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Tonight I rest in God as this week slowly ebbs to an end. My week was like one of those snow globes you shake, now resting in God – all the particles have settled, now present to the unfolding of this week that blurs into Presence -contentment and gratitude and trust in the mercy of God.
Last Friday I hosted a Zoom gathering of the Spiritual Directors affiliated with our retreat centre here in Saskatoon SK. This morning hearing the words of Jesus, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”, a Christophany light bulb took me back to our sharing Friday and echoing down through the centuries are the words of Jesus: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”. Sometimes I forget the power of these words used by Jesus the Christ continue to unfold in our lives and lives of those yet to be lived. We gather as the anointed ones. So, as I begin this week I bow to you my companions, the anointed ones with a grateful heart.
Simply “they have no wine” equivalents this week were plentiful. A new awareness of my tendencies to doubt and step in. In gratitude for this awareness, I renew my desire: May your will be done!
“I am a Christophany”! With attention/intention I begin this week. Hearing the word of God read this morning at virtual Eucharist, I was like sucked into Mary’s Christophany as she simple says: “They have no wine.” No request, no expectation. Something clicked. I am no longer part of planning committees; often I am not consulted; someone else is the executive director. I find myself simply voicing with compassion the equivalent of: “They have no wine”. I am open to this awareness as this week unfolds. I am not forgotten, I have a voice. I am love abundantly! (A whole new waking up! is happening).
Linda, I join you re-iterating my intentionally in becoming that which God spoke into our existence all those years ago. A gift of this week is this quote from Max Frisch: “Time does not change us. It just unfolds us.” God’s word is so powerful I can join in a lifetime of unfolding.
May I add that in the 1990’s I was introduced to “morning pages” eventually I began Progoff journaling. Those of us whose pathway has been that of darkness need the guiding hand of the Spirit through such instruments as these. Years ago now Jesus’ words: I am the light of the world” (ff) became my discernment companion. To my” joy/delight”, these words are being experienced more often now as “I unfold) even as I am involved in some of the most challenging aspects of “walking with” as we in Canada open our hearts to our Indigenous people and takes seriously the care of our earth.
Deep gratitude for all of you my “Word of the Week” companions.
From a homily this morning: “we all are offered many opportunities of Baptismal moments, when we are submerged in the waters of change, discovery moments, decision times or illness or death and ….. Intentionally this week I want to honor these moments that will be offered to me this week including those from my memory bank. “The Spirit blows where it chooses.” (John 3:8). Susan, I too have dad moments, anchors in my life, that have seen me through many many baptismal moments.
Help me find myself
as I walk in others’ shoes.
– Kate Compston, I get a call from Marie that my voice mail box is full. Checking and deleting , there is Jane’s message. Jane passed away a couple of months ago following an aggressive cancer. Jane suffered from severe bouts of depression. Over the years I walked her through the deep darkness times. This message and the final time I saw her, Jane was living deep gratitude and was exuberant in that I know this. “Theology on Time” interviews from the Catholic College on our University campus and there is Mike, now Father Mike and a “very reverend”. More than a dozen years ago I walked with him through discernment. Then Eva came into aware this week, age 16 some 50 years ago. There was unfinished business on my part and so I let the Spirit walk me though this into the future. Then there is Dorothy, Tonny, and the list went on and on this week. This week I was invited to join in a discernment regarding a formation program that initially I was very much a part of. Initially I was finding all the reasons to decline; Sarah is also invited. I have big unfinished business. I am filled with gratitude, even though it may mean humiliation. Does the Spirit invite us ” to cease walking in another’s shoes or what? I am open to the reveal. Is it a calling?“I cannot know who, where, when; I just know with fidelity to my practice, I can be that healing light. <3 linda”
Thanks, Linda, my trust and firm conviction, too.
This week I am intentionally open to be surprised by manifestations of incarnation, seek and find….., follow the star…..
Where am I called to Resurrection in the practical circumstances in my life during this our second Easter in pandemic times? Reaching out to extended family as a favorite cousin, age 70, ravaged by a fast moving aggressive cancer; a listening presence to someone in the deep hole of depression moving from despair to gradual movements into light; family sharings of Easter’s past…..touching in with other spiritual directors accompanying those bruise by covid 19; savoring the simple moments of joy/delight when actually getting to see your doctor face to face, behind a mask, of course touching into over looked signs of care.
Though this wasn’t one of the proposed scriptures this week it just popped Friday lingering to this moment:
Welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Rom 15:3 No fanfare, just a simple touching into my spirit.
I now join the live streaming of Donald’s funeral, a much loved cousin.
Lots of downloading these past 10 days or so beginning with a word “defiance” unleashing a a flow of memories, feelings, from the very negative to liberating new awarenesses. The image of the Moon over the Waterfall speaking volumes into my being; the water flowing is always down, down….plunging deeply into the abyss below: ” An Abyss opens up within me. I am falling, falling, Plunging into non-existence. (Thomas Keating). “….Jesus trajectory of pure love, may just be to show us that self-emptying is not the means to something else; the act itself is the full expression of its meaning and instantly brings into being a new creation…” (Thomas Keating)
Entering into Holy Week with deep feelings of gratitude I am ready to walk with Jesus in his descent into the abyss of new life.
This week with the “ears of my heart” I heard sorrowing, desperation, deep longing, you are loved, I am stuck, shame, and ………..
Sorry, I wanted to quote only two significant sentences from Susan, the second and third last – and I couldn’t undo the rest of the quote..
Might I add that for me the Welcome prayer is a blessing in surfacing “feelings of resistance and emotional triggers”. A significant breakthrough happened this week. I had to admit my powerlessness over several days and then “I got it”!
The comments made here and during our Zoom sharing often open up new windows to the mystery we live in and to my own soul. I know my life was very much influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, its rootedness in God and it’s courage to speak the truth and act from it. Much of my work focused on faith based efforts aimed at economic justice. As I now spend more time in silence, I feel like a dancer who has reached the still point. All of the lessons learned in the dance of my life are still spinning and slowly unraveling. Word of the Week has been part of the process. I know that my inner truth has been formed by a certain time in history and how I chose to respond to it. Yet, there are bigger and deeper truths that arise. My task is to be quiet and let God be the guide. Yes. The world in its present form is passing away. My safe harbors and clear paths have disappeared. But I trust in a new vision, the one being created moment by moment. With gratitude for all of you.
What newspaper is this?
