What's Your Story?

 I will bless you....and you will be a blessing!

When God called Abraham from the land of Ur among the Chaldees (modern day Iraq), His words to Abraham were, "I will bless you ... and you will be a blessing" (among all the families of the earth).

God's purposes have not changed.  His one purpose in calling any one of us is the same as it was for Abraham:  I will bless you... and you will be a blessing.....on the earth, to your family, to those who know you, to your people, to your country, to your students, your patients, your co-workers......

And how does He do that?  First, He calls us, like Abraham,  away from "the empty way of life handed down to us by our forefathers" (1 Peter 1:18).  He calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).  In other words, no matter how fine a family we have, no matter how wonderful our education and training, we are not by nature fine and wonderful people.  We are still infected and affected by the natural world around us with its pagan culture and attitudes.  We must be born again of water and the Spirit in order to even "see" the kingdom of God. (Jesus' words to Nicodemus, a fine and upstanding man of distinction in Israel.)

Many people believe that the whole purpose of going to church is to make us "good people," and the logic that flows from that belief is that "I can be a good person without going to church" (and by implication, "I am a good person already; I don't need to go to church.")   But let's assume for a moment that Abraham was already a good person when God called him; I'm sure he was.  His goodness had no bearing on the case.  Jesus himself said, "I came to call sinners, not the rightous."

And what does He call us TO?  To friendship with Himself.  "I will bless you!"  "Enter into the joy of your master."  First, as in the life of Jesus on earth, He calls us into table fellowship, friendship, with Himself.  Saint or sinner, He wants to break bread with us, to listen to us, to hear our secrets and to reveal to us His secrets...the secrets of the kingdom of God.  

First, friendship (John 15:15), blessing, peace, His own joy and His own relationship with the Father (read John 14, 15, 16, 17).   So far from "being a good person."  So far......

And because we are His friends, and because we have entered into His own life with the Father and the Holy Spirit, we become like He is.... a blessing to those who know us.  A blessing on the earth.  No longer at strife with our families, with those around us, but a blessing to our earth.  So many "good people" still dread holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas because of the drama surrounding family gatherings and the conflict from old wounds.  One man recently reflected on his "family apostolate."  That is, God had blessed him to minister in his church, but first to minister to his six children and his 13 grandchildren.  He was focused on being a blessing to his family first, and then to others.

If we find God anyplace, we find Him in our own stories.  Where has He been in our lives?  Where have we experienced His call "out of darkness into His marvelous light"?  How has He led us into a land flowing with milk and honey? How has He blessed us....and made us a blessing to others?

The Gift

 For years, I thought of the rosary as a long, boring, repetitive prayer.  I had difficulty concentrating on the mysteries, and I would often forget the words, if you can imagine that.  Part of the problem is that I've always been a little contemplative, and I tend to lose words altogether in times of prayer.  

About a year ago, however, a friend was having a medical problem which concerned me greatly.  Not really knowing how to pray for her at that time, I asked Mary to teach me to pray the rosary.  And I went to Bishop Barron's website where he prays the rosary.  What I began to discover at that time was that when I was praying intensely for someone -- interceding -- I had no trouble at all saying the rosary.  My mind was not wandering at all because I was so focused on the needs of another person.

During the past year, I have discovered all the ways the Rosary "works," if you will.  It indeed serves as a gateway to contemplative prayer if you don't resist it, thinking you still need to be saying the words.  It is a wonderful tool for intercession for the needs of others.  Instead of worrying and fretting, we can pray with Mary for help, bringing those we love to the Presence of God.

This morning, I awoke around 3 am with a wide variety of concerns -- so many that I could not focus on even one at a time.  They all seemed to be rushing at me simultaneously:  the illness of a close friend, financial problems of a family member, concern over one of my children, the responsibilities of a church program, etc.  With all of these pressures vying for my attention, it wasn't even possible to make a list of the things I need to do.

I reached over for my rosary, which I keep in the bed with me, and began to pray.  During the first decade, I thought about my friend's illness.  During the second, I concentrated on my child, and continued with that thought throughout the rest of the rosary.  By the end of the "long, repetitive prayer," a plan began to unfold in my mind about something I could do to help.  I finished the rosary in peace, knowing that I was not helpless in the face of all the uncertainties of my life at present.  I felt a sense of calm and peace-- even of mission.

Finally, I have begun to realize Mary's gift to us in a crazy-making world.  It's not that she needs the repetition of 10 "Hail Marys" to hear our prayer; it's that we need to calm down and focus instead of allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed with panic.  The Oriental religions use chants and breathing for the same purpose.  Mary's gift is not centered on ourselves, but on God's Gift to us in Jesus Christ.  He has not left us orphans, to figure out life for ourselves. He is with us to help us in every circumstance.  We just need to turn to Him -- and sometimes, when we are overwhelmed, it's hard to feel that we have been able to do that.  The Rosary helps us to relax -- even to fall asleep, as many people have discovered.

Isaiah 26: 3 says, "Thou will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is stayed on Thee."

I have discovered the truth of that verse through the Gift of the Rosary!

Drawing Near: A Spirituality of Presence

I was sitting in my office one morning many years ago, attending to the tasks of the day, not really thinking about God at all, when He suddenly invaded my conscious mind:  "Who are your favorite characters in Scripture?" He asked.  I knew it was Him.  He commanded my whole attention.  Without thinking about it at all, I blurted out, "Enoch, Deborah, Abraham."  

Now, here's the thing:  if anyone else had asked that same question, I would have had to dither and deliberate a long time, and even then, I'm not sure I would have been satisfied with my answer.  There's a lot to consider, after all. But somehow that day, the answer seemed to be pre-programed in my mind.  It was as if I knew without knowing that I knew.  

And immediately came the response:  Walk with Me; Sit with Me; Stand with Me.

It knocked my socks off!  It was a holy moment; at my desk on an ordinary day, I wanted to worship the God whose presence filled the room.  Maybe I did; I don't recall.  I knew that I could not have made this up, even had I been thinking about it a long time.

The implications --- for Enoch and Deborah --- were immediately clear to me.  For Abraham, I wasn't so sure.  I had to think about that one.  Scripture says about Enoch: Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him away (Genesis 5).  That's all we know about Enoch, but it is enough.

Deborah, on the other hand has a history (Judges 4) but for now, the important passage is this one: Deborah [a prophetess] was leading Israel at this time.  She held court under the Palm of Deborah...and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.  So Deborah sat under a tree and dispensed wisdom.  I tend to draw close to Deborah because from childhood, my favorite place has been either in or under a tree.  I grew up surrounded by trees and still today, gravitate to their shade and wisdom.

Now, I was familiar with Abraham, but wasn't sure at that moment how the phrase "Stand with Me" would apply to that story.  That night, I started re-reading the story of Abraham (Gen. 12-25).  When I got to Chapter 18, the words  Abraham remained standing before the Lord (v. 22) seemed to leap off the page.  This phrase introduces Abraham's plea before God to spare Sodom if ten good men could be found there.

Walk with Me; Sit with Me; Stand with Me.  In one instant, The Lord Himself had drawn near to me and given me a spirituality of Presence -- of drawing near to Him.

God's Delight

 My plants give me so much pleasure -- just by being themselves.  I don't ask the nadina to produce the deep rich blue of the black-and-blue salvia, and yet I can sit and gaze at the combination of both side by side in the garden.  All they ask of me is that I situate them in the right place and provide enough water for their needs.

This morning I spent about 20 minutes setting up the sprinkler to make sure that the water reached the right plants.  And then I came inside to start my daily meditation.  Imagine my delight when I read Psalm 65:

You visit the earth, give it water; you fill it with riches.

God's ever-flowing river brims over to prepare the grain. 

And thus it  is you who prepare it: you drench its furrows;

You level it, soften it with showers; you bless its growth.

You crown the year with your bounty, and abundance flows in your pathways.

The pastures of the desert overflow, and the hills are girded with joy,

The meadows are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with wheat.

They shout for joy, and even sing!

The Creator has not left us alone -- He still gazes at his handiwork and takes delight in what He has made.  He does not ask that we be different from what we are, or produce what is not part of our nature.  He delights in the differences and the contrasts -- and He still provides what we need to thrive.

The land of Israel from the beginning, as it is today, is dependent on Providence for water.  Water comes down from the mountains in the north, but it flows only through the Jordan River, a small stream that often runs dry.  That is why Jacob, after securing the birthright from his brother, also needed the blessing from his father.  In Hebrew, the words for blessing (berakah) and for pools of water (berekah) are almost identical.  The earth without God's blessing dries up and produces nothing.

And we too -- spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally -- are totally dependent on God's "ever-flowing river."  Psalm 65 says, "abundance flows in your pathways."  God's delight, much like my own and that of every gardener and farmer, is to provide water so that HIs creation shouts for joy, and even sings!  

The Holy Spirit is the water of God's abundance, and it is His joy to provide it to all who seek.  Look at Matt. 7 and Luke 11.  Jesus urges us to ask, seek, and knock for the abundance we want and need.  Like every good gardener, God's delight is that we flourish where He has planted us!

Words of Wisdom

 Reading the words of St. Alphonsus Liguori this morning, I thought that I would like to make a hundred copies and distribute them to everyone I know:

Never forget the sweet presence of God, as do the majority of people.

Talk to God as often as you can, for he never tires of listening to you as do the great ones of this earth.  If you truly love God, you will never lack for things to say to him.  Tell him everything that happens to you; tell him about all your concerns just as you would to the dearest friend.  Don't treat him as if he were a self-impressed prince who only deigns to speak to the great --- about great things. It delights our God to come down to our level and he is thrilled to hear from us about all our concerns, no matter how small they may appear to us. 

 He loves us so much and takes as good care of you as if you were his only care in the world.  God is so devoted to your interests; it as as if Providence existed only to aid you; omnipotence only to help you; the divine mercy and goodness only to sympathize with you, to do you good, to win your confidence by the delicacy of his affection. 

Open your inner world to God with perfect freedom and pray that he guide you to do his holy will perfectly.  Let your every desire and plan be directed only to the discovery good  of God's good pleasure and to give joy to the divine heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; ask him to make all your paths straight and to grant success to all your endeavors and plans.

How Would We Have Known?

 If Jesus had not come in the flesh, if He had not been here to say, "Come, Matthew;" "Come, Zacchaeus;" "Come, Mary (Magdalene)" --- today, I will have dinner at your house--- if we had not seen it with our own eyes, if we had not heard it for ourselves, how would we know that God accepts sinners?  

Not only "accepts" but invites us to sit at His own table, in fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?  Not in stiff formality, but in singing, laughing, dancing -- as at a wedding.  And He is willing to eat at our table, poor as it is.

And those who had obeyed the law from birth, the good ones, the "true Israelites" -- what about them?  They, too, would eventually realize that they were loved even when they became corrupt. 

 Like Peter.

He told us in the Old Testament that our sins would be washed white as snow.  But, still, it was hard to forgive ourselves, much less to assume that we would be forgiven and accepted as sons and daughters of God Himself.  But then came the parable of the Prodigal Son.  And it was revealed that He had been looking out the window the whole time we were gone.  And that when He saw us returning, He left home and came running to meet us before we had a chance to apologize.

How would we have known unless we had seen it for ourselves?  

Discernment of Spirits

 One of the most valuable tools I have picked up along the way is that of spiritual discernment.  St. Ignatius of Loyola taught this practice as one of his spiritual exercises.  When he was incapacitated because of his war wounds, he noticed that when he read the adventure stories he loved, those of war and romance, his spirit was left restless and agitated.  However, when he read the lives of Christ and of the saints, his spirit was rested and peaceful.  So he taught his followers to pay attention to the effect that different activities had on their spirits.

This morning, I had a good lesson in spiritual discernment.  I sat down to pray, but first decided to check my messages and email --- probably not the best practice.  I have not been on Facebook for a very long time, for a good reason.  But my email this morning told me that I was missing a message from a friend I had not seen or heard from in a while.  I clicked on her FB page to catch up with her, and then, of course, found myself checking on other people I know.  (That's the reason I avoid FB altogether -- it's a huge time-waster.)

At first, I did not realize the effect of my FB scrolling on my spirit.  But as I finally picked up my morning prayer page, I felt my spirit returning to the peace and calm that prayer usually brings.  The transition was so notable that it made me reflect on where I had been before prayer entered my soul --- and I felt the agitation and unrest left behind by social media.

In a world where we pay attention to everything except the state of our souls, it is no wonder that there is so much dissension, hostility, "cancel culture," and animosity.  We are not peaceful within, and therefore, we cannot live at peace with other people.

St. Ignatius recommends that each evening, we reflect on the moments of the day when we felt God was present and acting -- those moments of joy, of peace, of being at-one with ourselves and others.  Further, he recommends that we thank God for those moments, allowing them to lead us into fellowship/friendship with God.  We can also reflect on the not-so-good moments of the day and on the things that caused a rupture in our souls.  These things, too, can become sources of prayer -- and of knowing ourselves. 

There is a reason the Greek philosopher said, "Know thyself...."  The gift of discerning how people and events affect us can lead us straight into the arms of God.