Since I have returned from my trip, I was going to say vacation, there has been a lot of blog material that has appeared before me at the breakfast table. As I eat my regular food combination, which I have described in a previous blog, I search the paper for what you and I share, having a common humanity. Well the first thing I do is check out the chuckle for the day. After that there is, The Thought for The Day. Then the sports page. After that I may have the courage to read about the daily happenings in the city, county, country, and world I am given to live in right now. Some of the chuckles do not come across as really being funny, but displays an ignorance on the part of the would-be funny person. I have heard, read and listened to many people who use misinformation, and also disinformation, to make a so called funny. Our Catholic faith is on the receiving end of so much hidden anger, resentment, and downright falsehoods. Take for instance the exert I have taken from the daily paper. This is supposed to get you all happy and free to enjoy the day; "Religious faith is belief without relying on logic or material evidence. So is political opinion."
We as Catholic Christians have a theology to rely on. Theology, I learned over 50 years ago was first and foremost a science. A science is, an organized body of truths. There is Natural Theology, based on reason alone. Then there is a theology that takes the findings of natural religion, adds to it Revelation, and so we arrive at Supernatural Theology. That is why we have the great freedom to be able to question, question, and then question some more. St Augustine had two questions he asked all throughout his life, "Who are you God, and who am I? "As G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "Catholicism is a thinking person's religion. "Pretty neat. “So the next time you hear someone wanting to be funny at the expense of our church, you may well ask the question, " Have you really studied the theology of the Catholic church?" What the church teaches and what is popular understanding are as different as chalk and cheese. Again this is where GOOD spiritual comes in, it affords the opportunity to ground ourselves in the real truth and not be lead astray by following what, "THEY SAY".
They, I have found out, do not have a clue about the real basics of the Catholic faith. They do however keep the church in the business of being the source of real truth. Do not get me wrong, I have been questioned about what a person heard from a so called Catholic expert, and my answer has been, " you got to be kidding me?” I guess that is why we have to ask for the gift of prudence. We, at the same time, must acknowledge the weakness of the human side of the church. We have to take our lumps when some aspects of the failings are made fun of. We do not have to take it personal. Like in any family, there are members we would like to disown, but they are still family. It will be through their weaknesses that the transforming power
of God will flow into our unions, and communities. There was a wonder-full opening prayer in the liturgy last week. I am going to take the liberty of changing a few words and see how it speaks to you. The original prayer:
"Father in heaven, the hand of your loving kindness, powerfully yet gentle, guides all the moments of our day. Go before in our pilgrimage of life, anticipate our needs and prevent our falling. Send your Spirit to unite in faith, that sharing in you service, we may rejoice in your presence."
Now let us pray it this way:
“My Father in heaven, the hand of your loving kindness powerfully yet gentle guides all the moments of my day. Go before me, which He has, in my pilgrimage of life, anticipate my needs, and prevent my falling. Send you Spirit to unite me with all those lead by that same Spirit . That united in spirit we serve you more faithfully, and so we will all have the opportunity to rejoice in your many presences."
We go to mass to offer individual worship, and communal worship. That it our reality because of our Baptism. It is not either/or it is both/and.
When we are strong, as an individual we thank God for that. That is easy, right? Now when things are all messed up for us as individuals and community, the same God is working ever so power-fully, and so awe- fully gentle, to bring peace and unity to the chaos we as humans have created. Here is another Thought for the Day:
“The opposite of a fact is a falsehood, but the opposite one profound truth may very well be another profound truth." Niels Bohr.
Let us embrace these two truths;
" The powerless of power, and the power of powerlessness" , which allows us to fall into the "LOVING KINDNESS " of our God, which
is His dream, His Aisling."
Rejoice" then because of your essence you are loved. You have been loved from all of eternity, and will be loved FOR ALL OF ETERNITY. Continue to live and celebrate THE DREAM.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
More Goodness....to Challenge Us.
Spiritual reading is so essential for a healthy spirituality. To be healthy, we must be taken ever deeper. This journey that takes us deep is the work of the HOLY Spirit within us, and so can be trusted, even if not liked. None of us are comfortable with facing the honest truth that is part and parcel of this journey. There is consolation in that adage, we are as sick as our secrets. The more we grow in honesty, and honesty is progressive, the more free we are to enjoy that which our God has dreamed for us…. There is a newness about our life. Our life is not boring.
Spiritual reading does this for us. Yes!! It is a blessing and a curse. It is a sacrament in the broad understanding of that word. It is sacrament (with a small “s”) in that sense is: Each and every person place event, action, that brings in touch with the deeper realities of life and ultimately with Reality Itself, that reality we call God. Last week in the quotation from Fr. Rolheiser we were taken to a new and deeper understanding of who we are as today’s living presence of the historical Jesus, we as the contemporary Christ are in the constant need of being reminded who we really are. WE must have that constant reinforcement of our innate dignity. Why? Because, the Devil, the father of all lies, wants us to believe in the lie. The lie is that we are not who we are really called to be, we have to earn, deserve, and qualify for the unconditioned love of God. That love comes to in so many ways and through so many channels. Here is some of what Fr. Rolheiser has written, speaking of The Incarnation;
"When Jesus walked around Palestine, people were healed and forgiven, not to mention given eternal life, by touching him ,and being touched by Him and simply by relating to him. If we the ongoing incarnation, and we are, then this is true also for us (and not just in the sense of it happening through the institutional churches, important as that is)......The mystery of the incarnation is extensive. It is not just the institutional churches that carry on, carry forth, and carry the mystery the mystery of God in human flesh. ALL LOVE THAT IS IN GRACE IS THE WORD MADE FLESH. To touch it is to be touched by Christ; to touch with it is to touch with Christ because it is the ongoing incarnation. From Augustine through Pius XII, we are told that this is wild doctrine, something beyond our limited imaginations, and measured hopes. Nobody dares hope for us as much as God has already given in the incarnation.
What are we given there? The power, literally, to block death and hell. If we love someone, that person cannot go to hell because Christ is loving him or her. If we forgive someone, that person is forgiven because Christ is forgiving him or her. If children of ours, or anyone else we love, no longer go to church, our love for them and their love for us bind them solidly to the Body of Christ. They continue to touch the hem of Christ's garment as surely as did the woman in the gospel who suffered with a hemorrhage. The end result, unless they reject their bond to us, will be like hers, namely, healing.... it is Christ who is doing this. We, as St Paul so clearly assures us, “are the body of Christ”. He recognizes how difficult it is for us ordinary people to believe, accept, and act upon. So he concludes the chapter with these words:
" Part of the difficulty in believing in the incarnation is precisely the fact that it is too good to be true: God is not hidden and hard to contact; forgiveness, grace, and salvation are not the prerogative of the lucky and the few; we don't have to save ourselves; we do not have to live our lives perfectly to be saved;...human flesh and this world are not obstacles, but part of the vehicle to heaven; we can help each other on the journey; love, indeed human love, is stronger than death; and to love someone is indeed to say; "you at least will never die.!"
This spiritual reading does take one deeper, and so it is indeed, sacramental. This will lead us to pray for the simple faith, to believe in the very simple words of scripture;
"You are my Beloved daughter/son, in you, I am, well pleased", another translation goes like this "You are my beloved child; in you I take delight!" How often do we take time out to join our Father God in His delight of who we are, and in where we are? We cannot think our way into a new way of enjoying being ,God's delight, we must take the action to join God in his delight, of us. We have been given the gift of imagination. Let us dream of new ways to celebrate this great gift of God's great delight in us, each one in his/hers own unique way. Again, to quote Thomas Merton, “Be, who you already, are”. The question would be then, who are you?
Let the dreaming continue….
Spiritual reading does this for us. Yes!! It is a blessing and a curse. It is a sacrament in the broad understanding of that word. It is sacrament (with a small “s”) in that sense is: Each and every person place event, action, that brings in touch with the deeper realities of life and ultimately with Reality Itself, that reality we call God. Last week in the quotation from Fr. Rolheiser we were taken to a new and deeper understanding of who we are as today’s living presence of the historical Jesus, we as the contemporary Christ are in the constant need of being reminded who we really are. WE must have that constant reinforcement of our innate dignity. Why? Because, the Devil, the father of all lies, wants us to believe in the lie. The lie is that we are not who we are really called to be, we have to earn, deserve, and qualify for the unconditioned love of God. That love comes to in so many ways and through so many channels. Here is some of what Fr. Rolheiser has written, speaking of The Incarnation;
"When Jesus walked around Palestine, people were healed and forgiven, not to mention given eternal life, by touching him ,and being touched by Him and simply by relating to him. If we the ongoing incarnation, and we are, then this is true also for us (and not just in the sense of it happening through the institutional churches, important as that is)......The mystery of the incarnation is extensive. It is not just the institutional churches that carry on, carry forth, and carry the mystery the mystery of God in human flesh. ALL LOVE THAT IS IN GRACE IS THE WORD MADE FLESH. To touch it is to be touched by Christ; to touch with it is to touch with Christ because it is the ongoing incarnation. From Augustine through Pius XII, we are told that this is wild doctrine, something beyond our limited imaginations, and measured hopes. Nobody dares hope for us as much as God has already given in the incarnation.
What are we given there? The power, literally, to block death and hell. If we love someone, that person cannot go to hell because Christ is loving him or her. If we forgive someone, that person is forgiven because Christ is forgiving him or her. If children of ours, or anyone else we love, no longer go to church, our love for them and their love for us bind them solidly to the Body of Christ. They continue to touch the hem of Christ's garment as surely as did the woman in the gospel who suffered with a hemorrhage. The end result, unless they reject their bond to us, will be like hers, namely, healing.... it is Christ who is doing this. We, as St Paul so clearly assures us, “are the body of Christ”. He recognizes how difficult it is for us ordinary people to believe, accept, and act upon. So he concludes the chapter with these words:
" Part of the difficulty in believing in the incarnation is precisely the fact that it is too good to be true: God is not hidden and hard to contact; forgiveness, grace, and salvation are not the prerogative of the lucky and the few; we don't have to save ourselves; we do not have to live our lives perfectly to be saved;...human flesh and this world are not obstacles, but part of the vehicle to heaven; we can help each other on the journey; love, indeed human love, is stronger than death; and to love someone is indeed to say; "you at least will never die.!"
This spiritual reading does take one deeper, and so it is indeed, sacramental. This will lead us to pray for the simple faith, to believe in the very simple words of scripture;
"You are my Beloved daughter/son, in you, I am, well pleased", another translation goes like this "You are my beloved child; in you I take delight!" How often do we take time out to join our Father God in His delight of who we are, and in where we are? We cannot think our way into a new way of enjoying being ,God's delight, we must take the action to join God in his delight, of us. We have been given the gift of imagination. Let us dream of new ways to celebrate this great gift of God's great delight in us, each one in his/hers own unique way. Again, to quote Thomas Merton, “Be, who you already, are”. The question would be then, who are you?
Let the dreaming continue….
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Too Good...To Believe?
We as Catholics did not look too good in the news today. Throughout the news media there were discussions on the startling statistic that Catholics knew the least about religion. Is it not amazing that so called atheists knew the most about religion when questioned. Yes, atheists were the best informed. An amazing 45% of us did not know of the Real Presence. That in the bred and wine we receive at mass Jesus Christ is really truly present. In the reality of the Eucharist the historical Jesus, is present as the Risen Christ. We, because of our Baptism are the living presence of the same Jesus Christ. The historical Jesus is now living, walking, talking, loving , crying, within the reality of us living out our daily life. Whenever you or I touch someone, that is the touch of Christ. When you are reaching out in compassion, and understanding, the compassionate, understanding ministry of Christ continues to have life. What wonder- full faith our God has in each one of us that we are called, gifted, and consecrated to carry on the ministry of Christ, our brother. I guess you can say we are called to be in the Family business. Isn’t that one way of looking at this mystery?
I would like to suggest the fact we do not know, and so do not believe, all the ramifications of our Baptism, all that is presented to us is so hard to believe. How can our limited lives contain and reflect the mystery of the many presences of God? How can we, as oh so limited human beings, carry on the Mission and the Ministry of the Godman, Jesus Christ? We must ask for the gift of deepening faith to let go of our narrow, comfortable, understanding so we can be led in the vastness of the mystery we are called to be. May I suggest it is because we do not allow ourselves to be led ever deeper into Mystery, we lose out on the great mysteries which are the foundation of who we are as Catholic Christians. When we receive the Eucharist how many will say, and believe here is the living reality of Jesus Christ not only meeting, but encountering the reality of the same Jesus who walked this earth 2,000 years ago? In the Eucharist, Christ meets Christ. In all that we are, He finds His life, in us HE has his existence and his being. Just as in the same Christ we live and move and have our being. We as it were, complement one another. Where we are, Christ IS. Where we are, the church, as The Body of Christ, is.
Last week I mentioned how important spiritual reading is. I find this reading to be encouraging, challenging, and threatening to my preconceived ideas and false conceptions. There was a great expression in the 70s, when we came across something which really made us stand up and pay attention-what “Blew our minds". "You blow my mind” was such a common expression. Well that is what spiritual reading does for me, and has been doing for many many years now. The following is from Fr. Rolheiser’s book “Against an Infinite Horizon". WARNING this is not for the narrow minded, or the closed minded. I hope it will "Blow Your Mind"!
He writes:
"Gabriel Marcel once said; "To love is to say, you at least will never die”. That might sound like romantic wishful thinking, but in Christian faith we believe that this is deep insight, an article of faith, a truth of the Incarnation. If we take the Incarnation seriously, then to love someone is to say to that person "You will never die because, in this life and the next, you will never be separated from the community of life, God's family, because in accepting my love you are touching the Body of Christ just as really as did anyone who touched the historical Jesus. You will never die and you will never go to hell because you are bound to Christ. ... The truth is rather that, as the body of Christ on earth, we can continue to do all the things that Jesus did and, as Jesus himself says in the John's Gospel (4:12), we can even do greater things. Scripture tells us that we are the body of Christ on earth. It does not say that we are like the His body, or that we replace His body, or even that we are His mystical body (which would not be so wrong, if we understood "mystical" in the deep sense of the word). Our Christian faith informs us that we are the body of Christ--flesh, blood, tangible, visible, physical, available to be touched, and all of this definitely and clearly residing in nameable persons on this earth. We are the ongoing incarnation of God, the anointed ones of God, Christ."
Pretty good stuff, no…..on second thought, that is GREAT stuff. The stuff our faith needs if we are to live the dream our God has dreamt for you and I. So continue to enter the dream of God, as revealed to us in the life and the person, of the historical Jesus, who became The Christ of God. Live what you know and so be led into the unknown.
I would like to suggest the fact we do not know, and so do not believe, all the ramifications of our Baptism, all that is presented to us is so hard to believe. How can our limited lives contain and reflect the mystery of the many presences of God? How can we, as oh so limited human beings, carry on the Mission and the Ministry of the Godman, Jesus Christ? We must ask for the gift of deepening faith to let go of our narrow, comfortable, understanding so we can be led in the vastness of the mystery we are called to be. May I suggest it is because we do not allow ourselves to be led ever deeper into Mystery, we lose out on the great mysteries which are the foundation of who we are as Catholic Christians. When we receive the Eucharist how many will say, and believe here is the living reality of Jesus Christ not only meeting, but encountering the reality of the same Jesus who walked this earth 2,000 years ago? In the Eucharist, Christ meets Christ. In all that we are, He finds His life, in us HE has his existence and his being. Just as in the same Christ we live and move and have our being. We as it were, complement one another. Where we are, Christ IS. Where we are, the church, as The Body of Christ, is.
Last week I mentioned how important spiritual reading is. I find this reading to be encouraging, challenging, and threatening to my preconceived ideas and false conceptions. There was a great expression in the 70s, when we came across something which really made us stand up and pay attention-what “Blew our minds". "You blow my mind” was such a common expression. Well that is what spiritual reading does for me, and has been doing for many many years now. The following is from Fr. Rolheiser’s book “Against an Infinite Horizon". WARNING this is not for the narrow minded, or the closed minded. I hope it will "Blow Your Mind"!
He writes:
"Gabriel Marcel once said; "To love is to say, you at least will never die”. That might sound like romantic wishful thinking, but in Christian faith we believe that this is deep insight, an article of faith, a truth of the Incarnation. If we take the Incarnation seriously, then to love someone is to say to that person "You will never die because, in this life and the next, you will never be separated from the community of life, God's family, because in accepting my love you are touching the Body of Christ just as really as did anyone who touched the historical Jesus. You will never die and you will never go to hell because you are bound to Christ. ... The truth is rather that, as the body of Christ on earth, we can continue to do all the things that Jesus did and, as Jesus himself says in the John's Gospel (4:12), we can even do greater things. Scripture tells us that we are the body of Christ on earth. It does not say that we are like the His body, or that we replace His body, or even that we are His mystical body (which would not be so wrong, if we understood "mystical" in the deep sense of the word). Our Christian faith informs us that we are the body of Christ--flesh, blood, tangible, visible, physical, available to be touched, and all of this definitely and clearly residing in nameable persons on this earth. We are the ongoing incarnation of God, the anointed ones of God, Christ."
Pretty good stuff, no…..on second thought, that is GREAT stuff. The stuff our faith needs if we are to live the dream our God has dreamt for you and I. So continue to enter the dream of God, as revealed to us in the life and the person, of the historical Jesus, who became The Christ of God. Live what you know and so be led into the unknown.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Discipline...to Nourish Our Spiritual Life
After I was ordained in 1963 I visited a Catholic store. Even then, I was always looking for good books to read. I am sorry to say you could not find too many books to choose from. Today go to any bookstore and you will find row after row of books on the spiritual life and journey. There are also books on the lives of those who have gone before us. They are the men and women who are looked at as the guides and trail blazers. Spiritual reading is now commonplace. Why? Here are some of the thoughts of Henri Nouwen:
"An important discipline in the life of the Spirit is spiritual reading. Through spiritual reading we have some say over what enters our minds. Each day our society bombards us with a myriad of images and sounds. ..words yell and scream at us; "drink me, buy me, hire me, look at me, talk with me. But do we really want our minds to become the garbage can of the world? Do we want our minds to be filled with things that confuse us, excite us, depress us, arouse us, repulse us, or attract us whether we think it is good for us or not? Do we want to let others decide what enters our mind and determines our thoughts and feelings? Clearly we do not, but it requires real discipline to let God and not the world be the Lord of our minds. But that asks of us not just to be gentle as doves, but also cunning as serpents! Therefore, spiritual reading is such a helpful discipline. Is there a book we are presently reading, a book that we have selected because it nurtures our mind and brings us closer to God? Our thoughts and feelings would be deeply affected if we were always to carry with us a book that puts our minds again and again in the direction we want to go. There are so many good books about the lives of holy men and women, about remarkable examples of peace-making, about communities that bring life to the poor and the oppressed, about the spiritual life itself. Even if we were to read for only fifteen minutes a day in such a book, we would find our mind becoming less of a garbage can and more a vase filled with good thoughts. The great value of spiritual reading is that it helps us to give meaning to our lives. Without meaning, human life degenerates. The human person not only wants to live, but also wants to know how to live. A life that is not reflected upon eventually loses its meaning, and becomes boring."
It does take discipline to do what is necessary to preserve and nourish our spiritual life. It also demands that we be generous with ourselves when deciding how we are to spend our time. How many when they look at their day will put aside time for themselves FIRST? This is time that is going to be spend in a way that nothing is going to show up in the area of power, property or prestige? We are so programmed to want to see results that we lose sight of what the scriptures warns about, " What is seen is transitory, what is unseen lasts forever".
"An important discipline in the life of the Spirit is spiritual reading. Through spiritual reading we have some say over what enters our minds. Each day our society bombards us with a myriad of images and sounds. ..words yell and scream at us; "drink me, buy me, hire me, look at me, talk with me. But do we really want our minds to become the garbage can of the world? Do we want our minds to be filled with things that confuse us, excite us, depress us, arouse us, repulse us, or attract us whether we think it is good for us or not? Do we want to let others decide what enters our mind and determines our thoughts and feelings? Clearly we do not, but it requires real discipline to let God and not the world be the Lord of our minds. But that asks of us not just to be gentle as doves, but also cunning as serpents! Therefore, spiritual reading is such a helpful discipline. Is there a book we are presently reading, a book that we have selected because it nurtures our mind and brings us closer to God? Our thoughts and feelings would be deeply affected if we were always to carry with us a book that puts our minds again and again in the direction we want to go. There are so many good books about the lives of holy men and women, about remarkable examples of peace-making, about communities that bring life to the poor and the oppressed, about the spiritual life itself. Even if we were to read for only fifteen minutes a day in such a book, we would find our mind becoming less of a garbage can and more a vase filled with good thoughts. The great value of spiritual reading is that it helps us to give meaning to our lives. Without meaning, human life degenerates. The human person not only wants to live, but also wants to know how to live. A life that is not reflected upon eventually loses its meaning, and becomes boring."
It does take discipline to do what is necessary to preserve and nourish our spiritual life. It also demands that we be generous with ourselves when deciding how we are to spend our time. How many when they look at their day will put aside time for themselves FIRST? This is time that is going to be spend in a way that nothing is going to show up in the area of power, property or prestige? We are so programmed to want to see results that we lose sight of what the scriptures warns about, " What is seen is transitory, what is unseen lasts forever".
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Blame has to .....STOP!
A butterfly does not immediately immerge from its cocoon, it takes it time. Time and effort are essential ingredients for a butterfly to immerge healthy. The struggle to be released from the cocoon is necessary for it to have healthy wings. For it to be able to fly, there is the necessary struggle. In the same way, a chick immerging from its shell, cannot be helped by the mother, otherwise there is a price to be paid. The birthing process does involve pain, ask any mother. We too have to accept the fact that for us to become who God intended us to become, this too demands time ,effort, and yes……
pain. The one thing we must constantly guard against is adding to the pain that is ours, on this oh so human journey as spiritual beings. God came that we would have life and have it abundantly. We are called to a life of freedom, not fear. We are called to fly as free as butterflies. That is God's dream for you and I. We are the Aisling of God, living out the Aisling of God. We are the incarnation of a dream, of God. Pretty neat? We must work, work, and work on the ongoing understanding of being loved as this ever unique dream. We must keep reminding ourselves we are limited, never perfect. This is necessary for us to immerge from the cocoon of limited understanding.
As much as we want and strive to be perfect, in this life, will never be ours. That is reserved for the next life, the resurrected life. So, in the meantime we must concentrate on enjoying the life God has given us to lead. The same human existence, God as human, lived. A life we live very imperfectly. Yet somehow all of this is part of God's dream. A dream we are created for, and invited to both enjoy, and celebrate. One of the weapons we use to sabotage this wonder-full dream is BLAME. As I promised last week, here is the quotation I received and wish to pass it on to you. Read this slowly and listen to what these words say to you. What comfort do you see being offered to you for your daily living? John Powell in one of his books, "Happiness is an Inside Job" writes; "Growth begins when the blaming stops"!!!!!!!!
Nouwen's quote:
"You must avoid not only blaming others but also blaming yourself. You are inclined to blame yourself for the difficulties you experience in relationships. But self-blame is not a form of humility. [oops ... thought I was a little holy with all the self-bashing.] It is a form of self-rejection in which you ignore or deny your own goodness and beauty.
When a friendship does not blossom, when a word is not received, do not blame it on yourself. This is both untrue and hurtful. Every time you reject yourself, you idealize others. You want to be with those whom you consider better, stronger, more intelligent, more gifted than yourself. Thus you make yourself emotionally dependent, leading others to feel unable to fulfill your expectations and causing them to withdraw from you. This makes you blame yourself even more, and you enter a dangerous spiral of self-rejection and neediness.
Avoid all forms of self-rejection. Acknowledge your limitations, but claim your unique gifts and thereby live as an equal among equals. That will set you free from your obsessive and possessive needs and enable you to give and receive true affection and friendship."
Until next week...LIVE the dream!
pain. The one thing we must constantly guard against is adding to the pain that is ours, on this oh so human journey as spiritual beings. God came that we would have life and have it abundantly. We are called to a life of freedom, not fear. We are called to fly as free as butterflies. That is God's dream for you and I. We are the Aisling of God, living out the Aisling of God. We are the incarnation of a dream, of God. Pretty neat? We must work, work, and work on the ongoing understanding of being loved as this ever unique dream. We must keep reminding ourselves we are limited, never perfect. This is necessary for us to immerge from the cocoon of limited understanding.
As much as we want and strive to be perfect, in this life, will never be ours. That is reserved for the next life, the resurrected life. So, in the meantime we must concentrate on enjoying the life God has given us to lead. The same human existence, God as human, lived. A life we live very imperfectly. Yet somehow all of this is part of God's dream. A dream we are created for, and invited to both enjoy, and celebrate. One of the weapons we use to sabotage this wonder-full dream is BLAME. As I promised last week, here is the quotation I received and wish to pass it on to you. Read this slowly and listen to what these words say to you. What comfort do you see being offered to you for your daily living? John Powell in one of his books, "Happiness is an Inside Job" writes; "Growth begins when the blaming stops"!!!!!!!!
Nouwen's quote:
"You must avoid not only blaming others but also blaming yourself. You are inclined to blame yourself for the difficulties you experience in relationships. But self-blame is not a form of humility. [oops ... thought I was a little holy with all the self-bashing.] It is a form of self-rejection in which you ignore or deny your own goodness and beauty.
When a friendship does not blossom, when a word is not received, do not blame it on yourself. This is both untrue and hurtful. Every time you reject yourself, you idealize others. You want to be with those whom you consider better, stronger, more intelligent, more gifted than yourself. Thus you make yourself emotionally dependent, leading others to feel unable to fulfill your expectations and causing them to withdraw from you. This makes you blame yourself even more, and you enter a dangerous spiral of self-rejection and neediness.
Avoid all forms of self-rejection. Acknowledge your limitations, but claim your unique gifts and thereby live as an equal among equals. That will set you free from your obsessive and possessive needs and enable you to give and receive true affection and friendship."
Until next week...LIVE the dream!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Become....A Butterfly...
Acceptance is tough, hard and difficult, but it is the only real road, to an ever-deepening spiritual life. Acceptance of who we really are, is first and foremost a process. A process we all, at least for me, we will make every effort to avoid. I am wondering out loud here, is this the reason there is so little use being made of the Sacrament of Reconciliation? We are told reconciliation with who we are, is a process as well. The one gift that can make these two processes worthwhile, however painful, is gut honesty. We grow slowly in that deep honesty of who we really are. This process is made somewhat easier when we have a person in our lives, who bestows unconditioned, unlimited, and unrestricted love on us, especially in times when we have abandoned who we are, out of toxic shame. That toxic shame wants to give the message, which is contrary to our deepest reality. The message of toxic shame is we are not good enough, we are not smart enough, we are not beautiful enough, and blah, blah, blah.....All of that is a LIE, and the source of the lie is 'the father of all lies - Satan". When we listen to the voice of toxic shame, we are giving ear to The Devil, rather than to the voice of the Spirit of Truth. This Voice of God then, because God IS Truth, tells us from deep within that we are loved as we are, without condition, restriction or reservation. This battle wages on and on and on. It is our every moment, daily struggle. We have to make this choice, each and every moment, am I the beloved, with all that it means, or will I be duped into the lie I am not, and never will be good enough? This question lies ever before you and I. Will I work on being spiritually healthy, and live a life of freedom as the beloved daughter/son, or will I live out my life in the unmitigated hell of being spiritually sick? The popular word for that today is, being codependent. This will mean what? Simple, I will choose to live out my God given life, not with the real God as my guide, I have replaced that God with the dis-eased view of a limited human being.
A healthy relationship is always pointing to THE LOVE relationship between us and God. It is to bring the freedom, peace, love, joy, and happiness is a by-product of this mysterious reality. Yes!! Happiness is a by-product. A healthy relationship is the cocoon from which emerges the wonder-full, beautiful butterfly, which is who we are in God's love. The butterfly is destined to fly free, that is our destiny as well. Does it always happen for us? No, sad to say it does not. Never fear, we are given what it takes to fly free, it is the ability to make healthy choices. There are times when we will have to let go of controlling people in our lives, so we can walk in the freedom of who we really are. WE will have to establish boundaries, with individuals who have no concept of boundaries. We will have to say "I love you but I cannot have you in my life", and stick with that decision despite all the efforts of friends, and FAMILY. I recommend the book, "Boundaries”. If you do not like to read, go to a bookstore and read the chapter beginning on page 103. That will give you great permission to live your new life of freedom, which is God's wish for you. Then read the chapter, beginning on page 83, and see what message is there for you. By the way, there is also another life changing book by the same authors, Cloud & Townsend, this is called “Boundaries with Kids". After this, your kids will not allow you to read this blog any more. Guess what? You will not pay any attention to them, Why? Simply put, there is a new sheriff in town. I am reminded of a cartoon I had on my office door at St. A's. There was this man speaking to a woman, saying the following; "I liked you better, before you learned to love yourself".
To further enhance you and your freedom, the following was gifted to me by a dear friend, and I want to share it. It is from who else?
Henri Nouwen.
On Second thought...this is long enough, I will save it for next week.
A healthy relationship is always pointing to THE LOVE relationship between us and God. It is to bring the freedom, peace, love, joy, and happiness is a by-product of this mysterious reality. Yes!! Happiness is a by-product. A healthy relationship is the cocoon from which emerges the wonder-full, beautiful butterfly, which is who we are in God's love. The butterfly is destined to fly free, that is our destiny as well. Does it always happen for us? No, sad to say it does not. Never fear, we are given what it takes to fly free, it is the ability to make healthy choices. There are times when we will have to let go of controlling people in our lives, so we can walk in the freedom of who we really are. WE will have to establish boundaries, with individuals who have no concept of boundaries. We will have to say "I love you but I cannot have you in my life", and stick with that decision despite all the efforts of friends, and FAMILY. I recommend the book, "Boundaries”. If you do not like to read, go to a bookstore and read the chapter beginning on page 103. That will give you great permission to live your new life of freedom, which is God's wish for you. Then read the chapter, beginning on page 83, and see what message is there for you. By the way, there is also another life changing book by the same authors, Cloud & Townsend, this is called “Boundaries with Kids". After this, your kids will not allow you to read this blog any more. Guess what? You will not pay any attention to them, Why? Simply put, there is a new sheriff in town. I am reminded of a cartoon I had on my office door at St. A's. There was this man speaking to a woman, saying the following; "I liked you better, before you learned to love yourself".
To further enhance you and your freedom, the following was gifted to me by a dear friend, and I want to share it. It is from who else?
Henri Nouwen.
On Second thought...this is long enough, I will save it for next week.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Acceptance is one of Life's Greatest Challenges...
I was able to pick up Fr. Rolheiser's great book, "The Holy Longing”, at a bargain price in a thrift shop. Thrift shops are a favorite haunt of mine. I have been able to buy some great books and wonderful music, at unbelievable prices. There are two fantastic chapters in the above book. One chapter is on the Spirituality of The Paschal Mystery, and the other is on the Spirituality of Sexuality.
Both these chapters are a daily read. In this book Fr. Rolheiser quotes Henri Nouwen;
"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment of our life. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all moments of our life. It seems there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And, in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness....But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched with a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy no one shall take away from us."
Then Fr. Rolheiser writes the following commentary: "What Nouwen affirms here, in simple language, is what Christian Theology means when it tells us we are living in the interim eschatological age. We are living in that time between Christ’s Resurrection (the initial triumph of God’s promise to give us fulfillment) and the final consummation of that promise, the end of time (when all tears will be wiped away).
During that time, and it is an interim time, we will always live in tension, waiting for the final consummation of history and our lives. Our happiness depends not on overcoming this, which we cannot do in any case, but in making peace with it. And that peace is not made by a stoic acceptance that we cannot have it all in this life. It is made by living our incompleteness in face of a future promise.
To live in the interim eschatological age to be like a couple waiting to be married who, for a good reason (for example the death of a parent), have chosen to postpone their marriage for a period of time. There is a certain frustration in that, but that frustration is offset by the clear knowledge that this is only a temporary delay, soon to be overcome. Our essential “inconsummation” in this life must be understood in this way. The frustration is real, but it is, as Nouwen so well puts it, something we will one day overcome, albeit that day will not meet us in this life.
“To understand the time we live in, is to be less frustrated with the fact that it cannot offer us the final symphony." Our spiritual journey, then, is the everyday living in that reality. Fr. Rolheiser hits it right on the head when he points out it we are dealing with real frustration, and that frustration is now. We do not deal with this frustration by fighting it, no use we cannot win, or by making attempts to fix it, which we ourselves cannot, it is somehow in the acceptance that we are able to arrive at some peace. Acceptance of who we are, and who God is, in that reality lies the key. God is God, and we are not. WE have the great, deep desire, given to us by our God, to be totally one, once again. That is our journey into a oneness with who we are, and in that process we find union with Him, who is our Source, and Destiny.
The Psalmist provides us with those wonderful lines, "out of the depths I cry to you o Lord. Lord hear my cry." When we allow ourselves to taste the essential helplessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness of who we are as human beings, then our Savior God will come to us with those consoling word, "My Beloved here I am. I am always standing beside you. I will not, I cannot desert, abandon you. You are to me as beloved as your brother Jesus. The love I have for the both of you is the same.” Can you believe that? It is not the reality that you have difficulty with, it is a deepening faith that will bring you to that place. It is yours to have. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you. Always keep in mind, “My ways, are not your ways”. My time is not the way you figure time. I will come at a time and in the places you least expect. “It has been this way, and as it was so it shall ever be." I believe Lord, help my unbelief/disbelief.
Both these chapters are a daily read. In this book Fr. Rolheiser quotes Henri Nouwen;
"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment of our life. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all moments of our life. It seems there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And, in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness....But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched with a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy no one shall take away from us."
Then Fr. Rolheiser writes the following commentary: "What Nouwen affirms here, in simple language, is what Christian Theology means when it tells us we are living in the interim eschatological age. We are living in that time between Christ’s Resurrection (the initial triumph of God’s promise to give us fulfillment) and the final consummation of that promise, the end of time (when all tears will be wiped away).
During that time, and it is an interim time, we will always live in tension, waiting for the final consummation of history and our lives. Our happiness depends not on overcoming this, which we cannot do in any case, but in making peace with it. And that peace is not made by a stoic acceptance that we cannot have it all in this life. It is made by living our incompleteness in face of a future promise.
To live in the interim eschatological age to be like a couple waiting to be married who, for a good reason (for example the death of a parent), have chosen to postpone their marriage for a period of time. There is a certain frustration in that, but that frustration is offset by the clear knowledge that this is only a temporary delay, soon to be overcome. Our essential “inconsummation” in this life must be understood in this way. The frustration is real, but it is, as Nouwen so well puts it, something we will one day overcome, albeit that day will not meet us in this life.
“To understand the time we live in, is to be less frustrated with the fact that it cannot offer us the final symphony." Our spiritual journey, then, is the everyday living in that reality. Fr. Rolheiser hits it right on the head when he points out it we are dealing with real frustration, and that frustration is now. We do not deal with this frustration by fighting it, no use we cannot win, or by making attempts to fix it, which we ourselves cannot, it is somehow in the acceptance that we are able to arrive at some peace. Acceptance of who we are, and who God is, in that reality lies the key. God is God, and we are not. WE have the great, deep desire, given to us by our God, to be totally one, once again. That is our journey into a oneness with who we are, and in that process we find union with Him, who is our Source, and Destiny.
The Psalmist provides us with those wonderful lines, "out of the depths I cry to you o Lord. Lord hear my cry." When we allow ourselves to taste the essential helplessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness of who we are as human beings, then our Savior God will come to us with those consoling word, "My Beloved here I am. I am always standing beside you. I will not, I cannot desert, abandon you. You are to me as beloved as your brother Jesus. The love I have for the both of you is the same.” Can you believe that? It is not the reality that you have difficulty with, it is a deepening faith that will bring you to that place. It is yours to have. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you. Always keep in mind, “My ways, are not your ways”. My time is not the way you figure time. I will come at a time and in the places you least expect. “It has been this way, and as it was so it shall ever be." I believe Lord, help my unbelief/disbelief.
Unbelief...Disbelief...
I was able to pick up Fr. Rolheiser's great book, "The Holy Longing”, at a bargain price in a thrift shop. Thrift shops are a favorite haunt of mine. I have been able to buy some great books and wonderful music, at unbelievable prices. There are two fantastic chapters in the above book. One chapter is on the Spirituality of The Paschal Mystery, and the other is on the Spirituality of Sexuality.
Both these chapters are a daily read. In this book Fr. Rolheiser quotes Henri Nouwen;
"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment of our life. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all moments of our life. It seems there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And, in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness....But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched with a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy no one shall take away from us."
Then Fr. Rolheiser writes the following commentary: "What Nouwen affirms here, in simple language, is what Christian Theology means when it tells us we are living in the interim eschatological age. We are living in that time between Christ’s Resurrection (the initial triumph of God’s promise to give us fulfillment) and the final consummation of that promise, the end of time (when all tears will be wiped away).
During that time, and it is an interim time, we will always live in tension, waiting for the final consummation of history and our lives. Our happiness depends not on overcoming this, which we cannot do in any case, but in making peace with it. And that peace is not made by a stoic acceptance that we cannot have it all in this life. It is made by living our incompleteness in face of a future promise.
To live in the interim eschatological age to be like a couple waiting to be married who, for a good reason (for example the death of a parent), have chosen to postpone their marriage for a period of time. There is a certain frustration in that, but that frustration is offset by the clear knowledge that this is only a temporary delay, soon to be overcome. Our essential “inconsummation” in this life must be understood in this way. The frustration is real, but it is, as Nouwen so well puts it, something we will one day overcome, albeit that day will not meet us in this life.
“To understand the time we live in, is to be less frustrated with the fact that it cannot offer us the final symphony." Our spiritual journey, then, is the everyday living in that reality. Fr. Rolheiser hits it right on the head when he points out it we are dealing with real frustration, and that frustration is now. We do not deal with this frustration by fighting it, no use we cannot win, or by making attempts to fix it, which we ourselves cannot, it is somehow in the acceptance that we are able to arrive at some peace. Acceptance of who we are, and who God is, in that reality lies the key. God is God, and we are not. WE have the great, deep desire, given to us by our God, to be totally one, once again. That is our journey into a oneness with who we are, and in that process we find union with Him, who is our Source, and Destiny.
The Psalmist provides us with those wonderful lines, "out of the depths I cry to you o Lord. Lord hear my cry." When we allow ourselves to taste the essential helplessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness of who we are as human beings, then our Savior God will come to us with those consoling word, "My Beloved here I am. I am always standing beside you. I will not, I cannot desert, abandon you. You are to me as beloved as your brother Jesus. The love I have for the both of you is the same.” Can you believe that? It is not the reality that you have difficulty with, it is a deepening faith that will bring you to that place. It is yours to have. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you. Always keep in mind, “My ways, are not your ways”. My time is not the way you figure time. I will come at a time and in the places you least expect. “It has been this way, and as it was so it shall ever be." I believe Lord, help my unbelief/disbelief.
Both these chapters are a daily read. In this book Fr. Rolheiser quotes Henri Nouwen;
"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment of our life. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all moments of our life. It seems there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And, in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness....But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched with a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy no one shall take away from us."
Then Fr. Rolheiser writes the following commentary: "What Nouwen affirms here, in simple language, is what Christian Theology means when it tells us we are living in the interim eschatological age. We are living in that time between Christ’s Resurrection (the initial triumph of God’s promise to give us fulfillment) and the final consummation of that promise, the end of time (when all tears will be wiped away).
During that time, and it is an interim time, we will always live in tension, waiting for the final consummation of history and our lives. Our happiness depends not on overcoming this, which we cannot do in any case, but in making peace with it. And that peace is not made by a stoic acceptance that we cannot have it all in this life. It is made by living our incompleteness in face of a future promise.
To live in the interim eschatological age to be like a couple waiting to be married who, for a good reason (for example the death of a parent), have chosen to postpone their marriage for a period of time. There is a certain frustration in that, but that frustration is offset by the clear knowledge that this is only a temporary delay, soon to be overcome. Our essential “inconsummation” in this life must be understood in this way. The frustration is real, but it is, as Nouwen so well puts it, something we will one day overcome, albeit that day will not meet us in this life.
“To understand the time we live in, is to be less frustrated with the fact that it cannot offer us the final symphony." Our spiritual journey, then, is the everyday living in that reality. Fr. Rolheiser hits it right on the head when he points out it we are dealing with real frustration, and that frustration is now. We do not deal with this frustration by fighting it, no use we cannot win, or by making attempts to fix it, which we ourselves cannot, it is somehow in the acceptance that we are able to arrive at some peace. Acceptance of who we are, and who God is, in that reality lies the key. God is God, and we are not. WE have the great, deep desire, given to us by our God, to be totally one, once again. That is our journey into a oneness with who we are, and in that process we find union with Him, who is our Source, and Destiny.
The Psalmist provides us with those wonderful lines, "out of the depths I cry to you o Lord. Lord hear my cry." When we allow ourselves to taste the essential helplessness, hopelessness, and powerlessness of who we are as human beings, then our Savior God will come to us with those consoling word, "My Beloved here I am. I am always standing beside you. I will not, I cannot desert, abandon you. You are to me as beloved as your brother Jesus. The love I have for the both of you is the same.” Can you believe that? It is not the reality that you have difficulty with, it is a deepening faith that will bring you to that place. It is yours to have. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you. Always keep in mind, “My ways, are not your ways”. My time is not the way you figure time. I will come at a time and in the places you least expect. “It has been this way, and as it was so it shall ever be." I believe Lord, help my unbelief/disbelief.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
On Further Reflection.......Hope
UPON FURTHER REFLECTION With most hikes there is the going out, or up, and the coming home, the coming down. It means ascending and descending, unless, of course, you are on a loop. In the spiritual life , ascending has to do with the realm of the spirit, while descending has to do with, soul work My spirit and soul got a great workout, on that hike. Actually you could say there were two hike, in one. The ascending was in the peace, and security of clear skies, and bright sunshine. This lifted the spirit into the realm of freedom. Freedom from care, concern, fear, and worry. It was so easy to say, "Thank You". An attitude of gratitude was so apparent. The descending was so much, the very opposite. It was a journey into insecurity, fear, and concern, just to name a few. This was, and is, the journey of the soul. Soul work is not that appealing, that is why the spiritual journey is not attractive to so many. Soul work IS hard work. On the hike, I was given a deeper insight into both. Upon reflection is not this the way we spend, the way we live out all of our daily living? We do not have to go on any hike to have the aforementioned experiences. They are the both sides of you every day.
There are some days, well let’s say, there are some moments of our day when are in sunshine, we can safely say, “I have got this life thing wired?". When we are in that much desired place, Fr Rohr calls that place, that pole he calls "inflation”. We never stop there, we then go to the opposite pole. Here, we are meeting the challenge, of being lost, lonely, and so alone where we ask the questions, “How did get into this mess?" and "Is this ever going to stop or go away?”. This pole at which so much of our lives are spent, is called "alienation". When we are that pole in our daily journey, we are really frazzled. We do not know which way is up. We are facing the limits of our endurance. Here, we border on hopelessness and helplessness, we are in the best place possible. Yes! I will repeat that again, as you may think I was having a senior moment, we are in the best place possible, SPIRITUALLY, that is. This is where our ego does not want to go to.
The ego will do everything in its power to avoid being in this situation. The ego has the power of the Devil on its side. What do we have on our side, as we slowly come to admit our human limitations, we are guaranteed THE POWER of GOD which overcomes all evil. WE have to face however, what the ego hates ,the the great challenge, we call surrender. That is why soul work is so repulsive to the ego, and so to us who want to look good and powerful.Here we face what Fr. Rolheiser calls , the challenge of our insufficiency. We are here challenged to face our own inner incompleteness. For the ego a root canal in more acceptable.
When I returned to the cabin I had a great big bowl of soup. Did that taste good? Later, I had a very relaxing hot bath. That night before I went to bed I had a big mug of camomile tea. As I lay there feeling very safe, cozy and warm, I had to ask the question, " Can this get any better?”. To make things even better I was in that state where I knew I was going to go to sleep. I suffer from insomnia, so this was the cherry on the sundae, I fell asleep listening to the wind and the rain. My very favorite sound. It was great to experience that feeling of contentment. The big question that is begging to be asked is, would it last? Of course not, I am sad to say. Within a short period I was back facing my essential loneliness, insecurity, incompleteness, discontent. I was again back in daily struggle of what it means to be a spiritual being, having a human experience. T hank the Good Lord, this is not our lasting home. We are here on a visit, so in the meantime we have our daily struggle. There is no escape.
Fr. Karl Rahner has written the following; " In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable we come to understand that here, in this life, all symphonies remain unfinished". Fr. Rolheiser writes the following in commentary, "What does it mean to be tormented by insufficiency of everything attainable?” How are we tortured by what we cannot have? We all experience this daily. In fact, for all but a few privileged, peaceful times, this torment is like an undertow to everything we experience;" beauty makes us restless when it should bring us peace, the love we experience with our spouse does not fulfill our longings, the relationships we have within our families seem too petty and too domestic to be fulfilling, our job is hopelessly inadequate to the dreams we have for ourselves, the place we live in seems boring and lifeless in comparison to other places, and we are too restless to sit peacefully at our own tables, sleep peacefully in our own beds, and be at ease within our own skins. We are tormented by the insufficiency of everything attainable when our lives are too small for us and we live in them in such a way that we are always waiting, waiting for something or somebody to come along and change things so that our lives , as we imagine them, might begin. ..... To be tormented with restlessness is to be human."
I have found great consolation, and courage in those words.
There are some days, well let’s say, there are some moments of our day when are in sunshine, we can safely say, “I have got this life thing wired?". When we are in that much desired place, Fr Rohr calls that place, that pole he calls "inflation”. We never stop there, we then go to the opposite pole. Here, we are meeting the challenge, of being lost, lonely, and so alone where we ask the questions, “How did get into this mess?" and "Is this ever going to stop or go away?”. This pole at which so much of our lives are spent, is called "alienation". When we are that pole in our daily journey, we are really frazzled. We do not know which way is up. We are facing the limits of our endurance. Here, we border on hopelessness and helplessness, we are in the best place possible. Yes! I will repeat that again, as you may think I was having a senior moment, we are in the best place possible, SPIRITUALLY, that is. This is where our ego does not want to go to.
The ego will do everything in its power to avoid being in this situation. The ego has the power of the Devil on its side. What do we have on our side, as we slowly come to admit our human limitations, we are guaranteed THE POWER of GOD which overcomes all evil. WE have to face however, what the ego hates ,the the great challenge, we call surrender. That is why soul work is so repulsive to the ego, and so to us who want to look good and powerful.Here we face what Fr. Rolheiser calls , the challenge of our insufficiency. We are here challenged to face our own inner incompleteness. For the ego a root canal in more acceptable.
When I returned to the cabin I had a great big bowl of soup. Did that taste good? Later, I had a very relaxing hot bath. That night before I went to bed I had a big mug of camomile tea. As I lay there feeling very safe, cozy and warm, I had to ask the question, " Can this get any better?”. To make things even better I was in that state where I knew I was going to go to sleep. I suffer from insomnia, so this was the cherry on the sundae, I fell asleep listening to the wind and the rain. My very favorite sound. It was great to experience that feeling of contentment. The big question that is begging to be asked is, would it last? Of course not, I am sad to say. Within a short period I was back facing my essential loneliness, insecurity, incompleteness, discontent. I was again back in daily struggle of what it means to be a spiritual being, having a human experience. T hank the Good Lord, this is not our lasting home. We are here on a visit, so in the meantime we have our daily struggle. There is no escape.
Fr. Karl Rahner has written the following; " In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable we come to understand that here, in this life, all symphonies remain unfinished". Fr. Rolheiser writes the following in commentary, "What does it mean to be tormented by insufficiency of everything attainable?” How are we tortured by what we cannot have? We all experience this daily. In fact, for all but a few privileged, peaceful times, this torment is like an undertow to everything we experience;" beauty makes us restless when it should bring us peace, the love we experience with our spouse does not fulfill our longings, the relationships we have within our families seem too petty and too domestic to be fulfilling, our job is hopelessly inadequate to the dreams we have for ourselves, the place we live in seems boring and lifeless in comparison to other places, and we are too restless to sit peacefully at our own tables, sleep peacefully in our own beds, and be at ease within our own skins. We are tormented by the insufficiency of everything attainable when our lives are too small for us and we live in them in such a way that we are always waiting, waiting for something or somebody to come along and change things so that our lives , as we imagine them, might begin. ..... To be tormented with restlessness is to be human."
I have found great consolation, and courage in those words.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Life.....or a Hike...(2)
Ready for the rest of the hike? Well let’s do it! Remember where we were last week? Well, you do not have to remember, all you have to do is scroll down and read all about how I described the ascent ? How beautiful and serene it was? How it was so easy to get lost in the wonder-fullness of the place I was at, doing what I was doing. In Ireland they call these places, "thin places". Places where the divine is more easily encountered, than in other places. Since last week I came across the following; “Beauty serves....to prepare the soul for... encounter with God". That trail which was such a sacrament, revealing the presence, and the mystery of God in the beauty of his creation, now to say the least, has changed. The trail will still be a sacrament, it will demand more in depth thought….a lot of thought and reflection. It is in the storms of life we need the x-ray eye of faith to see the deeper meaning behind the obvious reality of pain, stress, and discomfort. The rain and hail sure made that trail different, and more difficult. There was great confidence on the way up. Now, as the rain began to gather and flow downhill, I had to go slow, and pick my steps. On the way up the rocks, that I avoided, now became a source of security. Strange??? Those rocks were a way to stop the slipping and sliding. The same can be said of the rock we call faith. What one time was a real pain for us, prayer, Mass, the Sacraments, moments of quiet, now becomes a source of peace and serenity. What once were seen as obstacles, are now seen as stepping stones “Storms of Life”, I believe, reveal their own sacraments to us as well.
A person of my age, and temperament has to be very cautious . That peaceful, serene trail is now, as I have said, a great challenge. In the beginning of the descent I skipped about to avoid the gathering pools. (Now that was a sight to see- my version of the jig!) After a time, I saw it was to no avail. My boots were getting really wet, as a matter of fact, they were soaked. Lo and behold, I reverted to days of long ago. Do you remember how GREAT it felt to jump into the middle of a puddle of water, much to the horror of your mother? She was not looking at my great joy, but to the washing and ironing that was waiting for her, as the result of my great adventure in to muddy water. Well here I am happy as Larry, whoever he was, splashing my way down hill, with plenty of rain, wind, hail, with flashing lightening, and rolling thunder. There was a great feeling that came with the buffeting. I was warm in my body, and the energy was good. Yes, it was good to be alive and I wanted to stay that way. When the lightening got really close, I had the thought, “Why not get to a place of shelter and wait this storm out?”. It was getting late. I had no idea how long that storm would last, it lasted a while. The sky looked as if, as we say in Ireland, “it was settling in for the evening”. So, I carried on down that wet sloppy trail, which in some places was a little stream. Some parts numb with freezing cold, the other parts really enjoying the long forgotten pleasure, of playing in the rain. On the was down, I was anxiously looking for familiar signs along the way that would tell me how much further I had to travel. There was a great sigh of relief when I saw the trail head sign. I now knew I was close to the parking lot and the warmth of my car. I could almost feel the warmth of the hot air. Obviously I reached the car. On came the heat. Then a change of clothes. Something to eat, and headed for home. Yes, it rained the whole way home. I have had some days to think, and reflect on that hike. How true to the spiritual life that experience was. How often do we find ourselves going along, again, happy as Larry. From what we can see life is going well. All the ducks are in line, and almost at the water. Our plans are working out, our expectations are somewhat being met. Most of the people in our lives are working and walking in step with us. That is me on the first leg of the hike. Then life happens. We now become aware, or in some cases are forced into awareness that this spiritual being is immersed in the totality of the human experience. That storm which hit me, in the physical, will hit every person on the spiritual level as well. When I am lost in the storm, I have to realize there is no place I will go to that Jesus has not gone to, and he is also there waiting for me to show up. He got wearied on His journey. He was buffeted by the storms. He was disappointed. He as the scriptures say: "He was like unto us in all things, except sin", and He died out of love for us sinners.
As human beings we can so easily, in a split second, go from being calm and serene, to being angry, hateful, and spiteful. We can go from being accepting to being resentful, in no time flat. Being Irish, I am in that group of people that will speak and act first, then think. I have to learn to be a responder, rather than a reactor. I am still in school for that one. I have to learn to slow down and read the signs of the time I find myself in. On my hike the changes around me were gradual, yet I missed them. I was so caught up in the good feelings of a great hike that the reality of where I was lost on me. My emotional needs joy and happiness were being met while all the same time I was putting myself in physical danger. When the rational side took over I made the healthy decision to get on the trail home. I have to learn to balance, or better still, to bring into balance the emotional and the rational. How often the signs of danger and trouble are there and we choose to ignore the challenge to, confront . How often are we so unaware of the changes that will of necessity, be brought about we continue in our dysfunction? To make matters worse, we blame God for what is happening to us, and where we are at. God has nothing to do with so much of the trouble and danger we find ourselves in. How responsible do we hold ourselves to be? It was not God who lead me into that danger, through what was an apparent good. Joe was responsible to take all factors into account and then make a decision, which I did not. What happened on the next hike? I was out a distance, looked up, and saw the dark clouds, see I learned. The trail looked great in front of me, it was very tempting to say, " just a little further".
No, this time I turned back. I barely made it to the car when, the heavens opened. Enough said.
A person of my age, and temperament has to be very cautious . That peaceful, serene trail is now, as I have said, a great challenge. In the beginning of the descent I skipped about to avoid the gathering pools. (Now that was a sight to see- my version of the jig!) After a time, I saw it was to no avail. My boots were getting really wet, as a matter of fact, they were soaked. Lo and behold, I reverted to days of long ago. Do you remember how GREAT it felt to jump into the middle of a puddle of water, much to the horror of your mother? She was not looking at my great joy, but to the washing and ironing that was waiting for her, as the result of my great adventure in to muddy water. Well here I am happy as Larry, whoever he was, splashing my way down hill, with plenty of rain, wind, hail, with flashing lightening, and rolling thunder. There was a great feeling that came with the buffeting. I was warm in my body, and the energy was good. Yes, it was good to be alive and I wanted to stay that way. When the lightening got really close, I had the thought, “Why not get to a place of shelter and wait this storm out?”. It was getting late. I had no idea how long that storm would last, it lasted a while. The sky looked as if, as we say in Ireland, “it was settling in for the evening”. So, I carried on down that wet sloppy trail, which in some places was a little stream. Some parts numb with freezing cold, the other parts really enjoying the long forgotten pleasure, of playing in the rain. On the was down, I was anxiously looking for familiar signs along the way that would tell me how much further I had to travel. There was a great sigh of relief when I saw the trail head sign. I now knew I was close to the parking lot and the warmth of my car. I could almost feel the warmth of the hot air. Obviously I reached the car. On came the heat. Then a change of clothes. Something to eat, and headed for home. Yes, it rained the whole way home. I have had some days to think, and reflect on that hike. How true to the spiritual life that experience was. How often do we find ourselves going along, again, happy as Larry. From what we can see life is going well. All the ducks are in line, and almost at the water. Our plans are working out, our expectations are somewhat being met. Most of the people in our lives are working and walking in step with us. That is me on the first leg of the hike. Then life happens. We now become aware, or in some cases are forced into awareness that this spiritual being is immersed in the totality of the human experience. That storm which hit me, in the physical, will hit every person on the spiritual level as well. When I am lost in the storm, I have to realize there is no place I will go to that Jesus has not gone to, and he is also there waiting for me to show up. He got wearied on His journey. He was buffeted by the storms. He was disappointed. He as the scriptures say: "He was like unto us in all things, except sin", and He died out of love for us sinners.
As human beings we can so easily, in a split second, go from being calm and serene, to being angry, hateful, and spiteful. We can go from being accepting to being resentful, in no time flat. Being Irish, I am in that group of people that will speak and act first, then think. I have to learn to be a responder, rather than a reactor. I am still in school for that one. I have to learn to slow down and read the signs of the time I find myself in. On my hike the changes around me were gradual, yet I missed them. I was so caught up in the good feelings of a great hike that the reality of where I was lost on me. My emotional needs joy and happiness were being met while all the same time I was putting myself in physical danger. When the rational side took over I made the healthy decision to get on the trail home. I have to learn to balance, or better still, to bring into balance the emotional and the rational. How often the signs of danger and trouble are there and we choose to ignore the challenge to, confront . How often are we so unaware of the changes that will of necessity, be brought about we continue in our dysfunction? To make matters worse, we blame God for what is happening to us, and where we are at. God has nothing to do with so much of the trouble and danger we find ourselves in. How responsible do we hold ourselves to be? It was not God who lead me into that danger, through what was an apparent good. Joe was responsible to take all factors into account and then make a decision, which I did not. What happened on the next hike? I was out a distance, looked up, and saw the dark clouds, see I learned. The trail looked great in front of me, it was very tempting to say, " just a little further".
No, this time I turned back. I barely made it to the car when, the heavens opened. Enough said.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
A Hike....or Life...
It was first hike up to Mallard lake. Last year I hiked the Mallard Creek trail. To be honest, I had some reservations about this year's choice. A ranger informed me the lake trail was a little more challenging, translation, a steeper trail. She was quick to add that the scenery was so much better. When I heard that word, steeper, I immediately was countered with the question, “Are there any switchbacks?". She replied, with a reassuring smile, "Yes, there are". What a relief that was. On difficult hikes I look forward to the switchbacks. They provide a time and a space, to regroup a little, so as to have the energy, and strength to meet the challenge of the next stage of the climb. As it is on hikes, so it is with The Hike we call “The Spiritual Journey”. Here is a thought, on the hikes we choose to go on we cannot plan the switchbacks, nature has control of that. On the hike of your every life, however, you are in control (and only you can do it) of where those switchbacks moments are. We now call those who do not take this healthy step ”victims”. Those who do take the healthy step are called “survivors”. Those in the first group are referred to as “human doers”, and those in the second are referred to as “human beings”. God created us to live the life as free human beings….Come on switchbacks.!!!!
Well, let’s get back to this hike. What a hike it was, otherwise I would not be writing about it. As I made my way up the trail, I was struck with the peace, calmness and serenity. Looking back, I do not know why this was so. Was it because I, myself, was in a good place, or was the trail itself, and all that it had to offer. (How about ," both/and", you may well say?) The trail was somewhat challenging, but soft and gently underfoot. You kinda bounced of the sod as you moved along. It was great. So wonder-full, that the thought came to me, this should be named "The Serenity Trail to Mallard Lake".
I journeyed along, lost in thought, enjoying the feeling of being immersed in Yellowstone. I was gradually making my way up the trail. Not only were there switchbacks, there were also little hills to go up and down. I was really enjoying myself. Not too much though. I was keeping a close eye out for, Mr. or Mrs Bear. You see, earlier in the week, I came within about 20 yards of a bear! I was not able to decide whether it was a Mrs., a Mr., a Miss or a Master, that bear took off so fast! Take it from me, bears are fast. I am so thankful he/she decided to run away from me, and not at me. I am told they can hit speeds of between 35-40 mph. Later in the week I saw a huge grizzlie. He was about a quarter of a mile away. I have him tucked away, in the safety of my camera, he is no threat there.
So, here I am, lost in thought among the trees. I, however, have no view of the sky. That is not good. Suddenly, I heard the sound of thunder. It was away in the distance, so it was nothing to worry about. So, I went back to being lost in the joy, and pleasure of the hike. There was another peel of thunder. This one got my attention, why? Because this time, there was lightening before the thunder rolled. I looked up, and saw that the sky had darkened in the East, but there was blue sky to the west. So, off I went, keeping the thought of the blue sky uppermost in my mind, and not paying too much attention to the ever darkening sky. Not even the drops of rain got my attention. Not a smart move, but my best. (I failed to read all the signs of the time and place I found myself in.) That was my best decision at the time. My best, but not the best. The right one was not made and as usual there was a price to be paid. Was this the first time in my life this has happened? Of course not. This has happened may times before, and there is every chance it will happen again. As long as I am a limited human being, this will happen again and again, until the day I die. It is our friend, death who will free us to live the fullness of live. In the mean time, we are to struggle, on a daily basis, with what it means to be a, spiritual being having a human experience.
Well the raindrops became more frequent, and there was more of them than there was before. So, here I was at somewhere between 7,500 and 8,000 feet. There is wind, rain, thunder and lightning. To make matters worse, the rain was then hail, and it is freezing cold. I have not been in this kind of weather since I left Ireland. In Ireland, mother nature would never play a trick like this. Here I am in Summertime. A time like winter has entered, to darken the joyful light . It was, and never is, a lasting darkness. When the light does appear again, as it always does, what will be the truths that have become a part of this new reality. This new reality is: life as I live it today.
It would be too long of a blog, a sermon yes, to bring me down the mountain. So I will leave Joe at say, 7,700 feet. There is lightening, wind, freezing hail or rain, peeling thunder, numbing hands, heading for home, and lessons to be learned.
See you next week, as the wandering continues, or so, I sincerely hope.
Well, let’s get back to this hike. What a hike it was, otherwise I would not be writing about it. As I made my way up the trail, I was struck with the peace, calmness and serenity. Looking back, I do not know why this was so. Was it because I, myself, was in a good place, or was the trail itself, and all that it had to offer. (How about ," both/and", you may well say?) The trail was somewhat challenging, but soft and gently underfoot. You kinda bounced of the sod as you moved along. It was great. So wonder-full, that the thought came to me, this should be named "The Serenity Trail to Mallard Lake".
I journeyed along, lost in thought, enjoying the feeling of being immersed in Yellowstone. I was gradually making my way up the trail. Not only were there switchbacks, there were also little hills to go up and down. I was really enjoying myself. Not too much though. I was keeping a close eye out for, Mr. or Mrs Bear. You see, earlier in the week, I came within about 20 yards of a bear! I was not able to decide whether it was a Mrs., a Mr., a Miss or a Master, that bear took off so fast! Take it from me, bears are fast. I am so thankful he/she decided to run away from me, and not at me. I am told they can hit speeds of between 35-40 mph. Later in the week I saw a huge grizzlie. He was about a quarter of a mile away. I have him tucked away, in the safety of my camera, he is no threat there.
So, here I am, lost in thought among the trees. I, however, have no view of the sky. That is not good. Suddenly, I heard the sound of thunder. It was away in the distance, so it was nothing to worry about. So, I went back to being lost in the joy, and pleasure of the hike. There was another peel of thunder. This one got my attention, why? Because this time, there was lightening before the thunder rolled. I looked up, and saw that the sky had darkened in the East, but there was blue sky to the west. So, off I went, keeping the thought of the blue sky uppermost in my mind, and not paying too much attention to the ever darkening sky. Not even the drops of rain got my attention. Not a smart move, but my best. (I failed to read all the signs of the time and place I found myself in.) That was my best decision at the time. My best, but not the best. The right one was not made and as usual there was a price to be paid. Was this the first time in my life this has happened? Of course not. This has happened may times before, and there is every chance it will happen again. As long as I am a limited human being, this will happen again and again, until the day I die. It is our friend, death who will free us to live the fullness of live. In the mean time, we are to struggle, on a daily basis, with what it means to be a, spiritual being having a human experience.
Well the raindrops became more frequent, and there was more of them than there was before. So, here I was at somewhere between 7,500 and 8,000 feet. There is wind, rain, thunder and lightning. To make matters worse, the rain was then hail, and it is freezing cold. I have not been in this kind of weather since I left Ireland. In Ireland, mother nature would never play a trick like this. Here I am in Summertime. A time like winter has entered, to darken the joyful light . It was, and never is, a lasting darkness. When the light does appear again, as it always does, what will be the truths that have become a part of this new reality. This new reality is: life as I live it today.
It would be too long of a blog, a sermon yes, to bring me down the mountain. So I will leave Joe at say, 7,700 feet. There is lightening, wind, freezing hail or rain, peeling thunder, numbing hands, heading for home, and lessons to be learned.
See you next week, as the wandering continues, or so, I sincerely hope.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Wandering Thoughts from a Cabin....
I have heard it said, "Every seven years we ask a new set of questions". I have found this to be so very true, in my own life and in the life of so many others. Look at what happens between the ages of 14 and 21. How the questions flow so quickly, and the answers appear so slowly. Henri Nowen encourages us, “to live the question, so we can live into the answer". For those who are in their 30’s, or have encountered that watershed year of 35, I do not have to tell you anything about life being turned upside down, and a great feeling of being lost takes over. Nothing has worked out the way you expected . All your plans have gone askew, you are not where you wanted to be. You are not in the place others expected you to be. You are not who you thought you would be at this time. The things of life are so up in the air, so uncertain. There seems to be no real order, only questions about the chaos. Even if the outside looks good, the insides are the very opposite. I now firmly believe, the better we show ourselves to be on the outside, the more messed up we are on the inside. What is worse, we will do everything in our power to defend , and protect the illusion. The illusion that is ours, our family, our parish, our church, our country, and our world. In each case, we pay a terrible price. Look at the cost, in human and monetary terms, the defense of sexual misconduct has wrecked on individuals, families, and church. There is that saying, which we have adopted from AA, " We are as sick, as our deepest secrets". How true that is. The opposite is honesty. Honesty is progressive. Thank The Good God for that. It is that fearsome gift, honesty, which will enable each one of us to journey from illusion, into who we are in the unconditioned love of our God. Yes, a fearsome journey, yet we can be assured that nothing will be revealed to us, that God and we, cannot take care of. Sometimes I have to remind our God , " you have more faith in me than I have in myself right now, so you may want to ease up, just a little". In some cases, I have to say, "a lot". That is an honest prayer, as it comes from the gut. Gut prayer always works. Why? We are being real, and Reality always responds to us in our deepest reality.
There is one person who, over the years, has enabled me to grow, very slowly I may add, into gut honesty, that person is Henri Nowen. So, at this stage, as I am dealing with a multiple of 7, it is time for me to reread again, “Reaching Out ". I first read this book in 2006. I have been reading it over the years. In the hard, difficult, and challenging times, it has been a daily read. Nowen writes, as nobody else does, about the sacrament of the human condition and all that entails. In all that is authentically human, God, The Divine Presence, is perfectly hidden and perfectly revealed. He is so honest about being a spiritual being enfleshed in the human condition. He is, for me, a prophet of hope. He is, for me, a great teacher. He has lead me, and continues to lead me, by the sharing of his faith journey, to embrace my faith journey, just as it is. A faith journey with it's valleys and mountaintops. A journey replete with times of hope and despair. A journey into great loneliness, and a deepening happiness. A faith journey with its times of great fear, leading to a deepening of faith. He has given me the permission, which I always sought, to be who I really am. Honesty, I have found, is the stepping stone leading to a freedom and a happiness beyond imagination.
In the foreword, he writes the following; "the quest for an authentic Christian spirituality is worth the effort and the pain, since in the midst of this quest we can find signs offering hope, courage, and confidence". Those signs are to be found in each and every life. These signs are there for you and I, to be found . WE are always being offered, what we need, not what we want. Sources of hope, courage, and confidence are our daily bread. This ‘daily bead’ is the GUARANTEE of a Loving, merciful and caring God. It is when we stop reacting to life, and begin to respond to what is our reality, we begin to see life as it really is. We all need that time, a time that must be claimed, which will enable us to slow down and allow our souls to catch up with us. In this place, a peace, a joy, a happiness is awaiting those with the courage to do so. Merton says, “it takes tremendous courage to be still”. It takes great force of will to say to oneself, and mean it, “I am a human being, NOT a human doer".
This Spiritual journey stuff is tough work. Thank God it is His doing and not ours. It is a life we fall deeper into, the more we fall down.!!!!!!
There is one person who, over the years, has enabled me to grow, very slowly I may add, into gut honesty, that person is Henri Nowen. So, at this stage, as I am dealing with a multiple of 7, it is time for me to reread again, “Reaching Out ". I first read this book in 2006. I have been reading it over the years. In the hard, difficult, and challenging times, it has been a daily read. Nowen writes, as nobody else does, about the sacrament of the human condition and all that entails. In all that is authentically human, God, The Divine Presence, is perfectly hidden and perfectly revealed. He is so honest about being a spiritual being enfleshed in the human condition. He is, for me, a prophet of hope. He is, for me, a great teacher. He has lead me, and continues to lead me, by the sharing of his faith journey, to embrace my faith journey, just as it is. A faith journey with it's valleys and mountaintops. A journey replete with times of hope and despair. A journey into great loneliness, and a deepening happiness. A faith journey with its times of great fear, leading to a deepening of faith. He has given me the permission, which I always sought, to be who I really am. Honesty, I have found, is the stepping stone leading to a freedom and a happiness beyond imagination.
In the foreword, he writes the following; "the quest for an authentic Christian spirituality is worth the effort and the pain, since in the midst of this quest we can find signs offering hope, courage, and confidence". Those signs are to be found in each and every life. These signs are there for you and I, to be found . WE are always being offered, what we need, not what we want. Sources of hope, courage, and confidence are our daily bread. This ‘daily bead’ is the GUARANTEE of a Loving, merciful and caring God. It is when we stop reacting to life, and begin to respond to what is our reality, we begin to see life as it really is. We all need that time, a time that must be claimed, which will enable us to slow down and allow our souls to catch up with us. In this place, a peace, a joy, a happiness is awaiting those with the courage to do so. Merton says, “it takes tremendous courage to be still”. It takes great force of will to say to oneself, and mean it, “I am a human being, NOT a human doer".
This Spiritual journey stuff is tough work. Thank God it is His doing and not ours. It is a life we fall deeper into, the more we fall down.!!!!!!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Never Too Young...Never Too Old...To be Taught
I was finishing up a hike in Steamboat Springs. There is a great feeling that comes with being able to see the trailhead, it is even better (the journey) down-hill. As I was coming down the trail, enjoying the last part of a very enjoyable hike, I heard the cry of someone who was not having a good day. I came around a bend, standing there was a young mother looking down the incline. She said " My son is not able to ride his bike up the hill, and he is really upset". Her daughter was pushing her bike up the hill, and seemed relaxed about it. It was very different with her brother. He did not look like a very happy camper, as he pushed his bike up the incline. He was a really upset young boy, and was not ready to listen to, or accept, his mother's words of understanding and support. She was so positive.
On the other hand, his body language was loud and clear: “I am not listening to you, I am not paying attention to you, just leave me alone.” How often have we, as adults , found ourselves in the same boat? Thank the good Lord, it is not the Titanic! For some very unfortunates, it is.
I finished up my hike, but I was not finished with the encounter, with what had happened back on the trail. I knew there was a lesson to be learned. I waited for it to surface. Whatever is REAL, for you and I, reveals to us some aspect of the spiritual. In all that is real, is perfectly hidden, and perfectly revealed, the Divine Presence, our God. Remember that old axiom; " every picture tells a story" ? Well, today we are told, and have to be continually reminded, all reality is the ongoing revelation of God. That is the meaning of the
expression, 'the sacrament of the present moment'. So what has surfaced so far, what gift has come from that meeting on that hike, on that particular trail?
Well as you know, I like to compare our spiritual journey to a hike.
( Read the blog from this time last year). On the hike of life, we find out what it really means to be spiritual beings, enwrapped in the oh-so human condition. On an ongoing, daily basis, we have to continue to learn, to be taught, how to not just exist, not to just survive, but live fully, this human journey we call life.
That morning I began to hike a new trail. Yet, what I encountered was the same, eternal struggle that is met in every human endeavor. If it is an authentic human event, the action of a knowing mind and a consenting will, then it involves both the human and the divine. That is why every, and I really mean every person, place, event, action, is my coming face to face with a new revelation of who my God is for me. Yes, our God is ever new, and at the same time so ancient. Here, is a good time to reflect on the famous words of St, Augustine, "O, Beauty, ever ancient, ever new". These can be our words as well, as we live out each and every new moment in a creation that is ever ancient and ever new. From all I have read and been told, this world of ours has been in existence for billions of years. (This week I overhead a park ranger describe what happened 700 million years ago to give us what we have today.) Into this ancient environment we are released to discover the very ancient, and the ever new. We are asked to live a fruitful life in a time and place that never was and never will be again. Each step is a unique step. Each life is a life destined by God, to be unique. The more unique we have the courage to live our lives the more the uniqueness of our God is revealed to all creation. God is not threatened by uniqueness. We are . We want conformity to expectations, so we will not be threatened by sudden newness. God always appears in the most unexpected places, and in the most surprising of people. (God as a vulnerable baby? God betrayed, broken, bruised, beaten.) God is not threatened by seeming loss. He turns all of our so called temporal losses into eternal gains.
For that young boy he came face to face with his limitations. He had to deal with what he was unable to do right now. As I told him, in time and with practice, he will conquer that hill. Not the next day nor the next week. It will happen on the condition he plays his part. I pointed out to the young mother, this was a teachable moment on what it means to be human. She can gift her child with a sense of healthy shame, I am human, I am limited. How many of us were never taught that lesson? We had to learn it the hard way. Yet there are so many in denial. We are the ones who want to be perfect. This is a physical impossibility for us humans. This is not defeat. This is not loss. This is us being offered the opportunity to accept, in freedom, our limitations. The result? We now have a real, Savior God. We also are freed from the burden of perfectionisn. We are freed from the bondage of the false self. So then we are given the gift of being able to embrace our called faults, failings, disappointments. We are now lead to the great freedom of being able to live a life of honesty. This is not the end. This leads to a beginning, on the hike, that is ever ancient, ever new. This, of necessity will enable us, will empower us, to claim our belovedness on a new, and ever deepening level.
Thomas Merton has this to say in his book "No Man Is An Island”,
" We must accept the fact that we are not what we would like to be. We must cast off our false, exterior self like the cheap and showy garment that it is. We must find our real self, in all its elemental poverty but also in its very great and very simple dignity; created to be a child of God, capable of loving with something of God's own sincerity and His unselfishness".
On the other hand, his body language was loud and clear: “I am not listening to you, I am not paying attention to you, just leave me alone.” How often have we, as adults , found ourselves in the same boat? Thank the good Lord, it is not the Titanic! For some very unfortunates, it is.
I finished up my hike, but I was not finished with the encounter, with what had happened back on the trail. I knew there was a lesson to be learned. I waited for it to surface. Whatever is REAL, for you and I, reveals to us some aspect of the spiritual. In all that is real, is perfectly hidden, and perfectly revealed, the Divine Presence, our God. Remember that old axiom; " every picture tells a story" ? Well, today we are told, and have to be continually reminded, all reality is the ongoing revelation of God. That is the meaning of the
expression, 'the sacrament of the present moment'. So what has surfaced so far, what gift has come from that meeting on that hike, on that particular trail?
Well as you know, I like to compare our spiritual journey to a hike.
( Read the blog from this time last year). On the hike of life, we find out what it really means to be spiritual beings, enwrapped in the oh-so human condition. On an ongoing, daily basis, we have to continue to learn, to be taught, how to not just exist, not to just survive, but live fully, this human journey we call life.
That morning I began to hike a new trail. Yet, what I encountered was the same, eternal struggle that is met in every human endeavor. If it is an authentic human event, the action of a knowing mind and a consenting will, then it involves both the human and the divine. That is why every, and I really mean every person, place, event, action, is my coming face to face with a new revelation of who my God is for me. Yes, our God is ever new, and at the same time so ancient. Here, is a good time to reflect on the famous words of St, Augustine, "O, Beauty, ever ancient, ever new". These can be our words as well, as we live out each and every new moment in a creation that is ever ancient and ever new. From all I have read and been told, this world of ours has been in existence for billions of years. (This week I overhead a park ranger describe what happened 700 million years ago to give us what we have today.) Into this ancient environment we are released to discover the very ancient, and the ever new. We are asked to live a fruitful life in a time and place that never was and never will be again. Each step is a unique step. Each life is a life destined by God, to be unique. The more unique we have the courage to live our lives the more the uniqueness of our God is revealed to all creation. God is not threatened by uniqueness. We are . We want conformity to expectations, so we will not be threatened by sudden newness. God always appears in the most unexpected places, and in the most surprising of people. (God as a vulnerable baby? God betrayed, broken, bruised, beaten.) God is not threatened by seeming loss. He turns all of our so called temporal losses into eternal gains.
For that young boy he came face to face with his limitations. He had to deal with what he was unable to do right now. As I told him, in time and with practice, he will conquer that hill. Not the next day nor the next week. It will happen on the condition he plays his part. I pointed out to the young mother, this was a teachable moment on what it means to be human. She can gift her child with a sense of healthy shame, I am human, I am limited. How many of us were never taught that lesson? We had to learn it the hard way. Yet there are so many in denial. We are the ones who want to be perfect. This is a physical impossibility for us humans. This is not defeat. This is not loss. This is us being offered the opportunity to accept, in freedom, our limitations. The result? We now have a real, Savior God. We also are freed from the burden of perfectionisn. We are freed from the bondage of the false self. So then we are given the gift of being able to embrace our called faults, failings, disappointments. We are now lead to the great freedom of being able to live a life of honesty. This is not the end. This leads to a beginning, on the hike, that is ever ancient, ever new. This, of necessity will enable us, will empower us, to claim our belovedness on a new, and ever deepening level.
Thomas Merton has this to say in his book "No Man Is An Island”,
" We must accept the fact that we are not what we would like to be. We must cast off our false, exterior self like the cheap and showy garment that it is. We must find our real self, in all its elemental poverty but also in its very great and very simple dignity; created to be a child of God, capable of loving with something of God's own sincerity and His unselfishness".
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Blessings.....Three Gifts...
Now that I travel on real long trips, I have to do a great deal of reading, and research. I will first come up with the general direction of where I would like to go. Taking into account the information gathered, I will then get down to the specifics of the proposed journey. This year I even bought a book on the great Northwest, and promptly left home,..without it. Oh, these senior moments !!!!!. Then on the other hand am I not blessed to have lived long enough to have what is necessary to get away with that..."another senior moment"! When I was younger and asked for a room key, to replace the one I lost, or left in the room, I got dirty looks. Now, thank
the good Lord, I get knowing smiles, or in some cases sympathetic words. Being a part time senile senior sure makes life, to say the least, exciting and never dull. Sorry, I digress.
When I get to a specific stop, I immediately head for the Visitor's Center. Some centers are wonderful in the way you are treated. There is a great sense of hospitality and welcome. You are given the impression they are excited to see you, and are anxious to help make your stay enjoyable. I find myself looking forward to my stay with an added excitement. That is not true in every case though. Other centers lack that intangible. You come away with the feeling that the particular person, who was there to help you, sees life as a deep burden. To add to their burden, is your presence and questions. Is not that the same feeling one gets, as one seeks information and direction from many church offices.
Those helpful individuals at the Visitor’s Center are more than happy to share their experience of an encounter in a particular place. They will share the last time they saw a wolf, bear, elk, moose, and where the encounter happened. They will share with you their experience of a hike. They have tips on where to go, and what to expect. I always want to know if there are switchbacks. From that encounter I always leave with a greater sense of excitement and confidence. So when I look at hiking this way, I can say, my spiritual journey, is a hike. Just as I have to my reading and research for my intended hike, so must I do for my spiritual journey. I will have to listen to the experiences of those who have made the journey before me, so I will be better prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. I will read the books written by those who have gone before in which the beauty, and the trials of the trail are described. Reading and research can only do so much, it is only in the lived moment , in the existential moment, does The Mystery of the time, place, and space really reach us. We are so often stopped in our tracts, and are able to join with St.Peter in saying: "How good it is that we are here".
One of my favorite guides for my everyday hike is, Fr Ronald Rolheiser. I have just acquired his book "Against An Infinite Horizon", I see this book as a source of knowledge, leading to a deeper understanding of the hike, I am called to make every day, along the trail shrouded in the mist of mystery. I was delighted to read the following, and I use it to further develop what was introduced last week. Last week, I made a real big mistake. In speaking about mutual blessings I left out the blessings that couples who are in a relationship need to bestow on one another. That was a real big mistake, and I am sorry. I honestly believe that the mutual blessing of those in relationship will bring an ever deepening sense of serenity, peace, joy and love. How can this happen, you may well say?
Here is what Fr. Ronald has to say:"...To bless someone is to speak well of them. But this implies a special form of "speaking well". To bless someone is, through some word, gesture, or ritual, to make that person aware of three things:
(1) the goodness of the original creation where, after making the earth and humans, God said that it was "good, very good";
(2) that God experiences the same delight and pleasure in him or her that God experienced with Jesus at His baptism when he said " This is my beloved child in whom I take delight”, and
(3) that we, who are giving the blessing, recognize that goodness and take delight in that person."
What a gift our God has given to us. We can bless and in that blessing we speak a deeper truth. What is stopping us from filling up in each person’s life, that for which we ache, and search for. To be blessed, to know we are the Beloved. "To be unblessed is to be bleeding in a very deep place" (Fr, Ronald) We can really make a difference in the lives of those whom our God places in our life so we can be to them, His instrument of blessing. What faith our God has in us, mortal humans, in whom is hidden, MYSTERY.
the good Lord, I get knowing smiles, or in some cases sympathetic words. Being a part time senile senior sure makes life, to say the least, exciting and never dull. Sorry, I digress.
When I get to a specific stop, I immediately head for the Visitor's Center. Some centers are wonderful in the way you are treated. There is a great sense of hospitality and welcome. You are given the impression they are excited to see you, and are anxious to help make your stay enjoyable. I find myself looking forward to my stay with an added excitement. That is not true in every case though. Other centers lack that intangible. You come away with the feeling that the particular person, who was there to help you, sees life as a deep burden. To add to their burden, is your presence and questions. Is not that the same feeling one gets, as one seeks information and direction from many church offices.
Those helpful individuals at the Visitor’s Center are more than happy to share their experience of an encounter in a particular place. They will share the last time they saw a wolf, bear, elk, moose, and where the encounter happened. They will share with you their experience of a hike. They have tips on where to go, and what to expect. I always want to know if there are switchbacks. From that encounter I always leave with a greater sense of excitement and confidence. So when I look at hiking this way, I can say, my spiritual journey, is a hike. Just as I have to my reading and research for my intended hike, so must I do for my spiritual journey. I will have to listen to the experiences of those who have made the journey before me, so I will be better prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. I will read the books written by those who have gone before in which the beauty, and the trials of the trail are described. Reading and research can only do so much, it is only in the lived moment , in the existential moment, does The Mystery of the time, place, and space really reach us. We are so often stopped in our tracts, and are able to join with St.Peter in saying: "How good it is that we are here".
One of my favorite guides for my everyday hike is, Fr Ronald Rolheiser. I have just acquired his book "Against An Infinite Horizon", I see this book as a source of knowledge, leading to a deeper understanding of the hike, I am called to make every day, along the trail shrouded in the mist of mystery. I was delighted to read the following, and I use it to further develop what was introduced last week. Last week, I made a real big mistake. In speaking about mutual blessings I left out the blessings that couples who are in a relationship need to bestow on one another. That was a real big mistake, and I am sorry. I honestly believe that the mutual blessing of those in relationship will bring an ever deepening sense of serenity, peace, joy and love. How can this happen, you may well say?
Here is what Fr. Ronald has to say:"...To bless someone is to speak well of them. But this implies a special form of "speaking well". To bless someone is, through some word, gesture, or ritual, to make that person aware of three things:
(1) the goodness of the original creation where, after making the earth and humans, God said that it was "good, very good";
(2) that God experiences the same delight and pleasure in him or her that God experienced with Jesus at His baptism when he said " This is my beloved child in whom I take delight”, and
(3) that we, who are giving the blessing, recognize that goodness and take delight in that person."
What a gift our God has given to us. We can bless and in that blessing we speak a deeper truth. What is stopping us from filling up in each person’s life, that for which we ache, and search for. To be blessed, to know we are the Beloved. "To be unblessed is to be bleeding in a very deep place" (Fr, Ronald) We can really make a difference in the lives of those whom our God places in our life so we can be to them, His instrument of blessing. What faith our God has in us, mortal humans, in whom is hidden, MYSTERY.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Blessed and Blessings....
When there is an ending in your life, there is always a new beginning for you and I. A new set of lenses are now ours because of the of the loss. I have always believed that death leads us to question the authenticity of our own existence. It makes us question that which is of real lasting value. Loss makes us reflect on the value of what cannot be seen, but only felt. Loss and feelings are a tough mix. We do not always allow ourselves the gift of grieving the loss. We never, then come to be blessed by all that we have been blessed with, because of the time spent with that which has now a new, and transformed existence. We are in the need of lenses which enables us, upon reflection, to become more and more aware of all the blessings which are now our because of the life that has now supposedly ended. Life as we now know it has no beginning, and no end.
We have come from the Eternal Life Community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We share that eternal life, and love always and everywhere. We need people in our lives that are constant reminders of who we are as the beloved. The following is from Henri Nowen's book "Life of the Beloved" and I, find it so appropriate at this time.
"Let me first tell you what I mean by the word "blessing" In Latin, to bless is "benedicere". The word 'benediction' that is used in many churches means literally: speaking (dictio) well (bene) or saying good things of someone. That speaks to me. I need to hear good things said of me, and I know how much you have the same need. Nowadays, we often say: "We have to affirm each other". Without affirmation, it is hard to live well. To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer. It is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone's talents or
good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a blessing is to, say "yes" to a person's "Belovedness". And more than that: To give a blessing creates the reality of which it speaks. There is a lot of mutual admiration in this world, as there is a lot of mutual condemnation. A blessing goes beyond the distinction between admiration and condemnation, between virtues or vices, between good deeds or evil deeds. A blessing touches the original touches the original goodness of the other and calls forth his or her Belovedness......"
The blessing that we give to each other are expressions of the blessing that rests on us from all of eternity. It is the deepest affirmation of our true self. It is not enough to be chosen. We also need an ongoing blessing that allows to hear in an ever-new way we belong to a loving God who will never leave us alone, but will remind us always that we are guided by love on every step of our lives.....
The movement of God's Spirit is very gentle very soft --- and hidden. I does not seek attention. But that movement is also very persistent, strong and deep. It changes our hearts radically."
When was the last time you reflected on those who have blessed you?
When was the last time you blessed your children?
I can hear some say, "It is not a blessing I want to give that kid", he is that same baby you got up to feed in the middle of the night. Were you not blessed by those moments of mystery, when life’s nourishment flowed from you, to the newest manifestation on the Divine Presence? What has happened in the meantime? No matter what has happened in the family dynamic, that child is still, and will ever be the Beloved of our common Source of Being. It again goes back to the lenses we are looking through.
Have you ever asked for your child's blessing?
I wonder what would that do to the relationship? It would be a moment, of Mystery, being present, and wonder felt. Each person has the God given power to bless . In the Summer time of some laughter, peace, and quiet, why not add to these good feelings. Why not make prayers of shared blessing
an important, no, an essential part of the life you share with those God has chosen to journey with.. You are beloved, they share the same belovedness , why not celebrate, on a regular basis that which you have most in common? Let us celebrate what we have in common, rather that wasting time wishing and wanting for what is not there. God is not present in the wishing and wanting, God is only present in the realty of the, HERE and Now.
As I look back on my life, I am caught up in gratitude for all those people, places, and events, who have been a source of blessing for me. I encourage you to do the same. As you come to accept the blessings received, with that comes the belief, "how blessed I am". Now share that blessedness with those your God places in your life, and the process begins all over again. What great faith and trust our God has in us? Then on the other hand, what are we to expect from The Beloved of that self same God.
We have come from the Eternal Life Community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We share that eternal life, and love always and everywhere. We need people in our lives that are constant reminders of who we are as the beloved. The following is from Henri Nowen's book "Life of the Beloved" and I, find it so appropriate at this time.
"Let me first tell you what I mean by the word "blessing" In Latin, to bless is "benedicere". The word 'benediction' that is used in many churches means literally: speaking (dictio) well (bene) or saying good things of someone. That speaks to me. I need to hear good things said of me, and I know how much you have the same need. Nowadays, we often say: "We have to affirm each other". Without affirmation, it is hard to live well. To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer. It is more than a word of praise or appreciation; it is more than pointing out someone's talents or
good deeds; it is more than putting someone in the light. To give a blessing is to, say "yes" to a person's "Belovedness". And more than that: To give a blessing creates the reality of which it speaks. There is a lot of mutual admiration in this world, as there is a lot of mutual condemnation. A blessing goes beyond the distinction between admiration and condemnation, between virtues or vices, between good deeds or evil deeds. A blessing touches the original touches the original goodness of the other and calls forth his or her Belovedness......"
The blessing that we give to each other are expressions of the blessing that rests on us from all of eternity. It is the deepest affirmation of our true self. It is not enough to be chosen. We also need an ongoing blessing that allows to hear in an ever-new way we belong to a loving God who will never leave us alone, but will remind us always that we are guided by love on every step of our lives.....
The movement of God's Spirit is very gentle very soft --- and hidden. I does not seek attention. But that movement is also very persistent, strong and deep. It changes our hearts radically."
When was the last time you reflected on those who have blessed you?
When was the last time you blessed your children?
I can hear some say, "It is not a blessing I want to give that kid", he is that same baby you got up to feed in the middle of the night. Were you not blessed by those moments of mystery, when life’s nourishment flowed from you, to the newest manifestation on the Divine Presence? What has happened in the meantime? No matter what has happened in the family dynamic, that child is still, and will ever be the Beloved of our common Source of Being. It again goes back to the lenses we are looking through.
Have you ever asked for your child's blessing?
I wonder what would that do to the relationship? It would be a moment, of Mystery, being present, and wonder felt. Each person has the God given power to bless . In the Summer time of some laughter, peace, and quiet, why not add to these good feelings. Why not make prayers of shared blessing
an important, no, an essential part of the life you share with those God has chosen to journey with.. You are beloved, they share the same belovedness , why not celebrate, on a regular basis that which you have most in common? Let us celebrate what we have in common, rather that wasting time wishing and wanting for what is not there. God is not present in the wishing and wanting, God is only present in the realty of the, HERE and Now.
As I look back on my life, I am caught up in gratitude for all those people, places, and events, who have been a source of blessing for me. I encourage you to do the same. As you come to accept the blessings received, with that comes the belief, "how blessed I am". Now share that blessedness with those your God places in your life, and the process begins all over again. What great faith and trust our God has in us? Then on the other hand, what are we to expect from The Beloved of that self same God.
Friday, July 9, 2010
A Truthful Prophet.....Tribute to Dolly Echeverria
Many years ago we were told in college there was no church like the American church when it came to care, concern, commitment, and support. Sitting in my desk and hearing that, a light came on. That light has, to be honest, dimmed a little from time to time. Those words, said with such conviction has been always a beacon of hope, over these many years. The American church, has been lucky, can we say- blessed, to have people such as Dolly Echeverria..... The Faith Community of St. Andrew the Apostle, has been birthed, nourished, strengthened, and led to a growing maturity, by her tenacity and good-will. We were never warned, in our formation, about women like Dolly. We were on the other hand, warned about women, the opposite of Dolly. Strong women, which are women with strong voices, were not part of our training. Strong women were not a very visible presence with the Catholic Church in Ireland. In our history, we did have strong presences like St Brigit of Kildare. Some go so far as to say, she was a bishop, ordained, of course, by mistake.
In 1963, I was introduced, right away, to the power of an organized woman, with the ability to lead - Margaret King, may she rest in peace, was an executive with a very large company. I was given the responsibility for, what in those days was called, C.C.D.. I cannot remember how she came to volunteer, but I know she stepped forward, and was the parish blessed. Margaret showed how a person was able to take the skills of the workplace and use them for the betterment of the church. Dolly did the same. She demanded, from those who were in leadership roles in the faith community, the same standard of excellence she demanded of herself.
Today I am convinced every priest is in the need of a Dolly in his life, to keep him grounded, and connected. Grounded in his faith, and intimately connected with reality. We, as priests, can become very isolated. We are known then to be a sacristy priest. People such as Dolly blew that out of the water, as far as I was concerned. Whenever she began a sentence with the word “Joe”, I knew I was in for a “realty check”. I was going to get that reality check, whether I liked it or not. To be honest, there were times I received an ear full, of what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. No gossip…. just the facts.
Was I always happy about what Dolly had to say ? Of course not. My big fat Irish ego, did not take too kindly to the truth. You know what they say, “the truth will set you free, but first it will tee you off". When I had some alone time and was given the opportunity to reflect on what was said, I was faced with the question of “why was I angry?”. What was the perceived threat to my control? What was the fear that I had to face ? What was risk involved in, not only thinking about a new way of being, and doing in the church, but actually going ahead and taking the required action.
Someone has written, “There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being to able to stick with them through
popular and unpopular times, is the characteristic of a great leader."
Dolly led by example. No one was asked to do anything, that was not backed by her wisdom, and self sacrificing dedication. What is that old saying, "A woman is like a tea bag, you do not know her strength, until she is in hot water”. Dolly you were a strong dose of tea, brewed in the hot desert sun. You gave strength, and nourishment to so many. You were a voice for the voiceless. You were a beacon of strength for the powerless. You were a challenge to those who would use power for self gain. You held ALL leadership responsible to Gospel values - "When shall we see the like again."
There is that Jewish saying, " God cannot be everywhere, so that is why He created mothers". Mothers reveal to us an ever present love. They shepherd us, so we can come to the belief in that the Good Shepherd never leaves any one of His flock untended. A mother's love , commitment, and unswerving loyalty, makes it possible for us to believe in the unconditioned, unlimited, and unrestricted love of a God we cannot feel, hear, taste, or touch. He is after all, Spirit. He has however entered into the human condition. He has freely chosen the fully human person, however, to be his revelation.
St. Irenaeus wrote, "The glory of God is the human person fully alive." What an alive woman she was. Authentic human beings like Dolly make God look real good.
"There is in every true woman’s heart, a spark of Heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." Washington Irving
In 1963, I was introduced, right away, to the power of an organized woman, with the ability to lead - Margaret King, may she rest in peace, was an executive with a very large company. I was given the responsibility for, what in those days was called, C.C.D.. I cannot remember how she came to volunteer, but I know she stepped forward, and was the parish blessed. Margaret showed how a person was able to take the skills of the workplace and use them for the betterment of the church. Dolly did the same. She demanded, from those who were in leadership roles in the faith community, the same standard of excellence she demanded of herself.
Today I am convinced every priest is in the need of a Dolly in his life, to keep him grounded, and connected. Grounded in his faith, and intimately connected with reality. We, as priests, can become very isolated. We are known then to be a sacristy priest. People such as Dolly blew that out of the water, as far as I was concerned. Whenever she began a sentence with the word “Joe”, I knew I was in for a “realty check”. I was going to get that reality check, whether I liked it or not. To be honest, there were times I received an ear full, of what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. No gossip…. just the facts.
Was I always happy about what Dolly had to say ? Of course not. My big fat Irish ego, did not take too kindly to the truth. You know what they say, “the truth will set you free, but first it will tee you off". When I had some alone time and was given the opportunity to reflect on what was said, I was faced with the question of “why was I angry?”. What was the perceived threat to my control? What was the fear that I had to face ? What was risk involved in, not only thinking about a new way of being, and doing in the church, but actually going ahead and taking the required action.
Someone has written, “There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being to able to stick with them through
popular and unpopular times, is the characteristic of a great leader."
Dolly led by example. No one was asked to do anything, that was not backed by her wisdom, and self sacrificing dedication. What is that old saying, "A woman is like a tea bag, you do not know her strength, until she is in hot water”. Dolly you were a strong dose of tea, brewed in the hot desert sun. You gave strength, and nourishment to so many. You were a voice for the voiceless. You were a beacon of strength for the powerless. You were a challenge to those who would use power for self gain. You held ALL leadership responsible to Gospel values - "When shall we see the like again."
There is that Jewish saying, " God cannot be everywhere, so that is why He created mothers". Mothers reveal to us an ever present love. They shepherd us, so we can come to the belief in that the Good Shepherd never leaves any one of His flock untended. A mother's love , commitment, and unswerving loyalty, makes it possible for us to believe in the unconditioned, unlimited, and unrestricted love of a God we cannot feel, hear, taste, or touch. He is after all, Spirit. He has however entered into the human condition. He has freely chosen the fully human person, however, to be his revelation.
St. Irenaeus wrote, "The glory of God is the human person fully alive." What an alive woman she was. Authentic human beings like Dolly make God look real good.
"There is in every true woman’s heart, a spark of Heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." Washington Irving
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Freedom.....Is not Free
This weekend our thoughts are directed towards freedom and independence. We are reminded of all those who risked a limited freedom, so that we can live out our lives in real freedom. Those who have gone before, risked and sacrificed that which was nearest and dearest. We today can enjoy the presence of our nearest and dearest in comfort and security. Freedom is not free, we have been so often told. It comes at a price. We thank those who have paid the price. I really don’t feel those two little words "Thank You" can in any way fill up what was taken away in the hell, that is war. “Thank you" will never take the place of missing limbs, wrecked loves, lives, and homes. Can "Thank You" restore the mind shattered by the sounds of battle? How about the minds that have gone to war, and cannot even understand the words, "I Love You". Will those two words be enough for the family and dear ones, who now have to adjust to the many unseen and unrecognized domestic challenges. There is a debt that cannot be paid in monetary terms. We have to pray, that in the realm of the spirit peace, comfort and joy, may come to all those endure the rigors of war.
We are all seeking and searching for freedom, a freedom that will last. I came across the following, written by Thomas Merton: “New Seeds of Contemplation"
"In humility is the greatest freedom. As long as you have to defend the imaginary self that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart. As soon as you compare that shadow with the shadow of other people, you lose all joy, because you have begun to trade in unrealities, and there is no joy in things that do not exist.
As soon as you begin to take yourself seriously and imagine that your virtues are important because they are yours, you become a prisoner of your own vanity, and your best works will blind and deceive you. Then, in order to defend yourself, you will begin to see the sins and faults everywhere in the action of all other men. And, the more unreasonable importance you attach to yourself and to your works, the more you will tend to build up your idea of yourself by condemning other people.
Sometimes virtuous men are bitter and unhappy, because they have unconsciously come to believe that all their happiness depends on they being more virtuous than others."
One does not have look very far in today's world to see anger, fear, quick judgment, denial of who really is my brother, and the outright rejection of Matt 25. The following is really challenging, and will upset rigid thought, and settled judgments. That is why religiosity is so easy, and spirituality is such a challenge. Starting from the moment we read this, if each of us make a solemn pledge to live by these principles, would we ever go to war again. I am not just speaking of countries going to war. I am speaking of the wars that we enter into in our own hearts, souls and minds . I am referring to the family wars, parish wars, and all those wars we enter into because we do not, or choose not make the following a litmus test for the journey, as the contemporary Christ.
"If a man has to be pleasing to me, comforting, reassuring, before I can love him, then I cannot truly love him. Not that we cannot console or reassure! But if I demand first to be reassured, I will never dare to begin loving. If a man has to be a Jew or a Christian before I can love him, then I cannot love him. If he has to black or white before I can love him, then I cannot love him. If he has to belong to my political party or social group before I can love him, if he has to wear any kind of uniform, then my love is no longer love, because it is not free: it is dictated by something outside of itself. It is dominated by an appetite other than love. I love not the person but his classification, and in that event I love him not as a person but as a thing. In this way I remain at the mercy of forces outside myself, and those who seem to be neighbors are indeed strangers; for I am, first of all, a stranger to myself.” Season of Celebration, Thomas Merton.
With real freedom comes real responsibility. How responsible am i going to be in the use of my freedom? Will it be used to give life, as I love as Christ loved? Will I use my freedom to be a " death dealer," as I live my live in cruel and harsh judgments, devoid of mercy and compassion. We are all called to live in the freedom of us being beloved daughters and sons. Not to live in fear, as slaves, but in the freedom of being spiritual beings having a human experience.
Aye!! There is the rub!
So then, this prepares us to reflect more deeply on the opening prayer of this weekend's celebration;
"Father, in the rising of your son, death gives birth to new life. The sufferings He endured restored hope to a fallen world. Let sin never ensnare us with empty promises of passing joy. Make us one with you always, so that our joy may be holy, and our love may give life."
We are all seeking and searching for freedom, a freedom that will last. I came across the following, written by Thomas Merton: “New Seeds of Contemplation"
"In humility is the greatest freedom. As long as you have to defend the imaginary self that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart. As soon as you compare that shadow with the shadow of other people, you lose all joy, because you have begun to trade in unrealities, and there is no joy in things that do not exist.
As soon as you begin to take yourself seriously and imagine that your virtues are important because they are yours, you become a prisoner of your own vanity, and your best works will blind and deceive you. Then, in order to defend yourself, you will begin to see the sins and faults everywhere in the action of all other men. And, the more unreasonable importance you attach to yourself and to your works, the more you will tend to build up your idea of yourself by condemning other people.
Sometimes virtuous men are bitter and unhappy, because they have unconsciously come to believe that all their happiness depends on they being more virtuous than others."
One does not have look very far in today's world to see anger, fear, quick judgment, denial of who really is my brother, and the outright rejection of Matt 25. The following is really challenging, and will upset rigid thought, and settled judgments. That is why religiosity is so easy, and spirituality is such a challenge. Starting from the moment we read this, if each of us make a solemn pledge to live by these principles, would we ever go to war again. I am not just speaking of countries going to war. I am speaking of the wars that we enter into in our own hearts, souls and minds . I am referring to the family wars, parish wars, and all those wars we enter into because we do not, or choose not make the following a litmus test for the journey, as the contemporary Christ.
"If a man has to be pleasing to me, comforting, reassuring, before I can love him, then I cannot truly love him. Not that we cannot console or reassure! But if I demand first to be reassured, I will never dare to begin loving. If a man has to be a Jew or a Christian before I can love him, then I cannot love him. If he has to black or white before I can love him, then I cannot love him. If he has to belong to my political party or social group before I can love him, if he has to wear any kind of uniform, then my love is no longer love, because it is not free: it is dictated by something outside of itself. It is dominated by an appetite other than love. I love not the person but his classification, and in that event I love him not as a person but as a thing. In this way I remain at the mercy of forces outside myself, and those who seem to be neighbors are indeed strangers; for I am, first of all, a stranger to myself.” Season of Celebration, Thomas Merton.
With real freedom comes real responsibility. How responsible am i going to be in the use of my freedom? Will it be used to give life, as I love as Christ loved? Will I use my freedom to be a " death dealer," as I live my live in cruel and harsh judgments, devoid of mercy and compassion. We are all called to live in the freedom of us being beloved daughters and sons. Not to live in fear, as slaves, but in the freedom of being spiritual beings having a human experience.
Aye!! There is the rub!
So then, this prepares us to reflect more deeply on the opening prayer of this weekend's celebration;
"Father, in the rising of your son, death gives birth to new life. The sufferings He endured restored hope to a fallen world. Let sin never ensnare us with empty promises of passing joy. Make us one with you always, so that our joy may be holy, and our love may give life."
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Up the Mountain...
On Wednesday morning, as is my custom, I turned to the sports page. An article caught my eye. It was written as the result of the reporter having joined John Lott, the Phoenix Cardinals strength coach and his charges on a morning encounter with Camelback Mountain. There was something about that article that resonated with me. Well, I finished breakfast and went about my day. Wednesday is the day I make every effort to get serious about what is to go in to this effort. There were some thoughts swimming around in my head, yes there is a great deal of space in there. As usual when one looks at something long enough, there appears, out of where I do not know, an insight into the reality behind the reality. One could say, the spiritual meaning.
As the day went on, it became clear of the connection between what John Lott is aiming for with the Phoenix Cardinals, and the deeper meaning of our hike, which to my way of thinking, is the spiritual journey.
John’s vision for that journey up and down Camelback is a way to instill not only strength and endurance, but perseverance, as well. All of those qualities are necessary for a football team. These qualities are essential in the fourth quarter, when a vital stop has to be made, or a winning drive is demanded of he players. Then the memories of those moments when the desire of the limited body is crying out "QUIT", but a higher power, John Lott, would not allow that to happen.
So as on the mountain, so on the field, the player, gathers himself together, sucks it up. In this moment, of great struggle with human limitations, he somehow gathers a strength from that special place all where athletes want to go to. Something clicks, for him, which spreads to others. There is that voice which says, all those moments of painful struggle, in June, have prepared me for this. The ball is snapped, bodies and will collide, and the result is , not about winning or losing, it is about the honest and best effort. Those moments will forever be there in the athletes unconscious. At a later date in time when the best efforts, of an authentic human being is demanded then, this athlete, knows he has what it takes. He knows what it means to be in the "zone". In the language of the spiritual life, we call that serenity.
We do not have an opportunity, well at least most of us, to meet the challenge of Camelback every day. We are, however, presented with challenges far greater than what can be encountered there. We have to face loss of health and energy, personally or we are asked to journey with a loved one who today meets that challenge. The added burden of lack of employment, and health insurance adds to the anxiety and pain. The uncertainty in relationships, the pain of loss and betrayal, leaves so many human beings, to lead a life of victimhood, rather than the life of a survivor. Living life as a victim, is a life of pure hell. (My definition of hell: a place where there is no love.) There seems to be no hope, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is however that still, quiet voice that struggles from the depths to whisper, this is Not my lot in life. I have been called from all of eternity to live a life of freedom, not fear. I will be a survivor. In this encounter, the truth has been spoken. The lie has been named. Light has appeared out of the darkness. We have just experienced on a deeper level the journey of Jesus, which St. Luke introduces to us today. We are told "Jesus firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem". Here is what Carroll Stuhlmueller has written: Luke's "journey narrative" is ..a symbolic way, a literary device, to combine several journeys, Jesus and OUR OWN, through the mystery of death- resurrection...The events in Jesus' ministry become the way by which we follow as disciples. ... Luke, therefore, wants to jar us into the realization that this is OUR journey, so that the passion and resurrection of Jesus becomes a living, transforming reality within us.
As the day went on, it became clear of the connection between what John Lott is aiming for with the Phoenix Cardinals, and the deeper meaning of our hike, which to my way of thinking, is the spiritual journey.
John’s vision for that journey up and down Camelback is a way to instill not only strength and endurance, but perseverance, as well. All of those qualities are necessary for a football team. These qualities are essential in the fourth quarter, when a vital stop has to be made, or a winning drive is demanded of he players. Then the memories of those moments when the desire of the limited body is crying out "QUIT", but a higher power, John Lott, would not allow that to happen.
So as on the mountain, so on the field, the player, gathers himself together, sucks it up. In this moment, of great struggle with human limitations, he somehow gathers a strength from that special place all where athletes want to go to. Something clicks, for him, which spreads to others. There is that voice which says, all those moments of painful struggle, in June, have prepared me for this. The ball is snapped, bodies and will collide, and the result is , not about winning or losing, it is about the honest and best effort. Those moments will forever be there in the athletes unconscious. At a later date in time when the best efforts, of an authentic human being is demanded then, this athlete, knows he has what it takes. He knows what it means to be in the "zone". In the language of the spiritual life, we call that serenity.
We do not have an opportunity, well at least most of us, to meet the challenge of Camelback every day. We are, however, presented with challenges far greater than what can be encountered there. We have to face loss of health and energy, personally or we are asked to journey with a loved one who today meets that challenge. The added burden of lack of employment, and health insurance adds to the anxiety and pain. The uncertainty in relationships, the pain of loss and betrayal, leaves so many human beings, to lead a life of victimhood, rather than the life of a survivor. Living life as a victim, is a life of pure hell. (My definition of hell: a place where there is no love.) There seems to be no hope, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is however that still, quiet voice that struggles from the depths to whisper, this is Not my lot in life. I have been called from all of eternity to live a life of freedom, not fear. I will be a survivor. In this encounter, the truth has been spoken. The lie has been named. Light has appeared out of the darkness. We have just experienced on a deeper level the journey of Jesus, which St. Luke introduces to us today. We are told "Jesus firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem". Here is what Carroll Stuhlmueller has written: Luke's "journey narrative" is ..a symbolic way, a literary device, to combine several journeys, Jesus and OUR OWN, through the mystery of death- resurrection...The events in Jesus' ministry become the way by which we follow as disciples. ... Luke, therefore, wants to jar us into the realization that this is OUR journey, so that the passion and resurrection of Jesus becomes a living, transforming reality within us.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Daddyhood...Fatherhood...A Sacrament.
I, know this will come as a great shock to many of you, I got into some trouble when I was a kid. Maybe, I got into A LOT of trouble when was a kid? Maybe, I STILL get into trouble, after all, a leopard does not change it's spots, right? Well, one day, of many, I got into trouble. This was relayed to my Dad by the family historian, my mother. Well I received my punishment and was not in a very happy mood. A few hours later I met Dad, and he reminded me that Castletownroche was playing in the Cahirmee Tournament that evening. Did I have to be reminded that the Pope, was Catholic? What he said next has stayed with me over the all years, he told me that he and I were going to the match. Was I surprised? No….I was shocked! My Dad had that great father energy, he challenged me on my mistakes, but, he was gentle, when it mattered.
God...Father... Abba... Daddy..are are all very simple words we use to describe the Incomprehensible, the Ineffable, the Infinite. William Wadsworth wrote "Father to God Himself we cannot give a holier name”. It was that familiar, and intimate word ,"ABBA, that Jesus The Christ choose to describe Him with whom He had such a strengthening, and nourishing relationship. It was this Abba with whom He chose to spend countless days and hours with. It was to purify the knowledge, and relationship that He spent 40 days in a desert experience. It was with this Abba He spent many nights away from those He ministered to, and those whom He was in the process of forming. It was to quiet places He went, when He had to face great decisions. It was in the silence of mountains He lost Himself, so as to find the wisdom, strength, and spiritual nourishment which would give direction to His journey within the human condition. We read how as He returned from this alone time with, The Alone, there was a greater sense of conviction and urgency. There was a deeper commitment to His mission and ministry. He had to allow Himself, as we do, to be gently guided into and ever deepening understanding of what it meant to be The Beloved Son, of Him, whom He had the courage to call, Abba. We have to remember that in the historical time in which Jesus lived, His fellow Jews would not so much as mouth the word God. Now here we have this radical who wants to call the God whose name we cannot speak, His Abba. No wonder they wanted to kill Him.
I have often reflected on the relationship between Jesus and Joseph. What was the dynamic that enabled, that allowed Jesus to make the connection between His understanding of His God and that of the human person He called, father. What did He experience with Joseph that moved Him to realize, this is what I have with my God. What was the feeling when He first spoke openly of what was HIS DEEP AND INTIMATE feelings. He from the way He spoke forever changed the dynamic between His Abba, and us, His fellow human beings? On one side. we have the infinite, on the other side we have the finite, and the word to be the bridge to the gap is, Daddy. In that simple, little word, the divine is perfectly hidden and revealed.
What a great challenge lies on the shoulders of those who wear the mantle of, Dad. Any one of the male gender can become a father, many times this is unfortunately true, but it takes a special person to become a Dad. A Dad, is a sacrament. Yes, each and every Dad is an ever new revelation of our heavenly Abba. What we have in our relationship with our Dads, is what we are going to have with our Infinite Heavenly father. Daddyhood, fatherhood, always human. always frail, is the instrument our God has chosen, and continues to choose, to reveal to you and I, the mystery of who we are in His love. As we are growing in the experience of being the beloved of our dads ,so we can come to believe we are also the beloved of our Heavenly father.
Where such a relationship is not our experience, we must allow ourselves to grieve for what is not there, for what is missing. Then, when we have done the feeling process, (feel experience, express, and only then, let go) we ask our God to fill up the emptiness. This has to be repeated, again and again. NOTHING is done in the spiritual life, once and forever. This is a lesson we must learn. Some of us have to learn the hard way, of continuous pain and turmoil. When we are faithful to the process, then blessing do appear. The choice is ours.
The following is a country song, that can comfort and console.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrTidoW2Erc
God...Father... Abba... Daddy..are are all very simple words we use to describe the Incomprehensible, the Ineffable, the Infinite. William Wadsworth wrote "Father to God Himself we cannot give a holier name”. It was that familiar, and intimate word ,"ABBA, that Jesus The Christ choose to describe Him with whom He had such a strengthening, and nourishing relationship. It was this Abba with whom He chose to spend countless days and hours with. It was to purify the knowledge, and relationship that He spent 40 days in a desert experience. It was with this Abba He spent many nights away from those He ministered to, and those whom He was in the process of forming. It was to quiet places He went, when He had to face great decisions. It was in the silence of mountains He lost Himself, so as to find the wisdom, strength, and spiritual nourishment which would give direction to His journey within the human condition. We read how as He returned from this alone time with, The Alone, there was a greater sense of conviction and urgency. There was a deeper commitment to His mission and ministry. He had to allow Himself, as we do, to be gently guided into and ever deepening understanding of what it meant to be The Beloved Son, of Him, whom He had the courage to call, Abba. We have to remember that in the historical time in which Jesus lived, His fellow Jews would not so much as mouth the word God. Now here we have this radical who wants to call the God whose name we cannot speak, His Abba. No wonder they wanted to kill Him.
I have often reflected on the relationship between Jesus and Joseph. What was the dynamic that enabled, that allowed Jesus to make the connection between His understanding of His God and that of the human person He called, father. What did He experience with Joseph that moved Him to realize, this is what I have with my God. What was the feeling when He first spoke openly of what was HIS DEEP AND INTIMATE feelings. He from the way He spoke forever changed the dynamic between His Abba, and us, His fellow human beings? On one side. we have the infinite, on the other side we have the finite, and the word to be the bridge to the gap is, Daddy. In that simple, little word, the divine is perfectly hidden and revealed.
What a great challenge lies on the shoulders of those who wear the mantle of, Dad. Any one of the male gender can become a father, many times this is unfortunately true, but it takes a special person to become a Dad. A Dad, is a sacrament. Yes, each and every Dad is an ever new revelation of our heavenly Abba. What we have in our relationship with our Dads, is what we are going to have with our Infinite Heavenly father. Daddyhood, fatherhood, always human. always frail, is the instrument our God has chosen, and continues to choose, to reveal to you and I, the mystery of who we are in His love. As we are growing in the experience of being the beloved of our dads ,so we can come to believe we are also the beloved of our Heavenly father.
Where such a relationship is not our experience, we must allow ourselves to grieve for what is not there, for what is missing. Then, when we have done the feeling process, (feel experience, express, and only then, let go) we ask our God to fill up the emptiness. This has to be repeated, again and again. NOTHING is done in the spiritual life, once and forever. This is a lesson we must learn. Some of us have to learn the hard way, of continuous pain and turmoil. When we are faithful to the process, then blessing do appear. The choice is ours.
The following is a country song, that can comfort and console.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrTidoW2Erc
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Compassion.....Receiving to Give
This week, on Tuesday the 8th, I was lucky enough to celebrate 47 years, in this life I have been living, since I was 23. As I get to different milestones I find myself, like most people, reflecting on what has happened, and what is happening right now. You may well ask the question, "How about the future?". Well, at least for me, the struggle of the present, when your get up and go, has got up and gone, is more than enough challenge for me. When you get old, there is a hidden blessing, because the energy is not there any more, I now have made surviving the present moment my top priority. "Just this moment Lord, just this moment", is the measure of my prayer.
It is great to have no big plans on the horizon, just today, just this moment, is challenge enough for me. I find there is wonderful freedom in that mindset. Not much fodder for the ego, as a matter of fact there is no food for the ego. That does make the ego a very unhappy camper. When the ego is unhappy there is trouble on the horizon. In the meantime there is rest, peace, an appreciation of quiet, and an occasional sense of serenity. Maturing has its blessings. Do not get me wrong, I still have moments of anger, (I do not have to tell you that), wild dreams for the future, grandiosity, just to name a few. A real good dose of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, acts to blow those thoughts and plans to you know where. I have made the following words, of a Gaelic song, more my own each day:
"The cares of tomorrow must wait till this day is done." ''
So serious change has become an obvious reality for me.
The thought of change is now, ever before me. Change, has to do with loss, and gain. That which has been lost, can be more easily seen, and felt. All I have to do is look in the mirror, say two Masses in a row, eat after 5 o clock, and I will become well aware that there has been loss. What has been given, is much harder to decipher. That which has been given, to replace that which has been lost, is not seen in a mirror . It appears in moments of reflection. It appears as we reflect on the wonder-full ordinary moments, of our not so ordinary life. As you well know, there is no ordinary life. There is always the divine, the sacred, wanting to break through so as to say to you and I, you are God's story, right now. Your life right now is the only bible some people will ever get to read. How scary is that? That is how much confidence God places in each human being. He must know something we have yet to discover. This brings me to the idea behind this blog. (Took a long time to get to the point, you may well point out, and rightly so.)
I was reflecting on this question, "What is the one word that has become a life changing word, over the last 47 years?” That word has to be, COMPASSION. The last 47 years has seen me be ordained at the tail end of one understanding of church, and the appearance, under the guidance of The Holy Spirit, of a new and more challenging reality. I had to live, no, scratch that, I had to survive, through that liminal time, where one reality was replaced with another. It was a time of upheaval. For those who lived through the 60s and 70s, you know what I am speaking about….
You had the Vietnam Nam war, the appearance of the drug culture, everything was being questioned, and to top it off you were not going to live past, 30. That was a blessing, because “there was nobody over 30, that could be trusted”. There was radical change taking place, both inside and outside the church. Was it easy? Of course not!
We went from the objective, to the subjective. The story of each person was the story of God, and so demanded reverence. There were no longer any glib answers from some book. Each person had to be listened to, with compassion.
Where did that compassion come from? I was on the receiving end of the compassion of many individuals, both inside and outside the church community. There were compassionate people who afforded me a place to bring my weary and sometimes broken being, and rest awhile. They were not there to fix me, they were there to listen to me, and where necessary suffer with me, this is the true meaning of compassion. I was then able to move on, and in some cases struggle on, renewed in spirit. Looking back I can tell you from experience, there is no place to compare to that sanctuary where you can freely express your anxiety and fears, reveal who you really are, and not be judged, or condemned. That was the sacred place to bring the harsh judgments, the unrealized, impossible, broken dreams, and be received with tender care, no judgment, and a life giving love. The black and white life took on, many shaded of gray. I now look back and can see the truth in those words, "Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a mystery to be lived'.
I am being led, to believe because of my own life's story, that to live the life our God wants us to live, we must immerse ourselves in the mystery of compassion. My list of compassionate fellow travelers is, a long list, and is being added to all the time. The older you get, the more compassion one needs to receive. The blessing that comes with that, is that now you have more compassion to share. We all need the compassion, to become the person our God intends us to be. In our moments of pain, we do not want glib answers, we want the presence of a real human, being present to us and with us. A person that says to us, "I do not have any answers but I am here for you. Is the okay?”.
That is everything, a human being can ever need. So then to realize our God's dream for us, The Aisling of God, as spiritual beings having a human experience, we need, no, we demand a great deal of compassion.
It is great to have no big plans on the horizon, just today, just this moment, is challenge enough for me. I find there is wonderful freedom in that mindset. Not much fodder for the ego, as a matter of fact there is no food for the ego. That does make the ego a very unhappy camper. When the ego is unhappy there is trouble on the horizon. In the meantime there is rest, peace, an appreciation of quiet, and an occasional sense of serenity. Maturing has its blessings. Do not get me wrong, I still have moments of anger, (I do not have to tell you that), wild dreams for the future, grandiosity, just to name a few. A real good dose of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, acts to blow those thoughts and plans to you know where. I have made the following words, of a Gaelic song, more my own each day:
"The cares of tomorrow must wait till this day is done." ''
So serious change has become an obvious reality for me.
The thought of change is now, ever before me. Change, has to do with loss, and gain. That which has been lost, can be more easily seen, and felt. All I have to do is look in the mirror, say two Masses in a row, eat after 5 o clock, and I will become well aware that there has been loss. What has been given, is much harder to decipher. That which has been given, to replace that which has been lost, is not seen in a mirror . It appears in moments of reflection. It appears as we reflect on the wonder-full ordinary moments, of our not so ordinary life. As you well know, there is no ordinary life. There is always the divine, the sacred, wanting to break through so as to say to you and I, you are God's story, right now. Your life right now is the only bible some people will ever get to read. How scary is that? That is how much confidence God places in each human being. He must know something we have yet to discover. This brings me to the idea behind this blog. (Took a long time to get to the point, you may well point out, and rightly so.)
I was reflecting on this question, "What is the one word that has become a life changing word, over the last 47 years?” That word has to be, COMPASSION. The last 47 years has seen me be ordained at the tail end of one understanding of church, and the appearance, under the guidance of The Holy Spirit, of a new and more challenging reality. I had to live, no, scratch that, I had to survive, through that liminal time, where one reality was replaced with another. It was a time of upheaval. For those who lived through the 60s and 70s, you know what I am speaking about….
You had the Vietnam Nam war, the appearance of the drug culture, everything was being questioned, and to top it off you were not going to live past, 30. That was a blessing, because “there was nobody over 30, that could be trusted”. There was radical change taking place, both inside and outside the church. Was it easy? Of course not!
We went from the objective, to the subjective. The story of each person was the story of God, and so demanded reverence. There were no longer any glib answers from some book. Each person had to be listened to, with compassion.
Where did that compassion come from? I was on the receiving end of the compassion of many individuals, both inside and outside the church community. There were compassionate people who afforded me a place to bring my weary and sometimes broken being, and rest awhile. They were not there to fix me, they were there to listen to me, and where necessary suffer with me, this is the true meaning of compassion. I was then able to move on, and in some cases struggle on, renewed in spirit. Looking back I can tell you from experience, there is no place to compare to that sanctuary where you can freely express your anxiety and fears, reveal who you really are, and not be judged, or condemned. That was the sacred place to bring the harsh judgments, the unrealized, impossible, broken dreams, and be received with tender care, no judgment, and a life giving love. The black and white life took on, many shaded of gray. I now look back and can see the truth in those words, "Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a mystery to be lived'.
I am being led, to believe because of my own life's story, that to live the life our God wants us to live, we must immerse ourselves in the mystery of compassion. My list of compassionate fellow travelers is, a long list, and is being added to all the time. The older you get, the more compassion one needs to receive. The blessing that comes with that, is that now you have more compassion to share. We all need the compassion, to become the person our God intends us to be. In our moments of pain, we do not want glib answers, we want the presence of a real human, being present to us and with us. A person that says to us, "I do not have any answers but I am here for you. Is the okay?”.
That is everything, a human being can ever need. So then to realize our God's dream for us, The Aisling of God, as spiritual beings having a human experience, we need, no, we demand a great deal of compassion.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Silent Nourishment...
I first heard this story a number of years ago. It was always a little distant in my mind, and because of that I never wanted to tell it. I came across a written version, so now I can recall the following to you:
A church goer, a seemingly reluctant one at that, wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now" he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me. I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I am wasting my time and the pastors are wasting their time by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks, until someone wrote the clincher: "I've have been married for 30 years now..In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I know this…..They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today."
What a great story. A story that is so, true. We can get so caught up in the results we can see, we lose sight of the fact that, that which is most important, is a reality we CANNOT see. To desire to see the tangible results, is fueled by the ego, the false self. The world we live in wants, results! These results, if they are to be of value, and most importantly, to have a value placed on them, must be seen. On the other hand, the spiritual journey is all about The Unseen, The Unknown, and The Incomprehensible. The scripture reminds us, "that which is seen is transitory, that which is unseen lasts forever." So it is with a world of grace. So it is with the journey we call, spiritual. Because it is, spiritual, it cannot be seen or measured, much to our disappointment. What is happening, is God's business, not ours. All we have to do, to cooperate, is allow it to happen. That is our part to play. You could say we are at our best, when we are, get this, *doing nothing. We are just being who we really are, and our God is working the miracle of His grace, within that reality. The slow process of molding is taking place in each and every moment of the life we live. God uses the life we live to mold the life of His son, Jesus Christ. We become the body of Christ. This becoming is a ever deliberate, slow, painful process. It does, however, allow us to experience a joy and a freedom that is beyond human words to explain or express.
This weekend is we celebrate the feast of The Body of Christ, Corpus Christi.
This is who we are and who we have been called to be, from all of eternity, The Body Of Christ. A body that has to be taken, blessed, broken , and given. As it happened to Him in whose footsteps, we follow, so it will happen to you and I. That is our destiny and our vocation, as Catholic Christians. We are a people to be taken, placed aside, consecrated [baptism], for the express purpose of being the contemporary presence, of Jesus Christ. As He had to be broken and beaten, crucified and killed, to become the Christ, so we too, in order to become Christians, have follow the same self-process. (You and I follow the same pattern.) We will not experience all that it is described in the Scriptures, that description is an allegory for what has happened, and is happening to us. It is, however, a source of hope for you and I.
So then, each time when we receive, The Body of the crucified One, we are strengthened to face the everyday crucifixion which is part and parcel of the human experience we have as spiritual beings. Spiritual beings who have been taken from, sent forth from, The Divine Presence. For what purpose? To be consecrated for the continuation of the One that was crucified and killed. But, for Him and for us, crucifiction is not the end, because He rose to a new life, so it will be for you and I. As we receive The Body of Christ, Eucharist, we are being drawn ever deeper into His risen life as we participate on an ever-deepening journey into His suffering and death. It can be summed up in the following familiar phrase "No Good Friday, no, Easter Sunday.
What is the struggle, or where is the struggle, you and I, can claim as our present day participation in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ?
Where have we come to, the end of our strength? What are the circumstances we are facing which leads us to cry out, "I, cannot move any further, I cannot go on another inch.?” This is the place of our Eucharist. This is the place where we are been broken and have almost given up, notice the word, almost. It is in this place we are now ready to receive the strength and nourishment, that is way beyond us. It is in and through the offering [Eucharist] of what we do not have, that we receive all that we need. It is in the offering, we make room for the grace we need. It is in that deepening surrender we are offering ourselves for the ongoing gradual molding of ourselves into Him, whom we have receive, and are called to be, The Body of Christ.
This is a great mystery, being, and receiving, The Body of Christ. It is only by immersing ourselves into the mystery, again, again, and again, that we allow this miracle to happen. As the husband in the above story was nourished by meals he cannot remember, so we too, have been nourished (and will be nourished) in celebrations that have faded from our memory (and will fade from our memory). Yet, there is that guarantee, that in each Eucharist we receive the necessary light, life and love of God. This light, life and love then be communicated to us in and through the Liturgy we participate in. Just like when we sit at a table to eat a meal, it works when we show up, participate to the extent that we are capable of and the nourishing happens. So it has been and always will be with us and for us as The Body of Christ.
A church goer, a seemingly reluctant one at that, wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now" he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me. I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I am wasting my time and the pastors are wasting their time by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks, until someone wrote the clincher: "I've have been married for 30 years now..In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I know this…..They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today."
What a great story. A story that is so, true. We can get so caught up in the results we can see, we lose sight of the fact that, that which is most important, is a reality we CANNOT see. To desire to see the tangible results, is fueled by the ego, the false self. The world we live in wants, results! These results, if they are to be of value, and most importantly, to have a value placed on them, must be seen. On the other hand, the spiritual journey is all about The Unseen, The Unknown, and The Incomprehensible. The scripture reminds us, "that which is seen is transitory, that which is unseen lasts forever." So it is with a world of grace. So it is with the journey we call, spiritual. Because it is, spiritual, it cannot be seen or measured, much to our disappointment. What is happening, is God's business, not ours. All we have to do, to cooperate, is allow it to happen. That is our part to play. You could say we are at our best, when we are, get this, *doing nothing. We are just being who we really are, and our God is working the miracle of His grace, within that reality. The slow process of molding is taking place in each and every moment of the life we live. God uses the life we live to mold the life of His son, Jesus Christ. We become the body of Christ. This becoming is a ever deliberate, slow, painful process. It does, however, allow us to experience a joy and a freedom that is beyond human words to explain or express.
This weekend is we celebrate the feast of The Body of Christ, Corpus Christi.
This is who we are and who we have been called to be, from all of eternity, The Body Of Christ. A body that has to be taken, blessed, broken , and given. As it happened to Him in whose footsteps, we follow, so it will happen to you and I. That is our destiny and our vocation, as Catholic Christians. We are a people to be taken, placed aside, consecrated [baptism], for the express purpose of being the contemporary presence, of Jesus Christ. As He had to be broken and beaten, crucified and killed, to become the Christ, so we too, in order to become Christians, have follow the same self-process. (You and I follow the same pattern.) We will not experience all that it is described in the Scriptures, that description is an allegory for what has happened, and is happening to us. It is, however, a source of hope for you and I.
So then, each time when we receive, The Body of the crucified One, we are strengthened to face the everyday crucifixion which is part and parcel of the human experience we have as spiritual beings. Spiritual beings who have been taken from, sent forth from, The Divine Presence. For what purpose? To be consecrated for the continuation of the One that was crucified and killed. But, for Him and for us, crucifiction is not the end, because He rose to a new life, so it will be for you and I. As we receive The Body of Christ, Eucharist, we are being drawn ever deeper into His risen life as we participate on an ever-deepening journey into His suffering and death. It can be summed up in the following familiar phrase "No Good Friday, no, Easter Sunday.
What is the struggle, or where is the struggle, you and I, can claim as our present day participation in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ?
Where have we come to, the end of our strength? What are the circumstances we are facing which leads us to cry out, "I, cannot move any further, I cannot go on another inch.?” This is the place of our Eucharist. This is the place where we are been broken and have almost given up, notice the word, almost. It is in this place we are now ready to receive the strength and nourishment, that is way beyond us. It is in and through the offering [Eucharist] of what we do not have, that we receive all that we need. It is in the offering, we make room for the grace we need. It is in that deepening surrender we are offering ourselves for the ongoing gradual molding of ourselves into Him, whom we have receive, and are called to be, The Body of Christ.
This is a great mystery, being, and receiving, The Body of Christ. It is only by immersing ourselves into the mystery, again, again, and again, that we allow this miracle to happen. As the husband in the above story was nourished by meals he cannot remember, so we too, have been nourished (and will be nourished) in celebrations that have faded from our memory (and will fade from our memory). Yet, there is that guarantee, that in each Eucharist we receive the necessary light, life and love of God. This light, life and love then be communicated to us in and through the Liturgy we participate in. Just like when we sit at a table to eat a meal, it works when we show up, participate to the extent that we are capable of and the nourishing happens. So it has been and always will be with us and for us as The Body of Christ.
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