If we are trying to walk a spiritual path – if we are trying to live in a loving and God affirming way then our work is in the invisible.   Our work is to witness the unseen.  There seems to be so much concern with affirmation, with recognition, with public & political proclamation that we have forgotten that God works underneath the surface not on the surface, God works behind the stage not on the stage, God works by pushing the sail not by being the sailboat.    I see too many people proclaiming their religion or spirituality but not living it.  Too many people using God/Jesus as a political weapon and divider.  Too many people who love to talk and talk and talk about the spiritual path but who plow it over at any chance they get.  I am tired of Billboard and Myspace Jesus.  What I am hungry for, what I yearn for are people who on a day to day basis love their neighbor, who have compassion when the “cameras” are turned off, Who pray for people who have no idea they are being prayed for. I love people who pray in their own way for others even though the know not who they are praying to or what praying really is because it comes from the heart – it comes from the soul – it comes from that deeper place that words and books cannot name. When I read Nancy Bloom’s comment on one of my posts I am inspired that there are people who are honest and good and who, whether they know it or not, are living a deeper path because in Nancy I see the invisible at work. And whether or not Nancy can name it or point to a book that explains it…..she gets it.

You do not see God on CNN proclaiming, “ya you know that who whole Grand Canyon thing….ya….that was me.”  But when we love and give and reach out in the invisible the visible begins to change.  When we reply lovingly to the angry and damaged child day after day after day, when we pray for them day after day after day and give them our attention we begin to notice that the visible begins to change.  Their step is lighter their smile begins to emerge.  When you feed a poor man soup and bread weeks later you see the effects.  The color comes back to their face.  You see the strength in their step.  It was not the color coming back to their face that made them whole it was the soup and bread handed to them by a stranger who noticed……who noticed….that they were hungry.  In a world that is consumed with the noticed let us smile as we walk past the glitter to continue our work un-noticed and unseen as we whisper our hearts into the soul of this world

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I have quite a few posts I need to catch up on but things have been busy….aren’t they always?  Last weekend Ondrejka and I had some friends over for a Harvest dinner.  Everyone brought something organic and grown locally and we shared a meal outside in the leaves and autumn sky.  We drank too much wine and ate too much food but in the midst of all of that we laughed, spoke from the heart, some cried as they spoke of struggles they were having, we had intense discussions and finally hugged as we said good-bye.   All of this was done as kids crashed about getting into things they were not supposed to and occasionally crying out for a helping or comforting hand.   It is good to be with friends and every once in a while enjoy the friendships you have cultivated over the year.  It is good to be with friends in the midst of the chaos and beauty of it all.

 I found this blessing/prayer that I had stored away years ago and read it before we began our meal and since that time I find myself coming back to it.  So much so that my wife framed it and put it on the wall.  I think it is the simplicity, the honesty and the real-ness of it that appeals to me. 

THE HARVEST PRAYER

(Anonymous 17th Century Sermon)

Please be gentle with yourself and others.

We are all children of chance,

And none can say why some fields blossom

While others lay brown beneath the harvest sun.

Take hope that your season will come.

Share the joy of those whose season is at hand.

Care for those around you.

Look past your differences.

Their dreams are no less than yours,

Their choices in life no more easily made.

And give.

Give in any way you can.

Give in every way you can.

Give whatever you possess.

Give from your heart.

To give is to love.

To withhold is to wither.

Care less for the size of your harvest

than for how it is shared,

And your life will have meaning

And your heart will have peace.

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We recently had the good fortune to tour with Sister Hazel for a bit through three states down the coast.  Each night on stage as the lights shined bright in my face I could see just enough to see the first two rows of people pressed up against the stage.  If I looked out further all I could see is black.  At the beginning of the trip I focused out into the darkness.  Trying to reach the majority of people in the dark, trying to get them to listen, trying to get them to sink into our music and performance.  It is alot of energy that goes out in these moments.  Alot of energy that goes out into the darkness and most of the time impossible to know if it reached anyone or any was coming back.  As I look into the black I am worried that the crowd is not “with us” or not enjoying the show – that we are failing.  It is a nervous paniced energy because my attention is on how I can get them to come with me, come with the band.  I start thinking of other songs to play that they might like, other things I could say to bring them in instead of playing our setlist and telling the stories that need to be said.  Half way through the show in Seattle I looked down and suddenly noticed smiling intent faces staring back at me.  I was suprised for a moment.  They were Looking to connect with me – catch my eye for a moment so they could beam a smile back but I hadn’t notice because my eyes were locked on the unknown blackness.   It was then as I began to scan the crowd in front of me that the band sank into the show.  I no longer focused out into the dark I looked at what was right in front of me smiling and swaying to the music.  It was then I began to enjoy the show, enjoy my hands on my guitar, my voice floating through the air and enjoy the wonder of being able to play my songs to these smiling faces. 

It is hard not to look out into the darkness and wonder what is out there.  It is hard not to stare into the void and project all your fears and worries and then to try and prepare or change course to address them but when we do we miss often what is right in front of us….smiling….eyes watching intently.  When we miss this, we miss everything and we trade what is real for the anxiety of what could be, what should be or what we perceive could be important in the distant future.   We are all given a sliver of light to see just enough to keep going and when we turn our eyes from the darkness to the light we often find what we need – what feeds us - what makes us feel alive, smiling back at us.

5 a.m., Five A.M., God, faith, life, music, peace, spirituality, trent yaconelli, trust, vocation | 5 Comments »