The Voice of God

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Eli, Here I am Lord, listening, Samuel, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice of God

One of the most commonly recognized stories in the Hebrew Scriptures appears as today’s first lectionary reading. (1SM 3) It’s the story of the boy Samuel in his first days in the temple when “he was not yet familiar with the Lord.” It could actually be presented as a comedy in a religion class with Samuel getting out of bed and running to Eli saying, “You called me!” and Eli responding: “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed!” By the third time this happens, Eli the prophet catches on that God is calling the boy, so he instructs Samuel to answer, saying,”Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Many of us long for such a clear message from God, and to be able to recognize it when it comes. Some of us have wise people who help us interpret messages when we don’t recognize the voice of God. To be fair, we can’t always count on such a “direct address” as we find in today’s reading. How have you heard God speaking in your life? Do you allow at least a modicum of silence in your days so that you might hear a message? Are you open to new ways of hearing, new sources of wisdom? Have you any prompts in your environment? A candle perhaps, or music? Or perhaps an icon, a favorite picture of Jesus? There are many ways of preparation to hear the voice of God. And always, an open heart can echo this morning’s responsorial psalm, saying: “Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will!” If you put yourself in the place of most opportunity (openness) and make it a habit to call to God, you might be surprised someday to hear God’s voice in answer!

Recognition

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Advent, let the light in, O Come O Come Emanuel, radiant dawn, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the day on which we go to sleep in Advent and (if we are vigilant) we wake up to the coming of “the one for whom we wait.” We’ve been calling to him for weeks now: O come, O come, Emmanuel…so now we must attest to the fact that, by sunrise tomorrow, we will see the Radiant Dawn that is the presence of God in our midst. It seems clear that God is doing all the work. (See the conversation between the Lord and the Prophet Nathan, today’s first lectionary reading during which God recounts all that has been done for King David – and thereby the nation of Israel (2 SM 7–>8…16). All that is asked of King David is to recognize all that has been done for him and his kingdom. The pivotal moment in this reading for today, I think, is the line that reads, I have been with you wherever you went.

As we wait for the dawning of light tomorrow, let us again consider the wisdom of Br. James Koester, SSJE who writes today, “If you are looking to find where Jesus will be born tonight, do not stretch your hand out to the shiny, bright, and new. Look to those ordinary, ignored, forgotten, and hidden parts of your life, and the world, and there you will find him. Then, like the shepherds, kneel before him and know him to be Emmanuel, God with us.” In other words, just recognize that God has been with us wherever we have gone.

We have all day and into this night to search the corners of our hearts, letting the light in, until the radiant dawn of Divine Love overtakes the darkness and we welcome the long awaited Emmanuel. Do not miss this opportunity. Blessings on your search!

Spring Cleaning

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actions, David, Ephesians, Jesse, leadership, light in the Lord, Samuel, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The choice of David as king of Israel (1 SM 16) was rather stunning and perhaps as difficult to understand in human terms by the populace of our time as we face a presidential election. We have been watching and listening to a large number of Democratic candidates during primary season and have looked for one thing most importantly: who can beat the incumbent so as to change things. In the Scriptures, the choice was made for the youngest of Jesse’s sons – someone who wasn’t even considered. They had to go to the fields where he was guarding the sheep to find him because none of the seven sons had been found suitable.

What was it that God (through Samuel) was looking for? Not appearance or lofty stature but rather the state of his heart. And how would we judge that in our day? Not by how much money he has (or how much s/he has raised to run a campaign) nor the promises made for the future. We must look deeper than the words and consider how the candidates’ actions and the way they live their lives is consistent with those words. That’s not easy in this huge country of ours. We need to do our best to follow what St. Paul said today to the Ephesians for our assessment of ourselves.

“Once you were darkness” he says, “but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” (EPH 5: 8-14)

Notice that I suggested that we are assessing ourselves here – not others – because if we cannot find truth and honesty and goodness in ourselves, how do we expect to recognize it in others? It will take a long time, I think, for this to become the way we find our leadership, but perhaps, as we live through this moment that is challenging our world so seriously, we will shed much of the darkness that has accrued around and within us. In so doing we might see new (or forgotten) light in ourselves and others and a new world order might emerge. Why not adopt that kind of “spring cleaning?”

Good Idea?

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appearance, heart, judge, Lord, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today in the first Book of Samuel, we read:
“Do not judge from appearance or lofty stature. Not as humans see does God see, because humans see the appearance while the Lord looks into the heart.”

Amen to that!

As God Sees

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appearances, David, heart, Jesse, judging others, Samuel, tattoo, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I am remembering a time when my cousin’s daughter was dating a tattoo artist and relatives in my generation began to worry about her reputation as piercing and tattoos began to appear on her body. Never mind that she was bright and attending college while living with her grandparents to help them as they aged. Never mind her wonderful personality and winning smile, because tattooed ladies did not belong in our family! Now when “body art” is everywhere, my young cousin is moving toward the ripe old age of 40 and is recognized by everyone as the brilliant star that she has always been, if only others had taken the time to truly know her.

How often we judge by appearances! Today’s lesson from chapter 16 of the first book of Samuel has a great example of the danger of that stance. As Samuel was introduced to seven sons of Jesse from whom Saul’s successor was to be chosen, God kept saying, “Nope, not him!” until there were none left before him. (It sounds a little bit like a comedy routine if we imagine Samuel getting more and more agitated every time God rejects one of those presented to him.) When Samuel says to Jesse, “Don’t you have anyone else???” (Can’t you hear the exasperation?) Jesse had to wake up to the fact that it might be David, the youngest, the sheep herder, the dreamer that God had chosen. And so it was.

It’s a great story and an important lesson for us – not to judge a person by clothing or speech or degree of education or position in the work-a-day world…because not as humans see does God see, because people judge the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart. (1 SM 16:7) I will remember that today as I go about my various appointments and look for clues to the hearts beating all around me.

 

 

 

 

 

God Calling

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, calling, Eli, God, Here I am Lord, law of life, name, Psalm 40, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of my friends calls me Valerie. Urban legend has it that my mother wanted that to be my name but that she was convinced otherwise. It was probably the same dramatic flair in her that desired to call my sister “Heather Angel” which I’m told was the name of an actress back in the day. I smile now when that image of my mother bubbles up. She had her own delightful story of being named Mary Frances but always being called May. Her birthday was May first and the story goes that she was put in a May basket when she was born. I don’t really know what that means specifically (and never asked!) but I envision ribbons and flowers surrounding her sweet self as she greeted the world.

All this palaver about names derives from Samuel’s confusion about who was calling him out of sleep in the first reading from today’s lectionary. (1 SM 15:16-23) He thought it was his mentor, Eli, when it was really a deeper, inner call that he was hearing. Still a small boy, he didn’t yet understand the call of God in his life but was obedient to the directive of Eli who finally got the message of what was happening. So little Samuel began to respond when he heard his name – most likely before he had any idea of the meaning for his life – with the unconditional declarative statement: Here I am, Lord!

We are called by name in formal and informal ways during our lives. When in a situation of a roll-call vote, there is a sense of weightiness, of “putting your life on the line” for what you believe and are willing to stand up for. Additionally, when someone uses my name in a sentence (as in: “Can you see, Lois, the importance of this issue?”) I tend to wake up a bit more to what they’re asking. Thus, living into our names means living into truth and to deep listening for God’s word in our lives. Psalm 40 says it clearly to me today in the following translation.

For even in the scroll of Torah, the book you wrote, it is said that I should simply do your will. That is it, your whole desire, which has now become my soul’s delight. So from my heart I keep your ways, your law of life. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p. 99)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jealousy

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change, David, envy, friends, Goliath, gratitude, honesty, jealousy, King Saul, same, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

Jealousy is a very dangerous trait in a person. It seems to me a bit more serious than envy although it appears in the dictionary as envy’s synonym. I might be envious of someone’s good looks or good luck but, if I have a positive attitude about my own life, I don’t spend a lot of time comparing my lot with those of others. If jealousy takes hold of my life, however, it can lead to wishing harm to others – sometimes instigating events that will cause very bad things to happen.

In this morning’s lectionary reading from the first book of Samuel (1 SM 18:6-9, 19:1-7) we read about what seems like a childish attitude on the part of King Saul who is returning from a great victory over the Philistines. At his side was David, the hero that we know from his fame with his slingshot; he used it to slay the giant, Goliath. Everyone was singing and dancing as Saul and David approached. Unfortunately, the lyrics to their song (“Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands”) planted the seed of jealousy in Saul and as it grew he feared that David would take over the kingship of Israel.

It’s always good to have a friend who can see such a situation honestly and speak the truth to the parties. In this case it was fortuitous because Jonathan was both Saul’s son and David’s friend. Well-placed to see the situation as it truly was, Jonathan convinced Saul (for the moment at least) that David had been a faithful servant, desiring nothing but the good of the nation and, in fact, had helped Saul very much by his deeds.

Two adages come to mind as I think about applications of this story for us. The French are known to say: Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same) and in English we hear that it was ever thus. In our culture of today, there is so much pressure to get ahead, to be the best (which means the most successful or the richest), to climb to the top of the corporate ladder – as well as to be the best-dressed, most glamorous, the richest. We do well to cultivate the qualities of honesty, gratitude and the willingness to be satisfied with what we have and who we are. Oh yes, and don’t forget to thank God for good friends!

 

 

 

 

 

Manifesting Light

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being light, blind, darkness, David, Ephesians, Jesse, Jesus, John, light within, living in God, Paul, Samuel, shining presence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The Scriptural texts for this morning tell good stories. I especially always like hearing how David became king. What a surprise for his family! When Samuel came to speak to Jesse and asked to meet his sons, (1 Sm 16) nobody even gave a thought to David, the youngest, who was probably happy living in obscurity, spending his days with the sheep of his father’s fields. And this time when Jesus cured a blind person it wasn’t because the man was crying out asking Jesus for healing, as in the similar gospel stories, but rather just because of a question from the disciples about why the man was blind in the first place. (Jn 9). What got me thinking, however, was the reading in the middle (Eph 5:8-14) that begins with a startling teaser if we don’t read it quickly. At least in my translation we might think it reads: Brothers and sisters, you were once IN darkness but now you are IN light in the Lord…but there are no prepositions preceding the words darkness and light! What Paul seems to be saying is that our identity was darkness and living in God changes our very existence into light.

Think about David. What was it that made Samuel know David was the one? He must have seen something in Jesse’s youngest son that did not exist in any of David’s brothers. Maybe he was able to become light because of spending so much time in the natural world, watching things grow and observing the behavior of the animals – probably without much human interaction. Somehow, light had found a home in him, perhaps because of this simpler existence. After Jesus cured the blind man, his life got much more complicated. Maybe Jesus (and whoever asked the question about sin) saw something of light in him already that made him noticeable and that got strengthened enough for him to withstand all the repetitious questions about whose fault the blindness had been and what that said about who Jesus was.

If we think about it, we might conclude that in some ways it’s easier to be darkness. There’s less responsibility in the darkness where most of us sleep for the majority of the time. If we become light, people notice us. We shine so we have to be sure what we’re manifesting to the world is good, motivating others to justice and love and peace, for example.

It took a long time for David to find his way to manage the light that was in him, making good choices and not taking advantage of the love God clearly had for him. When he learned those lessons, however, how his brilliance shone for all to see! And the man born blind? My guess is that, after all the hubbub about his cure died down, he was blown away by all the color and beauty in the world that made him a very happy, shining presence.

Perhaps the moral of this story is that the possibility of “being light” is in all of us. The question we probably need to answer is how willing we are to stand in the light so others can see and benefit from our presence.

 

 

 

 

 

Forgiveness of Sin

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cries of freedom, distress, forgive, forgiveness, Jesus, King David, Nathan, Pharisee, Pope Francis, psalm 32, Samuel, shelter, sinfulness, sinner, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, your sins are forgiven

When we think of King David, it is natural to focus on his greatness, his love of God and his importance in the history of the Hebrew people, even though we know his failings. Today, however, we hear the prophet Nathan speaking for God, recounting all the favors God has done for David and then listing all of David’s egregious transgressions (2 SM 12: 7-13). Most stunning is the question: “Why have you rejected the Lord and done evil in his sight?” If David had been ignoring the seriousness of his sins or trying to rationalize his actions, that question must have shocked him into recognition of the depth of his sinfulness, because immediately he responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” His deep remorse is difficult to grasp from that simple sentence, but God knew his heart. Nathan answered for God saying, “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin; you shall not die.”

In the gospel, it is Jesus who points out the sinful behavior of Simon the Pharisee who has invited him to dinner (LK 7:36 – 8:3). When a woman known to be a sinner approached Jesus, weeping and anointing his feet with ointment, Simon judged not only her but also the legitimacy of Jesus as prophet because he should not be allowing the touch of such a woman. When Jesus points out Simon’s lack of hospitality to him and compares it to how generous the woman has been with her love, everyone at the table is surprised when he then says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Again we have a simple sentence that holds so much meaning! Her life was undoubtedly changed forever.

Pope Francis surprised the world some time ago by declaring that he is a sinner; he knows and admits that this is a fact of his life. In a way, it seems, the Pope’s declaration has opened a way for all of us to admit the same. God’s forgiveness of David was immediate because, in spite of his sin, David loved God intensely. Jesus saw that same love in the woman who bathed his feet with her tears and welcomed her because of that love. We suffer in our sins because we cannot accept the possibility of God’s forgiveness and the reality that God is just waiting to hear us say, “Please forgive me.”

Psalm 32 proclaims that if we acknowledge our sin it will be taken away. As a result, the psalmist sings to God: You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round. And what could be better than that! So let us run to God’s heart and feel the words we long to hear: “My Beloved, your sins are forgiven!”

Have Mercy On Me, O God!

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acceptance, acknowledgment, contrition, David and Bathsheba, evil, forgiveness, grace, guilt, just, personal sin, Pope Francis, psalm 51, recognition, relationship with God, repentance, Samuel, sinfulness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Year of Mercy

Yesterday I was having a conversation about sin – not sins but sin, as in “the sin of the world” or “social sin.” It’s much easier to look at it that way, not so difficult then to exclude myself from the topic rather than talking about my personal sin and guilt. Today, however, I could not avoid such a “close encounter” in the face of the story about David and Bathsheba. (2 SM 11:1-17) David’s actions of adultery and the subsequent plotting the death of Uriah when his attempts to hide Bathsheba’s pregnancy from her husband had failed sound like a modern movie plot! This from God’s chosen one, the king of Israel, the one whose reign was to last forever through his descendants!

Most of us know our own sinfulness and try to hide our shadow side from others for fear that we would be abandoned if anyone “really knew me.” David’s story gives us opportunity for a different way to proceed. It comes in a series of steps: recognition, acknowledgment, contrition, repentance, forgiveness and finally acceptance – all of which come in his relationship with God. His waking up to the seriousness of his sin came at the death of the child born of his liaison with Bathsheba but that recognition was so deeply felt not only by the loss but also because of his great love for God and the knowledge that he had severely damaged that covenant. Thus, his sorrow matched his guilt as he sang, “I have done such evil in your sight that you are just in your sentence…Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; the bones you have crushed shall rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt!” (PS 51) It is because of the depth of relationship that David could come to trust God’s forgiveness. Still cognizant of the enormity of what he had done, David was then able to accept himself and let go of his guilt to live into God’s welcoming embrace. I am confident that we are called to the same willingness in the face of our sin.

Serendipitously as I was pondering all this, my eye fell on a quote that seems apt for both this reflection and this “Year of Mercy.” Pope Francis writes that the Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person. Having received the grace and ability to acknowledge our own sins, may we be moved to extend such mercy to our companions and, yes, to our broken world.