Welcoming Prayer

Welcoming Prayer

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

November 1, 2015; All Saints' Day, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(John 11:32-44)  When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

_________________________

Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky of Lithuania was studying to become a rabbi when he became captured by the story of Jesus. He eventually migrated to the U.S., became an Episcopalian and graduated from my school, the General Theological Seminary, in 1859.

Right after seminary he was moved by a call for helpers in China. He had a gift for languages, and on the boat to Shanghai he learned to write Chinese. During his ministry in China he translated the Bible and parts of the Prayer Book into Mandarin. In 1877 he was elected Bishop of Shanghai. He founded St. John's University in Shanghai and translated the Bible and other works into the Wenli language. But he was stricken with paralysis and had to resign from serving as bishop in 1883.

From then until his death 23 years later in 1906, Schereschewsky persevered in his translation work, typing some 2,000 pages with the middle finger of his partially crippled hand. Here's the sentence about him that I found unforgettable, spoken four years before his death. He said, "I have sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God knew best. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted." [i]

How did he get there? How did he come to such a place of acceptance and peace?

Today is All Saints' Day when we celebrate those holy people who have been the light of Christ in their day, and tomorrow on All Souls Day we remember everyone who has been created in the image and likeness of God. I've got a theory about saints. As I look at the stories of those whom we look to as examples of whole and holy life, there is a quality I see that I want to imitate and adopt. Bishop Shereschewsky is a fine example of what I want to talk about. It is a quality of living with a deep interior acceptance of the circumstances and reality of life, placing that reality within the expansive presence of God, and then simply being who you are with faith and courage.

Nelson Mandela accepted the injustice of his incarceration on Robben Island without bitterness, refusing to hate his captors or plan revenge; instead, he invited guards to eavesdrop on the classes he organized for his fellow prisoners, saying that the oppressors also needed to grow and learn in order to be liberated from their captivity in an oppressive system. He embraced his reality and placed it within the infinite, liberating power of God.

There is a practice that comes out of the Centering Prayer movement called "The Welcoming Prayer." It is a way of extending the practice of Centering Prayer when we gently let go of thoughts and afflictive emotions, returning ever so gently to the Sacred Word. The Welcoming Prayer is a form of taking that practice into active, everyday life. It's something you can do when your buttons get pushed.

Most of us have pretty predictable patterns when our buttons get pushed. Something happens, frustration builds, and emotional energy churns inside of us. Usually what we do with that emotion is to start some internal dialogue, we play some well worn tapes of outrage or hurt. "I can't believe what he just said. Outrageous. It's just wrong. He ought to be ashamed. I'm outraged." There seems to be an infinite supply of commentary in our emotional bucket. It's just like pouring gasoline on a fire.

It gets even worse if we add guilt or repression to all of that and try to push it down into our subconscious. "I'm going to ignore that. It doesn't really hurt. I'm a good person; I'm not going to retaliate." But your stomach is churning and your jaw is clinched. And that bodily reaction may be a key to our liberation.

Here's the Welcoming Prayer process. As soon as you can possibly become aware of the initial frustration, focus on whatever sensation in your body accompanies the emotional reaction. Sink into the bodily upset. Maybe your back aches or your jaw tightens. Is your breath short? Or you feel a little dizzy? Feel the adrenaline prompting the impulse to "fight, fly, or freeze."

Just stay with the bodily reaction. Sink into it. Don't try to change anything, just be with it.

Important: Don't analyze your feelings or your body's reaction. Getting back into your mind just gets your ego hooked again. The key is to become physically aware of the emotional energy as sensations in your body. Ground yourself into whatever physical sensation you are experiencing.

Here is the second step where the prayer gets its name.  As you are focused on the whole broiling physical sensation of your upset, very gently, ever so gently, welcome the emotion, whatever the emotion is. If you feel anger, "Welcome, anger." Or, "Welcome, outrage." "Welcome, pain." Create an inner atmosphere hospitality. Whenever you embrace the afflictive emotion you actually disarm it. Yes, it is a paradox, but it works.

Cynthia Bourgeault who teaches this method tells about a fantasy novel that illustrates the teaching.

A young wizard named Ged is in training to become a sorcerer. One day, horsing around with his friends, he inadvertently conjures up a minor demon. The demon proceeds to haunt him throughout the book. As he grows in power and influence, it grows right with him. Gradually (the demon) turns very dark and begins to stalk him; he flees in terror. He runs to a city by the sea, but it follows him there. He hires a boat and rows out into the sea, but it follows him there. Finally he jumps into the water, but the thing is still right on his back. Finally, with all escape routes blocked, he does the only thing left to him: He turns to the demon and embraces it. At which point it vanishes, integrated back inside him as the shadow he is finally willing to own. [ii]

Accepting the reality of the present moment is the quality we see in Joseph Schereschewsky, Nelson Mandela and all of the great saints. Staying present in the now, regardless of the physical or psychological content, embracing and accepting that reality allows our awareness to expand to release the conflicting energy into the infinite hands of the divine. God is always fully present in the now.

One caution about acceptance. It is the feelings you welcome and accept. It is not a general condoning of the situation. If the doctor says, "It may be malignant," it is the fear of cancer that is on your plate. Not "Welcome, cancer," but "Welcome, fear."

The passivity of acceptance is an inner attitude. Your inner acceptance of your feelings can release energy for you then to decide what you will do in the outer world, which might require a spirited fight.

When you stay present within your body, observing the conflictive emotions and your bodily reaction, simply accepting them in the present moment, the negative energy is released for to be used good. German mystic Jacob Boehme described it this way, "If you remain firm, if you do not bend, you shall see and perceive great wonders. You will discover how Christ will storm the hell in you and will break your beasts…" [iii]

The Welcoming Prayer practice is helpful not only times of afflictive emotions, it is also helpful in moments Cynthia calls "peacock feathers."  She was coming home after a particularly satisfying eucharist, when she heard an inner voice ask, "What do you really want in this moment? God or self-congratulation?" Ugh. So she focused on where this feeling of self-satisfaction was living in her body, then began, "Welcome, pride, welcome pride…" She says that's actually harder than "welcome, loneliness" or "welcome, anger." But she felt the inner territory shift, moving from self-satisfaction into a deeper equanimity. [iv]

So I hope I've been able to give you a small trick of the saints. The skill and practice of breaking the cycle of afflictive emotions by paying attention to the reaction in your body and welcoming the accompanying feelings. Try it the next time your button gets pushed. Practice now to live better in the present, but practice also to be ready for the day when it's something bigger than a button. "I have sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God knew best. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted."

---

[i] Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 636. His feast day is October 14

[ii] Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, p. 145, Lanham, MD: Cowley, 2004; describing the book A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, New York: Bantam Book, 1989.

[iii] Quoted in Bourgeault, p. 149, from Boehme, The Way to Christ, tras. Peter Erb (Mahwh, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978), p. 240.

[iv] Bourgeault, p. 150

______________________

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate

God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

For information about St. Paul's Episcopal Church and its life and mission, please contact us at

P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702, or call 479/442-7373

More sermon texts are posted on our web site: www.stpaulsfay.org

Click the “Video Online” button to watch full services and sermons live-streamed or archived.