30 Wednesday Dec 2020
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This morning I was thrown back to a memory of my early convent days in the novitiate. As I opened my very fine worship aid, Give Us This Day, my eye fell on the traditional opening verse for Lauds (early morning prayer) and the first words that arose from inside us every morning came to me as a clarion call for the day.
O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. It is enough. A prayer for every day. A promise for a lifetime.
28 Monday Dec 2020
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desire to please, Eckhart Tolle, grace, life, lightness, present moment, resistance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
After reading over what I wrote on Saturday and lived through yesterday that provided me no time to write, I am convinced that I am finally coming closer to understanding how to BE in the face of this existence we call LIFE. I have known for a long time that I am not in charge of my life but only responsible to respond to it as it unfolds. I can do that with resistance or acceptance, tightening or loosening my hold on it as I go. Tightening only gives me pain as muscles are not flexed but stiffened. Allowing what comes to wash over me with openness and deep breathing is a better stance. Conveniently—and no longer surprising to me—I find Eckhart Tolle’s “Present Moment Reminder” today quite apropos. He says:
To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way good or bad.
26 Saturday Dec 2020
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So what has changed because of our momentary pause for Christmas? I ask myself that question, fully aware that we are still in the midst of a pandemic that is taking so many of our loved ones from us, a political situation that crawls more slowly toward an end than we have ever known, and an economy that threatens our lifestyles in more ways than we care to discuss. Yet as I sit here typing away, the sun continues to play on my words, playing peekaboo with the clouds, to remind me, I think, that all is not lost and Christmas really did mean something this year.
The conclusion that I have come to after diving into today’s lectionary readings which are full of murder and mayhem (on this feast of St. Stephen) is that life goes on as it should, teaching us again that God is not absent and we are inching toward understanding bit by bit. Christmas provided a pause that we needed, to help us remember God’s willingness to remain with us and calling us to “stay the course” until things right themselves again. We are being shaken into our role in that awakening, I think, and yesterday provided a “rest stop” for us to re-group for the next part of the challenge.
You may disagree with me on these images of “what is” but I truly think we are called to learn by living — sometimes in trial and some in bliss. Bliss may be somewhat of an exaggeration but if we come to see life from the inside rather than being spectators, we may well be much better off when the challenges come. The long and the short of it is, I think, the role of perspective. How do you perceive expectations? How is life supposed to be? I am, I think, more peaceful today, even in the face of serious challenge, than I was on Wednesday, and I want to meet the day with affirmation.
May the sun continue to shine for you today!
25 Friday Dec 2020
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So we have arrived and the Son of God has arrived and now we can more easily intuit what that means. There are bells and songs, feelings (perhaps) of comfort and joy, but truly the depth of meaning is in the heart space of all those who desire to participate in the mystery of God in us, Christ appearing in flesh to be with us—as St Augustine said: “closer to us than we are to ourselves.” The dawning of the light is slow and incremental but has been growing through these past weeks, gathering strength. The fullness is now upon us. Perhaps for some the light appeared like the glow of a Christmas tree lighting or flicking on all the lights in the house at the same time. It seems to me that this year the process was more onerous, like turning on the lamps one by one. That is probably why I turn to the St. Louis Jesuits for their song, Emmanuel. It starts so quietly, seeing only a baby in a stall, but grows and grows until the name cannot remain inside but bursts from us in recognition of the miracle asking, Emmanuel, Emmanuel, what are we that you have loved us so well?
May you be bathed in the music and the mystery, knowing that you are well-loved.
24 Thursday Dec 2020
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Advent, let the light in, O Come O Come Emanuel, radiant dawn, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Today is the day on which we go to sleep in Advent and (if we are vigilant) we wake up to the coming of “the one for whom we wait.” We’ve been calling to him for weeks now: O come, O come, Emmanuel…so now we must attest to the fact that, by sunrise tomorrow, we will see the Radiant Dawn that is the presence of God in our midst. It seems clear that God is doing all the work. (See the conversation between the Lord and the Prophet Nathan, today’s first lectionary reading during which God recounts all that has been done for King David – and thereby the nation of Israel (2 SM 7–>8…16). All that is asked of King David is to recognize all that has been done for him and his kingdom. The pivotal moment in this reading for today, I think, is the line that reads, I have been with you wherever you went.
As we wait for the dawning of light tomorrow, let us again consider the wisdom of Br. James Koester, SSJE who writes today, “If you are looking to find where Jesus will be born tonight, do not stretch your hand out to the shiny, bright, and new. Look to those ordinary, ignored, forgotten, and hidden parts of your life, and the world, and there you will find him. Then, like the shepherds, kneel before him and know him to be Emmanuel, God with us.” In other words, just recognize that God has been with us wherever we have gone.
We have all day and into this night to search the corners of our hearts, letting the light in, until the radiant dawn of Divine Love overtakes the darkness and we welcome the long awaited Emmanuel. Do not miss this opportunity. Blessings on your search!
23 Wednesday Dec 2020
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Christ, confluence, darkness, light, light bearer, light of Christ, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
The word confluence comes to mind today as I sit to gather my thoughts. Often there are too many to harness into anything even remotely reasonable or logical but the need to do so is sometimes so important! At such times, I feel that letting anything go might be like losing a diamond. So I sit here winnowing…
Light and darkness are great words for this week and the SSJE brothers say it best, I think, in their “word” for today. Listen: There are so many people now shrouded in darkness. Be a light-bearer. Pray that the light of Christ be mirrored in your countenance: through your prayer, voice, writing and giving. Don’t hide the light. Let it shine! (Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of St. John the Evangelist)
Interestingly, having simply shared that energetic expression, I am now calmed and the need for more has dissolved. I’m sure (as a woman in labor is sure that the contractions will return) that the need for some more precise explication of what I’m feeling may emerge before the dawn of Friday. So I wish you good light in and around you today and hope for tomorrow. May it be so for us all!
22 Tuesday Dec 2020
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Did you think I went on vacation without announcing my departure? Not so! I have been here…but am reminded of a line from a John Denver song as I write that…(“The days they pass so quickly now; the nights are seldom long…” from “Poems, Prayers and Promises“). That’s how it’s been really. I looked last night at “recent posts” and was horrified that I had skipped the past three days! It’s been a time of continuous interruptions, essential activities, exhaustion and lassitude. That sounds so dire when in fact nothing of import seems to have happened except the unwieldy snowfall…but truly, we are living in a “time out of time” this year, hoping that it is almost over, thinking that it must be coming to a conclusion, hoping for a better tomorrow and wishing we could take better advantage of the moments and hours of every day.
As I sat motionless this morning in the very chair that I inhabit most and looked out at the stillness that seems quite a bit like a frozen scene on a Christmas card, I let my mind roam without attempting any disciplinary action! Sometimes we just need to be where we are in the moment, it seems. I don’t know of any benefit that might have accrued from that brief half hour. I didn’t have any deep and meaningful revelations but I’m trying to just “let it be.” And it feels peaceful.
So I guess the word for today – as I wait for the Christmas that will be unlike any other – is sufficiency. What is, is, and that is enough for now. May it be so with you today.
18 Friday Dec 2020
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My brother in California let me know yesterday that our smallish city of Binghamton, NY made the national news because 41 to 44 inches of snow had accumulated on our properties – depending on our location – airport, valley or downtown. The only “moving parts” that I knew about around here all day and into the night were a few courageous birds, the highway crews and our own Sister Susan who plowed, blew (with the snowblower, I mean) and shoveled a path from our garage to the road, just in case we needed a way to exit the property because of an emergency. For the rest, all was still and unmoving.
Susan’s efforts reminded me of the call of the prophet Isaiah (40:3) to “clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth a highway for our God!” Perhaps you think my comparison a stretch but if you have ever tackled that amount of snow, especially with a stiff wind, a temperature of 18 degrees (F) and the dark of night, you might agree that it is fair. It certainly gives me pause and fuels my desire to regroup each morning my energy for finding the Christ life that exists inside me regardless of the darkness around me.
We’re almost there. A new day is certainly coming. We have not one but two vaccines to fight the virus that plagues us. We have a new governmental administration that will be place in less than a month and – most importantly – we have our hope in the One who longs for us and whom we trust. Our Scriptures call out today with vigor saying, “Come and with outstretched arms redeem us!” What is your response?
17 Thursday Dec 2020
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Everything is silent…there are two feet of snow outside blanketing everything. The only sound is the tiny click of my keyboard as I type. The word that comes to me as a definition of “what is” today as I look out my window is pristine. The whiteness is everywhere and (as the dictionary explains) it is “in perfect condition: fresh and clean as or as if new.” I breathe it in wishing to feel a sense of “pristine-ness” in myself. In Brian Johnson’s column, Optimize, this morning there was a quote from William James that seems apropos.
“Buy room for peace and stillness,” he says, “and thus make good work and good thoughts accessible and inevitable.” Today seems a perfect day for that impetus to all good things. May it be so for you!
15 Tuesday Dec 2020
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Advent, celebration, gift, rejoice, spirit, the greatness of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Since I sat down to write today, I have been accompanied in thought by a song that begins: My soul rejoices in my God; my spirit proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Holy is His name! Even if I mistake one or two of the words, the tune is there as is the meaning. It’s a very happy song and I’m happy to sing it. Probable cause? Likely the vaccine… Or maybe the electoral college vote (which should mark the end of the struggle toward election…) Could it be the impending celebration of high holy days for so many around the world, a celebration that has as much – if not more – to do with our inner lives as with outer expression?
It could be any of those things, or all of them. It could, on the other hand, simply be a little gift from God just for me, just so I know that God is here, that God is now, that God never leaves me comfortless. So I will listen and even hum whatever words come with the music…and maybe if I wake up enough, I will find myself dancing…I wouldn’t be surprised.
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 