Look to the Stars

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eternal, faithful, night sky, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Last night as I was getting into bed, I looked out my high window that faces to the South. I didn’t have my glasses on but was surprised to see what looked like two very bright lamps shining out brilliantly and a few others just a bit smaller. Often in similar situations – when there is only one very bright light – I watch for a few minutes and see the movement that tells me what I’m seeing is a plane coming in for a landing at our county airport. There was no movement last night. If it hadn’t been just after midnight, I might have grabbed my glasses and gone outside to look. If I had done that, however, I was certain I would be awake much longer and I was already skating on the edge of a short night. I’m regretting the loss now because it’s been awhile since we have had a good night for stargazing.

Synchronistically, Brian Johnson (Optimize.me) wrote this morning, quoting Soren Kierkegaard, the great existentialist philosopher, something that I find helpful and hope to remember in these difficult days. He said:

When the sailor is out on the sea and everything is changing around him, as the waves are continually being born and dying, he does not stare into the depths of these, since they vary. He looks up at the stars. And why? Because they are faithful – as they stand now, they stood for the patriarchs, and will stand for coming generations. By what means then does he conquer changing conditions? Through the eternal: By means of the eternal, one can conquer the future, because the eternal is the foundation of the future.

So I suggest looking up occasionally at night to delight in the splendor. And if there are no stars, wait…Perhaps they will be shining the next time you look up.

Changing Times, Changing Challenges…

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challenges, Eleazar, faithful, Maccabees, sacrifice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It’s easy sometimes to dismiss some of the archaic practices of Old Testament times that are recounted in Scripture. Today, for example there is the story in the Second Book of Maccabees (2 MC 6:18-31) about Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes who chose to be tortured to death rather than eat pork, a meat forbidden by religious law. Some people told him to bring to the unlawful ritual “meat of his own providing, such as he could legitimately eat, and to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice prescribed by the king” so as to escape the death penalty. Eleazar refused, saying he would remain “loyal to the holy laws given by God.”

Eating meat sacrificed to foreign gods seems in our day, perhaps, to be a ridiculous pretense for the death penalty but we might pause and consider how we might somehow be called to defend our faith with our life and whether we are strong enough to do so. That is not a new idea. Most of us began asking that question of ourselves and/or being asked it by our religion teachers in elementary school. (“If you were asked to reject God or your religion under pain of death, would you be able to remain faithful?”) It was easier to answer “YES!” as a child who was never in danger of death.

I still say an enthusiastic “YES” when I think about the question but am not so sure I am equal to the possibility. Perhaps I need to go joyfully toward all the events of my daily life – the beautiful and the difficult – welcoming everything with equal vigor – just in case there might come a day when something more challenging than I have yet encountered stares me in the face and requires my “Yes” in a way that draws me beyond what I can now imagine. What might that be I cannot say, but I can think about it in more realistic terms and maybe I should start right now…

Repetition

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faithful, Lord teach me, psalm 119, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, virtues

In this morning’s lectionary texts, it’s difficult to ignore the refrain in the Psalm Response. Psalm 119 is the longest of all and always when it appears in the daily readings, it is like a smattering of verses, chosen to present a cohesive theme. (Today it’s verses 66, 68, 76, 77, 93 and 94) The theme is impossible to miss because it’s repeated after each verse, so this morning that means six times. (Lord, teach me your statutes.) It’s an interesting progression. First, the request, then a compliment to God to be sure we have divine attention and a repetition of the request. Following that we have two requests for virtues and a promise to be faithful. Lastly, a second promise to be faithful – totally and forever. (The psalmist liked repetition! Check it out: PS 119)

When I was in elementary school, we memorized many things which have stayed in the rolodex of my mind all these years to be pulled out when needed. Even if we just remembered the refrain of today’s psalm it might help when we’re floundering sometime in our own personal dark night or in times of calamity. And having the refrain in mind, you could create the verses to fit your own situation. Why not try it? You might find a creativity that you never knew was there and a trust in God that is deeper than ever before because it is truly personal, clearly your own.

Hiatus

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betrayals, blessings, Celtic Treasures, encounters, faithful, heal, J. Philip Newell, open our hearts, speak, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the whole of life

I am going to be away from home this week and am unsure now of internet availability as well as scheduled events. I will return home next Sunday hoping to resume this daily practice on Monday. I leave with hope of a peaceful week for us all and a prayer of J. Philip Newell to accompany our days.

You speak to us in all things, O God, in the rising of the sun and its setting, in dreams of the night and the encounters of day. Let us know you in the whole of life, in both the blessings and the betrayals of our lives. Heal our hurts and open our hearts that as families and nations we may be faithful to one another. (Celtic Treasures, p. 50)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steadfastness

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Charlottesville, clarity, division, faithful, firm in resolve, grounded, Meg Wheatley, prejudice, racist, steadfast, steadfastness, Texas, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning I read Meg Wheatley’s reflection on the word steadfastness. I was trying to find something to redeem my world from all the racist experiences I heard about or saw on the national news yesterday. All the care of neighbor for neighbor that was imaged over the past week in Texas with no reference to preferred status for rescue seemed washed away in the same kind of horrific visuals and speech that were manifested during the recent incident at Charlottesville. I have no place inside me to find comprehension of such division and prejudice. I thought we had come farther on the road to acceptance of diversity. The question before me this morning is whether or not I will stand up and use my voice in situations that call out prejudice of the kind that I thought had been conquered. Meg Wheatley calls me to a challenge.

Steadfastness is a lovely old-fashioned word that we don’t hear much about these days. It describes how warriors stand their ground, how they find their position and stay there, unshaken and immovable. Steadfast people are firm in their resolve; they are not shaken by events or circumstances. They stand clear in their beliefs, grounded in their cause, faithful to the end. (Perseverance, p. 55)

May it be so in my life, beginning today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abundant Blessings

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beatitudes, blessings, care, christians, closeness, comfort, commitment, communion, enduring, faithful, happy, harmony, Matthew, mercy, Pope Francis, protect, renounce, see God, spiritual communion, tenderness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity, Wisdom network

The weekend just past was for me a time of great blessings. On Friday we welcomed a group of people – mostly new to us – who came for a workshop offered by our friend, Brigitte, here at our home. I met one of our guests, Patty, at the bus station. Patty lives in Manhattan and as we fell into easy conversation, I began to see our small town through her big city eyes. She was very interested in everything. From all reports, everyone at the workshop came and/or left very happy at all they found here. I was on the road, however, by 9:00 Saturday morning.

Saturday was full of joy in Syracuse (80 miles north) at the golden jubilee celebration of one of my companions in community for the past 50 years. By mid-afternoon I was back in the car for a glorious 2 1/2 hour ride to our Motherhouse near Albany where the energy was high. I arrived mid-stream of the annual Commitment Weekend for our lay Associates. I was happy to participate for the first commitment of four women, one of whom is a treasured member of our growing “Wisdom network.” I would think that anyone driving along the New York State Thruway during the weekend would have felt the intensity of loving, spiritual communion reaching from West to East!

Today’s lectionary readings include the gospel from Matthew, chapter 5 where Jesus preaches what we call the Beatitudes, often seen as the rule of life for Christians. Sister Mary Ellen chose this gospel reading for her jubilee celebration on Saturday as a text that has guided her living, but then she spoke of a new set of blessings given by Pope Francis as he celebrated the feast of All Saints last November in Sweden. He said on that occasion that the Beatitudes of Jesus given during the Sermon on the Mount are “the identity card” for the saints but then added that “new situations require new energy and new commitment,” and offered a new set of Beatitudes for modern Christians. Perhaps one or another or all of these will touch your heart and become a way of life and blessing for you.

– Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart.

– Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness.

– Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him.

– Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.

– Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.

– Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.

“All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness,” Pope Francis said. I would suggest just one change to his writing. I would suggest that we not stop at praying for Christian unity but rather pray and work for the unity of all people on earth, living in harmony in this, our common home.

Have a blessed day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singing Our Praise!

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beloved, faithful, glory, harmony, Holy One, humble, love, Nan Merrill, Peace, praise the Lord, presence, psalm 149, psalms, Psalms for Praying, sing, sing to the Lord, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Sometimes at our Tuesday “Lunch With the Psalms” meetings, one of us will ask, “Didn’t we just have this one…really recently?” I think about young people over the centuries who have studied the Hebrew Scriptures, part of which was memorizing the psalms, getting tripped up by the similarities, especially in the last five (146-150) which all start with Praise the Lord! with the possible exception of 149 that in most translations we’re told to sing to the Lord!

Wanting a fresh image or two from the psalm of the day to remind me of the fact that we are still in the joyful season of Christmas, I turned to Nan Merrill’s Psalms For Praying this morning. I smiled at her first words: Praise the Beloved! She follows by calling us to song but cannot begin without reminding us of the responsibility of offering the gift of praise to the one who guides us in every moment. Her translation of this psalm is lovely; why not sing the whole thing with full voice?

Praise the Beloved! Sing a joy-filled song praising the Blessed One among the people! Be glad in the Creator, rejoice in Love Divine. Praise the Holy One with dancing, with melodies and voice! For the Beloved dwells within, journeying with us through all our lives, leading us in truth and love. The humble are adorned with honor; the faithful exult in glory, singing for joy with thankful hearts! With truth on our tongues, with gratitude as our friend, we are in harmony with the universe, as we hold hands with all the people. The chains of oppression are broken, the fetters of injustice unbound. The realm of Peace and Love shall reign! Glory abides with those who are faith-filled. Praise the Beloved! All peoples on earth, welcome Love’s Companioning Presence into your hearts!

 

 

 

 

 

Rejoice!

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faithful, gaudete, happy, holy, Isaiah, John the Baptist, new birth, Paul, pray, promises fulfilled, rejoice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thessalonians

Today is Gaudete Sunday (Latin for Rejoice). We’re called to be happy because the coming of the Lord is near and the call resounds in all the readings for today – from Isaiah to John the Baptist. As is often the case, Paul is among the messengers urging faithfulness with an enthusiasm that is hard to ignore and then at the end reassuring his listeners that God will surely fulfill all promises. I can almost see him gesticulating emphatically in the town square of Thessaloniki to those he is trying to convince. My impression is that it would be hard to ignore the man or the message. Here is the crux of it:

Brothers and sisters, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit! Do not despise prophetic utterances…May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will accomplish it! (1 Thess 5: 16-24)

So then, let us rejoice, as we count the days toward new birth!

Walking the Walk

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faithful, flock, God, Lord, Peter, Psalm 23, shepherd, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today my Church celebrates the feast of “The Chair of Peter” which is all about shepherding and taking care of “the flock” that Jesus entrusted to Peter. The psalm used in the readings for this feast is the universally best known of all 150 psalms in the Scriptures. We call it (Psalm 23) the Shepherd Psalm. It is often used at funerals and in many moments of crisis or danger. Some of us can recite every word but even if we can only get as far as “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” it brings comfort. There have recently been “contemporary translations” written, which for some are blasphemous but for some make the concepts more meaningful today. The one that comes to my mind is “The Lord is my timekeeper; I shall not rush.”

This morning I’m drawn to the verse that says, “Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.” That certainly is an ideal mindset, but I think of all that’s happening in the world today and I wonder if I could live up to it if I lived in Syria or the Ukraine or North Korea right now. But then I think of Peter who, even though Jesus chose him as a leader, was a bit of a coward when the going got tough. Remember the walking on water incident or his denial the night Jesus was arrested. He had boasted his willingness to follow Jesus wherever he went but certainly is a failure as a model of success. Fear, it seems, is a great equalizer.

Thinking about Peter gives me another kind of courage and comfort in the face of this psalm. I can repeat the words and really mean them and draw great peace from the promise. The greatest comfort of all, however, is knowing not that I am faithful to God, my Shepherd, but that God is faithful to me. In this knowledge, in this God’s company, I continue to walk my path.