Tending the Fire

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dance, enlighten, flame, Joyce Rupp, love, opportunities, Pentecost, Prayer Seeds, share, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center

Today we will have a meeting of the Sophia Center Advisory Board. It will be our semi-annual look back on where we have been since autumn to see how we think we’ve served the purpose for which we exist. It comes at the precise moment of gearing up for our new season at home – the Spiritual Center where I live – where we offer mostly weekend events during the six months of summer into fall. It’s a fortuitous dance of “changing partners” as the year unfolds. The purpose is the same: to afford opportunities for people who come to us seeking to touch more deeply into the spirit that keeps them on the path of their highest good with companions that share the journey with them.

It seems significant to me that this transition is coinciding this year with the feast of Pentecost. As we prepare at home for a sort of new beginning this weekend, an outpouring of what is always an exciting manifestation of Spirit, I will sit this afternoon in the small band who will share what we have known in similar, if not matching, Spirit-led experiences over the past several months at the Sophia Center.

Joyce Rupp has a prayer that reminds me of the need to remain constant in the desire to serve for the good of the world – even as our small corner of it has an effect on the whole. Pray it with me if you will for renewal of heart and hope.

Flame of Love, Enkindler of Hearts, enlighten my mind to recognize where my love has grown dim. Spark renewed desire in my heart to give myself ever more completely to your service. Beam your grace through my being so I respond freely. May the fruits of your love be harvested through me. I will share them generously. Amen. (Prayer Seeds, p.174)

 

 

 

 

 

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Yielding

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centering prayer, Finding the On-Ramp to You Spiritual Life, Jan Phillips, journey, opportunities, resistance, spiritual path, spiritual practices, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, yield

In looking ahead to possibilities for the autumn “semester” at the Sophia Center, I began re-reading Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Life, a little book by Jan Phillips. The impetus came from two different conversations – one with Jan and another with a member of my Spiritual Practices Circle who is considering reading the book with a group in her Church. It’s a catchy title and the idea of using traffic signs as chapter titles was, it seems to me, quite an inspired idea. It’s part of Jan’s genius, I think, to see deep meaning in the connections that exist everywhere and use everyday experiences to mine deep truth. Think about all you could say about “STOP” or “DIVIDED HIGHWAY” or even “FALLING ROCKS AHEAD.” (Actually, that’s not a bad idea. What would you say about each of those things vis-à-vis your life?)

Last night I read the chapter entitled YIELD, which is a familiar concept to someone who learns the daily letting go in the practice of centering prayer. Here’s how Jan began that reflection.

The word yield has a variety of meanings. On the road, it means to surrender, to give way. In nature, it means to engender, to bear fruit. On the spiritual path, one leads to the other. Once we give up our notion of how life “should be,” we free ourselves to experience the lives that we do have.

Simple, right? But not easy, of course. Give it some time today as you drive or shop or interact with others…See how yielding is a better choice than resistance and bow to the opportunities that so often just show up to help us along on our journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greatly Blessed

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Assumption, Elizabeth, gratefulness, Luke, Mary, mindfulness, Mother of Jesus, opportunities, presence, sacred space, The Magnificat, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the traditional feast for Christians of the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, into heaven where she reigns as Queen. As I have grown in years and in my knowledge of Scripture, I often think that Mary might be uncomfortable with that title. While it is true that Luke’s gospel for this morning quotes Mary proclaiming, in what has come to be known as The Magnificat, “From this day, all generations shall call me blessed,” she clearly gives the glory to God for every honor that has come to her. (“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked upon my lowliness…”) It is also true that the setting for this speech of Mary is the home of her kinswoman, Elizabeth, to whom she has fled upon learning that both of them are pregnant – Mary the teenager and Elizabeth the older woman, past the normal age for bearing children. It is only Elizabeth (no great crowd) that hears the words from Mary’s mouth about the favor of God. (LK 1:36-52) I love to think of them in Elizabeth’s kitchen, perhaps preparing a meal, sharing their fears and misgivings over their unexpected physical state but grateful for the presence of one another as trusted companions. It must have been a great comfort for both, but maybe especially for Mary as her situation was even more weighty than that of Elizabeth.

Presence in time of need is a precious gift, one of which I was quite mindful this week as I shared the family waiting room at the hospital where my sister had a hip replacement on Thursday. It was a quiet place, a kind of “sacred space,” but one where the entire room breathed deeply and gratefully each time a doctor appeared to share good news. It also extended beyond the hospital as other relatives and friends who had pledged prayer were waiting as well. I had a long list of texts to write in the end, many of which received immediate responses to my “great success” messages at the good news.

Today I hope to be mindful of the importance of the many opportunities to be present to the people I encounter, with the purpose of helping them to recognize the importance of who they are and what their presence can mean to stranger, friend or family for this woman who is feeling greatly blessed.

Joining the Dance

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helping people, John, let go, let God lead, loaves and fishes, love, Matthew, miracle, opportunities, problem solving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I’ve said, there are very simple and direct statements in the letters of John, as today he says: Beloved, love one another because love is of God. (1Jn 4:7). A few verses later, it goes on to say more about this love. In this is love: not that we have loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son…

The gospel for today is a familiar one, Matthew’s recounting of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. It seems to me a perfect illustration of the first reading since when the disciples recognize the late hour they go to Jesus with their concern and the need of the people to eat. When he says “Give them something to eat yourselves,” they protest, seeing the impossibility of finding enough food for everyone. So Jesus takes the situation in hand, asking about the possible (“How much food do we have to work with?”) and providing from a ridiculously small amount enough for everyone. What I recognize today is the beautiful interplay between God’s love in the person of Jesus whose ability to solve the situation is never in question and the disciples who, although they recognize the difficulty, are at a loss to solve it but (in spite of themselves) continue to be participants in the solution to the end when Jesus gives them the food to distribute and then the charge to gather up what’s left. All he does (it appears) is bless the food, ask questions and give directives.

How might we stay awake today for the opportunities of such a dance with God in helping the people who come our way? It seems the way to proceed is to let God lead and let go of the necessity of knowing all the steps when we enter the dance.