Where Did You Come From?

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career, future, give thanks, God's hand, growth, influences, Jan Phillips, life path, lives, No Ordinary Time, past, present, profession, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

During last evening’s gathering of “No Ordinary Women” (named for the book No Ordinary Time by Jan Phillips) we recognized that each of us, in looking back over our lives, had evolved in ways we had not foreseen our early years. It’s always interesting to ask children the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Usually, the younger the child, the more fanciful the response – and it rarely touches on what really happens as they mature. Only one of us touched on what would be an answer to that question, i.e. career or profession, but we all agreed that we had evolved personally in ways we might not have expected as we walked our life path. Life has a way of forming us through events and relationships that sometimes seem random but can be quite formative as we live into and then reflect on them and their impact on us. For example, I thought I would be a high school French teacher all my working life. At this point, I have not lived that role since 33 years ago and have worn six different hats since I left that first position!

Perhaps today is a good day to carve out a bit of time to see where we started and who we have become because of the influences in our lives. I just took a 3-minute break here and made a cursory list of the twists and turns in my life and people who were instrumental in the genesis of those happenings.  There were 12 people on my list and that was mostly in regard to career shifts. Just think where I could go if I looked at my personal life! As we move toward the celebration of Thanksgiving in our country, let us all reflect on how our past has generated our present and what we see as possibility for the future. The goal? Seeing God’s hand in every instance of our growth and giving thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing God

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blessing, experience of God, give thanks, grateful, presence, Psalm 138, share, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In an alternate translation of Psalm 138, the psalmist speaks to me this morning with a powerful message of God’s presence in the universe and in my life. By it I am reminded that we are all invited to share the experience of God and to encourage one another in that sharing. Listen and see if you are similarly drawn in by the mandate in this song of praise and challenge.

With my whole being I give you thanks, with grateful heart I bow before you, with all of heaven’s mighty hosts I sing this song to praise you. Your presence is my temple ground, and there I lift my voice and speak your name, in testimony to a love and truth exceeded only by your promises. For when I spoke your sacred name, your word and answer swiftly came as source of all the strength I know within. O peoples of this earth, know this, you too can hear this voice and speak the name. You too can know the music of this song revealing all God’s beauty in fullest splendor. For though our God is high beyond this earth, as swift as wind God stoops to hold the lowly close, the proud afar. And even though the path of life leads into deepest gloom, O God, your presence never leaves but holds and saves when foes appear upon the earth. And at the end of life your presence stands as witness to a plan that’s never thwarted. Your love endures and greets us even at the gates of death. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p. 354)

The commentary that follows this psalm translation suggests that we are all invited to share in the experience of God and asks the following questions:

1. How comfortable are you about sharing your experience of God and encouraging others in theirs?
2. Would this be a useful thing to do?

I am more and more convinced that the kind of sharing called for here can be a great blessing to us all. I challenge all of us to invite the possibility of such exchange into our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visionary Seeing

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divine plan, give thanks, listen, Nan Merrill's, open your hearts, Psalm 105, rejoice, sing praises, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, visionary seeing, Wisdom School

Here in Windsor we are in the midst of a four-day Wisdom School whose theme is Visionary Seeing. I just read Nan Merrill’s translation of Psalm 105 and found it quite appropriate for this middle day, giving us impetus to wake up to new and deeper ways of knowing. I thought it worthy of consideration for a broader audience as well so here is a lovely modern rendition of PS 105:1-6 in paragraph form. It is especially the last line that seems to me consonant with visionary seeing.

O give thanks to the Beloved, and open your hearts to Love. Awaken! Listen in silence for the Voice of the Counselor. Sing praises with glad voice, and give witness to the truth with your lives! Glory in the radiance of the Beloved; let the hearts of those who call upon You rejoice! Seek the One who is Life, your strength, walk harmoniously in Love’s Presence! Remember that you are not alone, for through Love doubt and fear are released; O people of the earth, ever bear in mind the unity of diversity in the Divine Plan! (Psalms for Praying, p. 217)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birdsong

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birdsong, complex consciousness, complicated lives, dawn, flowers, give thanks, Jesus, Kahlil Gibran, Matthew, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, winged heart, worry

When I woke at 4:35 this morning – much too early to greet the day – the birds were singing so loud I doubted that I would be able to go back to sleep. Fortunately, I did drift off and woke again just before six o’clock. When I did there was absolute silence, a deep breath, perhaps, for the birds – just a pause that brought to my mind and heart a favorite line from Kahlil Gibran: To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. (The Prophet) The silence didn’t last long; the birds are at it again, singing for all they’re worth. In my waking state, I realize their connection to Gibran’s words and consider how willing the birds are just to be themselves. I know all the arguments about how much our lives are complicated by our complex consciousness but sometimes I wish it were simpler to respond to life as the birds do. Jesus talks about that in today’s gospel – and about flowers as well, calling us to recognize how special they and we all are just because we are, rather than for what we can do or achieve. (MT 6:24-34) We needn’t worry about anything but rather trust that we are always held in God’s love. And that was worth waking up for this morning!

The Beginning in the End

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adventure, evaluate, give thanks, mystery, New Year's, Prologue of St. John, reflect, review, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the Word became flesh, time

This morning I’m trying to go back in thought to last year at this time when we were on the verge of a new year. In some ways it’s difficult to comprehend the swiftness of the year’s passing. A common lament these days is ‘Where did the time go?” I need to reflect, however, on all that has happened, all that’s been accomplished, what has been born anew – and (maybe most importantly) what I have learned since the last turning of the year.

If we come to see life as a great adventure and mystery rather than something to be feared or accomplished, there is a surrender to possibility that can cause us to live each day in wonder and trust. The gospel reading for today is the Prologue of St. John in which we read about the Word of God coming into this world. The Word became flesh, John says, and made his dwelling among us. Christians believe that God’s intention for the world, the way would know how to live, came to fruition in the incarnation of Christ. God still dwells among us. Now it is up to us, with the guidance of God’s Spirit working among us, to fulfill God’s dream for our time. Today is a day to look back through the year just past, to evaluate and give thanks, and prepare for the year ahead – for whatever it will bring to us of grace and challenge.

Ready? Whatever it holds, we go together.

Discipleship, Anyone?

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Christmas, disciples, distribution, Eucharist, feed the hungry, give thanks, Jesus, link, loaves and fishes, Matthew, miracle, The Last Supper, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning we have Matthew’s version of the “loaves and fishes” story (MT 15: 29-37). He says there were seven loaves and “a few fishes”. Something struck me about the miracle that I hadn’t felt in the same way before this morning. The process for the distribution was as follows: Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all were satisfied.

The point of the process is that the disciples were a necessary link in the miracle’s chain. Jesus gave the job of distribution to them. That could be seen as simply efficient because of the number of people but what if their participation was essential to the multiplication? It is also true that this verse is strikingly similar to the words of Jesus at the Last Supper when he commissions his disciples to remember him each time they celebrate what has come to be known as Eucharist. So it sounds this morning that as we prepare to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas, we ought to be thinking about our willingness to assent to the role of feeding those who are hungry for bread or for the presence of God in their midst. We may be, as the saying goes, “the only gospel they ever read.”