Visionary Seeing

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divine plan, give thanks, listen, Nan Merrill's, open your hearts, Psalm 105, rejoice, sing praises, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, visionary seeing, Wisdom School

Here in Windsor we are in the midst of a four-day Wisdom School whose theme is Visionary Seeing. I just read Nan Merrill’s translation of Psalm 105 and found it quite appropriate for this middle day, giving us impetus to wake up to new and deeper ways of knowing. I thought it worthy of consideration for a broader audience as well so here is a lovely modern rendition of PS 105:1-6 in paragraph form. It is especially the last line that seems to me consonant with visionary seeing.

O give thanks to the Beloved, and open your hearts to Love. Awaken! Listen in silence for the Voice of the Counselor. Sing praises with glad voice, and give witness to the truth with your lives! Glory in the radiance of the Beloved; let the hearts of those who call upon You rejoice! Seek the One who is Life, your strength, walk harmoniously in Love’s Presence! Remember that you are not alone, for through Love doubt and fear are released; O people of the earth, ever bear in mind the unity of diversity in the Divine Plan! (Psalms for Praying, p. 217)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Dance of the Possible

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change, create, cured, Downton Abbey, future, go forward, good, happiness, hope for the future, Isaiah, Jesus, John, live from the heart, Psalm 30, rejoice, resolution, risking, spring, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transformation

Today on my trek to the kitchen for coffee I was grateful for conversation already in progress there about last evening’s finale of Downton Abbey. Every relationship was either happily resolved or at least sufficiently hinted at so that no one was “left out in the cold.” After six seasons of trial and error, distress and turnabout, the acceptance of change and hope for the future provided a fitting and worthy conclusion.

With that smile of remembrance I proceeded to my daily task which seems now as hopeful as the coming spring in every text I encounter. I see connection in it all but perhaps it is simply the fact of today being Monday that has brought such willingness to greet the day. Below is the collage; see if it holds together in any coherent way.

1. Isaiah 65: 17-21 begins with God saying Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create…
2. Psalm 30 sings of transformation because of God’s mercy: You have changed my mourning into dancing; O Lord, my God, forever I will give you thanks.
3. The verse before the gospel urges and then promises: Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you.
4. The gospel (JN 4: 43-54) tells the story of the royal official whose son is cured simply by a word of Jesus. As a result he and his whole household came to believe.
5. To that alternation of God’s action and the resultant good effect on humanity, I add a Monday word from Jan Phillips that pushes toward the future  – first a prayer (Wake me from my sleep and rouse me/ break through my dreams like a bird/ Be the voice that guides me/ Let your kindness flow through me day and night.) and then a reflection on personal spiritual authority that takes me back to the beginning after the end of Downton Abbey. She writes:

When you think of the people who have inspired you, changed your thinking, altered the course of your life, are they not the ones who spoke and lived from the heart? Are they not the ones who stand before you with the courage to simply be who they are, to share their visions, their struggles, their fears? This is the stuff of spiritual authority – this transparency, this risking, this willingness to say, “It’s a new frontier here, and not one of us has a map, but with what we know together, we can surely make it.”   (No Ordinary Time, p. 24)

So let us go forward in hope!

Speaking of Love

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blessing, Corinthians, depth of love, endure, hope, kind, love, Love never fails, patient, Paul, rejoice, spiritual journey, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I’ve been waiting for the lectionary reading of 1COR 13 – St. Paul’s famous and familiar “hymn to love” because no matter how many times I hear it – especially at weddings – it always makes an impact. The long form of the reading this morning is 1 COR 12:31 – 13:13 and every line is worth a look. I went to the part about the qualities of love and noticed for the first time that Paul defines love more by what it is not than what it is. He begins and ends with strong statements about what love is but in between it’s as if he sees a stripping away of behaviors in order to get to the depth of love. This section merits a hearing, (i.e. reading it aloud) with time to savor each line and reflect on what we are growing out of and into on our spiritual journey. It is St. Paul at his most eloquent and I offer it to you as a blessing for today.

Love is patient; love is kind. It is not jealous or pompous. It is not inflated or rude. Love does not seek its own interests; it is not quick tempered. Love does not brood over injuries; it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Gaudete!

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Advent, attentive, be happy, celebrate, gaudete, John the Baptist, Latin, Luke, prepare, rejoice, The Lord is near, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In Luke’s gospel there is a moment (or some unspecified period of time) when people thought John the Baptist might be the Messiah for whom they had been longing. He was a strong preacher whose call of “Repent!” was gaining traction. This morning’s gospel shows how exacting John’s message was and how individualized to each group of people. Three times in response to his rather stark (some would say withering) comments to listeners whom he had just called a “brood of vipers” he was asked: What should we do? To the crowds he said, Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none and whoever has food should do likewise. To the tax collectors he said, Stop collecting more than is prescribed. And finally, when the soldiers asked the same question, he said, Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages. (LK 3:10-18) If taken literally – which I would wager was John’s intent – those would have been tall orders for the people of his day. I had a new respect for John this morning because he saw each group as needing a specific change of heart and his message was appropriate to each group who was listening.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, one of those days in the liturgical year when I am grateful for Sister Thomas Aquinas, my high school Latin teacher. Because of her, I know that gaudete is the plural imperative of the verb to rejoice. We are half-way through the waiting period of Advent (another Latin term meaning to come toward). So if I were asked this morning, “What should we do?” I would respond to everyone that we should Be happy! Celebrate! Rejoice! because the Lord is near to bursting forth once again in the fullness of hope in our hearts. But each of us must determine how that rejoicing will help us prepare. Do we need to be attentive to a relationship or might we find a service organization that needs our help? Maybe our prayer life needs more of our time in order to bring us to the realization of a deeper happiness. Whatever the way to express our anticipation of the Christ event so that Christmas will see us full of celebratory joy, today is the day to consider the possibilities. So Gaudete, everyone! The Lord is near indeed.

Dancing with the Stars

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Bindi Irwin, Dancing with the Stars, gifts, hope, joy of life, loss, persevere, psalm 131, quiet, rejoice, soul, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Last night I commented that the reason I like watching the television show Dancing with the Stars (besides the dancing) is that the celebrity participants seem, for the most part, like “real people” who are excited about learning a skill and appreciative of the camaraderie of the experience. Personalities emerge, of course, for better or for worse, but at this point in the 21st season, I find it all delightful. One of the stand-outs is Bindi Irwin, the daughter of Australian environmentalist Steve Irwin who died in 2006 from a stingray barb injury. Bindi was 8 years old. In addition to her talent as a dancer (whose partner is the amazing, 5-time winner Derek Hough) Bindi exudes the joy of life at every moment. She is authentically bubbly in spite of the devastating loss of her father that remains, and now even in the midst of the pain and injury during practice. She claims that complaining is never useful.

I thought St. Paul would have appreciated Bindi and I hear echoes of her comments in today’s Psalm 131. Paul says, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them…if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be sincere…Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” (ROM 12:5-16) Psalm 131 seems a humble response to Paul’s exhortation: 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… Good advice from the great ones of old and the example of a lovely young lady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering

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covenant, generations, God, honor, partners, Psalm 105, rejoice, remember, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning I found in an alternate translation of Psalm 105:3-9 a striking translation of the psalmist’s call for us to remember all that is contained in the covenant that God made and keeps with all generations. I repeat it here as a reflection for today.

We rise to sing in honor of your holy name. Let every seeker’s heart rejoice and search for you with all their strength until they stand before the beauty of your face, remembering. Remember, remember everything you can recall, remember every work and wonder, remember every word God speaks to you in wisdom. Remember too that you are children of the Blessed One; your heritage goes back to Abraham and Sarah. Remember that you are servants of the Lord and chosen ones like Jacob by your God, who is the Mighty One and Master over all, whose will prevails and works succeed forever. Remember that you are partners to a covenant, a promise made and kept for many generations.

Rejoice!

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faithful, gaudete, happy, holy, Isaiah, John the Baptist, new birth, Paul, pray, promises fulfilled, rejoice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thessalonians

Today is Gaudete Sunday (Latin for Rejoice). We’re called to be happy because the coming of the Lord is near and the call resounds in all the readings for today – from Isaiah to John the Baptist. As is often the case, Paul is among the messengers urging faithfulness with an enthusiasm that is hard to ignore and then at the end reassuring his listeners that God will surely fulfill all promises. I can almost see him gesticulating emphatically in the town square of Thessaloniki to those he is trying to convince. My impression is that it would be hard to ignore the man or the message. Here is the crux of it:

Brothers and sisters, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit! Do not despise prophetic utterances…May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will accomplish it! (1 Thess 5: 16-24)

So then, let us rejoice, as we count the days toward new birth!

Be Your Note!

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Ephesians, faithfulness, gratefulness, harmony, love, Paul, praise God, psalm 33, rejoice, song praise, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It seems that Paul and the Psalmist are working together this morning to communicate the wonder of God’s gifts and the necessity of praising God for them. Paul (EPH 3:14-21) speaks his own prayer for the community at Ephesus where he asks God that you may be strengthened…in your inner self, so that rooted and grounded in love you may comprehend…the breadth and length and height and depth…and be filled with all the fullness of God. He urges their own prayer with the confidence that God is able to accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine.

This message is echoed by PS 33: 1-5 as we are challenged to Rejoice, O all who live in love and harmony, in right relationship! How good the music made by those whose hearts are turned to God! Take up your instruments of song; take harp, guitar, the violin, horn and drum; give praise a voice, a song to sing! And new, fresh melodies will rise and ring in praise of One who gives us skill in song. Add your just and truth-filled words and say, God’s faithfulness shall be the subject of our praise. For on this earth, and above all else, you cherish justice, you honor peace. You  love it when true kindness reaches out to all.

With Paul’s reminder of God’s willingness to hear our prayer and the virtual orchestra of praise suggested by the psalmist I resolve to carry joy as companion through this day, determined to be the note that God chooses to play through me in harmony with all I meet.