Yes.

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conscious, contemplative prayer, intentions, mercy of God, petitions, Pope Francis, prayer, prayer life, quiet, St. Paul, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, tranquil, unity

In St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy, his young protégé, he urges the importance of prayer as a constant in life. I was struck this morning with many questions when I read the following:

Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity…It is my wish then, that in every place [people] should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument. (1TM 2:1-3, 8)

I immediately thought of Pope Francis and his exhortations toward mercy and unity, care for creation and one another. Then I thought of all manners of prayer and how my prayer life has changed over the years, primarily with a decrease in formal vocal prayer and an increase of intention and contemplative prayer. Do I recognize that all prayer has merit? And, I asked myself, although I try to pray with intention, how universal are the intentions for which I pray? For example, I may pray for our country or peace in the world but do I ever pray for politicians or church leaders by name? What about people for whom I hold no affection? Are they not in need of my prayer also? And might I not be changed by praying for those same individuals? What about praying for myself? Do I prepare for my prayer time by quieting myself and bringing my body, mind and spirit into oneness as much as possible? And do I give thanks at the conclusion of my prayer? So many questions…It’s a good reflection on willingness.

Today seems like a good time to start praying in a conscious, loving way for our President, the Congress, leaders of the military and those charged with public safety. That’s a big order. The first step will be a short prayer called “Yes.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Face In the Mirror

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

Tags

blessings, consciousness, Creator, giving thanks, gratitude, instruments of beauty, Psalm 145, splendor, thanks, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I have little to add today to all the wise and uplifting things that have been said about the word thanks or the action of giving thanks. Each of us has our own reasons for gratitude and ways of expressing it. If we say, as I often do, that right relationship is a foundational concept for acting in this world and that the concept extends not only to humans but to all creation and to the Creator as well, then today ought to be a continuous conversation of gratitude as we recognize the blessings that we have given and received.

That having been said, it seems that we humans have a special responsibility for gratitude, having been given the gift of self-reflective consciousness. Although all of creation sings of God’s love and beauty, here’s how a modern translation of Psalm 145 expresses what I mean about our participation: For we are instruments of beauty that extend your reign; our voices speak of power that is ever yours/Till all may know and understand your energies and live within the splendor of your realm. (vs. 11-12)

Thanksgiving Blessings to all!

 

 

 

 

 

Where Are You Going?

Tags

grace, gratitude, Holiday, peaceful, presence, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, travel, trip

I heard on the news last night that (if I remember exactly) 49.6 million Americans will be traveling during this Thanksgiving holiday week. I presume that means driving or flying somewhere, rather than walking down the block or across the yard. It’s always “iffy” at this time of year and with the weather of the past few days I’m sure there have been a lot of disappointed and/or frustrated folks on the highways and in airports. Then there are people like my sister who arrived from Pennsylvania yesterday as she wraps up a two-week “road trip” to visit friends in Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland. She sat on Route 81 in Pennsylvania which had become a parking lot, waiting for only a bit less than an hour for a large boat to be resettled on its carrier. Not knowing what had happened up ahead, she sang at first with the music of her CD that was playing but then reached for the book next to her on the seat (an essential companion on any trip) until things got moving again.

This morning, in addition to gratitude that I am at home and have my cheery sister added to the mix of my small community, what came to mind as I considered the number of travelers was the adage, “Wherever you go, there you are.” I hope that tomorrow can be for others what I expect the day will hold for us: peaceful preparation of good food for the body and the grace of presence that is the true essence of Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Graced Moment

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angel, blessing, book study, conversation, divisiveness, Don Postema, election, Jacob, persepctives, point of view, respect, Space for God, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, violence

Last evening I had a graced conversation with four other women. Our sharing began a couple of years ago in a book study that was scheduled to last five or six weeks. At the end of that time, it was clear that no one wanted to terminate the conversation so we decided to meet once a month and delegated the facilitator of the book group to find texts – either a short passage for one gathering or a book that would serve us for several meetings. Last night only five of us gathered for the conclusion of our consideration of a very meaningful book called Space for God by Don Postema. The last three chapters are entitled Wrestling with God, Prayer and Justice/Compassion and The Goal Is Glory. Right away we were faced with a bit of the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel and our conversation moved – not surprisingly – to the state of our post-election nation. The wonder of it all, however, was that although all of us were not of the same mind about the result and had not voted in the same way for president we managed to talk about the issues rather than personalities of the candidates. We talked about perspectives and the difficulty of understanding one another’s point of view. We lamented the divisiveness and violence that is present now in the populace. In the end, we were most grateful for a safe place to talk about our differences and we moved from a place of struggle to the desire not only for the reign of justice but also of compassion. We recognized that an acceptance of difference made it possible to participate in praise of what God has done in our lives and voiced a desire to hold the tensions that exist, praying that peace will be the outcome of our willingness to create it.

Honest conversation is not an easy thing to achieve if we are most interested in not “upsetting the apple cart.”  If we are able to trust our companions and engage those with whom we differ, enough to speak of what is really important without blaming (something that did not seem to happen even locally during this election cycle), I believe the blessing will be deeper and stronger relationship among us. We agreed to disagree last evening and came away with deeper respect and admiration for one another. As the Thanksgiving holiday dawns, we are hoping that many families will have this same experience, knowing that it will take some preparatory prayer to achieve that outcome. Let that be our commitment for the next several days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyday Blessings

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blessings, coffee, conscious, grateful, morning ritual, service, small blessings, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I just took a sleepy walk down the long residence hall where I’m staying to find one of the Sisters making a second pot of coffee before the first one was empty. I remarked to her how lovely it is to have that service done by someone else who is awake enough to accomplish it! She responded, “We’re all grateful for that!” (as I am every day because my housemates are earlier risers than myself). As I came back and settled in to drink and think about my offering of words for the day, my eye fell on the objects around the room and I was struck again about the extraordinary daily blessings in my life. First I saw three books. (I never leave home without at least one or two.) The top one of these was the gift of a friend who lives in this house so I was grateful in three ways: for Katie, the books and the ability to read. Next was the lamp that allows me to see, then a skein of yarn soon to be a prayer shawl for which I give thanks for Sister Jean who taught me to knit. Then there is the bed – with sheets, blankets and pillow – in which I was privileged to sleep in comfort and warmth. Lastly I have this computer which brings the world to me and me to the world each morning for prayer.

All of this came to me in a flash – just a quick look around – after the blessing of coffee prepared by one of over a hundred of my Sisters dwelling under this roof. Would that every day I would be so consciously awash in the small but significant blessings that mean so much! May I spend this day in thanksgiving no matter what the day brings. May you find enough in your day to call you to the same task.

Heed the Call!

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alarm, delight, Eli, God's will, greet the day, listen, Psalm 40, Samuel, sleep, Speak Lord, Thanksgiving, the call of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wakefulness

This morning I woke at 4:40am, much too early to begin the day. I snuggled back in but at 5:50 I opened my eyes a second time. I blamed this interruption of my sleep on the fact that in New York it was already nearly 7AM and settled back to wait until 6:30CST for my alarm. Five minutes later I heard the small sound alerting me that I had a text message on my phone and I knew I had a choice of how this day would proceed. With less than great gusto but with determination I got up from my bed saying to myself, “I greet this day with thanksgiving for all it will hold for me.”

God does have a sense of humor! As I began to read the Scriptures for the day, I recognized immediately the familiar story of the boy, Samuel, who sleeping in the temple near his teacher, Eli, wakes to the sound of his name being called. He goes to Eli and says, “Here I am; you called me.” Eli tells him to go back to bed because he hasn’t called him. When the scene is repeated twice more, Eli is finally awake enough to say to Samuel, “When you are called, say ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening'”  because he knew that it was God calling Samuel. (SM 3:1-10)

Whether we hear the call of God in our sleep or during morning Scripture reading or in the circumstances of an ordinary day, Samuel’s willingness gives us a good example of how to respond. Psalm 40 adds an even more generous note to the message this morning as the psalmist sings, “To do your will, O my God, is my delight!” May you be blessed with a delightful day of wakefulness in God’s love.

Equanimity

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Advent, being in the now, coming of Christ, conversations, family, Simeon the New Theologian, simple presence, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, traditions, visiting

The Thanksgiving celebration has been rich and peaceful in my local community this year. We began on Tuesday evening with the arrival of my sister, had a traditional turkey dinner on Wednesday evening, the “vigil” of the holiday, and enjoyed a special creative feast on Thursday replete with gifts for the birthday of one of the Sisters. Yesterday brought a “virtual visit” for one of the Sisters with her nephew, niece and grand-nephew and today we’ll see another family of nephew and grand-nieces “in the flesh.”

The rhythm of comings and goings, of relaxing and sharing conversations, meals and even an afternoon movie over several days has been a rare occurrence for me. To let go of the need to be engaged in the mental activities that fill my days even when I am not physically engaged “at work” is surprisingly difficult. I am reminded of one of the “conditions for purity of heart” postulated by Simeon the New Theologian in the 10th century. He speaks of equanimity as “freedom from all cares, bad and good, except one care, that is: simple presence, being in the now.” I woke up this morning with my calendar for December running through my head. Perhaps a good Advent practice (beginning tomorrow) will be to attend to responsibilities while staying where I am when I am there and to be present to whatever grace is given, moment to moment. A good preparation indeed for the coming of Christ into my heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving Thanks

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blessings, Book of Hours, glory of God, light, nothingness, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

I have many reasons for personally giving thanks on this holiday when people in the USA pause to recall their blessings. I turned to Merton’s Book of Hours for a word that would be appropriate for today in a more expansive way than the personal and serendipitously opened to the Thursday “psalm” (without any manipulation to choose it) that has become one of my favorite quotes of all time. I have shared it here before, I am sure, but repeat it as a reminder of who we are in God’s sight and a prayer for us to recognize each other in the same way.

In the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely. I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere. (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, 158)

Thanksgiving Blessings to all!

All of Creation Sings

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beauty in creation, bless the Lord, Book of Daniel, creation, Creator, prayers of gratitude, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today as we in the United States approach Thanksgiving Day, we are reminded by a section from the Book of Daniel to take note of the natural world in our prayers of gratitude. Even when all the flowers (at least here in the Northeast) are gone and the trees have shed all their leaves, even when frost replaces the loveliness of green grass (and the task of mowing!), even when the bears and some of the littler creatures have gone into hibernation, there is yet a beauty in creation. I find it most visible in the shapes of various trees, their branches not hidden now by leafy dressing, in the clarity of stars on cold nights of deepest darkness and in the patterns and sparkle of frost on sunny mornings. So now I call on the creation, as Daniel did, to “give glory and eternal praise” to the Creator of all:

Sun and moon, bless the Lord; stars of heaven, bless the Lord; every shower and dew, bless the Lord; all you winds, bless the Lord; fire and heat, bless the Lord; cold and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever! (DAN 3:62-67)