Lent Day 23:

[Thanks to the Bible Study group of staff, volunteers and guests at Gould Farm led by Rev. Liz Goodman for providing the spark of inspiration for this entry]

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God".  Matthew 5:8

"This may well be the most important of all the beatitudes - from the perspective of wisdom it certainly is.  But what is purity of heart?  This is another of those concepts we have distorted badly in our very morality-oriented Christianity of the West.  For most people, purity of heart would almost certainly mean being virtuous, particularly in the sexual arena.  It would be roughly synonymous with chastity, perhaps even with celibacy.  But in wisdom teaching, purity means singleness, and the proper translation of this beatitude is, really, "Blessed are those whose heart is not divided" or "whose heart is a unified whole"...According to Jesus, this enlightenment takes place primarily within the heart.  when your heart becomes "single" - that is, when it desires one thing only, when it can live in perfect alignment with that resonant field of mutual yearning we called "the righteousness of God," then you "see God"."

from The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind by Cynthia Bourgeault

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Heart of mine,
so often scattered into pieces,
be knit together.
Gaze upon the face of the Divine,
and know that there lies essential mercy.
Be a single entity
beating with each pulse
a rhythm of love,
yearning for God.

Lent Day 22:

Every element has a sound, 

an original sound from the order of God; 

all those sounds unite like the harmony from harps and zithers.

~ Hildegard of Bingen

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Accept this offering of sound for your practice of prayer.
CLICK HERE

Lent Days 20 & 21:

The person who dives for pearls

is never satisfied to come up with shells.

Neither should those who aim at virtue

be satisfied

with honors and reputation. 

The more virtue parades itself,

the more it desires to be seen and acclaimed,

the less likely it is

to be real and true.

True virtue and personal attractiveness

are not rooted and supported

in pride, self-sufficiency, and vanity.

These produce a life lived

strictly for show.

It blooms brilliantly

and quickly withers away.

Having the appearance of virtue

may be fine for those

who do not seek it,

who accept it indifferently,

and who do not mistake the shell for the pearl.

But it can become very dangerous and hurtful

to those who cling to it,

and take delight in it.

For if someone

is truly wise, truly learned,

truly generous and noble,

their gifts will flower

in true humility and modesty.

A really great soul

will not waste itself on such empty goods

as rank, honor, and form.

It has higher aspirations.

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

All Through the Day; seek the pearl, not the shell.

from Set Your Heart Free; The Practical Spirituality of Francis de Sales

Lent Day 19:

“All mysticism is characterised by a passion for unity. To the mystic, true Being and Ultimate Reality are One…Christian mystics aspire to an intimate union of love with God, seeking God’s presence as the very ground of the soul. The human being is endowed with a spiritual sense that opens us inwardly, just as our physical senses open us outwardly.”

King, Ursula, Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies through the Ages, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988 p.15.

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Contemplate:  Consider what inward "spiritual sense" means to you.  What does it mean to you to experience a "union of love with God"?  

Prayer:  I feel the earth beneath me, the air around me, and the presence of the Holy Spirit within.

Lent Day 18:

Well, I believed that there was a God because I was told it by my grandmother and later by other adults. But when I found that I knew not only that there was God but that I was a child of God, when I understood that, when I comprehended that, more than that, when I internalized that, ingested that, I became courageous. I dared to do anything that was a good thing. I dared to do things as distant from what seemed to be in my future. I became a translator in Serbo-Croat in Yugoslavia, and I conducted the Boston Pops. I taught at the Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv in Israel, and I worked as a journalist in Egypt with the only English news magazine in the Middle East. All of that, and I come from a little village in Arkansas, smaller than Picayune, (laughs) and I was a young black woman, trying to do all the good things. When I was asked to do something good, I often say yes, I'll try, yes, I'll do my best. And part of that is believing, if God loves me, if God made everything from leaves to seals and oak trees, then what is it I can't do?

~ Maya Angelou  (our oldest daughter's namesake)

(taken from interview conducted via teleconference, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and The (Baton Rouge) Advocate. http://www.nola.com/living/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/02/maya_angelou_discusses_her_fai.html )

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

God, help me to internalize, help me comprehend

that I am your child.

May I be encouraged by this reality.
May I courageously do good in this world 

because I believe

because I know

that You love me.

Amen.

Lent Day 17:

"...in Christian understanding truth is neither an object "out there" nor a proposition about such objects.  Instead, truth is personal, and all truth is known in personal relationships.  Jesus is a paradigm, a model of this personal truth.  In him, truth, once understood as abstract, principled, propositional, suddenly takes on a human face and a human frame.  In Jesus, the disembodied "word" takes flesh and walks among us.  Jesus calls us to truth, but not in the form of creeds or theologies or world-views.  His call to truth is a call to community - with him, with each other, with creation and its Creator.  If what we know is an abstract, impersonal, apart from us, it cannot be truth, for truth involves a vulnerable, faithful, and risk-filled interpenetration of the knower and the known".

from To Know As We Are Known; A Spirituality of Education by Parker J. Palmer

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

One of my closest friends in college and I used to sit for hours and contemplate together the meaning of truth with a capital "T".  As young evangelicals we felt a sense of urgency to understand and speak of ultimate truth with conviction and authority.  This book by Parker Palmer helped me move away from the need to be right toward the much more difficult necessity of living harmoniously with all of creation - even those parts I don't like so much, like those who think they have all the answers.

What does truth mean to you?
When have you felt connected to something true?
In what way does Christ embody truth in your life?
Spend five minutes matching your breath with these words: 

"Spirit of truth, wash over me"

Lent Day 16:

(photo by Olivia Finston-Fox)

This I know
That the only way to live
             Is like the rose
which lives
             without a why.

From Meditations with Meister Eckhart by Matthew Fox


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

I don't know if it is actually possible to live without a why but if I try to do so it does require that I stay completely in the present moment. No whys about the past or whys about the future.  Maybe a momentary why about the present but then the only reasonable answer is "to be" which as a follower of Christ translate "to love".

Imagine yourself as a rose in full bloom.
Take in the sun and rain
Endure the wind and cold
Be for a moment
Letting the sweet scent of love and compassion
The essence of life 
Rise.

(photo by Olivia Finston-Fox)

Lent Day 15:

"...I think it is important to pray naked in front of a full-length mirror sometimes, especially when you are full of loathing for your body.  Maybe you think you are too heavy.  Maybe you have never liked the way your hipbones stick out.  do your breasts sag?  Are you too hairy?  It is always something.  Then again, maybe you have been sick or come through some surgery that has changed the way you look.  You have gotten glimpses of your body as you have bathed or changed clothes, but so far maintaining your equilibrium has depended upon staying covered up as much as you can....This can only go on so long, especially for someone who officially believes that God loves flesh and blood, no matter what kind of shape it is in.

Whether you are sick or well, lovely or irregular, there comes a time when it is vitally important for your spiritual health to drop your clothes, look in the mirror, and say, 

"Here I am.  
This is the body-like-no-other that my life has shaped.  
I live here.  
This is my soul's address".  

After you take a good look around, you may decide that there is a lot to be thankful for, all things considered.

from An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor  

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

I think Barbara Brown Taylor has already given us a suggestion. Question is, which of us will actually do it?

Lent Day 14:

When we speak about celebration we tend rather easily to bring to mind happy, pleasant, gay festivities in which we can forget for a while the hardships of life and immerse ourselves in an atmosphere of music, dance, drinks, laughter, and a lot of cozy small-talk.  But celebration in the Christian sense has very little to do with this.  Celebration is possible only through the deep realization that life and death are never found completely separate.

Celebration can really come about only where fear and love, joy and sorrow, tears and smiles can exist together. Celebration is the acceptance of life in a constantly increasing awareness of its preciousness. And life is precious not only because it can be seen, touched, and tasted, but also because it will be gone one day.

When we celebrate a wedding we celebrate a union as well as a departure; when we celebrate death we celebrate lost friendship as well as gained liberty.  There can be tears after weddings and smiles after funerals.  We can indeed make our sorrows, just as much as our joys, a part of our celebration of life in the deep realization that life and death are not opponents but do, in fact, kiss each other at every moment of our existence.

When we have been able to celebrate life in all these decisive moments where gaining and losing - that is, life and death - touched each other all the time, we will be able to celebrate even our own dying because we have learned from life that those who lose it can find it (Matt. 16:25)

from Creative Ministry by Henri Nouwen


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Consider how life and death have kissed each other in your life.
Is it possible for you to celebrate this experience of gaining and losing?
Hold each of these considerations in mind and offer them to God using this abbreviated prayer written by Henri Nouwen:

Dear Lord, today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh: "It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea".  

You are the sea.

There are days of sadness and days of joy;
there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude;
there are moments of failure and moments of success;
but all of them are embraced by your unwavering love.

O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know that there is ebb and flow but that the sea remains the sea.  Amen.

Lent Day 13:

Jesus hath now many lovers of His heavenly kingdom,
but few bearers of His cross.

He hath many desirous of consolation,
but few of tribulation.
He findeth many companions of his table,
but few of His abstinence.

All desire to rejoice with Him,
few are willing to endure for Him.

Many love Jesus so long as no adversities befall them.

O how powerful is the pure love of Jesus which is mixed with no self-interest nor self-love!

Are not all those to be called mercenary who are ever seeking consolations? Do they not show themselves to be rather lovers of themselves than of Christ, who are always thinking of their own profit and advantage?

Where shall one be found who is willing to serve God for nought?

from The Imitation of Christ 
by Thomas 'A Kempis aka Gerhard Groote


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

I have a confession to make.  I am almost always thinking about my own profit and advantage.  I meet someone new and think "can this person make me happy? be my friend? provide me with xyz?"  It bugs the heck out of me, but it's almost an immediate response.  I find it a challenge to love with no self-interest or selfish self-love [notice I am not advocating self-deprecation just warning against self-preoccupation].  

Tribulation, abstinence, endurance; rather than run from these by filling my world with things, people and experiences I will seek Christ in the void left by their absence.  I will seek Christ by considering first what others might need in order to know that they are loved.

Today I will greet each person (including my family members) by first taking a breath and saying to myself "What does this person need in this particular moment?"

Lent Day 12:

God created through love and for love.  
God did not create anthing except love itself, 
and the means to love.
He created love in all its forms.  
He created beings capable of love 
from all possible distances.  
Because no other could do it, 
he himself went to the greatest possible distance, 
the infinite distance.  
This infinite distance between God and God, 
this supreme tearing apart, 
this agony beyond all others, 
this marvel of love, is the crucifixion.  
Nothing can be further from God 
than that which has been made accursed.

This tearing apart, 
over which supreme love 
places the bond of supreme union, 
echoes perpetually across the universe 
in the midst of the silence,
like two notes,
separate yet melting into one,
like pure and heart-rending harmony.

This is the Word of God.
The whole creation is nothing but its vibration.
When human music in its greatest purity 
pierces our soul,
this is what we hear through it.

from Waiting For God by Simone Weil

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Put on a piece of music that pierces your soul and listen for the Word of God.

Lent Day 11:

In my Father's house are many rooms;
if it were not so,
would I have told you
that I go to prepare a place for you?

John 14:2


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

I recorded this for the prayer and meditation group at the Reformed Church of Highland Park.  I hope you find it useful.

"In God's Home, All Are Welcome" 
(you may have to have an itunes account to listen)
Click Here

Lent Day 10:

"Fresh sap has a certain enigmatic character to it, sterile yet vibrant with a hint of mysticism. Its crystal clarity gives it this sense of eternalness... and it can be deceiving how ephemeral in fact it really is. At room temperature, it lasts only around 48 hours. It can be frozen but in the past when this was not an option, the way of letting it live beyond its season was, like with many raw materials, through transformation."

From Nordicfoodlab.org

Rather than quote an established mystic today I have chosen to post this commentary, along with my own  thoughts, on sap. Lisanne and I spent two hours Saturday afternoon helping a team of people collect sap from tapped maple trees. It's been so cold that the sap has not been flowing but yesterday temperatures reached over 40 so it was a perfect day for collecting.

I like how the author of this quote from nordicfood.org says "the way of letting [the sap] live beyond its season" is "through transformation".  It reminds me that in order to survive - thrive - live, more often than not, change of one sort or another is necessary.  And change requires effort. Trudging through snow carrying Home Depot-like buckets of sap is exhausting. And beyond the collecting it must go through a lengthy process of being cooked down before becoming maple syrup. Like most transformations, that of turning sap into something sweet requires tremendous work.

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Consider any life changes you may be facing be they relational, spiritual, vocational or something else. Cup your hands together and imagine that you hold that experience in your hands. How heavy does it weigh? What color and shape would you give it if you could?  Are the contours of it smooth or sharp?  Do you feel like you hold it alone or are their other hands beneath yours helping you manage it?

Bring your hands to your heart, and taking a deep cleansing breath, whisper these words "may I walk carefully as I carry this treasure.  May I endure all that it requires of me, and may the resulting transformation be shaped and blessed by God.  Amen "

Lent Day 9:

Faithful friends are a well-built shelter;
when you find one, you find a treasure.
Faithful friends are priceless;
their value is beyond counting.
Faithful friends are the essence of life,
a blessing for those who fear Yahweh.
Those who fear Yahweh treat others with respect;
and their friends will behave the same way.

Sirach 6:14
(Sirach was written by a Jewish scribe who lived in Jerusalem in the early third century BC. His name was Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach. He is often called simply "Ben Sira.")


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

"A primary activity in spiritual direction is simply listening, being a sounding board on whom others can try out ideas, oprinions, or self-criticism...This is almost a natural response to deep friendship. By making such friendship spiritual by a specific agreement of both parties, you will truly find "a treasure beyond price and a life-saving remedy". (Father William A. Meninger from The Committed Life).

1. Read the passage from Sirach slowly, pausing a few seconds at the end of each line.
2. Take a moment today and consider who among those you know might be your faithful friend.
3. Email or call that friend and ask if they might act as a spiritual director if even for just this one time.
4. Consider an idea, opinion or self-criticism that you might express to your friend and ask for their feedback.
5. Acknowledge their feedback refraining from the urge to agree or disagree.
6. Offer your response to this feedback in prayer perhaps using the statement "Creator God, pour forth your Wisdom on me and grant me insight and understanding, amen."

Lent Day 8:

The life of contemplation is, then, 
not simply a life of human technique and discipline;
it is the life of the Holy Spirit in our inmost souls.

Contemplation is the work of love, 
and the contemplative proves his [sic] love 
by leaving all things, 
even the most spiritual things, for God 
in nothingness, detachment, and "night".  
But the deciding factor in contemplation is the free and unpredictable action of God.

from The Inner Experience by Thomas Merton


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

When you sit in prayer or meditation begin by imagining the Holy Spirit flowing through you.  You control nothing of the Spirit's movements.  You do not cause the Spirit to be present.  You are simply providing a conduit. If it helps, picture the Spirit radiating outward from your heart and through the palms of your hands; outward to a world in need of love and grace. 

Lent Day 7

"By the term "Spiritual Exercises" is meant every method of examination of conscience, of meditation, of contemplation, of vocal and mental prayer, and of other spiritual activities....For just as taking a walk, journeying on foot, and running are bodily exercises, so we call Spiritual Exercises every way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all inordinate attachments, and, after their removal, of seeking and finding the will of God..."

from The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius edited by Louis J. Puhl, S.J.


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

What are you most attached to?
A person?
An emotion?
A goal?

What do you do to rid yourself of inordinate or excessive attachment to these?
When you are able to do this, if even for a few seconds, how do you then go about seeking and finding God?

Lent Day 6:

Consider the words of Jesus:
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on" (Matt. 6:25)

When you sit down to meditate, the first thing is to let go of your anxieties.  And when I say anxieties, I include reasoning and thinking and preoccupation and planning and all the rest.  Just let them go.  Nor is this easy.  For, as we all know, the human mind is restless.  It looks to the future with fear or anticipation; it looks to the past with nostalgia or with guilt.  Seldom does it remain in the here and now.  Yet Jesus tells us clearly to drop anxiety about the future in order to remain in the present.

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day" (Matt. 6:34).

This sounds simple; but how difficult it is!  For we love our anxieties; we cling to them and wallow in them.  We need the advice of Jesus:  "Do not be anxious..."  His words will gradually teach us the gentle art of letting go.


A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

If you wish you can simply repeat to yourself the words of the Lord:  "Do not be anxious", "do not be anxious"...Or, again, some people like to use the words of Peter at the Transfiguration, "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Matt. 17:4).  Any words of sacred scripture, repeated again and again with relish, can be an excellent form of meditation; and they will succeed in warding off all anxiety and needless thinking and reasoning.  Moreover, this simple process brings us into the present moment.

all of the above is taken from Christian Zen by William Johnston.

Lent 2014 Day 5

Be praised Good Lord for Brother Sun

who brings us each new day.

Be praised for Sister Moon: white

beauty bright and fair, with wandering

stars she moves through the night.

Be praised my Lord for Brother Wind,

for air and clouds and the skies of every season.

Be praised for Sister Water: humble,

helpful, precious, pure; she cleanses

us in rivers and renews us in rain.

Be praised my Lord for Brother fire:

he purifies and enlightens us.

Be praised my Lord for Mother Earth:

abundant source, all life sustaining;

she feeds us bread and fruit and gives us flowers.

[this and home page photo taken by Olivia Finston-Fox]

- St. Francis of Assisi

A suggestion for meditation and prayer:

Go outside right now and search for a glimpse of God's good creation.  

I think you'll know it when you see it!

Lent 2014 Day Four: 

The Spirit both nurtures contemplation and empowers action; the Spirit guides us into a life in which these moments of stillness and action, silence and energy are balanced.

In the Christian tradition, the language of the Holy Spirit is not only one of breath, attention, and presence, but also a language of energy and fire.  The experience of the Spirit is not only the experience of calm insight, but also the experience of power and empowerment.

Diana L. Eck from Encountering God; A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras

A suggestion for prayer and meditation:

What Spirit-filled action can you take today?  Just choose one small thing that you know you can follow through on.  It doesn't have to be loud or radical or something that you commit to for the rest of your life.  It just needs to be an expression of the Spirit of Love that God causes to flow through you like an energetic electric current.  

Lent 2014 Day Three:

Prayer is not primarily saying words or thinking thoughts.
It is, rather, a stance.
It's a way of living in the Presence, living in awareness of the Presence, and even of enjoying the Presence.
The full contemplative is not just aware of the Presence, but trusts, allows, and delights in it.

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation...practicing living in the Presence of God:

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

from Everything Belongs by Franciscan priest Father Richard Rohr

I love reading the works of Christian Mystics both modern and classic.  For Lent this year I have decided to post a daily quote which I plan on using to focus my prayers and meditation.  I offer it to the virtual public just in case anyone else might find it a useful spiritual practice as we head into the Spring.

Lent 2014 Days 1 & 2:

Faith is
nothing else but
a right understanding
of our being -
trusting
and allowing things to be;

A right understanding 
that we are in God
and God
whom we do not see
is in us.

Julian of Norwich
from Meditations with Julian of Norwich by Brendan Doyle


A suggestion for you prayer practice:

Breathing in I know I am in God.
Breathing out I know God is in me.

Breathing in.....I am in God.
Breathing out.....God is in me.

(Sit quietly for 10 minutes following your breath and internally repeating these words on the inhalation and exhalation)