note: photo was taken during the taize ceremony held at the st Bartholomew church penn hills this past Tuesday. the cdsmph choir headed by josh bandish sang beautifully chants that gave everyone peace and hope .thanks josh and the talented singers and reader and musicians.
Note: This is in appreciation of Christine Kresho's weekly virtual Spirit Companions sessions which I am so blessed to participate in with other ladies and gentlemen mostly from the Maryland area and other parts of the country. Our last session was on "thin places".
If you understand it, it is not God. —St. Augustine, Sermon 117 on John 1:1
God is Mystery and not any “thing” we can wrap our little brains around. Brian McLaren shares how he realized this during a time of deep doubt and perplexity in his life:
A verse I had memorized in my childhood came to mind: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” [Proverbs 3:5]. For the first time, it dawned on me: there’s a difference between doubting God and doubting my understanding of God, just as there’s a difference between trusting God and trusting my understanding of God. Would I be able to doubt my understanding of God while simultaneously trusting God beyond my understanding? In a strange way, that question for the first time in my life allowed me to see God as a mystery distinct from my concepts of God. [1]
It’s wonderful to be blessed with such a clarifying insight! Yet, it sometimes takes a longer and more painful “dark night of the soul”to free us from our inadequate concepts of God. Author and Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor, another good friend, explains:
[John of the Cross] says that the dark night is God’s best gift to you, intended for your liberation. It is about freeing you from your ideas about God, your fears about God, your attachment to all the benefits you have been promised for believing in God, your devotion to the spiritual practices that are supposed to make you feel closer to God, your dedication to doing and believing all the right things about God, your positive and negative evaluations of yourself as a believer in God, your tactics for manipulating God, and your sure cures for doubting God.
All of these are substitutes for God, John says. They all get in God’s way. . . .
Yet it would be a mistake to attach the promise of more spiritual benefits to a night that is designed to obliterate them. Those who have come through dark nights of their own, not just once but over and over again, often cannot find the words to say why they would not trade those nights for anything. Yes, they were nights of great loss. Yes, the soul suffered from fearful subtraction. Yes, a great emptiness opened up where I had stored all my spiritual treasures, and yet. And yet what? And yet what remained when everything else was gone was more real than anything I could have imagined. I was no longer apart from what I sought; I was part of it, or in it. I’m sorry I can’t say it any better than that. There was no place else I wanted to be. [2] (italics in original)
Richard again: This description of the “dark night” as a gift can be misleading because such times of unknowing are almost always endured more than enjoyed. However, the experience of mystery, paradox, and not-knowing brings to our lives a rich and unexpected grounding.
[2] Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark (HarperOne: 2014), 145, 146
Image credit: Ladder and Chair (detail), Photograph by Thomas Merton, copyright the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. Used with Permission.
Image inspiration: How do we look beyond what we think we already know? At first glance the shadow of chair and ladder may be confusing, but shapes and meaning begin to emerge upon a longer contemplation.
Prayer For Our Community
Loving God, you fill all things with a fullness and hope that we can never comprehend. Thank you for leading us into a time where more of reality is being unveiled for us all to see. We pray that you will take away our natural temptation for cynicism, denial, fear and despair. Help us have the courage to awaken to greater truth, greater humility, and greater care for one another. May we place our hope in what matters and what lasts, trusting in your eternal presence and love. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our suffering world. Please add your own intentions . . . Knowing, good God, you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God. Amen. Listen to Father Richard pray this prayer aloud.
Note: I always overthink when I have to figure out how to carry out a vision. Sleep or after ones sleep helps in the early morning for a solution to pop in ones head. That happened a few weeks ago. An aha! moment and I knew what to do. But it took the Holy Spirit for me to carry out the plan amidst self doubt namely, being plagued with "what if it does work kind of thinking". I just did it. And did it again another meeting. Not sure if it is working but I am determined to make it work. The Holy Spirit inspired me and He or She will help me through.
I loved the dish so I decided to come up with an easier version without stuffing a baked acorn squash. Instead I just used frozen butternut squash for the rice filling and eat it as such. Of course with the Tahini drizzle. Instead of using special seasoning which was not specified during the demo I used just soy sauce and maple syrup.
My carnivore husband ate the leftovers which I was keeping for my breakfast in the fridge. That is proof it is good.
Skillet Mushroom, Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts Rice with Tahini Drizzle
2 tbsp vegetable broth or as needed
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup mushroom pieces
3 or more tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup frozen butternut squash, cooked in the microwave
1 cup brussels sprouts, cut in bite size pieces
2 cups left over rice
Heat the broth in a skillet and add the onion and garlic till cooked. Add the mushroom, soy sauce and maple syrup in the skillet and heat till the mushroom absorb the seasoning. Add the butternut squash and brussels sprouts and just heat through. Do not over cook. Add the rice and add more broth as needed with stirring. Add more soy sauce to taste. Drizzle on top tahini miso mixture.
I simplified the original recipe from the Jill McKeever YouTube Channel. I skipped the nutritional yeast and liquid smoke. I did not succumb to the temptation either to add chopped jalapeno peppers or Rotel tomatoes with green chiles and just used them as toppings. I love the stripped down recipe below and so did my carnivore picky taster, my husband. He did not even ask if it was vegan or what. He thought it was some "real" thing.
It is great with lime tortilla chips. I used the ones I bought from Giant Eagle which is from cassava flour but you can make an oil free homemade version from the Jazzy Vegetarian Website. Recipe is also provided below.
Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday with this easy peasy dip. Be happy. Be safe.
1 cup oats 2 tbsp cornstarch or tapioca starch 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoons salt 1/2 of 12-oz. jar Roasted Red Bell Peppers in water 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 2 cups warm water
Using a blender with the ability to cook food, blend on high for 5 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken. (you can hear the Vitamix motor slow down and the sound deepens as the sauce hits the thick mark.) Once thickening has begun, stop the blender and quickly transfer to a large container. preferably heat resistant and that holds at least 3 cups. The cheese sauce will continue to thicken as it cools even slightly.
Serve with lime tortilla chips, store bought or homemade. See homemade recipe below.
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice 4 whole-grain tortillas (spicy variety works best; see note) Coarse sea salt, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper. Pour the lime juice into a small bowl.
Put 1 tortilla on a large plate. Brush one side of the tortilla with a very, very thin layer of lime juice, using a pastry brush. Flip and repeat on the other side. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
On a large cutting board, slice a lime-covered tortilla into chip-sized wedges or strips. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Place the tortilla pieces in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets and sprinkle liberally with the coarse sea salt.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sides of the chips are crispy and slightly golden. Transfer the chips to a rack or large platter to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Chef’s Note, Gluten-free option: Use brown rice tortillas instead of whole-grain tortillas.
“Can I Have This Dance for the Rest of Your Life?”
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
BEYONDTHEHABIT
BY SISTER MARCELLA CLANCY
I don’t know when I realized how much I love, no, need to dance. I am amazed others are able to stay stock still when a “lively” tune begins. The music strums the very fibers of my being and I must move, sway, or at least tap my foot. I never took dancing lessons yet there is something about dance that lifts my heart, improves my mood, and makes my spirit joyful.
DANCING MAKES US JOYFUL!
How delighted I was to learn that in Eastern theology a Greek term, “perichoresis” (pronounced per-ee-kor-ee’-sis) is used to describe the inner relationship of God. Our English word choreography is derived from it. Perichoresis suggests a dynamic interaction, a movement of intimacy and receptivity within God and between God and all creation. God is a Divine Dance!
As Sisters of St. Joseph, we promise to “move always toward profound love of God and of our ‘dear neighbor’”. This could evoke an image of climbing a long, arduous ladder of love. The image of God as a Divine Dance suggests an alternative concept that for me more accurately describes my relationship with God.
WHO DOESN’T LOVE TO TWIRL?
A round dance of individuals weaving in and out, whirling, twirling, spiraling around and about each other to a contagious beat, responding to each other’s movements, moving separately yet not independently requires:
A willingness to let go, to focuses less on personal control and self-consciousness and more on yielding to the vitality of the dancing itself.
A creativity that flows unimpeded. There is a free expression of self that is so much more than the repetition of memorized steps. One is attune to an inner movement that itches to express itself in the outer movement of the body.
A receptivity that is open and responsive to the rhythm of the music and to the living energy and charisma expressed in the other dancers. When receptivity is at its peak, the dancers dance as one.
A surrender to joy, to laugh at one’s missteps and accept the missteps of others, allowing the delight of dancing itself, not its perfection, to be both one’s motivation and one’s goal.
WE ALL HEAR THE MUSIC
These four qualities guide me in my relationship with God.
The Image of God as a dynamic Divine Dance beckons me to listen attentively to my own heart. What God wants is inscribed in my own heart. “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart.” (Jer. 3:33) What inspires me, touches me, draws me? What is life-giving for me? There. There is found the Divine music to which God invites me to dance.
Yet I am not the only dancer. All around me are others who moving to their own inner music. Their steps may be different than mine yet to be fully faithful to the dance I must be open and receptive to the unique energy and charisma each dancer expresses. They teach me new steps. I absorb their energy. I am not the choreographer of the dance. God is. “May they all be one.” (Jn. 17:21)
DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE RIGHT STEPS,
JUST DANCE!
Often my greatest concern is the “right steps”. When that is my focus I become rigid, stiff, exacting. My focus is myself rather than the rhythm and beat of God’s living music and movement. The more I am able to surrender myself to the Divine music and movement flowing in and around me and in and around all creation the better dancer I become.
God does not play dirges. “I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10) In times of sorrow and pain God draws close with a Divine melody that is comforting, caring and attentive. When my own missteps are the source of shame and suffering, God switches to a tune that both forgiving and healing. Always God finds me where I am and plays a Divine tune that slowly beckons me back to joy. “I want My joy to be in you and in you to reach its fullness.” (Jn. 15:11).
YOU CAN ALWAYS FIND JOY
IN THE DANCE WITH GOD
God longingly invites:
“Could I have this dance for the rest of your life?
Would you be my partner every day and night?
When we’re together it feels so right.
Could I have this dance for the rest of your life?”
About the Author
Sister Marcella Clancy currently lives in the Detroit area. She offers spiritual direction, serves on Congregational committees, and companions one of our newer members. She loves long walks, good movies, and leisurely lunches with friends.
