trinity. Compassion for the heartbreak and deep wrestling in the story is what mattered.  Doctrinal differences over the trinity became irrelevant before the deep questions springing from the main character’s broken heart.

Fear and judgment shut us down.  Love and curiosity open us up.

“Curiosity is a willing, a proud, and eager confession of ignorance,” said S. Leonard Rubinstein.

If you are willing, raise your hand if, at some point in your life, you felt shamed or reprimanded for asking a question.  If you were asking a spiritual teacher, spiritual guilt was probably added to the shame and the reprimand.  I personally think that shaming someone for asking a theological question is a form of spiritual abuse, especially if it is a child.

Children are born asking, “Why?”  I suspect that we would keep asking “why” all through life if we were not taught to stop asking.  Somewhere along the way, we get the message that it is not okay to ask so many questions.

Too many of us were made to feel guilty if we questioned what we were being taught in church or in Sunday School.  (Perhaps not in this church, but in all too many.)  A lot of that silencing probably came from tired and frustrated teachers who thought they were supposed to have all the answers.  To stand at the front of all those questioning eyes and NOT know the answer can be terrifying.  But it is terrifying only if you believe you are supposed to know.  No human can have all the answers, but somehow too many teachers and leaders feel shame if they don’t have all the answers. 

Let go of certainty. The opposite isn't uncertainty. It's openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.” Tony Schwartz - writer and business productivity leader

Oh the relief when I was taught that I didn’t need to have the answers to all the questions children would ask when I taught them.  Children are not afraid of not knowing; it is adults who are.  Children are okay when a grown-up says, “Huh.  I don’t know!  Maybe we can find out together,” or even better, “I’m not sure. What do you think?” 

It is amazing what you can hear when you ask a child what they think.  It is remarkable how satisfied a child can be with their own answer, even if it sounds a bit eye-brow-raising to us. Children don’t necessarily want an authoritative factual response from adults.  They like to explore the answers for themselves.  And it is okay if they come up with a “wrong” answer because sometimes we grownups are looking at the answer through the “wrong” lens.   With the right lens, the child’s answer would make perfect sense. 

At age four, “Because it wanted to,” is a perfectly sensible answer to, “Why did the ball roll down the plank?”  It isn’t until much later that “the law of gravity” is developmentally more satisfying.  What answers make sense to us will fit with where we are on a spiritual, mental, and emotional continuum, and therefore there is no “right” or “wrong” about having different perspectives. It is okay to allow each other to be somewhere different than we are on the spiritual journey, (even if we are sure they are “wrong.” It isn’t about where they are anyway).  

Fear of asking questions shuts us down from learning; it shuts us down from a bigger world perspective; it shuts us down from practicing walking on our own spiritual feet and becoming spiritual grown-ups.

Carved over the entryway of the temple seen in Swedenborg’s vision was, “Nunc Licet,” or “Now it is permitted.”  (Actually, it would have been written in a spiritual language, but as Swedenborg wrote in Latin, “Nunc Licet” is what the Latin says.) What is permitted? “To enter into the mysteries of faith.” In other words, “It is okay now to ask theological questions;” “You are allowed to explore it all now;” or “You no longer have to be afraid of challenging the things you don’t understand.”

And so it is a foundational teaching in Swedenborgian theology that we don’t have to be afraid of probing into any aspect of faith.  Intelligent questioning and a genuine desire to understand is valued here.  My job as a spiritual leader is to support and advise, to walk beside and encourage, to offer tools and ideas and different perspectives.  My job is not to judge people or tell them how they ought to think or feel. 

Fear judges and controls, while love is curious.

My yoga teacher in Canada taught us to pay attention to our inner self talk during our practice.  Were we judging ourselves for not doing the poses better?  Were we beating ourselves up or feeling frustrated that we hadn’t made more progress from the week before?  Again and again she invited us to be curious about ourselves, not critical.  She invited us to explore and be playful with how we were approaching a pose, especially if it seemed too hard.

This invitation to be curious rather than judging continues to teach me.  When I find myself judging myself (or someone else or something) if I can just bring curiosity to the table too, the inner dialogue transforms.  Instead of thoughts that criticize and condemn I can begin to ask things like, “What is going on underneath this judging?”  “What am I afraid of?” and, “How else might I move through this with more compassion?”  From negative inner attacks it shifts to compassionate problem-solving; from a passive, blaming place it shifts to a creative optimism.

When we can become conscious that we are judging, and instead of judging, become curious, whole new possibilities and solutions open up.  Fear underlies judgment and fear shuts us down while love underlies curiosity and love opens us up.

“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will,” said James Stephens.

“Seek, and you will find,” said Jesus.

“It is okay to ask the questions now,” is apparently carved on a temple in heaven.

May we become like little children and return to fearless curiosity and never stop asking, “Why?”  Amen 

The Readings

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of? Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, while you heard his words coming out of the fire. And because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them. He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today. So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

Matthew 10:22-30

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.  The Judeans who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

"Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant" - a sermon

 “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant”

Rev. Alison Longstaff, Oct. 12^th, 2014

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Psalm 19: 7-14; Matt 25:14-30

You are watching a movie.  The hero is a teenage boy, pretty cool, fairly respected, fairly together.  And he comes upon a scene where a younger kid is getting beaten up by some gang members.  The gang has the kid down on the ground and are kicking him.  Our hero looks around but there’s nobody to call for help.  He realizes that if anybody is going to help this kid, it’s got to be him. 

He hesitates.  He knows about this gang.  They have put more than one kid in the hospital.  He knows that if he steps up to defend this one, he will become their next target.  And he’s on his way to a sports practice, and has a big test the next day, and a date to the prom on the weekend.  He doesn't have time to get beat up.  He teeters on the edge of decision.

I’ll warn you, this isn't a Disney movie.  There won’t be some magical solution, and there might not even be a happy ending.  This movie is like real life.  Our hero, who we really like, could end up badly hurt—internal injuries, stab wounds—he could even die.

 

And, as this is a fairly modern movie, I’ll let you choose the ending.

Ending one:  the boy risks his life, his plans, his prom—everything—and steps up, drawing the attention and wrath of the bullies toward him so the younger kid can escape.  And he gets seriously thrashed.  He is punched and kneed, and once he’s down, he’s kicked repeatedly in the face and head.  Yes, the younger kid manages to get away.  But our hero—our hero wakes up a few days later in the hospital in major pain.  He’s missed the big test, he’s missed the sports practice, and he’s going to be missing the prom.  In fact, he’s going to miss the next eighteen months at least, as he’s got a crushed kneecap, a bruised kidney, a cracked vertebrae in his neck with some spinal damage, some missing teeth, a broken nose and a possible brain injury.  He can’t eat real food for a while as his jaw is wired shut.

 

But he is alive.  And he’s a hero.  We see him being tearfully thanked by the boy’s parents.  The gang leaders are finally rounded up and will not harm anyone again for a long time. 

 

And . . . his sports team wins the regional trophy without him, he misses graduating with his class, and his prom date attends with another guy.    Our hero is lucky that the brain damage was minimal, but he’s looking at several years of rehab before life is back to normal.  The boy who escaped has cracked ribs and a bloody nose, but is alive and doing well.  We leave our hero in the hospital bed, bandaged and in pain, looking out the window.

Ending two:  The “hero” walks away, pretending he didn't see.  He gets to a phone (this is before cell phones) and he calls the police to report the incident anonymously.  Then he heads off to his sports practice.  The next day he goes to school and takes his test.  When he gets out, the halls are abuzz with the news:  a boy from the sixth grade died that morning.  He’d been beaten so badly that the doctors weren't able to save him.

 

Our “hero” goes on to win the regional trophy with his team, takes his girl to the prom, and graduates with his class.

But he will be haunted forever by the face of the boy who died, and will feel uneasy for the rest of his life about his choice.

What would you choose in his place?  I don't know what I would choose.

But I do know that one of the best bits of advice I ever heard was, “When you have a decision to make, ask yourself, ‘When I’m on my death-bed looking back, which choice will make me feel the best’?”

Now honestly, I've never had to make a choice like this.  Generally our choices are on a more mundane scale.  I may look back from my death bed and think, “I am so glad I spent the money and visited my friend in Holland, even though I was a bit short for several months after that.  The memories are so worth it!”  Or, “I am glad I chose to let the house-cleaning go this week and chose instead to visit that lonely woman.”   These are not life and death, physically, but they do affect the quality of our lives spiritually.

And that is why I suspect that if our hero had stopped to ask himself which choice he would feel proud of on his death-bed, he would have chosen the first ending.  He would choose to step in front of the bullies to save the younger boy—because by doing so, he gains his own soul; because by doing so, he can look himself in the mirror, and feel no shame or doubt.  His body might become fractured and damaged, but his spirit will have grown in integrity and wisdom.

And that is the deep, underlying message of our parable.

Yes, it is about “talents.”  It is about God giving us gifts that we are to use in service to others.  But it is bigger than that.  It is deeper and richer and much more broadly applicable.

It is about choosing love over fear.  It is about choosing courage over comfort.  It is about choosing spiritual health over spiritual hiding.  It is about taking a risk in aid of another.  This parable is asking us to stretch our awareness and stretch our compassion to cover more ground, no matter where we are on the spiritual journey.  This is the “use it or lose it,” parable.  When we don’t use the life and opportunities and strengths that God gives us, we lose them, just the same way muscle atrophies if it is not exercised.

On the face of it, this isn't a very nice parable.  It seems as though Jesus is saying that it is right if the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.  It even seems to be promoting money-lending with high interest rates. 

But, like a lot of the rest of God’s Word, this is actually an incredibly compacted bundle of wisdom.  And like a lot of the rest of God’s Word it contains a metaphor for the way spiritual life works.

It is saying, if we show up in life and do our best, we will be spiritually enriched.  If we withdraw and hide and make excuses because we are afraid, we are going to “lose our soul,” which means we will lose self-respect.  We will also lose some courage and some strength.  It will be a bit harder to choose well next time.

This parable also tells us that it is fear that stops us from living the life we have been given.  What does the third servant say?  “I knew you were a hard man so I was afraid.  I went and hid my talent.”

He blames God for his cowardice (“I knew you were a hard man”), but then comes the real truth.  “I was afraid.”

It is scary to do the work of spiritual growth.  It takes courage to look into our dark places and admit to the times we have buried our talent—the times and ways we have chosen inactivity in the face of need, because we feared for our own discomfort.  It is rarely (ever?) life-or-death.  We fear making mistakes in front of people, or getting our feelings hurt, or not knowing what to say. But those things don’t kill us.  They are just uncomfortable.  In fact, it can be a little ridiculous how much energy we can put into avoiding something emotionally uncomfortable, as if it really would kill us, rather than be, well, emotionally uncomfortable.  It is rather silly when you think about it.

But also, this parable is not saying that God will punish us when we don’t step fully into using our gifts.  Instead, it is describing a spiritual law—a kind of cause-and-effect.  The law is this: if we do the spiritual work to which we are called, we will enter into joy—actual, vibrant joy and peace.  Life becomes WAY more fun.  (It is a myth that angels don’t have fun.  They experience pure, unmitigated joy.  Belly laughs.  Utter delight!) “Come and enter into your master's joy!”

But if we don’t—if we hide, or look away, and let fear of some unknown, possibly uncomfortable outcome run our lives and choices—we will experience a diminished life.  We will have less of a sense of personal integrity or self-respect.  We will have lost the opportunity to see how good it can feel to serve, and the confidence that comes with it.  We will be behaving “faithlessly” which means we will be acting as if we don’t trust God to bring a good spiritual outcome.   Choosing fear, avoidance, and hiding will result in a more limited, less vibrant, and far less enriched quality of life.  It is a choice for smallness and for “can’t”.  It is not a choice for trusting God. 

In the parable, when God commands that the “faithless servant” be cast into outer darkness, this is a description of the spiritual cause-and-effect we invite when we choose fear.

The truth is, a lot of the time we are already in outer darkness.  We are born fearful and ignorant. It is not our fault.  We start out primarily unconscious of our feelings and motivations; we are primarily reactive rather than mindful, outraged rather than humble, judging rather than compassionate, wounded rather than forgiving. 

Our fault is not that we start out this way, but it is a problem if we choose remaining in ignorance when we could be doing the work of understanding. Our fault lies in being content passing judgment rather than extending the forgiveness we would wish to receive.  Our fault lies in not stepping out in courage to extend forgiveness and go the extra mile.  We even blame God, and hide behind the excuse that God might judge us for not being perfect, and somehow that justifies not trying at all.

“And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (Harsh!)

But let’s be honest.  Life in community, yes, especially in church community sometimes includes weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The work itself is hard, but the work isn't the problem.  It is the interpersonal resentments, miscommunications, and misunderstandings that make it hard.

We seriously mean well, we want to get along, we want our church to succeed, but there we are, weeping; or gnashing our teeth over the one who is weeping; or gnashing our teeth over the one who made him or her weep….  This is life in community.  But when the conflict is going on, it can sometimes feel like outer darkness.

On the other hand, the working together, the job well done, the relationship building, the inside jokes, and the consequent deep affection for each other brings deep contentment and satisfaction.  When we get past the disagreements and disappointments and look at what has been accomplished, there can come a glowing sense of integrity and pride.

When we take the gold we are given (love), and put it to service in the world, it grows and expands. When we hide it, it becomes nothing.  That is what today's parable is saying.  And so, in our lives, our families, our church, and our community, let us take risks for love.  

We all want joy, don’t we?  So let us forgive radically. Let us own our own foibles, and make amends when we can.  We who want joy in our lives will step out of our comfort zones to serve and show kindness.  We will make choices that we will be proud of later.  And we will have as much fun as we can loving each other along the way.

Then we will hear as we each look back over our lives:

 Well done, good and faithful servant!  Come and enter into your master's joy!'

Amen

Originally preached March 29^th, 2009, Fryeburg New Church, Maine

  

The Readings:

Heavenly Secrets 543. Certain spirits wished to understand heavenly joy. And so they were allowed to feel their own deepest joy, even to the point where they could not even bear it.  And this joy didn't even approach angelic joy. It barely resembled the slightest of angelic joys. They were allowed to perceive this through the communication of their joy. Their own joy was so meager that it seemed quite tepid, yet they called it most heavenly since it was the deepest joy they knew. From this it became clear not only that there are degrees of joy but also that the deepest level of one degree comes scarcely anywhere near the moderate or even the shallowest level of the next. It was also clear that when we experience our deepest joy, this for us is heavenly joy. Nor can we tolerate anything deeper in that moment, as it would be so marvelous as to be painful.

Psalm 19: 7-14 (NIV)

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?  Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Matt 25:14-30

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.  The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.  So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Is the Lord With Us? Finding trust

"Is the Lord With Us?"

Finding Trust in the Face of Doubt

Rev. Alison Longstaff, May 18, 2014

Original version preached October 30^th 2011 in Ontario

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Joshua 3:7-17; Matthew 23:1-12; TCR portions 283, 284

Today we are looking at the story of the Children of Israel at the brink of the Jordan River.  They are at the very edge of all that they have dreamed of and worked so hard for.  The Promised Land is within reach!  It is steps away!  However, they are a rag-tag bunch and have arrived fairly ill-equipped to take the last few steps.  They are ill equipped except for one little detail---the Lord is with them and has been with them every step of the way.

Now let me set the scene.  The Jordan River is not such a big river.  If you visited the site of the crossing today, you might wonder what all the fuss was about, as it is little more than a stream.  It runs today at about one tenth of the size it ran at the time of this story, due to all sorts of redirection of water into field irrigation and housing developments.   But back then, it would have been about the width of the Saco River as it passes through Fryeburg. Picture the Saco River as it passes Fryeburg, and you would have an approximate picture of the Jordan River at the time of our story.  The Children of Israel simply have to cross this river and they will have achieved their dream.

Except... the children of Israel arrived at the Jordan during the time of the spring flooding.

So, picture the Saco River at its most frighteningly rough—overflowing its banks and thundering by with an overabundance of snow-melt or rain water, and this is more like what the Children of Israel were facing.  Put yourself in their sandals.  Remember that you grew up wandering in the desert, and while you are skilled at surviving all sorts of difficult desert conditions, navigating an overabundance of water is not your strong suit.  In fact, you have no idea how to swim.

Furthermore, at the point at which they crossed, the shoreline is not a nice sandy, flat stretch of land.  No, the banks here are steep and covered in thick thorn-bushes.  The ground is treacherous and difficult. You really can’t see your footing, and one slip could tumble you into the maelstrom.

Do you have the picture?  Here you are, on a steep slope, grasping a thorn bush, staring down into a roaring cataract, and you can’t swim---not at all.  All you have to do is cross this thing.  That’s all.  Simple.  So, how are you feeling?  You are just meters from your lifetime dream-come-true! Aren't you excited?  You must be raring to go! 

Hmmm.  Given the evidence in your face, how confident do you feel?  God has assured you that he is with you and that you will enter the Promised Land.  You have grown up with the story of how God miraculously parted the Red Sea for your parents, but as you stand in the thorns and look at the leaping, gushing flood, maybe you are having a few misgivings?

Now remember that the stories in the Bible are always speaking to the reader in real time, through metaphor, poetry, and symbolism.  They are not just about some strange people, long ago, but about you and me right here, now, today.  So I ask you, as we sit here together in our modern, vinyl-clad building; with bucket-loads of money, standing room only, no trouble paying our bills, no threat of having to “grow or close” in a few years, and no big expenses looming (like an entire building repaint or a complete kitchen renovation): I ask you to try, just maybe, to feel like these people in the story did—ill-equipped for the daunting challenge ahead of them, thinking their dreams are idiotic, that their plans and vision make no sense, and that going forward now will certainly result in, well, death.  Maybe that is too big a stretch. But please try. (Tongue firmly in cheek.)

So.  Back to our story.  You are standing right at the edge of something great that God had promised you, but you have this huge, terrifying, apparently impassable obstacle between you and the finish line. Everything you know and everything your senses tell you is that you are facing certain death. 

This is a classic crisis of faith.  God has set this situation up as both a test and as ongoing proof of God’s covenant with his people.  Covenant means PROMISE, and when God makes a promise, you can bet (S)He will keep it.  The question is not whether God is with us, the question is: how ready are we in these circumstances to trust in God?  God has promised that He blesses us and blesses our efforts.  God has promised that s/he is with us again and again and proved he/r guiding presence time after time, but the people in the story are a lot like us.  Each new challenge just seems to bring a fresh wave of insecurity and doubt. Each new challenge calls us out of our comfort zone and into a deeper walk with God—a deeper trust in providence.  How ready are we to place our trust in Providence this time around?

I don’t know about you, but for me somehow it doesn't matter how many challenges God has brought me through in the past. Each new challenge requires a re-commitment on my part to trusting God’s providence.  Remembering that God has indeed gotten me through until now helps, but I want a guarantee that s/he will get me through again.  I don’t want a risk.  I don’t want to jump without a safety net.  No matter how many times God worked miracles in the wilderness for the Children of Israel, they still doubted again and again.  That sounds like me. No matter how many times things have worked out for the best in my life, there is still such a large gap between my little desire to trust and the major leap of faith often required of me.  Tiny me.  Huge leap of faith.

Does this sound familiar?

When you and I are needing to make a leap of faith, what can we possibly do to find the trust we are lacking?  Let’s take another look at today’s Scripture.  We read, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan…. ¹²¹³When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.”

The first thing to note is that the ark went before.  The ark “of the covenant,” the very symbol of the promise, takes the lead before the people.  Not only was the ark the symbol of the Covenant, it was their concrete reminder that God was leading them.  In that golden box, guarded by golden angels, was the story of how God had been with them and would continue to be with them.  When the feet of the priests carrying that box touched the water, or rather, when they skidded down the steep bank into the rushing flood, the flood waters stood up in a wall and let the entire company cross the river on dry ground.  When the priests, holding up the promise, took the plunge, the obstacles withdrew. 

And so the river divides after we take the plunge.  God requires us to get our feet wet first.  The priests leading the way with the ark remind us that when we put God first, we will have success.  We have to commit to the path. We have to make the leap, skid down the bank and into the river where we can’t swim, before God can divide the water.  But because we stepped out holding fast to God’s promise and God’s ability to work miracles, the waters part.

It is interesting to note that the name of Joshua is actually the same name that the angel Gabriel tells Mary to give to the holy baby in her womb.  Joshua in Hebrew becomes Yeshua in Aramaic, which becomes Iesus (Yay-soose) in Greek, which becomes Jesus in English. So the switch of leadership from Moses to Joshua at this point in the story has deep significance.  It is describing the same sort of spiritual energetic shift that is represented by a shift from a written law (the Hebrew Testament) to a living God walking among us, (Jesus). 

Moses, throughout the Scriptures, represents the law to us.  Moses represents the time in our spiritual development when we are still learning all the various rules and teachings about how to be a good person from whatever tradition we come. To develop as a truly living spiritual being, we must start as students.  We must first learn what others have decided is true and right.  Our teachings say that God provides such spiritual and moral teaching to every person in every context, sufficient for them to make the spiritual journey.  So no matter what our background and beginnings; no matter what tradition shaped and informed our learning, at some point we must begin to distill and sift among all the things we have learned and begin to live according to our own conscience.  We begin to reject and discard all that cannot live in our lives, and we put into practice all that resonates with our new spiritual identity. And that is a shift from law and learning, to life and living.  It is the shift from Moses to Joshua, and from learning about the rules of how to be good, to actually wanting and working to be good.

The switch from Moses to Joshua is this precise shift from rules and law to an active, living, vibrant spiritual life.  There is nothing wrong with being at a stage that we are still following Moses in our spiritual walk.  It is a necessary and vital part of our spiritual development.  But, we will not enter the Promised Land until we are ready to be lead by Joshua.  We must be people of spiritual courage.

 Joshua cannot lead a dutiful, rules-in-my-head version of spirituality into the Promised Land.  The only ones ready to survive the crossing are those with a committed intention to put all that they have learned into practice.  That shift can be daunting, and we can feel like we are stepping onto far less secure spiritual footing.  It a shift from head to heart, and it is a definite move forward in faith. It involves a lot more risk-taking, and takes a lot of trust and courage, but the rewards of stepping up and following Joshua will be those of settling into a green and vibrant spiritual landscape, not the sparse fruits of wandering in a wilderness. 

Stepping up to follow Joshua and the ark into the Promised Land also requires us to shift our consciousness from that of scarcity to that of abundance.  While in the wilderness, we survive by carefully rationing what we have.  We can’t do otherwise.  We are still pretty much in the illusion that it is our own efforts that are getting us through even though all along it has been God.

But once we move to settle in the land, we can prepare for an abundance that we have only previously imagined.  We have to believe it to see it.  We have to be ready to trust, and to step out in trust for the way to open.  Until we do, we stay in the thorns and the desert.  We really can and often do choose struggle and effort and barely making it over relaxing and allowing abundance to flow in.  It is just our natures.  It can feel safer.

After all, relaxing and allowing abundance to flow in sounds like hocus-pocus to us when we are used to spiritual desert-living.  I can only say that I have seen too many examples of this shift into welcoming abundance truly working to be able to discount it any longer.  Welcoming abundance, and seeing it begin to flow can bring up all sorts of uncomfortable feelings for us: feelings of guilt, unworthiness, and the fear of the responsibility it would entail. After all, should we really have a flood of abundance, we would have to step up in our response to it.  If this church should thrive and succeed and become the booming center for spiritual life that we envision, we will all be called into a greater level of love, activity and service than ever before.  Does that frighten you a little?  We must be strong and of good courage to welcome this new future.

We are indeed approaching this venture ill-equipped to go forward.  But it never was and never has been about us being good enough or ready enough to serve God’s purpose in the world.  God takes our few loaves and fishes and makes a banquet for thousands.  God does. We just have to show up and bring our whole selves, no matter how small and inadequate we may feel.  The Lord is with us now and has been with us every step of the way.  We just have to trust and commit.

When we refuse to listen to the fear and doubt, trust in God can flow in.  When we cultivate an attitude of gratitude for all that we have and a deep faith that God is already providing, then the Lord can hold back any flood waters of fear and doubt that might be threatening, so that we can walk through on dry ground---the dry ground of peace and trust.  This journey truly needn't look like a flounder through the rushing waters of struggle.  Peace is waiting the moment our feet touch the water. But we must commit to living in the Promise. God doesn't ask for a partial commitment.  God can’t work with a “well, I’ll wait and see what others do and then decide.”  God asks for all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.

So surrender your fears and inadequacies, your “yes-but”s and your “what-if”s.  We are enough, have enough, and will be enough because God promised it. God’s intention is for each one of us to be blessed and to be a blessing.  God’s intention is for the church to be blessed and to be a blessing. The only thing standing in the way is our fear.  We can see this promise fulfilled. We can become the living, thriving center for spiritual life that we envision if we can just push aside the fear and get our feet wet.

I would like to end by quoting Marianne Williamson.  This is a passage made famous by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves ‑ who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

There is nothing to fear.  Go up and take this land.  Amen

The Readings: 

Joshua 3:7-17

⁷The Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. ⁸You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” ⁹Joshua then said to the Israelites, “Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰Joshua said, “By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: ¹¹the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. ¹²So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.”

¹⁴When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant were in front of the people. ¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, ¹⁶the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ²“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; ³therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. ⁴They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. ⁵They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. ⁶They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. ⁸But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. ⁹And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Portions of True Christianity 283, 284
The Ten Commandments are a condensation or short summary of the life necessary for a human soul to find conjunction with God, and God to find conjunction with the human soul. For this reason the stone tablets containing them within the Ark were holy above all else.

Miracles happened in the Presence of the Ark of the Covenant because the Law or Ten Commandments nested within it, and the Presence of Jehovah hovered around and within it. The Lord's power that was present in the Law that was inside the Ark split the waters of the Jordan river; and as long as the ark was resting in the middle of the riverbed, the people crossed on dry land.

Joshua 1: 2-9 portions “Arise!  Go across this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to you. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you everywhere you go."