The Awakened Brain
As we remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, we can explore the "awakened connections" with which he lived. In the book, The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and the Quest for a Meaningful Life,. Dr. Lisa Miller offers that one of the ways we can "awaken" our brains is to cultivate these connections. (Rev. AndreaGrace introduced this book in her last blogpost.)
What follows is the prayer service that Rev. AndreaGrace led last night for the BeLoved Community.
By Breath sung by Sara Thompsen
Opening Prayer
Creator God - whose Spirit vibrates through all - please open our minds and hearts to recognize that we are all one. Through our time together, may we know your love more intimately and share it more abundantly with ALL. Amen.
Intro to our Scripture Passage
Our world religions provide a pathway to living with awakened connections - if we do this from a place of Spirit of Love, rather than a legalistic following of the rules. We see this so clearly with Rev. Dr. King who was willing to break "the chains of injustice" to usher in freedom for "the oppressed." We see this so clearly when Jesus healed on the Sabbath - which broke the religious rules. They were both putting people first. Jesus referenced a reading from Isaiah when He gave us vision of who will get into heaven.
Reading from Isaiah 58:6-9
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
These are the inspired words of the writer known as Isaiah... Thanks be to God
Rev. AndreaGrace's Reflection
Jesus taught that whenever we do something for someone else, or something else, we do it for Him. We are one! The passage we just read encompasses how Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived and why he did what he did. Inspired by the Spirit and his Judeo-Christian roots, he wanted to break the chains of injustice and grant true freedom to each person, especially those with darker-colored skin.
How do we move from the rules to the Spirit of the law? We need, well.... SPIRIT.
I remember an assignment I had in seminary…. I was to give a $20 bill to a homeless person in Boston. As I walked from the train stop to my destination, I wondered to whom I should give the money. I relied on Spirit to show me the person. Right outside of the coffee shop I was entering, there was a person sitting on the sidewalk. I knew that was MY person. When I gave the money to the person, they flashed the BIGGEST smile and bowed in a “namaste” like fashion with gratitude. By the way, "namaste" means "I see the Divine in you." I felt so good - knowing I had connected with someone else, with the person Spirit intended for me. I walked into the cafe' and bumped into someone with whom I used to go to church. We were able to share about our spiritual journeys. I was in the flow of God’s love.
You see - as we heard in the song - we are all in a web of life, of God’s love and energy. We are all in the river of life together. We are all connected by breath.
This goes beyond people to animals. It’s been said that “rescue” dogs find their owners - not that the owners select them. I have AMAZING stories about connecting with our "rescue" dogs…. but those are for another day…. My family was just reminiscing about a “stray” cat that showed up on our doorstop and found her way into our home and hearts. The cat would pray with my mom, sitting next to my mom during her prayer time, kneeling with her paws crossed on my mom’s legs. In another example, last summer, my friend saw a deer in front of my kitchen window. The next day she was walking in downtown DC and a deer walked across the park in front of her. She looked up the spiritual meaning of deer and it said something like: be open to the spiritual world!
I’ve found that the Spirit can give us nudges to be more open to our deep connections - between people, with animals, with nature itself.
And sometimes, we can get flooded by Spirit - like when St. Paul got knocked off his horse. In the book, Dr. Miller shares about a CEO who saw his employees as cogs in the machine that made him money. He went to his friend's daughter's wedding. He had a deep awakening and realized that each of his employees was someone's daughter or son, each could be a precious bride or groom. He had "awakened connections" that transformed how he led. When the company hit rough times, he collaborated with the employees to come up with a creative solution so that no one was laid off. The company grew again, becoming a Fortune 500, with this new culture of deep connections.
Part of being awake is being open to the Spirit’s creativity and possibility - even if our human mind doubts it. .
Dr. Miller’s research found a few things about awakened connections that come from a place of lovingkindess (one word), a place that is both loving and kind - rather than judgmental, pompous or hurtful:
When we pray for someone with lovingkindess, it can show up in a positive way on the recipient's brain scan.
The invitation is for us to be awake to whom and what God is putting on our hearts to pray for each day.
When we pray in community with lovingkindess, our brainwaves synch and become in an alpha state which is also the energy that the Mother Earth gives off. After praying in such a community, our brain waves stay in this state longer and it's easy for new community members to synch with us.
The invitation is for us to be awake to when God is inviting us to come pray in community AND to whom God is nudging us to invite to the services.
The power of lovingkindness touch does actually help heal.
The invitation is to be awake to God prompting us to reach out and physically touch people. As we do so, we can envision God’s healing energy moving through us to the person whom we are touching.
Prayer Experience:
Prayerfully ponder a time that you experienced this awakened connection. Pray for an opportunity to share this with someone else... maybe starting a conversation with: Today, I was reflecting on....
Breathe in Spirit. Ask Spirit who or what needs Divine Love, healing, grace today. Envision the person receiving that blessing.
Closing Prayer:
Creator God - we are all your children, your pets, your beautiful handicrafts…
Awaken us to these deep connections.
Please help us to treasure and care for one another with lovingkindess.
Show us what is ours to do - one day at a time - one minute at a time.
May we be instruments of your healing, grace and love.
In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
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