A Wider Window

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immersion, Peru, smile, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, travel

Just for a moment as I looked out my window this morning the sky was pink and blue and beautiful. Now I can still call it beautiful as I mourn the passing of pink and wait for the light of full sun – the promise of the meteorologists for this day. But my enthusiasm is tamped down a bit by a tiny ache in my heart, the same one that soars with the wonder of sunrise but today makes me long for the mountains and faces of Peru. Strange that ten days of immersion in a far-away place could be so deeply planted just by the smiles of children or the grandeur of mountains. But it is clearly there, as firmly as the loyal tree that graces my window, and just as still.

I need to shake off the lassitude that comes with travel and get back to the work-a-day world that fills my life with meaning. I know I will but also am confident of a larger stretch of life outside my window that I take to all the days to come. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A Little Story

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free, love, Love Poems From God; Twelve Voices from the East and West, Meister Eckhart, smile, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here’s a little story, seemingly perfect on this rather dreary-looking day that may yet be full of possibility. Consider it a gift From Meister Eckhart to raise spirits that may be struggling to move into the weekly routine. For others it may just be a smile and a “thank you!” See what you feel.

All day long a little burro labors, sometimes with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries about things that bother only burros. And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting than physical labor. Once in a while a kind monk comes to her stable and brings a pear. but more than that, he looks into the burro’s eyes and touches her ears and for a few seconds the burro is free and even seems to laugh, because love does that. Love frees.

(Love Poems from God: Twelve Voices from the East and West, p.108)

 

 

 

 

 

Smiles All Around

Tags

A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, consciousness, contemplative, dialogue, Divine Presence, inspiration, kindness, listening, message, mindfulness, psalm 57, smile, smiling, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wellness

I have to smile this morning as I sit here waiting for a message to arise when prompts are all around me. My brain feels like a broken record and I wonder if I will ever move through a day – or even an hour – without falling out of consciousness. Here’s what I mean.

1. On Tuesday I met with the two other persons who are working with me to create a second series on Mindfulness to complement what we offered last year during Lent. We’re moving toward weekly presentations on contemplative listening and dialogue – skills that are not easily practiced in our culture. We easily talk about them but practicing is another matter.

2. On Wednesday I was at a pharmacy waiting for a prescription to be filled when my eye fell on what appeared to be a coloring book in the magazine rack at the checkout counter. It was, rather, a creative magazine called Breathe: The Well-being Special. A banner that ran across the cover announced Wellness, Kindness, Mindfulness, Inspiration. Since I had never before seen anything like it, surrounded as it was with offerings of Hollywood gossip and political distress, I had to buy it! I have not been disappointed.

3. This morning Psalm 57:8 sings out: Awake, O Spirit that sleeps within…So I myself can wake the dawn with music in the morning’s light. The commentary speaks of the divine Presence as so powerful that it can affect changes in the outer world.

4. Last but not least, Alan Cohen (A Deep Breath of Life) uses the image of how shoes are all lined up neatly at the entrance of a Japanese house – except his which were “criss-crossed and strewn out of line.”

Happily, I have come to feel that God is not wagging a finger at me when I fall out of consciousness these days. I trust that God is smiling with me when I return from the mindless, interfering thoughts to renewed awareness of the Divine Presence that comes with my next breath in the now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Face In the Mirror

Tags

Black Friday, defend, face, God, healing, mirror, prayer, psalm 84, smile, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Psalm 84 is a wonderful reminder of God’s care. It’s the one that tells us that even a swallow finds a home in God’s house. Today as I was reading one of my favorite translations of the psalm, I was stopped at verses 7 and 8. Here’s what they said:

Lord God of everything that is, God of my heart, listen to this humble prayer. Defend me now by simply looking at my face. Your look will be for me a healing oil that covers all.

Reading that, I thought of two things I have often heard from a friend whose motivational workshops often included two things, one a statement and the other a question. People need to get in touch with their faces, she says. I used to think of that on the rare occasions when I preached at liturgy. Looking out on the sea of faces in front of me, I was often tempted to shout out, “WAKE UP!” or “SMILE!” (We are very serious or sometimes readying ourselves for the “same old same old” there.) Her question was more direct. When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror to comb your hair or while brushing your teeth, she asks, how many of you smile and say, “What a woman (or guy)!” The audience usually laughs (I know; I’ve tried it.) and then she asks why that sounds funny. We really need to do a better job accepting the image of ourselves that we see in the mirror. We should try to look as if it were God looking back at us. If that is scary, then it’s time to re-read psalm 84 aloud to ourselves and re-assess our image of God.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving and I wonder how many of our reasons for giving thanks included gratitude for ourselves – for who we have become and are becoming. Black Friday is in full-swing by now. Maybe we should buy a little willingness to accept the joy of God’s face looking back at us from the mirror.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Papal Power

Tags

forgiveness, joy, mercy, modern day prophet, Pope Francis, smile, Spirit of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In almost every conversation around the USA this week, comments about the visit of Pope Francis abound. Before he arrived speculation about his message ran high. A man full of surprises, when asked about what he would say to Americans, he responded: “I just want to visit them.” Clearly, just in his presence from the moment he emerged waving from the plane, this first purpose has been achieved. The joy of the crowds, the smiles on the faces of dignitaries and children, the hope that his very being inspires goes far beyond the members of his own Church to all those desiring a better world. But Francis will not leave this country without speaking his mind. This modern day prophet will likely challenge our country to do a better job in caring for the poor and for our environment. His tone will not be one of judgment or condemnation for failure, if we can judge by past statements about mercy and forgiveness. We are wise to listen deeply for universal concerns in his speech which nevertheless are applicable to our personal lives as well.

Let us give thanks for the Spirit of God shining through this simple man who gives so much hope to so many and gives example of carrying the weight of the world with prayerful demeanor and a dazzling smile.

A Sticky Wicket

Tags

kind word, panhandlers, Proverbs, psalm 15, smile, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In both the first reading from Proverbs and the Psalm response this morning, I was confronted with references to the ever-present concern of God (and Jesus) for “my neighbor”. Proverbs told me to “refuse no one the good to which he has a claim,” saying not “‘Go and come again; tomorrow I will give,’ when you can give at once.” (PRV 3:27-28). Psalm 15 speaks of the one “who harms not his fellow man, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor.”

As I considered these lines, the phrase “sticky wicket” came to mind. I actually had to go to a dictionary to be sure I was clear on the definition. I was somewhat surprised that what I found was exactly what I needed. A difficult or awkward situation; one requiring delicate treatment, it said. The difficulty came for me in the first reading when I thought of the panhandlers I drive or walk by sometimes (easier to ignore when I’m in my car). What should be my response to people who are obviously in need? What if I give money and they spend it unwisely? My judgment about such unfortunate people is where I get into trouble. My mind generally assumes all sorts of possibilities of why such people are as they are – all conditions brought on by their own weakness. Taking up a reproach against these neighbors of mine is easy. Deciding – on my better days – how to help them is not. Money is not always the answer. Maybe I should buy some gift certificates from a local restaurant or make some cards with the addresses of nearby food pantries. (These are just my first thoughts. There must be other attempts at a solution.)

One thing that is always possible is a smile and a kind word. Why would I be afraid to offer that, no matter the response?