The Call of the Open Sea
I am tired of sailing my little boat
Far inside the harbor bar--
I want to go out where the big ships float
Out on the deep where the great ones are.
~DaiseyRinehart
For Howard Thurman the sea became his friend. As a young boy he stood at the shores and watched the tides and the white-capped waves. Unafraid of the storms as they rolled in, he watched and listened as the waves crashed on the beach. He often sought the solace of the sea. Thurman felt that, "in every person there is an inward sea." The mytery of the deep waters, its movement, its gentleness and its power were all metaphors of the inner world and life of the Spirit. He believed that divine wisdom is accessible to those who venture out beyond the safety of the shore into the deep.
Recently I attended a retreat on the life and wisdom of Thurman. He believed that venturing out into the deep meant a felt experience of being known and loved by God. Out of this inner strength, we are called to act our truth and commit to reclaiming our humanity and oneness of all. If we are true to ourselves, we will strive to be better tomorrow than we are today. God calls us to chart pathways of wholeness and healing, kinship and flourishing for all humanity.
Thurman proclaimed four truths for the flourishing of all people in his book, Jesus and the Disinherited: 1) Do not be fearful. Fear shivels the human spirit and prevents people from living a life of integrity and being fully human. Fear cries out of isolation and helplessness. 2) Refuse to be dishonest or deceptive. It cripples and wounds our very being. Elevate yourself to be more than society would have you to be. 3) Reject hate for it is the most powerful poison of all. Hate prevents one from the ability to empathize with others. 4) Practice love at all cost. It is the fruit of the presence of God and central to the life and teachings of a boundary-breaking Jesus. It is the power that overcomes barriers that separate people. It requires forgiveness and reconciliation and the will to re-establish relationships. Take every opportunity to seek ways of mutual worth and value.
Thurman's central pursuit was to work toward the restoration of our fractured world by cultivating authentic relationships that transcend differences. If we believe in the oneness of all, then there is no "them". We cannot abuse, exclude, exploit, oppress, or drop bombs on the "other"--there is no "other"! Any act of violence is against God and fractures the whole and any act of kindness honors and benefits the whole. I believe this is a prophetic message and hope for our polarized world today. May the Spirit move in and through us to love without judgement all people no matter the race, religion, politics, nationality, culture, social class, different abilities, gender, sexual orientation or whatever else might divide us.
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three:
and the greatest of these is love.
I Cor. 13: 13
Prayer:
God, Lord of all creation, lover of life and of everything, please help us to love in our very small way what You love infinitely and everywhere. We thank You that we can offer just this one prayer and that will be more than enough, because in reality every thing and every one is connected, and nothing stands alone. To pray for one part is really to pray for the whole, and so we do. Help us each day to stand for love, for healing, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because we know this is what You desire: as Jesus prayed, that all may be one. We offer our prayer together with all the holy names of God, we offer our prayer together with Christ, our Lord. Amen. ~Richard Rohr
Song: Little things with great Love The Porter's Gate
Resources:
Ellison, G. editor (2020). Anchored in the Current. Louisville, KY: Westminster
John Knox Press.
Rohr, R. (June 6, 2022). A Palpable Reality. The Center for Action and Contemplation.
Thurman, H. (1976). Jesus and the Disinherited. Boston, MA: Beacon Press Books
Dr. Mary Wade (6/4/2022), speaker of an online retreat sponsored by Mennonite
Spiritual Directors Network
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