Week 62

God, how may I serve your will today?

Today,

have this question ready in all of your

endeavors:

What is the common good?

This will help expand your 

awareness and concern

for all involved.

It offers a compassionate

lens from which to view and assess

all situations and circumstances.

And it will allow you to discern

my will, that all may be blessed.

Listen with your heart,

consider with love

and watch as the grace of divine presence

moves in you 

and also in the lives you encounter, 

today.

Week 62

Evening Reflection

It never ceases to amaze me how prescient these guidances can be. Today was a busy day of rehearsal, shopping for performance clothes, and holding an evening event with my wife at our studio. I had a morning rehearsal to prepare for an upcoming performance I will be doing with a band. I am an invited guest artist. The question came up as to how many poems I should do? 

As band members offered opinions tension increased. The husband and wife leaders of the band began a passive-aggressive back and forth about it. I began to feel uncomfortable. When it came to be my turn to speak I paused and silently asked God to help me discern the common good, and to help me speak to it. I received a clear guidance of what to say. I told the seven-person band that I was a servant of God and was not sure what God was doing with this opportunity to perform with them. I offered that I was not in control and felt that the decision of my involvement should come from the leaders. I didn’t care how many poems I did, but I offered a line from my book that contained much of the poetry I would be doing. The line was, “You can never get too much of a good word.” I then added, “Plus, the people coming may influence us.” The response from the person who was sitting next to me was, “I forgot. This is not about us and we are not in control.” We all agreed to be flexible and to be ready to allow the attendees to influence the flow of the evening. God’s guidance to pay attention to what could be the common good, and my speaking to what came through, helped ease the tension.  It helped make a final decision, which was to plan but let Spirit have the final say.

After that experience of seeking the common good, my wife and I ventured forth to the mall to do some clothes shopping for our own upcoming performance. We eventually found some clothing that would work. As I was finishing my fitting, unbeknown to me, the salesman asked my wife what it is that I did. She told him, “He’s a pastor and a tap dancer.” When I showed up at the cash register, he referred to me as pastor, which caught me off guard. He was such a gentleman, and seemed to really enjoy talking to the both of us. Finally, in the middle of the sale he says, “Pastor, can I ask you a question?” I said sure. He asked about dealing with the loss of a loved one. He said he had lost his mother recently and didn’t know how to even begin letting go, but felt he was holding her back from truly moving on because they were so close. Now, though my wife and I were on a tight schedule, it was clear that the common good was for me to be patient; to listen to the man and ask God’s guidance in how to respond. The amazing thing is that I had just read an article about this very thing just a couple of hours before! So, I had a fresh response for him. He was so appreciative of what I said that he called over a nearby saleswoman. He told me she had lost her mother the year before, and in my presence he shared what I had said. Along with my wife, we four stood there at a cash register at a major department store discussing love, loss and healing! Well, we finished buying our clothes and left the store feeling we had just had a divine appointment.

Then! At our evening event another example of the common good was about to be witnessed. Jeannine and I host an open house evening every so often at our studio, 

for people to experience who we are and what we do, in hopes they might come to a regular event we put on monthly. Tonight’s event saw a steady flow of visitors. They put on tap shoes and gave it a try as we did very easy steps to some great music. And so it went, until a group of young people came in. They were a group of severely disabled young people, about fifteen in number, and looked to be in their twenties age-wise. Their two group leaders work with an organization that helps persons with disabilities get out and about to experience new things. They were thrilled to have discovered us.

My wife and I welcomed them without missing a beat, as those who were already in the studio looked on with great interest as to how we might incorporate and work with them. I thought about the guidance and focused on the common good of all there. I looked for a way to let them all play. A young woman in a wheel chair was non-verbal, but made loud noises to show her excitement. I let her know she can dance with us too. I asked her to move her wheel chair to the rhythm as I choreographed a simple dance to Michael Jackson music, which they all loved. I encouraged each person to do what he or she could and to just have fun. A shy sightless man did not want to try it out. I said, “Okay, but hear this. This is just for you.” Right in front of him, I did a very fast tap dance improvisation, fluttering my taps as fast as I could and doing intricate rhythms. He lit up with the brightest smile! Afterward we let everyone dance the leaders and other participants who had already been there expressed the joy they felt and told us show much fun they had. Some patrons let us know they really appreciated how we included the surprise group of disabled persons and made everyone feel comfortable. Jeannine and I received lots of hugs. And I think we may have some new participants at our regular events.

What a day for the common good.