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“A T-Shirt Time” Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 Mark 7: 1-7 Presented By Sunday, June 15, 2008 Father’s Day If we desire a simple test of the quality of our spiritual life, a consideration of the tranquility, gentleness and strength with which we deal with the circumstances of our outward life will serve us better than anything that is based on the loftiness of our religious notions, or fervor of our religious feelings. It is a test that can be applied anywhere and at any time. Tranquility, gentleness and strength, carrying us through the changes of weather, the ups and downs of the route, the varied surface of the road; the inequalities of family life, emotional and professional disappointments, the sudden intervention of bad fortune or bad health, the rising and falling of our religious temperature. This is the threefold imprint of the spirit on the souls surrendered to spirit’s [his] great action. I love t-shirts. Summer’s a time, like no other, when people brazenly wear their attitudes on their bodies. It truly amazes me what people wear. For instance I’m always a little incredulous of the macho kind of guys who wear t-shirts with half naked women on them, as though proclaiming, “Hey, I’m a real chick magnet—just look at my chest!” I wonder about the self-esteem of any woman who is attracted to such a proclamation. There are of course all kinds of t-shirts. There are the troubling ones like the couple I saw with matching shirts that said in big letters, “I’m with stupid,” and then an arrow pointing toward their spouse/partner. Do they recognize what they’re saying about their relationship and their spouse? Well, let’s just advertise!! Then there are the standard angry shirts like, “Everyone has the right to be stupid; you’re abusing your privileges.” Or, “People like you are the reason people like me need medication.” But I have to admit like some of the humorous ones. There was the one worn by the elderly gentleman that read, “Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up.” Or, “I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.” I guess I don’t mind the ones that worn by people gently poking fun at themselves. Another one that I like is, “You’re just jealous because the voices only talk to me.” Do you have favorite t-shirts? The way I got on this subject was that the other day I was exercising and was wearing a Crossroads Fitness shirt that I won at one of our auctions. As I was working away on the elliptical trainer I looked down and saw the logo, “Crossroads Fitness,” and it occurred to me to wonder what this shirt said about me. Initially I thought about being healthy and exercise and those kinds of things. But then it occurred to me that I could always read more into it if I wanted. What would “crossroad fitness” be I wondered? It occurred to me that our lives are a series constant crossroads and one of the challenges and opportunities is to always be ready for them. As Yogi Bera quipped, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” This led me to thinking about the need for flexibility in our living. If you look at our world, one of the things that is a constant is that the forms and structures around us are always changing. Stock markets and economics create millionaires out of paupers and paupers out of the wealthy. Edward Spitzer is on top of the world one day and in the gutter the next. Governments rise and fall. Republicans and Democrats come and go with alternating episodes of greed, inanity, and silliness. The only piece that I know of where there is stability (and even this is tenuous) is that of the spirit. The early Jews spoke of wearing phylacteries to proclaim on the outside what was in their hearts. The phylacteries were like early t-shirts except instead of saying “My boss is a Jewish carpenter,” they proclaimed, “My boss is Yahweh.” Jesus criticized the high priest when they forgot about the inner component of the practice and just did it for show. It’s like many people wear crosses as jewelry today while having no connection with their inner being. Note that Jesus wasn’t against proclamation; he was just against the show. The important piece was to carry the proclamation inside as well as outside. This is a commonality with all of the great world religions. The Buddhist sutras speak of carrying the constancy of compassion in one’s being and Rumi, the great Sufi poet, continually sings the song of carrying God’s presence in his inner most being and consciousness. At one point he writes, Help me with this ego of mine/that is seeking help from you;/I seek justice from no one /but this justice seeking self; /I shall not get justice from anyone/except the one who is nearer to me than myself;/for this I-ness comes moment by moment from the one. One of the things that comes from “practicing the presence of God” (as Brother Lawrence would put it) is that we are constantly reminded that life is fundamentally a gift and that our basic attitude has to be one of thanks. This isn’t a duty, this is just what comes from a heightened awareness of the wholeness of life. To practice this kind of consciousness is to intuitively recognize a couple things from another t-shirt that I love. When we were on the One of the nice things about “island consciousness” is the awareness that life is about more than winning the rat race. People go to the islands to get away from the hectic pace of our 21st century life and when they get there, it’s easy to plug into the Hawaiian connectedness to the surf, the skies, and the essential nature of the beach. Another saying on the shirt proclaims, “Speak softly and wear a loud shirt.” This speaks to the fundamental necessity of living with the dual attitudes of humility and celebration. One of the fun things about the Anyway, this morning I’d invite you to consider what your favorite t-shirt message to the world might be. What would that message say about you? Your priorities? Your attitudes? Underhill spoke of tranquility, gentleness and strength. Where do these play a part in the external countenance you present to your family, your friends, and the world. What t-shirt will you wear this year? M.B.
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