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“When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet, and love will steer the stars.” If you know the next line, you’re officially old.

I found those lyrics running around in my head this evening. I probably haven’t heard the song for 30 years–could it be 40 years? I can picture the house I was living in, the rooms in the house where I listened to it, the friends who listened, sang and danced along with me. Music carves itself not only into our mind but also into our emotional memory. When The Age of Aquarius was in its zenith, I was young, daring, happy, hopeful and quite naive. What was that time like for you?

It wasn’t the opening line noted above that came to me first, however. The line that broke through into my consciousness as I was doing other things, was “harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding…” It sounds more necessary to me today than it did then. In fact, it sounds very much like the Gospel – it sounds like the very reason Christ came to us and what He hoped for us, what Christ tried to teach to us… and what His Spirit is about still – harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding.

If pushed, I’d say these thoughts came in response to the sense of expectancy which comes over me each year at this time. My conviction being that if it’s Christ who we seek, it’s Christ who comes as God’s gift to us again and anew. Our awareness of this gift waxes and wanes of course. But at this time in my own seeking, these are the particular gifts and manifestations of God’s Presence I need most. Harmony, to overcome the dissonance I feel. Understanding, to come to terms with what is. Sympathy, to minister and comfort the woundedness within and all around. And Trust abounding, total trust in God’s nearness and goodness. The sense of expectancy is almost palpable. Perhaps because my need is great, God’s nearness is undeniable. What will come is yet unknown.

As we pass from the season of gifts given and received to the season of making promises for the year that stretches before us, what is it you most desire from God’s gracious hand of mercy? What qualities, virtues strengths do you need for God’s Spirit to mend to your heart as we come to the dawning of 2011?

Harmony & understanding, sympathy and trust abounding… are my desires. May the God you seek grant you everything you need to be your best self in the New Year. BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK

What a wondrous gift, on that still night,
So long ago and far out of sight
Did come to a couple, so young and so poor
a little boy child — who’d be called the Savior.

May our voices now rise, our thanks-givings ring,
For we know the truth of the Baby, who was King.
And let us rejoice; bring glad tidings each one
For the Child who came to us, is uniquely God’s Son!

The quality of waiting crossed my mind this week as I sat in the dentist chair with both of his hands and an instrument or two from the hygentist shoved in my mouth. I was anxiously waiting for them to be finished with their work so I could get up from that most uncomfortable chair in which they lower my head below my heart… and that has no support for my lower back. I was done waiting before they were ready to deem me so.

I also waited recently for a plane to land so that folks could file off, and I could be among the new board-ers. I was at O’Hare International with the temperature 35 degrees farenheit and dropping. There was a steady rain pelting the windows just trying to turn the rain into sleet and snow — making the tarmack crew seek plastic slickers and shelter. Again, I was done waiting before Spirit Airlines was ready to deem me so.

In contrast I’ve recently waited for a movie begin, waited in the drive-through lane at Steak n Shake for my chocolate shake, waited to be seated at a new favorite restaurant for coconut shrimp and waited for Sam to get home. The quality of these times of waiting were different. My waiting was not anxious or foreboding. It wasn’t impatient but thoughtful. The anticipation in these experiences out-weighed the delay. I never reached the point of feeling that I was done waiting.

Does what we are waiting for determine the quality of our waiting or is our waiting quality determined by something else? Are there people whose patience is simply more well-formed and who are more able to wait in serenity? What determines the quality of waiting? Or more to the point: how are you at waiting? What did you have to wait for… or who did you have to wait for this week? How was that? Was the quality of your waiting determined by what or who you were waiting for? Could people who watched you easily discern the quality of your waiting?

As the Advent Candles are lit each Sunday, we’re given the opportunity for a moment of reflection to consider that we are in a season of waiting. We are waiting to once more celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Christ — waiting for Christ to be born anew in us — waiting for the time when Christ will come again as He promised. What’s the quality of your spiritual waiting as we approach Christmas? Are you waiting for the celebration… the transformation… or the culmination? Can people who see you easily discern the quality of the spiritual waiting that is a part of your life? Is that important?

Meditation is a discipline of patience which has an enormous impact on the quality of all our waiting. Laurence Freeman, OSB writes that: “violence is the failure of imagination, patience and courage.” In those times when we sit quietly and allow the Spirit of God to pray in and through us our life and awareness begin to be transformed. Meditation works in us keeping us from the edge of a violent response to our circumstances–perhaps especially to our waiting.

What are you waiting for right now? Is there a relationship that needs untangling, a physical problem for which there’s no clear cure, an enduring sadness or loneliness? Does the thought of waiting cause a knot to form deep inside–or are you able to experience waiting with a confident peace?

Especially in this season that lends itself to more doing than being, let me encourage you to push the pause button on your life. Take time to consider what it is you are waiting for as Christmas draws near, and to notice the quality of your waiting. Regardless of what we are waiting for, God’s Spirit abounds to redeem us. The One for whom we are waiting, can help us wait in perfect peace. BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK.

Let me begin by saying that I am truly thankful for each of you who faithfully read what I can’t help but writing and how you’ve encouraged me along the way with your comments. You are a blessing in my life and this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful to you and for you.

And while I can be cynical about how impersonal “social networking” and other technologies are; last night I was thankful for Skype. Lauren (alomst 5 years old) who knows the story of “Beauty and the Beast” [but had never seen the Disney movie] and I could watch together while 1100 miles apart. It was delightful watching her face as she saw the animated images for the first time. So thankful.

This past year I’ve been especially thankful for the opportunity to walk with folks through the ministry of spiritual direction and how God always shows up. Such a ministry was only a dream for years. Then, in what Scripture would call ‘the fullness of time’ – at a kairos moment – the pieces fell together. So thankful.

The list can go on with those people and situations that have come into my life and have added depth and meaning in ways I could not have imagined. Added to that are people and situations that filled my life with joy and were pure gift.

My learning as I allow this thankful reflection to bloom, is that the process of becoming aware of those things for which we are thankful, is a lot like pouring water into a beautiful crystal pitcher. Sooner or later, and sometimes even before we know it, we are so full that it can’t help but spill over. Sooner or later as we allow our gratitude to be named it becomes something we must pass on – must share – and so it goes on, multiplying expressions of gratitude beyond our what our vessel can hold.

This Thanksgiving Day, my prayer for you is one of such over-flowing thank-filledness… that will spill over from your life to the lives of those around you. And in all of our recollections, may God receive glory. Thanks be to God. PEACE AND JOY AND THANKSGIVINGS, THE CELTIC MONK

It’s a sign of the times. I mean the times since the financial market went south and everyone became afraid. It’s a sign of the times. I mean the last few years when a lot of otherwise sane people became paranoid of a lot of things that before this time they didn’t have the time to be afraid of. It’s a sign of the times. When otherwise good and decent people act less than goodly and decently believing they are somehow entitled or even ‘called’ to act that way.

It’s worth the effort to stop every once in a while to examine who we are and the choices we make. Not so much to look at what we are doing but why; and to test the ‘why’ with reality and not merely wild imaginings. For instance, is what we’re doing and what we’re choosing, based on facts, on reality, on truth so well worn that it’s become durable yet soft like tumbled leather… or is what we’re choosing and what we’re doing based on fear, on ‘what if’s’ and a sense that the sky is really falling?

Don’t get me wrong, there are real things of which prudent people ought to be afraid. But when our life is made up of looking for conspiracies behind every corner… when our life is such that not a day goes by when we don’t become suspect of some one or something that we’re sure is ‘out to get us’ — there is something wrong. And it’s not likely that what is wrong is outside of us.

Take a look over the past few days or the past few weeks in your life. Do an honest, searching examination. How many times have your thoughts or actions been based on fear? What have you done or thought about doing to protect yourself from a perceived threat or unknown? Was their any basis in fact for your having done so?
Have you passed along a message of fear or suspicion to someone else? Have you become part of the fear producing sign of the times?

The political culture at the moment and surely the financial climate are being moved and sustained by calculated messages to make people afraid. It’s easy to get caught up in it all. Just five minutes on any newscast can scare you to death. Otherwise bright people check their brains at the door of fear… and do and say foolish things. Larger and larger parts of our society and culture spring fearfully out of control. Even the Church is not immune.

Today I was embarassed to be a Presbyterian as at our quarterly meeting minsters and elders alike stood to concoct conspiracy tales. The matter before us was consideration of an addition to our Book of Confessions. Written in South Africa to address issues of unity in the face of racism and segregation, the document called The Belhar Confession, reminds us as Jesus did in His high priestly prayer, to remember that we are one, as He and the Father are one. And yet today, the concept of such unity was trampled underfoot by those who fear those different from them.

As I listened in disbelief and disgusted amazement to folks who sounded as though they all read from the same playbook… I was saddened. Ought it not be true of the Church that we lead society and culture FROM fear… rather than getting ourselves entangled in it. How can such a fearful lot of folks as I sat with today lead the world to the reconciliation, unity, freedom and peace Christ intended? No wonder so many see the Church as irrelevant.

And while disturbed by what I saw and heard today, I am not afraid. The Church of Jesus Christ has come through darker times than the fear that has permeated the church in North America in these days. Leaders in times past have led the church farther astray than this. Enemies from outside and within have tried in more calculating ways to destroy the message of the Good News of God’s love for all people.

I do not dismay, because I know the end of the story. Fear loses. God wins.
Those who prevailed in fear today will pass away like the grasses in a field. God will raise up women and men of vision to carry the mantle of His message forward. “Fear not for I am with you and do not be dismayed — for I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.”

I refuse to be among those who fear. I choose to seek hope and light. The Church has need of those who can read the signs of the times and lead people by another path. May hope and light lead you today and always. BLESSINGS AND JOY TO YOU. THE CELTIC MONK

I opened my web browser the other morning to find a top story that originated in the financial section of Yahoo, entitled: “HOW TO HIDE FROM YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK.” Where do I begin? The late night folks could have had a field day with this and perhaps they did; they begin their monologue way past my bedtime.

I don’t know if I’m more annoyed by the assumption that people as a matter of course “hide from their friends” or that anyone takes seriously the unfortunate moniker “friend” for the folks linked together on Facebook. Sorry to my 79 friends.

We are among the fortunate if we have one or two good friends. We are blessed if we have a few. We are special if over a lifetime we need two hands to count them. When people fall within the parameters Yahoo cited, needing to be hidden from, they aren’t friends, DUH.

Perhaps we could pursue a class-action lawsuit against FACEBOOK for abuse of the word: friend. Our grounds could be that it’s trivial use is a “crime against humanity” damaging to true human relationship. While it was probably a great marketing strategy, it really is an insult to real, honest, precious, sacred friendships everywhere. If Xerox and Kleenex can stop people from calling photocopies and facial tissues by their corporate names — can’t friends, bind themselves together and stop Facebook from trivializing real friendship?

That we’ve allowed ourselves to become complicit with this abuse of the word
friend likely says something about us. Too busy to notice? Too busy to care?
Unaware of the ramifications? Or is it silent consent, acknowledging how our society has devalued rich relationships? Is friendship simply the most recent victim of our disposable world? Has the word friend gone the way of the words fidelity, loyalty, promise, and vow? Once permanent, now temporary.

Words are the symbols that govern our lives in powerful ways. Allowing their meaning to change, changes us. If we don’t at least acknowledge that a sacred symbol is being gutted of its meaning — we lose, we all lose. And then, my friend, you can just pass the Kleenex.

It’s not likely that I’ll mount a campaign to attempt to force Facebook to change how they group people together. “Acqaintances” is not likely to be a new category on your wall. But it’s worth taking this moment to consider what friendship means to us. It’s worth taking these few minutes to sort out in our own minds what makes someone our friend — and us theirs. It may even be worth contacting a friend to tell them what their friendship means to us.

Or send a friend a copy of this blog so that in a small way, in a small corner of the universe we can begin to reclaim the symbol of what it means to be a friend. Now, I’m going to send this blog to my friends… even to some that don’t subscribe. BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK

There’s a poem by Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven which was often quoted by Fr. Matthew in his talks after Compline at Gethsemani. It opens with these haunting lines: “down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated, adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears, from those strong Feet that followed, followed after.”

The poem came to mind early this morning, as this past week I’ve been ‘hounded’ by thoughts of wisdom. What is it? Who has it? How does one aquire it? How does one recognize it?

One thing fairly clear is that wisdom is not conterminous with knowledge or age – a mistaken idea held by many. Living long enough does not make someone wise. Neither does amassing an alphabet soup after your name.

Political savvy is sometimes confused with wisdom. Most often in the circles I run in, the ability of persuasive speech is confused for wisdom. But who hasn’t heard the un-scripted conversation of a politician and wondered where all the wisdom went. Or who hasn’t been in the company of someone we admired from afar only to find that their close-up reality didn’t live up to their public hype.

I’ve come to believe that there’s a lot of false wisdom running around. You can spot it most easily by its constant companion hubris. Pride is a sure sign that we’re not as wise as we think we are. False wisdom acts before seeking wise counsel. We all know what that’s like… when deciding from false wisdom, we only ask the advice of people who we know will agree with us!

It seems to me that: some people are born with wisdom at their disposal; some are wise when young and then lose it; some constantly search for it; and some, well, let’s just say they depend on the wisdom of others. Presently I’m in the searching group – not that I chose to be – it’s that Hound.

I do believe wisdom is humble. People who move from a place of wisdom don’t force or shout. They never demand and don’t act impulsively. It’s as though their body, mind and spirit all move at the same time. It makes them solid and true — rather than scattered and crazed. The motives of true wisdom are humble as well. Wisdom’s motives seem very much like gifts of the Spirit – goodness, kindness, gentleness, peace. Show me someone who makes decisions from these motives, and I’ll show you someone who is wise. True wisdom is never motivated by crassness, currency or consumption “the three C’s of folly.

The Book of Proverbs has a lot to teach us about wisdom; and that’s even before we get to all those pithy two liners. On Trinity Sunday this year I preached a sermon from the opening Chapters of Proverbs. You can read the beginning of it on the Peace River Spirituality website: http://www.peaceriverspirituality.org/#/sermons where the study of that particular passage took me was to consider how much wisdom was a gift.

Like Thompson’s Hound of Heaven perhaps Wisdom is “following, following after.” Or is calling from the busiest street-corners as it says in Proverbs. At the very least that would explain the hounding I’ve experienced lately. If that is how Wisdom exists, in pursuit, then those who desire Wisdom need only to stop.

The image I have is of one person turning to look at someone behind them. When their gazes meet, its obvious that they each are looking at someone familiar and beloved. Next they sit facing each other knee-to-knee and begin their conversation.

Wisdom comes to us in relationship, not classroom or number of years. Wisdom comes to us when we make time to receive Her. Wisdom, though persistent in pursuit, does not force Her way into our lives but speaks only when turned towards, when invited. Wisdom is seldom heard by those in a hurry or with full agendas. Wisdom always leads us to life, abundant and eternal. Wisdom, my friend, is knocking. Take time this week to open the door. Invite Her in for a cup of tea. BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK.