It’s paradoxical that the governmental phenomenon we Americans overthrew for independence is now for many a glittery attraction provoking comments like “We don’t have anything like this in this country.”
I refer of course to our fascination with all things British, especially what is royal and especially what advertises hopes for happily ever after.
There’s nothing like a royal wedding to get our glands going. In the USA we celebrate celebrity divorces. Not as sexy.
People seem to be filled with exuberance, perhaps we long with all our hearts for happy endings.
Or perhaps the high spirit is wanting to make up for Princess Di’s tragic early death, the last princess? No wait!.....there is one more.
The Christian idea of resurrection identifies Godde as the provider of happy endingsm especially ones that are happily ever after.
I put my trust in that and also go gaga over the royal pomp, glamor, and promised bliss.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
2011.04.27 Becoming Mercy
I don’t remember what I wanted to be when I grew up. It wasn’t a princess. Maybe a horsewoman.
Maybe I just wanted to be the apple of my dad’s eye or at least not so much the apple of my mother’s eye.
Maybe I just wanted to be left alone to create—mischief, dramas, daring games with creepy plots, even liturgies—anything my imagination could stretch to.
I imagined God at just three. I was the apple of God’s eye, but I didn’t get the implications till I actually did grow up and into a religious vocation.
One thing I’m sure I didn’t want to be when I grew up was a nun or a priest. Now I am both—sort of.
I was drawn to the richness of the Roman Catholic Mass but found its misogynous politics stifling. Anglocatholic Episcopalians had the liturgy and hopeful politics so I became an Episcopal priest.
To satisfy my earlier Catholic leanings I became an Associate of the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM,) a Catholic order. BUT associates, according to their guidelines, are “ordinarily” Roman Catholic—“ordinarily” is a permissive word.
To be an Associate one makes a commitment to live a mercy way of life. Be compassionate and just. Not hard really, but hard as hell some days. A liaison Sister with whom you covenant helps. You keep each other honest to mercy.
I was attracted to the Mercies because their foundress Catherine Macauley, up for canonization btw, had a simple vision to help the poor. "Poor" is not restricted by an economic definition.
The Mercy vision and mission is to work and pray for connection: of the poor with resources, the ignorant with education/knowledge, and the sick with healing. The Holy Spirit Herself is the Great Connector and helps the process along.
This fit with my early Catholic leanings and it fits with my own ministry as priest, counselor, author and spiritual director.
Mercy satisfies my three guiding Muses: Spirituality, Religion and Feminism.
FEMINISM is happy because most of the “poor” are women. RELIGION is happy because many people are ignorant of the graces of sane and good religions and need good prayer guidance and teaching. SPIRITUALITY is happy because every soul is wounded to varying degrees of severity, and we all need healing.
To find out more about becoming an Associate of Mercy go to their website. Mercy Associates are “ordinarily” women.
Pray then click. www.sistersofmercy.org
Maybe I just wanted to be the apple of my dad’s eye or at least not so much the apple of my mother’s eye.
Maybe I just wanted to be left alone to create—mischief, dramas, daring games with creepy plots, even liturgies—anything my imagination could stretch to.
I imagined God at just three. I was the apple of God’s eye, but I didn’t get the implications till I actually did grow up and into a religious vocation.
One thing I’m sure I didn’t want to be when I grew up was a nun or a priest. Now I am both—sort of.
I was drawn to the richness of the Roman Catholic Mass but found its misogynous politics stifling. Anglocatholic Episcopalians had the liturgy and hopeful politics so I became an Episcopal priest.
To satisfy my earlier Catholic leanings I became an Associate of the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM,) a Catholic order. BUT associates, according to their guidelines, are “ordinarily” Roman Catholic—“ordinarily” is a permissive word.
To be an Associate one makes a commitment to live a mercy way of life. Be compassionate and just. Not hard really, but hard as hell some days. A liaison Sister with whom you covenant helps. You keep each other honest to mercy.
I was attracted to the Mercies because their foundress Catherine Macauley, up for canonization btw, had a simple vision to help the poor. "Poor" is not restricted by an economic definition.
The Mercy vision and mission is to work and pray for connection: of the poor with resources, the ignorant with education/knowledge, and the sick with healing. The Holy Spirit Herself is the Great Connector and helps the process along.
This fit with my early Catholic leanings and it fits with my own ministry as priest, counselor, author and spiritual director.
Mercy satisfies my three guiding Muses: Spirituality, Religion and Feminism.
FEMINISM is happy because most of the “poor” are women. RELIGION is happy because many people are ignorant of the graces of sane and good religions and need good prayer guidance and teaching. SPIRITUALITY is happy because every soul is wounded to varying degrees of severity, and we all need healing.
To find out more about becoming an Associate of Mercy go to their website. Mercy Associates are “ordinarily” women.
Pray then click. www.sistersofmercy.org
Saturday, April 23, 2011
2011.04.24 Easter Blessing from Unexpected Place
Conventional spiritual wisdom insists that good news about Divinity’s word and action comes from the margins of society and religion. Here is something from the center.
This may top the classic “Dear Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...” response to a child’s query, full of faith and hope, salted with a healthy dose of wariness, too.
An eastering word for an age of agnostic craving.
A six-year-old girl writes a letter to God. And the Archbishop of Canterbury, the only one of a variety of “heads of theology” of various religious traditions in the UK responded. The girl's question: “To God, how did you get invented?”
Dear Lulu,
Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a
difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –
‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were
quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and
thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it
came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own
and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected.
Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them
not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in
the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like.
But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like
somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the
world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward
questions!’
And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off.
I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on
his behalf. Lots of love from me too.
+Archbishop Rowan
(I credit the Rev. Eliza Kaeton for posting this lovely message from an article in The Church Times by Lulu’s father Damian Thompson, a non-believer, to the Episcopal House of Bishops and Deputies. Brava! )
This may top the classic “Dear Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...” response to a child’s query, full of faith and hope, salted with a healthy dose of wariness, too.
An eastering word for an age of agnostic craving.
A six-year-old girl writes a letter to God. And the Archbishop of Canterbury, the only one of a variety of “heads of theology” of various religious traditions in the UK responded. The girl's question: “To God, how did you get invented?”
Dear Lulu,
Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a
difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –
‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were
quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and
thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it
came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own
and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected.
Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them
not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in
the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like.
But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like
somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the
world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward
questions!’
And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off.
I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on
his behalf. Lots of love from me too.
+Archbishop Rowan
(I credit the Rev. Eliza Kaeton for posting this lovely message from an article in The Church Times by Lulu’s father Damian Thompson, a non-believer, to the Episcopal House of Bishops and Deputies. Brava! )
2011.04.23 Holy Saturday Musing
The Easter Vigil officially begins at dawn. Of course most parishes engage in this amazing all-encompassing liturgy tonight, because God forbid we would be too tired to do the whole thing again on Easter Sunday.
Tonight I will celebrate the ancient story and the dawning of Easter by 9 p.m. Tomorrow I will stay home—and feast.
Today is quiet, rainy, cold, bleak. I'm waiting-in-hope. A wise Jesuit once said to me that Holy Saturday is the day when:
The Father is silent.
The Son is dead.
The Holy Spirit broods.
Tonight I will celebrate the ancient story and the dawning of Easter by 9 p.m. Tomorrow I will stay home—and feast.
Today is quiet, rainy, cold, bleak. I'm waiting-in-hope. A wise Jesuit once said to me that Holy Saturday is the day when:
The Father is silent.
The Son is dead.
The Holy Spirit broods.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
2011.04.20 Holy Week Wisdom
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.
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.
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.
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