"Doing" is only 1/2 of the spiritual life

A common metaphor of the holy spirit in Christianity is the Holy Spirit is like the wind. This metaphor may be rooted in the Biblical tradition of the arrival of the Holy Spirit among the disciples that came among them like a rush of wind. Or perhaps when Jesus says that like the wind, we do not know where the Spirit comes from or where it goes. 

Not long ago I was reintroduced to an older metaphor (I believe from Origen) who said that the spiritual life is that like a journey on the ocean. We are each the captain of our boats and the Holy Spirit of God is the wind in our sails. As the sailor of the boat we can do a lot of work to get the sails just right, but if the wind is not blowing, we are not moving very far. Conversely, if we do not do our part to put up the sails the wind will blow right past us. And we will not get very far.

The spiritual life is that of co-worker. God, through the Holy Spirit is the wind in our sails, but we must open our sails to accept the wind and try to work with the wind as it blows. The wind blows on everyone, but not everyone is prepared to catch the wind.

This has helped me consider why it is that sometimes I feel like I am working as hard as I can on my faith formation, only to not move very far. The winds are not blowing.

And so, the spiritual life is not a meritocracy (the one that works the hardest gets the greater rewards). The spiritual life is a life of preparation, being ready and hoping that you catch the wind in our sails. 

Simply put, the spiritual life is one of work and wait.

Six

Nine months before graduating from Brite Divinity School and a few years before ordination, this little blog began. What began as a series of random thoughts with an audience size of one a month now is a series of random thoughts with an audience size of about 700 a month. 

You readers are the largest congregation that I will ever have the privilege of engaging on a regular basis. Thank you for subscribing, reading, commenting and sharing with others. 

If this blog were a person, this is what the development would be. Which other than the math portion, this is just about right.

With this milestone, I will be taking a week sabbath from writing. 

How Where's Waldo exposes a problem with Christianity

Where's Waldo may not be the cultural icon it was when I was a kid of the 1990's but I still see this little guy around sometimes in the bookstore (also seemingly a dying icon of my childhood). In case you are not aware of what "Waldo" is all about, it is a book where you search different scenes and try to find the "Waldo" character. Frustratingly simple and boy did I love it.

I would race my brother to determine who was the best Waldo-finder in our house. To this day I secretly assess if the person I am looking at a Waldo scene with it smarter then me based on how quickly they find him. Most of the time, everyone finds him before I do and thus I feel less smart by the end of the book. 

Where's Waldo is a fun little thing to do and I marvel at the imagination of the artists to draw such crazy scenes. There is also a sense of excitement when you begin to look, a sense of challenge sets in after a few minutes. Frustration can set in when you begin to convince yourself that Waldo is not in this scene at all and then the moment you find Waldo there is a sense of satisfaction and affirmation that you are encouraged to go through the whole process again and turn the page. It is the search that makes Waldo fun. 

Which is why one of the worsts gifts you can give is a Where's Waldo book with Waldo circled on every page in thick black marker. Sure the other person will always be able to quickly "find" Waldo in every scene, but you also have removed the joy of the search. 

Large parts of Christianity have become fixated on sharing our faith with others but doing so with all the answers already given. Some Christian communities tell you what the answers are to every question. When people are searching for the "real Noah's arc" they believe that in finding it they will answer the question and thus bring more people to the faith. I contest that in "proving" all sorts of things in Christianity surmount to marking up the faith with a thick black marker. Sure, you can see the "answer" but then the joy of the search is removed. 

Give me a blank Where's Waldo book anytime.