Reaction or Response?

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, disaster, evil, fatigue, Lynn Bauman, misery, prayer, psalm 55, save me, senseless, tempest, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence

The psalmist is calling this morning for rest (PS 55) – not just because of fatigue but from all the evil in the world. What is most difficult for me to abide are the senseless killings in high schools that have increased exponentially this year. It’s so difficult to hear on the news about the lives of many good young people senselessly snuffed out for no reason except the revenge of a deranged shooter. Add to that all the disastrous weather conditions – the destructive storms and the monumental effects of the Hawaiian volcanic eruptions – and it’s no wonder that we might react to the cry of the psalmist.

And I say, “Had I but wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest…I would wait for the One who saves me from the violent storms and the tempest…Engulf them, O Lord; divide their counsels!”

The catch is in the last sentence of the quoted text which is not the end of the psalm. The psalmist continues, vehemently at times, desiring destruction by God of the evil perpetrators. In his commentary, Lynn Bauman writes the following thoughts that I believe are worth more than a passing glance.

The psalmist is at the stage in spiritual experience where he or she prays to be saved out of misery, but asks God to destroy the tormentors. This is certainly how we often feel. Is that the only prayer possible? What other forms of prayer are asked of us? (Ancient Songs Sung Anew)

 

 

 

 

 

Heartfelt Prayer

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care, compassion, courage, disaster, enemy, humanity, military personnel, Peace, protect, service, strength, sustain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Veterans Day

On this Veterans Day I think of my father, proud of his service in World War II while abhorring the thought and the reality of war. I think of those who protect us today from different kinds of enemies and those who keep the peace. I think of those whose work is in disaster areas near and far and all who have given their lives in service to our country. And I think of their loved ones. It is for all those and for the rest of us who are the beneficiaries of their service that I pray this anonymously posted prayer.

God of compassion, we pray for military personnel, offered for the sake of others and separated from family and loved ones. Care for them, meet their needs. Grant them courage, compassion, strength, and all they need for the living of these days. Sustain them through their every trial. Remind them of the humanity they share, even of those who are called “the enemy.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Love Revisited

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Baton Rouge, disaster, flooding, Louisiana, love, love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew, ten commandments, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I saw the gospel passage for this morning (MT 22:34-40) I thought, “How can I say anything new and inspiring about one of the most familiar texts in Scripture?” We’ve all heard the sermons that tell us it isn’t about loving our neighbor as much as ourselves; that would be a disaster in many cases, given the lack of self-esteem in some of us. The implication there is that we actually have to love ourselves too. Lately an interpretation that has come to prominence is that I need to love my neighbor as if s/he were really, actually myself – because we are all one in God. I can accept all of that but what makes me move from theory to practice is an experience of that depth of loving.

In our religious congregation (called by our founder “The Congregation of the Great Love of God”) we often can be heard saying that where one of us is, all of us are. Well, today I am proud to say that I have a walking, talking visceral experience of that truth in what I know will be an outpouring of love of mammoth proportions. Yesterday morning all four of us were in our kitchen commenting on the terrible flood event in Louisiana. Susan wondered about our Sister Chris Pologa who lives and ministers in Baton Rouge. “I planned to call her today!” I said as I prepared to leave for a meeting. Susan offered to take that over. By the time I had returned home we learned (by email since phone service is spotty) that half of the 500 students in the school where she ministers and 30 of the teachers had lost everything. By dinner time we had a plan of how best to contribute and were all thinking of what more we could do. I am confident that this process is rippling throughout our entire province and that the people of Baton Rouge will benefit greatly by our love for God and neighbor. So let me close with those familiar words as I am certain that we all have experiences on which to draw this morning that will solidify and deepen the impact on each of us.

…”Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Emphasis mine)

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Person’s Contribution

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devastation, disaster, Flood, forest fire, guiding word, loss, love, pain, save the world, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center, truth

This morning I’ve been searching unsuccessfully in all my favorite sources for a way to express what I can only describe as the pain of the world – but not a universal pain. There is that, but the sadness/distress that washes over me now is closer to home, residing in Albany, New York, West Virginia and California. It is about fire and flood, the fire appearing on east and west coasts and the floods devastating so many lives in between. “We’ve lost everything” is the refrain from those whose homes are reduced to ash as well as people – young and old – who slog through mud still waiting for word of loved ones who may have been swept away by angry streams or rivers. One cannot help but weep for their pain. At the same time there are images of store and restaurant owners who open their larders to feed the people in their towns who have nothing. Groups form to shovel mud and fold donated clothes for the needy while others come to pray their grief and that of their neighbors.

I have watched news for months that tells of the devastation of a half-mile wide tornado or huge ice storm, but nothing has touched me as deeply as the past three days. Why is that? Are the losses greater or is it rather (or in addition) that a wider spaciousness for compassion is opening in me? Have the two brief reflections on mercy in which I participated during the last week sparked this response? Perhaps the energy shared at this weekend’s workshop here at the Spiritual Center, Windsor has had its effect on mine.

As I sit bathed in the beauty of a fresh breeze and peaceful greening outside, I hear inside a familiar guiding word from the founding documents of my religious community: The Sister of St. Joseph moves always toward profound love of God and love of neighbor, from whom she does not separate herself…Perhaps I am coming to understand that oneness in a deeper way now. I wonder, then, what is the call of that truth? “More love,” I hear in response. “So much love!” How that call will manifest remains to be seen but I know it does not happen in isolation. It is only together that we can, energetically at least, save the world.