Inner Peace

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inner peace, Jesus, peace of heart, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

Surely my most important insight today (amazing at 6:33AM) will be something that I have known for a long time but now makes more sense and came from a familiar verse from John’s gospel this morning. Jesus is getting ready for his final “goodbye” to his friends and leaves them with this message: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

What is clearer than ever for me this morning is that Jesus is talking about inner peace – peace of heart, we would call it, so that no matter what’s going on outside of us, the inside can remain hopeful and loving and kind because God remains steadfast in us. Disturbing events in the world around us are real but cannot shake our knowing of that truth.

I feel as if I have taken a further step into the deep waters of truth that will allow me more peace in the everyday recognition of troubling events. If I can remember to live from my heart where peace abides in God, I can face external events with equanimity. Perhaps it sounds strange to say that this is a new knowing for me. I certainly should be familiar with this teaching by now in my life, shouldn’t I? Well, of course! I have known those words of Jesus for decades but the world has become more complex, more challenging so I needed wider eyes and clearer recognition of the great gift of inner peace where we can meet each other and become that peace. Are you there as well?

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Listening for the Spirit

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Acts of the Apostles, Jesus, Peter, Pope John XXIII, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Each time the Church reads lectionary texts from the book entitled Acts of the Apostles I come to appreciate these followers of Jesus in a deeper way. One might call this book “The rest of the story” – when the followers of Christ became the major characters and needed to listen inwardly to God’s directives rather than having recourse to the physical presence of Jesus. Peter is especially interesting to me this year as he takes the leadership that Christ called him to at that famous catch of fish in the early morning of breakfast on the beach.

Today’s reading from chapter 11 (1-18) Is especially timely in our day, I think, as Peter related his vision which indicated acceptance of others whose ritual laws were different from his own. Listen to Peter’s words:

1. But a second time a voice from heaven answered, “What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.”
2. The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
3. If then, God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?

It must have taken a lot of courage for Peter to veer from what had always been his beliefs to consider those of others. It could only have been grace that allowed him to see more clearly and deeply what was needed. I think of Pope John XXIII, now a canonized saint of the Roman Catholic Church, who was similarly called in 1959 to announce the Second Vatican Council, a world-wide gathering of prelates and consultants to “update” the Church to deal with issues of the times. By the end of the Council that occurred each autumn season from 1962 to 1965, the participants had produced 16 foundational documents, five of which spoke directly to relationships with other religious groups – Christians and beyond. Different in scope but similar in intent, Peter and John XXIII changed the face and welcome of what had been to what might be for a better future.

We do not need to abandon our own beliefs in order to welcome others. We simply (or not so simply) need a clear eye and an open heart to hear the deep yearnings of people. If we listen carefully, we will likely find more to accept than to deny and a widening of understanding will benefit the whole.

May the Spirit of God be found in us and be spoken aloud for the good of the world!

Fidelity to the Call

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challenge, discipleship, feed my sheep, Jesus, John, Peter, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I’ve often said that chapter 21 of John’s gospel contains one of my favorite stories. People have heard me enthuse over “breakfast on the beach” more than once each year – the latest, just 9 days ago in fact! It has so many elements to recommend it: Peter’s impetuosity (jumping out of the boat to get to Jesus sooner), the miraculous catch, the image of Jesus as cook and servant to others and the love that was so palpable among the men gathered on the beach.

I don’t often spoil the mood created by all those elements by talking about the second part of the text which is really the heart of the message. It’s too hard to leave the serene message of love at the beginning in order to hear the words of Jesus about the last test that Peter will endure for the sake of Christ at the end of his life. Jesus would not be around much longer in his physical body so Peter would have to remember the entire conversation on the beach if he was to take love all the way to the end.

A question, three times asked, a response and then a command the full impact of which Peter could not have foreseen at that moment comprise perhaps the mission of a lifetime for this greatest, most human apostle.

Do you love me? Yes, Lord. Feed my sheep.

Why repeat the question two more times? (Peter wondered that too, sounding more frustrated each time Jesus posed it.) It’s doubtful that he didn’t believe Peter’s answer. After all, Peter did jump out of the boat and swim to him rather than waiting the few minutes it took to row to shore. Some would say it was a way for Jesus to bring to Peter’s mind the time that he betrayed Jesus, disavowing any knowledge of him – to blame him of his failure to love. I doubt that. It doesn’t seem like a tactic Jesus would use and Jesus certainly knew Peter’s heart.

Most likely Jesus was trying to fortify Peter for the cost of discipleship. Feeding the lambs and sheep of the Christian flock in the face of the persecution leveled against the them was not going to be easy. Remembering the words of Jesus and coming to understand the significance of the charge would need to grow within Peter, deepening the love that would be the anchor of the rest of his life and the courage to endure his painful death.

I sit this morning not knowing what the future will bring to my life. I would do well to open my hands and heart to the question of Jesus and hear his challenge. May we all answer as Peter did the third time the question was put to him: Yes, Lord. You know all things. You know that I love you. And may it be the answer on our lips until our last breath.

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.

Miracles

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Brother Curtis Almquist, conversation, Jesus, meeting, reality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, walking miracle

Just a word today as I prepare to spend the day with about 100 of my Sisters (always a joy) to pray and reflect on our lives together. We do this on a regular basis but today is preliminary to our “General Chapter,” a meeting of hearts and minds that usually happens now every six years to examine our reality and to set a direction for the future. Our conversation started yesterday afternoon and will continue through tomorrow. With no words of my own this morning that might approximate the meaning of this event for me, I offer a line from the daily message of the Society of St. John the Evangelist.

Brother Curtis Almquist suggests: It’s not just Jesus who is a walking miracle; you also are a walking miracle. (ssje.org)

What would our lives – and the world – be like if we all believed that saying and lived out of it?

Breakfast on the Beach

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breakfast on the beach with Jesus, Easter, Jesus, John, Peter, simple joy of being, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we read my favorite post-Easter gospel (JN 21: 1-14).

Seven of the disciples are together and probably still asking one another, “What do we do now?” The three brilliant years are over and they probably don’t see any sense in going on without Jesus around. Reports differ about sightings of Him and nothing seems to be happening to prove anything miraculous, so Peter decides to do the only thing he knows how to do. “I’m going fishing,” he says. They all decide to go with him but even that doesn’t seem worthwhile as they fish all night without any success. It’s only when the dawn comes and Jesus gives them a new way to fish that everything changes. “Cast your nets over the right side of the boat and you will find something.”

(Have you ever been prompted to try a new way to do something and realize that in the willingness to do so you have success? It’s all about letting go of the habitual to find the prize sometimes, isn’t it?)

Peter, ever the impulsive one, jumps into the lake as soon as he hears that it is Jesus who gave the advice that caused the reversal. I love that. (Have you ever seen the commercials or news clips of a soldier surprising family members by returning home without their knowledge? Everyone is trying to “hug the stuffing out” of the returnee amidst tears and cries of joy and relief.) That’s Peter, of course. Everything changes for him in that moment.

And Jesus…what a tender soul! He does such a simple, elemental service for his friends. He cooks them breakfast. I think of all the “old days,” – Sunday mornings when I was working in a parish – when all the religious education classes were over. I would steal a little time to drive the 3 or 4 minutes to my friend’s house for a visit. She always acted as if I were a great dignitary (or even Jesus himself) with her joyful exclamations of welcome and her command to “Come and eat!”

Sometimes it’s not the monumental moments in life but rather the simple things that we do for each other that mean the most and stay in our memory. I would wager that until his dying day Peter could still see that fire on the beach and taste the fish that Jesus cooked for him that morning that made everything worthwhile again and gave him the confidence to say, “Yes, Lord. You know all things. You know that I love you.”

Deeper Knowing

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inner change, Jesus, John, Mary Magdalene, mission, recognize, renewal, resurrection, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love, universal love

During this Easter season the lectionary readings are worthy of some serious pondering. That’s no surprise, given the events of the past week recounted in Scripture. Today (JN 20:11-18) we read a good example in two ways of how the passage through death has changed not only Jesus himself but also his relationship with his beloved disciple.

First, on the day of Christ’s Resurrection, Mary Magdalene, the faithful and well-loved companion of Jesus, encounters him near the tomb and thinks he is the gardener! How could she not recognize him??? I’m always reminded with this story of the day I didn’t recognize a priest who used to come often and help me with high school retreats. He had been on a year’s sabbatical during which he had studied spirituality for a semester, done a 30-day Ignatian retreat, lost some weight, shaved the mustache without which I had never seen him, and in addition sported a new “buzz cut” on his head. As he processed down the church aisle at a celebration for one of our Sisters, I wondered who he was. It was not until he began to speak that I knew him. I heard his voice and was shocked immediately into recognition. And he was also different inside – a softer, more humble and gracious “self” that could be felt to those who really saw the result of his “renewal.”

Secondly today, when Mary moves toward Jesus because he speaks her name with a tenderness that only love can express, he stops her (“Do not cling to me…”) and gives her a missionary task (“Go to my brothers and tell them…”). Evidently Christ’s”resurrection body” is somehow different; his journey through death changed him in some significant way both physically and spiritually. Surrendering everything he was then ready to manifest his divinity to the one who loved him faithfully. The relationship was deeper than a physical connection.When Mary realized her new role of messenger/missionary to her companions and to the world, she understood that her surrender was just beginning. Living from the heart had become her mission.

We would do well to contemplate these passages, these calls to unconditional and universal love presented to us today. What inner change must accompany such a shift in our life?

Total Surrender

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Good Friday, heart, Jesus, lessons, let go, love, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

Today is called “Good Friday.” The veiled goodness of this day consists of our ability to tap into the lessons that we may perceive in silence and in our willingness to widen our heart space and unite ourselves to the heart of Jesus in his total surrender. Here is how Thomas Merton expressed it long ago:

Let go of all that seems to suggest getting somewhere, being someone, having a name and a voice, following a policy and directing people in “my” ways. What matters is to love. (Learning to Love, p.15)

It’s All About Love

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footsteps, Holy Thursday, Jesus, John, love, love one another, suffering, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, triduum

Today we move to the most sacred of ritual days in the Christian calendar. We call it the Triduum – Latin for three days: Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday in Protestant denominations), Good Friday and Holy Saturday – all leading up to the the great celebration of Easter, feast of Christ’s Resurrection. All of it portrays the events leading from the trial to the death and burial of Jesus so why do we call Friday “Good” when his suffering was so intense?

After reading the lectionary texts for today what remains in me is the refrain from a song based on chapter 13 of John’s gospel and the gospel acclamation from the same text. I think that, taken together, those two examples provide the best answer to the above question.

1. Do you know what I have done to you, you who call me your teacher and your Lord? If I have washed your feet so you must do as I have done for you. (Song of the Lord’s Command by David Haas)
2. I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you. (JN 13:34)

Let us consider the lengths to which Jesus went to show us the depth of his love. How far are we willing to follow in his footsteps?

Joining Forces

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bonding together, Holy Week, Jesus, light of the world, Palm Sunday, Passion, spiritual mystery, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is Passion/Palm Sunday, when across the world people turn inward to consider the events of this cataclysmic week in the life of Jesus. Before beginning to consider what to write this morning, I “surfed” a bit on the internet where everything called me to consciousness of the enormity of the weeklong event that is just beginning.

I have always had difficulty considering the swiftness of change in the events from the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to the crucifixion. Lately, however, with all the violence in the world that seems to erupt sometimes from nowhere, I have come to recognize the vagaries of human behavior and to accept that kind of bubbling up of change in emotional reaction in crowds. This year I have a sense of something shifting in myself and elsewhere in a different direction. The number of groups and organizations that are arising across the world for good purpose is increasing and the messages of such entities seem to be more and more similar, thus creating recognition, if not yet bonding together, for the benefit of the world both spiritually and materially (which at a certain level cannot remain separate).

For Christians it is the following of Jesus that moves us toward our neighbor in spreading light in the world. There is no better time to consider this truth and our part in it than this week. One of my stops this morning on the worldwide web was the site of The Episcopal Society of St. John the Evangelist where a quote from one of their recently deceased monks, Br. Eldridge Pendleton, captured my sense of what is afoot. He said the following:

Make no mistake about it. The events of Holy Week and Easter are not merely annual reenactments of the tragic events of the life of an important historical personage. This is spiritual mystery on its deepest and most cosmic scale.

May we all open ourselves to the power of this week and move toward oneness for redemption of the world.