pillows and prayers

two monks went up onto a hill to pray on a windy day.
at the insistence of the one, they both brought pillows.

upon attaining the summit, the other monk sat down and began to ready his pillow for a time of lengthy prayer and meditation. the one, however, remained standing. with his eyes he followed the wind as it bent the trees and brushed the weeds back and forth in waves through the valley below.

the seated monk began to pray and meditate.
the standing monk continued to stand, looking down.

after awhile, the seated monk hazarded a glance, with one eye, towards his standing comrade. with a swift and decisive motion, the standing monk produced a knife from beneath his habit and cut open his pillow, releasing the feathers, surprisingly multi-coloured, into the valley, carried by the wind.

the seated monk stood up and walked to his friend's side. the standing monk, whose idea it had been to bring pillows this day on their prayer walk, remained silent.

the wind continued to blow and the feathers continued to drift to and fro for quite some time, each one eventually finding the ground on the terms established for it by that wind and of course by the spinning of the earth.

the once-seated monk finally asked:
brother, how will you pray in comfort, now that you have no pillow?

his teacher replied:
i would rather sacrifice to make this world a softer place
than pray comfortable prayers.

***

God doesn’t call us to comfort, but to make an impact.
Awareness is a big issue-
we all need to see that what we can do together is
bigger than what any of us can do on our own.
(Scott Ridout)

***

in order to make an impact, a force must be directed towards a target and released… we have some difficulty with releasing- with letting go…

Jesus points this out in his great story of stewardship, found in matthew 25.14-29. you remember- the one where the three guys are entrusted with gifts and the one 'wicked, lazy servant', fearing for his future lest the truth about his management skills be discovered and the gift be lost, buries his in the ground? well, there is a very strongly telling statement made at the end of Jesus' story which divides the world into two types of people: the HAVES and the HAVE-NOTS. he says:

For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. (matthew 25.29)

so the orientation question hangs in the air:
am i a HAVE or a HAVE NOT?

see, i don't believe for a moment that this story is saying God is interested in a bizarro world robin hood thing, making the rich folks richer by robbing from the poor. it has to do with two basic mindsets: being able to see what one has (the HAVES) versus only being able to see what one does NOT have (the HAVE-NOTs).

it's like the difference between times of want times of plenty.
recession versus procession.

a recession can be described as a time of economic contraction- the time of withdrawal or cessation from the usual work or activity. in buying into a recession mindset- to that of being a HAVE NOT, we clench, going against the natural and healthy procession that takes us forward with courage and optimism in the direction of God’s dream of an end to disparity and injustice for all…

in a recession mindset, we can lose track of a crucial truth about all that we have: God owns it and it is given to us in trust. once we receive this truth, we become more generous, less clenched. we are even able to become less selfish and more aware of the needs of those around us. it probably has to do with maslow's hierarchy or needs: once the basic needs of shelter and sustenance are met, people start to become increasingly aware of community and of the role they are to play within community.

earlier on in matthew's gospel, Jesus says “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” it is in the context of sending his friends out to share the light and hope of the gospel with the people in their neighbourhood…

when we reorient to the God-honouring perspective of HAVE, we are more prone to live that out amongst those with whom we share this space... who may very well struggle with being HAVE NOT.

what will i do with my pillow and my prayer today?