While sorting through images I’ve saved through the years, I came across this one from a trip to Seattle to visit a friend about 6 years ago.  My friend and I decided to venture out of the city to take a ferry over to Lopez Island northwest of Seattle in the Pacific ocean for some much needed down time.

Of all the photos I took, this image of the small craggy tree covered mini-island surrounded by the gray fog and mist intrigues me and continues to do so.  There is something reminiscent of Viking ships or explorers clutching ancient parchment maps with the words “here there be dragons” written in the unknown and uncharted oceans.  Fear of the unknown and undiscovered areas was symbolized by dragons.  Brave men who dared explore and venture with courage, still feared the unknown.  There way of confronting the fear was to write “here, there be dragons” and say nothing more about it.

Living a human life, a spiritual life, requires us to confront our fears, our inner dragons.  Fear and other emotions can create barriers to our inner freedom.  One time at a workshop on integrating emotions and prayer which I attended, the facilitator read the children’s book You’ve Got Dragons by Kathryn Cave, illustrated by Nick Maland (Peachtree Pub Ltd. July 1, 2003).  The young boy in the book discovers that he has worries and fears that appear to him as dragons.  As the story unfolds, he shares what he learns about living with them.  While the book is designed to reassure children about childhood fears, it served to reassure all of us at the workshop that everyone has feelings which can bring about anxiety and fear and led to deeper discussions about how to pray and reflect on emotions in prayer.

Today, I often some journaling/reflection questions followed by a practice I hope you will find useful in your own spiritual life.

Reflection/Journaling Questions

What are the predominant feelings layering in you this past month?  How do you hold tension between two things which seem opposite like trust and fear?  How does the feeling and thinking connection meet?

We often rehash and rehash and retell the same story line over and over again of events which cause pain, anger, frustration, etc.  How can you short circuit the story and move to gratitude?  How do you “feed your dragons” in order to befriend them?

Praying with difficult emotions like fear, anger, loneliness, despair, sadness, etc. is challenging.  I like to use a breath prayer or tonglen. It is a form of a silent Buddhist prayer which honors where one IS and opens one to the graciousness of Creation or God or Consciousness. I have adapted it to use with the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.

• For yourself
  • Inbreath – acknowledge what you are feeling (it’s like saying “here I am in my grief or confusion or anger or frustration”)
  • Outbreath – breathe out the blessing you need most (gentleness, openness, hope, etc.)
• For others you know
  • When and if  feel that you are able, include in your breath prayer others you know who may be feeling the same way you are.  Allow the blessing you seek to go out to them as well.
• For all people
  • When and if you feel you are able, expand the circle of your intention to embrace the whole world, acknowledging that the feeling you are experiencing at this moment is undoubtedly shared by many others throughout the world.  As you breathe out, be conscious that you are blessing people everywhere with the same grace you seek.

This breath prayer can also be done using lines of a psalm or other favorite prayer.

If you would like to talk about your experiences with this form of prayer or any other matters relating to your spiritual journey, please contact me.  In the meantime, I hope you find these practices and my reflections meaningful.

Blessings,

Christy

 

 

While driving through town this morning around 10:30 on one of the backstreets in a part of town which could be characterized as marginalized, low income, immigrant, rental row houses.  I had cut through the back street to avoid High Street and all the traffic lights – not that town has a great deal of traffic but enough to cause a little delay in my travel to get to the interstate.

As I approached a stop sign, I noticed flashing lights on a couple police cruisers and two city police officers standing in the hot sun in the yard.  Immediately I noticed the white sheet laying on the porch over what was apparently the size of an adult human being.  I surmised someone had died on that front porch.  My reaction was more like “Oh my gosh, that’s a dead body”!!!

No spectators. No media.  Just two public servants doing a job.  I assumed they were waiting for an ambulance, coroner or detective to arrive on the scene.  Was it a drug overdose, I wondered?  Heroin plagues our community like many throughout the country, an epidemic we don’t seem to want to control (another blog for another time).  Was this an elderly person who died of natural causes? Male or female? Had they been murdered?

I don’t know the answer to the how this person died.  In a way, the how doesn’t matter.  I continued my drive to the interstate a bit creeped out, a little scared maybe and sad for loved ones of this dead person.  I recalled the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama.

The Prince got to the age of 29 with little, if any, experience with the world outside the walls of his opulent palaces.  Born into a life of privilege and luxury, his father shielded him from the realities of sickness, old age and death. Prince Siddhartha, ever curious about what was on the outside of the palace walls, asked a charioteer to take him on a series of rides through the countryside. He was shocked by the sight of an aged man, then a sick man, and then a corpse. The stark realities of old age, disease, and death sickened the Prince.

Siddhartha saw a wandering ascetic. The charioteer told Siddhartha that the ascetic was one who had renounced the world and sought release from the fear of death and suffering.

These encounters with old age, disease and death forever changed Siddhartha Gautama who eventually renounced his life of privilege, became and ascetic and began a journey which change his life forever to become The Buddha, the Enlightened One.

Siddhartha spent years meditating, reflecting, pondering, and engaging in extreme ascetical practices.  Finally Siddhartha sat beneath a sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa), known ever after as the Bodhi Tree (Bodhi means “awakened”) said he was going to figure out what everything meant and he meditated for a significant period of time, some say years.  Eventually, Siddhartha awakened, proclaiming to the earth by touching it to bear witness of his awakening.  He became known as The Buddha, the Enlightened One.

We all see and experience sickness, old age and death.  No matter how much money we have, what kind of house we live in or what car we drive, we will all get sick, grow old and die or we will know someone who will.  There is a rather trite saying that “Life is a terminal.  No one gets out alive.”  What feelings do you have when you hear something like this?

How do you reconcile suffering and death to your religious beliefs, if at all? Do you have spiritual beliefs about death, suffering, sickness? What are your attitudes and feelings about illness – your own illnesses, your family members, or strangers? How do you feel when you see the suffering of others? Are you compassionate toward those who have multiple medical issues who cannot afford care or insurance to get care?

How have you experienced death? What are some of the feelings you have experienced at the bedside of a dying loved one or at news of their sudden death?  How has your spirituality grown because of experiencing suffering and death?

Embrace life.  Be kind to all.

Blessings, Namaste, and Peace to all,

Christy

 

What is freedom?  What does it mean to you to “be free”? Is it free to do whatever you want? Free to worship and believe what you feel is right for you? Free to speak your passions and beliefs? Freedom from worry, stress, anxiety, fear? Free to create, do a job, have a career and family, live the life you want to live? Or does being free mean you have the freedom to be who you are called to be?  Are you spiritually free?

Political theorists, historians, and judges have written about freedom and what it means to live in the democratic republic of the United States.  Court cases issued by learned  jurists interpreting the meaning of the Constitution try to balance the common good while ensuring individual freedom.

It is not my desire today to rehash or critique these writings here.  I leave that for  political pundits, constitutional scholars, historians, and politicians.  Through the next week most Americans celebrate the founding of our nation 242 years ago.  On July 4, 1776, after weeks of haggling over language and concepts, the Continental Congress declared independence from the British empire.  A new nation, conceived in liberty, was born –  the United States of America.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Declaration of Independence 

We gather with friends, family, and our communities for picnics, parades, concerts and fireworks to celebrate July 4th, Independence Day.  Throughout the next week, I hope you will have some time to ponder, pray with, discuss, and maybe even write about the questions I posed at the beginning of today’s blog.

Another challenge may be to slowly read the Declaration of Independence. What stands out to you? What challenges you? What feelings do you experience reading the Declaration? What does Life, Liberty, Happiness mean to you? If you were to write your own declaration of independence what would it say?

May you all have a blessed and safe Independence Day. May our communities, our nation and our world honor and respect all human beings and our inherent rights to Life, Liberty and Happiness.

Blessings,

Christy

The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.
Maya Angelou

Earlier this evening a summer rainstorm came through.  Right behind it was Brother Sun.  Sun plus rain usually equals rainbow so I grabbed my camera and dashed outside.  Sure enough, Brother Sun was shining through the droplets of rain and behold – A rainbow.

I was reminded of Maya Angelou’s quote about being a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud.  How are you a rainbow in another person’s cloud? How do you feel about others who call God by a different name? How do you feel about others who may not call on God at all? Can you embrace the different, accept the marginalized, remain civil to someone with whom you disagree politically? How have you loved today? How were you a rainbow in another person’s cloud?

Blessings,

Christy

I am polishing my preparations for a retreat day on Creation Spirituality, Francis and John Denver scheduled for tomorrow from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM EST at the Oldenburg Franciscan Center.  I look forward to spending a few hours sharing my thoughts, reflections and prayers with the participants.  Whenever I lead a retreat, I feel I gain so much more than I give. There is a part of me that wants to make sure I give my best so find myself being a little obsessive about the details.

Julian of Norwich, an English mystic and theologian from the 1300’s, once wrote “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” It gives me comfort for I know I’ve done the preparations and the planning and the organizing.  The Spirit will guide and lead and “all will be well”.

Blessings,

Christy