In our world full of strangers, estranged from their own past, culture, and country, from their neighbors, friends, and family, from their deepest self and their God, we witness a painful search for a hospitable place where life can be lived without fear and where community can be found. Although many, we might say even most, strangers in this world become easily the victim of a fearful hostility, it is possible for men and women and obligatory for Christians to offer an open and hospitable space where strangers can cast off their strangeness and become our fellow human beings. The movement from hostility to hospitality is hard and full of difficulties. Our society seems to be increasingly full of fearful, defensive, aggressive people, anxiously clinging to their property and inclined to look at their surrounding world with suspicion, always expecting an enemy to suddenly appear, intrude, and do harm. But still—that is our vocation: to convert the hostis into a hospes, the enemy into a guest, and to create the free and fearless space where brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and fully experienced.
Verse of the day
O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. – Psalm 96:1
Voice of the day
The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell. – Zora Neale Hurston, Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939)
Prayer of the day
As the past brought forth this present, remind us that our actions hold tomorrow’s potential — dormant, expectant.
“What we do is so little we may seem to be constantly failing. . . . But, unless the seed falls into the earth and dies, there is no harvest. And why see results? Our work is to sow.”—Dorothy Day
“Nonviolence is not a set of tactics but a force that is inherent in the human spirit. To fully understand it requires a change in consciousness and a recommitment to a set of core values. To restore our democracy, save the planet, and remind us of the possibility of peace we long for, we require a dramatic cultural shift wherein we each take ownership of our own actions and the principles of nonviolence.”—US Representative Pramila Jayapal, in Foreword to The Third Harmony by Michael Nagler
Verse of the day
“I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
– John 16:33
Voice of the day
Nobody should have to hide who they are inside to please people on the outside.
– Terry McMillan, It’s Not All Downhill From Here (2020)
Prayer of the day
With peace and courage, may I live just as I am, just as you designed me.
Christine Valters Paintner invited us to reflect on the painting as it was the prompt for today’s poetry writing in a class that I am taking through the Abbey of the Arts (link in the painting’s caption). This past week included a long overdue trip to Minnesota to see my Dad. Walking through the Valley of the Shadows with dementia is often difficult. Even though the journey has its challenges, this past week was also a time filled with love and grace. Denise and I are both thankful for the time we had with him. The moments of laughter and love were such a gift in the midst of this journey. My first response was seeing the heart of Mother Mary at the foot of the cross. I wrote this poem as a response to the prompt and also as an invitation to go deeper in exploring my own journey.
A heart is broken
She had been told this would happen
A sword would pierce her heart
She watched his life-blood drain away
Slowly and painfully with each beat of his heart
Slowly her heart was breaking
Her heartbeat in unison with his
I look at the blue
A River of life coming out of the crack
The crack is how the light of the Spirit gets in
A heart is broken
A heart that will heal
Out of the pain
Healing and hope for a new day
Verse of the day
Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
– Isaiah 41:10
Voice of the day
The question isn’t if we can weather this unknown, / But how we will weather this unknown together.
– Amanda Gorman, “The Miracle of Morning”
Prayer of the day
As we stare into the unknown, let us hold hands in community.
As we made our journey to Minnesota and back, there was a lot of time for reflection. Denise was reading and would share insights from the books that we are both supposed to have read before our Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary class at Montreat the week before Palm Sunday and Holy Week. We have also been listening to inspirational and insightful music/poetry from Christine Valters Paintner and our friends at Abbey of the Arts (Abbey Shop) along with the deeply touching music of Alana Levandoski (Alana’s website).
As I began reflecting on tonight’s blog, the Beatles song, The Long and Winding Road (YouTube link) popped into my head. As we begin the second week of our Sabbath rest, some may wonder where this journey will lead us. If you aren’t certain, you aren’t alone! We don’t know the specifics of that journey, only that we are accompanied by some amazing friends, some of whom are mentioned above. Of course my spiritual mentor and brother, Thomas Merton is a part of that cloud of witnesses. Merton shared the following from his journal entry on February 14, 1953: A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True Life, The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3: 1952-1960.
For, of all men, the solitary knows least where he is going, and yet he is more sure, for there is one thing he cannot doubt: he travels where God is leading him. That is precisely why he doesn’t know the way. And that too is why, to most other men, the way is something of a scandal.
Thank you, dear reader, for accompanying us on this journey of spiritual renewal and discovery.
Verse of the day
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good[.]
– Romans 12:9
Voice of the day
Valentine’s Day should serve as a calendar reminder of our communal connection, and our responsibility toward people whose labor assists in proclaiming our love.
– Céire Kealty, “This Valentine’s Day, Fair Trade Chocolate Isn’t Enough”
Prayer of the day
Remind us of our responsibility to love one another with generosity and justice.
“No nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both: that of the women.” —Muhammad Ali Jinnah
