Tag: Spirituality

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All creation is shouting for joy..

Today began with a trip to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass. That’s my routine on most Sundays. First a trip to the grocery store to pick up some brunch items to share after Mass and then a forty minute trip to the Mountain. Fr. Bob was the celebrant today. At Mt. Irenaeus all the homilies are interactive. The celebrant offers his reflections and that is followed by a chance to share what is on our own hearts with respect to the homily or the readings or what is moving in us today. Today was day rich in imagery and exchange about purging ourselves of the idols that block us from relation with God. The gospel was about Jesus driving the money changers from the temple. The story is familiar but today the reflections were especially meaningful to me.

Following a tasty brunch our Partners in Ministry team assembled for a couple of hours discussing the Incarnation in Franciscan spirituality and how we carry the fruits of that incarnation into our daily lives and how we share it with a world that desperately needs to hear that message. Our animators of the discussion today did an artful job of sharing their insights. One of the metaphors Anita shared was about “blood and water” and how as Jesus died blood and water came from him and that when a mother gives birth to a child there is a release of blood and water. We were all struck by the poignancy of this observation. We began to discuss at length these holy symbols which draw us to the Mystical Christ.

Last night I was reading a piece entitled Maya and Sacrament in Bede Griffiths. After reading it and reflecting on today’s discussion and sharing I thought how much this means to me. All around me I am surrounded by the evidence of the Incarnation. In fact it is shouting to me if I have ears to hear it. It is in the snowy ground around me, in the air I breathe, in my family at the supper table. There are some lyrics to a song that I like that say, “The heavens are telling the glory of God, and all creation is shouting for joy! Come dance in the forest, come play in the fields. And sing, sing to the glory of the Lord!” The song proclaims the incarnation. I am brother and sister to all creation just as St. Francis proclaimed. All that is created is created by God and for his glory.

What a different relationship I have and a change of attitude when I have the eyes to see and the ears to hear that all that is created is brother and sister to me. There can be no duality. It is not part of God’s creation. St. Augustine described the nature of God “as a circle whose center was everywhere, but whose circumference was nowhere.” Peace.

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Secret life of bees

Yesterday I read “The Secret Life of Bees” in its entirety. I recommend the book to anyone without reservation. It’s a great love story. My daughter had given me a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas. On my way home from Mt. Saviour on Friday afternoon I stopped at the Barnes & Noble in Elmira. Having just read Sue Monk Kidd’s, When the Heart Waits, I was eager to read more by the same author. I was a bit unsure because the Secret Life of Bees seemed to be a book that might appeal more to women. Since it was a New York Times bestseller, I thought “what the heck.” I wasn’t at all unhappy. I couldn’t put the book down. It was riveting.

Now I’m going to read one of Sue’s other books, “Dance of the Dissident Daughter”.

Agnus Dei qui tolis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

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Under his wings

It would seem the world and the United States in particular is going to hell if you read the top story lines in the news. Hamas wins an election in Palestine. Iran is activating a nuclear program. Troops are stretched to the breaking point in Iraq. The Whitehouse is preparing for impeachment hearings for wiretapping ordinary citizens. All these stories are in fact true, but equally true the sun will rise tomorrow, the sky was blue today and if you don’t listen to the news and sit quietly in your own room you can feel the peace that exists in the midst of all this strife.

In September of this year I had a frightening experience. I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolus. Actually I had emboli. I have no idea how many of those little clots were in my lungs, but the associated pain made it painful to take a deep breath. Today thanks to the miracle of modern medicine I’m alive. In fact everyday I take a small dose of warfarin. Warfarin is poison, it’s routinely used to kill rodents. Interesting that a poison in just the right quantity can actually save and improve my life.

My first night in the hospital I had very little to read. For a guy who spends much time reading each night I was limited to a small Gideon Bible. It was the New Testament and the Psalms. As providence would have it the first page I flipped to was Psalm 91. As I read those verses tears welled up in my eyes because I realized that I was protected by the most high. Many people don’t survive a pulmonary embolism. My own father had died as the result of pulmonary emboli over 30 years ago. On that night my life was spared. In the days and weeks that have followed I rise each morning with a new lease on life. In the first month or two immediately following the embolism I awoke each morning fully aware that I had survived another evening in the arms of my creator.

Now, four months hence, my life is approaching normal. I’m running a two to three times a week. Lately I’ve been logging distances of five miles. My doctors have encouraged me to continue running. I have a renewed sense of purpose and direction. I’m living my life more mindfully. Deo Gratias!

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling —
even the LORD, who is my refuge —
then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For He will command His angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

Tonight the world it would seem is falling apart , but I am resting quietly under his wings. Peace.