32.Gratefulness

We live in changing times, especially with the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is easy to experience a sense of 'disenchantment' to everything that is occurring at the moment. And to lose touch of a sense of wonder and gratefulness which allows me to encounter what Gerard Manely Hopkins called the 'dearest freshness' that exists in all things.

However, I know I also have a choice. I can only experience an attitude of gratefulness by staying in the present moment. I may feel gratitude for past events (when we lived in a time before the virus arrived, for example). Or live with anticipation and hope for the future (when a safe, proven and affordable vaccine is readily available for all people) for example. The challenge is, how do I live with an attitude of gratefulnesses 'now' amidst all that is occurring? This is where I find my spiritual practice is essential because it helps me to stay in the present moment.

The Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson once said that the deepest act of love is not helping or service, but this immediate attentive presence. This is one reason why living mindfully in the present moment is the goal of every spiritual practice. Staying present opens the door to discover all of life is holy because the miraculous presence of God flows through all things – as challenging as that may be to accept.

A way I have found helpful was suggested by Denise Levertov in her poem, The Conversion of Brother Lawrence. Her poem refers to a 17th-century monk who made a choice to seek to always live in the present moment. With an open attitude of gratefulness despite all that was happening around him. Her poem includes these lines:

Everything faded, thinned to nothing, beside
the light which bathed and warmed,
the Presence your being had opened to.
Where it shone, there life was, and abundantly;
it touched your dullest task, and the task was easy.
Joyful, absorbed, you 'practiced the presence of God' as a musician
practices hour after hour their art:
'A stone before the carver',
you 'entered into yourself'.

I find practising being open to God's presence is an ongoing conscious choice. The more I do this the more I discover the 'dearest freshness that exists in all things', however challenging or stressful the current situation may be.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga
May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

­__________________

Levertov, D, Conversion of Brother Lawrence, Seamus Sweeney, https://seamussweeney.net/2018/05/18/denise-levertov-conversion-of-brother-lawrence/

Steindl-Rast, D osb, Deeper than Words – Living the Apostle's Creed, Doubleday, 2010

 

31. Leaping For Joy

I wonder what causes your heart to leap for joy?

In my last blog on the 'First Signs of Spring', I mentioned my joy at seeing the first signs of life in our garden. I also enjoy watching the new lambs race and frolic together. How they manage to find their way back to the right mother is another of nature's mysteries! My blog also left me wondering about the other things in life that brought me joy.

However, Joy is not the same as happiness. The UK Psychologist Rachel Fearnley, suggests joy flows out of making peace with who we are, why we are, and how we are. While happiness usually arises from the things we have or receive, or places we visit, on thoughts that come to mind, or on particular events during our day. Fearnley also suggests 'Joy' has the unique ability to open our hearts. And for this reason alone joy is a familiar theme in our Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, as found for example, in the following reflection I wrote on Psalm 4:

You, O God, are my refuge and my strength,
my helper in time of trouble.
I have no need to fear,
even when all I hold dear
is taken from me,
and the foundations of my life are shaken,
you are there.

You are within me.
In my depths I find your river of joy;
its water refreshes my soul.
You are my holy place.
When I rest in you,
I am secure.

Each morning, when I wake,
your strong arms cradle me
for you are my past and future;
in you, I am eternally present.

I will be still
and know that you are God.
You are exalted in all the earth!

This same joy-filled and awe-inspiring wonder and union with creation is found in the poetry of the Franciscan mystic, Blessed Angela of Foligno,

Everywhere she looked
she saw the created universe resplendent, with God's presence
and herself one with it...
In a vision, she could see nothing except the divine power
so that marvelling she cried aloud:
'This whole world is pregnant with God...
the world is so charged with the grandeur of God'.
Wherefore I understood how small is the whole of creation...
but the power of God fills it all to overflowing.¹

Have you thought of starting a journal to list the things each day that brought you joy?
It is a simple way to help increase mindfulness and cultivate gratitude for the awe-inspiring world we live in.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

_________

1.Paul Lachance OFM, The Spiritual Journey of the Blessed Angela of Foligno, 1984

30. First Signs of Spring

The Awakening of Spring is a lovely time of year. Today I was in the garden in-between the incessant showers of rain and noticed the tulip bulbs I planted some weeks ago were pushing their spears into the open. It felt like a little miracle was unfolding in front of me. Particularly special, because I had been part of letting it happen.

e.e.cummings captured the moment so beautifully in his poem that begins with:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes!

With this thought in mind, I read again today the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth. On her arrival, Elizabeth felt her baby 'leap for joy' within her as she welcomes Mary into her home. An exciting 'Spring-time' God-moment for everyone, as they celebrated the gift of hope and new life.

Recently, I came across the same Spring-time hope in the writing and poetry of the Carmelite mystic, Jessica Powers (1905-1988). Powers lived as a Discalced Carmelite for forty-seven years as 'Sister Mirian of the Holy Spirit' in the Wisconsin community of the Carmel of Mother of God. While her external world was limited to the walls of her Order, the landscape of the inner life became her spiritual sanctuary. She expressed this life powerfully and eloquently in her poetry.

Two essential ingredients of her spirituality were relationship and revelation. Both depended on the willingness and openness to seek God's presence hidden under the cloak of our humanity.

For example, in her poem, 'Garments of God', she wrote:

God sits on a chair of darkness in my soul...
here in the dark I clutch the garments of God.

I thought of the tulip bulbs I planted within the darkness of the soil some weeks ago. Or the seeds of life growing within Elizabeth and Mary – all sharing this amazing gift of life. Captured so beautifully with these engaging metaphors in Power's poem on Creature-hood:

God likes me covered with my creaturehood
and with my limits spread across His face...

The soul that wanders, Spirit led,
becomes, in His transforming shade,
the secret that she was, in God,
before the world was made.

Bulbs and Babies becoming channels of God's creative life and love for others to share and delight in – and through which we may hear the silent whispers of God's voice:

For the mercy of God speaks
to the mercy that lies dormant in the human heart...
That is God's greatest attribute.

I wonder what signs of New Life are budding within you this Spring?

 

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga 

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

_______________

'I Thank You God', https://artandtheology.org/2016/04/27/i-thank-you-god-for-most-this-amazing-by-e-e-cummings/

The Spirituality of Jessica Powers. https://www.helpfellowship.org/OCDS%20Lessons/Lesson%2020.htm

29. Clinging

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.
If, in our heart, we still cling to anything
—anger, anxiety, people or possessions—
we cannot be free.
Thich Nhat Hanh

This morning I was reflecting on the Ascension of Jesus as recorded in Acts 1:8-9. I wondered how the disciples felt watching him leave again. They would have been heart-broken watching him die on the cross – followed by their unbelievable joy and excitement he was still with them in the resurrection appearances. Now, they watch him go for good. Mary Magdalene had already been told by Jesus 'Do not hold onto me!' (John 20:17). While I sympathise with the disciple's desire to cling to Jesus, it wasn't to be. But as I read Church history, the Church still seeks to cling to Jesus, which reminds me of a Buddhist story:

A Buddhist nun once asked a wise Teacher if he could help her understand something she had read in their scriptures. It had puzzled her for many years. The teacher asked her to read it to him because he had never learnt to read. The nun was taken back and wondered how he hoped to understand the meaning if he could not read the words? To which the teacher replied:
'The Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger'.1

Jesus was a finger who pointed us to the Eternal mystery of the One we call God. He also pointed the 'Way'. The way for us to follow, and the way for us to live, to be and to become. To cling to Jesus and see him as the summit of our faith misses the point of his life. We have to learn to let go of everything we cling to in our search for meaning and purpose; emptying ourselves completely, if we wish to discover and delight in the Divine Presence of God. Or as one Meditation Teacher suggests:

'You need to start living life with open palms.
You tried to grasp onto the good times you had, and the experience has gone.
But any challenges you have now will also go,
you just need to hold onto them softly,
with open palms'.2

Jesus reminded us of this truth in the Beatitudes. For example, he asked us not to 'store up treasures here on earth' because 'where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' (Matt 6:19-21) Such open-handed living is found in the spirit of generosity (Matt 6:2-4; 5:42); foregoing retaliation (Matt 5:38-41), anxiety (Matt 6:25-32), and judgement of others (Matt 7:1-5). In so doing our life and actions become a light in a darkened world that risks losing its way with a 'Me-First' mentality. The Psychologist, Ronald Riggio predicts such an attitude will make it difficult for people to recognize the plight of others who are less fortunate, or a willingness to embrace self-sacrifice for the collective good.3

We are certainly being challenged with all these things as we live through the current Covet crisis. Although, the Gospel values that Jesus mentioned above, are apparent in the way many people are responding.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil.

________

1. See http://www.khandro.net/Bud_paths_Zen_2.htm Accessed 3/9/16.

2.. https://tinybuddha.com/blog/what-it-means-to-live-life-with-open-palms-and-how-this-sets-us-free/ Accessed 5/8/20.

3. See https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201707/are-we-all-becoming-more-self-centered Accessed 5/8/20.

28.Winter Blues

This morning as I went to make our early morning cup of tea, I saw a blaze of red through the glass door at the end of our passageway. It looked almost as if the neighbour's house was on fire! Reaching the door, I realised the early morning sunrise was painting fantastic colours on the cloudy horizon. I called my wife to come and see. And as we watched, the sunrise quickly faded to a golden yellow. It was beautiful, but I found myself recalling the old proverb: 'Red sky in the morning – shepherd's warning'. Another rainy day I thought!

We both suffer from a mild version of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Being the time of year when darkness wraps itself around us at an early hour, the nights are long, and daylight cloudy. It is easy to end up feeling a bit glum and tired of the endless sogginess and lack of warmth. I found exercise helps, so  have started to take regular walks or bicycle rides.

Yesterday, while walking along a pathway that wound its way along the bush-covered banks of a local stream, I was enthralled by the sound of Tui in a Kowhai tree. And there, under the canopy of trees surrounded by the bird song and the sound of flowing water, the earlier gloom of the  Shepherd's warning for another rainy day soon faded. It felt good to be alive, surrounded by the gift of nature.

So it was, I began to think about the transient nature of our moods. Do I have moods? Or do moods have me? I know negative moods affect my judgement and perception, while positive moods can increase my sense of happiness and hope. The ancient Greeks knew this also. They were good observers of feelings and moods and good psychologists! We see this reflected in their myths, especially in the drama of Persephone.

Persephone was a young girl who enjoyed the beauty of nature. One day she was captured by Hades and taken to his underworld kingdom. There, she becomes his bride and queen of the dark. Her mother Demeter misses and searches for her, and finally is told by Hekate, the goddess who rules the darkness, what has occurred. In the end, Hermes, the guide of souls, brings Persephone back from Hades. However, before releasing Persephone, Hades requests that she is to spend four months of each year in his underworld home. And so the annual season of winter was born.

Greek myth is telling a story about the drama of our inner life. We all have our Hekate, our own dark angel who stands at the crossroads of our life. She has four symbols:

The first is a Key which gave her entry into the underworld and her freedom to come and leave as she wished. Hekate is never overcome by the darkness, nor does she get lost within it. Our Hekate, for example, can be a therapist or Spiritual Director; self-knowledge or faith; dreams or a meditation practice. What would be your key that leads you to wholeness and spiritual and personal health?

The second is a Whip. Our dark nights not only plunge us into darkness, they also batter us, causing us to feel we are being torn apart. We may feel we are even losing our mind. The Psalmist refers to this experience in Psalm 126:

O that our tears may be seeds of joy!
Then when suffering ploughs her furrows in the tender soil of our hearts
and we go forth weeping, we shall rejoice when we bring our harvest home.

The third is a Dagger. In the darkness, there is a time to be still and a time to be active. Sometimes we need to work for change or healing. One way to do this is by doing something active and/or creative.

And the fourth is a Torch. Hekate stood at the crossroads holding two torches, one each hand. The first represents intuition and the second, action. We need to learn to trust and act on our intuitions.

I wonder who is your Hekates? Who is your guide when you have choices to make? What tools have you found to lead you through the dark seasons of your life?

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

________________________

Moore, Thomas,"Dark nights of the Soul - A guide to finding your way through life's ordeals, Avery; Reprint edition,2005.

27. Annunciation

Ira Progoff was born in 1921 on the same day I am writing this blog. He was a significant American Jungian psychotherapist, whose main interest was to help people engage and develop their natural creativity and spiritual experience. I found two of his writings particularly helpful in this regard. The first was his book 'At a Journal Workshop' published in 1975. The book introduces us to his intensive journaling method and helps us to reflect, process and deepen our search for meaning and purpose. It assists us to also explore the movement of our life and the possibilities that await us as we engage with our inner source of wisdom in a way that is spiritually, psychologically and socially satisfying. The Episcopalian priest and Jungian therapist, Morton Kelsey, suggested his journaling process 'became almost a sacrament of their religious way, a symbol of the religious quest'.

Progoff also published several other books to be used alongside his journaling method. The one I am most familiar with is called 'The Well and the Cathedral'. It has twelve Meditations which encourage us to sit in stillness and enter the sanctuary, or 'Cathedral', of our lives. We are then invited to move slowly and progressively inward and explore our hidden experiences, and feelings. As the meditations take us deeper into our longing for meaning and purpose, we learn to be refreshed by the timeless and sacred waters of eternity that flows within us. In this regard, Progoff's work is closely related to my last blog where I mentioned ways to explore and develop our belly-centre, or 'Organ of Touch' as the Sufi's call it. It is here, at the depths of our being we learn to sense the essential presence of the One who created us and who is 'the ground of our being and the centre of our soul'.

I was also reminded of Progroff's work again today when reflecting on the Annunciation story found in Luke's Gospel. A young unmarried woman named Mary receives a visit by the Archangel Gabriel. In its own way, the Annunciation story is another Entrance Meditation. It has several layers that lead us inward towards the One who created us and 'in whim we live and move and have our being'.

I imagine we are all familiar with the surface level of the story of Mary's Annunciation, and may even gloss over it as being surreal. Do heavenly angels – as portrayed in Biblical illustrations – actually, drop in and visit ordinary people doing their housework? Yet God is always beside us even in the most tedious and mundane moments of our lives. However, the Annunciation story has a sub-plot, and we need to enter into the story at a deeper and more personal level if we wish to understand it better.

Mary's Annunciation is about a vulnerable young woman who is willing to accept new possibilities (as offered by the Angel's message). And she dares to be open to the unknown in faith and trust.

When taken this way, her story parallels a Hebrew story of Moses' Annunciation at the burning bush (Exodus Ch 3). The central truth of both stories is that God is present to all of us. We are all created in the Divine image and likeness. Even if we do not recognise it, the Divine image is flowing in the depths of our being within timeless and sacred waters of eternity; waiting for us to become still and hear the echo of the Divine voice within. And both stories remind us that even with our vulnerabilities, God is still with us,

Moses, for example, was born in a time when his people were an enslaved minority. He had to flee for his life and became a homeless refugee. Mary was a young and soon to become a pregnant and unmarried woman, and in her day she would receive public and religious censure. No excuse or impediment we possess will hinder the patient and creative invitation of God for us to become spiritually fertile. We are all invited to give birth to the Divine beauty and light in and through our lives, and to lead and encourage others to share in works of compassion and mercy.

What kind of Annunciation is God offering you?

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and goodwill on your journey.

Phil

__________________________

Progoff,Ira, At a Journal Workshop: Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Evoke Creative Ability, TarcherPerigee; Revised edition (May 1, 1992) .

26. People Watching

'People Watching' is a common past-time. We do it almost unconsciously as we notice the way people are dressed or the way they walk or talk or by their facial expression. We may even try and guess their occupation and create stories about the way they are feeling.

The Zen Master Okada would watch his students and put them into one of three groups. The first group were very attentive and asked endless questions. They were head-centred people who valued information. They tended to quote and imitate other people's wisdom and lifestyles rather than learning to be imaginative and creative for themselves.

The second group he called chest-centred people. They valued their physical body and loved to develop their strength and flexibility. They were also people of courage and had great self-control and determination. As the chest also contains the heart, they were often very devoted students. On the other hand, they could become self-centred and opinionated. If pushed or corrected, they might respond quickly and even aggressively. This contradiction was not unusual. When we look back over the history of religious traditions with a strong devotional emphasis, they often responded aggressively when their beliefs or authority were challenged.

The third group of students had learnt to dwell within their belly-centre or Hara. They were a joy to work with because they knew how to "build a stronghold where the divine can grow".(1)

Learning to be at home in each of these three centres is part of our journey towards personal and spiritual growth. I wonder which of Okada's three categories best describes you? Are you primarily a head person, a heart person, or a belly-centred person? How does this insight affect your beliefs and spiritual practice?

I know I am inclined to be a 'head-centred' person. I love to read and explore new ideas and spiritual practices.I quickly become bored and skimp the time and effort needed to acquire the depth and proficiency for a meaningful spiritual practice. This is my growing edge.

For this reason, I deliberately exercise my heart-centre by setting aside time to enjoy the 'sounds of silence', with candle-light and incense, or going for walks along the beach. I value the time I spend enjoying the company of someone I love. I find all these experiences enrich the atmosphere for prayer. I also know the real work for any spiritual practice is learning to develop my belly-centre. This is the 'ground of our being' and the centre of our soul. That is why the Sufi's call the belly-centre the 'Organ of Touch'. It is here in the depths of our being we learn to sense the essential presence of the One who created us and 'in whom we live and move and have our being'.

One simple way I find that helps me engage my 'belly-centre', is to choose a quiet place where I will not be disturbed. It can be outdoors or in my room. Once I am settled, to take a few breaths and consciously relax my body and mind. I then focus my attention on the sensation of my breathing as I gently use my abdominal muscles to draw the air into my body. And I relax the muscles as I slowly breathe out. After a while, I begin to breathe a single word or a short sentence on each out-breath, one that expresses my desire to know God better. And as I breathe that word, I let it become my heartfelt intention to the One who has created me and in whose presence I am resting.

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga
May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

(1) Garrie, Roshi John, The Way is without Flaw: The Teachings of John Garrie Roshi, UK: Sati Press, 1998, p 73.