Call to Mindfulness

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Benedictine, mindfulness, monasteries without walls, silence, Sr. Joan Chittister, St. Benedict, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Unlike most of those holy people we call saints, the influence of Benedict (c. 480 – c.547), whom we celebrate today, has been constant in the Western world of monasticism for over 1500 years. In fact, Benedict’s influence in the wider world of spirituality is now likely more expansive than ever before. Groups are forming and calling themselves “monasteries without walls,” living life “in the world” while following the tenets of the Benedictine rule. People are in search of a model for living that calls to mindfulness and a balanced way of being that fits into “real life” – not necessarily hidden away in a monastery. They are finding such a way with Benedict.

Twenty years ago Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister wrote a book entitled, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today. It is a simple, straightforward work on how to live every day mindfully with examples of how to balance work and rest, community and silence, and much more… examples that can relate to all of us. Sister Joan has a paragraph that sums it up quite well and is easily explicable, I think, to anyone who desires a closer relationship to God while living in any lifestyle today.

And so Benedict calls all of us to mindfulness. No life is to be so busy that there is no time to take stock of it. No day is to be so full of business that the gospel dare not intrude. No schedule is to be so tight that there is no room for reflection on whether what is being done is worth doing at all. No work should be so all-consuming that nothing else can ever get in: not my husband, not my wife, not my hobbies, not my friends, not nature, not reading, not prayer. How shall we ever put on the mind of Christ if we never take time to determine what the mind of Christ was then and is now, for me? (p. 105)

Good question…

Listening With Your Heart

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Benedictine, choice, debate, decisions, Joan Chittister, listening, pray for wisdom, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice of God, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily

I felt I needed to check news headlines this morning as I had been rather “out of the loop” during a whirlwind week playing “catch-up” with myself. It was an interesting few minutes. Most of what I read were a number of interpretations of the debate performances of one or all of the ten top candidates of the Democratic Party for our next President of the U.S.A. Everyone has an opinion and, although I do realize many of the reporters do their “homework” before, during and after events such as these, I will now be better off reading transcripts of what they really said and following my own heart in making decisions. I would wish for some face-to-face time with each one of those still standing but will have to settle for replays and reflection for the next several months.

After my foray into the news headlines I spent some time with Joan Chittister’s Wisdom Distilled from the Daily. Sister Joan always has a way of pulling me back into my own head and heart with just the right words. (I would do well to support her for some lofty political office, I think.) Here’s what she said that, by way of analogy, reinforced my confidence this morning.

Benedictine spirituality is, then, the spirituality of an open heart…At one point in the monastic life, I was sure that knowing the Rule and practicing its practices was the secret of a holy life. Now I know that knowing the document will never suffice for listening to the voice of God wherever it may be found. No longer do I hope that someday, somehow, I will have accumulated enough listening so that there will be no further questions about pious practices that can easily be learned. Now I have only a burning commitment to those qualities of the spiritual life that must be learned if I am to grow. (p.24-25)

It’s far-fetched perhaps as a way to proceed in winnowing the political field for office, but I do think there is a relevance in Sister Joan’s comments. It’s up to me to go beyond the words offered by the candidates, to feel their motivations and check their past and present actions for what is really the make-up of their agenda – to the best of my ability, of course. And in the end, to pray for wisdom and the best hope for the future of our country.

Where Wisdom Lives

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balance, Benedictine, calendar, fulfillment, heart, intention, psalm 90, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time, time management, wisdom

The beginning of a new week is always a good time to take a breath and see what lies ahead. That task presupposes a look at the calendar to be sure we have noted all the “goings-on” and the preparation necessary for each event. I’m reminded of that practice by the first line from this morning’s psalm that prays: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. (PS 90:12) The first clause of that sentence sounds like the necessity of knowing what day and date it is (something that escapes me sometimes lately) but the second clause adds a goal to the “numbering.” It implies good time management but also good choices about how we are spending the time that we have.

Benedictine spirituality runs on a time schedule that is based on a balanced day of activities and rest. A good exercise to illustrate this is to draw a circle and divide it into four equal quadrants entitled prayer alone, prayer together, work alone and work together – and then fill it in with everything you do by yourself and with other people. Rest/leisure is included as “work alone” and should not be ignored. It’s good, especially if one is just beginning to look for this balance, to draw two circles for the day labeled Start and End to check at the end of the day to see whether intention and fulfillment merge. I find it a good way to test procrastination tendencies as well as workaholism. And as the psalm seems to suggest, wisdom is found in the middle path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

God Calling

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Benedictine, coming home, fear, frailty, heart, Hosea, living deeply, new life, return, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Weston Priory

In the early 1970s the Benedictine monks of Weston Priory in Vermont began a music ministry that has enhanced the spiritual growth of innumerable people over the past half century. One of the most beloved of their early compositions that still appears in church hymnals and touches hearts of those who desire relationship with God, even while knowing human frailty, is Hosea. It is based on passages from the book of the prophet Hosea in the Hebrew Scriptures, which is one of the most tender texts in the Bible as it recounts the relationship of Hosea and his harlot wife, Gomer – a representation of God’s relationship with Israel.

Those words in this morning’s lectionary (HOS 2:16-22) float through my mind and call me back to the song. The music itself is full of longing while the words simply and directly present God’s desire for us. It sings in my heart this morning as I listen to it again on YouTube.

God calls: Come back to me with all your heart. Don’t let fear keep us apart. Trees do bend, though straight and tall. So must we to others’ call. Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life.

How can I resist?

 

 

 

 

 

Going Forward…Again

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attention, awareness, Benedictine, connectedness, discipline, Joan Chittister, list, prayer, reading, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This early rising time – 5:20 again this morning – seems a throwback to when I was first in the convent! At issue now, however, is the fact that I wake up at this time after only five or six hours of sleep (when my “normal” is eight) and am not able to go back for more rest, which has serious consequences later in the day. With my coffee just now I decided to make a list of important things not to forget for today and tomorrow. No wonder I’ve already entered a mental marathon! Within about three minutes I had 25 things on my list! They aren’t all very time-consuming, but still…

I read a few lines from Joan Chittister when I finally gave in to the dawning of day. I was reminded immediately of the importance of prayer and reading to Benedictine spirituality and the rule that she says “does not call for either great works or great denial. It simply calls for connectedness…with God, with others and with our inmost selves. It (the Rule) is for ordinary people who live ordinary lives.” But it calls us to attention and awareness.

That’s why I need my list. Lately I feel as if I have let the weather determine my activities and see the hours slipping away in lassitude. A little discipline is good for the soul. So here I am – determined enough to regroup and take my list in hand, willing to admit my shortcomings to the world in order that I might get back to a deeper connectedness and well-ordered living.

May it be so this very day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Teachable Moment

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Benedictine, Christ, Christian, crucifix, fullness of life, joy, Jubilee, overcome, presence of God, Roman Catholic Church, sign, spiritual journey, St. Boniface, Teilhard de Chardin, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the way of the cross, weight of the cross

I keep trying to ignore my first thought for today’s post. It comes from the reflection I just read on the life of St. Boniface whose feast the Roman Catholic Church celebrates today. Boniface was an English Benedictine monk who gave up being elected abbot to devote his life to the conversion of the Germanic tribes in the 8th century. It was not an easy task, http://www.franciscanmedia.org reports. I had determined to abandon that topic for something more upbeat or light-hearted when I read the line of the commentary following the biographical information. It said: “Boniface bears out the Christian rule: to follow Christ is to follow the way of the cross.”

While I would not dispute the teaching that suffering is part of life and that Jesus is a model of how to accept and bear one’s suffering as a transformational practice, I take issue with the inference in the above statement that the cross is the entire or desired way of life for the Christian. The often quoted line of Teilhard de Chardin provides a needed balance for me. “Joy,” he said, ” is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.”

So why am I still talking about this? As it happens, I had an experience two days ago that moved me to a deeper place. It’s one of those analogies that seems far-fetched and maybe irreverent, but it helps me so I beg the indulgence of those who do not see it so.

On Saturday I participated in a very joyous Eucharistic liturgy for the family and friends of one of my “jubilee companions.” There are only five of us who entered the convent together 50 years ago so we plan to be present, if possible, at each of these individual celebrations. My participation in this event included the task of carrying the cross in the entrance procession at the beginning of the liturgy. I had never before performed that particular task at our Motherhouse and was surprised at the weight of the heavy metal, 5-foot crucifix when I lifted it. To hold it high processing down the very long aisle to the altar was no small task. At the same time we were singing joyfully: Let us bring the gifts that differ and in splendid varied ways, sing a new Church into being, one in faith and love and praise.

What struck me in that moment was very symbolic (perhaps only to me). Feeling the weight of the cross at the same time as the joy of such a communal gathering was a powerful image of possibility in the Christian life. Although our lives can be fraught with difficulty at times, we needn’t be overcome. The joy that comes from the spiritual journey in community, modeled in the life of Christ with his companions and the Spirit that remains with us, can and must enliven faith and engage our hearts in love. These realities are not separate but constitute a unified whole that is, in fact, the way to the fullness of life.

Mindfulness

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Benedictine, busy, consciousness, full, mindfulness, spiritual traditions, Sr. Joan Chittister, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

In March The Sophia Center for Spirituality will offer a five-session series on spiritual practices that foster mindfulness. Far reaching and from diverse spiritual traditions, we hope something in these presentations and exercises will catch the attention of each person who participates. Sister Joan Chittister, the prolific and highly esteemed author of spiritual books, many of which teach about Benedictine spirituality, reminded me this morning of how important it is to be consistently mindful as I go about my days. Here is what she says:

And so Benedict calls all of us to mindfulness. No life is to be so busy that there is no time to take stock of it. No day is to be so full of business that the gospel dare not intrude. No schedule is to be so tight that there is no room for reflection on whether what is being done is worth doing at all. No work should be so all-consuming that nothing else can ever get in: not my husband, not my wife, not my hobbies, not my friends, not nature, not reading, not prayer. How shall we ever put on the mind of Christ if we never take time to determine what the mind of Christ was then and is now, for me. (Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, p. 105)

That about covers everything, I’d say…no life, no day, no schedule, no work, no person or thing. I am fascinated with the way Sister Joan rolls out her sentences so that each slice of life is connected to a practice that – if we are not mindful – is ignored to our detriment. Each of her sentences, therefore, could be a subject for examination of consciousness. How busy am I? Of what is my day full? How tightly do I pack my schedule? What consumes me that hinders my attention to the important things/people in my life? How do I see my capacity for “putting on the mind of Christ?” Weighty questions, these. Perfect for a Saturday perhaps!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L’chaim!

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Benedictine, choose life, death, Deuteronomy, Helen Keller, life, Moses, Sister Helen Kelly, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we hear Moses (DT 30:15-20) telling the people that God has set before them a choice between life and death, blessing and curse. He urges them to “Choose life!” obeying the commandments, loving God and walking in God’s ways. Whenever I hear those two words, “Choose life” (even as a wedding toast), a tape plays in my head of a long-remembered verse that I don’t see in the Scriptures but don’t know where else I would have learned it. This morning I determined to find out and was successful because another blogger, a Benedictine Sister, used it in her message this morning. She said the author was Sister Helen Kelly. A google search was unsuccessful but I found many references to Helen Keller – a person renowned for her ability and willingness to choose life. But back to my point…

I bow to Sister Helen Kelly for her advice on how to truly choose life and share it with you as my best thought for the day so far. She writes: Choose life, only this and always and at whatever risk. To let life leak out, to let it wear away by the mere passage of time, to withhold giving it and spending it is to choose nothing.

The Mountain of God

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Benedictine, chanting, dwelling place of God, monastery, monks, psalm 42, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thirst

On this morning of “return” to this blogging practice, I feel as if the lectionary choice of Psalm 42 was chosen just for me. As the hind longs for running streams,  the psalmist sings, so my soul longs for you, O God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place.

I spent the past four days on a high mountain in the hills of California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, at a Benedictine monastery that was as representative as any place I can imagine of the dwelling place of God. Three times a day our group (12 people) joined the monks to chant the psalms and prayers of the liturgy of the hours, gathered again for Eucharist and twice a day for 90 minutes of deep conversation about our desire and willingness to follow God’s Spirit in the living of our lives. Outside of those times we were in total silence and solitude, taking our meals in our “cells” and basking in the beauty that is God’s glorious work of creation. Speaking of cells, there was no cell phone coverage or internet access on the mountain – only a land phone for emergencies. We were totally in God’s hands and at God’s disposal.

My gratitude for the experience of time on God’s holy mountain is profound. My renewed sense that I can carry “the inner mountain” of God’s presence anywhere I find myself if I am willing to fuel that ability by a consistent practice of silence is the hope with which I come home. I will, I think, make a sign for my bedroom door that I will see as I exit each morning to remind me (lest I forget) that athirst is my soul for God, the living God! (Ps. 42:3a)