The.....Antidote......To... War.....Violence.......Solitude.

As this is being written, I am so very conscious of the violence, pain, suffering, abuse, that is being endured by millions of our fellow human beings. Would it be better if I had written, "by our brothers and sisters"? After all we are all children of the same Father, are we not? We do not pray, my father, we pray rather Our Father. We have to keep before us, even when it causes discomfort to bubble up, we are all brothers and sisters. There are no exceptions. We cannot choose who belongs to the Family of our Creator God, and who does not.  From the streets of Chicago, to the cauldron at the borders of Arizona, to the harsh and heartless deserts of Iraq, Iran, and Syria, Palestine, there is a great bloody reenactment of Calvary, and the Crucifixion. These above mentioned are just a few of the places where The Crucifixion is reenacted in the same bloody manner. This Crucifixion is revealed to us, through the events of each and every moment of every day. So many are entering their own personal version of hell on earth, a hell so awe-full for us to contemplate.

        So as a defense, we shut tight our eyes to the horrific images that appear in the many sources of communication. We can, and do offer deaf ears to the pain-full screams of those who are the contemporary Suffering  Christ. Yes we can, and do have hardened hearts, and closed or blinded eyes, and minds. The awe-full result is that those suffering will continue to endure their pain in loneliness and isolation. How can we ever leave our place of so called comfort and security to embrace the pain and suffering of our sisters and brothers? Where am I going to get in touch with that which will empower, enable us, to "to be Him, Whom we have been called to be," and reach out in meaning-full, transforming service. How can we expand our narrow view of what it means to be a "Contemporary Christian?" A Christian who will go beyond the confining limits of religiosity, and instead be a living example of the universal love of our Gracious Creator God? In other words, when are we going to stop being sheep, and instead become shepherds? Shepherds that will continue the universal outreach of The Good Shepherd. A sheep does not become a shepherd without radical transformation. Radical transformation is not something the ego will choose. There is too much to let go of. Becoming the living presence of The Good Shepherd demands that we let go of everything, and enter the place of abject poverty and powerlessness. This was modeled for us on Calvary, and we are called to enter into the same reality. This does not happen in a vacuum. Grace is operative in each step we take. The Crucified Shepherd now journeys with us, and in us, and continues to live through us. The same Spirit that was with The Historical Jesus on His transformation to be The Risen and living Christ is the same Spirit that brings about our transformation.

                     We are told it all begins with our journey into our inner being. There will be those who will recoil from journeying within the depths of who we are. Solitude is a necessary prerequisite for this great adventure. But solitude like all blessings brings with it great pain. Here is what Thomas Mann wrote:    

                    "Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous- to poetry. But also, it gives birth to the opposite: to the perverse, the illicit. the absurd."

           In solitude we are asked, forced to meet, and embrace all of the pain, all of the suffering, all the isolation, all the loneliness, all the powerlessness that another can experience. In other words, I meet my sister/brother in the depths of who I am discovering myself to be. That is why the journey into the depths of being an authentic human being is not readily embraced. For me it seemed to begin without I being aware of it. It was not until I was led to the blessings of solitude that I began to get just an inkling of what I needed to learn most. It has been a long, long process. It is not false self enhancing, it is about the false self destruction. The false self, the self of my creation, does not die easily. This process  has been going on for some time.  When will it end? only end with my final breath. So I do not know when my journey will end. Today, tomorrow, next week, next month ??? All I know is that it will happen.

                             Getting away from the noise and busyness of life is both a blessing and a curse. As long as I am busy I do not have to listen to, or pay attention to all that bubbles up from within. So much of what bubbles up does not lead to peace serenity or peace of mind. What bubbles up results in disquiet and discomfort. It is great to know this is not just my experience alone. It is shared by all who are exposed to silence and solitude. It was with great relief that I  read, many years ago what Fr. Rohr wrote in his book, everything belongs that when we enter solitude we have to face our personal issues of addiction, negativity, fear, and control. Each time one enters solitude these issues, for me, are always there. I must also admit that it does not get any easier to face the above issues. My shadow comes to the foreground and must be embraced and become reconciled with. If the my shadow is not embraced, made friends with, then I will project the guilt, anger, and resentment to some unfortunate I meet. All war has its origin within the depths of the human heart. When I am responding out of fear and anger that is my false self. No matter how I dress it up prejudice, bigotry, rash judgment, all begin with me and how I deal with my shadow. The only answer is that I grow in the understanding and acceptance of reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process darn it!!! I have found, and do find great difficulty with this process. I want reconciliation and acceptance, and I want it now. I want everything to be perfect, so I can a life free of stress and discomfort. This is not going to happen much to the disgust of my ego centered ego, the false self. If there is going to be peace and harmony in our time it has to begin with each one's journey into the depths. Nothing will happen until we make that journey. If we do not choose to make it, then life will force us to make it.

                           "Lord make me an instrument of Your peace" but first lead me to that place of peace where You dwell in a Love Community of Father, Son and Spirit. Gift me with the grace to love all that I fear and detest. Strengthen my faith that it is in those places I recoil from Your Compassionate Love, and mercy will be revealed. Give me then, the courage to carry this gospel to those who have not heard it, and if they have have found it difficult to believe. It is so hard at times to really believe in Your Infinite mercy-full love. "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me." Why have you not made it so? I guess the journey continues!!!

 

                       

Our…Unique…Presence

"Summertime and the living is easy" are words from a wonderful musical, "Porgy and Bess." There is a wonder-full haunting melody that goes with those words which does the soul good. It pretty well stops you in wonder, just as Summer is supposed to do. I am just speaking of the ideal here. Reality is something completely different as we well know. For the millions that find peace, freedom, spiritual enlightenment, refreshment, rejuvenation, there are millions more living out the tragedy that is, the human condition. We are challenged to live within an inclusive lens. There is the great temptation to think our little world, and the little vision that comes with that, is all there is. We must work on developing an attitude of gratitude for the gifts, that are always gifted, in the sacrament of the now. There is no moment that in some way we are encountering the self revelation of The Mystery, God, and a gracious God at that. As we are unique by reason of our creation, we are also unique through grace, in our relationship with The Great Spirit. 

                     As I look at the many, many photos posted on Facebook, I become aware of how different are the ways individuals respond to the reality lived in each moment. Each photo is a person's way of communicating a depth of awe and wonder at this aspect of creation that is being experienced right now. There are photos of the ocean in its many moods. We are invited to join the presenter their wonder of mountain lakes, rivers, and sprightly streams. WE are caught up in the communal joy that is part and parcel of family gatherings, that is again the ideal. We are welcomed to enter the feelings of the mystery that accompanies the setting of the sun. Is there not something awe-full, and wonder-full, that is an essential part of a setting sun. We in Arizona are spoiled with the frequency of awe inspiring sunsets. We can take them for granted. When I used to travel,  I used to look forward each evening to the gathering that would take place, without fail, and at the bluff, the water's edge.  Individuals, couples, families, seem to be drawn by some unseen force to stop their individual doing, so as to share  their being in this now, communal event. Sunsets have a way of transforming us from human doers to human beings. Sunsets are an everyday ordinary occurrence, yet why is it that this particular sunset triggers both awe and wonder? I cannot put into finite words the answer. Your individual, unique will bubbles up from within. One can see couples getting closer. Hands are held, or wrapped around to trigger an even deeper closeness. Families gather as one. It is awe inspiring to see a family standing as one, cuddling together into a deeper unity, so as to enjoy, and capture within their depths, the mystery they are sharing. On year in San Diego, I was driving at sunset when I saw, what was a musical group playing their music as their tribute to the setting sun. Does not nature have a wonder-full way of communicating the presence of Creator Spirit? She does so in an endless manner. As She did, She does, and  She will do, forever and ever. In nature there is the union of time, and The Timeless. This is a spiritual experience that can and  will lead to a deepening of our unique prayer life, reflecting our unique relationship.

                          Each one of us is gifted with a unique relationship with The Mystery, The Great Spirit, The Great Unknown and the Great Unknowable. No two prayer lives are the same, because no two relationships are the same. We each  have  been blessed with a unique path to trod, or trudge. So we are never to compare our prayer life to anybody else's. They have theirs we have ours. Nothing will be missing from our prayer life. We will be graced with all that is necessary for our special relationship. We will get what we need, not what we want. Our prayer life is no better, or no worse than anybody else's. We grow in the acceptance of what is offered to us in the here, and now. Our God cannot short change us so that someone may be more blessed. So in this moment, all that we need is being gifted to us. Moments can become so ordinary that we take them for granted. As we take each ordinary moment for granted that take every "ordinary person" in the moment for granted, by this we choose to live a life empty of Mystery, and meaning. We live without actually living. We are the walking dead that need to be awakened through the power and the mystery of grace. We need a so called "ordinary moment" to rise up and kick us in the butt so as to awaken us to all that is hidden, and yet, present in a mysterious way right here, right now. It will always be in "the right now" that this will happen. It cannot happen otherwise. This is the way The Mystery has chosen to communicate. So it has to be God's way not our way. How long does it take to learn this lesson? A whole lifetime is required to be spent in the hard school of spiritual growth. In this school it is not about learning it is about unlearning. There are no diplomas handed out. Who wants a diploma that recognizes our growth in failure? Where would that go on our walls? We have a deep need to be recognized for our successes. Our secret, or no secret failures are our own. Now if you are blessed to be in a Twelve Step program it will take an honest communication of those secret failures to enter recovery. NOT to be cured, as "the soul is never cured. It is only cared for."(Moore) This daily caring is not easy. As it is a journey into honesty, rigorous honesty is the goal.

                           Whenever I am on a journey "with nature" that spiritual experience for me, can be summed up in the following verses from the hymn, "How Great Thou Art."
         O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed: Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee; how great Thou art! how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee: How great Thou art! How great Thou art!" It is these following words that  really triggers something within.  "When through the woods and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the tree,  When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:  then sings my soul the wonder and majesty of my Creator God."