Spirit Of All That Lives

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awe, breath, counsel, fear of the Lord, fortitude, gifts, Holy Spirit, knowledge, Pentecost, piety, Prayer Seeds, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, wisdom, wonder

Today we celebrate the outpouring of the power that we call the Holy Spirit. Every inspiration that leads us deeper into the transformation of our hearts in love is understood as an impulse of this face of God. This Spirit is as elemental as our breath, unseen but known in myriad ways great and small – universal and individual. It is as simple as the intake of my breath at the beauty of the burgeoning flowers in spring or as miraculous as the moment a young woman first holds her newborn child. The Spirit brings many gifts, taught in Christianity (traditionally and then in modern parlance) as wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel (right judgment), fortitude (courage), piety (reverence) and fear of the Lord (Wonder and awe in God’s presence).

Let us be grateful in this celebration as we pray: Spirit of the Universe, Spirit of my heart, I welcome you into my life. Come visit the places within me where Love has yet to find a dwelling place. Breathe within all of my existence with the power of your transforming grace. I open my entire being to you and thank you for the gift of your presence. Amen. (Prayer Seeds, p. 172)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bless the Children

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blessing, children, different, extraordinary, Jesuit, joy, simplicity, spiritual opening, spontaneity, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, summer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wonder

My thoughts this morning are of children – simple thoughts really, for a number of reasons. We have finally (some would say swiftly) arrived at the calendar designation of the beginning of summer and I have been aware that this is the last week of school for the youth of New York State. Freed for the summer from the constraints of study, some are likely jubilant while others quickly become bored. I suggest prayer for young people in general that this season will afford them some new, safe adventures and good friends to companion them.

Today is the feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga who lived in the 16th century and died at the age of 23. An extraordinarily spiritual youth, he had a “spiritual opening” at the age of 7 years and was teaching catechism by the age of eleven! After a 4 year struggle with his father who was determined that his son join the military, Aloysius entered the Jesuit order. Soon after, in caring for those brothers sickened by plague, he contracted the disease and died. As I read about his early life, I thought of the children I have known as “different” or extraordinary – often the intellectually brilliant ones – who are not well accepted by their peers. Conformity is a much safer path to walk, especially in our younger years. I pray for those children and teens who wish for a simpler life but know a different calling, that they may accept themselves and others and come to celebrate their uniqueness as God’s gift.

Finally, I see pictures of the beautifully alive faces of the youngest members of my own extended family and pray for children everywhere that they may be granted loving parents or guardians like those I know their parents, my younger cousins, to be. May we learn from the young the lessons of spontaneity and wonder, of simplicity and joy and may they be a blessing to us in this season.

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering

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dreaming, dreams, eyes, heart, holy name, Psalm 105, remember, rise, seekers, sing, songs of praise, St. Patrick's Breastplate, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, tidings, voice, wisdom, wonder

Most nights I wake up knowing that I have been dreaming but without any sense of the content of the dreams. This morning as I read an alternate translation of the psalm for today, several quick dream images jumped into view. They seem unconnected and inscrutable but I wonder if they were brought forth by the call of the psalm which is a lovely way to begin the morning. Listen:

O God, we rise in thanks to call upon your name; we rise to spread the tidings of your deeds. We rise to sing you songs of praise recounting every work and word in music’s voice; we rise to sing in honor of your holy name. Let every seeker’s heart rejoice and search for you with all their strength until they stand before the beauty of your face, remembering. Remember, remember everything you can recall, remember every work and wonder, remember every word God speaks to you in wisdom…(Ps. 105: 1-5)

I am fairly certain I’ve used those words before. This morning it has the feeling of the famous prayer of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, first calling to God and then to ourselves, urging remembrance. No matter, I suppose, if it is a repetition since new eyes will see it today, just as I see it with new eyes and feel the call more deeply in my heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Young and Old Alike

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awe, beauty, fear of the Lord, majesty, psalm 111, religious education, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, wisdom, wonder, youth

When I was teaching high school and, later, working in religious education with teenagers, I always referred them to the first letter of Timothy, a young disciple of Paul, specifically to the line that said, “Never let people look down on you because you are young, but see that they look up to you because of your love and faith and purity.” This morning I find that line (1TIM 4:12) – although translated a bit differently as “Let no one have contempt for your youth…” – as a call to all of us who are older to give more than a passing glance to young people whose journey to adulthood has likely been much more complicated than mine and to seek the good that may sometimes be hidden in them.

Another of my memories from those days of parish religious education was the shift in translation of the “seven gifts of the Holy Spirit” taught as they prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation. Most welcome was the change from “fear of the Lord” to “wonder and awe in God’s presence.” That made so much sense to me. I believe that the sense of that gift was always “God is so big and I am so small” but rather than conveying a duty to cower in the face of that huge presence, we are called to bow in wonder to the majesty and beauty of God. Perhaps that awe is most easily seen in small children for whom almost everything is a cause for wonder.

Lest you think I am lost in a reverie of by-gone teaching days, I was drawn to think of all this in connection as I read Psalm 111 today, which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This reminds me that I need to nurture that sense of wonder and awe in young people, listen to them for growing insights about the workings of God in the world and find wisdom where it is birthed in them. We generally hear that wisdom is a virtue not characteristic of the young. While it is true that experience is the best teacher of wisdom, I would advocate for attention to what they can teach us older folks of newness and fresh perspective, and pray for them as they will be the ones to change the world.

The Time Is Now

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acepting, blessing, burdened with fear, Divine Light, free, glory, gratitude, heart of my heart, love, Nan Merrill, new dawn, Psalm 145, Psalms for Praying, radical trust, raise up, St. Bartholomew, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wonder

On this feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, I was drawn to the translation of Psalm 145 written by Nan Merrill in her book Psalms for Praying. While very different from the traditional English translation, I found it a powerful message for today’s disciples. It begins around verse 10.

God Speaks: Divine Light shines in those who live in Love. I shall uphold all who are burdened with fear, and raise up all who call to Me. The time is nigh for you to choose, for great is the new dawn that fast approaches; I call each of you to open your inner ears, to see with spiritual eyes, and to trust that even amidst the outward chaos, all is working toward the wholeness of humanity.

The disciple responds: O Heart of my heart, envelop me! I know You are near to all who call upon You. Bring to my recollection all that I have denied, that I might be accepting and free, to help rebuild the soul of the world with radical trust, love and wonder! When I speak, let it be of blessing and gratitude; let your glory within me shine out to the world!

 

 

Who Are We?

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angels, awe, creation, Earth, heavens, moon and stars, psalm 8, sacred place, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, universe, wonder

Today I’m happy to be accompanied through the day by my favorite Psalm. It speaks of all creation and our place in it. It seems to me lately that we are coming to understand better our responsibility toward each other as well as the “non-human” elements of what exists. The early biblical charge of God to “fill the earth and subdue it” has gradually morphed into a gratitude for the beauty that we experience and a reverence for what we have been given. We have a long way to go and some big mistakes to correct regarding environmental waste and carelessness, but the children of the world certainly seem to have a better grasp of how we and the cosmos are all connected, giving me hope for the future. All of that comes clear in Psalm 8.

O God, our God, how glorious is your name over all the earth!…When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place, who are we that you should be mindful us, that you should care for us? You have made us little less than the angels and set us over the works of your hands… 

A reflection that I read this morning said that the night sky has always been for humanity a source of wonder and awe. Looking up on a clear night with the vast star-field spread out above puts our lives and world into a very different perspective. We see ourselves as small and insignificant in this vastness, but are we? A voice out of the universe seems to answer our question: “You have a sacred place and role to fulfill.”

My point exactly.

Bless the Children

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baby, childlike, children, honesty, Jesus, love, Luke, newborn, Peace, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom, wonder

Last Friday I was lucky to be in a family gathering that included a bright and smiling two-year old. A few days later, his cousin, another boy, was born and pictures arrived immediately. As if in a game of show and tell, e-mail came with pictures of another beautiful newborn – this one a girl – and then a party of three – all under 5 years old. Nothing can soften a heart like a baby who is a miracle of whom nothing is expected except presence. Holding a baby provides an inkling of connection with the God of peace and love. Watching toddlers and young children play alone and together is instructive of what Jesus is saying in the gospel this morning. “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” he says, “for although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.” (LK 10:21) Unspoiled by “the world” children are willing to approach others honestly, not hiding behind a persona they have constructed in order to fit in. They marvel at the simplest things and can spend hours playing with their toes or the Christmas wrap from a fancy gift that they have yet to explore.

Interpretations of what Jesus meant in his observation vary widely. I’ve noted honesty and wonder, peace and love – qualities that I desire to manifest. What about you? What wisdom have you learned from the children in your life?