You May...

by Traci Hubbard

What do you call a hockey player who questions their bad life choices?

Wayne Regretsky

When you were a child, did you ever play the game, “Mother May I?” One person is selected to be "Mother," while the others stand in a line on the opposite side of the yard or room. Players take turns asking, "Mother, may I take [number] [type of movement] steps?". The Mother answers "Yes, you may" or "No, you may not" (often providing an alternative, such as "No, but you may take 2 baby steps"). The first player to reach the mother wins and typically becomes the new Mother for the next round. If a player moves without permission or forgets to say, "Mother May I," they often have to return to the starting line.

This morning, I am beginning with a simple phrase that carries surprising power: “You may.” Not “you must,” not “you should,” not “you better”—but you may. This is the freedom we have been given in our human journey…YOU MAY…

There’s something freeing about that, isn’t there? It sounds like permission. It sounds like a door unlocking. It sounds like the Spirit is saying, “I’ve given you what you need, now you may step into the life of love I designed for you.”

In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, we read, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice…and be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

The language here is not coercion, it is an invitation. The Lover of our souls doesn’t drag us into transformation, she invites us into a life-giving journey. We may renew our minds. We may refuse to be shaped by every loud opinion, or trending ethos, or middle of the night anxiety trip. If social media had its way, some of us would be transformed into permanently confused, deceived, or outraged squirrels. We would live lives of reaction instead of reflection.

But being free to choose, the heart of the Holy reminds us, “We may step out of any life stealing cycle we have chosen.” We are always free to choose peace over panic, love over bitterness, and especially to become someone new, even if yesterday, or even the last five minutes, didn’t go so well.

Timothy, Paul’s young protégé, writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed… so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Let’s pause for a moment. We know that most of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures were written by a patriarchal pen during political, economic, and religious oppression. We are not literalist’s, however, we are free to think critically about the historical context, speaker, and audience of the text, and then live into the meaning we discover for our lives. Since the energy – the consciousness, the heart of Divine Mystery is pure love, I believe Timothy is reminding us that we are not barely equipped, and that we are not scraping by spiritually like our cell phones at 2% battery. We are thoroughly equipped. How? Because the loving and empowering energy of the Spirit is weaved into our DNA, and is alive, breathing, in our souls.

This means we’re not lacking anything we need to imagine, create, and build a loving life. The wisdom, encouragement, and strength of divine consciousness is inside of us. And when we believe this, trust this, we may choose to think and act differently.

Sometimes we think and then act like we’re missing some secret ingredient. Have any of you ever thought, “If I just had more time… more money… more patience… a different family…” ummmm, I guess it’s just me! This text reminds us that we already have what we need to start loving well right now.

The writer of Hebrews states, “The word of God is alive and active… it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” This is where it gets real. Let’s pause again. The word of God? Remember that the writer’s were not writing their experiences on a laptop listening to dictation from a tape the Holy Fed-exed to them. They were writing out of their cultural relevance, and their personal beliefs, desires, and spiritual experiences/connection with their idea of who God is and what God wants…or what they want God to want for them. As we read and discern the message of the Spirit, the message is not just for our inspiration. It is an invisible cord, an invitation, to connect and interact with the Spirit of LOVE. It is a message that gently (and sometimes not-so-gently) points out…makes clear to us something about our attitude, nudging us to join LOVE and work on thoughts that are driving our feelings and our behavior. Have you ever felt an inner tug saying, “You know that grudge you have been carrying? How’s that been playing out in yo9ur body and your relationships? You know, you can let that go any time you want to.” Don’t be like Pharoah when Moses told him, “Hey Pha, buddy, just say the word, and these frogs invading your entire existence can vanish.” And what does Pharoah say out of his need to be in control, his need to be greater than the God of the Hebrews, “Ummm…get the frog out of our lives tomorrow.” Or do any of you ever feel a tug from the Spirit saying, “Hey Traci, you know that fear you keep surrendering to? You don’t have to carry it anymore.” We are free to allow the Spirit to do heart surgery and clean out what is plugging our arteries that creates static in our ability to tune into the frequency of Love’s voice like black ear wax keeps the voices of our loved ones muffled, and the music of Handel in only E Minors.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer my spiritual corrections in small, polite doses. Like, “LOVE, if you could just send me a nicely worded email about my spiritual ear wax, you know, my flaws that I am blinded to, that would be great.” But here’s the sweet deal, the heart of Divine Energy, of LOVE, loves us too much to leave us untouched by our choices. When our humanity, our ego, our spiritual ear wax is addressed, it is for our freedom to choose wisely so we may grow, we may learn, and we may heal. Why? So, we may become more loving than we ever thought possible.

In 2009, I met a man named Carl and he was not what you’d call “warm.” Carl wasn’t mean, he just wasn’t emotionally available to himself, which imprisoned him to be emotionally able to connect with others. If kindness were a sport, Carl would sit on the bench eating nachos and drinking cheap beer. One day, Carl’s granddaughter asked him, “Grandpa, why don’t you ever hug anyone?” And Carl, was caught off guard, but he answered her saying, “Well… I guess I never thought I could.” That moment stuck with him. Later, someone shared the scriptures we are perusing this morning with him. And for the first time, Carl realized something. He realized he wasn’t stuck, and that meant he wasn’t wired permanently one way. He had an AHA moment that reminded he that he was free to change.

So, Carl began with small steps. Awkwardly small steps. The first hug he gave his granddaughter looked like he was trying to return a borrowed leaf blower. His steps were stiff, accompanied with new confusion that felt slightly dangerous to him. But. His granddaughter smiled like it was the greatest hug in the history of her young life. And something in Carl shifted. Over time, he became softer. Kinder. More emotionally present…more conscious of what mattered the most. His steps weren’t headline newsworthy, but they sent out energy of his intentional RSVP to the Spirit, his choice in transforming. How? Because Carl realized, “I don’t have to stay who I’ve always been… I may become someone more loving.”

This is the invitation for all of us because a loving life isn’t something that just happens, it is something we create with the loving energy of divine LOVE. This means we may forgive, even when it’s hard. We may speak kindness, even when sarcasm is easier. OH, THAT ONE’S A DOOZEY FOR ME. We may choose patience, even when we are standing in line at the grocery store...even when a customer is making a mess in the Thrift Store, and even in Kelowna July traffic (Yes, even there, especially there.) We may choose to connect with and reflect Christ in ordinary moments. And here’s the beautiful truth, every small choice matters.

Every time we choose love, we are building something eternal, we are creating the kin-dom on earth as it is in eternal timeless reality.

I want to wrap this up with a story. Sam, a young man, excitedly tells his mother he's fallen in love and that he is going to get married. He tells her, 'Mom, I'm going to bring over 3 women, and you must try and guess which one I'm going to marry.' His mother agrees. The next day, he brings three beautiful women into the house and sits them down on the couch and they chat for a while. Later, he says, “Okay Mom, guess which one I'm going to marry.”  Without missing a beat, his mother replies, “The one on the right.” Sam says, “That's amazing, Mom. You're correct. How did you know?”  She said, 'I don't like her.'

Not everyone will understand or agree with our choices, and that’s okay. When we consider the Celtic teachers and the teachers of The Way, we are in good company.

“You may.” Two simple words. But they hold the freedom of the Gospel. The Spirit has given us freedom to extract meaning from sacred texts, and from our human and spiritual experiences to plant and nurture in our souls. And when we choose to extract and implant, the Spirit begins renewing our minds and shaping our hearts.

Folks, the invitation stands. We have everything we need to step into a life of love, to become who LOVE desires for us to be. And you may, and I may, begin today. May it be so, amen.