Clarified Light

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denial, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Something that is very difficult for some of us who live in the U.S.A. to comprehend is the choice made by saints to live in abject poverty for the sake of holiness and the desire for God. I’m thinking of this today because it is the feast of St. Clare, disciple of Francis of Assisi and the first woman to write a rule for religious women that was approved by the Roman Catholic Church. Clare lived from 1194 to 1253 and was just 15 years old when she was captivated by the spirit of Francis and 18 when she left home by night to join the band of friars who had given up everything to search for a life totally immersed in God.

Clare’s life was far from the romanticized image of her relationship with Francis. She hardly saw him at all and never left her convent at San Damiano. She and the women who followed her begged their food and lived a spartan life, composed of discipline and self-denial. While it is true that life was very different eight centuries ago in Europe, one still wonders how it would be possible – especially for a young person of an upper-class family – to be so totally captivated and dedicated for the entirety of her earthly life to an ideal of total denial. Clearly, Clare was an intelligent young woman who certainly knew what she was choosing. The proof is in the living out of the ensuing four decades where Clare shone as a beacon to those who would see the light as she did and be consumed by the great love of God.

How might we contextualize such desire and dedication in our own time and culture?

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

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betrayal, denial, Holy Week, Jerusalem, Jesus, Judas, Palm Sunday, Peter, renewal, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There is so much to read today in the lectionary texts, so many scenarios and complicating emotions! It’s only Sunday and we have the whole Holy Week to deal with, yet the entire drama is placed before us today, perhaps so that we are able to hold it all as the week goes on  – even while knowing already both the tragic and the glorious pieces of the outcome.

I always try to be in the moment as we travel through the days of Holy Week but no matter how deeply we place ourselves in the scenes as they are recounted – the joyful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to the acclaim of the crowd, the poignant last supper with his closest disciples and then the emotional flip to the denial of Jesus by Peter and betrayal by Judas, the trial, crucifixion and burial – it is impossible for us to feel the total impact of it all. We know the end of the story even as it begins.

Perhaps the best we can do is reflect on experiences in our lives that are analogous to, although maybe not as stark as, what we are facing this week. Consider the celebrative meals – anniversaries or holidays, perhaps – that you have shared with loved ones, especially if someone is moving away or in danger of death. Reflect on a low moment when you could have spoken up with a truth that would not be popular yet you remained silent or went along with the crowd. Remember recent stories of gun violence when innocent people were killed for no reason. If you are able, take the feelings from these scenarios (or others) and the seek out Jesus for a quiet moment of conversation about what he is experiencing on each of these days.

There is great opportunity for deepening spiritually during this week. May we all come to Easter renewed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-Denial

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consciousness, curious, denial, distress, engaged, facts, guidance, inertia, information, intelligent, isolation, Meg Wheatley, messages, Non-Denial, open, Peace, perseverance, reality, responsible engagement, signals, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I was thinking yesterday how easy it is from here in our lovely, peace-filled location in rural Upstate New York to ignore all the turmoil in the world and in our country. If I don’t wish to allow the distress into my consciousness, I can just avoid watching or listening to or reading the news and go about my days in isolation. While I know that is not a valid choice for me, it is occasionally a temptation. I was reminded this morning of my need to be awake and aware by a page from Meg Wheatley’s book, Perseverance, that I will quote below in its entirety as a call to all of us to resist the pull of inertia in favor of responsible engagement in whatever way we are able to contribute to raising the level of light in the world. (This includes a willingness to discriminate between “fake news” and truth.) The page is entitled Non-Denial. It is not a message to be read quickly and dismissed. I would recommend reading it, as I plan to, several times, and seeking examples from our own life of applications for the message.

Looking reality in the eye is an interesting experience. Often, people are startled to realize how much information they have been avoiding, and how much information is out there, waiting to be useful.

“Facts are friendly,” a psychologist once said, but most of us don’t see it this way. We move away from all the information that’s available, we retreat into denial. It’s the way we keep our world intact and avoid being challenged or threatened. If we can just hold onto our opinions and views, the world will continue to work just fine, thank you very much.

We get led into the practice of non-denial by failure and defeat. When we have no choice, we seem to get curious. When our back is against the wall, finally we’re willing to look at all the messages we had avoided. This isn’t a graceful process. But when we’re ready to open to the signals, guidance, and information that have been swirling around us, ignored and unnoticed, it’s amazing what we learn.

And it’s remarkable what capacities we develop. Absorbing these messages, we suddenly see things differently. We discover solutions not available from our former position. We experience surprise, sometimes delight, sometimes despair that we didn’t notice things earlier. But the end result is that we become more open, more engaged, and more intelligent.

We learn where we are. From here much more is possible.