Preparation/Determination

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consciousness, discipline, gratitude, prayer, thanks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, to do list

Pentecost is on the horizon – not ready yet to burst forth but definitely building in energy. I just made a list of necessary tasks, those that I need to complete before what we call “Ordinary Time” begins again. That season is the longest in its liturgical “counting” of weeks and it is dawning on me that it may, indeed, indicate a “new normal” for us, in some manner at least. Today is not a time for lament on what seems lost but an opportunity to begin (if we haven’t already) to recognize a new season of consciousness.*

As I hurriedly picked up a used envelope, soon to be discarded to the trash, on which to write a list of tasks to be done before Sunday, I noticed I had already used part of the space on the back for a random quote. That’s not unusual. I often find these messages of import, saved for later when they offer perfect advice for the new day. This one seems quite appropriate for my mood and the rising tide of determination in me this morning. (The sun just broke through the clouds to underscore the moment.)

The envelope reminded me: The transformative power of gratitude cannot be overestimated…If the only prayer you ever pray is “THANKS!” it is enough. Two messages that become one in my quest for meaning and discipline today. May it follow me through the hours and breathe in me as a recognition of having done my best (even if not having totally completed all tasks) by nightfall.

Where do you hope to be by the end of the day?

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N.B. *While it is true that Pentecost is my “push point” for newness, it may be helpful for all to know that there is still time to prepare for newness of spirit. The Sunday after Pentecost (June 7th) is Trinity Sunday, the actual day of transition. We take the Triune God with us as we step into the period of “counting” or Ordinary Time.

More Sheep

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consciousness, coronavirus, Jesus, John, sheep, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I love the extension of the image of sheep and shepherd from Sunday into the week. It’s as if Jesus was laying out some future plans for the world while he was still in this realm. Actually there is a very inclusive line in this morning’s gospel (JN 10: 11-18) that is very timely for our world right now.

“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold,” he says. “These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

While I’m not envisioning any kind of syncretism here, I would wish there to be some unity of vision among us in response to the coronavirus. (I realize this is huge stretch from topic to topic but it connected in my mind and heart at least tangentially.) So why is it so difficult to understand that we need to protect ourselves and others from what is clearly invisible? It’s not about religion or cultural practice but of a desire to assure the health, not only of ourselves and the people in our own country but also of all nations. It’s about survival on a broad scale and we are as responsible for it as everyone else in the world – and especially for those most vulnerable.

As states begin to open up to “normal life” again, I wonder whether we are destined to keep repeating our short sightedness. Will we wake up to a higher consciousness that calls us to care not only for ourselves and our loved ones but also for other “flocks” different from ourselves? What can I do to work toward that oneness of mind and care of our planet? What about you?

Zooming Along

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communication, consciousness, gratitude, information, love, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, virtual connection, Zoom

Each day now it becomes more apparent to me how much life has changed. As I say that, phrases come flowing forward from the recesses of my brain, like “in the twinkling of an eye.” That one isn’t really accurate because the change has been incremental and continues as the virus has spread but sometimes it seems as if “the rug has been pulled out from under us.” That seems a more accurate assessment because it is about the recognition and/or the acknowledgement of the shifts that has reached each of us in similar (but probably not matching) ways.

For many of us, the greatest change is in the way that we receive and share information. While there are many relatively new platforms for connecting, one that seems simple and therefore quite accessible to many people is ZOOM! I have been personally grateful for this way of virtual connection for about five years now as it allows me to join “nun” meetings in Albany, New York that would otherwise necessitate five hours of driving to and fro. In addition I am now connected with my Sisters and other people all across this country and even sometimes across the world.

While still not as satisfying as a “face-to-face” encounter, technology has facilitated connections that would be impossible without it. Paying attention to that fact reminds me to give thanks for the great minds that have created the programs now available to us. From that consciousness I am led to celebrate those scientists who are working diligently to find new ways to heal us of this pandemic and those who care for our sisters and brothers infected by the virus.

I could spend my days now zooming from one thought stream to another! It does seem that “everybody’s doing it!” What I hope will always be my companion on these journeys is a huge amount of gratitude and love for those I encounter along these virtual pathways. I wish the same for all of us.

One Heart and One Mind

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Acts of the Apostles, common good, community, consciousness, counterintuitive, difficulty, freedoms, generosity, one heart and one mind, step up, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I felt a wave of sadness as I read the lectionary texts this morning. It began with the first line of the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (4:32-37).

The community of believers was of one heart and one mind, and no one claimed that any of their possessions were their own, but they held everything in common.

Immediately images flashed across the screen of my mind, videos from yesterday’s news of demonstrations in Pennsylvania against the closure of all gathering places in the state: factories, offices, restaurants, beaches – everywhere that people might congregate. They were not peaceful demonstrations but angry protests against what people saw as government attempting to take away the freedoms on which our country was founded. I was appalled to see the majority of those gathered without masks in close crowds and automatic rifles at the sides of some people who were waving American flags as well.

Where is the sense of the common good in those pictures? I live in New York State, three miles from the border from Pennsylvania and 175 miles from that state capital – as the crow flies and from where the wind blows. We have been diligent to assure no spread of COVID-19 and all of our efforts may be undone by yesterday’s activities, actually taking place in many cities across the country.

As I write this I am conflicted because I am also aware of the difficulties facing people who have lost their jobs and who have received no financial help from the government thus far. I understand the frustration that builds every day because of the restrictions placed on us – of travel, of visiting loved ones, of wondering how long we will have enough food to eat. And then I begin to think of the generosity of nurses and doctors and bus drivers and first responders of all kinds who put themselves in danger each day to preserve life and the common good in service to those in need.

It is a sad and frustrating and unsettling time – not just in our country this time but in the whole world. It will take a mighty effort for us to wake up, to step up to a higher plane of consciousness, equal to the challenges we face now, especially those that call us to greater care for life than for anything else.

Are we equal to the challenge? It is not something we can do alone. It is counterintuitive that now we are told to stay away from others – at least 6 feet way. Can we survive this without physically connecting, starved of hugs as we are? It will take a monumental effort to move toward “one heart and one mind” in this complex world of ours. But it is the only world we have.

We will survive together or we will not survive at all. How do you propose that we “step up?”

Coming Around Again

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consciousness, cycles, journey, journey of life, life, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding

While searching this morning for a bill I need to pay within the next few days, I came across something I wrote in 1986 to welcome three new members to the novitiate of our Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph. I didn’t remember the content and was somewhat surprised when I read the talk because I found it all together pertinent to the present moment. Truth be told, it would probably be relevant to most of our days. Here is the second paragraph of the document.

One comforting thing about the journey of life is that it is a cyclic one: we have more than just one chance at things. We praise from the rising to the setting of the sun and the next day we rise to praise again. There are days on which the sun seems slow to come up, and those on which we fear the sunset will never come, but if we have awakened to the meaning of life, we begin to see the journey not as a monotonous cycle but rather as a spiral wherein each day is a new opportunity to achieve new heights of consciousness of what the journey is all about.

We have great opportunities during this hiatus from our normal activities. Perhaps we might spend some time today spiraling up to a new and deeper understanding (or at least an inkling) of the meaning of our life journey.

Zooming Along

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Bill Redfield, connect, consciousness, experiment, gratitude, lovingkindness, retreat, solidarity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity, Zoom

I participated in three hour-long zoom calls yesterday. I can see the value in each but, in a contest, would have voted the first my favorite. Although it began at 7:00 AM (not my best time to be fully functioning), there were several reasons to recommend it. As a pre-planned part of Bill Redfield’s Lenten on-line retreat, there was content to discuss. Interesting that although the discussion took a turn because of the COVID-19 virus that is ever-present now, the 16 early risers folded that topic in to the discussion in a way that was seamless and totally appropriate. We found the call to consciousness and lovingkindness heightened in ways we could never have predicted because of the virus.

The second offering was an experiment and, like most “first tries,” it was rather chaotic, especially at the start. As an invitation to a virtual “open house” to meet the new Congregational Leadership Team of our religious community, this call was a replacement (one of five) for the pre-planned “in-person” visit of these five women. In essence, it was a remarkable feat, offering more Sisters more opportunity to interact with the leadership than ever before because we are over 800 women spread across the United States and in Peru. The downside of the meeting was the lack of familiarity with Zoom and the large number of Sisters who responded to the invitation. Although it was honestly chaotic, the hour provided opportunities to see and hear one another (more or less!) and to know ourselves as part of a powerful force for good, larger than ourselves, and willing to move to a new way of connecting that will, in time, be of great benefit to us in the future.

Back for the evening offering of Bill Redfield’s Lenten retreat at 7PM, there was conversation of the same nature as in the morning but with a twist. In a way that is still a mystery to non-technophiles, Bill sent us for awhile to small group “rooms.” Because there were 30 participants, we were randomly divided into groups of three for the major part of the hour. While I’m always happy to experience all the participants – some of whom I have known in other retreat experiences – the wonder of being thrust into what is always a deep and meaningful conversation with two or three people I have never met before is always a blessing. My half hour with Dave and Tony was just such a gift.

So what is the point of all this? The willingness of people to find new ways to connect and the recognition of our need to know not only that life goes on in times of challenge and distress but also that we can be lifted up in solidarity with others who are experiencing the same is a blessing in the midst of this worldwide crisis. More than anything we have experienced, this moment calls us to unity and to a gratitude for the generosity of people who serve in ways that motivate us all to deeper understanding. May it be so for all of us. God bless us all!

A New Moment

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a new heart, a new spirit, consciousness, Lent, Psalm 130, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I sit here wondering if I need to recant my words of yesterday about asking for help from other people in our journey of life. It’s today’s gospel acclamation that stopped me. I had just read the verses of one of my favorite Lenten psalms, savoring the best line that acclaims: “My soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the dawn.” (PS 130) I was even amazed as I looked out my bedroom window to see the sun totally up and blazing already, underscoring the fact that my waiting for God’s action in my day is true and ongoing…Then I read the following:

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

That slammed into my brain with a force that wiped out every other thought…for about 30 seconds, and then the questions started flooding in. “Wait a minute,” I said. “I thought that was God’s job! Haven’t I always read that God would make a clean heart in me, washing away all my sins?” (etc.) And then: “How does that score with yesterday’s post about letting people help me?” (Sigh…)

The answer seems to be my willingness to suspend my ordinary way of thinking and move to a different kind of consciousness where all is one and God is all in all. I would like to simplify by using images like all the ingredients that go into a cake to make the one cake delicious…but that seems to cheapen the experience somehow. So I will leave it there and hold the mystery of the moment in the knowing of something that became clear in this graced morning in the sunshine.

What Do You Mean?

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compassion, consciousness, courage, frustrated, Jesus, Mark, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, understanding

Jesus seems somewhat frustrated with his disciples today (MK 8: 14-21). Having just come back from an intense four-day retreat/workshop where the presentations were challenging, I can understand. Sometimes when Jesus speaks he is using language from a different level of consciousness and his friends are just not tuned in to what he means. This is one of those times and he seems uncharacteristically frustrated – so much so that he asks, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And again when he has reminded them of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves he says, “Do you still not understand?”

It must have been difficult for Jesus as well as for the apostles. It’s a good thing they had the psalms to fall back on (as we do!). And Jesus would have needed to remember lines like those of Psalm 94 this morning when he got frustrated – words like the following:

The God who knows our every thought, how fragile we each are; will not that God in evil days speak words of rest, and instruct our hearts to understand…? (vs. 11-13a)

Take courage when you lack deep understanding of God’s workings in your life or when you feel as if you are missing the point of life in God. Hold on to trust and the overwhelming compassion of the Jesus who was fully human – just like us – and willing to forgive in our moments of confusion.

Awareness, Awareness, Awareness

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awareness, change, consciousness, Eckhart Tolle, possessions, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Eckhart Tolle posted something this morning that caught my eye in its simplicity and its perfect depth of meaning. It was easily said, I suppose, as we are all about “catch phrases” these days, but I plan to spend time and effort with this one.

“Awareness,” he said, “is the greatest agent for change.”

I had been thinking about today’s gospel, the one I always refer to as “bigger barns” and talk about as akin to the relatively recent appearance of the storage units that dot the landscape in most towns these days. I wonder sometimes as I look around my bedroom how I acquired all the books I see or why I can’t find an empty hanger on which to place the laundry I just took out of the machine. How many of us can name all our possessions these days, I wonder.

Seeing what is in front of us to see and doing what is before us to do becomes more difficult unless we stand still for a moment every little while, look about us and shake off all the accretions of the last ten minutes. (I hyperbolize, no doubt, but only to make what I am coming to consider as a very important point.)

I challenge us all to see how long we can pay attention to anything in particular today before we fall out of consciousness. Let’s see what we see!

Remembering Thomas

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consciousness, divine heart, Divine Presence, reason, spiritual journey, the living God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Keating, unconditional forgiveness

In these often busy days of summer I am always grateful to receive words from “one of the great ones” of the spiritual life. Such was my joy yesterday in picking up The Contemplative Outreach News to see the smiling face of Rev. Thomas Keating. Father Thomas left this world on October 25, 2018 at the age of 95 years but his spirit is as alive as ever and his words remain a goad and challenge for those desiring a deeper spiritual life. Two paragraphs from his brief front-page article require my attention and reflection today. In the first there is solace for people who seem to have too many thoughts to engage at once. In a later paragraph I find a possible answer to my distress at the painful side of life.

1. For those progressing on the spiritual journey, even when the consoling aspect of the Divine Presence dissipates because of excessive activity or too much thinking, an interior presence arises that becomes more and more permanent. A shift in consciousness begins to take place. Our rational consciousness is transcended by the awakening of intuitive consciousness. The rational level is not rejected; we simply become free of its limitations. Reason remains available and functional for ordinary daily life, human relationships , and all the needs of embodied activity, but does not overshadow or take away the deeper and abiding awareness of the Divine Presence.
   
   
2. To know the living God we have to share the sorrow of the Divine Heart. God puts up with endless human error, excess, and sometimes malice, in order to get across to us the most important realities of life, of which God’s unconditional forgiveness and love for everyone is the foremost.