Speak, Lord!

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Abraham, Joseph, listen, love, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I woke up this morning at 5:55 a.m. Five, you may know, is the number of change. I don’t know much about numerology but that strikes me this morning as something that deserves attention, given that the number was repeated three times. For days we have been considering the stories of Abraham and his descendants. It seems that in the entire story there is nothing but love and forgiveness. Fears of reprisals are pushed aside. Joseph has all the evidence he needs to convince him that if he (and we) stay in touch with God and try to respect and accept that the people who are given to us are in our lives for a reason, clues will be given along the way and we will be pleasing to God. All we need to do is to stay awake and offer love as a response to every day in every way that is presented to us.

Therein lies the rub…

Father and Son

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Abraham, Father, Isaac, test, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My father had a mighty love for God but he was mostly quiet about it. Only once did he tell me how he felt at the moment of preparation for receiving the Eucharist. He said he was overwhelmed, his breathing rushed. And sometimes…at special times, he felt tears coming—tears of joy, of humility…bursting with love. I can’t imagine him ever refusing or even resisting a directive from God…

I was thinking of that as I read the story of Abraham and Isaac today. I can’t imagine my father ever being in the situation of Abraham, needing to choose between God and his son. I will have to have a serious conversation with God about the reason for the test with Abraham. Was the test really necessary? Maybe…the people (not just Abraham) might have needed a reminder of their covenant with God…. How would you characterize this story? Put yourself in the place of each of the characters and see how it feels. continue until you have a deep sense of what is happening and maybe you will have new insight into the relationship between Abraham and Isaac. What can you learn?

Miraculous Happenings

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Abraham, Magnificat, Mary, messenger, Sarah, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Everyone is busy in today’s lectionary readings. I smile as I think of long ago Saturdays in the convent when the primary activity was cleaning and making sure everything was done, readied for the week to come in our school work or wherever our ministry called us for love of the “dear neighbor.”

Abraham was front and center in the first reading, sitting at the entrance to his tent as if waiting for instructions about the day. When he saw three men standing nearby he sprang into action, ready to provide them with what is described as “a little food” for their journey. It became a group project as Abraham gave instructions first to Sarah—to make rolls —then to a servant who prepared the meat of a “tender, choice steer.” Abraham finished the job with curds and milk and then watched while they ate. There are lots of words that make it seem like there wasn’t much time to waste, words like “he ran,” hastened, “Quick!” and repetitions of the same. Abraham must have been aware that these three visitors were messengers from God because he was immediately on alert to do all that he (and his entourage) could do to serve the guests. And the news was startling, news that Sarah, in her old age, was to have a son. Unbelievable, at best! But the prediction came true, likely because of the hospitality shown to the guests.

The theme continues with people who are gifted with messages from God—first Mary, in the amazing news of her motherhood, impossible but true—sung by Mary in what we call the Magnificat, and for the humble centurion whose servant was paralyzed and suffering. Jesus was willing to come to his house to cure the man but because of his belief, Jesus made sure of the healing simply because of the man’s faith—no need to be in the presence of the needy one.

So how do we put this all together? Where are the connections and the willingness of the participants to surrender to the present moment and circumstances? Of what do they need to let go, suspending their beliefs when God steps in?

I leave that to your reflection and hope that the message becomes clear to you—for you—as you listen to God speaking to you and through you on this day.

Waking Up Again

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Abraham, faith, gratitude, Sarah, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I read some of the chapters in Genesis where God is in conversation with Abraham, I get a little jealous, wishing for a relationship that seems sometimes so “daily.” I mean that it would be nice to talk about the family, e.g. Sarah having a son and Abraham laughing at God’s promise because he was 99 years old (Gn 17). As I write that, I see that I have moved away a bit from the conversational relationship with God that has long been a part of my morning meditation. I would like to blame the pandemic but I don’t think that would be fair. My meditation mat and home altar are still in place and no one is prohibiting me from the quiet of my bedroom…I just seem to have become lazy and am realizing that this recognition might be a value of revisiting a prayer schedule on a regular basis. Sometimes all it takes to wake up is a line from the Scriptures, as this morning with verse one from chapter 17. Listen:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said: “I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless.” That shook me awake in an instant so that I almost felt a need to stand up and salute…but then I read the rest of the text and heard the softening of God’s voice as God spoke of descendants, especially “Sarai” (Sarah) having a child in her old age.

This is the God I want to be close to, the God in whom I place my faith, my trust and my love. I meet that God everywhere: in the dancing of the trees on our land…in the sounds and smells from the kitchen where Liz has begun to prepare our dinner for today…even in the wonder of my aging hands as I notice the curving of my right index finger. Even there I bless my mother whose arthritis, much more serious than mine, was borne with grace and a luminous smile…

I will stop here begause I can no longer avoid the pull of my prayer space and the gratitude that rises in me from the gifts of this morning. Blessings all… Stay Awake!

A New World Order

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Abraham, create a better world, Genesis, Lent, live simply, moral responsibility, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There has been a lot of pain and letting go during these days of Covid 19. We have lost many of our loved ones “in the flesh” and have only memories to comfort us. This “letting go” is likely the most difficult of any loss and the most universally understood. I considered this as I read the story in Genesis of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. It’s easy to say that God did not really ask for that; it was just a test and we know that Abraham passed the test. This is a story from very ancient days where human sacrifice was the order of the day. The practice was intended to bring good fortune and to pacify the gods. In this time and in our culture there is no justification for such a practice. My God would never ask for that kind of willingness…so how can we use the story to learn a lesson?

As we move into the second week of Lent we might ask ourselves what we are willing to give up for the common good, or perhaps even more to the point, what we are willing to do, to engage or practice to create a better world—even if the scope of our “world” is very circumscribed. Some time ago a question arose in our country asking about our willingness “to live simply so that others might simply live.” It was a clever, catchy statement that caught on in social justice circles and many people took it to heart and changed their lives to be more ecologically or otherwise responsible.

What might be a moral responsibility today if we bring the “willingness” closer to our own life? How might our lives be changed if we take to heart what it would cost to give up our most cherished images of ourselves and live in the heart of God—whatever that means to you? I wonder what the world would feel like then…

Remember

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Abraham, Ancient Songs Sung Anew, God, God is still speaking, Psalm 105, remember, Sarah, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

This morning we are called by Psalm 105 to remember our heritage as “children of the Blessed One” as we stand in gratitude for those who have come before us, all the way back to Abraham and Sarah. Verse 5 from the Ancient Songs Sung Anew translation is especially evocative, saying:

Remember, remember everything you can recall, remember every work and wonder, remember every word God speaks to you in wisdom…

There is a large rainbow banner hung high above the door of the Church that houses the office of the Sophia Center proclaiming in large, bold letters that God is still speaking. Are you able to dig deep and be silent enough to hear the messages of wisdom and truth being spoken in your heart this very day?

Give It A Try

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Abraham, conversation, Genesis, God, interchange, love of God, relationship with God, Sodom, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust

I love the image of God in today’s first reading from Genesis (18: 16-33). It’s a true anthropomorphic characterization that I think we ought to consider. God is thinking and expressing concerns about relationship with Abraham and to find out what He/God ought to do relative to the wickedness of the inhabitants of Sodom. (“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?…I must go down there to see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out.“)

Following that musing is the famous bargaining conversation that God had with Abraham. (“If there were 50…30…or 20…or even ten innocent people in the city, would you not destroy the city for the sake of the ten?”) God agrees all along the way of that conversation. It’s such a wonderfully human interchange – sounding somewhat like a child to parent or even a bargaining of equals.

How wonderful it would be if we were that confident in “having God’s ear” and talking with that kind of confidence with God. I’m not actually talking about begging for a good outcome, necessarily, but rather just the manner of conversation that God and Abraham actually had with each other. If love and trust are the virtues that we share with our God, shouldn’t we be able to find that kind of confidence? It’s my bet that God would be as happy as we would with that comfortable interchange. Why not begin the conversation and listen for God’s response?

Remember…

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Abraham, Ancient Songs Sung Anew, God's faithfulness, Psalm 105, remember, salvation history, thanks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Psalm 105 presents us today with a review of what we sometimes call “salvation history,” going back to Abraham and reminding us of all the great figures and stories of the ancient Hebrew people. What was most meaningful to me, however, as I read was the sense of connection – present to past – and the continuity of God’s actions in the life of the world, God’s faithfulness throughout all time, and even until now. It was the introductory verses that gave this sense of gratitude to me. Listen…

O God, we rise in thanks to call upon your name; we rise to spread the tidings of your deeds. We rise to sing you songs of praise, recounting every work and word in music’s voice. We rise to sing in honor of your holy name; let every seeker’s heart rejoice and search for you with all their strength until they stand before the beauty of your face, remembering.

Remember, remember everything you can recall; remember every work and wonder, remember every word God speaks to you in wisdom. Remember too that you are children of the Blessed One… (Ancient Songs sung Anew, p. 265)

Looking Back; Going Forward

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Abraham, faith, Isaac, leave home, leave the nest, religious order, Sarah, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust in God

I’ve been doing a lot of remembering lately, not unusual for one who has reached a milestone in life like 50 years as a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. I smile as I think of the three women who are celebrating 80 years in our religious order – all of whom “have their wits about them” and I wonder about the flow of their memories at age 98 and 99 years.

The first lectionary reading today is about the death of Sarah at age 127 years and Abraham’s concern about a wife for his son, Isaac, so that his family line should continue as God had promised him. Abraham had a lot to look back on at this juncture. The Scriptures say that he was already 75 years of age when he was called to leave his home and establish his family in a new place that God would show him, a move that would begin his life and that of his descendants anew. God promised that they would be a people uniquely (or particularly, in some translations) God’s own. Abraham kept that covenant with God and although his life was blessed, it wasn’t always easy.

This morning, in addition to those women who left their homes for the convent in the 1930s, not knowing how their lives would unfold but feeling God calling them, I think of my own mother and her mother before her. Actually, all four of my grandparents left Ireland at an early age to seek a better life in the United States of America. Having no idea what was in store for them, they trusted God to lead them. My mother was 46 years of age, having lived in the circle of her extended family in the same town all her life, when my father’s work necessitated a move to a new place that seemed like the end of the world for her. It was 8 hours away, if the trains ran on schedule, a rare thing in 1960. It took commitment and a love that would admit of no compromise to follow my father, who was himself in that same position of loss and unknowing, and it was their faith in God that led the way. As it turns out, we were the first in a majority of family members to “leave the nest” and who now are located all across the country and beyond.

This reverie brings me to the conclusion that whether our lives are lived in relative familiarity of all kinds or are disrupted by choice or necessity, it takes courage and a willingness to choose each day and what it holds for our growth. My mother’s pain at leaving her sisters and friends became the seedbed for her growth as a person in ways that never would have happened had she not leaned into the new opportunities and challenges afforded her in the second half of her life. Even should we ourselves not be the prime mover in change – rather like Sarah or my mother, moving as a spouse, or my siblings and myself as the new generation whose roots have been set on both coasts of the USA – we are all affected by change. I believe that our willingness to embrace it will always be the measure of the blessing change brings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s Your Name?

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Abraham, Abram, Confirmation, Genesis, inhabit, name, Sarah, Sarai, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In this morning’s first lectionary reading from the Book of Genesis, chapter 17, we have a continuation of God’s conversation with Abram, now known as Abraham, about his wife Sarai, now to be called Sarah because she was to be blessed with a child in her old age – surely a direct result of God’s favor. Those seem hardly noticeable changes, but changes nevertheless. We add or change our names also at certain junctures for different reasons, most commonly in marriage (now often by hyphenation rather than leaving a birth name connection behind) and religiously in the Christian sacrament of Confirmation where our new, additional name should honor a person or signify a character of holiness that we wish to achieve.

I was always happy with my name in one sense; I was always the only Lois in my class at school and it was rare to meet someone else so named. That was easier than trying to figure out which Mary or Maureen or Michael was the subject of conversation. It was only in my high school Math class that I jumped every once in awhile, thinking I had been called on, when the truth was that the teacher was talking about the “lowest common denominator.” (Say that phrase aloud quickly and you may see what I mean.)

On the other hand, I grew up with lots of references to being Superman’s girlfriend, Lois Lane, which wasn’t so bad, I guess, but would have been better if I really had access to the favors of such a hero. More concerning was the question of my “patron saint.” All Catholic children had to have a name derived from that of a recognized saint of the Church so my patron, I was told, had to be St. Louis (King Louis IX of France) or St. Louise de Marillac, founder of the Daughters of Charity, a religious community of nuns in the 16th century. Since my name was not Louis or Louise, I chose always to remind people that my middle name was Ann – mother of Mary, grandmother of Jesus, which was okay but not easily evident and required explanation. Imagine my joy and surprise when I began to read the Bible and realized that the second Letter of Paul to Timothy spoke of Timothy’s “mother Eunice and grandmother Lois.” What a relief!

All of this babble is only half of the point I wish to make this morning. My first thought was to focus on the importance of our names and whether or not we “inhabit” them. It took me a long time to feel comfortable with “Lois” although when spoken by someone who loved me it always sounded better. As I have grown into and accepted more and more the person whose name is Lois, I am more content. I do wonder about the son that was born to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of God’s promise, however. How would you feel if your name meant “he laughs” which was Abraham’s reaction to God’s prediction. Unless Isaac could turn the meaning around and become a happy-go-lucky person (quite hard work if we believe the chronicles of his life), I think he must’ve struggled a bit!

What about you? Do you know the genesis of your name? Is it special to you? Have you grown into it gradually or always been comfortable? Do you have a special, secret name by which you hear God or special people call you? What name would you choose if you were given the opportunity, and why? Today I plan to listen for God saying my name in the silence. Hearing that call could be more precious than gold.