Monday

Tags

acceptance, change, opportunities, seasons, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, time passing, trust

Here come the geese flying south. They make quite a racket, even if there are only a few of them heading for the river at the border of our property. Soon I will know again – if I’m driving north on Interstate Route 81 for some reason – the thrill and danger of seeing hundreds (yes, literally hundreds of them) and trying to count as I drive. It is a fruitless activity of course; I usually give up quickly and just let the amazement of their “V” formation take my attention and gratitude as they cross the vast expanse of sky over the cornfields. It’s one of those late August signals of seasonal change – some would all it delight – like waking up to a temperature of 48 degrees F. and waiting for the sun to take us to 75 by mid-afternoon.

I remember hearing when I was much younger about the phenomenon of swifter time passage as we age. Now I know the truth of that feeling. “How did we get to the end of August?” I ask myself as I contemplate the date and the fact of facing another Monday upon awakening. There’s no sense in lamenting the days already gone; they won’t ever be back! Accepting what is and moving on, grateful for what is still to come, is the only way to travel this highway. There may be miracles hidden in the morning mist. We have only to trust until the sun breaks through and sets a clear course of opportunity for the gifts that this Monday holds.

Spring Cleaning

Tags

letting go, seasons, spring cleaning, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I left my bedroom window open all night last night for the first time in many months and I am happy to say that I believe spring has truly sprung here in New York State. Just now reading about the practice of “letting go” I sensed how it’s easy to see how examples of that process manifest in many ways in the spring.

It’s time for cutting down and picking up what is dead in the garden spaces and all over the land where the winds of winter left evidence in small and large branches. The miracle of growth will follow if we give sufficient space to breathe. Pruning is not my favorite task but I have come to know its necessity and its effectiveness.

Within a week our summer buildings will have running water again as the fear of frozen pipes is past. Spring cleaning has always been a harbinger of new life, a clearing away of dust and debris to let the sun shine in. As we polish furniture and windows, there is a concomitant cleansing process that can happen in the cleaning team, a joy that comes with letting go of what no longer serves us and therefore gives way to the new. We begin to feel the energy of who will come to programs this season, what we will give and receive and how we will grow just as our cherished land will again flourish in this divine/human exchange. And all will be greatly blessed!

Mid-October Morning

Tags

action, Celtic Benediction, creativity, God, health, hope, John Philip Newell, new life, prayer, reflection, renewal, rest, rhythms of time, seasons, stillness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unfolding

On this dreary Saturday morning it is clear that the earth has shifted into the season of Autumn. As the rain taps out a wake-up call on the roof, I wonder if we will see the usual splendor that accompanies October. Some say because of the hot, wet summer we had, the trees will not provide us with that gift this year. I always hold out hope though, and it will last in me for a few more days. For now, I am relaxed into morning by a prayer of John Philip Newell that expands the rhythms of time and the seasons into a God-like view.

For the night followed by the day, for the idle winter ground followed by the energy of spring, for the unfolding of the earth followed by bursts of unfolding, thanks be to you, O God. For rest and wakefulness, stillness and creativity, reflection and action, thanks be to you. Let me know in my own soul and body the rhythms of creativity that you have established. Let me know in my family and friendships the disciplines of withdrawal and the call to engagement. Let me know for my world the cycles of renewal given by you for healing and health, the pattern of the seasons given by you for the birth of new life.   (Celtic Benediction by J Philip Newell, p. 76)

 

 

Summer Solstice

Tags

celebrating good, embrace life, energy, seasons, solstice, summer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I got out of bed this morning at the exact moment of the summer solstice: 6:07 AM! Had I known, I would likely have stood before my bedroom window and bowed, at least, in honor of the great light that brings so many benefits to our days – including the energy that often gets me out of bed. I am aware of the turning of our world today and the ability of scientists through the ages to discover things like the exact moment when the sun is at its highest in the Northern Hemisphere. I’m thinking as well of my cousins in Australia for whom the winter solstice has just happened as they mark the darkest part of the year.

How magnificent is the world we live in, not simply because of the regularity of seasons or the mirroring that can be perceived from north to south and south to north. I wait with such expectation each year for the leafing out of trees and the taste of corn on the cob, the flowering of forsythia and arrival of the hummingbirds. To  be fair, I must admit that the quiet arrival of the first snowfall also dazzles me. There is, of course, a downside to consider: the devastating fires and drought, for example, happening with or without human intervention, wreaking havoc in the lives of farmers and others who rely on good weather for their livelihood.

The question that arises for me in all this is whether or not I am willing to embrace life in all its moments, celebrating the good and enduring the difficult, while continuing to believe in possibility and learning the lessons life teaches – every day in every way. It can be more than a bit of a challenge sometimes, but today, welcoming summer, I say “Yes!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul’s Poetry

Tags

Acts of the Apostles, Creator, God, Paul, seasons, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, universe

Paul was certainly waxing poetic to the people of Athens in today’s text, my favorite from the Acts of the Apostles (17:15, 22-18:1). He actually sounds like the psalmist, proclaiming that the God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth…gives to everyone life and breath and everything. This God, Paul says, fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for and find God, though indeed God is not far from any one of us. In God we live and move and have our being.

Paul’s ability to draw the Athenians’ attention was masterful, as he speaks of their religious nature that he noticed while walking around the city, especially in an inscription in an altar that read, To an Unknown God. Thus, after his inspired speech quoted above, Paul concludes by referencing their own poets who said, “For we too are his offspring.”

This God of whom Paul speaks, the Creator of all that we know, is not limited to any religion. Although we interpret Paul’s words through the lens of our own tradition, there is no defining feature that limits God in such a way. All spiritual people seek and find God in different circumstances, in inner and/or outer experiences, in our own time and place. At this moment we would do well to see the truth that God is not my personal possession – or anyone’s – and that we must allow others their image and relationship with God in the way that we hope others will reverence ours. Reflecting on the fact that we are all the “offspring” of God ought to bring us to the realization that we are all brothers and sisters in this broad and beautiful universe. And that is a good thing to know.

In Beauty

Tags

beauty, chant, determination, helpful, living, Navajo prayer, positive, respectful, seasons, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, walk, walking circle meditation

My first waking thought this morning was a line from a Navajo prayer that became a chant and then a walking circle meditation long ago. It expresses how I wish to leave Stonington, Maine and move through days to come that may not be easy. I intend to remember it every day as my determination to be positive and helpful, respectful and willing for whatever is called for in my living.

In beauty may I walk. All day long may I walk. Through the returning seasons may I walk. Beautifully I will possess again. Beautifully birds. Beautifully joyful birds. On the trail marked with pollen may I walk. With grasshoppers around my feet may I walk. With dew about my feet may I walk. With beauty may I walk. With beauty before me may I walk. With beauty behind me may I walk. With beauty above me may I walk. With beauty below me may I walk. With beauty all around me may I walk. In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively may I walk. Living again may I walk. It is finished in beauty. It is finished in beauty.

First Thoughts

Tags

evergreens, leaves, morning, psalm 1, seasons, sunrise, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Everything is stillness this morning as I sit to ponder Psalm 1:1-6. Light is coming to the sky; there are apertures in the cloud cover, just barely lighter than the gray. There is no movement of branches, no stirring in the kitchen or on the road. I wonder if it is a holiday for surely Monday morning traffic should be buzzing by now. I cannot yet see the bronzing trees on the hill or the gold of the not-yet-harvested cornfield behind the house. I know in my bones the passing of the “fruitful” season of apples and take a deep breath as I read of the trees planted “by running streams” that “yield their fruit in due season.” Their leaves are mostly gone – for now – as we prepare for the hibernation of bear and earth and, if we can manage it occasionally, ourselves.

I am feeling the rhythm of the seasons this morning, grateful to live in a region where they are all wildly different in unique beauty. In the same way, I have the certainty of the psalmist who compares people to evergreen trees whose “leaves” never fade, the ones who delight in the law of the Lord. And now the clouds are pink, a car just sped by and a song bird has offered a lovely welcome to the day. It is time for me to move along, surprised that I have been sitting for 45 minutes as the world continued its silent turning. I think of my relatives in Australia as they experience the turning and all those people in between and I give thanks for this day, this life, this amazing mystery…

As The World Turns

Tags

darkness into light, Ecclesiastes, fatigue, gladness, joy, kindness of God, life, psalm 90, seasons, sleep, sun, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom of heart, workday

*NOTE: Once again this morning, internet access has been spotty, thus the late entry here. I will be leading a retreat this weekend and am not sure how it will be for tomorrow and Sunday in the location where the retreat is being held. Stay tuned!

I’ve had a number of conversations this week with individuals speaking of “seasonal fatigue” around the shift from summer to autumn. One person said, “I’ve been sleeping nine or ten hours a night and still feel a bit tired during the day!” I told her, a recent retiree, to go right on sleeping that much and be grateful that she can, until the fatigue recedes. We continued the conversation with discussion of the rhythms of nature that were disrupted by the shift from an agrarian to an industrial society and inventions that allowed the prolongation of light to our days by artificial means. This is old news for us, of course, but there seems to be more recognition of the disruption as life speeds up and our workdays get longer or more intense. I am personally more aware this year of the movements of nature, day to day, as I mow different kinds of grass each month or see flowers and leaves shift week to week in their life cycle.

The readings this morning, Ecclesiastes (1:2-11) and Psalm 90, remind me of that flow. From Ecclesiastes: The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises…What has been, that will be; what is done that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun.

This is all fine when we’re talking about nature – and it would behoove us to remember it as we try to control everything in our lives. But we are also in the throes of deep distress over world events, seeing worse happenings every day. Is there nothing we can do in the face of it? Psalm 90 responds: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. The psalmist continues, crying out to God, Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.

Perhaps the key is in recognizing that the kindness of God is already in our midst and that our shouts of joy and gladness will arise from the realization that we must become that joy and gladness in the world in a manner that will transform the darkness into light.