Apostolic Advice

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care, humility, Mark, narrative, St. Mark, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worries

Today Christians celebrate the feast of St. Mark, known as the author of the shortest of the four canonical gospels. Mark never wrote anything superfluous but got right to the point. That reminds me of my father’s frequently repeated phrase, “short stories” when we were explaining something in a longer narrative than necessary. It also brings to mind something I learned long ago about interactions in groups. I was taught to ask myself three questions: 1. Is this necessary to be said, 2. Is it necessary that I be the one to say it, and 3. What will be the result of saying it?

In the first reading for this feast the Apostle Peter (himself not the best at thinking before speaking in the early days) gives a similar bits of advice when he writes: Clothe yourselves with humility…Cast all your worries upon the Lord because he cares for you. (1 PT 5)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praying for Strength

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A Prayer for Strength, belief, change, courage, fortify, insurmountable, Joyce Rupp, love, Prayer Seeds, provider, purpose, serenity, strength, suffer, support, sustain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trust, worries

I went to sleep last night in my safe and warm bedroom with images from the internet news of cars and trucks smashing into utility poles and one another on icy roads in South Carolina and Georgia. Weather gone wild has stranded thousands in airports and shelters and the only happy people are the children who are playing in the snow that has closed their schools. It is a trying time in our country – for this and many other reasons.

Having no words of my own today, I turn to Joyce Rupp, a wonderful spiritual guide who always seems to have something helpful to say. I am never disappointed by whatever book of hers that comes into my hands. She has a way of comforting and challenging me at the same time. Here is part of “A Prayer for Strength” from her book Prayer Seeds.

Provider of Purpose, Firm Foundation, Enduring Love, support my determination to give the best of myself to others. Fortify the forgiveness you have placed and nurtured in my heart. Sustain a solid belief that I can get through what appears insurmountable. Bolster my efforts to be a person who reaches out to those who suffer. Foster greater trust in you when worries and anxieties attempt to prevail. Impart the courage I need to change what appears to be unchangeable. In you I find sufficient strength, abounding love, and secure serenity. (p.56)

 

 

 

 

 

Help!

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care, dance with God, draw near to God, help, psalm 55, resistance, support, The Letter of James, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worries

There are times in life when we each need help. Asking for what we need is more difficult for some of us than for others. There are many reasons why this could be true in life but I’m coming to learn that resisting help is something we need to come to grips with and let go. Most of us are willing to give help; it’s just receiving assistance from someone else that takes more humility than some of us can muster. It might come easier to us if we considered that when we allow others to help us we are giving them the opportunity to be generous. However we overcome our overactive sense of independence, we need to do it – else how can we ever break down the walls of separation that keep us apart?

This concept also applies to our relationship with God (the most important word here being relationship). There are two lines in today’s readings that emphasize our part in seeking help from God. We can’t just go along assuming God will take care of everything to our liking. That may be the case, but put yourself in God’s place. How would you feel if your spouse or child or very good friend never asked for your help but always assumed you would take care of everything? Where is the relatedness in that? Where is the exchange, the gratitude – the love expressed? The Letter of James advises us to draw near to God and he will draw near to you. That reminds me of the synergy of the couples on Dancing with the Stars last night. If they were just thinking of their own steps, the dance was choppy and stagnant. Last night each of the five remaining couples were brilliantly connected, dancing as one. Don’t we owe God that kind of relationship? The psalmist gives the same kind of advice with a vivid verb in the refrain of Psalm 55, saying: Throw your cares on the Lord, and he will support you. Again I see the dancers, especially one couple in a contemporary dance, where the lifts were extraordinary and the partners so in sync that there wasn’t even an inkling that he would drop her.

Why not try a dance with God today – letting God lead but responding in kind? It might be good preparation for seeking the help of a fellow seeker/traveler on the earth.

Spread the News!

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Good News, grace of God, humility, Jesus, proclaim, St. Mark, the love of Christ, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, worries

Today is the feast of St. Mark, known as the evangelist who wrote to proclaim the “good news” of Christ to the Gentiles, those beyond the Jewish communities who had experienced Jesus during his lifetime. In the gospel today we hear Mark pass on the post-resurrection mandate of Jesus who appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” (MK 16:15)

Peter, the one who loved Jesus so fiercely and knew himself to be loved in all of his foibles and missteps as well as his willingness to serve the mission, took up the charge. His urgency and energy can be heard in his letter quoted this morning, a letter that reflects his own experience as well as his relationship with Mark whom we celebrate today. Listen in to what he writes:

Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another for “God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries on him because he cares for you…I write you this briefly through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Remain firm in it. The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. (1PT 5: 5-14)

Whether written by Peter himself or later by one of his disciples (this fact is disputed) the message is certainly consistent with Peter’s experience and desire for “the whole world” to know the love of Christ and the manner in which to follow what had been taught. The image I have is of a man on fire scribbling quickly on a parchment the most important things he wants to say so that Silvanus can carry it to a new and growing community of believers. Today I am grateful for these early figures who have left us such a rich treasury of teaching and I look within to catch that fire in my life.