Deep Questions

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Jesus, questions, rock, role, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

7:00AM: I am sitting in our living room where all is quiet. In the silence a song begins to play in my mind, once again from the St. Louis Jesuits. Over and over, just the refrain. Over and over I hear: Only in God will my soul be at rest…from him comes my hope, my salvation. He alone is my rock of safety, my strength, my glory, my God. “Why those words?” I ask and then another question: “What is my role here now?”

Lots of people are asking questions like that these days, I think. Over 200,000 people have died in our country over the past six months. Why would that question not rise up at some point? So I go to the lectionary readings for a clue and find more questions than answers.

1. (ECCL 3:1-11): There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under heaven…
2. PS 144: Blessed is the Lord, my rock, my mercy and my fortress, my stronghold, my salvation, my shield in whom I trust…
3. (LK 0:18-22): Once when Jesus was praying, he asked them (his disciples) “Who do the crowds say that I am?”…”Who do you say that I am?”

Questions and answers – oblique though they may be – then more questions…As I read again the three readings for the day, the gospel acclamation catches my eye and everything comes together in this one short statement: The Son of Man came to serve. (MK 10:45) And so it is with me.

Kickstart

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fortress, kickstart, Lord, praise, prayer, refuge, rock, salvation, stength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Some mornings there is no reason for the joy or distress we feel upon waking up to the day. Nothing on the calendar is more than a mild challenge, no ache is greater than the normal twinge of aging, no residuals of a delightful or disturbing dream can be named. Some of us do, however, act as the weather directs: sunny or gray depending…

It’s good to have a few “fall-back” kickstarts just in case we need something to get going. Prayer helps, and certain quick reminders from the psalms do just fine most days. Today provides one such example. I recommend saying it aloud and then keeping it written in a convenient place for any gloomy day.

I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! Praised be the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies.

Love Is the Answer

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faith, fortress, heart, love, rock, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There are so many ways to say it – and so many reasons to consider it. The point to make every day really is that love is at the heart of every solution, every relationship…every success in life. It was what fueled Sts. Francis and Clare (see yesterday’s post) and today, the message in the readings couldn’t be clearer.

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them to your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead…(DT 6:4-13)

I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer! (PS 18:2-3)

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (MT 17:20)

I’ve never seen a mountain move because of a show of power. The impetus – the fuel – of such an undertaking has to be love. And it starts with the simple things, so let’s get moving! A new day – a new chance for loving has dawned.

 

 

 

 

 

My Rock

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face fears, God is my rock, God's strength, King David, Nan Merrill, open my heart, positive energy, psalm 18, Psalms for Praying, refuge, rock, rock-steady, sing praises, stone, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Once, when I was going on a trip, a young friend asked me to bring her back a small stone. She sometimes makes jewelry out of natural elements. When I came back with several small stones, individually wrapped and marked with their town of origin, she reverently unwrapped and held each one, noting the energy in each. Although I had chosen each one somewhat deliberately, my choices were simply about size, shape and coloration. I still bring her stones but am somewhat more conscious about the choices; she has taught me that there is more about them than what can be seen.

The readings for this morning led me back to consideration of the qualities of rocks. Lately the readings from the Hebrew Scriptures have been about King David – both his celebrity and his sins. His saving grace, however, was that he always clung to the knowledge that God was faithful, even in his worst moments and most painful lessons. God was his “Rock” – a stronghold who gave him safety. He sang about that in Psalm 18, quoted this morning: God’s way is unerring, the promise of the Lord is fire-tried; he is a shield to all who take refuge in him. The Lord live! Blessed be my Rock!

David was very successful as a king, a warrior and a friend of God. Today Nan Merrill reminded me, in her translation of Psalm 18 (Psalms for Praying), of what I think David came to know of that “rock-steady” strength of God in him, that positive energy that transformed his sinfulness into humility and his willfulness into surrender. She writes it as follows:

The Most High lives; blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the Heart of my heart, the Loving One, who helped me face my fears and opened my heart to the poor; Who delivered me out of the darkness of ignorance. Yes, you did bring victory over my fears; You led me into harmony and wholeness. For this I will extol You, O my Beloved, among the nations, and sing praises to your Name.

Resting in God

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God, hope, psalm 62, rest, rock, salvation, soul, stronghold, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust in God

I thought there was a misprint on the US Bishops’ website this morning. I was reading Psalm 62 (2-3, 6-7, 9) and I thought the entire first two segments were the same. I didn’t catch at first that the psalmist was speaking first in general of a truth about relationship with God (vs. 2) and secondly to his own soul about the necessity of belief in that truth (vs. 6) with  the repetition (vs. 3 & 7) giving emphasis to each. Confused? Read on.

Only in God is my soul at rest; from God comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all. Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from God comes my hope. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed.

After speaking directly to his soul about the hope that comes from this attitude/practice of resting in God, the psalmist then bursts into song addressed to the whole nation, urging them in the same way: Trust in God at all times, O my people! Pour out your hearts before him; God is our refuge!

May we all find rest and hope in God throughout this day.

A Quiet Moment

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fortress, Jerusalem, Jesus, psalm 71, refuge, rock, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wondrous deeds

This morning I imagine Jesus sitting outside in the quiet of the morning at the house of his friends reciting the Psalm for the day (71) that he has known from his youth. The familiar words surely give him courage and comfort as he moves closer to what lies ahead for him in Jerusalem. I read it and join myself to him in the prayer.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me. Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress. O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked. For you are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. My mouth shall declare your justice, day by day your salvation. O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of Rocks and Sand

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Cape Cod, Isaiah, Jesus, Lord, Matthew, renovation, rock, sand, seek the Lord, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust in the Lord

When I’m lucky enough to spend time at my childhood vacation spot of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, I love to stand in the water to my ankles and feel the receding waves take the sand from around my feet. When the waves are very energetic, or when I have ventured a little farther into the sea, I am sometimes “upended” as the sand swirls around and away leaving my feet with nothing solid on which to balance.

This morning Matthew advises us to build our houses on rock rather than sand (MT 7:24-27) in order for the house to avoid destruction from wind and rain. The metaphor is clear but Isaiah deepens the meaning saying “The Lord is my rock…Trust in the Lord forever!” In this season of Advent, we might consider a slight renovation to our “house” – or maybe it’s time to wake up to the need for major overhaul! It’s a good time for it, says the gospel acclamation:

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near!

Of Rocks and Sand

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building, faith, Jesus, Matthew, rock, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

On the national news last night I watched a reporter in St. Paul, Minnesota walking in the Mississippi River up to his knees. Happily, he was holding onto the post of a walkway that usually runs along the banks of the river but now, with all the rains, is partially submerged. He said there was potential for the river to rise six more feet before the flooding subsided. This was a graphic image of what has been happening in many parts of our country lately, in contrast to those states that are experiencing drought. I was happy that he was holding on to the structure because he was up to his knees in rushing water. It reminded me of vacations at the ocean where standing in knee-deep water when the waves were strong could topple me as the waves receded and the sand around my feet was washed back out with the tide.

In this morning’s gospel (MT 7:21-29) Jesus warns of the danger of building a house on sand rather than rock. This image can lead in many directions in our thinking. “His argument was rock solid,” someone might say. “God is my rock, a stronghold who gives me safety.” Even though we built lovely castles in the sand on those beaches as children, it took only one great wave or the rising tide to wash away the entire structure.

So the message is clear. Jesus doesn’t give his listeners a chance to misunderstand. He says, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew and buffeted his house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

I have to ask myself this morning: How are my building skills? What preparation have I done for new construction? Will what I’m building last a lifetime? Are there renovations needed now that I’m able to make? Should I get some advice from a Master Builder? That might just be a good idea…