Priceless Purchase

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miracle of God's creation, nature, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wonders of God

When I was a young high school teacher who played my guitar for liturgical celebrations as part of the music group, there was a simple song with a catchy tune that was a favorite. Amazingly, I found it on the internet this morning. (Miriam Therese Winter and the Medical Mission Sisters) It still speaks to me because I now live on land that I would not trade for anything. Each tree is beautiful in its own way, the grass is lush and green, flowers grow – sometimes in unexpected places – and sunrise and sunset are worth waiting for every day. There is a peace that is palpable here.

Why would I choose just part of God’s glory? How could I prioritize the wonders of God? I still remember knowing the sense of spaciousness I felt when singing that simple song and knowing that I wanted it all. I still want it all – as much of God as I can hold inside me…growing to a point in time where I fling away all else and buy the whole field!

A Prayer on the Day of Battle

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climate change, consciousness, nature, saving the planet, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There have been reports of tornadoes in the Southeastern states overnight and even in Buffalo, NY—near the Great Lakes—the danger is real from wind and rain. Psalm 18 cries out: It is you I call, my God, in this dark hour…The roaring waves of death surrounded me, destroying floods overwhelmed my soul. In trouble and in fear I call out to you.

This is a very long psalm (51 verses) and intertwines our inner struggles with the elements of nature. “I love you, O God, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer!” The clouds are racing across the sky outside and the sun plays hide-and-seek with the blaring wind: in and out, in and out. It mimics the fear that makes us hide in cellars or in our bathtubs when the wind comes up in gusts (up to 60 mph today). The trees have now joined the fray shaking their heads as if saying “No, no…calm down! You need to pay attention to the storms inside you.” I stop to get in touch with that warning.

Last week I watched a podcast with Al Gore and John Kerry discussing climate issues. I was amazed at their vast knowledge and understanding of the issues and embarrassed at my ignorance of the same. I wonder if we are past the point of saving the world as I remember the commercial from years ago with a picture of a Native American warrior standing on the bank of a polluted stream. On his cheek was a single tear. I don’t even remember the words on the screen but I will never forget that face.

All these disparate images call me to consciousness and to a self-inquiry…I purport to love nature in all her beauty and wildness and to desire her safety from destruction, but right now I am asking myself (as the trees outside still shake their heads at me): What exactly are you willing to do—really—to assist in saving the planet? Can you honestly say, “I love you, O God, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer?”

In and Out

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beauty, breathe, nature, Sabbath, silence, stillness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There are so many people and organizations giving advice daily on television, podcasts and all manner of “advice columns.” I sometimes feel a need to add my voice from my tiny corner of the world but often lately I sense more of a need to just sit quietly and let the silence speak. Nature seems complicit in this feeling this morning and gives me a nudge saying, “Yes, that’s it. Any thoughts you have are unnecessary today. Just listen. That’s what “sabbath” is all about.”

I can be confident in that feeling because here’s what has happened in less than the last hour. Knowing that I had a late start to the morning because of a late start to sleeping last night, I got my coffee and began my sojourn through my regular prompts—Scripture, USCCB notations, Franciscan media, the SSJE Brothers… and had trouble accessing the above mentioned pages or staying on the page when it finally showed up. As I surfed I realized it was getting darker outside and I still had nothing to offer. Suddenly there was a great, yet silent, cloudburst washing the trees with no wind, just a steady, torrential downpour that gave way to a sparkling sunshine and birdsong within minutes of the rain’s conclusion.

Why would I think I need to add to that happening? The silence fills the world with Sabbath beauty and stillness is God’s gift to my soul. May you be similarly blessed with the simple necessity of breathing into the day: in and out…in and out…no distress…only breath…in and out…in and out.

Nature’s Blessings

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blessings, compassion, gratitude, John Philip Newell, nature, Praying With the Earth, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

About 20 minutes ago I watched the sun peek out from behind the mountain at the back of our property. I was surprised that it showed at all since it was about 8:00am already. It didn’t seem convinced about showing a lot of energy, however. I hope I’m wrong because we need a sunny day. We need to remember the blessings that come to us through the light of the sun – and even the moon on a clear night. They are reminders of our own ability to shine, especially when everything seems so dark around us.

Here’s a short prayer from John Philip Newell that might help us to find some gratitude inside ourselves for what may seem muted right now. We need to remember:

The blessings of sun, the blessings of moon, the blessings of east and of west to guide us on the way…to lighten our eyes, to strengthen our will and our loving. The blessings of earth, the blessings of air, the blessings of fire and water to fill us with heaven, to free us with mercy, to stir us with flames of compassion. (Praying with the Earth: A Prayerbook for Peace, p. 36)

The Saint of Ecology

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ecology, faith, hope, love, nature, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today there will be celebrations and prayer services throughout the world commemorating the life and death of one of the most beloved saints in the history of Christianity: Francis of Assisi. The website franciscanmedia.org has much to say about Francis but for those who seek brevity, there is a summary statement on their calendar at the beginning of the biography which gives a taste of the most important information, including the most recent title under which Francis is known.

Saint Francis of Assisi: founder of the Franciscan family, Patron Saint of Ecology, inspiration to thousands, claimed by people of all faiths as well as those with no particular faith, a truly “catholic and apostolic man.” Though born in the 13th century, he belongs to all ages.

I think of Francis walking the Italian countryside, addressing all of nature as Sister and Brother, talking to the beasts and birds and listening to God’s messages everywhere. Today we are in the company of Brothers Wind and Air, and “fair and stormy all weather’s moods.” Tonight I will hope for a sighting of Sister Moon and the stars, who “in the heavens You have made them bright, precious and fair.”

Francis is a good model of how to live – amazed at everything – but also how to die, offering himself and all his suffering to the God in whom he placed all his faith, hope and (boundless) love. As I wrote that last sentence, Brother Sun made a momentary appearance, bathing the autumn countryside with golden light before receding into the cloudy sky. Just like Francis. Praised be…

Shedding

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branch, connection, John, lesson, nature, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vine

I”ve spent some time yesterday and the day before picking up branches under one of our large maple trees. I hope that today I will complete the task and be able to rake and then cut the grass under that tree. We’ve had an inordinate amount of shedding going on this spring, mostly because of the heavy winds of the past few months. Some of the branches could be mistaken for trees themselves because they are so very large. As I drag them to a pile on the edge of our property, I sometimes wonder what made them separate from the tree as many of them seem strong and not at all diseased. People would say that it’s just the way of things in nature: they live, are nourished by their root system and then they die – either from a weather event or just old age.

Clearing the branches makes me more aware of the gifts of the trees to our ecosystem and to me. Beauty, shade and release of necessary gasses as they breathe are notable reasons to be grateful, as is the shelter they provide for the birds. Interestingly, today the gospel is the familiar “vine and branches” reading from John that speaks to us of our connection to one another and to God. And that is perhaps the greatest lesson of all.

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.

Merton’s View

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creation, hope, nature, praise, spring, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours

Up early, I am sitting in the quiet darkness. Feeling the need for someone else’s words to get me going into this day I turn to Thomas Merton, whom I have not visited lately. I can feel him sitting on the porch of his small hermitage taking in the very early morning and putting pen to paper with these words.

I am under the sky. The birds are all silent. But the frogs have begun singing their pleasure in all the waters and in the warm, green places where the sunshine is. wonderful. Praise Christ, all you living creatures. For Him you and I were created. With every breath we love Him. My psalms fulfill your dim, unconscious song, O brothers in this wood. (A Book of Hours, p. 93)

It must have been summer or later morning when he wrote those words as we have a long way to go until the sun appears today, but the hope of the meteorologists and their listeners is exactly that for a second day in a row. That would be enough, I think, to convince us that spring is truly not far off and the “warm, green places” will soon grace us once again.

Feed the Birds

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abundance, caring, generosity, God, Matthew, nature, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I smile as I read the gospel this morning (MT 6:24-34) about how God cares for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air – and, of course, us. I’m thinking two thoughts in relation to the encouragement of that passage as God has a team of helpers at our house.

1.  Sister Elizabeth loves to watch the birds so we have feeders out – one for those eating “regular” food, one suet cake cage for the woodpeckers whose beaks must be made of iron and one summer addition filled with a sweet concoction for the hummingbirds who are only here for a few months in the summer. This year we have a new phenomenon with that last delight. What is meant to feed only the hummingbirds (who are an amazement to watch) has been discovered by almost all the birds – first the glorious Baltimore orioles, then the wrens and now even the small woodpeckers who may have eaten elsewhere and just come for dessert! How like me they are, preferring a sweet dessert to any other food they can find. Sugar water would certainly be preferable to plain old seeds for me if I were a bird. And since that feeder is attached to the glass door outside the kitchen, there are new diners to enjoy at all hours of the day. We can only wish that a few of them were window washers as well since some are very messy consumers!
2. Sister Paula loves creatures of all kinds and delights in watching them frolic or just pass through our yard each day which some do several times in 24 hours, knowing there will always be food from her hands. I am often surprised that some of them can still walk since they are not blessed with the sense of knowing when enough is enough for a meal.

How can I not smile as I see this reflection of God’s abundance and generosity played out daily right here in my own home?

 

 

 

 

 

To Each Our Own

Tags

Black Friday, choice, freedom, homage, humanity, nature, Peace, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday afternoon the sun was so inviting that I decided to go for a walk. I was pleasantly surprised at the mildness of the breeze but still grateful for the layers of clothing I had decided to wear. There were no cars at the golf course next to our land and the path onto the 10th hole – close to the road – called me to abandon the street and walk the quieter path down to the river. The grass had been well tended so that it looked like a gigantic blanket of still vibrant green decorated only with numerous pine cones dropped in areas inhabited by the gigantic evergreen trees. I walked along the river and it seemed the river was keeping in step with me; we were definitely going in the same direction. The silence was profound and calming. I stopped often on my way back along the winding paths meant for the golf carts to listen to the silence and pay homage to the towering trees…

My foray into nature only lasted about 25 minutes but the peace that enveloped me there remained. The gift of the experience far outweighed for me anything I could have garnered from a “traditional” Black Friday at the mall. As I write that, I know that the small prepositional phrase “for me” is essential. Each person is different and I have no right nor desire to judge the value of any experience for another person. For some, the mall offers a yearly opportunity with friends or a special family member to leave the crowd at home watching football and enter a whole other universe of “shop till you drop” humanity. I’m just glad we have the freedom to choose the experience that best fits us and I am so content with my choice!