Thursday, March 31, 2022
The Rev. Anne Williamson
Ladder to the Light
Wednesday March 30 was a day full of joy for me. We had a wonderful discussion about the Gospel for this coming Sunday at our Reading Between the Lines group – the story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’ feet with oil and drying them with her hair, a story of extravagant love, a story which foreshadows Jesus washing his disciples’ feet which we will remember on Maundy Thursday. It was a full and rich conversation and I look forward to sharing some of the fruits of that conversation with you on Sunday! At 12:30, Outside the Box (tagline from Bishop Rob – God’s love cannot be contained in a box) welcomed Lisa Zhe from Families First, a Seacoast organization offering medical, dental and mental health care to our neighbors who would otherwise not have access to healthcare.
Sandwiched between these two wonderful zoom calls was our Lenten time of Prayer and Reflection. We have been journeying together through Ladder to the Light by Bishop Steven Charleston. The ladder referenced is the only way up (and out) of the kiva, an underground worship space in Native American spirituality. We began with the Rung of Faith ‘which opens our hearts to the reality of the Spirit’. With our hearts open, we are able to experience the blessing of the Spirit, the second rung which infuses us with love and ‘allows us to do what we would otherwise not be able to do.’ The third rung is the Rung of Hope, the gift of faith and blessing. ‘Hope gives birth to community’ which is the fourth rung, ‘the united family growing in strength by growing in diversity’. We have arrived at the fifth rung, which is the Rung of Action – how do we put to work all we have learned?
I often think of action as necessitating physical movement and while that may often be true, action of the heart, mind and spirit can take place when our bodies are not moving! The final reflection in the chapter about the Rung of Action invites us to frame our action being mindful of our soul, of the state of our soul, and is an invitation to seek the peace of God (‘which passes all understanding’: Philippians 4: 7). This reflection blessed me and I pray that it will bless you:
ALL THINGS COME AND GO – Be at peace on the blessed day, whether it brings sunlight or storms, serenity or struggle. Be at peace in passing through it, doing what needs to be done, living as fully as you can, as authentically as you can, at peace with your soul. Know that all things come and go on the way to where you are called to be. They pass around you, they pass over and under you, but they do not define you or contain you. For your life is not an inventory of pains or pleasures, but a sonnet of the spirit, a mystery fashioned from and for eternity, a strength so powerful that it can afford to be vulnerable to love. Be at peace on this blessed day.
Bishop Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light, p. 105
May you know God’s peace this day.