We've been talking a lot about
bread lately. This is the third passage
from John in so many weeks in which Jesus says, "I am the Bread of
Life." So I thought, for variety's
sake, I'd switch metaphors today and talk about light. In particular I did some research on the
incandescent light bulb.
"An incandescent light
produces light with a wire filament heated to a high temperature by an electric
current passing through it until it glows.
The hot filament is protected from oxidation with a glass bulb filled
with inert gas or evacuated." Hm.
What does that mean? Another word for it
is filament evaporation. Basically the idea is to prevent the filament from
burning up completely for as long a possible.
That black stuff on a bulb when it burns out are deposits from the
filament, like smoke from a fire, and the gas in the bulb which is nonreactive
unlike oxygen helps to slow the process down.
All the science that has gone into light bulbs over the years, using
different materials for the filament, coiling the filament, different gases in
the bulb, all has been about trying to figure out how to prolong the life of
the bulb so that the tiny fragile filament can last as long as possible with
100 watts of electricity constantly coursing through causing it to glow white
hot.
We too are lights to the world
with an infinite energy of the Holy Spirit coursing through our fragile bodies
and making us glow a bit as well. And
it is a wonder that we too don't burn out quickly ourselves. Much of spirituality and spiritual practice
actually also is about how to live in this life of the Spirit. How do we live with this eternal flame of the
Spirit in our finite bodies? Everything
of course is important to this equation, and we try to figure out how to
balance work and play, get rest and recreation, eat right and get plenty of
exercise. We learn to pray and study
scripture, be nurtured in the faith by one another and mentors in the faith. We seek to put away some of those negative
traits and practice the fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists, summed up in
Ephesians with the word, tenderhearted.
But the truth is that this doesn't
necessarily led to a long life on this earth.
Some of our most famous saints of the church, those shining examples have
been more like shooting stars than consistently orbiting planetary lights in
the heavens. There are many historical figures who died too early, whose light
was extinguished far too soon, many who we say went out with a blaze of glory.
Joan of Arc died in 1431, at
19. Tried for heresy and burned at the
stake by the English, she was canonized as a saint 500 years later. As a teenager she was leading the whole
French army against the English convinced that God had called her to this task,
in intense visions ordering her to drive out the English from France.
St Thérèse of Lisieux a
modern saint who died in 1897 was just 15 when she
asked the Pope for special permission to enter a convent early. She died at
just 23, but not before writing her spiritual journey down
at the direction of her superior. This
work of intensity and simplicity describing her devotion and practice in the
face of a prolonged illness from which she suffered became a best-seller. She called her way, "The Little
Way."
Of course there are all sorts of
shooting stars. Billy the Kid, Cattle
rustler, gambler, outlaw, died in 1881, at 21, shot by a sheriff. Orphaned at 14; killed his first man at 18. Lots of artists produced their amazing burst
of work early in life and died young. Mozart
35, Chopin 39 Schubert 31, Jimi Hendrix 27.
Anne Frank died in 1945 when she was 15 years old in a Nazi prison camp
but not before writing her diary. The
profoundly simple musing of little girl under extraordinary circumstance are a
lasting testament to her short life.
Martin Luther King Jr. was
39. John and Robert Kennedy. There was a song about the three of them in
the 60's. "Anybody here seen my old
friend . . . can you tell me where he's gone.
He freed a lot of people but it seems The Good they Die Young."
Martin Luther King Jr said, "I like
everyone want to live a long life.
Longevity has its place."
But he was taken so young.
Jesus of course was only 33. Is this the only course for the faithful
lights of the world? To burn out quickly
under the intensity of the Spirit within.
We are inspired by these lights, we think of them as heroes, and they
are for us models of life we are called to live. But none of us want this really for our
children. And what do we do when we get
into our 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's! What
about the rest of us? What does it mean to be faithful if we are not going to
just burn out quickly but last a while longer here on this earth. Can we still be lights to the world, can we
still be heroes ourselves?
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas
explores this idea of the heroic life as a model for our Christian life. But he sees profound heroism not just in the
grand and glorious blazing light witness that makes the headlines or the history
books, but rather in the steadfastness of raising a family, caring for
children, holding down a job, caring for the community around us, and in being
a faith community day in and day out. In
his book Community of Character and other books he talks about the
Christian life as the context in which we heroically live out the classic
virtues.
Two virtues he emphasizes are
Patience and Courage. He talks about the
patience that is learned for example in persevering a long illness, but how we
model this patience, which is a central character of God, in all we do. We face all the challenges of our lives with
a courage to persevere. We are the ones
who live through the challenges of raising children and as children the long
journey of becoming and adult. We are
the ones who go to work each day and deal with endless challenges in our
career, but also in our attempt to be good and decent people in the face of so
much that comes our way. We are the ones
who do indeed know intimately the pain of chronic illness, the loss of loved
ones. We are endlessly learning to
persevere when our dreams and plans for our own lives, or for what we hope for
our community are thwarted again and again.
We are the ones who do little kindness day in and day out, give of our
time, talents and treasures, all the time, for the hope of a better world in
the face of incredible odds. And we are
one who know the joy of being in love, of seeing our children succeed, of
crossing a major milestone in our lives, and of the comfort and support we know
from one another regardless of what happens.
In so living our lives, day in and day out, we burning brightly with the
Love of God.
Joseph Campbell wrote about the
motif of the hero's journey in literature.
A pattern that is repeated again and again throughout mythology,
literature and is exemplified also in our own lives. Here's how the hero's journey goes. The hero is living out his or her
life in their very Ordinary World when they receive a Call to Adventure. At first the hero is Reluctant, makes excuses
for why he can't follow this call or sees himself unworthy. But then something happens and she Crosses the
First Threshold into a Special World in which she is answering the call. This Special world need not be anything other
than the ordinary world but suddenly it is imbued with a new light, a new glow,
seems completely different. Maybe a new
context or circumstance. Maybe it is a
new marriage, or becoming a parent, or going to school for the first time, or
entering a new and unfamiliar community.
Here in this Special World the hero encounters Tests, all sorts of
challenges. The hero meets new Mentors who guide him, forms Alliances and
discovers also new Enemies. Then the
hero reaches the Dark Moment, the Innermost Cave (as it is often depicted in stories) where she
endures the Supreme Ordeal, where she faces her ultimate fear, the ultimate test
of faith. Here that the hero's courage
is put to the ultimate test. And though
often it seems that the hero is about to die under the pressure of this test,
he nevertheless conquers. It may or may
not be success in the way we often define, it but nevertheless she learns some
critical valuable lesson. He Seizes the
Sword (like Arthur taking the sword from the stone), or some treasure, some
secret potion he needs, symbolizing what he has learned and gained from this
ordeal. Then she starts the journey on the Road Back to her world. Sometimes also on this journey home he is
pursued by dangers having to continually fight off doubts about what he has
learned. But nevertheless the hero is Resurrected and
transformed by this experience. He
Returns to his ordinary world with a treasure, a boon, some Elixir to benefit his world. For this journey of the hero is not just
about her own transformation, but she is contributing in her own personal
journey to the transformation of the world.
I want you to see your lives
fitting into this this pattern. You are all heroes on a hero's journey for the
sake of the world. We all, in one way or
another, have experienced death and resurrection, we all fight battles and
learn lessons and contribute to the world around us out of what we have
learned. We are all lights to the world and this is how that light burns in
us. As we are willing to encounter
mystery, cross the threshold into new adventure, overcome whatever we are
facing and learn lessons, and bring back rewards and treasures for the whole
world to benefit.
Ultimately, it is not really about
figuring out a way to preserve the filament in the light bulb. No matter all
the science we can muster, all the ways we seek balance, all the "figuring
out" we try to do - it is not about how to try to cheat death and make our
lives last forever or as long as possible.
It is not about whether we burn out quickly or last into our old
age. It is about, how ever long our
lives last, however big or small we think our lives are, that we know ourselves
to be on this hero's journey. That we
are following in all we do our Lord Jesus Christ in the way of Love. As Paul says, being imitators of God as
beloved children. As I say every Sunday
at the offering. Walk in Love as Christ
Loved us and gave himself and offering and a sacrifice to God.
Terese of Liseux says it this way:
"I will seek out a means of
getting to Heaven by a little way—very short and very straight, a little way that is
wholly new. We live in an age of inventions; nowadays the rich need not trouble
to climb the stairs, they have lifts instead. Well, I mean to try and find a
lift by which I may be raised unto God, for I am too tiny to climb the steep
stairway of perfection. [...] Thine Arms, then, O Jesus, are the lift which
must raise me up even unto Heaven. To get there I need not grow (I need not get
bigger or grander); on the contrary, I must remain little, I must become still
less."
Jesus it is your arms that lift me
up, you that keep my little light shining.
AMEN.
