Although You Do a Lot
You are not what you do,
although you do a lot.
You are not what you have collected
in terms of friendships and connections,
although you might have many.
You are not the popularity that you have received.
You are not the success of your work.
You are not what people say about you,
whether they speak well
or whether they speak poorly about you.
All these things that keep you quite busy,
quite occupied,
and often preoccupied
are not telling the truth about who you are.
I am here to remind you
in the name of God
that you are the Beloved Daughters and Sons of God,
and that God says to you,
“I have called you from all eternity
and you are engraved from all eternity
in the palms of my hands.
You are mine.
You belong to me,
and I love you with an everlasting love.”
-Henri Nouwen
I read this word from Henri Nouwen at the start of every program year, committee year, and committee nominations cycle. It is a balm to a weary or motivated or ambivalent soul.
You are not what you do, although you do a lot.
Summer means time off, taking more creative license in worship, and enjoying these long days of sunshine. In the church office, summer also means the blitz of long-range planning, stewardship campaign preparation, budget season, pre-program year building maintenance, and the nominations process for our church committees.
As we transition in these weeks from our gorgeous northwest summer to the full tilt of the fall, I remember these words to us from God (by way of Nouwen’s pen): you are not what you do, although you do a lot.
When life fills to the brim or whenever I am in discernment about my own service or the service of others, I return to these words.
“I have called you from all eternity
and you are engraved from all eternity
in the palms of my hands.
You are mine.
You belong to me,
and I love you with an everlasting love.”
In some seasons, these words are a permission to let go of some control or striving that need not be mine. In others, they are a sure foundation from which I gather the fortitude to do the work ahead, able to embark upon that work more vigorously and with ease with the reminder that only God’s love defines- not whichever undertaking is occupying or preoccupying at the time.
All these things that keep you quite busy,
quite occupied,
and often preoccupied
are not telling the truth about who you are.
I am here to remind you
in the name of God
that you are the Beloved Daughters and Sons of God
Our lives can be so full: the heavy lift of care giving, managing our own health and aging bodies through ache and illness, balancing our careers and homes, serving Christ who appears on our doorsteps and in the food pantry and at the school or church. Even just one of these can be well beyond ‘full time’ effort, and many of our community carry more.
Our lives can be so full, but also feel somewhat empty.
Somehow, that fullness of capacity paired with a lacking spirit makes the emptiness reverberate even more. It is in the moments when our souls feel like an empty cavern and not a warm home that we draw toward community. We draw toward the joyful fullness that community can bring, (when we’re willing to let that joy take root).
The catch for those whose lives are already full of many preoccupations: the more of yourself that you offer, the deeper that root of joy grows. So here we are stuck in the middle, our capacity already full but our spirits lacking, and the way to fill the spirit is… to do more?
Perhaps not. The invitation I often receive from Nouwen’s words is not indeed to ‘do more’ (for we already do a lot), but to do differently.
Where possible, to shift our preoccupations to instead include that which reminds us of the truth of who we are: that we are beloved daughters and sons of God, engraved from all eternity in the palms of her hands.
In the spirit of our current worship series, I want to invite you there. Not to do more, but to do differently. Not to add one more preoccupation, but to find what nourishes that joyful fullness of community to take root.
Perhaps it will be in opportunity to use your gifts to support the flourishing of our community. Perhaps in connecting with those you never would have otherwise been in conversation. Or maybe it’s in participation through dance, scripture study, service, teaching, or another.
If you are feeling full but not full, or if you want to help others find their fullness, this invitation is for you: not to do more, but to do differently. Not to be ‘good’ or dutiful because it will somehow define you, but to surround ourselves with the reminder that we belong to God who loves us with an everlasting love.
As I wrote above, we’re in nominations season at First Church. This means that we are actively praying and discerning where our congregation needs to be invited; not only toward committee service, but also to participation in all manner of ways that might lead each of us toward the fullness of God.
To participate in this invitation, click on the button below to answer 3 very brief questions.
No matter where you might serve this season or what might be part of the fullness of your life, remember that you are not what you do (although you may do a lot), but indeed you belong to God who loves you with an everlasting love.
Thanks be to God!
Pastor Karyn