Rev. Cara Scriven, Lead Pastor
When I was in high school, I took a class on computer coding. I remember after one exercise, my teacher looked at my code and said something like, “Well, this gets the job done but it is way too complicated.” It is amazing sometimes how a benign statement can hold such meaning for us later in life.
Life is indeed complicated. And yet, for most of my life, I’ve made it much more complex than it needs to be. Those who know me well, know how easily I fall into creating problems where most people see none. When I recognized this several years ago, I wrote a rule of life for myself. One of the rules is to choose simplicity. It is not something I am terribly good at doing but I continue to try. I had a good laugh when I received the congregational mailing that Pastor Melinda and I sent out to the congregation after Epiphany. The random word my family received with this mailing was “Simplicity”. How perfect I chuckled to myself.
So this week, as I sat on the banks of Puget Sound, I wondered how complicated my life had become once again and recommitted myself to choosing simplicity. In my pondering, I turned back to a saint I have admired for over 20 years.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was born January 2, 1873 and died September 30, 1897. She is known for her “little way” of expressing love for others and living her faith. In the book Prayers & Meditations of Thérèse of Lisieux, editor Cindy Cavnar writes “The ‘little way’ often found expression in small sacrifices and acts of kindness done in secret. When doing the laundry in the heat of summer, for example, Thérèse chose the hottest place in the room, leaving the cooler places to the other nuns” (pg 94). Cavnar goes on to say that Thérèse’s little way is so simple that anyone can do it. All that is necessary is for a person to have the desire to put God first and ourselves second. It does require us to sacrifice but to do so for the love of our neighbor.
Our conference and congregation have chosen, for the love of our neighbor, to continue to have no in person worship. We have put God first and ourselves second and there is no doubt that we have sacrificed much in this choice. Saint Thérèse would remind us that the little way is not only found in the choices we make during a crisis, but also in our everyday lives. Did you give up your seat or your place in line for another? Did you choose the less desirable place to sit so another can see better? Did you wear a mask so others will feel safe? Did you park in the back of the parking lot so another can park closer?
The life of faith can seem at times difficult and complex. Yet, Jesus tells us the law can be summed up as this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40). While this is simple, it does not make it easy. As we consider our lives of faith this week, I invite you to ponder this question with me:
What’s one simple thing you can do today to love your neighbor and follow Saint Thérèse’s little way?
May God bless your wonderings.