Feeding Grace. Space for Grace.

Save the Date for The Annual Village Fair and 5K on August 19th.

The mundane acts of life.  Feeding another.  Offering shelter to another.  One might begin to wonder what is the wealthy woman feeding and what is she making space for?  

As this reading continues, we will find that the woman asks for nothing in return.  She simply gives.  She gives food.  She gives shelter.  She makes space in her home and in her life for grace and holiness.  

These acts are small and mundane and yet so very, very beautiful.  

We fill our lives in so many ways.  We fill our cupboards and calendars.  We fill our rooms and our heads.  We’re so full.  Caught up in our daily needs and wants.  And those needs and wants are serious stuff. It is important.  Sometimes, though, we get so full that we don’t notice what’s around us.  We don’t notice who around us needs food and shelter.  We don’t notice who needs us and what we have to give.  So often, all we need to give is a bit of our time to one another.  

It’s a full life.  It’s easy to get distracted by the things that are going on in our lives.  We’re busy.  We’re annoyed.  We’re overwhelmed.  We’re overworked.  We’re uncomfortable.  We’re in pain.  We’re afraid there isn’t enough.  We’re worried.  We’re scared.  Life is full.

What is the difference between a full life and a full soul life? 

Perhaps we best notice our soul life when we get those wake up calls.  You know the lightening that lights up our lives in frightening ways and wakes us up to suddenly see very clearly what’s important.  Those “near misses” of life.  Nothing has really changed, but at the same time, everything has changed.  We have changed!  

Sometimes, it’s the lightening bolts that strikes directly into our lives.  BAM.  That direct hit that lifts us up, shakes us up, and nothing is the same again.  

Suddenly everything is so very clear.  What matters most.  Those moments that brings us back to soul and whatever it is that is Bigger than ourselves.  

Those moments when we remember that we are so incredibly blessed, even if everything is a mess.  Those moments when we remember how lucky we are, even if the moment doesn’t feel so.  We remember to be grateful.  We remember to say thank you. Thank you. They are usually deep moments of Love.  

We realize that while we may not have “a lot”, we have more than we need and plenty to share.  We realize that love one another and giving back is our greatest work.  We realize we don’t have time for small and petty.  Life is too precious to waste on grudges and selfishness.  There’s more.  We’re a part of that “more” and we have things to do. Really important, if small, things.

There’s those, like us, in need of something we can give.  Who have been through challenges in life.  Just like us.  We come full circle to the real work.  We’re all in this together. Just…walking each other through this thing called life.  Recognizing ourselves, and perhaps God, in the faces of one another.  Remembering.  

That’s soul. Soul life.  Soul moments.  

Sometimes these wake up calls last. Sometimes they are fleeting and after the shock wears off, we get back to “normal” life and “normal” things.  That, in and of itself, is its own blessing.    Sometimes…we forget.

But somewhere.  Inside.  We have changed.  We have become something different.  We have touched something…more.  

Perhaps this is why we come together each Sunday.  To Remember.  Communion can be a place to reunite with this deep connection.  We feed one another in a way that connects us all the way back and connects us all the way forward. It’s like a place where time disappears and we’re all just One in this one moment that is every moment.  It’s everything.  A pause in the clock.  A pause in time.  A pause for one another and Grace.  

Communion reminds us that our most important work is to nourish one another in body and in soul.  In all the ways…

Our souls are often so restless.  There’s so much pressure all around us and in us.  Restless in body.  Restless in soul.  Rushing life when, really, all there is this moment.  Right here.  Right now.  Precious and timeless.  

I heard a quote once (I don’t recall where) that we are busy buying Christmas presents, while our souls are still smelling the summer roses.  Stop.  Smell the roses.  Let your soul catch up.  Let your soul rest in this moment.  Make a room for your soul. Notice what your soul needs to feel nourished.  

Perhaps this is what the woman in the story is doing.  Feeding the soul and making a room for the soul.  Making a place of rest and nourishment for the grace of God (Elisha being a “holy man of God”).  She is inviting God’s presence into her life. She is feeding God’s presence. She is making space for God’s presence.  

We can choose how we live our lives.  We may feel “stuck” in the tangible borders of our life, but our inner world is infinite.  We can choose to live a full soul life within our full life. We can choose to live a busy life…too full for soul.  The choice is ours.  We don’t have to wait for the lightning to remind us of what matters.  We don’t have to wait for the lightning bolt to rip through us.  We can choose now to make space for what matters most. To nourish and cultivate a full soul life.  

We can not just be generous, but begin to ask ourselves why are we generous?  Generous with our time.  Our hearts.  Our forgiveness. Our love. Our mercy.  Our Compassion.  Why do we pray?  Why do we rest?  

What recognitions and rewards do we seek? 

Try not to think that the “right answer” is that we don’t seek reward, because sometimes we do seek rewards and sometimes that is not a bad thing.   Reward and recognition are sometimes needed in our world of living and doing.  But maybe it’s not the soul work.  

Soul work is making space in our lives.  A room for blessings to flow.  A room for grace to rest.  A room for possibility.  

The woman gives.  She sees a need and fills it.  She helps another to do their work.  She is a part of the wholeness of community and belonging.  She gives what she has to give.  We can do this too.  See a need and fill it.  See Goodness and make space for it.  

Remember, we’re all in this together. No one does it alone. It is those small, mundane acts that support a wholeness that is greater than ourselves.  It is in the small and daily acts that we belong.  

We make up a room for another’s comforts and another’s work.  We feed one another.  We give one another respite when things get hard.  We send comfort to one another.  

We also wash the dishes and mop the floors.  We fix the car and fold the laundry.  We go to work and sit in traffic.  We resist the temptations to be less than who we can be throughout each day.  We pick up the trash and wave to our neighbors.  

We trust that our part is important and enough.  At the end of the day, we give thanks and ask how can we do better? Each morning, we give thanks.  Thanks for another day to see Goodness and make space for it.  Another day to see a need and fill it.  Every day a simple reward of life and an opportunity to choose how we want to live. Do we choose to live just full and busy or with a fullness of soul in our lives? 

Wholeness is held together with all the parts; maybe that’s Home.  We are the parts.  Every single one of us.  In the fullness of life, we can fill our souls and live a soulful life in each moment.  

And when we’re tired?  We can stop and nourish our souls. We can pause to let our souls smell the roses completely and catch up.  We can make a room to allow for the grace of God to come in to our hearts and lives without any expectations of reward but the reward of being filled with Goodness itself. 

And when we’re ready, we can begin anew…