By the Soul Matters Sharing Circle Team
God give us rain when we expect sun.
Give us music when we expect trouble.
Give us tears when we expect breakfast.
Give us dreams when we expect a storm.
Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations.
God play with us, turn us sideways and around.
— Michael Leunig
We’ve all heard the line: “You get what you expect.” It’s very UU. Liberal religion has always emphasized the tremendous power human beings have to shape their reality. And not just with our actions, but also with our expectations. We know that if you expect people to be good, they will likely rise to the task. If you have faith in your plans, opportunities will likely appear.
And yet shaping reality and trusting reality are two very different things.
Sometimes we UUs become so focused on taking hold of life that we lose the spiritual skill of allowing life to hold us. And there’s a lot at stake in being able to do both. We human beings weren’t just made to manifest our power; we were born to learn we are part of a greater whole. Yes, we are strong, but we also tire. And so the question at the core of our souls is not just “Can I expect to make an imprint on life?” but “Can I trust life to carry me if I let go and rest?”
Philip Booth puts us in touch with this deep part of ourselves with his poem called First Lesson. In it, he tells his daughter,
Daughter, believe
me, when you tire on the long thrash
to your island,…
remember… what I told you:
lie gently and wide to the light-year
stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.
So how about you? What are your expectations of this sacred but stormy sea in which we all swim? Do you have faith that this wildly unpredictable life of ours won’t lead you astray? When your expectations get turned on their head, do you see that as a threat or are you willing to lean in? Are you willing to let life’s currents lead you where they will?
And notice, this isn’t just about whether or not we trust life; it’s also about how willing we are to loosen our grip and let our preferred expectations go.
Which isn’t easy for any of us!
It’s why, ultimately, we need prayers like Michael Leunig’s as much as we need poems like Philip Booth’s. We need life to upend us as much as we need it to hold and carry us. Those holy disruptions force our hand. They break our grip. Only then do we fall. And discover we can count on being caught.
So bring on those unruly dogs and unpredictable tears. Let the rain disrupt our forecasts of sun. May Life indeed turn us sideways and around and lead us unexpectedly but safely home!
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Each month, Soul Matters offers a packet of inspirational readings, spiritual exercises, and questions for reflection. WUU posts those packets on the password-protected Members area of our website. To download the packet on this month’s theme, click here: September Packet.
To request the password, please contact the WUU office at office@wuu.org or 757-220-6830.