Trust

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danger, do not be afraid, hope, Jesus, John, mercy, psalm 33, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, walking on water

Both the psalm response and the gospel in today’s lectionary put the word “trust” front and center for our consideration. Four times Psalm 33 is interrupted with the refrain: Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. It’s a statement of exchange, a bit of a challenge for God, it seems. If we trust God, God must be counted on to be merciful OR is it a “hoping against hope” situation where we close our eyes, grit our teeth and hold our breath hoping for a good outcome?

It would seem that the gospel (JN 6: 16-21) presents the perfect situation to illustrate the necessity of trust. Only twice have I been in a boat when a storm came up. Once was on a large cruise ship when the only danger from the wind stirring the water was a bad case of nausea for the majority of us. All we needed to do was stay in our cabins and wait it out. The other was at a smallish lake where we needed to get back to shore, rowing as the two of us had never done, before the storm broke. It was that second case that might be compared with the situation of the apostles in the boat. I wonder if our inner distress would have been increased or calmed by the presence of Jesus walking on the water toward us! He appeared to the apostles to be a ghost. Why would it be different for anyone in that situation – especially as he appeared in his “resurrection body” that seems from all accounts a detriment to recognition for all who encountered him?

Would his words (It is I. Do not be afraid.) have been enough? Are they enough for us to engender trust in situations of inner or outer distress? Saturday is sometimes the perfect day to give in to what we don’t expect and let our trust in Christ take us home.

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May

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beauty, hope, May, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Having just stepped over the threshold into “the lusty month of May,” I was disheartened to see all the puddles on the deck of our house and the wind that seems determined to create another round of “pick-up-sticks” for my unwilling exercise regime. Checking the weather to see if we will truly have rain for the next six days, I found a reason to rejoice: every day of the next seven will see, at some moment, temperatures in the 60 to 70 degree range! Perhaps that is a silly thing to rejoice over but I always have such high expectations of this most beautiful month that I can’t help myself looking for anything that will propel me happily into the wide world outside.

There is much to recommend this month. For me the bright yellow of daffodils and forsythia have prepared the way for what looks to become a lovely (if late) flowering of the spring. Now to await the days of no coats but rather bright-colored clothing and picnics outside, longer days and looking at the night sky without shivering in the cold…All of the things that seem ready to raise spirits after a long and difficult winter are truly welcome.

More important than external signs is the hope that lives in my heart. The thanksgiving for gifts that lift the spirit – small things or great – remind me that this is the season of “Alleluia” so that even in the midst of trial and bad news I can walk and talk and see the beauty around me even when clouds appear. It may take some effort but that is the call of the dawning of light each morning.

Thanks be to God!

Nothing Left…but Everything

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Christ is risen, clearer, hope, hope for the resurrection, Mary Magdalene, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transformation, trust, truth, waiting

Last night I went to bed worrying that the torrents of rain would surely mean our rivers overflowing their banks by morning. I went to sleep – surprisingly – to a roll of thunder (did I dream that?) and the cacophony of wind and water against glass and roof shingles. I thought the uneasiness would keep me awake, watchful – maybe like Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus. But no, I could not claim that kind of fidelity. I went to sleep.

This morning is a bit of a surprise. I have not solicited information about water damage in our village or beyond but the rainstorm has worn itself out, having cleansed everything sooner than expected. One could say that all earth’s tears have been shed and now we have only to wait in hope for resurrection. I am sitting in the same stillness as the tree across the yard, waiting…feeling spent and not ready to move forward with the day. Jesus remains in the tomb.

What will it take for me to recognize the transformation that is resurrection? Can it be done in me by nightfall? What will I know tomorrow (“the great feast of Easter”) that will be testament to this process of Holy Week? Will I be clearer of purpose? More dedicated to mission? A slight breeze ripples through my bedroom curtain and is mirrored by the tree outside. Can I take that as a sign, a conviction that tonight’s ritual will let me know that Christ is risen once again in my heart and in the world?

I recognize that now it is up to me to answer my own questions, to be the catalyst of my own truth and trust. Each of us must know that and come to stand ready for what is to come in the light of Christ’s return.

Merton’s View

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creation, hope, nature, praise, spring, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours

Up early, I am sitting in the quiet darkness. Feeling the need for someone else’s words to get me going into this day I turn to Thomas Merton, whom I have not visited lately. I can feel him sitting on the porch of his small hermitage taking in the very early morning and putting pen to paper with these words.

I am under the sky. The birds are all silent. But the frogs have begun singing their pleasure in all the waters and in the warm, green places where the sunshine is. wonderful. Praise Christ, all you living creatures. For Him you and I were created. With every breath we love Him. My psalms fulfill your dim, unconscious song, O brothers in this wood. (A Book of Hours, p. 93)

It must have been summer or later morning when he wrote those words as we have a long way to go until the sun appears today, but the hope of the meteorologists and their listeners is exactly that for a second day in a row. That would be enough, I think, to convince us that spring is truly not far off and the “warm, green places” will soon grace us once again.

Living In Love

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believe, Corinthians, endure, hope, kind, love, patient, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

After arriving home about mid-day on Thursday, I was off again the next evening to conduct a 24-hour retreat. Some would call that very poor scheduling but, as it turned out, it was a lovely way to re-enter from the “time-out-of-time” that was Peru. The topic, Living In Love, could have been easily predicted; it is February after all when all the Valentine candy and flowers can hardly be avoided.

We covered a lot of ground and pondered weighty questions in our time together. We watched the roaring fire that kept the frigid air from overtaking our reflections. We talked about food on our breaks (everyone but me an aficionado of organic prep!) and had done the bedroom laundry by mid-afternoon, re-making the beds with as easy a rhythm as on a Saturday at home. Our day was punctuated with readings from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 12 & 13, and I smiled just now to find his words echoing again in today’s lectionary.

It occurs to me that our little band of seekers yesterday was a model of what Paul saw as a way to practice love and grow in love in simple yet essential ways. Here is the crux of the lesson that we took home. You will, of course, recognize it. But read it slowly, perhaps aloud, letting it seep into you and, maybe for the umpteenth time, find a home.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude. It does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered. It does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong-doing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1COR 13)

Almost There

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Christ, Emmanuel, enlighten, hope, Joseph, journey of faith, King of the Nations, Mary, O Antiphons, radiant dawn, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Although away from the internet for two days, I have been very present to the O Antiphons. My favorite (except for the last but easily twinned with it) is the fifth, translated variously as “Rising Sun,” “Morning Star” or “Dayspring.” I prefer my own rendition (which I did not invent but heard somewhere along my journey of faith). As I wait today for the light to come, signaling a new day, my heart hopes for the sun to break forth over the mountain across the river. Such a powerful symbol of returning light can awaken me to a new day as nothing else can and so is best described as “Radiant Dawn.”

O Radiant Dawn, splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness, come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

The sixth antiphon, wherein Christ is called “King of the Nations,” breaks all the definitional laws of how the world sees a ruler. Coming as a helpless baby to a poor family, living as a carpenter’s apprentice and then an itinerant preacher and lover of all certainly topples all notions of kingship. Isaiah describes his reign as follows: He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they train for war again. (IS 2:4) Is this not the king we long for? The one we know to bring us to a new “radiant dawn?”

O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.

This is the one we call Emmanuel, God with us. I will save consideration of this Great Light until tomorrow when the birthing begins and the promise is ready to be revealed.

Just for Today

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believe, Celtic Treasures: Daily Scriptures and Prayer, courage, faith, fear, freedom, heart, hope, J. Philip Newell, laughter, promises, tears, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today, just a short prayer for the 24-hour journey in which we find ourselves. J. Philip Newell is the author.

Hope and fear, laughter and tears have been part of our journey. Joy and pain, longing and doubt meet on the pathway. Often we do not believe, O God, and sometimes we doubt that your promises can be true. Grant us and our world the freedom to laugh, the courage to cry, the heart to be open and the faith to believe. (Celtic Treasure: Daily Scriptures and Prayer)

The Light of Hope

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communion, Cynthia Bourgeault, hope, light, mystical hope, prayer, presence, present, sharing, silence, spirit, spiritual life, the body of hope, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today I am privileged to spend the morning in reflection with seven people considering the topic of hope. Self-selected and always seeking to deepen their spiritual lives, these people are all known to me although not to one another. I never know exactly what will transpire at these brief encounters (just 3 hours of prayer, silence and sharing) but I am never disappointed. That is not to say that I do not have a carefully crafted agenda, but once I have prepared, I let go and see where the Spirit will take us. I smile when I think of that truth because it has not always been that way. Needing success eventually gives way to simply being present and trusting the willingness of the participants to hear something of merit and to offer their wisdom to the group.

Today I am certain such wisdom will shine throughout our time together as we speak of what Cynthia Bourgeault calls “mystical hope.” Cynthia describes one of the characteristics of such hope as follows. “It has something to do with presence – not a future good outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.”

I trust that will be true not only in the topical presentation but at the heart of our gathering itself. Why not join us in Spirit for this event? Your prayer, your silence and/or your good wishes – even after the event – could add to the power of presence in what Cynthia calls “the body of hope!” We welcome all comers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sisterhood

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called, committee, community, courage, generations, hope, light, ministry, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Realization of shifting temperatures cannot be ignored this morning as I recognize that the first hard frost has settled in our back field. The skies are clear, however, as Sisters of St. Joseph begin to gather at our Motherhouse near Albany, NY for our annual “Community Weekend.” A homecoming of sorts, this event is second only in celebration to our Jubilee Day when we mark incremental anniversaries for individual Sisters of 25 to 80 (yes, sometimes 80) years of service and life together. The theme this event that begins this evening is “Who We Are Called To Be for the World Today.”

Wanting to be sure of the schedule for the event, I picked up the September issue of our community magazine where I knew it had been posted. As I looked through the pages, I couldn’t help stopping to read some of the articles again and see the faces of and obituaries of three Sisters who had died in August – two on the same day. That’s the way it is now; our numbers are fast diminishing, but our work in the world goes on and one could easily say it is flourishing. I read again about the goals of our leadership team for the next two years and the work of two thriving committees. Homeland keeps us aware of all things environmental and challenges us to individual and corporate responsibility toward our Mother Earth as does the Justice Committee toward responsible citizenship.

As I flipped through the pages I was aware of how we have grown over my 52 years in community. The world has changed and so have we in terms of our ministries and the reach of our influence. One of the most profound examples of this shift was highlighted in an article by Sister Patricia St. John about her participation in the 18th International Early Childhood Education Seminar in Israel and the International Society for Music Education World Conference in July. As chair of the Early Childhood Commission for the past two years, Patti welcomed participants to the first conference, an event never before held in an Arab City in Israel. At the second event, As Chair of ISME, Patti presented a paper entitled The cultural contexts of early childhood musical experience: Finding commonalities, honoring differences. 

As I finally reached the last pages of the magazine, I saw pictures of some of our retired Sisters and our archivist, readying the contents of our archives to be sent to St. Louis where they will join those of our other provinces. What a story those rooms will tell for the future! And then I smiled at a photo of my favorite college French professor, a brilliant and holy woman of wisdom who inspires me still over all these years.

Who are we called to be in the world today? Just who we’ve always been, I would say. As a Congregation of the great love of God, we do our best, whether in a small town in beautiful Upstate New York or halfway across the world, to be the light that has been passed to us for generations – a light of hope and courage to meet the challenges and opportunities of the world as we find it, day by day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-October Morning

Tags

action, Celtic Benediction, creativity, God, health, hope, John Philip Newell, new life, prayer, reflection, renewal, rest, rhythms of time, seasons, stillness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unfolding

On this dreary Saturday morning it is clear that the earth has shifted into the season of Autumn. As the rain taps out a wake-up call on the roof, I wonder if we will see the usual splendor that accompanies October. Some say because of the hot, wet summer we had, the trees will not provide us with that gift this year. I always hold out hope though, and it will last in me for a few more days. For now, I am relaxed into morning by a prayer of John Philip Newell that expands the rhythms of time and the seasons into a God-like view.

For the night followed by the day, for the idle winter ground followed by the energy of spring, for the unfolding of the earth followed by bursts of unfolding, thanks be to you, O God. For rest and wakefulness, stillness and creativity, reflection and action, thanks be to you. Let me know in my own soul and body the rhythms of creativity that you have established. Let me know in my family and friendships the disciplines of withdrawal and the call to engagement. Let me know for my world the cycles of renewal given by you for healing and health, the pattern of the seasons given by you for the birth of new life.   (Celtic Benediction by J Philip Newell, p. 76)