My Spirit wakes up like the sunrise on a cold winter morning. My Spirit brings light and the hope of warmth and peace. My Mind senses the light and the warmth and rises triumphantly as it starts a new day. My Mind slowly clears, and the day begins. And just so, my Mind engages my Body and I rise, ready to face the challenges and the lessons of the day awaiting me. My intent is to seek some noble purpose and bring positive hope as I labor for the renewal of the common good.
This is how Spirit, Mind, and Body all coordinate and cooperate to bring fresh energy to my thoughts, words, and deeds. This Triune connection brings me to a place of service, a place of helping those in need.
I am reminded of the lesson taught me when I lived in New Orleans. I remember a comment made to a group of the city’s newest leaders. They instructed us to end each day asking ourselves this question– “what have you done today to make New Orleans a better place to live in?”
So, I ask myself, and by extension, I ask you, what are you planning today that will result in a better place in which we can live? I think we have our work cut out for us.
My first book is available at Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback format. Search for my book by my name Jonathan D. Hutchison. Please leave a review of my book after you have read it.
The book was written as a guide for small group study but it works just as well as a guide for individual study and reflection.
A full description of the book can be found on Amazon.com.
Those of you who have read my blog (foundationalhope.com) know two things: 1) I haven’t posted any new material in some time and 2) I am always looking for inspiration to illustrate the theme of my blogsite, “The Power and Promise of Hope.” As the New Year begins, I have decided to get back to writing on a more regular basis and hopefully to find new resources that help heal the wounds that we read about so often in the news.
I offer this excerpt from C.G. Jung. In Volume 10, paragraph 295 of his Collected Works. Jung writes, “Whenever a civilization reaches its highest point, sooner or later a period of decay sets in. But the apparently meaningless and hopeless collapse into a disorder without aim or purpose, which fills the onlooker with disgust and despair, nevertheless contains within its darkness the germ of a new light.”
Ever since the winter solstice, the days are getting longer, more light is dissipating the darkness, and the new year offers each of us the opportunity to look with hope for better times ahead. Jung offered that a “germ of new light” is coming. What we do with that speck of light can make all the difference.
Our country has always come through the darkness of hard times, regrouped, and moved forward to even greater achievement. As a people, we can do that because we have found unity in common goals, values, aspirations, and needs. The question now is, as a country, do we still have a common set of goals, values, and the willingness to sacrifice for the common good? Can we unite before we divide and fall?
I hope we will decide, as we have in the past, to uncover the common good and to endure any sacrifice we must, to bring about another time of peace, of justice, and of bringing “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” to new use and new meaning.
Based on my family’s history, I have about twelve years to go before I die.
Ninety years old seems to be the magic number for my family’s longevity index. So, it comes down to this – what the heck do I do with the next twelve years?
What I thought I’d be doing is traveling, biking, fishing, boating, shooting sporting clays, eating and drinking to my heart’s content. But some power greater than me conspired with my mind, body, and spirit to shelve what I thought my “twilight years” would be.
Instead, at 71 (almost 72) I am reimagining myself and redirecting my efforts at attending to that very same mind, body, spirit dynamic. On many days, I am not sure I know how to proceed.
As many of you know I started this blog back in 2016 to write about the Power and Promise of Hope. My default vision was pinned to this statement – every life should have a noble purpose. And as you know I believe my purpose is to attend to the suffering of others in ways that are consistent with my gifts and talents.
Through the gracious comments of former students and former members of churches I have served I have been surprised and humbled by the lessons learned that those folks have attributed to me. Many of my former students have gone on to great things in their lives. They are accomplished gentlemen and gentlewomen. Many of them have nurtured their own families to wonderful effect.
Many former members of churches I have served have continued their faith journeys and deepened their believe in God and the Spirit. Many of those folks have gone on to serve the needs of others as they minister to those who are often forgotten and discarded.
I am inspired by the compassion and the wisdom all of these folks have woven into their lives. They are bringing out the best in others. They have become beacons of hope in a world that so needs decency and civility. I am indeed blessed to have known (to know) so many amazing folks.
A week or so ago I wrote a blog dealing with the topic of truth telling and personal integrity. That blog was uncharacteristically dark and UNHOPEFUL in its tone. In all the anxiety around me, I temporarily lost my way.
It is the memory of my former students and church members that has brought me back.
Those young kids I taught have become doctors, lawyers, teachers, coaches, entrepreneurs, moms and dads, religious leaders, and politicians. They have become their best selves.
Former church members have gone on to do the work of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty and visiting those who find themselves in places where people end up and are usually forgotten. They bring hope and compassionate care and love to the least, the last, and the lost.
Wherever I look, I am surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses to the greatness of the human spirit and an appropriation of the power and promise of hope.
So I do not despair at not being able to accomplish the activities I thought would bring me pleasure – the biking, fishing, etc. I sit here at the keyboard, feeling blessed and overcome by those who actively and intentionally transcend and add to their own pursuits to be of assistance to others, even to me.
I have twelve years (or twelve minutes) left in this life. Those who are coming after me, especially my former students and church members, have gifted me with peace. I am indeed a fortunate man, a man of faith and a man of belief in the power and promise of hope.
“Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
From My Childhood
One of the stories I remember from my childhood is The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I am sure you remember the story. A young boy bored perhaps because of having too much idle time, cried out in false alarm, ” a wolf, a wolf is coming.” The townspeople all came to protect him. They discovered there was no wolf just a young boy laughing at all the silly people who heard his cry for help. They acted out of compassion and concern for this one life.
Later that day, the boy still bored and slightly amused at the effect his words had cried out again, “a wolf, a wolf is coming.” Once again the townspeople came to rescue the young boy. Still no wolf. The boy just laughed. To the young boy, this was fun, this was a game. As you might expect, later that day the boy cried out once again, “a wolf, the wolf is coming.” This time no one responded. The young boy was eaten by a voracious wolf.
The Lesson
My parents would make certain I understood the story. If one tells too many lies, no one believes the lies anymore. They stop caring what words you might be screaming. “Don’t tell lies,” my mother admonished me, “people will stop listening to you if they think you are lying to them.” She continued, “you won’t be trusted if you lie to people. If people can’t trust your word, they will cease to respond to anything you say.”
I have sadly stopped listening to the cries I hear. COVID, election fraud, justice for all, global warming, on and on. I have heard so many cries with so little evidence of a real presence, that I have chosen to stop trusting, I have chosen to stop responding. I simply do not trust them anymore.
I suppose there are cries I have heard that might be authenticated and “proved.” But I just don’t feel like spending the energy to pursue the veracity of the cries I keep hearing. If I tried to uncover the truth of all the cries I hear, I would never have time to live and enjoy those things that still have proven to be true.
Are there things you know to be true, that are not affected by others shouting random words all the while trying to convince you of some horrible hurt about to befall them and by extension to hurt you? Do you trust? Why?
Emerson wrote the quote above decades ago. The health of human society has been being attacked for countless years in countless ways. Every day, the truth falls victim to some little boy’s voice who, for his own pleasure or amusement, cries out to get a reaction. And then, he sits back at laughs at the commotion he has created. The liar cannot remain whole, he commits a sort of suicide every time he attempts to get a reaction from his victims. He has diminished himself and ultimately will suffer the consequences of his behavior.
The Same Lesson Learned
So I keep hearing the cries. The wolves have come but instead of the liar being devoured I have become the victim. I trusted for far too long. If the truth is lost it’s because, like me, we all get too tired to sort out the truth from the lies and the fiction.
You and I are victims of those false cries for help. We run to be of assistance and we are laughed at. When we stop listening to the cries, we are lost. But when we run towards the cries we find a silly little boy, bored and alone. When will he be devoured? When will the lies stop? Is it still our moral obligation to save him?
We are slowing dying as a society because we have stopped demanding the truth. To paraphrase the “motto” of a well know college in New England there is a voice crying in the wilderness. If only we valued the truth. If only we let those telling the lies to be devoured. But then we become as vicious as the little liar. We allow him to suffer a slow death. We allow ourselves to suffer the same little death.
As a person whose purpose is to ease the suffering of others, I am lost in my inability to demand the truth. The little boy sits and laughs at me and cries and cries. And suffering increases. I/we have been overtaken by falsehoods and misrepresentations.
Help me. Help all who mourn the loss we have allowed as truth dies in uncaring shrieks from a little boy. Save him. Save ourselves.
“Hope and fear cannot alter the seasons.” – Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
I envy those folks who can remain present in the moment, not affected by the past or the future. In scripture, we read ( in Matthew 6:25-34) about worry and needless preoccupation with the future. Especially helpful to me is verse 34. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
None of us need to add to the unsettled times in which we are living. There are troubles enough for today without us adding anything else. Our happiness, our peace is a moment by moment response to learning from what falls to us.
To counteract minds that drift from the past to the future, a habit to cultivate is experiencing the present or to put it more simply – to fully embrace this moment whatever it brings. There are all sorts of books and authorities on how to experience being in the present moment, not connecting the past or future to just now. Mindfulness training and learning to be present are big business these days.
Common Sense Solutions
To jump start the process of experiencing the present, try these no-muss, no-fuss common sense solutions.
Sit somewhere that is comfortable. Devote at least 30 minutes to sitting, just sitting.
Give thanks for the peace and quiet of the moment
Stop worrying
Begin to notice and let go of sounds, sights, thoughts, anxiety, and any distraction that interrupts your silence.
If sitting doesn’t work, go for a walk regardless of the weather. Feel the weather. Let weather work its magic.
Sit, breathe deeply, in and out, relax your muscles.
If sitting and walking doesn’t work (by this I mean, if they are getting in the way of being still) lay down somewhere comfortable. I like lawns in the summer and spring, piles of leaves in the fall, and the coldness of lying in the snow in the winter. My new mattress is becoming my new “go-to” place to relax my muscles so the aches and pains of my body don’t disturb the present moment
If and when the silence becomes too much for you, consider this. Recall someone who taught you a lesson that has comforted you when hope and fear seemed too overwhelming to trust.
In your silence, let the divine connect with you. If you ask and remain open to “still, small voices” or “booming thunderous voices”, the quietness of the present moment will return.
Allow your self to be inspired by artwork or music or quotes or photos. There is always beauty, truth, and goodness. Do you believe this?
Finally, up to this point, you have lived and overcome, perhaps even thrived all that has been thrown at you, good, bad and indifferent. You have adapted, regrouped, or set off in new directions. You are a survivor. So far today, you are still surviving. Survive with grace, bring your noble purpose to others to respond to their suffering. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just finish today. It’s always worked out before.
Of course, as always, I could be wrong. One last thought – “For the wonderful thing about saints is that they were human. They lost their tempers, got hungry, scolded God, were egotistical or testy or impatient in their turns, made mistakes and regretted them. Still, they went on doggedly blundering toward heaven.” (Phyllis McGinley -quoted in Paper Lanterns from The Sun)
Seasons come and go. Those days are gifts meant for you. One day at a time.
“‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty.’ And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:9
For the second week in a row, I find myself turning to scripture as the foundation for a blog post. This reliance on scripture was never my intention when I started my blog back in 2016. I never envisioned this blog to be a “religious” blog per se.
Trusting tradition
In my religious denomination, by tradition, when a new church is built, before worship services can be held in that new building, the building and various other items used in worship and for offering the sacraments must be consecrated, blessed, and prayed over. Then the house built by mere mortals is prepared to be filled with the spirit and presence of God. It is transformed from the ordinary to the sacred.
I have experienced churches being consecrated but until yesterday, I had never been part of a deconsecration service. There is one statement – the DECLARATION OF DECONSECRATION – that reads, “This building, having been consecrated and named the _____United Methodist Church, together with the land on which it stands and all objects remaining in it, we now deconsecrate and release for any honorable use. We declare that it is no longer the place of meeting of a United Methodist congregation.”
God has left the building
And with that simple statement, the church building ceases to be a place of worship. The church’s congregation will have to find a new place to worship. Gone is all that was familiar, all that was sacred. God has left the building.
Being a person who stands on a foundation built upon hope, I resonant with the scripture above. What was, is no longer. No matter how glorious the former house/church was, what comes next will be even greater. I am, however, not certain the folks gathered yesterday to live through their church being deconsecrated completely shared my point of view and my sense of hope.
To those folks, that place of worship was so much more than a weekly gathering spot for friends and visitors. It held memories from years gone by, good years and bad, all witnessed by a faithful and resilient community of believers. In that building baptisms, weddings, funerals, confirmations, worship, and fellowship took place. It was the center of a community of believers – folks who were busy spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
How does one say goodbye
I once read somewhere that a goodbye is necessary before a new adventure can begin. How does one say goodbye? The scripture says that the Lord let the folks know the new place would be greater than the place they were leaving. They would be going to a place of peace. The leap of faith here is a belief that what was known and loved for so many years could be replaced by a new gathering spot – a place of peace. For displaced folks who are leaving their familiar worship spot, a place of peace seems like a promise that can’t be guaranteed. No one wanted to say goodbye.
The peace and comfort of the old building were built on things familiar. It was peace offered to strangers and visitors as well as to current members. It took years for that peace to be deemed trustworthy. Who knows what peace the next spot might offer?
There is a hymn sung in the church – “We Are The Church”. The first verse offers these words sung in unison – “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.”
So why all this fuss then about consecrating and deconsecrating a building? Shouldn’t we instead be consecrating people to be holy instruments made to glorify God? Shouldn’t we be praying over individuals to empower them to carry the hope of peaceful places with them wherever they go?
My religious denomination affirms the sacred worth of all individuals. What I know about the people in the church that was closed for business yesterday is they are people of sacred worth who treat others based on that same understanding. They are a place of peace, individually and collectively. God’s promise of peace lives in them. They are the church.
A place of peace
Whether they stand on holy ground in a holy place or not, I am comforted and inspired by these folks who are moving to God’s “greater” place. They will be a place of peace. They will live into their new lives of service and ministry to the least, the last, and the lost.
Post Script
My blog’s theme is the “Power and Promise of Hope.” Hope is the power and the promise offered to you and me. Hope can be a place of peace and familiarity among folks who are seeking to build a greater place in their hearts and in their lives. I hope you can find such a place, such a people.
For the people of the Wesley United Methodist Church
No one can look at a scene such as the one above and not feel overwhelmed. The magnitude of destruction and uncertainty defies adequate description. There is nothing one can say or do to minimize the devastating effect of the events that befell this town during one particular tornadic event.
It is amazing to me how quickly people begin to pick up the pieces, gather their thoughts, and get to the hard tasks of recovery, rebuilding, and renewal. People, still reeling with disbelief get on with the cleanup and rebuilding. All the while, they are waging their own secret inner storms.
There is a inner strength that humankind possesses that emerges at times like this. In a time of tragedy one has to consider how to answer the question – am I a victim or a survivor?” The question may not surface with those exact words, but similar thoughts begin the process of recovery.
And not all strong personalities become survivors. And not all weak personalities become victims. There is some inner force that comes to those who will survive.
This is not a blog post outlining the fundamentals of survival. It is, however, a blog post about hope and an individual’s sense of future.
In my faith tradition, I read in Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us, from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is in the assistance that shows up to help folks who have been through a cataclysmic event that points to divine love. Red Cross, volunteers, private and governmental assistance funds, and various agencies all show up to be part of the spirit of renewal. They stay until that spirit of renewal heals the hearts and minds of survivors.
Some believe that humankind is at its core, self-seeking and self-centered. But in times of tragedy, humankind proves itself to be much kinder and much more willing to be of assistance than we sometimes believe.
It is in moments of tragedy and utter hopelessness, that the inner hope and strength of others is unleashed. There are so many examples of folks setting aside their needs and wants and providing healing gestures to those in crisis.
This simple act of responding to people in need, people who have had unimaginable losses, this simple act of bringing hope to folks who struggle, this is a kindness we all possess. You and I have the ability to bring hope when it is needed. No sermons, no lectures, no instructions are needed.
We are all survivors and we are all victims. Those who have helped us see a way forward are the quiet people of presence who offer strangers love, care, and compassion. In these times when the world seems so divided and so confused, we can quietly step up and bring a healing presence of hope through random acts of kindness.
This is my faith at work. This is the faith that reminds me, I am not alone, I am not forgotten, I can and I will weather every storm. This is the power and promise of hope. This is the power and promise of finding a way to healing.
“The key to wisdom is this- constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to questions, by questioning we arrive at the truth.” Peter Abelard
The power of WHY lies in where the WHY question leads. It may lead to truth as Abelard suggests, but there may be an even greater use for the question WHY.
Many of us remember in our youth pestering our parents for the answers to our endless questions. Questions ranged from the esoteric “why is the sky blue?” to the practical, “why do I have to go to bed now?” Most of the time, my parents assented to my questions and attempted to give me satisfactory, if not complete, answers to the question – WHY?
But the real power of WHY lies in what occurs when the final answer we receive starts with “because I said so.” I can remember coming home one day and asking my mom if I could try out for the Pop Warner footbal team in our town. My mom’s immediate answer was “NO!” Then it began. “I asked why not?” My mom answered, “I think you might do better in another sport.” I shot back, “But why?” To make a long story short (and because I am certain you have had similar question and answer exchanges with your parents or another figure of influence), the inevitable response from my mom was spoken – “because I said so.” That was the end of the conversation. I dared not venture into questioning my mom any further. She had spoken.
I could not exist as a middle school-aged kid without more satisfaction from the questions I put to my mother and others. So the next time my mom and I got to the “because I said so” statement, I pushed it just a bit farther. In response to “because I said so,” I added another question, “what about my opinion?” My mom stared at me in disbelief. I had gone beyond the protocols, the boundaries she had set for our conversations. At first, my mom said, “because I said so and I am your mother.” I added the now familiar but ineffective “but all of my friends are doing… you don’t trust me, you don’t love me, you don’t care what my friends say about me.” I tried all of those lines of questioning seeking a stable rhetorical foothold so I could go beyond “because I am your mother and I said so.”
That’s when my mother stopped me in my tracks as she said, “because I love you and I don’t want to see you hurt.” Her answer to not letting me play Pop Earner Footfall was that she loved me and did not want me to get hurt. The hurt my mom was trying to keep me from was not only physical hurt but “psychic hurt” as the older kids would inevitably bully me because of my slight size and weight. She knew this, I didn’t yet.
What I eventually discovered in questioning adults, parents, teachers, coaches, ministers, and others who possessed some form of authority and power over me was their specific reason behind the “because I said so” response. My mother loved me, my teachers only wanted the best for and from me, my coaches wanted to challenge me, ministers wanted me to understand compassion, authority figures wanted to be certain I did not limit myself by breaking laws or local customs.
I learned the real power of WHY was in the conversations I had with folks who took the time and effort to help me understand growing up. When their concern was built upon love, or educating me, our helping me perform at a more skillful level, or making certain my choices in the future weren’t limited by serious past deeds, I realized these folks wished me no harm or to needlessly restrict or reign me in. Folks who go beyond “BECAUSE I SAID SO” and helped me see their honest concerns were the folks I would end up trusting and believing.
I came to understand that every decision my mother made concerning me was because of love. I did not always agree with her and it usually took some time before I saw the truth and the love behind her decisions and advice. Additionally, I ended up experiencing many of my teachers who attempted to challenge me to learn, to question, to think critically in whatever interests came along. Even on the rare occasion that I did something bone-headed and had the police bring me home to my parents, the police just wanted me to see the effects of my choices, within the confines, protections, and guarantees of the law.
The real power of why is that simple word WHY helps one discern who can be trusted and believed. It helps one discern the true motives and agendas of those whose jobs are to help us grow in mind, body, and spirit. To this day, when I meet someone who is willing to explain (and show) their concern for me, the genuineness of their concern becomes the foundation for new friendships and new insight.
The real power of WHY is teaching one how to trust so that in the end we can discern the truth just as Peter Abelard suggeted in the openiong quote.
Let someone know the truth behind your “because I said so” answers. Let them find in you a new and faithful friend who can be trusted and who can be believed.
POST SCRIPT – this post seems so naive and out of place in today’s world. Nowadays, when someone doesn’t like an aswer to their question, rather than seeking greater understanding between two points of view seeking to reconcile themselves, they go off without having experienced trust or new perspective, without perhaps finding a new trustworthy friend who seeks only the common good of all the folks involved. It seems easier these days to battle one another than to do the hard work of developing trust and understanding. I wish this were not so.
“I never ask a wounded person how he feels; I myself become the wounded person.” Walt Whitman in Paper Lanterns.
When I was in eighth grade, my middle school principal asked me a very specific question – a question I have never forgotten.. He had a habit of dropping into classrooms unannounced and chatting with students. It was intimidating to be singled out for his questions. It was just the two of you – the principal and you before the whole class. When he called your name, you stood in his presence and waited for his question of the day.
On that day in particular I was at the chalkboard, at the request of my teacher, to explain how to solve what I then considered a very difficult math problem. So I was struggling with the math when Mr. Klein (name changed on purpose) very quietly entered the classroom and silently watched me as I nervously tried to explain the method and reasoning behind my solution. I was fairly confident I had arrived at the correct answer but my explanation apparently did not satisfy Mr. Klein’s understanding of my methodology.
His first question was direct and to the point – “Mr. Hutchison, are you certain that you have solved the problem correctly?” So I went for the gold., “Yes sir I am sure of my answer.” Mr. Klein shot back, “Are you certain enough of your answer that you would bet your life on your work and your solution? Would you bet your life on your thinking and your conclusion?”
Mr. Klein expected an answer. He wasn’t leaving until he heard my answer. “Yes sir, this is the right answer.” He turned to the classroom teacher who was taking great pleasure in seeing me on the hot seat (the reasons for that will be the subject of another blog post someday) and asked her, “Is Mr. Hutchison’s answer and his explanation correct? She too, was intimidated by the principal so she spoke in a low, subservient way – “Yes Mr. Klein, the answer and his explanation are correct.”
I thought I was off the hook – question asked and answered. I had firmly stood my ground before the principal. He was no match for me. I was just about to sit down at my desk when the principal came to my side and looked me straight in the eye. “Mr. Hutchison, you quickly agreed to bet your life that you had the correct answer. What if you had been wrong, with the wrong answer and the wrong explanation? Would you have kept your word and given up your life?”
Mr. Klein continued, “Here is a question I want you to seriously consider today, and as you grow older. What do you value enough that you would willingly sacrifice your life for it?” This was a rhetorical question as he continued without expecting me to answer this question. “Life is so very precious and you ought to be clear about the things for which you would sacrifice your one life,” Mr. Klein said. “So listen again to my question – what do you value so much that you would willingly sacrifice your life for it?’ He paused and then went on to explain – “greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend.” He asked me to repeat what he had just said – “greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend.”
I never forgot Mr. Klein’s question concerning what I valued enough to willingly, intentionally, sacrifice my life. And I never forgot what he said next, what I found out later was a scriptural reference – “greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend.” Later on in my life, I have studied that scripture and its context.
You and I meet people every day who are wounded in one way or the other – wounded in mind, body, or spirit. It is part of my being, insofar as I can, to help soothe the wounds and to offer what healing I can, to those who are wounded. Healing begins when we offer our presence to those who are suffering in any way. Healing begins when the wounded, suffering one knows that he or she is valued by another person – a person who is willing to be a companion on the road to healing, to the end of suffering.
It is a far cry from laying down my life for another to show one who is wounded some kindness and compassion. Every life should have a noble purpose. Mr. Klein, so many years ago, helped me define the noble purpose I have chosen. What do you value so much that you would willingly sacrifice your life? As you ponder that question – do all the good you can for as long as you can. Be a healer. Take on the wounds of another so that you and the other person can both be healed.
