A Month of Blessings 1, June 3, 2018, "My favorite things"

A Month of Blessings 1 (Narrative) BFC 2018

Deuteronomy 8:7-10, 17-18

June 3, 2018

“When I Am Among the Trees”

When I am among the trees,

especially the willows and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

          but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“and you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine.”[1]

          “Blessing has a long history of meanings and roots. The Old English blēdsian based on blōd ‘blood’ (originally to ‘mark or consecrate with blood’) was used to translate the Latin benedicere ‘to praise or worship.’ The meaning shifted in late Old English toward ‘pronounce or make happy, prosperous, or fortunate.’ In the Semitic language of Aramaic, the phrase translated as ‘Blessed’ in the Beatitudes was actually tubwayhun which refers to being ripe, mature; having reached a stage of the fullness of the person I am meant to be.”[2]

“So what, then, does it mean to offer a blessing, to be a blessing? To bless something or someone is to invoke its wholeness, to help remind the person or thing you are blessing of its essence, its sacredness, its beauty, and to help remind yourself of that, too. Blessing does not fix anything. It is not a cure… It does not instill health or well-being or strength. Instead, it reminds us that those things are already there, [present].”[3]

These days I am regularly reading poetry from Mary Oliver because she regularly writes out of a sense of gratitude—seeing nature all around her as a gift, a sign of God’s love and care.   She sees the song of the bird, the grass, the trees as blessings in which she sees her own life.  Ordinary blessings. 

          You all related to me that probably the most meaningful sermon I preached was one about Brother David Steindl-Rast, how to live a happy life, gratitude, and the spiritual practice of examen.   I thought quite a bit about that and, how we are constantly hearing messages that tell us the universe is not friendly and the world is a scary place.  We are inundated with fear. 

          In contrast, we are called on to count our blessings, our ordinary, everyday blessings.  Perhaps the most famous song that teaches us this is from the musical, The Sound of Music, the song, “My Favorite Things.”

Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells
And schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things[4]

 “The point of the song is that ordinary blessings save us. ‘We don’t feel so sad’ the song says. We also don’t feel so isolated, anxious or disconnected from life. As we notice the ordinary blessings around us, we experience life as a generous friend not a threatening foe. Or to use theological language, ordinary blessings communicate to us that in some mysterious way we are the beloved of the Spirit at the heart of life. When we focus on our favorite things, it can feel like these blessings were created just for us.”[5]

          I have placed a list you can use to write down some of those ordinary blessings right now.  Just write two or three now to get started.   Let me give you a couple minutes just to think of those ordinary blessings. 

Then take a week and connect to your belovedness by making a list of “your favorite things.” Add at least 2-3 each day.  And yes, make it a literal list.

“Put the list in a place you will see it each day: by your bed, on your desk, on the fridge. It’s important to watch it fill up so you can more easily see connections and themes. Don’t worry about being profound. Think of the Sound of Music song: it was full of simple things. Similarly, the point of this exercise is to identify YOUR favorite simple things: French press coffee rather than automatic drip; the way the cat curls up on your lap in the evening when you are watching TV; the way your son unconsciously sticks his tongue out when he’s concentrating; the sound of your best friend's laugh; the Saturday morning reruns of car-talk on NPR.”[6]

“It’s simple,” the trees say, “and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”  May we all become aware of the ordinary blessings that are a part of our life so that we might filled with light and shine.  Amen.

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[1] Mary Oliver, Devotions, (New York:  Penguin Press, 2017), p. 123.

[2] “Life’s Calling:  Listening to God’s Voice in the World:  June 2018, The Call of Blessing,” Faith Works, p. 7

[3] “Rev. Elea Kemler, Life’s Calling:  Listening to God’s Voice in the World:  June 2018, The Call of Blessing,” Faith Works, p. 7

[4] Richard Rogers, “My Favorite Things,” The Sound of Music, https://genius.com/Richard-rodgers-my-favorite-things-lyrics.

[5] “Life’s Calling:  Listening to God’s Voice in the World:  June 2018, The Call of Blessing,” Faith Works, pp. 2-3.

[6] Ibid.