One of my favorite stories to tell is a story told by a D.S. friend of mine, Rev. Boyd Blumer. For those of you who don’t know the United Methodist system of hierarchy, the D.S. (or district superintendent) is middle management. The bishop appoints 5 or 6 people to their cabinet and these folks (DS’s) are given a district to supervise which may include 40-100 pastors and their “charges” (churches).
It’s not an easy job. To oversee and decide which pastors get moved and where those pastors are moved is a tall task. In the eyes of the clergy, you are seen as a person who has power over their lives and the lives of their families. And in the eyes of the congregation, if you move a beloved pastor to another church, that move is never forgotten! As one D.S. put it, “Being the D.S.is like being a fire hydrant amongst a pack of dogs.” Need I say more! (By the way, I have had some incredible D.S.’s in my day who have managed to do this with incredible grace, so hats off to them). Boyd was a great D.S. He understood the task and did everything he could to do it with integrity. And because of this he became the D.S. to call on when there was trouble. This is a story about one of those calls.
The church in question was having a fight...something about pews vs. chairs, or the color of the carpet, or whether to put in a new bathroom...and they just couldn’t stop fighting. And so, Boyd was sent by the bishop to go in and intervene. “Go in there and get this congregation to see things a new way, Boyd.” And so, Boyd headed out to ease some tension.
Back in these days, the fellowship hall in many churches was the basement. So, when Boyd arrived at the church he headed down to the basement. The place was packed! Not a good sign. As Boyd described it, “you could cut the tension with a knife,” but he sat down, rolled up his sleeve, and went to work. He started with a prayer and then dug into just what was going wrong. Boyd, being a good negotiator, was sure he could work this out. But about an hour into it, things took a wrong turn, and the room exploded. Suddenly the anger turned on him! Suddenly he had this terrible feeling come over him... the feeling that he was in the wrong vocation...the feeling that he just didn’t want to be here...that he just didn’t want to be a part of the church anymore. “I mean we were supposed to be a people of love and forgiveness...slow to anger and steadfast in love. This wasn’t the church!”
And so, he stood up and said he needed to go to the bathroom and that maybe everyone should just take 5 minutes and cool down. His intention, however, wasn’t just to go to the bathroom. He was going to the bathroom, which was upstairs, sneaking out the front door, hopping in his car, and getting out of that place. Heck, he might even quit!
But, in the bathroom, something happened. As he was unbuckling his belt, he suddenly saw something and burst into a loud laugh! Why? Because he was wearing a pair of “superman” underwear! Let me explain.
That night for supper, his children celebrated his birthday. They made supper, even baked a cake, and then presented Boyd with a gift they had purchased on their own, without any help from their mom. They had bought him a pair of Super Man underwear! As he looked at these underwear, tears of joy trickled down his cheeks as he remembered the joy on their faces as he opened their present and was totally blown away by the surprise of this gift. Super Man underwear? At the look of his children’s delight in his surprise! HE remembered how they insisted that he was their superman and that he needed to put them on this instant!
As Boyd remembered this event, he was reminded of the love that surrounded him. He suddenly found his heart strangely warmed. It was as if a superpower had entered his heart. There was a love greater than this meeting. It didn’t matter what was down in that basement, with this super power he could face anything. Because what this superpower reminded him of was that he had home, place, and love, no matter what.
Boyd went back to the meeting, and in 30 minutes he had moved that church from anger and hostility to love, respect, and even forgiveness.
In times like these, we all need a superpower, don’t we?
I’ve been reading a novel called “A Tale for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki.
It’s a book about a troubled teenage girl (Nao) and her relationship with her 104-year-old great grandmother (Jiko)...a Buddhist nun. At one point, Jiko discovers the scars on her Nao’s body due to bullying at school. She is greatly disturbed. And after talking about it with Nao she announces that Nao needs a “Superpower.” In her words, “You need a superpower just like those superheroes you are always talking about. And I have just the superpower!”
Nao is stunned. First by the stunning fact that Jiko even knows about her love of superheroes, but also that Jiko might actually have a superpower that might work! “Will it even help me when I have to face those bullies at school?” Nao asks. Jiko smiles and then starts teaching Nao the ancient Buddhist prayer practice of “zazen.” A prayer practice focused on the art of learning to breathe. Nao is skeptical at first, (I mean what kind of a superpower is this?) but as she starts mastering the art of “zazen” she begins to experience a new understanding of home and place. A home not shaped by what is outside of her, but what is inside of her. A home others can’t take away.
We Christians, also have a deep and long tradition of a prayer life centering on our breath. It is called a “breath prayer.” I will include a link to how to start this ancient practice below, but I want to end my article with a beautiful writing about prayer by one of my new mentors in prayer, Steven Charleton. May this reflection encourage you to explore the “breath prayer” and its powers.
A SINGLE GRACE
O Spirit, alone in your high heaven
Do you ever feel lonely like me?
If you do, then hear my prayer
For all who watch from windows
Waiting beside phones that never ring.
Unloved teens, adults left longing
Elders sitting alone in rooms.
For all citizens of the Big Empty
I ask a single grace.
Let them be discovered today
Like the fine jewel they are
The treasure of someone’s heart
Wished from a smaller star.
Your pastor and friend, learning to rediscover my “superpower” as I face the “Big Empty,” Brook
Click below for more on Breath Prayers:
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