Words Across the Centuries

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Daniel Ladinsky, light, love, Love Poems From God; Twelve Voices from the East and West, pray, quiet, soul, St. John of the Cross, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

On this feast of John of the Cross, great 16th century mystic and Doctor of the Church I offer two short poetic “words,” translated by Daniel Ladinsky in his book, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West. Savor them as you will…

“My soul is a candle that burned away the veil; only the glorious duties of light I now have.”

“You might quiet the whole world for a second if you pray. And if you love, if you really love, our guns will wilt.”

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Guadalupe

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asylum, Aztec, Blessed Mother, distress, Juan Diego, love, migrants, Our Lady of Guadalupe, poor, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This evening the Sophia Center for Spirituality is sponsoring a prayer service in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas. (see details at http://www.thesophiacenterforspirituality.org) In this endeavor we recognize the appearances of Mary to St. Juan Diego, a poor native of a small village near Mexico City in the 16th century. Disbelief of Juan’s experience by church officials to whom Juan was directed led to amazement when he opened his cape to reveal a gift from “the Lady” – an abundance of roses. In addition was the image of Mary imprinted on the cape which has endured intact since 1531 and has been venerated by millions of people. Mary had appeared as an Aztec woman as a reminder of the need to accept all people, especially at that time, the poor indigenous population being treated cruelly by the conquering Spaniards.

On this day we gather to pray for the native peoples of Central America who still suffer and are in danger in their own countries and so turn to the United States to find safety. As I write, there are thousands of migrants at our southern border who have walked hundreds of miles seeking asylum. While immigration is a complex issue for our country at this moment in time, this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us of God’s preferential option for the poor. Mary reached out to Juan Diego in a simple gesture of love. Must we not do the same for her children in distress? Won’t you join us today in prayer?

Language That Speaks

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crowds, emotions, God, guiding light, happiness, Isaiah, knowledge, language, love, perception, prayer, psalm 126, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice

For thousands of years people have been trying to say just the right things that will catch the imagination of those wanting to find the essence of life. That desire is the stuff of religions, communities, nations or at least small groups of people who hear what seems to make sense of things and thereby decide to follow the one who speaks that truth. In some cases it is the power of the voice or, in another, some inexplicable quality that emanates from within the person that causes others to sit up and take notice.

This morning I was awakened by the prophet Isaiah whom I could hear shouting: Up, Jerusalem! Stand upon the heights and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God! Not only hearing but seeing, in the distance of my mind’s eye, throngs of people streaming across a great space from all directions and climbing toward the sun-drenched plateau of a mountain. The home of God was certainly present and waiting for them.

Just writing that paragraph, seeing that image, reminds me that we sometimes need imagination as well as fact to come to deeper knowing. Even the words we choose to express our experiences to others are important. The psalm for today (126) is full of emotions: our mouths filled with laughter! great things! filled with joy! dreaming! I can just see the happiness of people released from exile dancing their way home together.

But here are the words that resonate deep within my heart today as essential to the good of all people everywhere. May they be a guiding light for all of us. This is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value…(PHIL 1:8)

The Blame Game

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Adam and Eve, blame, forbidden fruit, God, love, perfect, shame, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It takes courage sometimes to own up to our faults and failings and some of us have a more difficult time than others in doing so. “Why is that?” I asked myself this morning as I read the passage from Genesis 3 where God asks Adam and Eve who told them they were naked. If that wasn’t enough, God also admits to knowing they ate the forbidden fruit. “The woman made me do it,” Adam says. “The serpent made me to it,” Eve chimes in. It seems there’s always someone around – or some circumstance – that’s a logical place to put the blame. But why not just admit that we are not perfect?

Think about it. The God that created all the universes that ever were or will be deigned to create each one of us uniquely. Even our fingerprints are different from everyone else’s. There must be enough forgiveness in the world for each of us to receive what we need when we make mistakes or even do terrible things. (If you are reading this, you probably don’t belong in the “most wicked” category.) Why are we so afraid of imperfection? 

We have been taught to be ashamed of our bodies as well as of our bad habits. We didn’t come in that way. Think of the babies that you know or that you see on television commercials. They are delighted with everything. When does the blaming start? And why? God “knows the number of the stars and calls us each by name.” How can we doubt that kind of care? It seems today must be a day for a sign on our mirrors to read while brushing our teeth or our hair if we still have any. (Did you know that baldness is “in” these days?)

The sign should say “I am a marvelous creature of God” or “God loves me just as I am and so should you!” Or make up your own declaration – the bolder the better. Trust me; the world will benefit from our efforts and from any smiles that result from this practice.

Good Example

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charity, example, gentleness, intellectual freedom, Kathleen Degnan, kindness, love, New Seeds of Contemplation, positive, President George H.W. Bush, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

In the wake of all the events occasioned by the death of President George H.W. Bush, one would hope for the return of a kinder, gentler way of being for the United States of America. The example of this man regarding acceptance of others, positive thinking and charity in all things gave a good feeling to all who watched and listened to the many testimonials and interviews during the week. For me, it all mirrored what I read this morning from Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours edited by Kathleen Degnan, offered for the second hour of Friday. 

This is what it means to seek God perfectly, Merton writes. To cultivate an intellectual freedom from the images of created things in order to receive the secret contact of God in obscure love; to love all as myself; to rest in humility and to find peace in withdrawal from conflict and competition; to turn aside from controversy and put away heavy loads of judgment and censorship and criticism and the whole burden of opinions that I have no obligation to carry. 

And then to wait in peace and emptiness and oblivion of all things.                            (New Seeds of Contemplation, pp.44-46, excerpted)

Charity

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Advent, caritas, charity, Joyce Rupp, kindness, love, relief, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tolerance

Yesterday as December roared into being, I was without internet service. Today, I consider that fortuitous because the first Sunday of Advent seems an auspicious day to begin what I had suggested as a practice for the 13 coming months or even 13 weeks to Lent (See blog post “Postscript” – 11/24), considering one word for each. The first word on Joyce Rupp’s list is charity.

Charity is a word whose definition has morphed over time. In an internet search I was mildly surprised to find that the first definition was “an organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need.” Following that, in the manner of a thesaurus were the words aid, welfare, relief, handouts, largesse – and later -philanthropy, social conscience, benevolence, etc. A third definition included “kindness and tolerance in judging others.” It was only far down the page and with a heading of ARCHAIC that I found what I was looking for: love of humankind, typically in a Christian context. 

Coming from the Latin caritas, the word is grouped in theological parlance with faith and hope as one of the three basic theological virtues – those most foundational to relationship with God and others. Interesting to me was a small chart graph of the declining usage of the word charity from 1800 to the present. 

Perhaps in our practice for this week or month we should consider all these meanings. Ramping up our solicitousness for the poor and unfortunate might include going beyond writing a check (but still including such donations). We might choose to smile and/or greet people as we walk through a shopping mall or stand in the checkout line at the grocery store.  What about visiting someone in a hospital or nursing home or volunteering at an after-school event? 

At the top of that list and part of any choice is the way we offer our service. It is the pure openness of heart that accompanies our actions. Love for the sake of love and not for a return on our investment of time or money or ourselves is the best way to grow in charity in any form.

What will you do to deepen the charity of your being this month/week? 

What Is Spiritual?

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David Peters, God, intention, joy, love, prayer, spiritual, The 12 Steps to Joy and Happiness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I read a paragraph a few days ago that made me smile and deserved the post-it flag that I pasted to the page. It’s from the book that sets out The 12 Steps to Joy and Happiness, written (with enthusiasm and joy) by David Peters, longtime friend and board member of The Sophia Center for Spirituality. I want to share it here as something that seems self-evident but which takes constant attention to develop as a conscious attitude. Here is what Dave says.

What makes an event spiritual? It all lies in the intention that we have going into that event. Without that intention, no matter how the event appears on the outside, it is a waste of time. Appearing to be in prayer for the purpose of appearing to be in prayer is a negative. Intention is the key for something to be spiritual. A spiritual event is spiritual because a person intends it to be spiritual. The person has an intention to bring God to that event consciously so that joy and love are there. God is rarely mentioned in most of these events, but the essence of God – love – is present and flowing over all. Reading these thoughts can be a spiritual experience if that is your intention. (p. 53) 

I think Dave has captured an essential truth in the second to the last sentence. Isn’t it possible to intuit the presence of God in people whose way of living manifests God – even if the name of God is rarely mentioned? It is truly love that speaks louder than words.

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Inspiration

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Holy Spirit, inspiration, love, Mother Teresa, Second Vatican Council, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Agnes of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning I find myself considering the concept of inspiration, a word that, in itself, has a complex history and many different – if related – meanings. It comes from the Latin inspiratus, the past participle of a verb that means to breathe into. In a concrete way, it tells us how we get air into our lungs which is, of course, the basic necessity for living. I found what I was looking for, however, in the answer to an internet question that asked, “What does it mean when someone says, You are my inspiration?” Here is what it said.

The definition of inspiration is “the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions; a person, place, experience, etc. that makes someone want to do or create something.” (Merriam-Webster)

My religious congregation, The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, like many others around the world, have seen significant change over the years, the inspiration for which has been a mix of necessity and response to needs. The most significant impetus for the change in my lifetime was the dictum of the inspired Second Vatican Council (1962-65) which called us to go back to the spirit of our founders and bring that vision to expressions appropriate to the modern world. This effort has initiated monumental changes over the past 50 years and continues to enlighten us about the mission that we have been given. We are often reminded of the six women who sat in a kitchen in Lepuy, France in 1648 discussing the needs of their immediate world and then went out to divide their city in response to those needs. Now we are everywhere in the world, doing our best through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to do the same.

Today we celebrate Agnes of Assisi, the younger sister of Clare, who followed St. Francis in 1221 and gathered around herself women of like mind. I was amazed as I read the list of places to which Clare sent her sister Agnes (beginning at the age of 24!), cities throughout Italy and then Spain. And that was just the beginning. By the turn of the century (1300) the foundations had spread to France and then jumped the Channel to England and beyond.

We often characterize the Holy Spirit as a fire – a great passion of love that moves people to great things – or small things in a great way, as Mother Teresa of Calcutta characterized possibility for most of us. I wonder at the greatness of heart of young women like Clare and Agnes and those who caught the call of God beaming out from their lives and followed. Where does that fire exist today and how can we fan the flames? How can any group of us make it our task to create together and to inspire others in the name of love?

 

 

 

 

 

Once More With Feeling

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The Sophia Center for Spirituality, humility, love, love is the answer, judgment, perception, identification, reject, Brother Curtis Almquist

I feel as if I’m getting boring in this daily task, as everything seems to move toward the same message, no matter where I am or what the day portends. It’s as if everything is conspiring to have me see that in everything every day love is truly the answer. No matter how it is expressed, underneath every message is that truth. I found it this morning in a message from a website that shows up in my mail every day. On this day, when I will be in a day-long meeting with about a hundred Sisters of St. Joseph, I am happy to have it with me, just in case…

Humility: The discovery of the grace of humility is a movement toward a spirit of identification. It’s to presume, in some deep way, “I am this other person.” And rather than to use our judgment to reject or condemn, to use that perception of this other as an insightful invitation for mercy. Someone who has a way of getting under our skin in some significant way probably belongs there. (Brother Curtis Almquist)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Is (Still and Always) the Answer

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heart, love, love God, love your neighbor as yourself, Mark, mind, Moses, neighbor, soul, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

From the mouth of Moses to the gospel of Mark the Scriptures repeat the same message about how we are to live. We hear it today, not in a long diatribe but rather a brief directive about love. When asked what is the first and greatest commandment, we can all likely reply – at least with the short form of “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.” The deep impact of what that effort calls out from us, however, is in the almost staccato list of capacities that follows. We are to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. In other words: Give it all you’ve got!

What occurred to me as I typed those last two sentences was that if we are to give ourselves so completely in loving God, what can be left for our neighbor whom we are supposed to love as ourselves? But that, it seems, is the mystery, the wonderful truth of this life of loving. In the love of God, everything gets transformed so that there is always enough love to go around – for ourselves and the neighbors everywhere who have become our other selves. Love begets love wherever it is found. That’s just the way it is. And it’s up to us to prove it.