This is It! Put Your Whole Self In!

All of me
Why not take all of me

-Jazz Standard written by Marks and Simons, 1931

As you may know, I have been taking West African Drum lessons for over a year. I have my patient teachers to thank for what little progress I have made. Also, I have them to thank for opening my life to wonderful rhythms, abundant rhythms filled with life. Today, I am thinking about the rhythms that I have learned over the last year. What is clear to me is that although I drum with my hands, drumming, rhythm has more to do with my whole self, my whole body, than it does with my hands. If I had no hands, I would still have rhythm, a rhythm that could be expressed through dance, by bobbing my head...whatever. This human capacity for rhythm is something that involves my whole self. In short, to drum, to dance, to sing, I have to "put my whole self in."

That is the way it is with faith. Some have said that faith is a verb. That means that “we faith” -- faith is something that we do. I don't know about you, but when I do something it involves all of me. Typing this for example -- it is not just fingers. It is my brain, it is the way my feet are on the floor, my eyes focused on the monitor, my straight back in the chair, my eyes following the letters as I put them up on the monitor. It is not even a matter of putting your whole self in to an action -- your whole self is in every action you take. So, in this season of stewardship we are aware that whenever we do anything it takes all of who we are, body, mind, spirit, soul. Stewardship asks us to look at how we approach our faith. As they say in gambling circles, are we “all in?”

All of me

It takes all of me

-Jazz Standard, 1931, improvised upon by DPR, 2009

It takes all of who we are. That is how we are called into our lives. We aren’t born in pieces you know. It takes all of us. And that is how we approach the abundance of life that we known as a community of faith. It takes all of me to live a faithful life. This means, of course, full involvement in my faith. In the last weeks, we have tried to help you think about what “all of me” means. We have asked you to consider going 5 for 5. Putting your whole self in means worshiping, learning, doing, connecting and giving. This Sunday, you will have an opportunity to express yourself by putting your whole self in. Please bring your 5 for 5 form to church along with your faith promise card. Experience again what it means to fully engage your life through careful stewardship of your life.

Blessings,

David