Moderator Mardi Tindal's blog: Bearing witness to soul
Posted on: 11/05/2009 18:45
Welcome to my blog—a place to reflect with me on God’s abundant healing of soul, community, and creation. I hope you will visit often and be part of this sacred conversation.
The front page of the morning newspaper quotes an 11-year-old girl saying, among other things, “If you’re going to go through life, truth is big.”
She’s right. Truth is big, and truth is at the heart of soul. So first, the truth is that I’ve been distracted from blogging by mourning the death of my mother-in-law, Ruth Tindal. Ruth lived a “wild and precious” life, to quote poet Mary Oliver, and the truth is that family times like these require attention and energy, spiritually and otherwise. So I’ve been bearing witness to my own soul’s grief over Ruth’s death and bearing witness to the truth of Ruth’s soul too.
I’ve also been deeply immersed in Courage to Lead® work over the past couple of weeks, being reminded again of the importance of that wise girl’s words. Truth is big indeed. Becoming reacquainted with the truth of our own souls in safe, trustworthy Circles of Trust® is an experience of holy ground for soul’s truth-telling in community.
At the close of our fall retreat with clergy and congregational leaders (which I co-facilitated with Russ Moxley), I found myself moved to offer a closing blessing in the form of a camp song:
The Spirit in me greets the Spirit in you, Hallelujah!
God is in us and we are in God, Hallelujah!
Christ’s strength was made visible in his vulnerability. And those of us who lead in Christ’s name do well to remember—and experience—the truth of his Way. We cannot live others’ faith journey for them. We can choose to live our own faith journey truthfully and vulnerably, and make it safe for others to do the same. When I witness fully to my own soul—when I’m honest with myself about what is true and false in my own life—I feel a deeper sense of being accompanied by Christ. And when I bear witness to the truth of another’s soul and allow the other that safe space she or he needs to show up fully, then together we are able to bear witness to the truth of Spirit in our lives and to the truth of God’s healing within us and beyond.
This work has led me to some surprising places, and to attend to healing in creation.
On October 24th I accepted an invitation to speak on behalf of The United Church of Canada, and on behalf of other Canadian churches through KAIROS, at one of the 350 climate change rallies. I’m not sure I would have accepted this invitation had I not done my own truth-telling first with myself and others about the urgency of the ecological crisis. To decline the invitation would have, for me, been a choice of cowardice and falsehood over courage and truth.
Photo by Marion Current
I spoke about why, as a religious leader, I would stand with others to call for a courageous response to the challenge of climate change—the greatest moral and spiritual challenge of our time. I spoke not only for myself but also for The United Church of Canada, and on behalf of the many decisions taken by the 40th General Council in relation to climate change. A proposal brought by Montreal & Ottawa Conference, which the General Council approved, calls upon the Moderator to be among those bringing this challenge to the forefront. I am honoured to do so.
There was some blogosphere debate following that rally about the appropriateness of inviting a religious leader to speak at such a public event. I am grateful for all of the safe places of bearing witness to soul that make it possible for me to speak in what feel like less safe places.
Where have you found safe places to bear witness to the truth of your soul?
How has that given you courage for the places that don’t feel so safe?
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pupil
My Wednesday morning bible
Posted on: 11/16/2009 20:43
My Wednesday morning bible study group at my church has become a very important part of my week. I wouldn’t miss it. I walked in there one day a little more than a year ago, and right away knew I had walked into a blessing. I had been in another bible study group before, one that was also very meaningful to me but that group came to an end and this had corresponded with my move to another town. At the time I was considering going back to school and studying further. I was very enthusiastic about finding a new group which I did immediately, but soon after discovered I could not belong in that group. I either had to stay and pretend I was comfortable with a lack of discussion or I had to go, so I went. Actually I fled after a member of the group stood behind me and demanded that Satan leave me.[I had questioned, not out of rudeness but because I thought that study implied discussion. Apparently this isn’t so. Sometimes study means something else entirely. ] That particular group spent a lot of time discussing Satan, a weirdly disport ionate amount of time. They even came to my house and offered to check for demons. I am not being sarcastic I’m afraid. They came, they checked, they were concerned with a houseplant and a book about Jezebel. As luck would have it I almost immediately found another study group, and I had even asked in advance about their thoughts on Satan and we had such a good laugh about my encounter with the demon busters but at the third meeting I was told that the Holocaust was just God’s way of housekeeping. I was being ‘taught’ to understand by a very kindly woman who patted my hand and assured me that one day I would come to understand. She gave me a book and signed her name under the words ‘your friend in Christ’. "For now,"she told me, "you can only take milk." So I fled again, not just worried about mental illness this time but deeply grieved. I did not join another group or attend church again for about 7 years. I was reluctant to walk into St. Paul’s on that September day, but something edged me towards the doors and in I went. The bible study group at this church has been meeting together for decades. It is mostly older women. Most have known each other literally forever. I was a little thrown off when I first entered the room because I was uncertain how well I could fit into a group where most members were 20 or more years my senior and who were held together by an incredible amount of history. They were so warm and welcoming and it was very much a relief to find open intelligent discussion. This is where I am most in tune to my soul. I am with God when I am in that room. When I am prayed for I feel the presence strong and clear. I am in the right place and I know this because my questions are welcome and the sense of history among these women is somehow shared with me because every Wednesday at 9:45 time is put on hold and the soul is nurtured.