My Choice

Tags

A Deep Breath of Life, abundance, Alan Cohen, create, happy, miserable, perspective, reality, seeing, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I was jarred into wakefulness this morning by a paragraph in Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life, that reminded me of something I believe about perspective. I trust that I have the power to choose the way I look at life. Here’s how Cohen described it.

If I want to be happy, that’s my choice. If others want to be miserable, that’s up to them. I do not have to justify, explain, rationalize, apologize, or compromise my choice for joy. I create my own reality, just as you do. The universe is big enough to have all kinds of reality happening simultaneously, and none of us needs agreement from anyone to verify the world we choose to live in.

That doesn’t change the feelings of distress that I wrote about yesterday. It is, rather, a choice to see everything from the perspective of abundance and be thankful for what I have in life of good things – like people to love and ground under my feet (be it muddy or green)…I will need to spend the rest of today conjuring up all those good things that seem so distant when the difficulties of life show up to bring me down. As I wrote that, the song from the movie, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, arose. That’s a good place to start because, as she sings, “I ain’t down yet!”

 

 

 

 

 

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Feed the Birds

Tags

abundance, caring, generosity, God, Matthew, nature, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I smile as I read the gospel this morning (MT 6:24-34) about how God cares for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air – and, of course, us. I’m thinking two thoughts in relation to the encouragement of that passage as God has a team of helpers at our house.

1.  Sister Elizabeth loves to watch the birds so we have feeders out – one for those eating “regular” food, one suet cake cage for the woodpeckers whose beaks must be made of iron and one summer addition filled with a sweet concoction for the hummingbirds who are only here for a few months in the summer. This year we have a new phenomenon with that last delight. What is meant to feed only the hummingbirds (who are an amazement to watch) has been discovered by almost all the birds – first the glorious Baltimore orioles, then the wrens and now even the small woodpeckers who may have eaten elsewhere and just come for dessert! How like me they are, preferring a sweet dessert to any other food they can find. Sugar water would certainly be preferable to plain old seeds for me if I were a bird. And since that feeder is attached to the glass door outside the kitchen, there are new diners to enjoy at all hours of the day. We can only wish that a few of them were window washers as well since some are very messy consumers!
2. Sister Paula loves creatures of all kinds and delights in watching them frolic or just pass through our yard each day which some do several times in 24 hours, knowing there will always be food from her hands. I am often surprised that some of them can still walk since they are not blessed with the sense of knowing when enough is enough for a meal.

How can I not smile as I see this reflection of God’s abundance and generosity played out daily right here in my own home?

 

 

 

 

 

Sparks of Possibility

Tags

abundance, capacity, context, fear, fire, igniting force, infinite, kindling, Passion, possibility, scarcity, spark, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, universe

Quotes from Pendle Hill: Today’s quote comes from The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander.

In the middle ages, when lighting a fire from scratch was an arduous process, people often carried about a metal box containing a smoldering cinder, kept alight throughout the day with little bits of kindling. This meant that a man could light a fire with ease wherever he went, because he always carried the spark. But our universe is alive with sparks. We have at our fingertips an infinite capacity to light a spark of possibility. Passion, rather than fear, is the igniting force. Abundance, rather than scarcity, is the context.

It’s For the Birds…and Us

Tags

abundance, birds, do not be afraid, generosity, Luke, sparrows, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Two days ago we spotted the first of our “winter birds” on the deck outside our house. That means big bags of various seeds and packages of suet cakes will soon follow. With the last of the growing season comes a diminishment of possibility for the birds to find enough to eat outside. Unlike the animals who don’t migrate and have been busy storing food for the winter, the birds depend on us to feed them now. And so we do. To be fair, this responsibility has its benefits; we get to marvel at the beauty and diverse coloration of our “feathered friends” as they come and go outside our windows.

It makes me smile to consider the reference that Jesus makes in Luke’s gospel today to the birds and us. (LK 12:7) He says: Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. He isn’t saying the birds aren’t important; God notices every one of them. But in the great chain of being it seems that God takes care of us in the manner that we take care of the birds. We frequently comment on the fact that all the birds in our area know where the tastiest, most abundant meals are to be had. Only the best at this restaurant! So it is for us – except that God is serving in every nook and cranny of this world so the best is what we can all expect from God…as long as we keep the generosity going in our neighborhood.

Servant to the Servants of God

Tags

abundance, breakfast, calling, Corinthians, generosity, John, love one another, Matthew, meals, message, new commandment, servant, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, welcome

It’s funny how first thoughts upon arising from sleep sometimes fit into the message for the day. That’s one way I know how the concept of inspiration can be defined. Here’s my example. I woke up this morning one minute before my alarm was to sound. (That in itself is always a welcome surprise!) As I rolled out of bed I thought that my first line in today’s message would be: “Short stories this morning, friends; I’m on kitchen duty this weekend and people will be waiting for breakfast!” (We have a weekend workshop here at the Spiritual Center and it’s my turn to prepare the meals for the participants.)

With my first sip of coffee came the first line of the first reading for today (from the first chapter of the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians!): Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters (1COR 1:26). The gospel acclamation reminds me that Jesus gave more than a hint of what that means in his statement – that he called “a new commandment“, saying Love one another as I have loved you. (JN 13:34) And then the gospel (MT 25: 14-30) finishes by warning me not to be like the servant who buried his talent in the ground for fear that he would fail to increase it.

I’m not planning on creative meals this weekend; the menus are already set, tried and true offerings that have been successful here and recipes that are easy to follow. So the service I give needs to spring more from who I am, with and for the people who have come seeking an experience of their “higher selves.” I will have to serve up a full complement of welcome with their pancakes and eggs this morning, a cheerful sense of abundance with the salad bar at noon and an outpouring of love with dinner that includes the sweetness of smiles with dessert. Luckily I have my good friend, Carol, with all her natural generosity and willingness, to help me do the “job.”

So off I go to this welcome task, knowing the secret that service to the servants of God is wonderfully rewarding as long as it’s freely given. In such a mutual exchange, everybody wins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perspective

Tags

abundance, clear, consciousness, just, perception, perfect, precept, psalm 19, right, the law of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true, trustworthy, understanding, unity, Wisdom School

In reading this morning’s psalm response from the lectionary (PS 19:8-11) I was taken by the refrain (The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.) Even more interesting, I thought, were the descriptive words in the whole text – adjectives to describe the law of God (perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, true and just) and even more, in the last verse, the analogies. (They are more precious than gold, than a heap of precious gold; sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb.) I started thinking that the psalmist’s attitude toward law was very mature and developed and wondered which laws, exactly, he was discussing. Then I played with the word precept which would have been an interesting interpolation if I had inverted the r and the first e. I would then be on my way to speaking of perception which I think has a lot to do with our attitudes as well…

Trusting that God’s laws exist for our good and flow from love, I can see why the psalmist described them that way. Would that all earthly laws would show us the same face. Still, I think there is a message here, on this day when I am halfway through a “Wisdom School” event where we are attempting to go to a deep place in consciousness in order to see from a stance of unity and abundance rather than duality and scarcity. Perhaps I might do well to reflect on some precept that I find distasteful or annoying and see if I can, by going to the root purpose of it, have a better and more appreciative understanding and acceptance. While probably not a life-changing process for any major laws of the land, this exercise might prove a worthy practice for seeing things more often in a positive light.