Monday, Monday…

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Acts of the Apostles, grief, loss, love, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here we are in the second week of Easter, moving on (some of us) as if all had been resolved and we have come back to normalcy (as if we could even define what that means.) Christ is alive. We have assurance of that and of what it means from the Acts of the Apostles. (As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness…” Acts 4:30-31) But are we ready to get back to the place we left over a year ago when everything abruptly shut down and a new reality was presented to us? Is it even possible to do that?

In the midst of that musing, I opened Meg Wheatley’s little book, Perseverance, and found the exact word that we need to consider, I think, at this juncture. See if you don’t agree. The word was Grief and the reflection said the following:

If we are able to give ourselves to the loss, to move toward it—rather than recoil in an effort to escape, deny, distract, or obscure—our wounded hearts become full, and out of that fullness we will do things differently, and we will do different things. Our loss, our wound, is precious to us because it can wake us up to love, and to loving action. (Norman Fischer, Zen teacher)

Another Day

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keep going, Meg Wheatley, patience, perseverance, St. Jude, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. Jude, the Apostle. He has been designated “the saint of desperate or hopeless cases.” I don’t think much about that but I suppose that has something to do with my trust that God is in charge, rather than I, myself. I read something today that made me consider an option to hopelessness – something that keeps me going, I mean. It’s patience. And that’s a growing thing. It seems to be a close relative of perfection; we don’t come into the world with it. Rather, we need to grow into it. Here’s what Meg Wheatley says about patience.

It’s not that we start out patient. We don’t persevere because we are patient people. We become patient people because we have to. There is no choice — the work is endless. Everyday we have to make a choice. Will we give up or will we keep going? When day after day we are willing to keep going we discover, quite to our amazement, that we have become patient. And then we just continue on. Day after day. (Perseverance, p.141)

Think about it. We’re still here, aren’t we? So let’s hear it for another day!

Out of Control

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consciousness, control, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The beautiful trees outside my bedroom window have lost all their leaves now. After the wind of the past few days and the rain all night that will be with us all day, they could not hold on. It is the way of things. We are moving into a new season and have no say in how it will affect us. It is out of our control.

It feels that way with most things now and Meg Wheatley reminds me today of our options on a day like this. It is clearly not within our power to change much of what goes on around us so we ought to take her advice today. She says this:

There is only one thing we can control in life — our own self. We can control our thoughts, our emotions, our responses. We can observe our behaviors and reactions and realize we made a choice. Therefore, we could choose a different response. If we have ourselves under control. (Perseverance, p.107)

That’s a wake up call for me if ever there was one! A good thing to remember and a place to put consciousness on a grey, rainy Saturday. How’s the weather in your corner of the world?

History Chooses You

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faith, history chooses you, John Lewis, Meg Wheatley, Pema Chodron, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Sometimes in the very early morning, when there is no light yet outside and I have either no thoughts or too many to know what to say, I come across the briefest of familiar statements that causes everything to coalesce. As I opened to the Book of Job today for the first lectionary reading, I had an image of Rep. John Lewis walking over the Edmund Pettus Bridge toward certain danger on “Bloody Sunday.” (I was remembering the documentary movie from last night about John Lewis, about race in America, about voting and “Good Trouble.”) I had just read a quote by Pema Chodron that said, “How did I get so lucky to have my heart awakened to others and their suffering?” in a short reflection entitled “History Chooses You.” (Meg Wheatley, Perseverance, p.19) In my mind’s eye, I could see 15-year-old John Lewis preaching to the chickens he was feeding as part of his morning chores…You see how a morning like this can speed up…

Slowly the message was taking shape. The faith of Job that he could not lay aside, no matter the tribulation that befell him, the courage of John Lewis and all the great people who “could not not do” the actions that changed the laws, and are still overcoming racial injustice in our country, were sustained by the inner light that told them, “History chooses you.” Faith in God, the solidarity of like-minded companions, the conviction of the need for change become so strong that the call cannot be ignored. God is always there, “making a way where there is no way.”

Is it our moment now to stand up and do what is necessary, trusting in ourselves and in the God who loves and leads us through it all? We may not be called to great things but in the spirit of Mother Theresa of Calcutta we ought to be at least equal to the task of doing “small things with great love.” for the life of the world. Are you ready to see, feel, know that light in you?

Vigilance

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Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vigilance, wake up

Here’s a word for today from the Dhammapada, the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. I found it while reading Meg Wheatley’s thoughtful book, Perseverance. I was drawn to the page by its title: “Vigilance,” a noun that is defined as the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. Synonyms include: watchfulness, attentiveness, alertness, care, caution, circumspection, prudence, heedfulness, mindfulness…

The advice from this Buddhist scripture cautions us: Do not follow low practices. Do not live carelessly. Do not hold wrong views. Do not prolong the suffering in the world. Whoever moves from carelessness to vigilance lights up the world like the moon that emerges from a cloud. (p. 133)

Worthwhile thoughts for the present life we are living…So let’s WAKE UP!

Choice

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choice, freedom, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

At this time when there is such a clear sense of dichotomy in our country and in the run-up to our national elections (only 70 days away), we need some voices of wisdom to get us on the road of reason. Meg Wheatley has one question at the end of her brief essay on “Choice” that we ought to consider – maybe today – instead of wringing our hands and hoping for a good outcome. Listen:

Why, in this world of infinite freedom and choice, would we lock ourselves into one petty story, no matter how much time, attention and creativity we’ve spent on composing it? (Perseverance, p.103)

Bearing Witness

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bearing witness, Bernie Glassman, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, right and wrong, state of being, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here is what seems to me a fair description of where/how we are living right now, where the whole world population is sitting, and I wonder if we might see our situation as Bernie Glassman, a Zen teacher, does.

This abiding place, this state of being, of not knowing, is a very difficult place to be. It’s the place where we don’t know what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s real, what’s not real. It’s the place of just being, of life itself, [the place of] no separation between subject and object, no space between I and thou, you and me, up and down, right and wrong. I call such practice bearing witness. (quoted in Perseverance, p. 98, by Margaret Wheatley)

Acceptance and Giving Up

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acceptance, coronavirus, giving up, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Once again yesterday afternoon I found myself in a conversation about upcoming plans that may or may not come to fruition. Events of greater or lesser import are being cancelled daily. Event calendars seem to be useless sometimes unless accompanied by a pencil with a good eraser. Disappointment is becoming a more frequent fact of life. Weddings and workshops, retreats and long-awaited voyages are put on hold and depend on the spread of “the virus” (no need to name it) that is so much a part of our lives, even while being invisible. We do well to consider how all of this is affecting us.

One of my “go to” sources for help is Meg Wheatley whose little book called Perseverance always provides useful perspectives. Here is—in part—what I read this morning.

Giving up is a moment either of acceptance or resignation, two very different states. Resignation has a beaten up, victim quality to it. We worked hard and we lost. We’ve been defeated.. Now it’s time to retreat, to move on, to put this experience behind us as quickly as possible.

Acceptance is radically different—we’re in touch with reality, we’ve learned that we’re not the savior of the situation, and we might feel humbled, but not beaten. We have a richer picture of what’s going on and, after a little rest, we’ll reenter the fray. (p. 97)

Although this reflection is a bit tangential to the point, the main words work for me as I think about life. While facing a pandemic is not something we just “put behind us as quickly as possible,” our prior plans in such a situation can be dealt with in that way. Learning to let go is, for me, a life-long practice. I still struggle sometimes with giving up possessions that “I might need someday” or recognizing that a trip to connect with someone in Australia “just might not be in the cards.” The value comes, as usual, in my motivation and willingness to respond to “what is.”

So today I will try to slip both acceptance and giving up in my pocket to take with me as I travel the uncharted road of pandemic-land.

Essential Questions

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enduring, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, predicament, social consciousness, survive, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It’s 7:11 in the morning – a lucky moment, (high spiritual numbers) if you’re interested in numerology. I just looked at the clock because it seems to be getting darker by the moment outside. After almost a week of glorious weather, punctuated with occasional freshening showers, we are bracing today for serious storms, which will surely darken the mood of most of us.

Things look bleak in the news as well. It could seem to New Yorkers that all our obedient behaviors have been for naught as we hear of soaring death counts in states where it seems that people define “liberty” as synonymous with “do whatever you find convenient” or “hang up your mask and have a party.” It’s true that the huge gatherings of protesters have awakened social consciousness in many but it seems also that the behavioral divide widens as the crisis soars again.

Ironic is the page in Meg Wheatley’s little book, Perseverance, published ten years ago, that states, “We have never been here before in terms of the global nature of our predicament.” As I move down the page, I find that each paragraph is descriptive of the level of upheaval that we are experiencing now. Different circumstances, different level of our own engagement, perhaps, but definitely in the same ballpark of experience. In the end, Wheatley asks three questions that I will leave you to ponder today.

If you reflect on your own life experience, what else have you endured? You’re still here—how did you stay here?

How have you come through rough times before?

What from your own personal history gives you now the capacity to get through this time?

Love Expands Us

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generosity, jealousy, love, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Because I lingered in the kitchen with my coffee this morning, it’s already 9:30 and the day is in full swing. Lots of activities await. How to go about everything is the question. I will likely need to make a list! On days like this I just try to breathe—especially if everyone else is about their own tasks and seeming focused. It is a luxury to sit looking out my window at a gloriously fresh morning, hearing the birds all across the expanse of our property and beyond. They are perhaps the busiest of all, if not the loudest!

Needing help, I turn to Meg Wheatley and am stopped on the quote that introduces a page entitled “Jealousy.” Scientist Humberto Maturana says:

Love is the only emotion that expands intelligence.

I was about to leave it at that and let you fend for yourself but then I thought about our weekend and the wonderful experience of our leadership selections. The generosity of the Sisters who offered themselves to us in service for the next five years was extraordinary. Most universal and important in their presentations were their expressions of love for our Congregation. It gave me pause to consider Meg Wheatley’s reflection on jealousy and generosity that expanded on the Maturana quote.

She says: When something good happens to someone else – another organization wins a grant, a friend gets a promotion, someone else gets the opportunity we wanted – we can activate either emotion. We can question whether there’s enough to go around. We can wonder whose need is greater, or just assume that we needed it more. We can be happy for their good fortune, or bemoan the loss of ours.

As closely as jealousy and generosity are, they create very different consequences. If jealousy dominates, we turn inward, shrivel our hearts, and lose strength. If generosity grows, we grow also. Our world expands. We realize there’s enough to go around. We realize we don’t need everything we thought we did. The world in general feels more reliable, more trustworthy, more enjoyable.

The world expands from the inside out – it’s our hearts that have enlarged. We not only feel more loving, we’re also more open and aware. We see more, we take in more, we let in more.

Jealousy is such a waste of a good human heart. (Perseverance, p. 74-5)

So on we go, Sisters of St, Joseph, founded to be “the Congregation of the Great Love of God.”