The Breath of God

Tags

Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, breath, desire, dream, I AM, longing, Rainer Maria Rilke, strong, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I felt the need for poetry this morning. Everything is gray and drenched with last night’s rain – definitely Friday. Rainer Maria Rilke’s Book of Hours had been sitting silently on the shelf under my side table for a long time waiting for attention. The subtitle of this translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy is Love Poems to God. I read page 81 as a continuing stream of words, a paragraph, which seems suitable to me right now.

I am, you anxious one. Don’t you sense me, ready to break into being at your touch? My murmurings surround you like shadowy wings. Can’t you see me standing before you cloaked in stillness? Hasn’t my longing opened in you from the beginning as fruit opens on a branch? I am the dream you are dreaming. When you want to awaken, I am that wanting: I grow strong in the beauty you behold. And with the silence of stars I enfold your cities made by time.

Can you feel the power within those words? The desire that is waiting for a response? The reason I could not allow a breath between the lines but plunged in and kept swimming until the end? I need to sit now in the silence of which he speaks, even though the morning begins to lighten everything inside and out. Are you there with me?

Stairway to Heaven

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dream, Genesis, Jacob, love, prom, pulse, sense of wonder, spiritual seekers, stairway to heaven, synergy, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center

I smiled to myself just now while reading the story of Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven in chapter 28 of Genesis. When he awoke from sleep, he proclaimed, “Truly the Lord is in this spot although I didn’t know it!…it is the abode of God…the gateway to heaven!” My smile was evoked by long ago memories of junior proms (my own and those of classes when I was teaching) when school gyms were transformed into fairylands with themes like “Stairway to Heaven” – the most popular song of one of those years. Things were simpler “way back when” – in the days when parents were chauffeurs instead of the present-day need for limousines and “after prom parties” consisted of breakfast at Denny’s or just going home to dream of the event that had just taken place. Ah, for the simple life!

Juxtaposed with those images was the deeper sense of wonder at the weekend workshop just concluded at the Spiritual Center. Our land was blessed once again with a group of spiritual seekers who added their participatory energy to the peace that abides here to create an event that could rightly be called a little bit of heaven.

It seems silly, perhaps, to compare those two events but as I ponder the connection I can easily see that it is the energy of the people involved – individually and together – that makes the magic. For teenagers seeking a peak experience of their high school years, prom can be that as long as the goal lies in the pure joy of good relationships (which seems more difficult to achieve sometimes these days). Surely what happens in a weekend such as we just experienced here at our Center is quite different than the rush of teenage partying, but the depth of experience is dependent not only on what is offered to participants but also on the reception by them and the synergy among them in response to what is given. Love is the pulse of it all.

Jacob was so moved by what he knew upon awakening from his dream that he vowed to be faithful to the God he had met there and to make that place his home. May we all be blessed with such experiences of relatedness and a sense of “home” as we journey and recognize God’s presence in all the places where God can truly be found.

 

 

 

 

 

Joseph the Dreamer

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angel, assurance, dream, Emmanuel, faith, Mary, Matthew, message, St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thoughts

Often when I wake up in the morning I know I’ve been dreaming but I rarely have any idea of the content of the dreams. Sometimes I feel as if I have been very busy in the night and I wonder what I have been working out during sleep, but my mind usually goes quickly in other directions so I hope that my soul knows any message that I was supposed to hear. I am confident that if God wanted me to know something of import in a dream, it would remain clear enough on a conscious level for me to grasp it upon awakening – but perhaps I should revisit my “Awakening the Dreamer” materials (a self-taught course from long ago). I wouldn’t want to miss anything…

These thoughts were occasioned by the story of Joseph in today’s gospel and by a conversation with nine women a week ago as we reflected together on the Incarnation. I was asking their opinions on Joseph’s state of mind and heart when he learned that Mary was pregnant…and then after he was visited by an angel in a dream (MT 1:18-24). Our compassion for Joseph was great. We listed shock, helplessness, betrayal, love, disappointment, loneliness, compassion…and more as our thoughts of what it must have been like for him. We concluded that it would be difficult for us who live in such a different culture to apprehend all that he faced even after his dream directing him not to “divorce Mary quietly” but rather to take her into his home. Neither he nor Mary could possibly have fully understood what was happening. It was, we decided, his love for Mary and his trust in God that allowed him to move forward as he did.

And Scripture offers one more point of affirmation. In speaking of the child to be born, the angel echoed the message of the prophet Isaiah – a message that Joseph had surely known since his early youth. Both texts tell us that a virgin will conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel. And Joseph likely knew, as the angel reminded him, that Emmanuel means God is with us. With this assurance, and our faith as assent, the way forward – for us as for Joseph – becomes possible.

Time Passages

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Autumn Equinox, celebrations, dream, families, friends, grace, graciousness, limit, picnics, psalm 90, summer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time's passing, wisdom's voice

This is the weekend that we call the end of summer even though the calendar says we have some weeks still before the Autumn Equinox. People all over the USA are planning picnics and traffic has been heavy on the highways since Friday as families and friends celebrate the passing of yet another season that, for many, includes some slow down and vacation time. How can this be? In some ways it appears that the children just finished the past school year, and yet some of the events of a month or two ago seem like a faint memory. Time’s passing has a way of confounding us. It’s like that old adage from Henry Van Dyke that time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice…

Psalm 90 says this morning: Time for you is as nothing, Lord, a thousand years of it, your yesterday, passing as a watch of the night. We are your dream; we’re briefly here then simply gone, like grass in the morning green and growing and at sunset withered, dry. Not such an upbeat thought for those of us feeling the press of getting older by the minute. Later in the psalm, however, comes focus on a stance we ought to take, perhaps, going forward today:

So teach us the limit of our days that we may give our hearts to wisdom’s voice. And turn a gracious face toward us for we are here on earth to serve. Each morning let us rise to eat compassion’s bread. And even in the midst of dread, and years of deepest pain, make us glad for these. For there especially you are ever present as the guide. You show us secret splendors through your works and ways. You teach our hands new crafts, new handiwork through these. So may this grace, this graciousness be ours, and rest upon us now and evermore we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gratitude bears much fruit

Tags

dream, Great Spirit, Handsome Lake, heaven, hope, John, mystic, prophetic, rebirth, salvation, Seneca Indian, solstice, strawberry moon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I arrived at work yesterday, our administrative assistant (the genius behind the blog pictures) met me with a wonderful story about the Strawberry Moon. I suggested she take over the blog for a day so here is “the rest of the story.” (Thanks to Mary Pat!)

The news media were full of reports Monday about the rare occurrence of the Strawberry Moon on the same day as the Summer Solstice. How rare is it? The next time the two will be paired is in the year 2062. What the media neglected to delve into, however, is the spiritual importance of this full moon.

Among the Seneca Indians (and other Iroquois nations) the rising of the Strawberry Moon heralds a sacred time. The strawberry is the first fresh fruit to be harvested after the long winter. To the Senecas, the fruit represents rebirth and hope. They believe you will eat strawberries when you die because they line the path to heaven.

During this time, women and children are given the task of harvesting wild strawberries in special bark baskets. On the day of the full Strawberry Moon, the berries are pressed into a juice mixed with a little maple syrup and water. The entire village gathers for a festival that includes food, dancing and singing. The focus of the day is a ceremony in which the strawberry juice is shared with all. Before each person drinks of the juice, they express gratitude to the Great Spirit for all blessings received and surviving the winter. The juice was also thought to have invigorating healing properties because of its heart shape.

Centuries ago the great Seneca warrior, Handsome Lake, entered into deep depression and drunkenness after the collapse of his culture following the American Revolution. Years later, one night Handsome Lake had several revelations in a prophetic dream that were inspired by the life cycle of the strawberry. From this dream he created a new moral code to strengthen his culture that included abandoning behaviors such as promiscuity and insobriety, confessing one’s sins and striving for salvation. His “Old Way” is still embraced as the “golden rule” today.

In this morning’s gospel acclamation (John 15: 4A, 5B) the Lord promises “whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.” Inspired by the Senecas’ ritual of the Strawberry Moon, you might rephrase that to whoever lives a life filled with gratitude to the Great Spirit will bear much fruit.

The Wisdom of Solomon

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dream, Kings, Solomon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, understanding heart, wise heart, youth

Often in interviews, famous (or infamous) people are asked a question like: “If you could change one thing in your life…” or “If you could have one thing…: or “What is the one most important thing…” hoping for an answer that is quite revelatory, or surprising or deeply meaningful. One would hope that in agreeing to such an interview the person would have thought about such ultimate questions so as not to be taken off guard and answer frivolously. More helpful would be to live a deeply thoughtful life so that any serious question could be answered from deep within. It is clear that King David’s son and successor, Solomon, was that reflective kind of person, a good model for all of us.

In today’s first reading which chronicles the first days of Solomon’s reign, God appears to Solomon in a dream and says, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” The young king’s answer is so profound that I think it should be a lesson for every child, repeated several times during youth and then at crucial points in life – like marriage or other serious commitments, upon embarking on a career, at the time of retirement from work and in old age as a retrospective assessment of life. Listen to the conversation and see if you can honestly answer in like manner. (A caution: It takes a long time for most of us to get to such an interior state, so don’t worry if you aren’t there; just determine to keep on moving toward it!).

Solomon answered: “You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David…and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today, seating a son of his on his throne…but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and distinguish right from wrong…” So God said to him, “Because you have asked for this – not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies…I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you…” (1 KGS 3: 4-13)

 

 

 

 

 

The Wild Abandon of Joy

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dream, Evangelii gaudium, Holiday, Pope Francis, psalm 150, Revalation, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity, usccb, wild abandon

As I drink my “wake-up” cup of coffee each morning I try to set myself wholeheartedly to the task of writing my blog before allowing the issues and concerns of the day to distract from what I have just read of the Scriptures from the US Catholic Bishops’ website (www.usccb.org). For some reason this morning I clicked on a brief video on the bishops’ homepage and heard four of the bishops summarizing the directions they have chosen to follow which resulted from their recently concluded annual meeting. It was all about attentiveness to “the heart of Pope Francis” and his first encyclical letter to the world, Evangelii gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). As is often the case, such a seemingly random act or thought gives me the theme for the blog. Today both the first reading and the psalm are conclusive – Psalm 150 being the last of the Book of Psalms and the Book of Revelation the final book of the entire Bible. And the themes of both proclaim the joy of all creation because of the God whose generosity and holiness bring joy to all.

Chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation begins with John’s vision of God on the throne toward whom the “four living creatures” representing the gospel writers exclaim; Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and who is and who is to come! The psalm picks up the chant from beginning to end in unbridled joy. Hallelujah! sings the psalmist. Give voice and praise to the source of life. Praise God, O earth and heavens above. Give praise to God for mighty deeds. Speak honor to the Holy One. Give praise to God with blasts of horns. Let organs swell with sweetest sounds. Give praise to God with cymbals loud. Let music and dance fill up the world, and drums beat wildly their rhythms of praise. Let every creature on earth that breathes add music and song with voices raised. Hallelujah!

As we move toward the Thanksgiving holiday, wouldn’t it be marvelous to see the wild abandon of people dancing in the streets to the music of a great brass orchestra, celebrating what is good about the United States of America, greeting each other with a consciousness of the unity of all life, suspending suspicion and misunderstanding just for a moment? Perhaps it would feel so good to know that state of being that it would become a constant undercurrent of all our days…This is the dream of the end times that I cherish. Today I choose to focus on my part in making that dream come true.

Walking the Walk

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center, dream, God, labyrinth, Luke, reflection, spiritual life, spiritual path, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust in God, walk the walk, walk together, walking

This morning as Luke (Ch. 12) continues to continues to talk about servants and their readiness to serve, I want to offer a footnote to my reflection of yesterday about walking through life aware of how the walk is going (See “Stay Awake” from yesterday’s blog post). During the day yesterday my mind kept coming back to the theme of the blog and to the experience I had the evening before of walking a labyrinth. We (the Sophia Center for Spirituality) began on Monday to offer a series called “Spiritual Sampler” on Monday nights and the first of these offerings was a labyrinth walk. A labyrinth, as some of you know, is not a maze where you can get hopelessly lost but rather a unicursal or one-branch path that leads to the center. For centuries, labyrinths have been symbolic of walking a spiritual path where, in the center, God may be found.

Until I was quite sure that the description of “unicursal” was true, I was hesitant to walk a labyrinth. Over the last several years, however, I have come to relish the opportunity for this quiet, slow, reflective time that is always meaningful and sometimes surprising. As I made my intention at the entrance to the labyrinth, all I asked was to be in God’s presence, walking consciously toward God. During the next half hour of silence I was conscious of putting one foot in front of the other on the path that twisted and turned, sometimes coming close to the center and sometimes moving farther away, but always with the hope of achieving that goal. I thought how clearly like life that was. On occasion I was aware of the four others walking with me and pushed away the occasional sense of disappointment that there weren’t more companions. That brought to mind the wondering of whether or not the whole project of establishing a spirituality center -just a year old this month – would be “successful” in the long run. As I continued to walk and attempted to let go of such useless thoughts for one who purports to trust God, I heard from inside, “This is your dream; now you need to walk the walk.” Soon after that I reached the center where the sense of relief and strength was palpable.

The walk back out was long and winding again, but I felt a new confidence in remembering what I have known for much of my ministerial life: that numbers have little to do with meaning in the spiritual life and that God is with me at every step of the path. Our short conversation at the completion of the exercise convinced me that our time had been truly blessed and that each day, each moment is precious as we walk together in God’s sight.