Tenderness: A Star Word I Wouldn't Have Chosen

This year at Ferndale, we received "star words" on the Feast of the Epiphany.  After receiving the bread and the cup, we picked a little yellow star out of a basket...a word to rest with us in the year to come.  The message that morning and focused on how, as United Methodists, we vow to uphold the mission of the church by our prayers and our presence.  The star words might be an important part of our prayer life for the coming year.

My word:  Tenderness

For those who know me, this is not the first thing out of the gate.  I'm assertive - sometimes aggressively so.  I'm direct.  My college roommate told me once that I was "brutally honest."

Tender?

Well, I'm a mom and a wife.  I'm a pastor.  I associate the word "tender" with nurture pretty quickly, so I guess that might be a desirable component of nurture -- tenderness.

Sigh.

Today, during my devotions, the scripture I listened to was about the leper who approaches Jesus and asks for healing.  And Jesus complies.  And then heads off for one of his mountainside prayer retreats.

And that has me thinking about how "tenderness" might be the pause.

How tenderness might be the thing that happens that "interrupts" my instinctive response.  My instinctive response to an interruption. My instinctive response to something that wasn't in my plans for the day.  My instinctive response to another's need.

I am pretty sure it will be a while before other responses REALLY take second place.  You know...Exasperation? Incredulity? Frustration?

I am working (a lot) on mindfulness right now and part of my mindfulness practice involves seeking the pause before I react to anything.

Pause. (Mindful check in.  What am I feeling in my body? In my heart? In my brain?) Pause.  Mindful response.

Do you know how many times a day we have to do this? And being mindful about it is really exhausting. But good.  Life changing.  Good.

And then, in my further reading, there was a reflection by James Harnish...
"Beatitudes are not placid statements spoken softly. They are exclamations.  We step out into the morning sun after a foggy night and exclaim, "Wow! Look at that sunshine!"...The Beatitudes are similar exclamations.  They exclaim "Wow! Look at the happiness of those who are citizends of teh kingdom of God!  This is really living; we just never saw it before." (from What Will You Do with King Jesus? by James Harnish)

So that led me to the Beatitudes -- because somewhere in my soul I associate the word tenderness with meek...and I know the meek are blessed, right? (This is taken from The Message, a translation by Eugene Peterson.)

5 1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

You are blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and your heart - put right.

You are blessed when you care.

God of mystery, this year, let me hold the word "tenderness" as an invitation in each moment to be just a little bit more like your Son in this world.

Tenderness.

Tenderness.

Sigh. Let it be with me according you your will.