This year is one of those rare times when Pesach (Passover), Easter, and Ramadan intersect. Thanks to my own experiences in interfaith dialogue and community in the military and outside of the military I am blessed with a wide variety of friends and colleagues who are a part of the Abrahamic family of faith. Through those relationships, my own faith life has grown a lot. Thus an occurrence such as this is a blessing for me as I think of and pray with/for my siblings across the globe.
One of my responsibilities as a USAF chaplain was to provide for the free exercise of religion of all military and civilian personnel and their families. For me, it was more than a Constitutional requirement, it was a way of expressing my own faith which was and is rooted and grounded in love.
In an age where religion and politics seek division through fear and hatred, standing in solidarity with my siblings isn’t always seen as “good” by some folks. Where some create fear-based division, I see opportunities for growth and learning based on what we hold in common. By sharing our stories, listening (really listening, not preparing your counter-point while the other is talking) to each other, learning from each other, and growing together in love and peace, unity can arise. Unity based on love and seeking peace builds community. Thomas Merton wrote about such unity in a letter that is found in the book, The Hidden Ground of Love: Letters.
The deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. We discover an older unity. My dear Brothers, we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are. — Thomas Merton
As holy days intersect, my prayer is that we will come to the realization that we are already one. And in that unity, may we work together for Shalom… Salam.. Peace…
Here is a musical interpretation of Merton’s words offered by Alana Levandoski with a reading by one of Merton’s novices, James Finley. What We Are
“We have given corporations dominion over the sustaining of our lives. . . . They shape our thoughts and our language. They create the images and metaphors of our time, which our children use to define their world and their lives. In other words: what corporations do well, what corporations are designed to be, is the problem.”—Richard Grossman
What keeps us from opening to the reality of the world? Could it be that we cannot accept our powerlessness and are only willing to see those wounds that we can heal? Could it be that we do not want to give up our illusion that we are masters over our world and, therefore, create our own Disneyland where we can make ourselves believe that all events of life are safely under control? Could it be that our blindness and deafness are signs of our own resistance to acknowledging that we are not the Lord of the Universe? It is hard to allow these questions to go beyond the level of rhetoric and to really sense in our innermost self how much we resent our powerlessness. . . .
The astonishing thing is that the battle for survival has become so “normal” that few people really believe that it can be different. . . . Oh, how important is discipline, community, prayer, silence, caring presence, simple listening, adoration, and deep, lasting faithful friendship. We all want it so much, and still the powers suggesting that all of that is fantasy are enormous. But we have to replace the battle for power with the battle to create space for the spirit.
“The breath teaches us … to learn to solo-task, to focus on what is at hand, to slow down, and the breath can help us with this.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
What happens when you pause and awaken to your breath in this moment?
“Before he dies, Jesus turns to his mother and John and calls on them to care for one another. . . . It’s a very touching moment that even while dying in agony upon the cross, Jesus is thinking and caring for others. {John 19: 25-27}.”
— John Valters Paintner, MTS, Watershed Moments in the Hebrew & Christian Scriptures: An Online, Self-Study Retreat
Whom do you care for?
Verse of the day
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
– Psalm 46:11
Voice of the day
The God we yearn to know more deeply is the God of Jesus, the God of the prophets, the God of the two testaments—a gracious, loving Creator, a God of shalom and justice, a God who intervenes in our history, who shatters the weapons of war and foils the power of nations and empires.
– Will O’Brien, “Be Still and Know”
Prayer of the day
May we be gracious and loving, seeking justice on our way to discovering who you are.
“Thresholds are liminal times when the past season has come to a close but there is a profound unknowing of what will come next.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
When have you been in a threshold space in your life? What did you learn? Are you there now?
Verse of the day
O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
– Isaiah 33:2
Voice of the day
Prophetic imagination is grounded in the conviction that God is doing something lively in the world.
– Walter Brueggemann, “Jesus Acted Out the Alternative to Empire”
Prayer of the day
Every morning, remind us that our pursuits for justice are part of the lively things your are doing in the world.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a full day of sorting through boxes
So many memories with each picture, note, and item
Honoring our parents (beyond the veil and with us still)
Honoring our ancestors as well
So much to ponder
So many memories
Our hearts are indeed full
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Verse of the day
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
– 1 Corinthians 12:26
Voice of the day
Mutual aid is our transformation from glory to glory into the fullness of God’s life for us. It is the incarnation of divine care.
– Isaac S. Villegas, “Mutual Aid’s Radical Christian Roots”
Prayer of the day
From glory to glory may we transform. Let our actions honor all members of your community; for we are one together.
