An Unexpected Door 

Hello, dear reader! Here we are in May, such a stunning, changeable month in New England. I hope wherever you are you can soak in a little spring beauty. I find solace in being attentive to the smallest signs of growth, and then in appreciating the lush abundance of plants and trees as we enter into June.

At the first of the month a new issue of Poetry Magazine arrives. It’s with a mix of sadness and admiration that I open the front cover and see who has died recently I may not have known about otherwise. It’s the magazine’s practice to memorialize poets with one of their own poems from its pages, and the editors unerringly choose a poem that points to the eternal. This month we mourn Molly Brodak and Ralph Angel. I’ve always loved Ralph Angel’s work, and especially his name! Angels are on my mind lately as we pray for them to attend loved ones near and far, and to go in as emissaries to places we can’t physically be. Angels, you say? Is that for real? I always think of this verse from Psalm 91: “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.”

Ralph’s memorial poem is “And the Grass Did Grow.” I love how it works rather plainly and slyly to get to the overall feeling of transcendence and hope, even against the downward pressing feelings of a grim reality. Things are hard, maybe harder than anything in recent memory, and the expectation of a reprieve is somewhere far off, maybe not yet even visible. What is the appropriate response to this? One posture is humility, and an openness, to always be on the lookout for new doors to walk through.

I open one eye, take a look around.
No pat answers, no permanence or rest. 
Someone just happens to keep beginning,
and my life too, where I left it,
over there. 

Today we are in the penultimate chapter of Romans. Romans 15 (NIV).

We see here that a life of following Jesus boils down to three things: reading Scripture, being an engaged member of our Christian community, and prayer. If we do these three things sincerely and with dedication, God will do the rest. I’m interested in the word “ambition” in verse 20. Paul was ambitious to preach the gospel, not for his own aims or gains. The Life Application Bible note asks: “Are you ambitious for God? Do you want, more than anything else, to please him and do his will? Ask God for ‘holy ambition.’”

Paul talks again about sharing what we have with others. We should be about giving that is motivated both by responsibility and gratitude for membership in Christian community, as we read in verses 26-27: “For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessing, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.” Sharing whatever one has been blessed with is a way of promoting unity. Our current moment is bringing forth this spirit of generosity, it seems to me.

And I love verse 30, which points to the mystical power of prayer, the necessity of prayer, and the efficacy of prayer. This has become more and more apparent in my life as I pray for others and ask them to pray for me. Prayer is another way of uniting us as God’s people, and allows everyone a way to participate in Mission, whether or not they have material resources or physical ability. “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle for praying to God for me.” Paul was a real believer in prayer too, and knew deeply how much he needed it in order to be successful in his holy ambition. Praying for one another is another way of testing our call within community. When we ask others to pray for us it helps filter out our selfish ambition from the part of us that belongs purely to God and looks for him alone.

I love this prayer from the New Zealand prayer book: 

FOR PEOPLE FACING GREAT UNCERTAINTY

God of the present moment,
God who in Jesus stills the storm
and soothes the frantic heart;
bring hope and courage to us
as we wait in uncertainty.
Bring hope that you will make us the equal
of whatever lies ahead.
Bring us courage to endure what cannot be avoided,
for your will is health and wholeness;
you are God, and we need you.