Wait in Silence, Listening

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, hear, hearing, heart, listen, listening, mercy, mindfulness, Psalm 130, sacred art, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice, waiting

Last winter we decided to offer a series on Mindfulness at the Sophia Center because it seemed that this concept was being talked about in many circles and there were many ways to go about presenting it. We decided on five sessions during which we would explain and then offer examples of a different “mindfulness practice” each week. The topics were diverse: chanting from several traditions, Buddhist meditation practices, centering prayer, etc. and each of them touched somehow on a more quiet approach to life. The series was one of the best-attended efforts of the year so we have decided to continue our exploration of mindfulness. For a number of reasons we chose the topic Hearing With the Heart for this year’s series. It is our hope that we will come to understand more deeply the concept and practice of contemplative listening and contemplative dialogue as we explore hearing and speaking out of spacious silence.

I am the first presenter and have found it quite difficult to organize my thoughts on the subject of “Listening as a Sacred Art” because – ironically – there is so much to say! It seems that in our fast-paced world we have (more or less) lost the capacity to listen well. Take a look at most of the commercials on television or consider that now studies show a 5-second attention span in our youth. (I actually heard that in a report this week!)

I’m running out of preparation time for my presentation so I smiled when I read this morning’s lectionary selection of Psalm 130. I am now thinking it is a perfect lead-in to the entire event. See if you agree.

My whole being waits for you, my God, listening in your presence. I long to hear your voice again, speaking. So like a watchman who anticipates the crack of dawn, my heart waits for the first-light of your word. Listen, listen, wait in silence listening for the One from whom all mercy flows…(Ancient Songs Sung Anew, p. 334)

 

 

 

 

 

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Clear Enough?

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A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, Ancient Songs Sung Anew, divine rhythm, Hearts on Fire, Joseph De Maistre, mercy, moment, Pedro Arrupe SJ, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting

From four sources this morning I heard the same message.

1. PS 130:6 from http://www.usccb.org. “My soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the dawn.”
2. PS 130:6 – Ancient Songs Sung Anew. “Listen, listen, wait in silence listening for the One from whom all mercy flows.”
3. Hearts on Fire, prayer of Pedro Arrupe, SJ. “Grant me, O God, to see everything with new eyes, to discern and test the spirits that help me read the signs of the times…
4. A Deep Breath of Life, quote from Joseph De Maistre. “To know how to wait is the great secret of success.” and an additional prayer by the author, Alan Cohen: “Help me attune to Your divine rhythm. Let me find Your will in time.”

That’s enough to slow my breathing, pay attention to the moment I’m in and let go of any need for concern about what this day (or any day if I can recall the message!) will bring. May it be so with all of us!

 

 

 

 

True Prophets

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creator of circumstances, deeper imagining, fuller awareness, hoping, hospitality, imagining, Jan Phillips, lauds, mystics, No Ordinary Time, poets, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true prophets, waiting

I awoke this morning thinking about what Jan Phillips might like for breakfast. One might call this dedication to duty, as I will be charged with hospitality between her concert tomorrow evening and workshop on Saturday. I put that question on my virtual list of tasks for today and set about seeing if there was anything pertinent to this weekend that she offered me in her daily reflection for Thursday at lauds (sunrise). While I don’t believe that this was her intent, what I found was an excellent description of the person that I believe she has become. I share it with enthusiasm for what we might experience this weekend as well as a mirror for all of us in which we might find deeper purpose if we are willing to look and to change.

The true prophets of this time are the ones who are not just imagining, not just hoping for and waiting for the new dispensation to arrive, but actively bringing it into existence. They are stepping out of the old roles, abandoning what does not serve the common good. Rising above popular opinion, social conditioning, conformist behavior, prophets of today are daring to speak the unspeakable, as Copernicus did, as Galileo did, as the mystics and poets and scientists throughout the ages did, guiding us into fuller awareness, deeper imagining. To bring anything into existence, to be a creator of circumstances, we have to imagine the new, then speak the new, then usher it into reality with the fierce force of our belief in it. (No Ordinary Time, p.97)

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Emmanuel, Come!

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child, Christmas, families, fulfillment, gathering, God, Hebrews, joy to the world, longing, Messiah, O Antiphons, O Come O Come Emanuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting

Today there seems a greater intensity in the call of the O Antiphon. It is the last one, the end of the Advent season, since tomorrow we shall keep vigil for the birth of the Messiah. Into the musical corner of my mind this morning as I read the antiphon came the tune and words: “Come thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free.” I don’t remember much of that hymn but I think the important idea is that the waiting had been centuries long for the Hebrews, yet they kept an expectant hope alive. I’ve had several conversations in the past week about the sad state of the world and the reasons to lament. On the other hand I hear on the news that travel in the United States, especially tomorrow and on the weekend, will set records because of low gas prices and good weather, at least in the Northeast. That means that families will gather in whatever way they can (some just by phone or computer) to celebrate, however they do, the holiday of Christmas. I choose to believe that the love that is shared during this season does have a positive effect on the world.

Expectations vary today, to be sure, as we approach the very day of Christmas. May it be a fulfillment of our longing, a little or a lot, for personal peace, for more light in the world, for reconciliation…all wrapped in recognition of the child who became and continues to become God with us.

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of nations and their Savior. Come and save us, O Lord our God!

O Emmanuel, you are God-with-us and the savior of all nations. Come, save us and make of us your own joy to the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Begin Anew

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Advent, birth of Jesus, Christian, Christmas, church year, go inward, psalm 25, quiet, reflective, savior, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, ultimate gift, waiting, your ways

Today Christians around the world mark the beginning of the holy season of Advent, the moment when we begin a new liturgical cycle, a new “Church year.” The Latin word itself describes the season: veni (to come) ad (to, or toward). God is coming toward us always, but we look forward and prepare to welcome God in a special way at Christmas. As we commemorate the birth of Jesus into the world, we hope for deeper recognition and birthing in our hearts of what it means to be Christian in our world today. I have always loved Advent, a quieter and more reflective time mirrored to us in the “resting” of nature, a time to go inward. True, this concept is countercultural as the outer world is already in a shopping frenzy, but for me the ultimate gift will be the result of my interior effort during the month ahead. My prayer echoes that of the psalmist this morning who calls out in hope and confidence: Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and for you I wait all the day. (PS 25:4-5)

Longing for Light

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autumn, Lectionary, Lord, mercy, Psalm 130, redemption, Scripture, soul, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting, Word

It’s staying dark longer these days as we move deeper into the autumn season, so in the morning I often look out the window hearing the words from Psalm 130: My soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the dawn from inside me. Today, when appointments did call me to rise in the dark, Psalm 130 appeared in the daily lectionary. Often, especially when the psalm of the day is long, only part of it is used in the liturgy. I knew something was missing from this psalm of only 8 verses. (One gets used to the cadences after 50 years of reciting prayers.) I went to my Bible and there it was; they had left out my favorite verse! To compensate for the oversight, I read all my alternate translations of the psalm and found, among the similar texts, two vivid versions that read as follows.

1. My whole being waits for you, my God, listening for your presence. I long to hear your voice again, speaking. So like a watchman who anticipates the crack of dawn, my heart waits for the first-light of your word.

2. I wait for You, my soul waits, and in your Word I hope. My soul awaits the Beloved as one awaits the birth of a child or as one awaits the fulfillment of their destiny.

Despite the diversity and meaningfulness of those words, the unfolding of the coming of light (now complete outside my window) makes me know I’ll keep my traditional words of welcome that repeat and continue: More than sentinels for the dawn, let my soul wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

 

Waiting and Watching

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crucifix, Cynthia Bourgeault, desert, Easter Vigil, entombment service, fidelity to Jesus, Good Friday, live in the present moment, Mark, Mary Magdalene, The Passion of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting

Today feels like “the day the earth stood still” (which I believe was a movie many years ago that I have no memory of except the title). I sensed that as I awoke to rain and darkness this morning, still holding the events of yesterday and last evening in my heart. I am on retreat and our Good Friday “Entombment Service” was a stark example of the kind of experience I was describing here yesterday.  The reading of the Passion from Mark’s gospel in sections of the day (6AM-9AM, 9AM-Noon, etc.), the  mournful chanting and the wrapping of the crucifix in the linen cloths as it lay on a table in the middle of the room brought the experience of Jesus’ death present in a most vivid way. It was clear in the slow, personal moments of each one of us moving to venerate the cross that we were grieving. And we will hold that attitude as we move through this last day together.

The mood will change in tonight’s first celebration of The Great Feast of Easter, the Vigil service recounting the movement from death to life. The first psalm of the service cries out: Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth! What follows is the narration of our salvation history during which the sense of the light grows and hope returns until the bells ring out and we know Resurrection! Alleluia!

Living in the present moment is especially hard today. It would be much easier to focus on the future as we often do in the times when we would rather be there than in the moment where we find ourselves. But today gives us an opportunity to join ourselves to those people who are waiting for a good outcome of suffering, those who have no assurance that “all will be well” – nothing except their faith to keep them from despair. Here we will explore today the experience of “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” whom the gospel tells us stayed at the tomb, without hope or reason to do so – just holding the space in reverence and fidelity to Jesus – as love calls us to do in times of great sorrow. We will wait in that “desert” with them, a time that will make all the more joyful our experience of the Resurrection of Christ and perhaps our own rising to fuller life as well.

May it be so with you!

PS: I leave early tomorrow morning for a week-long Wisdom School experience with Cynthia Bourgeault in the mountains of North Carolina. I can’t be sure of internet service there but will connect as I am able, definitely back by Monday 4/13.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

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Advent, Book of Malachi, dawn, Emmanuel, expectation, fulfillment, lift up your heads, midnight, O Antiphons, Paul, Romans, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting

Today ends the season of waiting for the advent of Christ. We have been singing, “O come, O come, Emmanuel!” for nearly a month now and the seven titles from the O Antiphons culminate in this calling forth of the One whom they/we recognize as “God with us.” All of the readings today strain forward to his coming. Malachi (3:1-4) foretells that suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. The psalm refrain tells us to lift up your heads and see! as the psalmist pleads: Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me! Finally we hear the gospel story of the birth of John the Baptist who runs before Jesus, preparing the way for him.

I say it’s over when today is only the 23rd. We celebrate Christmas on the 25th. One could characterize this waiting period as having two parts: remote and proximate preparation. All through Advent we have been calling on God to open our hearts to the reality of Christ’s presence in our midst (remote preparation). Tomorrow we spend the day, as Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “on tiptoe” (proximate preparation) – in conscious attention for the fulfillment of the covenant promise. I have always loved the verse from the Book of Wisdom that says, “When all things were silent and night was in the midst of her course, your all-powerful Word, O God, leapt from heaven…” There is a silence at midnight that is unparalleled and conducive of great wonders, usually experienced by our inner selves. That is why our religious tradition gathers us at midnight, or thereabouts, to welcome Emmanuel in a ritual that speaks of light in the darkness and peace for all on earth.

So my goal is to begin to feel, by dawn tomorrow, the shift from conscious waiting to ardent expectation, and to spend tomorrow – no matter what activities claim me – readying myself for that moment when Christ leaps into my heart in a new and fuller way, perhaps in the night. Hyperbole? Maybe…but who of us knows what gifts have been prepared for us and when they will be given? I think it’s worth the wager to be there when it happens.

While We Wait

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calm, consciousness, ice, pregnancy, snow, snowstorm, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, waiting, weather

I woke up this morning expecting to see snow outside – or at least a covering of ice from the sleet that was predicted as the precursor to a major snowstorm. I had already planned two or three days of cancellations, depending on where it happens when. But I’m still waiting. Cars are whizzing by on our road and my sinuses are telling me that it’s coming but I can’t call or e-mail anyone about late appointments yet. I have to wait for the first visible sign of what the reality will be. And I wonder what the status is in Syracuse, 80 miles away, where I have tentative appointments tomorrow and/or Thursday depending on the storm. It’s too early to call; I have to wait. I can feel the tension in my body and my mind. Once the precipitation appears I’ll be able to spring into action, make plans, see what’s possible and settle into an agenda that will probably take my work life most of the way to Christmas because of the rescheduling of this busy week. For now, though, I have to wait.

We all have times of waiting, some like my morning today. Sometimes our wait is long and much more meaningful – pregnancy, for example. And what a bundle of feelings and events accompany that experience! The Hebrew people waited for thousands of years for a Messiah; many still wait. Those of us who believe that Christ is the fulfillment of that promise are experiencing again the ritual of waiting as we count the days to Christmas.

I am full of questions this morning, occasioned by something as mundane as the weather. What is it really that I’m waiting for? How am I to be while I wait? Will my life be any different after Christmas because of having spiritualized these weeks of waiting – and, really, how am I growing in consciousness of my capacity for change until then? Maybe the storm will miss us and then I’ll just have to pick up and go on with the routine of the days that might have been an opportunity for silence and contemplation. But maybe this brief time has been enough. I feel calmer now, more awake. And isn’t that what it’s all about?