Park Slope United Methodist Church

I always loved to get to this scripture every year in February when I lived in the mountains - I heard it as a clear call to go skiing!!!!

It all started when I was in seminary and went skiing with a friend who was studying for an exam on the Book of Wisdom. She would read on the way up, and at the top, impart to her two disciples - a word of wisdom for us to take down the mountain!

The third scripture we didn't read this morning was Moses' climb to the top of Mount Sinai to receive the tablets with the Ten Commandments. Clearly, the mountaintop is the symbolic holy ground upon which we stand to see and hear the wisdom of the divine. Before this scene with Jesus, the mountaintop seemed to be reserved for only the most specially chosen - Moses, Elijah, Jesus - but here, this morning, the circle is clearly widened as Jesus takes Peter and James and John with him. Perhaps he knew this would be a window of opportunity in their spiritual quests to recognize the Divine. For whatever reason, this mystical scene that defies explanation will play a key role for the disciples as they struggle later with the death of Jesus, and their own subsequent persecution. They couldn't have made the journey without the depths of the Spiritual Connection.

This morning, I want to examine our own desire for "a mountaintop experience." I hear behind the yearnings that you have expressed that deep, deep quest for a clear sense of spiritual connection. In some ways its an ever-elusive search - just when we think we've found the answer, another layer pops up.

Our story this morning is a reminder that even the disciples who devoted 100% or at least a good chunk of their time to being with Jesus day in and day out found making that deeper connection elusive. They just didn't get it. It needed its own time.

The internal and external dialogue between prayer and action. Age old tug and pull. Someone commented that in our process you can't separate the "internal ministries" from the "external ministries" and that couldn't be more true - indeed, they are intertwined, yet we need to look at each of the strands. There's an intertwined dialogue in our hearts as well. Do we think it's an either or - that God calls us to action and advocacy or that God calls us to worship, reflection and prayer? I say no! If our journey is not a weaving of the connection with God and the connection with one another and the various paths to understanding that connection, it will not be a journey of integrity. I was part of the white religious progressive movement of the 60's that made a huge mistake -- we heard the urgency of the streets and the urgency for the response so that all the time was spent on strategy and the message of what we "should do" without the strengthening sustenance of the Spirit. The Black Church never lost that connection - that heritage of the good tradition that interwove the connection of the divine with the response to the need. We live in those dangerous times again. People talk about burnout - burnout is not the result of too much work - it's when the well runs dry because we forgot to prime the pump.

I want to talk about Time this morning! When I went to San Diego for the National United Methodist Clergywomen's Conference, I knew the theme was "Creating a Women's Sabbath," but I wasn't prepared for how much I needed it and everyone of us needed it. We needed someone to tell us to take time. How easy it is to get caught up in the urgent.

Let me describe for you the opening service.

1300 women in a convention center

Rainsticks

Candles

"I haven't got time."

I know that if we clergy get so caught up in the urgent that we shelve the sustaining time, it's doubly difficult for you. Yet, how critical the reminder is. Those of you who have been involved in 12 step programs, struggling out of addictions, know that it's the sustenance time of meetings, of reminder of the connection with that higher power. Are you addicted to busyness? Certainly, our society is! Carl Jung once said, "Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil!"

I want to invite you to my mountain. About four months ago, I found a pattern that works for me. My mountain is a corner of my kitchen - a simple but comfortable chair, a gentle light, quiet meditative music, and an eclectic pile of books of prayers, readings, sermons, a bible and a journal, and a cup of coffee. The very first thing in the morning, I rise - before anything else clutters my day, put on robe, and head to the kitchen. I spend at least an hour quiet, reflective, reading, writing. I feel a profound difference about how the rest of the day flows. I'm now trying to add a regular short time of prayer at night.

I'm not promising flashing lights, and auras and visions of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. But I passionately urge you to find the time and the tools to go to the Mountain.