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Tag Archives: Holiday

Labor Day Weekend

31 Friday Aug 2018

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breath, Holiday, Labor Day, restful, safe, school, summer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wellbeing

abonfireIt’s shockingly late as I turn to this task today (9:28AM in the Eastern part of the country). There is a gentle rain falling and quiet all around. It must be that something in me has already leaned in to a consciousness of Labor Day weekend. It seems illogical to call it the end of summer, since date-wise and temperature-wise we are far from finished with what we define as the summer season. It is, however, the moment when the school calendar resumes and takes precedence over every other way of marking the passage of time. With school back in session for youth of every age, we all fall into step with the round of activities that qualify as “work” – or labor, to be exact. So we should call this coming Monday NON-Labor Day and recognize the need for taking a breath in the work-a-day world, giving thanks for all those workers who contribute to our wellbeing.

May we all have a safe and restful weekend, and if we are the necessary workers who offer others the opportunity to celebrate this holiday, may we receive the gratitude of those we serve and know inner peace in our generosity.

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Business

27 Monday Nov 2017

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Advent, Christmas, consciously, happiness, Holiday, love, love of Christ, One God, slowing down, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, travel

atrafficToday I sit staring at a blank page, feeling a bit empty, as happens sometimes on the Monday after an important holiday. While I was not counted in the millions of people who took to the road or the sky over the weekend to be with faraway relatives or friends (the return trip perhaps not concluded yet), the Thanksgiving holiday just concluded seemed to me to hold more energy than usual in the wishes of “Happy Thanksgiving!” shared sincerely among friends and strangers alike. Maybe we needed some distraction from all the distress of our country and the world that made us try harder to find the joy of sharing. Maybe it was just the slowing down and relaxing together that pervaded our household. Whatever the source, I feel the need to regroup today so that I will live consciously throughout the wonderful season of Advent leading to Christmas. As the world turns from another beginning to a conclusion marked by the calendar of feasting and celebrations, I am heartened and challenged by Thomas Merton’s words to wake up and get about this new day.

Let us live in this love and this happiness, you and I and all of us, in the love of Christ and in contemplation, for this is where we find ourselves and one another as we truly are. It is only in this love that we at last become real, for it is here that we most truly share the life of the One God…

 

 

 

 

 

Thinking Is NOT Over-rated!

02 Monday Jan 2017

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changing, chatter, clarity, commitment, courage, Holiday, ideas, Meg Wheatley, mindless, New Year's, resolutions, sorrowful, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, think, Turning To One Another, wasted moments, world

areadingIt seems strange that today is a holiday. Who ever thinks of January 2nd as special (except those whose birthdays or anniversaries are today)? Perhaps it’s always like that when New Year’s Day falls on Sunday, and maybe I had the same thought seven years ago but I don’t remember. Anyway, today feels like being given an extra ticket to an event and I don’t want to waste it. I haven’t settled on any resolutions for this year yet. All I know is that whatever I say I will do or be, I need to be seriously committed to carry it out. Conditions seem more serious in the world than ever before so I feel a need to be equally serious in my deliberations.

I’ve had a rare stretch of “down time” over the past few weeks – first because of that nasty cold that so many of us have contracted and then with quiet holidays and cold weather. Those conditions have been quite conducive to thinking and reading. Meg Wheatley has what seems an interesting thought for the day regarding this topic and a possible focus for me today. She says:

If we feel we’re changing in ways we don’t like, or seeing things in the world that make us sorrowful, then we need to time to think about this. We need time to think about what we might do and where we might start to change things. We need time to develop clarity and courage. If we want our world to be different, our first act needs to be reclaiming time to think. Nothing will change for the better until we do that. (Turning To One Another, p.99)

What might this mean for me? I think perhaps I will need to let go more deliberately of the mindless chatter inside my head and the wasted moments clicking on celebrity stories that show up on my computer when I’m in the process of reading the headlines. If these two things become disciplines, I might have more time and energy for deeper thinking and the reading that will lead – eventually – to more useful ideas about change in myself and in the world around me. Here’s hoping!

Where Are You Going?

23 Wednesday Nov 2016

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grace, gratitude, Holiday, peaceful, presence, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, travel, trip

atrafficI heard on the news last night that (if I remember exactly) 49.6 million Americans will be traveling during this Thanksgiving holiday week. I presume that means driving or flying somewhere, rather than walking down the block or across the yard. It’s always “iffy” at this time of year and with the weather of the past few days I’m sure there have been a lot of disappointed and/or frustrated folks on the highways and in airports. Then there are people like my sister who arrived from Pennsylvania yesterday as she wraps up a two-week “road trip” to visit friends in Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland. She sat on Route 81 in Pennsylvania which had become a parking lot, waiting for only a bit less than an hour for a large boat to be resettled on its carrier. Not knowing what had happened up ahead, she sang at first with the music of her CD that was playing but then reached for the book next to her on the seat (an essential companion on any trip) until things got moving again.

This morning, in addition to gratitude that I am at home and have my cheery sister added to the mix of my small community, what came to mind as I considered the number of travelers was the adage, “Wherever you go, there you are.” I hope that tomorrow can be for others what I expect the day will hold for us: peaceful preparation of good food for the body and the grace of presence that is the true essence of Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Day Is It?

11 Tuesday Oct 2016

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anew, Holiday, morning, Rabindranath Tagore, see, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Relaxing young child in sunset

It’s always a little jarring after a holiday – especially when a long weekend has been dedicated to retreat or vacation or some other “out of the ordinary” activity. It feels like Monday today when it is really already Tuesday. Add to that the confusion in nature in our neighborhood: the first frost (and/or 33 degrees F.) in almost mid-October but the trees not yet showing their autumn colors! For all this, there is a short piece of advice from Rabindranath Tagore that seems appropriate for this day (or any morning, really):

Do not say, “It is morning,” and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wild Abandon of Joy

19 Wednesday Nov 2014

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dream, Evangelii gaudium, Holiday, Pope Francis, psalm 150, Revalation, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity, usccb, wild abandon

joyAs I drink my “wake-up” cup of coffee each morning I try to set myself wholeheartedly to the task of writing my blog before allowing the issues and concerns of the day to distract from what I have just read of the Scriptures from the US Catholic Bishops’ website (www.usccb.org). For some reason this morning I clicked on a brief video on the bishops’ homepage and heard four of the bishops summarizing the directions they have chosen to follow which resulted from their recently concluded annual meeting. It was all about attentiveness to “the heart of Pope Francis” and his first encyclical letter to the world, Evangelii gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). As is often the case, such a seemingly random act or thought gives me the theme for the blog. Today both the first reading and the psalm are conclusive – Psalm 150 being the last of the Book of Psalms and the Book of Revelation the final book of the entire Bible. And the themes of both proclaim the joy of all creation because of the God whose generosity and holiness bring joy to all.

Chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation begins with John’s vision of God on the throne toward whom the “four living creatures” representing the gospel writers exclaim; Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and who is and who is to come! The psalm picks up the chant from beginning to end in unbridled joy. Hallelujah! sings the psalmist. Give voice and praise to the source of life. Praise God, O earth and heavens above. Give praise to God for mighty deeds. Speak honor to the Holy One. Give praise to God with blasts of horns. Let organs swell with sweetest sounds. Give praise to God with cymbals loud. Let music and dance fill up the world, and drums beat wildly their rhythms of praise. Let every creature on earth that breathes add music and song with voices raised. Hallelujah!

As we move toward the Thanksgiving holiday, wouldn’t it be marvelous to see the wild abandon of people dancing in the streets to the music of a great brass orchestra, celebrating what is good about the United States of America, greeting each other with a consciousness of the unity of all life, suspending suspicion and misunderstanding just for a moment? Perhaps it would feel so good to know that state of being that it would become a constant undercurrent of all our days…This is the dream of the end times that I cherish. Today I choose to focus on my part in making that dream come true.

Blessings

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

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Catholic Church, Children and Youth, Christianity, Holiday, Religion and Spirituality, Roman Catholic, Sophia, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this vigil of the holiday I am really grateful that I have finally been able to get past all the bugs and roadblocks to blogging through the wonder of a new computer and the efforts of Mary Pat Hyland, a patient teacher and webmaster. If all goes as planned, what I hope to post most days are short reflections on the Scripture readings of the day from the Roman Catholic lectionary. Be assured that these will not be concerned with doctrine but rather (in keeping with our vision here at The Sophia Center) simple thoughts on how something in the readings touches my heart in a way that may help me grow and, by posting it here, help us to grow together. I welcome your reflections in response!

Blessings to all!

Sister Lois Barton, Program Director at Sophia

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