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Tag Archives: action

How to Proceed…

12 Thursday Mar 2020

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action, Meg Wheatley, pandemic, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thought

Today the reality of the word “PANDEMIC” has reached my consciousness in a way that calls for some decision-making about the immediate future, especially about work and travel. For help with that task I turn to Meg Wheatley to see if her book, Perseverance, can lead me in the search for rational thought and action. Here is–in part–what I found.

Being in not-knowing, open and aware, is how we discover right action — the appropriate means for what needs to happen. Right action usually doesn’t match our plans, conceived as they were from the outside. But now that we’re inside the situation, curious and uncertain, we’re able to notice what’s here…If we take this approach, in every situation, we discover that the resources we need are already here. We have more than enough to work with. It’s our task to notice this abundance, and then figure out how to work with it appropriately…The situation, no matter how difficult, doesn’t need to be different. We just need to see it differently. (p. 101)

Reflect on this. Pay attention and stay safe out there.

Contemplating Hercules

06 Thursday Feb 2020

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action, challenges, crisis, heroism, Optimize, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today feels so much like a Saturday I’m tempted to go back to bed! Don’t ask me why. It could be the weather that promises more snow and sleet. It might be the result of so many events already come and gone this week, or the energy it took to achieve their completion. It’s interesting that Brian Johnson’s “Optimize” sounds today the way I feel but he’s such a cheerleader for moving forward that I should have expected his rather colorful post. It made me smile and he does have a point. Entitled “Getting Out of Bed and High-Fiving Hercules – Aka: Moving from Theory to Practice,” he quotes Epictetus (paraphrasing, I presume.)

What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar? — and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of those challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules. And even if he had, what good would it have done him? What would have been the use of those arms, that physique, and that noble soul without crises or conditions to stir him into action? (www.optimize.me)

So, Johnson says: “Let’s not roll over and go back to sleep!” and then he asks: “Got any heroic choices you need to make today?”

And your answer is…?

Mid-October Morning

13 Saturday Oct 2018

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action, Celtic Benediction, creativity, God, health, hope, John Philip Newell, new life, prayer, reflection, renewal, rest, rhythms of time, seasons, stillness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unfolding

arainymorningOn this dreary Saturday morning it is clear that the earth has shifted into the season of Autumn. As the rain taps out a wake-up call on the roof, I wonder if we will see the usual splendor that accompanies October. Some say because of the hot, wet summer we had, the trees will not provide us with that gift this year. I always hold out hope though, and it will last in me for a few more days. For now, I am relaxed into morning by a prayer of John Philip Newell that expands the rhythms of time and the seasons into a God-like view.

For the night followed by the day, for the idle winter ground followed by the energy of spring, for the unfolding of the earth followed by bursts of unfolding, thanks be to you, O God. For rest and wakefulness, stillness and creativity, reflection and action, thanks be to you. Let me know in my own soul and body the rhythms of creativity that you have established. Let me know in my family and friendships the disciplines of withdrawal and the call to engagement. Let me know for my world the cycles of renewal given by you for healing and health, the pattern of the seasons given by you for the birth of new life.   (Celtic Benediction by J Philip Newell, p. 76)

 

 

Commitment

16 Monday Jul 2018

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action, covenant, inaction, psalm 50, relationship, sacrifice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

asacrificeToday’s lectionary includes verses from Psalm 50 in which the psalmist expresses God’s desire for us to “step up” in our response to life, suggesting that our sacrificial offerings (bulls and goats – or for us checks and cash) are not enough. God says, “Why do you recite my statutes and profess my covenant with your mouth though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?”

We could take offense at this and use more words to defend our actions or inactions. If I am honest and look in the mirror, I must admit to that kind of behavior at least some of the time. But then I hear verse 14 wherein God seems in need of relationship with us. “No! But this is what I want from you. Offer me grateful heart. Fulfill the vows that you have made.” It’s as if God is asking from us what each of us wants from others: the willingness to say what we mean and mean what we say – and then to live into what that means.

How can I refuse?

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Morning

30 Monday Apr 2018

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action, contemplation, Contemplation in a World of Action, contemplative life, creative work, dedicated love, inner, inner discipline, integration, meditation, outer, positive attitude, prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, work

anurseAlthough there are many people now in our country whose work lives do not fit the traditional Monday through Friday schedule, the majority still head to work this morning, hopefully somewhat refreshed from the weekend. The challenge for many is to bring a positive attitude into the workplace. It sometimes takes conscious effort to put one’s best foot forward, so to speak, depending on the work itself, our fitness for it and the companions we encounter there. It helps if we can take God along on the bus or the highway, especially on Mondays, with the understanding that our spiritual/inner life is not separate from the outer/busy life in the world.

Thomas Merton wrote a book whose title I find an instructive and helpful reminder today. It is entitled Contemplation in a World of Action and still sits on the bookshelf to my left after 45 years. I found the rather lengthly paragraph that I want to share this morning quoted elsewhere but I believe it speaks well of a good attitude for this Monday morning.

When I speak of the contemplative life I do not mean the institutional cloistered life, the organized life of prayer. I am talking about a special dimension of inner discipline and experience, a certain integrity and fullness of personal development, which are not compatible with a purely external, alienated, busy-busy existence. This does not mean that they are incompatible with action, with creative work, with dedicated love. On the contrary, these all go together. A certain depth of disciplined experience is a necessary ground for fruitful action. Without a more profound human understanding derived from exploration of the inner ground of human existence, love will tend to be superficial and deceptive. Traditionally, the ideas of prayer, meditation and contemplation have been associated with this deepening of one’s personal life and this expansion of the capacity to understand and serve others. (Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours, p.73)

Today, then, let us seek the integration of outer and inner, of work and intention, that we may lift up our “little corner of the world” in love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sacred Scripture

25 Sunday Feb 2018

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action, divine inspiration, Elijah, facts, faith, James, Jesus, John, listening, love, Mark, Moses, Peter, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transfiguration, trust, truth

atransfigurationSometimes the strangest thoughts bubble up when I’m reading the Scriptures for the day. This year we’re reading Mark and today’s section is the familiar story of the Transfiguration (9:2-10). None of the gospels provides all the details for any story but Mark is especially brief – the first written and shortest gospel. In some cases it’s like reading shorthand. Over the years I’ve become brave enough to try filling in some of the blanks in the stories. I doubt it can hurt; it’s not dogmatic teaching but just  conjecture for my own deeper understanding. I think of it as a kind of similar activity to that of movie makers who try to give us pictures to accompany the most visual texts – not always successfully, I might add.

Just now as I was reading about the transformation of Jesus into a being of light in the presence of his associates, Peter, James and John, it was the appearance of Elijah and Moses conversing with Jesus that led to my musing. In seeing that vision, Peter blurts out to Jesus the famous lines, ” Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” My immediate – unbidden – reaction was: How did he know who they were? It’s doubtful there were photos in their homes…Then I laughed at myself and went back to imaging the event.

A couple of reflections remain from that experience.

  1. Regardless of the vast resources of biblical scholarship available to us today, there are still things we may never be sure of but these are generally questions like mine today – details rather than central points of the stories.
  2. The importance of what we read is the truth rather than the facts that we find there. Sometimes the two coincide but not always. We need to be aware of literary forms and the purposes of their use. (Consider the stories of Adam and Eve or Jonah, for example.)
  3. Reading the Bible is an exercise of trust in divine inspiration, not only as it was present to those who first told of God’s actions but also those who heard, those who sat in community and “edited” by common consent and then those who left us the texts that have been passed down.
  4. We ourselves have the responsibility of faith that God is still speaking and that we have a part to play in our own communities by delving deeper into the words we read, the images that arise in us during the sacred times of listening together and the inspiration of the Spirit among us that can lead us to deeper truth, deeper action and deeper love in community.

 

 

 

 

Integrity

22 Thursday Feb 2018

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action, argument, gun laws, integrity, Life Is a Verb, Patti Digh, perspectives, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

lifeisaverbAt our always delightful book club* gathering yesterday the topic was Integrity. We spoke of it from many angles and found that many of the facets of this character trait are really “multi-facets” because life has become so complex. One of the areas that we touched on was religious law and practice. I will leave you to ponder the complexities of that topic yourselves; I’m sure the perspectives regarding that topic will be at least as diverse as conversation about gun laws. In the “Action” section that followed each story of the chapter, there was – for me – probably the most helpful idea. After recommending to the reader that s/he think of a recent argument s/he had, the author says: Now write for four more minutes framing the other person’s perspective as right. What a brilliant idea! Of course it would only work if one were really committed to going deep in telling the truth of the experience.

Since all the schools are closed today because of freezing rain and ice, maybe I’ll take a “snow day” and add that to my activities. Even if theoretically, it should be a fascinating exercise!

*Our book is Life Is a Verb by Patti Digh and is definitely worth the time and energy.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday at Dawn

26 Saturday Aug 2017

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action, Book of Hours, Christopher Pramuk, Creator, God, Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom, hope, humility, joy, Kathleen Deignan, purity, reflection, silence, sweetness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, wholeness

arootAlthough Saturday can be a day to catch up on all sorts of mundane tasks and chores, occasionally I savor the opportunity for a bit of leisurely delving into reflection on something found in one of the many alluring books on my shelves. This morning I returned to Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours, noting that I had not visited with him – or mentioned him here – for quite some time. Rather than quotes from his various texts, Saturday’s entries in Kathleen Deignan’s book of Merton’s writings are all parts of his amazing prose poem, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom).

In a commentary on this text of Merton, Christopher Pramuk, a professor of theology and spirituality at Xavier University, writes the following:

For years I have been haunted by Merton’s prose poem “Hagia Sophia.” The poem seems at once to multiply and silence all questions about God. Rather than succumbing to tired theological categories and preconceptions, it breaks them wide open, making old things new, daring us to imagine and hope again.

See if you agree. (I just quote his beginning here. I believe it is enough for one day.)

There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom, the Mother of all, Natura naturans. There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is the fount of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility. This is at once my own being, my own nature, and the Gift of my Creator’s thought and Art within me, speaking as Hagia Sophia, speaking as my sister, Wisdom.

(I recommend reading this slowly and often, aloud if possible, to catch and feel the beauty and meaning.)

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t Wait!

16 Wednesday Aug 2017

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A Light Grasp on Life, action, Alan Cohen, face, grace, problem, procrastination, readiness, signs, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, warnings

acircuitI recently heard that procrastination can become an addiction. I was rather surprised at that designation but have since pondered it as I make my daily lists and check at the end of the day or week to see what has fallen through the cracks of time and why. I can sometimes put the blame on unexpected events or lack of sleep the night(s) before the list was made but have added this practice of awareness to my desire for conscious living in the everyday. The challenge is to be responsible without becoming rigid so I try to remember a favorite book title of long ago:  A Light Grasp on Life.

My thoughts above were occasioned by two things:

1. Tomorrow I leave for an out-of-state family wedding so I need to ramp up my readiness quotient and get busy with all the tasks that need to be completed including what needs to be taken along for the ride. (That list will include my computer but there’s no telling whether or how often there will be another blog entry before next Tuesday.)

2. Earlier this morning I read the following reflection by Alan Cohen that started me thinking about the deeper side of procrastination. He was speaking of an electrical problem in his laundry room that he waited almost too long to attend to.  His words seemed an appropriate conclusion for this “thought for the day” in any situation that we might be tempted to “put off until tomorrow.”

When something in our life is malfunctioning, we receive signs, warnings…In life too, we cannot afford to keep overriding the breakers. We must heed the breaker’s warning and go to the source of the problem rather than simply treating the symptom. Instead of taking an aspirin for a headache, we need to face who or what is giving us a headache and deal with the problem at its source. Keep your antennae up for signals. Take the grace and then take action. (A Deep Breath of Life.)

 

 

 

 

 

Our Choice Now

11 Friday Nov 2016

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A Sleep of Prisoners, action, Christopher Fry, exploration, God, peril, response, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wake, Word

aelectionThis morning I woke with a line from Christopher Fry’s poem, A Sleep of Prisoners, in my head. It comes to me in moments of significance – often as the whole poem but sometimes just the part. I always look it up to make sure I’m not misquoting and in the version I clicked on today, the line was set off in bold. It says: Affairs are now soul size. The enterprise is exploration into God.

The past two days (if not the entire past year) have brought me to that conclusion and it is clear that our country is in peril. Our choice of response (not reaction) as we go forward will be crucial to our long-term future. Initial messages – in word and action – to the national elections run the gamut from violent and divisive to peaceful/prayerful and unitive. It is my hope that the populace will come to answer Fry’s final question in the poem for the good of the nation. He says: It takes so many thousand years to wake. But will you wake, for pity’s sake?

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