Elder Wisdom (Part Two)

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celebrate, destination, fear, spiritual growth, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

As promised, today’s entry follows that of yesterday. Listen and learn, if you will.

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid, who will try to hold on to the shore. They are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.

Know that the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore. Push off into the middle of the river, and keep our heads above water.

And I say see who is there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. For we are the ones we have been waiting for. (Oraibi, Arizona 7/8/2000)

Lighten Up!

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destination, direction, lighten up, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, perspective, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today I have a list of tasks as long as my arm! It’s likely I won’t finish the day having crossed them all off my list but it always helps me to have everything laid out at the beginning so as not to forget something important. I smiled, though, as I read Meg Wheatley’s advice in her little book, Perseverance (p. 20) where she quotes publisher James Gimian who says, “If you can’t get destination, go for direction.”

Wheatley expands on that thought by suggesting a way to proceed. “We could lighten up,” she says. “We could go for direction, not destination. We could invite in what the world seems to want for us, what it is offering us right here, right now. We could enjoy what we’ll see and discover when we take off the blinders of non-negotiable destination.”

That sounds to me like the perfect way to shift our whole perspective on the day, wouldn’t you say?

Every Day A New Beginning

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destination, kindness of strangers, lost, psalm 96, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, travel, wondrous deeds

As I sit looking out at a totally sunlit blue sky having eaten a healthy breakfast, I am reminded of the resilience of the human spirit. I can now smile in spite of my challenging yesterday that began with a long day of travel to be with my sister who was having hip surgery in Boston. The day included some rain and traffic (not so bad), two hours of being lost in Boston in the dark (very frustrating), no shuttles from motel to hospital (ended at 6PM), etc…

This morning, as psalm 96 urges me to “Sing to the Lord a new song!” it seems quite possible as I remember the kindness of strangers from yesterday, especially the surgical nurse who answered my call intended to tell my sister I was near but lost. Maryanne Cole picked up my call, knew exactly who I was and where in the process my sister was (successfully out of surgery and in recovery), and kept me on the phone for the better part of an hour zigzagging me through the maze of Boston streets to my destination. There were several other actors in this adventure: my housemates, people on the street who got me closer to my destination, motel personnel and all the staff at the hospital, including Maryanne, who stayed and celebrated my arrival with hugs and cheers.

I’m off now to see my sister who has already been up walking with the physical therapist. Truly, “the Lord has done wondrous deeds!”

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…

 

 

 

 

 

Knowing the Way

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Acts of the Apostles, conversion, destination, discipleship, I am the way, Jesus, journey, map, Pennsylvania, Pentecost, see, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas, traffic, truth, way

I was on the internet yesterday checking driving directions to the location of the retreat center I will be visiting next week. It was astonishing how quickly I came to know not only how to get there but also how many miles I would travel depending on which of two possible routes  I take (with a map available for each) and how long (to the minute!) it would take to arrive at my destination – including the indication of how dense the traffic might be. Although this service of mapquest – or google maps or another site – is quite efficient, there was a tiny twinge of sadness associated with the exercise. I have always loved maps and figuring out the best way to reach a destination was always satisfying for me. No matter. The important thing is arriving at the destination, I suppose, even though the journey itself can be engaging and instructive if sometimes confusing.

The gospel for today finds the disciples confounded by what sounds like a riddle as Jesus prepared for his departure and was giving them instructions for how they were to live going forward. (JN 14:1-6) First he talks of going away. That in itself would be anxiety-producing enough, I suspect, for those who had been following him and been through the recent events with him. He talks about many rooms in his Father’s house and my guess is that they are confused because they were taking his words literally while he was speaking in another language! Thomas, who always needed to “see” the truth of things, seems the most frustrated when Jesus tells them they already know the way to where he’s going. I feel for Thomas when he blurts out, “Master, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way!” I doubt it helped when Jesus answered, “I am the way.”

Perhaps we need to think ahead to the time after Pentecost to pick up the story of how the disciples followed the way, solving the riddle of that confusing speech of Jesus. Examples abound, as in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles for today (ACTS 13:26-33). My guess is that the understanding came variously and perhaps slowly for some – not always like the shocking event of Paul’s conversion. I might liken it to my trip. I read the directions and was familiar with the highway route but it will take the experience of driving there myself to truly get the whole picture and be comfortable with the way. My hope is that, in this beautiful season of flowering trees and the mountainous region of Pennsylvania that I will be traversing, I will be stunned one more time at the beauty and grateful for the opportunity of making the trip. And upon arrival I look forward to days of deepening my understanding of what it means to walk the path of discipleship.