Don Friesen
This past Friday – Friday, the 13th – nothing untoward happened to me, but several Fridays earlier I came to work to discover that we could not open the computer file for that Sunday's bulletin. Two hours later we had salvaged most of the file, and I went home to fetch some software I thought might be helpful. I decided to stop at the bank along the way. The bank machine, however, swallowed my card and refused to give it back, so I had to stand in line for some time, and then go through the paperwork required to obtain a new card. I returned to the church and decided to make a fresh start with a fresh cup of coffee, but as I opened the percolator, the top broke off and clattered to the floor. Enough already! I thought. It was one of those days – the kind of day when, for every step you take, you slip back several!
The twenty-third psalm makes reference to walking through the "darkest valley". (Psalm 23:4) The Moffat translation renders that phrase as "glen of gloom". Some days are like glens of gloom. Nothing goes right, and we are apt to respond, after each new setback, "Enough already!"
It reminds me of the sixteenth-century Carmelite sister, Theresa of Avila (1515-1582), who with a group of fifty Spanish nuns travelled on foot to a neighbouring convent in a fierce storm. Crossing a rickety bridge over a swollen stream, Saint Theresa prayed earnestly that the bridge would hold up until they had crossed. It didn't hold up, and when it collapsed all of the nuns fell into the water, prompting the feisty Theresa to raise her eyes to heaven and say: "Lord, if this is the way you treat your friends, it is little wonder that you have so many enemies."
Some of us Are Purveyors of Gloom!
There are days when we have probable cause to complain about an uncanny series of setbacks, but it is also true that some of us don't need much of a setback to send us scurrying to the Glen of Gloom. We have a negative attitude, and when a setback comes our way we are almost pleased, though we try not to show it. It's like the Dutch minister who served two Dutch congregations, one on either side of a dike, so he asked permission of his ecclesiastical elders to skate the distance in winter, to which they reluctantly agreed – but only on the condition that he would not enjoy doing so.
It doesn't take much for some of us to slip into a negative rut. I know. Almost all of my home projects begin alright, but then I can't find a tool needed for the job. My project then becomes hunting for the tool! That leads me to my cluttered workbench, whereupon cleaning up the mess on my workbench becomes the project. Putting away the clutter takes time, and I realize I should really clear some shelf-space, but that's a whole project in itself and requires decision-making. Within an hour or two I'm so far back from my original project, the only thing that tempers my spiral into discouragement is that at my age I can't remember what the first project was!
It only takes a few setbacks for some of us to be set back for the rest of the day. "Oh great, this is going to be a good day," we mutter sarcastically, and after that any minor inconvenience or unexpected challenge reinforces our negativity, and if anything pleasant occurs, we hardly notice it.
Thank You, God, for Overdoing it, again!
On Monday, my day off, the amazing weather drew me outdoors, and while I was mentally prepared to be discouraged about all that I needed to do, it was such a pleasure to be outdoors that I forgot about being discouraged. The lilacs were budding; the grass was greener than it's ever been, and the dandelions which, like migratory birds, return to our yard each year, had not yet arrived! The plants in the flower bed were unfolding, crisp and green, emerging from the clean soil still unhindered by the onset of weeds, and it felt great to be alive! Sometimes God is a little over the top with His beautiful handiwork, and while our refrain as we're spiralling downward is "Enough already!" our refrain as we spiral upward is "God, You've given us more than enough!"
There is a thousand-year old Jewish Passover song called, "Dayenu," which means, essentially, "That would have been enough, but You did even more!" Someone else has translated it as "Thank you, God, for overdoing it," or even "Thank you, God, for overdoing it – again!" The traditional words to the song, Dayenu, celebrate the highlights of salvation history: deliverance from enslavement; the parting of the Red Sea; sustenance during their desert trek; the entry into the Promised Land, and so on. It's an upbeat song that goes something like this:
Had God brought us out of Egypt
Had God permitted us to cross the sea on dry land
Had God sustained us for forty years in the desert
Had God fed us with manna
Had God given us the Sabbath
Had God brought us to Mount Sinai
The Scriptural Celebration of Abundance
In our Gospel reading Jesus declares: "I came that (you) may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) Other translations read:
The twenty-third psalm begins with the recognition that with the Lord as my Shepherd, "I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1) "I lack nothing." (TNIV) Abundance is vividly on display on the table the Lord sets before us, our cups overflowing! Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says, "There is no gesture as expressive of utter well-being as lavish food...."
Today's Scripture readings are not unique. The Scriptures contain a lavish array of images of abundance. The Old Testament speaks of "the abundance of the everlasting hills" (Deuteronomy 33:15), of "rain in abundance" (Psalm 68:9), and "food in abundance". (Job 36:31) It speaks of "the abundance of (God's) steadfast love" (Psalm 5:7) and speaks of it often. It says that "the Lord ...will abundantly pardon". (Isaiah 55:7) It speaks of the "abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge" (Isaiah 33:6), the abundance of God's "goodness" (Psalm 31:19) – and the "abundance of prosperity and security". (Jeremiah 33:6) God is recognized as the source of abundance, Psalm 147 declaring: "Great is our Lord, and abundant in power...." (Psalm 147:5) To this extensive catalogue of abundance the New Testament adds the "abundance of grace" (Romans 5:17), the abundance of "consolation" (2 Corinthians 1:5), "abundant joy" (2 Corinthians 8:2), "faith ...growing abundantly" (2 Thessalonians 1:3), "blessing in abundance" (2 Corinthians 9:8), and "peace ...in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2)
The biblical theme of abundance is also evident in garden imagery and the miracle of growth. "You will be like a watered garden," says Isaiah, "like a flowering spring whose waters never run dry." (Isaiah 58:11) One of the books from the intertestamental period reads: "Like a vine I caused loveliness to bud, and my blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit." (Sirach 24:17, RSV) Or, as another translation phrases it, "Like the vine I bud forth delights...." (NRSV)
When the psalmist declares that God "turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water" (Psalm 107:35), one can only imagine how stunning this is for a desert people. When Isaiah declares that "waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand ...become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water" (Isaiah 35:6-7), one can only imagine the awe and wonder of those who yearned for water. Imagine the experience of coming across a reservoir of water in the middle of vast stretches of barren wilderness. Imagine kneeling before that pool to drink fully and the satisfaction of quenching your thirst. The word, "blessing," was first used by a desert people; it "was born of a sensual yearning, out of thirst and the wonder that comes from quenching it." (Irwin Kula, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, 2006, page 235)
Live your life to the fullest!
How did we get from this unrestrained celebration of abundance, both physical and spiritual, to the place where any pleasure possible in skating – skating to work – should not be enjoyed?!? Rabbi Irwin Kula, reflecting on the blessing of pleasure, writes, "We are meant to be gourmets, not gourmands. When we exclaim over the chocolate, ‘Oh, it's divine!' it really is. But if we immediately take another piece, the pleasure will decrease. A gourmet is enthusiastic – which means infused with God's spirit. A gourmand [a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess] can never get enough." (Irwin Kula, Yearnings, 2006, page 238)
Now, it's difficult to cultivate a dayenu spirit in a world in which there is a severe shortage of some things. There is another Passover expression, "lo dayenu," which means, "It is not yet enough". There are events we could call lo dayenu events. There are realities we could call lo dayenu realities. There are dreams of peace, of shalom, that remain unfulfilled. There are hungry people who remain to be fed. There are still obscenely rich people that need to be brought low if Jesus' mother's dream is to be fulfilled.
It is not yet enough. We know that, but a dayenu spirit is not a naive joy in pleasure. It recognizes what remains to be done, but a dayenu spirit is one of gratitude for what has happened already! It is gratitude free of presumption. It is gratitude that keeps dreaming. Looking at our world through a dayenu lens has the power to inspire us to do something about unfulfilled dreams. A grateful heart can do amazingly generous things.
You may find it a helpful exercise to write your own dayenu lyrics. My own version might go something like this:
I grew up. Dayenu. Many children are not so fortunate.
I had the opportunity to go to school, and I had a brother who encouraged it. Dayenu. Most of my extended family hardly graduated from high school.
A wonderful companion found me – and married me, through little fault of my own. Dayenu. We have three delightful children. Dayenu!
I found my life's work. Dayenu – and it's still a mystery to me that I did so.
I found a congregation that I cherish, no small feat, judging by the comments of many of my friends. Dayenu. Dayenu. Dayenu. It's more than enough!
God of Lilac Limbs and other Wonders
The Scriptures encourage a dayenu spirit that delights in life. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in him at all times." (Philippians 4:44, PHL) I found an interesting Bible verse this week that I had never noticed before. My default image of Jesus and the crowds who listened to him is one of sombre reflection and sober consideration, but the Gospel of Mark tells us of a "large crowd (that) listened to (Jesus) with delight." (Mark 12:37, NIV) "The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach." (CEV)
The lush growth of spring is a striking reminder to delight in God's good gifts. It stirs one's amazement that God often overdoes His panorama of burgeoning beauty. Joyce Rupp evokes the same response in a prayer-like poem entitled, "Watered Gardens".
Never allow me to tread on another's dreams
God of the resurrection, God of the living,
(Joyce Rupp, May I Have This Dance, by Joyce Rupp, pages 55-56)
AMEN
Da-dayenu ...
Again and again and again God blessed His people, the ancient Passover song expressing the deepest gratitude, While longing for the fulfilment of one's ultimate hopes, the song invites us to celebrate each step along the way.
Ilu hotzi, hotzianu, hotzianu mimitzrayim,
hotzianu mimitzrayim, dayenu
and not divided the sea for us, dayenu!
That would have been enough!
and not sustained us in the desert, dayenu!
That would have been more than enough!
and not provided us with manna, dayenu!
That would have been enough and then some!
and not given us the Sabbath, dayenu!
That would already have been more than enough!
and not brought us to Mount Sinai, dayenu!
God is overdoing it!
and not given us the Torah, dayenu!
God would have been overdoing it ... again!
It's an interesting utterance of Jesus, given the severity and challenge of many of his other utterances, but some of our other readings also have a life-in-the-fullest-possible-way theme. Acts, chapter 2, portrays a community life that is still the envy of most churches! Luke tells us that "all who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need." (Acts 2:44-45) Luke is describing an abundance of abundance: physical abundance, spiritual abundance, and an abundance of numbers – for "day by day," says Luke, "the Lord added to their number those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)
I was born. Dayenu. There were at least three reasons why it may not have happened.
Abundance begins at birth, although sometimes it is only skirmishes with death that make us realize it and that evoke our deepest gratitude. Many reminders of the fragility and finiteness of life could drive us into glens of gloom, but they can also make for grateful and generous hearts and make us realize that each day is a bonus.
God of little buds just now wearing green sleeves,
God of lilac limbs all full with signs of flowering,
God of fields plowed and black with (earth turned-over),
. . .
God of openness, of life and ...resurrection,
. . .
Open, one by one, those places in my life
Where I refuse to be overcome by surprise,
Open, one by one, those parts of my heart
Where I fight the entrance of real growth.
. . .
Keep me open to the different and the strange;
Help me to accept the unusual and also the ordinary
by shutting them out, closing them up,
By turning them off or pushing them away.
Untomb and uncover all that needs to live in me.
Quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.