Zen and the Short Pencil, Chapter Five

 

CHAPTER FIVE: FROM TEAM TO TRIBE

“The Necessity of Companionship"

“The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love” –St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582).

Six weeks ago, just after Ash Wednesday, I began to “open up” to everyone about my sudden and unexpected onset of chronic lung disease which was exactly concurrent with the beginning of my retirement. I promised to share a brief essay each week during Lent to “tell my story, for what it is worth, in hopes that it might help someone.” Since then, something more than 260 friends have asked to be “tagged” on the weekly posts, and many have commented that something in the sharing has blessed them. I continue to be in awe of this response, and I continue to be thankful for your prayers and kind words.

As I have shared with you during this season of Lent, the first six months of my journey was a journey that I did not see coming and yet was something that God may have been preparing me for throughout my entire life. Lent is a season when we are reminded of our mortal nature, and we are never more conscious of our mortality than when we are given a life-threatening diagnosis.

Earlier I shared that I was thankful for so many things that God has provided for me, some of which I had probably taken for granted. When you are reminded of your mortality every single day, you become aware that some things are simply not as important as you might have thought they were; and some things are more so.

As Lent comes to a close, I would like to share a word of testimony about one thing that has been sustaining me along the way. That one thing is companionship.

In my case, the divine gift of companionship has taken many forms:

One, my team. When I first got home from the hospital and figured out that I was not going to immediately recover and go back about my business, I reached out to about 20 people, about half of whom were family who needed to know, and the other half being friends whom I had more or less kept in touch with through the years. I trusted them with the unfolding information which I have now shared with you and asked them for their support in conversation and prayer.

Beyond my team, I am part of a small group of spiritual directors who meet with a larger group once a year and meet together once a month for conversation, centering prayer, and lectio divina. I refer to this group as my tribe.

My spiritual director. Your spiritual director is not your pastor, not your therapist, but is a person who is gifted and called to walk alongside you on your journey and to help you to see, to notice, and to discern where God may be at work in your life in the present. Everyone should have a spiritual director. Spiritual Directors International is a good place to find someone who may be a good “fit” for you. Aside from that, God may just send you someone from “off the grid.”

My wider circle of friends. Since I have started writing again and sharing these posts, I have been humbled and amazed at hearing from so many friends, colleagues, members of churches and communities where I have served, others who have reached out. When I first started sharing, a buddy from my college days commented that my team had grown!

My dog. Yes, Dixie. She is a ten-year-old rescue, and she almost never leaves my side.

The ancestors.  As you may know, Buchanan is a Scottish name, and in the Scotch-Irish Celtic tradition, we believe the ancestors are always somewhere near. They are like the “great cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12:1, whom we celebrate on All Saints’ Day. Walking around in the backyard and seeing a red cardinal on a branch is a reminder that the ancestors are nearby.

The Spirit of God.  Even in the brain-fog that goes with low oxygen, the Spirit of God is always present.

Physical reminders. When I first moved in after getting home from the hospital, I was thankful for the stack of greeting cards that I had received from my retirement party and for the big green peace lily which is the only plant in my house. These gifts represent the love and prayers that were so fresh on my mind that I felt the presence of these friends for many days after.

There can be many manifestations of companionship. I believe all of these are gifts of God, and in some ways may be a manifestation of God’s own companionship with us. Many find companionship within communities of faith, the church. Community is not the same as companionship, but companionship may be one of the basic building blocks of community.

Tomorrow will be Maundy Thursday – the Thursday of Holy Week, three days before Easter. Maundy Thursday gets its name from John 13:34-35 – “a new commandment (mandatum novum in Latin) I give you; that you love one another, even as I have loved you that you also love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus has washed his disciples’ feet, dismissed Judas, and has turned to the eleven to give his last words to them at their last supper together. In that intimate moment, mere hours before his arrest, what is the most urgent, compelling, important thing that the departing Christ has to say to his followers?

“I’m commanding you to love one another.”

That’s it. The “new commandment.”

Every year in the liturgical churches, we hear this on Maundy Thursday.

But every year I ask, how can love be commanded? I would venture to say that when you fell in love with your spouse or significant other, it was not a feeling or an impulse that could be “commanded.” To be honest, it could be said that love was commanding YOU!

Most of us would say that loving feelings are not easily commanded or easily dismissed; and let’s be honest: some “one-anothers” are more easily loved than others!

But what if the love that Jesus refers to is not just a feeling? What if this love is not just something that we feel but something that we do? Like washing our companions’ feet?

Lord help us. He is teaching us that love is a choice.

This brings me to what I have stumbled upon, the Meaning of Life. I know, I know, people have tossed this question up in the air for centuries, and responses have ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Each one must choose their own way to find meaning. For me, the meaning of life is simple: God is not playing hide-and-seek with us. It should not take a Ph.D. or an ivory-tower theologian to tell us the meaning of life.  Simply put, the meaning of life is…

We live, we love, and then we are gone…but not too far.

That’s it. Everything else is, well, … everything else.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”   --I John 4:7-9

Companionship is love in action, love in real life.

I will close this week with my team text on February 2, the Feast of St. Brigid:

 Thank you so much for reading, for your friendship, and for your prayers. Feel free to subscribe to my blog for updates: I promise I will not inundate you with material!

            Wednesday, February 2

February update

February 2, Ground Hog Day,

Candlemas, Feast Day of St. Brigid of Kildare.

 

In the Celtic tradition of my ancestors, the first of February is a threshold time. It’s basically the Celtic New Year.

 

I am presently enjoying a nine-day Celtic pilgrimage each morning based on St. Brigid, whose feast day is today. She is the patron saint of the hearth and of Healing, among other things.

 

I’m in the 4th week of the new ipf medication and thanks be to God my body is tolerating the medication well and I am not experiencing any of the well-known and dreaded side effects. I’m feeling a little better and the doctor says I’m holding my own, with which he is quite pleased. We’re continuing to monitor and I’m praying/hoping for improving functionality by spring.

 

I just returned from Clarksville TN where I got to baptize Elijah my youngest grandson! It was beautiful!

 

In keeping with this threshold time, I received [a very nice] text this morning from Michelle Morris. Michelle was in charge of the Course of Study program at Hendrix College, where I have taught the course in spiritual formation for clergy. 

 

Michelle is an encourager. You, my team, are encouragers as well. Thanks as always for your prayers and continued encouragement. Remember to give thanks for each day of life, for the gift of the present moment, and for every breath you take.

 

Peace,

Bill B.

                      

“And we are put on earth a little space,

That we may learn to bear the beams of love”

--William Blake