Yielding

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centering prayer, Finding the On-Ramp to You Spiritual Life, Jan Phillips, journey, opportunities, resistance, spiritual path, spiritual practices, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, yield

In looking ahead to possibilities for the autumn “semester” at the Sophia Center, I began re-reading Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Life, a little book by Jan Phillips. The impetus came from two different conversations – one with Jan and another with a member of my Spiritual Practices Circle who is considering reading the book with a group in her Church. It’s a catchy title and the idea of using traffic signs as chapter titles was, it seems to me, quite an inspired idea. It’s part of Jan’s genius, I think, to see deep meaning in the connections that exist everywhere and use everyday experiences to mine deep truth. Think about all you could say about “STOP” or “DIVIDED HIGHWAY” or even “FALLING ROCKS AHEAD.” (Actually, that’s not a bad idea. What would you say about each of those things vis-à-vis your life?)

Last night I read the chapter entitled YIELD, which is a familiar concept to someone who learns the daily letting go in the practice of centering prayer. Here’s how Jan began that reflection.

The word yield has a variety of meanings. On the road, it means to surrender, to give way. In nature, it means to engender, to bear fruit. On the spiritual path, one leads to the other. Once we give up our notion of how life “should be,” we free ourselves to experience the lives that we do have.

Simple, right? But not easy, of course. Give it some time today as you drive or shop or interact with others…See how yielding is a better choice than resistance and bow to the opportunities that so often just show up to help us along on our journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Extraordinary Idea

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awakening, compassion, daily practice, Jan Phillips, mindfulness, No Ordinary Time, social awareness, spiritual, spiritual practice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tranquility

Today I’m meeting with Cheryl, my co-facilitator of our summer series on Jan Phillips book, No Ordinary Time. Jan’s workshop with us was so inspiring that Cheryl thought it a good idea to keep that awakening going and it seems that others – myself being the most enthusiastic – agree. (Check the “Events” page on our website for further information.) To prepare for our planning session, I decided to read a little of Jan’s Tuesday chapter. Here’s what she said:

Our spiritual practice tones our mindfulness muscles just as physical discipline might tone your abs. The results of mindfulness are tranquility, compassion, spiritual and social awareness, balance, bliss. I could go on. All this is guaranteed, but there is a minimal requirement. Daily practice. Hence, the word discipline…

We have disciplined ourselves to fasten our seatbelts, to put children in car seats, to stop smoking, for the most part, and these external disciplines promote our well-being. This discipline of interior practice promotes the well-being of our spirit and bodymind. And since we are to love others as we love ourselves, this is one way of fully loving ourselves… (p. 31, 33)

If you live close enough, won’t you consider joining us? If not, my suggestion is to gather a group yourselves and read the book together. I am certain that you won’t regret it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A More Perfect Union

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brain, engines of change, female, Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path, imagination, Jan Phillips, joining, male, negative, positive, speaking, spiritual path, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, them, thought, thought pattern, union, universe, us, we

Quotes from Pendle Hill: Today’s quote comes from Jan Phillips in her book Finding the On-Ramp on Your Spiritual Path.

Just as a battery is charged by the union of positive and negative forces, just as a child is conceived by the union of a male sperm and a female ovum, just as a thought issues forth from the union of right and left brain, so does our authentic spirituality emerge from the practice of joining “us” and “them” into a “we.” Our imaginations are the most potent engines of change in the universe, and when we change our thought pattern and become conscious of our speaking, we will make a quantum leap forward on our spiritual path.

Disciples on the path

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arduous, commitment, disciple, discipline, effort, Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path, hard work, Jan Phillips, love, spiritual path, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Quotes from Pendle Hill: Today’s quote comes from Jan Phillips in her book, Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path:

“Many people think that the spiritual path is an arduous one that requires a lot of effort and hard work. Actually, the opposite is true. A certain discipline is required, but think of that discipline as coming from the word disciple. It has to do with love and commitment, not punishment.”

Testimony

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Acts of the Apostles, energetic current, honest sharing, Jan Phillips, John, life experiences, Scripture, talking story, testifying, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, truth-telling

Yesterday I was speaking with someone who had participated in last weekend’s workshop at The Sophia Center for Spirituality about how simple, and yet how effective, the activities were. We concluded that it was a combination of the engaging manner of Jan Phillips, the presenter, that engendered trust by her honest sharing and the resultant willingness of the group members to act in like manner that carried the day. The focus of the sharing, a consistent energetic current that undergirded such success, was the life experiences of the participants and how those experiences had been transformative in some way. The genius of the process was that the transformation came from the simple exercise of speaking our truths aloud. Happy or sad, difficult or easy, long past or recent, we recounted our life events as we saw them and recognized ourselves in the eyes and hearts of the willing hearers in our midst. We found our creativity in the extraordinary poems that we wrote in 10 minutes, prompted by a series of necessarily included words like a color, a location, a body of water, a person…We moved our bodies in a  simple circle dance and found it easier to do in the singing and connecting of hands and smiling eyes. In short, we realized our common humanity and celebrated our desire to reach out from that place to a world in need of our blessing and gifts.

Today’s Scripture readings are all about “talking story,” as our brothers and sisters in Hawaii call it. Philip engaged with the Ethiopian court official on the road to Gaza, explaining the words of the prophet Isaiah that led to the immediate baptism of the foreigner. (ACTS 8:26-40) The psalm response was a perfect follow-on to that experience, proclaiming: Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what the Lord has done for me. When I appealed to God in words, praise was on the tip of my tongue! (PS 66) In the gospel, Jesus took a risk testifying to his mission when he said, “I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever…” (JN 6:44-51) Can you imagine accepting that revelation in openness? It must have been his manner of speaking and his outpouring of self that allowed the listeners’ positive response, even if understanding had to come later.

Whether “truth-telling” comes naturally to us or not, whether our life stories are peppered with ups and downs (whose are not?), my recommendation is that we take our cue from the Scriptures and risk on occasion, finding a space and a companion or two whom we trust and place ourselves into their hands. I would hope – and would wager – that the benefits will outweigh the risks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close Call

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alertness, brothers, calmed, fears, gratitude, Jan Phillips, lightning, safety, sisters, solidarity, storms, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thunder, tornado, weather, wind

I often speak about the beauty and my good fortune of living in the Northeast region of the United States. Over the past few years my appreciation for this gift has grown as has my compassion for those who live in increasingly dangerous weather climates. Whether it be tornado, mud slide, forest fire or other damaging condition, we have seemed untouched, except for two floods in the last 43 years that caused damage but no loss of life. Last evening we got a taste of what it feels like to experience the likely possibility of a tornado.

It began in the afternoon when the warnings were announced on the media and in the palpable sense of danger when I stepped outside. I understand a little now how the animals feel when the impulse to move to higher or otherwise safer ground embedded in their being clicks on. It was as if a subtle pressure was leaning against my body and an alertness took over my mind. Then there was the inner call to get home, the place of safety, to ride out the storm together. Reports kept coming of damages in places to our south and west as we closed windows, moved outside furniture from the deck to the ground, turned off computers and unplugged everything else in the house. Then we waited.

I had worried in anticipation about two things: first that the roof would blow off the house and secondly that a branch of our huge, ancient maple trees would crash into the house. As soon as we made the preparations, however, my fears were calmed, as if being together was enough to remind me that we would be able to withstand anything the storm could do.

Most of our area is still without power this morning. Thunder, lightning and wind were certainly fierce but I have not heard if an actual tornado touched down. Once again I sit in gratitude for my life. Having experienced all the feelings of yesterday gives me a greater felt sense of solidarity for others whom I am more and more aware of naming my sisters and brothers. And again I hear Jan Phillips singing inside: Because the One I love lives inside you, I lean as close to you as I can…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Late Word

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All the Way to Heaven, content, Jan Phillips, speak truth to power, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, way, witnesses

I did not post anything over the last two days. While it is true that the weekend was full in a wonderful way with our long-awaited concert and workshop with the extraordinary Jan Phillips, I had every intention of attending to this morning practice. Unfortunately the internet was not cooperating. Thus I missed my chance on her feast to speak about Catherine of Siena – one of my favorites in a long line of holy women who have proved worthy of sainthood. One could begin the litany of her life with the fact that she was the 25th child born to her family! My admiration comes, however, from the chronicle of her friendship with God that gave her the courage to speak truth to power and which led her to a central role in the end of the “Avignon Captivity” – a 70-year period in the 14th century of papal exile in France.

It is perhaps an ironic connection that Catherine’s feast fell during Jan’s visit. The first of Jan’s CDs of original songs is entitled “All the Way to Heaven” which comes from a quote by Catherine who proclaimed that all the way to heaven is heaven. I wonder how many of us would agree with Jan and Catherine about this. Both of them have lived as active witnesses, shouting those words through their actions, teaching us that it is not the content but the way we face what happens that matters. Jan concluded the day on Saturday with a song in three parts, each added to the one before that kept repeating throughout. Although you probably have to hear the song to make sense out of that description, it might be enough to see the lyrics in order to see the point of how she (and I believe Catherine) have approached life and found heaven on earth.

1. Because the One I love lives inside you, I lean as close to you as I can.

2. Namaste, I bow to you. Namaste, I bow to you.

3. Shalom to you, shalom to all, shalom around the world.

True Prophets

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creator of circumstances, deeper imagining, fuller awareness, hoping, hospitality, imagining, Jan Phillips, lauds, mystics, No Ordinary Time, poets, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true prophets, waiting

I awoke this morning thinking about what Jan Phillips might like for breakfast. One might call this dedication to duty, as I will be charged with hospitality between her concert tomorrow evening and workshop on Saturday. I put that question on my virtual list of tasks for today and set about seeing if there was anything pertinent to this weekend that she offered me in her daily reflection for Thursday at lauds (sunrise). While I don’t believe that this was her intent, what I found was an excellent description of the person that I believe she has become. I share it with enthusiasm for what we might experience this weekend as well as a mirror for all of us in which we might find deeper purpose if we are willing to look and to change.

The true prophets of this time are the ones who are not just imagining, not just hoping for and waiting for the new dispensation to arrive, but actively bringing it into existence. They are stepping out of the old roles, abandoning what does not serve the common good. Rising above popular opinion, social conditioning, conformist behavior, prophets of today are daring to speak the unspeakable, as Copernicus did, as Galileo did, as the mystics and poets and scientists throughout the ages did, guiding us into fuller awareness, deeper imagining. To bring anything into existence, to be a creator of circumstances, we have to imagine the new, then speak the new, then usher it into reality with the fierce force of our belief in it. (No Ordinary Time, p.97)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living for God

Tags

connectedness, grace, holiness, Jan Phillips, live for God, martyr, No Ordinary Time, No Time For Ordinary, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It seems a very long time since I finally asked Jan Phillips to come to my hometown to share her creativity and thoughts about evolutionary consciousness. I worried that there would not be enough people to “fill the house.” She’s rather famous now. Recently, however, when I raised that concern in an e-mail message to her (having already committed to bringing her all the way from California), it was the Jan that I have known for almost 50 years that responded. Whatever number we have will be perfect, she said. The fewer there are, the deeper we can go. I’m okay with any size.

So this is it: the week we’ve been waiting for. If there are any “last minute” folks out there who are close enough geographically to join us for a concert and/or a workshop entitled, No Time for Ordinary, check out the Sophia Center for Spirituality website for more information. For those of you too far away to be with us, see below for a little taste of Jan’s thought – from her book, No Ordinary Time.

When I was young, I prayed to be a martyr. I wanted to show God and everyone else that I loved Him enough to die for Him. I wanted to go into battle for Him, be another Joan of Arc, a hero for God’s sake.

Now all that’s changed. I wouldn’t think of dying for God, but am doing my best to live for God – not God as person, but God as Goodness, Justice, Mercy. There are no more lines of separation, only strands of connectedness. My eyes find holiness everywhere, in every living thing, person, in every act of kindness, act of nature, act of grace. Everywhere I look, there God is, looking back. (p. 12)

Jan Minus Nine…And Counting

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balance, harmony, Jan Phillips, joy, light, love, No Ordinary Time, radiance

Because we are anticipating the Jan Phillips concert and workshop at the end of next week, I decided this morning to see what she had to say to me from her book No Ordinary Time. I’m never disappointed with what I find in this book. Here’s what found me today.

“Imagine that when we’re born, each one of us comes to earth with the radiance of, say, a hundred watt bulb. That’s our natural state – 100 watts. As we go through life, our job is to maintain that brightness, and even improve it if we can. What dims it, we learn through experience, is negativity, anger, resentments, regrets. What brightens it is harmony, balance, joy.

If you consider the people you encounter on a regular basis and reflect a little on their energy level, you could probably bring to mind a few who fit the 100 watt category, and others who are in the 50-60 watt vicinity. And you probably encounter 10 watt people every once in awhile, though chances are you don’t linger long. It’s the 100 watt-ers that keep your attention. These are people who don’t complain, who don’t say negative things about themselves or others, who are the first to offer help and the ones who stay until the work is done.

Hundred watt-ers laugh a lot, they draw people in like bears to honey. They’re the ones you wish you were more like. And now, you can choose to become one, if you want. All it takes is a little practice. First, you must become an observer to your own thoughts and words, so you are conscious of your thoughts and the words that you speak. Second, you must speak as if your words were materializing into your very life. This means no self-deprecating remarks and no negative comments about others. In other words, you must actually love yourself and love others as yourself.

If we operate from this premise, then we have a good chance of keeping our light bright. If we speak positively, think reverently, then we maintain our original state of grace. If we enter into a meeting imagining that every person there is a peer, then our encounters will begin to change. Once we start noticing our thoughts, becoming aware of their power, letting go of judgments, resistance, opposition, then we experience a more radiant energy. As we think, so shall we create.” (p.74-75)

(Learn about Jan’s visit to Binghamton at www.thesophiacenterforspirituality.org/events.html)