Life as Bingo

This homily was prepared for a 20-minute chapel service.

I was recently reminded by Facebook that a few years ago I posted this: “Note to self – your personal calendar is NOT a bingo card.”

I appreciated that reminder. It’s a reminder that as busy as we are or tend to be, having empty spaces on our calendars is not a bad thing.

Over the years I have heard many people in ministry tell me they have no time for themselves. The church takes up a lot of their time. The needs of the parishioners takes up a lot of their time. There’s always something going on or something to do. And I wonder if this notion of “always being available” is not actually modeled by the minister.

Today’s text (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7) reminds us all that we each have one life. Only one. And it’s important to create, acknowledge and protect boundaries of both time and space – to honor the time and breath that God has given us.

We marvel at the mystery of God. We can notice beauty all around us. I can “see” the marvelous acts of the Holy Spirit because I don’t believe in coincidence. Maybe you’ve experienced those goose bumps when you sense the Spirit at work.

Yet we tend to give little attention to the ways that even in the breath we take, God has planned both life and respite for us. A deep breath helps us reduce the stress that accumulates in our bodies. Stress that an overcrowded calendar produces. Deep breathing slows our heart rate, helps our blood pressure, our digestion and our brain function.

A deep breath allows us a few moments to shift from wrath to grace.

It allows us to honor the gift of life that we are given… to honor and enjoy our Creator.