Looking Ahead

Tags

Book of Hours, dusk, Entering the Silence, eyes, grace, hearts, holy expectation, joy, light, love, Peace, reflections, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, trial, truth

This morning I found a quote in Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours that I hope to remember as the day progresses. It is in his Wednesday reflections at dusk, so I thought that if I kept it in my heart and consciousness all day, maybe I could say the same as life unfolds and I arrive at evening.  It’s a new way to pay attention to the events of the day, a “holy expectation” perhaps – at least worth a try. Here is what he says:

Today, in a moment of trial, I rediscovered Jesus, or perhaps discovered him for the first time. I came closer than ever to fully realizing how true it is that our relations with Jesus are something utterly beyond the level of imagination and emotion. His eyes, which are the eyes of Truth, are fixed upon my heart. Where his glance falls, there is peace; for the light of His Face, which is the Truth, produces truth wherever it is found. There too is joy: and he says to those he loves, I will fix my eyes upon you. His eyes are always on us everywhere and in all times. No grace comes to us from heaven except He looks upon our hearts. (Entering the Silence) 

May our travels through this day be suffused with the joy of seeking Truth and recognizing it when it is found. Safe travels, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

The Heart of Peace

Tags

complaint, Hafiz, hearts, Peace, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world

Today as we pray for lasting peace while recognizing that our world is in peril on many fronts, and as we give thanks for those who have served and sacrificed for that goal, may we remember that it is up to each one of us to create peace in our own hearts as a first step to the achievement of universal peace.

The Sufi poet, Hafiz, has a pithy poem that creates what I see as a perfect image for our consideration as we strive toward peace today. He writes: Complaint is only possible while living in the suburbs of God.

 

 

 

 

 

Cycles

Tags

activity, centering prayer, cyclic life, dancer, divine dance, eternal, flow, hearts, list, Lord, mind, Quaker, schedule, taize, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waltz, work week

Today is Monday, the traditional beginning of the work week for most people. For me it is always a time to “gear up” and make a list (or add to my already long one) of the things I hope to accomplish in the week ahead. Then there is the “long term list” of events that will be taking place in this season of spring into summer…As I began that litany in my mind, I realized again how cyclic life is for me and how much better I respond to it if I hold the schedule lightly so it flows like a dance rather than a race. Let me explain.

My work as the program director for the Sophia Center has a few on-going offerings: centering prayer every two weeks on Wednesdays, Taizé on the fourth Sunday of the month (but not next Sunday because of Memorial Day which is the unofficial beginning of summer), etc. Then there are the individual events or series which we have found to be less successful in the summer if just judged by the numbers, when life slows down a little and vacations punctuate the weeks.

At the same time that we are slowing to a waltz at Sophia, the rhythm at the Spiritual Center where I live is picking up as the temperature rises. Only open from May to October, the Center is blooming with the flowers and activity here goes forward like a well-oiled machine: spring cleaning, mowing the lawn, planning menus and shopping…all in preparation to welcome friends new and old who come to renew their commitment to spiritual practice or, occasionally, just to relax.

I am grateful for this alternation of levels of activity as it allows me to focus on the most important work of all: attention to the people who enter the dance at any point in the on-going music of my life. Yesterday as I was working in the kitchen for the first of my “on-duty” weekends serving workshop participants at home, one of the Quaker melodies from last week ran through my mind consistently – a perfect reminder to be open to any encounter. Ye have no time but the present time (3X), therefore prize your time, for your soul’s sake, I sang. This morning it was another tune that carried me to coffee. Mind that which is eternal, which gathers your hearts together up to the Lord, and lets you see that ye are written in one another’s hearts.

Presence to the moment while also conscious of the flow of eternal time is a rare achievement in this world of ours but as our world turns and we allow the turning, we begin to notice the patterns. It is then that gratitude enters, for the opportunity to partner with the Divine Dancer who leads us so seamlessly that we cannot get lost.

The Restless Wind

Tags

Earth, fileds, hearts, home, mother nature, Native Americans, natural world, oneness, relatives, rivers, Sister Wind, skies, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trees, weather, wind

As light comes outside my window this morning I wake up to the fact that what sounded like a truck or a train passing by (no tracks here though…) was the wind. It’s as if the tree in my sight line is keening after a tragedy – as well she might, given the destruction yesterday in the Midwestern states where winds reached 165 mph, leaving whole towns in a shambles. When we used to say that “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” we never dreamed of that kind of extreme force. It was just a way to characterize the vicissitudes of mother nature trying to birth the season of spring. It seems that by now, with all the talk about climate change and the advances in science, we would be shouldering more responsibility toward “Sister Wind,” as St. Francis used to call her.

I am not a scientist, by any stretch of the imagination, but this morning I cannot ignore what is right before my eyes. I do not understand why we in the Northeast are so lucky as to be virtually unscathed by the weather events that have been happening in different parts of our country over the past year or two. I’m sitting here watching our tree struggle as the refrain of a 1960’s song plays in my mind: The wayward wind is a restless wind, a restless wind that yearns to wander, and he was born the next-of-kin…the next-of-kin to the wayward wind.

Call me silly, but what if we were to consider all of the natural world as our relatives – as St. Francis and the Native Americans always did? Would we perhaps take better care of our trees and rivers and fields and skies? Would we heed the environmentalists a bit more seriously and be more gentle on our walk through this world? It seems to me that all of this follows from my reflections of yesterday about the necessity of recognizing that even now we can open our hearts a bit wider to the possibility of the oneness of all that exists, thereby taking a bit more responsibility for our actions toward Earth, our home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proverbs

Tags

Book of Proverbs, cry of the poor, diligent, eyes, haste, hear, hearts, Lord, poverty, Proverbs, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I don’t often think about the biblical Book of Proverbs but this morning I was reacquainted with how pithy and sensible – and sometimes wry or ironic – they are. Here are a couple from chapter 21 that appear this morning and are worth more than a passing glance.

1. All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the Lord who proves hearts.
2. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
3. The plans of the diligent are sure of profit, but all rash haste leads certainly to poverty.
4. Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares.
5. He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.

 

 

 

 

 

The Heart of the Shepherd

Tags

Ezekiel, hearts, love of God, Psalm 23, sacred heart of Jesus, sheep, shepherd, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Somewhat distractedly, I began to skim the lectionary readings for today. First it was Ezechiel talking about God tending sheep – which always conjures up in me a vague envy for the life of a sheep herder or a dairy farmer (a more realistic choice for our day and location). It’s unrealistic, I know, but there’s something about seeing the animals in the simplicity of their lives – just grazing and having a routine with someone to care for them who moves through the days in relative quiet…Idyllic, no? Well, although I know the reality to be more difficult than that description, there is a warm feeling that arises when I read EZ 34: 11-16 as I did this morning. Then came the 23rd psalm and by the time I got to a second reading before the gospel I realized today must be a special feast in the Church.  And so it is. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, simply described, as Paul does, in the letter to the Romans (5:5) by the declaration: “Brothers and sisters, the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” The gospel completes the metaphoric shepherd references with the wonderful question of Jesus: “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine and go after the lost one until he finds it?”

It’s all about love, you see – the kind of love that is selfless enough to always think of the good the other more than our own comfort. Jesus was trying to convey that message about God by using something the people were familiar with in order for them to get the message. As I write I hear the melody of a “shepherd song” composed long ago by the St. Louis Jesuits that still conveys the message, not only of care but of tenderness, to me. The refrain says this: Like a shepherd he feeds his flock and carries the lambs in his arms, holding them carefully close to his heart, leading them home.

This is a wonderful day to think of what and whom we love and what it is that makes this love flow out of our hearts. If I love my job, is it because I earn a lot of money, or is it the service I provide and the relationships that develop because of what I do? If I love my family and/or friends, is it because there is never a disturbance – our days being placid and we unruffled by any occurrence? Or is it that there is some long-term commitment and care that has built up trust so that no matter the difficulties, we are in the relationships “for the long haul?” Admittedly, it is easy to feel the love in the easy times but think about the deepening that moments of reconciliation after distress lead to in a relationship. It’s that way with God too. When we are the “found sheep” we are likely able to hear God’s heartbeat more clearly as we are held close, as we are led home…Such a God is ours, such a grace is God’s love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light Up the World!

Tags

Advent, candle, Christ, Desert Fathers and Mothers, flame, hearts, light, meditate, monastics, Sophia House, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Paris, – lighting candles in notre dame cathedral… Calgary, Alberta Canada. Photographer Carlos Amat, http://www.carlosamat.ca

Last night I attended a lovely evening of reflection with a small study group held at Sophia House, our “satellite office” in Endicott, NY. The presenter forgot her matches so I foraged around the house and in the adjacent building and found nothing that could help us light the candle that was to be the centerpiece of our prayer table. Sensing the importance of the symbol, I was grateful to meet up with the janitor who led me to his office where he had not one but three long-nosed lighters. He gifted me with one which now will stay in my office for just such events.

As we travel through this season of Advent, lighting a new candle each week in church and/or at home, praying for the light of Christ to burn in our hearts, I am often reminded of a familiar story from those first monastics, the Desert Fathers and Mothers who understood our responsibility to become that light for the world that we say we desire.

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace, and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?” The old man stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, “If you will, you can become all flame!”

So as we prepare for Christmas, in the midst of all that we do, why not have as our intention to increase our desire for God so that we do, indeed, become all flame?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of Hubris and Humility

Tags

conflcit, cultivate peace, haughty, hearts, James, Jesus, life with God, Mark, Peace, psalm 54, righteousness, the first shall be last, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, war, wisdom

The readings today are all about attitudes that lead to wisdom and life with God. In the Book of Wisdom,((WIS 2:12,17-20) “the wicked” cannot bear the behavior of the “just one” so they plot to test his gentleness and patience in an effort to find fault enough to condemn him to death. The Psalmist prays to God to save his life from the haughty ones (PS 54:3-8) and in the gospel Jesus reproaches the disciples for their desire to be “the greatest” of his followers. He says to them: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (MK 9:30-37)

It is, however, the message of James (JAS 3:16-4:3) that is the most helpful to me this morning. He puts two questions that speak directly to the issues of humility and haughtiness that lead to harmful actions. “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?” Both war and peace begin in the hearts of each of us; desire for more of what we do not have whether of possessions or status can be our undoing. James gives great advice for living into right action when he says: “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.” What more do we need to learn?

What to do?

Tags

hearts, inner activity, justice, outer activity, psalm 111, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, wisdom

The psalm refrain for this morning sings, “Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.” (Ps. 111:7a) I got to thinking of how connected those two descriptors are – one an outer activity and one something that wells up from inside us. It seems we need to delve into issues and situations, gathering information as well as the wisdom of our hearts, to come to know – as best we can – the truth of something in order to then act justly. That’s difficult today when there is so much interpreted information in the media and speculation in our conversations personally and corporately. After “due diligence” in our search for justice in truth/truth in justice, perhaps all that is left to us is to let go into the heart of God and trust.

A Day to Remember

Tags

Advent, All Souls Day, Christmas, eternity, guardian angels, Hallmark Channel, hearts, lessons of life, love, movies, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Yesterday the Hallmark Channel began airing their Christmas movies! Normally I tend to avoid the practice of watching and resist even the notion that we should be thinking that far ahead until at least after Thanksgiving. (For my family, Advent was always the main event until December 24th!) On the other hand there is never any violence or other unacceptable behavior in Hallmark movies; they are always all about love. So yesterday I took a knitting break for a half-hour, sitting in the living room where a familiar, sweet climax was unfolding. It was the story of 6-year old girl whose single mother had died and of her new life with her three extraordinarily loving uncles. In a discussion of Christmas, she told her uncles that she wanted to go to her house to celebrate in case her mother should come. Her uncle told her gently that her mother couldn’t be with her now like they were together, “but,” he said, “every time you think of her you can be sure she’s thinking of you.” She replied, “Well, then, she’s thinking of me all the time.”

Today we celebrate the feast of All Souls as we remember our loved ones who have died. The overriding theme for this day is hope, the virtue that allows us to believe among other things that those we love are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them. (WIS 3:1) The little girl in the movie, perhaps unbeknownst to her, touched on a deep truth of the spiritual life. We cannot grasp the totality of the workings of the universe but we can have inklings about our connections beyond this physical realm. To believe that we are protected (guardian angels, perhaps?) and loved unceasingly can bring comfort and peace in times of grief and loss as well as in the days when we’d just like one more conversation with our Moms…I say, “GO AHEAD! Have a conversation.” Perhaps you’ll see a familiar sign – or just feel a presence that tells you that “for the faithful life is changed, not ended” and that death cannot break the bonds of those whose core connection is love.

This is a feast of thanksgiving for all those wonderful people who have taught us the lessons of life, for those who have challenged us to be more than we ever thought we could be and for those whose love remains in our hearts for all eternity. A blessed day indeed!