Unison Benediction

 Every once in a while, a May Sarton poem comes my way.  It will stop me for a day or two.  I would like to think that come next Holy Week I will remember this poem.  

Unison Benediction 

Return to the most human,
nothing less will nourish the torn spirit,
the bewildered heart,
the angry mind:
and from the ultimate duress,
pierced with the breath of anguish,
speak of love.

Return, return to the deep sources,
nothing less will teach the stiff hands a new way to serve,
to carve into our lives the forms of tenderness
and still that ancient necessary pain preserve.

Return to the most human,
nothing less will teach the angry spirit,
the bewildered heart;
the torn mind,
to accept the whole of its duress,
and pierced with anguish…
at last, act for love.

~ May Sarton (1912-1995)

First Sip   

  

photograph: San Leandro, April 2021

The Narrow Gate

We live in a society that places a high value on "keeping our options open." The risk of missing something just seems too great. Yet, eventually, we do have to narrow our choices. This is one lesson of the pandemic when all of us experienced limited choices. In Matthew 7:13 we are told that Jesus said, "Go in through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road wide, so many people enter through it. But the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it."  

I love this passage, but I also struggle with it. I believe in God's world there is room for all and that we will all find the way.  Yet, I also realize we must be willing to be guided, and our notion that we can do what we want with no consequence is not a reliable compass.  This morning I came across this passage that helps me understand the narrow gate a little more:  

"In meditation practice, we neither hold the mind very tightly nor let it go completely. If we try to control the mind, then its energy will rebound back on us. If we let the mind go completely, then it will become very wild and chaotic. So we let the mind go, but at the same time there is some discipline involved. The techniques used in the Buddhist tradition are extremely simple. Awareness of bodily movement, breath and one's physical situation are techniques common to all traditions. The basic practice is to be present, right here. The goal is also the technique. Precisely being in this moment, neither suppressing nor wildly letting go, but being precisely aware of what you are.  Breath, like bodily existence, is a neutral process which has no "spiritual" connotations. We simply become mindful of its natural functioning. This is called shamatha practice. With this practice we begin to tread the hinayana or narrow path. This is not to say that the hinayana approach is simplistic or narrow minded. Rather, because the mind is so complicated, so exotic, craving all sorts of entertainment constantly, the only way to deal with it is to channel it into a disciplined path without sidetracks." *

In Christian meditation, our intent is to sit with the Christ within.  Therefore, we can trust the destination and the narrow gate that we must continually move through.  Truly they are one and they are beautiful.  This morning I meditated with a mockingbird who is still reciting his whole repertoire.  I cannot control him, but I can practice letting him be.  If I can let him be, then I can let myself simply be as well. If I can simply be, I can be peace in this world. We must not fear discipline, but allow ourselves to be embraced by it. Discipline is not punishment, it is our gateway to God.   

   

*Chogyam Trungpa, The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, pages 2-3.  

 

  

photograph: San Leandro, February 2015. I am beginning to sort through the almost 9,000 photographs on my phone.  So far, I have deleted three. It is a fun project.  

   

If you would like to join us for group meditation, and have Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. available, drop me a note and I will send you the Zoom link.  

-- 

Travel; Don't Chase

"The day we take to meditation, we begin the long process of breaking through our obsessive identification with the body. At first this may produce a cry of protest. The senses will complain that they are being starved; the body will tell us that all the fun has gone out of life; the mind will complain that it's restless and doesn't want to quiet down. It is like trying to train a dog when you have always let him chase cars, sleep on the couch, and run freely all night."

   

Like A Thousand Suns, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Volume 2 (page 37)

Eknath Easwaran    

   

photograph:  San Leandro, April 2018  

I have entitled this photograph "Not Morocco". The picture does give me a sense of Morocco.  No, I have never travelled to Morocco.  Just in case I do get to travel to Morocco, which I think I would like to do, I want to be clear that this is not from Morocco.  I have learned, however, that there is a rose festival in May in Morocco in May. I feel I have just taken a trip. I am grateful for the guidance of our neighborhood flowers that take my imagination to beautiful lands.      

  

Blessings to you all this Sunday and always.  May your mind, heart, and soul know peace. May we travel, not chase. 

 

Love,

Sue Ann     

 

Pondering John 20:27

 "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 

Jesus     

  

"To feed the hungry means to do away with militarism. To bless the children means to leave the trees standing for them."

Dorothee Soelle  as quoted in Meister Eckhart, Matthew Fox 

We are called to touch the wounds of Christ.         

     

photograph:  San Leandro, April 2021

Peony 2, A Lesson in Not Blooming

 I walked by the peony yesterday (the one I have written about before) and as I expected, the blooms are gone.  However, not blooming  does not seem to damper its enthusiasm for being in this world.  

 

When I first began to gather people for meditation, I expected to be reading from either Father John Main, Father Lawrence Freeman, or Father Thomas Keeting.  They all have written much on the subject of Christian meditation.  Yet, I find myself returning to poetry for the sense of space  that poetry so graciously provides.   Such openings are  where we can let the Spirit in.  That is surely why we meditate.  Matthew Fox quotes Meister Eckhart: "The Holy Spirit, the energy of God in us, is the true door."*

Here is the poem I shared this week:  

   

HOW THEN CAN WE ARGUE?  

 

Having lunch in a field one day, I troubled an ant with a 

question. I asked of him humbly, 

 

"Have you ever been to Paris?" 

And he replied, "No, but I wouldn't mind going."  And then he asked me 

if I had ever been to a famous ant city.  And I regretted that I 

hadn't, and was quick to add, "I wouldn't mind, too!"    

    

This led to a conclusion: There is life that we do not know of. 

How aware are we of all consciousness 

in this universe?  

  

What percent of space is this earth in the infinite realm?

What percent of time is one second 

in eternity?   

  

Less than that is our 

knowledge of    

 

God.  

   

How then can we ever 

argue about 

    

Him?   

     

Meister Eckhart  as translated by Daniel Ladinsky 

Love Poems from God     

  

*Mester Eckhart, A Mystic Warrior for Our Times, Matthew Fox, page 48   

  

photograph:  San Leandro, April 2021    

  

If you would like to meditate with us, there are two sessions available:  one on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 and one on Wednesday evening at 7:30, Pacific Time.  Let me know if you would like the Zoom link.  Blessings on  wherever the Spirit of God takes you.  

Rise To Love

 Love God  as God is - a not-God, not- mind, not-person, not-image - even more, as he is a pure, clear One, separate from all twoness.  

Meister Eckhart as quoted in Meister Eckhart, A Mystic Warrior for Our Times, Matthew Fox    

    

Let us let  Christ live in us and through us on this day and always. 

  

photograph:  San Leandro, April 2016