20 Tuesday Apr 2021
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Here is a thought from Eckhart Tolle that I will tuck in my pocket as I consider the events of this day and travel through the hours. Perhaps you will join me…
Acknowledging the good that you have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
May your day be blessed abundantly.
15 Monday Mar 2021
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From the prophet Isaiah (Is 65:17-21) to the Gospel of John (Jn 4: 43-54) the Scripture readings for today are clear about what is happening here on this earth. Isaiah is simple and definitive in giving the message from God: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth…There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create. It seems that things will not be proceeding as before. There is an element of faith necessary in the new order. (“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe…”) It seems to me that the key for today is the verse before the gospel which says simply: Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you. (Am 5:14)
Clearly, if we look back over the past year, we might see a pattern that fits what is being done here. Great things—good things for good people are happening—worldly things: like new vaccines and monetary relief for “the least among us.” It seems that all of our people are not ready to accept the good that is happening. Even governors of some states refuse to adhere to some of the simple things that will save us. (“Wear a mask,” for example.) Although that is true, we may be looking for solutions that are more arduous, more complicated—or simply more to our liking. What we are being called to might necessitate faith in ourselves and, in addition, trust in others, even those we have never listened to, liked or believed in before. We might have to give up our cherished ways of seeing things. Maybe it’s just that simple—although not easy.
Read the Scripture texts for today again (aloud, if possible). See if you can find anything that calls to you about our situation today. It may be as simple as letting go into a new way of being. (I said simple—not easy!) You might just be surprised at the result.
31 Sunday Jan 2021
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As I prepare to leave the first month of this new year, hoping for increasingly positive turns of events, I will ponder Eckhart Tolle’s thought for today, thinking it holds great meaning for me and maybe for others. He says: “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge.” I believe many of us could benefit from that thought. Dig deep if you will and try to look from God’s point of view!
24 Monday Dec 2018
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Emmanuel, God, good, grace, Jesus, joy, letting go, O Antiphons, presence of God, seek love, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true self
Today we are on the edge of the greatest Christian mystery: God becoming one with us in human form in order that we may abide in God in a way beyond our capacity to comprehend with our “ordinary mind.” We can only approximate the reality if we try to think ourselves into it. We need to be willing to “go to the lengths of God,” as Christopher Fry has said, letting go of the mind to a place of soul that is reached only as gift. The paradox is that we cannot get there by striving but we must continue to seek in love for love. Moreover, each of us must make this journey to our true self (where God lives) as ourself. Ultimately, no one can tell us who God is at the deepest level of knowing. That is a secret held only in the depths of the heart, a gift of grace. We can only open our heart – in our own words, with our own gesture – to this most welcome guest.
O Emmanuel, God with us, come now and abide in us that we may abide in you for the good of the world and the joy of knowing that you love us each as a precious and unrepeatable presence in you.
24 Monday Sep 2018
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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, behavior, blameless, discourse, ethical, friendship, good, justice, moral, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, virtuous
I can’t help thinking as I read the lectionary psalm for today (15) how timeless the messages of Scripture often are. As we think of those who might be found “on God’s holy mountain,” we might include “the one who walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the truth in her heart and slanders not with his tongue…” (vs.2-3)
I am further moved to reflection by the commentary that notes its similarity with modern-day definitions of a good, virtuous person, saying that “[T]here is an ethical and moral basis which seems common to both the ancient and modern worlds. Clearly men and women in the ancient world were seeking to define ethical behavior. Perhaps it enters this Psalm because it was of such critical importance that they do so.”
As we await the resolution of the issue in our Congress about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court we would do well to note the continuation of that commentary as a guide for our discourse in the matter and consider it in that light.
“Notice that such a definition is is in direct relationship to the divine. Abraham was called a ‘friend’ of God, one who knew God-in-relationship. This Psalm is about that kind of friendship, but it is not simply one-on-one. Whoever seeks for a relationship with God (for the divine friendship) must come seeking right-relationship not only with God but with everything.” (Ancient Songs Sound Anew, p. 33)
04 Monday Jun 2018
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be, blesses, blessing, body of Christ, compassion, Corpus Christi, dawn, Entering the Silence, good, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton
Yesterday I had one of those mornings when waking early turned into an amazing blessing of silence and recognition. I chose to leave my computer packed away and just sat looking out a giant window in New Hampshire at the mid-point of my journey to Wisdom School. (See Saturday’s post). Fortified with the coffee and an invitation to quiet from by ever-hospitable friend, Bill, I spent an hour reflecting on the feast of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) as it appeared to me on the calendar, in nature and in my own self as a cell in that universal body of love. Here’s what I scribbled in pencil at one point so that I would recall the experience – a great beginning to this “wisdom week.”
4:15 – First light. The birds were loud and luxurious, reminiscent of Thomas Merton’s words at dawn about God “calling them to ‘BE’ once again.” Moving in and out of sleep to listen. (corpus Christi)
6:05 – Full sun. The breeze makes dappled designs in the room where I sit watching the breeze turn to wind in the excitement of morning. A small chime somewhere outside calls out, “AWAKE!” (corpus Christi)
7:00 – No internet to record the thoughts that have been running across my mind like the ticker-tape of stocks in Times Square, NYC. Mostly song lyrics with pauses for breathing out praise. All is glorious! I am dancing even as I sit and hear inside the words of a prayer of Teresa of Avila made into song by John Michael Talbot. (corpus Christi)
All day long I hear within me: Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world; yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body…
Corpus Christi, indeed. So on we go.
21 Saturday Apr 2018
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Today, a question, the refrain from the lectionary psalm response. Repeated three times, it reminds me of the necessity of gratitude and it is enough.
How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me? (PS 116:12)
07 Tuesday Nov 2017
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affliction, bless, cheerfulness, diligence, endure, evil, generosity, good, hate, honor, love, persevere, prayer, rejoice, rejoice in hope, Romans, see, sincere, spirit, spiritual growth, St. Paul, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, weep, zeal
Sometimes opportunity is so fleeting that we easily miss it if we aren’t paying attention. Take, for example, the coming of light to the sky. That’s something that happens every morning so it’s often taken for granted. Today, because of the shift to Daylight Saving Time, I was happy to see that it was in process as I started the trek downstairs for my coffee. Had I not been paying attention when I sat to write on my return I would have missed a breathtaking red sky whose glory dissipated within two minutes. I was almost too busy reading Paul’s staccato-like advice to the Romans in chapter 12 to look out the window. Both “feasts for the eyes” were worthy of a pause.
I could have just glided over that reading (ROM 12:5-26) because of what seemed self-explanatory as well as familiar. I mean, why would I need to think about how to exercise our differing gifts as I read: “let us exercise them: if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation…” since it follows automatically in that way. I got stopped, however, by the last three elements on the list: “if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does works of mercy, with cheerfulness.” Generosity, diligence and cheerfulness are certainly qualities to be pondered.
Had I not been slowed down by those three important words, I could have missed the brilliance of what came next. I find it impossible not to share the totality of this message because every bit of Paul’s exhortation is so vital to our spiritual growth. If we took each one of the following clauses for a day’s reflection we would be much richer when Thanksgiving rolls around. And then it would be a good practice to start again for the season of Advent! But I’m getting ahead of myself. I plan just to bask in the sunshine of this morning and read the text – the entire remainder – aloud, to hear Paul’s words again as if for the first time.
Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.
Blessings on us all!
06 Monday Nov 2017
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Andrew Harvey, common purpose, concert, conscience, conviction, good, humanity, justice, love, Peace, purpose, raised voices, shared values, song, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
I was thrown back a few decades on Saturday evening at an anniversary concert that brought together entertainers who have sung out for justice, peace and love in many ways over many years. What a joy know that their voices had not lost any of their power and purity and that new songs held the same integrity as the old ones did when we were all “young.” (The audience was also “of a certain age” and loving every minute of both the familiar and newly penned messages.) There is a feeling that arises during an experience like that. It is a strength in the camaraderie of common purpose and understanding, a sense of integrity that pervades the space. The feeling sparks a renewal of energy for right living, knowing that shared values for the good of the world still exist and can be expressed by raising our voices in that moment of song and remembered later when difficult situations arise.
A quote from Andrew Harvey that I read this morning amplified and clarified the message of the weekend for me. In the introduction to a chapter on Integrity in the book, One Heart: Wisdom from the World’s Scriptures, he writes the following:
How easy it is to flatter when we need something, or lie when we have to get out of a tedious obligation. Yet we all know that when we don’t follow our conscience and profoundly held beliefs, something worse than disaster or derision falls upon us: a loss of ourselves, a hemorrhage of our innermost reality that leaves us feeling empty and drained of strength and hope. We know that when we do act from our deepest conviction, whatever the cost or consequence, a sense of peace descends on us, steadying us to endure and witness anything…God’s plan for humanity is dependent upon each person having the integrity to enact his or her own deepest nature and its laws and responsibilities in the world. The failure to do this, on the deepest level, is a betrayal of God’s purpose both for oneself and for the world.
So get out those well-worn CDs (and records?) and sing!
15 Sunday Oct 2017
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bless, Carmelite, compassion, Doctor of the Church, endurance, eyes, God, good, John Michael Talbot, love of God, ministries, mysticism, patience, religious education, Roman Catholic Church, spiritual practice, St. Teresa of Avila, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Today is the feast of Teresa of Avila. Because it is Sunday, always a “first class feast,” we don’t hear about Teresa this year. I find it difficult to let it go by, however, without some mention of this woman who is one of only four women thus far in the history of the Roman Catholic Church to achieve the title of “Doctor of the Church.” Sister Teresa was a mystic, but also very active, tireless in her work of reforming the Carmelite order of nuns in the 1500’s in the most rigorous – some thought too extreme – way. Her writings were extensive and her spiritual practice was constant, although for many years she suffered many physical illnesses and a deprivation of any spiritual consolation. She never despaired, even in the face of investigation by the Inquisition, and her writings are considered one of the great treasures of Christian mysticism.
My personal experience of the gift of Teresa’s influence is twofold. When I was 16 years old and considering entering the convent, I received a “holy card” inscribed with a piece of advice written by Teresa. For over 50 years I have held it close and shared it with people I thought would benefit from hearing it. I say it gratefully again today in the translation in which I received it:
Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you. All things are passing; God never changes. Patient endurance attains all things. The one who possesses God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
Many years later, I heard a song by John Michael Talbot whose lyrics are attributed to Teresa, but not found in her writings. I offer it often when speaking to people who work in religious education or other ministries – and lately use it in any situation where I want to emphasize to people how important we are in bringing the love of God to others. Please take a moment to consider it as a word to you today.
Christ has no body now but yours; no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes. You are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 