An Altar in the World, Chapter 7: The Practice of Living with Purpose: Vocation
Scripture:
Jeremiah 1:4-10 (call or Jeremiah)
Matthew 4:18-22 (calling the disciples)
Could also use the first Q&A of the Westminster Catechism.
I. Reflection
Depending on our temperament, we can spend a good part of our life’s energy figuring out how to use our life’s energy. Some people resonate with the simple command: Bloom where you’re planted. Others want to delve deeper, asking: But am I planted exactly where I ought to be?
The way I see it, there are two basic approaches to this topic of vocation: We can believe we’re on this earth to do some particular work for which we’re uniquely gifted and called. Or we can believe that we’re on this earth to live faithfully wherever we happen to find ourselves. From my reading of the book, Barbara votes for the latter (although, perhaps, lives the former). Many people cling to the magical mystery of the former, for they are the seekers, and they must always double-check that this particular work is the right one for now.
Last summer I preached a sermon called Purpose Driven Roomba and used my robotic vacuum cleaner as a metaphor for the spiritual life. The little round fella whirred his way around the sanctuary cleaning the carpets while we sang hymns. People lifted their feet to let him pass, which brought home the point: Roomba’s purpose is to be an obedient servant and he wants nothing more than to do so unobstructed. But what about us? Do we know our purpose and embrace it?
The carpet-cleaning metaphor seems to resonate with Barbara’s contention that people don’t want to be merely “good” but also “good for something.” She cites the helpfulness of baseboard cleaning in this regard. I, too, was raised to believe that housework cures the blues. Feeling useless? Fold some clothes!
But it occurs to me that this utilitarian response is not entirely adequate. To twist the metaphors together: our Roomba may have run into a baseboard that needs more than cleaning. That baseboard is labeled: money. Can we talk about vocation and never mention income? Perhaps we can. What do you think?
II. Application
Quotes from the chapter that warrant further thought:
From the epitaph from Henry David Thoreau: “Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.” (p 107)
“Every job has required me to learn things that have opened up whole new dimensions of reality to me. Every job has revealed some ability I did not know I had, just as it has exposed some clumsiness I was pretty sure I had.” (p 108)
“My guess is that many people work at jobs that are too small for them.” (p 112)
“Call me a romantic, but I think most people want to be good for something. I think they want to do something that matters, to be part of something bigger than themselves. . . ” (p 113)
“Every human interaction offers you the chance to make things better or to make things worse.” (p 114)
“When old work has become meaningless and new purpose is hard to find, I recommend cleaning baseboards.” (p 119)
III. Questions for Discussion
1. Barbara begins the chapter by listing the jobs she’s had. (p 107) Can you list all the jobs you’ve had? Could you list the jobs you’ve wanted, but never had?
2. Barbara describes her seminary experience of praying on a fire escape asking God: What am I supposed to do with my life? (p 109) Could you relate to this story? Have you ever prayed in a similar fashion?
3. Would you say that you have been “lucky in your work life.” (p 111) Why or why not?
4. What kind of work is bad for people in general? (p 113) For you in particular?
5. Barbara says this about Jesus: “With all kinds of opportunities to tell people what to think, he told them what to do instead.” (p 118) The list that follows warrants some thought. Which of those instructions is the most challenging for you? Can you think of other instructions to add to Jesus’ list for “human doings”?
IV. Closing
Now I Become Myself by May Sarton (the first stanza)
Now I become myself. It's taken
Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people's faces.
(quoted by Parker Palmer in “Let Your Life Speak”)
An Altar in the World, Chapter 8: The Practice of Saying No
Reflections and Discussion
Sabbath
MaryAnn McKibben Dana
Focus Scriptures: Exodus 31:12-17, Matthew 14:22-24, Luke 5:15-16, Mark 1:32-37
I. Reflection
My husband and I took a pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland three years ago. It’s a lovely, otherworldly place that seems to invite deep soul-searching of the radical, life-altering variety. Our last night on the island, my husband and talked long into the night about some big changes we felt called to make as a result of the pilgrimage—including a renewed interest in Sabbath-keeping. We stayed up way too late, excited about this new endeavor, but also packing up our things, since we were leaving the island early the next morning. The following day I stumbled down to the refectory for breakfast, where I met another groggy person from our group who said, “Boy, I could hardly sleep last night, thinking about all the connections.” This woke me up a bit and, wondering what kind of soul-searching he’d been doing, I said, “Yes! This place really works on you, doesn’t it?”
I later learned that he’d been up late thinking about the upcoming day’s travel back to the mainland, a complicated journey involving two ferries, a bus and a train. The connections… not the connections.
Ah well, I thought. A pilgrimage touches different people in different ways.
And sure enough, this person stopped me several days later and said, “My doctor has been having me monitor my high blood pressure for some time now. I wanted you to know that my blood pressure was perfect when I returned from Iona and has stayed perfect in the days since then.”
Such is the gift of rest. Such is the gift of Sabbath time. It does touch different people in different ways. But people don’t need to kite off to Scotland to discover Sabbath. The commandment is simply to keep Sabbath time holy, to rest from our work—in the words of Isaiah, to “call the Sabbath a delight” (Isa. 58:13). And while we, the overworked and overcommitted, need to pack ourselves up and escape the everyday from time to time, we also need to learn how to put our work aside and rest from it, even when our work is buzzing nearby on a BlackBerry, or sitting in the dryer in the basement, or nagging us from the whiteboard in the kitchen.
What does Sabbath look like? BBT invites us to experience it in our own ways. You might observe Sabbath by digging your hands into a spongy batch of bread dough. Or by feeling the sting of a baseball snapping into glove as you have an unhurried game of catch with your kids. Or by stretching out in your favorite chair with a good book and a mug of something warm and delicious at your side. What brings you delight? Consider that as a focus for Sabbath.
II. Application
Quotes from the chapter that warrant further thought:
On the seductiveness of the word “yes”: As much as most of us complain about having too much to do, we harbor some pride that we are in such demand. …It is difficult to find many advocates for the spiritual practice of saying no. p. 122
The great Swiss theologian Karl Barth once wrote, ‘A being is free only when it can determine and limit its activity.’ By that definition, I have a hard time counting many free beings among my acquaintance. I know people who can do five things at once who are incapable of doing nothing. O know people who are able to decide what to do without being able to do less of it. p. 125
The first holy thing in all creation, Abraham Heschel says, was not a people or a place but a day. p. 127
Sabbath is the great equalizer, the great reminder that we do not live on this earth but in it, and that everything we do under the warming tent of this planet’s atmosphere affects all who are woven into this web with us. p. 132
III. Questions for Discussion
On p. 127, BBT lists several reasons why people are reluctant to engage in Sabbath-keeping. What would you add to her list? Which reasons do you personally find most compelling?
Take your most compelling reasons for forgoing Sabbath and imagine someone else has come to you with them, saying, “I want to observe Sabbath, but I just can’t because…” What words of grace and encouragement would you offer to this person to support him or her? Now, can you direct that same grace towards yourself?
BBT describes on pp. 130-131 the two candles of Shabbat, symbolizing the dual nature of Sabbath. One relates to the need for rest, as people created in God’s image. The other relates to the people’s freedom from bondage. Which resonates more with you personally? Do you think both are important for us as Christians? Why or why not?
How do you respond to Sabbath as connected to justice?
Have you ever experienced “Sabbath sickness” (p. 136)? What are some approaches for combating this ailment?
Complete the “two lists” exercise on the top of p. 138.
IV. Closing
Sing “Be Still and Know That I Am God,” or perhaps one of the evening hymns that contains themes of Sabbath, rest and sleep.
An Altar in the World, Chapter 9: The Practice of Carrying Water: Physical Labor
Scripture:
Genesis 2 (creation of Adam)
Ecclesiastes 1 (What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?)
Luke 15 (prodigal son, the labor making him “come to himself”)
I. Reflection
“While we were eating dinner, all of the lights in the house dimmed as if a movie were about to begin. Then they went out, accompanied by the dying beep of every appliance in the house.” (p 142) And thus the stage is set for a consideration of physical labor.
Is physical labor more an idea or a reality to you?
Last month I saw an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History called Written in Bone (Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake). The exhibit displays actual human bones recently unearthed from the short-lived colony of Jamestown. Many inhabitants didn’t live long after arriving and the evidence of their overburdened lives shows in their bones: a backbone with collapsed vertebra from routinely carrying too much weight; thigh bones shortened because of overuse before attaining full growth; teeth and jaws notched from holding sewing needles. Scientists can study a skeleton and determine at what age a person began to labor, and whether that was generally stoop labor or weight-carrying labor.
Guess what makes bones overly heavy today? Obesity. It’s a very different form of weight-carrying.
An exhibit like this keeps us from romanticizing physical labor. Physical labor is difficult. For much of the world over much of human history, physical labor represented the sum total of human existence. Many of us are fortunate to work with our brains rather than our backs. But Barbara is right that something is also lost in this turn of human history. Intentionally engaging in physical labor can unite us with something primal. Our bodies serve a larger purpose than carrying our heads around.
II. Application
Quotes from the chapter that warrant further thought:
“Live as most people in the world live, preoccupied with survival.” (p 145)
“Long after the thaw, I stayed tuned to the grace of physical labor.” (p 146)
“Once [my young friend] learned the potato routine, however, he dug in the dirt with perfect focus, visibly pleased with his ability to produce real food. I am not sure that he had ever felt genuinely useful before.” (p 149)
“God made adam—an earthling—from the ademah—the earth. God made a mud-baby, a dirt-person, a dust-creature.” (p 150)
III. Questions for Discussion
1. At what stages of you life have had had to perform a great deal of physical labor? How much labor to you perform in a typical day now?
2. What do you think of the phrase “the grace of physical labor.”(p 146)
3. One type of labor that Barbara hardly mentions is labor and delivery. If you have experienced childbirth, does that add any insights to this subject?
4. Barbara describes digging potatoes and teaching a young boy to “be useful.” (p 149) Does labor make you feel useful?
5. Have you ever tried to approach housework as a spiritual discipline? What do you think of this idea?
IV. Closing
“The Piemaker” by Lin Max
Still in my nightgown I would go down
to the kitchen where the first sun slanted
across the linoleum in sweet silence
and begin cutting cold butter into sifted flour
rocking the pastry cutter rhythmically,
until it resembled coarse cornmeal.
I always wanted to quit too soon
resisting the monotonous repetition,
attending wandering wild, but it always
needs to be much finer, the granitic
sand of the high Sierra, and it takes
time. It takes time.
But when it was just so, then the water
chilled over the ice cubes would blend it
into an easy elasticity and the rolling pin
would smooth it into milky glass.
I always thought I’d have little girls
and be a good mother, be the mother
I never had, teach them how to make pies
and how to get past wanting to quit, show them
the place in our minds beyond the last ridge
where we can rock the cutter endlessly,
the place where there is no time and how to
tightly crimp the edge with alternating thumbs.