Decisions

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decision makers, path of wisdom, prayer, stay home, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, wisdom

As I came to semi-consciousness this morning I felt an urge to pray for the courageous people whom we have come to know as those “on the front-line” and/or “first responders.” Not only was the impetus there but even the words of a prayer came at the same time. It was very early so I stayed in bed allowing the text to edit itself as I went in and out of waking and sleeping. As there was a very persistent and very loud bird outside, I finally gave in and now here I sit with all the words erased! Poetic justice, I guess, for not acting more quickly in answer to the creative angel who woke me up in the first place.

What I’ve realized in this empty space and time, however, was that my original consideration of such a prayer really came from a wonderful zoom call on Wednesday. After a wide-ranging discussion we reached our conclusion with our usual question: “What are you taking away from this gathering?” One of our lovely deep-thinkers responded by saying, “I’m taking the decision-makers…”

Today is May 15th, the day when New York State is scheduled to begin to “open” again from the “Stay home” order. So all New Yorkers need to listen to directives from government leadership and their own hearts to know what is safe and what is not in relation to Covid 19. For this, and for all citizens of our country going forward, I pray simply:

Grant us, O God, the generosity of spirit to follow the path of wisdom today and all days. May we act from care for the whole rather than simply comfort for ourselves. May trust be our strong companion and hope lift us up to know what is best in every situation. And may love be the motivation for all that we do or do not do on this day and in the days to come. Amen.

One Thing I Ask

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God's presence, lessons, meditation, psalm 27, self-compassion, stay home, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

For a long time I have wished for more time with less to do. I was reminded of that this morning when I read Psalm 27 which sang out:

One thing I ask of the Lord, this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate God’s temple.”

It’s ironic really because since the second week of March — 46 days to be exact – I have been without a schedule and without restriction except to “STAY HOME” (as directed by our government) but have yet to dedicate time in any regular way to the contemplation of the “loveliness of the Lord.” I have participated in a virtual retreat by Zoom and have begun again the group book study that was interrupted mid-course last month…but that just happened this week and only takes 3 hours out of 24…

As I think of it, another irony is that the topic of the virtual retreat for this week is “Self-Compassion” and I wonder why I might be feeling guilty at this moment. I sit in my recliner and look at my meditation mat just three feet away, wondering why I am not sitting there right now and what it will take to finally move from recognition of lassitude to the discipline of meditation once again.

There are many lessons in this “season-out-of-time,” as I have come to call it. In conversations lately (zoom and telephone only!) I have been grateful to hear that I am not alone in what is probably a mild case of depression if not just an adjustment to life during a situation I have never before encountered.

As I think of it, I have not lost the sense of God’s presence always with me so perhaps attention to that fact is a way to achieve the same result as happens in a scheduled meditation session. That’s something to watch as I go forward…but I think today will lend itself to a scheduled “date” with God on my mat, because during this attempt to explain myself to myself, I am feeling a deeper longing for just such an event!

Just A Word

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coronavirus, life or death situation, seriousness, stay home, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As we continue to hear the seriousness of the coronavirus statistics, it’s easy to wonder if there are more deaf people in our country than we thought! Or is it that we just refuse to comprehend that there is reason for what the directives of government mean? I know that when we’re young, we think that we are indestructible but seeing news reports of hordes of young adults at Florida beaches for “spring break” just yesterday is truly shocking!

I am not willing to generalize this attitude to say the spread of the virus is the fault of millennials. There are many people – even in my generation – who say things like: “I’m just going to be out for an hour…” as if the virus has a watch to catch those spending too much time at meetings. Shelter in place means STAY HOME! unless there is serious reason to venture out for some necessity. The virus does not announce itself as it comes close to you. Are you sure you aren’t infected?

May each of us look to ourselves and refocus on the seriousness of this moment. (I know I’m preaching to the choir here so please forgive the rant.) May we do our best going forward in this life-or-death situation.