Dear Friends,

As I began pondering our readings for our worship this coming Sunday, the one that stood out for me the most was the Psalm, which begins with the verse:

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.

–Psalm 111.1

The reason that this verse struck me is that in my preparations for my presentation this Sunday on the Spirituality of Burning Man, I came across a felt heart that was given to me five years ago, during one of my pilgrimages to the Black Rock Desert. The size of a small wallet photo, it is inscribed with a single word:  Wholehearted.

When the heart was handed to me in the middle of the desert by a young man dressed in white dusty robes, he could hardly imagine how much I would need it, and how soon. I was in the midst of a major life transition, one that would prove to be nothing short of heartbreaking. I continued to carry it as a reminder and a prayer—not simply that my heart would be mended again, but that, in the words of my first spiritual director, “in every shattering there is a hidden wholeness that has already taken hold.”

What I’ve discovered since then is that this wholeness of heart is a mystery I can catch only in glimpses. So when I look at the word on my Burning Man heart, I see not only an invitation but also a blessing, a declaration that, in God’s strange timing, healing has come about in my life, a wholeness that I will continue to live into.  

This week, the lectionary gives us these same kinds of glimpses. Each reading offers a window onto what it means to have a whole heart, recognizing that even in the broken places of our lives, God sees us complete and is about the work of helping us live into that completeness, not just for ourselves but for and with one another. In our Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy, we hear an injunction against any prophet whose heart turns toward false gods. In our Psalm, we hear the wholehearted cry of thanksgiving to the God who sends redemption. In Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth, we hear his call to the church to be mindful of how their individual choices have consequences for the health of the whole community. And then, finally, in Jesus’ healing of a man with an unclean spirit; we are shown something of the wholeness in which God created us and is always working out within us.

Social scientist Brenee Brown sees it this way, “I think our capacity for wholeheartedness can never be greater than our willingness to be broken-hearted. It means engaging with the world from a place of vulnerability and worthiness.” (And I would add the words, “with God’s help.”)

As you ponder your own life story, and the story you find yourselves in right now, how might it be to open your heart—no matter how broken or bruised —to the God who sees you whole? 

In Christ,

Amelie