Everything Means Everything

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conscious, everything, glory of God, gratitude, reverence, spiritual nature, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

On days like today when I read Paul’s directives about doing “everything for the glory of God,” I find myself saying, “Yup…Okay…I’ll avoid giving offense…Yes…I got that…” or words to that effect – assuming that I have taken Paul’s words to heart and that I’ll remember when situations arise that call for attention to my “spiritual nature.” If I’m honest I have to admit that sometimes I’m soaring on automatic pilot at these times because the words are so familiar. Usually it’s the extreme situations that call our attention more quickly to a response.

So just now I read for the third time: Brothers and sisters, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Eating and drinking for the glory of God…Who thinks about that? Suddenly a flood of questions: Do I ever just eat or drink? (Mostly I have a book in my hand or on my lap.) Do I savor what I’m eating? (Even if we’re watching TV during supper, i.e. “dinner theater?”) Can I taste differences in flavor in the different bites? What about different textures? Am I grateful just to have enough food to eat – even if I don’t especially like what I’m eating? Do I ever over-eat? I could go on…

Reverence for food and gratitude that I have enough to eat seems a “no-brainer” too often so today I will try to make it a conscious activity of my brain to offer praise and glory to God for every bite or sip that passes my lips and keeps me strong for the work of God in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signposts

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Alan Cohen, awake, breath, connected, conscious, destination, direction, Gandhi, journey, Meg Wheatley, reminders, slowing down, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today I am conscious – maybe just because it’s Monday – of the need to be aware of what surrounds me as I live today. There are already so many reminders and it isn’t yet 7:00AM!

• For at least the fifth day in succession there has been dense fog in the morning which could be mistaken for cloudiness portending rain later. Only if I am awake will I not be taken by surprise when the sun comes blazing out from under the mist.
• Alan Cohen’s morning reflection is entitled “Enjoy the Journey” and is peppered with reminders of the wisdom of slowing down so as not to miss what is just ahead of us. For example, he begins with a quote from Gandhi which wisely states that there must be more to life than increasing its speed, and from his own musings on creating a bumper sticker: Going nowhere faster will not get you somewhere.
• From Meg Wheatley: If you can’t get destination, go for direction.
• And most simply, when I wanted to access our website to write this: You’re not connected.

So I take a deep breath and jump into the depths of the day…

 

 

 

 

 

Yes.

Tags

conscious, contemplative prayer, intentions, mercy of God, petitions, Pope Francis, prayer, prayer life, quiet, St. Paul, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, tranquil, unity

In St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy, his young protégé, he urges the importance of prayer as a constant in life. I was struck this morning with many questions when I read the following:

Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity…It is my wish then, that in every place [people] should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument. (1TM 2:1-3, 8)

I immediately thought of Pope Francis and his exhortations toward mercy and unity, care for creation and one another. Then I thought of all manners of prayer and how my prayer life has changed over the years, primarily with a decrease in formal vocal prayer and an increase of intention and contemplative prayer. Do I recognize that all prayer has merit? And, I asked myself, although I try to pray with intention, how universal are the intentions for which I pray? For example, I may pray for our country or peace in the world but do I ever pray for politicians or church leaders by name? What about people for whom I hold no affection? Are they not in need of my prayer also? And might I not be changed by praying for those same individuals? What about praying for myself? Do I prepare for my prayer time by quieting myself and bringing my body, mind and spirit into oneness as much as possible? And do I give thanks at the conclusion of my prayer? So many questions…It’s a good reflection on willingness.

Today seems like a good time to start praying in a conscious, loving way for our President, the Congress, leaders of the military and those charged with public safety. That’s a big order. The first step will be a short prayer called “Yes.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, for the Simple Life…!

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attention span, change, conscious, conversation, creativity, entertainment, robots, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, work

The pace of change seems to accelerate with every passing day. Last night on the news, in a story about auto manufacturing plants, I learned that now 10% of assembly line work is done by robots. In what I believe was given as the year 2025 the percentage will be 25%. While the introduction of robots makes the actual work less labor intensive, it also will decrease the need for human workers and thereby unemployment will increase. This morning I read of the impending closing of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in April after 146 years. There are many factors contributing to the demise of this institution, including the vigorous work of animal rights activists, but a telling comment struck me as a clear indication of the impact of the speed of change even in small children. Speaking of the 12-minute tiger act segment during the circus performance, a representative of the circus remarked, “Try getting a 3 or 4-year old to sit still for 12 minutes…It is seemingly no match for Pokémon Go or YouTube…”

This is not a lament by an aging American (although I do feel somewhat like an anachronism on occasion) but it speaks to both the immense creativity of the human mind as well as the need for attention to the complexity of life in our times. When people lose their jobs, whose ingenuity will supply alternatives? When simple methods of entertainment from yesteryear fail, how can we provide healthy, creative activities and images that feed the souls as well as the bodies and minds of our youth? And in this busy lifestyle that requires differing schedules for family members of all ages, is there still room for the “simple things” like face-to-face conversation and “just being there” for one another?

Complexity requires more attention than simplicity, it seems. Awareness of what is happening around us is not a choice. Whether subtle or blatant, we need to be awake to the pace of change and its effects on the whole of our lives as citizens now not only of our town or village but of the larger world as well. So in case we haven’t noticed that 2017 is already two full weeks old, I say, “Good Morning! It’s time to wake up and get conscious!”

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, Monday

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conscious, giving up, Jan Phillips, No Ordinary Time, observe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waking up

Today is Monday and I’m working at home. I didn’t go to bed until after midnight last night so I took the liberty of not setting my alarm. Of course, my eyes opened enough at 6:30 to ask myself that residual question: to wake or not to wake? Knowing that I would regret going back to sleep, I gave in and got up. With my coffee I chose to see how my friend Jan Phillips framed the early hours of Monday in her book, No Ordinary Time, because I always find something worth pondering there. Today it was like a gold mine, speaking an answer to the question I was still struggling to fully live into as I faced the tasks I have set myself for the day. This paragraph was the crux of the message to me.

Waking up is not easy, but it is the only way to go if we want to live a life with any passion and punch. It means we have to give up blaming. Give up making others responsible for our happiness. Abandon the habit of judging people, dwelling in the negative. Waking up means being able to observe our life as if it were happening to someone else. It means thinking and speaking consciously, knowing that what we think and say on Tuesday becomes the life we live on Thursday. Waking up means we don’t see the other as better or less than ourselves. We see the other as our self.

Wherever you are in your day when you read this, take a moment to review what is not really a new message but rather a gathering of many familiar pieces of advice that when put together and said exactly in that way can be a powerful impetus for renewal of intention. Blessings to Jan today for all her good work, especially for seeing more conscious ways to live and sharing her creative skills in leading the way.

Everyday Blessings

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blessings, coffee, conscious, grateful, morning ritual, service, small blessings, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I just took a sleepy walk down the long residence hall where I’m staying to find one of the Sisters making a second pot of coffee before the first one was empty. I remarked to her how lovely it is to have that service done by someone else who is awake enough to accomplish it! She responded, “We’re all grateful for that!” (as I am every day because my housemates are earlier risers than myself). As I came back and settled in to drink and think about my offering of words for the day, my eye fell on the objects around the room and I was struck again about the extraordinary daily blessings in my life. First I saw three books. (I never leave home without at least one or two.) The top one of these was the gift of a friend who lives in this house so I was grateful in three ways: for Katie, the books and the ability to read. Next was the lamp that allows me to see, then a skein of yarn soon to be a prayer shawl for which I give thanks for Sister Jean who taught me to knit. Then there is the bed – with sheets, blankets and pillow – in which I was privileged to sleep in comfort and warmth. Lastly I have this computer which brings the world to me and me to the world each morning for prayer.

All of this came to me in a flash – just a quick look around – after the blessing of coffee prepared by one of over a hundred of my Sisters dwelling under this roof. Would that every day I would be so consciously awash in the small but significant blessings that mean so much! May I spend this day in thanksgiving no matter what the day brings. May you find enough in your day to call you to the same task.

Synchronicity

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awareness, conscious, David Keller, death, gain Christ, God's presence, good, monk, Oasis of Wisdom, open heart, Paul, Philippians, presence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

At a funeral this week and again in the gospel verse this morning, I read Paul’s declaration to the Philippians that I consider all things as loss (some translations say “rubbish”) that I may gain Christ and be found in him. (PHIL 3:8-9) While life in Christ is certainly my goal, I can’t say that everything else – and everyone – is that easy to discount. As I was pondering this, my eye fell on David Keller’s book, Oasis of Wisdom, about the world and words of the Desert Fathers and Mothers in the early days of Christianity. I opened the book at random (if such a thing exists) to page 72 where the heading read “Daily Awareness of One’s Death”. Instead of closing the book in distress I read the words of Abba Antony and Keller’s commentary that followed and found there a way to live into Paul’s words.

Abba Antony said: Therefore, my children, let us hold to the discipline and not be careless. For we have the Lord for our co-worker in this, as it is written. God works for good with everyone who chooses the good. And in order that we not become negligent, it is good to carefully consider the Apostle’s statement: I die daily.

David Keller comments: Abba Antony taught that a monk must live in such a way that the presence of God is always before him and, likewise, that God’s presence should become a reality in his manner of life. This manner of life is made possible by an open heart, an inner place that is always watchful and receptive to the presence of God.

What follows from all this for me is the necessity of always remaining conscious of the reality that all things are not to be despised but rather seen through the lens of God’s presence. In that way they become vehicles for deepening our life in God. Oh yes, and our willingness to let go of anything that impedes that deepening or clouds that lens is essential; thus, “dying every day” becomes a pattern for life. May it be so!