Life Lessons

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blessing, Ephesians, give thanks, God's will, responsibility, spiritual life, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the will of the Lord

There are two lines in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that do not necessarily seem connected but upon reflection can be, I think, a way forward in the spiritual life. Paul is preaching to the people of Ephesus about how best to live a good and wise life. (EPH 5:15-20). In the middle of this brief lesson he draws a conclusion, saying: “Therefore, do not continue in ignorance but try to understand the will of the Lord.” I see that as a call to responsibility to throw of any sort of “ho-hum” attitude and wake up to the very best we can be. What that will lead us to, it seems, is a clue hidden at the end of the text where he says, “giving thanks always and for everything.” In other words, it isn’t just the things that we recognize as good or happy that teach us important lessons, but also the difficult moments that can be some of the best lessons if we know how to find the deep meanings therein.

This is not a new concept for most of us but the reminder seems a good way to start this new week. May it be a blessing for all of us!

 

 

 

 

 

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God Bless America

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civility, discourse, freedom, guidance, hard grace, home, morality, prayer, responsibility, thanks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, United States

Sometimes it’s difficult to get in touch with all the extraordinary blessings we experience as citizens of a free country. If I stay in the peaceful village where I live and don’t access the outside world through the “marvels” of technology it’s possible to enjoy a picnic or a good book while sitting outside in the sunshine. These days, however, in a political climate that is totally untenable, where hate is blatant and civility is often missing from human discourse, one wonders where it will all end.

When I was young, among the many things I learned about morality was the important axiom that freedom is not the same as license; we are not allowed to do everything we want just because we can. We must consider the common good as well as our desires. As the technological age has put us in touch with the world such that we now know what is happening everywhere – sometimes at the exact moment it occurs, our responsibility to the freedom we have inherited has deepened. At the same time, in a country as largely populated and diverse and a society as complex as what we still call the United States of America, we find that freedom can be what some have called a “hard grace.”

There is a tendency in me this morning to lament the “state of the nation” but I know that would be unfair to all those Americans around our country and the world who are responding to crises today, to all those health workers and researchers who are working to overcome disease, to teachers and farmers and mothers and fathers who are teaching their children what a privilege it is to live in this country and how we must work to assure justice for all. It would be unfair as well to people who are gathering in places of worship today – in churches, synagogues, mosques and the wide open spaces where the Holy is found – to give thanks for what we have been given and to ask for guidance as we go forward. I add my prayer to theirs as the music and the words rise in me, giving me confirmation of my gratitude for this country and the life that is possible here.

God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above. From the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam, God bless America, my home, sweet home. God, bless America, my home, sweet home. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyperbole

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behavior, compassion, consciousness, Earth, evolution, religion, responsibility, sacrifice, science, servant, suffer, sympathize, Teilhard de Chardin, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday I was in a wide-ranging conversation about elements of a future world that would not only include acceptable behavior of all citizens but also be compassionate toward all creatures and to the universe itself. It seemed that we have a long way to go toward consciousness if we are, in fact, to even approach the possibility of such a world. One element that we saw as necessary was the responsibility of each one of us to move the world toward that goal.

This morning I read a prayer written by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), the French Jesuit paleontologist whose writings integrate science and religion in a way that sees evolution as not only a reality but a responsibility of all of us. It seems he is ready to take the lead in accepting his role in this endeavor where compassion is the foundation of the effort. Although he sounds somewhat haughty about his position in such a process, it seems we would all do well to act from a position of the broadest vision in order to “kick start” our enthusiasm and assure at least some progress in our time. Here is what he said in his Prayer for Compassion:

Oh God, I wish from now on to be the first to become conscious of all that the world loves, pursues and suffers: I want to be the first to seek, to sympathize, and to suffer; the first to unfold and sacrifice myself, to become more widely human and more nobly of the earth than any of the world’s servants. (Hearts on Fire – Praying with the Jesuits, p. 107)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juxtaposition

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beatitudes, heart of God, justice, Matthew, mercy, obfuscation, reconciled, reconciliation, responsibility, right relationship, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love

Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel is so full of teaching that it provides a lifetime of material for reflection. The Beatitudes alone are enough! In today’s lectionary selection, however, there is a very important section on how we ought to treat those persons closest to us. (Jesus calls them our brothers, but we know he meant our sisters too.) It’s about the fact that we must be in right relationship with our neighbors before we approach God in our worship services. The very familiar text (vs. 20-26) tells us that if there is something separating us from another person we need to leave our gift at the altar to go and be reconciled. It’s that important. The interesting thing about this passage for me, however, is a simple twist in the way the recognition of our duty is expressed by Jesus. He doesn’t say, “If you recall that you have anything against your brother, go first and reconcile…” Instead, Jesus makes the job of reconciliation ours even though it is “if your brother has anything against you…”

It would seem unfair to say it is our responsibility to take the first step in such a case. It’s much easier to blame others for their misunderstanding of us or their unwillingness to come to us when we have nothing (maybe) against them. I think that Jesus is looking for two things from us here: 1. a willingness to look in a mirror to be sure that there is no obfuscation going on from our part and 2. a willingness to practice unconditional love in any situation – whether or not we share responsibility for the breach in relationship. Letting go of justice for mercy is a large-hearted step. Taking it goes a long way in moving toward the heart of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of the Depths

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, despair, Easter season, familiar, forgiveness, impact, Lent, Lynn Bauman, mercy, practices, prayers, presence, Psalm 30, responsibility, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My first thoughts on this fifth Sunday of Lent centered around my relatively low level of attention for what (in my experience anyway) was always called “the holy season of Lent.” I do not disparage that title; more Christians are likely aware of religious practice during these six weeks than at any other time in the year. It makes me wonder, however, why the fervor doesn’t often last throughout the fifty days of the Easter season. Perhaps we find it easier to do penance than to rejoice! If so, what does that have to say about our image of God? But I digress…

The tenor of my offerings over these last weeks comes, I think, from my conviction that although reminders of special times are important, it is our everyday devotion that will move us toward God, sort of a “one step at a time” approach, and I sometimes think that we become so familiar with certain prayers or practices that they can lose the impact of their meaning for us. Take Psalm 30, for instance. I can recite the whole thing and recognize that we are being called to repentance by the psalmist’s cry, but sometimes it sounds so dire – as if I am the worst sinner in the universe – that I refuse the import of what can be gained by reflection on the meaning and stop at the part about my guilt, thereby missing the resolution in the last verses. I miss both my responsibility to repair relationship and God’s willingness to allow it to happen. Maybe it’s because the psalmist is talking about the relationship of the nation of Israel to God rather than my person. Thus, I come to my point. I find in Lynn Bauman’s translation of Psalm 30 a recognition both of my responsibility for my unworthy actions and an acknowledgment of God’s willingness to hear my longing for the benevolent embrace of forgiveness and love. It only takes the effort of silence to recognize the possibility. Listen to this text below with your heart wide open.

Lord, I am calling to you again, from the depths; in this place of despair hear my voice. Listen, listen, if you will, for I am crying. If you were to note everything, all missteps and offenses, none of us could stand before you uncondemned. But always, always you forgive, and make us whole again, and so we stand in awe before you, waiting. My whole being waits for you, my God, listening for your presence. I long to hear your voice again, speaking. So like a watchman who anticipates the crack of dawn, my heart waits for the first-light of your word. Listen, listen, wait in silence listening for the One from whom all-mercy flows, who is the secret source of our redemption, and the healing of the wounds our sins have caused. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p. 334)

 

 

 

 

 

Cooperation

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bad, division, Ezekiel, good, heart, new heart, new spirit, passivity, prophet, reconciliation, responsibility, sins, spiritual path, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity, violence

I’ve always been partial to Ezekiel’s verse in chapter 36 that has God saying, “I will take from you your stony hearts and give you natural hearts…” It’s something I hold onto when I’m feeling ungenerous or grumpy – or worse. This morning however, in the earlier text from Ezekiel, chapter 18: 21-28, I read a serious message about bad and good behavior and the consequences of turning in one direction or the other. In case we miss it in the first reading, the verse before the gospel says this: Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. (18:31) The lesson for today, then, is that we have a responsibility to work toward restoring ourselves to God’s image rather than letting God do all the work.

There is more to this story, however, that resolves the apparent contradiction in the above comments. Why did Ezekiel change his mind from chapter 18 to chapter 36? The story goes that Ezekiel became a prophet in Babylon during the exile, and “his first task was to prepare his fellow countrymen in Babylon for the final destruction of Jerusalem, which they believed to be inviolable. Accordingly, the first part of his book consists of reproaches for Israel’s past and present sins and the confident prediction of yet a further devastation of the land of promise and a more general exile. In 587 BCE, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, Ezekiel was vindicated before his unbelieving compatriots.” (New American Bible commentary, p. 972)

The good news of Ezekiel’s prophecy which I quoted at the beginning of this reflection is that God never does abandon the human race, but there are questions that arise, I think, from a comparison of the Israelites’ situation to the state of our fractured nation today. Have we been shaken enough by the division and violence that continues to occur in our country and the world to wake up? Will we take the responsibility to change our own hearts and cooperate with God in moving toward unity and care for one another before we devolve into a people who will lose any semblance of humanity? I know those questions sound alarmist and dire but the story of the Israelites this morning calls me to look deeply into my own spirit and ask myself about my behavior. Am I so sure that I am “above the fray” by saying my life is on a spiritual path? Do I avoid difficult conversations because I think I have the right answers and don’t trust people on “the other side” to be rational about differences? Is praying for movement toward peace and reconciliation enough to do if I am unwilling to leave my prayer space to reach out to anyone I see as unsafe or uncomfortable? The blindness of the Israelites and the severity of Ezekiel’s message this morning have touched me as never before and shaken my passivity as one who believes that God will always save us. I still know that truth but now ask myself how long I am willing to watch what we are doing to each other before I give God some active help in the effort of our reconciliation. A sobering question for this first Friday of Lent…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faith in the Future

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action, beliefs, courage, faith, faith quotient, future, Meg Wheatley, responsibility, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Turning To One Another, uncomfortable, unfamiliar, values

There’s a lot of distress about the future in our country and the world these days. It’s often really difficult to see how we will overcome the negative forces that seem to surround us on every front. Sometimes it’s important just to stop and take stock of where we stand and what we believe is possible. Meg Wheatley, in her book Turning to One Another asks the question: What is my faith in the future? and then offers the following thoughts.

Where does the future come from? It often feels these days as if the future arrives from nowhere. Suddenly things feel unfamiliar, we’re behaving differently, the world doesn’t work the way it used to. We’re surprised to find ourselves in this new place – it’s uncomfortable and we don’t like it.

The future doesn’t take form irrationally, even though it feels that way. The future comes from where we are now. It materializes from the actions, values, and beliefs we’re practicing now. We’re creating the future every day, by what we choose to do. If we want a different future, we have to take responsibility for what we are doing in the present.

After discussing several examples of how we might accept that responsibility and move forward, she concludes with the following statement. We have sufficient human capacities – to think and reflect together, to care about one another, to act courageously, to reclaim the future. These great human capacities moved into action are what give me faith in the future. (p. 64, 67)

What is your “faith quotient” right now? How will you work toward its realization?

 

 

 

 

 

Riches

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balance, certainty, choices, corruption, gift of life, money, poverty, power, precious jewel, psalm 49, responsibility, riches, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, troubled times, wealth, wisdom's words

All of the readings today speak of the danger of riches. We have seen how our culture fuels our desire for more – whether it be money or power – and the corruption that ensues in many cases when “more” is achieved. Clearly there are very rich people who do amazing and generous things with their money – Warren Buffett, for instance – but responsibility with wealth only comes from the development of a discerning heart and a life of understanding that we are, not just in theory, brothers and sisters in this world.

Psalm 49 begins with the psalmist calling for attention to “wisdom’s words” regarding riches as he develops his argument in a framework that we might call “you can’t take it with you.” Listen well, my people, you who live on earth pay heed. Whether you are rich or poor, born high or low, it does not matter now. For wisdom’s words apply to you… He then asks a question that we would do well to ponder, and answers it for himself. Should I be terrified in troubled times, when evil dogs my way, while those who trust their wealth to save boast vast prosperity? No, none of this can help us now nor buy the gift of life. Riches never bring us certainty, nor free us from the grave…Then the one certain thing is the psalmist’s conclusion: For the grave claims back our bodies and angels claim our souls, but the One with the power of life and death claims you always as its own.

As always, there is a balance to be sought here. It would be foolhardy to raise up poverty as a benefit, but striving over-much for wealth is just as futile. As I write this, I’m thinking of the family, the mother and her seven grown children, who just won over four hundred million dollars in the Powerball Lottery. They presented as a close and loving family and in the few sentences that the news channel allowed, the spokesperson and one other of them sounded balanced in what they proposed to do with the money. I will pray for them today and hope that wisdom undergirds their choices and love walks with them into a future that is filled with possibility. May they and all of us remember that we cannot buy the gift of life; thus may we hold it as a precious jewel and share it generously each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do It Yourself

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discipline, doormats, Ezekiel, humility, Lenten journey, Matthew, new heart, new spirit, practice what you preach, psalm 50, responsibility, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today’s readings are very clear that discipline is an inside job. I noticed it first in the verse before the gospel which proclaimed, “Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (EZ 18:31) This is different from the more familiar (to me anyway) line about God saying, “I will take from you your stony hearts and give to you natural hearts.” Today God is calling us to responsibility; we need to do the work of repentance, not just talk about it. In Psalm 50, God asks, “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?” That makes me think of the old adage, Say what you mean and mean what you say.

The gospel gives us another familiar line that moves the conversation from a consideration of our speech to action. He’s speaking to the crowds about the scribes and the Pharisees (the people in charge) but we can all take to heart the lesson: Practice what you preach from the descriptions of what Jesus is talking about. “For they preach but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they do not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen…They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.'” The advice of Jesus ends the reading and is a good reminder for all of us. “The greatest among you,” Jesus says, “must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (MT 23:1-12)

Just a caveat about that last quote. Jesus is not interested in us making ourselves “doormats” for people to walk over. He is talking about mature service and true humility, qualities that can never be faked because they come from the inside, not from any action we can perform. So today I will “watch my step” on this Lenten journey, making sure I’m not looking for applause but doing my best to be authentic in all I do for God and for those I meet along the way.

Finding Our Place

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act, blessing, compassionate distance, contribute, find yourself, gesture, human community, humans, own place, own time, response, responsibility, slogan, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, time, truth

Today’s blog title could be seen as a follow up (or maybe a precursor) to yesterday’s topic. It is the title of a quote from Thomas Merton that I thought worth repeating today. I hope you agree.

Humans have a responsibility to their own time, not as if they could seem to stand outside it and donate various spiritual and material benefits to it from a position of compassionate distance. Humans have a responsibility to find themselves where they are, in their own proper time and place, in the history to which they belong and to which they must inevitably contribute either their response or their evasions, either truth and act, or mere slogan and gesture.

May today be one of great blessing for the human community!