Tuning Slide # 4.42- Moving from Voice to Song

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

I think I can hear your song, all of them, even now…
— Dan Millman

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been writing about finding one’s voice using ideas from Stephen Covey and others. Before finding out what that means here’s a recap.

• Voice:
✓ Your voice is your own “unique personal significance.”
✓ Your power to choose the direction of your life allows you to reinvent yourself, to change your future, and to powerfully influence the rest of creation.

For that to happen we have to learn to convert different energies.

• Energies:
✓ mental energy into vision
✓ physical energy into discipline
✓ emotional energy into passion
✓ spiritual energy into conscience

Then, to find that unique voice find out what it is about you by asking some questions.

• Questions:
✓ What angers you?
✓ What makes you cry?
✓ What have you mastered?
✓ What gives you hope?
✓ As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
✓ If you had all the time and money in the world, what would you do?
✓ What would blow your mind?
✓ What platform do you own?
✓ What change would you like to see in the world?
✓ If you had one day left, how would you spend it?

Then it is time to find your song. Here is my definition of your song.
• Song:
✓ The message you can uniquely share with the world.
✓ The way your voice is presented to the world.
✓ An outward expression of who you are.

There are a couple of ways to look at this that can help us move toward finding the song we are called to sing or play. One is an actual song that can be a “theme” song for you. It is a song that you turn to when you need support, a song that inspires, directs, comforts, enlivens you, makes you smile. We all have a number of these for different settings. But think about those two or three songs that are always your go-to song.

◦ What are those songs about?
◦ What is their message?
◦ How do you feel when you hear one of those songs?
◦ Why is it important to you?
◦ How does that message fit your life and the mission of who you are?
◦ Can you put this into one or two sentences, or even better, two or three words?

I talk about several songs since they may be in different places in our lives, expressions of different ideas. They may or may not be songs we play on whatever our instrument might be. But they are only a starting point- a way of discovering and then expressing you, your voice.

That can lead to the song of your soul. When digging around for thoughts on this I came across a Facebook page titled, of course, “Finding Your Song.” It is from Sangeeta Bhagwat who calls herself an Inner Landscape Artist in India. On the Facebook page, she tells the story of an African tribe.

◆ When a woman in one African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and purpose.
◆ When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.
◆ And when children are born into the village, the community gathers and sings their song, one unique melody for each unique child.
◆ Later, when children begin their education, the village gathers and chants each child's song.
◆ They sing again when each child passes into the initiation of adulthood, and at the time of marriage.
◆ Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the bedside, as they did at birth, and they sing the person to the next life.
◆ If at any time during a person's life, he or she commits a crime or aberrant social act, that individual is called to stand in the center of a circle formed by all members of the tribe. And once again the villagers chant the child's song. The tribe recognizes that the proper correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment, but love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.
◆ A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it.
◆ Life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn't. (- Link)

There are a number of important insights in this. The obvious one that it takes a village is quite clear. We do not find or develop our song in a vacuum. It may be something that only we understand, but it is found in interactions and relationships in some form of community. Thus the importance of finding a community that is willing to take the time to know you and who you are while not allowing you to stay stuck in a spot. The community is one that can nurture and challenge, comfort you when you are afflicted and afflict you when you are comfortable while always expressing compassion and support.

Our song then becomes associated with us and with our own unique journey. Even those of us who do not live in a community where the tribe finds your song and sings it to you, the environment we surround ourselves with, the people we pay attention to, the mentors, teachers, and guides who come into our lives lead us onto the paths if we pay attention and internalize the direction we are moving.

Where that can take us will be next week. Until then look at your community or communities that you are part of. Which ones nurture you and which ones ignore you? Who are the mentors who have that something that enhances your life and uplifts your soul? Think about what they have taught you, directly or indirectly, and how that has allowed you to be the singer of your own song.

Don’t get hung up in words, just listen to your heart and see where it leads.

“We Learned to Love”: August 13, 1727

The events of August 13, 1727, when at the conclusion of a Holy Communion service in Berthelsdorf the residents of Herrnhut united into the Renewed Brethren’s Church, are traditionally considered the spiritual birthday of the Moravian Church. - Moravian Archives

It was 290 years ago today. The Renewed Moravian Church was empowered through the Holy Spirit working on the refugees from the historic Moravian Church- The Unitas Fratrum. From that moment everything changed and they moved into a different world than they had been living in. They were never able to describe what happened in that service that was so powerful. They only knew that they had "learned to love." They discovered that they had a calling from God. They weren't sure what that would mean, but they were willing to begin the journey.

As a result of that one day, factions dissolved and, in but a few years, they were sending the first Protestant missionaries around the world. They started a rich musical heritage second to none. They had an important impact on the life and faith of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church. They started a 100-year long continuous prayer watch.

The world-wide Moravian Unity is still witnessing to the power of God to use all who follow to do amazing things. We have shown over and over that it does not need to be the large and famous churches that do the great things. It is in faithfulness and commitment that the Holy Spirit works.

Our motto continues to move and direct us:
In essentials, unity;
In non-essentials, liberty;
In all things, love.

Toward Pentecost (37): Fellowship

Toward Pentecost (30): Connections

Toward Pentecost (24): Community

Twelve Days ~ Day 9 ~ Community

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 9: 2 January: Community

St. Basil the Great

Reflections on Newtown - part two

Grace arrived on Sunday evening. Gathered in the high school auditorium in Newtown, CT, the power of community came forth. Clergy and representatives from diverse faiths and backgrounds, stood before national cameras and showed that power comes not from the big names and fancy titles, not from the pundits or professionals, but from everyday people. The pastors, the Rabbi, the young Muslim singing the prayer were just like you and me, living in a world like you and me, until Friday. Or perhaps even until a few minutes before the cameras came on Sunday.

As a clergy myself I realized that these were all like I would have been on Friday. Getting ready for my service. Doing my thing. Just living the vocation I was called to. No one out of the ordinary, unknown beyond my relatively small circle. They were then swept up in huge happenings. They were called to minister to a town devastated, even as they themselves were devastated. That in itself would have been enough.

But it wasn't.

They have now been called to minister to the nation across the cable and TVs of millions. We watched looking for the signs of grace. We listened, straining for the words of redemption.

I don't know about you, but I heard those words and saw that grace as they put arms around each other, as they solemnly, but confidently took their moment in the spotlight and pointed to others beyond them. I felt the pain of the Rabbi as he chanted the mourning of centuries. I experienced the weariness as they all seemed burdened by a weight that is not a normal daily load. They did so with humility and gratitude for the community they were a part of. Differences of faith and belief were at least momentarily swept away and we had a glimpse of the hope of the Kingdom of our Creator.


It was no longer the slaughter of the innocents. It was a tiny glimmer of light once again shining in the darkness of a very dark place. The secret to that grace is not just turning to God, it is also in turning to each other.

Community.

I use that word often. I try to live within that word often. I am not sure I can live without it. It is not always easy. But it is first and foremost in community that grace becomes apparent.

To the clergy and people of Newtown, CT, I give humble thanks. You have a long way to go, I am sure. Healing has hardly been able to break through such tragedy. But you have, as the President said, been an inspiration. Now you must face the coming days of sadness and dread beyond the spotlight or the unblinking eye of the camera. We will be watching, hopefully as part of your extended community and not voyeurs.

Go about your work now. Go about life as best you can. But do not give up on grace or community.

Your children and grandchildren will need it as much as you.

Peace.
Shalom.
Salaam.

Not Playing Alone

I was visiting with a few people at a conference the other day and had mentioned that I play trumpet. One person in particular really took to that and kiddingly urged me to bring my trumpet and make music for everyone. I smiled because, well, I just don't do that. Trumpet, at least the way I play, is not a truly one instrument solo instrument. You can do that on piano, of course, as well as some other instruments. But I have heard very, very few unaccompanied trumpet solos.

It's not because it's impossible. I have a hunch that it would be boring in a very short time. While loud and, yes, brassy, trumpet is an ensemble instrument. With the possible exception of playing Reveille or Taps, you need at least a trumpet duet to make it interesting. A trumpet solo may soar above the band or cut through the underbrush foundation of an accompaniment to make a powerful statement, but it does so in teamwork with others.

That goes against the image of trumpet players, I realize. We are seen as the obnoxious, self-centered, noisy ones who always think they are the best. (No comment.) But most of us realize that we can't survive alone. We need each other. We need a musical community (band, orchestra, quintet, etc.) to make the music that truly soars.

The other piece of that is leadership. No, many trumpet players aren't necessarily out-in-front leaders. But leadership isn't always that visible. You may hear the trumpets but hopefully they are listening to the rest of the group, adjusting, giving intonation or color, even in simpler parts that don't look all that important on the surface. But take them away (any instrument's part) and you lose a piece of the whole.

I thought of all that again this morning playing with the instrumental ensemble at church for our Advent Service of Lessons and Carols. Together we set a mood and tone for the different pieces we played. We were accompaniment for singing. We were leadership for worship.

When the trumpets followed the cymbal role at the start of Joy to the World we were leading the way for the congregation to head into heights of celebration. When the organ joined in a few bars later, a foundation was placed beneath all of us to stand firm in our joy. The congregation then took off, singing the well-known words, riding the instrumental wave.

Those are the times I continue to be glad to be still playing trumpet in different ensembles: watching elderly people dance when the big band plays In the Mood at a senior living center, the community band introducing new music to an audience, or the quintet supporting people's prayers with Mozart's Ave Verum. Music is made in community and often through the grace of God makes brings people into community.

On Not Singing

Ever since my neck surgery last December (wow, nine months already!) I have been unable to sing like I used to. Not that I was ever a really good singer, but I could hit the notes, carry the tune, and enjoy myself. I sang in church choirs, in my HS glee club, in my car, the shower, etc. But since surgery, it isn't happening.

My voice is now strained. My range has been greatly reduced. I can't keep the pitch. All this has certainly caused me frustrations. Mostly in two places.

First is in the car. I like to sing along with my favorite songs. I'm not bothering anybody and it is fun. Belting out a song with the Beatles or Beach Boys is a great form of relaxation. But it ain't happening like it used to. My voice cracks and I end up jumping all over the scale just to stay in some semblance of in tune.

The other place I miss my singing is in church. To mumble hymns, or try to sing them in some way that makes sense has been part of my worship experience since I was in high school. To add my voice to the congregation's voices is uplifting, inspiring and amazingly empowering. I am not a spectator, I am part of the witness. In the past nine months, though, I find myself having difficulty feeling like I am adding my voice at all. I drop the volume so I can hardly even hear myself so the people in front of me don't cringe at the sound.

I have a friend who has never been a singer and he always said it was enjoyable to him to just listen to the congregational singing. To allow the words to flow over him and to pay attention to the meaning. I have a hard time doing that without singing. My soul is musical, I know that. It wants to make music.

But perhaps it has become time for me to rely on the community- the worshiping congregation- to do this for me. Perhaps the time has come for me to listen as well as sing. Perhaps the time has come to relax and just be in worship.

At least I can still play my trumpet and support the worship that way.  But as for singing, maybe it will come back. Maybe the muscles and stuff in my neck will return to their singing pre-surgery norm. But if not, so it goes. There may be a still, small voice waiting to talk to me if only I wouldn't make so much noise.

Back to the Past

It amazes me that we are in the midst of an argument and divide that sounds like it could have been out of the last Century- and not the 1990s. It could have been in the first few decades as workers began to see that they were not well represented in negotiating with their bosses. It could have been in the 50s and 60s when, finally, some places like steel mills began to give their workers the right to strike and negotiate- form a union.

But it is 2011, for God's sake. We are supposed to be more compassionate, more civilized, a long way from the union wars of 100 years ago. All of a sudden (or maybe not all that suddenly) unions are again the enemy and public workers are becoming the scapegoats of a recession. They are about to be punished in many places because they have jobs- jobs which are important and even essential to our continued growth and well-being as a nation.

We must be a community. We must have public workers who can have dignity and acceptance. It doesn't matter whether they are teachers, who have been scapegoats for years, police and firefighters, snowplow drivers, or sanitation workers. We need them- and we need them to get a fair wage in a fair market. To deny them the right to have collective bargaining is to take a HUGE step into the past. It is a step into a country and community that was not, in any way, shape or form, anything like the "good, old days."

Let's not allow our nation to go backwards.

To Build

Caribou Coffee has a new image/PR scheme in their stores. They have these poster signs that have neat slogans which are also on their cups, etc. Things like

• Give a kid some crayons
• Sleep under the stars
• Get there on two wheels.

But one that caught my attention the other evening is

• Build communities, not empires.

That really does sum up what should be a goal for us.

• Empires rule, communities share.
• Empires conquer, communities build.
• Empires seek power, communities seek partnership.

Yes, I know that we over use the word community. It is often a buzz word that we throw out to spin our group, organization, or clique into some semblance of borrowed honor. I also know that communities in the broader and common sense of the word can be just as difficult as empires. But to think about the possibilities of communities is to grasp a new way of life that can bridge differences- if we let them.

So I can dream can't I?

(Note: As of this writing, Caribou has not yet adopted the scheme for their website.)

It's A Small World After All

No, not the mind-numbing Disney song, although the idea is there. But in this day and age the world is no longer a bunch of loosely connected places (if it ever really was.) First we know things more quickly thanks to rapid communication. We also are now used to things coming from varied places.

So it should have come as no shock yesterday when I picked up the bag of grapes at the local grocery store, looked down as I set them in the cart and saw:

Producto de Chile.

It was a shock. All of a sudden an earthquake the other end of the world was right there in my grocery cart. I wondered if the people who picked these grapes or the shipping depot workers or the truck drivers were okay or even alive. They may still have been nameless and faceless but they were part of the few degrees of separation that the modern world depends on.

Overheard in Recovery: Not Just Me

I heard this conversation a few weeks ago. The first person speaking had just explained that she has come to an understanding of her alcoholism/addiction. The second is another person talking with her.

I am fighting a battle against addiction.

Let us help you. That's what recovery communities are all about.

No one can fight the battle for me.

I didn't say we'd battle it for you. We will battle it with you.

Oh, how difficult it can be to see that we are in life together; that it is not a one-person show against all odds (literally!) We get overwhelmed by having to succeed and do it all alone. Even sitting in a community of other people fighting the same fight we are fighting we resort to this default and ultimately disastrous mode.

That all made me think about the ads for the Army and the Marines that have been around. The Army tells us that each person is

An Army of One.

The Marines on the other hand are looking for

A Few Good Men.

Of course when you get to basic training in either branch the Marine ad is more realistic. Even Mel Gibson needed all those thousands of troops in Braveheart in order to win. But the lone warrior ideal leads us to discount other people's assistance, wisdom and support.

By the end of the above conversation the person who felt overwhelmed was beginning to feel a little more hopeful.

Which is what the whole idea of community can do.

H1N1 Flu- Update

Well, we are past the first week of the swine flu. Hard to believe that it has only been a week! You could tell earlier this week when first Arlen Specter, then 100 Days of Obama and this morning Justice Souter were all the top Yahoo! News stories. You could also tell last evening when the Health Ministry of Mexico said the cases are "leveling" off, which I guess means they are not increasing as quickly.

There are really two perspectives to take on the swine flu issue. First is that it is important to keep it all in perspective. Cory Doctorow found this information the other day:

It's estimated that about 28 per cent of Canadians and Americans contracted the Spanish flu. Worldwide, an estimated 2.5 per cent of the sick died of complications, which made the pandemic one of the most lethal flu outbreaks in recorded history. Certainly it was one that imprinted itself upon human consciousness for several generations.

But there's another way to look at those statistics. You might observe, for example, that they mean that even during the worst ravages of the 1918 flu, 97.5 per cent of those infected survived and recovered. Or that 72 per cent of the population -- even in the absence of the sophisticated public health planning and infrastructure that Canada and the U.S. have since built -- was not infected during the pandemic.

So, even if we had a repeat of the 1918 flu, the chances were seven out of 10 that you wouldn't catch it and if you did, the odds were better than nine out of 10 that you'd survive.

That was during the worst pandemic of the modern era and one which occurred in the days before the instantaneous communications of radio, television and the Web enabled quick public health responses.
--Vancouver Sun
--HT to Cory at BoingBoing

That would still be a lot of people in 2009 USA-84 million sick; 2.1 million dead. The odds are against such numbers in this age of public health and better health care, antibiotics, and generally much better sanitation. But a major flu outbreak would still have significant consequences- impacts on many aspects of life that could conceivably change the world we live in at least for a short period if not longer. That is the second perspective. Awareness of the potentials for serious issues while remaining calm.

The planning that has gone on in many local and statewide agencies for a possible flu pandemic will more than likely have a positive effect on the outcome. More people in more places are at least minimally prepared. That is good news. But that doesn't mean there would not be some significant effects.

Two areas that strike me:
1) Threat to the economy.

Look at the relatively quiet streets of Mexico City, empty football stadiums, take-out-only restaurants, no Sunday Masses at the churches, locked stores. Add to that the potential dive in air travel and you can see how the economic foundation can be undermined quite quickly. Then consider lost wages and potentially higher medical bills- even for only 10 - 15% of the population. The costs can mount quickly and could be difficult even in healthy economic times.

2) Threat to community.

Look again at the relatively quiet streets of Mexico City, empty football stadiums, take-out-only restaurants, no Sunday Masses at the churches, locked stores and you can see another difficulty. An odd, almost criminal-looking anonymity takes over the scene as people go everywhere wearing a mask. (The banks sure could have trouble telling who is a robber and who isn't.) Isolation does not build community. Nor does fear of even friends who may be carrying some disease. The 75 - 85% of us who won't even get the flu will still know someone who did. We may even know someone who dies from it.

Grief, fear, uncertainty could become the words to describe us.

But for now- things are actually relatively quiet. The "experts" are saying the H1N1 virus may not be as dangerous as expected. They are thinking it doesn't have the "staying power" nor the right genetic make-up to keep it exploding. I will keep watching the news, but will no longer be holding my breath....

Until the next time.

World AIDS Day

As you have done to even the least of these,
my brothers and sisters,
you have done the same to (and for) me. (paraphrase)
--Jesus

Paying Attention to Children

This American Life on public radio the other evening had a program on listening to children. I could only catch the opening preview where they had children talking about their feelings when having adults attempt to talk to them. The kids were quite perceptive and verbal about their feelings. Too bad we adults don't listen to them and treat them like, well, like people.

The biggest complaint they had was that adults talk down to them, condescending, and always ask the same question- "How is school?" The tone of voice, the kids said, was as if they were talking to a three-year old. - "Oh, aren't you cute." They really don't seem to care what the young person thinks or feels. They have this image, the kids were saying, that they aren't important.

I have seen it happen so many times in the years in ministry. Whether it was the children in Sunday School, the little kids coming forward for the "children's message", or just the child sitting in front of them in the pew- they were often treated as objects, or as irrelevant, or as much younger than they really are.

It is amazing how children and adolescents will respond differently when they are treated as who they are- people with feelings and attitudes and ups and downs. They are not little vessels into which we pour ideas. They are their own mix of neurons and experiences and needs and hopes and dreams. To accept that is to accept them and they will often respond far more than you think they would.

In short recognize them as part of the community. They are an integral part of the community. They are not "future" church members or "future" citizens. They are already those things today. And our communities are greatly enriched by their presence.

The Value of Community Discernment

I was talking with a friend a week or so ago and was given an excellent example of how discernment works in community. Most of us like to think that we don’t need a great deal of help from others especially if we feel strongly about it. Hey, we say, it sounds good to me, I’ll just do it. Sure, I may ask some close friends or my spouse to give me some insight, but you know, if I think it’s right, it must be.

AA, for example, has always felt this was a dangerous thought, at least for those who have had issues with addiction like this friend of mine. He can be one of those people who go off on a new adventure without thinking whether it might be the right thing or not. That’s why AA will often recommend that no matter how long you have been sober it might be a good idea to run your ideas past at least your sponsor.

As the old maxim in AA goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

Well, everything seemed right for this friend of mine. It was a golden idea and a golden opportunity. It wasn’t quite a dream come true, but it sure felt like it. So he went ahead. Oh, he talked a good line about knowing that if it didn’t work out it would be God’s choice not his. But the more he worked the more excited he got. The more excited he got the more he was sure that this was THE right thing.

Well, as you might have guessed, it didn’t work out that way. The plans didn’t result in him getting what he hoped. He didn’t get out of it what he wanted. He was devastated. He was upset. He was angry. He moped. It’s not that he hadn’t talked to people about the situation. He had done lots of talking. He urged his friends to ask him the hard questions so he would have the answers. His friends had done that.

After it was all over he would talk with many of these same friends again and they would, without exception, say, “Wow. I’m sorry, but I am really glad it didn’t work out the way you thought. It wasn’t right for you in the long run.”

It took him almost a month till, out of the blue, it finally dawned on him that if he had been listening he would have heard the message from the beginning. The discernment process of all his friends, 100% of those he talked to about it before and after had said the same thing. Yes, they had agreed with him that it sounded good and he was on the right track- but not for him. It would have been the right thing in the wrong place.

He shook his head as we talked. He had a half-grin, the one he gets when he realizes that God has just hit him up the side of the head again.

Keeping the Strength

Galatians 6:9-10 -- Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Sometimes I wonder if Paul was like me (and many other preachers, I assume) who work out some of their own issues as they wrestle with sermons. Paul's words about not becoming weary in doing good might very well give us an insight into some of where he has been at some time or place in his own work. Day in and day out can become a drudgery. There were, I am sure, plenty of days when things weren't falling into place as quickly or as fully as he anticipated.

At those points I am sure the only way he kept up his spirits was through the Spirit reminding him of what this is all about- the harvest that is to be reaped. Sometimes, when the gains are smaller, the movement slower, the time not seeming to fall into rhythm, you have to- you MUST remember the long-term big picture. If what we see is all there is to see, well, sure, we are going to slow down or get discouraged. But if there is something more, something beyond our sight at the moment, a vision of something greater and more glorious, well, maybe I can get out of bed and start putting that one foot in front of the other.

The BIG picture. The greater good, is how a friend of mine once described it. "What serves the greater good?" he asked me when I was trying to make a decision. Look beyond yourself and the place where you are starting. Look within to the possibilities that exist. Look above to the Creator and try to see how all this fits together. Look around and see where the needs are. Put them all together and you just might find the greater good.

And while you are waiting for that to happen- or even to become clear- do good to all. Do good to all. It seems odd that Paul had to remind them to do that for their own "family of believers." Perhaps the conflicts and disagreements that beset many churches were at work. Perhaps some were ignoring the poorer members in their "household." Today those might be the first to get the support. In the BIG picture, though, Paul is reminding us that we just do good to all.

That is how you get through the low times, the tiring times, the weariness of doing what you are doing. Do good to all. Get out of yourself and reach out with love and care to others. Sometimes it may take some effort, but it will work.

As Time Moves By
When you are closely and even intimately involved ni people's lives through community and then move to somewhere else, it is perhaps most difficult when someone "back there" dies. As regular readers and friends already know, my wife and I spent fifteen years in our longest ministry. We built more than friendships, we became part of a community of people who, even when disagreeing, found ways to celebrate our lives.

Then we move. In this day and age it happens more than it ever did before. But in our case we moved. We left behind the community which had nourished us, helped us raise our daughter and supported me in sobriety. With a group like that you don't sever all ties. I regularly check the local newspaper on the Internet to see what's happening. Sadly, that can mean reading a name in the obituaries. That happened again yesterday with one of those special people.

She was on the board when I went to meet with them prior to accepting the call. (My wife wasn't an ordained pastor yet.) We hit it off right away. That may have had something to do with her joking around and saying that she picked me from the picture directory of ministers because I was "good-looking." She then added that I was better looking in person.

She spent many years on and off the Board and was one of those people you could always count on to be personally supportive even when she might disagree. She brings back a lot of memories.

She died Monday. I feel a deep sense of loss. I will not be there for her funeral. I will not have a chance to say "goodbye". One of the deep pains of leaving a church community is experienced at times like this. But it is also part of the power of community.

Someone once said that "Death is the price you pay for living." Saying goodbye, feelings of loss, sadness are part of the price we pay for making friends, being in community and living in God's love.

But they are worth the price many times over, now and for eternity.

Ascension Day and They Were All Alone
Probably puzzled, too. The apostles were never ones to be quick at figuring out what Jesus was up to. This is probably true of disciples of all kinds of religious leaders. The leader almost always has to shock them, tell them stories, rattle their cages in order to get them to see what they need to see. You don't even have to be in their presence to have it happen. We do it all the time with Jesus.

So watching the apostles stand in the late spring/early summer sun as Jesus disappeared it is not a surprise that an angel has to tell them to move on. "Why are you staring into space? He's not there anymore."

Gone, He's gone? Just like that? What are we to do?

Have patience- wait.

We might ask why, after all this time with the resurrected Jesus, they are still worried and confused? Can't they ever figure out He knows what He's talking about?

But such aloneness, loss, is not easily worked through with logic. When things that have never happened before are happening, you have nothing to fall back on. You don't have any experience on which to build today's events. In short they had no idea what was going to happen. So they had to wait. Wait until the Spirit comes. Even when they had no idea what they even meant.

The best way to wait, then as now, is exactly what they did. They waited together. They were not alone. They had each other. They were in the midst of the group that had been their support and hope and strength. We, too, wait together and don't need to be alone. We too can find ourselves in the midst of groups that can be our strength and hope and support.

Why then do we fight it? Why do we refuse to even accept support and strength. We are so intent on making it alone that we miss the many opportunities to do something that can truly make a difference. It made me think of the words from an old Crosby, Stills, and Nash song. It may or may not have been what Stephen Stills meant, but it sure sounds like it to me as we learn that we have to be three together to be for each other.

They are one person
They are two alone
They are three together
They are for each other
--Helplessly Hoping, Stephen Stills