Solidarity

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caravan, christians, community, conscious work, consciousness, Jewish Community Center, Jews, judgment, Muslims, pray, refugees, solidarity, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vigil, Wisdom Schools

I had two experiences yesterday that, upon reflection, help me to understand more deeply what it means to “walk in the shoes of another” – at least in some small way.

1. I took our house car to the local garage in the afternoon to have new tires installed. The mechanic told me that the process would take about an hour. As we needed a couple of items from the grocery store that I judged to be about a mile away, I decided to walk there in the interim. I had already thought about going for a walk while the process was completed but had estimated about half the time – and half the distance to the grocery store. It had been raining off and on but my windbreaker with a hood gave me sufficient protection and I had donned my best walking shoes in preparation. The road is a “country highway” – two-lanes, no sidewalks but with sufficient “shoulders” to keep me out of the way of the speeding cars and occasional trucks. The only issue (in addition to the minor splash of passing cars on a wet road) was the condition of those shoulders: broken pavement and in some places muddy patches of grass. The walk was, to coin a phrase, more than I had bargained for. I haven’t been walking much during the past year and my estimate of the distance was about a half a mile short, but soon after I began I decided to make this an exercise of what our Wisdom Schools call conscious work, uniting myself with the “caravan” of refugees walking through the countries of Central America. By doing that, the trek was not easier but my determination got me there and back in a way that was deeply meaningful. I considered the feet of those people and the terrain they tread each day. When carrying the rather small bundle of food on my return trip, I thought of parents carrying their children and all the possessions they could pack on their backs. When it began to rain again, I prayed for their safety and health and recognized how very privileged a life I lead. It took me just over an hour, including the stop at the store, until I wrote a check for the tires (knowing we had the money in the bank), slid into the car (knowing there was gas to power it) and drove home in warmth and ease in five minutes.

2. I felt drawn to the prayer vigil in our town last evening at the Jewish Community Center for the people of Pittsburgh. I knew it would be crowded but the gathering space is large and the parking lots quite expansive. When I arrived, it was already past sunset and in the gathering darkness I saw people streaming from every direction toward the venue. The parking lots were already full so I backtracked to the Catholic church a block away, grateful that their back lot still had a place for me – although far back from the road. As I joined the steady stream of walkers, I felt like we were going toward the Temple Mount in Jerusalem or some such holy place to beg for solace as the weight of all the hatred and senseless violence overtook me. I was one with the throng of pilgrims going to prayer in sorrow but solidarity. There must have been over 500 people there as all the seats were taken and there were as many of us standing close together in every nook and cranny of the building as there were sitting. For our rather small community, that was amazing. We were Jews and Christians, Muslims and most likely others who might call themselves “Nones” – professing no religion but standing in solidarity because there seemed no other place to be last night that would satisfy. The messages were of love, not hate, of community and willingness, of unity as a way to move through sadness and shock. I recognized very few of the people there but walking back to my car in the darkness, I felt the strength of communion and it was enough.

I am different because of these events of yesterday. There is a deeper, visceral consciousness in me of how everything is connected in this world. It is no longer as theoretical a concept as it was yesterday morning and if I continue to hold the world in this deeper way, I trust that it will continue to grow. It is as if what has just happened as I look out and up to see blue sky and a large white cloud over the mountain announcing sunrise is happening not just outside but within me as well. I now (I hope) will walk with the refugees and will add my voice to those who choose them as brothers and sisters. I will pray for my Jewish sisters and brothers and speak for gun control whenever an opportunity arises. More than anything I will try to love well and leave judgments out of my conversation, and I will pray for peace, the peace that only love can give.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wisdom Work

Tags

Book of Wisdom, leadership, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vision, wisdom, Wisdom Schools, wisdom work

I have a conference call today, the third (or maybe fourth?) in a month, as my colleagues and I do our best to prepare for the event we are offering at the end of this month. It is the first of its kind for us – similar in a way but not matching all the “Wisdom Schools” we have presented over the past five years. This one is called “Wisdom Group Leadership Training” and is defined as practical training in skillful “post-holding,” including ’embodying the wealth of wisdom’s vision’ and developing group skills for greater integration.

This work seeks to recover the deep and meaningful, mystical and unitive tradition in Western Christianity that seems to have been buried in the structure of one of the largest organizations in the world over the past several centuries. People often ask for a definition of “Wisdom work” and we are hard-pressed to offer a simple explanation. It is more easily known as a felt sense, a rightness, a recognition of God’s presence that leads to a way of life directed by a desire to live more deeply into God within ourselves and community. We often speak of “post-holders” rather than leaders because no one is seen as “higher” or “lower” but rather responsible during a certain time or situation in a role of service to the whole. The work of Wisdom spans the breadth of Christian denominations and speaks sometimes to those who have abandoned traditional church practice as well.

I speak of this now because of the first lectionary text for today from the Book of Wisdom, (7:22-8:1) that uses 37 words and phrases to describe Wisdom. I will not repeat them all here but the list begins with Wisdom being “intelligent, holy, unique” as well as “manifold, subtle and agile.” What I will offer as conclusion is indicative to me of the recognition that the spirit of Wisdom is caught, not taught and may be  more about our quality of being than the practices we offer when we gather for this event.

And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everything while herself perduring; and passing into holy souls from age to age, she produces friends of God and prophets. For there is nought God loves, be it not one who dwells with Wisdom. For she is fairer than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars. Compared to light, she takes precedence; for that, indeed, night supplants, but wickedness prevails not over Wisdom.

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Searching!

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Christian, faith, ignite, Jesus, know, Luke, St. Luke, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understand, Wisdom Schools

Today is the feast of St. Luke, known to be the writer not only of the third Gospel but also of the Acts of the Apostles, the story of the early days and spread of Christianity. There is a line in the commentary from Franciscan Media that caused me to pause and think about this man whose version of the “Good News” has been variously subtitled the gospel: of mercy, of universal salvation, of the poor, of absolute renunciation, of prayer and the Holy Spirit, and of joy. The commentary said that as a companion to Paul, Luke traveled to many places and consequently had time to seek information and interview persons who had known Jesus.

I have an image of Luke walking around Philippi, Jerusalem or Caesarea listening intently for the name of Jesus and when he heard it – maybe in a tavern or outside the synagogue or even on the street – walking up to people, getting right up close and urgently questioning them for what Jesus was like, what he talked about, how they came to know him…asking anything that would feed his hunger for the spark that led that speaker to follow Jesus, so that he might really come to know him as well.

It’s a bit like people in our day, even us perhaps. Even if we were “born into” a Christian community it isn’t enough to just count on documents that give us information about what it means to be Christian (or whatever faith tradition we are raised in). We need to seek out people and experiences that lead us to the deeper streams of our faith, the mysteries that can’t be explained or taught but rather caught in order to ignite a longing for more, a determination to understand “by heart” what has been told to us, so that the words we read and hear will sing and ring with a truth that sustains us. Who are those people for you? What experiences have fed you in the past? Can you find something new or rewarding to enliven faith?

In wisdom schools we sometimes sing a chant that is based on the gospel parable of The Pearl of Great Price. The words have been floating through my consciousness as I write these thoughts today. Those words are: To find the pearl beyond compare, Oh, dig right here, within your soul. Perhaps a silent trip to our inner self is just what we need today to get a glimpse of that precious pearl.

 

 

 

 

 

The Fullness of Earth, of God and Us

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contemporary chant, Cynthia Bourgeault, Darlene Franz, goodness, psalm 33, the earth is full, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom Schools

Darlene Franz: Listen to her chant HERE.

As soon as I read today’s psalm response to the lectionary readings, my inner voice began singing a short, repetitious, contemporary chant based on Psalm 33, written by Darlene Franz, a very talented musician from the Pacific Northwest who graces Cynthia Bourgeault’s “Wisdom Schools” with her presence and helps us to go deeper in prayer and inner knowing as we sing. Darlene has a website on which she speaks of the genesis of each of 23 chants and then sings them for the listener (wisdomchant.bandcamp.com). Darlene’s chant based on Ps. 33:5 comes from the  chapter (“The Fecundity of God”) in John Philip Newell’s book, The Book of Creation: An Introduction to Celtic Spirituality which offers the following:

Breathing in and out to repetitions of this phrase while contemplating the goodness of the earth outside of us – “the One who dwells at the heart of all life” – and the goodness within – as you feel your body expanding, be aware of the goodness that you are opening up to from the depths of your being. It is planted in you and can be sensed like the fragrance of the earth’s goodness.

Darlene’s chant, which always evokes for me images of fields full of food and flowers, offers these words repeated over and over until Newell’s practice flourishes in song. The earth is full, full of Your goodness. The earth is full, full of You. Your goodness fills the whole earth. Darlene says: “May this chant assist you to dwell in the goodness of your own earth, this planetary earth we share, and the ‘world without end.’ Amen.” I invite you to visit her website, learn the chant and then approach the world with new eyes today, full of goodness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wisdom in Stonington, Maine

Tags

beatitudes, Cynthia Bourgeault, fierce bonding love, harmony, heart-centered living, Jubilee Year of Mercy, Maine, prayer, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom Schools

Once again today, I arise to the feeling that I live a life of privilege. I arrived last evening with two friends at Stonington, Maine where we will spend the entire week at a gathering of “Wisdom seekers” in the company of our teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault, in the place that she calls home. Part of the island community of Deer Isle, it was incorporated as a town in 1897 and has gradually become the number one port in Maine for the value of its fisheries, primarily lobsters.

I am sitting this morning in a sweet little cottage room in an eleven-unit motel, family-owned for generations. The hospitality is as lovely as the room itself and I have already downed my first cup of in-room coffee (with real half-and-half added). The harbor is across the street and each of the two large venues where we will meet are two minutes away from here. I hear that the best coffee in Maine is just down the street and there is a deck at the water’s edge owned by the motel for sitting in the peace of the ocean to drink it all in.

We gathered in the Town Hall last night to greetings and hugs from friends with whom we have shared past Wisdom Schools and others from across the country whose experiences of Cynthia and her teaching have been elsewhere. It was clear that we all share a desire for the depth of wisdom and unity consciousness. Of special note for me was our closing prayer. Into the silence we chanted in harmony a petition prompted by one of the Beatitudes from today’s gospel (MT 5: 1-12) Lord, as you will, Lord as you know, have mercy; have mercy.

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis, I am often struck as I was yesterday by the breadth of a term that is sometimes reduced to something like pity. As I have most likely said here before, at its deepest level mercy can be understood as a fierce bonding love that impels us to become God’s presence in the world. That last clause is my own conclusion of what such a love can generate, but how else would such a grace be reciprocated?

As we gather for prayer, for consideration of the themes of heart-centered living, for the conversations that will undoubtedly be deep and meaningful, we offer our presence here for the good of the world – for people everywhere, for all living creatures and in gratitude for the on-going care of the One who motivates us all. I invite your solidarity in prayer and intention with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just One

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all may be as one, heart-meld, Jesus, John, mind-meld, one, open our hearts, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love, union, visionary seeing, Wisdom Schools

We have a chant that we sing sometimes at our Wisdom Schools, especially when we are speaking about “visionary seeing” and although it’s better when sung, you will get the idea by just reading it. It says: You the one, one in all. Say “I am; I am you.” It’s very easy to sing – simple words, simple tune – but far from easy to grasp.

The deepest prayer of Jesus as he was departing this world (JN 17) pleaded with God: “Holy Father, I pray that all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, that they also may be in us…I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one…” As I was trying just now in writing those words to find a way to comment on it, I thought of Mr. Spock from Star Trek and the concept of a “mind-meld.” But the oneness Jesus is so earnestly desiring is not a simple mind-meld. Closer to the reality, I think, would be the concept of a “heart-meld.” How is it that we could come to be so united that it would be clear to all those who observe us that we are one with God? I believe the proof would be in the quality of our love, our unconditional love for one another and for all of creation. I slipped in that word unconditional because that is, I think, the key to everything. We often put conditions on our willingness: “I’ll be nice to her if she’s nice to me…” That doesn’t even get us in the door of “unconditional.”

We can only conjecture about the oneness quotient of the love Jesus had for God and the union it brought into being, but it would be a worthy subject for reflection on this Sunday. How might we open our hearts – even one step today – toward oneness? That’s probably all we’re asked – and that is certainly enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synchronicity

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Carl Jung, Cynthia Bourgeault, John, Luke, psalm 119, Revelation, spirit, synchronicity, the Kingdom of God is among you, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, wisdom, Wisdom Schools

Years ago I learned the term synchronicity that describes a concept developed by psychologist Carl Jung to describe an “acausal connecting principle in which events, both large and small, in the external world might align to the experience of the individual, perhaps mirroring or echoing personal concerns or thoughts.” (Merriam Webster)

Today I am off to North Carolina where a grand experiment will take place. People from all over this country and beyond will gather for a “mega wisdom school” with Cynthia Bourgeault. There will be over 200 people spending a week together to delve the Wisdom tradition of Christianity, presented by Cynthia and shepherded through the different practices by a number of “interns” who have participated in numerous but smaller events during the past decade. Being part of the planning and execution for this event has been a great privilege and, at some moments, overwhelming. The opportunity to gather with those who have shared some part of this inner journey with me will be a great joy.

So why should I be surprised when today’s first reading begins: In Wisdom is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain, not baneful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, firm, secure, tranquil, all-powerful, all-seeing and pervading all spirits…(WIS 7:22) And, as if that were not enough to calm any nervousness in me as I make final preparations for departure, Psalm 119 adds: The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple (vs. 130). The gospel acclamation proclaims, I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord: whoever remains in me bears much fruit (JN 15:5) and in the gospel I hear Jesus attest that The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed…for behold, the Kingdom of God is among you. (LK 17:20)

It’s clear to me, if I believe Professor Jung, that today must be the start of something great. As I look up from my computer screen I see a sky painted pink with the promise of light breaking through and I am grateful for all the messages of this and every morning. I have no idea what the week will hold of miracles but will report as I am able as the week unfolds. Blessings and beauty be yours today and all days!

 

Holy Wisdom

Tags

Book of Wisdom, Holy Wisdom, Mark, Scripture, servant of God, spiritual practice, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spirit of wisdom, wisdom, Wisdom Schools

The gospel this morning speaks of a young man who has been observant of all religious laws throughout his life and desires to do more “to inherit eternal life.” (MK 10:17-30) To move him from being observant to being a servant of  God , Jesus, looking on him with love, told him to divest himself of his many possessions in order to be free to follow the path Jesus is walking. This was a logical directive since following Jesus meant becoming an itinerant, but it was too radical a shift for someone used to a different life. The gospel says he went away sad.

What Jesus was offering the man is found in today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom (7:7-11) where the author reports being given the spirit of wisdom and says; I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her…

Since Thursday evening I have been part of a group of seekers whose desire is to know this wisdom of which the Scriptures speak.* They do not desire to possess it but rather to experience the spirit of wisdom which is not found in possessions or through intellectual striving. Spiritual practices, we believe, lead one deeper into the heart of compassion and the love of God. It is difficult to define the journey toward Holy Wisdom (God’s “playmate” in the creation of the world); one only travels by following the heart’s yearning and finds that the journey is its own reward. We have found this to be true in our prayer together, our silence and our conversation, sharing scriptures and our own experiences, letting go of striving to let our hearts rest in the presence of God. We will take leave of one another tomorrow noon – but not really – richer for the experience and hopeful of continuing the journey, knowing that our oneness does not lie in our physical presence to one another but grateful for the touch of God in this place and time.

*For more information about these “Wisdom Schools, go to http://www.wisdomswork.com.