We are surrounded by thin places
Unless we slow down and simply Be Still
We will never see these places
We will never experience their blessings
We will never experience their peace
Perhaps in the midst of the pandemic
We will be able to experience
The Spirit’s gentle whisper
A whisper of hope, not fear
A whisper of love, not fear
A whisper of light, not darkness
The spirit of kinship of all God’s children
United in mutual love for one another
United in mutual love and respect for Creation
Perhaps we can… I pray that this can be…
Lady Julian speaks to us in these days of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the age she lived in… the Black Plague in Europe and her home country of England.
Julian of Norwich: Creation Spirituality in a Time of Plague – Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
— Read on dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org/2020/04/30/julian-of-norwich-creation-spirituality-in-a-time-of-plague/
Such a beautiful call to pause and reflect… to hope and pray… to see the potential revealed for a more harmonious relationship with Creation. Thank you for this gift Malcolm!
The garden hut mentioned in the poem, and where it was written
I have recently posted one or two sections of a longer poem called The Quarantine Quatrains, written in a kind of loose conversation with Fitzgerald’s translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and employing his same quatrain stanza form. The poem began in the same laconic, wistful, urbane manner as Fitzgerald’s original, and continued its theme of savouring and cherishing each moment of our brief lives, but, in these extraordinary times, my poem moved naturally towards something more meditative, and ends in elegy and prayer for those who have lost their lives.
The word Quarantine, of course contains the word 40, because 40 days was the original period of quarantine. I fear our lockdown will last much longer than that, but by my reckoning, today is our 40th day: a good day to publish these 40…
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The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Memories of May baskets
Memories of Maypoles in England
Celebrations of Mary, the mother of Jesus
So many memories this day
A time for reflection and study
A time to enjoy the wonders of your Creation with my sweetheart
In the midst of the Pandemic you offer us hope
You offer us peace in the midst of turmoil
Keep us safe and keep us strong as we live these days
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…
Usually I focus on a particular quote or piece from Thomas Merton. However, tonight I am focusing on a quote by Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ who was a good friend of Merton’s. In the 60’s, Merton was a sort of spiritual advisor to many in the Peacemaking, Anti-War, Anti-Nuclear movements. Fr Berrigan would spend time with Merton each year along with others who had a passion for peacemaking in the Catholic Peace Fellowship and Catholic Workers Movement.
Today as we deal with the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus around this country and world we need to hear these voices again. The rise in hatred… the rise in White Supremacy, Nativism, Hate groups, and more than I can mention is horrifying. These groups are taking advantage of this pandemic to push their horrific platforms and are finding support in the highest levels of government. While this may not be the Cold War or a Nuclear Arms race (that is increasingly coming back by the way), it is a warfare of a more insidious sort.
So how do those of us who work for a better today and tomorrow for all of God’s children respond? I have been praying and contemplating that question for some time now.
In an article about Fr Berrigan in the April 30, 2016 edition of America: The Jesuit Review the author talked about Fr Berrigan’s Peacemaking Legacy.
In the article, Fr Berrigan is quoted: Dorothy Day taught me more than all the theologians,” Berrigan told The Nation in 2008. “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. (https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2016/04/30/peacemaking-legacy-daniel-berrigan-sj)
My prayer during these times is that our nation and world return to some sort of sanity. A sanity and reality where we follow God’s desire and put our efforts in relieving human misery and poverty and say no to the insanity of warmongering and fear-mongering. That is my hope and that is my fervent prayer.
When I first “met” Thomas Merton five years ago I was touched deeply by his passion for peacemaking. As I read his journals from 1960-1963 (Turning Towards the World: The Pivotal Years) during a class at Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary I was overwhelmed by his passion for peace in the midst of a difficult time in our nations history (Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement). As I began to explore Merton’s writings I began to find a brother who I could truly relate to. As I read two books by Jim Forest (a peace activist and member of the Catholic Workers Movement and Catholic Peace Fellowship) about Thomas Merton and Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ my heart was, to quote John Wesley, strangely warmed. I had discovered in these two peace advocates kindred spirits and brothers. Fr Berrigan transitioned from this world to the next four years ago today. From his birth in Virginia, Minnesota to his death in The Bronx, New York Fr Berrigan was a force to be reckoned with (along with his brother, Fr Philip Berrigan).
As I think about the world today, I wonder what words my brothers in faith and action would share with us. Fr Daniel Berrigan’s words touched my heart today: One is called to live non-violently, even if the change one works for seems impossible.
Thomas Merton has this to say about peace in his book Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander: If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
In these challenging times, may we find that peace within us. As Jesus promises in John 14:27–Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
May we find such peace in our lives and may we, in the words of the Psalmist, seek that peace and pursue it! (Psalm 34:14b)
“Mary and the Month of May: In the Roman Catholic Church, May is the month dedicated to Mary and floral crowns are often placed on statues of her. There is a very ancient connection between May and the birthing of new life. In Greece, May was the season of Artemis, goddess of fecundity. In the Celtic tradition, it is the start of summer. Mother’s Day in the U.S. is celebrated in May as well. This threshold time of Beltane is a time to honor the gift of giving birth to new life. It is a time to reflect on the gift of mothering in our own lives.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year – A Self-Study Online Retreat
How are you mothered? If there is wounding around this, could this month ahead be a time of welcoming in the gift of healing? How might you learn to mother yourself well?
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been another long day of ministry
It has also been a good day for reflection
It has been a good day to enjoy the wonders of your Creation
For all of these opportunities and gifts I thank you Lord
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…
“Viriditas is Hildegard’s singular idea to illuminate the dynamic interconnectedness and intercommunion of all levels of created life with each other and with God as Source. Her emphasis on greenness symbolizes the inner dynamism of life in all its burgeoning growth, vibrancy, freshness, and fecundity as emanating from the life-creating and sustaining power of God.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine – An Online Self-Study Retreat
What idea, word or phrase speaks to you as way to illuminate the dynamic interconnectedness of life with God as Source?
For today’s Zoom Midday Prayer and Midweek Evening Worship I invited our worshippers to journey inward into the silence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Denise and I have been doing a lot of that as we work on Zoom worship and meeting opportunities in addition to attending them. After a long day it is good to simply relax in the quiet with each other.
Another part of this journey has been with Thomas Merton through his writings. I guess you could say that I have been taking a virtual journey with him. I know that he would have appreciated the walk Denise and I took after worship this evening. I can imagine him being mesmerized by our Elk and Colorado Bluebird neighbors. I can also hear him chuckling with delight at some of the spontaneous moments we received through the camera lens.
Now as the sun has long ago set, I find myself reflecting on this quote from his Asian Journals, the last journal he wrote before his tragic death.
Our real journey in life is interior: it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts. (Asian Journals p.296)
Thank you for taking this journey with me dear reader. May we find that love and grace in our hearts as it flows from God’s own heart.
