Dawning Light

Tags

Christ, confluence, darkness, light, light bearer, light of Christ, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The word confluence comes to mind today as I sit to gather my thoughts. Often there are too many to harness into anything even remotely reasonable or logical but the need to do so is sometimes so important! At such times, I feel that letting anything go might be like losing a diamond. So I sit here winnowing…

Light and darkness are great words for this week and the SSJE brothers say it best, I think, in their “word” for today. Listen: There are so many people now shrouded in darkness. Be a light-bearer. Pray that the light of Christ be mirrored in your countenance: through your prayer, voice, writing and giving. Don’t hide the light. Let it shine! (Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of St. John the Evangelist)

Interestingly, having simply shared that energetic expression, I am now calmed and the need for more has dissolved. I’m sure (as a woman in labor is sure that the contractions will return) that the need for some more precise explication of what I’m feeling may emerge before the dawn of Friday. So I wish you good light in and around you today and hope for tomorrow. May it be so for us all!

The End May Be the Beginning

Tags

breathe, darkness, happy, hope, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today I will need a lot of discipline to accomplish the tasks before me. “Why?” you ask. Well, I just unearthed a magazine with 96 pages that I bought some time ago, somewhere that I don’t remember, that cost $14.99, a highly over-priced item, I thought…that I could not pass up. First of all, it’s called (in big, bold, black letters) BREATHE and is subtitled The Well-being Special. It’s unlike anything I have ever encountered for the beauty and breadth of topics and illustrations, truly a work of art! It will surely be nearly, if not totally, impossible to tear myself away for any other activity today more important than devouring…savoring this treasure!

Starting to explore from the back page (Why not?!) I found a list of quotes from all sorts of familiar but diverse sources from Aristotle to J.R.R. Tolkien, gathered under the title: A Triumph of Hope: A selection of thoughtful words to inspire and guide. Although each quote will likely show up in this blog at some point, I choose Tolkien for today when hope from the outside world seems in short supply. The words seem to be exactly what we need to go on.

How could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. (Extract from The Two Towers)

Hope and Humility

Tags

COVID19, darkness, hope, humility, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I can’t help myself. Today I am shamelessly lifting the introductory words from the blog on the franciscanmedia.org website. It’s entitled as above: Hope and Humility: Our Weapons against COVID – 19. I believe that a very important lesson is encapsulated in the two quoted sentences that follow. I invite your reflection.

Neither God nor our world is tame: there is an unpredictability woven into reality itself. Facing this truth, the only appropriate response is humility. (Kyle Kramer)

The entire article is worth your time but if you can’t possibly spare 5 or 10 minutes to read it in its entirety, here is the conclusion. (Kudos to Kyle Kramer, author)

It’s hard to let go of the illusion of certainty and safety. But my hope is that this present darkness, which feels so much like an unraveling and breakdown, is actually a birthing process in which God our midwife is bringing us into a new, more beautiful, more blessed way of being.

Spreading the News

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announce, darkness, Good News, hope, John the Baptist, presence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world

Just a question on this commemoration of the birth of John the Baptist: How am I announcing the good news of God’s on-going presence in our world especially when it seems so dark and devoid of hope? 

 

 

 

 

 

Being Light

Tags

darkness, daylight, Ephesians, God, John, light, light of the world, Lord, Scriptures, shining within, St. Paul, sun, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transformation

On this day we begin the season of “daylight saving” by having decided at some moment in the past to say that 7:00AM is now 8:00AM in order that darkness will not descend upon us so soon tonight. It seems ironic that the Scriptures for today include (if reading the alternate “Year A’ texts) a strong directive from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as well as a declaration before the gospel from John – both on the subject of light.

John declares, “I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.” (JN 8:12) Having the light of God shining within us is something to be desired and worked toward in our daily life. It’s as if God is promising to be a beacon – like a flashlight for us – which, if we only flip the switch to “ON,” will illuminate our path.

Paul goes even further in his command to the Ephesians and to us that we actually must become the light. No prepositional phrases for Paul about living in the light; rather, Paul says, “You were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord.” (EPH 5:8) For Paul, it seems that following the light of God is not enough. We, ourselves, must be transformed into that light. That’s an astounding statement if we really consider the depth of its meaning. Thomas Merton had a vision of what that might be like which he described as [people] all walking around shining like the sun.

Are we ready and willing to take the responsibility of lighting the way, being that beacon in concert with God?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fear vs. Love

Tags

A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, connected, creative, darkness, epiphany, fear, great, love, powerless, shine a light, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

January 6 is the traditional feast of the Epiphany but the liturgical calendar – like the “secular” one – is now fond of moving feasts to a more convenient time, in this case a Sunday. So more about that tomorrow. For now I want to borrow a message from Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life, that seems to me a good reflection on how to proceed in this new year.

Fear tells us that we are small, powerless and separate. Love affirms that we are great, creative, and connected. Which voice do you choose to be your guide?

The way to dissolve a limit is to step right up to it and look it in the eye. When we shine the light on the darkness, we see that the thing we ran from had power over us only as long as we kept it at a distance. When we face what frightens us, we discover that we are bigger than it is. We can do anything we choose; we were not born to live in fear, but in love.

Sometimes all it takes is a step toward a trusted friend who will listen to us. If that seems too difficult, I suggest starting with food – no kidding. Eat a vegetable that you’ve never tried that you can’t imagine liking. Even if you find it distasteful, you probably won’t die from it! (If you already love every vegetable available, try some tofu or guacamole: something foreign to your taste buds). Then stand up and walk a short distance, imagining that you are on the edge of a precipice. Don’t look at your feet; just feel each step and know that you will be able to keep walking without falling over the edge. When you’ve concluded those two exercises, find your friend and give her/him the privilege of listening to you!

Coincidentally, you will probably come to understand the meaning of the word epiphany!

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Radiant Dawn, Come!

Tags

Christ, consciousness, darkness, dawn, give glory to God, joy, light, miracle, O Antiphons, sunrise, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I consider the “O” Antiphon for today, so many images flash across the screen of my mind, so many beautiful experiences of sunrise! You have heard me effuse as I watch the color that precedes the approach of morning brighten the sky and give glory to God just outside my bedroom window. The miracle of color is surpassed only by the constancy of morning light. Even on the cloudiest or rainiest of days, we can count on the fact that light will surely come and offer us the hope of a new day.

The memory that spoke the loudest in me this morning was my experience of sunrise at the top of Mount Haleakala in Hawaii. People told me that it was a “must see” that meant getting up and in the car at 3:30AM and negotiating the many hairpin turns (more hair-raising coming down!) to sit in the freezing darkness and wait for the moment of sunrise. As the light began to penetrate, shapes appeared all around us: people who had been hidden by the darkness when we thought we were all alone on the mountain! There was no sound, just a large cohort of people sitting on the rocks, bundled in blankets, facing East and waiting in the silence…and waiting…and waiting. The expectation was palpable; we knew that the sun would absolutely not disappoint. And come it did – first the soft light, then the rays and finally the miracle itself bursting into presence over the mountain to thunderous applause and shouts of joy!

What calls us to such an experience of what happens every day? Can it possibly be the sense that sunrise is one thing that we can count on, regardless of what is happening in the world and in our lives? Whatever the cause, the visceral effect is sometimes so vibrant that the only reasonable reaction is like that day on the mountaintop: unrestrained joy that the miracle has happened again…and again…and again. If only we were willing to wait for it every day, our lives might feel lighter.

If only we might wait for the rise of Christ consciousness with every dawn of our waking, our hope might increase. And so on this fifth day of the “O” Antiphons we lift our hearts and pray: O Radiant Dawn, you bring God’s light into our darkness. You are the rising sun, the morning star that brightens lives and lifts spirits. Come, blaze in us and cast out all fear!

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Saints?

Tags

canonization, darkness, God's children, heart of God, holy, John, Matthew, positive, psalm 24, Revelation, sainthood, saints, The Beatitudes, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I knew, of course, that yesterday was Halloween, i.e. “All Hallows’ Eve” but it’s still a bit of a shock this morning to wake up in November! Suddenly the trees are bare and the temperature outside is so low that one can hardly hold on any more to the season of autumn. It’s rather ironic that we celebrate many of our grandest holidays during the darkest time of the year. Perhaps it’s necessary that it be that way to keep us positive through the darkness. We begin today in Christianity with the feast of All Saints.

If we ask what constitutes “sainthood” we can expect many different answers. Dictionary definitions abound, some of which pose further questions like: Are Christians saints after they die or while they are still living? There is an answer to that for Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians whose Churches “require certain procedures before people can be officially named saints; this procedure is called canonization.” But there are two notes on the internet that make me happiest.

1. A statement: Saint is the French word for “holy.”
2. A question: How does the Bible define a saint?

If we look at today’s lectionary texts, each of the readings gives us an image that might move one to deeper pondering on the above question. The vision in the Book of Revelation has shining images of “a great multitude, wearing white robes and carrying palm branches in their hands…those who have survived the time of great distress…” (Ch. 7). Psalm 24 speaks of the people “who long to see God’s face, those whose hands are sinless and whose hearts are clean, who desire not what is vain.” John’s first letter tells us that “we are God’s children now” and that when all is revealed “we shall be like God…” (1 JN 2).

I thought the choice of gospel passage for this holy day was brilliant when I read the chosen text: Matthew 5:1-12, known to us as The Beatitudes. Coming to embody the qualities of those who are blessed listed in this passage must surely qualify us as “sainted” or “holy.” Just to read them quickly won’t get us there. We truly need to allow them to penetrate the deepest cave of our hearts and then to shine out of us in love that is humble, merciful, peacemaking…reflecting the love of God.

So perhaps as we move into this new month we can make a new (or renewed) determination to be those saints that may not yet be formally recognized but who are already held as such in the heart of God.

 

 

 

 

Light for the World

Tags

Ancient Songs Sung Anew, brighter heart, clearer mind, darkness, health, instrument of praise, Jesus, light, light of God, mercy, morning, psalm 67, sunshine, truth, window

We haven’t had much morning sunshine lately but the light of dawn does come early now. As a first task this morning I felt the need to make a list of things to remember – contacts that are overdue from email, calls that I haven’t returned, “homework” for upcoming events…The last entry is something that generally only occurs to me with the morning sun: I must wash my bedroom window. How much more needful it appears when the sun shines! What a difference a little Windex and elbow grease would make.

In the gospel today Jesus says that he came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes may not remain in darkness. He also says he didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it. It’s only if we see the truth and reject it – maybe through laziness – that we get into trouble. While I know that speaking of my window as analogous to the light of God in the world is a totally ridiculous stretch, it does make me consider whether I am willing to make the effort to see clearly to the world outside of myself.

Psalm 67 calls out today from Ancient Songs Sung Anew a prayer that similarly lifts me toward the world outside. O God, the psalmist cries, have mercy upon us and bless us with the light streaming from your face. And so that here on earth we know and walk in your ways, restore us back to health again. May every person, every creature become an instrument of praise to you.

The sun is up over the mountain now – fully streaming toward the house. I can hardly see the tree beyond my window, so harsh are the remains of winter’s storms. It seems today must be the day to clear away the impediments to the light, both inner and outer, so that tomorrow may find me with a clearer mind, a lighter, brighter heart.

Manifesting Light

Tags

being light, blind, darkness, David, Ephesians, Jesse, Jesus, John, light within, living in God, Paul, Samuel, shining presence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The Scriptural texts for this morning tell good stories. I especially always like hearing how David became king. What a surprise for his family! When Samuel came to speak to Jesse and asked to meet his sons, (1 Sm 16) nobody even gave a thought to David, the youngest, who was probably happy living in obscurity, spending his days with the sheep of his father’s fields. And this time when Jesus cured a blind person it wasn’t because the man was crying out asking Jesus for healing, as in the similar gospel stories, but rather just because of a question from the disciples about why the man was blind in the first place. (Jn 9). What got me thinking, however, was the reading in the middle (Eph 5:8-14) that begins with a startling teaser if we don’t read it quickly. At least in my translation we might think it reads: Brothers and sisters, you were once IN darkness but now you are IN light in the Lord…but there are no prepositions preceding the words darkness and light! What Paul seems to be saying is that our identity was darkness and living in God changes our very existence into light.

Think about David. What was it that made Samuel know David was the one? He must have seen something in Jesse’s youngest son that did not exist in any of David’s brothers. Maybe he was able to become light because of spending so much time in the natural world, watching things grow and observing the behavior of the animals – probably without much human interaction. Somehow, light had found a home in him, perhaps because of this simpler existence. After Jesus cured the blind man, his life got much more complicated. Maybe Jesus (and whoever asked the question about sin) saw something of light in him already that made him noticeable and that got strengthened enough for him to withstand all the repetitious questions about whose fault the blindness had been and what that said about who Jesus was.

If we think about it, we might conclude that in some ways it’s easier to be darkness. There’s less responsibility in the darkness where most of us sleep for the majority of the time. If we become light, people notice us. We shine so we have to be sure what we’re manifesting to the world is good, motivating others to justice and love and peace, for example.

It took a long time for David to find his way to manage the light that was in him, making good choices and not taking advantage of the love God clearly had for him. When he learned those lessons, however, how his brilliance shone for all to see! And the man born blind? My guess is that, after all the hubbub about his cure died down, he was blown away by all the color and beauty in the world that made him a very happy, shining presence.

Perhaps the moral of this story is that the possibility of “being light” is in all of us. The question we probably need to answer is how willing we are to stand in the light so others can see and benefit from our presence.