Washing each others' feet? From six feet away?

"By washing his disciples' feet at that meal, (Jesus) revealed how to recognize a great lover. The greater the love, the greater the desire to be of service, even in the most humble of actions. Also, Jesus said, loving, humble service is the most powerful cure for the deadly virus of power and prestige."
Edward Hays, "The Lenten Labyrinth"

Interesting to think of the "deadly virus" of power and prestige in the midst of the deadly virus of Covid-19, isn't it? Fr. Ed Hays wrote the Labyrinth in 1994 and it is timeless. But, we used to think that power and prestige were worthwhile things to work toward, didn't we? I remember thinking it was important to achieve, to succeed, to have your name on the door. That is all very first-half-of-life-stuff, as Richard Rohr would point out. I sure don't ever remember receiving any advice on how to climb back down the success ladder, do you? But, here I am, desiring more to humbly serve than to achieve. To live simply. To live generously. How do we humbly serve each other in the midst of this pandemic? How do we figuratively wash each others' feet when we're supposed to stay six feet apart? I think we need to take quiet time and really listen to God. God's probably not going to shout to be heard over our fifth hour binge-watching Hulu, though. God's gentle whisper can often only be heard in the still silence. Certainly, God wants us to flatten the curve, as we hear so often. But what else can we do? I think noticing what organizations are doing real, boots-on-the-ground work in your community and supporting them, is helpful. Reaching out and checking on others who are alone in this, is another thing we can do. Sending little love notes to people we may not often correspond with is an act of love. Washing each others' feet in this crazy time is a challenge for sure! But it is what we are asked to do right now. Listening to God, in the silence of our inner rooms, is one way to get ideas of how we can help. Blessings and love on this Holy Thursday, heidi

The holiest Holy Week...

"The world is overcome not through destruction, but through reconciliation. Not ideals, nor programs, nor conscience, nor duty, nor responsibility, nor virtue, but only God's perfect love can encounter reality and overcome it."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran theologian, pastor, mystic, martyr

I have a feeling this week, more than any other Holy Week in my lifetime, we will truly walk the road to Calvary with Jesus. And we can trust that Jesus walks this week with us. We will enter into the mystery of what it means to surrender to what awaits, feeling helpless and out of control. But, all the the Holy Weeks we have experienced in the past teach us that Easter is always at the end of a hard week, right? God's perfect love will encounter this reality we are living right now and overcome it.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was speaking about a different time, a different enemy. But the message is timeless and true...only God's love can heal. And God loves the world through us; we are God's hands, feet and heart in the world. How can we love the world best right now? By staying home and staying healthy, I guess. By sharing. By praying. By not hoarding. By calling people on the phone or Zooming with them. By sending a check to the food bank. By paying the hair stylist for a haircut we won't get to have. By recognizing that we are a world community all suffering at the same time and holding our world family in love. By not blaming or condemning, but lifting up and holding lightly. This is going to be the holiest Holy Week we have ever experienced, let's enter in. Love, heidi

Harriet Tubman--mystic

"T'wasn't me, 'twas the Lord! I always told Him, 'I trust you, I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and He always did."
Harriet Tubman

I had planned on doing all the Usual Subject mystics for my Lent mini-course on the mystics, but when I went to the movie "Harriet" I realized she was a mystic. And wouldn't it be interesting to explore that a bit? Harriet Tubman had "spells" where she would catch a glimpse of the future or practical direction in her life at the moment. She had been hit in the head by a counter-weight as a thirteen year old girl, and after that, had spells or seizures. She said they served to let her hear God's voice more clearly. After traveling north to her own freedom she made around twenty more trips to the south to lead other slaves to the north via the Underground Railroad. She heard the voice of God, responded to that voice and changed the lives of so many. She realized that freedom wasn't just for her or even for a few, but for all her people. If you're looking for something worthwhile to do during this time of self-isolation, I would invite you to stream the movie "Harriet," and marvel how her mysticism changed the lives of others. What may the voice of God be saying to us today?  Can the mysticism of Harriet Tubman comfort and guide us through this time? Love, heidi

From the mystics...

"What do you need to hear from Jesus today?"
Pray-As-You-Go, 3/31/20

Way last September, which seems like a lifetime ago, I offered to do a little mini-course on the Christian mystics for Lent for our church.  A dear friend and I had done a similar thing years ago and it was interesting.  Little did I know, that in researching the mystics for this go around, I would find such comfort in what they said and cling to their words like a life preserver! The mystics were real people, living very real lives on this planet, and yet, they heard the voice of God and lived what they heard. As a result, they changed lives around them and can impact all of us who live after them. I thought I'd share some of the words of God, spoken through the Christian mystics, these next few days. Maybe what they say will give us all hope and comfort as we live the "lenty-est lent" ever!

From Hildegard von Bingen: All human beings and creatures of the cosmos are emanations of the love of God. (Let's remember that as we struggle with our fellow cosmos-dwellers!)
From Julian of Norwich: "All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." 
More tomorrow...Stay home, stay well! Love, heidi

Love School

"The truth is that we must pray for the strength to do what we are meant to do. We must pray for the courage to meet the challenges of life. We must pray for the endurance it will take to go on even when nothing changes. We must pray that the spirit of God is with us as we do what must be done, whether we succeed in the process or not."
Sr. Joan Chittister, "The Breath of the Soul" (as quoted in Give Us This Day)

I have long had a bug-a-boo about praying for specific outcomes. Maybe it was a lack of faith that made me leery of praying that "this" will happen, or "that," on Tuesday between the hours of four and six. I've never been good at it, really. I pray for people all the time, but just not that specific things will or won't happen. God only knows what would be best for that person, what outcome would be best in the long run, or in the Big Picture. What if my idea was not big enough or the outcome I desired would end up being harmful? I always like the example of Jesus' mother at the Wedding Feast at Cana.  She just identified her concern and left it at that. "They have no wine," she said. Then, presumably, she let go of the situation and let Jesus take it from there. (And we all know what HE did!) So especially now in these trying times, I like the idea of praying for strength to do what we are supposed to do. (And, God knows, I need really clear directions!) I think we all need to pray for courage and endurance and also the wisdom to learn from this valuable time. Despite the closing of all the schools, we ARE in school, folks. Think of it as being in Love School. How can we learn the lessons of love through a difficult time such as this? The Spirit of God is with us and the lessons are right in front of us. What are we learning at this Wisdom School? Blessings and love, heidi

Calm the storm!

"(Jesus) got into a boat and the disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so the boat was being swamped by waves; but Jesus was asleep. They came and woke him saying, 'Lord! Save us, we are perishing!'...
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm..."
Matthew 8:23-25, 26

I watched a nice interview with Fr. James Martin, SJ in my newsfeed this morning. He was asked (from six feet away) what scripture can help us during this time of fear. He immediately said the calming of the storm Gospel. This is certainly a wild storm, isn't it? We all feel tossed about, hanging on for dear life as we swirl and bounce along in the boat. We wonder how in the world Jesus can sleep through this storm, right? But, as Fr. Martin suggests, we can wake Jesus up and ask him to calm our inner storms and fears. This is a major storm for all, but it can also be a fierce inner storm, deep within, and fear can grip us tightly. Let's read this passage from Matthew and spend some quiet time with Jesus in our own little boats. What storms within would we ask him to calm? Can he give us ideas of who we can help or how we can calm storms for others who may be suffering even worse? I'm thinking the food banks are being taxed to the max right now...could we send them a donation? Is there someone we can check up on? Goodness knows we have time now to spend quiet time with Jesus...what do we ask him? Love, heidi