Eileen

Tags

conversation with God, gratitude, heaven, life and death, rest in peace, sadness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I’ve been sitting for some time now trying to concentrate on this almost daily task. It seems impossible after reading the news of my friend, Eileen Peters. She passed on the day before yesterday to what will certainly be a glorious reward for her life here on earth. Her fidelity to her husband Dave, her seven grown children and many “grands” — the last being born a day before she left us — had prepared her for the welcome that must have greeted her. I can imagine her lively conversation with God; she was used to that while here. I can see her walking right in and making herself comfortable in her new surroundings. It was always hard to keep up with her on a hike so I presume she is settled by now.

It was Dave’s weekly blog about the process of her illness over the past year that allows this feeling of lightheartedness in me. So many images of connection with Eileen fill my mind that there is no room yet for the sadness that will surely come as we gather to pray together in gratitude for her. The recounting of her courage and willingness grounded in the love that surrounded and sustained her was so vivid with gratitude that it is impossible not to understand something deeper about life and death and new life that I have not known before.

I have no doubt that she rests in peace now and I give thanks for lessons learned and friendship shared. Amen.

The Gift of Frost

Tags

breathe, Earth, forgiveness, heal the world, heaven, John Philip Newell, land, love, love of life, love of neighbors, Peace, prayer, Praying With the Earth, self, souls, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

7:40AM. There’s something about the drop to just beyond freezing temperatures outside (26 F.) that silences me as if the earth put a finger to her lips saying, “Shh…Pay attention. Don’t move from where you sit. Just drink in the moment!” I would love to open my window and breathe in the freshness but I’m afraid that would be just a little too extreme for such an exercise right now. So I sit ensconced in the comfort of the chair that is slowly molding itself to my body, feeling the air around me. It’s cold enough to make me know I have made the right decision but warm enough to give thanks for the heat that rises from downstairs and allows me to concentrate on the prayer for Saturday morning in John Philip Newell’s book, Praying with the Earth: A Prayerbook for Peace. Won’t you join me?

To the home of peace, to the field of love, to the land where forgiveness and right relationship meet we look, O God, with longing for earth’s children, with compassion for the creatures, with hearts breaking for the nations and people we love. Open us to visions we have never known, strengthen us for self-givings we have never made, delights with a oneness we could never have imagined, that we may truly be born of You makers of peace.

May the love of life fill our hearts. May the love of earth bring joy to heaven. May the love of self deepen our souls. May the love of neighbor heal our world. As nations, as peoples, as families this day may the love of life heal our world.

Describing Heaven

Tags

heaven, idea, kingdom of heaven, Kings, Luke, Matthew, near death experience, self-esteem, Solomon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, treasure, understanding heart, wisdom

There has been lots of speculation over the history of this world of what heaven is like. The difficult thing about any definition is that nobody is really sure. People have talked about “moving toward the light” and other sensations as part of near death experiences but it seems there is no absolute definition, primarily because we live in this realm for now and can only speculate about the next. The gospel for today (MT 13:44-52) gives a few good similes, however, that can help us begin to consider what heaven might feel like at least. They’re very familiar: the joy of finding a treasure in a field, the willingness of selling everything to buy a pearl of great price…but then Jesus talks a bit more seriously about our responsibility not to be swayed by externals. At the end of this morning’s text he says that every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.

I find that a very helpful sentence and know the truth of it from my experience of life where so much has changed over the past half century. One of my housemates is fond of quoting our novice director who said (among many other pieces of advice): “Don’t be the first to jump on the bandwagon of any idea or trend, but don’t be the last.” In other words use your mind and intuition to come to a decision on what is good in a changing world.

One of the wisest  personages in the Scriptures is Solomon and he appears in today’s lectionary as well. When God gives Solomon “a blank check” for a reward (1KGS 3:5, 7-12) he doesn’t ask for anything material but rather speaks of being young and inexperienced and therefore says: “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge people and to distinguish right from wrong.” Great answer! Would that we would all be so wise!

Perhaps it seems I have veered off from my original intent of writing about what heaven could be like. Not so! All of this is building to a statement of Jesus that seems finally in our lifetime to be considered by many as a way to proceed in this life and to prepare for the next. Not part of today’s readings but essential to this consideration is LK 17:21. Jesus says (perhaps shockingly) “The kingdom of God (or heaven) is within you.” Some translations say “among you” or “in you midst” but the message is clearly that we needn’t wait for our death to live in heaven. It is here, lived by those whose wisdom is akin to Solomon’s. It doesn’t mean that everything is perfect but it does mean that we ought to be conscious of God’s presence working at all times and in all places and that we are to participate in this presence. That is a difficult teaching, especially if we live on the level of personality instead of “putting on the mind of Christ.”

I am stopped in my tracks here – thinking that I have opened a very large can of worms that takes more than a few sentences to bring to conclusion. So let me just make a few suggestions for reflection on what putting on the mind of Christ might mean that might lead to more and deeper consideration.

1. How would you feel if you found a treasure or won the lottery? What would you do with the money?
2. What is your most prized material possession? For whom or what person would you be willing to give it up or even share it?
3. What does the concept of “an understanding heart” mean to you? Can you think of times when someone has shown you an example of that reality in a big way?
4. What is the level of your self-esteem? Can you believe that the kingdom of heaven exists within you? That your actions and ways of relating further the reality of God in this life? Has anyone ever said anything to you indicating that kind of message (e.g. “You’re an angel!” or ” God must have put you in my life because…”) Did you believe it?

These are just beginning prompts for considering the possibility that we are, in fact, responsible for living the kingdom of God right here, right now. Can you see it? Are you even willing to entertain the concept? That would be a start…

 

 

 

 

 

Gratitude bears much fruit

Tags

dream, Great Spirit, Handsome Lake, heaven, hope, John, mystic, prophetic, rebirth, salvation, Seneca Indian, solstice, strawberry moon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I arrived at work yesterday, our administrative assistant (the genius behind the blog pictures) met me with a wonderful story about the Strawberry Moon. I suggested she take over the blog for a day so here is “the rest of the story.” (Thanks to Mary Pat!)

The news media were full of reports Monday about the rare occurrence of the Strawberry Moon on the same day as the Summer Solstice. How rare is it? The next time the two will be paired is in the year 2062. What the media neglected to delve into, however, is the spiritual importance of this full moon.

Among the Seneca Indians (and other Iroquois nations) the rising of the Strawberry Moon heralds a sacred time. The strawberry is the first fresh fruit to be harvested after the long winter. To the Senecas, the fruit represents rebirth and hope. They believe you will eat strawberries when you die because they line the path to heaven.

During this time, women and children are given the task of harvesting wild strawberries in special bark baskets. On the day of the full Strawberry Moon, the berries are pressed into a juice mixed with a little maple syrup and water. The entire village gathers for a festival that includes food, dancing and singing. The focus of the day is a ceremony in which the strawberry juice is shared with all. Before each person drinks of the juice, they express gratitude to the Great Spirit for all blessings received and surviving the winter. The juice was also thought to have invigorating healing properties because of its heart shape.

Centuries ago the great Seneca warrior, Handsome Lake, entered into deep depression and drunkenness after the collapse of his culture following the American Revolution. Years later, one night Handsome Lake had several revelations in a prophetic dream that were inspired by the life cycle of the strawberry. From this dream he created a new moral code to strengthen his culture that included abandoning behaviors such as promiscuity and insobriety, confessing one’s sins and striving for salvation. His “Old Way” is still embraced as the “golden rule” today.

In this morning’s gospel acclamation (John 15: 4A, 5B) the Lord promises “whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.” Inspired by the Senecas’ ritual of the Strawberry Moon, you might rephrase that to whoever lives a life filled with gratitude to the Great Spirit will bear much fruit.

The Lord’s Prayer

Tags

Aramaic, cosmos, Earth, heaven, language, love, Matthew, mother, Neil Douglas Klotz, Our Father, prayer, The Lord's Prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today’s gospel contains what is probably the most familiar text in Christianity. We know it as The Lord’s Prayer. (MT 6:7-15) Recently I listened to a series of lectures about the prayer by Neil Douglas-Klotz, a scholar of Aramaic, the language that Jesus likely spoke in his everyday life. I went looking this morning for his translation because I found it beautiful and expansive of what I have known since early childhood. I found first a comment about Aramaic, then a translation in first century Aramaic and finally, Klotz’s translation using more modern terms. I share them all here for those of us whose love of words affects the feeling level of our prayer and as one more way to connect to others on our planet who speak different languages but whose hearts are united.

Comment: The Aramaic language has (like the Hebrew and Arabic) different levels of meaning. The words are organized and defined by a poetical system where different meanings of every word are possible. So every line of the Lord’s Prayer could be translated into English in many different versions.

First Century Aramaic: O Thou, from whom the breath of life comes, who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration. May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest. Your Heavenly Domain approaches. Let your will come true in the universe (all that vibrates), just as on earth (that is material and dense). Give us wisdom for our daily need, detach the fetters of faults that bind us, like we let go the guilt of others. Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations), but let us be freed from that which keeps us off from our true purpose. From you comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age. Sealed in trust, faith and truth (I confirm with my entire being).

Neil-Douglas-Klotz: O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos, focus your light within us – make it useful. Create your reign of unity now – through our fiery hearts and willing hands help us love beyond our ideals and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures. Animate the earth within us: we then feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all. Untangle the knots within so that we can mend our hearts’ simple ties to each other. Don’t let surface things delude us, but free us from what holds us back from our true purpose. Out of you, the astonishing fire, returning light and sound to the cosmos. Amen.  (from Prayers of the Cosmos)

Amen, indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rider of the Heavens

Tags

Ancient Songs Sung Anew, Earth, God, God's chariot, heaven, imagination, joy, praise, prayer, psalm 68, psalmist, sky, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There were only two of us at “Lunch with the Psalms” yesterday and the psalm of the day (Ps. 68) was long. Although only part of it showed up in the lectionary, we read and reflected on the entire content – not exhaustively, of course, but meaningfully nevertheless. We looked at the New International Version (NIV) because our first read was the poetic variation in Ancient Songs Sung Anew and it was so lyrical and modern-sounding that we wondered how similar the two would be. We found them to be more alike than expected and were quite taken by the vivid images used by the psalmist to create such a strong and hopeful vision of both the earthly realm and the heavenly kingdom – especially in the title which one of us saw as God’s chariot speeding across the sky and the other imaged as a white steed with God astride, garments and hair flowing behind and light illuminating everything. It was a great moment of touching into the imaginal world to bring God’s presence and power close to us.

I was reminded of all this when I saw that the latter part of Psalm 68 was the response to today’s first lectionary reading – not a repetition but an addition to yesterday – so I invite you to join us for the beginning and the end of God’s trek across the heavens. Both ends of the psalm are written as a call to this awesome God in praise and supplication from those who yearn for the peaceable kingdom. See if you can catch  the Spirit!

Rise up within our midst, O God, then everything but you will vanish, our enemies disappearing from sight. Like smoke on wind, like wax before a burning blaze, evil itself will cease before the white light of your gaze. For everyone in right relationship to you is filled with overflowing joy, and music fills the space where you abide, and singing rises to your nameless name, O Holy One who rides the heavens. For you inhabit your high holiness as if it were a dwelling place, yet parent orphans and defend all those alone in life…(vs. 1-5)

Let everything be offered up in praise and prayer from East and West and North and South their voices raised. O Rider of the powers of heaven and earth, send forth a voice, a mighty voice. Awaken us to majesty beyond all time. Restore us to our ancient strength again, so we may say, how great your deeds, O God, O Holy One who rides the heavens. (vs. 33-36)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Child’s View

Tags

child, heaven, heaven is for real, Jesus, Matthew, the soph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Last night we watched the movie Heaven Is For Real. I would recommend it to anyone. First and foremost I was taken by the beautiful, bright, open and clear face and personality of the four-year old who did not die but visited heaven. Young children are so often like that – honest and sincere, simple and yet profound. The movie, based on the true life experience of a real child and his family is an exploration of mystery and our ability and willingness to believe what we do not understand. It reminds me of the scriptural dictum, “And a little child shall lead them.” The gospel this morning (MT 18:1-5) is similar. Jesus is talking about what it takes to get to heaven and he is pretty direct about it.

Unless you turn and become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

Jesus wasn’t asking us to give up all that we have learned in our lives but rather to “turn around” and abandon our ego needs for recognition and approval as well as the need to prevaricate and obfuscate (words that rarely fit in the vocabulary or the action of a small child) in order to impress or be accepted. Jesus is asking us to go deeper – much deeper – than the level on which we ordinarily function in order to live in the place of absolute truth and willingness to love without fear or worry about what will happen to us if we do come to live in that place. This is what children do so it’s a good idea to find those wise little ones and spend some time listening to them and seeking their wisdom before they forget…