Ponderings Repost

Yesterday, I was giving some thought as to how I want to structure a Zoom prayer gathering on Friday, July 3 at 7:00 p.m. (If you would like to take part and pray with others for our nation and our world, send me an email and I will forward the details).  A line of poetry kept coming to mind, "I am a citizen of that kingdom..." but I could not remember the source. Well, Google has a much better memory than I.  This email from June 29, 2008 quickly surfaced. 

This is not an easy time for our nation, nor for much of the world.   Being reminded that we are a citizen in the realm of God's Divine Presence gives me strength, and I pray it does for you as well. 

  

Yesterday I also did a search on the theologian, Karl Barth.  Such is my world. 

   

The photograph is an older one.  It was probably taken in San Leandro, but I am not sure when.    

   

Peace, this week, and always. Remember, God right at this moment is leading us to healing.  Let us trust the revelations.  

  

Love, 

Sue Ann    

  

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I received the following song via email today.  The only thing I know about Kabir is that he was a 15^th century Hindu mystic.  One of the things I love about mystical writings is that they encourage me to stretch into that place of universal love that truly knows no boundaries.   Change a word here and there, and this could easily be Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist, or a celebration of the Divine Feminine.  Today, let us sing the songs that bring our hearts to life.  What a wondrous garden that would be – where every fruit and flower is ripened by wisdom, joy, and love.  Let us begin to sing this glorious banquet into being.    

   

I am a citizen of that kingdom
Where reigns the Lord in all His glory;
Neither pain nor pleasure cast their shadows
Where the sun of joy never sets.

I am a citizen of that kingdom
Where every day is a day of celebration;
The river of love overflows its banks,
And the lotus blooms in the devotee's heart.

I am a citizen of that kingdom
Where shines the Lord as the source of light,
And lights the lamp of wisdom in my heart
To burn without oil, without wick.
— Kabir in God Makes the Rivers to Flow: Sacred Literature of the World selected by Eknath Eawaran   

   

Kith and Kin

"I am ever present to those who have realized me in every creature. Seeing all life as my manifestation, they are never separated from me.  They worship me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from me. Wherever they may live, they abide in me."        

The Bhagavad Gita, 6:30-31, translated by Eknath Easwaran     

     

As we make our way to the 4th of July weekend, it would be behoove  us to give thought to unity, not division. No matter how separate we might think ourselves to be, we are all related, and we journey together.  Let us keep all life in our hearts, and respect one another's struggles. May we risk deep listening to the unrest, and find common ground.   

   

O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings. Help us become a community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world. [Please add your own intentions.] . . . Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God, amen. 

Father Richard Rohr, OSB     

   

photograph:  San Leandro, 2020     

   

Where

Yesterday, as Jack and I were walking, I heard what I initially thought might be a large chicken.  I wondered if perhaps it had managed to get out of its yard.  I could not see it but it sounded close.  The owner of the house where I thought the chicken might reside came out, appearing to be getting ready to go for a run.  He did not seem concerned at all about a possible AWOL chicken.  I then see movement high in a large pine tree.  Jack and I move closer (I am grateful he is not a dog given to barking).  No, not a chicken but two crows fussing over one another. They had much to say to one another, but they were speaking differently than the crows I often see out and about, and that was why I was confused.  I think I was witnessing them in their home tree. They repeatedly touched one another's beaks as they advised each other of their morning's activities. I appreciate that birds talk to one another as much as they do. They enliven my walks and remind me that we are woven together in so many ways.  Trees, crows, sunshine, a woman on a walk with her dog. We are all communicating, in our own sacred language, God's love.  

   

Yesterday, I also came across a book that I have not read in quite some time:  Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue.  In it, I found the following passage where he writes of the human body. This morning as I reflect on his wisdom, I think of all the bodies, human and otherwise, that exist in this world.  What is this world but an incarnation of God?  I cannot think of it as otherwise.  

The human body is beautiful. It is such a privilege to be embodied. You have a relationship to a place through the body. It is no wonder that humans have always been fascinated by place. Place offers us a home here; without place we would literally have no where. Landscape is the ultimate where; and in landscape the house we call home is our intimate place... Your body is the home of your soul on earth.*   

    

Last night Tyler and I dined on the first of the summer corn, lima beans, and a tomato salad.  I was grateful to be home. I was grateful to have a body.  I was grateful for God. 

   

*Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom, Perennial, 2004, p. 44-45.  

  

I do not have a photograph of the crows, but this Datura, beautiful, yet poisonous, resides just down the street from them.  They are neighbors.      

       

Touching

"There is a teaching that says that behind all hardening and tightening and rigidity of the heart, there’s always fear. But if you touch fear, behind fear there is a soft spot. And if you touch that soft spot, you find the vast blue sky. You find that which is ineffable, ungraspable, and unbiased, that which can support and awaken us at any time."*

~ Pema Chodron   

 

 This tree lives close  to a trail at Del Valle Regional Park.  I look at this photograph and I see dance and I sense prayer.  Ah, to be so rooted and to know such freedom. Yes, I yearn.  Yet, today I think  the unlimited sky is so very close, even when I fall.      

 

* First Sip, June11, 2020. www.claudiacummins.com    

   

Gazing into Saturday Morning

Everyday when we wake I think we should ask ourselves, "What can I let go of today to let more of God in?  What can I complete and release?"  There are times of weariness and trial when we really can only take one heavily laden step at a time. Yet, let us not get in the habit of thinking that is the only way for us.  We are made of lighter stuff; we can be moved.       

That Believe in Gravity  

   

The wind and I could come by and carry 

you the last part of your journey, if you 

became light enough, 

  

by just letting go of a few more things you 

are clinging to...that still believe in 

gravity.   

  

A Year with Hafiz, Daniel Ladinsky, Penguin Books, 2011, page 218     

 

photograph: San Leandro, May 2020 

   

 

Into the Wind

Last night Tyler and I discussed going to the beach today .  However, it was chilly here this morning, so we figured the beach would be even more so. We decided to go inland instead.  I suggested Lake Del Valle, outside of Livermore.  I had not been there in several years.  If we had checked the internet, we might have deduced that the lake area is closed, but I am glad we were not so methodical.  The trail we were able to walk was beautiful.  It was a quintessential Northern California afternoon with an extra bonus of a cool wind.  Not a breeze, but a wind. There is a difference.  Winds give you a sense that they have travelled many miles and have many more to go. I would say they are more determined than a gentle breeze. I paused several times just to savor it.  Our aging dog does not see well now, but he is still happier on a trail trotting next to Tyler than anywhere else. They both make me smile.  Yes, they often have to stop and wait for me.  Between a knee that does not work perfectly and frequent stops to take in the vistas and the prevailing winds, I am a leisurely sojourner.  

Tyler packed us some sandwiches, but there really was no place to have a picnic, and the days of being able to stop and have a bite to eat at a pub or restaurant have not yet returned, especially when you have a dog with you. So, we came home and ate at our table in the backyard. A very nice day.  A nap, a shower, and a cup of tea are bringing the afternoon to a close. Such an adventurer...

 I really am not a landscape photographer, but it was lovely out there today.  I know many of us are spending a lot of time on Zoom calls and webinars. Let us remember to go outside when we can.  We need the reminder that horizons beckon, and a wind just might carry us there.    

  

Love,

Sue Ann       

 

Compassion

I have indeed been pondering compassion this week.  So much changes when we act from that place of compassion that allows us to deeply see ourselves and one another.  Compassion is the seed that allows us all to grow.  Compassion helps us pause and extend a helping hand rather than a fist or a boot. There is no arrogance in compassion, only love.  Compassion is the path to Christ; compassion is the Christ that holds us and loves us so we can love one another.         

   

Compassion is the highest virtue, compassion is the highest self-control, compassion is the greatest gift, compassion is the best [discipline], compassion is the highest sacrifice, compassion is the finest strength, compassion is the greatest friend, compassion is the greatest happiness, compassion is the highest truth, and compassion is the greatest teaching.     

  

Ecological Nonviolence and the Hindu Tradition, and What Is Hinduism, chapter 45, pages 359-61  as quoted in Dharma 365, Ellen Grace O'Brian  

   

 

   

photograph:  San Leandro, May 2020    

Morning Questions, Part 2

The poem below was based on a dream I had in June, 2019. The only reason I remember it is because it popped up on Facebook. I am grateful. I don't remember writing and posting this, but the memory is sparked and I remember this fish.  Early this morning I dreamed that I had just jumped out of an airplane.  A companion was with me.  I guess we were falling, but what I remember is that we were holding hands and floating. The air was gently moving all around us.  I felt supported.  The parachute had not yet been opened, but neither one of us seemed afraid. I remember smiling.  I neither hear nor see the airplane, but we did have old-fashioned aviator helmets on our heads.  

There is so much strife and sorrow right now and for too many, gentleness and support seem elusive.  I was thinking that perhaps I was through with writing; I had nothing pertinent to say to the struggle of the times.  Yet, this morning I think that we all can dream, and sometimes we just might dream for all.      

Morning Questions

I dreamed of a fish
covered with expertly
placed glinty scales.
With bright eyes wide open
it moved silently through
the glittery waters.
Light was everywhere.

I woke thinking of
Apostle Paul's
knowing we are
clothed in Christ.

Can I really move so freely,
donned in such light,
breathing in and breathing out,
going only where the river
takes me,
trusting in that great flow?

Really, where and how else
could I possibly go?

say, June 2019  

"... for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
Galatians 3:26-27