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Good Shepherd Community of Faith |
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An American Baptist and United Church of Christ Welcoming and Affirming Congregation |
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Current Sermon
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Jenga! Psalm 4; Mark 6:30-32
Have you ever played Jenga? It’s a game of balance. To play the game, you pull small wooden blocks out of a construction without having the whole thing topple. In Faith at Work, a periodical that I read, Susan Wilkes wrote about the game of Jenga. She says that she and her family play it often, and the “loser,” the one who causes the blocks to tumble, usually “cries out in great despair, ‘Oh, nooooooo!’” Susan suggests, and I agree, that there “are times when life too is like a big Jenga game, where everything in [the] elegantly ordered world is great until one unexpected event—a sick child, an unusual stressor at work, the death of a friend—occurs.” Then, like the tower in the game of Jenga, our entire life feels like it comes tumbling down. Susan asks: “How do we build and rebuild a full life, despite the occasional awful clattering sounds of blocks falling everywhere? How can we minimize the times this happens?” Tuesday evenings, at prayer time, I have been reading from the book Healing Words of Wisdom. It is a book of prayers, reflections, and scripture put out by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Recently, I read a quote from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. She said, “Healing does not necessarily mean to become physically well or to be able to get up and walk around again. Rather, it means achieving a balance between the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions.” After I read this quote, I said, “Wow! This ties in beautifully with the message I want to deliver. I will be writing about balance.” Just as balance in the game of Jenga is when the blocks are all aligned so that you can pull one out without the entire structure collapsing, so, too, is balance in our lives—a balance between the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions. If these are well-aligned, we can pull out one without our entire structure collapsing. We can, believe it or not, have our physical being out of whack without affecting our emotional, intellectual, or spiritual beings. Our goal, therefore, is to attain equilibrium. Psalm 4 begins with words that many of us often feel like calling out: “Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.” And, when we have faith, we can say with the Psalmist: “the Lord hears when I call to him . . . I will lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.” So faith, which I like to refer to as mortar, helps to hold it all together. What other ways do we have to keep the Jenga structure of our lives from falling? Note the reading from the Gospel of Mark: “The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them . . .” What? What did he say to the apostles? He said, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Then what did they do? Since so many were “coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat . . . they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.” Jesus knew the importance of “getting away.” He did so on several occasions—went off to a deserted place to rest and pray. This time he advises the disciples to do the same. He knew they had to achieve some balance in their lives. What is the old saw—all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy? The sentiment expressed by this proverb was first recorded thousands of years ago by the Egyptian sage Ptahhotep, who wrote in 2400 B.C.E., “One that reckons accounts all the day passes not a happy moment. One that gladdens his heart all the day provides not for his house. The bowman hits the mark, as the steersman reaches land, by diversity of aim.” Following Ptahhotep’s philosophy, which is truly an expression of the need for balance, some writers have added a second part to the proverb. For instance, the Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth, in her book Harry and Lucy Concluded, wrote, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy; all play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.” Without balance, the Jenga tower will cave in; without balance, our lives will disintegrate. So, how do we achieve balance? We can follow Jesus’ directive and go away to a deserted place and rest a while. The “deserted place” doesn’t need to be far; it can be right in your own home. The point is finding time and space and quiet. Perhaps it means turning off the TV, radio, and telephone for an hour. Perhaps balance can be achieved by doing something different. Working on quilts or crocheting has been a way for me to relax and turn my thoughts in a different direction. My secretary has told me that when she comes in to work on the bulletin, she loves to sit in the quiet of the sanctuary for a while—just to draw a deep breath and pray. Susan Wilkes asks, “How do we build and rebuild a full life, despite the occasional awful clattering sounds of blocks falling everywhere? How can we minimize the times this happens?” She suggests gentle physical activity like yoga or stretching. Susan says, “Balancing, stretching, breathing, and being present in the moment—deceptively simple actions key to living in the midst of God’s creation and life’s complexity.” For others, it may not be yoga and stretching but, instead, a walk in the woods or a jog through the park. What are some other ways you can find balance in your life? How can you win the game of Jenga? Let’s consider the four dimensions mentioned by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross—physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Okay, we’ve kind of covered the spiritual by suggesting that you heed Mark 6 and go to a deserted place. However, we can also build strength in the spiritual dimension through prayer. Mother Teresa wrote, “Try to feel the need for prayer often during the day and take the trouble to pray. Prayer makes the heart large enough until it can contain God’s gift of Himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive Him and keep Him as your own.” Good advice. We’ve also looked at the physical dimension—exercise, yoga, stretching, walking, jogging, doing crafts. But, what about the emotional and intellectual components of our Jenga structure? I think under emotional, we can consider friendship and forgiveness. We need to develop friendships that are supportive and caring. Having someone to talk with who will understand and not be judgmental is essential to our well-being. I know I couldn’t survive without the deep friendships I have with some people. And the intellectual realm of our lives—well, you may know how I feel about continuing education. There is a wonderful billboard overlooking the 400 that says “The oldest college graduate” and shows a picture of a 95-year-old woman! Ninety-five years old and graduating from college! That’s awesome! Now, not everyone is going to return to school no matter what his or her age, but keeping informed is an easy thing to do. Learning something new helps to keep that intellectual dimension active. Read, study, listen; try a new hobby, take a class. There are lots of free classes offered in and around your community. The point is that no matter what approach you take to strengthening your physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual well-being, you strive for balance in your life so that the removal of one block will not cause the whole thing to come tumbling down. Charlene Costanzo wrote The Twelve Gifts of Healing, and I think her short poem speaks to Jenga-style balance. It goes: May you allow fear to soften and melt away; May you release all regrets and resentments; May you see the world with wonder; May you imagine only good things; May hope rest within you; May peace wash over you; May you hear the voice of wisdom; Listening, may you act with trust. May your heart open; May joy emerge; May love flow through you; May you heal and help others. And I add: May you play the game of your life in the same way you play the game of Jenga—with caution, of course, but also with poise and balance. Amen.
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