Faith Venture

Jesus told stories about being a good steward of what you have been given by God.

Different people have different takes on what that means.

Some people look at a piece of land and marvel in the beauty of nature, the trees, wildlife, streams.

Some people look at a piece of land and envision it flowering with cash crops to provide a living and feed the population.

For others, the cash crop is a hotel, or casino, or homes, or businesses.

I’m not taking sides among those. I don’t want early morning arguments. I love experiencing nature. I like to eat. I appreciate having a house in which to live even though just a few years ago this was a corn field—now a development larger than my home town.

But we can all live better without polluting our drinking water. And unleashing all those plastic bags that fly with the wind and drift with ocean currents everywhere eventually killing animals which will eventually kill us. (Yes, I’m aware that due to the fear of spreading viruses we are back to single use bags rather than bringing our reusable bags to the store. The nice young lady at Trader Joe’s reminded us of that the other day.)

Today is the 50th Earth Day. Pause for a moment today and contemplate at least one action that can become a habit that cleans and protects our. Earth.

I tried this Thomas Mann quote once and an engineer took him literally, but here goes again. Allow your mind and vision to expand as you contemplate, “If everyone swept in front of their house, the whole world would be clean.”

“Let your gift sweat in your hands until you know to whom to give it.”

I opened The Didache (did-uh-kay) this morning for my reading. Reading from the first commandment which begins with Jesus’ commandments to love God and love our neighbor, the anonymous writer used about half of the paragraph to describe gifts. We receive gifts from God (and presumably others). If we are in need, use the gifts with gratitude. If you are not in need and fail to pass the gift on, you are guilty and must answer for your sin. “Let your gift sweat in your hands until you know to whom to give it.”

Remarkably, my book of the week is The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World by Lewis Hyde. I am only about half finished. Thus far he is exploring various types of gift giving in a variety of cultures throughout human history.

This is a tradition among many peoples and times. Yet, how rare in modern times.

Yet, it is an important teaching from the earliest of Christian teachers. The Didache was written most likely about the same time as the Gospels and used for teaching by most early teachers. Its author is anonymous, therefore (and could be male or female, by the way), so since it could not be traced back to a first generation apostle, it was not accepted into the Canon (New Testament). Still, it and The Shepherd of Hermas are important books for teaching discipleship.

In the context of the first commandment where this is found, the obvious intent is to pass along gifts we receive if we do not need them to someone who is in need. Hoarding has never been a Christian virtue. Sharing has.

The best leaders can exert intellectual control over their emotions. It is not that they don’t have emotions—that would be cold and mechanical. It is not that they don’t inspire emotions—people will follow leaders who inspire their best emotions.

However, when followers always feel as if they are in some quicksand of ever changing and intense emotional outbursts, stability and willingness to follow are sacrificed. People are always wasting time reading the emotional temper of the day and trying to adjust their actions and words to fit.

Don’t consider this mere theory. Once the president of my company perhaps indulged in more than adequate amount of martinis before speaking to a conference of the company’s top management team and proceeded to rip the department led by his rival for the top spot. Another leader exhibited bi-polar symptoms disappearing for a few days and then writing inane emails 24-hours-a-day for a couple of days. Neither was a success or inspired confidence.

Here are some thoughts for us as we try to develop a higher emotional intelligence and improve our chances for leadership success. I didn’t note the source of these but I suspect Daniel Goleman.

1. You have a robust emotional vocabulary.

All people experience emotions, but it is a select few who can accurately identify them as they occur. People with high EQs master their emotions because they understand them, and they use an extensive vocabulary of feelings to do so. The more specific your word choice, the better insight you have into exactly how you are feeling, what caused it and what you should do about it.

2. You’re curious about people.

It doesn’t matter if they’re introverted or extroverted, emotionally intelligent people are curious about everyone around them. This curiosity is the product of empathy, one of the most significant gateways to a high EQ. The more you care about other people and what they’re going through, the more curiosity you’re going to have about them.

3. You embrace change.

Emotionally intelligent people are flexible and are constantly adapting. They know that fear of change is paralyzing and a major threat to their success and happiness. They look for change that is lurking just around the corner, and they form a plan of action should these changes occur.

4. You know your strengths and weaknesses.

Emotionally intelligent people don’t just understand emotions; they know what they’re good at and what they’re terrible at. They also know who pushes their buttons and the environments (both situations and people) that enable them to succeed.

5. You’re a good judge of character.

Much of emotional intelligence comes down to social awareness; the ability to read other people, know what they’re about, and understand what they’re going through. Over time, this skill makes you an exceptional judge of character.

6. You are difficult to offend.

If you have a firm grasp of whom you are, it’s difficult for someone to say or do something that gets your goat. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident and open-minded, which creates a pretty thick skin.

7. You let go of mistakes.

Emotionally intelligent people distance themselves from their mistakes, but do so without forgetting them. By keeping their mistakes at a safe distance, yet still handy enough to refer to, they are able to adapt and adjust for future success.

8. You give and expect nothing in return.

When someone gives you something spontaneously, without expecting anything in return, this leaves a powerful impression.

9. You don’t hold grudges.

The negative emotions that come with holding onto a grudge are actually a stress response. Just thinking about the event sends your body into fight-or-flight mode, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat.

10. You neutralize toxic people.

Dealing with difficult people is frustrating and exhausting for most. When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation rationally. They identify their own emotions and don’t allow anger or frustration to fuel the chaos. They also consider the difficult person’s standpoint and are able to find solutions and common ground.S

11. You appreciate what you have.

Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the right thing to do; it also improves your mood because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23 percent. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

12. You disconnect.

Taking regular time off the grid is a sign of a high EQ because it helps you to keep your stress under control and to live in the moment.

13. You get enough sleep.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams) so that you wake up alert and clearheaded.

“Be patient and understanding,” he said, “and you will overcome all evil deeds and will accomplish all righteousness.” —The Shepherd of Hermas, a first-century document used by Christian teachers of the time.

He continues, “For the Lord lives in patience, but the devil lives in an angry temper.”

“But an angry temper is first of all foolish, fickle, and senseless. Then from foolishness comes bitterness, and from bitterness wrath, and from wrath anger, and from anger vengefulness. Then vengefulness, being composed of all these evil elements, becomes a great and incurable sin.”

Why do I spend no more than about 15-20 minutes a day on Facebook and Twitter? Did you ever go back in a quiet moment and read the things you post and pass along?

It amazes me that we can look at teaching that is close to 2,000 years old seeing that it perfectly captures the status of the human heart today.

When I entered a life of contemplation more than 50 years ago, I thought all the teaching would be about “enlightenment”. Instead, it’s all about conquering all the evil in the heart and trying to live the right way.

It’s like the ancient Zen Buddhist master said, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

We have to go on living minute-by-minute. How shall we choose to do that?

Staying the course to achieve physical and spiritual health is one of the hardest disciplines.

Mary Poppins may have suggested just a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. We seem to need spoonfuls.

Starting and ending a “diet” to lose weight is so prevalent as to be mythic. The discipline to daily follow a healthful routine that reduces weight as a by-product of healthy living is difficult.

You become infected and the doctor prescribes an antibiotic. Be sure, they warn you, to take the entire dose. Every last pill. But you feel so good after the first two doses that you stop taking the medicine. And you are not cured.

“I need to start praying,” you tell yourself. And you begin…today.

And tomorrow? Well, you never established a special chair for breathing, meditating, praying every day. Soon, it’s all forgotten.

Doing the necessary work of perseverance is not easy. However, it is essential for physical and spiritual well-being.

Either way, begin with a breath. Now…slowly inhale until you cannot hold any more air. Pause. Now…slowly exhale through the mouth for twice the time it took to inhale. Feel better already?

Contagion—the communication of a disease by passing viruses or germs from one to another.

Sometimes the “bugs” spread easily. Sometimes not so much. One can “catch” a cold every winter—maybe more than once. The symptoms are annoying, but seldom life threatening.

It is possible to get the flu every winter, also. But we have vaccinations to reduce the number of infections. Flu is quite life threatening if the victim also has other problems—obesity, sedentary lifestyle, existing illnesses.

Our current illness spreads even easier and faster. It’s effects are stronger. It lasts a little longer.

Ideas spread and movements grow through the same process.

A group of people around Jerusalem 2,000 years ago experienced a resurrected Jesus. They were infected. The “sneezed”, so to speak, and the movement rapidly spread. In just 40 years without any modern communication or transportation, the word had travelled throughout the Roman Empire.

So, I wondered what we are spreading.

• Peace
• Love
• Joy
• Wisdom
• Patience
• Service

Or

• Fear
• Worry
• Untruths
• Ignorance
• Frustration
• Concern only for ourselves

Choose wisely.

Early Christians did not have the luxury of sitting in libraries and engaging in incestuous theological debates with others sitting in libraries idly thinking.

Theology and philosophy (think the Stoics) were formed in the hot crucible of living and figuring out things as they went.

Even the Apostle Paul’s letters were written to address problems in the first gatherings of Christ-followers.

Discipleship and theology are not separate disciplines. They cannot be separated.

Our charter is to both think and do.

For my friend Emily, and perhaps Jon. Oh, and the rest of us. A story from the 4th Century Desert Fathers.

A certain brother came to Abbot Silvanus at Mount Sinai, and seeing the hermits at work, he exclaimed, “Why do you work for the bread that perishes? We read that Mary chose the better part – namely, to sit at the feet of her Lord.”

Then the abbot said to his disciple Zachary, “Give the brother a book, and put him in an empty cell, and let him read.” At the ninth hour the brother who was reading began to wonder why the abbot had not called him to eat. Sometime later he went directly to the abbot and said, “Did the brethren not eat today, father?”

“Oh yes,” said the abbot. “They have just finished their meal.” “Well,” said the brother, “Why did you not call me?” “Because you are a spiritual man,” answered the abbot. “You do not need the food that perishes. The rest of us have to work. But you have chosen the better part; you have read all day and can surely get along without food.”

I don’t know why. Perhaps it was an attack of acesis—the noonday demon. I sinned and browsed Twitter yesterday afternoon. Almost every post was some sort of opinion based on, well, nothing. The only thing I learned were the prejudices of a large number of people.

It is so easy to criticize. It is so hard to do.

There are actually two better ways. One is to study, learn, contemplate. But that must be balanced by going and doing. These are our spiritual practices.

Nowhere at no time did someone teach that the goal of life is to sit on our ever-expanding, er, posteriors and voice unfounded opinions about other people.

I grew up calling this day Good Friday. Always being a lad who thought too much, I’ve pondered the meaning of “Good” for much of my life. True to my Enneagram number—5, The Investigator—I blew a half-hour on Wikipedia this morning.

Good carried over from the archaic use of the word somewhat synonymous to holy.

Now that that is out of the way, I see how easy it is to be distracted. To miss the point.

For Christians, this is the crucial weekend of the faith. Christmas may get all the hype, but without Good Friday leading to Easter Sunday—the death leading to the resurrection—Christianity is nothing.

There used to be a strain of “liberal” Protestantism that doubted the actual historical death and resurrection. To me that always begged the question, “Why bother?”

The actual chain of events would go Good Friday—>Easter Sunday—>Pentecost. God met humans at the Tabernacle in the desert. Then Solomon built a Temple, the place where God met humans through a priest. Then God met humans in the person of Jesus. Then at Pentecost God through the Holy Spirit came to dwell directly with each human. As the Apostle Paul said, our bodies became a Temple.

Why follow our spiritual practices (disciplines) then? It is our way of meeting God and renewing the relationship daily. These are ancient practices, proven over millennia. And today we remember the reason why Christians practice them.

This weekend and the following 40 days changed the world.

Said no one, anywhere.

We, at least in America, are familiar hearing, “I know my rights.”

I recently heard a former Surgeon General of the US state, “We are a nation founded on individual responsibilities.”

I thought, what an interesting take on the founding. Read John Adams (especially) but also Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and the others. They tell us that rights not accompanied by responsibilities are worthless.

But we tend to emphasize rights. Take, for example, local leaders of organizations and churches who defy the orders and suggestions to keep people separated in order to stop the spread of a deadly virus and gather their people together in close quarters. Is it ego at work? Delusion trumping facts and knowledge? “Rights” winning over “Responsibilities”?

Jesus almost always gave a responsibility after a healing or other act. “Go, show yourself to a priest.” “Go and sin no more.” “Go into the world and make disciples.”

When Jesus said to “love one another as I have loved you”, he was not talking about an emotion. It’s an action verb. It means “go-ing” and “do-ing”. It’s a responsibility, not a right.

Christians are celebrating Easter this Sunday (except for the Orthodox when it is the following week). We will not be gathering together. We will be gathering around a computer streaming services live or on demand together and separated. Choosing for our own safety as well as the safety of our friends to stay separated.

It’ll be weird. It’ll be something we talk about for the rest of our lives. But we observe our responsibilities—together, yet separate. Yes, in America we have the right of assembly. But what is our responsibility?