Open to the Spirit
Today’s word: “Surprise”
1) I love surprising people. Just last week I showed up a day early for a young mother’s birthday. I had performed her wedding and she had a 3 month old baby. I got to see the smile on her face and hold the baby while she helped potty train her 2 year old. Surprises make life wonderful. I know there are people who dislike being surprised. They plan each day for every eventuality and never know how to respond when life brings problems: a power outage, a sudden thunderstorm, loss of a job, or the cancellation of an event. Many news sources don’t help, highlighting bad situations and ignoring moments of joy. Commercials add to this anxiety, selling medications that people may not even need but many buy. Some live every day in a pre-panic mode. I admit, I too watch the news but I like the idea that surprises are not all to be feared, many are opportunities for adventure.
The Bible is full of surprises. Abraham and Sarah were surprised by visitors who predicted that, even at her old age, she would be pregnant soon. She laughed at the thought. 9 months later when the baby was born, they named him Isaac, which means laughter. Moses was surprised to see a bush that was burning, but not consumed. He could have walked away, but his curiosity led to a divine conversation that changed life and that of his people. Samuel went to look for a new king among Jesse’s many sons. Though they seemed strong and able, he was surprised to discover that the smallest and youngest, named David, out watching the sheep, was the chosen one. Jesus was once asked which of his best most able disciples would be his right hand man in the new kingdom. He surprised everybody by picking a young child and saying they were the one. If you want to be great, become like children.
This reminds me of a time on Sunday we had a licensed lay worship leader because I had been on study leave. I was seated in a back pew. After telling the children’s story she dismissed the children to go downstairs to Sunday School. Kaleb, a 6 year old who never missed a Sunday said “We can’t go yet. We haven’t said a prayer”. The worship leader was a bit nervous at this and said. “We won’t do that today”. Kaleb responded. “We have to say a prayer. Dear God”, … all the children responded. He continued with a few more lines and then said Amen. The kids then went downstairs to class, but the adults were all stunned. After this I asked him to lead the prayer other times, and soon began asking others. Our worship life was enhanced by a sudden surprise.
God created this world we live in. The divine imagination gave us: caterpillars who surprise us by becoming butterflies, a beautiful double rainbow after a heavy rainstorm, a cluster of shooting stars in the night shy, and snowstorms in May. When we take time to wander through nature more surprises await us. Thank you God.
2) Like everyone else, I enjoy some structure in my life. There are the morning rituals of waking, or that good cup of coffee (or in my case, a good cup of decaf coffee), getting ready for work, school, and every other ritual and pattern of our days.
In the Jewish tradition, rituals and structure both in a religious context and beyond are a very
important part of how we are asked to live our lives. There are specific times--to the minute-when we should offer up our prayers. There are rules about how we eat, how we speak, even
how we put on our clothes and which shoe is best to put on first. For those who take these rules
seriously, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and forget that the world beyond this structure
doesn’t always fit into reality. Each day is different, and each moment can offer us new
surprises and new experiences which are given to us as gifts that can offer us blessings that
can be honored for the very fact that we didn’t know that we would receive them.
In a spiritual context, the idea of surprise is deeply connected with the idea of awe, those
moments where we are shocked out of the normal and reminded of the holy and of those things that offer no easy explanation.
Abraham Joshua Heschel said that this idea is the core to living a spiritual life, in fact it may in some ways be one of the most important parts of faith. He wrote: “Awe is more than an
emotion; it is a way of understanding, insight into a meaning greater than ourselves. The
beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe.”
The Bible is full of surprises. Abraham and Sarah were surprised by visitors who predicted that, even at her old age, she would be pregnant soon.
She laughed at the thought.
Awe can be found in those incredible moments of seeing natural wonders, or expressing the
power of love or loss, or in the receiving of new wisdom. Awe is found in those simple reminders of how we are all connected. Very often these are moments that are all too rare, and if every moment had this power then there would be nothing that separated them from the ”normal”.
But awe need not always also be those rare experiences, because we can also make sure to
build space into our lives for more moments of surprise! If we honour and hold onto our patterns and rituals, but also make it a ritual to step out of the normal and the comfortable to leave life open to the randomness of each moment, then we will be better off for it. Get away from the desk for a few minutes to take a walk, travel to a new place, take on a new hobby. Just
experience life in new ways. Surprises will find their way into your life, and maybe then, every
day can be filled with something blessed and unexpected.
Only 2 voices today but I hope our column surprised you with interesting thoughts to ponder.