May All the Margaret’s of the World Find a Place Like the Abbey.
Good morning. My name is Desirae and my pronouns are she/her.
Today, I am going to talk with you about prayer, why prayer has been such an important part of my life, and how one young adult novel helped me figure out that it was okay to explore, question, and find my own way to God.
Rather than talk about my personal journey, I’m going to share about Margaret Anne Simon. You might know her from Judy Blume’s young adult novel, Are you there God, It’s me, Margaret. And if you don’t know Margaret Anne Simon, hold on to your hats because for a 12-year-old grappling with the angsts of being a tween, she has more courage than many adults have to ask
God hard questions and to wrestle with feeling confused about religion and the way humanity treats humanity. Margaret, like me, was not baptized when she was a child. Her father was raised Jewish, and her mother was raised Christian. She didn’t understand why they didn’t “just pick one for her” but they tell her she can choose when she is an adult. Margaret talks to God regularly, about all her woes with her friends and her body. But she also talks to God about bigger things. She asks big questions. Hard questions. Big, hard questions.
After going to Temple with her Jewish grandmother, and checking out different churches that her friends attend, Margaret says, “Dear God, give me a hint. I’m more confused than ever. I looked for you in Temple. I looked for you in church. Why do I only feel you when I’m alone?” And when Margaret discovers that her maternal grandparents disowned her mother because she married a Jewish man, she says, “Dear God, what kind of parents do that to their child and blame religion?”
Margaret’s final 6 th grade assignment is to write a paper on a topic that interests her. Her topic is religion. After a very turbulent 6th grade year, Margaret writes, “What I learned about religion is it makes people fight even though every religion says the same thing. You pray to God to listen to you and help you and to make things better. I’ve prayed and prayed, and everything just gets worse. I don’t know any more what I think but maybe there’s nobody out there listening. Maybe, there’s just me.”
Maybe you can relate to Margaret’s struggle with religion. I know I did when I was a young girl. But I also I related to her in adulthood. I prayed regularly. I tried out different churches and different religions. I felt confused, disillusioned, and disappointed in humanity. Why wasn’t God listening? And like Margaret, the only time I truly felt God’s presence was when I was alone.
Perhaps that was because when I was alone, I was quiet. I was willing to listen, really listen. Iwas willing to put down my judgments and simply be. In those moments, I learned that gratitude mattered. Rather than praying for something to happen, I began asking How can I be of service? Instead of asking why, I gave thanks for what I did have, for the wonderful people in my life, for the miracles all around me. The more I asked How can I be of service and the more I gave thanks, the more miracles showed up.
Up until about 10 years ago, I truly believed I didn’t need a church community, I could do it on my own. So, when I woke up on my birthday and heard a voice say “I think I want to go to church”, I was stunned. It was as if my very own Soul was speaking to my heart. But where to go??? Hmmm…. I had read about the Abbey and Debra’s vision for an open, welcoming place for everyone. I loved the idea of a coffee shop, bookstore, church. I thought maybe, just maybe this could be the place for me. I will never forget my first time at the Abbey. I cried. And cried. And cried. It was like someone had cracked the wall around my heart and the light was finally free.
There is something special, dare I say magical, about being a part of something bigger than myself. The Abbey gives us all permission to ask the big, hard questions. It’s a safe place to laugh and cry, to help each other through tough times, and to make Earth as it is in Heaven. The people of the Abbey are doers. And Pastor Debra means what she says and says what she means, even if her voice shakes. The Abbey is powerful. We are powerful. Each week, Debra asks us to think about “how we will show up?” One way we can show up is saying a prayer of gratitude every day at 3:16 p.m. Prayer is powerful. Prayer as a group at the same time every day multiplies its power. Let’s all set our timers and say a prayer. It doesn’t have to be hard. I use the prayer that is on the place mat we received a few weeks ago. I’m sure Pastor Debra doesn’t mind that I am plagiarizing her words.
“Loving God, help me set the table with grace for myself and love for my community. Work your divine love through my hands and feet, my tender heart and listening ears, that together, we might set the table and throw the doors of welcome open wide.”Oh, and God, may all the Margaret’s of the world find a place like the Abbey. May it be so.
Amen.
