Letting Go

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A Deep Breath of Life, accept, Alan Cohen, change, desires, divine, free, greater good, letting go, pain, Peace, resistance, service, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In our conversations this weekend about Mary Magdalene and Conscious Love, we have often spoken of the need to surrender to life, letting go of our “small-self” desires in service to the greater good. In our meditation sessions, we let go of any thoughts that arise in order to allow us to be present to the Divine. I found a resonance in Alan Cohen’s reflection for today in his book, A Deep Breath of Life, that seems appropriate to share as we depart from this very valuable group experience. Cohen writes:

True mastery lies in flowing with the events of life. We are empowered when we assume that everything comes from God and goes back to God. Nothing in form lasts forever, and when we can accept change, we are free. All pain is born of resistance. An attitude of non-resistance liberates tremendous energy. Pain arises when we fight against what is happening, and peace comes when we accept what is.

Cohen then proceeds to ask two questions: What in your life are you resisting? and How much peace could you gain by letting what is, be? Those seem worthy of some reflection as we begin a new week…

Greater Things

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do greater things, extraordinary things, farewell discourse, greater good, healer, Inspiring America, Jesus, John, Lectionary, Luke, miracles, NBC Nightly News, ordinary people, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There is a line in John’s gospel, showing up in the lectionary readings for today, that I would wager most of us would claim as impossible to believe. Jesus is in the early stages of his “farewell discourse” and trying to impress upon those closest to him that they really will be able to carry on without him because he will remain close to them in Spirit. In JN 14:12 we hear the following promise: Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these…

Let’s think about this for a moment…How could we even think of doing greater things than Jesus?! Well…take the fact that there are millions more people around now than in the time of Jesus. Most of them are within our reach because of air travel and the internet. These inventions have expanded communication far beyond what could have been possible in the first century of Christianity. And Jesus was a healer. Think of the advances of modern medicine that allow “the blind to see, the lame to walk…” and even new hearts – physical ones – can prolong a person’s life. Keep thinking and you may come up with something you are, or have been, a part of that could never have happened in the far distant past.

Jesus didn’t say, “You will be greater than I am.” What he said was: “You will do greater things than I do.” That allows us to dream big while still keeping our humility intact, always knowing that our abilities and talents ultimately come from God and not from us, but through us – with our consent and participation. The thing that redeems the Nightly News on NBC for me is the last segment that began on Monday nights but now seems to happen more frequently – maybe because we need it more – called Inspiring America. It tells the stories of ordinary people who are doing what began as simple things that have grown to extraordinary works – many of them coming from young people. Take for example the 7 year-old boy who asked his mother why someone was standing on the corner with a sign that said, “Will work for food.” When he heard that there are many poor, often hungry people in our country he started an organization of people his age that now feeds hundreds – maybe thousands of people. When asked if parents help in his organization, he says, “Of course. They help with our taxes and stuff. And they help with deliveries. We can’t drive: I’m only 14!”

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things cannot help but become extraordinary disciples. The one common element in almost all of these stories is relationship. First, of course, there is a recognition of a need that most often includes people in need. Next there is the sense that “I can’t do it alone” so (especially with children) there is the request for others to join in the effort. And then, miracles can happen. It’s like when Jesus wanted to feed the 5,000 people but said instead to his disciples, “You give them something to eat yourselves.” (LK 9:13) And so they did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missionaries

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gift of our time, greater good, helping people, jesuits, joy, listening, Matthew, missionary, preach, sacrifice, St. Francis Xavier, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of the founding tenets of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) is the willingness to go anywhere in the world that there is a call to serve God. A hallmark of this service is the willingness to share the life of the indigenous people, adopting their language and living habits re: food, dress, etc. Today is the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a contemporary of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits in the 1500s. Francis was an academic in Paris who, at the age of 24 took to heart the question of Jesus: What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his [spiritual] life? (MT 16:26) It was Ignatius who asked Francis this question which appears for us in today’s lectionary readings. It took awhile, but Francis eventually joined Ignatius in his new community and after ordination as a priest in 1537 went as a missionary, sailing first to Lisbon and then to the west coast of India serving the poor as one of them wherever he went. He ministered especially to the sick, particularly to lepers, and while he often had no time for sleep or for prayer, his letters testify to the joy that always filled his life. He moved on to Malaysia and Japan, learning Japanese and establishing missions for those who would follow him. Although he dreamed of going to China, he became ill and eventually died on the island of Sancian, a hundred miles southwest of Hong Cong. In 1925 the Catholic Church declared him, with St. Therese of Lisieux, co-patron of the missions.

Commentary from americancatholic.org on this feast says the following: All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations” (see MT 28:19). Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with our words but with our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the good news to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis gave this to others.

Who is waiting for your listening ear today? Who is waiting for mine?