Earthbound Transformation

Every morning, I look forward to seeing the “Word a Day” that is sent to me from the Wordsmith.org Internet site. The English language includes more than a million words, whereas most people typically use only about 5,000 words in their day-to-day speech and 10,000 words in their writing. Learning a new word a day won’t get us close to the one million mark, but  it’s a start!

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that the word “cremnophobia” means a fear of steep cliffs or precipices. That bit of knowledge gave me the idea for the following poem. You might want to make sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground before you read it!

                  Cremnophobia

If the devil took me up

to a precipice to tempt me,

I’d promise anything

to return to flat land.

If Jesus had invited me

to join him on the mountain top

to witness his transfiguration,

I would have politely declined.

If God instructed me to climb

the heights in exchange for a view

of the promised land, I’d say,

“I’ll take your word for it.”

I can expand my view plenty far on the plains

of Kansas, and cocooning myself at the base

of a tree trunk amidst leaf litter

is a fine way to undergo metamorphosis.

Earth promises that cremnophobia

doesn’t preclude transformation

for those who prefer the lowliness

                                                           of roots to the rush of wings.

Inoculation from Discouragement

When we get discouraged by the ways of the world, it is helpful to gain perspective by listening to what historians have to say. For example, in his article “The Optimism of Uncertainty,” historian Howard Zinn reminds us, “There is a tendency to think that what we see in the present moment will continue. We forget how often we have been astonished by the sudden crumbling of institutions, by extraordinary changes in people’s thoughts, by unexpected eruptions of rebellion against tyrannies, by the quick collapse of systems of power that seemed invincible.”

Such dramatic changes may seem to come out of nowhere, but they have roots in the innumerable acts of kindness, decency, compassion, and resistance to evil that people around the world engage in every day. Zinn goes on to say, “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can change the world…. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

Every day, the scriptures remind us to walk in God’s ways and leave the rest in God’s hands. Isaiah quotes God as saying, “I, the Lord, promise justice” (Is 45: 19). The book of Proverbs cautions, “Injure not the poor because they are poor, nor crush the needy at the gate; for the Lord will defend their cause, and will plunder the lives of those who plunder them” (Prov 22:22-23). Psalm 33 teaches us, “The Lord brings to naught the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations” (Ps 33:10-11). Trusting in God’s ways inoculates us from discouragement and leads us, with the other members of the body of Christ, to faithfully perform the small daily acts that cumulatively help change the world.

Hold Hands and Listen

I recently came across an unexpected meditation on God in a novel entitled The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce. The main character resides at a hospice, and she made this observation:

“There was a patient who sat with her family in a circle around her, all holding hands. Sister Philomena asked if they would like to join her for prayers and they said yes, they would. They closed their eyes as Sister Philomena whispered the words and I thought this must be the nearest humans get to whatever God is, when they hold hands and listen.”

Saint Benedict would concur. The first word in his Rule is “listen,” and he emphasizes the importance of supporting each other—giving one another a hand, as it were—in the monastic community. Saint Benedict knew that in a noisy world, when we become isolated in the service of ambition, wealth, and fame, we can allow ourselves to drift far from God. Holding hands and listening is the antidote that tethers us to God and others, allowing us to hear the voice of the One who loves. As it happens, Jesus who listened and held the hands of the people he healed told us that “the One who loves” is the best understanding we have of whatever God is. Thus, let’s not wait until we are in a crisis or at a deathbed to hold hands and listen.

Finding the Kingdom of God in the Commonplace

Jesus used nature imagery a lot in his teaching. For example, as Fr. Eugene Hensell pointed out in our retreat at Mount St. Scholastica, Jesus compared the kingdom of God not to a majestic cedar of Lebanon but to a common mustard plant. Why? Jesus knew that we expect the kingdom of God to be beautiful and majestic, and he wanted us to understand that God’s grace is also available to us in the common aspects of our lives, the things we take for granted, like mustard plants and scrubby trees we’ve seen so often that we no longer notice them.

I recently read the book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, in which a woman meditates on her life during her final weeks in a hospice. A few days before she dies, she and a companion are sitting in the garden, when her friend looks up at a tree and starts laughing. “Look at the branches. Look at the leaves. When you really look, you see how fantastic it is. It’s so perfect you have to laugh!” They sit, weeping with laughter, until her friend wipes her eyes with her handkerchief. “Dear, oh dear. We really should sit and laugh at trees more often.”

This scene made me think of a quote by Rachel Carson: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find resources of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” Jesus spent the last free moments of his life in a garden. Perhaps the beauty he found there helped him access the resources of strength he needed to face the suffering that was to come. When we are tired or struggling, we should go outside and contemplate the sky, the trees, and the plants that surround us, for the kingdom of God is closer to us than we think.

Sowers Needed; Reaping Not Required

We have heard Jesus’ parables so many times over the years that we tend to believe we already understand their message. For example, we believe the parable of the sower and the seed is telling us to let the word of God take root in us. That’s true as far as it goes, but in this week’s retreat at Mount St. Scholastica, Fr. Eugene Hensell proposed another lesson of this parable: Our task as disciples is to be sowers of the seed and let God take care of the harvest. How different our lives would be if we simply did our work without basing our self-worth on the outcome!

If our task as disciples of Jesus is simply to spread the good news, it bears considering how we should go about doing that. After all, not everyone has the skills or opportunity to be a preacher. Jesus gives us a hint: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13:35). Francis of Assisi is even more clear: “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” Our acts of kindness and compassion speak more loudly than words about the good news: There is another way to live than to measure our days based on wealth, success, fame, productivity, and competition. When we act lovingly, we proclaim that we are rooted in God’s ways, with the freedom that comes from letting God take it from there.

It appears that Jesus’ parables have more to teach us than meets the eye, even after a lifetime of listening to them.

Benedictine Timesucks

I recently learned that 1 billion hours of videos are viewed each day on YouTube, and 400 hours of new content are uploaded each minute of every day. Most people find it easy to get caught up in a loop of watching video after video, which is known as a “timesuck” (an activity that sucks up your time).

Someone observing the Benedictine way of life would likely identify liturgy of the hours, lectio divina (praying with scripture), work, and sharing the common table as timesucks. What is the difference between watching videos and these activities? Through the centuries, those seeking God have identified prayer, work, and communal life as avenues for transformation, for putting on the mind of Christ. To be sure, some content on YouTube is educational, inspirational, and even transformative, but in general people watch videos for entertainment. It’s usually a solitary activity that does not lead to communion with God and others.

St. Benedict valued moderation and balance. If he were living today, I imagine he would allow his monks to watch videos that lead deeper into the heart of God. However, I believe he would also counsel us to monitor our activities to ensure that we are sucked into God’s way of passing time—by creating, being in relationship with others, and just being—instead of getting sucked into the distraction offered by the vast world of media available to us today.

All Are Welcome

Yesterday it was cool enough to sit on the patio outside the dining room for breakfast. Sr. Micaela noted a straggly purple petunia growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, and Sr. Susan Barber murmured, “All are welcome.”

I’ve heard it said that weeds are commonly defined as plants that are growing in a place where they are not desired. If that is the case, the word “weed” is not in God’s vocabulary, because God loves and desires all that God has created.

Unfortunately, some people view other human beings as weeds—being in a place where they are not desired—when they seek asylum in the United States because of economic hardship or political or religious persecution. Sometimes these immigrants are tolerated if they stay out of sight and perform difficult work, such as slaughtering and dressing livestock or picking fruit and vegetables. If they stray outside certain areas, however, they are plucked up by the roots and tossed out to survive as best they can (or not).

We who are made in God’s image need to adopt God’s vocabulary, which includes such words as “welcome,” “share,” “compassion,” and “serve.” Phrases such as “this is mine,” “get out,” “you’re not one of us” and “there’s not enough for you” are incomprehensible to God, who said, “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the lord your God” (Lv 19:34). In other words, God says: “Repeat after me: ‘All are welcome in this place.’”