Humility

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Beverly Lanzetta, coronavirus, humility, pandemic, slow down, Spiritual Practices & Formation for the Monk Within, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I was checking my e-mail this morning I found a message from yesterday that I hadn’t seen. It’s a great follow-on to yesterday’s post about love. The topic is humility. I learned long ago that humility is not beating yourself up and thinking less of yourself but rather is a recognition of who you really are, what capacities you possess and – most importantly – the willingness to embrace of the truth of yourself as a great gift, regardless of what/who you would prefer to be.

During this pandemic that we are all living in, many of us see ourselves as “less” than we thought we were: less energetic, less creative, less useful, less competent… We watch the days go by and the projects we planned either done poorly or not at all. We continue to plan but seem unable to achieve. For most of us it’s more of a “slow-down” than a failure, but we wonder, nevertheless, when we’ll “get back to normal.” A little humility, in the words of Beverly Lanzetta in a forthcoming book, may be helpful.

Humility implies radical trust in divine reality…Humility says, accept the limits of your situation and the fullness of your life the way it is. Humility says, be content with where God is taking you. Be content with what you are given. (Beverly Lanzetta, Spiritual Practices & Formation for the Monk Within, Forthcoming in late fall 2020)

Who’s Complaining?

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blame, complain, coping, coronavirus, solution, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The first line of the first reading in today’s lectionary texts could have been written about us in our present predicament, i.e. Covid-19, the coronavirus. From the Hebrew Scriptures we read: With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses. (NM 21:48)

When things aren’t going our way, especially if the distress continues for a long time, people usually begin to look around for someone to blame for the trouble. In the Bible passage today, the guilty party is clear. Moses is at fault; he brought them into the desert. He could complain also, however, since he was just doing what God directed.

We’ve now been in this situation for six months – throughout the spring and our summer vacations. Who is the culprit in our predicament? Some say nations in faraway lands. Some blame the president of the United States. Then there are the people who refuse to wear a mask, or those who want to party in large groups. There’s enough blame this time to go around. The big question, however, is not how the virus began and grew to pandemic strength, but rather how we are responding to the situation now at hand.

It’s tricky because ultimately we are fighting something that is invisible and we aren’t good at seeing what cannot be seen. We have to look deep inside ourselves for coping mechanisms that will help rather than harm. Pointing fingers is no remedy. We need to be about silencing complaint and be doing what we are instructed that will help to mitigate the disease until such time as a safe and effective vaccine is found and made available.

Pointing fingers and complaining never did solve anything. It just escalates the problem. It has been said that those who are not part of the solution are usually part of the problem. It’s time to stop complaining and find out how we can help. It may include some uncomfortable or inconvenient practices but it surely beats wandering in the desert for 40 years!

The Ministry of Healing

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coronavirus, frontline, gratitude, selfless service, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Luke’s gospel moves quickly into the mission of Jesus as healer. By Chapter 4, he has already cured Simon Peter’s mother-in-law of a severe fever and then spent the night – from sunset to daybreak – curing all those who came to him with “various diseases.” Even as he goes away to a deserted place, they follow and try to call him back. There seems no rest for him, weary as he is from working all night.

I am instantly reminded of the ambulance drivers, the orderlies, the nurses and doctors who are working non-stop to stem the tide of the Coronavirus. I can imagine they never expected to be swallowed up as they are now – from dawn to dusk and into the night, working to save lives.

They will be my focus for gratitude today, with the hope that they can persevere and know the peace that comes from selfless service.

Confounded

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confound, coronavirus, mask, masks, social distancing, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I looked up the word confounded just now. I had started thinking about the fact that we are once again in a new month and still the Coronavirus hangs on. Last night we got word that a friend died of a massive heart attack. She was someone who had seen the value of what we do at the Spiritual Center and dived into our mission with a generosity and an energy that was virtually unparalleled. We have missed seeing her this season because of the Coronavirus. She was 63 years old.

I had a phone conversation yesterday with someone who knows me better than almost anyone. Her birthday is today and I would dearly love to party with her but my smiles would have to be behind a mask and any birthday hug virtual. A bit of a disappointment. Much of our conversation yesterday was about our disappointment with people, even some of former colleagues and long-time co-workers, who who do not deem it necessary to wear a mask and observe what we have come to know as “social distancing.” We are both at a loss to understand behavior that is dangerous to our health.

To confound means to puzzle, to confuse right and wrong, to make something worse, to perplex. That is the state we are in. To wear a mask is inconvenient, even uncomfortable at times. The difference between that and risking an infection that could cause serious illness or even death – for ourselves or a loved one or both – is just confounding. I fear I will never understand it.

Acceptance and Giving Up

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acceptance, coronavirus, giving up, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Once again yesterday afternoon I found myself in a conversation about upcoming plans that may or may not come to fruition. Events of greater or lesser import are being cancelled daily. Event calendars seem to be useless sometimes unless accompanied by a pencil with a good eraser. Disappointment is becoming a more frequent fact of life. Weddings and workshops, retreats and long-awaited voyages are put on hold and depend on the spread of “the virus” (no need to name it) that is so much a part of our lives, even while being invisible. We do well to consider how all of this is affecting us.

One of my “go to” sources for help is Meg Wheatley whose little book called Perseverance always provides useful perspectives. Here is—in part—what I read this morning.

Giving up is a moment either of acceptance or resignation, two very different states. Resignation has a beaten up, victim quality to it. We worked hard and we lost. We’ve been defeated.. Now it’s time to retreat, to move on, to put this experience behind us as quickly as possible.

Acceptance is radically different—we’re in touch with reality, we’ve learned that we’re not the savior of the situation, and we might feel humbled, but not beaten. We have a richer picture of what’s going on and, after a little rest, we’ll reenter the fray. (p. 97)

Although this reflection is a bit tangential to the point, the main words work for me as I think about life. While facing a pandemic is not something we just “put behind us as quickly as possible,” our prior plans in such a situation can be dealt with in that way. Learning to let go is, for me, a life-long practice. I still struggle sometimes with giving up possessions that “I might need someday” or recognizing that a trip to connect with someone in Australia “just might not be in the cards.” The value comes, as usual, in my motivation and willingness to respond to “what is.”

So today I will try to slip both acceptance and giving up in my pocket to take with me as I travel the uncharted road of pandemic-land.

Direct Connection?

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coronavirus, psalm 50, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I should probably apologize in advance today for sounding like “a broken record” but, after reading the statistics about the spread of the coronavirus and then turning to the psalm for today, I feel compelled to comment in a manner similar to yesterday’s post. Psalm 50 is so direct and poses a question so apropos to our situation that there can be no doubt about the connection. Here is what I mean:

THE HEADLINE: Florida sets one-day record with over 15,000 new COVID cases, more than most countries.

PSALM 50: (God asks:) Why do you recite my statutes and profess my covenant with your mouth, though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?

Stop Judging!

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clarity, coronavirus, enlightenment, humility, judging others, opinion, Peace, politics, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning’s gospel puts me in mind of a couple of idioms like “where the rubber meets the road’ and “when push comes to shove.” I had already washed out my eyes because of feeling (in the left one) as if there was something like a splinter keeping me from seeing clearly. (It worked!) All this after a cursory look at news headlines, many of which circle around one of two things: the coronavirus spread and the political situation in our country. So how does all this come together in my consciousness this morning?

Here’s the text I’m working with: Jesus said to his disciples: “Stop judging that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye…?

Familiar? Of course, but do we really take Jesus at his word? He gets rather forceful a moment later. You hypocrite! he says, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

I’m generally willing to pay attention to that directive. I know there are circumstances in people’s lives that seem to make them destined to act in ways contrary to my ethics. Lately, however, it all seems (to me) so patently clear that my opinions are the right ones. How is it possible to allow all points of view? Is there ever a time when I can admit that I am wrong?

I think that is definitely possible. The more difficult question is whether or not I can admit the “rightness” of my adversary. What that calls me to is research. A cavalier statement about someone else’s view without evidence to back it up is unfair at least and libelist at worst. Sometimes the best we can do is to do our research and when called on, offer it to those who will listen—with sources, of course—and pray for peace and enlightenment without rancor. Agreeing to disagree is a hallmark of mature relationship. It does not necessarily mean capitulation. And when the common good is at stake, it is our duty to speak the truth as we see it and trust that the Spirit of truth is our guide.

May we desire clear sight and work toward it each day in humility and courage so that our world will be a better place because of our presence here.

Disappointment or Stupidity

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admiration, coronavirus, freedom, habit, necessity, respect, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

After having read this morning a survey of new spikes of the coronavirus, I find myself swinging on an emotional trapeze between feelings of disappointment and anger at the stupidity of all the people who have disregarded the protocols directed by governments around the world in the face of the disease. While I understand the protests in our country and elsewhere against racism and police brutality, I find it difficult to abide those who disregard the order for the wearing of masks and the 6-foot distance between people in public.

I live in New York State and thereby can testify to the success of following those directives. I have watched the daily reports of the diminishing number of deaths in our state each day which this week reached 24 after peaking weeks ago in the hundreds. Surprisingly to many people, New Yorkers have proven themselves to be obedient citizens!

To be fair, I must admit that I live in a rural area and can work from home so am somewhat protected. There have been a few days when I have needed to abort my visits to the post office (my only excursions that take me out of my house and car) because of forgetting my mask. I learned quickly, however, to be more mindful, even if only to realize that I could leave a mask in my car to avoid such frustration. It is said that learning a new habit takes 29 days. If that is true, there seems now – after day 100 of this new reality – that we would have learned the processes of masking and standing 6 feet apart.

I can only think that living in the United States of America, “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” has accustomed us to blurring the lines of freedom toward license when things become difficult. It’s hard to always do the “right thing” or even to know what that thing is. There are situations in this country and elsewhere that demand dangerous responses to the situation and courageous actions in the face of this pandemic. First responders and healthcare workers among many other groups deserve our respect and admiration. Moreover, they deserve our compliance to what has been asked of us for the common good.

It is not a choice; it’s a necessity! So please: put on that mask and forego that hug, even when it hurts! It may just be that you are saving a life by doing so.

Go Deeper

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coronavirus, injustice, Jesus, love, love your neighbor as yourself, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today’s gospel reading from Matthew (5:43-48) is one that many of us could probably recite from memory, do a cursory survey of all the people in our lives and come at the end to a conclusion of our innocence. But what if we expand the search for enemies to people we don’t know personally but of whom we have heard through the media or in some other way? Jesus is clear in his directive about relationship. It’s all about love. Have you guessed the text I’m considering?

Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Heavenly Father, for he makes the sun rise on the bad and the good and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. If you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?…“

These are difficult days in our country and around the world. Protests of racial injustice are continuing everywhere and police brutality seems to increase daily. Republicans accuse democrats of all manner of collusion with the enemy and the democrats vilify republicans for their unwillingness to compromise on any of the Congressional agenda. Good people are swept up in crowds of looters and fights break out over the refusal of some to wear a mask to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

I have read this gospel many times and although I get to a place of sadness for all the dissension and enmity in the world, I never end up thinking that I lack a degree of love for everyone, abstract as it may be. Today I know that to be the point of what Jesus is saying. Love is never an abstraction. It’s the ability to dig deep down and consider why people act as they do. What are their life circumstances? (Were they abused as children? Are they starving for food? For love?…) Who has loved them in their lives?

Until we have faced our own lack of love for even one person, we are not “perfect” in God’s eyes. It isn’t about being perfect in our work or our talents. It’s about perfection in our willingness to love even the most unlovable. The good news is, I believe, that God does love all of those striving toward that love. We may never reach perfection in it. Quite frankly, I doubt that we ever will, perfectly. But it’s our effort toward the goal that seems to count the most. And right now, we need to put more effort into that goal than ever before and look to ourselves rather than to our enemies as we live into each day. (But don’t forget to pray for those whom you call “enemy.”)

Mary in June?

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Blessed Mother, coronavirus, Genesis, good old days, John, Mary, May, prejudice, solutions, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Everything seems so up-ended, disordered, chaotic…even as I turned first to the USCCB website this morning for the liturgical readings of the day. “It is June, is it not?” I asked myself, as I looked at the liturgical calendar and saw the heading: “Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.” Most “good Catholics” of at least “middle age” have been aware since childhood of the dedication of May as “the Month of Mary, our Mother.” We grew up with Marian hymns and May Crownings, flowers and May Devotions with special attention to the rosary and awareness of a twinning of sorts of Memorial Day as May 30 and the feast of Mary as Queen of Heaven on the 31st.

I admit my age when I say these things so please don’t think I have returned to the “good old days” before all calendars became rather fluid to accommodate work schedules/weekends and other updates seen more sensible to the majority of people, at least in the USA. It’s just that I could always count on celebrating May first as my own mother’s birthday and the 31st as that of our Blessed Mother Mary. Silly me, to hold to a calendar when the world is in chaos all around me.

After my rant and a closer look inside, I find it ironic but also telling that the readings for today seem correct. From the Hebrew Scriptures (GN 3:9-15, 20) we hear the conversation in the Garden of Eden between God and Adam after he and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit. It is all about excuses and blaming and judgment. (Eve has joined the conversation midway through). More striking is the gospel recounting (JN 19: 25-34) of the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Our country is burning with looting and mourning, frustration and pain over racism and pandemic. The coronavirus is not a punishment from God, nor is the sin of racism. We need to look deeply at the situations and ask ourselves how we might now contribute to solutions rather than adding to the chaos. What have we done to stem the tide of infection? Are wearing a mask in public and washing our hands at home too onerous strictures? More deeply yet, we need to look at reasons for prejudice against our brothers and sisters who do not look like us or talk like us or celebrate life like us. Do we know the hearts of others rather than just their skin? What have we done to welcome difference into our lives and love it in the name of the God who created us all?

I am talking to myself here as much as to anyone else and I need this day to look at my own life and do more than wish that it could be different for all of us. I have no more words. I rely on your prayer as I offer mine to you. May God help us all.