On the Cusp of Holy Week

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A Deep Breath of Life, accept, Alan Cohen, flow, Holy Week, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Some time ago I wrote about an approach to Lent that suggested letting go of “do’s and don’ts” in a manner of speaking, and rather focusing on life in the present moment. This morning I read a page in the book, A Deep Breath of Life, that offers a similar—if not matching—message. Maybe it is just the one we need as we prepare to enter Holy Week tomorrow.

It’s a story about monkeys and nuts, and, of course, people trying an experiment. The important item was the container for the nuts—a glass jar with a rim smaller than the base, making the monkeys unable to get to the nuts, if and until they were smart enough to tip the jar on its side instead of struggling to fit their hand into the jar. Jungle lore called that “making use of ease rather than force.”

The lesson offered by the author is stated as follows: “If you are trying to clutch onto something that won’t fit into your life naturally, that’s when you get caught. Accept what shows up, and you are free. Take advantage of the tide of events, and life will support you in ways that you could not manipulate through serious struggle. Build on what is rather than what isn’t and you will be one with life.” (Alan Cohen)

Rather than adding tasks to this coming week to earn the favor of God, why not just notice what comes into view in your life and respond to opportunities to “flow” in ways that you may not have done before. Cohen’s brief concluding prayer says this: Show me how to live. Help me move with energy that I may be free and happy. (I think God would be happy with that as well…)

God-Bearer

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accept, Anunciation, Mary Mother of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours

Today is the feast of the Annunciation, the day when we celebrate God’s choice of Mary to be the mother of Jesus. Difficult to understand on a human level, even Mary questioned God about the possibility. “How can this be?” she asked the angel sent to let her know what was to be her work in the the world. I can imagine a more distressing reaction, something in the neighborhood of:

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!! I’M A VIRGIN, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!!!”

Of course, the Scriptures paint a different picture. Mary was steeped in love for God and willing to do whatever she was called to do for God. It’s difficult to know how she felt on that day – and perhaps the days that followed. We have only one clue about those days following this pronouncement. Mary left her home and traveled into the hill country to the house of her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who was an older relative with whom she could share this news, try to understand what God was doing and find the support that she needed to agree to God’s plan.

There is a prayer in Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours, taken from his Asian Journal, p. 318-19, that I like to think might have been Mary’s “acceptance speech” when she came to terms with God’s choice of her as Mother of the Christ. Listen, and consider what she was agreeing to as her life’s work.

Oh, God, in accepting one another wholeheartedly, fully, completely, we accept You, and we thank You, and we adore You, and we love You with our whole being, because our being is in Your being, our spirit is rooted in Your spirit. Fill us then with love as we go our diverse ways, united in this one spirit which makes You present in the world, and which makes You witness to the ultimate reality that is love. Love has overcome. Love is victorious. Amen.

We Are the Gift

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accept, gift, Jesus, John, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In what I think is the most stark passage in John’s gospel (17:20-26), today we read what is clearly a pleading of Jesus to God. He’s asking that unity may be manifest on earth. It’s a very personal passage in which Jesus talks about his relationship with God and his desire for his followers and – by extension – the entire world to know the love that exists in God and for us all. The most powerful line for me today is what we language teachers call “direct address.” (There’s no doubt about the ask or to whom the request is made.) He says: Father, they are your gift to me.

Think about that for a minute. Pretend you are listening in on the conversation and you hear Jesus saying, “Father, they are your gift to me.” He’s talking about us – not only the holy ones among us, not the intellectuals or the gifted artists, but all of us. We are the gifts God has given to Christ who has walked the same path that we have. His 33-year sojourn on earth was not virtual or imaginal; he actually lived a totally human life. Now he’s asking for all of us to accept being God’s gift to him. I’m fairly certain that God was willing to give Christ what he asked for. The question is whether or not we are willing to acquiesce to what is required of us in becoming a gift of God to the world.

We just have to agree…to say yes.

A Quick Word

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accept, calm, Joyce Rupp, serenity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It seems my alarm was on “mute” this morning, so I’m enough behind schedule to necessitate brevity here and to turn to Joyce Rupp for assistance. She writes:

“Gracious Peace-Maker, thank you for the life you have given me. I desire to be filled with your serenity. Clothe me in your calm presence. Be the stronghold of my heart. Help me to accept the irreversible and to change what is possible. May your peace grow ever stronger in me.” (Prayer Seeds, p.60)

May it be so for all of us today!

It Begins With Me

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accept, hope, Joyce Rupp, patience, Peace, Prayer Seeds, refuge, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, weakness

As I contemplate the tumultuous times in which we live, the words of a familiar song float in. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Do we ever really take that to heart? Joyce Rupp urges me along today toward that goal. Listen.

“Rock and Refuge, Stronghold of Souls, Unshakeable One, infuse your strength into the places where I feel the greatest weakness. Permeate the parts of my life that continually challenge my patience. Increase my ability to accept those who seem to be most unacceptable. Lessen any tendency in my spirit that gives way to a loss of hope. Reinforce an awareness of the daily manifestations of your presence. Boost my spirit when I think I cannot manage what is mine to be and do.” (Prayer Seeds, p. 56)

Blessings on your day.

The Speed of Life

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accept, apostles, Henry Van Dyke, living in love, love, surrender to life, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time, time is eternity

I’m sitting this morning in a place of contradiction: considering the assumed slowness of time for the apostles who are waiting for “they know not what” (see yesterday’s post) and wondering how we could possibly be in the month of June this quickly. Time becomes a concept much less comprehensible than it used to be (dare I say “when I was young?”). There’s nothing I can do but watch it pass and surrender to life – whether or not I finish a day with everything crossed off my list.

As I sit in this situation and evaluate my willingness to accept it and move forward, a long-ago quote floats through my mind. Since I can remember only snippets of it, I resort to “my new best-friend,” the internet, and find even more than I expected.

Henry Van Dyke wrote: Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.

My satisfaction with finding this quote is in the wonderful last clause that I don’t think I ever heard! Wonderful because it erases any frustration or concern about conquering time in the aforementioned surrender to life. Living in love is a noble goal and a great work in this moment in our beautiful but violent world. If we can add our quotient of love to the energy of the planet, we have a better chance of seeing it – and us – survive. And isn’t that reason enough to try?

Weather Report

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accept, Ahab, Elijah, prophets, severe weather, spirit, thankful, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday our area of New York State was scheduled to have severe thunderstorms. We felt the heaviness in the air all day but meteorologists kept moving back the time of the storm’s arrival. In the end, from what we have heard, others not far from us did experience much more than the few claps of thunder and one dazzling lightning bolt that was the extent of the storm here in Windsor at about 9:00 in the evening.

Today’s first lectionary text is remarkably similar as we hear Elijah warning Ahab to prepare to evacuate because of impending heavy rain. I think I’ll leave that line of thought for tomorrow as the tract that follows is one that deserves a deep bow of spirit. It is notable, however, that the weather and other conditions of the natural world were of concern in the age of the prophets just as today.

This morning I look out to see sun-dried beauty on the large maple across the yard and hear the birds who are most likely happy that their habitat has not been damaged in the least. I have pictures in my mind of the far western states where fires burn out of control and evacuations of residents are now mandatory. While losing a home is preferable to losing one’s life, the distress of the former can be monumental, especially when fire has reduced everything to ashes.

As I think of how lucky I am to live in the northeast, it occurs to me that a few months ago death and destruction from brutal snowstorms plagued states up and down the east coast while the west was enjoying good weather. It is all so unpredictable these days and having come this far in today’s post, I have no place to go now. I prefer not to rant about global warming or dwell on the innocence of the wind and the sun in all of this. Perhaps the conclusion calls for introspection – as usual. My willingness to accept what is in every moment, to be prepared in times of danger, to help others when disaster comes, to rejoice in the sunny, beautiful days like today and to thank God for all the gifts of the natural world – all of this – is enough to take with me through this day.

 

 

 

 

 

Letting Go

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A Deep Breath of Life, accept, Alan Cohen, change, desires, divine, free, greater good, letting go, pain, Peace, resistance, service, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In our conversations this weekend about Mary Magdalene and Conscious Love, we have often spoken of the need to surrender to life, letting go of our “small-self” desires in service to the greater good. In our meditation sessions, we let go of any thoughts that arise in order to allow us to be present to the Divine. I found a resonance in Alan Cohen’s reflection for today in his book, A Deep Breath of Life, that seems appropriate to share as we depart from this very valuable group experience. Cohen writes:

True mastery lies in flowing with the events of life. We are empowered when we assume that everything comes from God and goes back to God. Nothing in form lasts forever, and when we can accept change, we are free. All pain is born of resistance. An attitude of non-resistance liberates tremendous energy. Pain arises when we fight against what is happening, and peace comes when we accept what is.

Cohen then proceeds to ask two questions: What in your life are you resisting? and How much peace could you gain by letting what is, be? Those seem worthy of some reflection as we begin a new week…

Smart Monkeys

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A Deep Breath of Life, accept, Alan Cohen, anxious, clutch, creative, fit, intelligence, learn, monkeys, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the tide of events

I would have to look back in my posts to see if Monday is the day on which I am most likely to rely on the thoughts of others rather than my own in writing here. Perhaps it would make sense that the beginning of the work week would be fraught with plans and deadlines or regrets about what I did not accomplish during the weekend, in which case focus on creative thought might be more difficult. Whether or not that is sometimes the case, it is not so this morning, yet I am once again drawn to share what is to me an engaging and meaningful lesson from Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life. See if my choice is helpful for you.

Jungle lore tells that monkeys learned how to evade capture by making use of ease rather than force. Hunters would put some nuts in a glass jar with a rim smaller than its base. A monkey of inferior intelligence would reach into the jar and grab the nuts, but because the hand with the nuts in it was too large to fit through the rim, the animal would stand there struggling, and the hunter would grab him. The smarter monkeys, however, didn’t reach into the jar; they simply opened one palm and tilted the jar so the nuts fell into it. If you are trying to clutch onto something that won’t fit into your life naturally, that’s when you get caught. Accept what shows up, and you are free. Take advantage of the tide of events and life will support you in ways that you could not manipulate through anxious struggle.

Build on what is, rather than what isn’t, and you will be one with life.

Power in Weakness

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accept, Corinthians, failure, grace, imperfection, power, rely, rely on God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, willingness

A friend and I once had a conversation about “structures for failure.” Sometimes, he said, if you’ve been a “good girl” (or boy): successful in school, gifted with good friends, never at odds with parents or other authority figures, etc., it’s difficult as an adult to accept imperfection in yourself. When you make a mistake or fail at something, it feels like the whole world is crashing rather than as if you had just hit “a bump in the road.” Sometimes early “bumps” make us stronger people in the long run.

That point is, I think, the one St. Paul is making when he talks this morning about his “thorn in the flesh” in his letter to the Corinthians (2 COR 12:7-10). When he asked God repeatedly to take whatever it was away from him he finally heard God say, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” That helped him to understand imperfection as a reality check for humility, i.e. knowing and acknowledging the truth of himself. It gave Paul a willingness to rely on other people sometimes and on God always. He says, “I will gladly boast of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

We don’t need to long for weakness but rather to accept our foibles as part of our growth and in solidarity with others who are also dealing with imperfection. If recognition of this element of the “human condition” makes us rely more on God than on ourselves while not abdicating our responsibility for our actions, it seems that the purpose has been served and we will know ourselves more deeply as God’s beloved.