Tonglen reverses the usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In the process, we become liberated from very ancient patterns of selfishness. We begin to feel love for both ourselves and others; we begin to take care of ourselves and others. Tonglen awakens our compassion and introduces us to a far bigger view of reality. . . .
Tonglen can be done for those who are ill, those who are dying or have died, those who are in pain of any kind. It can be done as a formal meditation practice or right on the spot at any time. We are out walking and we someone in pain — right on the spot we can begin to breathe in that person's pain and send out relief. Or we are just as likely to see someone in pain and look away. The pain brings up our fear or anger; it brings up our resistance and confusion. So on the spot we can do tonglen for all the people just like ourselves, all those who wish to be compassionate but instead are afraid — who wish to be brave but instead are cowardly. Rather than beating ourselves up, we can use our personal stuckness as a stepping stone to understanding what people are up against all over the world. Breathe in for all of us and breathe out for all of us. Use what seems like poison as medicine. We can use our personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings.
— from When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön (c) 2002. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., www.shambhala.com
To Practice This Today: Try doing tonglen "on the spot" — either upon seeing someone or something in pain, or for yourself and others who are experiencing resistance or confusion about how to be compassionate.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tonglen Meditation
Practice Tonglen Meditation
Tonglen is a practice of creating space, ventilating the atmosphere of our lives so that people can breathe freely and relax. Whenever we encounter suffering in any form, the tonglen instruction is to breathe it in with the wish that everyone could be free of pain. Whenever we encounter happiness in any form, the instruction is to breathe it out, send it out, with the wish that everyone could feel joy. It's a practice that allows people to feel less burdened and less cramped, a practice that shows us how to love without conditions. . . . .
When we protect ourselves so we won't feel pain, that protection becomes like armor that imprisons the softness of the heart. . . . When we breathe in pain, somehow it penetrates that armor. The way we guard ourselves is getting softened up. This heavy, rusty, creaking armor begins to seem not so monolithic after all. With the in-breath the armor begins to fall apart, and we find we can breathe deeply and relax. A kindness and a tenderness begin to emerge. We don't have to tense up as if our whole life were being spent in the dentist's chair.
When we breathe out relief and spaciousness, we are also encouraging the armor to dissolve. The out-breath is a metaphor for opening our whole being. When something is precious, instead of holding it tightly, we can open our hands and share it. We can give it all away. We can share the wealth of this unfathomable human experience.
— from When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön (c) 2002. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., www.shambhala.com
To Practice This Today: Tonglen meditation practice means "taking in and sending out." It is one of Pema Chödrön 's key practices, along with loving-kindness meditation and lojong slogan work. This description of the practice is adapted from her longer explanation in Start Where You Are.
In the first stage of the practice, you rest for a few seconds in a state of openness or stillness. This is called "flashing absolute bodhichitta," the spaciousness and clarity of the awakened heart.
In the second stage, you work with texture through breath awareness, visualizing that you are breathing in dark, heavy, and hot (claustrophobia or fixation) and breathing out white, light, and cool (spaciousness, freshness) through every pore in your body.
In the third stage, you work with a tangible and vivid instance of suffering that you are aware of. You breathe in the pain of a person, animal, or a distress you are personally feeling, and you breathe out something to relieve the pain-a good meal, kindness, confidence.
In the fourth stage, you breathe in the pain of all those suffering like the one you have just cared for — all hungry people, all hurting animals in the world, all those feeling inadequate. You breathe out whatever will lighten their load.
Pema Chödrön advises always working both with the immediate suffering of one being and with universal suffering of all. "Working with both situations together makes the practice real and heartfelt; at the same time, it provides vision and a way for you to work with everyone else in the world."
Tonglen is a practice of creating space, ventilating the atmosphere of our lives so that people can breathe freely and relax. Whenever we encounter suffering in any form, the tonglen instruction is to breathe it in with the wish that everyone could be free of pain. Whenever we encounter happiness in any form, the instruction is to breathe it out, send it out, with the wish that everyone could feel joy. It's a practice that allows people to feel less burdened and less cramped, a practice that shows us how to love without conditions. . . . .
When we protect ourselves so we won't feel pain, that protection becomes like armor that imprisons the softness of the heart. . . . When we breathe in pain, somehow it penetrates that armor. The way we guard ourselves is getting softened up. This heavy, rusty, creaking armor begins to seem not so monolithic after all. With the in-breath the armor begins to fall apart, and we find we can breathe deeply and relax. A kindness and a tenderness begin to emerge. We don't have to tense up as if our whole life were being spent in the dentist's chair.
When we breathe out relief and spaciousness, we are also encouraging the armor to dissolve. The out-breath is a metaphor for opening our whole being. When something is precious, instead of holding it tightly, we can open our hands and share it. We can give it all away. We can share the wealth of this unfathomable human experience.
— from When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön (c) 2002. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., www.shambhala.com
To Practice This Today: Tonglen meditation practice means "taking in and sending out." It is one of Pema Chödrön 's key practices, along with loving-kindness meditation and lojong slogan work. This description of the practice is adapted from her longer explanation in Start Where You Are.
In the first stage of the practice, you rest for a few seconds in a state of openness or stillness. This is called "flashing absolute bodhichitta," the spaciousness and clarity of the awakened heart.
In the second stage, you work with texture through breath awareness, visualizing that you are breathing in dark, heavy, and hot (claustrophobia or fixation) and breathing out white, light, and cool (spaciousness, freshness) through every pore in your body.
In the third stage, you work with a tangible and vivid instance of suffering that you are aware of. You breathe in the pain of a person, animal, or a distress you are personally feeling, and you breathe out something to relieve the pain-a good meal, kindness, confidence.
In the fourth stage, you breathe in the pain of all those suffering like the one you have just cared for — all hungry people, all hurting animals in the world, all those feeling inadequate. You breathe out whatever will lighten their load.
Pema Chödrön advises always working both with the immediate suffering of one being and with universal suffering of all. "Working with both situations together makes the practice real and heartfelt; at the same time, it provides vision and a way for you to work with everyone else in the world."
Monday, May 28, 2007
WEEK 8
God's Love for us -- Forgiving Mercy
This week we will walk around in God's love for us. We want to taste - to fully enjoy - the forgiveness that is God's gift to us.
Though we have been trying to end each reflection on sinfulness with the reality of God's mercy, during this week we will try to let God's merciful forgiveness fill the background of our entire week.
We begin by focusing on God. The photo of a mother's embrace of her daughter will inspire us throughout this week to keep our focus on God. This woman's face will help us to begin to imagine the powerful depth of God's embrace of us.
As I wake up, put on my slippers or robe each morning, and begin to get moving, I can focus, for a moment, on God's delight in me. How God must rejoice in my coming to know how much I'm loved and forgiven! As I go through each day, I can recall various images that help my spirit soar with accepting intimacy of forgiving love's embrace.
I can imagine the joy I have experienced when a loved one's biopsy came back negative, or when friends found the child they were waiting to adopt, or when someone I care deeply about receives my love and enjoys it. How much more God rejoices in us this week!
We resist the temptation to figure out how God could forgive our sins, our patterns - all we have done and all we have failed to do. The answer to that question is wrapped up in the mystery of Love - Love without condition or limit. We might imagine forgiving a spouse or child or someone we love, simply because our love is so much greater and stronger than what wrong was done. And we ask ourselves, how much greater God's love for me must be, to forgive me so freely, so completely!
There is a phrase we use to describe something so wonderful. We say "it's incredible; I can hardly believe it!" This week we enter into our desire to not only believe God's forgiving mercy to me, but to experience it, accept it, and celebrate it. How much that must be God's own desire for each of us this week!
The helps to the right are, as always, very much a part of the week's retreat experience. Consider sharing the graces of this week. We will never know how a gift given to us might truly help another.
Friday, May 25, 2007
IGNATIUS AND ART
Ignatius designed the sequence of the exercises based on his own prayer experience. What happens within the rhythm of the four phases of the exercises is the awareness of interior feelings that suggest movements either towards or away from God:
He began to realize the difference between consoling feelings such as joy and peace, shame for his sins and the grace of sorrow and anguish at the sufferings of Christ and feelings of desolation such as complacency and despair. Consolation and desolation as used by Ignatius come to be two technical terms, which recur constantly in the texts of the Exercises... (P.Sheldrake, The Way of St. Ignatius Loyola, 1991, p.18)
These are some questions to consider when discerning spirits. It is recommended to consult a spiritual director to help you see God's role in your life.
What is the state of your Christian life?
How oriented to God are you?
What are you grateful for?
Ignatius used some images to determine the movement of spirits. A sponge represented the good spirit that gently absorbs the grace to pay attention to what is true, good and beautiful is called consolation.
Do you notice the signs of the Holy Spirit; i.e. "love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."(Gal 5:22-23)
Does guilt cause you to pray more and seek counsel?
The evil spirit causes disturbing thoughts like water hitting a rock, scattering in all directions, that distracts good intentions for self and others is called desolation.
When there are feelings of apathy and neglect in prayer.
Times that you note more anxiety, fear or temptation in your spiritual life.
Avoid making major life decisions in these times. Rather look back to when consolation seemed to become disturbed.
The paintings and poetry on this site are a visual journal of the four phases which comprise this prayer manual, the Spiritual Exercises, composed by St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits. Ignatius gave to the Church a method of prayer that he found instrumental in his own faith journey. The various exercises that constitute the book lead a retreatant to closer contact with God.
In many ways, Ignatius helps retreatants paint a picture with the mind and senses. The aim of his manual was to inspire someone, so that they could enflesh the Gospel of Jesus Christ and live their lives for God and others. This methodology heightened one's awareness of weaknesses and strengths in order to know how best to serve others. The object is to undergo conversion in order to be free for God's sake.
What follows is a general overview of the exercises as they seek to accomplish this. The Spiritual Exercises have been presented in different formats, which include 30 days in a secluded setting, or for periods extending over 30 weeks. The way to conduct the retreat depends on the retreatant and the best way to adapt the Exercises to their schedule.
For each prayer period of the retreat Ignatius would suggest at the beginning that people dispose themselves to God's revelation through a moment of quiet reverence. The next step is to name the desire that they wish to receive in prayer, followed by an exercise of the imagination called the "Composition of Place." As Hugo Rahner describes this exercise,
This Composition of Place ... uses pictures and images to present what is otherwise beyond all conceiving; it prepares the soul for the Application of the Senses ... and paves the way for the images, symbols and dispositions whereby the senses of the soul will be enabled to touch and savor spiritual truths. (Ignatius the Theologian; NY1968, p.189)
These directions do not guarantee divine favor. One is just becoming receptive to what God wants to reveal. The retreatant imagines interacting with the characters of the story or even becoming one of them and can thus enter into a scriptural scene, using all of the senses. This, in turn, helps one look at Jesus in scenes from the retreatant's own life.
Composition of Place: An Example
For example, let us look at a selection from the second phase of the Spiritual Exercises, called "The Blind Beggar." (Fig.15) As I prayed with Mk 10:46-52, which is the story of Bartimaeus, a blind man, I began to imagine the landscape of the setting. It was dry, hot and dusty as I found myself being Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside. I can smell the animals as they pass by and hear people's voices in the background. Then I realize from the conversation that Jesus is near, so I cry out to him. I hear the footsteps of someone I believe to be Jesus approach me. I become filled with eager anticipation. Jesus is so close I feel his breath on my face and I hear him say, "I trust you. If there is anything you want to tell me I will listen to you."
At this point in my life I was wondering whether to consider other job opportunities. As I revealed my fears and hopes in prayer, I felt more freedom to continue looking for confirmation to remain in my present situation. I was asking to see how I could grow spiritually in order to help others by encountering Jesus in a deeper way. This was one example of Jesus restoring my sight in order to follow him.
The revelation of God through the stories of Jesus is made present through imaginative participation. The mind engages the heart. As Hugo Rahner comments, "... the aim of this mode of prayer is to make the events of salvation 'present' in the mind, and thus to attain that direct experience of love."(ibid.p.194) One notices this love through one's desires.
Desires in Prayer
Prayer in this context is the ability to notice feelings and desires inspired by an encounter with Jesus. Imagining, as Ignatius intended does not aim to seek truth based on concrete facts. Rather, contemplation helps to discover the truth of Jesus' heart in order to know how to live out the goodness that God desires for each person:
Ignatius expects that God will elicit the desires that are most for our good if we open ourselves and our hearts to God's tutelage and if we ask God to give us these desires.... If we have this desire (to be with Jesus), God must want us to have it, and for our good. (Barry, Finding God in All Things, 1991p.79)
We cannot force these desires. We are invited to notice desires to be with another by the very fact that we are social beings. Jesus is this other being to whom we become attracted when we desire to know God more. As Ignatius' experience indicated, the stories of Jesus and real persons who shared similar values sparked this curiosity about the spiritual life. Through greater intimacy with Jesus, Ignatius was led to serve him.
Application of the Senses
To deepen such encounters, Ignatius recommends 'savoring' the experience. This means to go back to those points in prayer that provoked the strongest reactions in order to experience the desire for intimacy with God more deeply. This is called the "Application of the Senses." Here, a retreatant can relish significant moments by envisioning the scene with more attention to the sensual responses felt in one's body.
The Colloquy
After each exercise, Ignatius suggests another prayer, called a "colloquy," a conversation in which the retreatant imagines that they were talking to a close friend. They address for example, a member of the Trinity, or Mary, and discuss what happened in the prayer period. This mode of conversation continues when the retreatant meets with a spiritual director.
The director can be helpful in pointing out particular experiences from where the Holy Spirit seems to be more active. The images provoke an affective response that can lead to greater generosity and availability for revelation of God's glory in ministry, for "... genuine meditation is only possible when a person is also prepared to put what he has contemplated into action."(Rahner 1968,p.182) The imagination can serve the heart.
Contemplation Leads to Action
The exercises progress to the point of exacting a total commitment to participate in the life of Jesus even unto his death. Contemplating such scenes as Jesus' passion invite believers to identify their own suffering lives with the suffering Body of Christ. In particular, death makes one focus on what is most meaningful in human existence. It spares no one. Confronting mortality and finitude can lead to enhancing each moment of life. Inspired by meeting God in these events moves one to return to daily life with enthusiasm and charity. These contemplative exercises are opportunities to be grateful for the gift of life. This felt response is the power to desire to help others.
Ignatius proposed a way to encounter God through the imagination. Such exercises provoke feelings of gratitude, which prompt one's desires to follow Jesus. Contemplating such scenes evokes courage and humility, which are virtues Jesus exhibited in his obedience to do God's will. These are values that characterize those who are called to proclaim God's intention for love and beauty to flourish in the world. The language of images inspires this and has been a tradition in the Church even before the time of Ignatius. This method has continued since then through those companions of Jesus, better known as Jesuits who followed Ignatius.
He began to realize the difference between consoling feelings such as joy and peace, shame for his sins and the grace of sorrow and anguish at the sufferings of Christ and feelings of desolation such as complacency and despair. Consolation and desolation as used by Ignatius come to be two technical terms, which recur constantly in the texts of the Exercises... (P.Sheldrake, The Way of St. Ignatius Loyola, 1991, p.18)
These are some questions to consider when discerning spirits. It is recommended to consult a spiritual director to help you see God's role in your life.
What is the state of your Christian life?
How oriented to God are you?
What are you grateful for?
Ignatius used some images to determine the movement of spirits. A sponge represented the good spirit that gently absorbs the grace to pay attention to what is true, good and beautiful is called consolation.
Do you notice the signs of the Holy Spirit; i.e. "love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."(Gal 5:22-23)
Does guilt cause you to pray more and seek counsel?
The evil spirit causes disturbing thoughts like water hitting a rock, scattering in all directions, that distracts good intentions for self and others is called desolation.
When there are feelings of apathy and neglect in prayer.
Times that you note more anxiety, fear or temptation in your spiritual life.
Avoid making major life decisions in these times. Rather look back to when consolation seemed to become disturbed.
The paintings and poetry on this site are a visual journal of the four phases which comprise this prayer manual, the Spiritual Exercises, composed by St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits. Ignatius gave to the Church a method of prayer that he found instrumental in his own faith journey. The various exercises that constitute the book lead a retreatant to closer contact with God.
In many ways, Ignatius helps retreatants paint a picture with the mind and senses. The aim of his manual was to inspire someone, so that they could enflesh the Gospel of Jesus Christ and live their lives for God and others. This methodology heightened one's awareness of weaknesses and strengths in order to know how best to serve others. The object is to undergo conversion in order to be free for God's sake.
What follows is a general overview of the exercises as they seek to accomplish this. The Spiritual Exercises have been presented in different formats, which include 30 days in a secluded setting, or for periods extending over 30 weeks. The way to conduct the retreat depends on the retreatant and the best way to adapt the Exercises to their schedule.
For each prayer period of the retreat Ignatius would suggest at the beginning that people dispose themselves to God's revelation through a moment of quiet reverence. The next step is to name the desire that they wish to receive in prayer, followed by an exercise of the imagination called the "Composition of Place." As Hugo Rahner describes this exercise,
This Composition of Place ... uses pictures and images to present what is otherwise beyond all conceiving; it prepares the soul for the Application of the Senses ... and paves the way for the images, symbols and dispositions whereby the senses of the soul will be enabled to touch and savor spiritual truths. (Ignatius the Theologian; NY1968, p.189)
These directions do not guarantee divine favor. One is just becoming receptive to what God wants to reveal. The retreatant imagines interacting with the characters of the story or even becoming one of them and can thus enter into a scriptural scene, using all of the senses. This, in turn, helps one look at Jesus in scenes from the retreatant's own life.
Composition of Place: An Example
For example, let us look at a selection from the second phase of the Spiritual Exercises, called "The Blind Beggar." (Fig.15) As I prayed with Mk 10:46-52, which is the story of Bartimaeus, a blind man, I began to imagine the landscape of the setting. It was dry, hot and dusty as I found myself being Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside. I can smell the animals as they pass by and hear people's voices in the background. Then I realize from the conversation that Jesus is near, so I cry out to him. I hear the footsteps of someone I believe to be Jesus approach me. I become filled with eager anticipation. Jesus is so close I feel his breath on my face and I hear him say, "I trust you. If there is anything you want to tell me I will listen to you."
At this point in my life I was wondering whether to consider other job opportunities. As I revealed my fears and hopes in prayer, I felt more freedom to continue looking for confirmation to remain in my present situation. I was asking to see how I could grow spiritually in order to help others by encountering Jesus in a deeper way. This was one example of Jesus restoring my sight in order to follow him.
The revelation of God through the stories of Jesus is made present through imaginative participation. The mind engages the heart. As Hugo Rahner comments, "... the aim of this mode of prayer is to make the events of salvation 'present' in the mind, and thus to attain that direct experience of love."(ibid.p.194) One notices this love through one's desires.
Desires in Prayer
Prayer in this context is the ability to notice feelings and desires inspired by an encounter with Jesus. Imagining, as Ignatius intended does not aim to seek truth based on concrete facts. Rather, contemplation helps to discover the truth of Jesus' heart in order to know how to live out the goodness that God desires for each person:
Ignatius expects that God will elicit the desires that are most for our good if we open ourselves and our hearts to God's tutelage and if we ask God to give us these desires.... If we have this desire (to be with Jesus), God must want us to have it, and for our good. (Barry, Finding God in All Things, 1991p.79)
We cannot force these desires. We are invited to notice desires to be with another by the very fact that we are social beings. Jesus is this other being to whom we become attracted when we desire to know God more. As Ignatius' experience indicated, the stories of Jesus and real persons who shared similar values sparked this curiosity about the spiritual life. Through greater intimacy with Jesus, Ignatius was led to serve him.
Application of the Senses
To deepen such encounters, Ignatius recommends 'savoring' the experience. This means to go back to those points in prayer that provoked the strongest reactions in order to experience the desire for intimacy with God more deeply. This is called the "Application of the Senses." Here, a retreatant can relish significant moments by envisioning the scene with more attention to the sensual responses felt in one's body.
The Colloquy
After each exercise, Ignatius suggests another prayer, called a "colloquy," a conversation in which the retreatant imagines that they were talking to a close friend. They address for example, a member of the Trinity, or Mary, and discuss what happened in the prayer period. This mode of conversation continues when the retreatant meets with a spiritual director.
The director can be helpful in pointing out particular experiences from where the Holy Spirit seems to be more active. The images provoke an affective response that can lead to greater generosity and availability for revelation of God's glory in ministry, for "... genuine meditation is only possible when a person is also prepared to put what he has contemplated into action."(Rahner 1968,p.182) The imagination can serve the heart.
Contemplation Leads to Action
The exercises progress to the point of exacting a total commitment to participate in the life of Jesus even unto his death. Contemplating such scenes as Jesus' passion invite believers to identify their own suffering lives with the suffering Body of Christ. In particular, death makes one focus on what is most meaningful in human existence. It spares no one. Confronting mortality and finitude can lead to enhancing each moment of life. Inspired by meeting God in these events moves one to return to daily life with enthusiasm and charity. These contemplative exercises are opportunities to be grateful for the gift of life. This felt response is the power to desire to help others.
Ignatius proposed a way to encounter God through the imagination. Such exercises provoke feelings of gratitude, which prompt one's desires to follow Jesus. Contemplating such scenes evokes courage and humility, which are virtues Jesus exhibited in his obedience to do God's will. These are values that characterize those who are called to proclaim God's intention for love and beauty to flourish in the world. The language of images inspires this and has been a tradition in the Church even before the time of Ignatius. This method has continued since then through those companions of Jesus, better known as Jesuits who followed Ignatius.
ART RETREAT FIRST PHASE
1. QUIET: Stop for a moment, breathe and simply relax. Perhaps recite a formal prayer.
2. INTENTION: What am I grateful for?
What do I want right now?
3. ATTENTION: Look over the entire image. Is there a figure, shape, color, texture or word that calls your attention?
4. NOTICE: What feelings, thoughts, or desires do you notice?
What could they reveal about God and your life?
5. RESPOND: Speak to God as you would one friend to another.
6. CLOSE: Offer a prayer or gesture as a way to end the experience.
TITLES FOR ARTWORK
1. THE WORD, THE WORLD AND GETHSEMANE
2. A TIME AWAY
3. SKY & EARTH/OWL; BUFFALO SKULL AND THE BREATH OF LIFE
4. ADULT HOLDING CHILD
5. PARTIAL PORTRAIT OF NATIVE AMERICAN WITH EAGLE FEATHER
6. THE CROSS, THE WORLD AND FIRE
7. SORROWFUL WOMAN, FIGURES IN FLAMES AND THE LIGHT OF TRUTH
LINK FOR FURTHER ONLINE INFORMATION FOR FIRST PHASE
2. INTENTION: What am I grateful for?
What do I want right now?
3. ATTENTION: Look over the entire image. Is there a figure, shape, color, texture or word that calls your attention?
4. NOTICE: What feelings, thoughts, or desires do you notice?
What could they reveal about God and your life?
5. RESPOND: Speak to God as you would one friend to another.
6. CLOSE: Offer a prayer or gesture as a way to end the experience.
TITLES FOR ARTWORK
1. THE WORD, THE WORLD AND GETHSEMANE
2. A TIME AWAY
3. SKY & EARTH/OWL; BUFFALO SKULL AND THE BREATH OF LIFE
4. ADULT HOLDING CHILD
5. PARTIAL PORTRAIT OF NATIVE AMERICAN WITH EAGLE FEATHER
6. THE CROSS, THE WORLD AND FIRE
7. SORROWFUL WOMAN, FIGURES IN FLAMES AND THE LIGHT OF TRUTH
LINK FOR FURTHER ONLINE INFORMATION FOR FIRST PHASE
Monday, May 21, 2007
Spiritual space can enrich home, too
By Editorial Desk | Published 10/26/2005 | Spiritual and Religious | Rating:
Spiritual space can enrich home, too
We arrange our homes to reflect our personalities and interests. Literature lovers fill their rooms with books and comfy reading chairs. An enthusiastic cook may spend thousands turning a dull kitchen into a glittering showpiece.
Yet aside from occasional holiday decorations, the spiritual side of life rarely plays a starring role in the home.
That might be changing. Some homeowners are discovering that creation of meditation rooms, home altars and prayer gardens can be a rewarding and enriching use of living space.
"The room is great because now, even if I just have 15 minutes, I can go lie on my yoga mat or sit in front of the altar; I don�t have to spend my time taking things out and setting them up," says Phil Chanin. "I like having the privacy, too."
Even without the resources to carve out completely new space, a little creativity can bring dramatic results.
The Rev. Battle Beasley, rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Antioch, Tenn., places Eastern Orthodox icons throughout his home and keeps a small altar in his home office.
Invoking a spiritual atmosphere at home encourages prayer and silence, something many Americans unconsciously crave, Beasley says.
"There is a deep longing to connect with whatever is the meaning and purpose of life," Beasley says. "Most churches don�t offer the opportunity for deep silence. Yet listening to God is the highest form of prayer."
While each sacred space is highly personal, Barbara Blumin, chairman of the interior design department at O�More College of Design, offers guidelines for creating an atmosphere conducive to reflection.
"We�re dealing here, in a sense, with holistic design, involving mind, body and spirit and finding your sense of place," Blumin says. "You might want to fulfill those needs by considering the use of color, special materials, sounds and perhaps views to the outside".
"If you want a place that�s serene and tranquil, choose a place with cool colors for example, the blues and greens that represent water. You also might want sound-absorbing materials, such as carpeting, draperies and upholstered furniture, as opposed to wooden furniture and tile floors that bounce sound around a room."
Other suggestions: Incorporate meaningful objects into the space, including religious or spiritual symbols, pictures and icons. Set lighting fixtures on a dimmer to enhance the mood, or opt for the soft glow of a candle or fireplace. Consider adding soft sounds, such as recorded music or chants and a small gurgling fountain. Enhance the smell of the room with incense or essential oils.
Although not so common in the United States, sacred spaces have appeared in homes throughout many cultures and periods of history, says Becky Waldrop, director of programs for Scarritt-Bennett Center, a Nashville spiritual retreat.
"There has always been a place set aside for reverence in Buddhist homes,� she says. �For centuries, Christians had had icons and home altars. It�s all intermixing now."
Gardens are also places that can be conducive to reflection.
Sacred spaces in homes and gardens acknowledge the fact that churches, synagogues and temples aren�t the only spots where spiritual communication can occur, Waldrop.
"Creating sacred space in the everyday world is part of honoring the fact that the spiritual is part of life and that all our life is sacred."
Sunday, May 20, 2007
WEEK 7
"Finally, I turn to the God who made me
and beg that I might embrace the freedom being offered me. "
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The Disorder of Sin -- Personal Patterns
Last week we reviewed the record of our sins, in the light of God's love for us. This week we give ourselves the time to probe the patterns of our sinfulness, that we might even more deeply understand God's love and desires for us.
We've all seen those children's puzzles where we began with a page full of dots. As we draw lines to connect the dots, an image appears, which we couldn't see before. That's what this week is about.
We want to connect the dots and see the patterns emerge, so as to understand just how sin happens in us. What motivations come into play? What forces are in tension in my heart? Can I identify underlying inclinations that habitually and instinctively work against God's desires in me? Can I put names on my most basic unfreedoms? My most basic fears?
Sin, and the unfreedom that supports it, are complex realities. Nobody really gets up in the morning and says, "I think I'm going to be unloving today. I've decided to be selfish, in fact, just plain absorbed in myself today. Yes, whenever given the choice, I come first. I'm going to give in to lust and greed today, and I'm going to block out the cry of the poor; I just won't pay attention to my role in the rest of the world." We all know it is much more subtle than that. We always sin by choosing something we think is good, we think is right for us, we think we need. Our desire here is to uncover the way we approach sin.
As always, the helps to the right will support us this week to get started to guide our way, to help us find words to pray with, as well as reading and prayers for our reflection. The photo will help us visualize ourselves in prayer, asking for the re-formation of our desires.
Throughout this week, let's increase the intensity of our desire for God's help. Just as when I am approaching a critical surgery, I will ask everyone I know to pray for me, I might turn to loved ones who have died, to ask them to intercede with the Lord for me, that I might be given an instinctive insight into my sinfulness. I can feel them eager for my freedom. I might spend time with Mary, the mother of our Lord, and ask her to intercede on my behalf. I can surely feel that she is there for me. Then, I can turn to Jesus directly, pouring out my gratitude for the graces already received in this retreat and begging him to ask God, the Father and our Creator, to give me the grace to see the sinful patterns in my life. Finally, I turn to the God who made me and beg that I might embrace the freedom being offered me.
The more deeply we comprehend the mystery of our sin, the more intensely we will feel that the Mercy and Love of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is for me.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
WEEK 6
Our Sinfulness and Our Goodness
I remember being told, as a grade-schooler, that our sins contributed directly to the anguish of Jesus on the Cross.
So-called wiser minds came along and told me otherwise. Surely, such an attitude did little credit to God and just made us feel like sludge.
Well, in a way, both judgments are correct. We are not sludge. And God is not a tyrant.
No, we are priceless. And God is a "tremendous lover."
And yet, there is a way in which our own sinful infidelities add to the anguished suffering of Christ who is in and beyond all time. We do this, I believe, by denying the two great arms of the crucifixion.
When you think of the meaning of God's love for us in Jesus Christ, there come to mind two radical rejections of that love which must indeed cause suffering to the crucified Christ.
You see, God so loved us, even in our sinful poverty, as to become one with our own sinful condition, to die with us, like us and for us. That's how valuable we humans are. That's how needy we are.
And the two screaming rejections of such love are these:
"No, I am not worth your death. I was not worth your life and love. I am not worth your efforts, your forgiveness, your suffering, your passion." This is the response we give when we are so overcome by our own sin that we think it is greater than God's creation, more lasting than God's love, and more compelling than God's beauty.
The second response is even more tragic:
"Thanks, but no thanks. You see, I did not need your love. I do not need your suffering and your bleeding heart. I do not want your forgiveness and your redeeming labors. For I am a 'self-made' person. I did it on my own. I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps. The others may need your death, your love, but not me."
And so the two arms of the cross are cut off by the hardened human attitudes that we were either not worth Christ's life, death, and resurrection, or that we really had no need of him.
The Friday of Christ's death was not "Guilty Friday" or "Gruesome Friday." It was a Friday of Goodness: the Goodness of God and the goodness of us all. We can only add to the suffering of God by denying our sinfulness as well as our goodness. There is no one of us so virtuous who does not need--desperately--God's loving forgiveness.
And there is no one among us so sinful who is not worth--endlessly--such a lavish gift.
If we know these truths, we will never die.
And we need never fear.
Kavanaugh, John F. Faces of Poverty (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991) p.144-145.
I remember being told, as a grade-schooler, that our sins contributed directly to the anguish of Jesus on the Cross.
So-called wiser minds came along and told me otherwise. Surely, such an attitude did little credit to God and just made us feel like sludge.
Well, in a way, both judgments are correct. We are not sludge. And God is not a tyrant.
No, we are priceless. And God is a "tremendous lover."
And yet, there is a way in which our own sinful infidelities add to the anguished suffering of Christ who is in and beyond all time. We do this, I believe, by denying the two great arms of the crucifixion.
When you think of the meaning of God's love for us in Jesus Christ, there come to mind two radical rejections of that love which must indeed cause suffering to the crucified Christ.
You see, God so loved us, even in our sinful poverty, as to become one with our own sinful condition, to die with us, like us and for us. That's how valuable we humans are. That's how needy we are.
And the two screaming rejections of such love are these:
"No, I am not worth your death. I was not worth your life and love. I am not worth your efforts, your forgiveness, your suffering, your passion." This is the response we give when we are so overcome by our own sin that we think it is greater than God's creation, more lasting than God's love, and more compelling than God's beauty.
The second response is even more tragic:
"Thanks, but no thanks. You see, I did not need your love. I do not need your suffering and your bleeding heart. I do not want your forgiveness and your redeeming labors. For I am a 'self-made' person. I did it on my own. I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps. The others may need your death, your love, but not me."
And so the two arms of the cross are cut off by the hardened human attitudes that we were either not worth Christ's life, death, and resurrection, or that we really had no need of him.
The Friday of Christ's death was not "Guilty Friday" or "Gruesome Friday." It was a Friday of Goodness: the Goodness of God and the goodness of us all. We can only add to the suffering of God by denying our sinfulness as well as our goodness. There is no one of us so virtuous who does not need--desperately--God's loving forgiveness.
And there is no one among us so sinful who is not worth--endlessly--such a lavish gift.
If we know these truths, we will never die.
And we need never fear.
Kavanaugh, John F. Faces of Poverty (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991) p.144-145.
Monday, May 7, 2007
WEEK 5
The Disorder of Sin -- Appalling Rebellion
We have spent several weeks enjoying what it is to live in harmony with our purpose and to be inspired by people who seem to get it right. We now turn to look at another picture. Fr. Doll's photo of a bombed Bosnian village can symbolize for us the revolting evil that results from the rejection of God, and God's desire for us and for humanity.
Why do we go here this week? We want to see, to taste, what sin is - an appalling rebellion against God. This is not to look at some vague sense of "social evil," without any responsible villains. Our intention is to spend this week more consciously aware of the sheer arrogance and outrageous opposition to God's grace that exists in our world. Why? We do this because we rarely look evil in the face, and we do this that we might more deeply come to know the loving mercy of our God, in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus for the sin of the world.
So, there are really two images this week:
the ones that will come to us this week that represent the sin of the world;
and the image of Jesus on the Cross, liberating us from sin and death's threat of victory over us. Let the helps to the right be of assistance for this week. The Enemy of our relationship with God does not want to be unveiled by our staring at, our becoming more wise to, just what sin is. This is not primarily about our personal sin, though we are all sinners. Our desire this week is to grow in what our culture seems to have lost - a sense of sin.
From time to time this week, we look back though history and let our imagination picture all of the violence, the inhumanity, the injustice, the abuse, the greed and lust for power - humanity in rebellion from God's desire that we praise, reverence and serve God and use everything else in creation for that end.
How much denial of God's right to praise, reverence and service can we experience this week? How much worshipping of other gods? How much violence against the dignity of human life? How much deception, or injustice, or scandal, or depravity? We want to experience the magnitude of the sin of the world, so we don't hesitate to explore its scope.
Our goal is not to become judgmental and to grow in anger at sinners. Our desire is to experience the ingratitude and prideful independence from God that sin represents. It is disorder, and we are feeling how wrong it is.
Each day this week, our consciousness of evil would be too great for us to bear, without the second image: God's loving, merciful response. The price for it all is paid for in the body and blood of Jesus, there on the Cross.
We end each day with growing gratitude for the magnitude of God's Mercy.
We have spent several weeks enjoying what it is to live in harmony with our purpose and to be inspired by people who seem to get it right. We now turn to look at another picture. Fr. Doll's photo of a bombed Bosnian village can symbolize for us the revolting evil that results from the rejection of God, and God's desire for us and for humanity.
Why do we go here this week? We want to see, to taste, what sin is - an appalling rebellion against God. This is not to look at some vague sense of "social evil," without any responsible villains. Our intention is to spend this week more consciously aware of the sheer arrogance and outrageous opposition to God's grace that exists in our world. Why? We do this because we rarely look evil in the face, and we do this that we might more deeply come to know the loving mercy of our God, in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus for the sin of the world.
So, there are really two images this week:
the ones that will come to us this week that represent the sin of the world;
and the image of Jesus on the Cross, liberating us from sin and death's threat of victory over us. Let the helps to the right be of assistance for this week. The Enemy of our relationship with God does not want to be unveiled by our staring at, our becoming more wise to, just what sin is. This is not primarily about our personal sin, though we are all sinners. Our desire this week is to grow in what our culture seems to have lost - a sense of sin.
From time to time this week, we look back though history and let our imagination picture all of the violence, the inhumanity, the injustice, the abuse, the greed and lust for power - humanity in rebellion from God's desire that we praise, reverence and serve God and use everything else in creation for that end.
How much denial of God's right to praise, reverence and service can we experience this week? How much worshipping of other gods? How much violence against the dignity of human life? How much deception, or injustice, or scandal, or depravity? We want to experience the magnitude of the sin of the world, so we don't hesitate to explore its scope.
Our goal is not to become judgmental and to grow in anger at sinners. Our desire is to experience the ingratitude and prideful independence from God that sin represents. It is disorder, and we are feeling how wrong it is.
Each day this week, our consciousness of evil would be too great for us to bear, without the second image: God's loving, merciful response. The price for it all is paid for in the body and blood of Jesus, there on the Cross.
We end each day with growing gratitude for the magnitude of God's Mercy.
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