Words Across the Centuries

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Daniel Ladinsky, light, love, Love Poems From God; Twelve Voices from the East and West, pray, quiet, soul, St. John of the Cross, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

On this feast of John of the Cross, great 16th century mystic and Doctor of the Church I offer two short poetic “words,” translated by Daniel Ladinsky in his book, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West. Savor them as you will…

“My soul is a candle that burned away the veil; only the glorious duties of light I now have.”

“You might quiet the whole world for a second if you pray. And if you love, if you really love, our guns will wilt.”

Paul’s Legacy

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bears, believes, Corinthians, endures, faith, hope, hopes, kind, love, patient, quiet, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

St. Paul is “waxing eloquent” today in what may be his most famous and frequently quoted text of all: 1 COR 12:31-13:13. It is heard it so often at weddings that I sometimes wonder if we don’t just get as far as “Love is patient, love is kind…” and then let the words slide across our consciousness without really penetrating too deeply. Perhaps that’s too harsh a judgment on such an important moment, but I have often heard that “what is seldom is wonderful” and sometimes I know that I perk up and listen better to unfamiliar readings.

On this ordinary Wednesday morning in the middle of September, when all is quiet around me and nothing is stirring outside – even the birds are silent! – I hear Paul once again and am deeply touched by each phrase. May it be so with you also.

Brothers and sisters: Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge, if I have faith so as to move mountains, but I do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over to be burned but do not have love, I gain nothing.

(Before you go on reading, stop for awhile and consider how monumental are those propositions…)

Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong-doing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then, face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consider This…

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Daniel Ladinsky, love, Love Poems from God, pray, quiet, sacred voices, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world

Yesterday as I was trying to put together a prayer for an upcoming meeting, I came across a stunning entry in the book Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky who has translated the work of “twelve sacred voices from East and West.” This short poem fairly shouted a message for today’s world, especially in light of the military display yesterday that preceded today’s opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Korea. Try to imagine what the resulting visual would be if we really took these words of John of the Cross to heart.

IF YOU LOVE

You might quiet the whole world for a second if you pray.

And if you love, if you really love,

our guns will

wilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deeper Meaning

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Alan Cohen, answers, blind, enlightenment, faith, God, inner work, inspiration, Jesus, light, Luke, Peace, quiet, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vision

The gospel this morning tells Luke’s version of the encounter Jesus had with a blind man. I am always struck in the healing stories when Jesus asks the desire of the person he meets who is in need. I never doubt that he can see that condition in the person, so either he is looking for a statement of faith or he wants to be sure of the depth of the person’s intention or desire to be healed. Although life might be easier for the man if he gets his sight, there may be new responsibilities attached to the healing as well. Maybe he will have to find a job, rather than sitting by the side of the road begging. Certainly he will need to become attentive to people who are in need of help with certain life tasks because of infirmities. Who better since he has been there himself?

My wondering when I hear Jesus ask “What do you want me to do for you?” is whether there are nuances to the question – as well as to the answer, especially in this case of: “Please let me see.” My train of thought about all that this morning was verified by a great example of synchronicity in Alan Cohen’s reflection for today. In speaking about enlightenment he writes the following prayer: Give me inspiration to look within for my answers. Help me to take the time to be with myself and find the peace I seek. Then, as an affirmation, he ends with: In quiet I look within and discover the light I am.

So it’s not only a question of seeing with our physical eyes. It seems we must be willing to do the deeper inner work in order to truly see the light that God offers us if we have the courage to ask for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes.

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conscious, contemplative prayer, intentions, mercy of God, petitions, Pope Francis, prayer, prayer life, quiet, St. Paul, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, tranquil, unity

In St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy, his young protégé, he urges the importance of prayer as a constant in life. I was struck this morning with many questions when I read the following:

Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity…It is my wish then, that in every place [people] should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument. (1TM 2:1-3, 8)

I immediately thought of Pope Francis and his exhortations toward mercy and unity, care for creation and one another. Then I thought of all manners of prayer and how my prayer life has changed over the years, primarily with a decrease in formal vocal prayer and an increase of intention and contemplative prayer. Do I recognize that all prayer has merit? And, I asked myself, although I try to pray with intention, how universal are the intentions for which I pray? For example, I may pray for our country or peace in the world but do I ever pray for politicians or church leaders by name? What about people for whom I hold no affection? Are they not in need of my prayer also? And might I not be changed by praying for those same individuals? What about praying for myself? Do I prepare for my prayer time by quieting myself and bringing my body, mind and spirit into oneness as much as possible? And do I give thanks at the conclusion of my prayer? So many questions…It’s a good reflection on willingness.

Today seems like a good time to start praying in a conscious, loving way for our President, the Congress, leaders of the military and those charged with public safety. That’s a big order. The first step will be a short prayer called “Yes.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still Searching for Light

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A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, being, breathe, Centered Living, distractions, enlightenment, letting go, light, Peace, quiet, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Well, the storm that promised my “play date” in Latham took a breath yesterday and allowed me to travel home in safety. Overnight, in a second wave, what we had expected finally arrived so that schools are closed and the directive is for all of us to stay home today. Still looking for light (see yesterday’s post), I turned to a new book by Alan Cohen, A Deep Breath of Life, subtitled Daily Inspiration for Heart-Centered Living. I wasn’t disappointed as the selection for today began with a man looking for a lost key under a streetlamp. When a helpful friend asked if he knew where he was standing when he lost the key, the man indicated a tree 30 feet away. “Then why are you looking here?” the friend asked. “Because there is more light over here,” the man answered.

Cohen is suggesting that we tend to look to easy answers for things rather than confronting our deeper issues. He says, “Enlightenment is an inside job. Doing more in the outer world will not result in more peace; only being more will get us what we want. Peace is attained by letting go of everything that distracts us from it.” The thought for the day in bold letters at the bottom of the page is the simple sentence that I was looking for as a guide for this snow-covered day.

In quiet I look within and discover the light I am.

If Only…

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Christ, encouragement, God, heart, humble, love, others, Peace, Philippians, psalm 131, quiet, Scripture, selfishness, solace, spirit, St. Paul, stillness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vainglory

Reading today’s assigned Scripture texts for liturgy made me wish everyone – from the famous to the infamous – would pay attention to the messages. First we have Paul pleading with the Philippians to be united and then in what we actually call the psalm response the psalmist takes a humble tone that might actually turn things around if all were to act out of it. I imagine it as a conversation between God and us today. See if that makes sense and what might be the result if everyone took it to heart.

GOD: Brothers and sisters, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for your own interests but also everyone for those of others. (PHIL 2: 1-4)

US: O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace. (Ps 131: 1-2)

Big Love

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bad news, big love, curious, engaged, example, humanity, Hurricane Matthew, listen, love, Meg Wheatley, open our hearts, pain, pray, quiet, reality of pain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Turning To One Another, world

I am probably going to sound like a broken record today but in the face of all the “bad news” that greeted me when I turned on my computer this morning, I can’t help it. It would be easy to stay frozen in my rocking chair and figuratively “bury my head in the sand” knowing all the devastation of hurricane Matthew thus far in the Caribbean and anticipating “his” arrival in the United States or reading so many e-mails asking prayers for loved ones diagnosed with terminal diseases. I won’t even begin to talk about politics and the state of our nation! For solace I turned to Meg Wheatley. She quoted Sharon Salzberg’s concise dictum that I believe could solve everything if we could just intuit the depth of meaning in it and choose to embrace it fully. Salzberg says:

Only love is big enough to hold all the pain in this world.

She doesn’t say that love is big enough to minimize the pain or eradicate the pain or (God forbid) help us ignore the pain. She calls us to see that only in recognizing and being willing to embrace the reality of pain in our lives and in the larger world in solidarity with each other will we be able to endure. Meg Wheatley then adds, I think of a gesture of love as anything we do that helps others discover their humanity. Any act where we turn to one another. Open our hearts. Extend ourselves. Listen. Any time we’re patient. Curious. Quiet. Engaged…I feel we become more fully human through our generosity, when we extend to another rather than withdraw into ourselves. (Turning to One Another, p. 138)

It’s okay to start small. Read the news. Pray for one situation, one person to get better. Make a phone call to use your voice for good. Show up when it counts. Be a good example to a teenager. Get used to practicing until “big love” is the only way you can imagine living, even though it is not the easiest way to live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

David

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Acts of the Apostles, David, faithful frienship, fountainhead, God's love, imperfection, psalm 89, quiet, reflection, sheep, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

When I was young I always thought that if I had a son I would name him David. For no logical reason, David was my favorite name. It sounded both strong and gentle to me; I just liked it – not Dave really, but David. And this was before I ever encountered the famous David of the Scriptures.

All the readings for this morning speak of or at least advert to David in some way. The Acts of the Apostles and Psalm 89 name him, while Jesus just speaks of “my chosen.” That got me thinking of what a complex character David was and how wonderful for the rest of us that he was not perfect – at least for those of us who tend to compare ourselves to others (a very bad habit indeed!).

I think of David in the fields tending sheep and wonder if he was sorry to be called away from that duty. Being alone out in nature with the animals – recalcitrant though they might be at times – in the quiet that allows reflection must have had its appeal for him. I can only imagine the shock of hearing when he was summoned into the prophet’s presence that he was to be King of Israel. No one could have predicted that, it seems, but God.

If one believes that David is the author of all or even a majority of the scriptural Book of Psalms, it’s easy to intuit the ups and downs, the sins and repentance in his life. Noted for expressing every emotion known to humans, they are the perfect witness to his misuse of power, adulterous behavior, deep friendship with and loss of Jonathan and – most of all – his recognition and humble acceptance of God’s deep, all-encompassing love for him. I like to think about David because although he seems in every way larger than life (no event in his life was a small thing) he is also, essentially, like the rest of us: sometimes faith-filled, devoted and well-motivated and sometimes less so. He made big mistakes, was even punished for them, but never gave up on his relationship with God nor did God give up on him. So I sing with the psalmist this morning in gratitude for the example of great love even in imperfection and with confidence that God sees us no differently than this beloved servant.

Your love, O Lord, I will forever sing, your faithful friendship shall be the subject of my song. For I have come to know your love as fountainhead, its ceaseless source not here, but in your high abode. And you yourself have made this oath of faithfulness to us and all of David’s line, a covenant proclaimed to all you chose, a promise made to us that never ends. (Ps. 89:1-4)

 

To Begin Anew

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Advent, birth of Jesus, Christian, Christmas, church year, go inward, psalm 25, quiet, reflective, savior, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, ultimate gift, waiting, your ways

Today Christians around the world mark the beginning of the holy season of Advent, the moment when we begin a new liturgical cycle, a new “Church year.” The Latin word itself describes the season: veni (to come) ad (to, or toward). God is coming toward us always, but we look forward and prepare to welcome God in a special way at Christmas. As we commemorate the birth of Jesus into the world, we hope for deeper recognition and birthing in our hearts of what it means to be Christian in our world today. I have always loved Advent, a quieter and more reflective time mirrored to us in the “resting” of nature, a time to go inward. True, this concept is countercultural as the outer world is already in a shopping frenzy, but for me the ultimate gift will be the result of my interior effort during the month ahead. My prayer echoes that of the psalmist this morning who calls out in hope and confidence: Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and for you I wait all the day. (PS 25:4-5)