Tag: contemplative

Posted on

There is a time

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: – Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a time for everything. There is a time for winter and there is a time for spring. Today the temperature reached over 60°F where I live and the sun shone brightly. Despite the bad news that surrounds us there is good news and there is new growth. The trees are budding and flowers are beginning to emerge from the earth. Children were riding their bicycles and sometimes the distance didn’t seem appropriate. Nonetheless I kept my distance and walked along. As I walked I prayed and tried to focus the energy of my prayers toward our planet and the people on it.

One of the blessings of today was to find a lovely crocus blooming along the trail that I walk. Crocuses come in many colors but my favorite is purple. There along the trail this morning was this lovely crocus inviting me to take its picture.

Posted on

Laudate Omnes Gentes

It’s Sunday night and we’ve just finished dinner. The sun is beginning to set in the west. It was a beautiful day despite the pandemic and fear that grips the world around us. I’m listening to Taize. If you’re not familiar Taize is a Christian ecumenical community founded in France in 1940 during the second world war. I never experienced it until I began to attend liturgies at Mount Irenaeus twenty years ago. I came to the Mountain as we call it searching for a deeper experience of God. I found it there and along with it the understanding that I’m a contemplative. From the time I was quite young I was attracted to this quiet experience of the almighty. Traditional church services always left me cold. But at the Mountain I found a community of believers who were drawn to a deeper mystical experience of creation.

One of my favorite Taize prayers is Laudate Dominum which is drawn from the Psalm 117. “Laudate omnes gentes, laudate Dominum.” Translated that is, “Sing praises, all you peoples, sing praises to the Lord.” The Franciscans of Mount Irenaeus found it unnecessary to define what the Lord is for me or for anyone else. They are Roman Catholic friars but realize that each of us senses the spark of the divine differently. That’s very Franciscan.

By God’s power, presence, and essence, God is the One whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. God exists uncircumscribed in everything. God is, therefore, all inclusive. God is the essence of everything. God is most perfect and immense: within all things, but not enclosed; outside all things, but not excluded; above all things, but not aloof; below all things, but not debased. Finally, therefore, this God is all in all…. Consequently, from him, through him and in him, all things exist.”

— St. Bonaventure

As the evening descends on this day may you enjoy the peace that surpasses all understanding while listening to this selection from Taize.

Posted on

A walk in the woods

Yesterday afternoon I went for a walk in the woods. I was on an old trail that used to be the haunt of four wheelers and snowmobiles. I don’t think its used much anymore. It was just what I needed in the midst of this pandemic. Luckily for me I live in a small village a long way from any major metropolis. Yet, I feel the anguish and anxiety of people who I will never know in this life. The woods and its’ trees have always been a cathedral for me. I feel closer to God when I’m in the woods. Sometimes I want to hold hands with Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh and retreat into the woods forever. That’s not realistic perhaps but it’s a yearning that I have. There is also a small pond near my home and I like to go there and just sit next to one of the large trees that are adjacent to the pond.

Today is Sunday. It’s the Fourth Sunday of Lent and other years I would be on my way to Mt Irenaeus for Mass and brunch but today that’s all a memory as churches and retreat centers are closed. Instead I found myself re-reading quotes from Thomas Merton who is one of my favorite authors. I’ve loved Merton most of my adult life and his writing resonates with me. Like him I am drawn to mystical prayer. In the midst of this chaos and suffering there is a spirit that some might call God. Some may call it a higher power and others may only long for peace and communion.

“Whether you teach or live in the cloister or nurse the sick, whether you are in religion or out of it, married or single, no matter who you are or what you are, you are called to the summit of perfection: you are called to a deep interior life perhaps even to mystical prayer, and to pass the fruits of your contemplation on to others. And if you cannot do so by word, then by example.

Yet if this sublime fire of infused love burns in your soul, it will inevitably send forth throughout the Church and the world an influence more tremendous than could be estimated by the radius reached by words or by example.”

― Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain

Posted on

Grant me the serenity

As I walked today I recited the Serenity Prayer. It’s a prayer that I’ve used for many years. Most people know the shorter version of the prayer but I have found the long version to be very comforting. I half-dozen years ago following serious bout with depression my spiritual advisor shared the long version with me.

God grant me the Serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time.
Enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would like it.

Trusting that he will make all things right,
If I surrender to his will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this world
And supremely happy in the next.

Reinhold Niebuhr, Theologian

Posted on

Bearing hard things well

Reading Joan Chittister the last few days has been a tonic for my weary soul. She never disappoints and this book is exactly what I needed to read now. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself and I never wear it well. Bad things happen to good people. We all know that but nobody wants to live it. Tonight as I’m finishing another day I read the following quote. It’s so appropriate.

“By learning to bear hard things well, we secure the future of the human race as well as our own ability to survive. By being willing to put our personal power down in favor of someone else’s vision and experience, we pledge ourselves to benefit from the power and goodness of others. We save ourselves from our own limitations and follies, from our lack of maturity and experience. Most of all, we pledge ourselves to be open to the wisdom figures of life and so become wiser ourselves as we go. Without endurance we succumb silently to the demons of injustice. We dry up inside, shrivel in our hope, and belie the will of God for the world. On the other hand, a spirituality of endurance frees us from the rampages of destructive pride. It opens us to a community of wisdom figures, guides who, if we will only allow it, are there to lead us through the ravages of our time.”

— Radical Spirit: 12 Ways to Live a Free and Authentic Life by Joan Chittister

Posted on

The real miracle is walking on earth

In the spring of 1996 our family journeyed to Salt Lake City, Utah as part of a family vacation and visit to a friend. While we were there I visited a bookstore which is one of my favorite things to do. In the bookstore I came upon a title “Living Buddha Living Christ.” Its author, Thich Nhat Hanh was someone I had never heard of. I picked up the book, began to read it and eventually bought it. Since that time I have purchased many of his books and enjoyed his writing. He was a friend of Thomas Merton who is another of my favorite authors.

I often think of Thich Nhat Hanh when I’m walking. Today was one of those days when I was really trying to walk more mindfully. I was praying a simple repetitive prayer as I walked. Many know it as the “Hail Mary.” It centers me and its mantric simplicity keeps me focused not on my thoughts but on its words and rhythm. While not living mindfully it is possible to ignore the miracle of life and think that miracles only happen to saints.

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Walking itself is a miracle as is all life. It’s easy to get sidetracked and scared by what’s happening around us everyday. But it can be changed by what we do. We are what we do each day, not what we think. Walking mindfully is my way to bring about change.

Posted on

The willingness to trust

“Humility is the willingness to trust ourselves to the universe, to the people in our lives, to the wisdom of others. We are told to relinquish our self-centeredness to the universal will, to realize that we are attuned to one another and that the others are at least as wise and caring as we are.”

— Radical Spirit: 12 Ways to Live a Free and Authentic Life by Joan Chittister

Posted on

A prayer for you

This beautiful poem comes from Br. Richard Kendrick, OFM Cap. from Ireland.

Lockdown

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.

But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise you can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.

So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

Br. Richard Hendrick, March 13th 2020

Posted on

The prophetic call

“The prophets of our era lament the lack of religion’s concern for underpaid women, trafficked girls, beaten wives, and the miserable second-classism of women everywhere—in both church and state. Today’s prophets try to deter the ruthless, relentless, systemic violence practiced in the name of patriotism, calling itself “the Will of God.” The prophets understand why spiritual seekers cry out in despair for church leadership in the condemnation of nuclear weapons but get condemnations of condoms and contraception instead.”

— The Time Is Now: A Call to Uncommon Courage by Joan Chittister

Posted on

Sought through prayer and meditation

The talk of Coronavirus and an ever active imagination finally got to me today and I decided to run away for awhile. After a quick trip to the dentist this morning I grabbed a coffee at The Coffee Shop and pointed my car northward. I followed a familiar route to a place I go for peace and quiet. I got to Abbey of the Genesee about an hour later and made my way to the chapel. Much to my chagrin there were workman who had covered the altar and the vicinity in plastic. My favorite place to sit and pray was not very peaceful this morning. Nonetheless, I stayed a bit and then walked to the adjoining bread store. I got my wife some wonderful bar soap made by a religious community of women, got a gluten free cookie and some dark chocolate biscotti. I did manage to find a quiet part of the abbey to sit and chill.

The sun shone bright outside and eventually I made my way to nearby Letchworth State Park on my return journey home. I stopped in the park to walk along the Genesee River and to witness the power of the water thundering over the Middle and Upper Fals. It was a balmy 63 degrees today. That’s quite uncommon for March 9 in Western New York. I took some pictures and shared them on Instagram, visited with a friend and then made my way home. I hear the voice of my creator in the silence of the trees, the river and in the quiet of this monastery. The Genesee River gorge is my cathedral. Its quiet beauty is ageless. I thought of the indigenous people who walked this land hundreds and thousands of years before the white man came.