When the Student Is Ready

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A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, conscious labor, deep listening, good, meditation, prayer, spirit, spiritual seekers, struggle, student, teacher, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center, Wisdom School, wisdom work

Yesterday Deborah and Bill, my two colleagues in the “Wisdom Work” we have been doing for four years now, arrived here at the Spiritual Center for a time of planning as we await a group of eleven participants to our first weekend “wisdom school” of the year. They will come late this afternoon so we still have time for prayer and preparation, including final details for the weekend. Many of the participants are unknown to us and have found us in various ways (God bless the internet!). This is a rather new phenomenon and excites us as it seems indicative of the growing desire for “more” among spiritual seekers popping up everywhere.

I smiled in recognition when I opened Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life, this morning to find that his title for reflection today was “When the Student Is Ready…” The second half of that quote, well-known now in spiritual circles is “…the teacher appears.” Cohen says, ” When Spirit wants to get through to you, It will find a way. We never need to struggle to connect with the right people or teachings. When the student is ready, the teacher appears…” He speaks of the need to connect energetically to the desire for our highest good by prayer, meditation and affirmation and then just be ready for life to unfold. Oh yes, and remaining alert to the happenings of every day is important.

I know that the participants will not be the only “students” on this weekend adventure. I have already learned a few lessons and had a few reminders of what I know in the brief time that our team has been together. We are clear on these weekends that we are all learners. Thus the balanced schedule we keep of meditation, deep listening as we read and ponder spiritual texts together, conscious labor that includes the physical, movement exercises that keep us in touch with our bodies, chanting that lifts our spirits and silence that creates a spaciousness necessary to reflection.

Cohen ends his thoughts with a prayer intention: I pray to attract my highest good easily, gently, and joyfully. He then adds an affirmation: I let go of struggle and allow Spirit to manifest my good. May it be so with us!

 

 

 

 

 

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Smart Monkeys

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A Deep Breath of Life, accept, Alan Cohen, anxious, clutch, creative, fit, intelligence, learn, monkeys, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the tide of events

I would have to look back in my posts to see if Monday is the day on which I am most likely to rely on the thoughts of others rather than my own in writing here. Perhaps it would make sense that the beginning of the work week would be fraught with plans and deadlines or regrets about what I did not accomplish during the weekend, in which case focus on creative thought might be more difficult. Whether or not that is sometimes the case, it is not so this morning, yet I am once again drawn to share what is to me an engaging and meaningful lesson from Alan Cohen’s book, A Deep Breath of Life. See if my choice is helpful for you.

Jungle lore tells that monkeys learned how to evade capture by making use of ease rather than force. Hunters would put some nuts in a glass jar with a rim smaller than its base. A monkey of inferior intelligence would reach into the jar and grab the nuts, but because the hand with the nuts in it was too large to fit through the rim, the animal would stand there struggling, and the hunter would grab him. The smarter monkeys, however, didn’t reach into the jar; they simply opened one palm and tilted the jar so the nuts fell into it. If you are trying to clutch onto something that won’t fit into your life naturally, that’s when you get caught. Accept what shows up, and you are free. Take advantage of the tide of events and life will support you in ways that you could not manipulate through anxious struggle.

Build on what is, rather than what isn’t, and you will be one with life.

Hope for Grumpy People!

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affectionate, cheerful, Daughters of Charity, kind, moments of grace, poor, repulsive, St. Vincent de Paul, struggle, temperament, tender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Vincentian priests

Two things about St. Vincent de Paul’s life (1580-1660) were surprising to me as I read his brief biography at http://www.franciscanmedia.org this morning. First I learned that he had no burning zeal for the poor early in his life. As a matter of fact, he “became a priest whose ambition was to have a comfortable life.” Called to hear the confession of a dying servant of the Countess de Gondi, his life began to change. The Countess had convinced her husband to give a large amount of money to help the poor in their area and she finally persuaded Vincent to be in charge of the effort. It was then that he found his true calling, caring for the less fortunate, becoming founder of the Vincentian order of priests and spiritual father to the Daughters of Charity, led by Louise de Marillac.

The second comment of Fr. Don Miller in the biography was even more startling as we usually think of our saints as models of good behavior. Fr. Miller writes that Vincent was by temperament a very irascible person – even his friends admitted it. He said that, except for the grace of God, he would have been “hard and repulsive, rough and cross” but he became tender and affectionate, sensitive to others’ needs. So it seems there is hope for all of us who struggle to be kind and cheerful!

Perhaps the morale of this story is that “it’s never over till it’s over.” Experiences in life can take us places we never imagined going and we can be changed in ways we never thought possible. So we can all take heart and be on the alert for moments of grace that might be offered to us at any time!

The Real Work

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active work, Christian life, contemplative, create our destiny, great work of mankind, Kathleen Deignan, Labor Day, Love and Living, nature, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours

I’ve often been in conversations where the topic is the naming of this holiday. Some of us think it should be called “Non-labor Day” since mostly all workers who are not absolutely necessary (like hospital emergency room personnel) are usually free of going to work today. With this in mind I turned to Thomas Merton who actually has a fair number of thoughts on the subject of work. I came upon a paragraph in which he looks at work in a different, more elevated way. I thought it a good sharing for today and with it I pray my hopes for a safe and restful, rejuvenating day for everyone, working or not.

(We must forgive the “exclusive language” in the paragraph below since Merton lived when “man” was still understood universally as meaning all of “humankind.”)

All Christian life is meant to be at the same time profoundly contemplative and rich in active work. It is true that we are called to create a better world. But we are first of all called to a more immediate and exalted task: that of creating our own lives. In doing this, we act as co-workers with God. We take our place in the great work of mankind, since in effect the creation of our own destiny, in God, is impossible in pure isolation. Each one of us works out his own destiny in inseparable union with all those others with whom God has willed us to live. We share with one another the creative work of living in the world. And it is through our struggle with material reality, with nature, that we help one another create at the same time our own destiny and a new world for our descendants.  (Love and Living, p. 159 – quoted in Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours, edited by Kathleen Deignan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temptation

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40 days, demands, desert, evil, fully divine, fully human, good, Jesus, Lenten gospels, Luke, sin, struggle, suffering, temptation., The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today in churches all over the world Christians hear about Jesus being tempted mightily by the devil. He is in the desert, a dangerous place to be even if one is just thinking about the weather which can include wild variations in temperature. Add the possibility of dust storms and no access to water if you’re stranded with the sun beating down and it is no wonder that, after forty days, Jesus was severely put to the tests described by Luke’s gospel. The last sentence in that account surprised me though, and had me wondering this morning if I had ever heard it – I mean really heard it – before. Rather than just saying that after Jesus withstood all the temptations “the devil left him,” Luke says, “When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.” (LK 4:13)

No matter how one perceives the account of the temptations in the desert (different in each of the synoptic gospels) especially regarding the devil as a personification of evil and/or struggle to choose the good, we still have 2,000 years of hindsight to intuit the outcome of such an experience for Jesus, the Christ. However, modern Scripture scholars have brought us back to a more balanced view of Jesus as “fully human, fully divine.” After centuries of theological study focused on the divinity of Jesus, we have been called in recent history to remember that Jesus was “like us in all things but sin” – a very comforting thought for those of us who struggle with small and larger temptations on a regular basis. Perhaps that’s the great majority of us.

Just that small prepositional phrase – “for a time” – set me on a path of reflecting this morning on a way to reframe the difficulties Jesus experienced on his journey to Jerusalem. How did he deal with the demands of the increasingly large crowds that he encountered? We have examples of his need to escape for some quiet, but do we ever think of him saying to himself something like: “I’ve got to get out of here! They’re driving me crazy!” before he “went up the mountain alone?” What was the depth of his disappointment with the people he chose for his disciples when they failed to understand what he was trying to say? Did the loneliness of that reality ever threaten his determination to continue the mission he so clearly understood? Was he similarly distressed by the way people treated each other sometimes? Was he ever tempted to give in to despair?

Thus, although I have been aware of the difficulties that Jesus encountered in his public life and how he must have suffered as he moved toward his final destiny, I’m not sure I have ever given serious consideration to the part “temptation” played in that suffering. I think I considered that his battle with that was taken care of and once he exited the desert his struggles never caused him to question or falter. Now I wonder. And I will continue, as I read the Lenten gospels, to think in new ways about the path of Jesus and perhaps find new comfort for my own encounters with temptation.

Attachment

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free, give yourself totally, giving, Jesus, Matthew, possessions, struggle, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vow of poverty, willingness

I sit this morning in the bedroom I call “mine” surrounded by more books than many people read in their entire lives. I have CDs that hold favorite music, this computer and a personal phone that accompanies me everywhere and various other “things” which seem more or less necessary to me. I think this morning of my early days in religious life when we learned to speak of “our” possessions rather than “mine” – basically so that nothing would possess us and to let us know that the vow of poverty meant we held everything in common.

In this morning’s gospel, Jesus challenges a young man who wants a deeper way of life than just following the commandments. “Go,” Jesus says, “sell all that you have and give to the poor. Then come and follow me.” (MT 19:16-22) What happens next is not a happy ending. “When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” The fact of his sadness is what makes me sad. He doesn’t go away in a huff, grumbling about Jesus asking too much or saying Jesus is unfair or crazy. He simply recognizes that he is not free to give himself totally.

I doubt I will ever be called to give up everything it seems I “own” – including the intangibles like relationships and convictions – so that all I have left is God, but this gospel always calls me to assess my willingness to do so if that day should come. I think I understand the struggle of the “rich young man” and pray each day for the gifts of willingness and surrender. Giving things away is also a good practice so that freedom to be available for whatever God asks is the first and only non-negotiable I bring to each day.

Be Patient

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Canaanite woman, Israelites, Jesus, keep faith, live the questions, love the questions, Matthew, Numbers, patient, Rainer Maria Rilke, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This morning’s readings are about struggle, first of the Israelites in the desert who are convinced that God brought them out of Egypt to die because their situation was discontinuous from the miracle of their escape through the Red Sea. (NM 13 & 14) The Canaanite woman in the gospel presents an opposite view. An outsider, she was willing to approach and then challenge the negative response of Jesus to her cry for help, such that in the end her request was granted. (MT 15:21-28)

Sometimes it’s hard to keep faith when things are difficult and there seems no end to struggle in sight. As often happens for me when I am looking for a “way out” or something that will keep me going, I opened a book this morning to find a quote by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke in his Letters to a Young Poet. It speaks of what I know as successful process as I look back on the life I’ve lived so far, and seems appropriate advice in times of struggle.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves…Do not seek the answers that cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will gladly, without even noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

Wrestling

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Genesis, God, Israel, Jacob, Jesus, Matthew, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wrestling

This morning’s readings are about struggle: internal and external struggle. The Genesis story (GN 32:23-33) of Jacob wrestling with what first appeared to be a human, then an angel and, in the end, the one of whom Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face” is a familiar one. Jacob struggles all night with God and in the end is blessed with a new name that foretells his destiny; he was called Israel. The story is told as an external wrestling match but is most likely significant of the struggle that is often part of our life with God. If we are truthful, we all probably have some difficulty living in this world and wondering why God allows all the suffering and need – our own and/or that of the wider world.

In today’s gospel (MT 9:32-38) even Jesus seems to be overwhelmed a bit. He’s going from place to place, “to all the towns and villages, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and curing every disease and illness…moved with pity for the crowds” who seem so troubled and abandoned. I can just picture him looking around at all there is to do for so many people and wondering how he can possibly manage to change the world for the better – wrestling with God about the difficulty of the task. I see him slumping down – probably on a rock – covering his face with his hands and then looking up to say to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out more laborers for his harvest.”

Wrestling (I learned as a high school teacher attending wrestling matches) isn’t just about rolling around on the floor trying to pin your opponent. It is a well-developed skill. I think we’re being asked to continue wrestling with the big questions in order to stay on track toward the manifestation of the Kingdom of God. We need to continue to ask God’s blessing for the work of transformation – of ourselves and the world – and get about developing our muscles for the long haul.

Real Life

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Afghanistan, armor of God, consciousness, Ephesians, Jesus, justice, Luke, Peace, pray, psalm 144, St. Catherine of Siena, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, triumph of light over darkness

Yesterday I spoke to someone whose son was part of the last group of combat forces leaving Afghanistan to return home to the United States. Later, as I was preparing for upcoming November events, I spent time with St. Catherine of Siena whose short life included much suffering for her faith as well as a crusade to lead the Pope back to Rome, ending what is known as the Avignon Captivity. This, in the year 1377, by a woman of age 30! Lastly, I read a long article about the struggle for conscious attention, not only in prayer but throughout all daily events and activities.

All of this comes to mind as I contemplate the messages of Scripture this morning. Psalm 144 proclaims: Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. Paul is preaching about spiritual struggle with his advice about putting on “the armor of God, that you may be able to resist…and hold your ground.” (EPH 6:10-20). Jesus to is refusing to turn away from his journey toward Jerusalem (LK 13:31-35), lamenting the fate of those who have tried to speak for God there and been mistreated and/or stoned to death. His own mission is clear and he intends to carry it to the end.

I would rather not allow these thoughts of war and physical destruction to invade my morning, sitting as I do in my peaceful home in rural upstate New York, but history and the events of today call me to consciousness. My task, I believe, is to return to Paul’s exhortation where he calls me to “pray at every opportunity in the Spirit…for all the Holy Ones and for me… so that I may have the courage to speak as I must.” Whether like Mike in Afghanistan fighting for the life of the people, Jesus in Jerusalem facing his destiny or Paul and Catherine of Siena in their travels to proclaim the message of the gospel, I must recognize that my role in the building of “God’s house” is not separate but integral to the family of humanity. Wherever my life intersects with others, that is the place where I must stand firm in the conscious struggle for justice, peace and the triumph of light over darkness.

Singing A New Song

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courage, disasters, distress, injury, path, psalm 116, return to the Lord, sorrow, strength, struggle, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust in the Lord

This morning’s selection from Psalm 116 sounds like a continuation of Psalm 84 from yesterday. It started with verse 12: “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good God has done for me?” (as I walked the path of life). As I reflected on that line and the parenthetical implication of what the psalmist was talking about, I was concerned about offering it as a thought for the day because it sounded as if the “path” was an easy one. I thought of all the people who have struggled mightily in life. Images came to mind of all the natural disasters in this country this year and of “wounded warriors” interviewed while doing physical therapy. The line sounded a bit presumptuous of the psalmist (and even myself in offering it). But then I went back and read the earlier verses, those not printed in this morning’s reading, and here is what I found:

“The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow… I trusted in the Lord when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted’. In my alarm I said, ‘Everyone is a liar.'”

So the psalm doesn’t tell of an easy life for which one thanks God. It reflects the TRUST of those who are able (like the survivors of tornadoes and forest fires or flash floods – and even those learning to live without a limb lost in battle) to pick up and go on, praising God for the life that is still theirs.

So this morning I offer the question of how to make a return to God for all the good in my life. And even if you have to dig deep, perhaps you might do so also, looking at how you found the courage and strength to go on. Can you offer it all to God in thanks?