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Tag Archives: perspective

Early and Late

13 Saturday Feb 2021

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Lent, perspective, psalm 90, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I started up the stairs with the intention of an early post this morning but – as often happens – many things intervened. I had, however, already read Psalm 90, the lectionary psalm for the day, so a melody was already on replay inside me as I walked. Whether good fortune or not I am often “gifted” with a song in my head for a day or more when that happens. Today was no different but today I know it to be good fortune, just the kind of reminder I need in the run-up to Lent. Here’s the refrain (even though it took me till 1:00PM to say it!). See if you can accept and affirm it perhaps as a mantra for the entire six weeks.

In every age, O God, You have been our refuge. In every age, O God, You have been our hope.

If said repeatedly each day when reviewing happenings, it might put a new spin on things, helping to find a new perspective sometimes, or a new level of trust in the events of the day. Even if none of that happens, you may grow more positive, knowing that God is present in every event of every day.

Perspective

07 Tuesday Jul 2020

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divisiveness, Maronite, perspective, pray, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Last evening as we watched one more Hallmark movie, I commented to Sister Elizabeth that the judgment two of the characters had made was such a clear example of their differing worldview. Each of them thought they were correct in their view, and could not see how the other could understand things in any other way. It was a great lesson in how several factors determine our perspectives on issues and behaviors and need always to be considered when challenged. Things like male/female, “class status,” country of origin (even ancestry), education and many more should never be discounted in serious conversation. We are facing that kind of issue of self-knowledge and acceptance now as we prepare for national elections. How wonderful it would be if we all really listened to what candidates are saying rather than just deciding by whether they are democrats, republicans or independents!

This morning I was reminded of all this as I read about the “Saint of the Day” in the Franciscan media website. I realized how provincial I am as I learned of Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and his companions. Emmanuel was a Franciscan friar of the Maronite rite, a missionary in Syria, who suffered martyrdom in the mid-nineteenth century for his faith. The last line of the reflection about this saint called readers to “pray for the Church in Syria.”

Likely because 217 of the 266 popes in our history have been from Italy, it’s easy to think “Holy Roman Catholic Church” without considering the 6 Popes who have come from Syria…or the others who are in the minority, including our present Pope Francis from Argentina (whose parents were, however, Italian immigrants which muddies the waters of my point a bit.)

Maybe today would be a good day to explore the Maronite Rite, a facet of my own religion with which I have only a passing acquaintance, to broaden my perspective in this season of divisiveness on so many fronts in our country. A tiny step, perhaps, but a start. Oh yes, and then to pray for the Church in Syria!

God and the Weatherman

09 Saturday May 2020

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affirmation, Brother Luke Ditewig, encouragement, perspective, psalm 98, resurrection, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It sounds today like the psalmist has no idea of what’s going on in our world! I would have expected a more dire offering in keeping with our situation. Here it is, though, Psalm 98, calling us to: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds. Of course that’s true but it certainly doesn’t feel like that today.

First of all it’s the 9th day of the most beautiful month of the year (May, of course!) and it’s 25 degrees F. outside. That’s seven degrees below freezing! The highest we’ll see today is 36 or 37 and that will be accompanied by more of the snow we got yesterday. God is certainly not related to the weatherman! There has to be some other perspective in the wind…for the world.

Actually, there was a clue from Brother Luke Ditewig at ssje.org to remind me that we are still in the Easter season. He said the following today: “Resurrection comes small, like seeds and leaven. One little word of encouragement, one affirmation, perhaps evoking one smile or laugh. One little gift can change us.”

I guess I can manage that today. Actually, I’m already smiling about God being related to the weatherman, who, if he’s anything like me, would much rather be called a meteorologist!

Real and Imperfect

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

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A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, Brian Johnson, divine nature, forgive, imperfection, perfect, perspective, real world, Richard Rohr, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

At this moment we’re closing in on what looks to me personally at some moments like an entire month of wasted time. I wake up each morning and gradually a plan for the day emerges in my mind. As I ready for sleep each night, looking back on the day, I ask myself what I have accomplished and can rarely come up with anything more than a zoom call or two in which I have participated. It’s hard not to be disappointed in myself.

This morning I had the good fortune to read two things that assuaged my conscience and shifted my perspective. Speaking of life and how we live it, Brian Johnson (optimize.me) quoted Richard Rohr – one of his new heroes. Father Richard says the following: “A ‘perfect’ person ends up being one who can consciously forgive and include imperfection rather than one who thinks he or she is totally above and beyond imperfection.” Great insight! My favorite line is elsewhere in the text, however, where he writes: “What a clever place for God to hide holiness.”

Alan Cohen, in his book, A Deep Breath of Life, was talking about “the real world” and our participation in it. Although he didn’t speak of perfection directly, he wrote a lovely paragraph that I saw as related. As he sees it: “The real world is a world of kindness, caring, vision, and service. All these qualities are attributes of our divine nature. As children of God, we can only be what God is, and that is everything that is good. We are born of light, and we return to the light. To live in light is to live in the real world.”

So here’s the message that has been renewed in my consciousness once again: Who we are is much more important than what we do. So regardless of how many or how few tasks are crossed off on my ever-present lists, I can be satisfied in this time-out-of-time to be living an imperfect real life!

Lighten Up!

09 Thursday May 2019

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destination, direction, lighten up, Meg Wheatley, perseverance, perspective, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today I have a list of tasks as long as my arm! It’s likely I won’t finish the day having crossed them all off my list but it always helps me to have everything laid out at the beginning so as not to forget something important. I smiled, though, as I read Meg Wheatley’s advice in her little book, Perseverance (p. 20) where she quotes publisher James Gimian who says, “If you can’t get destination, go for direction.”

Wheatley expands on that thought by suggesting a way to proceed. “We could lighten up,” she says. “We could go for direction, not destination. We could invite in what the world seems to want for us, what it is offering us right here, right now. We could enjoy what we’ll see and discover when we take off the blinders of non-negotiable destination.”

That sounds to me like the perfect way to shift our whole perspective on the day, wouldn’t you say?

My Choice

18 Saturday Aug 2018

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A Deep Breath of Life, abundance, Alan Cohen, create, happy, miserable, perspective, reality, seeing, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

abutterflyI was jarred into wakefulness this morning by a paragraph in Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life, that reminded me of something I believe about perspective. I trust that I have the power to choose the way I look at life. Here’s how Cohen described it.

If I want to be happy, that’s my choice. If others want to be miserable, that’s up to them. I do not have to justify, explain, rationalize, apologize, or compromise my choice for joy. I create my own reality, just as you do. The universe is big enough to have all kinds of reality happening simultaneously, and none of us needs agreement from anyone to verify the world we choose to live in.

That doesn’t change the feelings of distress that I wrote about yesterday. It is, rather, a choice to see everything from the perspective of abundance and be thankful for what I have in life of good things – like people to love and ground under my feet (be it muddy or green)…I will need to spend the rest of today conjuring up all those good things that seem so distant when the difficulties of life show up to bring me down. As I wrote that, the song from the movie, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, arose. That’s a good place to start because, as she sings, “I ain’t down yet!”

 

 

 

 

 

Coin Toss

01 Thursday Mar 2018

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opposing views, perspective, snowstorm, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, two sides, understand

asnowaccidentWe’re bracing for a storm here in the Northeast. It’s no surprise. In addition to the reports coming in from all across the country to our west, the traditionalists just say, “We always have one doozy of a storm in March – usually in the middle – before the surrender to spring.” I learned early in my life that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” It’s predicted that we will have 8 to 15 inches of snow, more than my town has had this whole winter season!

For me, as for school-age children, this prediction is like the promise of vacation even if just for a day. For some people who are “first responders” or health care workers or others whose work makes it necessary for them to be at their jobs, tomorrow might be dangerous and for homeless people, even more so. This thought reminds me that there are usually two sides to everything: coins, arguments, even world views – although that last is always much more complicated than the flip of a coin.

Today I will make it my practice to look for the other side of every argument, just to broaden my perspective on things. It will be difficult as I approach the big issues: immigration and gun control, for example. For those I will try at least to recognize the reasons others hold opposing views from mine. If all else fails, I will pray to understand the people holding those views. On second thought, maybe that’s the place to start in efforts at understanding rather than a place to end up. Wish me luck – or join me, if you dare!

 

 

 

 

 

Missing Don

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Caroline Myss, discipline, discussion, energy, energy of grace, Entering the Castle, group, interior life, lectio divina, perspective, St. Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom Practice Circle

adiscussionYesterday at the meeting of our “Wisdom Practice Circle” we were missing two of our members, one of whom was our “token male.” We never think of Don as “token” and spoke clearly at the end of our gathering about the fact that there was a slightly different feel in the energy of the group this time. Of course we also missed Estelle’s deep and meaningful reflections, as we do when any one of us is absent, but it was instructive to notice a subtle, unexpected shift that seemed due to Don’s absence, because his participation in the circle is always comfortable, seamless. As I think about that, however, I realize that his perspective on points of discussion is often dissimilar – one might say “fresh.” Perhaps therein lies the beauty of a complete circle that manifests both the similarity (peaceful presence, in this case) and difference (male perspective, for us yesterday) of human possibility.

Our lectio divina text at the meeting consisted of quotes from Entering the Castle by Caroline Myss, her book based on The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila. As I re-read those lines this morning, two jumped out at me, begging to be heard.

You must learn to love the discipline of the interior life and all that it requires of you…Now your role is to empower the life you have and the person you are with the energy of grace that listening to your soul gives you.

Perhaps the depth of meaning in the lines is reflective of what we were feeling  yesterday. Each of us comes to that circle desiring to deepen our lives and each offers our particular “energy of grace” that benefits the whole. I am again aware of how blessed I am to be in such a grace-filled company of individuals who come together to form a unity of purpose in the service of love.

 

 

 

 

 

Edge Walking

03 Tuesday Oct 2017

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anger, balance, comforted, despair, edge, enthusiasm, jeremiah, Las Vegas, life, Meg Wheatley, mourning, overwhelmed, perseverance, persevere, perspective, prayer, presence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tired, violence, weeping

atightropeOn days like today when we have been once again faced with senseless, unspeakable violence, this time on a scale not seen before in our history, it is difficult to even begin to speak of it. My first thought this morning was of a line from Scripture: A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. (JER 31:15) As we turn in prayer toward the people of Las Vegas – for that seems the only thing to do as the tally of dead and wounded continues to rise – we must lament, as individuals and as a nation. And in the face of the distress in this dawning day, I turn to Meg Wheatley for a way to persevere.

Presence, she writes, is the only way to walk the edge of chaos. We have to be as nimble and awake as a high-wire artist, sensitive to the slightest shift of wind, of circumstances, emotions. We may find this high-wire exhausting at first, but there comes a time when we rejoice in our skillfulness. We learn to know this edge, to keep our balance, and even dance a bit at incalculable heights.

Walking the edge never stops being dangerous. At any moment, when we’re tired, overwhelmed, fed-up, sick, we can forget where we are and get ourselves in trouble. We can lapse into despair or anger. Or we can get so caught up in our own enthusiasm and passion that we lose any sense of perspective or timing, alienate friends, and crash in an exhausted mess.

The edge is where life happens. But let’s notice where we are and not lose our balance. (Perseverance, p.131)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair

23 Wednesday Aug 2017

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envious, fair, generosity, generous, good, grace, Jesus, love, Matthew, perspective, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

apiesliceIt’s amazing what you can find when you start researching one little word like “fair.” We know it to be a noun and an adjective – with differing meanings, so it’s necessary to put it in context so that you know whether you’re talking about going to a carnival or watching the weather. I went to Merriam-Webster, the most trusted etymological source in my youth, just on a whim, and found 10 examples before I even moved to the nouns or added an “ly” to make it an adverb.

Why this interest? Well, I was just looking for a deeper understanding of why Jesus thought paying people for one hour of work when some others had worked all day was, in a word, fair. (MT 20:1-16) In the end, it really wasn’t a question of fairness at all. The key question of Jesus that put it all in perspective was: Are you envious because I am generous?

It is our small mind that keeps us trapped in the need for everything to be the same for everyone. Families go to court when they don’t see a “fair” distribution of their parent’s wealth – never mind the financial situations of the parties involved!. Children fight over who got the biggest piece of pie at dinner whether or not they can even manage to finish it because the meal was so big. “Fair’s fair,” we say, which – if we’re not careful – can morph into “All’s fair in love and war.”

I know that I’m most likely preaching to the choir here. The people who read these posts probably understand the generosity of God and are less attached to “things” and the examples I have given above. But even for those of us who profess to be “on our way to the kingdom” there is often that niggling little voice inside that catches us off-guard when we are not noticed for praise the way our brother is, or given the attention or recognition that our sister gets.

Today might be a day to look for instances of the generosity of God in our own life and the lives of others and give thanks for what we see, regardless of the beneficiary of this grace. May this practice lead us to the central truth of it all: that everything good and pure and generous and profitable springs from love and that letting go into love is the fairest of gifts we can know in this life.

 

 

 

 

 

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