Howard Thurman | Singing Along the Journey

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Howard Thurman

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019

Holding space…

Well, hello, old friend. Yes, I thought that I was done with you -- I thought you, this lens through which to view my life, were a song whose coda had been sung, and that I was okay with that finale. Every musician knows that time will come, just as every athlete does -- the moment when it is time, for whatever reason, to move on to something else, to let other dreams frame your days. I thought I was living into that moment -- until a recent Wednesday night in the North Carolina woods. That night, and the day before, I had the honor of sitting at the feet…

January 5, 2019

Christmas 12: The Work Goes On

And with that, we come to the end of our 12 day journey together. And at last, we tackle the title of Bruce Epperly's collection of reflections that have guided us. Today, we consider our benediction. There was a plan to these days of words -- it was the plan of preparation. Together, we have thought about the qualities of Christmas, like joy and wonder, and love. Together, we have looked at what it means to let Christmas be something alive in us, not just a day or even a season. And together, we have thought about the many obstacles in the way of living a Christmas-fueled life. Today, in…

January 4, 2019

Christmas 11: A Vision of Something More

A vision of something more...isn't that what this gift of Christmas is all about? Today, as Bruce Epperly again tackles the meaning of the Christmas season through the words of theologian Howard Thurman and his work The Mood of Christmas, that is what we consider. Thurman calls us to stand on "the growing edge" of our lives: Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree; the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves,…

January 3, 2019

Christmas 10: Christmas Waits to be Born…Again

I have, over the years, come to the conclusion that there are two different Christmases -- the cultural Christmas, with its presents and parties and television specials, and the religious Christmas, that which springs from the life of the Church. My time with the words of Bruce Epperly and Howard Thurman have convinced me that there is a third, never-spoken-of Christmas, the one that knows no time or place, the one that waits to be born in you and me and in this world each and every day: Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes, And the heart consumes itself, if it would live, Where little children age before their…

January 2, 2019

Christmas 9: Light a Candle

If I had to guess, I would say that, if you are a person reading my words right now, you have seen one of the memes floating around the Internet-world this Christmas that featured quotations from Howard Thurman's work. And I'll be honest -- it was just such a quotation that led me to Bruce Epperly's The Work of Christmas and that led me to reflect on that work. And because of my fascination with what some might call a theology of light, it was today's focus of reflection that captured my spirit the most: I will light Candles this Christmas; Candles of joy despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair…

January 1, 2019

Christmas 8: Every Day is Christmas

I'll be honest -- it becomes more and more difficult to hold the Christmas thread as the days between December 25 and today grow in number. And even harder when the world around you is shouting "Happy New Year!" and preparing to go back to their routines of work and whatever tomorrow morning. I suppose this is where the concept of the great both/and comes into play -- for today is indeed still Christmas and it is also the first day of a brand, spanking-new calendar year. So, Happy New Year, and again, Merry Christmas. I am not surprised that Bruce Epperly captures this tension in his reflection today in The…

December 31, 2018

Christmas 7: Wounds into Windows

We are halfway along our journey through the 12 days of Christmas with theologians Bruce Epperly and Howard Thurman. Or, if you prefer, we are on the "seven swans a-swimming" verse of the old song. It is also, for many of us, New Year's Eve, that time when we kiss (or kick) the old year into history and welcome our perception of a new slate of living, where we will be more responsible, more fit, thinner, and all-around-better-off. So I am not surprised to find that Epperly has chosen a passage for reflection that reminds us of the every day things in the story we are telling, in particular, the…

December 30, 2018

Christmas 6: When Did You Know?

I remember the first time that I heard, really heard these words in church and believed them in every cell of my body: "You are loved Nothing can separate you from the love of God." That is a kind of incarnated knowledge that changes everything for a person. That day, that knowledge set my feet in a new direction, one that I haltingly follow to this very day. I say haltingly because I, like any other human creature who catches a glimpse of this understanding, simply can't hold on to it every single moment. I am at least lucky enough to know its possibilities. And it is the power of…

December 29, 2018

Christmas 5: Let the Angels Sing

So far in our journey, we have pondered love, joy and wonder, beauty, and what it means to be the symbol of Christmas. Today, we ponder the role of imagination in all of this. We have good company in this pondering, because many before us have recognized the role of imagination in our faith life -- important guides from St. Ignatius to C. S. Lewis to the psychologist Carl Jung. All have understood the role of imagination in lifting us from our human limitations to a place just a little closer to God. As C. S. Lewis phrased it, "Reason is the natural organ of truth; imagination is the organ…

December 28, 2018

Christmas 4: The Symbol of Christmas

Today, on the fourth day of Christmas, I'm continuing my walk through the season with Bruce Epperly's reflections on the work of Howard Thurman, published in The Work of Christmas. So far, I have been completely on board with the program and unconcerned by the lack of reference to the lectionary texts I expected, but today the disconnect seems to bother me. Why? Because today is the feast of the Holy Innocents, a time when we remember the children of Bethlehem who died in blind power's quest to stop this one particular child. And today, as we sit with the knowledge that in our own world, innocent children are dying because…

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019