sheer joy

What do wise men do all day?

Meditate?  Pray?  Discuss deep theological topics?

I often wonder if they tire of one another

as they are always together.

As an extrovert I love being around people,

but I would tire of being in the constant presence of others.

And yes, the wise men have had their tiffs,

 but for the most part, they exude such a strong bond of love.

 

So I asked them today.

Me:  "How do you get along so well with one another?

Wise1:  "Ah...excellent question, dear one." 

 

Wise2:  You see, we really don't consider ourselves as separate."

 

Me:  "Huh?  I'm not sure I understand?"

 

Wise3: "Understanding is not the holy grail."

 

Wise2:  "And seeking explanations will only make you cranky."

 

Me: "Sounds rather Zen to me."

 

Wise3:  "Our spiritual practice is to focus on Love."

 

Wise1:  "And we practice Loving one another. 

Just like the Love born in Bethlehem.

For is not God known by relationships?"

 

Me:  "I don't completely comprehend your mysterious ways but I do love you!"

 

Wise2:  "And we love who we are when we are with you."

 

Wise3:  "Thomas Aquinas said it best:"

 

"God is sheer joy, and sheer joy demands company."

 

Me:  "Oh, I like that image of God as sheer joy!

 

 

And once again, the company of the wise ones brings me joy....

 

 

prefer truth

It's ironic that my last post from August says "be here now" and yet I've been everywhere but here! 

As life unfolds I'm willing to go where Spirit leads. 

Today she led me to the blog and this photo of Morse Creek in Port Angeles, WA. 

I discovered the quote in Richard Rohr's Immortal Diamond.

May your path lead you to truth. 

 

 

 

 

"Christ likes us to prefer truth to himself,

because before being Christ, he is truth.

If one turns aside from him to go toward the truth,

one will not go far before falling into his arms.

 

- Simone Weil, Waiting for God

It's a Good Friday

 

“If you want to see just how far

God has fallen in love with you,

then look at Jesus – look at Jesus on the cross.”

 

Rev. Alan Jones, Passion for Pilgrimage

quote from today's Good Friday sermon

Our Mothering Hen

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 13 has the Pharisees trying to convince Jesus to run away from Herod in fear.

But Jesus doesn’t give in to the “what ifs” because there is nothing that will stand in his way of heading towards Jerusalem.

Speaking of Jerusalem, Jesus laments:



"How often have I desired to gather your children together

as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

and you were not willing!"

I took this photo and the following prayer

(which was based on the Lord’s Prayer) from a previous blog post

because it was just that good!

"Our Mothering Hen

Who art brooding over us

hallowed be thy sheltering wings.

Forgive our unwillingness to come into your embrace

And gather us in, reluctance and all.

Free us from fear of foxes

And the sharp bite

of anything that separates us from you.

Open our eyes

To the plenty around us.

Open our hearts

That our plenty be shared.

Lead us not into contention

But into the dance of connection.

For thine is the grace that wakes us each new day

And thine is the mercy that puts our souls at ease

And thine is the love that sets our hearts alight.

For ever and ever, amen."

Tammerie Day - posted at Day at a Glance

First Candle

 

Welcome to the Season of Advent...

We are 3 days in and I'm not quite feeling it yet...how about you? 

Maybe because waiting has become such an integral part of my life?

I'm finding that all I have energy for at this moment is in

lighting the first candle which represents hope

and just sitting in its presence. 

That is prayer in itself. 

Jesus is coming.

 

Listen to the opening of Sunday's Prayers of the People,

written by Christine Hemp:

 

"We have lit the first candle, Lord.

Green has turned into purple,

and we begin our walk toward Christmas.

Startle us into seeing the journey afresh this year.

Open our eyes to the sun and the moon and the stars

and what Jesus really meant when he told us to pay attention.

Help us to see you face-to-face and restore what is lacking in our faith,

in our vision of who you are and how you reveal yourself to us.

Give us eyes to see and ears to hear."

 

from Prayers of the People for the First Sunday of Advent

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Port Townsend, WA

Author:  Christine Hemp

 

Jesus fell off his Cross!

My daughter texted me yesterday from her car with this picture and message:

“Jesus fell off his cross! I need a new one!”

And what would the proper response be to such a statement?

“So sorry to hear the news” or “Well done Jesus!”

but instead I said,

“So where did he land?”

“In the console” she replied.

“Is he ok?” I asked.

“Not really. He broke his arm in the fall.”

This was accompanied by another photo:

 

“So can you re-attach his arm?”

I said.

“I’ve tried that before Mom. He just doesn’t seem to want to stay put. 

Once when I was driving along, I looked down and saw him looking up at me on my leg.

So I glued him back on. But now that his arm is broken, I don’t think that’s going to work.”

As my head filled with the theological implications of Jesus not remaining on the cross,

or of replacing a broken Jesus who was broken for us on said cross,

or of Jesus not desiring to ‘stay put’, even with glue applied,

I considered the worthiness of turning this into yet another one

of my spiritual analogies about God’s desire to draw closer to my daughter.

I thought back over all the years of my telling Jesus stories to my kids and their less than enthusiastic response,

and decided not to read too much into it.

“So what do you think Mom?” she asked.

“I think Jesus wants you to SLOW DOWN. You can’t be sure that he didn’t just try to JUMP to safety.”

keep it moving!

I'm sure by now you've seen this heart-wrenching video of a mother duck and her babies crossing a major highway in Canada.  The joy is in the knowledge that they actually make it across, even when it looks hopeless. 

I've been spending some time lately with the Breastplate of St. Patrick, that ancient prayer that lists all the places that Christ is to be found, (i.e. above me, behind me, beside me, within me etc.) but the one that I see played out in this short video is "Christ before me." 

Even when it appears that we can't possibly make it across whatever the next lane of life brings, there Christ is, our very own Mother Duck, telling us to keep our eyes on him.  AND TO KEEP WALKING FORWARD. 

Even when we can feel the blowback from the cars and are sure we have been injured beyond repair, Christ runs back to check our feathers and tells us to KEEP GOING FORWARD.

Even when we are absolutely positive that there is no way to make it to the other side of whatever we are facing today, Christ never gives up leading us safely to the other side. 

So here's to the faith of those baby ducklings.  May we all keep our eyes on the one who calls us to keep moving forward in hope and love....

Good Friday

Photo of Mary’s 4th Sorrow – The Meeting

Taken at Monastery Memorial Gardens

from Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, CA

“God of Compassion, so many times we feel utterly helpless

when we experience the brokenness and pain in the lives of others around us. 

We feel incompetent when we see the many homeless persons walking the streets; 
we feel powerless when we see our world crushed by fighting and violence,

even in our own neighborhoods and cities! 

Help us to be men and women who are strong in faith. 

Help us to do all that we can do to assist others.

But above all else, help us to remember that it is when we feel most powerless

that we are able to act with the strength that comes

from your Holy Sprit of love and compassion.”

Arranged by Sr. Judith Rinok, S.N.J.M.

Seven Sorrows of Mary

While at the Mater Dolorosa we walked the ‘Seven Sorrows of Mary.’

It was in a gated garden surrounded by wisteria vines – such an aroma!

Below is the first station with the prayer of Mary

as she heard Simeon foretell the destiny of her son.

The mosaics were beautiful and the prayers profound,

especially as we journey towards Good Friday.

The First Sorrow ~ The Prophesy

The prophet, Simeon, foresaw that the child Mary held so lovingly in her arms

was the one destined to fulfill God’s plan of redemption for his people.

Simeon also knew that Mary would see her beloved son, Jesus,

enter into the mystery of his Passion and death.

And so, Simeon spoke of a sword that would pierce her heart,

a sword of sorrow in seeing the reality of suffering unfold

in the life of her very own child.

“Help us, Loving God, to remember all parents today who see suffering in the lives of their sons and daughters.

Some will suffer because of illness; others will feel great sadness at the loss of faith or love in their children’s lives;

still others will experience much grief because of addictions to alcohol or drugs.

Like our Blessed Mother, these parents, too, feel the sword of suffering and pain.

Help us to love and support each of these parents, as well as their loved ones, in such difficult and trying times.

Help us to bring life and hope to them in the midst of their struggles.’

Mater Dolorosa

Just returned from a trip to Southern California where I visited

 Mater Dolorosa in Sierra Madre 

with Anita, my best friend from high school. 

Our school made an annual trip to the beautiful grounds

of this  peaceful retreat center, which  includes a walkable Stations of the Cross

and the Seven Sorrows of Mary. 

The photo below is of yours truly taking a photo of a quote

from St. Paul of the Cross that was on a glossy surfaced pillar.

. 

"Nourish yourself with God's Holy Will.

Drink of the Chalice of Jesus.

Close your eyes and do not seek to know

what it will contain.

It is enough to know that Jesus offers it."

St. Paul of the Cross

Mater Dolorosa

meanness

 

My Spiritual Director shared the following quote with me,

which she received from her Spiritual Director.

Thought I should pass it on.

 

“Once you understand what Jesus asks for in following him,

you have to follow, or choose your own form of meanness.”

-Flannery O’Connor

looking for happiness

Today’s quote is from Inward/Outward. I love their daily quotes which you too can receive from their website. Enjoy!

Looking for Happiness

by

Thomas Keating

"Our spiritual journey does not start with a clean slate.

We carry with us a prepackaged set of values and preconceived ideas which,

unless confronted and redirected, will soon scuttle our journey,

or else turn it into pharisaism, the occupational hazard of religious and spiritual people.

 The developmental character of human life

has become much better known in the last hundred years,

and it has enormous implications for the spiritual journey.

Our personal histories are computerized, so to speak,

in the biocomputers of our brains and nervous systems.

Our memory banks have on file everything that occurred from the womb to the present,

especially memories with strong emotional charges....

 We may not remember the events of early childhood, but the emotions do.

When events occur later in life that resemble those once felt to be harmful,

dangerous, or rejecting, the same feelings surface....

The human heart is designed for unlimited happiness--for limitless truth

and for limitless love--and nothing less can satisfy.

We travel down various roads that promise happiness

 but can't provide it because they are only partial goods.

Since the emotional programs from early childhood are already in place,

our search for happiness in adult life tends to be programmed

by childish expectations that cannot possibly be realized....

 We come now to the heart of the problem of the human condition.

Jesus addressed this problem head-on in the gospel.

What was his first word when beginning his ministry?

"Repent."

To repent is not to take on afflictive penances like

fasting, vigils, flagellation or whatever else appeals.

It means to change the direction in which you are looking for happiness."

 Source: Invitation to Love

 Read more and add your thoughts at inward/outward

first at the cradle

"Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were

first at the Cradle and last at the Cross.

They had never known a man like this Man -

there never has been such another.

A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them,

never flattered or coaxed or patronised:

who never made arch jokes about them...;

who rebuked without querulousness

and praised without condescension;

who took their questions and arguments seriously;

who never mapped out their sphere for them,

never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female;

who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend;

who took them as he found them and was completely unself-conscious.

There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel

that borrows its pungency from female perversity;

nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus

that there was anything "funny" about woman's nature."

 

(Dorothy Sayers, as quoted in the book "Freeing Theology")

 

photo from here

 

can you see the heart?

Halfway through Advent

Where has the time gone? 

We are halfway through our season of waiting -

with tomorrow being the 3rd Sunday of Advent! 

(Or Gaudate Sunday as it used to be called which in Latin means "to rejoice." )

This is the time of God coming to us!  Of God being "with us." 

And we wait in such anticipation!

Which reminds me of a story that  I heard Megan McKenna tell once

about a wise little boy ...here is my paraphrase: 

 

A little boy was at home playing with his toys, below an old grandfather clock

that had been in his family for generations.  It chimed every quarter hour and

would strike at every hour.  But just then the clock jammed and it struck 11 o'clock,

and then 12 o'clock, and then 13 o'clock, 14 o'clock and 15 o'clock.

The little boy, who had been practicing his counting, was amazed at what the clock

was doing. He jumped up, ran to his parents in the other room and said:

"Listen! It's later than it's ever been before!"

 

Indeed!

 

May we fill these last 2 weeks of Advent with joyful preparation

for the coming of Jesus!

 

photo is of my grandchildren, Lydia and David, making their Advent wreaths at

our recent Advent Festival at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Port Townsend, WA

 

Dandelion Light

"Killing Jesus was like trying

to destroy a dandelion seed-head by blowing on it.

It was like shattering a sun

into a million fragments of light."

-Walter Wink

from Engaging the Powers, p. 143

 

and we are all those dandelion seeds and fragments of light!

Isn't that a delightful thought?

May we continue to plant seeds of love.

May we remember to shine as God's light.

 

 

History Maker

You know that saying, "Well behaved women rarely make history"..?

Well, in today's gospel from Matthew 15 we hear the voice

of the desperate Canaanite woman

who pleaded with Jesus to cure her demon-possessed daughter.

Thanks to her bold response to his initial denial to help,

"Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs

that fall from their masters' table,"

she made history by having her story included for us to hear,

and she enlarged Jesus' view of who was included. 

"Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."

Dang! 

Crazy Fools!

Today's gospel reading from Matthew describes the time when the disciples headed out across the sea so Jesus could have some "alone time" when suddenly, a huge storm rolled in and completely freaked them out. (ok, the scriptures don't tell us that but it makes for a better story. And who's to say they weren't?) ANYway, I picture the whitecaps buffeting their boat similar to those huge waves that hit the fishing vessels on that Discovery channel show, "Deadliest Catch." Very scary! This went on for hours and you know at least one of the disciples was yelling, "We're all gonna die!" And to make matters even weirder, early in the morning they saw a ghost coming towards them on top of the water (and according to the scriptures that DID freak them out!)
But lo and behold, the ghost turned out to be Jesus who told them to calm down. Which brings up the question: Why was he walking on the water? Did anyone ever ask Jesus that? Was this something he did often? Or just during storms? Did he not realize the effect this would have on his disciples?

So, Look at them all huddled in the boat below. They really should have gone out in a bigger boat, though I must say that when I'm fearing imminent death I really do like someone else to cling to. Come to think of it, that picture reminds me of church - a community moving forward or as in this case, being tossed to and fro. And there are some really grumpy faces in that boat. What's up with that?

Of course only one disciple was bold enough to ask Jesus to tell him to jump out of the boat to try the water walking. Yep, it was Peter. And yes I know it showed his great faith to take that first step across the water towards Jesus. But don't you think the rest of them were grabbing onto him and calling him a crazy fool? Maybe that's the point. Jesus wants us all to be crazy fools...taking risks....attempting the seemingly impossible...and when we sink (and indeed we will) God will be there, pulling us out of our fears and doubts if we stop looking at the water long enough to notice that we are not alone...that we are never alone...we are always in the presence of God....and that we need one another. really. we do...even when we don't get along...after all, we are the body of Christ. and that's a big deal.

So...go do something impossible...I dare ya.

Art work by James B. Janknegt.  Learn more about his amazing art here

Good Friday

"He began in the darkness of a stable,
Loved in the twilight of Passover,
Died in the darkness of crucifixion.
Arms outstretched in the manger,
Still outstretched on the cross.
...Asking to be held at birth.
Asking to hold at death.
And past death?
Arms still outstretched."

- Donna Huswick



Jesus Loved Judas

Jesus loved Judas.  He loved him when he chose him to be his disciple.  He loved him when he stole from the common purse, and when he left in the night to seal Jesus' fate.  Jesus also loved him when he dipped the bread in the wine and gave it to Judas as a foretaste of the great banquet.  

The fact that Judas could not respond to such unfathomable love did not change how much Jesus loved Judas.  Is there anything that can separate any one of us from the love of Jesus? 

Is there something you are carrying that you are tired of carrying?  
For what do you seek reconciliation?

-based on Holy Wednesday Lectionary reading - John 13:21-32.
Art: Kiss of Judas Iscariot, anonymous painting of the 12th century, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Expand our images O Lord!

What images of God do we carry with us?

Do they empower us to seek and serve Christ in all people,

regardless of race, gender or creed?

Do they encourage us to strive for justice and peace

among all the peoples of the earth?

Do they help us to respect the dignity of every human being,

all of whom are created in the Divine Image?

If not, why do we keep them?

Images that induce guilt and fear (like the ones I grew up with)

can be tenacious in their hold upon our psyches.

Even when you think you have banished them they can pop up like burnt toast -

all smokey & smelly & needing a quick trip to the trash bin.

We need to expand our images of God in order to nourish our souls.

We need images that speak to the mystery that is God.

The image above is one that my adult daughter grew up with

that she would like to replace.