The Spirituality of Showing Up

Keep showing up with joy in hope, with patience in hardship, and with persistence in prayer.
-Romans 12:2, paraphrased. Paul's challenge to the community of disciples. 

Lutheran Bishop Allan Bjornberg once said that the greatest spiritual practice isn’t praying the hours or living in intentional poverty or being a contemplative, though any of those things can be beautiful in their own way. The greatest spiritual practice, he said, is just "showing up."

I've been considering the spirituality of showing up today, and I think Bishop Bjornberg is on to something. 

A few weeks ago during one of our monthly Theology Circle meetings where the subject was "doubt" (doubt isn't the opposite of faith, ​by the way, certainty is), one of our folks courageously shared that they just had so many questions that remained unanswered. They were big questions, about God and goodness and faith and suffering. They mentioned that although there was no sign that these deep questions were going to go away, "I guess all I can do is just keep showing up in community."
What an act of faith! 

I'll be the first to say that there were no easy answers to give there. But choosing to show up, even when the presence of God is hard to sense and peace still seems far off... that's an incredible spiritual practice. 

And then I watched a television show recently that took place in a senior care home. Despite the usually lighthearted storyline, they tackled the heartbreaking reality of an elderly woman's slide toward dementia, and how the moment that it became apparent, all of her friends stopped visiting her, "like it was contagious." All, except one. He noticed and he kept showing up. Choosing to practice presence with others, even when it means that you have to confront deep sadness--what an act of love! 
That's a Christ-like example we can all aspire to. 

In Jesus we witness a life that chose over and over again to show up. Jesus shows up with suffering people whom others had abandoned. Jesus shows up with his disciples over and over again even when they were slow to learn and slow to be transformed. Jesus shows up to seek God's heart even when the world seemed to be falling apart around him-- betrayal, alienation, exhaustion, and violence against him. Jesus shows up after his resurrection, reassuring his disciples and inviting them to build a radical community founded on love. 

For us, showing up can look like many things. It can look like love for others through simple presence. It can look like a personal act of courage to stay connected in community, not allowing yourself to drift into isolation during a hard season. It can look like the willingness to keep talking to God even in terribly empty periods of life when prayer feels meaningless. It can look like playing with your children on the floor when your spouse just really needs a break. It can look like going to that court hearing for a friend who feels really alone in a dark time. It can look like choosing to keep meeting with other Jesus-people, when there are just so many discouraging things happening in our country that make you want to give up on church expressions altogether. 

It can look like many things. But it always looks like being present. It's always a choice. And it's always going to be soul-shaping in the Jesus way. 

I'm thankful we have a model of God's love that shows up in Jesus. I'm glad that I've experienced moments of grace where Jesus has shown up and given grace when I haven't been at my best. And I desire to be the kind of disciple that keeps showing up for others (imperfectly) because of that. 

Where are you feeling drawn to show up with God this week?
Where can you show up for a friend?
And where will you courageously show up in community? 

Sometimes we don't have much to give, and the best we can do is just show up. And sometimes, that's exactly when God meets us and uses us the most powerfully. 
Don't give up, friends. 

Jesus, help me be keep being present in the most important ways. 

Peace,
Keith