Spiritual Preparation

By: The Rev. Brenda Sol

I wonder if any of you use a sleep app? I just started using one called SleepCycle, and now I feel more than a little obsessed as I scroll through my sleep stages, along with recordings of me talking and coughing while I sleep. I started this quest, because often, over the past several months, I wake up feeling exhausted. I’d been wondering, am I snoring too much? Am I dreaming more than I should? Am I getting any deep sleep at all?

One of my friends shook her head as I described my dilemma and advised me to just get my doctor to prescribe a CPAP machine. I explained I prefer the more holistic solution of figuring out which of my nightly habits might need changing. Then, I likened the process to training for a marathon.

 I had just spent the weekend hanging out with my two adult nieces, who had shared a lot about marathon training. One of them ran a marathon in June and the other will run one in September. But, of course, my friend reminded me, “You’re not running a marathon.”

As I started studying this morning’s Gospel reading, with all its references to being ready and alert, I realized my friend was right. Marathon training isn’t a very apt analogy. Marathon training a has a lot more certainty to it. One sets up a running schedule and relies on the wisdom of those who have run before. The date of the race is already set, and all the planning focuses on similar predictable factors.

Instead, Luke’s Gospel is a reminder that we are surrounded by uncertainty. We don’t know what challenges or opportunities tomorrow might hold. We can crearte a to-do list before going to bed, but, then, other more pressing needs will likely pop-up the next day, and much of our list will remain undone.

This same teaching is present, through all four of the Gospels, in multiple versions, using various images. There are guards who fall asleep when they should be watching the gate, and bridesmaids who fail to bring along enough lamp oil. There seems to be a lot of stories about people who are asleep on the job. But we have to remember that these aren’t stories about actual wedding banquets, or historical people, for that matter.

They're parables—teaching stories—meant to carry a universal message pertinent to our faith journey. They’re not stories about just being ready for Christ when Christ someday shows back up in our lives. Rather, the message is to help inform us now— today—about how to change our daily habits to better prepare for the uncertainty that constantly surrounds us.

So I replied to my friend, “You’re right. I’m not training for a marathon. I’m training to live a healthier life.” I don't know what tomorrow's bringing, so I want to be prepared by getting the best night’s sleep possible. And Jesus, calls us to that same type of preparation in our spiritual lives.

In my quest to better understand healthy sleeping, I read a study on improving the health of our brains. I was amazed at how the same activities that can improve brain health translate to our spiritual journey. For healthier brains, we should: 1) eat nutritious food; 2) surround ourselves with positive and supportive community; and 3) challenge our brains through things like puzzles.

That’s exactly the kind of preparation we need to become healthy disciples. The passage from Isaiah reiterates that we are called to “cease doing evil,” to “learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow.” But, first, the prophet calls us to "wash ourselves; and make ourselves clean.”

In other words, to be prepared to do the things God will call on us to do—which might be caring for a loved one, or stepping in to advocate for a work colleague—we need to: 1) nourish ourselves spiritually; 2) engage in a supportive, loving community, like St. Andrew’s; and 3) challenge ourselves through activities like theological studies.

Our daily habits should include time spent in prayer and/or contemplative silence. We might read bits of scripture, or a daily devotion. We could try on walking meditation. And, because community is key, we should share with each other where we are seeing God at work in our lives.

Then, within the context of our day-to-day living—not just on Sundays—we endeavor to become more focused disciples, prepared to navigate uncertainty with God at our core. I appreciate how the author Esther de Waal talks about uncertainty.

In her book: To Pause at the Threshold, she writes: “Living with uncertainty is not the same as living with insecurity." de Waal explains that insecurity is a place of instability—an unsteady way of being without roots.  But that, when we fully embrace being grounded in God, we don’t not know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we know—without a doubt—to whom we belong—we are God’s beloved. She adds, in knowing we are rooted in God, then with God as our "firm base and center we can reach out and up," to help those around us.

In the end, my sleep app alone can’t improve my sleep. I have to take action on the various suggestions of what to do to snore less—like avoiding caffeine and alcohol 3-4 hours before bed. Or limit my screen time at night. Likewise, we prepare ourselves to do God’s work not just by hearing a sermon or having a podcast playing in the background, but by being intentional in those activities so that we are pulling ourselves closer to God. One author explains: “Spiritual practices place us in God's presence, so God can do transforming work with us through the power of the spirit.”[1]

I love the way it’s said in our reading from Hebrews, that if we’re working diligently at our own spiritual preparation, “God will not be ashamed of us”—even if we’re not perfect at it! More importantly, when we’re preparing ourselves to navigate uncertainty by rooting ourselves in God, we won’t feel as depleted.

We will still face challenges, and life will still be hard at times. But there will be a sweet sense of peace—perhaps even joy—that will carry us through to a phase of better times. And, so, we give thanks for the assurance the Psalmist provides: God is our God. Your God. My God. The God of us all. Right here. Right now.

-AMEN

[1] Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future by Dwight Zscheile, Michael Binder, Tessa Pinkstaff, p. 133