Monday, January 31, 2022                                        (today’s lectionary)
Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest
The benefits of drowning
I lie down and sleep, and wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands are arrayed against me on every side.
Both Jeremiah and David rushed to the arms of God, as they were attacked without reason by those they loved. And both Jeremiah and David resisted revenge and the temptation to strike back when their foes attacked, “cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.”
O Lord, how many are my adversaries! But I call out to you, O Lord, and you answer me from your holy mountain.
Mary Evans drowned in a kayak accident. She returned from heaven and wrote two books. Her orthopedic surgery practice in Wyoming fills her time. Her four children and husband occupy her love. When she looks to the north she sees the peaks of the Grand Tetons. When she looks to the south she sees the small, well-tended gravesite of her oldest son Willie. She has fallen in love with Jesus, miracles, and the angels of God.
In 7 Lessons from Heaven, she tells her story and then asks me, her reader, to begin shaping my own. I start by creating a timeline of key events. “Just one page,” she says, “or two. Or a whole journal. What matters is that when you’re done, you can sit back and see your story from start to now.”
Kinda like this one:
Dr. Evans suggests including what you remember about “early memories, formative friendships, moves, schools attended, memorable disappointments, shining achievements, your first broken heart, marriages, divorces, deaths, your first job, and so on. You’ll have to focus, but the resulting map shows you where to concentrate your attention.” She continues:
Now pick an event or time period in your life that has particular significance to you, and dig deeper. What made this time or event so important? What choices, circumstances, or coincidences made it what it was? What emotions did you experience most then? What people were pivotal in your life then? What obstacles did you face and overcome? Be specific. What caught your attention? Did you cross paths with someone who provided unexpected help or encouragement when you needed it the most? Did you experience any divine appointments, nudges, or small miracles? Were there times you stepped out in faith and flourished or were surprised to see the path made straight?
 There are many reasons for building your lifemap. This time I am looking for God in all the right places. “Transferring recollections from your brain to paper excavates forgotten events and crystallizes them in your consciousness. Look for signs of God in your story. Look within your life for meanings, connections, traces of that larger world of the spirit breaking in.”
Go beyond the basic facts to reflect on how you felt and what you learned in the event or each encounter. Ask others who lived those times with you to help you recall some of the ways God clearly was—or might have been—present in your life. Look closely at what psychologists and spiritual directors call liminal or threshold times, where you found yourself between one season of life and another, one identity and another. Times of significant loss, change, or brokenheartedness, for example, often leave us feeling the tension of liminality—hanging, as Franciscan Richard Rohr says, “betwixt and between” in our spirits. (p. 230-231)
The lifemap of Jesus is well-documented. I imagine he spent his early morning prayer time reflecting on what happened the day before and then inviting his Abba to walk with him today.
Can you imagine seeing the angels and demons circling around the Gerasene tombs? I think Jesus did.
A man dwelling there was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. Jesus called out, “What is your name?” Legion is my name. There are many of us. And Jesus said, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”
In my life, I can live like this. Stop. Look. Listen. See what happens next. Do not be afraid. Resist revenge and self-protection. Watch for angels. No matter the darkness of whatever cave I’m in, know how safe I am in the arms of God.
When I lie down in sleep, I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
(2 Samuel 15, Psalm 3, Luke 7, Mark 5)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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