Flipping the Hourglass

Something someone said made me think of the large hourglass side-table in my parents’ living room. I remember picking it up, flipping it over, then sitting and watching the grains of sand slip down from one chamber to the other. Like my view of life at the time, it seemed endless. Now, as I think back on the grains of sand, I recall the countless moments of my life that have come and gone, and I wonder if it is possible to flip the hourglass over?

I don’t mean, is it possible to turn back time? I gave up that fantasy long ago. Instead, can the experiences we’ve had – the people we have known, the successes and failures we’ve had, and the places we’ve gone and things we’ve seen – be used in the time we have left? Can we take all that has happened and all we’ve experienced and flip the hourglass so those grains of sand shape the time we have left?

I remember a scene from a favorite movie when a character goes through a dramatic moment. It came out of nowhere, and suddenly what was awful turned out to bring about a radical change in the character. As those looking on applauded, the teacher leaned in and whispered, “Don’t you forget this.” Like flipping the hourglass, the character was taught to use what happened in his past to feed and shape his future.

Flipping over the hourglass changes the way I see my past. It encourages me to use my past to transform my future.

Leaping over Bulls

The connection was unmistakable, and I moved in closer to listen. He was speaking of his love for an ancient mural (a man leaping over a bull) and explained how it had served him well throughout his childhood. Learning issues had plagued him throughout his childhood, and then a teacher at his boarding school suggested that he not write a paper but makesomething. Working with his hands to create a model of what the other students were writing about awakened something within him that eventually led to a successful career as an architect. Like the childhood mural, he had learned to leap with the bull.

As someone with a learning difference, I know well the struggles at school. More than that, however, as a minister I know the countless bulls that come charging at us as we seek to live lives of faith. They lower their heads and come charging whether we are ready or not, and our first thought is to charge right back (or stick them with a spear). The ancient wisdom captured in the mural suggests a more excellent way. Maybe it’s a sudden health issue, a job crisis, or a devastating blow to a relationship, bulls come in all shapes and sizes. Instead of charging, perhaps we need to learn how to leap.

I can’t help but think of the alcoholic who surrenders rather than lives another day trying to control his drinking and finds new life while twirling in the air above the bull. I think of the couple who had to navigate a new job that required regular international travel. It leads to “sporadic honeymoons,” as they call them, around the globe. I also think about the small, struggling company that found great success when they grabbed the horns of new technology and became a virtual giant.

Earlier this year, the struggling student got to see the original mural. With tears in his eyes, he could see how it had saved his life, and I couldn’t help but see how learning how to leap over bulls had saved mine, and maybe yours, as well.

Leaning in and listening.

“Now there was leaning on Jesus' chest one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.” John 13:23

“Pay attention.  Be astonished.  Tell about it.” Mary Oliver

It was an unusual detail to mention – a disciple leans into Jesus – but it led to a distinct spiritual tradition that has much to teach us today. In Ireland, a religious community sought to follow the example of John, or the disciple who leaned into Jesus, and live lives where they leaned into Christ and listened for God’s heartbeat. Of all the spiritual practices, I’m not sure there’s a better one than this.

I remember when my daughter put her head on my chest as we watched a movie. “I can hear your heartbeat, Daddy,” she said. It made me smile. It was as if we were one.

It takes intention to lean into God, and it takes discipline to listen for God’s heartbeat. There are countless people, places, and things calling for our attention, and it takes effort and practice to lean into our relationship with God. So, too, it’s difficult to hear God’s heartbeat. But it’s there. With our ear against God’s chest, so to speak, we can hear the soft steady beat of God’s heart.

Thump, thump . . . you are not alone.

Thump, thump . . . I’m right beside you.

Thump, thump . . . follow me, I’ll lead you to a more excellent way.

All we have to do is lean in and listen.

 In what way could you lean into God today? When have you heard God’s heartbeat in your life?

“And what if all of animated nature

Be but organic Harps diversely fram’d,

That tremble into thought, as o’er them sweeps

Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze,

At once the Soul of each, and God of all?”  Coleridge