Such a Gift

“Life itself is a gift, everything else is windfall.” This is a phrase I recall uttered by The Rev. John Claypool in 1986, when he delivered talks at the ecumenical symposium in Midland, Texas. Yes, he explained the insight on which Jesus built his life in ministry is the loveliest truth in all the world. He named it quite simply:  “Life is gift; birth and everything else is windfall.” I always thought that phrase sounding in my head resonated with the passage in our Sunday Epistle—the Letter of James:

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose, he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:17-20)

The One who is light and mercy gave all the good that comes to you. Claypool points out the following implication: none of us earned our way into this world by what we did or did not do. It was granted to us out of pure generosity, given out of everlasting mercy. He said it is the truth in the depth of all being “the secret of all secrets in the Christian vision of reality.” Our worth is not something we have to earn or to deserve, and it was this sense of life as a gift that enabled Jesus to minister as he did. Moreover, it was the nugget of saving truth by which Jesus opens people’s eyes. People glimpsed the unfathomable generosity which lies at the heart of God. With this theme in mind, read through this prayer, the Collect of the Day for Sunday. There is a fit:

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works.

When we know God as the Giver, generous in all good things, it fosters our generosity and graciousness with others. We could give many examples, but I will hold up one. Have you ever considered what a generous thing it is to listen to others? When you tune in and give your attention to another person, it is a gift to that person. Norman Fischer makes the point that listening is a way to show hospitality. He calls it an essential mark of maturity, involving a radical openness to others:

Listening is basic and crucial because it is the soil out of which all the fruits of our human relationships grow. Listening takes radical openness to another, and radical openness requires surrender. This is why listening is frightening, although we don't usually think of it that way. It requires a kind of fearless self-confidence that most of us have never developed. (Norman Fischer, Taking Our Place, HarperOne, reprint 2004)

I am especially interested in this development of ourselves—the listening practice—because of how it develops our character. In it, God unleashes the fullness of our humanity. On Saturday, September 25, at 10:00 A.M. in the bride’s room, I am opening a session of Group Spiritual Direction: Holy Listening. It facilitates a group offering the hospitality of their attention and deep listening to the person sharing that day from their experience. The subsequent four sessions will be held on the 3rd Saturday of each month, same time and place: Oct.16, Nov. 20, Dec 18. Contact me if you have an interest. This chance to listen and hear—this chance to share and be heard—I believe will be for the participants a “generous act of giving, a perfect gift from above, coming down from the Father of lights.”