Psalm 23, Letter T Translation

Often a passage or verse can be so familiar, I miss hearing the fresh thing it offers me today. This version of the 23rd Psalm came out of an exercise to create something similar but new using one letter of the alphabet. I chose the letter T in honor of a friend of mine. I wonder if you hear anything new in this update?

 

Psalm 23, Letter T Translation

The Teacher is my traveling companion,

I trust that we are a team.

He invites me to tarry on a tree-lined turf,

he takes me on tranquil trails,

he tends my true self.

He tutors me in threads of trust,

for he is Truth itself.

Even though tremendous terrors take me by the throat,

I tremble not.

for Thou art my tangible presence.

Thy teachings triumph over my timidity.

You treat me to taste of a top-tiered table,

tempting those who would threaten and torment me.

Your treasure is too much to tabulate,

it tumbles out.

Surely your tenderheartedness to me

will make me ever thankful and transform me

and I will trust in the touch of the Teacher

till the end of time.

‘The Mystical Boat’

I am struck speechless by the imagery of Redon’s The Mystical Boat, as explained by Shaun Lambert. My spiritual director referenced the painting in our last session and encouraged me to use it as inspiration for meditation. For today, I will let it speak for itself as I wait for its message to unfold. I hope it inspires you as well.

ODILON REDON’S painting The Mystical Boat is a picture of hope, wholeness and integration. The colours and the two people in the stern of the boat speak of reconciliation and unity. It has real power to  evoke meaning for us because of the buried feelings it draws out of us – the longing and yearning for such a picture to represent our own life course.

The symbolic paintings within us that speak of our own sail boat journey of life are then brought into focus.

Redon (1840-1916) is one of the outstanding figures of French Symbolism. During the 1890s after a religious crisis and serious illness he turned to painting and a dormant talent as a colorist emerged.

I saw The Mystical Boat recently for the first time and it spoke to my deep self, that part of me made in the image of God. It resonated with great power…

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Invitation

I never expected

such a welcome

 

like opening the door

to my own surprise party.

 

The gift colorfully framed,

there for the taking

 

slender branches I can sort and shift

to suit my whims

 

or borrow and lean into

as I venture into my evergreen pilgrimage.

 

This gesture of kindness speaks volumes

as does talk of a wall but in reverse.

 

I choose from popsicle stands

and taste the invitation.

 

With each step I hear thunderous applause

for simply having shown up.

 

by Leslea Linebarger

 

This poem came to me late. I’d missed the submission date but still wanted to respond to the artwork in question. It’s an outdoor sculpture called “Participatory Lines” by Chloe DuBois. You can view it at Beal’s Preserve in Southborough through September as part of SOLF’s summer offering of Art on the Trails. The position of this piece at the entrance to the trail was inspired, as it contains within each frame actual walking sticks you can use as you walk the path, or rearrange to make your own fresh statement. I saw it as an invitation, a gesture of welcome and inclusion for all who pass by, as well as an ongoing opportunity to participate creatively.

As grateful as I was for the sculpture, I appreciated even more the rare message, that all are welcome here, to take and use freely of what we have to share. It’s a message that reassures me every time I hear it. It reminds me that despite what I see in the news, compassion and empathy for one another are still alive and well, even if we have to take a walk in the woods to find it. It has opened up thoughts about how I participate in my own community and how I welcome others to join in. Hopefully I can do so with the same grace and ease as the sculptor.

There is a path.

I’ve always been drawn to paths. Paths tell me that I’m on a journey, and that there is a destination ahead, even if I can’t see it. Here on Wellfleet’s Audubon trail, a beautiful shoreline beckons, just beyond eyesight. I can believe that it’s there, yet I’ll never see it if I stay where I am. This photo reminds me, “There is a path. Look for it. Keep walking.” In his book On Trails, author Robert Moor writes, “Lost in the howling landscapes of life, most people will choose the confinement of a path to the dizzying freedom of an unmarked wilderness.” Truly, there is comfort in that, and security. Whether the path is long and boring or traverses switchbacks along a mountain or whether it unexpectedly splits and gives me options, it helps me to know that a path exists. Even if I have to search for signs, knowing there is a path helps me breathe and trust my own interior compass (or Google maps) to help find the way.

Right now the path I’m on leads to Portland, Maine on September 16, the end of a week-long 134-mile coastal walk that my husband and I are training for, called EverWalk New England. Diana Nyad, the long-distance swimmer who swam from Cuba to Key West at age 64, is the founder of the EverWalk movement. It’s designed to get Americans off the couch and moving in a healthy way. As soon as we read the article, we signed up, inspired and challenged by the quest. We are mostly sedentary non-athletes, so we ARE the target market. We have finished week 2 of training, and the miles are adding up. Sunday we did our 7 mile stretch along the coast in Newport, a spot so lovely you might forget how much your feet hurt. (We are learning that good ((expensive)) shoes and socks matter.) We had a path guiding us most of the 7 miles, though it was a virtual one and we did lose our way once and had to consult Google maps. What did we do before Google?

Walking doesn’t sound like much of a workout, but at the pace (16ish minute mile) and distances we are going, it feels like a substantial challenge. I’ve never walked 20 miles in a day. I’ve never walked 10. Can I do it? Will my feet hold up? Will plantar fasciitis rear its ugly head? We shall see. It’s an appealing challenge. I’ve wanted to walk the Santiago de Compostela ever since I learned of it in the sleeper film “The Way.” This training may enable us to some day do that. Or at least tell us if we are on the right path.

So how do we walk it? One step at a time, one breath at a time, mindful of the goal, yet in the present moment, noticing what’s around us, conscious of those with whom we share the journey. Sounds like a good way to live. I hope my life reflects what I’m learning. Want to come along?

Good news for a change

 

Yesterday I finally heard some good news for a change. It was in the follow up story about the Muslim temple destroyed by fire last Saturday in Victoria, TX. When it made the national news in the same week as Trump’s now infamous travel ban, there was a public outpouring for this community that had lost their place of worship. From all over the country, money started pouring in. to their Go Fund Me page. To date, they have over one million dollars donated. One comment from a donor said:

“I am so sorry for your loss. This is not the America I know and love. God speed healing to your community. Inshallah.”

Another said, “You know what ‘makes America great?’ The people over there…”

The local Muslims in Victoria have been overwhelmed by the response, the generosity and the support of their fellow Americans. They posted: “Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the tremendous support we’ve received. The outpouring of love, kind words, hugs, helping hands and the financial contributions are examples of the true American Spirit and Humanity at its best with donations coming in from all over the world. We’re so very much thankful and appreciative of everyone’s thoughtfulness and generosity.”

This gives me so much hope. But wait, there’s more. Thanks to their Jewish neighbors, the town’s Muslim population will not be without a place to worship while their building is reconstructed. The local Jewish community handed over the keys to their synagogue until their own temple is rebuilt, saying, “Everyone knows everybody, I know several members of the mosque, and we felt for them. When a calamity like this happens, we have to stand together.”

This restores my faith in humanity and the qualities that are noblest in each of us. Kindness, compassion, inclusiveness, generosity, gratitude, gentleness and humility are all alive and well, just when we might be tempted to think they were casualties of the current administration.

We need more stories like this.

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”   Micah 6:8

Photo: GoFundMe

 

 

 

 

 

Finding my way back

I just discovered I haven’t written since July. I didn’t know it had been that long since I checked in. For a few months, I’ve been checked out. Ever since the election, I’ve hardly been able to watch or read the news. I was so disheartened, I had withdrawn from all forms of media, including and especially social media. I got so weary of people on both sides of the great divide condemning and criticizing the other side with no attempt to listen, learn or connect. It’s felt like a death of things I thought the majority of us held dear. Things like civil discourse, freedom and equality, regardless of one’s gender, race, religion or sexual orientation, caring for the earth, right on up to liberty and justice for all. We do still value that, right? Today, on the day we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. and all he stood for, I realized that even though I’ve been disheartened by the direction our country seems to be headed, I don’t want to give up my voice. I want to engage again, and connect with and learn from those who voted and feel differently from me. Hopefully in a way that keeps communication open. And so I will continue to write about the things that matter most, especially now. Things like love, joy, peace, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, humility, goodness and self governance. Things that are in short supply everywhere I look. But it can begin with you and me, right? We truly can be the change we want to see in the world. And by doing so, we can hold that space for others, not by retorting or retaliating, but by following the Way of Love. As MLK Jr. said,

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Amen. May it be so in us this day.

The Place Where We are Right

From the place where we are right

flowers will never grow

in the Spring.

The place where we are right

is hard and trampled

like a yard.

But doubts and loves

dig up the world

like a mole, a plough.

And a whisper will be heard in the place

where the ruined

house once stood.

          –Yehuda Amichai 

Prayers for Orlando

“True prayer is nothing but love.”
— St. Augustine

My heart and prayers go out to all who lost friends and loved ones this past week. We light candles and stand with you and mourn the loss of so many young lives. If prayer is love, I hope you feel it.

So much loss this week, it’s too much to comprehend. The best way I know to pray is just to hold up those I would seek prayer for, holding them loosely and wordlessly before the light and love of God. He knows what they need far better than I.

Praying comfort, love, peace that passes understanding…

 

Feeling the Bern

I was astounded to read this week about the tow truck driver from South Carolina who refused to help a woman whose car had broken down on the side of the road, simply because she had a Bernie sticker on the bumper of her car. Seriously?

When did it become more important to score a point politically than to show compassion to someone in need?

I kept reading, thinking, “Please, may he not claim to be a Christian.”

But sure enough, Ken Shupe, a 51-year-old from Travelers Rest, South Carolina, spoke up about his principles. “I’m a conservative Christian, I’ve just drawn a line in the sand,” he said. “I’m not going to associate or conduct business with them.”

With them. Wow. And it gets worse. It turns out the young woman he refused to help was disabled and suffered some serious health conditions and truly needed help after her car was hit and wouldn’t start. His response as he drove off was “You can call the government for a tow.” Unbelievable. And we wonder why people think Christians are judgmental and hateful. That is pure meanness for the sake of chalking one up against “the liberals.” It is blatant judgment of a whole group of people rather than really seeing this one young woman in need, standing right in front of him. She is not a group, she is a person. She is not the enemy. And even if she were, Jesus had a story or two about that. Like this one, from Luke 10:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

About halfway through this post I realized I’m doing the same thing as the tow truck driver. In judging him for not being compassionate, I’ve become just like him! God help me, and help us all. It’s the human condition, and the thing we most need saving from: ourselves and our small ego minds, always weighing and comparing, especially when we feel we are in the right.

The rule of the day to live by from Richard Rohr is “Make sure your medium is the same as your message.” If we want our message to be love, we better live it out. Here’s what I think it looks like:

Love the Bernie supporters.

Love the Trump fans.

Love those in Hillary’s camp.

Love the Muslims.

Love the conservative Christians.

Love the atheists.

Love those who identify as LGBT.

Seek to love ALL who cross your path, whether their beliefs line up with yours or not.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love never fails.” (from 1 Corinthians 13)

May that be true of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Face of America

A confession: I admit that I used to be disinterested in politics. I know, right? Hard to believe, given the current wacked out race for the presidency. Everyone is paying attention, if for no other reason than to see the latest outrage from the reality TV candidate.

Now I not only keep up, I’ve joined the growing ranks of those who support their candidate of choice with time and money. This election matters, and it seems critical to keep the most important job in our country from falling into the wrong hands.

While I’ve always cared on some level about governmental policies, I have no patience for bureaucratic posturing by those pursuing only their own agendas. Statesmanship, in the current political arena, is seemingly a thing of the past. As is common decency, emotional maturity and respect for others if your name rhymes with Drumpf.

In defense of my former disinterest, I felt it mattered more how I conducted my own affairs, how I went about making a difference in my own community and town. Washington is a long way off. So why not focus on loving my neighbor and those less fortunate and spend my efforts where I could see visible results?

Let me be clear that I still see that as important. There are so many needs everywhere we look that it’s good to plug in somewhere and do what we can. I also see clearly that I have very little influence by myself. It is the people I elect and the policies they enact that impact our nation and the world.

Some who would be king seem to have forgotten that this nation was built on the efforts of  little people and immigrants. These are the face of America, not one of white privilege and power. We are who we are because of them, and to talk of closing our doors to any nation, race or religion is anti-American. As we are subjected to diatribes again and again about building walls, the words engraved on the Statue of Liberty are the best rebuttal:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

I was reminded in Christian Century this morning that our President is the face of the nation. Whose face do I want to represent our country? Who do I want to represent me? If I get to choose, I want a face that is strong, self controlled, and compassionate. I want someone of depth and decency, with defined character. I would love to see someone ascending who can be honest about mistakes, take ownership and be a responsible citizen of this planet. I would want that person to love mercy as well as justice, to seek to include the marginalized, and to build bridges rather than walls. I would want a person who seeks humility, who sees all of us as one, and seeks common ground and understanding. As Rohr wrote in his 12 steps for living out the resurrection, someone who “seeks just systems and policies over mere charity.” I hope to support this cause with my vote and my voice.

Charity, which can be defined as love or acts done in the name of love, is a rare and beautiful thing. As valuable for what it does within me as in the world. If we could get that going from top down, how great would that be? It gives me hope. That may be the one thing we need in this multifaceted, multicultural nation of ours to make America really and truly, great.