By Annie Turner

Sermon delivered July 2, 2023  at Haydenville Congregational Church

READINGS: ISAIAH 43: 16-21 & 1 JAMES: 12-18.

“SEE I AM DOING SOMETHING NEW; NOW IT SPRINGS FORTH, DO YOU NOT PERCEIVE IT?”

HELLO, MY DEAREST PEEPS. I HOPE YOUR DAY IS GOING WELL, AND I PRAY THAT MY WORDS WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH AND UPLIFT IN THIS DAY AND THE DAYS TO COME. AND KEEP IN MIND THE READING FROM ISAIAH 43: 16-21, READ BEAUTIFULLY BY OUR OWN BEV ORLUSKE:

 “DO NOT REMEMBER THE FORMER THINGS; OR CONSIDER THE THINGS OF OLD. I AM ABOUT TO DO A NEW THING; NOW IT SPRINGS FORTH, DO YOU NOT PERCEIVE IT?”

 TODAY WE ARE GOING TO DO A NEW THING TOGETHER, TRUST ME, WHICH WILL ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE, YOUR FAITH, AND WHAT GROUNDS YOU IN YOUR LIFE.

SOME YEARS BACK, WHEN I WAS MORE CATHOLIC THAN I AM NOW, DOING ARTICLES FOR BUSTED HALO AND CATHOLIC BLOGS, I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF A CATHOLIC TOOL BOX. WHEN I WAS DOWN — WHICH HAPPENED AS IT DOES TO ALL OF US IN THIS INCARNATIONAL LIFE OF UPS AND DOWNS, PHYSICAL TRIALS, EMOTIONAL STORMS, LOSSES, AND SAD TIMES — I INVENTED THE NAME OF “CATHOLIC TOOL BOX.” IN THIS TOOL BOX I WOULD PUT THINGS WHICH HELPED ME TO STAY GROUNDED SPIRITUALLY; TO INCREASE THE STRENGTH OF MY PRAYER LIFE; AND GENERALLY, PUT ME INTO GOD’S LOVING HANDS. AND WHO AMONG US DOES NOT NEED TO BE PUT INTO GOD’S WARM HANDS!

SO HERE ARE A FEW THINGS IN MY CURRENT TOOL BOX. FOR BACKGROUND, LET ME START WITH WHY I BECAME CATHOLIC IN THE FIRST PLACE ALTHOUGH I AM HOLDING ON BY A BROKEN FINGERNAIL AT THIS POINT.

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 2001, SOME FRIENDS INVITED ME TO ATTEND MASS WITH THEM UP IN GREENFIELD, WHICH I DID ON A HELLISHLY HOT DAY. I STILL REMEMBER THE HOMILY OF JESUS FEEDING THE 5,000. I SUDDENLY FELT AS IF THERE WERE A ROPE TYING ME TO JESUS THROUGH ALL THOSE YEARS, TYING ME TO HIM AS HE LOOKED OUT OVER THE GRASS WITH HIS MANY FOLLOWERS WAITING TO BE FED, BY WORD AND ACTUAL FOOD. I WAS GOBSMACKED, STRUCK DUMB, AND FEROCIOUSLY ANGRY AT NOT BEING ABLE TO TAKE THE EUCHARIST. I WANTED IT! NOW! BADLY!

THEN I STARTED GOING TO MASS IN NORTHAMPTON AT THE INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL ST. MARY’S CHURCH WITH FR. GENE AS THE PRIEST. WHILE DRAWN TO THIS NEW FAITH WAY, I WAS ALSO BAFFLED BY MY FIRST STEPS ON THIS JOURNEY, BEING THE CHILD OF MARXISTS. ONE DAY AS I PRAYED IN OUR GREENHOUSE I ASKED GOD, “WHY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? WHY THIS WAY?”

GOD ANSWERED RIGHT AWAY, “YOU ARE SLIPPING AWAY FROM ME. YOU NEED A TIGHTER ROPE TO KEEP YOU CLOSER TO ME.” NOTICE GOD DID NOT SAY, “I NEED A TIGHTER ROPE TO BRING YOU CLOSER.”

I BOWED MY HEAD IN ACQUIESCENCE AND STARTED THE JOURNEY TOWARDS THE INCARNATIONAL CHURCH, WHICH HAS SERVED ME WELL FOR 21 YEARS THROUGH A CHILD’S TERBLE ILLNESS; THROUGH MY CANCER AND RECOVERY; FAMILY UPHEAVALS; THROUGH THE TRUMP YEARS; COVID ISOLATION AND MORE. ALTHOUGH NOW I AM MORE CLOSELY JOINED TO THIS CHURCH—THE HAYDENVILLE UCC, OUR COMMUNITY, MISSION, INCLUSIVITY, SUPPORT OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY, AND OUR OUTRAGEOUS WELCOME.

      BUT THAT BEING SAID, WHAT ARE THE PRACTICES WHICH KEEP ME CENTERED ON GOD AND STRENGTHEN MY JOURNEY TO GET CLOSER TO HER IN THERSE DAYS WHICH ARE STILL SO WORRISOME?

1.  GET A TOOLBOX. I MEAN IT. A REAL BOX FOR YOUR PRAYER HELP. I HAD TO SCRATCH THE NIFTY YELLOW ONE AS IT WAS NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL OF MY ITEMS. SO GET A BASKET IF YOU PREFER, ANYTHING WORKMANLIKE BECAUSE GETTING CLOSER TO GOD HAS SOME AFFINITY WITH WORKING ON CONSTRUCTION. IT TAKES TIME, IT ISN’T ALWAYS EASY, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, THE PAY MAY BE LOW, BUT THE REWARDS ARE STUNNING.

2/ THEN PUT IN IT A PRAYER SHAWL. THIS IS SOMETHING YOU CAN FIND, KNIT YOURSELF, OR BUY, WHATEVER WORKS. PULLL IT OUT WHEN YOU WANT TO PRAY. REMIND YOURSELF THAT THE WARMTH OF THIS SHAWL IS LIKE GOD’S HANDS HOLDING YOU IN HER LOVING EMBRACE. PUT IT AROUND YOU. MY PRAYER SHAWL IS ALSO IMBUED WITH REIKI, AS I AM A REIKI MASTER. IT GIVES IT ADDITIONAL WARMTH AND HEALING, I FIND. THERE USED TO BE TWO REIKI PRAYER SHAWLS IN THE BACK OF THE CHURCH WHICH I KNITTED SOME YEARS AGO. I COULD EVEN IMBUE SOME YARN FOR YOU WHICH YOU WANT TO USE TO KNIT A PRAYER SHAWL FOR YOURSELF OR OUR CHURCH.

3/ TAKE OUT YOUR BIBLE, LECTIONARY OR READINGS FOR THE DAY. I THINK IT IS TERRIBLY HARD TO HAVE A DEEP PRAYER LIFE WITHOUT READING SCRIPTURE. IT GROUNDS US. IT EXPANDS OUR SOULS. IT BRINGS US CLOSER TO JESUS. IF YOU ARE SO MINDED, LEARN ABOUT “LECTIO DIVINA,” OR SACRED READING WHERE YOU TAKE A BIBLE PASSAGE; READ IT CAREFULLY; MEDITATE ON IT; BREATHE INTO IT; AND PICTURE THE PASSAGE IN YOUR MIND CLEARLY. SMELL THE SMELLS, HEAR THE SOUNDS, SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING.

ONCE, THE PASSAGE I MEDITATED ON WAS JESUS IN THE BOAT WITH PETER, JOHN, AND JAMES, WHERE THEY HAD FISHED ALL NIGHT WITH NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT. THEN JESUS SAYS—HE’S SUCH A BADASS—LET DOWN YOUR NETS ON THE RIGHT SIDE. ALTHOUGH DISBELIEVING, THEY DO SO, THEN PULL IN SUCH A MASSIVE CATCH THEY FEARED THE NETS WOULD BREAK. IN MEDITATION I SAW THEM PULLING UP THE NETS, GRUNTING AS THEY DID SO, WITH DROPS FALLING ONTO THE DECK. I SAW JESUS’S SANDALLED FEET WITH THE LEATHER STRAPS HOLDING HIS DIRTY TOES IN PLACE. I SMELLED FISH ON THE WIND. I HEARD THE SLAP OF THE WATER AGAINST THE SHIP’S SIDES. I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN THIS. I REREAD THE PASSAGE AT TIMES TO SEE, FEEL, HEAR, AND SMELL IT ALL OVER AGAIN, REMINDING ME THAT JESUS WAS A REAL HUMAN BEING, LIVING IN TIME, MOVING THROUGH HIS DAYS.  I RECOMMEND LEARNING LECTIO DIVINA AND TRYING TO PRAY WITH IT. YOU CAN CERTAINLY FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT USING THE INTERNET. IT IS WORTH EXPLORING.

4/ KEEP A BOX OF FAITH REFLECTIONS IN YOUR TOOLBOX WHICH HELP YOU TO PRAY.  I SUBSCRIBE TO GIVE US THIS DAY,” WHICH HAS DAILY READINGS IN IT, GREAT REFLECTIONS, PIECES ON SAINTS WHICH I ADORE, ESPECIALLY DOROTHY DAY. OTHER BOOKS FOR REFELCTIONS FOR ME INCLUDE: “YES/AND” BY RICHARD ROHR, AND “NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION” BY THOMAS MERTON, WHO FAMOUSLY SAID, “NO THEOLOGY, NO PRAYERS CAN TELL YOU MORE ABOUT GOD THAN THE WIND IN THE PINE TREES.”

      HE ALSO HAD A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE, NOW FAMOUS, ON THE CORNER OF LEXINGTON AVENUE IN KENTUCKY WHEN HE REALIZED, “WE ARE ALL WALKING AROUND LIKE SUNS, SHINING LIKE SUNS.” REMEMBER THAT YOU, TOO, ARE ALL WALKING AROUND, SHINING LIKE SUNS.

  5// WHICH BRINGS ME TO OUTDOOR SNEAKERS IN YOUR TOOL BOX. IF YOU WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR PRAYER LIFE, NOTHING CAN COMPARE TO BEING OUTSIDE AND FOREST BATHING. BRING A SMALL RUG. PUT IT ON SACRED GROUND, BECAUSE AS WE KNOW, ALL LAND IS SACRED, EVERY SMALL PARTICLE OF IT. SIT DOWN, KNOWING IT MAY BE AN ACT OF GOD TO GET UPRIGHT AGAIN, OR AS FALSTAFF FAMOUSLY SAID IN HENRY IV, “HAVE YOU ENGINES TO GET ME UPRIGHT AGAIN?” SIT AND JUST BREATHE. IN AND OUT, IN AND OUT. LISTEN TO BIRD SONG. FEEL YOUR HEART THRUMMING IN YOUR BODY. REALIZE THAT GOD MADE THE BLOOD CIRCULATING THROUGH YOUR VEINS, KEEPING YOU ALIVE EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. REMEMBER THAT, AS ROBERT CAPON SAID IN “THE THIRD PEACOCK ON THE LEFT,” A MARVELOUS BOOK ABOUT GOOD AND EVIL, IF GOD WERE NOT FOCUSING HER INTENTION AND LOVE ON US EVERY SINGLE MOMENT, WE WOULD COLLAPSE. THE WORLD AND WE IN IT WOULD CEASE TO EXIST. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDITATIVE BREATHING, YOU MIGHT INVESTIGATE WIM HOF’S METHOD OF BREATHING, WHICH CENTERS ME AND CALMS ME ALWAYS. WHEN YOU RISE AGAIN FROM YOUR RUG ON THE FOREST FLOOR,—WITH HELP—COINSIDER WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS OR ON A COUNTRY ROAD, BRINGING AWE TO THIS PRACTICE. A RECENT N.Y.TIMES ARTICLE WROTE THAT JOINING AWE TO YOUR WALKING MAKES A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN HEALTH AND CALM. TRY IT.

   6/ PRAYER PRACTICES: I THINK ANY KIND OF BREATH-WORK OR CENTERING PRAYER IS GOOD TO HAVE IN YOUR TOOL BOX. I SAY THE ROSARY WHEN I AM RESTING, ALSO LIFTING UP THE MANY, MANY PEOPLE IN MY LIFE WHO NEED PRAYER. GET SOME PRAYER BEADS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THEM AND JUST SETTLE INTO A COMFY CHAIR (HARD CHAIRS ARE FOR MONKS, SOFT CHAIRS ARE FOR US) TELLING THE BEADS ONE BY ONE IN YOUR FINGERS. FEEL THE GRAIN OF THE WOOD. ON EACH BEAD SAY A NAME WHO NEEDS PRAYER. LIFT YOURSELF AS WELL, FOR GOD KNOWS, WE ALL NEED PRAYERS. STAY QUIET AND SILENT FOR AS LONG AS IS COMFORTABLE FOR YOU. IT MIGHT BE JUST ONE MINUTE. IT MIGHT BE CLOSER TO TEN OR MORE, WHATEVER WORS FOR YOU. THERE ARE NO HARD AND FAST RULES HERE. PERHAPS DOING BREATH WORK WILL HELP, AS PASTOR MARK HAS INCLUDED IN HIS SERMONS. BREATHE IN: “GOD”, BREATHE OUT, “HEALS.”

7/ / FIND A PRAYER PARTNER. THIS MIGHT MEAN YOU CALL THEM ON THE PHONE ONCE A WEEK AND SHARE HOW YOUR PRAYER LIFE IS GOING. YOU MIGHT BE IN A PERIOD OF “ACEDIA, OR PRAYER DRYNESS, AND NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH YOUR PARTNER. WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IN A DESERT SPOT? WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TO GET OUT OF IT AND BECOME LUSH AND GREEN AGAIN? YOU COULD SHARE PRAYER INSIGHTS, THINGS YOU SEE MORE CLEARLY AFTER A TIME OF MEDITATION. I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT GOD TALKS TO ME. I DON’T SAY THAT IN AN EGOTISTIC WAY LIKE—WOW, I AM SO COOL—BUT JUST TO SHARE THAT ONCE YOU BEGIN TO PRAY DAILY, READ THE BIBLE, WORDS AND INSIGHTS MAY FLOAT UP IN YOUR MIND, GIVING YOU GUIDANCE AND INSPIRATION.

JUST AS AN EXAMPLE. YOU MAY KNOW I BELONG TO A WRITERS’ GROUP WITH SOME HEAVY HITTERS: JANE YOLEN, BARBARA DIAMOND, LESLEA NEWMAN, CORINNE DEMAS BLISS, RUTH SANDERSON, LISA PAPADEMETRIOS, AND FORMERLY PATTY MACLACHLAN, SOB, AND ELLEN WHITTLINGER, SOB. THE AMOUNT OF FANTASTIC WORK THEY PRODUCE IS BEYOND BELIEF. AND CERTAINLY, AS AN AUTHOR OF ABOUT 50 CHILDREN’S BOOKS, I AM NO PIKER. BUT NOT IN THEIR CLASS. ONE DAY, AS I SADLY PRAYED, FEELING MY CAREER WAS AT END, THE ANSWER CAME IMMEDIATELY LIKE SOMEONE SNAPPING THEIR FINGERS IN MY FACE: “THAT’S NOT WHO YOU ARE.”

I TOOK THAT IN, OFTEN MEDITATE ON IT, AND REMEMBER THAT GOD HOLDS ME IN A DIFFERENT IDENTITY THAT I THOUGHT I HAD.

8/ INCLUDE A JOURNAL. THIS IS FOR YOU TO WRITE DOWN PRAYER INSIGHTS OR WHATEVER COMES TO MIND AS YOU READ THE BIBLE AND PRAY. WRITE THOSE INSIGHTS DOWN BECAUSE YOU WILL FORGET THEM IF YOU DO NOT. ONE OF MY MORE RECENT INSIGHTS WAS THIS, AS I ASKED GOD HOW I COULD SERVE HER: “YOU CAN BEST SERVE ME BY BEING THE PERSON I CREATED YOU TO BE.”

NOW WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT PERSON IS? GOD WILL NOT TELL ME. IT IS UP TO ME TO FIGURE IT OUT, ALTHOUGH WHEN I ASKED THIS AGAIN A SECOND TIME—HOW CAN I SERVE YOU? THE ANSWER WAS, “GO OUT AND LOVE THE WORLD, ANNIE!”

9/ FAITH COMMUNITY. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT IF YOU WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR PRAYER LIFE AND DRAW CLOSER TO GOD, YOU NEED TO BE IN A FAITH COMMUNITY REGULARLY. COME TO CHURCH. JOIN GROUPS. JOIN THE PRAYER LINE, THE CHOIR, MEN’S GROUP, DEACONS, AND MORE. I READ THIS MORNING IN MY RICHARD ROHR REFLECTION, THAT BEING IN A COMMUNITY BRINGS YOU BACK TO YOURSELF. REPEAT THIS: BEING IN A COMMUNITY BRINGS YOU BACK TO YOURSELF.

BECAUSE WE ARE NOT MEANT TO LIVE ALONE, APART FROM COMMUNITY. AND DIDN’T WE FIND THIS OUT THE LAST 3 YEARS!

I ALSO HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT A FEW PRACTICES TO HELP ALL OF US GET CENTERED, NOT NECESSARILY THROUGH FAITH, BUT THROUGH LIVING.

OUR FABULOUS CAROLYN DU BOIS TOLD ME ABOUT 4 INGREDIENTS SHE COUNSELED HER CLIENTS TO PUT INTO THEIR DAY DURING THE PANDEMIC, RATHER LIKE MAKING A SOUP:

1/DO SOMETHING CREATIVE.

2/ EXERCISE. I WALK ON THE DECK AS I CAN BE UNSTEADY.

3/ REACH OUT WITH A PHONE CALL OR EMAIL TO SOMEONE.

4/ LEARN SOMETHING NEW. AS THE GRAVITATIONAL WAVES IN THE UNIVERSE LOOK LIKE CHOPPY SEAS AND AFFECT SPACE TIME.

   AND REMEMBER THE WONDERFUL WORDS FROM THE LETTER FROM JAMES, CHAPTER 1, VERSES 12-18 WHEN HE WRITES, “EVERY GENEROUS ACT OF GIVING, WITH EVERY PERFECT GIFT, IS FROM ABOVE, COMING DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, WITH WHOM THERE IS NO VARIATION OR SHADOW OF TURNING.” 

GOD IS STEADY, GOD IS THERE, RIGHT BESIDE YOU, NEVER LEAVING YOUR SIDE WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT.

OK, MY PEEPS. THERE’S A LOT TO THINK ABOUT HERE AS YOU CONTEMPLATE MAKING YOUR OWN TOOL BOX. BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF BUT ALSO FIRM. KEEP ON TRACK. IT IS SO EASY TO BECOME LAGGARD IN OUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE! JUST KNOW THAT GOD IS CLOSER TO YOU THAN YOUR OWN BREATH; THAT WHEN YOU WRAP YOUR PRAYER SHAWL AROUND YOU AND READ SCRIPTURE, GOD IS AT YOUR SIDE; GUIDING YOU, LIFTING YOU UP, HELPING TO CENTER YOU, AND BECOME THE PERSON GOD CREATED YOU TO BE. CAN I GET AN AMEN?

Annie Turner is an author who lives in Williamsburg and worships at Haydenville Congregational Church. Her blog “Faith is My Operating System” can be found at https://faithismyos.blogspot.com