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connection, consciousness, gathering, heart, life, love, loving, meeting, Oscar Wilde, sharing, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Yesterday I had two meetings back-to-back. The first was a small gathering, only four of seven who try to gather monthly for a “shot in the arm” of wisdom practices that keep us conscious in a way that nothing else seems able to do. We always miss but are very aware of our connection with our “absent brethren.” I went from there to a virtual committee meeting; just our voices were together through the miracle of a phone conference. Again we were four, together in the ethers in an effort to create a process that we hope will enable deeper sharing among members of a much larger group. I could see the faces in my mind as each of us spoke and allowed ideas to germinate in the sharing.
This morning I think how blessed I am to count these experiences as part of my life’s “work.” Extraneous, perhaps, or at least tangential to what I am being paid for, these occurrences of connection create the foundation of everything else that I am able and privileged to do. It’s all about love, you see, which is clearly illustrated for me today in a quote from Oscar Wilde that seems worthy of sharing.
Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.
I’m always interested when the Psalm response in the lectionary consists of some verses from a long psalm that fit a specific purpose directly without any extraneous “sidebars” of intervening verses. Today my antenna was up because the stated title of Psalm 50 in the book Ancient Songs Sung Anew was “God Calls the World to Listen.” Since I had spent yesterday presenting to two different groups on the topic of “The Art of Sacred Listening” I was, you might say, “all ears” for the message. I wasn’t disappointed. Here are the salient points.
In case anyone was in doubt about the meaning of the directive at the beginning of today’s gospel passage where Jesus said, “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful,” the rest of the short text (LK 6:36-38) sounds like a “call and response” chant that a teacher might use in school to define what s/he means. Teacher: “When I say ‘Stop judging,’ you say…” Students: “And you will not be judged.” Following are prompts to stop condemning, forgive, and give, with the overarching conclusion that “the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Sometimes the strangest thoughts bubble up when I’m reading the Scriptures for the day. This year we’re reading Mark and today’s section is the familiar story of the Transfiguration (9:2-10). None of the gospels provides all the details for any story but Mark is especially brief – the first written and shortest gospel. In some cases it’s like reading shorthand. Over the years I’ve become brave enough to try filling in some of the blanks in the stories. I doubt it can hurt; it’s not dogmatic teaching but just conjecture for my own deeper understanding. I think of it as a kind of similar activity to that of movie makers who try to give us pictures to accompany the most visual texts – not always successfully, I might add.
One of the interesting facets for me of this blogging activity is the ability to track not only numbers of “hits” but also where readers come from. The numbers range usually somewhere between 20 and 40 readers in a day and generally the majority are residents of the United States. Last fall there was a period where – for a few weeks – numbers were consistently between 60 and 80 each day before they settled again into the 40 – 50 range. It all seems random to me but interesting nonetheless.
Last winter we decided to offer a series on Mindfulness at the Sophia Center because it seemed that this concept was being talked about in many circles and there were many ways to go about presenting it. We decided on five sessions during which we would explain and then offer examples of a different “mindfulness practice” each week. The topics were diverse: chanting from several traditions, Buddhist meditation practices, centering prayer, etc. and each of them touched somehow on a more quiet approach to life. The series was one of the best-attended efforts of the year so we have decided to continue our exploration of mindfulness. For a number of reasons we chose the topic Hearing With the Heart for this year’s series. It is our hope that we will come to understand more deeply the concept and practice of contemplative listening and contemplative dialogue as we explore hearing and speaking out of spacious silence.
At our always delightful book club* gathering yesterday the topic was Integrity. We spoke of it from many angles and found that many of the facets of this character trait are really “multi-facets” because life has become so complex. One of the areas that we touched on was religious law and practice. I will leave you to ponder the complexities of that topic yourselves; I’m sure the perspectives regarding that topic will be at least as diverse as conversation about gun laws. In the “Action” section that followed each story of the chapter, there was – for me – probably the most helpful idea. After recommending to the reader that s/he think of a recent argument s/he had, the author says: Now write for four more minutes framing the other person’s perspective as right. What a brilliant idea! Of course it would only work if one were really committed to going deep in telling the truth of the experience.
We all know the story of Jonah and the whale and probably the majority also know that Jonah took a second trip to Nineveh which was more successful. This morning’s first reading chronicles that part of the short book that tells of the response of the Ninevites to Jonah’s message of destruction, soon to fall on that wicked city. Surprisingly quick was the repentance of the entire populace – including the king of Nineveh who laid aside his robe, covered himself in sackcloth and sat in the ashes, after which he proclaimed a total fast for humans and animals. Who knows, he said, God may relent and forgive and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish. And that is exactly what happened.
This morning, a cautionary tale. The lesson: stay always in the present moment. It is all that we ever can depend on.
I just read an article from Sports Illustrated that made me sad and angry at the same time. The gist of the article was the “poor showing” of the American athletes at the Olympics in the medal count. As I read, I had beautiful images before me of young men and women who all spoke of being thrilled at the opportunity to represent their country at this incredible event. Did they all hope for good outcome for themselves and their teammates? Of course! And were some expected to do better than they did? Certainly. But the faces that I saw most clearly were like those in one of the commercials about a small town in Ohio (I think) whose entire populace got up at 3:00AM to come together to watch the ladies cross-county skiing relay because one of their “own” was racing. There was a good chance that this four-person team would medal – even get the gold – but it was not to be. I watched the race, likely because of that commercial and the closeness of that community, feeling that I too was involved in their hopes. Their hometown heroine was first to race and did not perform as hoped. I believe the team came in fifth (ironically the position most denigrated in the article). What was obvious to me at the end of the race was the joy of those four in each other – no tears of regret or blame, no frowns, no grimaces – just clear pride in their country and their knowledge that each of them had done the best they could on that day in that race. And the memory of a moment in their lives when they had made America proud, medal or not.
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