Resentment

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bitterness, love, prayer, resentment, sanctifying, St. John the Evangelist, the beloved of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I read this daily word from the Episcopal Society of St. John the Evangelist this morning and thought it a worthy reminder for anyone trying to live a good life. See if you agree.

If you are not in a place to approach another person as beloved of God, you may want to take time to pray for them. Prayer is a sanctifying act. God will burn off the dross of bitterness and resentment and help us to love our brother and sister. (Br. Jim Woodrum)

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Advice from Mother Earth

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courage, lament, love, Mother Earth, Peace, preparedness, sorrow, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unexpected

All the news over the past few days has been about mass shootings. As a nation, we still expect peace and are surprised by the ever more frequent attacks on groups of innocent victims. Each day it becomes more difficult to trust in a day ahead that will be peaceful. And yet…and yet we do. I am sitting here running through a list in my mind of the tasks to be done, determined not to forget anything that can’t wait another day. I do that without even a thought that violence could interrupt the flow of my day.

Where is the balance between trusting in life and preparedness for the unexpected? And how does one prepare for what is unknown? How would I react to a violent attack? There is good evidence, if one can believe the interviews with people who have just experienced such a situation, that courage mixes with fear in moments like that and usually triumphs. People help each other, care for the wounded, mourn those lost and are forever changed as part of a collective sorrow.

Yesterday we had three storms: torrential rain, thunder and lightning, wild wind. It was as if the earth were lamenting with us, for us, and cleansing the atmosphere for a new day. “We are all one,” Mother Earth seems to say. “Lament is necessary to our survival, but so is courage. Band together to help each other when the courage is demanded. Love each other at all times and you will be prepared for anything. Be at peace. In your hearts and in your homes, always be at peace!”

Spiritual Gifts

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courage, grace, love, path of life, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

As I was reading just now about “the art of discernment” and the place of silence in that practice, I was treated to one of those brief prayers that asks God for some of the greatest qualities that we could desire. What I like in the prayer is the specificity of action that accompanies each gift so that we can focus on the “how” of developing it. See if that makes sense to you as it does to me.

Grant me, dear God, the grace and the courage to be still and know that you are God, the wisdom to allow my soul to wait for you in silence, and the love to choose a path of life. Amen.

The Greatest Challenge

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enemies, forgive, Jesus, kindness, light-beings, love, Matthew, praye, random acts of kindness, Sermon on the Mount, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

People thought Jesus was crazy – or maybe they hadn’t really heard him correctly the day he preached that “Sermon on the Mount” (MT 5-7). He was certainly a charismatic preacher who drew people in easily by his powerful words and the way he treated people. On this day, however, he crossed into the territory of the outrageous with a challenge to his listeners.

“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. (Okay so far) But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” That’s just ridiculous. How can you call someone your enemy if you love them and pray for them? Impossible, right?

That was obviously the point but we still don’t understand the depth of meaning in his words. We say things like: “Well, I can love her but I don’t have to like her.” That’s rather absurd, don’t you think? But how could Jesus be (still) asking us to love everyone? What about the tyrants, murderers and other individuals who perpetrate the horrific crimes that make the news every day? How is it possible to love them?

I admit that this is one gospel passage whose essence still escapes my embrace but I do believe that when we achieve that ability to forgive and truly understand the breadth of God’s love, the world will truly be saved. I need to trust that such a possibility exists and that I can be part of the realization. The only way forward as I see it, however, is consistent prayer and imaging of ourselves as light-beings, bringing God’s love to the world. Unless we believe that, it will never happen. And if we continue to say we believe it without the sustained practice that will effect a change, nothing will be achieved.

Start small with acts of kindness and prayer for someone in your life whom you avoid as often as possible. One by one, accept those “enemies” and then move on to the bigger challenges on the world stage. It’s the only way for all of us – starting now!

The Speed of Life

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accept, apostles, Henry Van Dyke, living in love, love, surrender to life, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time, time is eternity

I’m sitting this morning in a place of contradiction: considering the assumed slowness of time for the apostles who are waiting for “they know not what” (see yesterday’s post) and wondering how we could possibly be in the month of June this quickly. Time becomes a concept much less comprehensible than it used to be (dare I say “when I was young?”). There’s nothing I can do but watch it pass and surrender to life – whether or not I finish a day with everything crossed off my list.

As I sit in this situation and evaluate my willingness to accept it and move forward, a long-ago quote floats through my mind. Since I can remember only snippets of it, I resort to “my new best-friend,” the internet, and find even more than I expected.

Henry Van Dyke wrote: Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.

My satisfaction with finding this quote is in the wonderful last clause that I don’t think I ever heard! Wonderful because it erases any frustration or concern about conquering time in the aforementioned surrender to life. Living in love is a noble goal and a great work in this moment in our beautiful but violent world. If we can add our quotient of love to the energy of the planet, we have a better chance of seeing it – and us – survive. And isn’t that reason enough to try?

June

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All Encompassing HEart, harmony, healing, Joyce Rupp, kindness, lightheartedness, love, openess, Prayer Seeds, slowing down, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding

Today we begin a new month, a time – at least in the northern hemisphere – when people look to slowing down and taking more time to notice the natural world. As days are longer in June and life seems lighter, there is usually some evidence of a shift in our spirits as well. More smiles, a bounce sometimes in our step, deeper breaths and willingness to help with tasks can all accompany the arrival of summer weather.

For those of us who are slow (or at least a little slower than most) to give in to this shift toward lightheartedness, Joyce Rupp offers a prayer that we might use as a morning ritual to get us up to speed. See what you think.

All Encompassing Heart, where there is impatience, let me bring kindness. Where there is strife, let me bring harmony. Where there is hurt, let me bring healing. Where there is rigidity, let me bring openness. Where there is judgment, let me bring understanding.

O Wide and Spacious Love, turn me toward your unconditional acceptance. I seek to be a vessel of your great love. Let me carry your love into all parts of my life and pour it forth willingly and generously. (Prayer Seeds, p. 150)

Suscipe

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grace, gratitude, life, liverty, love, memory, nature, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Suscipe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transformation, understanding, will

The transformation happening in nature in this most lovely of months (in my opinion at least, for those who reside in the Northeast of the USA) is so visible we cannot ignore its manifestation. Would that the inner transition of our hearts matched that of the natural world. I think we would do well to listen to the silent call of the flowering trees, the energetic growth of the grasses, the music of the running streams…new – or renewed – life everywhere!

As I wrote the above paragraph the morning sun came softly forward from the misty sky and begged attention at my window. My response to all that calls me this morning is a favorite prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola (in Latin, Suscipe) in gratitude for all that is given.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, O Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.

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?

Consider This

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Dorothy Day, humility, Joan Chittister, judge, love, Luke, Pharisee, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here’s a thought for the day that I think follows from yesterday’s word of humility (Ego sum pauper) as well as the gospel for today about the Pharisee and the tax collector (LK 18:9-14). Joan Chittister says, The harshness with which we judge the other will some day be the measure by which we ourselves are judged. “I really only love God,” Dorothy Day writes, “as much as I love the person I love the least.”

We Are All One: Reflections on Unity, Community and Commitment to Each Other, p.62