Early and Late

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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.

Seesaw

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joy, kindness, pity, psalm 90, refuge, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The psalm from today’s lectionary readings (PS 90) reads like a letter to God from someone who understands well the lifetime of earth’s inhabitants. And actually, if read in its entirety, it seems like a seesaw, each end going up and down in turn…

The psalm refrain, repeated every 2 or 3 verses, offers hope to readers, reminding us that in every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge…while peppered throughout the verses are pleadings for God’s favor as it seems we have yet to learn God’s ways. We hear: Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain wisdom of heart. And then, surprisingly, I think, something that speaks clearly to our present situation, Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! But then again, the hope…

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout with joy and gladness all our days. And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us! We breathe in our trust…in every age.

Where Wisdom Lives

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balance, Benedictine, calendar, fulfillment, heart, intention, psalm 90, spirituality, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time, time management, wisdom

The beginning of a new week is always a good time to take a breath and see what lies ahead. That task presupposes a look at the calendar to be sure we have noted all the “goings-on” and the preparation necessary for each event. I’m reminded of that practice by the first line from this morning’s psalm that prays: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. (PS 90:12) The first clause of that sentence sounds like the necessity of knowing what day and date it is (something that escapes me sometimes lately) but the second clause adds a goal to the “numbering.” It implies good time management but also good choices about how we are spending the time that we have.

Benedictine spirituality runs on a time schedule that is based on a balanced day of activities and rest. A good exercise to illustrate this is to draw a circle and divide it into four equal quadrants entitled prayer alone, prayer together, work alone and work together – and then fill it in with everything you do by yourself and with other people. Rest/leisure is included as “work alone” and should not be ignored. It’s good, especially if one is just beginning to look for this balance, to draw two circles for the day labeled Start and End to check at the end of the day to see whether intention and fulfillment merge. I find it a good way to test procrastination tendencies as well as workaholism. And as the psalm seems to suggest, wisdom is found in the middle path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living in the Now

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celebration, failure, light, limit of our days, live, moment, now, present, psalm 90, success, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time, wisdom of heart

As I read today’s lectionary texts, I am struck once again with the necessity of living every moment to the fullest without grasping at the past or the future – which I no longer have or do not yet have (and maybe never will, who knows?). This is not a new theme but as I write I am hearing in my head some lines of a song by Greg Greenway, a wonderful musician and poet. The refrain goes like this: This is the light I carry. Tonight is a celebration. Have no complaints, sinners and saints, under the bright constellations…The hymnal’s wide open at the Church of What Is; let’s sing!

One of my alternative psalm translations says this: (Please pardon the repetition, if repetition there is): Time for you is as nothing, Lord, a thousand years of it, your yesterday, passing as a watch of the night. We are your dream, we’re briefly here and then simply gone, like grass. In the morning green and growing, at sunset we are withered, dry. So teach us now the limit of our days, that we may give our hearts to wisdom’s voice. And turn a gracious face toward us, for we are here on earth to serve. So may this grace, this graciousness be ours, and rest upon us now and evermore we pray. Amen. (Ps. 90)

The familiar (to me) translation of one of those lines says, “Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain wisdom of heart.” Although I note the great similarity of the two translations of that sentence, I’m tempted to jump on the word “limit” in the first one as something different from the obvious meaning, i.e. the “number” as in the traditional sentence. What if the limit we are supposed to learn is what can be accomplished in a day, which shifts as we age. Can we learn to accept our days as we live them with the level of “success” or “failure” without needing to even apply those words to anything? Can we be awake to the wisdom, the lesson in each passing moment, so that without lamenting our limitations we live as we were meant to – in the graciousness with which we were created, which is the way that I believe and hope God is attending to us? Let us pray for this grace today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Passages

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Autumn Equinox, celebrations, dream, families, friends, grace, graciousness, limit, picnics, psalm 90, summer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time's passing, wisdom's voice

This is the weekend that we call the end of summer even though the calendar says we have some weeks still before the Autumn Equinox. People all over the USA are planning picnics and traffic has been heavy on the highways since Friday as families and friends celebrate the passing of yet another season that, for many, includes some slow down and vacation time. How can this be? In some ways it appears that the children just finished the past school year, and yet some of the events of a month or two ago seem like a faint memory. Time’s passing has a way of confounding us. It’s like that old adage from Henry Van Dyke that time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice…

Psalm 90 says this morning: Time for you is as nothing, Lord, a thousand years of it, your yesterday, passing as a watch of the night. We are your dream; we’re briefly here then simply gone, like grass in the morning green and growing and at sunset withered, dry. Not such an upbeat thought for those of us feeling the press of getting older by the minute. Later in the psalm, however, comes focus on a stance we ought to take, perhaps, going forward today:

So teach us the limit of our days that we may give our hearts to wisdom’s voice. And turn a gracious face toward us for we are here on earth to serve. Each morning let us rise to eat compassion’s bread. And even in the midst of dread, and years of deepest pain, make us glad for these. For there especially you are ever present as the guide. You show us secret splendors through your works and ways. You teach our hands new crafts, new handiwork through these. So may this grace, this graciousness be ours, and rest upon us now and evermore we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Passages

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calling to God, life, practice love, psalm 90, surrender, thank God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom of heart

There it is again! Psalm 90 appears again today with it’s plea that God will “teach us to number our days aright that we may gain wisdom of heart.” Having already commented recently on this line, I need not repeat myself, but the thought does give me pause. I have heard myself say often lately, “I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since…” or “How could I have lived here for 30 years already!” And last year I often shocked myself with the thought, “I’m 65 years old!” It just popped up in my consciousness at various times for no reason, stunning me with the reality of it. Life seems to be passing at an increasingly rapid rate – all the more reason for awareness of the passage so I won’t miss the lessons.

All this makes me understand a bit what it’s like for God, of whom the psalmist says, “A thousand years in your sight are as yesterday now that it is past…” I certainly can’t slow it down. It doesn’t make sense to try. It seems then that the only response is to surrender to it, make the best of every day and thank God for the opportunities that appear at every moment to practice love.

As The World Turns

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darkness into light, Ecclesiastes, fatigue, gladness, joy, kindness of God, life, psalm 90, seasons, sleep, sun, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom of heart, workday

*NOTE: Once again this morning, internet access has been spotty, thus the late entry here. I will be leading a retreat this weekend and am not sure how it will be for tomorrow and Sunday in the location where the retreat is being held. Stay tuned!

I’ve had a number of conversations this week with individuals speaking of “seasonal fatigue” around the shift from summer to autumn. One person said, “I’ve been sleeping nine or ten hours a night and still feel a bit tired during the day!” I told her, a recent retiree, to go right on sleeping that much and be grateful that she can, until the fatigue recedes. We continued the conversation with discussion of the rhythms of nature that were disrupted by the shift from an agrarian to an industrial society and inventions that allowed the prolongation of light to our days by artificial means. This is old news for us, of course, but there seems to be more recognition of the disruption as life speeds up and our workdays get longer or more intense. I am personally more aware this year of the movements of nature, day to day, as I mow different kinds of grass each month or see flowers and leaves shift week to week in their life cycle.

The readings this morning, Ecclesiastes (1:2-11) and Psalm 90, remind me of that flow. From Ecclesiastes: The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises…What has been, that will be; what is done that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.

This is all fine when we’re talking about nature – and it would behoove us to remember it as we try to control everything in our lives. But we are also in the throes of deep distress over world events, seeing worse happenings every day. Is there nothing we can do in the face of it? Psalm 90 responds: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. The psalmist continues, crying out to God, Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.

Perhaps the key is in recognizing that the kindness of God is already in our midst and that our shouts of joy and gladness will arise from the realization that we must become that joy and gladness in the world in a manner that will transform the darkness into light.