Pondering Discomfort: 28 February 2010

"The Lord is my light and my salvation."
Psalm 27:1

Winter is a "drier" time of the year - not much appears to be happening in the way of nature's activity outside my windows. Oh yes, we've had some snow storms, ice and rain, strong winds. But the past few months the liveliness and abundant activity of animals and birds in this rural, natural habitat has diminished greatly. Even the all too abundant cloudy days of this season contribute to its feeling of dryness - a desert sort of time of the year. And it becomes uncomfortable - the waiting for spring with all its warmth, refreshing rains, and the reemergence of a more colorful landscape filled with a myriad of colorful plants and birds.

So too it is with this season of Lent - a desert time of watching and waiting, a time of withdrawing into our hearts and the very core of our being to reflect in deep and meaningful ways on our life and the meaning the sacred holds for us in our lives. And the searching of our hearts and taking an honest account of ways we may have not lived true to who we are intended to be - caring, compassionate, giving, loving people both individual and collectively as societies - can be uncomfortable too. Perhaps it should be uncomfortable, even disturbing...

Today's news is flooded with distressing stories: a massive earthquake in Chili early this morning along with the threat of wide-spread tsunami destruction, an already devastated Haiti bracing for another blow as the income from their rice crops is threatened by the exportation of "cheap" rice from the U.S., yet another story of child abuse and torture as a baby and toddler in California have been found bound and gagged with head and face injuries, acts of racism against African American students at the University of California in San Diego, child sex abuse scandal by a Pediatrician in Delaware, and the recent stories of clergy sex abuse in Ireland. These last few are all too vivid examples of the devaluation of human life by some in our society and...we should feel uncomfortable and disturbed! These heartbreaking stories should cause us as a society, as a community, to reflect and dialogue on the value of human life, the values we hold and to strive to be good and faithful people working for justice and peace in compassionate and caring ways.

So too church officials, across many denominations, are uncomfortable and disturbed as they lament the vast decline in attendance at worship services. One commentary alleges this is happening because some people have "turned away" from their faith. I wonder...could it be more a case of people being driven out/made to feel they no longer belong because of some "transgression" as defined by the church leadership, or find the turn toward more conservative structures and restrictive rules and regulations and obligations for them really have little or nothing to do with living as faithful servants of our Sacred Creator? Perhaps our churches are half empty week in and week out not because people have lost their faith. Perhaps might it be more a matter of faithful and faith-filled people who continue to hold onto faith and belief in the Almighty One, as the psalmist proclaims, "The Lord is my light and salvation" while finding sacred meaning and connections and spiritual nourishment outside the structures of the institution as well as (for many) within it?

There are indeed a great many things to ponder during this desert time of Lent - in our lives, in our communities, in our world, in our faith, in our churches, in our very way of being. We know from lived experience that spring will indeed will arrive and "new life" will once again delight our eyes and ears and perhaps our hearts and spirits too. In the silence of our hearts, if we take the time to truly listen, we will come to hear the Holy Whispers of the Sacred One who constantly abides in and within us giving us strength and guiding us with abundant love and graciousness.

Peace on the Journey.

Desert Times: 21 February 2010

"(He) was led by the Spirit into the desert”

Luke 4:1

Even though I've been to an actual desert in the southwest where the landscape and plant life was amazingly quite beautiful and abundant, I still have the image of the deserts in those old movies in my mind - nothing but sand, blowing sand, everywhere; a truly desolate place where one's throat gets bone dry and thirst is abundantly present. I imagine all sorts of thoughts would run through a person's mind if he or she were in such an environment for any length of time. Things like longings and plots and plans and perhaps regrets may emerge. Being in such a barren environment, isolated from other people, can cause us feel quite helpless - quite alone.

There are very real times in life when we may feel as if we're in a desert - times when we feel dry, barren, unsettled, isolated in our inner being, our spiritual dimension, and/or life itself. The reasons for or causes of these desert times are many. Perhaps we have lost our job, experienced the death of a loved one, been rejected by someone, have seen a dream or goal we had disappear beyond our reach. Finding ourselves in a spiritual desert, as with any life "desert times", we most likely experience feeling a loss of connection with people and things that hold meaning for us in our lives. In a spiritual desert we can feel disconnected from our prayer, church, the Sacred One, even ourselves.

Finding ourselves in a desert time, however long or short the duration, can be a very lonely and scary place where we truly go alone. We can choose to experience this time as a vast wasteland, a waste of time, or a place filled with demons of regrets, temptations, guilt, and our own imperfections. Or...we can choose to enter into and experience our desert times as filled with abundant opportunity. When we willingly go into the seemingly barren and deserted place of our inner being as uncomfortable as it may be, if we quiet ourselves and minds and listen closely to our heart we can come to discover anew that we are not alone after all. It is there in the silence we encounter the presence of the Sacred who abides within each of us; it is there in the silence where we will be able to open ourselves to the Holy Whispers; it is there in the silence where we will begin to be molded and shaped anew by the Divine Fire that burns within us always - even during the driest and darkest of our desert times.

Peace on the Journey.

A Lesson of Candles: 14 February 2010

As I read through the passage from the prophet Jeremiah (17:5-8) this week, I couldn't help feeling how deeply it resonated with the "funk" I've been feeling the past few days - " like a barren bush in the desert...standing in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth". I think many of us can relate to that same feeling at times for a variety of reasons. My reason at this point in time is the nearness of the anniversary of deaths of dear ones in my life and the memories evoked of both the lives and deaths of these most loved ones and the pain of grieving. But, like the "tree planted beside the waters" moving through the grief process, for me, eventually provided the opportunity to discover anew that the "roots" of my whole being could indeed once again be "stretched out to the stream" of Love and Companionship of the Sacred One and trust that the Divine was, and always will be so very close deep within the core of my being. And so this week I offer a different twist to my posting:

It was by pure chance (or was it Divine intervention?) that the trio of candles were lit one night as I sat in deep, numbing grief following the death of a loved one. No other lights were on in the house and I sat in loneliness when slowly my eyes focused on the candles across the darkened room. Watching the movements of the flames, so different yet burning and reaching high and low in unison, imaged for me the presence of the Divine in this deepest and darkest of life times. To truly behold something, to take in all that is visible both outwardly and within, has the potential of transporting the heart and mind to a place where Divine Love speaks within the inner recesses of our spirit. If we dare to listen and be open to the Holy whispers, we will begin to be molded and shaped by the Sacred Holy Fire that burns within us always - even during the driest and darkest of times.

Beholding the Divine Fire

God in the flame of the candle
burning in the dim light –
quietly molding, shaping,
changing the center –
the core.

Oh to be the wax
that yields so willingly
to the dance of the Flame.
To be shaped and reshaped;
created anew!

Flame of Light with burning desire
for one purpose –
to melt away the darkness
into a new creation
that needs only the Flame
to be whole.
And in that wholeness
to dance the eternal dance
of Light
and Love
together.

Peace on the Journey.

Will We Remember?: 7 February 2010

"Here I Am" I said; "send me!"
Isaiah 6:8

Though winter is still upon us, nature is quite busy. The coyotes continue to prowl the woods and howl each night, the trees are resting but gaining strength and sustenance through their root s systems, the birds are still frequenting the suet cages most of the day, the deer wander about (mostly at night now) as evidenced by the numerous tracks seem in the snow. And Mother Nature has reminded us of winter anew (when many of us are longing for spring) as she provided us with a fresh covering of two to three inches of "lake effect" snow this morning. That's one thing about nature - it does not forget what season it is and what is supposed to be happening.

My little bird friends - the downy woodpeckers and chickadees are such a delight to watch. The other day I observed them once again during one of many daily trips to the feeders and suet cages. The woodpecker, at first perched high on a branch, appeared to be watching and waiting for the chickadees to show up before fluttering down to begin feasting on the suet. Sure enough, by the time Mr. woodpecker began his suet meal the chickadees had arrived and took their posts on the snow at the bottom of the tree awaiting their dining pleasure. I mused that this little woodpecker had not forgotten his other feathered friends and their need for nourishment.

It's pretty much a given that our lives get busy, either by design (our own making) or circumstances that simply happen or change, or both. And many times we come to discover we have been so caught up in what we're doing and what is happening to us that we lose sight of what is going on in the world around us - our immediate surroundings, our communities, our world. But sometimes we just forget about, or become desensitized, or even ignore what is happening to our sisters and brothers of the world. The new stories of the devastation in Haiti have diminished greatly over the past week. This morning there was one lone, small article placed near the bottom of the page of the New York Times online. Maybe it's that the media just doesn't want to "dote" on the Haitian stories any longer but...the "buzz" of the national media is in part focused on the upcoming Super Bowl and those oh so expensive commercials. Though entertaining, it does give one something to wonder about: how can we (compainies/insudtries/media) really justify the astronomical costs and spending on advertising for this one "main event" when that same money could be put to so much better use in helping others in need? How about the Haitians who continue to struggle so desperately for life and health and shelter? How about the people in our country and world who live in severe poverty day in and day out? How about the school systems in our communities, states and country who are struggling with budget deficits causing even more upcoming job and program eliminations? And so many more...

Would we as a nation or a society really rather focus only on ourselves, our busy lives, and our own needs (real or perceived) and look away pretending those issues/people do not exist ? Or... as a nation founded on Christian values, might we resolve to live those values and, like my little woodpecker friend who offers daily sustenance and nourishment and life to the little chickadees, give as we are able and of ourselves with care, concern and compassion for the benefit and very life of those who so desperately need what we have to offer?

Peace on the Journey.