Bless You!

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ancestral clearing, Ancient Songs Sung Anew, barakah, blessing, creation, divine Source, God bless you, grace, Jewish, John Newton, Muslim, power, Psalm 103, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Psalm 103 calls for blessing not only for us but from us and from all of creation. We are to bless the Lord as the Lord blesses us. In addition, we ought to be sending out blessings to all people not just in God’s name but in our own. “God bless you” has been a familiar phrase throughout my life but what has sounded like shorthand for that (“Bless you!”) has recently gained new significance for me.

John Newton (www.healthbeyondbelief.com), on his webcasts for ancestral clearing, ends his conversations with people who call in by saying, “Bless you” and many respond, sometimes in addition to “Thank you, John,” with “Bless you!” I thought perhaps that John was just being sensitive to all the ways callers might name their “higher power” rather than God – as is clearly true in his conversations. This morning, however, in a commentary on Psalm 103, I was suddenly brought to a fuller awareness of the power of that phrase of blessing, as parents who bless their children as they send them off to school have known for generations. I’m grateful for that inspirational moment (a gift of Pentecost, perhaps?) and offer two paragraphs in hopes that some of you may share in my experience.*

The word barakah is Hebrew for blessing. It means something more in Hebrew than it does in English, a power and grace that flows from one being and place to another through the universe from its divine Source. Interestingly it flows both ways, from the divine Source to ourselves and from ourselves back to the Source. Apparently we are catalysts in the flow of blessing.

The subject of blessing is much neglected in  modern theological and spiritual thought. It does, however, continue to have a strong role in both contemporary Jewish and Muslim thinking. In both traditions blessing is a power that flows and is available to human beings. The source of this energy is transcendent and is not subject to the normal laws of cause and effect. It can flow backwards in time, for example, or appear instantly across great distances in time and space. It is as though the universe is a body with barakah (blessing) flowing through its veins. Envision this if you can, and open yourself to its flow. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.260)

*A visit to John Newton’s website may be in order for your further information and inspiration.

Bless you all today!

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping the Sabbath

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daily ritual, Exodus, Israel, keep holy the Sabbath day, Moses, Muslim, reconfigure a remembrance of God, Sabbath, spiritual practice, sundown, ten commandments, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I was in Israel last month it was impossible to be confused about which day was the Sabbath for the Jewish people. Shops were closed, the buses didn’t run (even for the tourists) and all “worldly activities” stopped in mid-afternoon on Friday so that people would have ample time to welcome  their day of rest at sundown. We were on our own until Saturday at sundown – and it became a good time to walk and reflect and perhaps attend Shabbat services. And if we were paying attention during our stay, we would often hear the Muslim call to prayer – a blast that went out all over the city to remind people to “hasten to prayer.” Five times a day (dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall – about two hours after sunset) the call goes out and people turn to remember God and right action.

Today’s lectionary reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (EX 20:1-17) lists the Ten Commandments given to Moses. The first three, which speak of our relationship to God, are more detailed than the rest where we find ways of relating to one another in the world. As I read the third, I was reminded of my youth when it seemed there was more congruence of American culture and consciousness of God.

Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,  your God. No work may be done by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you…

I can already hear the objections (which I myself have often raised): that people have to work and now stores and other places of business are open 24/7 so it’s impossible to designate a day…We are a true melting pot (or a stew) in this country now so a common Sabbath isn’t feasible…Sunday is the only day I can get the laundry and food shopping done…and it’s all true. The question is a challenge to the creativity of each of us. In the face of all the obstacles, how might I reconfigure a remembrance of God that is more than a one-hour, once-a-week exercise? It might be a daily ritual – or several times a day. It might be a weekly fast day, or a day of compassion each week, or, after practices have become ingrained enough, it may be that we are always celebrating Sabbath because we are always, day and night, turning inward and resting in the presence of God.

Identity Clues

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Bible, chant, divine, energy, Jesus, Kinneret, Lake Tiberias, Mark, Mediterranean, Muslim, recognized, Sea of Galilee, sheikha, Sufi, the Lake of Genneseret, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Zikr

I am always fascinated by what I learn each day from reading the Bible selections. Some simple realizations belie the fact that I ever heard the word geography in elementary school! It struck me this morning as I was picturing the gospel scene (MK 6:53-56) – again about Jesus and the disciples in a boat crossing the sea – that all seas are not created equal. Since the Sea of Galilee, variously known as Kinneret, the Lake of Genneseret and Lake Tiberias, has a total area of 64 square miles (166 sq km) it would indeed be possible for people to follow “to the other side” – unlike the journey if they were traveling the land around the Mediterranean Sea, for example.  (I might as well laugh at myself; humility is good for the soul.)

The other sentence that gave me pause today came next. “As they were leaving the boat,” the writer reports, ” people immediately recognized him.” If they had never before encountered Jesus, I wonder what it was that separated him out from the others in the boat. Had they heard physical descriptions that set him apart? Was he dressed differently? (Not likely) Did he let the disciples moor the boat while he sat and waited? (I doubt that too.)

I remember an evening at a retreat near New York City that included a Zikr – a Sufi prayer of remembrance where participants chant the names and attributes of God. Since part of the prayer of the week was Christian chanting, this was an opportunity to expand our experience of other similar forms of prayer. It was a wonderful opportunity for me and others to recognize how beautifully devotion to God can be expressed in different forms. The evening was led by a sheikha. This leader of the Muslim prayer circle was a surprise; I didn’t know women were allowed this title in the Sufi world. There was no question of her identity, however, when she arrived with her entourage. Her brilliant energy filled the room with light and joy and welcome to her world. Her close connection to the Divine was evident in every word she spoke, in how she treated her disciples and her kind instruction to those of us who were “first-timers” to this experience. It was a memorable evening and she was the most memorable part of it. No wonder people wanted to be close to her.

I think I understand from experiences like this why the crowds “scurried around” gathering their sick, bringing them to Jesus on that day. Just “touching the tassels of his robe” was enough. I hope I would have been one of those to recognize him then, even as I strive every day to recognize him now…