BOMBAS

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dignity, gratitude, prayers of gratitude, remember, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Veterans Day

I was just looking at a new website – new to me, I mean. It’s called Bombas. Maybe you’ve heard of them. They make socks and for each pair they sell, they give one pair to a homeless person. They say that the one item of clothing most needed by poor or homeless people is socks. At the moment their website says that they have given away 40,000 pairs of socks! (You see why I say it’s not new. I think they have been in existence for about five years, but still, that’s a lot of socks!)

Today I saw a new face of Bombas. It concerned their care for military veterans. I’m amazed at their organization and happy that I found it on the internet in a new way on this Veterans’ Day holiday. The Executive Director of Bombas, Marguerite Bachand, announced today Operation Dignity, a program serving at-risk veterans in their 20s, their 70s and every age between, providing them and their families with emergency, transitional and permanent housing as well as comprehensive outreach and support services, under the title, Operation Dignity. (You can find it on the internet.) Today is a great day to remember the service of our military men and women. If you are so inclined and able, why not give socks for Christmas this year? (…even order them today from Bombas!).

Perhaps the greatest gratitude you can give is through your prayer. Please join me throughout today – and beyond – in offering a bow of gratitude in the prayers we say for all those we know and those unknown to us who have given service to our country and the world. God’s blessing on our Veterans!

Encouragement

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Br. Curtis Almquist, dignity, encouragement, gratitude, recognition, support, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worth

I am not accustomed to posting in the afternoon but being off schedule today got me to play catch-up and I found the second-in-a-row message that comes from the monks of St. John the Evangelist. (See yesterday’s post). I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it as we all need encouragement once in awhile and I thought this a good reminder. (I especially liked the first line about being “rescued by love.”)

We are rescued by love when someone bequeaths dignity, worth, recognition, gratitude upon us, encouragement for us because of who we are and what we do. We simply cannot grasp this alone: that we are precious, and amazing, and of inestimable value, unless this truth is mirrored into our being by another person. We need to give and receive support and encouragement for one another as “daily bread.” (Br. Curtis Almquist.)

Of Work and Workers

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acceptance, attitude, character, dignity, fulfillment, Good Shepherd, happiness, John, love, pay, rich inner life, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, work, workers

There’s a passage in the “Good Shepherd” gospel from today’s lectionary (JN 10: 12-13) that has me thinking about the power of intention. It says the following: “A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.”

I have always been blessed with fulfilling work that I have, therefore, done motivated by love – of the people I encounter and the work itself. In that way, I understand the shepherd who “knows” his sheep, able to tell one from another and willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe. But I am thinking this morning about people who work in jobs that are onerous, yet necessary to allow even a subsistence lifestyle. I presume it would take a very strong will to be able to be happy in such a situation. It would necessitate digging deep to find a purpose for getting up in the morning. It has been said that “Happiness is an inside job.” Thus, there must be something deeper than the work itself to motivate the worker.

As I write, I recognize that this truth is universal and is definitely an aspect of one’s character and attitude. Think about the clerks in a store that you frequent. Two people who are paid the same salary may be quite different in the way they greet you or work the checkout counter. It’s the same for heads of large corporations. So while I would like to see a more equitable pay scale and better conditions for workers, I come to the conclusion that if one has a rich inner life anything can be a blessing if it moves us toward acceptance and even love.

Let us pray today for an appreciation of the dignity of work and all workers as we examine our own attitudes toward what is our own work in the world. Let our intention be the building up of community in whatever we do and what we achieve, not for our own glory but for the good of all and the praise of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara Bush

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Barbara Bush, dignity, full life, grace, grit, literacy, matriarch, mother, spouse, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Barbara Bush died yesterday. I spent some time last night reading the internet accounts of her life but what drew me more than the words were the photos chronicling her life for the past 92 years. I watched her grow from a sweet-faced youngster through her child-bearing years into old age. It was in her last years that I found the most beauty shining in her face. I may be prejudiced but – as was noted in the accounts of her life – it was her brilliant white hair that was her most striking feature. It gave her the dignity and softness of a woman who had lived a full, rich life, knowing great joy and sorrow in her children and the love of a spouse for 73 years. When her second son was poised to enter the race for the presidency of the United States she remarked that perhaps the country had had enough Bushes in the White House but then was willing to campaign tirelessly for Jeb until he withdrew his candidacy. I loved the lesson in that.

I grieve for the family of this great woman today. Regardless of our politics, I believe we owe a debit of gratitude to this one who embraced the role of spouse, mother and matriarch of a very large family, of First Lady with grace and grit, and of champion of literacy as necessary for a full life in this world.

May she rest in peace!

 

 

 

 

 

Water on Stone

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anger, beatitudes, blessedness, dignity, drops of water, eye for an eye, happiness, Holly Near, human life, Matthew, mosaic law, Pope John Paul II, reform, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence

Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel is very challenging. Most of us know – or at least know of – the Beatitudes in which Jesus tells of the happiness (blessedness) of those who practice and/or endure justice and meekness and long-suffering, etc.(MT 5:38-42). The chapter doesn’t stop there, however. As Jesus lays out a new way of living – the fulfillment and next step in the evolution of the Mosaic Law, perhaps, he speaks of letting our light shine for the good of the world and then there is that most uncomfortable teaching that goes beyond anything his listeners could have expected. (MT 5:38-42) “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”

Interestingly, what caught my eye this morning when I first opened the USCCB (Catholic bishops) website was the topic of capital punishment. It is one of the tenets of Catholicism that I applaud wholeheartedly. This was the explanatory paragraph that I read:

The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. (Pope Saint John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 1995)

As we watch the frequent news reports of horrific violence in our country and around the world, these are hard sayings to accept. Reacting to violence with violence, however, is never a solution. I feel led today to examine my own heart, seeking to root out any vestiges of violence – bursts of anger and even thoughts of “tit-for-tat” – that might add to the negative energy in the world. Offering what I find as an antidote to my own failures in conscious loving might become my strength when the next challenge to my ego comes along. I’m reminded of Holly Near’s song lyrics from long ago that asked, “Can we be like drops of water falling on the stone, splashing, breaking, dispersing in air, weaker than the stone by far but be aware that, as time goes by, the rock will wear away.”

May it be so in us!

 

 

 

 

 

…and the Complex Son!

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dignity, relationship with God, responsibility, St. Augustine, St. Monica, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday I spoke of St. Monica, whose steadfast attention and prayer is generally seen as the impetus for the conversion of her son who became St. Augustine. A brilliant character, Augustine did everything with rigor – wild living no less than the intensity of religious fundamentalism after his conversion. One commentator speaks of him this way: “Augustine is still acclaimed and condemned in our day. He is a prophet for today, trumpeting the need to scrap escapisms and stand face-to-face with personal responsibility and dignity.”

Wherever one stands – whether critic or supporter of Augustine’s teaching – it must be acknowledged that in his writings that speak of his relationship with God, his sincerity and love are profound. Here is my favorite:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new; late have I loved you! You were within me and I outside…You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and now I burn for your peace.