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....

 

 

the hardest of these is love

I received this poem today from Inwardoutward.org and loved it:

IF PRAYER WOULD DO IT

If prayer would do it
I'd pray.

If reading esteemed thinkers would do it
I'd be halfway through the Patriarchs.

If discourse would do it
I'd be sitting with His Holiness
every moment he was free.

If contemplation would do it
I'd have translated the Periodic Table
to hermit poems, converting
matter to spirit.

If even fighting would do it
I'd already be a black belt.

If anything other than love could do it
I'd have done it already
and left the hardest for last.

Stephen Levine
Source:  Breaking the Drought

That first line about prayer brought discomfort.   I often commit to praying for someone in an effort to remain detached or to comfort myself with the thought, "well, at least I'm praying for them."  

My prayer for today is to remain open to new ways to love one another, for that is what Christ continues to do ....Love costs but as the saying goes, it pays well.  

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

 

Fall Triduum

Every year, our “Fall Triduum” of All Hallow’s, All Saints, and All Souls

becomes more precious to me as each one focuses my attention on how connected we are

to not only those who are alive, but to all those who have gone before us –

relatives, friends, enemies, muses,(i.e. the communion of saints.)

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints Sunday

with one of the most “thin place” services of the year –

the one in which we commemorate all the saints

by posting their names on the walls of the sanctuary.

+++

Whether they are from long ago....

(Saint Leontia)

Or more recently...

(Jill Cooper, a friend)



Or a close relative like my father,

(Kenneth)

Or even the name of a woman

who has the same name of my

own mother who is still alive!

(Ok, I have to admit,

it was pretty weird to see

my mother on the wall)...



What wasn’t weird or strange was the feeling of their presence in the room with us.

What the Celts call a “thin place”

All of us together. In one place.

One very “thin” place.

These 3 days are as intertwined as a Celtic Knot.

With themes of death and resurrection,

we are reminded that there is no beginning or ending to our souls.

We move and have our being in a continuous flow of God’s love,

knowing that we are always in the presence of God.

 

“Beannacht De le hanama na marbh

(The blessing of God on the souls of the dead.)

Ta siad imithe ar shli na firinne

(They are gone on the way of truth.”)

Irish Blessing



So until it is our time to join all those saints who have gone before us on the way of truth,

may we continue to enjoy their presence, and

walk in love, seeking and serving Christ in all we meet today.



(last photo is of Fall colors outside the Columbarium at St. Paul’s)

heart armor

“The armor we erect around our soft hearts causes a lot of misery. But don’t be deceived, it’s very transparent.

The more vivid it gets, the more clearly you see it, the more you realize that this shield—this cocoon—

is just made up of thoughts that we churn out and regard as solid. The shield is not made out of iron.

The armor is not made out of metal. In fact, it’s made out of passing memory.” --Pema Chodron

photo of “chain maille heart keepsake” is from this unique artist on Etsy

do the hustle

"When we spend a lifetime trying to distance ourselves

from the parts of our lives that don't fit

 with who we think we're supposed to be,

we stand outside of our story and

hustle for our worthiness by constantly

performing, perfecting, pleasing and proving.

Our sense of worthiness - that critically important piece

that gives us access to love and belonging -

lives inside of our story."

-Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection, p. 23

Connie Sun comic from here

earth day

"So fragile this petal the earth,

as fragile as love."

from Love Poems from God

by Daniel Ladinsky p. 242

photo taken at Hawaiian

Botanical Gardens...

Happy Earth Day

spiritual opportunity

 

“...spiritual opportunity knocks in relationship,

not in isolation;

...people are not obstacles to the spirit,

but paths to it.”

- Rabbi Dennis S. Ross

Art is by Anne C. Brink.

“face to face”

1 Cor. 13:12

visit her website to see more of her glorious art.

stillness

Stillness is what creates Love
Movement is what creates Life
To be still
Yet still moving -
That is everything.

Do Hyun Choe

"Stillness" by Aijung Kim

visit her website here.

Mary of the Sign

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception,

which has been celebrated as far back as the 7th century

and celebrates the conception of Mary in her mother Anne's womb.

 

As we count down the days until the birth of Christ,

let us honor Mary through this icon (and what, in an ancient yet modern way,

resembles an ultrasound of the child she carried!)

The following piece is from  the December issue of

Contemplative Outreach News

which you can read in its entirety here.

Mary of the Sign

Mary stands square to the viewer, her poised

stillness or silent constant prayer is noted in

the hands, palms extended outward in total

surrender to what has been given. Mary clutches

and yearns for nothing. In early icons Mary was

portrayed as the Burning Bush and Christ the

fire that burns within. She is represented as the

divine vessel of burning love. She knows

and loves Him even before His birth.

 

The orb containing this revelation rests within her

being, Christ surrounded in gold, symbolizing

the totality of God without image. Christ is

holding a tiny scroll, a symbol of the Scripture

being fulfilled in Him and later to be filled in

each and every one of us. Christ is our interior

teacher, guide master, and rabbi. The icon’s

theology is the link between the Jewish tradition

and the new understanding of Christ.

 

“The Lord Himself will give you a sign, behold a

young woman shall conceive and bear a child

and his name will be Emmanuel.” - Isaiah 7:14.

 

Excerpt taken from The Mary Collection 2008

by Mary Jane Miller. To see more work done by

Mary Jane Miller, go to:

http://sanmiguelicons.com/galleries.php

 

 

click here to see Mary Jane Miller's icon of Mary of the Sign.

it is stunning!

2nd Sunday in Advent, 2011

Yesterday we celebrated the Second Sunday of Advent. 

Two candles of the four are now lit, bringing a bit more light into the darkness.  

Isn't this Advent wreath a thing of beauty? 

I'm drawn to both the earthy textures and desert-like colors.

Which brings me to John the Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness.

The forerunner to the Messiah, who prepared His way.

He was earthy to the max, wasn't he?

 With his rough clothing, austere diet, and calls for repentance.

I have lifted the following quote from a website

that I look forward to receiving every week:

The Edge of Enclosure.  Do check it out here.

And as you light your second candle, consider the pairing of our loneliness,

our desert experiences of life, with the river of life

that the Christ child will bring and fill us with in this season

so that we might offer such a love to those who, like us,

are also wandering in the wilderness. 

***

"Our brokenness is the wound through which

the full power of God can penetrate our being and transfigure us in God.

Loneliness is not something from which we must flee

but the place from where we can cry out to God,

where God will find us and we can find God.

Yes, through our wounds the power of God can penetrate us

and become like rivers of living water to irrigate the arid earth within us.

Thus we may irrigate the arid earth of others, so that hope and love are reborn."
-Jean Vanier
The Broken Body
1988 Paulist Press
quoted from An Advent Sourcebook (LTP)

the photo of the Advent table decoration is from here.

mother's kisses

"The interior life is like a sea of love in which the soul is plunged

and is, as it were, drowned in love. 

Just as a mother holds her child's face in her hands

to cover it with kisses,

so does God hold the devout person who seeks him with a sincere heart.

- St. John Vianney

 

Mary kissing Jesus...Jesus kissing us...Us kissing one another

 

 "Kissing the Face of God" by Morgan Wiestling

more painting info found here

 

be careful

 

"Be careful who you hate,

it might just be someone you love."

- Joni Christian

love at large

"Love answers all the questions

that judgment fails to hear."

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.

 

 

behold & inhabit

 

"The ultimate goal of prayer is to learn to behold yourself

with the same gentleness, pride, expectation, and compassion

with which the divine presence beholds you at every moment.

If we can inhabit that reflex of divine presence,

then compassion will flow naturally from us."

-John O'Donohue

 

photo is from here.

bending towards reconciliation

Today's Gospel is from Matthew 18: 15-20  in which we learn how to resolve conflict. (Go alone to see what you can do & if that doesn't work? Bring witnesses & if that doesn't work? Tell the church & if that doesn't work? Treat them like a Gentile or tax collector, i.e. love them!)

 "Forgiving Lord, I do not want my enemies forgiven. 

 I want you to kill them (as sometimes prays the psalmist!).

Actually, I would prefer to pray that you punish them

rather than kill them, since I would like to watch them suffer. 

Also, I fear losing my enemies,

since my hates are more precious to me than my loves. 

If I lost my hates, my enemies,

how would I know who I am? 

Yet you have bent us toward reconciliation,

that we may be able to pass one another Christ's peace. 

It is a terrible thing to ask of us. 

I'm sure I cannot do it, but you are a wily God able to accomplish miracles. 

May we be struck alive with the miracle of your grace,

even to being reconciled with ourselves.  Amen."

from Prayers Plainly Spoken, by Stanley Hauerwas, p. 95

Scripture source: Matthew 18:15-20

Cartoon source:  AgnusDay.org

love needs to breathe

"A man raised a baby swan in a glass jar,

but as the bird grew it became stuck in the jar.

The man was caught now, for the only way

to free the thing was to break the jar,

killing the swan."

- Zen saying

 

 What have I placed in jars?

Where am I caught?

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! 

Love Thy Neighbor Near & Far

I received not one but two letters today (one was certified) from the CC&R Compliance Committee where our rental is located telling me that a regulation had been violated - Section 3.4.11 in particular - a garbage can and a BBQ were investigated and documented as being on the garage side of the dwelling.

I have 10 days to deal with this issue before I will be fined. Whatever happened to someone knocking on the door to ask the tenants to move the items? Or calling the owners?

Where does this situation fit in light of those suffering from famine in Somalia, or in light of those who have lost jobs and face foreclosure, and what about our collective fear surrounding the global economic crisis? We have little influence over all that.

Perhaps keeping trash cans and BBQ's in their proper places gives us a feeling of having control over something. Right now I need to harness my reaction to something so minor. Think I'll ponder the words on that colorful sign at the top of this post and say some prayers for all my neighbors - near and far.