Let your life speak

The Resources

Parker Palmer wrote a book, which I love, with that title – Let your life speak – and it’s about his experience of recognising, at some point in his own life, that he was deeply unhappy and that he was deeply unhappy because he had followed an expected path. He had lived someone else’s idea of what was good for Parker. He had pushed himself to chase a dream he wasn’t even dreaming, to act out a script he didn’t write. And he tells how somewhere inside him a quiet rebellion had been going on, slowly gathering momentum, pulling in more and more of his energy, and eventually quite literally stopping him in his tracks.

At that point he realised that the life he was living was not the life that wanted to be lived through him. It wasn’t that he wanted a different life. It was that LIFE wanted to flow in him, through him, with him – and he was getting in the way. So let your life speak, he counsels. There is something uniquely you shaped that wants to flow into the world, and if you allow that, if you open to that, it would be…all would be… well.

So slow down – even better, stop. Hush. Stay where you are and listen. Listen for the small voice within, listen for the rising sense of ‘knowing’ that comes not from the mind but from your soft animal body, listen for the deep stirrings of your heart – this is how the soul speaks, this is how your life speaks.

Like a small, and timid wild creature in the forest, your soul waits until it is safe to venture out of hiding. And then, honest to God, it takes out a box of matches and sets the whole thing on fire.

Which is good, right? Because a forest fire is needed every now and then. Because some things need a fire before they can grow. Because some of what’s been planted doesn’t belong in the forest…maybe a lot of what’s planted. And some of it has got a bit out of control.

The Evangelical Tradition, according to the Renovare folks, is mostly focussing on the spoken words of good news. When we gathered, we talked quite a bit about evangelical and Evangelicalism, and our experiences with those aspects in our faith journey. We didn’t really touch into this part about the spoken words, except to mention the commitment talks, the sinner’s prayer, the ABC of conversion (Accept Jesus, Believe in penal substitutional atonement theory and Confess your sins).

So it’s time to consider the speaking bit.

Francis – to preach or not to preach?

The Renovare folks highlight St Francis in their exploration of the Evangelical Stream, and I admit that I found this very odd to begin with. I have a soft spot for this saint, enjoyed reading and learning about him, and absolutely loved Assisi when I visited, but I’m no Franciscan. The stories I know best about him are ones where he behaved rather strangely. Not just kissing the leper, going to chat with the wolf or preaching to the birds, but also ones where he voluntarily stripped naked – and he did that on numerous occasions. One time, he ordered one of his monks to strip and then go into town and preach. I think this was as a penance and to learn humility. But after the brother had set off into town, Francis had a change of heart – perhaps this penance was too harsh? And so he also stripped and set off after the monk. When he got to Assisi, Francis apologised to the monk and then preached so eloquently that many people were moved to repentance and there was a general outpouring of grace and forgiveness.

The reason the Renovare team chose Francis as an exemplar of this stream is the story of his discerning over his calling. Should he and his monks withdraw from the world and dedicate themselves wholly to prayer, or should they instead find a rhythm of prayer and preaching? The order was mendicant, meaning they begged for food and for provision of their material needs, so they were choosing between a cloistered life of prayer or one that included roaming and preaching and evangelism. (St Clare and her sisters, by the way, were also a mendicant order and they did lead a cloistered life, although they would never have been allowed to preach so there was no decision to be made by them.)

Francis enlisted Clare and another monk to pray for him as he discerned, and they both said, ‘Preach, Francis, preach’. So he did.

There’s a saying attributed to St Francis you may have come across:

Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary use words

Not actually said by Francis

I know, it’s kind of disappointing, but there’s no record of him saying this anywhere, ever. But he did say this:

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.

Francis of Assisi

And in a way, that’s a more nuanced expression of the thing he didn’t say. Francis was deeply committed to both the embodiment and the preaching of the gospel, and what he understood the gospel to be is simply this: the work of God to restore all of creation to Godself for God’s glory.

So, since the ‘message’ of the gospel is not a formula for salvation or a set of beliefs to assent to, what is it? How is it communicated whether embodied or proclaimed? How do you tell the good news of God’s love restoring all of creation? I know. It was so easy when it was packaged up in an ABC, even when I never wanted to proclaim that to anyone.

What do you think?

For me, the part that has changed more than anything else in my understanding of the good news of the gospel, is Love. When you are consumed with a sense of shame and guilt, when you despair of ever having any agency, when your sense of life and the world is coloured by pain and resentment and fear of judgement or of attack, love is really hard to receive. In part because of worthiness issues, but also because the God who loves you is also the God who punishes, who inflicts, who distances, who condemns, and disdains.

So, I have changed and the story has changed, eh?

The Practices

These are all about storying because this is the part that’s harder to embody! Who might you tell a story to this week? It’s not that hard, you already tell loads of stories….this is just about being intentional with those stories. When you are relating the events of the day, when you are reminiscing with a friend, when you are imagining and planning for the future, when you are promoting a book you loved or a movie that spoke to you…maybe some of what you communicate might be how love, peace or hope showed up for you, how you saw freshly, how you embodied and what that meant to you.

Telling stories…of love

Here are some story prompts to get you started:

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me…

The person who taught me the most about love is…

The person who challenges me the most…

Is challenging someone loving?? Oooo, I’d like to hear those stories. Ask your friends, ask your partner, ask your children, ask the barista or the waiter, ask whoever. It’s bound to be an interesting conversation.

Telling stories ….of peace

While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.

Francis of Assisi

Peace is elusive. I want to say it’s a high level spiritual fruit and also that it’s experienced as a sometimes treat. But every now and then, amazingly, peace rises. Often when I’ve done some preparation for it (meditation, centering prayer, yoga, exhaustive physical exercise) and sometimes when I’m desperate and I surrender into trusting that whatever is unfolding I am held in a web of love and belonging and I won’t fall out of it.

What anchors you in peace? What prepares you to receive it? How are you held? How do you talk about it? Who needs to hear that story?

Telling stories….of hope

The Well Gardened Mind book talks about planting seeds as an act of hope. Stories can plant seeds too.

Take some time to reflect on the people you have journeyed through life with, considering that your every day living is part of how we tell the story of our growth – slow, uneven, and occasionally untidy though it may be. What do you notice as you look with compassion and generosity for signs of growth from ideas you planted – maybe even years ago?

What does your life say?