What if?

I saw a query on another blog - if you were President for one day, what would you do?
Well, no President can do much in one day, but I would like to change things so that everyone has to vote, like it or not. That would pretty much transform this country. Failing that, I would like to go on TV and ask everyone to send a letter to Congress asking them to respond pubicly to this question: What is the purpose of government?
For me, the purpose of civil government ought to be to protect the weak from the strong. Sadly, it seems rather to be to protect private property. That being the case, those without property have no power. Nothing ever changes, eh? "The poor are driven into hiding and the rich lay waste to the land."
May God richly bless us with conversion.

One thing have I asked....

"One thing I have asked of the Lord,this is what I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple."

As I work through this 43rd day before my retirement, I rejoice, thinking about being able to spend the rest of my days in the temple of the lord, and praying that he will give me a word of wisdom for my life, and for anyone who asks, something to give them, whether material or spiritual. To behold the beauty of the Lord - all I need to is open my eyes to Christ in others and to the beauty of creation.

Thanks be to God!

Be Transformed

Scripture advises us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Last night, I was kept awake, and then repeatedly awakened by physical pain due to a recent accident. It was not until morning that I realized that every time I woke up, my mind had been reciting the Jesus prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I have been diligently training myself for over 35 years to "run" that prayer in my mind whenever nothing else deliberate is going on. I guess it works.
This is no more than re-programming, perhaps, but how much better it is than to be rehearsing worry or self-hatred or some other destructive thing. I am grateful today for the difference many years of practice can make. Peace in place of fear or self-pity - no contest! I give thanks today for the person who first taught me that prayer - one of my first spiritual directors, a priest who heard the worst things I ever did and loved me anyway. May Fr. Jim Keely be having a pint and a laugh in heaven!

What we are

We cannot make the best of what we are, if our hearts are always divided between what we are and what we are not.

Thomas Merton. No Man Is An Island (New York: Harvest Book, 1983), p. 127

So very true. And to make it even more interesting, we are often much, much more and lovelier than we think!

Where is God?

In Dr. Gerald May's book, The Dark Night of the Soul, he makes the statement that it is impossible for God to be any closer to you than he already is. That statement may feel just about as far from your reality as it could possibly be, until you really stop and think about it. Dr. May continues by saying that the challenge is for us to become aware of that fact. -- Sallie Culbreath
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This quote is from a woman who was abused by trusted Christians. Regardless of the source of our own dark night, spiritual growth will always result in the awareness of the immediate presence of God. We struggle and thrash, and eventually come to rest in the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God!

From the website "Louie, Louie"

One of the reasons why so many people have developed strong reservations about the peace movement is precisely that they do not see the peace they seek in the peacemakers themselves. Often what they see are fearful and angry people trying to convince others of the urgency of their protest. The tragedy is that peacemakers often reveal more of the demons they are fighting than of the peace they want to bring about.

"The words of Jesus go right to the heart of our struggle: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly" (Lk 6: 27-28). The more I reflect on these words, the more I consider them to be the test for peacemakers. What my enemies deserve is not my anger, rejection, resentment, or disdain, but my love. Spiritual guides throughout history have said that love for the enemy is the cornerstone of the message of Jesus and the core of holiness."

-- Henri J. M. Nouwen in “Peacework”

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This is why I hesitate to participate in social justice activism these days. I have watched the peace movement become full of rage, full of "look at me, look at me," and full of seekers after a piece of the power pie.

These days I prefer to seek peace within myself and to help others find it one person at a time, through spirtual direction and being a good priest, a good nun.

The Contemplative Stance

"Contemplation becomes a way of life. I don’t like to think of it so much as something I do, but something I am; so I often use the phrase “the contemplative stance.” It’s a way of living, moving, and being in this world. The very word means “to see.”

"I fully admit that we don’t live all of our twenty-four hours there. The world keeps pulling us back into our false and small self. “Put on this hat. Attach to this identity. Take on this hurt. Put on this self-importance,” we say to ourselves. It’s all right as long as we know how to take it back off again, and rather quickly, if possible. “Who was I before I was hurt?” is your original face, your true identity in God, your own “immaculate conception.” We must all crawl our way back to such innocence and such freedom."

- Fr. Richard Rohr OFM, Adapted from Contemplative Prayer (CD)


Quotes like this are the reason I haven't written anything substantial about contemplative prayer. How could I possibly say it better?

There is no trick to it. As a famous ad says, "Just do it." Every day. Whether you like it or not. Whether it "works" or not. Whether you "feel" anything or not. That's the only way to get to the contemplative way of life.