Spiritual Disciplines, Doing Church and Little Easters

Every year for Lent I seek to do three things: give something up that is not healthy, take something on that is healthy and practice more intentionally those things that bring me closer to God. The specifics of these things change from year to year, but the purpose usually remains: seeking ways to be a better, healthier and more balanced person of faith. I have a confession to make…I think I failed at Lent this year. I started out strong. My heart was willing and my soul was hungry for this discipline. I spent more time during the season of Lent feeling guilty for all the time I was not adhering to my discipline than actually doing/not doing what I set out for myself.

Then, in an ephiphanal moment, provided in the midst of normal-everyday conversation, it occurred to me…doing these things for a period of time is not what brings me closer to God, and ultimately, God is always close. The key is recognition or awareness of this fact. Looking for and discovering God in the midst of everything, even the ordinary, is the spiritual discipline to practice all the time, not just during the season of Lent. I think I’ve always known this, as you might too, but it tends to fall away to the back of our thoughts during those times when we get caught up living our lives.

Joyce Rupp calls moments like this, “Little Easters.” And Ann Weems says it beautifully when she wrote, “Sometimes that cup of cold water, turns out to be a cup of hot coffee, and what we’re asked to do is to pour it…and to listen.” Finding God in every moment makes every moment sacred and filling our days with knowledge of the sacred makes every day a ‘Little Easter.’

• Reading a Facebook post that declares how wonderfully we, as a church, have welcomed a newcomer is a ‘Little Easter.’
• Randomly running into someone who regularly visits the church and as a part of innocent conversation you hear them refer to themselves as a part of the church…catching that moment is a ‘Little Easter.’
• Seeing the twinkle of love in the eyes of a grandparent who is regaling me with stories of how their grandchild related the story of Worship & Wonder that last week into something that happened during the week is a ‘Little Easter.’

Life is full of these moments, but oftentimes, when we fail to stop and live within them we miss out on the sacred. We miss our ‘Little Easters.’ Pastors and active volunteers in the church tend to get busy doing church. These activities are meant to enhance our experiences of the sacred, to serve real needs in the world, to act out our devotion to God through our living and being in the world and to share with others the good news and saving acts of grace found through God in Jesus Christ. Maintaining our ability to recognize these Easter moments throughout the year while ‘doing’ church will be my new spiritual discipline. I’d love to hear how you mange this in the day-to-day.

Blessings,
Tracy