Originally Posted on another of my blogs. Moving everything here.

Original post was dated March 26, 2013

Are you able to pray about it?

At lunch today in community we were talking about spiritual growth and how one can approach another about  that issue, and about praying for people who don't like us or whom we don't like.  Cait reminded us about the above question she has asked in the past, particularly of  those seeking spiritual direction, who were victims of abuse of some kind.

If we are able to pray about our issue, whatever it is, I think there is hope for healing and for growth.  If we are still suffering too much to pray, the suffering can be a kind of prayer, so long as we do whatever work we must do to ensure it will make us stronger and more wise, rather than smaller and more self-centered.  If we let our suffering become our identity, we can get stuck at our current level and be unable to move on, until we get out of our own way again.


My sister and I began a book, but I got stuck.  I have nothing original to say; the only things unique to me are not actually unique in the world, but maybe the way I express myself might help another human being somehow find the hope to keep on keeping on. (Sr. Sheila, if you have made any pictures for our book, send them on to me and I will post them with the relevant posts in this blog.)

So...are you able to pray about it?  If not, just sit still anyhow, for at least three minutes a day, even if you have to pretend it will make a difference.  As time goes on, if you are faithful to this practice, you will find yourself changing, slowly, until you come to look forward to the sitting still.  You will begin to know interior peace, and growing comfort in your own skin.  You may find, if you are of a certain personality type, that you come to need an hour a day of this.  Other types of persons do better with a rosary or with holy reading, or even walking the dog.  The important point is the faithfulness to the practice, and the intention to grow into conscious contact with the God of your understanding. 

Whoever you are, wherever you are, I am praying for you my brothers and sisters to come to know intimately the One who loves us.  Faithfulness to the practice will, I promise you, change you utterly and you will know you are loved and you will find peace. 

"Prepared for Red Martyrdom"

A mind prepared for red martyrdom [that is death for the faith].

Do not hesitate to sacrifice your own comfort and security and even your life for the sake of your Faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

Reflection:    While this is not likely unless one travels to an Islamic land and tries to evangelize, we are nonetheless required to demonstrate the same level of commitment as the early martyrs.  We must speak truth to power; we must pray for the courage to take risks, to step out of our comfort zone.  For some of us the challenge may be to accept that we are doing the best we can and that it is in fact all right to be happy!  My faith in Christ Jesus tells me that I am deeply loved, and that there are no limits or conditions on that love.  Neither must I withhold the least thing from my Beloved.  Daily I grow more grateful for the Rule and for the Order.

(Note:  I am writing in a larger font so I can read it myself!)

The Exercise of Authority

•Let thy servant be a discreet, religious, not tale-telling man, who is to attend continually on thee, with moderate labour of course, but always ready.

 

If you are placed in authority over another, whether those in your employ or in business choose them wisely, seek persons who are trustworthy and if possible spiritual, and honest in their service.  Treat all under your authority with Charity.

Reflection:  I have no one over whom I have authority, but I have experienced being a supervisor, and I have raised children (well, one child and one grandchild), with varying success.  The one thing I have come to know is that it is critical to be honest, kind and firm as regards rules, and to be utterly profligate as regards love.  We are told to do justice, have mercy and walk humbly – these practices dictate our behavior towards anyone over whom we might have authority.  (Cait, I am too tired to check whether this usage of “whom” is correct.  Feel fee to edit!) 

Enclosed in the Love of God

•Let a fast place, with one door, enclose thee.

Whether you live in common or alone, let it be holy ground which is secure, enabling you to live this life enclosed in the Love of God.

Reflection: I hardly ever know what to write about this point of the Rule.  I live in an intentional community.  I do have my private room, but for me the whole property is a holy place, enclosed in the Love of God.  

I think this rule may reflect the way of life of the time it was written, when many people lived in one room, sometimes even with the critters inside, where it would be difficult to find alone time, which is essential for building up the one-to-one relationship with God.  Even today, there are houses crammed with families who cannot afford to live alone.  In that situation, it would be very difficult to live at peace unless one had many years of practice of enclosure of the heart.  It makes me deeply grateful for both the privacy I enjoy and the fact that I live with like-minded people.

For Love of the One Who Loves Me

Point of OMC Rule:

•Whatsoever little or much thou possessest of anything, whether clothing, or food, or drink, let it be at the command of the senior and at his disposal, for it is not befitting a religious to have any distinction of property with his own free brother. 

Look upon all possessions as loans from God and let them be used for the honor and glory of God and at the service of Charity.

Reflection:

This point of the Rule is lived differently by each of us according to our state in life, as most of us do not live together.  Before I retired, the money I made by working went to support myself, and after that to my ministry.  I never felt a need for more than my share of the world’s goods.  That was not a virtue of mine, it was simply the result of having lost everything so many times that they were just things.  I never feared having nothing, having been there before.  Nor did I ever lack anything essential during my ministry.  I have come to believe that in serving Christ, I am supplied by God with all that I need to do just that.

Now that I live in community, I pay the bills I have to pay, and the rest of what I have is for the community’s needs.  It isn’t a lot, but so far amongst ourselves, we’ve had enough to keep on keeping on. 

I have no illusion that God needs honor and glory.  I have no doubt that Christ needs everything I have to give and more.  And because he is my first, best, and last love, I give it with great joy.

Imitation of Christ

OMC Rule – Point for Today

•Be always naked in imitation of Christ and the Evangelists.

In total humility imitate Christ as you proclaim the Good News of God’s Love which is our salvation from our self-centeredness.

Reflection:

The Imitation of Christ  is one of the best ways I can think of to serve God.  So, what did Jesus do and how do we do that in today’s world?  

Jesus spent time with God.  No matter what else was going on, from the time he ditched his parents to go to the teachers in the temple until his arrest and after, he spoke with His Father pretty much all the time.  How can we live in conscious contact with God?  We are instructed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  How can we achieve that renewal?  By means of prayer and meditation. 

It has been said that prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening for the answers.  After over 35 years of practice, I can say that it is not easy, but it is very simple.  Be alone in a quiet place.  Don’t do anything else.  Notice your thoughts, let them pass by, and live in the moment, the only place God can be found.  

Because of Jesus’ close relationship with the Father, he constantly reached out to others.  In AA we say, “You only get to keep what you give away.”  I would add that dwelling in constant, conscious contact with God results in an upwelling of love that has to be passed around.  We must give out of the abundance of our love…which can only increase the more we give.  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of the sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."  (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus taught his closest friends to love each other deeply and well.   “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  (John 13:34-35)  If we love one another enough to abandon our agenda in favor of the good of others, we will be on our way to imitating Christ.  If people can look at our lives and conclude that we are humble people of peace who love each other….if we love each other enough to make other people want what we have, we are on our way to being Christlike.

Loving each other is hard.  It can’t be done at the same time we are being self-centered.  Curiously, the more selfless we become, the healthier we are spiritually.  So we plunge into the messy, hard-edged business of community and treat everyone as Christ.  It will, in the end, cost us everything, and that’s fine.  The servant is not better than her master.  Funnily enough, along the way, we get to be happy, joyous and free!

A guest post today from Rev. Dolly Ryan

Is God…

Recently, I received an e-ad with the subject line: “Is God Anti-Gay?”  The words slapped me in the face, poured ice cold water down my spine, and caused me to start scurrying through my mental Bible in search of my own security against the torrents of prejudices.  I wasn’t “stuck” where many might suspect.  I am not dismissing the seriousness of acknowledging the error of discrimination based on sexual preferences.  But my reaction wasn’t to the word “gay”.  I barely noticed the word sitting there at the end of the sentence like a signal flag on a yacht which silently flaps in the wind hoping to catch attention.  I barely read the sentence at all.  I was stuck in my core by “IS GOD ‘ANTI’”!  It is almost as if God and “anti” should never be used in the same breath. 

Thus began my search for a scriptural “anti”.  Show me “anti” my mind echoed.  My brain’s search engine began looking for times when Jesus was anti-somebody.  According to the culture of his time, Jesus must have been anti-Roman?  Instead I found him greeting and praising the centurion who wanted his servant healed.  He eagerly healed the son of a royal official.  Well then, surely Jesus obeyed the Jewish tradition by being anti-gentiles? Again the answer was no.  He took a moment to speak with the Samaritan woman at the well and he accepted the criticism from the Canaanite woman who wanted the crumbs from his table of miracles for her daughter.  Maybe Jesus was like so many of us, maybe he hated mindless followers.  Yet he continued to teach his apostles even though he got frustrated when they repeatedly misunderstood his lessons. 

Perhaps he was anti-criminals and wrongdoers.  Yet, over and over again I discovered him in their midst; the woman caught in adultery who was positioned to be stoned and the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof, to name two.  Possibly he was against strangers. Then I find the parable about the Good Samaritan.  My thoughts continue to search, did he think that women were inferior to men, a rather common idea. But I remember that although women were often not permitted in the same room with a gathering of men, he revered the woman who washed his feet.  Likewise, as he was preparing to die he worried about the women who were weeping and the welfare of his own mother. Also, the first person he chose to visit after his resurrection was a woman.  No, he was not anti-feminist.

Wait, I remember!  During his lifetime it was forbidden to associate with someone who was considered unclean.  So, Jesus must have been against anyone who was sick or dead.  However, he touched lepers and blind men; the woman who was hemorrhaging; the lady who was bent over in the temple; the man who was demon possessed. And wasn’t he the one who called Lazarus from the tomb?  I discovered he wasn’t even against those who were plotting to kill him.  He never even became anti-Judas who traded loyalty and friendship for pieces of silver.  Nor, was he opposed to those who caused his crucifixion.  As a matter of record, he begged that they be forgiven.  Try as I may, I can’t find a single case where Jesus was “anti” anyone.

So what did Jesus preach against?  He preached anti-hate.  He set the standards of socially acceptable behavior. I know that he was anti-hunger, anti-homeless, anti-judgmental, anti-callousness, anti-hate…  In other words, Jesus was anti-“anti-love”. He preached against pre-judging who God loves.  He warned us to stop telling God who he must reject.

I presume the authors of the book that the ad was promoting want to talk about gay issues.  I have no idea whether they are prompting a pro or con viewpoint but I am sure that they are implying that their stand is God’s stand.  I know that gay-issues are tremendously important: socially, politically and spiritually. I know so many people who have suffered from the prejudice generate by ugly misplaced fears and misinformation on the subject.  And there are so many, who for so long, have suffered terrible indignities.  I do not want any of you to misunderstand.  I do know this discrimination is wrong and that it continues to promote more hate.  I am not trying to downplay the significance of this issue.  But, what is disturbing to me in this moment are all the things upheld as wrong in the name of God.  If we listened to the Word of God we should be unable to endorse anything that did not love.  We would not fight the truth that everyone is loved by God and this should be enough for us.  But we focus on searching the Rule of Love hoping to find the flaw that will allow us our prejudices.

In conclusion, my answer to the question asked by the ad is God is not “anti-gay”.  Nor, is God anti anyone.  If we truly practice Christianity, we would not have labels that build fences.  We would offer dignity and respect to everyone. We would obey the command to Love one another and we would be tripping over each other trying to do this.

Talk to me.  Can you find an incident where God rejected someone? Is God anti-?  As the old hymn says:  If God is for us, who can be against?  Therefore let us stand with God by being pro-everyone.

May we always know the comfort of God who loves us unconditionally.  May we love our neighbor as our self.  And, may our prejudices be revealed, forgiven and healed. Amen.

 

Your forever servant,

Dolly+

Some Thoughts About Love

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

            1 Cor. 13: 4-8

In other words, love is as love does.  Love is an action word.  It concerns itself with the other, not with the self.  When we are a channel of the love of God, we get out of the way and let God love through us.  In so doing, we are changed utterly. 

Loving someone may mean telling them no.  It may mean speaking truth to power.  It may be risky.  But it is our great joy as well.  It is love that keeps us going when we can’t go on.  In the end we realize it is God’s love that is and has been doing that all along. 

This kind of love is not shallow or sentimental.  It is not romantic love as the teenager would have it. It is not even erotic love.  This is the love that is stronger than death.  This is the love that throws itself into the fray with joy knowing that the battle is with powers and principalities, and will cost us everything we are.  Knowing that in dying to self, we are born to joyful life. 

Because he first loved me, I can dance in the rain, laughing at illusory fears.  Because he rescued me, I can leave it all on the field when I pass through the veil, knowing that there too, I will be available to love all in all. 

Don’t believe me?  That’s all right.  Take the actions you would take if you did believe it.  Moment by moment, day by day, you will come to see that the hard work is being done in you by the One who loves us all.  Bit by bit you will realize you have become happy, independent of all the people, places or things around you.  You will know peace.  You will become the change you would like to see in the world.  See you there!

Hope

Hope is not a momentary flicker.
Hope is Eternity's slow, steady,
Illumining and fulfilling height.

--  Sri Chinmoy

Hope, I think, is that which keeps us moving forward in spiritual darkness.  It is born of faith and fed by sacrament.  It grows with praxis and makes gentle the spirit.  Not a mere dedication to “positive thinking,” hope survives the most horrific events because faith gives meaning to life. 

Hope is that which permits us to ask, at the end of our rope, “Help me.”  Hope grows in light of the knowledge that we are loved by the Beloved.  It makes us get up one more time and try again. 

Hope is fed by love.  Love that is given by us and love that we give both nurture hope.  Hope is a great gift, best grown within one’s self by giving it away.  We can be utterly helpless and still have hope. 

Hope understands that the One Who loves loves us utterly and entirely and wants us to be happy.  Hope dances in the dark, laughing at illusory fears, knowing that with the dawn, the King is coming and all will be well.

Not as the World Gives

Born in sorrow

Grown in chaos

We struggle to find love

To leave the world a little better

To give away something of ourselves

In hopes of showing just one person

The value of silence in times of confusion

            Of holding on for one more day.

Wise in pain

With suffering a friend

Comes our Beloved

With comfort and with courage

The lord of our quantum dance

Along the lines of probability

To teach us how to find each other

            Finding Him

***************************

There is no more wonderful thing in this life than conscious contact with God.  It is worth every effort, any sacrifice.  Many teachers have come my way, some of them people who I felt at the time were terrible people; people who hurt me or someone I love.  Some were and are truly holy people who leave me in awe of their simplicity and single-heartedness in the pursuit of God's will.   Today I am grateful for all of my teachers and ask God's blessing on every one.