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asylum, cool, heartache, hot, Peace, protest, solution, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tragedy
Today across our country temperatures will reach extremely high levels. It will be dangerous to be out under the blazing sun. Within the hours from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. we will see a rise from 68 to 84 (F) degrees.
During those same hours, thousands of people across the country will gather to protest the government’s treatment of immigrant families- especially children who have come to our southern border seeking asylum, albeit illegally. “Temperatures” are sure to rise in those gatherings as well.
For those of us who are not able or choose not to join the crowds, I can only hope that cool heads prevail and no further heartache is released within our borders. Ours will be the responsibility of praying for peace and a swift, comprehensive solution to this tragedy.
May peace reign in our hearts since as one nation we are called to that peace!
We all come to God in our own time and in our own way. Whether we are born into a religious tradition that nurtures our faith in an organic way for the duration of our life or have a moment of recognition brought on by an extraordinary event, our life journey is as unique as our thumbprint and just as special.
Here’s a little quote from Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation that needs to be breathed out one clause at a time to give us a whole day of reflection. See where it takes you.
Psalm 119, the longest in the book of 150 psalms, has 176 verses and can be the study of a lifetime. In a commentary this morning I read that the subject of these prayers is the hard learning one gains in light of a multitude of hardships and circumstances encountered on the spiritual path…Experiences are often repeated again and again. As we go over the same territory learning it in new ways, truth becomes grounded. Insights are gained from each spiral of ascending experience.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon at a reunion. I’m looking at the word now: re-union, and I know it to be a true description of what happened in the gathering. These eight women (one of whom was only able to be with us yesterday in spirit) had spent over ten years gathering once a month to share life in a most meaningful way. We couldn’t remember exactly when it began although with some digging I may be able to reconstruct the timeline. What we knew was the indelible imprint we had left on each other’s hearts. So yesterday – older and most likely wiser after nearly a decade apart because of other commitments – we found each other again with our love for one another intact and our willingness to share ourselves even more deeply than before.
Sometimes I’m convinced that I have something in my eye but it turns out that my 70-year old eyes just need a little lubrication on occasion. That’s an easy fix as were the days when, as a child, I occasionally had to go to my mother for help with getting something tiny like a fleck of dirt or – at worst – an eyelash out of my eye. It was always amazing how much larger the offending material appeared than it really was.
Just a question on this commemoration of the birth of John the Baptist: How am I announcing the good news of God’s on-going presence in our world especially when it seems so dark and devoid of hope? 
I smile as I read the gospel this morning (MT 6:24-34) about how God cares for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air – and, of course, us. I’m thinking two thoughts in relation to the encouragement of that passage as God has a team of helpers at our house.
Last evening I went to the Baccalaureate worship service for graduating seniors of the high school where I spent my first thirteen years as a teacher. It took place in the largest church in our area. (We used to call it “The Stardust Ballroom” because seating is in the round and there is recessed lighting throughout – a very “modern” venue in the 1970s.) Although the population of the school has diminished greatly over the years, the church was quite crowded with families that probably included some of my students who are now celebrating their grandchildren’s commencement. I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the service which ran like clockwork and included excellent (and brief) speakers for welcoming and thanking those in attendance, great lectors and beautiful music suitable to the youth but also very reverent. Two of the musical selections, solos by members of the class, were actually jaw-dropping. The first was a lovely young lady with a voice bigger than she was and then a young man, accompanied by a great cellist from his class, who sang the traditional and well-loved Latin hymn, Panis angelicus, which reached the entire church simply by the power of his voice. I was told that he has received a full scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music.
I got out of bed this morning at the exact moment of the summer solstice: 6:07 AM! Had I known, I would likely have stood before my bedroom window and bowed, at least, in honor of the great light that brings so many benefits to our days – including the energy that often gets me out of bed. I am aware of the turning of our world today and the ability of scientists through the ages to discover things like the exact moment when the sun is at its highest in the Northern Hemisphere. I’m thinking as well of my cousins in Australia for whom the winter solstice has just happened as they mark the darkest part of the year.
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