Category: Spiritual

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Midnight Mass

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This is the way the chapel looked at Holy Peace following this year’s midnight mass. We began the experience in darkness and were escorted from our car by Brother Kevin. A local power failure had blanketed the area in darkness and just like the shepherds 2000 years ago we were greeted by an angel with a torch as the Brits call them. Our escort guided us to the chapel where we joined dozens of others in a candlelight vigil. A few minutes prior to the start of Mass the power was restored and we celebrated the Nativity of Our Lord. It was very Franciscan, lovely and mystical too.

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Fifty-eight years

That’s not a long time for many, but it’s twelve more years than my father got and unless tonight is my last night I stand to have more time yet to live and make a difference. When I look around and steadily climbing energy prices and a government teetering on the brink of more tax relief for the rich and let the poor fend for themselves I’m inclined to give up. In the last fifty-eight years there have been a lot of changes. Most of them very good and a few maybe not so good, but on balance we’re better than we were before. I’m grateful to my Mom and Dad who made this opportunity possible and in the last week as I’ve thought about my birthday I’ve thought back and wondered what they might have been thinking in the first week of December 1952. They were both children of the Great Depression and my Dad was a veteran of World War II though he never saw any combat. Nonetheless, they lived through trying times. They were both twenty-six years old. A couple of kids I might call them now and I was their first child.

First born children are all a bit like guinea pigs. No one is ever adequately prepared by school or any other experience to raise children and the first one always bears the brunt of the ignorance. Despite all that I had a good life. December 8, 1952 was my special day and I arrived at 5:58 am according to the telegram my Dad sent. I was delivered by an uncle I never met in a hospital called Miserecordia in Manhattan. I was the first grandson in the family. I was preceded by three grand-daughters in two different families.

I’m hoping this year is a snow day. I used to get the day off automatically when I attended Catholic grammar school as it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I’ve always had an innate Marian devotion. Blue is my favorite color and Ave Maria is one of my favorite hymns. Forty years ago I registered for the draft and less than two years later I was in a United States Navy uniform. The only parts of my life I really disliked were the parts I was afraid of and when I got over my fear of them I enjoyed them too.

I have no way of knowing how many more days or hours I will have left but I know that even the hairs of my head are numbered in someone’s book. It’s cold outside tonight and the snow is falling just like it does most years in December, but I’m warm here in my own home and I am filled with gratitude for my parents, my family and my life.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Ups8Jb96o]

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Halt the Lion of War

I just watched a great video from TEDx which is one of my favorite sources of information and education. Consider how William Ury’s approach which is based in Abraham could work. This fall as a graduate student at St. Bonaventure University I read one of William Ury’s books, “Getting to Yes.”
[ted id=1017]

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Summer thoughts

Today started out rainy and I even made it all the way up to Mt. Irenaeus only to turn around and drive back down the hill.  I wasn’t ready for everyone. I have days like that. Instead I opted for a nap in Cuba, New York and then a drive to St. Bonaventure University where I eventually wound up sitting in the University Chapel enjoying a quiet time.  I learned from my boss that I’m an INFJ and this was one of those introvert moments or maybe days when I needed more introspection than that provided by attendance at the Eucharist.  I’ve been very busy this summer volunteering as a summer school principal intern in partial fulfillment of coursework I am completing at St. Bonaventure University.  On Wednesday of this week I’m scheduled to give a talk modeled after TED to a group of educators at a local teacher’s conference too. I’m a bit hyped by that too. The theme is, “What the world needs now.” I have some ideas but a life of perfection can be daunting as I’m sure you know.  One of the quotes that will form the basis of my talk comes from Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, “sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

It seems appropriate to these days of bewilderment and systemic change. Deepak Chopra has written about the creative impulse and how it is invited by the presence of uncertainty. I know that both Rumi and Chopra are right because I’ve witnessed it myself. Creativity is the fruit of uncertainty and these are uncertain times.  Just last night we found ourselves a couple of miles away from the path of a tornado. I don’t mind telling you that it was frightening. There is a metaphor in the violent storm we witnessed and the events in the world around us and my visit to the Chapel at St. Bonaventure University. I’ve come here before and sat in the quiet of this lovely spot.

Once again I think of the words of Thomas Merton about the road ahead.

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following
your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

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Beginners mind

I took some time to read a post from year or more ago and in it I referenced a beginners mind. That is such an important concept and one that I need to remember often. It’s really timeless wisdom and often completely unappreciated and under utilized in most books about leadership. I’ve been reading a particularly good book about leadership this week. It’s entitled “Resilient Leadership for Turbulent Times.” Many strategies and ideas in the book which I’ve enjoyed very much. A major surprise in the book was the overall emphasis on a reflective and contemplative stance. It was quite refreshing and an enjoyable read. However I’m not sure the phrase beginners mind is used. Having a beginners mind is really the essence of success. Keeping an open mind and staying open to possibilities are really keys to success in life. Knowing all the answers or pretending to know all the answers is always a losing proposition.

My prayer today then is to help me to keep an open mind and a grateful heart.

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Thank you

My wife’s surgery went well today and she was very grateful for the many prayers offered on her behalf. She’s on the road to recovery. My father-in-law’s surgery did not provide such good news. He has cancer which we hope is treatable. Please pray him if you are of a mind to do so.  This has been a very busy month and I have not had time to write much, but my thoughts have been about this blog. I have been reading a great deal lately and much of it on Kindle. One of my latest reads has been, “A Hidden Wholeness,” by Parker Palmer. I enthusiastically recommend it to you.

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The road ahead

In reflecting on my earlier post and coming upon this photo taken today with my new Motorola Droid I see a connection. I love walking along the Mountain Road at Mt. Irenaeus and although it was a bit damp today from the rain it was enjoyable nonetheless. In fact when it’s raining I often think of how grace filled my life is, but only when it rains do I sense a connection between the enveloping mist and droplets and God’s ever abundant grace in my life and in all our lives.

Walking along this road is always very peaceful and today I thought of my many trips here and splitting wood with Br. Paul whom I often split wood with in the summer of 2000. I don’t know where Paul is these days but every time I walk along this road I think of him. I love these woods and the peace of this place.

Please pray for my father-in-law who will have a serious operation on Tuesday and for my wife who will have a serious operation on June 30th.

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Love your neighbor

Mark 12:30-31 continues to animate my life and my thinking. It’s often tough to do, but produces the best results.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

A miracle occurred on Christmas day and a tragedy of epic proportion was avoided when a terrorist was thwarted. The details are part of most news channels and websites. For a person who flies occasionally and who has children who travel by air such detestable acts are beyond reprehensible.  The war on terror has not produced a world free of terror, it has produced more of the same. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons systems which has made the military industrial complex very happy, but we have not solved this problem of international terrorism.  I’m naive enough to believe that Jesus might have been right and that loving your enemy might prove so disarming that he or she is no longer your enemy. We might be forced to actually implement this principle as we approach national bankruptcy from monumental spending.

My thoughts will likely be attacked by some who read this as naive or liberal or some other attempt to discredit my views or this scripture passage. I expect that but I have to wonder how we really can defeat terrorism. Force of arms is not getting the job done. Love might just do it!

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The Feast of St. Nicholas

Today, like most Sundays I got in my car for the forty minute drive to Mt. Irenaeus. Going to the Mountain as we call it is a Sunday ritual for me. The sun was shining adding a bit of luster to a fresh coating of snow we received overnight. Along the way I stopped at Giant Food Mart in Cuba, New York for orange juice and eggs. A morning at the Mountain is topped off with brunch for all following Eucharist in Holy Peace Chapel.

Today as I drove up the country roads that lead to Mt. Irenaeus I thought of my friend Paul Kelly who had recently died. I thought too of a couple of papers that are due for the graduate classes at St. Bonaventure University in which I am enrolled this semester. Being a perfectionist is not easy. I always want to do my best and there is always some anxiety as the final week dawns. When I arrived at the retreat center, I parked my car and greeted several students from nearby Houghton College. As I walked toward the House of Peace I was surrounded by little chickadees who flew about my head and slight above it. I thought of Paul and the Holy Spirit and how these little fellows seemed to be signaling that Paul was in good hands. After dropping off the food and then resuming my walk to the chapel I was again surrounded by this small flock of birds who seemed intent on accompanying me to Mass today.

I fetched my Blackberry to take a picture of these little birds who were so close to me in the bushes that lined the trail. One of them lit in my outstretched hand and with my free hand I was able to take a picture of my little feathered friend. At once I my eyes filled with tears and I thought of our seraphic father St. Francis. I was truly blessed today as I made my way up the path to the Eucharist. What a great blessing to hold one of these little creatures in my hand.

Today’s readings were special too. I loved the second reading from St. Paul and the one line that reads, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it.” This was reassurance in God’s word that my paper and those of many more students would be completed. I’m sure that reading means something different to everyone, but to me today it was a great reminder that my life is ordered by a power greater than me.  The gospel too is one that I love and each year it’s proclamation is special.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,
and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region
of Ituraea and Trachonitis,
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” — Luke 3:1-6

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Abbey

Yesterday, I spent part of the day driving to Abbey of the Geneseee. It’s one of my favorite haunts and I hadn’t been there in at least a month. Since today was a holiday there were a few more people than are normally there on a Monday. The store was busy and now the monks have a cashier who is there to take the money or in my case credit card. I picked up four Monks Brownies for friends. That all came after I spent perhaps 45 minutes in the chapel sitting quietly in the presence of the Holy Spirit. I love to come to that chapel and just sit and sometimes to nap a bit as I did today. I don’t go there to nap, but when I’m rested as I am in the presence of God it just comes naturally. I love the quiet and the mystical presence of the Eucharist in that spot. I know that God is everywhere but he seems more present there for some reason and I enjoy visiting him there. I usually sit as I did today just quietly listening for the still small voice. I think it was Herman Melville who said, “silence is the only voice of God.” I wholeheartedly agree.