Leap of Faith

Hospitality! It is one of those gifts that adds spice and flavor to all of life. And we keep finding it in wonderful abundance. We are staying in Salem with my mother, who has graciously and generously opened her home to us. In the midst of the sometimes overwhelming uncertainty of our current life circumstances, the gift of a safe harbor is a balm for our souls.

Then yesterday we encountered hospitality of a different sort. As many of you know, walking labyrinths has been a part of our spiritual practice. We haven’t found many of them this summer (Grace Cathedral being the notable exception in my case), but the image of walking the sacred path has certainly helped to shape our understanding of the journey we’ve been on. With a few days of “down time” in Salem I thought I would try to locate a labyrinth to walk. Using the incredibly helpful Labyrinth Locator on the Grace Cathedral web site I quickly discovered that the only permanent publicly accessible labyrinth in the area isn’t actually public at all. A local woman has built a stunningly beautiful one in her backyard and she makes it available to the public by appointment. So I called to make arrangements. She warmly and graciously met us and welcomed us into her private sanctuary of peace, gave us a brief account of how she came to envision this wonderful project and then translate it into reality, and then she left us there to be alone. The gift of her hospitality was profoundly moving and helped to make the experience even more profound. Thank you Joan.

Having been on the receiving end of such healing gifts, I want to be more mindful and intentional about the ways in which I can contribute the gift to others. It need not be a large and extravagant act. A simple smile, a kind word, a welcoming attitude can be just as effective in transmitting the magic. What might the world be like if we all knew we were welcomed and had a place where we belonged? I invite you to join me in doing what we can to find out.

Blessings,
Roger 

We are relational creatures. Down to the very core of our being we are made to be in relationship - with ourselves, with each other, with the world around us, with the sacred presence of the Divine. When we open ourselves to such connections our lives are enriched because we are more fully ourselves. When we ignore, deny and sometimes even actively reject such connections our lives are diminished because we cut ourselves off from an essential aspect of our humanity. The good news is that opportunities for connection are all around us in every moment of our living. The bad news is that we don’t always notice them or open ourselves to the richness of such gifts. And the good news after the bad news is that we do not have to remain stuck in old, unhelpful patterns of living. We can choose to live differently. We can choose to pay attention. We can choose to allow more fullness into our lives.

On our journey this summer there have been a variety of opportunities to connect. Some of them were fleeting - like the moment on the labyrinth in Grace Cathedral when I passed a woman who was going the other way and she folded her hands in front of her and bowed in a gesture of acknowledgement and blessing. The whole encounter only lasted a second or two. And yet, because I was paying attention, the effects continue to reverberate through my life. Some connections were unexpected and delightful. While Veronica was in Florida I was camped by myself in the redwoods south of San Francisco. One evening while I was doing the dishes after dinner one of the women who were camped next to me stopped by to invite me over for a piece of cherry pie. Anne and Reba were their names and they just had to meet the person from Idaho with the “Celebrate Diversity” sticker on his van. It was a wonderful evening as we discovered common ground - they are members of a Unitarian church, and one of them had grown up in a Disciples congregation. It wasn’t the evening I had planned, and because I was paying attention my life was enriched. Some connections have been an outgrowth of long-standing relationships. We spent three days with Oz and Ginny Garton at their cabin in northern California. They have been friends for years and that paved the way for this opportunity. And, because we were paying attention, we experienced wonderful hospitality, laughter, warmth, acceptance and a deeper level of connection. 

New friends - old friends - chance encounters - they all present us with the opportunity to feed our souls. But we have to pay attention or we might miss it. 

Blessings,
Roger

My spirit soared when a Voice spoke to me:
“Come, come to the Heart of Love!”
How long I had stood within the house of fear
yearning to enter the gates of Love!

The New Jerusalem, the Holy City,
is bound firmly together;
All who seek the Heart of Love,
those who have faced their fears,
Enter the gates in peace and with great joy,
singing songs of thanksgiving,
There, in harmony with the cosmos,
the community gathers united in love.

Pray for the peace of the world!
May all nations prosper as one!
May peace reign among all peoples,
and integrity dwell within every heart!
Then will friends and neighbors,
and former enemies as well,
cry out, “Peace be with you!”
For the good of the universe and
in gratitude to the Beloved,
Let us serve the Holy One of all nations
with glad hearts.

Psalm 122
from Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness 
by Nan C. Merrill

This is what I read this morning as I sat among the redwoods in the cathedral of the earth, pausing for a moment to pay attention to the Sacred Presence. I did not write these beautiful and powerful words, but they resonate with my heart. For too long now we have been fed the lie of fear, the lie of hate, the lie of evil. We must be afraid, we are told, because “they” are evil and hate us, and must, therefore, be destroyed! It is not true. It is not true! IT IS NOT TRUE! “How long I had stood in the house of fear yearning to enter the gates of Love!” There is violence in the world because there is injustice in the world. There is violence in the world because there is ignorance in the world! There is violence in the world because there is fear in the world! And it doesn’t have to be that way. We have it within us to make it something new and different. We are one people, firmly embraced in the loving arms of the one God. In the landscape of Love we can meet in peace and harmony. “May all nations prosper as one! May peace reign among all peoples, and integrity dwell within every heart!” It is no longer enough to reject the lie. We must also have the courage to stand up and declare what we know to be true. “Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.” I do not yet know all of the ways I will seek to live this out in my life. But I know I can no longer stand silently by while the lie of fear is proclaimed as the gospel by which we must live our lives. We must each of us in our own ways let the Light shine forth into the world. In the words of singer/songwriter Jewel, “Light does the darkness most fear!” “Pray for the peace of the world! . . . For the good of the universe and in gratitude to the Beloved, Let us serve the Holy One of all nations with glad hearts.” Let’s make some noise!

Blessings,
Roger

After weeks and weeks of traveling I don’t quite know what to do with sitting still. While Veronica is in Florida I am camped in a beautiful redwood forest south of San Francisco and here I will be for more than a week. What a luxurious gift! The lesson of the moment seems to be one of discovering stillness. Before today I’d written two poems in the entire time we’ve been on the road. Today I wrote three. I think perhaps there is value to be found in this time of rest.

Blessings,
Roger

- - -

ancient trees and timeless waves
seduce me with their rhythm
the rush & hurry of my normal pace
robs me of their peace

attending to the forest’s voice
reminds me to seek stillness
where wonder & abundance
can seep into my soul

how much have I been missing?
how impoverished is my living?
there is beauty all around me
just waiting to be seen

can I learn to pay attention
when life’s frantic schedule beckons?
in this world of constant speed
I will seek the gift of slow

- - -

the “stillness” of the forest
is anything but quiet
as the whisper of the wind
moves among the branches
and the chattering of birds & squirrels
echoes through the trees

but stillness it most surely is
for in its timeless voice I hear
the healing rhythm of the earth

- - -

Stellar Jay preening
in the branch above my head
stray feather drifts down

Chaco Canyon is about as inhospitable a place as you can imagine. It is hot, dry and difficult to reach. Located about 20 miles south of a major highway, it takes over an hour to get there because the last 16 miles are dirt, with the worst washboard conditions I’ve ever experienced. It is way off the beaten path. But beginning in about 850 c.e. and lasting until about 1200 c.e. all roads led to Chaco. Something extraordinary and more than a little bit mysterious was happening there. A culture formed, with its center in this arrid canyon and spread out to cover thousands of square miles of what we now know as Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. For reasons which we may never know, these people built massive complexes using nothing but stone-age technology. They had no wheel, no beasts of burden, no metal tools. And yet the stone buildings they created were masterfully designed, massive in scale (up to five stories high in places and covering several acres). And all of this at several locations within the canyon and many, many locations beyond the canyon, all built within the same basic time period. And the more we discover about what they did, the more the mystery grows deeper. These structures were not primarily used as living space. All indications are that their function was to serve as a center for ceremonies and possibly for trade. There are kivas everywhere - some of them massive in scale (holding up to 400 people). But things only get more interesting from here. With no metal (and thus no compass), the walls of these complexes are lined up on extremely accurate north/south and east/west lines. They also reflect an alignment with both the solar cycle (solstices and equinoxes) and the lunar cycle (did you know that the moon has an 18.6 year cycle?). And these massive complexes are also aligned with each other over very great distances. One example is a set of two “Great Houses” that are aligned to each other with an orientation to the lunar cycle. They are miles apart. The line between them is exactly bisected by the line between two other “Great Houses” that are aligned with each other along the solar cycle. My mind is still swimming trying to fathom the enormity of what they did in this out of the way, inhospitible place, and the possible reasons why. Whatever it was, it captured the imaginations of a huge number of people over the course of many generations and motivated them to expend enormous amounts of time, energy and resources to transform their vision into reality. To say that I am intrigued would be one of the great understatements of the year. Here is a poem I wrote after a morning hike through the area.

Chaco
by Roger C. Lynn
June 2008

on this path the ancients trod
my feet now walk at sunrise
high above the canyon floor
past walls of mud and stone

their silence in this sacred place
bears witness to the mystery
there’s more to life both then and now
than we shall ever know.

we leave our mark upon the earth
for others who come after
the impact that our dreams can make
will stretch beyond our lifetime

sun and moon and flesh and bone
all fit within the pattern
lines beyond what can be seen
connect us to the whole 

This has been percolating in my brain for a while.

Last week we had the wonderful privilege of exploring the ruins in and around Mesa Verde (which were built by the Ancestral Puebloan people from about 750 c.e. until about 1300 c.e.) One of the central features of these places where people lived was the “kiva” - a round room built below ground level and probably used for ceremonial purposes. It was a space specifically set aside for the purpose of being in touch with the presence of the sacred in the world. The kiva represented the very heart of the living space. It was not off in a corner somewhere. It was not a feature which appeared in some sites but not in others. It was smack-dab in the middle of virtually every site. And sites of any size at all usually had multiple kivas scattered around the space. Recognition of the sacred was intricately and intimately woven into the very fabric of everyday life. 

When I began to recognize the magnitude of this reality it stopped me in my tracks. Every day - multiple times a day - everyone who lived in those ancient spaces would have been reminded that all of life was filled with the presence of the sacred. What would life today be like if we could recapture even a fraction of that understanding? How might our lives be enriched and expanded if we could find a way to have some modern equivilent of a “kiva” in the midst of our everyday living?

I’m not quite sure what that would even look like, but I am intrigued by the possibilities. It might be an “altar” of some sort, situated in a prominent place in our homes. Perhaps it could be a prayer practice before meals (at our house we hold hands, hum together and offer words of thanksgiving). It could even be something we wear, like a Native American “medicine pouch” worn on a thong around our neck or always carried in a pocket where we encounter it at unexpected moments. There are all sorts of possibilities. Whatever specific practices we choose would serve to help us manifest our intention of being fully present to the sacred which is all around us in every moment of every day. Reintegrating a sense of the holy into our lives at a basic and fundamental level would be a powerful place to begin healing the brokenness which seems to be so prevalent in our world today. I invite you to join me in searching for ways to reclaim this important spiritual heritage.

Blessings,
Roger

The land stretches out
beneath me

My life stretches out
before me

My soul stretches out
within me

In the stillness
of this moment

And the vastness
of this place

I’m finding
room to breathe

And I am whole!

written June 6, 2008
Mesa Verde National Park
Knife Edge trail
overlooking the Montezuma Valley
at sunset

Speculation - conjecture - guess work. By whatever word you choose, it all points to the reality that there is a whole lot of mystery in the world - a whole lot more to this life than we will ever be able to “know.” 

We’re here at Mesa Verde - the site where the Ancestral Puebloan people lived from about 550 a.d until about 1300 a.d. These creative and industrious people built an amazing civilization, complete with interesting architecture and an ingenious system of reservoirs and ditches for storing and delivering water to the entire community. They left behind an enormous quantity of “stuff” which offers us glimpses into who they were and how they lived - from the buildings they lived in to the pottery and baskets they made to the garbage they discarded.

And yet, for all this material to work with, the archeologists and other experts who study such things are still left with a whole lot of unanswered questions. On all of the informational material (signs, brochures, articles) words like “speculate” and “uncertain” and “may never know for sure” pop up with great regularity. There is the “big” mystery - what happened to these people about 1300 a.d.? Over the course of a generation or two the entire area seems to have been abandoned. Why did they leave? Where did they go? And there are other mysteries as well. I was exploring one of the settlements on top of the mesa (several miles from the cliff dwellings). One of the sites featured a round tower, along with several round “kivas” (round rooms built below ground level and probably used for ceremonial purposes and possibly as a meeting space). The sign indicated that such towers have been found at several of the sites in the Mesa Verde area and were obviously important to the Ancestral Puebloan culture. Several of them are connected to a nearby kiva with a tunnel. The experts speculate (there’s that word) that they were used for some ceremonial purpose. But they have been unable to figure out any specifics. 

As all of this began to coalesce in my brain I found myself smiling. I like the fact that there is still mystery in the world and in our lives. There is more to this life than we will ever be able to “know.” I get nervous when I am presented with too much certainty - whether in matters of science or matters of faith. When someone is so sure they have all the answers I start looking for what they aren’t telling me, or else what they themselves aren’t looking at. The universe is too big to be contained. God is too big to be contained. There is an expansiveness and freedom that comes with this awareness. Life is not defined by the small walls of what I “know.” There are possibilities beyond my wildest imaginings. I don’t have to know it all because I can’t know it all. Thus I am left with the delicious freedom to enjoy every small glimpse of the larger mystery that is revealed to me. 

Today I was touched by the lives of people who lived more than a thousand years ago. It was only the barest of connections. And it was enough to help me recognize how grateful I am to be a part of the great Mystery.

Blessings,
Roger

“Slow down - you’re movin’ too fast” is the advice Simon & Garfunkel gave us back in the 70s with their “Feelin’ Groovy” song. It is still advice worth heeding and it seems to be one of the important lessons which this trip is teaching me. I am so enjoying the pace. We get to a place and settle in for several days (at least). This is our fifth day in Moab. We have the opportunity to pay attention to life - to let go of the “doing” long enough to enjoy the “being.” Even the overwhelming abundance of sights (and sites) to see is a blessing. There is far more than we could possibly get to - which gives us the freedom to simply enjoy what we choose to see without stresssing that we must hurry or we’ll miss that other wonderful thing we just read about in the guide book. (Which reminds me to recommend “Southwest USA” by Lonely Planet.)

I don’t yet know how I will be changed by this adventure - it is still too early in the process and I am way too close to have any sort of perspective. What I do know is that I remain convinced this is the right thing for us to be doing at this moment in our lives. And, finally, that is really all we can ever hope for.

Blessings,
Roger

(originally written a couple of days ago)

We’ve been gone from Moscow for less than 10 days - and already it seems like forever. It is an amazing adventure we’re on - and we really miss our community back home. This is a transforming, and confusing, and challenging journey. And we are learning so much - trust, faith, appreciation, abundance, connection.

The landscape through which we are traveling is incredible. We left Zion National Park (in the SW corner of Utah) two days ago, and have been travelling in a northeasterly direction. When you leave Zion heading east you travel through a mile long tunnel carved into the cliff face. When you come out the other side you are already in another world - and it just continues to change and transform as you drive. The drive along Highway 12 is truly remarkable. We climbed through layers and layers of geological history as we drove past sandstone cliffs of red and white and orange and brown. By mid-day we had arrived at Bryce Canyon. Pictures cannot begin to convey the magic of this place. I really have never seen anything like it in my life. We were only there for a couple of hours, so I didn’t get a chance to wander down into the maze of “hoodoos” - but I absolutely will be back someday. From there we drove a few miles further down the road to Kodachrome Basin State Park, tucked back off the road in the midst of more cliffs and hoodoos. It is easy to see why some of the Native Americans who first inhabited this place thought these formations were people who had been turned to stone - “legend people.”

Today we continued on Highway 12 past more varied and beautiful landscapes. This is a vast and wild country. A few miles before arriving in Torrey (the town at the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park) we drove over a 9,900 foot pass, with snow still laying in patches along the side of the road. Then back down the other side and into the Capitol Reef area. It is a giant uplifted reef of red rock cliffs which stretch across the landscape. The power of the earth is in evidence everywhere we look. And tonight we are camped at the base of those amazing cliffs, amidst luscious fruit orchards originally planted by Mormon settlers.

My camera doesn’t stay in its bag very often. My “beauty detector” is almost constantly on high alert. And my soul is being nourished by the whole experience, including the opportunity to share the adventure with my wonderful partner.

On a different note, I found out today that a congregation where I was being considered for their pastoral opening has decided that I am not the one they will be calling. I am saddened by the news, since it had seemed like an interesting and challenging opportunity. And at the same time I am intrigued by what new opportunity is waiting for me that I don’t even know about yet. I remain convinced that something wonderful is coming our way. Indeed, it is already happening. How can it do anything besides continue?

As always, thank you for your ongoing love and support, and your interest in what we are up to. Knowing you are with us in spirit matters more than we will ever be able to say.

Blessings,
Roger