Month: February 2024

You started out as dirt

by Rev. Deb Beloved Church

“You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19b) 

Some version of that verse is typically said as the sign of the cross is being made with ashes on someone’s forehead on Ash Wednesday. 

For example, as I was “ashing” folks who came to White Rock Presbyterian Church last Wednesday, I said this: “Remember–you came from dust, and to dust you will return…” 

[Each year I think maybe I’ll use the late Rev. Eugene Peterson’s interpretation as found in The Message: “You started out as dirt, you’ll end up dirt.” That strikes me as even more powerful! It is, in fact, what I said when I blessed the horses of a friend the next day, using actual dirt from the ground on which we were standing… Maybe next year I’ll use it with the two-legged creatures, and see how it lands for us all…]

“Tempranillo, remember that you came from dirt,

and to dirt you will return…”

And since this year Ash Wednesday happened to also be Valentine’s Day, here’s another way to think about it: 

At first glance, it seemed strange to have those two holidays (or more better, perhaps, holy days) fall on the same date, but looking back, I can’t help but reflect that perhaps it was truly a gift… 

Might the occurrence of our cultural celebration of loving and being loved on the same day that we who are people of faith intentionally acknowledge our mortality, somehow enhance both of those central aspects of our humanity–the relational albeit finite nature of our existence? 

None of our human loves—whether of a child, parent, partner, sibling, cousin, friend, etc., or a non-human companion—will last forever. We will all someday die, and those loves in their present form will come to an end. All living things are mortal and finite.

And while that truth can be heartbreakingly painful to acknowledge, might it also make our loving more sweet? Might it make our time together more cherished? Might it make our conflicts more critical to resolve? Might it generate more urgency for us to show up more fully and more authentically? Might it make us more grateful for the opportunities we have to love and be loved? 

Hmmm…

We are approaching the second Sunday of Lent already; Ash Wednesday feels like a distant memory. Perhaps as we move further into this holy season, we can not only consider our mortality, not only allow greater recognition of our sin, not only attempt to see with greater clarity the ways we hide our true selves, not only make more deliberate efforts to turn back to God… But we can also hold on to and celebrate that in the midst of our flawed, finite, and finicky humanity, we love and are loved by the humans and non-humans in our lives, and by God.

Yes, we are dust and to dust we will return. Yes, we started out as dirt and we’ll end up dirt. Yes, we were born and we will die. We. will. die. 

And…in the midst of that—and before that, and after that, and beyond that—we are loved. We are loved absolutely, and unconditionally, and unceasingly, by the God who created us out of dust, and who created the dust. 

Thanks be to God!

“Seen by [the James] Webb [Space Telescope] in unprecedented detail, Sagittarius C is a star-forming region about 300 light-years away from the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/53344798019/in/gallery-zexonaz-72157720865766128/)

Return to the deep sources

by Rev. Talitha Arnold, Senior Pastor, United Church of Santa Fe

Return to the deep sources, nothing less
Will nourish the torn spirit, the bewildered heart. . .
Will teach the stiff hands a new way to serve,
To carve into our lives the forms of tenderness.

“Return to the deep sources,” wrote poet May Sarton. “Nothing less will nourish the torn spirit, the bewildered heart.” The seasons of the Christian calendar—Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost—Lent can lead us back to such deep sources. Whether we live in New Mexico or elsewhere, the Christian seasons call us to particular places—a stable in Bethlehem, a wedding in Cana, the courts of Herod, and a hill called Calvary. Sometimes the journey to such places can be hard. But, it also holds the promise of healing and strength, even new life.

In the Middle Ages, Christians went on pilgrimages to the holy places of the Christian story, like Jerusalem or Rome. For those who couldn’t undertake such treks, cathedrals had labyrinths as a way to go on pilgrimage without leaving home.

The liturgical year of the Christian church offers us a “pilgrimage in time.” Like those medieval journeys to Jerusalem or the labyrinth’s path to the sacred center, the Christian year calls us time and again to find our place alongside people like Moses in the Sinai wilderness or Mary at Calvary. With them, we find our way home to God, be it from the slavery of Egypt or the grief of the cross.

Lent in particular calls us to return to the deep sources. Step into the sanctuary and you know you’re in a different world from the week just past. Gone are the colors and candles of Epiphany and Mardi Gras, replaced with a purple banner with a thin red cross in its center. Just as we give up things for Lent, the sanctuary itself is stripped-down to its essence this season.

The same is true musically. For six weeks, we neither sing nor say “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah.” Monastic chants, spirituals from a time of suffering, hymns from the heart—the music is often in a minor key, sometimes a cappella. Services end with no postlude.

We use ancient prayers of confession, with phrases like “lost and strayed” or “erred from thy ways.” They sound harsh and unfamiliar, just like the barrenness of the sanctuary and the dissonance of the music.

And that’s the point. When we come to worship in Lent, we know we are in the wilderness and we’re going to be there for a while.

But when we come to this Lenten wilderness, we also know we’re not alone. Lent begins with Jesus in the desert, where he wrestles with his demons, faces his temptations, and finds his angels. He also finds the deep sources of his courage and hope. May we find the same this Lent.

As writer Frederick Buechner says about Lent, “if sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end.”

This Lent, let us take that life-giving journey together.

Informed, Balanced, and Not Saturated: Self-Care During This Election Year

by Kay Klinkenborg, member, Church of the Palms

The American public has been ‘saturated’ by the news of the upcoming political party primaries and the 2024 presidential election for over a year.  If you are like the majority of US citizens, we have been experiencing election induced stress since 2016 3,4,5.  It is not a formal diagnosis 3, but these are intense times in our country, and I recommend we be intentional about taking care of ourselves emotionally and in doing that we can be balanced with ourselves spiritually and physically.  (I don’t separate spiritual care from emotional care…some people do).

Saturation…an experiencing to the boiling point; something about to run amok; can’t hear anymore and don’t know what to do with the information I have already.  Oxford Dictionary describes it “as much as can be absorbed”.   I am recommending we learn to set some boundaries, be pro-active in this election year and not reach saturation; and when we recognize that is beginning, we activate choices to keep ourselves informed and balanced.

In our capitalistic world, self-care is often seen as selfish…not true. Jessica Young Brown Licensed Clinical Psychologist writes in Duke University’s Divinity School “News & Ideas” blog:

“Self-care is a multifaceted act of stewardship, which attends to multiple life demands. Self-care entails building a system of practices to support our living the rich and satisfying life that Jesus talks about in John 10 … ‘I have come that you may have life more abundantly’. It is an evolving process, in conversation with the Holy Spirit, that honors the whole person.”1

I researched self-care during election years … nothing new has shown up since 2022.  This tells me … we have been living in a ‘constant state of stress’ for several years.  Most people reading this article understand self-care: diet, exercise, sleep, etc.  I am offering some new ideas to consider and you decide what to incorporate.

STOP DOOMSCROLLING: PUT THE PHONE DOWN. 

A relative new word in our culture, Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human has a chapter in this book “For Those Who Doomscroll”.  She writes: “God … remind us that there is much the world needs, including our attention to atrocity—but if we watch the world burn for long enough, the fire becomes our only reality.”2,3,4

Set boundaries on scanning for updates on your phone. It becomes addictive to need the newest update of the news. Remember before cell-phones, we got news one time a day in the evening, or through the daily newspaper. This abnormal attachment creates an unconscious anxiety, constant vigilance and apprehension if we aren’t up to the minute on the latest development. In fact: “The excessive consumption of news and social media predicts poorer long-term mental health during times of crisis.”3

CONTROL COMPUTER, TV, and PRINT CONSUMPTION

Limit how many news shows you watch a day.  In reality, why would need an hourly check-in … ? We don’t.  We have been unconsciously conditioned to think we are going to miss something if we don’t stay up to date.  It is recommended you select two times a day to watch a portion of news. It is also recommended you not watch news at least one hour before going to bed.  The last thing you put in your mind influences your quality of sleep and dreams.  Screen-light of phones, I-Pads, computers is not good for getting to sleep and staying asleep.  One hour disconnect prior to bed is recommended.

When reading ask: ‘Is this article helpful?’ and ‘Is this article real (or reflective of my own truth)?’ If you answer ‘no’ to either of those questions, give yourself permission to move on from it.5 Also ask, is this making me more anxious?  If so, lay it down.  You know the information you’ve gleaned thus far, trust yourself.

AVOID ‘WORSE CASE SCENARIO’ THINKING

Good news doesn’t bring customers to the TV, media or networks.  Bad news, sensationalism, repetitive telling of news increases viewership.  ‘Worst case scenarios’, or ‘what if…’ keeps us wired with adrenaline and living unconsciously with anxiety. A personal opinion, news shows do a lot of speculation, bringing in experts attempting to predict the next scenario. We can think for ourselves, draw conclusions and questions. Why sit listening to continuous speculations about events … that is not stewardship of our time. 

Catastrophic thinking is a learned behavior for many of us.  Previously in our life it served a purpose to help us be emotionally prepared for the ‘worst case scenario and not be caught off guard.’  We can change that thinking.  We can learn to stop catastrophic thinking and thus significantly reduce the anxiety we are unconsciously living with. That type of stress is not good for our bodies.  It creates a lot of ‘cortisol (adrenalin) dumping’ that is physically harmful.

KNOW YOUR ‘RANGE OF INFLUENCE’

Being informed voters is our responsibility. We can accomplish that while doing self-care.

Each of us determines with our physical and emotional energy what we can do to be involved politically. We need to honor each other’s choices of how to stay engaged. We might be actively working a phone line, writing emails/letters to state and federally elected officials, we might be lifting our concerns in prayer, or making financial contributions.  It matters not what you do … it is that you make a choice.

We cannot control politics at large; BUT we have voice. That is our democratic system. Not having control of the outcome personally is hard for most of us.  Learning to live with ambiguity is a spiritual practice.  Living without knowing … we call that practicing faith.  We come learning how to do that; thus we need to continue practicing.

“Most of the political climate is not controlled by us nor can we change other’s beliefs or feelings around it. Accepting the idea that we can only control ourselves and change things for us is a powerful reminder to not get caught up ruminating on the unchangeable and the uncontrollable. It is important to point the finger inward and ask, ‘What about this can I change and control?’ before you get caught up in the stress of it all.”5

MOVE

One of the more important things I learned as a counselor helping others under stress, what ever the cause … movement changes thinking.  If you get up and go to another room, you have activated new neurocircuits … you see things differently because you literally aren’t in the same location.  You interpret things differently because you have created a surge of fresh oxygen through your body. Do a different activity. Go for a walk.  Raise your arms in the air ten times in a row. MOVE.  It will shift something within you, and you can regroup.  (Resources 2-6 suggested this as one of their priorities in self-care during election times).

CONNECT

Reach out to trusted friends. Find a discussion group or create one. Do not go this year of stress alone.  The US and the world are at a heightened level of stress and concern like our generation hasn’t witnessed before.  Community is vital to stay grounded, in touch with self, receive feedback, and receive compassion from others.

GRATITUDE

If you are not in the practice of keeping a gratitude journal, or at least verbally lifting up gratitude once a day … it a marvelous time to start.  Things are tough right now.  It is hard to know the reality of what is happening in the world, our country, our state, our county, etc.  Plus, we are living our own personal experiences we are processing in the midst of this year.  Gratitude owning keeps me more balanced quickly than almost any other tool I use for self-care.  Own our blessings, lift up thanksgiving.         

We are all more blind to what we have than to what we have not. –Audre Lorde

We can do this hard year.  We will find our way.  We can walk this path.  We are not alone.

“I can do all things through {the} Christ who strengthens me.” –Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

My prayer for us this year:

Dear God, may we challenge ourselves this year to stay informed of the critical issues.  Guide us in practicing stewardship with balanced and wise use of time, energy and self-care. Guide us to catch when we are reaching saturation with the noise of the naysayers, too much media.  Remind us to intentionally move to positive choices; not trapped in catastrophic thinking or mistrust of our own truth. May we claim the inherent good within each of us and lean into our faith and humankind’s capacity for compassion and justice.  Amen

1 Young-Brown, Jessica (2023).  “Self-Care is Not Self-Soothing”; May 2, https://leadership@divduke.edu.

2  Riley, Cole Arthur (2024). Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human.

3 “Mental Health and Wellness: Coping with Election-Related Stress”. Berkeley University Heath:

https://uhs.berkeley.edu/mental-health-and-wellness-coping-election-related-stress

4 Stieg, Corey, (2020) CNBC Report:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/07/study-american-adults-report-election-stress-anxiety-tips.html

5  Managing Your Mental Health in An Election Year”, (2020).

      https://blog.umd.edu/terpstakecare/managing-your-mental-health-in-an- election-year/  Univ of Maryland.

6 “Self-Care Tips for an Election Year”; (Updated: May 20, 2022). Colibri Collective:

https://www.thecolibricollective.com/post/self-care-tips-for-an-election-year

© Kay F. Klinkenborg, MA (January, 2024)

     Spiritual Director; Member Spiritual Directors International; Author & Poet

     Retired: RN; LMFT; Clinical Member AAMFT