Staying In Touch

An Introduction
The minister touched bread and broke it.
He poured out the fruit of the vine into a cup.
We did this right in church.
Relax.
Respond to Gods giving. At first I didnt get it. I liked playing in the sandbox better.
Give your entire attention to what God is doing now. Then communion was a ritual we did together.
Thats what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Then it became a means for being in touch with God.

Where we pay attention, there our energy flows. I began to recognize this reality of being in touch with God and
Thats what a psychologist said. others other times:
Gods Spirit touches our spirit. Embracing what God does
Out at our lake,
for you is the best thing you can do for him.
By the ocean,
Thats what the apostle Paul said.
Looking at mountains,
There is new energy, vitality, as we pay attention to what the Dancing,
Spirit is doing now. Staying in Touch is about a simple practice Hugging my wife,
that encourages us to be open to the Spirits leading. This series Silence,
of exercises is for those who want to find a practice that fits them, Reading scripture.
and can be a way of leading to transformation of congregations,
individuals, and the world. Suggestions for doing this are found at Despite this delight, I left being in touch again and again:
the back of the pamphlet.
I got busy with my projects,
I paid attention to my thoughts and feelings alone.
In Touch, Out of Touch I got bored.
I remember being in touch with God as a boy in church: I got worried.
I forgot communion with God and others.
My family was around me.
My relatives, teachers, neighbors were there. This is natural for all of us. We leave father and mother and God.
There was music. We focus on ourselves, but eventually get lonely, bored, or guilty.
There were old, familiar words. We may remember being in touch and look for new ways to do this.
We did this thing called communion.
A Story From Scripture Simply Said
Ive read and re-read the story of the disciples on the road to Em- Staying in Touch is a way that works. It has been adapted to differ-
maus found in Luke 24:13-35. It was on the first Easter, and they ent people, in different cultures, and is a process that is used to be
were convinced that Jesus was dead, and with him, their hopes. creative:
They would no longer be in touch with Jesus. All of a sudden a in business, corporations and in international cooperation,
stranger came up to them as they walked. They didnt recognize in the arts,
that it was Jesus. He asked what was happening. He told them the in sports.
message from scripture about the suffering of the messiah. It wasnt
until they were in touch with the bread that Jesus broke that they Basically, it is letting go, letting grace come, and embodying
recognized him. It was communion, grace. And their lives were creativity.
changed. And so was the church and the world.
Like them we need reminders to recognize Jesus in our midst,
to receive bread and grace,
to hear the voice within and without,
Summary
to hear God speaking to us in scripture, Jesus continues to say to us in scripture and all these other places:
to be in touch with others around us.
Relax.
Sometime the reminders come forcefully. Paul was knocked off Respond to Gods giving.
his horse in another road story when Jesus appeared to him. We Give your entire attention to what God is doing now.
wake up finding we are burned out by trying too hard, or bored with
our life. Our congregations or families or work decline in vitality.
We lose touch with what God is doing in us, in community, in the We may continue to reflect that:
world.
Where we pay attention,
there our energy flows.

Staying In Touch helps us pay attention to what God is doing now

and we find energy, vitality,

as individuals and leaders,

in families and groups,
in churches,
in mission and ministry in the world.
Stop saying, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. Gen.
28:16, RSV
A shift in attention
I needed help to recognize God for myself. I couldnt recognize
The two disciples stopped Jesus with the words: Stay with us. what God was doing in me because it wasnt an encore of what had
happened to me before or a duplicate of someone elses experience.
Gods presence was not a big event. I needed to drop my expecta-
To the Point tions of some out-of-the-ordinary experience. When I let go, and
let come whatever the Spirit was doing, I was able to recognize
A typical day for most is filled to capacity. Work, busy-ness, and the Spirit working in me. We often recognize Gods Spirit only in
deadlines all consume great amounts of our energy and attention. retrospect.
They also interfere with our ability to notice the important things.
What we are trying to notice is the working of the Spirit among and
within us. When wonder comes to us through the natural world, it The 5-Minute Daily
is a gift of the Spirit. When we sense we belong, have communion, - Stop, put everything down and relax for a moment.
that too is the Spirit working. The Spirit prays in us with sighs too - Breathe.
deep for words. What does your heart say? We are not so much - Consider where wonder, or belonging, or connection happened
asking the Spirit to be present, as being present to the Spirit. today. Consider their absence.
- Remember, we are trying to notice the work of the Spirit among
and within us.
- Make a few notes about what happened.
A Story
I remember an experience I had after leading a retreat for men in
the Arizona desert. They were having a great time, and told me that
God spoke to them in the silence, through the words of scripture, The Questions
through each other. I felt jealous because nothing happened to me.
Personal Leadership
I went to a workshop where an expert was teaching listening
What helps you shift attention What helps people shift
skills, and I volunteered to be the guinea pig who was listened to. I
to what the Spirit is doing? attention to what the Spirit is
said that nothing had happened to me. When she asked me about
doing?
the nothing, I said I was pleased that the others seemed open to
God, and that there was a blessing in meeting together. I talked Group
about sensing the beauty of the sandy hills, feeling open and re-
laxed. I felt at home in a mysterious place that I found out later was How have we stopped and paid
a site that the Native Americans believed to be a holy place. As she attention to what God is doing?
asked me questions, I felt like Jacob, awakening from his dream,
Look A Story
An open mind
Recently a colleague of mine and I were working with a local con-
Didnt we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road? gregation. We asked them what was good about their life together,
and what they thought their mission was. My colleague asked, So
where is God? The abrupt question was a bit of a shock for them,
To the Point but after a bit of thought, they could answer us that God was in the
midst of them, and God was inviting them to do outreach. Then they
Most all of us are quite able to pause for a moment, look back over
said, We ought to ask that question more often.
the course of our lives, and name a half dozen big events/choices.
The kind that significantly shape our lives. What is suggested here
is that life-shaping events and choices are happening each day.
Certainly not to the same scale as the big ones, but with an open
mind, we can begin to notice the more subtle nudges. The 5-Minute Daily
- Stop, breathe, relax.
If the only prayer we said was thanks, it would be enough, said
- What was good about today?
one theologian. Why? Because we begin to appreciate grace, gifts,
- What was not so good about today?
and recognize that the generosity of life is there all the time. Jesus is
- Pray, noticing Gods movement or absence.
offering us bread, love, not just at the moment of Communion, but
- Make a few notes about what happened.
all the time. Even in the midst of suffering, we can be in commu-
nion with Christ, our neighbors, communities, countries and world.

Sometimes the pain we carry and the pain of the world motivates
a cry for help. Help to know what we are responsible for. Help to
ask for forgiveness and to remember we are forgiven. Help to shed The Questions
toxic guilt and step forward to make amends. Personal Leadership

Sometimes the hurt was inflicted upon us and requires time for Where do you experience God? How do you encourage people
grace, healing to emerge. Time to examine the nature of the hurt. to notice God in both the big
Time to notice what is really about us, what is really important, and the ordinary aspects of
and what is out of our control. And in all of this examination and their lives?
sadness, letting love enter in, for our good and for the good of those Group
around us.
How do we notice God in our midst as
well as in our call?
Listen Consider This
An open heart
There are many ways to hear God. Take the Christmas story, for
And Jesus said to them O foolish men, and slow of heart to instance:
believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that Shepherds needed to hear angels shouting.
the Christ should suffer these things and enter his glory? And Wise men used thinking and followed accordingly.
beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them Mary felt it deeply as she pondered these things in her heart.
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Simeons intuition was right on after years of waiting and
praying.
To the Point
We are like the discples. We are caught up in the drama of our own
lives. Like their story, we see tragedy alone, and miss God at work
doing something new. Our feelings are caught up in what happens, The 5-Minute Daily
and we cant see what is really going on. We have our own self-cen-
tered point of view, which is quite limited. We have trouble learning - Stop, breathe, relax.
other perspectives, seeing the whole truth, seeing from anothers - Ask the Spirit to help you hear, think, feel, intuit.
perspective or from Gods point of view. - Read a short passage of scripture and/or pay attention to your life,
slowly and reflectively.
To listen with our heart is what the philosopher Martin Buber called - Notice what stands out and pray with that.
Thou. It is a relationship. It probably started when our mother - Make a few notes about what happened.
sang to us, and we heard a loving heart. Or we cried, and we were
picked up. Heart spoke to heart. We listened to stories and loved
them. How do we make friends and tell someone we love them?
Not just by thinking about them as though they are a problem to be
The Questions
solved, but by being in a relationship, a process of give and take. Personal Leadership

But we often read the Bible as though it is a problem to be solved, What helps you listen for God How do you help others
to look for the right answer, to discuss what the right answer might in your life, nature, scripture? differentiate between knowing
be and to hear the teacher say what it is really all about. Jesus didnt about God and listening to God?
teach that way. He told stories and parables. You never get a story or
parable right. There is an ongoing process of discovery, like a rela-
Group
tionship, like prayer. Gods story and our story are interrelated. When
we get a bit of an insight into one story, the other story lights up.
How does God speak to our community?
Receive Consider This
Open heart and will
Love comes through painful circumstances as well as good ones.
Taking bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. We know love in childbirth, and through the promise to love each
other in sickness and in health. We may scream at God and wonder
where God is. But after we hear Jesus on the cross feeling aban-
To the Point doned, suffering with us, perhaps in time we may receive Gods
God isnt just giving us words. God is love. Jesus gave the bread, love in suffering, even though we may not understand it. This does
himself, his love. not mean being stoic or denying its reality, but to drink the cup of
suffering.
Have you listened to music and felt connected? Been at an ocean or
mountain and been moved? We can know the grace to receive when
we can say yes to Gods love.
The 5-Minute Daily
Jesus invites us to abide in him, and he in us. - Stop, breathe, relax.
- Ask the Spirit to help you hear, think, feel, intuit.
By love we usually think of romantic love. Most mature people
- Consider one of the questions below, slowly and reflectively.
find mutuality in giving and receiving caring. Perhaps compassion
- Notice what stands out and pray with that.
or caring are better words for you than love. When we find
- Make a few notes about what happened.
our limits and those of our loved ones, we can let go and receive
the love of God. But how? Many times we cant listen to the in-
ner voice because we are filled with low self-esteem, false guilt or
shame, a distorted belief that we dont deserve love. Many times it
is letting go, letting in the spirit of love, that helps us change and be The Questions
open.
Personal Leadership
The mystery of receiving and giving love cannot be explained so
much as experienced. When have you received How do you deal with resistance
love, community, grace, to being loved, shame,
In our story, Jesus is invited into the home of the two in Emmaus. friendship? compulsive perfectionism?
Then some mysterious things happen. He is no longer the guest, but Group
now takes the place of host. He takes the bread, blesses it, breaks
it, and gives it to them. It is the same thing he did at the last supper, How does the congregation, your group as
and at the miracle of feeding the 5,000. A sacrament? A miracle? a whole, acknowledge Gods gifts, grace,
He gives himself and his love to the disciples. We, too, can receive love?
Gods love.
Embody Consider This
let go, let come, act We find that we are invited to become a community as the disciples
did with the others in Jerusalem. The Risen Lord had appeared to
They didnt waste a minute. them as well. They confirmed each other. They began something
new in the history of the world, and continued to listen to Christ
through the Holy Spirit. They did utterly new things as they had
To the Point open minds, hearts, and wills. They said as they made a radical
change of direction:
After recognizing Christ, receiving love, hearing the big themes
in the Bible to orient them, the disciples immediately want back
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. Acts 15
to Jerusalem. Sometimes its like that with us. We know immedi-
ately what to do after we receive love. Sometimes we do this more
logically: we see the mission God has called us to, and then we can
figure out the next step. More often, though, the deciding what to do
is daily, hourly, being led, deciding.

In all the moments for decision, there seem to be two patterns: Let The 5-Minute Daily
go, let come.
-Stop, breathe in Grace, relax.
We let go of our being the center of it all. We let go insisting that -Let go as you breathe out.
our thinking, feeling, deciding, are the center of the universe. We -Let the grace of the Spirit come.
have an open mind, heart, will. That is a gift and we can pray for it. -Consider what choice presents itself.
Often breathing in to receive grace, and breathing out our tension,
will help provide some openness throughout us. Often when we
let go, the Spirit of God inspires us. We let grace come. We know The Questions
intuitively the next step to take.
Personal Leadership
And even when we make a mistake, we can correct the step after
What emerges, comes, from the How do you help the group let go
that. We are not frozen trying to make the right decision forever. We
inside or without? and let come?
are walking in the right direction.
Where are you invited to be
with others?

Group

How do we keep doing this?


Forward
continuing the process
They spent all their time in the temple, praising God.
To the Point
Can you find a daily practice like Stop, Look, Listen? What works
for you? A practice can change your attitude for the whole day.
Some small practice during the day, like intentionally breathing and
relaxing and realigning your mind and heart, may help you be open
to God. I hope that trying the daily Stop, Look, and Listen has
given you a clue for yourself. But some people seem to find this im-
possible. For them, the daily practice is like doing my piano lessons
when I hated them. Or flossing. But practice for adults can be more
like practicing medicine or law. What is it that helps you relax
and be open, to be filled with the Spirit? Can you at least pay atten-
tion to love, receive it, and ask where the invitation comes from?
Can you take an inventory of your way of life from an individual
or group? What is giving you life? What isnt? Who supports you?
Where is life, God, inviting you to grow?
Ive been delighted to find that a team of people at the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology has interviewed creative business
people, scientists, and artists around the world and found that many
of them have a daily morning practice of being in touch with spirit.
They also practice letting go, being open to grace, and letting guid-
ance come in business planning groups when they are in need of
guidance, deep change, and there isnt a simple technological fix.
Consider This
The way to grow muscle, relationships, minds, souls, is to stretch,
push, and then rest. How do you take Sabbath time more intention-
ally? What nurtures you? What depletes you?
Where do you feel that your life or the Spirit in your life is nudging
you to pay attention? To grow? To grow in your ability to love those
close and those on the other end of the religious or political spec-
trum?
Who will you ask for help discerning whether what you are hearing
is really the Divine? This is critical. Many people find a coach, men-
tor, or spiritual director. Some find a group of two or three. Without
support, we usually give up something that is hard and life-changing
for the easier way that leads to slow death.
This booklet may help you and leaders in use with the whole con-
gregation. It may be just for you right now, or lead you to a support
group. Remember:
Give your entire attention to what God is doing now.
What Im trying to do here is to get you to relax.
The 5-Minute Daily
STOP: Breathe in the Spirits life, love.
LOOK: Look with the eyes at love.
LISTEN: Let the hints, love emerge.
EMBODY: Let go of your agenda.
Let the action come.
Take the next step.
Make a note. Share.
The Questions
Personal Leadership
What practice do you have to What kind of support do you
nourish your relationship with have outside the congregation?
God on a regular basis?
Group
What kind of practices do you have for the
whole system, culture, of the congregation
to recognize God at work?