Rhythm of Life

Getting started on a Monday can perhaps be a difficult task for you if you're coming off an exciting and eventful weekend. The drive to work, the bus ride to school, you yawn and fight back the temptation to close your eyes and sink back into wake up mode.

Perhaps we do different things to wake us up. Some of us may have a pot of coffee waiting for us in the morning, others start their days by a hearty breakfast, warm shower and a tall glass of OJ, while others make sure they drive by Starbucks to grab their favorite Mocha beverage. Don't limit though the start of the morning to just these few practices for there are many more. Either way, there is usually a routine we follow and if we for some reason miss one part of the routine, our days could potentially be shot. Then there are the days when we are in such a rhythm with the early morning events, we feel as if we can take on the day. Again though, finding the rhythm is important for us.

A rhythm of mine on Monday morning is key for me and the result of my week. On Monday's I wake up early, take Silas on a walk, come back to the smell of coffee filling up the house, shower, grab my Prayer Book, Bible, and what ever else I am reading, pour myself a cup of coffee, and read. From here I go to church. If I get there in time I join Jonathan and the others who show up for morning prayer in our Chapel and for 15 minutes, I join my life in prayer with those who are there with me and we pray: for the world, the nation, the community, and you. At the conclusion of the prayer I make my way down the freshly vacuumed hallway and I grab the Vacuum and ascend up the darkened hallway to the youth room and I begin to meditate.

Closing the door behind me, I peer across the room and smile. I think begin to reflect on how messy the room is and how it got that way. The smile grows wider and wider as I pick up Sunday school papers and remember our great discussion on Luke 4, Jesus' reading from the scroll of Isaiah. I think about how you the youth defined justice and equality and then how you made the connection of the injustices in this land, the land of the "Free". My attention is then grabbed by the bread crumbs which appear all across the room from our "Agape Feast". I begin to vacuum and think about Sunday worship and how I have the honor of joining with you in the Eucharist and offering to you, "The bread of heaven," "The bread of life," and I give thanks for your lives and the way you have taught me about community. I make my way into the classrooms and see the puzzled you all worked on, or the world's you all dedicated yourselves to fix and restore. Your commitment and dedication to finishing what you started reminded me of God's promise to love us, to bring restoration to that which God created.

My reflection doesn't stop there for I stand now with a hammer in my hand and begin to hammer nails into the wall to hang up your paintings. These paintings remember were done during Advent, to aid us in our journey to worship this child who would change the world. We hoped together, we longed for peace together, we share in each others joys, and we learned more and demonstrated love to each other. This then reminded me of the journey we have been on and gave me much hope for where we are going next. I hung up posters that have fallen down over time and ran across our Wii Bowling tournament and again, gave thanks for the fun times we have had together. I gazed at the names and prayed for those whom we haven't seen in a while and gave thanks for their lives too. What fun we have had!

Having moved the furniture once to vacuum, after completing this task, I began to rearrange the furniture, putting the pieces back together and setting up our table: new candles, setting up the Christ candle, and a fresh stick of vanilla incense awaits to be lit and to rise like our prayers. It dawned on me as I moved the furniture how you all have began to take steps many months ago of rearranging your own lives so you can further enhance your encounters with the Holy. I thought about how you all have been gracious to me and have been willing to move, experiment, and make things up, as we have went a long and I am grateful for this too. Remember though dear friends, you all have done, are doing, and most guarantee, to do great things in the future. Your insights, willingness to go with the flow, and commitment to one another inspires not only me to continue to be in ministry but the church at large. You are the one's Paul was encouraging when he said, "Don't let anyone look down upon you because of your youth." As the Gandhi poster says in our room, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," and you are guys are doing it.

After an hours worth of work, it was completed. In one hour of 'cleaning', I was able to take a peek down memory lane, give thanks for our time together, pray for you and your families, and dream about what is going to happen next, a rhythm which is essential to the life of this ministry. Had I not taken the time to stop, move slowly but deliberately, and be quiet, I would have missed God reminding me of God's love for me through the indications of it from the 'mess' in our youth room.

Daily rhythms are important and can be very insightful. Often times we call these things habits or disciplines. In the Christian community (and others for that matter) there are different disciplines we can practice to help us in our faith journeys. They range from long hours of silence, deep attitudes of prayer, walking a Labyrinth, to reading the Bible and taking a long walk. Yet what is great about spiritual disciplines is their ability to take on many shapes and their general definition. Your morning routines can be just that: a spiritual discipline.

In your activity, where do you see God? Perhaps you hear God's voice claiming God's belovedness on you in the gurgling of the coffee pot. Or maybe you see God in your toast, reminding you of the Eucharistic meal you ate just yesterday at church. Maybe you are reminded of God's grace as you stand in the shower and feel the water pouring out upon you, while you remember your baptism and give thanks. Possibly you encounter God in the silence you experience as you sit, gazing out the window of your ride to school. Or, may you feel God's presence when you arrive to school and are greeted by your best friend.

Friends, be attentive to the rhythms of your life. Find the things you do every day and see the sacredness lying in them. Discover God's presence in your unfolding of the clothes and how you are covered in God's grace. Take time to pause, look, and listen for that rhythm which gives the beat to your life's swagger. In doing so, may new life and peace come to you.

Shalom good friends!

Adam