Be wise. Speak wisely. Act wisely. Practice Wisdom.
Wisdom in biblical parlance is a holy figure, a powerful symbolic figure, usually portrayed in feminine form and voice, who basically guides the whole enchilada of developing faith between Divinity and Humanity. Big job!
For Jews Wisdom (Hochmah) is found instructing the people of YHWH in the Torah to bind the law of love for God into their hearts as a constant guide for all they do.(Deut 6:6-8, Psalm 19)
For Christians Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God’s Spirit (Sophia) in human flesh, quite like binding divinity to your heart. (John 1:1-18)
To be wise the thoughts of your heart must be congruent with the words of your mouth and the actions of your body.
Wisdom is not knowledge alone. Wisdom is the integration of knowledge from without with experience from within.
Quakers are all over this one.
Wisdom guides the integration process. She is Who gets us through the worst and best of times. Holy Week for Christians is both. Wisdom hold it all together, keeps us whole and holy. (She actually is spiritual velcro.)
Pray. Ask. Follow.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
2011.04.17 Women Bearing Palms
It is for Christians Palm Sunday, a day of hope and fear, remembering all the hope Jesus brought to his age and beyond, also knowing the terrors that come as we struggle to realize that vision of justice, peace and love.
In the parade that followed Jesus into Jerusalem there were many women tossing palms in the path and hoping for something better, while fearing the worst.
“As innumerable global studies have shown, a country’s economic health and security are deeply linked to the status of its women. Even the poorest societies are more stable when children are educated, resources are shared, and women are free. Countries that sideline women not only forfeit the human capital of half of their population but also create conditions of unrest.” (Boston Globe, April 16, 2011, Renée Loth, “An Uprising for Women’s Rights, too.”)
“So God created humankind in God’s own image,
in the image of God s/he created them;
male and female God created them.” (Genesis 1:27 touched up by Lyn Brakeman who
is doing her part to include women in the image)
Genesis is the theological equivalent of the secular sociopolitical statement in the newspaper.
Contemplate the connections. Throw palms, and your weight, toward the wholeness of Godde—and the world.
In the parade that followed Jesus into Jerusalem there were many women tossing palms in the path and hoping for something better, while fearing the worst.
“As innumerable global studies have shown, a country’s economic health and security are deeply linked to the status of its women. Even the poorest societies are more stable when children are educated, resources are shared, and women are free. Countries that sideline women not only forfeit the human capital of half of their population but also create conditions of unrest.” (Boston Globe, April 16, 2011, Renée Loth, “An Uprising for Women’s Rights, too.”)
“So God created humankind in God’s own image,
in the image of God s/he created them;
male and female God created them.” (Genesis 1:27 touched up by Lyn Brakeman who
is doing her part to include women in the image)
Genesis is the theological equivalent of the secular sociopolitical statement in the newspaper.
Contemplate the connections. Throw palms, and your weight, toward the wholeness of Godde—and the world.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
2011.04.14 Intermediate Retirement
I am retired—and not.
Officially I’m unemployed, have no boss, no set schedule, no salary or office to go to. I’m free—sort of. All I have to do is take time management skills training!
It’s bad enough I’m my own boss and I have a computer and home office that calls me to write daily.But I can say no—sometimes.
I’m busier than ever, as people say they are who retired. So not retired at all in a traditional sense.
Hence, I’ve invented something called Inter-Ret, Intermediate Retirement. The time, about 70-80, when many of us are still vital and we can choose what to do.
This applies to those of us who have pension security and few severe limitations. The precious lucky!
Inter-Ret is a thin space time, a time when you can re-tread, re-up, re-boot. Choose your own re-.........
I like re-soul.
Officially I’m unemployed, have no boss, no set schedule, no salary or office to go to. I’m free—sort of. All I have to do is take time management skills training!
It’s bad enough I’m my own boss and I have a computer and home office that calls me to write daily.But I can say no—sometimes.
I’m busier than ever, as people say they are who retired. So not retired at all in a traditional sense.
Hence, I’ve invented something called Inter-Ret, Intermediate Retirement. The time, about 70-80, when many of us are still vital and we can choose what to do.
This applies to those of us who have pension security and few severe limitations. The precious lucky!
Inter-Ret is a thin space time, a time when you can re-tread, re-up, re-boot. Choose your own re-.........
I like re-soul.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
2011.04.10 Chiropractic Spirituality
The first time I ever heard of chiropractic manipulations was in the morning milk delivery truck with dairy farmer Kurt and his daughter Isabella. We would travel to Millerton NY for a visit to the chiropractor who would, Kurt told us, crack every bone in his back.
Paying to have all your bones broken sounded neanderthal to me, but on the ride home Kurt was joyful. We girls bounced like popcorn on the front seat of the pick-up and all of us sang at the top of our lungs, “O my darling Clementine...” which always made me cry. I don’t know why.
Chiropractic back in the ‘40s was considered tantamount to witch doctoring or voodoo. People looked askance, but Kurt, who had suffered more than his share of near-death farm accidents, swore by it.
I didn’t think of chiropractic again until my neck froze up solid and I was sure I’d be crippled forever. Remembering Kurt I found a chiropractor who set the vertebrae in my neck and spine straight. No medication! It felt miraculous.
After the first treatment I told my husband I’d experienced righteousness in my body—all the vertebrae fell into line.
Righteousness in biblical parlance means to be congruent,in right relationship with God, yourself and your neighbors. What you think, say, feel and do agree. You have integrity, speak truth. You’re all lined up, like your spine should be.
If you're out of alignment you feel pain. Your body aches, not necessarily in your back but joints, even headache. Spiritually your soul aches, you feel phony, chaotic, out of focus. Not credible.
I’ve been under chiropractic care some 30 years now. Many chiropractors use the Activator method now. Instead of aligning your spine by hand with quick deft manipulations that go CRACK and hurt psychologically, they use a small miracle of a power tool called an Activator that drives painless pressure into the right spot and BINGO embodied righteousness begins.
The process is painless, not costly, covered by many insurances, and medication-free.
A chiropractor is trained to develop skill in locating the exact place that needs pressure. Good chiropractors have skill, yes but going to the bone is a gift and an art. My chiropractor, Dr. Cheryl Lubin, has that gift.
Choose well because you want a chiropractor who, like Godde, knows exactly where you need a small nudge of grace.
Paying to have all your bones broken sounded neanderthal to me, but on the ride home Kurt was joyful. We girls bounced like popcorn on the front seat of the pick-up and all of us sang at the top of our lungs, “O my darling Clementine...” which always made me cry. I don’t know why.
Chiropractic back in the ‘40s was considered tantamount to witch doctoring or voodoo. People looked askance, but Kurt, who had suffered more than his share of near-death farm accidents, swore by it.
I didn’t think of chiropractic again until my neck froze up solid and I was sure I’d be crippled forever. Remembering Kurt I found a chiropractor who set the vertebrae in my neck and spine straight. No medication! It felt miraculous.
After the first treatment I told my husband I’d experienced righteousness in my body—all the vertebrae fell into line.
Righteousness in biblical parlance means to be congruent,in right relationship with God, yourself and your neighbors. What you think, say, feel and do agree. You have integrity, speak truth. You’re all lined up, like your spine should be.
If you're out of alignment you feel pain. Your body aches, not necessarily in your back but joints, even headache. Spiritually your soul aches, you feel phony, chaotic, out of focus. Not credible.
I’ve been under chiropractic care some 30 years now. Many chiropractors use the Activator method now. Instead of aligning your spine by hand with quick deft manipulations that go CRACK and hurt psychologically, they use a small miracle of a power tool called an Activator that drives painless pressure into the right spot and BINGO embodied righteousness begins.
The process is painless, not costly, covered by many insurances, and medication-free.
A chiropractor is trained to develop skill in locating the exact place that needs pressure. Good chiropractors have skill, yes but going to the bone is a gift and an art. My chiropractor, Dr. Cheryl Lubin, has that gift.
Choose well because you want a chiropractor who, like Godde, knows exactly where you need a small nudge of grace.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
2011.04.06 Lenten Laugh
May West, stopping at nothing, once tried to seduce the Pope.(She died in 1980 so you figure out which one:)
She was good at her part and the Pope apologized with a deep papal bow, pulled a reversal by kissing her hand, and hid behind Lent. “I’m sorry I can’t, it’s Lent.” Well, West retorted, “When you get it back let me know.”
Lighten up for Lent. Sin is serious and also hilarious when you get perspective.
Mercy triumphs over judgment anyway.
So lighten up and laugh for Lent —and don’t loan anything essential.
She was good at her part and the Pope apologized with a deep papal bow, pulled a reversal by kissing her hand, and hid behind Lent. “I’m sorry I can’t, it’s Lent.” Well, West retorted, “When you get it back let me know.”
Lighten up for Lent. Sin is serious and also hilarious when you get perspective.
Mercy triumphs over judgment anyway.
So lighten up and laugh for Lent —and don’t loan anything essential.
Monday, April 4, 2011
2011.04.03 A Day with Teen Girls in Boston
One way to spruce up Lent, if you so need, is to banish sombriety (yes, I made that one up!) and spend the day with two 15 year old girls in a big city.
One of these two enchanting teens is my grand daughter Gillian. She has reached five feet and is statuesque with pride, having anticipate a life worse-than-death-as-short.
Just getting on the red line subway was an adventure. Everything was an adventure even if it wasn’t really new. The two giggled their way along city streets.
They walked ahead of me as if they knew where they were going. I got to watch their Gilly Hicks butts swinging along, perky. If it weren’t for the color (not flesh colored) of the tight leggings (all the rage) you’d never know they had a thing on.
Some guy called “Hey cutie” to Gillian. This inspired a flurry of hysterical giggles—embarrassment and thrill all at once. I hadn’t seen the man but she said he was sitting in a chair on the sidewalk.
Each girl had some money. Grammy treated for lunch and took cellphone photos of them, their heads tilted toward one another, mouths fixed on straws as they sucked up their twin strawberry frappes.
Gillian asked if it were rude to noisily suck up the remainder of the frappe with the straw. I said go for it. If it’s delicious, delightful, get as much of it as you can. They slurped, pleased and innocent as suckling infants. My own motherly love knew no bounds as I took in their mutual delight. Eden joy!
After ogling the scant overpriced putative clothing options, they found an “everything” shop and purchased souvenirs of Boston, selected carefully and with conversation about what would be just right for Mom, Dad, siblings and their grandparental hosts.
Grampy and I got little duckies and a panoramic postcard of the Boston skyline. Mom got a rubber bracelet “Superstar” and younger sister one that said “Spoiled.” For themselves they bought the same woven pink cord bracelet— a cut above rubber.
These girls are nice girls. They have soul because both have resisted the temptation to be mean in order to belong.
The highlight of the day was the trip to the ladies room at the lunch place. On the wall were wise or witty quotes, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Charles Manson, and more.
They came rushing out of the bathroom wanting pens to write quotes. “But we don’t know any quotes! Can you give us some?”
I jotted down one of my favorites: “I have set before you life and death. Choose life” paraphrased from Deuteronomy 30:15. “That’s great Grammy!” They never asked what Deuteronomy was but raced back to the bathroom to write themselves, and a little of God’s wisdom, onto the wall.
That’s how faith-in-memory happens—and then gets written over and over.
A day with nice girls in a buzzing big city is enlivening and therefore holy.
One of these two enchanting teens is my grand daughter Gillian. She has reached five feet and is statuesque with pride, having anticipate a life worse-than-death-as-short.
Just getting on the red line subway was an adventure. Everything was an adventure even if it wasn’t really new. The two giggled their way along city streets.
They walked ahead of me as if they knew where they were going. I got to watch their Gilly Hicks butts swinging along, perky. If it weren’t for the color (not flesh colored) of the tight leggings (all the rage) you’d never know they had a thing on.
Some guy called “Hey cutie” to Gillian. This inspired a flurry of hysterical giggles—embarrassment and thrill all at once. I hadn’t seen the man but she said he was sitting in a chair on the sidewalk.
Each girl had some money. Grammy treated for lunch and took cellphone photos of them, their heads tilted toward one another, mouths fixed on straws as they sucked up their twin strawberry frappes.
Gillian asked if it were rude to noisily suck up the remainder of the frappe with the straw. I said go for it. If it’s delicious, delightful, get as much of it as you can. They slurped, pleased and innocent as suckling infants. My own motherly love knew no bounds as I took in their mutual delight. Eden joy!
After ogling the scant overpriced putative clothing options, they found an “everything” shop and purchased souvenirs of Boston, selected carefully and with conversation about what would be just right for Mom, Dad, siblings and their grandparental hosts.
Grampy and I got little duckies and a panoramic postcard of the Boston skyline. Mom got a rubber bracelet “Superstar” and younger sister one that said “Spoiled.” For themselves they bought the same woven pink cord bracelet— a cut above rubber.
These girls are nice girls. They have soul because both have resisted the temptation to be mean in order to belong.
The highlight of the day was the trip to the ladies room at the lunch place. On the wall were wise or witty quotes, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Charles Manson, and more.
They came rushing out of the bathroom wanting pens to write quotes. “But we don’t know any quotes! Can you give us some?”
I jotted down one of my favorites: “I have set before you life and death. Choose life” paraphrased from Deuteronomy 30:15. “That’s great Grammy!” They never asked what Deuteronomy was but raced back to the bathroom to write themselves, and a little of God’s wisdom, onto the wall.
That’s how faith-in-memory happens—and then gets written over and over.
A day with nice girls in a buzzing big city is enlivening and therefore holy.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
2011.03.30 Bible as Memoir
The Bible is a memoir. It is written from memory and out of love.
It is passionate about the unfolding of a powerful faith story written to tell how Divinity is present in transformative, creating, and healing ways—and continues to be present.
Because it describes an evolving process of understanding of the relationship between humanity and divinity over time, it is necessarily more impressionistic than literal.
Memoir is like an impressionist painting. You stand back and you see a whole picture but when you go up close you see a bunch of multicolored dots, daubs of many colors, fragments of happenings, fragments of feelings, snapshots of detail.
You remember the bright yellow dress you wore, the red tie of the man who bent over you, the dappled sky of the afternoon your first felt like a grownup when you were only eight. You zoom in and pull back, over and over until you know where all the colors belong—and maybe why.
Because the Bible was written many years after a spiritual experience, and because it is revelation-over-time, it is open-ended, and subject to multiple interpretations.
Interpretations, both individual and collective, are made in the context of time, over time. This is what makes biblical memoir Holy. It is flexible, speaking from generation to generation.
Every memoirist hopes that her own story will speak to a fraction of people— enough to be remembered—and be a little holy.
It is passionate about the unfolding of a powerful faith story written to tell how Divinity is present in transformative, creating, and healing ways—and continues to be present.
Because it describes an evolving process of understanding of the relationship between humanity and divinity over time, it is necessarily more impressionistic than literal.
Memoir is like an impressionist painting. You stand back and you see a whole picture but when you go up close you see a bunch of multicolored dots, daubs of many colors, fragments of happenings, fragments of feelings, snapshots of detail.
You remember the bright yellow dress you wore, the red tie of the man who bent over you, the dappled sky of the afternoon your first felt like a grownup when you were only eight. You zoom in and pull back, over and over until you know where all the colors belong—and maybe why.
Because the Bible was written many years after a spiritual experience, and because it is revelation-over-time, it is open-ended, and subject to multiple interpretations.
Interpretations, both individual and collective, are made in the context of time, over time. This is what makes biblical memoir Holy. It is flexible, speaking from generation to generation.
Every memoirist hopes that her own story will speak to a fraction of people— enough to be remembered—and be a little holy.
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