Vigilance

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Meg Wheatley, perseverance, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vigilance, wake up

Here’s a word for today from the Dhammapada, the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. I found it while reading Meg Wheatley’s thoughtful book, Perseverance. I was drawn to the page by its title: “Vigilance,” a noun that is defined as the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. Synonyms include: watchfulness, attentiveness, alertness, care, caution, circumspection, prudence, heedfulness, mindfulness…

The advice from this Buddhist scripture cautions us: Do not follow low practices. Do not live carelessly. Do not hold wrong views. Do not prolong the suffering in the world. Whoever moves from carelessness to vigilance lights up the world like the moon that emerges from a cloud. (p. 133)

Worthwhile thoughts for the present life we are living…So let’s WAKE UP!

Moving On

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anticipation, Eastertide, faith, glad, goodness, rejoice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, wake up

There seem to be lots of reasons to get moving this morning and greet the day with anticipation. The reasons don’t come from the outside; the day (as much as I can determine it from the vantage point of my bedroom window) is looking rather dismal. But the lectionary readings declare the truth that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord and the verse before the gospel shouts out the recognition that this is the day that the Lord has made! Rather like “Wake up!” or “Don’t miss it!” that declarative is followed with the imperative: Let us be glad and rejoice in it!

More than the steps that led up to what we call Eastertide or “the 50 days of Easter,” we now have the responsibility of living the life of faith. Our faith has been verified by Christ who could not be contained by earthly laws. Resurrection has transformed our sometimes wobbly faith into certainty. Now we are to believe not only in Jesus the Christ but in ourselves because the whole of creation is redeemed in him, the One who is risen to new life.

How are we changed? How will we live in ways that manifest the truth that the earth is, indeed, full of the goodness of the Lord unless that truth is visible in our own lives? Let us be glad and go forth rejoicing in our call!

 

 

 

 

 

Non-duality

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awareness, blame, collective input, common ground, deep thought, dialogue, difference, headlines, Jan Phillips, No Ordinary Time, non-duality, polarization, salvation, separation, speak from the heart, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wake up

Today is the fifth in our discussion series of No Ordinary Time, the inspiring book of Jan Phillips. We will be talking about the concept of and our desire for non-duality. We have come into and live in a world where things are defined by separation and difference: young or old, meek or bold, joy or pain, wealth or poverty…so many things. We are waking up to the fact that our salvation comes from the ability to go beyond those distinctions to find more than common ground. We must come to unity in our diversity if we are to survive and thrive.

Jan’s text is brilliant in setting out the territory we must traverse in order to find such a solution, all of which is worthy of quoting. I offer just a bit of what she says at sunrise for your consideration and wish you the impetus and stamina to make it a reality for your own life and for the world.

What’s happening in the world is a result of our collective input. The morning headlines are the news that we are making as a whole human family, by what we do and what we fail to do. Each one of us is a co-creator of the culture we are immersed in, and if we want to see change, we can make change by changing ourselves, our thinking and our destructive habits.

Blame is not useful. Polarization is not useful. Bitterness and negativity are not useful. What’s useful in these perilous times is deep thought and dialogue. What’s useful is a willingness to speak from our hearts, to say out loud what we hunger for, what we’re willing to live for, and what it is we can no longer abide. We are attendants at the wake of the old way, and each of us – through our actions, our thoughts, our work and relationships – is midwifing a new world into existence. This is our destiny, our meaning, our purpose, and when we come to our days with this awareness, when we sense the oak in the acorn of our beings, then we will have the energy to move mountains and shift the tides. (p. 126)

May it be so in our time!

 

 

 

 

 

After the Rain

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balance, companion, fear, flooding, God, mercy, Nan Merrill, possibility, psalm 25, rain, reflect, restored, shining, soul, steadfast love, sun, teach, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thunder, trust, wake up

It’s been raining – torrents and thunder-filled sometimes – for the past three days. Yesterday it was if the divine weatherman was playing with us. Drenching downpours were followed by moments of sun peeking out of big gray clouds – then rain again…Even this morning the deck behind our house is puddle-strewn. I look out at the trees, rain soaked as well, but shining now in full sun. What a relief! I never mind the rain but when we begin to hear of flooding streams I know it’s all too much for the farmers and I pray for the balance to be restored. So today it feels as if God is saying, “Wake up! All your sluggishness is washed away! New possibilities await you!” and I sing a response with the psalmist in a translation by Nan Merrill.

To You, O Love, I lift up my soul; O Heart within my heart, in You I place my trust. Let me not feel unworthy; let not fear rule over me. Yes! let all who open their hearts savor You and bless the earth!…Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for through You will I know wholeness; I shall reflect your light both day and night. I know of your mercy, Compassionate One, and of your steadfast love. You have been with me from the beginning. Forgive the many times I have walked away from You choosing to walk alone. With your steadfast love, once again, companion me along your way. (Psalms for Praying, PS. 25)

 

 

 

 

 

Buried Treasure

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church, compass, consciousness, God, interior experience, joy, kingdom of God, love, Matthew, presence, stay awake, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, treasure, truth, wake up

When I think of buried treasure, images of pirates or shipwrecked vessels at the bottom of the sea come to mind. This morning’s gospel from Matthew 13 would seem to make the search easier as the treasure is to be found “buried in a field” or in a jewelry store (“a pearl of great price”) but “not so fast”, I say to myself as a cartoon figure appears with a shovel on the edge of a huge expanse of rolling fields. And I’m not a great judge of the quality of gems either!

So how to find the “kingdom of God” has to be a different kind of search. Jesus gives the answer somewhere else, as we know, when he says: The kingdom of God is within you. Looking inside for God is not normally where we go first. Many of us were taught to look in church, where God actually does live, of course. But we need to spend our time there not complaining about less than stellar preaching or wondering why parents don’t teach their children proper attire for church services. We need to be consciously seeking the interior experience that is available to us in the ritual itself and in the community as it is engaged with our own moment of recognition of God’s presence.

And how is it that we miss that pearl of great price as we walk down the street and see God passing by in the eyes of a child or a person disguised as someone different from ourselves? Consciousness is the key, I think. We have not arrived here on earth to walk alone toward that field and we don’t even have to come equipped with our own shovel. We have everything we need to find God; we just need to wake up – first to the field and then to the treasure when we see it. For some – maybe most – of us it takes a lifetime. Maybe that’s how it should be since the treasure is so great a reward.

Today I am thinking that our greatest task, when we understand how willing God is to give us the map, is to wake up ourselves and then share the directions to the treasure with others, especially younger people who are searching and ripe to find what we know. There’s another reason to stay awake: to look into young eyes and recognize a yearning for truth and love – and to share the joy of that treasure every day of our lives.

This New Day

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candidates, Catholic Church, Ezekiel, jeremiah, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wake up

Once again this Sunday there are two sets of readings to choose from as candidates for reception into the Catholic Church are called to reflection on conversion of heart. All those participating in the liturgical ritual are asked to join in this reflection as we have come to know that conversion is an on-going process in our lives. Those parish communities which do not have converts hear the prophet Jeremiah delivering God’s message that promises “I will place my law within them and write it on their hearts…” while those that are preparing to welcome new members will hear Ezekiel speaking God’s word that “I will put my spirit in you that you may live.”

These are welcome words for all of us on days when we realize that we need a new infusion of energy in our days. Whether we have just come through a long period of struggle or have just had an unusually “bad day” for some reason, it is comforting to know that God is standing ready to massage our heart and revive our spirit, enabling us to “wake up” to a new day – every day.

 

Re-up!

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Advent, assess, hearken, Luke, make straight His path, psalm 80, shepherd, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wake up

So…here we are at the mid-point of Advent, even a little past. The Scriptures are getting a little more emphatic. The refrain for Psalm 80 calls out to the heavens, “Shepherd of Israel, hearken! (A word we don’t use much any more but which is the equivalent of Listen to us!) Rouse your power and come!” (In other words: Wake up and show up!) Perhaps I exaggerate but the point is well made. We need help here. But the Alleluia verse pulls the responsibility back to us. “Prepare the way of the Lord,” it says. “Make straight his paths.” (LK 3:4)

So my thought today – as often – is one of assessing where I’ve come to in my intention toward the deeper birthing of Jesus into my life and the re-energizing my resolve of readiness. At least I’m awake and moving at 7:20AM on a Saturday. That seems a good start!

“Coming To”

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Advent, be alert, be watchful, come to, Corinthians, grace, Jesus, Latin, Mark, Paul, preparation, prepare, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wake up

Today is the first day of the season of Advent, a time of preparation for the great feast of Christmas when we celebrate the incarnation – the birth in flesh – of Jesus, the Christ. Paul is quite encouraging this morning in his greeting to the Corinthians as he writes (in part), Grace to you and peace! You are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of Jesus Christ…He will keep you firm to the end…God is faithful. (1Cor 1:3-9) Paul had already met Christ in a flash of insight, a personal revelation that turned his life around. If it could happen to him, a former persecutor of Christians, it could probably happen to anyone although he was also convinced that Christ was coming back soon for the whole world. Accordingly, he could be speaking to us today.

Jesus was a bit more challenging in his words. “Be watchful! Be alert!” he says. “You do not know when the time will come. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.” (MK 13:33-37) Jesus was telling a story about a master who went on a trip and left his servants in charge. In all similar parables, servants were strongly advised to be ready to greet the master upon his return. Just as in the first instance, we could be the audience for this message.

In the first reading, Paul is confident of a good outcome because of God’s fidelity. In the gospel the challenge of fidelity is ours. I learned in my youth as a Girl Scout to be prepared and I have always loved this season as a chance to settle into the quiet of winter and reflect on what it might mean each year to welcome Jesus more deeply into my life. This morning as I thought about the word – Advent – that characterizes this time of waiting and preparation as well as the stance of expectation, I played with the Latin – one of my favorite subjects in high school because of my stellar teacher, Sister Thomas Aquinas. The preposition ad gives the verb “to come” a nuance that focuses us on the arrival, i.e; to come to = to arrive. What I experienced this morning was another sense of to come to which was what Jesus was talking about this morning. “Wake up!” he was saying. “Recognize what’s going on here! Prepare your heart because I’m already here. It’s time to notice your potential for transformation. It’s time to come to!“