Dance to the Music

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Advent, celebration, gift, rejoice, spirit, the greatness of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Since I sat down to write today, I have been accompanied in thought by a song that begins: My soul rejoices in my God; my spirit proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Holy is His name! Even if I mistake one or two of the words, the tune is there as is the meaning. It’s a very happy song and I’m happy to sing it. Probable cause? Likely the vaccine… Or maybe the electoral college vote (which should mark the end of the struggle toward election…) Could it be the impending celebration of high holy days for so many around the world, a celebration that has as much – if not more – to do with our inner lives as with outer expression?

It could be any of those things, or all of them. It could, on the other hand, simply be a little gift from God just for me, just so I know that God is here, that God is now, that God never leaves me comfortless. So I will listen and even hum whatever words come with the music…and maybe if I wake up enough, I will find myself dancing…I wouldn’t be surprised.

Aftermath

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celebration, change, election, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, together

I was just watching our cat as I tried to think of how to characterize this moment. It’s very foggy outside, due to a very welcome few days of “Indian summer.” The visual speaks to the inability to see clearly, however. Precious (yes, the cat’s name is Precious) was just about to test the limits of her agility by jumping from chair to small table to window sill in the living room. She is an indoor cat so takes every opportunity to go close to danger without being harmed, even though she is likely unaware of how dangerous the outside world that would await her could be.

After several attempts to test the distance and judge the width of the window sill, she jumps and succeeds in reaching her goal. She rarely misses it but always tries again. She doesn’t stay long today, perhaps because of the fog. She is now back ensconced on a very comfortable chair for her morning nap.

Watching Precious go through her ritual this morning, I thought of us and what awaits us now after the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The celebration in the streets, and most likely inside as well, was long and joyful in cities all over the country. Clearly there were those who were not rejoicing at the outcome but yesterday belonged to the “winners,” even while Joe Biden promised that the win belongs to all of us. The fog is thick as we consider how we will proceed. It will take confidence—more for some than others—to study the risks of going forward. The leap will be easy for some; it will take many attempts to look beyond the chasm that separates us before a readiness to jump brings us together, but jump we must.

As the fog dissipates in the light of the morning sun, I consider Joe Biden’s often repeated statement that he will not be democratic president or a republican president but rather an American president. So in this new moment, in the aftermath of the election, having seen the deep and wide divide in our nation, my prayer will need to change. I must – yes, truly must, put myself in the shoes of those on the other side of the chasm and be willing to pray for the courage to find ways to jump into the future together.

Diversity

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Br. Nicholas Bartoli SSJE, celebration, differences, diversity, human, light, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As we struggle toward unity in our homes, our communities and our world, we are also charged with the responsibility to embrace diversity. From our families to the members of the United Nations (meeting this week in New York City) the task is acceptance and understanding. I was reminded of this today by a post from the Society of St. John the Evangelist that called for appreciation of our uniqueness as a way to celebrate the unity of humanity. Here is the post.

Although we may have plenty of differences, it remains true that the Holy One created human beings as perfectly beautiful and in God’s image, shining like stars with the light of Christ. It’s a light reflected through the prism of this world as a diverse offering pouring forth from within each unique human heart. We pray with God’s help we will bear witness to that light, and instead of creating separation from difference, see diversity as a cause for celebration. (Br. Nicholas Bartoli, SSJE)

All I Do Today

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blessings, celebration, good, gratitude, healing, Jan Novotka, mend, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Having spent the past weekend in celebration of my fifty years in religious life with family and people with whom I have experienced the highs and lows and mundane “everyday-ness” of it all, I have nothing left but gratitude and new motivation to live consciously each day. The refrain running through my mind speaks better than I can myself of that determination. It may be a repetition as I use it often to begin workshops but no matter; it is appropriate, I think, for this Monday.

May all I do today be for the healing of the whole. May all I do today mend our broken world. May all I do today bring blessings on the earth. May all I do today be for the good of all. All I do today. (Jan Novotka (c) 2002)

 

 

 

 

 

Jubilee

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celebration, gratitude, Jubilee, kindness, Leviticus, mercy, milestone, religious community, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of my favorite biblical concepts comes from the Book of Leviticus where the practice of “Jubilee” is defined. It speaks of a time – every 50 years – when slaves are freed, land that has been taken is given back to the rightful owners and all remember the kindness and mercy of God. Even the land is given consideration as the fields are allowed to lie fallow, so that they can rest and be restored. All of this was done not only in reparation on a human level but to heal relationship with God. The resulting celebration was one of great rejoicing.

Adaptations of this ancient custom are many depending on culture and religious practice, the most common of which being wedding anniversaries of 25, 50 and nowadays occasionally 75-year celebrations of marriage. In my religious community, we celebrate on the Saturday closest to the feast of St. Joseph, our patron saint whose feast is March 19th. Thus, today there are 25 Sisters celebrating anniversaries in increments spanning from 50 to 80 (yes, 80) years in religious life. In an amazing burst of longevity, we have 3 Sisters who are 98 years old who will be present with us in our chapel this morning in Latham, New York.

I am one of five on the younger end of the celebratory group, celebrating 50 years of God’s grace. It is, as was mentioned above, not just a day but a whole year of recognition, of reflection on how we have lived our lives so far, and a time to make a determination of how we want to proceed in the adventure of growing older physically and stronger spiritually. It is a time of great gratitude for the blessings of our lives and a recommitment to God and the community that has enabled our growth to maturity.

I invite everyone who has come to a milestone moment of any kind in life to join us today in remembering what brought you to that moment and to give thanks. And if, in this year, you celebrate a special birthday or anniversary of some kind, please remember us and join us in our prayer of gratitude today.

 

 

 

 

 

Living in the Now

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celebration, failure, light, limit of our days, live, moment, now, present, psalm 90, success, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time, wisdom of heart

As I read today’s lectionary texts, I am struck once again with the necessity of living every moment to the fullest without grasping at the past or the future – which I no longer have or do not yet have (and maybe never will, who knows?). This is not a new theme but as I write I am hearing in my head some lines of a song by Greg Greenway, a wonderful musician and poet. The refrain goes like this: This is the light I carry. Tonight is a celebration. Have no complaints, sinners and saints, under the bright constellations…The hymnal’s wide open at the Church of What Is; let’s sing!

One of my alternative psalm translations says this: (Please pardon the repetition, if repetition there is): Time for you is as nothing, Lord, a thousand years of it, your yesterday, passing as a watch of the night. We are your dream, we’re briefly here and then simply gone, like grass. In the morning green and growing, at sunset we are withered, dry. So teach us now the limit of our days, that we may give our hearts to wisdom’s voice. And turn a gracious face toward us, for we are here on earth to serve. So may this grace, this graciousness be ours, and rest upon us now and evermore we pray. Amen. (Ps. 90)

The familiar (to me) translation of one of those lines says, “Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain wisdom of heart.” Although I note the great similarity of the two translations of that sentence, I’m tempted to jump on the word “limit” in the first one as something different from the obvious meaning, i.e. the “number” as in the traditional sentence. What if the limit we are supposed to learn is what can be accomplished in a day, which shifts as we age. Can we learn to accept our days as we live them with the level of “success” or “failure” without needing to even apply those words to anything? Can we be awake to the wisdom, the lesson in each passing moment, so that without lamenting our limitations we live as we were meant to – in the graciousness with which we were created, which is the way that I believe and hope God is attending to us? Let us pray for this grace today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Incarnate

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all in, Angelic Mistakes: the Art of Thomas Merton, celebration, Christ, commentary, drawing, emptying Himself, God, happiness, Incarnation, life, marriage, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

One of the books on the “Merton shelf” of the bookcase that is directly to the left of my bedroom rocker is entitled Angelic Mistakes: the Art of Thomas Merton. The book really needs a deeper shelf to house it as it sticks out beyond its neighbors, begging to be noticed. It has a double value because it offers not only a large selection of what Merton himself called a collection of shapes, powers, flying beasts, cave animals, bloodstains, angelic mistakes, etc., that can perhaps have some visual effect on the local bisons…but also significant commentary and quotes to accompany each of the drawings. I have flagged some of those pages of quotes that are significant to me and was drawn again this morning to one of them that included the following:

In emptying Himself to come into the world, God has not simply kept in reserve, in a safe place, His reality and manifested a kind of shadow or symbol of Himself. He has emptied  Himself and is all in Christ…Christ is not simply the tip of the little finger of the Godhead, moving in the world, easily withdrawn, never threatened, never really risking anything. God has acted and given Himself totally, without division, in the Incarnation. He has become not only one of us but even our very selves.

Last night I had the privilege of gathering with 11 women, all of whom had worked together for all or part of the past 15 years. (I left my position but not my connection six years ago.) We have worked, prayed and played together and watched our lives and the lives of our families unfold together as women are in the habit of doing, more or less, in such a situation. Last night we were celebrating one of us, soon to be married, in a joyous, playful extravaganza of good food, good gifts and deep, deep happiness. I was reminded of the above quote as I reflected this morning on our party. There have been tragedies and illnesses and great sorrow in the lives of all of us over the years – some very recent and raw – but nothing was able to dampen the spirit of love for our sister, Theresa, and one another that was palpable throughout the evening. We were “all in” – God incarnate – as one single manifestation of divine love. Even in writing that last sentence I feel the shocking nature of it. How bold it is! How dangerous to talk like that…and yet I have come to understand, through such experiences as this, the possibility of total letting go of personal interest in the draw of love’s selflessness. There was nothing of ego in the room last night; we were all engaged in the purpose for which we were gathered and moved as a unit to make it happen. It was a glorious dance and will stand for me as a  touchstone of God’s love incarnate for a long time to come. And, as an old “folk Mass” song says, “And all we have to offer You is thanks. All we have to offer You is thanks.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary’s Birthday

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birthday, caregivers, celebration, devotion, gratitude, immaculate conception, Jerusalem, model, mothers, nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary, Nazareth, Protoevangelium of James, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I have lots of people whose birthdays I remember and I celebrate them at least in my mind if not with a card, a call, or (these days) with an e-mail. Today Eastern and Western Catholic Churches celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – a birthday I always mark with a smile and/or a prayer of gratitude for her role in our life. This morning I wondered who came up with this date as probably no birth certificate exists to prove her arrival and most of what we know from that time is less than an exact science. What I found was that the first written mention of Mary’s birth was in the apocryphal text called the Protoevangelium of James, a document probably in its final written form in the early second century. It speaks of her parents, Joachim – a wealthy member of one of the tribes of Israel – and Anna, but is not clear about where or when she was born. Some accounts speak of Nazareth as her birthplace and some say it was a house near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. The date for commemoration of her birth was logically set, but not until the sixth century, as nine months after the celebratory date of the Immaculate Conception.

Regardless of historical accuracy, the Christian Churches have always celebrated Mary in many ways during the year with great devotion. She is particularly dear to mothers around the world who look to her even on the ordinary days as a model for living – in good times and times of suffering. Perhaps that is a good reminder for us today to give thanks for our own mothers and/or those who have “mothered” us with their care and love – all those who have encouraged our birthing into spiritual maturity. I will think on those women today and mark this day joyfully in celebration of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Garments

Tags

banquet of life, celebration, dance of life, God, king, kingdom of God, parable, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wedding banquet

I went to a wedding recently where the ceremony took place at the top of a hill and the reception in the barn below. My question upon getting the invitation was: What does one wear to a wedding in a barn? The answer didn’t help much; it was: Anything you want! The only  thing that seemed de rigueur was cowboy boots (or a reasonable facsimile).

The gospel for today is the parable about the king who gave a wedding feast for his son – with disastrous consequences. The invitees refused the invitation – some with excuses and others by mistreating and even killing the messengers of the king! So he sent the servants back out to invite others to the feast. This worked pretty well but there was one person who came improperly dressed and was cast out of the event. That last was always the sticking point because if the king decided to invite everyone from “the highways and byways” the assumption on his part that everyone would have a wedding garment seemed unfair. That is the danger of interpreting parables literally.

God is the “king” who invites everyone to the banquet of life. It is up to us to receive and accept the invitation. If I say yes, however, there are some expectations – whether or not I have “cowboy boots.” Moving toward the kingdom of God implies conversion – recognition of what has been offered and offering ourselves in exchange for such an invitation. We needn’t be perfect; all that’s necessary is that we be “on the way” – doing our best to enter into the dance of life that energizes and leads us on toward the celebration that awaits us – where all will be one and all will be fed.