pray share chat 8/2/2023 Belonging and oneness

theme is oneness or sense of belonging

 meditation

https://youtu.be/0FR0r0yaG6s

song

https://youtu.be/5nLBBMWBXw8

narrative

No images? Click here

Saturday, July 15, 2023

 

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action and Contemplation

 

 

Week Twenty-Eight Summary

Everything Belongs

July 9 – July 14, 2023 

 

Sunday 
Everything belongs. No one needs to be punished, scapegoated, or excluded. We cannot directly fight or separate ourselves from evil or untruth. Evil becomes apparent when exposed to the Truth. —Richard Rohr 

Monday 
Oneness is even an easy thing to profess, until we realize that it must include not only the people we like and agree with, not only those to whom we are sympathetic, but also those whom we view as abhorrent (whatever side of a political position we may hold). We don’t get to choose who we are one with—it’s everybody. —Liza Rankow 

Tuesday 
Exclusion operates by the same rule of mutuality as welcome, for it harms both the excluded and the excluder.
—Cole Arthur Riley 

Wednesday 
Human existence is neither perfectly consistent, nor is it incoherent chaos. Instead, life has a cruciform pattern. All of life is a “coincidence of opposites,” a collision of cross-purposes; we are all filled with contradictions needing to be reconciled. —Richard Rohr 

Thursday 
Francis of Assisi, like Jesus, refused to exclude things from the garden of grace; there is no exclusionary instinct in either of them—except toward exclusion itself!   —Richard Rohr 

Friday 
It seems that simply allowing ourselves to be here, to recognize the sacrament and the grace of the present moment, is enough to allow God’s loving gaze to happen. What we are doing in the allowing is returning the gaze. That’s it. We are completing the circuit and saying it’s okay. —Richard Rohr 

 

 

 

Week Twenty-Eight Practice

Belonging to Every Moment

 

At the age of thirty-four, Buddhist author Sebene Selassie was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. The experience offered her the freedom to find love, joy, and belonging in every moment.   

Belonging is an expression of life. I would have done anything to belong to the living. Also, everything is relevant when we talk about belonging. The challenge with belonging in these times is “everything” includes a whole lot of things…. We live in a world where previously isolated languages, cultures, and beliefs have been melded into each other. Each of us has a multitude of influences, various identities, and countless experiences…. In any moment, we may feel like we belong to one thing and not another. I belong to this community, to which others don’t. I belong to this statement, definitely not that one. I belong in this space way over here. Or perhaps I belong nowhere. The truth: we all belong to it all. Also to death….   

I don’t wish cancer on anyone else, but I wouldn’t change a thing about my experience. That doesn’t mean it was easy: I wasn’t always open to what was happening while it was happening. But the challenges I faced—the challenges you face, the challenges we face collectively at this time, any place in the world, … any challenge in life (even cancer)—all are invitations to belonging. And belonging is our true nature. 

Belonging is our capacity to feel joy, freedom, and love in any moment. As the late Zen teacher Charlotte Joko Beck [1917–2011] said: Joy is exactly what’s happening, minus our opinion of it. She made a distinction between joy and happiness—Happiness has an opposite: unhappiness. [1] Joy is not about happy or unhappy, liking or disliking. Joy is accepting each moment for what it is without contention. We belong to any moment simply by meeting it with joy. This is freedom. Love is the ultimate expression of joy and freedom. Joy, freedom, and love could be considered synonyms for each other, and for belonging.  

 

 

 

[1] Charlotte Joko Beck, Nothing Special: Living Zen, ed. Steve Smith (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993), 233, 232. 

Sebene Selassie, You Belong: A Call for Connection (New York: HarperOne, 2020), 2, 3–4.
 

Image credit: A path from one week to the next—Izzy Spitz, Field Study 2, oil pastel on canvas. Izzy Spitz, Everything at Once, digital oil pastel. Izzy Spitz, Wings, digital oil pastel. Used with permission. Click here to enlarge image. 

Everything belongs: our messes and dreams, our hues of green and yellow, our curves and lines. 

prayer

The Better Part

 

To serve,

Not from compulsion but compassion,

To feel with, 

To be with,

To intuit the spirit of our guest —

This is the better part.

Let me choose it, Lord. 

Let me think not of the food I prepare,

But of the one who gladly waits.

I have already welcomed him,

Anointed him,

But have I listened to him?

Let me sit with my sister at his feet.

 

Lois J. Wendel

 

Inspired by Father Frank

meditation

https://youtu.be/_kT38XB1YHo

song

https://youtu.be/WT5rW6HF_K4

 

Below is a photo of a popular Hawaiian favorite, spam musubi. 

I was aiming to make a vegan version using tofu instead of spam. I had to think of an alternative way to enjoy this dish since I did not have cooked short grain rice which is sticky in texture. Not having this, made the construction of the oval shaped rice base difficult. When I was tasting the crumbling attempted wannabe using leftover long grain rice I was enamored by the delicious taste. I decided then to make a deconstructed version. Wow it was better than fried rice. 

I had snack size nori only not a whole sheet which made making the conventional layered musubi difficult to prepare  I decided to cut them up and use them to top the rice. Wow. The nori provided the salty umami taste plus that pleasant seafood twang to the dish. With the crispy tofu, I did not have to drizzle any sauce over the rice. 

Vegan Spam Musubi - A Cook With Candy

Deconstructed Vegan Musubi Rice

Ingredients 

Leftover rice (I had white rice), heated 

Vinegar mixture

Crispy tofu

Green onions, sliced

  

Rice with Vinegar Mixture

Vinegar mixture

 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 

1 tbsp sweetener 

1 tsp salt

Add mixture to heated rice. 

Crispy Tofu

Adapted from this Youtube video 

16 oz firm tofu, pressed and drained 

1tbsp garlic powder 

1 tbsp onion powder 

1 tsp smoked paprika 

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp water 

cornstarch

Cut the tofu into thirds and then into thirds.  

Place all the ingredients except cornstarch in a ziplock bag  Marinate for 15 minutes  or so. 

Take out the seasoned tofu from the bag and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle the tofu with cornstarch till well covered.

Lay the tofu out in the air fryer pan.   Spray sides of tofu with cooking spray. 

Air fry 375 F for 20 minutes  Flip halfway and spray top  

Assembly

Place rice with vinegar mixture in a bowl. 

Add crispy tofu, cubed. 

Then Green onions, sliced

Top with Nori squares cut to pieces

Enjoy!

Share or burst

 

To create is a

release for the soul. Share or

burst.  Strong emotions.

Sister Paula’s Handout at Dotty’s Place Meeting 7/17/2023

 

pray share chat 7/19/2023 Loneliness

 

Jesus is God’s way of being human.  And He experienced loneliness.

meditation

https://youtu.be/ioobojcyr30

song.

https://youtu.be/rn9-UNer6MQ

Narrative

Night of the Sense and Night of the Spirit

Posted on June 19, 2020

 

Q: I recently read Fr. Daniel Renaud's article on "Desire and Everyday Mysticism" and I see that over 25 years of Christian life I started on the positive way with lots of consolation and wonder, along with a daily experience of the transformative way. When I felt called to practice Centering Prayer, I started listening to Fr. Keating's “The Spiritual Journey” series and began to practice. Much to my dismay, I fell immediately into the Dark Night (the negative way). After several years of Dark Night and slow emergence, I did not "wake up to find that the ocean of nothingness [of the Dark Night] is the ocean of God's invincible and unconditional love in you, and you have become everything, including God and all creation" (as Fr. Keating describes); for the first time in 25 years of Christian faith, I don't have confidence that God is a reliable foundation for my daily personal life. I am concerned that if I have somehow and failed to this first round of the Dark Night I may need to adjust some underlying attitude or practice in order to make space to regain or rebuild my relationship with God. Do you have any guidance or resources that might help? 

 

A: Your fidelity to the spiritual journey as it unfolds in your life and your search for wisdom is a pure gift even if at times it does not feel like it. You are consenting to God’s presence and action in your life, trusting beyond your own understanding. I encourage you to read Fr. Keating’s book Invitation to Love, especially the chapters on the Night of the Sense and the Night of the Spirit to see how they can apply to your own experience.

The Night of Sense and then the Night of Spirit are ongoing processes, always recycling, always going deeper and gradually moving one to transformation. It seems that you have experienced the Night of Sense and are now being drawn into the Night of Spirit. What are the fruits of the Night of the Spirit?

1. Freedom from the temptation to assume a glamorous role because of our spiritual gifts or charisms.

2. Freedom of domination of any emotion.  

3. Purification of our idea of God.  

4. Profound purification of our attitudes about the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.  

5. A longing to let go of the selfishness that still lingers in us and to be free of every obstacle that might hinder our growth in divine union.

Please take the time to ponder those fruits. I found them so helpful in my own journey.

 

My friend Cynthia Bourgeault commented: “[Our friend] seems to be confusing the Dark Night of the Sense — moving beyond spiritual consolations, an early and in fact blessed purification — with the much deeper and later Dark Night of the Spirit, with its profound disorientation and relocation of one’s fundamental sense of selfhood. In fact, in a very healthy way, it seems that her concept of God is growing. She’s simply moving beyond being able to find pleasure and confidence by telling her old stories about God—in fact, based strongly in emotional consolation—and moving on to a more immediate awakening to the perception of God as a simple enfolding presence she doesn’t have words for. [My advice to her is]: Be truly present to where you are right now. This is not a falling away, but a joyous presence along a route that virtually all maturing spiritual seekers have traveled.”

 

To use Fr. Thomas’ words in Invitation to Love: “The way of pure faith is to persevere in contemplative practice without worrying about where we are on the journey … we can be spared all this nonsense if we surrender ourselves to the divine action, whatever the psychological content of prayer may be. In pure faith, the results are often hidden even from those who are growing the most.”

 

You are on the right track. Be aware that the nights are not done with you. The only thing one can be absolutely sure is that whatever we expect to happen will not happen. God is not bound by our ideas; we have to take the leap of trust into the unknown. Keep faithful to your Centering prayer practice as Fr.Thomas himself encouraged Centering Prayer practitioners to do “all I can say is persevere – keep doing it.” I would add, trust the spiritual process and let God love you.

 

I hope this was a help – please let me know.

Blessings, Fr Carl

 Prayer

God of all grace, you have shown your faithfulness to your people throughout the generations. I thank you that, although my heart feels heavy right now, you have not abandoned me. Your supply of grace to me is vast, I will never exhaust your love. May I come to you and find rest from the burdens that are weighing me down. In that rest, I pray that my heart would feel lighter. May I experience the power of your love to transform my life. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with my spirit. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

https://youtu.be/On_9kVQBj7w

meditation

https://youtu.be/VbT2wQq5jQY

song

https://youtu.be/I4vvIFmYEN8

pray share chat 7/12/2023 thoughts on st benedict's teachings

happy greetings to carrie gilles.

Meeting the late assocate Mary Fellow's son and wife during the senior luncheon at st bernadette parish.  Fr thom Miller the speaker knew mary and rose when he was the pastor at holy rosary parish in homewood.

 Focus on St. Benedict's teachings.

1,  meditation

https://youtu.be/68X3D3dywT8

2.  Song

https://youtu.be/jYrx5nYjLhc

3. Narrative

a)  Susan Muto's impromptu comments during the Mass at St. Susana Church Penn Hills for the late Fr. Tony Gargotta.  It was St. Benedict's feast day.  Fr. Thom Miller requested her to give her reflection and later on testimonials from other parishioners of their memories of Fr.  Tony.

https://youtu.be/y1hLrztfiAo

See also Enter the Narrow Gate: Saint Benedict's... book by Susan Muto (thriftbooks.com)

b.  Richard Rohr on the Benedictine Wisdom

The Benedictine Wisdom of “Ora et Labora”

 

 

 

If Jesus was a wisdom master who sought to transform the consciousness of his disciples through a way of life, the desert communities that sprung up in the fourth century may have been an attempt to carry on that traditional way of teaching. Cynthia Bourgeault, an accomplished wisdom teacher in her own right, traces the movement of Wisdom from the desert to the monasteries and into the present moment, honoring it as one of the foundations of her own wisdom schools:

One of the streams of Wisdom comes from very, very deep in the Christian tradition—the Wisdom of Benedictine Monasticism. Saint Benedict, in the fifth century, drew from an already well-established stream of transformational Wisdom that came out of the deserts of Egypt and Syria via a first generation of people who really wanted to practice what it means to put on the mind of Christ. Saint Benedict became heir to this and shaped it into a massive, stable container, which has been the foundation of Christian monasticism and monastic transformational practice in the West for 1,500 years. Its brilliant and stable legacy of “Ora et Labora”: “Prayer and Work,” offers a fundamental rhythm for the balancing and ordering of human life, and for the growing of that beautiful rose of Wisdom.

Joan Chittister, a vowed religious sister of the Order of Saint Benedict, explains how the Rule of Benedict provides an opportunity for transformation for everyone who chooses to follow its wisdom:

All in all, the Rule of Benedict is designed for ordinary people who live ordinary lives. It was not written for priests or mystics or hermits or ascetics; it was written by a layman for laymen. It was written to provide a model of spiritual development for the average person who intends to live life beyond the superficial or the uncaring. [1] . . .

Benedict was quite precise about it all. Time was to be spent in prayer, in sacred reading, in work, and in community participation. In other words, it was to be spent on listening to the Word, on study, on making life better for others, and on community building. It was public as well as private; it was private as well as public. It was balanced. No one thing consumed the monastic’s life. No one thing got exaggerated out of all proportion to the other dimensions of life. No one thing absorbed the human spirit to the exclusion of every other. Life was made up of many facets and only together did they form a whole. Physical labor and mental prayer and social life and study and community concerns were all pieces of the puzzle of life. Life flowed through time, with time as its guardian. [2]

 

 

[1] Joan D. Chittister, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today (HarperSanFrancisco: 1991), 4.

[2] Chittister, 74–75.

Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, An Introductory Wisdom School: Course Transcript and Companion Guide (Wisdom Way of Knowing: 2017), 4. Learn about and register for Cynthia’s online Introductory Wisdom School.

4.  Prayer

Holy Father St. Benedict, give me the wisdom to discover you, the intelligence to understand you, the diligence to seek you, the patience to wait for you, eyes to contemplate you, a humble heart to meditate and a life to proclaim you.

5.  Meditation

a)  

https://youtu.be/OZJDbtvUM4E

b)  

https://youtu.be/qGvxtcL2zG4

6.  Song

https://youtu.be/Sng32RXPT7Q

Provocative Meeting

 

I left the meeting 

With more questions than answers 

Success in disguise. 

Sr paula’s notes at dotty’s house

 

Paula’s prayer meeting 6/14/2023

 

https://youtu.be/KqS00OZkThI

The Heart Knows, 

                    Listen to Your Heart

 

A HUNDRED OBJECTS CLOSE BY

                                                                                                            Mira

I know a cure for sadness:

Let your hands touch something that

Makes your eyes smile.

 

I bet there are a hundred objects close by

That can do that.

 

Look at

Beauty’s gift to us—

Her power is so great she enlivens

The earth, the sky, our soul.

 

Beloved Is Where We Begin

 

If you would enter

into the wilderness,

do not begin

without a blessing.

 

Do not leave

without hearing

who you are:

Beloved,

named by the One

who has traveled this path

before you.

 

Do not go

without letting it echo

in your ears,

and if you find

it is hard

to let it into your heart,

do not despair.

That is what

this journey is for.

 

I cannot promise

this blessing will free you

from danger,

from fear,

from hunger

or thirst,

from the scorching

of sun

or the fall

of the night.

 

But I can tell you

that on this path

there will be help.

 

I can tell you

that on this way

there will be rest.

 

I can tell you

that you will know

the strange graces

that come to our aid

only on a road

such as this,

that fly to meet us

bearing comfort

and strength,

that come alongside us

for no other cause

than to lean themselves

toward our ear

and with their

curious insistence

whisper our name:

 

Beloved.

Beloved.

Beloved.

 

—Jan Richardson