My Soul Is Thirsting

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calling, Cynthia Bourgeault, homecoming, mystery, paths, pilgrimage, psalm 63, relationship, resonance, spiritual journey, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thirst, Thomas Merton

This morning the psalmist cries out: My soul is  thirsting for you, my God! The whole of Psalm 63 is a passionate expression of what it means to be on a spiritual journey and is as relevant today as it was in the lifetime of Jesus or of the Israelites in the desert. Each of us is called, as we wake up to the necessity of relationship with something greater than ourselves, to search for what slakes that thirst. Some of us “go it alone” but most find companions on the way whose desire mirrors our own.

Today I leave on what I have come to see as both pilgrimage and homecoming while 14 people, some still sleeping across our yard, have come here to go deeper in their spiritual quest. Neither is preferable; both lead us on to more meaningful living. I will be sharing this week with about 80 seekers, many my “familiars,” in the hometown of my teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault. It is worth the 12-hour drive (only half of which I will do by myself) to touch back for a week into an experience of deep resonance that has been building in me for the past dozen years. I could just as well stay home in the company of another inspired teacher whose language is not as familiar but whose depth and spiritual authority I highly respect. But I go with expectation and joy.

There is mystery in our callings toward God. This morning I celebrate the variety of paths that lead us irrevocably to conscious union. For me, today, Thomas Merton says it best.

My only desire is to give myself completely to the action of this infinite love, Who is God, Who demands to transform me into Himself secretly, darkly, in simplicity, in a way that has no drama about it and is infinitely beyond everything spectacular and astonishing, so is its significance and its power. (Entering the Silence, p.48)

 

 

 

 

 

At Last

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curiousity, daily routine, Divine Potter, energy, God's love, God's work, gratitude, homecoming, jeremiah, potter, purpose, shaped, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, travels

My “homecoming” this past Sunday was truly refreshing. Being able to sleep for a continuous 12 hours (!) and then walk outside around our land in the morning breathing the good country air and catching up with my housemates on the events I missed while I was away felt very, very good. It only lasted for 48 hours, however, as on Tuesday afternoon I was back in the car on my way to Albany to help with a CSJ Community retreat. Today is Thursday and although working and praying with the Sisters is a special privilege I am happy to be heading home again late this afternoon. This time I plan to stay awhile.

I was reflecting on all my travels during July as I read the message about the potter and the clay from the prophet Jeremiah this morning (JER 18: 1-6). Verse 6 has God saying through Jeremiah: Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. I feel a bit like that clay today, having been shaped by all the various places I have been, the different but related experiences I have had, the conversations that have moved me, the energy that has been shared…I have come to see that every day can add to the shaping of my being if I am awake to the possibility of God’s work in me. It will take awhile to let this extraordinary month settle in its entirety, but what I know now is that nothing happens by chance and everything has its purpose. The most prominent sense that remains with me is gratitude which I intend to carry into the daily routine that will restore a sense of place and familiarity of experience in the days ahead.

May we all be – each and every day – like clay in the hand of the Divine Potter, willing to enter into all the shaping experiences with a recognition of God’s great love and a curiosity about the final shape of us that will emerge in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homecoming

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Ask and you shall receive, forgiveness, Genesis, homecoming, hope, journey, lift up, Luke, Mary Magdalene, optimistic for the future, perseverance, prayer, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today ends what the Sisters in my local community have taken to calling my “triathalon” which denotes the three legs of my journey from Windsor, NY to Orlando, Florida for a national convention, then to Japan (through Los Angeles and Honolulu) for a retreat with our Japanese Sisters, and back to Albany for a “Wisdom Circle” experience called Mary Magdalene and Conscious Love. It has only been sixteen days since I left home but it seems so much longer because of the fullness of each of the experiences.

The theme running through all of my days of travel has been the hope that lives in the hearts of the Sisters and others I have met. Regardless of the dire situations in our country and the world, we are optimistic for the future and grounded in a life of prayer because of our trust in the benevolence of the Divine Being who will not leave us to our own devices. All of us are held in relationship with God and one another in a bond that I experienced as a felt sense of joy and confidence in each place that I touched down.

I was reminded of this sense of optimism and the need to work toward the good by today’s lectionary readings about perseverance in prayer. We are called by Abraham’s courage in his famous plea to the God who was prepared to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness abiding in those cities. Beginning with the question: “If there were 50 innocent inhabitants there, would you relent?” (GEN 18:20-32) Abraham continued to ask toward a greater favor asking: “What if there were 45…40…30…20…10???” God’s willingness to answer with alacrity that those cities would not be destroyed for the sake of the few innocent people tells me that, ultimately, God desires to forgive, not to punish or destroy. God is on our side.

Jesus knew that God and encouraged his followers to ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened to you. ( LK 11:1-13) All of my experiences during these days have convinced me of the need for us to pray – alone and together – for changes in ourselves and all around us that will bring us back to balance. This prayer cannot be a “sometimes” thing. We need to be serious and consistent to actually “be the change we wish to see in the world.” Thus our prayer will become our way of living and lift up the quality of life for everyone. We will “come home” to our deepest selves and meet each other at each step of our journeys. In this way wherever we find ourselves in the world will be recognized as home and we will be welcome there.