Softening in a World Hardening

As the world around us seems to be hardening into "positions," "sides," "identities," "stances," and fighting, I am feeling called to soften. Not in mental rigor, not in courage, not in clarity, nor in willingness to take a stand or fight, but a softening of the heart in a way that takes in the voices--even the shrieks and cries of people in pain, whoever, wherever they are. 

In our increasingly either-or warfare, whether actual war,  culture war, or political war, we can discover our capacity to listen, become more sensitive and expansive, while at the same time holding strong convictions and measured judgments.

This kind of both-and possibility is an invitation to everyone, especially in times of fear (Yeshua taught: Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves). It requires a kind of trust in the promise that we can do it. We can. This is the call of the divine within us all. Do we recognize the divine within us all? Sadly, too often we do not. 

The softening is not the softening of mushy thinking, relativism, tolerance of anything, or "can't we just get along?" It is the softening of love for all beings. It can be fierce, even ferocious. It will not tolerate abuse and disregard for others. Yet it also is able to have compassion even for those (including ourselves) caught up in flames of hate and blame without condoning all behaviors. 

Belligerence is all the rage these days, at home and abroad. In this context we are invited to do our own work, foremost with ourselves, then together with others. To soften the shell around our hearts, so that the divine love may shine through is a gift.  Yeshua said the Kingdom of Heaven is within you--meaning divine love with all its light and sweetness is already what we are. We all create shells of defense around our hearts and the love they naturally hold ("hiding it under a bushel"). That's why every moment (especially the hardest) is an opportunity to soften--for our own sakes and the sake of the world. 

I am finding opportunities these days to soften in this way. When I feel myself hardening in defensiveness--to someone in front of me, to a situation, to a position someone is taking that I don't like--I am finding that I can soften, become gentle, soften my eyes, posture, and heart. What I can experience is a capacity for love I did not know was there. I feel strong in a different way. Not brittle or rigid, but fluid, self-less, and expansive. There is greater clarity and my feelings of being threatened dissolve. I feel more alive, and the world is more hopeful.

And Now for the Rev. Dr. Part of the Garbageman

It's been too long! Time to start blogging again. My trash hauling gig ended a few years back with the advent of a new policy in St. Paul that put most of the small haulers out of business, including the one my friend Wes owned, and that I worked for. Yet, once a garbageman, always a garbageman. 

I want to share some of the "Rev. Dr." part of Rev. Dr. Garbageman. This is a 20 minute clip from last Sunday's gathering at Zion, the small, beautiful church where I am pastor (half time) in the Midway of St. Paul. Here I deal with the problem of biblical literalism with regard to a fantastic (literally) story. I then propose a more useful way to approach ancient stories such as this that might just be helpful in the present day. 

In this is a nutshell of my Ph.D dissertation in which I ask the question, "How are mythic stories true?"

I hope you will be intrigued with the question, and the proposal...