Anticipation

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Election Day, hope, moment, participation, sacred duty, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I sit today in a state of tension. As a member of a family that was always interested in politics, who believed that compromises were a necessary part of the process, I looked forward even as a child to Election Day, knowing that either elation or disappointment would be the result – likely some of each depending on the year, but appreciation of the democratic process was a given.

Much has changed in our world in recent times and we are now in the midst of the most dangerous “moment” in our modern history and of the political process. Becoming part of a world in which technology plays a major role, we are also open to interference on an international scale, especially, at this moment, in our elections. Gone are the days when we could count on trusting the process – or the outcome as a simple result.

Last night as I listened to statistical projections on the television, I could feel the cheerleader in myself preparing for wild joy or deadening disappointment. Those feelings are still with me, and will likely remain through the weekend and the days to come. Just before I turned off the TV, however, I saw something on the screen that restored my hope. There were a number of images, flashed consecutively every few seconds, from different places across the country. They each depicted a polling place where lines of people stood silently moving toward the goal of casting their ballots. It was a striking image of the best in us as a country: people standing – likely for a long time, moving very slowly, peacefully, toward the fulfillment of the sacred duty that is part of the bedrock of our nation.

The phenomenon of participation unrivaled ever before in a national election in our country urges me to have hope in this time of turmoil. Now I can only pray for a transition of power equal to that hope in the days ahead.

Peace Prayer

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election, Joyce Rupp, Peace, prayer, Prayer Seeds, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As we count down the days leading to our national elections, I search for words that will speak of right judgment and trust—words of all the virtues that might help in difficult times. What seems most important today on a cold, rainy morning, however, is a straightforward prayer for peace. Empty of words of my own, I turn to Joyce Rupp for the assistance of a person whose very being exudes peace. She does not fail me. Pray with me if you will.

Peace-bringer, create in me a heart filled with the kind of love that reflects your own. Send this love to those I care about and respect. Open my mind to those I want to reject. Open my heart to those I prefer to avoid. Open my eyes to see beyond the surface of individuals and recognize your presence in each one. May my thoughts, words and deeds be devoid of violence in any form. Soften whatever is hardened in my heart so that I bring your peace wherever I go. Remind me often that I, too, am in need of this love and worthy to receive it. (Prayer Seeds, p.53)

The Right to Vote

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election, gratitude, prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voting

This could perhaps seem to be a postscript to yesterday’s post about patience but, for me, it’s also a reminder of the privilege I have to live where I do—in the United States of America, I mean. Sometimes these days I am sad when I speak of or write the letters USA because of all the discord that exists in our country right now. It seems that the “U” (United) is tottering on a precipice as we face our Election Day next Tuesday. This year is different, however, allowing many people to more easily exercise that most precious right of voting. Because of the threat of disease we have many options of place and time to vote.

Yesterday was my sister’s birthday and I consciously made the decision to vote on that day as a sort of bow to her years of ministry in service to our government. I was hoping for good weather and lines that were not too long although the more important thing was the hope of lots of people doing their civic duty! It was a rather strange but somehow quite meaningful event. Because we were all masked, conversation was at a minimum; only couples could be seen close enough to talk to one another. The early rain had stopped and as we snaked toward the door of the building (interestingly named “Cooperative Extension – Taste New York”) the sun came out to brighten the mood of this quiet bunch, adding a peaceful quality to the event as everyone waited their turn, keeping a safe distance but moving steadily together toward the doors of opportunity.

As I moved forward, I became aware of the diversity in the crowd as well as our unity of purpose and intent. I began to pray then for our country and the people in front of and behind me in that line. I prayed for the youngest, for the lady with her little dog and for the elderly woman with a cane whose resolve was evident in her slow progress to the door where (blessedly) she was invited by everyone to pass along before them. I prayed in gratitude for the poll workers and for peace in the coming week, that all might be safe. and I prayed in thanksgiving for the privilege of living in this country and for the stamina we need now to navigate the challenges we face as a nation.

My prayer for us continues as today I pray: God bless us all and God bless the United States of America!

Another Day

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keep going, Meg Wheatley, patience, perseverance, St. Jude, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. Jude, the Apostle. He has been designated “the saint of desperate or hopeless cases.” I don’t think much about that but I suppose that has something to do with my trust that God is in charge, rather than I, myself. I read something today that made me consider an option to hopelessness – something that keeps me going, I mean. It’s patience. And that’s a growing thing. It seems to be a close relative of perfection; we don’t come into the world with it. Rather, we need to grow into it. Here’s what Meg Wheatley says about patience.

It’s not that we start out patient. We don’t persevere because we are patient people. We become patient people because we have to. There is no choice — the work is endless. Everyday we have to make a choice. Will we give up or will we keep going? When day after day we are willing to keep going we discover, quite to our amazement, that we have become patient. And then we just continue on. Day after day. (Perseverance, p.141)

Think about it. We’re still here, aren’t we? So let’s hear it for another day!

Hidden Blessings

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challenges, hidden blessings, Lynn Bauman, psalm 128, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Psalm 128 tells us quite clearly today (in the translation of Lynn Bauman): Your life is filled with hidden blessings which overflow from your hands—the gift of many labors. For it is God, the center of the heart, who prospers life until its end.

We might not feel that this season is full to overflowing with blessings but if we can look more deeply into things and take the long view we might agree with St. Paul. Speaking for myself, if I look at the rhythm of my days, I see that my work has changed significantly during the pandemic. It has become, at the same time, more simple and more challenging. Simpler in the tasks of service to my housemates: trips to the post office and the bank with proper precautions, time at home together praying and even planning and executing new menus for meals which teaches me that the challenges are not as daunting as I thought and the results and benefits of a successful meal are better than I expected.

The more challenging side of life is trying to maintain a work schedule that keeps the Sophia Center going. Challenge is primarily in the realm of technology so I have learned to admit what I can and cannot manage and it becomes easier to ask for help. I am blessed with wonderful women who provide that. The upside of navigating the shifts in how we present and participate is the depth of sharing as well as the fact that participants can attend whether from downtown Binghamton or in the far reaches of Florida or the Northwest USA. Our zoom calls keep digging the roots of our sharing deeper and our recognition of our oneness beating in our hearts.

All in all, I am reminded by Psalm 128 to look for the “hidden blessings” and remember that I will surely find God in the search.

Paul as Cheerleader

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compassionate, Ephesians, imitators of God, kindness, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I often think of a truth that I heard long ago from someone far back in memory and I bless the person who brought it to me like so many gifts from forgotten sources – the angels given to us for guidance in life…This gift, like a 100-watt light bulb, revealed that it is not at the beginning of life that we are expected to be perfect. Rather we are here to learn and wake up as we go so that by the end of life we might have come to understand what it was we were here to be and do. That was a big relief to me since I had early taken to heart the adage: “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” and imagined that there was a time frame (like “today!”) appended to it.

There’s a lot of “wiggle room” in that recognition: a lot less guilt for mistakes and even for the occasional tantrum! It’s our effort that God is looking for, I believe. And that’s why I appreciate some of St. Paul’s best advice, as in his letters to the burgeoning Christian communities. Today, for example, Paul calls us brothers and sisters and urges us down through the ages to “be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us…” (EPH 4) Paul is sometimes very directive in his words to an audience but sometimes (as in the above quote) he is like a kind cheerleader, remembering his own lessons earlier in life, and motivating us to remember who and whose we are.

If Only…

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greatest commandment, love one another, love the Lord, love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today’s gospel reading from the lectionary is one of the most familiar to many of us. Some may not know where to find it in the Scriptures but most can usually recite a reasonable facsimile when pressed to speak about the greatest commandment. As often as we hear it, we should heed it and it seems to me there is no better time than now to take it to heart. If only we would all write it on a bulletin board or pin it on the door leading to the exit of our house or – better yet – make sure it is written on and in our hearts and keep it there until it becomes an automatic practice — for our lives and the life of the world.

Having been asked: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus 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. And 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)

If only we would learn that short paragraph, teach it to our children and observe it ourselves, what a different world ours would be. It remains, however, like a ship passing across our field of vision until we jump off and dive into the depths of its meaning.

Are we willing to dive deeper today?

Out of Control

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consciousness, control, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The beautiful trees outside my bedroom window have lost all their leaves now. After the wind of the past few days and the rain all night that will be with us all day, they could not hold on. It is the way of things. We are moving into a new season and have no say in how it will affect us. It is out of our control.

It feels that way with most things now and Meg Wheatley reminds me today of our options on a day like this. It is clearly not within our power to change much of what goes on around us so we ought to take her advice today. She says this:

There is only one thing we can control in life — our own self. We can control our thoughts, our emotions, our responses. We can observe our behaviors and reactions and realize we made a choice. Therefore, we could choose a different response. If we have ourselves under control. (Perseverance, p.107)

That’s a wake up call for me if ever there was one! A good thing to remember and a place to put consciousness on a grey, rainy Saturday. How’s the weather in your corner of the world?

Aftermath

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meditation, reflect, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

8:33 a.m.: As I wait for my body to catch up to my mind this morning, I sit in the planning stage of choices. Should I reflect more about yesterday’s safe and energetic road trip and meeting? (See yesterday’s post.) Should I move toward the several household chores that await me? Should I tackle the “homework” for next week’s zoom gatherings? I could say: “All of the above” and make one of my ever-present lists on yet another small notepad or used envelope or should I trust my mind to total recall – (not really a safe option!).

The best idea is, I think, staring at me from the corner of my room: my meditation mat, ready to receive me…the best way to start my day. So please excuse me while I drop into the day with God.

Before the Dawn

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breath, dwell, Ephesians, psalm 33, St. Paul, strengthened, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It is 6:37 a.m. and still dark outside. It is totally quiet inside and out – the only sound being that of my keyboard. As I wait for the light to come I wonder when the niggling anxiety will cease – inside and out. Today I will go to Albany – a 2 1/2-hour journey from here, the safety of home, the bubble I have lived in for eight months. My only travel has been to the tiny post office in our village and the drive-up window outside at the bank, except for a few antiseptic trips driving people to doctor’s offices and generally waiting outside in the cocoon of my car.

It is a strange feeling – inside and out. I am going to a “long-range planning” meeting with nine of my Sisters in religious community at a time when any sort of planning is tentative at best. We plan for a future that has been on hold now for over seven months – a future full of important projects necessary to our lives in this time of diminishment of numbers. One would think it a futile challenge, but as I begin to see the outline of the trees outside and the sound of my alarm that tells me it is time to wake up, I do.

I hear St. Paul in the lectionary today encouraging the Ephesians, praying for them that God may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you (we), rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you (we) may be filled with all the fullness of God. (EPH 3) As I draw breath and strength from those words the psalmist weighs in with the certitude that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. (PS 33)

The birds are awake and singing now. I see the clearly the tree outside and a faint expanse of pink in the sky. I am ready to meet the day and all its potential for me and us – inside and out.