20-20 Vision

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20/20 vision, A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, appreciation, attitude, clarity, experience, gift, hear, meditation, messages, prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It seems incredible that we have already traversed an entire month of the year 2020. It is shaping up to be a challenging time for many reasons, some from natural causes and some of human initiative. It seems imperative that we be constantly awake to the broad spectrum of events and stay true to our own integrity, which includes watching our own behavior and response to challenges.

The impetus for this line of thought is (as usual) something I read just now from A Deep Breath of Life by Alan Cohen. In his reflection for this date, Cohen says the following:

Through prayer and meditation, you can sensitize yourself to hear important messages before they are played out in the physical world…Rather than fight life or adopt a victim position, look for the gift in the experience. Imagine that the universe is conspiring not to hurt you, but to free you. An attitude of appreciation, rather than resentment, will soften and transform otherwise difficult lessons.

It isn’t always easy to admit our less than stellar behaviors and reactions to life events great and small but if we stay awake and practice seeing the lessons in our days, in the long run our vision improves and we can learn to accept ourselves and others without a need for obfuscation or excuse.

What better year for working on clarity of vision? It is 20-20, after all!

A Home for the Lord

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longing, palm 132, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There’s a verse in the lectionary psalm for today that stopped me in my reading and touched me in a deep place. Take a breath and see what you think.

I will give my eyes no sleep. my eyelids no rest, till I find a home for the Lord…(PS 132)

Immediately upon reading that line, I saw myself carrying soft, beautiful bedding to a room suffused with light. With a heart bursting full of love, I entered the room and saw that God was already there, waiting for me to make the bed. The image was brief but filled me with longing. And that is gift enough for today.

Flexibility of Farmers

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farmers, harvest, let go let God, Mark, planning, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

I have to give farmers a lot of credit for the way they live their lives. It occurs to me because the gospel for today is one of the parables about sowing seeds (Mark 4: 1-20) and all the things that can happen between the moment of planting and the harvest. There’s a lot of waiting that goes on and the extra work when certain conditions appear – like frost in Florida or drought in the mid-west of our country. Farmers are not in control of outcome. They are also not as able to take vacations as most people do. And every year is likely to be different.

I’ve often said that in my next life, should there be one, I would like to be a farmer. The life close to nature and the joy of seeing things grow is attractive to me. I should say that even dairy farming is included in my visioning because of the regularity of the work and the relationship with animals. The challenges may be different but the conditions remain similarly challenging.

So what’s my point? I guess it’s mostly about the trust necessary in any life. My computer could crash this morning and then how would the blog be proliferated? We’re up to 836 people who sometimes read it. I have no names or street addresses or phone numbers and it would take all day to find even some of the readers…you get the picture. The question is about what I would do in that situation. Most likely I would trust that it might be time for me to go on to something else and to “let go and let God.”

It’s a risky business, this life…Today I thank God for the example of those willing to sow and watch and wait…and trust in the providence of God.

Thomas Aquinas. “Angelic Doctor”

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soul, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theology

St. Thomas Aquinas is called the “Angelic Doctor,” not for medical skills but for his philosophical writings and the scope of his scholarship. His biography oozes intelligence and diligence, seen in his effort to memorize the entire text of the Bible! I always shied away from this saint, fearing a lack of understanding of his work. (Who would think that the Summa Theologica (his summary of theology) could be grasped without a PhD? Little did I know that when I was singing the “Pange lingua” (Sing my tongue the Savior’s glory…) during the Holy Thursday procession in Church every year with full voice and full devotion, that he was the author of that great hymn. I knew nothing of his appreciation for all of nature and of his poetic heart. Today I am happy to celebrate this great saint on his feast!

In a poetic translation of the works of twelve masters of spirituality, I found a Thomas of Aquinas that I could love and try to understand. Here is one of his reflections that translator Daniel Ladinsky offers under the title, “Whenever He Looks At You:”

“God sees nothing in us that He has not given. Everything is empty until He places what He wishes into it. The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays his head against us. The delight a child can know tossing a ball in the air my Lord confesses He experiences whenever he looks at you. God sees nothing that He has not given.”

Intense

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gift, grace, intense, judging, love, St. Angela Merici, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Sometimes it only takes one word to capture my attention and get me thinking. It happened this morning as I read the section of 1 PT 4 that was an optional reading for the Memorial of St. Angela Merici, an important saint in the religious order of Ursuline Sisters. (Her biography is definitely worth a read.)

Here is the quote: Beloved, be serious and sober-minded so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

Diving deeply into that statement makes me consider several things:

1. It doesn’t matter how imperfect I am, I’m still called to a deep and high love.

2. We can’t be judging each other because all of us are imperfect (what a relief!).

3. Since we’re gifted by God in various ways, our love will probably be expressed differently and uniquely to each other.

4. There’s lots more possible to find about love when we delve the word intense…

In addition, questions: What is my particular gift in the complex of different ways to love? How can I best reflect God in my love for “all God’s children?”

Of Life And Death

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death, Ladislau Boros, life, light, obituaries, psalm 27, salvation, The Mystery of Death, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom School

For some reason today I turned my morning ritual upside down and began by reading the local obituaries at the beginning rather than at the end of my usual routine. That meant that the lectionary readings came later and led to this moment of reflection – an interesting interpolation that turned into what now seems like a unified whole. There was great variety in those obituaries, particularly of the life spans of the deceased. I often pause when I come across people in their early 70s now and wondered this morning when I read about the life of a woman who was 83 whether I would still be reading such things a dozen years from now.

That may sound rather morbid but it really is not. It’s a practice that first lets me know if there are any cards to send or funerals I ought to attend and secondly, to consider the deeper questions of life and death for at least a few minutes. I suppose it has something to do today with the fact that I was reading my notes yesterday from a Wisdom School based on the book, The Mystery of Death, by Ladislaus Boros. There are lots of meaningful quotes in that book, but that’s for another day. Today I am taken by the theme of light, shining out from each of the readings. Here is my favorite, from Psalm 27:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”

One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…Wait for the Lord with courage, be stouthearted and wait for the the Lord.”

Conversion

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Acts of the Apostles, Damascus, faith, relationship with Jesus, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Have you ever had an insight that was so strong you have described it as “a bolt of lightning?” I wrote some time ago about my experience in a college philosophy class where I was totally in the dark until one of my friends explained the same fundamental concept that the professor was unsuccessfully trying to get across and a light went on in my brain. No lightning bolt but at least a flash of light and gratitude that I finally understood! I can’t imagine the power of St. Paul’s conversion on that road to Damascus, chronicled in today’s lectionary in the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 9 and 22. It changed his life in an extraordinary way.

Having come to faith “organically” – one would describe me as a “cradle Catholic” – it was always a given that I would remain faithful to the religion of my parents and their parents. I am grateful for that rootedness in me that has kept me all these years but it isn’t so taken for granted a reality anymore. A living, adult faith has to be examined often, just as any personal relationship does. Just like the rest of life, my scrutinized faith is not simple or perfect but, like my DNA in a way, it is a part of me that holds me together and needs to be nurtured personally and in communion with others. My trials have never even come close to what St. Paul experienced in his ministry and relationship with Christ and the gifts I have received have guided my life.

On days like this, I am grateful for testimony that we find in the totality of the Acts of the Apostles and would recommend it to you as a good read for the day. It’s a cold, rainy, snowy, sleety day here, perfect for hunkering down and reflecting…Have a good one!

The Gentleman Saint

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gentleness, patience, quietly, St. Francis de Sales, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Because of the way he went about his life, St. Francis de Sales, whom the Church celebrates today, was known the “Gentleman Saint.” Here are a few of his sayings that bear repeating and reflection.

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”

“When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.”

“A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship.”

“Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.”

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

And my favorite: “Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.”

Our Local Saint

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St. Marianne Cope, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, willingness

In addition to her being one of the Franciscan Sisters that taught in the school I attended in junior high and living not more than two hours from me, even though much earlier in time, my two favorite facts about Sister Marianne Cope, known as Mother Marianne of Molokai, are more miraculous. First, the bishop from Hawaii wrote to over 50 religious communities to ask for Sisters to come and care for those afflicted with Hansen’s disease, then called leprosy, and all declined except Mother Marianne and her Sisters. Secondly (a fact that was not included in the short biography today from the Franciscan Media), Mother Marianne promised those Sisters willing to volunteer for this mission that none of them would ever contract the disease – and none of them ever did! Their willingness was blessed “a hundredfold!” May the same be true of her Sisters today.

Simple Practices

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pause, practices, simple, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Brother David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who is known for his teachings on spirituality, most especially his writings on the virtue of gratefulness. Here’s a practice of his that I found this morning and thought worthy of sharing.

“Try pausing right before and right after undertaking a new action, even something simple like putting a key in a lock to open a door. Such pauses take a brief moment, yet may have the effect of decompressing time and centering you.”

Think about it…