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Tag Archives: tasks

Reality Check

07 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

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expected, gratitude, life, list, tasks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unexpected

In case anyone is wondering about my progress of yesterday, I thought it only fair to report. Since I had made a list of tasks that would “choke a horse,” I need also to explain that my process is to write down every possible thing that I ought to do so that I won’t forget anything – and that I never can check off everything in one day. My list this time had 18 items on it – some more labor-intensive than others. I succeeded in attending to 5 of them. (No laughing please!) I had neglected to add meditation time, blogging time and meal time at home as well as just sitting for a bit watching TV together. And then there was a short space of time for reading, answering the phone and checking messages (no more of that than necessary!). We also have a retreatant here who always comes for the first week of the year and with whom I am privileged to “check in” at least once or twice during her stay. Yesterday that took what I thought would be my last two waking hours. But then we weren’t expecting the skunk who got stuck in our basement at 10:10PM…

What I realized once again this morning is that life goes on as it should, offering the expected and the unexpected and it is our duty to cooperate as we are able, offering our efforts in gratitude for being alive.

Free Flow

02 Wednesday May 2018

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flow, living in the moment, spiritual practice, tasks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

aflowToday is one of those days that does not have a schedule. Don’t think I mean there is nothing to accomplish! Rather, there are no appointments in my calendar and no set time to do anything except respond to what steps up and asks to be next in line for completion. I know there is a trip to the bank and the grocery store to be accomplished and some more work on the workshop soon to come. There are phone calls and e-mails and laundry…You see how the day is likely to go. This is the perfect set-up, however, for the spiritual practice of living in the moment and letting go in response to what is asked of me. I have no way of achieving every task that is floating on my virtual list so my first task is making a determination to expect nothing except to be in the flow of the day. Proceeding from that center, I know that at bedtime God and I will be pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Morning in the Convent

29 Saturday Jul 2017

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community life, community sharing, confidence, convent, Exodus, horarium, Julie Andrews, Luke, Martha, Mary, meals, Moses, praise, prayer, psalm 50, recreation, sacrifice, Saturday, schedule, tasks, teaching, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, The Sound of Music

ajulieIn the “good old days” when I was young and eager – especially in the novitiate, but also in the convent at my first teaching assignment where I lived in a group of 21 Sisters – life was very structured and predictable. The “horarium” (schedule) of the days was built around times of prayer, teaching school, meals and community sharing time – known in the novitiate at least as “recreation,” a.k.a. the hour after supper when we relaxed and talked to one another while knitting or listening to music or some such simple activity before preparing schoolwork for the next day. Saturdays were set aside for cleaning and other charges (read: household tasks) or meetings and the occasional planning time for community celebration days.

Today is Saturday. Although nearly everything has changed about the rhythm of community life, it seems that the Saturday horarium is part of our DNA that has not disappeared. I woke up today feeling altogether unable to even make a list of necessary tasks, nevermind the possibility of achieving anything. Lying lazily in bed listening to the birds who’ve been up for hours, I heard Julie Andrews singing in my head: What will this day be like…I wonder…as she was getting up her gumption to take on a job as a nanny for the seven children of the widowed Captain Von Trapp.

Having seen The Sound of Music several times over the years, I have learned a lot about attitude – starting with the above-mentioned song about confidence. I was reminded of that in my short reverie this morning and so got up determined to face the day in a positive way. Downstairs I encountered two of my three housemates who had been up maybe longer than the birds – one having already accomplished preliminary tasks that would allow her to concentrate next on what is central to her major plan of the day and the other whose response to a needy phone call of yesterday had allowed her to formulate a plan much larger than the requesting person could have imagined. The most amazing thing about my encounters with all this news was just a smile, knowing that difference does not mean distress and that we are now free to live our commitments as we can and use our energy for the highest good of ourselves and all others.

I practically laughed aloud when I returned to do the one task that is not discriminated by the day of the week. (This blog is a discipline that marks my days, much as the horarium of yesteryear gave shape to everything.) It is all a question of listening to God speaking through whatever is in front of us. Each one of the readings told me that this morning. How can I not proceed in delight?!

  1. EX 24:3-8. When Moses came to the people and related the words and ordinances of the Lord, they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us.”
  2. PS 50:1-2, 14. God the Lord has spoken and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth…Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High…
  3. LK 10: 38-42. Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Amazing, no? Happy Saturday to all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Catastrophe Here!

16 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

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content, hide, Lectionary, Lord, oversleep, presence, psalm 17, schedule, tasks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waking, wings

awakeIt doesn’t pay to oversleep by two hours after normal rising time. This morning upon deciding that 5:15 was too early to abandon my bed, I went back to sleep for what seemed just a few minutes. My phone display, however, disagreed by showing 8:05! That spells disaster on a day when I planned to cook breakfast for an overnight guest  who was due at a meeting at 9:00. I guess it was obvious when I arrived in the kitchen five minutes later that I had just awakened; the smiles that greeted me witnessed to my groggy state. But I managed scrambled eggs and some welcome conversation. When Cathy left, however, I quickly got into “zoom” mode and practically fell over myself trying to do four absolutely-necessary-this-morning tasks at the same time. Suddenly I realized that no one was observing me with a stopwatch – the pressure was all mine! – and I began to breathe a little more consciously. I have now accomplished at least three of those necessary tasks and it’s only 12:53PM! Not so bad…and I am calmly approaching the rest of the day.

The psalm response from today’s lectionary readings made me smile as I turned to writing. The last verses included these words: Hide me in the shadow of your wings, Lord…(such a snuggly, comforting image of today)…on waking, I shall be content in your presence. Ps. 17:8,15) With a bit of hustle and bustle in between the hiding under God’s wings and waking up to the presence that is always with me, I can honestly say that today is a very good day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back and Forth

30 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by thesophiacenterforspirituality in Uncategorized

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balance, Business, germinating, meditation, meetings, order, planning, rhythm of the day, tasks, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

acornfieldYesterday I was home all day attempting to achieve some order in my bedroom, my calendar, my state of being. It’s always like this at some point as our fiscal year draws to a close (today!) and this time I was a little late to the task. I wrote checks to pay doctors who have kept me on a healthy path for another year, I shredded no longer useful papers and moved some to my file cabinet, responded to and deleted e-mails and did the accounting necessary to reconcile my part of our house expense budget. By 6:00, with some sense of accomplishment, I went downstairs to join again the world of conversation, having had enough of “business” for the day and feeling a need for some balance for my brain. I took up my knitting and Liz put down her book to talk with me so order was finally, fully restored.

Today I will be back to my more familiar and comfortable routine of meeting with people. My morning will be spent with Mary Pat, our creative mind, in the on-going process of planning our after-summer program offerings for the Sophia Center. I always like to watch what happens in those conversations. Sometimes I liken it to the corn now growing in the field around the corner. The ideas are seeded, start to germinate and then, without my notice, they come back in full ripeness. I could never achieve that alone! My afternoon promises additional meaningful conversation in two appointments that bespeak the meaning of the adage: What’s seldom is wonderful. I cannot imagine a better day “at work.”

People tell me I’m “so busy” and I have come to recognize more clearly that I do have many irons in the fire, so to speak. I am realizing this morning, however, that it’s a question of attitude and approach to tasks that keeps life in balance. I am very blessed in where I live and in the life that has evolved for me. I could spin from one thing to another with only the anxiety of time constraints pushing me – as I occasionally do – or I could look at everything as I have described above – the necessary tasks and the lovely encounters all turning with the rhythm of the days – and simply be grateful for the gifts I have been given. It’s sometimes a delicate balance, but one that behooves us to notice, regardless of what fills our life. Surrendering to what is and willingness to “enter the general dance,” as Thomas Merton says, seems the way to maintain equilibrium on a daily basis.

So now I go to meet my favorite dancing partner in my morning meditation. Have a blessed day, everyone!

 

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