Sacred Connections: Mixing Things Up
Many of us may think of “mixing things up” as not a good thing, perhaps an error, or an indication of a need for some concern. But “mixing things up” proactively allows us to open new doors. Many of us have struggled with or adapted to a period of sameness, containment, smallness that became our new norm. Now we can see and feel things opening up around us; we can discern what feels comfortable and explore what might revitalize us a bit.
Earlier this week, along with the cicadas, I stretched my wings – enough for a two-day road trip visiting friends in Northwestern Indiana. This was my first out-of-town adventure since the beginning of the pandemic, and despite rusty packing and social skills, it was such a happy thing. These two days were truly vacation, old friends and new scenery, laughter and wine, and someone else cooking, with scrumptious meals. There were two stops at DQs for chocolate dipped soft serve, and two stops at a local art gallery for treasures to bring home. Mixing things up! A change of scene. It wasn’t a bucket list trip to Paris, but it was exactly what I needed, and the most I was ready for.
Last week there was a different kind of mixing things up, right in my church office, and also at home. There was looking at the spaces I spend most of my time in with fresh eyes and figuring out how to make them work better for the days ahead. At church, my desire was to have my office again be a space for people to come and talk when we are able to, and that meant shifting furniture, allowing greater distance in seating for safety, comfort and ease. Every moveable piece of furniture was moved, except for one. It feels fresh, welcoming, and safe to me, and I hope especially to all who will eventually join me there. I was accommodating the needs of this time of pandemic transition, but it was also tending and care for the space that I’m privileged to share with you. It was re-inviting the Holy Spirit into a space largely closed this past year.
In the early days of the pandemic, I heard many speak of the deep cleaning and organizing they’d done at home. That wasn’t me. For many, this past year has been a boon for home improvements, for gardens, and patios. I did some repurposing of space, some furniture moving, some modest clearing out. But to a great degree, many areas that had been neglected, remained so, and some piles had increased in size. Perhaps some of you have experience with those piles too? Friends guided me to someone with fresh eyes, and no harsh judging, who could help me mix things up further at home. It’s only been baby steps so far, yet seeing some open space emerge is quite energizing and liberating too. It helps me see more possibilities; it opens more new doors.
Mixing things up with a change of scene outside, inside, at work at home, gives us a fresh look, a renewed vantage point for embracing the transitions we are in and the ones to come. For many of us, our lives have been very differently patterned this past year, and we’ve found some aspects of that pattern that we appreciate, and some we may be ready to change again. But for those of us still finding ourselves struggling a bit, still not quite at ease with the latest transitions, still not sure of the choices we want to make, starting small, mixing things up just a little, may give us a taste of freedom for greater change. Even simply changing which chair we always sit in, profoundly changes our vantage point.
For those of us who enjoy sudoku or crosswords, scrabble or jigsaw puzzles, we’ve probably had the experience of staring at the same array of numbers, clues, letters or pieces and being baffled, feeling stuck. So, we look for something else we can figure out, a different section of the puzzle and try from there. With jigsaw puzzles, it may be literally switching seats at the table, or turning the puzzle around. It may be realizing the piece we’re looking for may look very different then what we had assumed. When we’re stuck, we know we need to shift gears, mix things up, try another approach.
When we begin to allow new movement in our lives, we are opening to Spirit too. We are opening to new understanding, perspective, vision and possibilities. We are opening to new encounters with loved ones and strangers, neighbors all. We are opening to new encounters with ourselves. We are opening to engaging with God’s creation, and the little corners of it entrusted to us. We are opening to sacred life and to holy laughter. Always, we are further opening to love.
