Coexistence

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divine exchange, divisiveness, Flood, God's presence, Huston, Jan Phillips, Julian of Norwich, mysticism, No Ordinary Time, positive energy, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, willingness, wisdom

Sometime in the recent past I became aware that real distress and pure joy can exist in me at the same moment. Yesterday I knew it at an even deeper level, not just as a theory in my mind but a felt sense in my heart. While carrying the devastation and suffering of the people in Texas to work with me, I was also aware of a growing excitement for what would be the culmination of our very fertile conversations sparked by the book, No Ordinary Time. I wasn’t happy that the series was over but rather immensely thankful for the growing trust and willingness of group members to share themselves as they recounted their experiences of the book.

Thirteen of us sat in circle at the noon hour and seven in the evening. As we listened, pondered and then added our own wisdom to what had been offered, I felt a melding of the heaviness of the floods and the buoyancy overflowing in me simply because of the presence of such extraordinary women around me. We were talking about the chapter entitled Mysticism and Oneness. Agreeing with the definition that mysticism is an unmediated experience of God’s presence, we shared snippets of our lives that proved the truth of our own simple mystical experiences. Interspersed with moments of recognition among us were references to the tragedy of the hurricane and the horror of the divisiveness that characterizes our country right now. At several junctures we noted our responsibility to raise the level of positive energy in whatever way we can in order that balance might be achieved. And then we were silent for a time.

In the end we moved around the circle in turn, taking the hands and looking into the eyes of each of these sisters of ours saying fervently, I honor the holiness in you. A simple sentence, growing in us over three months, that was indeed an expression of the oneness we had come to feel. And as I took my turn hearing and saying those words to each and all with total honesty, I held the wonder of this “divine exchange” as well as the pain of the world in the solidarity of our hands and knew the hope of Julian of Norwich, that all shall be well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holding On

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faith, Flood, heart of the world, helplessness, hope, injustice, love, Peace, Pope Francis, psalm 69, sacrifice of praise, shooting, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence, wars

Today I wake to a sense of the paradox of life. Still energized by the visit of Pope Francis and a 2-day gathering full of hope this week for generations younger than mine, I am nearly crushed by the latest random, senseless shooting of college students in our country and futile wars around the world. I can no longer live in one reality or the other but have come to know the necessity of bearing both sides (or rather all sides!) of this chaotic era at once. How does one hold all this? Having gone the route of protest and demonstrations in my younger life, I now find the necessity of silence and the spiritual practice of connection with peace and love at the heart of the world to be my contribution. We all need to find our place in seeking solutions to violence and injustice. It is helpful for me to read the words of the psalmist who, at the beginning of Psalm 69, seeks the face of God in symbolic flood waters threatening to drown him. Save me, O God, I cry, I’m in deep waters over my head and sinking fast. My feet are mired; there’s no firm ground for me, no place on which to stand…These words give voice to the feeling of helplessness in the face of great evil and destruction. But faith will not allow the drowning to occur. Here is the section of the psalm that appears today and calls me to return to the trust that God will not abandon us.

In my affliction I know nothing now but deepest pain, my only hope, that you will lift us from this miry clay. I raise your name in this my final song to you. I offer up my words, a sacrifice of praise…And all afflicted ones in life will hear my song and finding strength, will seek you, God, with all their hearts and live. For your own ears are always tuned and turned to needy ones. You never spurn or cast away those bound in chains. So let everything in heaven and on earth offer up their praise, for God rebuilds their walls; their land is freely given back in full. And even children of the lowly ones who trust your name find lodging safe and home secure at last in you.

Where to Build a House

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Earth Sciences, Flood, God, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, Matthew, Natural Disasters and Hazards, Rock music, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tornado

Reading the gospel this morning from Matthew about houses built on sand and rock brought to mind images of the terrible devastation in so many places in our country that were buffeted by floods and tornados this year. It is instructive to replay those images and listen again in my head to the people being interviewed on the news, people who have “lost everything” and are generally standing in the rubble of what was once their home. To a person, they recount their losses saying that they’re grateful because the only thing that mattered was that their loved ones were safe. Some said they don’t know what to do now, most spoke of rebuilding, but always – even through tears – they speak of gratitude to God for what matters: those they love.

It appears from this reflection that these people have not built their lives on things that do not last. Sometimes, it’s only when we lose what we call (and what truly are) our “prized possessions” that we learn what we can do without. But in the end, the good advice that Jesus gives this morning is what we need to pay attention to when we think about all this. He says:

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise [person] who built a house on rock . The rain fell and the flood came. The wind blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock.