Luke 21:25-36
A prestigious public university recently canceled classes on a Tuesday. Administrators saw the need for a Wellness Day. The announcement of the event on social media contained a Content Warning (CW). The current use of CW is common when discussing topics that may cause readers distress. The post mentioned suicide and self-harm. The reporter shared a suicide and an attempted suicide occurred over the weekend. The community was already distressed over suicides from earlier in the Fall semester. It’s hard times where academic excellence and sports championships are the norm.
It is clear that relief and health are welcome as we grapple with the intense strain of daily life in America. Psychiatrists, counselors, ministers, clinicians, and gurus join on platforms and unite for discussions. Therapy dogs, cats on leashes, and yoga with goats bring us momentary relief from problems. Social media content, podcasts, trendy live-streaming programs, best-selling books, and medicinal prescriptions influence. Intentional spiritual practices may bring wholeness and healing to our troubling reality.
We can count on tragic, traumatic things happening to us and others. Wisdom moms and teachers taught us may bring perspective during difficult times. To seize the challenges of the present moment we know to:
Take a breath
Count to ten
Walk it off
Luke’s gospel can stir cynical, apocalyptic images connected to American movie culture. Kirk Cameron memes come to mind. Luke encourages us to look to the trees for helpful cues and to adapt body posture in the face of trouble. Overwhelmed by distress, fear, and foreboding we become weak to the point of fainting. The security God offers creates the possibility for people to rise in the face of adversity. Our bodies may feel revealed truth as we linger with the gospel text. Settling into the Scripture brings rest and illumination of our hope.
Twenty-six-year-old rapper Mac Miller died in 2018 of an accidental overdose. He continues to speak like a prophet to his generation. The music released shortly after his death alludes to the artist’s heartfelt openness. He shares from of his formative experience,
“They invade your minds and then fill them with nonsense These things that a man doesn’t need Take out the love and the passion and hope And they fill it with nothing but greed.” Malcolm James McCormick – Shapes and Colors
Father Adrian Van Kaam taught spiritual formation emphasizing awareness of God’s presence. Early in life he gained deep insight from people affected by Nazi oppression in Holland in the 1940s. During a season of horror can we find meaning? Transformational relationships prepared a then 19-year-old Van Kaam for a lifetime of influence. He continues today postmortem to direct people to find solace in life. Father Van Kaam points to the undercurrent of transcendent truth. Aware of the constant nearness of God, Van Kaam helps us to believe humanity can endure to liberation.
Poet Wendell Berry tells of peaceful strength gained from engagement in restorative action. He suggests, “I go among the trees and sit still.” Wordless rest in the Presence makes room for falling into God’s transforming embrace. We may know an interior summertime as we ease into the motion of the Spirit’s ever present action in our world. As we pose with receptivity we can join sacred activity. We may practice with consistency and seek sustained contemplation. We can sacrifice a tendency toward a goal-orientated approach. We must let go and waste time with God.
Our choices for how we engage with God, ourselves, and others each day matter. The work of God in Christ secured the restoration of all things; assured consummation. We see the redemption of creation only in part. We live into our potential with hope of present and future possibilities. Eschatological ambition draws us by faith to take part wholly in our day-to-day life. We stand with one another in confidence as we face opposition. Christ followers do. We bend in strength to meet the variety of needs presented each day. Joining rhythms that encourage well-being help us to trust God’s way. Relinquishing like Christ on behalf of others brings out mysterious strength to stand.
The variety of life challenges invites a variety of spiritual practices. How might we engage in ways that contribute to transformation? Enduring so we may “stand before the Son of Man” requires a connection with God over a lifetime. Such engagement sparks well being. M. Robert Mulholland instructs on the need of a proper relationship with God. Offering ourselves to God as willing participants in our formation is key. We become whole as we relinquish our lives into the capable hands of God. Invitation to a Journey suggests we engage in a consistent practice of silence. We begin by setting a timer for 10 minutes each day to sit still in “patient, open-ended yieldedness”.1 This practice helps us to give up control for a moment and makes room for being in God’s presence. In silence we give ourselves over to whatever God wants to do and we receive whatever God wants to give us. This posture lets “God be the one to act in God’s way, in God’s own time…This is good.”
1 Mulholland Jr., M. Robert. Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation. IVP Books, Downers Grove, Illinois. 1993