Mystery

Sister Loses Mind; Hunts All Week Without Success

Have you ever had something happen where you thought you might be losing your mind?

I had a situation like that a few days ago. At first I was indignant, casting blame to the four directions with a sure hand. But none of it stuck...just flowed back to pool at my own feet. I still don't know the answer...there is no rational answer that fits with my experience.

So now what? Will I spend the rest of my life agonizing over this mystery? I believe God says to me, "Even though this makes you feel crazy, let it go. Just be with this small mystery, live with it, accept it. Be with me."

Answer God's Call

Today is the Feast of St. Catherine of Sienna. She lived in the fourteenth century when the Pope was working out of Avignon and the world as they knew it was in chaos. Her passionate devotion to Jesus led her to live an austere life. She worked to bring the Pope back to Rome, which did happen in her lifetime. She worked for unity and peace between conflicting factions. She was almost illiterate and yet she is named a Doctor of the Church for her brilliant, inspired thinking.

Catherine answered the call of God with utmost generosity.

Do you hear God calling you to the religious life? Sometimes this call feels more like an urgent desire. Sometimes it is experienced as a recognition of a good fit with a particular community. God could be calling you through the way a community prays, or through the way a community serves.

Regardless of how you "hear" the "call," are you responding to it? And if you are not, why not? It is, after all, GOD calling. Who are you to ignore GOD? God only wants what is good for you, what is satisfying, fulfilling and very meaningful. Answering the call also brings with it the grace to follow to wherever that call leads.

To a Piper on College Street

Walking, I hear pipes.
Drawn closer, standing, list'ning
at dusk...my heart lifts.

--from a descendant
of the Campbells and the Alexanders

Holy Leisure

The weather was so enticing today that I spent some time by the water. After an appointment in Tacoma I stopped on Ruston Way and sat on a bench, drinking in the misty blue of Commencement Bay and the skies above, gazing at the water, the rocks, the slow-moving ferry and sailboats. I watched spring unfold in the form of young mothers with babies in strollers, a boy on a skateboard, a young woman skating. Later in the day, before a meeting, I was on the waterfront in Olympia, walking and looking at the boats. One was named "Quiet Time," and another "Opus Dei." I was reminded that taking some quiet time really is Opus Dei, the work of God, and my life contains more joy when I honor this truth.

And Into the Silence

Yesterday (Monday) was our monthly day of silence. The sisters, with the support of our staff, enter into a day of intentional silence. We were enriched by the presence of a number of guests/retreatants who entered into the silence with us. The sun warmed my heart. Some of the trees were in full bloom. I sat outside with my lectio [sacred reading] materials, listening to the cacophony of birds. A wealth of the Divine Presence embraced and nurtured the silence. Such a delight in the midst of the screeching, discordant noise of "civilization." How can a true civilization evolve, let alone thrive, without silence?

Want to know more about lectio? Get our Sister Lucy's book, Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness. Want to experience silence with us? Call the center and book your room on our next day of silence in May.

Praying With the Body

St. Placid Priory was simply filled with festivity on Sunday, April 19. First of all, it was Sunday and we always celebrate Sundays with liturgies full of song and grace. It also happened to be our monthly Oblates and Associates day, when people gather at the Priory to learn about and grow in Benedictine values. St. Placid Priory It is always an added festivity when our Oblates and Associates come here.

Then we had a very special celebration with our Oblate, Roy DeLeon, whose book, Praying With the Body, has just been released. His book is available for purchase in our Priory Store, and those who picked it up had the opportunity to speak with the author himself and ask for his autograph. What a joyful moment, when I brought my book to Roy, who wrote a blessing for me in it!

The book is about using the body in gentle and easy ways to express the prayers we hold in our minds and hearts and bodies. The movements are designed to deepen our prayer, embody our prayer and give physical expression to what we are hearing in the depths of our beings. I recommend this book to anyone wishing to explore new and different paths of prayer.

Rummage

We had our annual rummage sale yesterday. Several friends came to help out and the day was successful. Those who staffed the event were happy and those who came were happy. The line of eager rummage salers reached out to the curb of the parking lot before 8:00 when we opened. And it was such a beautiful day for a sale! Lots of sunshine and birdsong.

Rummage sales are important these days, not only for us who depend on this income, but also for those folks who make their way from sale to sale each Saturday. It is a good way to re-cycle and to keep stuff out of landfills. It is also a good way to clear the house of unnecessary things and to offer them to those who might be in need at a nice, low price. I figure if I haven't picked something up in a year or so, it really belongs to someone else. Our annual rummage sale helps me to pass these things on to others.

Thanks, Sister Damaris, for another great event!

A Writers Gathering

I spent last evening with members of my fiction writing group, The Puget Sound Writers Guild. We gather weekly to hear and critique presented chapters of our ongoing work. The critiques were thoughtful and given to encourage writers to push for their best possible work. I am awed at the perceptive minds and colorful personalities that are committed to one another's growth as writers. To critique without criticizing; to disagree with humor; to care while challenging. We so love our craft that we are currently teaching a group of novice writers what we were given by our now-deceased mentor. The are a wonderful, committed, zany group of people. They will fit right in. Soon they will be joining us.

Benedict's Rule is framed to provide guidance about bringing disparate backgrounds and personalities together in respectful peace. The strength of gracious hospitality. I experience a peace that allows me to flourish as I am (as my first best person) and to support and challenge those around me to become better selves. I am blessed by the presence of guests: our regular guests and especially the unexpected ones.

November to April

Star Magnolia

November leaves fell
revealing slender white buds--

spring's hope, now fulfilled.

Baseball and the Gospel Life

I enjoyed an evening of baseball last night, watching the Mariners on our TV with several of my Benedictine sister fans. I noticed how joyful the fans at Safeco Field were - lots of smiles and exuberance. It didn't hurt that Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his 400th home run as a Mariner or that Ichiro hit a grand slam. It was just a great night over all for my team! And it was about community. It was the TEAM that won the game - all the players working together. The team that lost was also working together very hard. It was not their night.

The Gospel life is like that, too. It is all about community. Sometimes we feel like winners! We have joy, energy, and enthusiasm for the mission. And sometimes we feel like losers. Where are the light and the pats on the back and the peace anyway? Well, community is about living together with the beauties and the beasts within and around us. Christian living does not mean we will feel great every day. It does mean that we are part of a team, that we work hard in the service of God and God's Creation, that we encourage each other and be there for each other in good times and in not-so-good times.

Yeah, Mariners! Yeah, Everyone!

Practice

Yesterday I immersed myself in music. I practiced my recorder alone, then I spent an hour with a friend playing duets. In the evening I took another friend and myself off to the local Pub and enjoyed an evening of jigs and reels performed by local musicians passionate about Irish music. I was inspired by their talent and their facility. It takes me scores (maybe even hundreds) of repetitions before I master a difficult phrase. My teacher told me recently that the adage, "Practice makes perfect" is not quite true. It is really perfect practice that makes perfect. He cautioned me to make sure that what I repeat over and over again as I practice is actually correct.

The spiritual life takes practice, too. It is not so easy to practice my life perfectly, though. So I may fall down, and get up and try again; fall down and get up and try again; fall down and get up and try again. St. Benedict wrote a simple rule for beginners. I take great comfort in that I do not need to be perfect, only perfectly willing to get up and try again.

Freedom of Speech

Last night I listened to an NPR program, "On Point," about right wing radio and television announcers whose words could incite listeners to do violent acts. In the Rule of St. Benedict we learn that above all we are to approach persons with reverence. I am concerned that our society has lost this sense of awe and reverence toward persons and accepts the rantings and ravings that we hear over the air waves as normal. I would like to call for more civility of tone by all media folks. We need high quality political discourse, not hot-headed, disrespectful diatribes about people whose political views are not the same as the person behind the mic. St. Benedict wrote wisely. Let us return to offering reverence to all people, even during passionate debate about important issues.