I find there are certain books, I begin to read, and there is no difficulty in the reading. On the other hand, there are other books which I find, in the beginning, I do not connect with. So, I have the practice of putting them away. Sometimes it is for a short time, some books are on the shelf for a greater length of time. (My record for one book? How about 20 years!) I have begun to read John O'Donoghue's book, Beauty, Again. I am so very glad I did. Following up on the theme of the last few weeks I came across the following.
"The beauty that emerges from woundedness is a beauty infused with feeling: a beauty different from the beauty of landscape and the cold beauty of perfect form.
This is a beauty that has suffered its way THROUGH the ache of desolation until the words or music emerge TO EQUAL the hunger and desperation of the human heart......
Where woundedness can be refined into beauty a wonderful transfiguration takes place........For instance , compassion is one of the most beautiful presences a person can bring to the world and most compassion is born from one's woundedness...
The beauty of compassion continues to shelter and save our world. BEAUTY.”
The journey through the above process, is not an easy one. I hate to say, but it is the truth, like everything else in the spiritual journey, it is not a once and forever event. We will enter into the emptying process again, again and again. Neither is it a quick, fast, or sudden journey. It is a slow, an oh so slow process. We intellectually can give our assent to the process, while all the time running away emotionally from it. (Rupp) In our journey from weakness, to strength, to compassion we will need to spend a good deal of time coming to grips with our emptiness, and powerlessness. Embracing our emptiness and powerlessness, we enter into the Kingdom of God.
You will remember a few weeks ago, what Jesus said, "How blest are the poor in spirit, theirs in the Kingdom". Many times I ask this question, how many poeple would like to enter into the Kingdom of God? A great many hands shoot up! Then I ask, how many of us are prepared to let go of our kingdoms, based on power, property and prestige so as to embrace the poverty necessary for entrance into God's Kingdom? Not many hands are in the air at that time!
God's Kingdom as we are told, is not an earthly Kingdom, but a spiritual Kingdom of peace, justice and love. A Kingdom not the creation of human hands, or the result of human effort, but the result of the compassionate power of God. A power encountered in the everyday events of our authentic human journey. In this way, we again come to a newer, and an ever deeper understanding , of the mysterious workings of GRACE [Amazing Grace]. We can never, or must not ever, underestimate the power of the words of scripture "with God all things are possible”, “of ourselves we can do nothing, we can do all things in Him who strengthens us", and then the nasty one "it is only when I am weak, it is then, that I am strong". As we approach Thanksgiving, how many will be offering thanks for weakness? Maybe this year, we can say thank you for the strengthening presence that has come to us through our weaknesses and brokenness.
There is the foundation of our faith, a foundation that leads to hope.
“Prayer is the supreme way we lift our limited selves toward the light, and ask it to shine into us.” (O’Donoghue)
A wondering wanderer’s journey continues….
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Cocktail...
"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day "
" We must walk like a camel, which is said to be the only beast which ruminates while walking" Henry David Thoreau.
Last Sunday, I had no morning Mass. I got up and went for a hike , in the wonder-full , early silence of a Sunday morning. There is just something different about the silence of Sunday that speaks to me in a way other mornings fail to do so. Is that your experience? I hiked up Telegraph Pass. I got to the road, took a left, and continued on the National Trail. That trail is like the mercy of God, or Fr. Joe's sermons, it goes on and on and on. When I got into the rhythm of the hike, I began to think about what this blog was going to be about.
In the beginning, as often is the case, there was a blank. Then the thought of Henry David Thoreau became a reality, [thank God] "ME thinks, the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."
So I started to think about the last number of weeks, and what has bubbling up on the inside.
Well as you know, I have been reflecting on an incident on a hike in Steamboat Springs. It was a very difficult hike for me. I was lucky enough to be able to experience a very refreshing, restorative rest on a rock. That reflection was followed with some thoughts on what it means to be authentically human and what it takes to be at home, in our as yet, not fully redeemed humanity. Then, the thought struck me 'since these are the realities of the spiritual life, then they must be connected, right?’ All that is real, is interconnected. So, how about making a cocktail of the past weeks and see what happens?
So here goes the cocktail. Warning, this may be dangerous to some pre-conceived ideas , in which we have, up to now, found security. Really a false security, which when lost, leads us to unnecessary pain and turmoil. Thank God this so called, 'Losing', is in reality the beginning of a NEWER, deeper, and a more life giving relationship with the Living God.
Pain-full ? YES
Lonely ? YES
Shattering? YES
Discouraging? YES
Wonder-full and Liberating? YES
All leading to a NEW way of acting. which in turn, leads to NEW way of thinking. These gifts are not for ourselves, they are given to be shared. It is ONLY in the honest sharing do we come to realize what has been gifted to us. This experience somehow lessens the previous pain, as we now realize that suffering was not in vain. A new wisdom has somehow has been gifted to us. This wisdom as it comes to us from the application of our faith to our everyday living, to our everyday life. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge. Wisdom comes with the experience of living in a reality, that is grounded in a God, in whom, "we live and move and have our being.
We go from wandering wanderers, to wondering wanderers. We, through the miracle of grace , are led from being wounded wounders, to the miracle of being wounded healers. Truly amazing grace, which allows us to see the connection between all that is. We, slowly come to the realization that the poverty, we are so in dread of, is in reality the rock on which we rest and find peace. Not only that, surprise, surprise, it is a net into which we can safely fall into. There to embraced by our loving father-God.
John Halifax,
"Our weaknesses become our strengths,
the source of our compassion for others
and the basis of our awakened nature."
Now that is strong drink. It is deadly for the ego. It is encouraging, and nourishing for the real, true Self.
Drink Up.
A dreamer’s journey continues….
" We must walk like a camel, which is said to be the only beast which ruminates while walking" Henry David Thoreau.
Last Sunday, I had no morning Mass. I got up and went for a hike , in the wonder-full , early silence of a Sunday morning. There is just something different about the silence of Sunday that speaks to me in a way other mornings fail to do so. Is that your experience? I hiked up Telegraph Pass. I got to the road, took a left, and continued on the National Trail. That trail is like the mercy of God, or Fr. Joe's sermons, it goes on and on and on. When I got into the rhythm of the hike, I began to think about what this blog was going to be about.
In the beginning, as often is the case, there was a blank. Then the thought of Henry David Thoreau became a reality, [thank God] "ME thinks, the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."
So I started to think about the last number of weeks, and what has bubbling up on the inside.
Well as you know, I have been reflecting on an incident on a hike in Steamboat Springs. It was a very difficult hike for me. I was lucky enough to be able to experience a very refreshing, restorative rest on a rock. That reflection was followed with some thoughts on what it means to be authentically human and what it takes to be at home, in our as yet, not fully redeemed humanity. Then, the thought struck me 'since these are the realities of the spiritual life, then they must be connected, right?’ All that is real, is interconnected. So, how about making a cocktail of the past weeks and see what happens?
So here goes the cocktail. Warning, this may be dangerous to some pre-conceived ideas , in which we have, up to now, found security. Really a false security, which when lost, leads us to unnecessary pain and turmoil. Thank God this so called, 'Losing', is in reality the beginning of a NEWER, deeper, and a more life giving relationship with the Living God.
Pain-full ? YES
Lonely ? YES
Shattering? YES
Discouraging? YES
Wonder-full and Liberating? YES
All leading to a NEW way of acting. which in turn, leads to NEW way of thinking. These gifts are not for ourselves, they are given to be shared. It is ONLY in the honest sharing do we come to realize what has been gifted to us. This experience somehow lessens the previous pain, as we now realize that suffering was not in vain. A new wisdom has somehow has been gifted to us. This wisdom as it comes to us from the application of our faith to our everyday living, to our everyday life. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge. Wisdom comes with the experience of living in a reality, that is grounded in a God, in whom, "we live and move and have our being.
We go from wandering wanderers, to wondering wanderers. We, through the miracle of grace , are led from being wounded wounders, to the miracle of being wounded healers. Truly amazing grace, which allows us to see the connection between all that is. We, slowly come to the realization that the poverty, we are so in dread of, is in reality the rock on which we rest and find peace. Not only that, surprise, surprise, it is a net into which we can safely fall into. There to embraced by our loving father-God.
John Halifax,
"Our weaknesses become our strengths,
the source of our compassion for others
and the basis of our awakened nature."
Now that is strong drink. It is deadly for the ego. It is encouraging, and nourishing for the real, true Self.
Drink Up.
A dreamer’s journey continues….
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Poverty...
As I have said before, it is wonderful to go to Mass and there find that the Liturgy speaks to where you are at, to where you thoughts are at that time. Last week was such an occasion. The Gospel was, indeed, Good News, as it spoke of "how blest are the poor in spirit, for theirs IS the kingdom of Heaven”. The emphasis is on IS, that means the here and now. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just something that is going to happen at some time in the future, no, it is happening for the poor in spirit, right now. What a wonder-full statement that is. To put it simply, all I have to do is embrace my poverty of spirit and I will be lead into the Kingdom of God. With everything else that is simple, it is also so difficult. We have all heard "do what you are doing", "be where you are at", easily said, but this so very difficult to do.
Coming to grips with our poverty of spirit is a life long journey. Metz says, "we are born human and spend our whole life discovering what human means”. The world in which we live in, and which Madison Avenue rules, does not allow for too much poverty or weakness, unless it is going to enable them to sell us something. If there is a product to be sold, our human condition will be exploited, not for our benefit, but for their gain. But at whose expense? Ours, of course. The Madison Avenue world, is not about being, it is about doing. We must somehow tinker with who we are, rather than listen to St. Paul, "By the grace of God I am who I am". So in God’s time, which is Kairos, we are in the best place as far as God is concerned, why not leave well alone? We are always struggling with loving ourselves as we are, so we can encounter God’s presence. Where there is love, there is God. Where there is no love, there is no God. Metz also warns us of the fact that sinful flight from God begins with sinful flight from self. We will always struggle with loving ourselves as God loves us.
Thomas Merton has written the following, “True love and prayer are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart turns to stone”.
It is in the hour of our greatest darkest that we discover that we are never alone”- Joyce Rupp
We have with God, after all, only what we have in our human experience. In some cases, because the reality of unconditioned love was not modeled for us and we end up as human doers, rather than human beings, seeking perfection. We buy into the lie, “I am what I do”, rather than believe I Am Loved As I AM., without condition, restriction, or reservation. Jesus in the Gospel warns us, “I give you peace not the way the world gives it to you”. We are in the constant need of deepening our belief in those word of Jesus. When we live out our daily lives within this reality, we will live a Kingdom based life, of peace, joy, and love. This is the AISLING of our God. The dream of our God, for you, and I.
Why then do we not live out that dream, why do we do our best to screw it up? We, as human beings are more inclined to listen to this lie, that happiness comes to us though power, property and prestige. When we follow this line of reasoning, we end up with the father of lies, the devil, and in Hell. We need to accept that we are the creators of our own hell. Those are tough words "our self created hell" We make the choice every moment of the day, to choose the life of an authentic human being, or choose to live a lie which only brings hatred, violence and death. When we embrace our poverty, when we embrace a humanity of which is perfectly imperfect. To my mind, this is what Jesus means when He says, “If you are going to be my disciple, you are going to take up your cross each day and follow me”. Each morning, we take up our cross, which is an action and follow in the footsteps of the One Perfect Human Being. We are making an act of faith in the fact that we are in the PROCESS of being perfected. This process will not however be completed in this life. The perfection which we so seek in this life, will only come to us after our death, in the RESURRECTION.
“What we need to remember is that we are carried in God’s womb, in God’s divine heart, even when we don’t know it, even when God seems far away.” – Sue Monk Kidd
A dreamer’s journey continues….
Coming to grips with our poverty of spirit is a life long journey. Metz says, "we are born human and spend our whole life discovering what human means”. The world in which we live in, and which Madison Avenue rules, does not allow for too much poverty or weakness, unless it is going to enable them to sell us something. If there is a product to be sold, our human condition will be exploited, not for our benefit, but for their gain. But at whose expense? Ours, of course. The Madison Avenue world, is not about being, it is about doing. We must somehow tinker with who we are, rather than listen to St. Paul, "By the grace of God I am who I am". So in God’s time, which is Kairos, we are in the best place as far as God is concerned, why not leave well alone? We are always struggling with loving ourselves as we are, so we can encounter God’s presence. Where there is love, there is God. Where there is no love, there is no God. Metz also warns us of the fact that sinful flight from God begins with sinful flight from self. We will always struggle with loving ourselves as God loves us.
Thomas Merton has written the following, “True love and prayer are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart turns to stone”.
It is in the hour of our greatest darkest that we discover that we are never alone”- Joyce Rupp
We have with God, after all, only what we have in our human experience. In some cases, because the reality of unconditioned love was not modeled for us and we end up as human doers, rather than human beings, seeking perfection. We buy into the lie, “I am what I do”, rather than believe I Am Loved As I AM., without condition, restriction, or reservation. Jesus in the Gospel warns us, “I give you peace not the way the world gives it to you”. We are in the constant need of deepening our belief in those word of Jesus. When we live out our daily lives within this reality, we will live a Kingdom based life, of peace, joy, and love. This is the AISLING of our God. The dream of our God, for you, and I.
Why then do we not live out that dream, why do we do our best to screw it up? We, as human beings are more inclined to listen to this lie, that happiness comes to us though power, property and prestige. When we follow this line of reasoning, we end up with the father of lies, the devil, and in Hell. We need to accept that we are the creators of our own hell. Those are tough words "our self created hell" We make the choice every moment of the day, to choose the life of an authentic human being, or choose to live a lie which only brings hatred, violence and death. When we embrace our poverty, when we embrace a humanity of which is perfectly imperfect. To my mind, this is what Jesus means when He says, “If you are going to be my disciple, you are going to take up your cross each day and follow me”. Each morning, we take up our cross, which is an action and follow in the footsteps of the One Perfect Human Being. We are making an act of faith in the fact that we are in the PROCESS of being perfected. This process will not however be completed in this life. The perfection which we so seek in this life, will only come to us after our death, in the RESURRECTION.
“What we need to remember is that we are carried in God’s womb, in God’s divine heart, even when we don’t know it, even when God seems far away.” – Sue Monk Kidd
A dreamer’s journey continues….
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Refuge...
I live on my own. I travel on my own. I pretty much hike on my own. This affords me a great opportunity to think and to reflect. You may say “that is good, is it not”?Well I have learned over the years that "every blessing is a curse and every curse is a blessing”. [I never heard that one in school.] Being on one’s own is both a blessing and a challenge. This can be further exacerbated, when you add in, getting old. As you get older you find yourself reflecting more and more on what has happened on your life’s journey. As you look back you get caught up in appreciation, thanksgiving and of course guilt and regret. Because of God's grace you are able to allow an attitude of gratitude to develop. You develop an attitude of gratitude for what has been given over the years. In time, surprise, surprise, you become grateful for what has been lost and taken away. The feelings of guilt and regret lead to a deeper understanding of God's unconditioned love. This unconditioned love enables one to grow in reconciliation with who we really are, not who we would like to be, or who we are expected to be. All of this is one great process that cannot be hurried. God sure moves slowly but who can question the results. My mother taught me a long time ago “the mills of God grind very slow, but they grind very true”.
This process also leads one to slowly, accept and in time appreciate, one powerlessness. The truth of what Fr. Rohr says about “the powerlessness of power and the power of powerlessness” becomes an every deepening reality. This leads to a greater freedom.
This ever-so-slow process of acceptance leads to a startling revelation, of always being this powerless all along and never really realized it or accepted it. You end up with the realization that nothing good has ever happened because of one’s efforts. It was always was, and will ever be, the result of Grace. What a kick in the head that is.
On closer inspection what St. Paul said is true in every case, “Of ourselves we can do nothing, but we can do all things in Him that strengthens us.”
In Psalm 18, we pray the words, “Who but God is the rock.”.
In Psalm 127, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the labor in vain who builds”.
In 2 Samuel 22:32, “for who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock save our God?”.
There are many, many other references to the wonderful connection between what physical rock reveals to us, and the reality of who our God, the living God, really is. In reflecting on the episode of the rock, I remember I did not want to sit on the ground or on a log, I sat on the rock. Sitting on that rock gave me a great sense of security and stability. This was so important when I had exhausted my resources, and I needed a boost from outside of myself. We are also told in the scriptures that our God “is our refuge” and The source of our strength. Further, because of this encounter, I began to understand more clearly the meaning of the scripture that our God “is our refuge” and The source of our strength.
Reflecting on the miracle of grace is a never-ending process.
The dreamer’s journey continues….
This process also leads one to slowly, accept and in time appreciate, one powerlessness. The truth of what Fr. Rohr says about “the powerlessness of power and the power of powerlessness” becomes an every deepening reality. This leads to a greater freedom.
This ever-so-slow process of acceptance leads to a startling revelation, of always being this powerless all along and never really realized it or accepted it. You end up with the realization that nothing good has ever happened because of one’s efforts. It was always was, and will ever be, the result of Grace. What a kick in the head that is.
On closer inspection what St. Paul said is true in every case, “Of ourselves we can do nothing, but we can do all things in Him that strengthens us.”
In Psalm 18, we pray the words, “Who but God is the rock.”.
In Psalm 127, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the labor in vain who builds”.
In 2 Samuel 22:32, “for who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock save our God?”.
There are many, many other references to the wonderful connection between what physical rock reveals to us, and the reality of who our God, the living God, really is. In reflecting on the episode of the rock, I remember I did not want to sit on the ground or on a log, I sat on the rock. Sitting on that rock gave me a great sense of security and stability. This was so important when I had exhausted my resources, and I needed a boost from outside of myself. We are also told in the scriptures that our God “is our refuge” and The source of our strength. Further, because of this encounter, I began to understand more clearly the meaning of the scripture that our God “is our refuge” and The source of our strength.
Reflecting on the miracle of grace is a never-ending process.
The dreamer’s journey continues….
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Rock...
I was visiting Steamboat Springs. I went to the Visitor Information Center to get some information on some good hiking spots. I asked about a trail I had become aware of during a previous visit. On that occasion, I was visiting the waterfall which you see on every Coors can. While I was there, I noticed a trail on the left to another fall. A posted sign the trail climbed 2,400 feet in a matter of 2 miles. At the Visitor Center, I asked the young person about the difficulty of that climb. I was told the first 1,800 feet was a pretty straight climb, with no switchbacks. Then it would level off, and the rest of the climb was not too difficult.
So, I began my hike on that trail. It was, understandably, not too too bad in the beginning. Then, it got a little tougher, and then, a little tougher. Eventually, I found myself on a very steep climb. At this point, I noticed myself taking small baby steps. Those baby steps got me up that trail as well as the long strides did at the beginning. Then it came to mind, when things are going well for us, we can saunter along with not a care in the world. When the going gets tough, then we have to slow down and measure each step as we move along. We appreciate each step that is made, and we take no one step for granted. Each little step makes that next step possible. In this mode, we move slowly on and on. Up and up we go. [That is a great paradigm for the spiritual journey.]
Well as I went up and up, needless to say I was really suffering. At this point my lungs were hurting, Steamboat Springs in not what you would call at sea level, it is far from it. Then the questions began to enter my mind “how much longer can I keep this up?”, “How much more effort is there in me?”. I looked up and higher up the trail and I saw a really big rock, right in the middle of the trail. I said, “if I can get to that rock then I can rest and have a chance to catch my breath”. I did get to that rock. It had a nice flat surface upon which I could rest. It was worth the effort to get there. The rest was great.
As I was enjoying my Honey and Oats bar chased by wonderful cool water, I began to look around. I turned from looking down the trail to looking up the trail. I was more than delighted to see that the trail only went up a very short distance before it got lost over the brow. I then remembered the person at the visitor center and being told “the trail levels off”. That was the good news I needed at that time. To say the least, I was thrilled!
This gave me a much needed burst of energy and enthusiasm. I was able to get up and carry on and up that trail. Yes, it did level off indeed. I was able to reach my intended destination.
Was it worth it?
Yes, it was.
This is an experience I have thought about a lot since that hike. What I have said in the past about looking at something long enough and receiving a deeper insight has come through. Over the next few weeks we will take a look at the ways and places we encounter “huge rocks” in our trek we call our spiritual journey. Here is a little taste…..
I have read that in Hebrew the word for rock carries with it the added meaning of….stability….firmness…faithfulness.
A dreamer’s journey continues….
So, I began my hike on that trail. It was, understandably, not too too bad in the beginning. Then, it got a little tougher, and then, a little tougher. Eventually, I found myself on a very steep climb. At this point, I noticed myself taking small baby steps. Those baby steps got me up that trail as well as the long strides did at the beginning. Then it came to mind, when things are going well for us, we can saunter along with not a care in the world. When the going gets tough, then we have to slow down and measure each step as we move along. We appreciate each step that is made, and we take no one step for granted. Each little step makes that next step possible. In this mode, we move slowly on and on. Up and up we go. [That is a great paradigm for the spiritual journey.]
Well as I went up and up, needless to say I was really suffering. At this point my lungs were hurting, Steamboat Springs in not what you would call at sea level, it is far from it. Then the questions began to enter my mind “how much longer can I keep this up?”, “How much more effort is there in me?”. I looked up and higher up the trail and I saw a really big rock, right in the middle of the trail. I said, “if I can get to that rock then I can rest and have a chance to catch my breath”. I did get to that rock. It had a nice flat surface upon which I could rest. It was worth the effort to get there. The rest was great.
As I was enjoying my Honey and Oats bar chased by wonderful cool water, I began to look around. I turned from looking down the trail to looking up the trail. I was more than delighted to see that the trail only went up a very short distance before it got lost over the brow. I then remembered the person at the visitor center and being told “the trail levels off”. That was the good news I needed at that time. To say the least, I was thrilled!
This gave me a much needed burst of energy and enthusiasm. I was able to get up and carry on and up that trail. Yes, it did level off indeed. I was able to reach my intended destination.
Was it worth it?
Yes, it was.
This is an experience I have thought about a lot since that hike. What I have said in the past about looking at something long enough and receiving a deeper insight has come through. Over the next few weeks we will take a look at the ways and places we encounter “huge rocks” in our trek we call our spiritual journey. Here is a little taste…..
I have read that in Hebrew the word for rock carries with it the added meaning of….stability….firmness…faithfulness.
A dreamer’s journey continues….
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Celebration
“Open our eyes to see your hand at work in the splendor of creation, in the beauty of human life. Touched by your hand our world is holy. Help us to cherish the gifts that surround us, to share your blessings with our sisters and our brothers and experience the joy of life in your presence.”
Having spent a week walking, hiking and driving through God’s awesome, mysterious creation. This was the opening prayer of the Mass I attended that weekend. Wow, that prayer really said something to me. It spoke to me exactly where I was at. It brought to mind, again, the wonder-full, awe-full moments of my week’s journey. It did, as liturgy is supposed to do, connect deeply with my week’s experience. As I joined in the celebration, I was bringing that experience into the gathering of the community. Prayer is sometimes described as “the outward expression of inward faith”. In the above prayer, I found I was given, I was presented with, a summary of my ever new evolving belief in the wonder-fullness and the awe-fullness that is to be found in the cathedral of the great outdoors. My attendance at liturgy that weekend intensified my experience of what was my daily living.
With the community I prayed “open our eyes to see your hand at work in the splendor of creation”. To me it is expressing the belief that right now God is at work at this moment in all of creation. We can see that our world has been created but do we always accept the fact that it is also being created? Our world has been shaped and is being shaped. We too, as human beings, are created but in each moment of every day we are being recreated anew. Humanity and creation are in the process of being perfected. We have a long way to go, obviously, but the process is in place and will not be derailed or denied.
Frustrated, yes.
Opposed, yes.
Denied, yes.
Prevented, no.
That is the great source of hope for us as we face these troubled times.
Chardin in his wonderful essay entitled, The Mass on the World, has this wonderful prayer:
“I pray, lay on us those your hands-powerful, considerate, omnipresent,
those hands which do not [like our human hands]
Touch now here, there.
But, which plunge into the depths of the totality, present and past, of things so as to reach us simultaneously through all that is most immense and most inward within us and around us.”
The creative spirit of God is at work in our world. We have been invited to be “co-creators and co-perfectors of His universe”. A universe which we have been invited to be stewards of. It is not our business to possess. We will not take any of it’s materials with us. As Billy Graham once said, “there is no Uhaul behind a hearse”. Each one of us is here for a time to add our own unique shade, and color to the tapestry of creation. The more we in tune with the Creator, the more effective we are going to be as co-creators with Him. The more we appreciate our God-given talents as gifts to be gifted in the concrete circumstances in which we find ourselves, always in the here and now. We have been gifted with a great responsibility of being good stewards of all the Creators gifts.
I am so impressed at how Native Americans see themselves as stewards of all the gifts of creation, keeping in mind those who are to follow. There is one tribe when it makes a decision it asks the question, “how will this effect five generations from now”. The wonderful reverence they show for all of creation and not some of creation is awe inspiring. On the other hand, it is so heart-breaking to see how far we have come from the ideal, what a price we are paying. I still carry with me the image of the Native American looking at all the garbage strewn about and a tear comes to his eye. We are being awakened to the reality that we cannot continue to treat nature the way we have been and not have to suffer the consequences. How glibly we can say, when someone gets cancer, a baby is born deformed, a minor has a black lung, “it is God’s will”. We are making God the great scapegoat. It is not His will. It is just ignoring what His will for His creation is . It is not “God’s will” to pollute streams, rivers, underground water supply with toxins that bring disease, suffering, pain, tragedy and torment. The god that was responsible for all of this we got rid of a long time ago [The God I Don’t Believe in Anymore]. It is on the other hand, good business to keep him around and well. Having that god and keeping him around sure adds to the bottom line of companies, while all the time, so many innocent men, women and children find their lives have bottomed out in the prison of powerlessness. God’s hand is at work in our world and has has called each one of us, from all of eternity, to be His hands, His arms, His eyes, His legs, His ears, He has called us to be His galvanizing presence to stop the destruction and start the reconstruction. To forge a newer and better understanding of all of what His creation means. To deepen our understanding of His plan, not the plans of those whose self interest is greed, profit, and gain. And, to heck with the consequences.
I would like to end this with these quotations from John Muir,
“Climb the mountains and get there good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.”
It is also good to remember the famous words of Henry David Thoreau,
“In wilderness is the preservation of the world”.
A dreamer’s journey continues….
Having spent a week walking, hiking and driving through God’s awesome, mysterious creation. This was the opening prayer of the Mass I attended that weekend. Wow, that prayer really said something to me. It spoke to me exactly where I was at. It brought to mind, again, the wonder-full, awe-full moments of my week’s journey. It did, as liturgy is supposed to do, connect deeply with my week’s experience. As I joined in the celebration, I was bringing that experience into the gathering of the community. Prayer is sometimes described as “the outward expression of inward faith”. In the above prayer, I found I was given, I was presented with, a summary of my ever new evolving belief in the wonder-fullness and the awe-fullness that is to be found in the cathedral of the great outdoors. My attendance at liturgy that weekend intensified my experience of what was my daily living.
With the community I prayed “open our eyes to see your hand at work in the splendor of creation”. To me it is expressing the belief that right now God is at work at this moment in all of creation. We can see that our world has been created but do we always accept the fact that it is also being created? Our world has been shaped and is being shaped. We too, as human beings, are created but in each moment of every day we are being recreated anew. Humanity and creation are in the process of being perfected. We have a long way to go, obviously, but the process is in place and will not be derailed or denied.
Frustrated, yes.
Opposed, yes.
Denied, yes.
Prevented, no.
That is the great source of hope for us as we face these troubled times.
Chardin in his wonderful essay entitled, The Mass on the World, has this wonderful prayer:
“I pray, lay on us those your hands-powerful, considerate, omnipresent,
those hands which do not [like our human hands]
Touch now here, there.
But, which plunge into the depths of the totality, present and past, of things so as to reach us simultaneously through all that is most immense and most inward within us and around us.”
The creative spirit of God is at work in our world. We have been invited to be “co-creators and co-perfectors of His universe”. A universe which we have been invited to be stewards of. It is not our business to possess. We will not take any of it’s materials with us. As Billy Graham once said, “there is no Uhaul behind a hearse”. Each one of us is here for a time to add our own unique shade, and color to the tapestry of creation. The more we in tune with the Creator, the more effective we are going to be as co-creators with Him. The more we appreciate our God-given talents as gifts to be gifted in the concrete circumstances in which we find ourselves, always in the here and now. We have been gifted with a great responsibility of being good stewards of all the Creators gifts.
I am so impressed at how Native Americans see themselves as stewards of all the gifts of creation, keeping in mind those who are to follow. There is one tribe when it makes a decision it asks the question, “how will this effect five generations from now”. The wonderful reverence they show for all of creation and not some of creation is awe inspiring. On the other hand, it is so heart-breaking to see how far we have come from the ideal, what a price we are paying. I still carry with me the image of the Native American looking at all the garbage strewn about and a tear comes to his eye. We are being awakened to the reality that we cannot continue to treat nature the way we have been and not have to suffer the consequences. How glibly we can say, when someone gets cancer, a baby is born deformed, a minor has a black lung, “it is God’s will”. We are making God the great scapegoat. It is not His will. It is just ignoring what His will for His creation is . It is not “God’s will” to pollute streams, rivers, underground water supply with toxins that bring disease, suffering, pain, tragedy and torment. The god that was responsible for all of this we got rid of a long time ago [The God I Don’t Believe in Anymore]. It is on the other hand, good business to keep him around and well. Having that god and keeping him around sure adds to the bottom line of companies, while all the time, so many innocent men, women and children find their lives have bottomed out in the prison of powerlessness. God’s hand is at work in our world and has has called each one of us, from all of eternity, to be His hands, His arms, His eyes, His legs, His ears, He has called us to be His galvanizing presence to stop the destruction and start the reconstruction. To forge a newer and better understanding of all of what His creation means. To deepen our understanding of His plan, not the plans of those whose self interest is greed, profit, and gain. And, to heck with the consequences.
I would like to end this with these quotations from John Muir,
“Climb the mountains and get there good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.”
It is also good to remember the famous words of Henry David Thoreau,
“In wilderness is the preservation of the world”.
A dreamer’s journey continues….
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wonder
The human spirit is somehow enhanced, transformed, liberated, excited, as it experiences the mystery and the majesty to be encountered in the cathedral of the great outdoors. Like all great cathedrals it has many chapels. In large cathedrals people go from chapel to chapel and end at the place where they feel a special connection with a presence greater than themselves. The cathedral of the great outdoors offers us many chapels. Some enjoy the mountains, lakes, rivers and streams. Others prefer the desert [this is a great gift if you live in Arizona]. God seems to have a preference for the desert. We see in the story of God and His chosen people in the Old Testament how in the desert they were courted and purified. We see in the New Testament how the men who watched the stars came to the knowledge of an evening that changed world. God had decided to join His creation.
In the wilderness we are spoken to in the silence. We are brought to awe and wonder as we gaze at what is offered to us. Wherever there is wonder and awe, a spiritual response has been awakened within us. Where the spirital response has been awakened within us, we have been gifted with the knowledge there is a Presence here greater than ourselves. This place has become a holy place for us. These places in Celtic spirituality are called "thin places". That is why it has been a great discussion between those who say, “it is only in nature I can meet God” and those who say “it is only in church I meet my God”. Why cannot it be both/and rather than either/or? When we get into the either/or we are looking for a winner and a loser. That is religiosity. When we are prepared to live in attention of the both/and then we are taking up residence in the realm of the spiritual. The spiritual journey is all about the both/and.
My pre-Christian ancestors had a great belief “that the design pervaded every aspect of life and that spirits everywhere in ancient trees and sacred groves, mountain tops and rock formations, rivers, streams and holy wells. The Celts living close to the bodies of water with their dream-like fogs and mists also developed a respect for the mystical. They came to associate water with mystery and personal communal transformations.“ wrote Ed Selner. We are all familiar with the following words,
“Oh Lord my God, when I am in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughtout the earth displayed.
Then sings my soul, my
Savior God, to Thee,
How great thou art, how
great thou art,
When through the woods,
and forest glades I wander,
and hear the birds sing
sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from
lofty mountain grandeur
and see the brook, and feel
the gentle breeze
Then sings my soul….”
These words celebrate in our religious experience what has been our experience in the great outdoors. Our liturgy becomes a liturgy with soul because it connects with our everyday experience.
A dreamer's journey continues....
In the wilderness we are spoken to in the silence. We are brought to awe and wonder as we gaze at what is offered to us. Wherever there is wonder and awe, a spiritual response has been awakened within us. Where the spirital response has been awakened within us, we have been gifted with the knowledge there is a Presence here greater than ourselves. This place has become a holy place for us. These places in Celtic spirituality are called "thin places". That is why it has been a great discussion between those who say, “it is only in nature I can meet God” and those who say “it is only in church I meet my God”. Why cannot it be both/and rather than either/or? When we get into the either/or we are looking for a winner and a loser. That is religiosity. When we are prepared to live in attention of the both/and then we are taking up residence in the realm of the spiritual. The spiritual journey is all about the both/and.
My pre-Christian ancestors had a great belief “that the design pervaded every aspect of life and that spirits everywhere in ancient trees and sacred groves, mountain tops and rock formations, rivers, streams and holy wells. The Celts living close to the bodies of water with their dream-like fogs and mists also developed a respect for the mystical. They came to associate water with mystery and personal communal transformations.“ wrote Ed Selner. We are all familiar with the following words,
“Oh Lord my God, when I am in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughtout the earth displayed.
Then sings my soul, my
Savior God, to Thee,
How great thou art, how
great thou art,
When through the woods,
and forest glades I wander,
and hear the birds sing
sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from
lofty mountain grandeur
and see the brook, and feel
the gentle breeze
Then sings my soul….”
These words celebrate in our religious experience what has been our experience in the great outdoors. Our liturgy becomes a liturgy with soul because it connects with our everyday experience.
A dreamer's journey continues....
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