Transfiguration

Tags

communion, Elijah, James, Jesus, John, light, Mark, Moses, Peter, spiritual practice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center, transfiguration

At the retreat center where I am privileged to live, we are in the midst of our “high season.” Every weekend we welcome people of diverse beliefs and religious traditions who come seeking to deepen the spiritual content of their lives. Thus, the simple but appropriate name of this place: The Spiritual Center. It is not only those who come as participants to the programs we offer who are changed in some way or newly committed to spiritual practice. The presenters and we ourselves know the value of what is transacted here, most often in the brief space of a weekend.

The lectionary readings for today remind me of this power of the Spirit as we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus into a being of light, an event witnessed by his closest apostles, Peter, James and John. It was not unusual for Jesus to seek the companionship of these three when he desired some restful prayer time away from the crowds. One wonders, however, whether he was aware of what was about to happen to him on that mountain (see MK 9:2-10). His spiritual power had likely been growing as his ministry broadened in response to the increasingly large and needy crowds seeking solace and healing from him. His need for communion with God must have been growing apace. Thus was the event observed (with fear and trembling) by his disciples as Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in conversation and the voice of God was heard instructing them to listen to Jesus, the Beloved One.

Peter’s witness to this extraordinary event (2 PT 1:16-19) calls all hearers to pay attention, not only to what happened to them that day but also to what is possible for those willing to listen deeply to this “all together reliable” message.

You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

May it be so with us.

 

 

 

 

 

A Dwelling Place

Tags

Ancient Songs Sung Anew, dwelling place, God, Holy One, invitation, meditate, Peter, prayer, psalm, temple, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The first lectionary text this morning (1PT 1:10-16) ended with a call to be holy with the simple statement “Be holy for I, the Lord, am holy.” Succinctly put, right? Then, in a commentary on today’s psalm I read a paragraph that seemed to follow and enhance the message of Peter, drawing us into a possible way of entering more deeply into relationship with this “Holy One.” See what you think.

Perhaps one of the things that we learn…is that human beings need to offer an invitation to God and interior space for God to be. Have you ever sensed that you could offer a place inside of your being as a dwelling place for the divine, or that your whole being could be God’s “temple” as it is often put in the tradition?…In a time of prayer, meditate upon this possibility and what it means for you. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p.248)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health from the Inside

Tags

Book of Acts, healings, intuitives, miracles, modalities, openness, Peter, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, visions

The Book of Acts that follows the four gospels is full of miraculous stories – of visions and healings that sound impossible to us who live in a world where concrete evidence and witnesses must accompany everything. This morning’s lesson from Acts concerns Peter’s vision of all kinds of animals that God was commanding Peter to slaughter and eat. Peter demurred saying he would not do so because “nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” (ACTS 11:1-18) The response came quickly that “what God has made clean, you are not to call profane.” Following that directive cost Peter a lot because it contradicted Jewish law, but his steadfast obedience was essential to the growth of Christianity.

We live in a time when inspiration is calling from many quarters for us to go deeper than logic to find answers to great questions. We are being asked (rather like Peter) to broaden our capacity for what we have eschewed in the past on religious or cultural grounds. Just as Peter was directed to go beyond a religious law that separated Jew from Gentile, so too are we coming to understand that the embrace of people of other faiths does not weaken our own beliefs but strengthens them and allows acceptance of persons in the process. Furthermore a renewed openness to alternative healing methods rather than what we call “traditional” modalities in health care has opened up the possibility of a more holistic view of life. While we marvel at the advances in science – miraculous in themselves, to be sure – we can benefit from the benefits of energy work and complementary therapies for wellness that can co-exist with our visits to the doctor. Moreover, a consciousness of medical intuitives and other spiritual practitioners can teach us that it is not enough to be aware of bodily concerns. We need to heed the totality of body, mind and spirit in our quest for wellness and trust our capacity for participation in our own healing process. All this leads me to question myself:

How willing am I to be healthy? When will I get serious about maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regime? How willing am I to listen to those who offer new ideas about modalities that can help me to live fully in body, mind and spirit? Do I accept and welcome everyone I meet? How do my attitudes play into my personal health plan?

Big questions…and extraordinary possibility ahead if I am willing to attend to the answers.

 

 

 

 

 

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Tags

betrayal, denial, Holy Week, Jerusalem, Jesus, Judas, Palm Sunday, Peter, renewal, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There is so much to read today in the lectionary texts, so many scenarios and complicating emotions! It’s only Sunday and we have the whole Holy Week to deal with, yet the entire drama is placed before us today, perhaps so that we are able to hold it all as the week goes on  – even while knowing already both the tragic and the glorious pieces of the outcome.

I always try to be in the moment as we travel through the days of Holy Week but no matter how deeply we place ourselves in the scenes as they are recounted – the joyful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to the acclaim of the crowd, the poignant last supper with his closest disciples and then the emotional flip to the denial of Jesus by Peter and betrayal by Judas, the trial, crucifixion and burial – it is impossible for us to feel the total impact of it all. We know the end of the story even as it begins.

Perhaps the best we can do is reflect on experiences in our lives that are analogous to, although maybe not as stark as, what we are facing this week. Consider the celebrative meals – anniversaries or holidays, perhaps – that you have shared with loved ones, especially if someone is moving away or in danger of death. Reflect on a low moment when you could have spoken up with a truth that would not be popular yet you remained silent or went along with the crowd. Remember recent stories of gun violence when innocent people were killed for no reason. If you are able, take the feelings from these scenarios (or others) and the seek out Jesus for a quiet moment of conversation about what he is experiencing on each of these days.

There is great opportunity for deepening spiritually during this week. May we all come to Easter renewed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sacred Scripture

Tags

action, divine inspiration, Elijah, facts, faith, James, Jesus, John, listening, love, Mark, Moses, Peter, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transfiguration, trust, truth

Sometimes the strangest thoughts bubble up when I’m reading the Scriptures for the day. This year we’re reading Mark and today’s section is the familiar story of the Transfiguration (9:2-10). None of the gospels provides all the details for any story but Mark is especially brief – the first written and shortest gospel. In some cases it’s like reading shorthand. Over the years I’ve become brave enough to try filling in some of the blanks in the stories. I doubt it can hurt; it’s not dogmatic teaching but just  conjecture for my own deeper understanding. I think of it as a kind of similar activity to that of movie makers who try to give us pictures to accompany the most visual texts – not always successfully, I might add.

Just now as I was reading about the transformation of Jesus into a being of light in the presence of his associates, Peter, James and John, it was the appearance of Elijah and Moses conversing with Jesus that led to my musing. In seeing that vision, Peter blurts out to Jesus the famous lines, ” Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” My immediate – unbidden – reaction was: How did he know who they were? It’s doubtful there were photos in their homes…Then I laughed at myself and went back to imaging the event.

A couple of reflections remain from that experience.

1. Regardless of the vast resources of biblical scholarship available to us today, there are still things we may never be sure of but these are generally questions like mine today – details rather than central points of the stories.
2. The importance of what we read is the truth rather than the facts that we find there. Sometimes the two coincide but not always. We need to be aware of literary forms and the purposes of their use. (Consider the stories of Adam and Eve or Jonah, for example.)
3. Reading the Bible is an exercise of trust in divine inspiration, not only as it was present to those who first told of God’s actions but also those who heard, those who sat in community and “edited” by common consent and then those who left us the texts that have been passed down.
4. We ourselves have the responsibility of faith that God is still speaking and that we have a part to play in our own communities by delving deeper into the words we read, the images that arise in us during the sacred times of listening together and the inspiration of the Spirit among us that can lead us to deeper truth, deeper action and deeper love in community.

 

 

 

 

Getting Attention

Tags

Elijah, God, incredible, Jesus, Kings, Matthew, ordinary, Peter, recognize, storm, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, walk on water

How does God get your attention? How do you pray for God to attend to you? When God shows up, do you recognize and accept how God comes? Today’s lectionary readings hold examples of two such situations for our consideration.

In the first, we have the story of Elijah the prophet on the mountain of Horeb who was instructed by God to leave the cave where he had found shelter in order to encounter “the Lord who will be passing by.” All sorts of wild signs arose: heavy wind, earthquake, fire…extraordinary conditions that might suggest such an extraordinary vision – but no, the Lord was in none of those signs. Thank goodness Elijah was astute enough to recognize the Lord “in a tiny whispering sound” or he would have missed God’s visitation. (1 KGS 19: 9-13) So God might show up anywhere, any time and we need to be ready for the unexpected.

In the gospel, there is also an unexpected event – a storm on the sea – when Jesus is off on a mountain by himself and the disciples are in a boat with waves crashing mightily against it, suggesting it might sink. This time, God sends Jesus walking toward them and they don’t recognize him because he is – like in the Book of Kings – coming in a way that seems impossible. He’s walking on the water. Peter, the impetuous one, challenges the vision that they think is a ghost by saying, “If it’s you, tell me to come to you across the water.” When Jesus says, “Come,” Peter jumps in and does fine until he remembers that he is doing something impossible so he starts to sink. Jesus saves him, of course. (MT 14: 22-33)

So whether God shows up in the ordinary, or in some totally incredible circumstance, we need to be ready and open to accept and respond to what comes to us, even if it calls us to trust what seems impossible, in order to have an experience that is beyond anything we have ever known.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfiguration

Tags

high mountain, James, Jesus, John, lamp, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Peter, pray, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transfiguration, vision

One of the extraordinary events in the life of Jesus, chronicled in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), is known as the Transfiguration. That word when broken apart speaks to a process of changing form, which is what happened to Jesus and was witnessed by the apostles Peter, James and John one day on a high mountain where they had gone to pray. It is a familiar story. For those interested in detail, it is a great chance to question and muse about the what and why of the incident as each of the three versions in the gospels has small, distinctive differences, none of which changes the substance of the event.

I’m one of those people who likes to pay attention to the small things in order to get a feel for the underlying sense of emotions and reactions to what was happening. Today’s recounting is from MT 17:1-9 where the first thing that grabbed me was the place where they went to pray. The text says they went “up to a high mountain” and I began to ask myself: Why a high mountain? Is it symbolic of Jesus, the “high priest” – or more simply was it just a place where they wouldn’t be bothered by crowds? Then more deeply: Did Jesus know what was going to happen there on that day? Was that the only time he experienced a visitation from Moses and Elijah or others of his ancestors in such a visual way?

Then there are the three companions, not just observers but participants in the vision. I find it fascinating that in Matthew’s version, Peter (true to his usual manner of reactivity) seems not to be afraid at all in seeing Jesus transformed into a being of light, his clothes dazzling white, standing talking to two men who have been long dead! Whether or not he recognized Moses and Elijah, his enthusiasm caused him to blurt out the fact that it was great to be there and to make the suggestion that they set up tents and stay! Interesting also is that, although the vision did not frighten any of the three, the shadow that overcame them and the voice of God speaking out of the cloud the message that This is my beloved Son; listen to Him, terrified them such that they fell to the ground and hid their faces. In the end, I picture a tender scene that the gospel reports as Jesus coming over, touching them (probably leaning over to pat them on their shoulders) and telling them there was nothing to fear. The vision had passed.

What are we to make of all this? I recommend the message of Peter in his second letter where he speaks about the message God spoke on that day. “This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well-pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain…You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2PT 16-19)

Could that be a call to our own visionary seeing? Perhaps a waiting transfiguration of our own life?

 

 

 

 

 

Faithful Witnesses

Tags

Acts of the Apostles, faith, foundation, ministry, Paul, Peter, repentance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

We all come to faith – and almost anything in life – in different ways. For some faith is a stumbling toward God that is motivated by internal promptings and inexplicable knowing. For others the path is immediately clear and grasped in a fullness that is never let go. Some of us inherit our religion from our family line and others try on different denominations and/or practices to see what fits.

Peter and Paul, probably the best known characters (in every sense of that word) in the Christian Scriptures and Tradition, had very different early lives and faith experiences. Peter, the fisherman, was the impulsive, “jump right in” kind of guy who often had to retrace his steps in repentance. His heart was large and loving, however, and the time he spent in the company of Jesus prepared him to endure everything that came after with a passion that served him to and through his horrific death.

Paul was a Roman citizen, a fact that sources say implies that he was moderately well-off, and which granted him a certain respect wherever he went in the Empire. Unlike Peter, Paul never met Jesus so didn’t have the advantage of experiencing the personal charisma and teaching that had so convinced Peter that Jesus was the true Messiah. In fact, Paul spent time persecuting people like Peter so, like us, his conversion had to take place through the agency of others. Unlike most of us, however, the Scriptures tell us a fantastical story of Paul’s conversion that was so complex it would have been difficult to ignore – or to allow Paul to return to his former life. (see ACTS 9:1-19)

The stories in the Acts of the Apostles chronicle the ministry of these two Christian giants as they traveled and facilitated the spread of Christianity in the known world. Today the Church celebrates one feast to honor both of them. How might we honor these two men whose paths to greatness were diverse but converged to provide a foundation in the earliest days of the Christian era? Perhaps we ought to examine our own willingness to commit to our calling. How authentic is our living in the everyday journey that we walk? Are there moments of recognition that strengthen us for fidelity to our life purpose? Do we share what we come to know for the good of others? Can we hear the testimony of prophets and judge truth, regardless of the personality that delivers the message? Many questions…to be answered by each of us out of our own personal experience and belief.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Love Me?

Tags

focus, Jesus, John, Lectionary, love, mowing the grass, Peter, practice, prayer, serendipitous, spiritual practice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, work

Sometimes my thoughts have a strange way of coming together. Often two or more unrelated things give me a basis for conclusion that make me scratch my head and say, “Where did that come from?” Today is one of those days – a serendipitous collision of a passing thought with the morning lectionary reading that may or may not “work” in the world outside my mind. Here goes:

On my coffee run to the kitchen this morning the few words I heard exchanged were about the lovely morning weather. The sun was full up and shining on all things green (before 7:00 am!). As I left the kitchen I heard a remark about how beautiful the new-mown grass looked and I felt the same, satisfied with the hours I spent yesterday preparing it for the group of retreatants arriving today. As I sat in my chair and prepared to write, it struck me that mowing the grass on our 11-acre property has become a spiritual practice for me. I speak about it as my leisure because it gives me a chance to be outside in nature with all the color and diversity, the scents on the breeze, the small animals scampering away at the roar of the mower’s approach. It takes focus, however, to get the job done well. I am not free just to ride around without paying attention to the pattern I’m creating. Staying with the line of what has just been cut is essential to a neat and complete result. If my mind wanders into something I see – a new wildflower perhaps – I lose my line and have a wobbly patch that needs to be corrected. Paying attention does not mean I can’t enjoy the ride, but it does mean I need to stay awake and alert.

The gospel for today (JN 21:15-19) contains that famous and often pondered over exchange between Jesus and Peter where Jesus asks Peter three times: “Do you love me?” with Peter seeming more frustrated with each repetition. By the third time he is so frustrated that he blurts out, “You know everything! You know that I love you!” whereupon Jesus tells him just a bit about what the future might look like and why Peter might want to remember the love he has proclaimed so vehemently for Jesus when events call for that measure of love.

What came to me as I read that was the repetition and the necessity of keeping the mind focused – in this case, on what the heart knows. If I forget where I am in the mowing, it all goes awry. If Peter lost the certainty and depth of his love for Jesus (and that of Jesus for him) for even a moment in the toughest times to follow, he might have lost heart. As it was, all reports are that he endured everything that came to him as privilege because of his inner certainty of Christ with him all the time.

If we practice every day – whether in prayer, relationship or mowing the lawn – it may be that we are more able when the tests come. When God asks me in the many moments of the daily routine, “Do you love me?” my answer may be all I need at some future time to stand up to the challenge of love where life or death is the result of my response.

My Hope Quotient

Tags

bright side, explanation, hope, optimist, pessimist, Peter, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world view

On a continuum from pessimism to optimism, I come down pretty consistently on the positive side. I’m not saying I’m the “cockeyed optimist” in the song from South Pacific but I can usually look on the bright side of things. I don’t think about it too much; it’s just the way I see the world. I presume that kind of statement might be made by every one of us – about where we are vis-à-vis our world view.

In today’s reading from the first letter of Peter (3:15-18), there is a line that set me to thinking. Peter writes, “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” That sounded to me like a challenge to go beyond a simple statement such as “Life is good!” or “Bah, humbug!” to an explanation for such words. It sounds like Peter is looking for a testimony of faith, like “God has been good to me,” but even there we ought to be more specific.

I believe this will be a day of considering my answer…