To my 73rd birthday today.
For some reason I was worried.
I saw days before headlines of people dying
on this year of their birth.
Will I make it?
I woke up relieved. I am alive.
Planning what to eat. What to cook.
Or shall I eat out. Whether to add stay
on my diet or break it.
The sun is up. Very nice start.
And I made it. Thank God.
My best gift so far a good night sleep.
The urge to write this.
Next I will prepare something to eat.
Poke bowl. Or oatmeal.
Choices. What joy!
Focus of today's meeting is on Grace.
1. Meditation
2. Song
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0BVxAYGt2kc
Features several quotes from Richard Rohr on grace taken from this site
https://www.azquotes.com/author/18308-Richard_Rohr/tag/grace.
Focus is on Martin Buber's I and Thou in relation to violence on the personal level.
1. Meditation
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQaUNPS8zkI&t=46s
2. Song
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Icytvqn8h3o
3. Narrative
Friday, May 6th, 2022
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Eighteen: The Spiral of Violence
Violence Begins with the Personal
The basic I-You can be spoken only with one’s whole being. . . . I require a You to become; becoming I, I say You. All actual life is encounter.
—Martin Buber, I and Thou
Theologian Pamela Cooper-White has thought deeply about gender and sexual violence, and believes that at its heart, violence is a failure to see the other person as a person.
Violence against women is connected to all other forms of violence, just as all living beings are, in reality and in spite of our forgetfulness or callous indifference, interconnected. We are confronted daily with the many forms of violence in our world. We often end up feeling that our powers are fragmented, as one worthy cause after another is lifted up. . . . What is needed is a way for understanding how, from a personal and holistic perspective, all violence is one.
All violence begins with the personal, with the I, and with a point of decision, a crossing of a line, where each of us chooses momentarily to view another living being as an It rather than a Thou. The ultimate purpose of each act of violence, each reduction of another person from a Thou to an It, is to control the other. . . . Our choices matter, even on what seems like a small scale. They have resonance in the universe. When we truly see another person or living being as a Thou, we cannot dominate or control them. We then must enter into a different kind of covenant, where power is shared. This is the “universal reciprocity” that Buber recognized as mysterious, connected with the divine. . . .
The I-Thou relationship is not simply an attitude of love toward others—although it is that—but also actions of making connections and actively working for justice. . . . The gospel message that is the great ethic of our faith is that we do reach out across borders and across cultures, both within the United States and abroad, and we honor the millions of Thous of every race and creed whom we recognize as our brothers and sisters throughout our neighborhoods and throughout the world. [1]
For Father Richard, Jesus becomes a person so that we, too, can receive and pass on the divine gaze of love:
The intimacy of what Martin Buber called an “I-Thou” relationship is a deep and loving “yes” to God, to others, and to the life that is inherent within each of us. When the face of the other (especially the suffering face) is received and empathized with, it leads to transformation of our whole being. It creates a moral demand on our heart that is far more compelling than laws. Just giving people commandments doesn’t change the heart. It may steel the will, but it doesn’t soften the heart like an I-Thou encounter can. Many of the Christian mystics talk about seeing the divine face or falling in love with the face of Jesus. Love is the gaze that does us in! [2]
[1] Pamela Cooper-White, The Cry of Tamar: Violence against Women and the Church’s Response, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012), 42–43, 45.
[2] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Franciscan Mysticism: I AM That Which I Am Seeking (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2012). Available as CD and MP3 download.
4. Prayer
Loving God, fill my heart with the love that you freely give. Make love my first and last thoughts. May I love others and freely give to them. Make my spirit a spirit of joy, happiness, and love for both my friends and my enemies. Help me love as abundantly as you have loved me. Amen.
5. Meditation
Pens lost. I still look
heavy. Didn't say right things. But
birds singing. All's well.
This recipe was based on several sources including #plantifullybased. I used the approach in this source and changed the sauce used. I am enamored by the Cheesecake Factory Cauliflower Wings which are doused with Gochuchang and went with that sauce but sriracha or any hot sauce can be used. Gochuchang though has that special spicy sweet addictive taste to it.
I used my air fryer but you can use your oven. The recipe involves several steps and I have done one preparation with one step but it did not have the crunch this one did. It is worth the effort.
1 small head cauliflower
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
HOT SAUCE
1/4 cup gochuchang (available at Asian stores or online) or sriracha or hot sauce
1-2 tbsp water
INSTRUCTIONS
Fr. Mike, this past Mother's Day, made it a point to include favorite aunts in the list of Mothers and grandmothers that were asked to stand up for a special blessing during Mass on this day. Bob, my husband, noted the mention of favorite aunts in the list and cited my daughter Bettina could be an example. She is my two grandkids', Maddie and Luca's, favorite aunt. Not surprising. She loves to lavish them with goodies and toys and most importantly her time and love.
Growing up I had several wonderful aunts on both my mother side and father side. One in particular is my favorite aunt. She is my Tita Awing. Her full name is Aurora Cortes. She was single like her two other sisters and brother. She taught grade school in the public schools in the Philippines. I remember her full page photo made it to a magazine. I wish I kept it. She was shown talking to one of her students. She had her dark rimmed glasses on and on her wrist was a rubber band, a small detail which I fondly remember. Her eyes show intensity and caring intention as she closely talked to the child.
I was often compared to her as a child especially when I was my overly enthusiastic self, as in being all over the place. Unlike her other sisters, she was more carefree and less rigid. A bit scattered brain or random, you might say. She was not as neat as the other sisters either. She also was less demure. I was her carbon copy.
My family spent summers at my maternal grandmother, Lola Sefa’s, house in Quezon City. It had four bedrooms and one of them was occupied by my Tita Awing. It had dressing table, tocador, on top of which was my Tita Awing’s beautiful photo in an elegant butterfly sleeved Filipina dress or saya. She had her trademark wide smile on her happy face.
I used to go with her to many gatherings and one time I lost her and mistakenly grabbed somebody else's skirt. She also took me to her friend's houses with her. I was her shadow. I remember her visiting a friend where there were a lot of children. When one of their relatives arrived from the market or palengke, they enthusiastically greeted her and before you know it all the bananas were gone. They took them from the basket and ate them. They could not wait.
She loved to cook just like her other sisters. During Christmas, my parents would request her to prepare her famous macaroni salad and meat roll, embutido, en masse. My parents would give them as gifts to their loyal customers, suki, of our gas station.
She never dated as far as I know but she was matched to a guy or two to her chagrin. I did not hear any love stories from her and I never asked
I have asked her to go with me to events when I was in my twenties. I took her once to a retreat for young women and during a session she was a hoot making us all laugh with her humor and wit. She was not intimidated being with ladies 30 or so younger than her. She blended right in.
She did care about me in some way. I remember I used to talk to a guy on the phone who I was introduced to by my friend. Later on we quit conversing and my Tita Awing expressed her regret that that friendship ended. She said something like it was good to talk to somebody with the same wavelength or something to that effect.
When she retired, she lived in a house with her brother Tio Emong. Once in awhile she would come visit us in our house bringing leche flan or other goodies.
Underneath her carefree ways, was a person with integrity and grit. I was not there during her last days but my brother Chot was. Her pain was so great my brother said blood was oozing from her.
I did not know about her death until I innocently asked my cousin in law how Tita Awing was, My cousin in law told me she passed away the previous year. I was upset that nobody wrote me about it. My sister said they did not want me to be depressed, especially being away from home, .since Tita Awing and I were quite closed.
I believe her birthday is coming up. I somehow woke up this morning thinking of her. She must be asking for prayers or just wanted me to remember her.
Tita Awing thanks for the memories and your love. Love Ondes.
Song
Anam Cara by Jan Novotka
ANAM CARA
Companion Friend Indwelling
GOD
May the arm of God bring you blessing
as God lifts you into
awareness, touches
the place of compassion in
you, and
nudges you into your sense of
call.
As you live your life may you
know
the embrace of God who loves
you
unconditionally and will
never let you
go. As you companion others in their
lives may they know in you
the loving
embrace of God. May the love arm of
God bring you blessings.
