Epiphany!

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be kind, epiphany, Herod, Magi, silence, stars, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Epiphany is a Greek word meaning “appearance” or “manifestation” and in Christian circles it is used in recounting of the story of the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem. We loved that story when we were children – most of all, I would guess, if one happened to be a boy who had a great costume in the Christmas play, that of a king “from the East.” The real event was more complicated than just their arrival, which happened significantly later than the date of Christmas and caused a massacre of boys under two years old.

There were no television cameras to announce these visitors. As is frequent in Scripture, the details surrounding this event are few. What we can extrapolate from the story is that these men were attentive to a “message in the stars” as well as to their dreams which told them to avoid Herod as they were leaving. There is a component of intuition and trust necessary for such an “epiphany.” One has to be listening deeply not to miss the signals. Isaiah the prophet gave a hint long before the Magi began their trek. ” Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow…” (1 Is 60: 1-6)

Have you ever had an “epiphany” in your life? It’s not always a religious experience. I remember a day in my college days when my philosophy professor failed to help me understand something important and suddenly one of my study partners said it in a way that illuminated it perfectly – clearly an epiphany! But how much more meaningful are the days when something touches us in a way that manifests God’s love – like a flash of light or a kiss directly to our heart! We can’t force an epiphany but we can make ourselves ready. Stay awake. Practice silence. Be kind. And once in awhile, at least, look up at the stars.

John of the Cross

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contemplate, persevere, prayer, silence, St. John of the Cross, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, transformation

When I wrote yesterday’s post, I wasn’t conscious that we were on the doorstep of John of the Cross. I know that there are several “Greats” celebrated in December, but being on vacation has a way of erasing any sense of date or time…It’s quite delightful but not so good for “devotion to duty” as in a daily practice. I say that because yesterday’s post seems to me a surprisingly appropriate introduction to this memorial.

Discipline and self-denial are not popular terms in our era but, in truth, they might be the best – if not the only – way to find what many of us long for: deep and meaningful relationship with the Divine. Spiritual author, mystic, founder of communities of Carmelite monks and nuns, spiritual director to many including St. Teresa of Avila and Doctor of the Church, John of the Cross is one of the “bright lights” of Christianity. As we celebrate his feast, let us consider some of his thoughts for reflection.

Silence is God’s first language.

Where there is no love, pour love, and you will draw love out.

To love is to be transformed into what we love. To love God is therefore to be transformed into God.

Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.

However softly we speak, God is so close to us that he can hear us; nor do we need wings to go in search of him, but merely to seek solitude and contemplate him within ourselves, without being surprised to find such good Guest there.

Heartfelt Listening

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listen, Meg Wheatley, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Turning To One Another

Lately I’ve been noticing – and reading about – a lot of unfortunate trends in the ways that people speak to each other these days. It seems more like a contest than anything else and people are quick to pull a gun or call a lawyer to sue for defamation of character. On television, panel “discussions” devolve quickly into shouting matches or five people talking over each other in louder and louder voices to get their points across.

All of this reminded me of a moment at our book study session on Wednesday evening this past week. When Cheryl asked for comments on a section of the chapter we read, there was a protracted silence, long enough for me to feel the need to say something like: “Didn’t anything strike you? Anybody???” which elicited a rousing chorus of “We’re just thinking!…It’s so deep and meaningful…” I was immediately chastened and, at the same moment, grateful for the depth of sharing that was so common in this group.

Meg Wheatley has something to say on this topic. On a page from her book, turning to one another in answer to her own question, “When have I experienced good listening?” she writes the following:

One of the easiest human acts is also the most healing. Listening to someone. Simply listening. Not advising or coaching, but silently and fully listening…it has something to do with the fact that listening creates relationships. We know from science that nothing in the universe exists as an isolated or independent entity. Everything takes form from relationships, be it subatomic particles sharing energy or ecosystems sharing food. In the web of life, nothing lives alone. (p. 88-89)

I’ll try to remember that…

In the Silence, Listening

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, God, God is calling, Luke, Lynn Bauman, Romans, silence, St. Paul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I awoke this morning from a dream of snow. It was so real I had to get up and look out the window to find it truly a dream. Our first snow is predicted for later in this week but not yet…not quite yet. I love the symbol of snow as a new beginning. I have no idea where I first heard that but I keep it close as a wake-up call. This morning it was so vivid in my dream that I believe God is calling, and the readings certainly corroborate the feeling. Paul’s Letter to the Romans says that we have differing gifts and we ought to use them. (See ROM 12: 5-16) and Luke calls us to pay attention when God invites us to dinner. If we refuse by making excuses, our seats may be taken by others. (LK 14: 15-24). In order to hear God’s invitation, however, I find the humility of the psalmist the most vivid instruction, speaking to me in Lynn Bauman’s translation of Psalm 131. Please read it aloud.

Lord, I have little or nothing. I am no one and can bring nothing to you at all. I am only a simple human being; I understand little of earth’s great affairs. But I know this, that I must still my soul in quietness, and like a child who rests upon its mother’s breast, await your presence in the silence, listening, and in this waiting silence, remain awake forever. (Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p. 336)

Aftermath

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Celtic Benediction, J. Philip Newell, morning silence, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, utterances

The silence around me this morning is broken only by my typing. There is (thankfully) no wind. Even in North Carolina, the hurricane has been downgraded to a category one storm. While still grieving for the inhabitants of the Bahamas, I offer a prayer of hope in the stillness of the morning.

“In the silence of the early morning your Spirit hovers over the brink of the day and new light pierces the darkness of the night. In the silence of the morning life begins to stir around me and I listen for the day’s first utterances. In earth, sea and sky and in the landscape of my own soul I listen for utterances of your love, O God. I listen for utterances of your love.”

(J. Philip Newell, Celtic Benediction, p. 74)

Spiritual Gifts

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courage, grace, love, path of life, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

As I was reading just now about “the art of discernment” and the place of silence in that practice, I was treated to one of those brief prayers that asks God for some of the greatest qualities that we could desire. What I like in the prayer is the specificity of action that accompanies each gift so that we can focus on the “how” of developing it. See if that makes sense to you as it does to me.

Grant me, dear God, the grace and the courage to be still and know that you are God, the wisdom to allow my soul to wait for you in silence, and the love to choose a path of life. Amen.

A Pause That Refreshes

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breathe, chant, mantra, pause, present moment, relax, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Many times during the past week, the members of our assembly have been invited to take a short pause, sometimes as brief as two minutes, to gather ourselves and breathe into the present moment. The silence at those times is deep and palpable. Occasionally, as an additional prompt to renewed consciousness, we conclude the silence with a chant that has a become a beloved mantra for us during these days and, I trust, for the days going forward.

Sacred is our call. Awesome indeed the entrustment. Tending the Holy. Tending the Holy.

Yesterday we reached the mid-point of our time here in St. Louis. Our reward for work well done is an entire day to pause and relax and become tourists, regrouping for the second half of our work. So I’m off to meet my sisters from New York and Hawai’i, likely meeting up somewhere in the city others from Japan and Minnesota, California and Peru! And in our “play” we will, of course, be tending the Holy all day long.

When Words Are Not Enough

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flame of love, Fr. Thomas Keating, interior silence, pause, prayer, presence, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I just picked up an issue of the Contemplative Outreach News (12/18) that I brought with me to this 2-week marathon gathering of Sisters of St. Joseph. Much of the issue was in homage to Fr. Thomas Keating who left this world last October but is still very present in the hearts of people the world over. Father Thomas was very skilled at articulating what was deepest not only in his own heart but in the hearts of all who listened to him as well. It was not just his words, however, that ignited the flame of love but his presence and his quiet enthusiasm for the love of God that burned in him and caught us up into a deeper place.

When I saw the above title in the newsletter this morning, I understood that whatever description was to follow in the article about Fr. Thomas, it could not capture the depth of the man or his love. I was not disappointed when I read the concluding paragraph.

In my ongoing work to fight homelessness, words are necessary. We connect with the suffering of our brothers and sisters through words. We change policy through words – spoken and written. We deepen our commitment to social justice through writing, reading and conversation. And yet, I will always be drawn back to Fr. Thomas’ teachings on the power of interior silence as the root of prayer and the foundation for our work in the world. (Jeff Olivet)

Yesterday the seven women who sat around our table in the midst of the 100+ Sisters wrestled mightily with the effort of expressing what is deepest in our lives: the meaning of our commitment to God, to one another and to our “dear neighbors” near and far. Several times during the session one of our two excellent facilitators called a “pause” to re-gather ourselves. Each time the silence in the room was profound and each time we began again, sometimes to struggle but also to know the presence of God in our midst as the meaning of all this holy work.

No Longer Strangers

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Alleluia, Bill Redfield, chanting, common experience, Easter, morning prayer, movement prayer, presence, silence, strangers, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, virtual retreat

“Today is a day for a new hymn!”

That’s a line from a long ago poem that I read somewhere and liked the sentiment enough to pen my own feeble attempt at poetry as response. A lot of life has passed since then. I have changed, of course, as there is no life without that reality, but the quote seems apt for this Easter morning. One could say that it might fit each day if we were paying attention.

The run-up to the Easter feast has been more than just a calendar notation this year, to be sure. I was more or less able to be present to a “virtual retreat” all week, a genius idea and amazingly successful creation of my friend and colleague, Bill Redfield. There were morning prayer services each day that included silence, chanting, movement prayer to stirring music and short readings, in addition to a reflective session for the evening. There was a “conference” for the day with probing questions as well. All of this had been recorded ahead of time and added to the whole each day on the internet, enabling participants to come to prayer as their schedule allowed, knowing that there were others around the country and the world who were adding to the communal consciousness. It was a different, quite effective way of participation.

The most amazing part of this experience, however, came at 4:00 EDT every afternoon when as many of us as were able clicked onto a ZOOM call where Bill introduced a topic and then sent us to a virtual “breakout room” to share with one or two other participants. The common experience was instant comfort and generally deep sharing with people who will never again be strangers to us. In 15-20 minutes each time we touched into deep topics and feelings about the Holy Week and Easter experience from a Wisdom perspective. There were only 30 to 50 people each day – of the many more participants – whose schedules allowed this miracle, but the sharing was extraordinary and seemed to shout that each of the days was a time for “a new hymn.” The technology is there and as a person who sits on the fringe of the technological age it was a glorious turn-around that I fully embraced.

Last night I worshiped in a church where I sat in the midst of over 100 people I could not name and a few cherished friends but the experience of my retreat created in me the recognition that in that prayer together there were no strangers because of the enthusiasm of our corporate prayer. We were all there for the same purpose and offered our energy and our voices to the conviction that Jesus had risen not only 2000 years ago in a place far away but also in Endicott, NY in our very present experience. If we stay awake, we might just continue to live into that presence each day with our sisters and brothers near and far.

So I shout “Alleluia!” to a world brought closer kinder this Easter Day. Blessings to all!

Joseph Was Silent

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Father, Holy Family, humility, obedient, silence, Sisters of St. Joseph, spouse, St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worker

Today Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church and the “silent partner” of Mary, in what we know as the Holy Family. I say that Joseph was silent because although he appears in several places in the gospels, there are no words attributed to him. It is up to us to imagine his part in the conversations that took place in family life, their travels and other significant events. That can be difficult for people who desire to know more about Joseph but much easier for those with active imaginations.

As I think of it, that is true for us with much of Scripture. We need to take the descriptions of events and fill-in the blanks where conversation is lacking. Those of us who live under the patronage of Joseph, e.g. Sisters of St. Joseph, carry him with us – most likely as a reflection of how we try to live our commitment to the religious life. What we can say about Joseph is that he heard God speaking to him in dreams, trusted what he heard and was obedient to God’s messages throughout his life.

I envision Joseph as a loving, gentle and kind spouse and father, humble about his work and his role in God’s plan. Although we do not hear him speak for himself, his humility and willingness to carry out God’s plan is evident in his actions. I have come to love the portrayal of his silent acceptance and way of moving through life as gift. Often words fail when God intervenes in our days in special ways or surprising moments. I believe Joseph treasured these events in his life and that they anchored him when the difficult moments came. Silence was his home, I think, and it served him well.

May Joseph’s gift of silence be a prayer to bless each of us today and may his love for God and his family be an example to all. Happy Feast!