He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
Ezekiel 37:3–4

Module Two: Life Completely Lived

Study:

In preparation for this week's liturgy, please read Chapter 2 of Jesus Wants to Save Christians.

After you have completed the above, choose one or more of the the following:

“Revolution Stories” on the Learning How to See Podcast
“Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” a sermon by Martin Luther King Jr
“Surprised by Joy” from the OnBeing Blog

The Liturgy

Life Completely Lived

If an individual is not concerned about himself, he cannot really be concerned about other selves. Some years ago a brilliant Jewish rabbi, the late Joshua Liebman, wrote a book entitled Peace of Mind. And he has a chapter in that book entitled “Love Thyself Properly.” What he says in that chapter in substance is this: that before we can love other selves adequately we must love our own selves properly. And many people have been plunged into the abyss of emotional fatalism because they didn’t love themselves properly. So we have a legitimate obligation: be concerned about ourselves…The breadth of life is that outward concern for the welfare of others. I should submit to you this morning that unless an individual can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity he hasn’t even started living. Martin Luther King Jr, “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life”

Opening Prayer

Creator God, who quickened the world, we gather in the name of life and breath. Spirit of Inspiration, nourish our souls. Save us from despair, apathy, and cynicism. Friend of the broken, teach us your definition of abundance. Show us the way that leads to life, truth, and joy—and console our weary minds who were looking for an utterly different salvation. Attune our hearts to the length, depth, and breadth of our cosmic experience, and help us to revel in the mystery of hope.
Amen.

Confession

Sweetness of the world, we confess that we explain away suffering as if the caterpillar and blossom are comfortable as they are unmade to make way for the butterfly and plum. We have refused to hear that only plants are only nourished by light. The rest of us are forced to consume the life of others to live. Friend of the Unclean, we distance ourselves from the suffering of life, feeling cheated by pain. We deny that abundant life completely lived, means that we must live the suffering as well as the joy. Surely, the sandy beaches are born of the relentless grinding of life. Creator of all Life, what did you suffer when you spoke light and life into the world?

Amen.

Passing of the Peace

Exchange this acknowledgment of confession.

From the freedom of confession, I greet the Christ in you.
From the freedom of confession, I greet the Christ in you.

The Inquiry

These questions will be used each week to guide a time of sharing.

What joy have you encountered this week?

What suffering have you encountered this week?

What longs for salvation?

After each person shares, the group will offer a blessing to each person:

[Person’s name], in the name of Jesus Christ know you are beloved of God

The Reflection

Read aloud:

Suffering exists. God is love. Love precludes suffering.

These sentences cannot stand without some really nasty ramifications.

Before we get started, I need to warn you: I am going to use the word sin. As a religious culture, we do not have a healthy relationship with this word. Some spiritually minded people use it like salt on popcorn, and others treat it like ragweed. But it’s hard to have a serious conversation about salvation if we don’t address what we are being saved from. Is it sin? Is it suffering? Is it discomfort? How about frustration? Being too hot? Hunger? Purposelessness? We are going to have to walk through the valley of the shadow of these questions. So, I am going to use the word sin, and I am going to use it in this way:

Sin is thoughts or actions that cause yourself or others harm.

We have a long, long history of equating all suffering with sin. We see the homeless man who lost his feet to frostbite and, if we are honest, hope that he has an addiction or a criminal background because we don’t have to wrestle with the problem of suffering if bad things happen because of doing bad things. I am not responsible for the one who has brought suffering on himself. Am I? I, like Job’s companions, am here to help my friend see the error of her ways so that she can escape suffering. We love it when Gaston falls from the tower to be shattered on the unyielding stones of the Beast’s castle, because that guy was nasty. Human civilization has a rather grotesque grasp on justice. Sin must be met with suffering—loss of freedom, health, or privileges. We are convinced, down to the marrow of our bones, that bad people deserve to suffer. While I think our ability to navigate justice well could use more than a little improvement, wouldn’t mentoring and healthy communities be a better approach, I do also appreciate the reality of bad behavior. Bad behavior often requires consequences, and consequences can be painful.

One could even write this rather convincing sentence: all sin causes suffering for the self and/or others.

This sentence is even true based on my definition of sin, but logic does not allow for the reverse sentence: all suffering of the self and others is caused by sin.

Suffering just is. Suffering is inherent to life. For those of us seeking to live a spiritual life, suffering is something we must contend with. We must wrestle to the break of day with poverty, hunger, and injustice because we are not free to dismiss them as the consequences of sin. We must gather the broken and bleeding to our very bosom, for, I suspect, it is in that way that salvation lies.

Suffering exists. God is love. Love includes suffering.

The Practice

And You Shall Live centers on breathing spiritual practice. Each week, participants will be offered a breathing practice with an optional silent prayer mantra.

This breathing practice is a pyramid practice. The metronome below can be used to provide a measured rhythm to the breaths. The practice starts with an inspiration for one beat and an expiration for one beat without pausing between breathing in or out. After each expiration, one beat is added to the next set until you are breathing in for seven beats and out for seven beats. At that point, the process is reversed, the breaths becoming shorter by one beat after each expiration.

Breathing Practice:

In, Out
In, In, Out, Out
In, In, In, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, In, Out, Out, Out, Out
In, In, In, Out, Out, Out
In, In, Out, Out
In, Out

Prayer Mantra:

Dry Bones
We Have Dry Bones
We Have Found Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength Down Deep In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength Down Through Sorrow Deep In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength Down Through Joy and Sorrow Deep In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength Down Through Sorrow Deep In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength Down Deep In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Strength In Our Dry Bones
We Have Found Our Dry Bones
We Have Dry Bones
Dry Bones

For Thought

The question . . . is whether there is Spiritual healing, and if it exists, how it is related to the other ways of healing, and further, how it is related to that kind of healing which in the language of religion is called “salvation.” (Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol. III, p 277)

Read Aloud:

The dry bones of hopelessness and despair can learn to dance again, but salvation and healing come through death and resurrection. Teach us to dance. Amen.

The Response

These questions can be used to help the group engage with the reflection.

What did you notice during the Practice?

What did you notice during the Reflection?

How would you like to grow in response?

After each person shares, the group will offer a blessing to each person:

Christ, give us the courage to hear and be heard.

Responsive Reading

Adapted from Luke 10 and Ezekiel 37

A. A man fell into the hands of robbers who left him half dead.

B. “Mortal, can these bones live?”

A. The religious saw him and passed by on the other side.

B. “O Lord God, you know.”

A. A Samaritan was moved with pity and took care of him.

B: “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them:

A: Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

B: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”

Closing Prayer

Spirit of Truth, we live in a world enmeshed in deceit. We are assaulted by images of what we should be, what we should desire, what it means to be happy. We learn that the world cannot be trusted—no one is coming to save you. Source of Love, we long for you to make sense of the brutality of life. Hold us in your embrace until we are saturated by love. Let that be a baptism of salvation for the world.

Blessing

Go, love the world, knowing that you are accompanied and encouraged by Love. This, then, is salvation, to be loved and to love even though you die.

Modules

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