A Late Surprise

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emotions, faith, gift, gratitude, joy, loss, marriage, risk, seniors, thankful, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning, a cautionary tale. The lesson: stay always in the present moment. It is all that we ever can depend on.

This morning I will attend a memorial Mass for a man I did not know. He was 80 years old and came into my consciousness when a woman I have been acquainted with for many years, a widow important to our local church community, re-connected with him. They had known each other in their youth – dated even, I believe, – and found very quickly this time that they were so happy together that there was no reason not to commit to each other in marriage. And so they did – about 18 months ago. She said she had never been happier and it clearly showed on her smiling face. Some time in the latter part of 2017, they were told he had cancer.

I don’t know what these last months have been like for her. I can only speculate on the mix of emotions that have played in her every day. Some people would most likely be raging against a God who was seen as a cruel trickster. Others would, no doubt, be thankful for the unexpected and glorious gift of joy shared so late in life. My sense of this faithful, prayerful woman is that gratitude will win out even as the sadness of loss becomes a frequent companion.

I can imagine what our conversation might be about today if we are lucky enough to share a moment before the ritual. I expect that her faith will be evident as always, her gratitude for the family that has pledged to remain present to her will be expressed and that she will have a treasure chest of memories to carry with her into the future. Most of all, I expect that she will be glad for having taken a risk for such a gift from a God whose ways may not be our ways but who sometimes offers amazing opportunities to those awake enough to say “YES!”

 

 

 

 

 

Love Incarnate

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all in, Angelic Mistakes: the Art of Thomas Merton, celebration, Christ, commentary, drawing, emptying Himself, God, happiness, Incarnation, life, marriage, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

One of the books on the “Merton shelf” of the bookcase that is directly to the left of my bedroom rocker is entitled Angelic Mistakes: the Art of Thomas Merton. The book really needs a deeper shelf to house it as it sticks out beyond its neighbors, begging to be noticed. It has a double value because it offers not only a large selection of what Merton himself called a collection of shapes, powers, flying beasts, cave animals, bloodstains, angelic mistakes, etc., that can perhaps have some visual effect on the local bisons…but also significant commentary and quotes to accompany each of the drawings. I have flagged some of those pages of quotes that are significant to me and was drawn again this morning to one of them that included the following:

In emptying Himself to come into the world, God has not simply kept in reserve, in a safe place, His reality and manifested a kind of shadow or symbol of Himself. He has emptied  Himself and is all in Christ…Christ is not simply the tip of the little finger of the Godhead, moving in the world, easily withdrawn, never threatened, never really risking anything. God has acted and given Himself totally, without division, in the Incarnation. He has become not only one of us but even our very selves.

Last night I had the privilege of gathering with 11 women, all of whom had worked together for all or part of the past 15 years. (I left my position but not my connection six years ago.) We have worked, prayed and played together and watched our lives and the lives of our families unfold together as women are in the habit of doing, more or less, in such a situation. Last night we were celebrating one of us, soon to be married, in a joyous, playful extravaganza of good food, good gifts and deep, deep happiness. I was reminded of the above quote as I reflected this morning on our party. There have been tragedies and illnesses and great sorrow in the lives of all of us over the years – some very recent and raw – but nothing was able to dampen the spirit of love for our sister, Theresa, and one another that was palpable throughout the evening. We were “all in” – God incarnate – as one single manifestation of divine love. Even in writing that last sentence I feel the shocking nature of it. How bold it is! How dangerous to talk like that…and yet I have come to understand, through such experiences as this, the possibility of total letting go of personal interest in the draw of love’s selflessness. There was nothing of ego in the room last night; we were all engaged in the purpose for which we were gathered and moved as a unit to make it happen. It was a glorious dance and will stand for me as a  touchstone of God’s love incarnate for a long time to come. And, as an old “folk Mass” song says, “And all we have to offer You is thanks. All we have to offer You is thanks.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul’s Advice

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a shadow of reality, advantages, balance, Corinthians, distress, earthly concerns, marriage, satisfaction, singleness, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world

Today’s first reading (1 COR 7:25-31) can be difficult if we forget to contextualize it. In St. Paul’s era, when he says: So this is what I think because of the present distress, historians and exegetes tell us that he was talking about famine. That could certainly be the opening line in a text for today because of all the starving people in our world, but then Paul launches into a series of advisory comments on states of life (marriage vs. singleness) that can cause a measure of distress for some of us. He wraps his statements in a final assertion that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he [she] is. For the world in its present form is passing away. Again, I think his intuition of things could be applied to today when we look at the state of the world and the news of every day but I wanted something that would help me to be a little more comfortable with his words.

I found some assistance in a commentary from Bible.org where the author (who was not named) spoke first about always wanting in his youth to be a professional basketball player, thinking he would grow taller as he aged, but he never did. He also thought it would be good to be married but that never happened either. He commented on the advantages he had because of his single state in life. He then contextualizes Paul’s statements. He says that this world is passing away comes from a Greek expression meaning: this world is but a shadow of reality and speaks to each of the verses regarding marriage, afflictions, pleasure, etc. and says, in  summary, about “all earthly concerns” (7:31a): Use the world, enjoy the world, work in the world, buy and sell in the world, but do not let the world rule your life. …Enjoy your life, live it to the fullest, take advantage of every moment, but don’t indulge yourself so much that you lose your focus on what really matters.

May we all find balance and satisfaction in where we are and who we are in this world and look forward to what might be waiting for us in the next.