As we watched the sun go down and the firelight flicker there were many thoughts going through my mind and my heart. We have been living in this new “reality” for two months now.
I have been intentional in trying to limit my news intake and even Social Media. There is so much out there that it can truly overwhelm a person. The negativity, hate, and fear mongering can quickly suck you into a swamp, or to use an analogy from The Princess Bride, into the Pit of Despair.
The church I serve is being intentional in making sound decisions when it comes to the new reality of Virtual Church and how to approach the day sometime in the future when we will return to the building. While I have emphasized and re-emphasized the fact that the church is more than a building, the questions continue.
One thing that I believe with all of my heart is that the church post COVID-19 will look a lot different from the way it had been before. We will be entering a new world and reality. It isn’t going to look like the church of the “good old days” for some time (if it ever will). For some that is a cause for mourning. For me it is a cause for hope.
We continue to be the hands and feet of Christ in this current reality and I believe we will be challenged to do even greater things in the post COVID-19 world. When John described the new world in the Book of Revelation, he shared this vision: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Rev 21:1)
This world, this light which we will emerge into from the darkness, will be a new opportunity. The church has an opportunity to change. We have the chance to break down barriers and unite together in being the light and love of Christ to this world desperately in need of healing.
In his poem “Earthquake (Isaiah 52) Thomas Merton had this to say about that new reality. Read his words with an open heart and let them sink deep into your soul. These are words of hope and a future for us and for all of God’s creation.
And say
The old wrongs are over
The old ways are done
There shall be no more hate
And no more war
My people shall be one.
So tell the earth to shake
With marching feet
Of messengers of peace
Proclaim my law of love
To every nation
Every race.
For the old world is ended
The old sky is torn Apart.
A new day is born
They hate no more
They do not go to war
My people shall be one.
(The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, pp. 701-703)
This is our calling… this is God’s commission for each of us as we walk together into this new world!
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
We are thankful Lord
Thankful for another day of ministry
Thankful for your presence in these difficult times
We are thankful for the fresh and renewing Spirit
The Spirit which offers hope, light, and a way through the Valley of the Shadows
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…
Our ability to live fully is being challenged and redefined during the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. So much of what we took for granted has been thrown out the window. The new reality which we live in is far more restrictive than many of us have ever experienced.
We have a choice during these challenging times. We can either drown in sorrow, overwhelmed by the drastic changes in our way of life; or we can choose to seek the Spirit’s guidance as we make our way into this new reality. The question is this; how do we live fully in this new reality?
As Denise and I walk with our congregation through this new reality, our call is to offer hope as we seek to follow the Lord. When Moses chose Joshua as his successor, he also shared a promise with the people of the Exile before they entered the Promised Land. Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
I want to emphasize this part of Moses’s comments in my own slight paraphrase: Be strong and bold… it is the Lord your God who goes with you; God will not fail you or forsake you. During these challenging times we must remember that God is with us. Through the love, grace, and sustenance of God we will live fully, even in these demanding times.
Thomas Merton said the following in his book Thoughts in Solitude: If an [individual] is to live, [he/she] must be all alive, body, soul, mind, heart, spirit. (p. 30)
May we indeed live so boldly as the Spirit leads us. And may that grace and strength be with us as we walk forward together.
This is in my office… sort of a diary of travel, faith, and life… the Army Chaplain is Chaplain (Father) William Corby from the Union Army’s Irish Brigade. He gave General Absolution to the Irish Brigade on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 2nd, 1863). He wrote the following in his memoir: “That general absolution was intended for all – in quantum possum – not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge.” He was praying for all of the soldiers that day, regardless of uniform.
The mini rug is from my last deployment in 2007/2008. The Churches are replicas of two English Churches. I led worship in a few churches and the Ely Cathedral while I was stationed in England (1994-1997 and 2005-2008). The red rosary is from my deployment to Afghanistan in 2005. The wooden rosary was a friend of mine’s English mother. He gave it to me just before he died. The colorful Islamic prayer beads are from Uzbekistan (I bounced around Afghanistan and Uzbekistan providing ministry) and the wooden prayer beads are from Turkey (a gift from a parishioner). The crucifix was my Dad’s Grandmother’s (she came from Scotland to the US). And of course Saint Francis which I bought in England. The miniature labyrinth was a recent purchase. This unusual altar represents my spiritual journey of discovery and friendship/family.
Life’s journey can reveal to us many things if we are open to the Spirit’s gentle whisper.
This has been an exhausting day for some reason. Meetings, conference calls, working on Sunday worship, and doing some pre-reading for my first class which begins on Monday. Uff Dah!
In the midst of it all, I was involved in some discussions about what is going on in our nation and world. The fear, hatred, and anger being splattered all over the media, social media, and in various locations around the country. It can get pretty doggone depressing if you feed on it for too long.
Steven Charleston is a Native American Elder, writer, and retired bishop in the Episcopal Church. He has been an inspiration and spiritual guide to me and to so many people. His voice of hope and faith in the midst of the Pandemic has been life giving to me. Below is his post from today on Facebook.
Compassion… common sense… to keep sharing every ounce of love that I have… these are words we need to hear today. These are words to guide and sustain us.
As I read today’s section from Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours, the following words spoke to my heart. We are what we love. If we love God, in whose image we were created, we discover ourselves in [God] and we cannot help being happy: we have already achieved something of the fullness of being for which we were destined in our creation. If we love everything else but God, we contradict the image born in our very essence, and we cannot help being unhappy, because we are living a caricature of what we are meant to be. (The Waters of Siloe, pp. 349-350)
Dear reader, especially at this time we need to be that Love of God shining in the world. To adjust St Francis of Assisi’s prayer… Lord, make us instruments of your love.
“One of the fruits of contemplative practice is the remembrance of our wholeness; we are able to see past the divisions we create with our egos and minds and to rediscover the truth that we are all of one creation.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
Can you begin to bring awareness of your connection to the creatures, the plants, the mountains, the forests, the oceans, one another, and even yourself into your daily contemplative practices?
These are indeed interesting times as our nation and world deal with the COVID-19 Pandemic. There is plenty of tension continuing to build as leaders balance opening an economy with keeping the people safe. Some are doing this better than others. As the pastor of a church that is predominantly made of up folks who are at a higher risk, the leadership and I are being very conservative in terms of “opening” up.
We are offering multiple Zoom opportunities for worship and fellowship which have been gratefully received by the members. Many have told me that while they miss being in the building that church is taking on a new meaning for them. A church beyond the walls of a building. A church that is concerned about the physical as well as the spiritual well-being of our members/family.
Yet I watch as protesters (yes, even in our small mountain town) decry the loss of their freedoms. They are accusing the government of taking away their liberties. It boggles my mind that folks would even consider putting others at risk by their reckless behavior all in the name of their so-called liberties.
When I was stationed at a USAF training base for my first assignment the chaplains all taught a class called “Adult Values Education” which was later renamed “Core Values.” As I would teach and talk with the students (my classroom style was very much a dialogue and not a lecture) we would learn from each other about what values are and how they impact our actions as a military member and a human being.
These students had just graduated from Basic Training and were at the base for their next level of Technical Training. They were still getting used to the military way of life and after leaving the confinement of Basic Training they were gradually gaining more freedom. Yet the bottom line was that when you raised your right hand and swore the oath you gave up some of the freedom and liberty you had as a civilian.
One example that I would use to talk about the difference between liberty/freedom and responsibility was the person’s right to swing their fist. They had the right to swing their fist but it ended the minute it hit my nose. What was I trying to impart? The point was that along with rights/freedom/liberty you had responsibilities to others. In the Christian tradition a core belief is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. The Golden Rule which is found in many belief systems is this: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
With all that I see on television and in the media about the protests that are verbally violent (and also physically violent) deeply disturbs me. To hear politicians say that it’s okay if old people die to save the economy makes me ill. Time and time again I think back to that lesson I taught nearly thirty years ago about rights and responsibilities.
In A Book of Hours which is a Daily Prayer book composed of some of Thomas Merton’s writings I found this quote in today’s Prayer at the time of Dark. Here is liberty, all I have to do is be quiet, sit still. (Run to the Mountain, p.20) With all of the commotion, agitation, fear-mongering, and hatred being spewed I believe we are losing something that is at the core of our being.
Perhaps if people spent less time hollering, fussing, fighting, and killing in the name of “liberty” they might truly learn that a person’s actions impact others. Then they might learn that the better way is to cooperate and care for all of God’s children. In the stillness and the quiet I have been learning a lot about myself, my faith, and life itself. In the words of Psalm 46:10, “Be Still and know that I am God…”. Be still… in that stillness we just might find true liberty which cares for all of God’s children and God’s creation.
Herds can be an interesting thing. This picture was taken after most of the rut season had ended for the elk. You still heard some bugling by the bulls as they chased the cows but for the most part they were all hanging out together. During the rest of the year the bulls hang out together (I think the cows may be sick of them for some reason!) and are apart a great deal from the women. This is a far cry from the sparring and separating of the cows into “harems” that happens during rut.
This brings to mind the various approaches to the current national and international situation surrounding COVID-19. In some places I see people working together to care for one another and work for the best of humanity. We are, after all, interconnected. As John Donne said: No [woman or man] is an island entire of itself; every[one] is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… In other places I see individuals, corporations, and others looking out for themselves and their personal or corporate bottom line. This truly breaks my heart, saddens, and angers me.
In his book New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton says the following this heartbreaking situation: People who know nothing of God and whose lives are centered on themselves, imagine that they can only find themselves by asserting their own desires and ambitions and appetites in a struggle with the rest of the world. They try to become real by imposing themselves on other people, by appropriating for themselves some share of the limited supply of created goods and thus emphasizing the difference between themselves and the other men who have less than they, or nothing at all… They do not know that reality is to be sought not in division but in unity, for we are ‘members one of another. (p. 47-48)
We are indeed members of one another. That is the only way that we can combat the rampant individualism which seeks the good of the self versus the good of all. Doesn’t it all boil down to this?
Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31 Yes, to love our neighbor as ourself. That is how the world will be healed,
In this new reality called the COVID-19 Pandemic life has turned upside down. This week Denise and I have been able to spend some time walking. Typically we walk from our condo to Knoll-Willow Preserve and back. We are wearing masks or face coverings as we do that. These are indeed unusual and scary times. As we walked on Monday, we came across this mama elk in the meadow. Even in the midst of this new way of living, this mama elk was an instrument of the Spirit telling me, in the words of Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
In today’s Gospel (John 10:1-10) Jesus is teaching his disciples about the Good Shepherd. Many times in the past I have focused on the Good Shepherd as the one who knows our voices, knows our names, and whom we can trust to guide us through our lives. While that is still true, this week I have considered this passage along with Acts 2:42-47 in a new way.
Part of the reason for a new way of looking at the passage does have to do with the way the world has turned upside down. In Acts the author talks about the disciples breaking bread together and sharing everything in common. Often times preachers working with this passage focuse on the economic disparity in the country and in the world. As Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ remembered his friend and co-laborer Dorothy Day, he had this to say about her.
She awakened me to connections I had not thought of or been instructed in—the equation of human misery and poverty with warmaking. She had a basic hope that God created the world with enough for everyone, but there was not enough for everyone and warmaking. — (Article on Daniel Berrigan in America: The Jesuit Review of Faith and Culture)
As I continue to read Thomas Merton’s writings (Dorothy Day was a mentor and friend of Merton as well as Berrigan) about peace and the presence of God in the world, I am seeing a new connection that I hadn’t seen before. They call me to reexamine what peace is to me.
What is peace? Is it the absence of war or conflict? Not really. Is it two sides drawing lines in the sand and then hunkering down? Not at all. What is peace? I believe that the core of peace is transformation. The Good Shepherd transformed the lives of the sheep. They could trust the Good Shepherd more than they could anyone else. Many of the others were likely to be wolves in sheep’s clothing as Jesus warned.
The new way of living, the community that was described in Acts 2:42-47 was a way built upon the foundation of peace and a radical love which looked to the care of others before one’s self. To what way of living are we called in this time of the COVID-19 Novel Cornavirus?
I have seen many great acts of compassion and care for neighbors in our community and in this world. People pulling together, putting aside differences (which all of a sudden aren’t as important), and working to make a difference. Sadly I have also seen many acts of selfishness and a “me first” way of being. I believe that in the midst of this pandemic we are being called to a transformation. No, God didn’t cause this pandemic to “get our attention.” I believe in the midst of the suffering, dying, and fear that we are being challenged to a new way of living.
In the words of Saint Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
My prayer is that we will emerge from this time a more caring and compassionate people. Yes I am a dreamer… but I can imagine…
Wisdom from Ronnie…
“When somebody’s wearing a mask, he’s gonna tell you the truth,” said the legendary Bob Dylan. “But when he’s not wearing a mask, truth is highly unlikely.” Oscar Wilde, one of Dylan’s many inspirations, said the same thing: “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.”
Read further on: ronniemcbrayer.org/2020/05/02/the-great-unmasking/
