Risky Business

Tags

conscious work, disappointment, misunderstanding, personal experience, rejection, relationships, similar, social media, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, words

Sometimes words fail to express what we’re trying to convey, simply because our words are reflections of some personal experience, unique to us – or so we think. Often, however, when we take the risk to share something we are certain that no one would understand, we are shocked into a recognition of how similar we are. This is another arena in which we find that practice is the only way to grow. If we never step out of our comfort zone(s) we will likely not come to understand ourselves or others in the deepest ways possible. 

There is, of course, the possibility of misunderstanding or rejection in our willingness to open ourselves to others. It seems to me, however, that the benefits of risk in this way generally outweigh the disappointments if we take our time and pay attention to the growing edge of disclosure in our relationships. I’m not referring here to youthful experience of trial and error with the “best friends for life” that we read about now in our high school yearbooks, although some of those relationships do remain tried and true. 

In one sense it seems more difficult to maintain deep, mature relationships in this fast-paced, mobile world. Looked at another way, one could see it as easier to keep in touch if we’re willing to use the technologies that permeate our culture like Zoom, Twitter, FaceTime, etc. but that in itself is a challenge for some of us. 

I guess it’s all a question – like everything successful seems to be – of conscious work, balance and letting go…Sometimes we are pleased and sometimes disappointed but in both situations we have an opportunity to grow. At this point in my life, that is enough to know.

Solidarity

Tags

caravan, christians, community, conscious work, consciousness, Jewish Community Center, Jews, judgment, Muslims, pray, refugees, solidarity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vigil, Wisdom Schools

I had two experiences yesterday that, upon reflection, help me to understand more deeply what it means to “walk in the shoes of another” – at least in some small way.

1. I took our house car to the local garage in the afternoon to have new tires installed. The mechanic told me that the process would take about an hour. As we needed a couple of items from the grocery store that I judged to be about a mile away, I decided to walk there in the interim. I had already thought about going for a walk while the process was completed but had estimated about half the time – and half the distance to the grocery store. It had been raining off and on but my windbreaker with a hood gave me sufficient protection and I had donned my best walking shoes in preparation. The road is a “country highway” – two-lanes, no sidewalks but with sufficient “shoulders” to keep me out of the way of the speeding cars and occasional trucks. The only issue (in addition to the minor splash of passing cars on a wet road) was the condition of those shoulders: broken pavement and in some places muddy patches of grass. The walk was, to coin a phrase, more than I had bargained for. I haven’t been walking much during the past year and my estimate of the distance was about a half a mile short, but soon after I began I decided to make this an exercise of what our Wisdom Schools call conscious work, uniting myself with the “caravan” of refugees walking through the countries of Central America. By doing that, the trek was not easier but my determination got me there and back in a way that was deeply meaningful. I considered the feet of those people and the terrain they tread each day. When carrying the rather small bundle of food on my return trip, I thought of parents carrying their children and all the possessions they could pack on their backs. When it began to rain again, I prayed for their safety and health and recognized how very privileged a life I lead. It took me just over an hour, including the stop at the store, until I wrote a check for the tires (knowing we had the money in the bank), slid into the car (knowing there was gas to power it) and drove home in warmth and ease in five minutes.

2. I felt drawn to the prayer vigil in our town last evening at the Jewish Community Center for the people of Pittsburgh. I knew it would be crowded but the gathering space is large and the parking lots quite expansive. When I arrived, it was already past sunset and in the gathering darkness I saw people streaming from every direction toward the venue. The parking lots were already full so I backtracked to the Catholic church a block away, grateful that their back lot still had a place for me – although far back from the road. As I joined the steady stream of walkers, I felt like we were going toward the Temple Mount in Jerusalem or some such holy place to beg for solace as the weight of all the hatred and senseless violence overtook me. I was one with the throng of pilgrims going to prayer in sorrow but solidarity. There must have been over 500 people there as all the seats were taken and there were as many of us standing close together in every nook and cranny of the building as there were sitting. For our rather small community, that was amazing. We were Jews and Christians, Muslims and most likely others who might call themselves “Nones” – professing no religion but standing in solidarity because there seemed no other place to be last night that would satisfy. The messages were of love, not hate, of community and willingness, of unity as a way to move through sadness and shock. I recognized very few of the people there but walking back to my car in the darkness, I felt the strength of communion and it was enough.

I am different because of these events of yesterday. There is a deeper, visceral consciousness in me of how everything is connected in this world. It is no longer as theoretical a concept as it was yesterday morning and if I continue to hold the world in this deeper way, I trust that it will continue to grow. It is as if what has just happened as I look out and up to see blue sky and a large white cloud over the mountain announcing sunrise is happening not just outside but within me as well. I now (I hope) will walk with the refugees and will add my voice to those who choose them as brothers and sisters. I will pray for my Jewish sisters and brothers and speak for gun control whenever an opportunity arises. More than anything I will try to love well and leave judgments out of my conversation, and I will pray for peace, the peace that only love can give.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm

Tags

chanting, conscious work, dancing, knowing, openness, present moment, rhythym, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, universal peace, wisdom, Wisdom School, wisdom work, worhip

As I try to stay in the present moment this morning, I am aware that today is the last full day of our leadership training event. I can feel myself almost physically leaning forward as at the starting line of a race, even while attempting to be present to my typing. One of the words that we have heard often in the last three days as we process the sessions of our time together is rhythm. The word itself is a rare combination of consonants with only the  y to act as vowel. I hear the singsong “a,e,i,o,u and sometimes y” English lesson of my youth and still wonder why that function is only “sometimes.”

I am glad for the “y” in this word as it made me curious enough to look up the word “vowel” on the internet. In a flurry of words, I learned (or learned again) that a vowel is a sound produced with an open vowel tract where some of the air must escape through the mouth. It is frictionless and continuant. Unlike with consonants, there is no build-up of air pressure along the vocal tract. Also noted is that the vowel forms the peak of a syllable. The word rhythm obviously needs that letter y!

That seems to me a perfect description of the way we have been proceeding through these days. There is a felt sense of openness among the participants and no pressure for anyone to act in any way that is other than authentic, whether we are speaking, chanting or moving around the room in a dance of universal peace. We have been blessed with good weather, the only rain a swift downpour in the middle of Thursday night, that has allowed us to exercise our powers of conscious working together – in rhythm with one another – outside stacking wood or inside chopping vegetables. We have recognized the wisdom in the group in such an organic way that our purpose has already been fulfilled, it seems. The challenge will be to stay in the moment for this last day and a half so as not to miss those moments of pure knowing which are sure to come in our interaction and especially in our worship together. I trust, when we are taking leave of each other tomorrow noon, our sense and perhaps our parting words will be the familiar: “It is finished in beauty.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Praise of Sabbath

Tags

Catholic Church, conscious work, Genesis, keep holy the Sabbath day, praise God, Psalm 145, Sabbath, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worship

This morning I am thinking of the notion of “Sabbath” and how the busyness of our lives has squeezed the practice that originated in the book of Genesis (God resting on “the seventh day” from all the work of creation) into a religious service that may last an hour at most. I speak of Catholic practice, which is what I know best, and am pushing aside any sense of commitment and feeling of the difference that accompanies this most important day of the week for many people, in order to shine a spotlight on how things “used to be.” I would wager that “no unnecessary servile work on Sunday” is a concept unknown to most Catholics under the age of 40 years.

My point is not to return to an understanding of the call to worship as a statute that, if broken, has dire consequences. It is simply a sadness that we seem, as a people, to have lost a sense of wonder and awe about creation and the Creator that – in and of itself – calls us to stop and give praise on a regular basis. Were we to understand the depth of what we have been given as possibility for conscious living, we would likely have little time for anything but praise! The paradox about that, however, would be our ability to do everything we are doing with more ease and success if we were acting consciously all the time. Let us, then, begin this morning with Psalm 145, as does the lectionary. The psalmist reminds us of the duty and privilege of praise so let us also raise our voices in like manner.

O sovereign God, all-powerful, your name I praise above all else. Each day that comes I add another note of song that I shall never cease to sing, for you, Almighty One, are great beyond my telling. Of you there is no limit and no end.

The Whole World

Tags

believe, centering prayer, conscious work, Cynthia Bourgeault, family, Hymn of the Universe, light, meditation, monastic liturgy, omega point, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, silence, sustain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity

This is a week in which I am blessed once again to be in the presence of Cynthia Bourgeault, revered spiritual teacher, and 35 of her students – new as well as seasoned, at a Wisdom event at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham Massachusetts. We will study Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s work in addition to participating in centering prayer meditation, conscious work and monastic liturgy. The silence here is pervasive and calming on this, our first full day together.

Teilhard, a brilliant paleontologist and theologian, who was unacceptable to religious hierarchy in the early 20th century, speaks eloquently today to a world concerned with the workings of the entire cosmos and our movement toward the “omega point” when all will be one. I thought the following quote was a good one for this beginning day, as it starts with a consideration of those closest to us and moves to the whole human race (where his concern does not stop…but more of that later).

One by one, Lord, I see and I love all those whom you have given me to sustain and charm my life. One by one also I number all those who make up that other beloved family which has gradually surrounded me, its unity fashioned out of the most disparate elements, with affinities of the heart, of scientific research and of thought. And again one by one – more vaguely it is true, yet all inclusively – I call before me the whole vast anonymous army of living humanity; those who surround me and support me though I do not know them; those who come, and those who go; above all, those who in office, laboratory and factory, through their vision of truth or despite their error, truly believe in the progress of earthly reality and who today will take up again their impassioned pursuit of the light.  (Hymn of the Universe) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cosmic Dance

Tags

conscious work, glory, healing, hungry, Kanuga, poor, Psalm 95, refugees, sharing, synergy, terror victims, The Elm Dance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I can’t be sure yet but I think the rain has stopped. Yesterday it seemed as if we were destined to begin building an ark for 250 people and however many animals came swimming down the paths here at Kanuga. But it was a day when it seemed no one was bothered by the rain. We were buoyed up by the synergy of our sharing, especially as we came together in a magical event that replaced our “conscious work” period of cleaning up the grounds of leaves and sticks and other remnants of autumn.

We gathered in the gym, first in our “small groups” of 20 people each and then in 3 concentric circles to learn and then dance The Elm Dance for the healing of the world. All nervousness about “doing it right” vanished quickly in the first go-round when the groups realized how simple the steps were and how easy it was to stay together as they moved. Especially beautiful were the moments of moving toward the center of the circle where joined hands let go into the sky, waving like the branches of beautiful trees and coming back together in the movement out again to continue circling. Later sharing provided ample evidence of connecting with the plight of refugees and victims of terror, the poor and hungry of the world and the ravaged places of Earth herself in ways that were deep and meaningful.

The rain continued to accompany us through the day and night where strains of our closing chant for the evening resonated everywhere as witness that every cell of this body sings, “Glory!” I have no doubt that the best advice any of the participants here could give for this new day comes from the gospel verse for this morning: If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts. (Ps. 95:8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Is the Time!

Tags

conscious work, Corinthians, distractions, Hallelujah Farm, incognito, instant communication, nature, Paul, pay attention, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom, Wisdom School

I arrived home last night in a torrential rainstorm after four days in Chesterfield, NH, just over the border from Vermont. Hallelujah Farm is one of those hidden jewels of retreat into nature that is the perfect setting for a “wisdom school” – our purpose for the visit. We were blessed with glorious days of sunny, breezy weather and a show of natural splendor on Friday night when the thunder rolled, lightning lit up the sky and rain cleansed the earth for the next day’s gardening. It all sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? And so it was for the 21 of us who had deep discussion, deeper silence and delicious food to sustain us. There was just one issue that jarred our habitual selves. The farm has two buildings, one up the hill from the other. At the lower farm, where we were gathering, there is virtually no phone service and absolutely no internet. A trip to the upper farm (available only in the afternoon “free time” from 1-3PM) was the only way to “get connected” – unless before 7:00am when our prayer began…The stewards of the farm, Sandy and Roger, were gracious in offering their Upper Farm phone for necessary calls home to check-in and to take messages for emergencies, but for the rest, we were incognito except to God and to one another.

I was thinking this morning about how accustomed we have become to the possibility of instant connection and how difficult it has become not to have that access. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, [N]ow is the acceptable time! (6:2) He’s talking about the necessity of paying attention to God no matter the trials or sufferings that endeavor entails. It seems to fit what we were trying to get to in our silence in prayer, at some meals, in our “conscious work” as well as in our times of conversation. To be totally present to the moment we are in allows us to become more conscious of God’s presence to us and the need for us to be present in return. Not distracted by our usual ability to connect with the world, we were more able to focus on what was happening where we were when we were there. We learned once again how difficult that is because we still had our thoughts to contend with in the silence. It was a wonderful exercise, however, of delving into what wisdom lies within ourselves both personally and corporately and an opportunity to grasp the beauty and importance of living in the present moment.

A Clean Heart

Tags

clearning, clutter, conscious work, housecleaning, psalm 51, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My first thought when I woke up this morning was about cleaning my bedroom – not a shock for anyone who frequently hears me lament about the sad state of it, but today is, I think, the day to dig in and get it organized. It is Saturday after all.

I smiled when I read the beginning of the psalm text for today (51: 12-19) that said, “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” I guess the clearing out is going to go deeper than I thought upon waking. Certainly, total cleanliness and order of the inside and out of me will not happen in the next 12 – 15 hours but I do think there is merit to reflecting on how the two go hand in hand. Clutter is clutter, whether in the mind and heart or the physical space in which I live. I am reminded of the “Wisdom Schools” I have attended where one of the daily practices was conscious work – paying attention to an inner task (breathing, “Where are your feet?” or some such focus) while also doing an outer task (painting a table, raking leaves, hammering a nail…). So today as I rifle through piles of paper to shred and decide which books really would be of more help in a library or when I dust, I will try to penetrate those interior nooks and crannies of my soul for stuff that has been hiding in the shadows and needs to come into the light in order to be let go. Then maybe tomorrow I will feel lighter and steadfast in my resolve to “clean up my act” on a daily basis so God can easily walk around my bedroom and in the spacious chambers of my heart.