Month: January 2017

When I was a teenager, back in the day as my students like to say, a popular though strange Beatles song was “come together”. It had some mystical verses (read here that they were likely drug induced) but mostly it just had an interesting and rebellious nature to it. Well, it was the sixties and seventies after all.

Today, in my  reading and study I was impressed by a different “come together”, one that is continuously being brought to my awareness by the One that inspires me. Richard Rohr, the Franciscan has recently been writing about these ideas. But, this dealing within me has predated those writings by a year or two.

It seems that the word “all” has jumped out of sacred writings I have been reading over and over again. I cannot explain it except to say that it is a mystery. It is the Grace of God and the far flung love of God for all. I think that is why Jesus said it was a difficult road, one that many just cannot travel. Those of us who do travel that road, struggle with the idea that we must love all, especially our enemies.

We are called to love. My Cistercian abbey is called a school of love. It is the greatest mystery of all, that unlike every other major religion, we are called not to rules, not to laws, not to obedience but to Love. Love self, others and God, because the Eternal first loved us. That is the mystery, how to love those who hate or despise us. How to love those parts of ourselves that are unlovable. I do not  have it figured out, but I keep trying.

And with all this love, we come together in the Eternal. If we mean what we say we believe then All come together.  All means Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jew,  Muslim, Taoist, and pagan. We are all in this together, always have been, but Christians are called to come together with all for the sake of all. See, it is a narrow path. Light your candle and get moving, we have a “whole lotta love” to give out.

TMM

I can remember few things about my early childhood but I remember holding my mother’s hand at the store and, as I got older, holding her finger, so only we would know. Then I remember holding my own daughter’s hand and how special that was and how sad dad was when she got too old for that. Our final hand holding was done just a few weeks ago, when I walked hand in hand with her down the aisle at her wedding.

I have held hands in prayer with men and women for 45 years. I have held hands with men in India, where that is a common custom. The fact that they would do that with me was a great honor, one that I am forever grateful for and cherish. If they were that comfortable with me, that is indeed an honor. I see hand holding in the huddle in football and in other team sports.

Now, the best hand holding is with someone you love and care about. My mom, my daughter, my wife are all the ones I have and do hold hands with and it matters. I will confess to holding hands in my sleep with my “girlfriend”, my wife. It just feels right and brings me great comfort.

Now why am I waxing nostalgic about hand holding? It is because in the Psalms, the writer says God wants to hold our hand. Now, this is why that thought matters. In those days, as well as these days, few people understood that God wanted a personal relationship with every person. All other living things, all of creation, was already holding hands with God. This idea, holding hands with God, was foreign to them and I suspect it is foreign to most people today.

Jesus came to show us what holding hands with God looks like in life. That is the great Mystery, we can hold hands with the Creator of the Universe. Jews and Gentiles alike never understood that and I am saddened by seeing that no one today seems to believe it either. So, today, if you will simply open your hand, what you will discover is that the Eternal already had hold of it, from the moment you were born. Give it  squeeze, you will enjoy the squeeze back.

TMM

 

I once ran a rather large health care agency. One of the specialized staff was hired at a premium salary, reflecting that there are some jobs that require special skills and knowledge. One year later, that same person was demanding a raise, though they had done nothing particularly noteworthy during the previous year. This person was already rather wealthy and did not even need their salary to take care of their family. My question was, “how much is enough”?

We live in a society where how much you have directly tells you your self-worth. Not just your net worth, your self worth. How did we get to this? Well, advertising pushes it on us,  to pursue more, get something new every time. There is another factor, however and that has to do with my Baby boomer generation. My parents, from the depression years, wanted to give me and my brother what they never had, as did that entire WWII generation of parents. They did it, they gave it all to us. We baby boomers took that to heart and said we must do the same for our children. And that is the problem, because we already had more than enough, all our parents never had, and yet we wanted more for our kids.

Now our kids, gen x and millennials, feel entitled to more, to everything. And there you have it, we are responsible for the ongoing problem of greed and entitlement. We never taught the idea that we should be thankful for having enough and that more is not better. So what do we do now? First, we return ourselves to our calling as Christians and as humans, to love and to be our brother’s (and sister’s) keeper.

Currently, our country is based on greed. “I got mine, you can go get yours”. Except that doesn’t work for those who are oppressed. We need  to remember our calling in God, to love those who are poor, oppressed, and in need. We need to remember that if anyone is in need, we are all responsible. Jesus and the Buddha spent their time with those sorts of people. Those in need were extremely thankful for any attention and any help.

And, we who are often in spiritual need, have no problem asking the Eternal for help, which is as it should be. Yet, we forget that we get to ask for help and condemn those in need. When will we reflect the Eternal in ourselves and hear the cries of the oppressed, of the poor, of the elderly? If not now when? If not you or I, then who?

 

TMM

I love gadgets, technology stuff. But, it doesn’t have to be really complex. Take a watch for example, the spring, hands, winder. Oh, yeah I am talking about the old type watches. I am fascinated by how it was even thought of and how all of that works. I am also fascinated by the tuning forks, the atomic clock signaled ones and the perpetual motion watches. I am a humble social worker and mystic, I just cannot fathom what it took to figure these things out.

Here is what I do understand, every single one of those things I noted above are slowly but surely running down. A fancy name for this is entropy. Things just become less energetic and organized. It might take awhile but they will run down. Here is the connection, we were given this view of the universe and history and the creation we live in. Church has taught that history is winding down to a powerful ending. Our very philosophy, since Descarte, has taught us that the world and history is running down.

In reading Richard Rohr, I had an epiphany. And yes, that was just yesterday. Here it is, we don’t have to accept that definition of our world. God is not a celestial clockmaker. He did not set the world into motion and then back off. That is not what a loving God does. History is moving toward more love, it is a positive and wonderful creation. God is bringing all things together in love and we must stop being negative and depressed in our view of our world and our God.

Our universe, our personal universe is expanding and growing. It is gaining momentum toward love and it is continuously growing toward redemption. We are taught in  church that God is vindictive, demands retribution and was angry with us until Jesus died. Really? Why would we believe that about a loving God? God has loved us from the first moment of creation. He has been there with us all along. How many times did he, in the creation story, say this is good? It is still good and he still loves his creation. He still loves us. We are redeemed when we realize that.

TMM

Babies are a wonder. With a year old grandson running around the house I get to see that every day. The hope for all there is to come is there, in their innocence and in their eyes. I remember another baby, thirty years ago, that only had to look at me once on the day she was born and won my heart.

On the last day of the year, a week ago, I gave that girl away to a young man, in marriage. Yep, those same eyes melted dad’s heart again. She was beautiful and I was a mess (see, now you know why this blog is called the messy mystic), but as she said, the best kind of mess and I was that way unashamedly. I have finally learned that I am free to be me. I cried my way through the bride’s dance as well.

That girl is still my baby, always will be, with due apologies to my new son-in-law. Why did I go to this place? Christ said we must come to him like a child, with innocence in our hearts and in our eyes. Do you realize that the Eternal wants you to look into the Eyes of Eternity, as my little girl did into mine? Do you also realize that you can melt the Eternal Heart, just like my little girl did to me? God is love and nothing else. He loves each of us eternally and unreservedly.

Dear ones, when we gaze into the eyes of the Eternal, we are free. Free from fear, from shame and guilt, free to be who we were meant to be, unashamedly. It is in that realization that we can love each other and especially those we dislike or who dislike us. Why do you think there are so many references to the innocence of children and to weddings? We are beloved, we are deeply loved, we just need to melt God’s heart by looking lovingly and innocently into those Eternal Eyes.

TMM

The most recent election has caused joy, panic, elation, fear and much more. I never want to let my blog be a platform for political commentary or rhetoric and having said that, I started this as I did to go a different direction with my thoughts. I am, however, an ethicist by training and experience so there are times when the overall situation demands some thought.

In the beginning of a new year, we face what is coming with the feelings noted above and so much more going on inside ourselves. Will I still have a job? Is this the year I can retire? What does this new year hold for me? Today is Epiphany in the Christian calendar. Also called Three Kings Day, this day moves us in the Christian faith from Advent and the twelve days of Christmas (yes, that is what the song is about) toward the coming of Lent and then Easter. It represents Christ and his message being given to the Gentiles through then  presence of the three Magi.  The word also means an experience of sudden or striking awareness or realization. Much like the word eureka.

That is where I am going because if you are reading this, you know about the religious meaning and day. The election recently should bring us all an epiphany and I think it does. There is a sudden awareness that our country is no what we thought it was and that hatred, fear and greed have never gone away. It makes no difference who you voted for, the epiphany is the same, “what have we become?” and “what does this future hold?”

I had an epiphany, garnered from the endless discussion and commentary. Here it is: rather than walk in a world of hear, hatred, greed, and worry and feel helpless or scared, I suddenly saw all of this as a time of Examen. That word, taken from the writings and practices of St. Ignatius, is exactly what I need and I think our whole Christian faith family needs. It is also what our country needs.

Borrowed from any simple Prayer card of the order, here is what we ought to do, especially in these days of concern: 1. Ask God for light; 2. give thanks; 3. Review the day; 4. Face your shortcomings; and, 5. Look toward the day to come. Now, for more depth about this simple but powerful process, you can easily find it on the internet. I present it here because I believe I need it every day, to keep me honest. Notice, there is nothing there about guilt or shame. Nope, just a good look inside, with thanks given for having had the day you have just lived. It is directed to our deepest places, the core of our being.

Sounds strange that I would start off with commentary on the world and go to personal examination. My epiphany is that I cannot change what is and it is unlikely my prayers to God to change it will do anything to change it. No friends, our prayer should change us and how we see life, not the rest of the world. I believe it is only when we choose to be changed that our world will change. Our new year should be filled with Examen, and with prayers for how we each can see what no one else wants to see and then be an instrument of peace and change. Start with you, be what you are called to be and be aware that part of that calling is to be “your brother’s keeper” and see where that takes you.

TMM