What Is Peace?

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Benedictine peace, courage of hope, faith, Peace, right-heartedness, serenity, Sr. Joan Chittister, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Although we are not engaged in an “all out war” in our country right now, we are experiencing what Joe Wise, one of the early musicians of the “guitar Mass” era, called our “private little wars.” In truth, we are in a very dangerous moment of civil unrest and seem unable to restore a sense of peace any time soon. With this in mind this morning, I turned to Joan Chittister for a word of hope or guidance. I was not disappointed. Sister Joan reminded me of what some call “the long view” – the truth that cycles of life are longer than my personal story and it is up to me and all of us to move toward change for the better each day. Here is what she said about Benedictine peace. Every sentence deserves reflection.

Benedictine peace is not something that is ever achieved. It is something sincerely and consistently sought. It comes, in fact, from the seeking, not from the getting. It comes from the inside, not the outside. It comes from right-heartedness, not from self-centeredness. It comes from the way we look at life, not from the way we control it. It comes from the attitudes we bring to things, not from the power we bring to them…Monastic peace, in other words, is the power to face what is with the serenity of faith and the courage of hope, with the surety that good can come from evil and the certainty that good will triumph. Peace is the fruit of Benedictine spirituality. Peace is the sign of the disarmed heart. (Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, p. 184)

Sunday Morning

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Celtic Benediction, glow of life, John Philip Newell, light, seeing, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Geese are squawking on the river beyond our land as morning breaks. Not just a new day but a new week is dawning and hope begins to rise in my heart. It is as if we might be returning to a sense of normalcy. As soon as the silence is overcome by human activity, I know that the morning news will bring a different feeling to the day, but just for now I am grateful for the sense of possibility that helps me remember the goodness in life.

John Philip Newell is my guide as I step into this day. Here is his prayer.

I watch this morning for the light that the darkness has not overcome. I watch for the fire that was in the beginning and that burns still in the brilliance of the rising sun. I watch for the glow of life that gleams in the growing earth and glistens in sea and sky. I watch for your light, O God, in the eyes of every living creature and in the ever-living flame of my own soul. If the grace of seeing were mine this day I would glimpse you in all that lives. Grant me the grace of seeing this day. Grant me the grace of seeing. (Celtic Benediction, p.2)

My Peace, World Peace

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A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, Peace, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There’s a lot of hand-wringing going on everywhere these days. As another month passes while we wait for things to change: the end of the pandemic – or at least a real vaccine and the dilemma of sending or not sending children to school, the run-up to national elections, still 66 days away, the unrest caused by racial violence…”How long can this go on?” we ask.

I read a quote this morning from Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life, that got me thinking about my own state of mind and how I am either contributing to or depleting energy from the world. It gave me pause and calls me to now to decide what could be a worthwhile contribution to the good.

My own peace is my first contribution to world peace.

St. Augustine

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God loves us, St. Augustine, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

St. Augustine is one of the most celebrated, if complex, saints of Christianity. As we noted yesterday in this blog, his mother was tireless in her prayer for his conversion and he emerged as one of the most celebrated theologians of Christianity. I am a fan of the “softer side” of Augustine. Here are a few of his sayings that I find true, inspiring, and/or consoling.

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

People go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.

Our hearts are restless, O God, until we rest in You.

Never Give Up!

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Marty Haugen, never give up, St. Monica, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. Monica, mother of the well-known theologian St. Augustine. Many see her as an example of the adage, “Behind every good man stands a good woman.” Some would say her concerns for her son were a bit “over the top” but her resulting success in having him turn his life around seems indisputable. One might prefer to focus it as the work of God but Monica was certainly one of those persistent mothers who knocked on God’s door without ceasing. Her efforts in saving her son from himself remind me of a song by Marty Haugen entitled “Bambelela” (“Never Give Up”). It’s a great reminder in times like this when some days seem too stressful—and a reason to thank God for mothers and those others who lead us to the straight and narrow path.

Choice

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choice, freedom, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

At this time when there is such a clear sense of dichotomy in our country and in the run-up to our national elections (only 70 days away), we need some voices of wisdom to get us on the road of reason. Meg Wheatley has one question at the end of her brief essay on “Choice” that we ought to consider – maybe today – instead of wringing our hands and hoping for a good outcome. Listen:

Why, in this world of infinite freedom and choice, would we lock ourselves into one petty story, no matter how much time, attention and creativity we’ve spent on composing it? (Perseverance, p.103)

Bearing Witness

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bearing witness, Bernie Glassman, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, right and wrong, state of being, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here is what seems to me a fair description of where/how we are living right now, where the whole world population is sitting, and I wonder if we might see our situation as Bernie Glassman, a Zen teacher, does.

This abiding place, this state of being, of not knowing, is a very difficult place to be. It’s the place where we don’t know what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s real, what’s not real. It’s the place of just being, of life itself, [the place of] no separation between subject and object, no space between I and thou, you and me, up and down, right and wrong. I call such practice bearing witness. (quoted in Perseverance, p. 98, by Margaret Wheatley)

Check It Out

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apostles, Jesus, judging others, Nathaniel, Philip, St. Bartholomew, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

We know very little about most of the men that we call apostles, the ones closest to Jesus during his “public life.” (Today’s saint is even less well-known because he is sometimes called Bartholomew and sometimes Nathaniel!) There are two things in the gospel for today (JN 1:45-51) that caught my attention. The first was right at the beginning where Philip sought out Nathaniel to take him to meet Jesus. Today’s passage begins with Philip saying: “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law.” My question was about who the “we” is/are and what is the evidence they had. When Philip gave him the slightest background (“Joseph’s son, from Nazareth”), Nathaniel was obviously not interested, asking “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip didn’t give up, however. He invited Nathaniel to “Come and see.” By his persistence we can intuit prior encounters of others.

I presume Nathaniel was surprised when Jesus saw him coming and said, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him” Then addressing Nathaniel directly, he said, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” And that was enough for Nathaniel to believe that Jesus was the one they would know as “Son of God.”

Admittedly, the gospels are rather sketchy, not giving us full descriptions of events and conversations. My “takeaways” from the above encounter are the following:

#1: How quick we are to judge people by where they come from and what is the status of their family, and #2: How important it is to trust other people while also judging for ourselves by checking out what they have told us.

Most Important

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love the Lord, love thy neighbor as yourself, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There is nothing that I could say today that is more important than the message in the lectionary gospel for this date. So here it is:

When people who were testing Jesus asked him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He answered:

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. (MT 22)

Enough said. Think on these things.

Course Correction

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clean heart, conversation, steadfast spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, willing spirit

I see a three way conversation in the lectionary readings for today that might be something to pay attention to as we reflect and open our hearts.

First, Ezekiel speaks for God and might be talking to Americans, noting our need for a course correction. God says: I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities…I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts…you shall be my people and I will be your God.

In response, the psalmist prays: A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me…a willing spirit sustain in me! And then another voice enters and calls urgently to us: IF TODAY YOU HEAR GOD’S VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS!

God is always calling, hoping that this time we will hear. All we need to do is turn and look at what God offers. In all of it, there is willingness on God’s part. How can we resist such an invitation to a deeper life?