Think Inside The Box

Sometimes it is thinking inside the box that changes the world!

On Sunday morning in our articles class we read a piece from The New York Times written by David Brooks entitled, “How Would Jesus Drive?” Pope Francis’ New Year’s Eve address inspired the column. While I found the piece humorous, what sticks with me stems from Brooks’ channeling of the papal invitation to be “artisans of the good,” who look for ways every day to enact small actions of kindness. Sometimes though, when we gather here on Tuesdays or Wednesdays to celebrate Holy Communion we may miss this invitation.

Our midweek Eucharistic feasts so often center around the lives of those holy ones who have reflected the light of Christ within their own day. Even though we do our best to remember that these folks are just like you and me, we just as readily put “saints” up on a pedestal. In all honesty, many of the people we remember have done remarkable—nearly impossible—things that I could never do on my own. Each holy woman and each holy man we recall though would—most likely—point (quickly) away from their own lives and towards the life of Christ. Still, I find that on the whole we do a miserable job of truly believing that the people in The Great Cloud of Witnesses and Lesser Feasts and Fasts do not walk a few feet off the ground. Today’s Gospel lesson and the person whom the Church celebrates help me to demystify the aura of sainthood, such that I might see how powerful small acts can be.

Julia Chester Emery served as National Secretary of the Women's Auxiliary of the Board of Missions for forty years in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This notable office took her to every Episcopal Diocese and many parts of the Anglican world abroad. While we might think this lengthy tenure raises her stature to some overly lofty level, I find that what stands out about Emery’s life comes in that she was not lording her position over others. Instead, Emery used that office as an opportunity to serve. She modeled her own ministry after that of a humble servant not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of another’s sandal. But, even more than her faithful service was a small profound gift that she gave the Church that we still celebrate to this day.

Often in the world we tell people who want to do something grand to think outside the box, but Julia Chester Emery thought inside the box, so that she might change the way women in the Church affect Jesus’ mission and ministry in this world. Emery creatively envisioned the United Thank Offering (UTO). As you may know twice a year we celebrate an UTO ingathering in which we collect little cardboard boxes. At first Emery gave this out to the Episcopal Church Women as a way to create more funds for mission, but even more than that as a way to practice gratitude on a daily basis.

Emery gifted us through the UTO ingathering an opportunity to practice gratitude on a daily basis. She encouraged her members in the Auxiliary to put a few coins into their cardboard boxes anytime they felt thankful for something. I would extend this small gesture a little further. In this practice we are invited on a daily basis to pause—maybe at the dinner table or when we are getting ready for bed—to take a moment to count our blessings. One of my mentors, the Rev. Annwn Myers put it this way, “As we remember our own blessings, those blessings turn into someone else’s blessings!” God’s reign works in this way, doesn’t it?

The way that Jesus showed through his life leads us into an abundance that overwhelms us. As we begin by counting our blessings and practicing gratitude what we find may be truly life-changing. Julia Chester Emery models for us that we do not need to be Jesus, resurrect the dead, turn water into wine, feed the masses from nothing, or perform miracles. No, as Pope Francis reminded the Christian world at the end of last year, we are called to be artisans of the good who find small ways to be kind. In this season after Epiphany when we receive the light of Christ God calls us to perform small acts of bearing the light with others. We may do this in countless ways: being a good driver, going out of our way to serve someone else, treating an irritating person with kindness, seeing in another the shining beam of Christ’s love, or taking time out to count our blessings, so that they may overflow into other’s lives.