Parking along the street felt ordinary enough. Our group of seven got out of the car to see ourselves flanked between an everyday row of homes and the Arizona/Mexico border wall. What a strange thing to see amid a neighborhood. What a strange thing to opt traveling to. As we walked along the wall on…
— Read on cassidyhall.com/2020/02/13/thewall/
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a long day, Lord
It has been a time of reflection
It has been a time of discernment
It has been a time calling me to simply Be Still
In the midst of it all
Your Spirit has been present
Your Spirit has been sustaining
Your Spirit has been encouraging
For all of the gifts of your love, I thank you
Now as my eyelids grow
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
So, it has been a day of work
It has been a day of reflection
It has been a day of discernment
Some deep conversations
I am so thankful for colleagues and friends in our connectional family
It has also been a day of prayer for our deeply divided nation and world
The words of Thomas Merton ring true to my heart
So instead of loving what you think is peace, love {others} and love God above all else. And instead of hating the people you think are warmongers, hate the appetites and the disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed — but hate these things in yourself, not in another. (Thomas Merton: Passion for Peace, p. 38)
Lord help us to be, in the words of St Francis of Assisi, instruments of your peace…
Verse of the day
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? – James 2:15-16 (NIV)
Voice of the day
Where collective care stems from a wide network of people building power with each other, disposability spawns from other hierarchies of people expressing power over others. – Estelle Ellison
Prayer of the day
God, remind us of the times we have chosen hierarchy over community, disposability over value, and division over unity. Encourage us to prioritize collective care at every level.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It was a day filled with meetings and ministry
It was also a day of good news!
Thirty-Four years after I graduated from Seminary
I will return to my alma mater (through Distance Learning) for Doctoral studies
My sweetheart has been such a support
She has also been a wonderful inspiration
Thomas Merton continues to guide and mentor me
As I reflect on this next step
I give you thanks, O 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…
“Our work as spiritual seekers and contemplatives is to see all of creation as woven together in holiness and to live this truth. In this loving act we begin to knit together that which has been torn; we gather all that has been scattered.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
How do your contemplative practices bear healing witness to the world?
As I watch the political drama unfold in the primaries and in the “business as usual” environment in Washington, DC, I cringe. I remember the days when politicians worked across party lines for the good of all the nation’s citizens. Nearly everyone has their own answer and few are willing to cooperate or compromise it seems. When asked what they stand for, some politicians say “I stand against the ‘other’.”
Basic civility and decency seem to be in short supply. We are so busy lobbing “grenades” at each other that we don’t stop long enough to realize how insane this is. Nobody is willing to put down their sword so to speak and extend their hand in welcome.
A story is told about the Christmas Truce during World War One. The gunfire had stopped because of the truce. Slowly, the troops on opposite sides made their way out into the open. A Football (soccer in the US) match even began. These sworn enemies who had been trying to kill each other the day before were playing Football and sharing cigarettes with each other. As dusk descended, you could hear in the silence, Christmas Carols being sung. The tunes were familiar but the words were in the native tongue of the singers.
Sadly, the truce ended and the insanity began anew. The common bond of remembering the birth of the Prince of Peace had silenced the Guns. Why, oh why, couldn’t they have learned from that experience!
Thomas Merton wrote about peace and peacemaking in the midst of the nuclear arms race, the Cold War, and the war in Vietnam. He wrote about the frustration of seeing mindless devotion to ideologies at the expense of the “enemy.” Seriously though, he realized that the enemy was not the “other” but the enemy was within each of us. Humankind was its own worst enemy. In the words of Walt Kelly’s cartoon character Pogo the Possum, “We have met the enemy, and He is us.”
How can we begin to make a change that will ripple out across our country and world? How can we escape the grip of this paralyzing fear? Merton in his article “The Root of War Is Fear” said the following: I believe the basis for valid political action can only be the recognition that the true solution to our problems is not accessible to any one isolated party or nation but that all must arrive at it by working together. (p. 32 in the book Thomas Merton: Passion for Peace)
It begins one life and one person at a time. Someone who is willing to reach across the divide which we have created and join hands, beginning the work of peace. May God help us to do that…
A beautiful hymn and one of my favorites. Thank you, Mama Owl, for sharing this with me!
This month we are singing an ancient Celtic Hymn, “Be Thou My Vision.” It’s a powerful and profound hymn, on account of both its tune and its text. The tune, called “Slane,” is a traditional Irish ballad melody, first transcribed in the early 20th century but likely much older. The text is a translation of a medieval text attributed to St Fallan, a 6th century Celtic monk, poet, and follower of St Columba
— Read on trinitylafayette.com/blog/2020/1/25/behind-the-hymn-be-thou-my-vision-9ytzr
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It was a snowy day
It was a day of meetings and work
It was a day to reflect and prepare
It was a day to support those in need
It was a day to walk with dear people in our community
It was also an evening with my sweetheart
A time of reading, reflection, and Being Still
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…
I began reading Thomas Merton’s book Passion for Peace today. In his forward to the book, William H. Shannon shared this quote of Merton’s. Merton was commenting on the prison writings of Fr Alfred Delp who was a Jesuit Priest in Germany. Fr Delp was a part of the German resistance to Hitler in the 1940’s. His writings have been compared to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. Both of these theologians whom Merton followed closely spoke in the midst of the horrors of hatred and war. Merton’s words about Fr Delp struck a nerve deep within me.
Christ Our Lord did not come to bring peace to the world as a kind of spiritual tranquilizer. He brought to His disciples a vocation and a task, to struggle in the world of violence to establish His peace not only in their own hearts but in society itself. (Passion for Peace, p. 12 and “The Non-Violent Alternative” p. 13 in the essay “Peace: Christian Duties and Perspectives”… thank you, Paul Pynkoski for sharing the source!)
Today we don’t need a tranquilizer… we need a spiritual awakening. The call to discipleship is, as Bonhoeffer said, a costly calling. May we be willing to pay such a price as we serve the Lord and share his message of peace.
