Feeling God's Presence in Our Bones

Some days I look forward to settling into morning and evening prayers in the choir chapel. On other days prayer just seem tedious, especially when my stomach is clamoring for breakfast or supper or my mind has already jumped to what’s ahead in the day or evening to come.

The following observation by Joan Chittister gave me new perspective on why we pray so often in the monastery: “When we have prayed prayers long enough, all the words drop away and we begin to live in the presence of God. Then prayer is finally real.”

When those words drop away, where do they go? I think they sink into our bones, becoming part of the very structure of our bodies, because it is through our bodies we are aware of the presence of God. Just as we consume calcium to physically strengthen our bones, prayer is a spiritual bone strengthener, allowing us to be more aware of God’s presence in our day-to-day lives. Therefore, it’s important not to miss our daily dose of prayer!

Keeping the Sabbath

Most of us are aware that the sign of God’s covenant with Noah is the rainbow, but I was surprised to learn in my class on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) that the sign of God’s covenant with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai is keeping the Sabbath. Here is what God says in Exodus 31: 12-14, 17:

The Lord said to Moses: “You must also tell the Israelites: Keep my Sabbaths, 

for that is to be the sign between you and me throughout the generations,

 to show that it is I, the Lord, who makes you holy. Therefore, you must keep 

the Sabbath for it is holiness for you…. If anyone does work on that day, 

that person must be cut off from the people…. Between me and the Israelites

it is to be an everlasting sign; for in six days the Lord made the heavens 

and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested at his ease.”

Why is keeping the Sabbath so important? First, this practice reminds us that it is not through our own efforts that we have life and holiness; rather, God is the sustainer and sanctifier of life. God says that remembering this truth by keeping the Sabbath is holiness for us. Why? Because knowing that God is God and we are not is the beginning of humility, which leads to holiness. When we do not keep the Sabbath, we are thus cutting ourselves off from the source of holiness. We also cut ourselves off from other people by putting our work ahead of being with our family and friends.

Keeping the Sabbath is also important because doing so is a way of participating in God’s way of life. God worked for six days, and on the seventh day, God rested. Is our work more important than God’s, that we need to work seven days whereas God worked only six days?

Unlike in my youth, when stores were closed on Sundays and only a handful of people worked that day, our society no longer distinguishes Sunday from any other day of the week. In fact, society actively discourages us from keeping the Sabbath by equating the amount of work we do and the amount we consume with our worth. To keep the Sabbath today requires courage, discipline, and, as Sr. Bridget Haase notes, trust that God will complete the work begun in us. To maintain our part of the covenant, God asks us not to perform some task, but to rest—not to do but to be.  It’s a surprising request, and the fact that we find it so difficult to honor is food for Lenten reflection.

The Gravitational Force of God's Love

It should not be surprising to find ourselves pulled into the “gravitational force of God’s love,” as Esther de Waal puts it in her book A Life-Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict. Science teaches us that gravity is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass are brought toward each other. As Wikipedia notes, “Because energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy (including light) cause gravitation and are under the influence of it.” Because the love of God the Creator is the energy that animates all things—manifested in Christ, the light of the world—everything in the universe is pulled toward God, including each of us.

The effects of gravity become increasingly weaker on farther objects, and thus when we are angry or upset we can attempt to distance ourselves from God. However, because the energy of God’s love exists in everything, we can never escape its gravitational pull. Attempting to do so will lead to nothing but frustration and exhaustion.

When the world seems to be spinning out of control, it is comforting to think that it is a temporary phenomenon, because ultimately everything bends toward the energy of God’s love. Furthermore, as we allow ourselves to succumb to the natural forces of gravity that draw us closer to God, our own gravitational force will attract others to make this journey with us, increasing the mass and thus the power of those who live in love. Surrender, then, and rejoice!

The Waters of Discipleship

It makes sense that water is the symbol of our baptism, because water is always present to guide us throughout the challenges of discipleship. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu illustrates the wisdom we can gain from contemplating water in his book the Tao te Ching:

• When we are confused and life seems muddled, Lao Tzu invites us to consider this question: “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”

• When we are trying to make a decision that will lead to the highest good, we can ponder this observation by Lao Tzu: “The highest good is like water. Water gives life to everything and does not force.”

• When we are feeling ineffective and impatient, we can take heart from these words by Lao Tzu: “Water flows humbly to the lowest level. Nothing is weaker than water, yet for overcoming what is hard and strong, nothing surpasses it.”

Water can be considered life blood for disciples of Jesus, yielding clarity and new life through humility and nonviolence. May we remember to be grateful for this precious resource and work to ensure that it is safeguarded for the good of all the earth.

Being an Arborist of the Spirit

This week when an arborist came to the Mount to prune our older apple trees, he noticed that some of the young trees we planted last spring are stressed because we have had such a dry winter. He recommended that we start watering these trees now, even though it is not officially spring yet.

Lent is an ideal time for pruning old branches that no longer serve our spiritual tree of life and for watering our thirsty roots. The word “Lent” comes from the Old English word “lencten,” which means “spring.” The season of Lent gives us the opportunity to be arborists of our spiritual life so new life can ”spring” forth. To be a spiritual arborist, we must perform the following tasks:

• Evaluate (give attention to) our overall spiritual health

• Trim areas that are draining us of life because they are dead or overgrown

• Water dry roots with silence and prayer so we are strong enough to provide oxygen, shade, and fruit for others

May you be blessed in your springtime tasks of attentiveness, pruning, and watering!

Blessing the Lord

Psalm 103 begins with these lines:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all within me, the holy name of God.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and never forget all God’s benefits.

For the psalmist, it is not just her soul but all within her that is to bless the holy name of God. As Mary also proclaimed, our whole being should bless God’s name—everything within us, including our tendency to be petty, discouraged, jealous, and selfish—because somehow even those parts of us know that God’s name is holy and that God has bestowed many benefits on us.

If we were to sit down every day and draw up a list of God’s benefits, a few new ones would come to mind now and then, but the following benefits would permanently reside on the list:

• The gift of creation, including earth and our own life

• A sense of security and trust that the universe is unfolding as it should

• Companions on life’s journey

• Grace in the tough spots

• God’s everlasting presence

The psalmist insists we should never forget these benefits, because when we forget we lack gratitude, and when we lack gratitude we are dissatisfied and unhappy. Thus it is not just receiving the blessings of God but blessing God in return that is necessary to live a whole and holy life. Blessed are you, Lord our God, who gives us the ability to remember and to bestow blessing!

Disciples of the Holy Spirit

Recently at Evening Prayer we sang a song, Dust and Ashes, with this lyric by Brian Wren:

Holy Spirit, come, walk with us tomorrow,

take us as disciples, washed and wakened by your calling.

I know what it means to be a disciple of Jesus—that is, to listen to his teachings and attempt to follow his example of letting love and service to others flow out of an intimate relationship with God. However, I had never thought about being a disciple of the Holy Spirit. What would such discipleship look like?

• Being a disciple of the Holy Spirit requires openness to the unexpected: You mean God is present there? You mean God wants me to do what? You mean I have to rethink what I’ve always believed?

• Being a disciple of the Holy Spirit requires traveling light, for your attachment to things will be consumed by a fire that cleanses and burns away the dross of life.

• Being a disciple of the Holy Spirit means entering into a loving relationship with the triune God, with the resulting call to creativity, obedience, and joyfulness.

Once thing is certain: Walking with the Holy Spirit as a guide means being AWAKE to possibility, to transformation, to the fullness of life. Boredom and complacency are not part of the vocabulary of disciples of the Holy Spirit!