Think On These Things

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daily practice, gracious, honorable, just, life, mindfulness, Philippians, pure, qualities, spiritual growth, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true, wisdom

I’m interested this morning in the lectionary text of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians (4:6-9) as he is ready to conclude his message to them. He exhorts them to keep in mind certain qualities that will help them remain steady on the path of spiritual growth. He calls them to what is true, honorable, just, pure and gracious. I think that is a noble bundle of traits for the spiritual person. Living from that list, I can see myself acting in ways that will assure deeper wisdom and the peace that Paul promises them today.

So what will be required to develop those qualities for consistency in practice? Just that: practice! And in addition, I will need to stay awake when I begin to fall away from truth-saying or graciousness, etc. so that I can call myself back to mindfulness without delay. A big order. A plan for life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Day

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Adam, connectedness, creation, Genesis, God, human, Joan Chittister, just, Labor Day, labor movement, meaningful work, minimum wage, privilege, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, work, worker

I often think that “Labor Day” must be a confusing holiday for people who are not native to our country or anywhere else that it is celebrated at some point in the year. Some of us have taken to calling it “Non-labor Day” since it is, after all, a day when everyone but essential workers stay home or go on picnics or celebrate in other such ways a “day off” from work.

In the United States, Labor Day is always the first Monday in September. It is, the internet says, a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. It became a federal holiday in 1894.

The ideal of “a good day’s work for a good day’s pay” has become rather skewed in many quarters in our country as we see inequity in many places where CEOs of big companies are paid exorbitant salaries while people like health aides are paid little more than minimum wage for their caring service to the sick and elderly members of our society. We need to work continually for just wages in every sphere and celebrate new initiatives where we see young executives sharing their wealth with their employees and many of the richest people establishing foundations with specific projects that seek the betterment of our world.

I took a look at Joan Chittister’s chapter entitled “Work: Participation in Creation” in her book, Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, just to get another, maybe more spiritual, perspective on the topic. Here are some tidbits that might be helpful as we attempt to balance our view on things.

Work in the monastic tradition is not something to be avoided. Work is not a punishment or a penance. Work is a privilege.

In monastic spirituality…work is not a private enterprise. Work is not to enable me to get ahead; the purpose of work is to enable me to get more human and to make my world more just. (I like that one!)

Genesis is very clear on the subject. “Then God took Adam,” Scripture says, “and put him in the garden to cultivate and care for it.” (GEN. 2:15). Adam was put in the garden to till it and to keep it, not to contemplate it; not to live off of it; not to lounge. Even in an ideal world, it seems, God expected us to participate in the co-creation of the world.

So here’s to those who provide meaningful work and good environments for their workers! Here’s to those who give of themselves for the good of society and their own growth and well-being! And here’s to those whose work is for justice for all, especially the under-served among us. May we all come to understand the connectedness that we share in the building up of the world, God’s sacred creation.

 

 

 

 

 

The Power of Prayer

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bad, difficult to love, enemy, good, just, love, love thy neighbor, sensitive, strife, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unjust

Perhaps I am more sensitive these days because of all the strife in my own country and the world, but it seems that Jesus is repeatedly pushing his point about how we are to love. Today, again from the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, I can practically hear the urgency in his voice when he tells us that we are called not just to love those who are easy to love but also those we would name “enemy.” He leaves no space for misinterpretation of the message. God, he says, “makes the sun rise on the bad and the good and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” Then come his questions:

If you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?…If you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that??

In trying to get a handle on just how serious a challenge this is, I create examples of people I might cross the street to avoid. One might be a man dressed in black pants and a muscle shirt who is covered with tattoos and chains for jewelry, smelling of alcohol and/or cigarettes. I ask myself how I would greet this man. Not knowing anything about him, I would probably jump to the conclusion that he is a gang member and just that designation has taught me to fear him. Then there are those I don’t need to create because I hear about them and their actions on the news at night. Just hearing the name Bashar al-Assad is for me what we used to call a “near occasion of sin.”

So is there a way to “love” those “neighbors?” I can think of two possibilities. The first answer for me is always prayer; I could pray for them. (Noting that I say “I could pray” points out to me that I have not – thus far – taken Jesus seriously on this point.) Then I would have to get serious about how to pray for them. What would I ask for? Their conversion, perhaps? Or my conversion toward them, seeing them as human beings, deserving of my consideration?

As a start, though, perhaps I ought to pray for those people in my daily life who are difficult to love, and treat them as the beloved of God. By practicing on those cases, maybe it would become more possible to approach “my enemy.” Maybe the guy with the chains is part of a very charitable Harley Davidson group – a fact I wouldn’t know unless I approached and greeted him and got him talking…On the other hand, I will likely never meet the world leaders that I find most difficult so everything in that realm is just theory. But there is still my prayer…Do I really believe in the efficacy of it? Might I (at least) be changed by consistent and sincere practice? I will never know, I guess, until I try.

 

 

 

 

 

Dead or Alive?

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All Souls Day, communion of saints, just, Peace, souls, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday I wrote about saints as my Church celebrated all those designated by that title because of recognition of their holy lives. My suggestion was the same as St. Paul’s: that there have been throughout history and are now many more people who deserve the title than those who are listed on our liturgical calendar. It has always been a comfort to me that we follow yesterday with today’s feast of “All Souls,” celebrating (although not always without sadness) and praying for those of our loved ones and all others who have died. There will be services in Christian communities throughout the world today, often in the evening, where names of the deceased will be read and candles will be lit in remembrance. The light generated by the candles reminds us that the light of the person named is still with us and all of the lights taken together brighten the universe in what we call the “communion of saints.”

Later today I will make final preparations to travel tomorrow to Atlanta, Georgia to join my relatives gathered from near and far to release my cousin, Paul, totally into God’s light. This is a hard letting go – too much of a surprise and too soon for us – but our being together and the love shared among us will be our strength. I have assisted at innumerable funeral services in my life and have heard the first reading from today’s liturgy probably more than any other. Somehow, though, today it has touched me more gently and kindly than ever before. Perhaps Paul has opened a new cell in my heart for this news. Whatever the reason, I offer it today as a way to pray for our “dearly departed” who are alive now in God as never before.

The souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace…(WIS 3: 1-3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have Mercy On Me, O God!

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acceptance, acknowledgment, contrition, David and Bathsheba, evil, forgiveness, grace, guilt, just, personal sin, Pope Francis, psalm 51, recognition, relationship with God, repentance, Samuel, sinfulness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Year of Mercy

Yesterday I was having a conversation about sin – not sins but sin, as in “the sin of the world” or “social sin.” It’s much easier to look at it that way, not so difficult then to exclude myself from the topic rather than talking about my personal sin and guilt. Today, however, I could not avoid such a “close encounter” in the face of the story about David and Bathsheba. (2 SM 11:1-17) David’s actions of adultery and the subsequent plotting the death of Uriah when his attempts to hide Bathsheba’s pregnancy from her husband had failed sound like a modern movie plot! This from God’s chosen one, the king of Israel, the one whose reign was to last forever through his descendants!

Most of us know our own sinfulness and try to hide our shadow side from others for fear that we would be abandoned if anyone “really knew me.” David’s story gives us opportunity for a different way to proceed. It comes in a series of steps: recognition, acknowledgment, contrition, repentance, forgiveness and finally acceptance – all of which come in his relationship with God. His waking up to the seriousness of his sin came at the death of the child born of his liaison with Bathsheba but that recognition was so deeply felt not only by the loss but also because of his great love for God and the knowledge that he had severely damaged that covenant. Thus, his sorrow matched his guilt as he sang, “I have done such evil in your sight that you are just in your sentence…Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; the bones you have crushed shall rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt!” (PS 51) It is because of the depth of relationship that David could come to trust God’s forgiveness. Still cognizant of the enormity of what he had done, David was then able to accept himself and let go of his guilt to live into God’s welcoming embrace. I am confident that we are called to the same willingness in the face of our sin.

Serendipitously as I was pondering all this, my eye fell on a quote that seems apt for both this reflection and this “Year of Mercy.” Pope Francis writes that the Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person. Having received the grace and ability to acknowledge our own sins, may we be moved to extend such mercy to our companions and, yes, to our broken world.

Perspective

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abundance, clear, consciousness, just, perception, perfect, precept, psalm 19, right, the law of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true, trustworthy, understanding, unity, Wisdom School

In reading this morning’s psalm response from the lectionary (PS 19:8-11) I was taken by the refrain (The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.) Even more interesting, I thought, were the descriptive words in the whole text – adjectives to describe the law of God (perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, true and just) and even more, in the last verse, the analogies. (They are more precious than gold, than a heap of precious gold; sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb.) I started thinking that the psalmist’s attitude toward law was very mature and developed and wondered which laws, exactly, he was discussing. Then I played with the word precept which would have been an interesting interpolation if I had inverted the r and the first e. I would then be on my way to speaking of perception which I think has a lot to do with our attitudes as well…

Trusting that God’s laws exist for our good and flow from love, I can see why the psalmist described them that way. Would that all earthly laws would show us the same face. Still, I think there is a message here, on this day when I am halfway through a “Wisdom School” event where we are attempting to go to a deep place in consciousness in order to see from a stance of unity and abundance rather than duality and scarcity. Perhaps I might do well to reflect on some precept that I find distasteful or annoying and see if I can, by going to the root purpose of it, have a better and more appreciative understanding and acceptance. While probably not a life-changing process for any major laws of the land, this exercise might prove a worthy practice for seeing things more often in a positive light.