Judge Not…

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Acts of the Apostles, compassion, conversion, ignore, judging others, love, politics, righteousness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I almost disregarded the first reading from today’s lectionary (ACTS 9:1-20) – not because it held nothing worthy of comment but because it seemed so familiar. I know the story of Paul’s conversion and know that it appears in the liturgical calendar more than once a year. I decided, however, to read it again for a possible point of inspiration and, of course, I was not disappointed.

What struck me this morning was the response of Ananias when he was told in a vision to go and get Paul from the house on Straight Street and lay hands on him so that Paul would regain his sight. Ananias was not pleased to have been given this task for two reasons. He had heard from others about the evil Paul had perpetrated against the people of Jerusalem and, secondly, in Damascus Paul had authority from the chief priests to imprison the followers of Jesus. It was unthinkable to him that the Lord would choose Paul as an instrument for spreading the news of Christ. Good arguments, to be sure, but in the end, at the final command, “Go,” he went.

So I’m thinking about how difficult it is sometimes to follow the laws that Christ has set before us, laws of love and compassion and generosity to those we think do not deserve to be helped. It would sometimes be easier to ignore the grumpy people, the lazy ones or those whose politics do not mirror our own. Surrender of our own sense of righteousness is rarely easy. Sometimes, however, in the surrender we find small – or great – miracles. After all, it was Ananias who became the instrument of Saul’s cure. As soon as he laid hands on Paul, announcing he was sent by the Lord, the scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he was baptized.

What might happen if we determined to welcome all those above-mentioned people whom we would rather avoid? What might we learn from engagement in their lives? How much larger might our own lives become because of the merits of diversity we would gain? And what if we resisted judging people because others had told us what they were like rather than seeing them for ourselves? Let us think on these things…

 

 

 

 

 

Old Thoughts for a New Time

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apolitical, Book of Hours, Cold War, human, monk, Peace, politics, rational thinking, restraint, serious discourse, The Hidden Ground of Love, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

This morning I read the Wednesday “Day” section of Thomas Merton’s Book of Hours (since it’s rather too late for the “Dawn” thoughts). I was struck by the relevance of what seemed so appropriate to our present situation. Merton was writing letters in the 1960s that were eventually gathered and published in a book entitled The Hidden Ground of Love. He had been ordered by his superiors to cease publishing anything on war and peace and so privately circulated a series of mimeographed “Cold War Letters,” many of which appear in the above-mentioned text. It’s clear that monks were supposed to be more concerned with peace than with the disconcerting issues that block the path to that peace. Merton was not willing to be silenced because his words would disturb the image of “the holy monk.”

It seems over the last several months that we are reverting to the ’60s, where serious discourse and demonstrations were the order of the day. What is missing, however, from such actions in many cases – not to say it always existed in Merton’s day either – is measured, rational thinking beforehand and restraint in the duration of the events. Perhaps Merton has something worthy to say to us, 49 years after his death.

“It seems to me that the basic problem is not political, it is apolitical and human. One of the most important things to do is to keep cutting deliberately through political lines and barriers and emphasizing the fact that these are largely fabrications and that there is another dimension, a genuine reality, totally opposed to the fictions of politics: the human dimension which politics pretend to arrogate entirely to themselves. This is the necessary first step along the long way toward the perhaps impossible task of purifying, humanizing and somehow illuminating politics themselves. Is this possible? At least we must try to hope in that, otherwise all is over. But politics as they now stand are hopeless.

Hence the desirability of a manifestly non-political witness, non-aligned, non-labeled, fighting for the reality of [man] and [his] rights and needs in the nuclear world in some measure against all the alignments.”

New Neighbors?

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beatitudes, boundaries, Leviticus, love, love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew, Moses, neighbors, persecute, politics, pray, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My first thought after reading the lectionary texts for today was that the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel is worth a whole life of reflection. It isn’t only the part that we know as the Beatitudes that teaches us how to live; the whole chapter is full of deeply meaningful concepts. It is clear from this preaching of Jesus that he did, indeed, come not to destroy the Mosaic Law but to fulfill it. When we read, “You have heard it said…” it’s clear that Jesus is specifying what was right action in earlier times and that he was urging his listeners to more, to go beyond what was an earlier norm to a deeper way of living. The example is clear today.

In the reading from Leviticus, God is speaking to Moses about the way to be holy. God talks about correct behavior toward brothers and sisters, fellow citizens and “any of your people,” concluding with the statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (LV 19: 1-2, 17-18) In the gospel, Jesus echoes God’s message about the neighbor with the understanding that God’s conversation with Moses was about behaviors among the tribes of Israel only, since the way of living back then was to conquer enemies who threatened others’ way of life. Jesus expanded the concept of neighbor in his day, however, by saying: You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly father…(MT 5:38-48).

We’re still having trouble with that one, it seems. Sometimes it’s even hard to love those who love us if they disagree with our politics or some other cherished belief. How can we possibly expand our hearts to people who are altogether different from us? Jesus is certainly pushing the boundaries. As I was writing the previous paragraph I had a new thought. If Jesus was talking about an expansion of consciousness from the time of Moses to his era, shouldn’t we – who live as far away from Jesus in time as he did from Moses – be even further along in seeing everyone as a beloved neighbor than Jesus expected the people of his time to be? We could say the world is more complex today and there are more people to admit into our “neighborhood” so we can’t be expected to love them all. Look at all the horrific things that are going on! How can we love “those people?” Going back to the gospel I repeat the one sentence that I see as a beginning answer to it all. (See above) When Jesus tells the people to love their enemies, he adds: Pray for those who persecute you. No one is persecuting me personally but there is a lot of persecution in our world. If I were to pray for those I consider enemies of the USA or of Christianity or of any other way I define myself in the world, how would it change me? I guess there’s only one way to find out!

 

 

 

 

 

More Good News

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admirable, Catholic Relief Services, clean heart, corruption, Ezekiel, gratitude, lobby, Louisiana flooding, new spirit, politics, renewal, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vilification, world community

I’ve had a bit of a theme running through the past several days of my thinking – and reflected somewhat in different ways in my writing. It started on Saturday where I heard Ezekiel asking God to “create a clean heart in me” and has had several threads constellating around the fact that my hope, not only for my own renewal but that of the world community, resides in large part in the young people of the world, especially those who have seen good in their elders. It may be a stretch to see the last five days like that but let me explain my reasons for that conclusion.

Things are looking pretty grim in the goings-on in the political discourse of the country, vilification being the order of the day as we come ever to closer November elections. Counteracting that, however, has been joy in interviews with Olympians – especially those still in or just out of their teens – who gushed with gratitude for the support they have had from family, coaches and just about everyone in the known world. And their generosity to one another, congratulating one another and even going as far as stopping after a fall to walk to the end of the race with the person over whom they had tumbled because she was hurt, has been heartbreakingly admirable.

Stories of corruption in our cities and even high in state government this past week make me wonder if we will ever have a functional polity again. But then there was the mayor of one of the cities in Louisiana who was asked last night as he was rescuing folks from their flooded homes whether his house had been flooded. He answered, “Yes, we have water. I’ll get to it when I can…” And then this morning I watched a short video about 100 college students, part of a program of Catholic Relief Services called Student Ambassador Leadership Training, who traveled  to Washington, D.C. to lobby their congresspersons on issues of human trafficking, climate change and refugee migration. Their stated purpose was to advocate to those in power in our government, “giving voice to the voiceless” because it was the right thing to do.

Examples of those who understand what it means to “lobby” God for a clean heart have been everywhere this week and prepared me for this day as I read the promise of God, again from Ezekiel.

I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors; you shall be my people and I will be your God. (EZ 36:23-28)

That’s a promise I can believe in and a world that I hope to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking with the Eyes of Love

Tags

complain, Jesus, judgment, letter of james, love, model, motivations, politics, the eyes of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Again today the Letter of James stops me at the first line. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, he says, that you may not be judged. (JAS 5:9). I actually didn’t even need the second half of that dictum to know the importance of the message. I hope I’m past the “God’s gonna get you” motivation and onto the example of Jesus as the model for my speech and actions. But as I think again I realize how automatic judging others is if I see everything from my own perspective, my own frame of reference in looking at the world. It’s hard to get out of our own mind to see through the eyes of others.

Examples abound in society, the clearest one at the moment being the national political campaign in the United States this year. What comes to mind when I hear the name Donald Trump…or Hillary Clinton…or Bernie Sanders? How convinced am I that my ideas on the matter are the correct ones? More to the point, am I willing to allow the ideas of others who do not hold the same point of view? Am I willing to entertain that point of view by really listening to another or am I totally dismissive, convinced that I am correct in my judgment?

More important, perhaps, in my everyday living are the judgments I make about the people I encounter. Am I willing to look beyond words or actions to the depths of the persons about whom I am complaining? Do I know what might be motivating behaviors that I find unacceptable? The rush to judgment is sometimes so automatic that I haven’t even given the person a chance! We judge on looks and manner of speech and level of education and what people do to earn a living instead of what we don’t know of their lives. We complain about the person at home or at work who isn’t as productive as we consider ourselves to be, without having the slightest inkling of the thoughts of their hearts or the depth of their relationship with God.

I sound as if I’m ranting – and, actually, as if I’m complaining about everyone who isn’t like me! Not so! I just find it sad that we miss so much goodness because we are programmed somehow to see things without really seeing them. Today is a day to try looking with the eyes of God – both looking in and looking out in love. A worthy project indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Politics

Tags

apolitical, illuminating, non-aligned, non-judgmental listening, non-labeled, non-political witness, politics, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

This morning I deviated from my pattern of “blog first” because yesterday was the New York State primary in the campaign for president of the United States and I wanted to see how my neighbors voted. There were no surprises really but lots of “spinning” of the results and crunching of numbers for the possible final nominees to the general election. It is a contentious moment in US politics – much deeper and broader than the presidential race, of course – encompassing many issues and all branches of our government. It’s difficult to see the future; the divisions are so blatant on both national and local levels.

I’ve had many conversations in the past week on the value of non-judgmental listening to expand our consciousness – the only way, I think, to become aware of the reasoning behind differing convictions. I don’t often turn to Thomas Merton’s political statements for reflection, even though he was quite outspoken, especially toward the end of his life, on issues of social justice. This morning, however, in the wake of last night’s results, I can’t help but share what I read – once again a seemingly appropriate choice (as often these days) of something to consider as we reflect on the state of the world in which we live.

It seems to me that the basic problem is not political, it is apolitical and human. One of the most important things to do is to keep cutting deliberately through political lines and barriers and emphasizing the fact that these are largely fabrications and that there is another dimension which politics pretend to arrogate entirely to themselves. This is the necessary first step along the long way toward the perhaps impossible task of purifying, humanizing and somehow illuminating politics themselves. Is this possible? At least we must try to hope in that, otherwise all is over. But politics as they now stand are hopeless.

Hence the desirability of a manifestly non-political witness, non-aligned, non-labeled, fighting for the reality of [man] and [his] rights and needs in the nuclear world in some measure against all the alignments.    (The Hidden Ground of Love, p. 272)

Raqa!

Tags

anger, baby, emotions, empty, human being, inflammatory, Lenten journey, Matthew, miracle of God's creation, negativity, Peace, politics, presidential campaign, Raqa, respect, reverence, Sanhedrin, Sermon on the Mount, spiteful, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, useless, venomous language

Yesterday one of my housemates received a text from her nephew with a sonogram image of his expected child. His wife is only three months pregnant, yet the technology was so clear that we could already see the brain forming in his (yes, it’s a boy!) well-formed head. We marveled at the amazing miracle of how this baby – and all of us – are formed in our mother’s womb. I was reminded this morning of how babies need do nothing in order to garner the attention of anyone who crosses their path. We are all in awe of the beauty and wonder of such an amazing creation. What happens to us as we age that causes us to forget how to reverence one another?

In today’s gospel (MT 5: 20-26) – near the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount – Jesus is speaking about a deeper way to follow the commandment, “You shall not kill.” He says, “…whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin…” The Sanhedrin was the supreme religious body in the land of Israel, comparable to the US Supreme Court. I always just passed over raqa when that reading appeared, figuring that it meant something mean that was said in Hebrew by someone who was angry. Today, I decided to research it and found that I was correct to a point but that raqa speaks of a kind of anger that erupts from someone whose anger is dangerously spiteful. Raqa means useless, empty and of no value. These days we call that kind of language used against another verbal abuse. When someone hurls those words at another person, it is as if the word becomes an arrow, piercing to the heart, and the damage can be devastating.  No wonder Jesus was so emphatic in his critique.

All this brings to mind the venomous language that is present in the political sphere during a campaign for an important office. Sometimes it is not only the candidates who denigrate their opponents but those in the different supporting  “camps” who are drawn in to such inflammatory rhetoric. We are in such a moment in our country now and need to take care, lest we lose ourselves in negativity rather than make intelligent choices on the issues.

In our personal lives as well we need to take care to monitor our emotions. Proceeding on our Lenten journey, let us seek out people and experiences that will remind us of the miracle of God’s creation that is the human being. Moreover, let us treat one another with respect and reverence, eschewing anger at its beginning to avoid any words that we may regret for the damage they inflict on another person. Peace be our path today!