Advent is Here

Generally the liturgical calendar does not affect my life so much. Yet, the big season changers tend to get my attention and today we enter into the season of Advent, which is the opening of a new liturgical year. I absolutely love this time of year for a variety of reasons and Advent just adds to that experience. The quieting of longer nights and shorter days helps me to slow down as my patterns adjust to the seasonal demands that are coming forth with winter on its way. The past couple of years I have experienced a greater need for quieting in so many ways. And, I am getting better at honoring the time and space needed for that quiet. However, I am still very easily caught in the technological buzz of the cell phone, computer, TV, and video/electronic games. I sat down today to spend time with an Advent reflection and was finished in less than ten minutes. I need to remind myself that at the end of the day we do not get back time and how that is spent is either meaningful or lost. So, as I enter this new liturgical year (more exhausted from studying than last year) I will attempt to put in place ways in which I can honor this call for silence as we wait for Emanuel, God with Us. Blessings as we accept this quest together (of course you may have different intentions for this time and if you want to share I am happy to read about it)! 

Who shot J.R.?

Tonight it is difficult getting my mind around a topic for blogging. Ask me about adult development and I might have something to say, it may not be interesting but it will be something. This weekend has been killer with studies and the only news I recall is that Larry Hagman (J.R. from Dallas) died.  Maybe killer is not appropriate when remembering the character he played, when the big season closer one year was, "Who shot J.R.?" Wow, that character was a scoundrel. Suddenly I am devolving into memories and reminiscing about the early 1980s and remembering the song written about the event. There is a new series of Dallas that began this summer and I wonder if it is still running?

Thanksgiving was a great time. My mother came the night before and cooked a nice meal. That morning we had one of the sisters over for breakfast and it was just a nice day of community and family after that. I spent time thinking about Black Friday shopping and while reflecting on how easy it is to spend money. The sales are crazy big as we move into the Christmas season and I wonder how this has become another opportunity for consumerism to take hold. Last year, and the year before, I spent some time walking around with my sister at the mall in my Milwaukee neighborhood. This was an overwhelming experience for a variety of reasons and the fact that shopping is one of my least favorite activities did not help the situation. Lately I have had time to reflect on consumerism and how it impacts my life. I am so easily drawn into purchasing the unnecessary, which runs counter to so much of what I believe. Yet, there are those moments when it feels like must get my "shop-on." Part of this awareness might be coming out of the reading I am doing about radical democracy and the scourge of neoliberalism. Maybe it is not only awareness that I am experiencing, it might be that there are some shifts going on about how I view production and work. This brings me to thoughts about the Catholic Social Teachings and the right to work, which suddenly feels like I heavier topic than I am able to write about this evening.

The God Planner

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you--oracle of the Lord--plans for your welfare and not your woe, so as to give you a future of hope.

--Jeremiah 29:11

My friend Lisa enters a thirty day silent directed retreat in Rome as one of the last preparations for final vows in her community. She will be working with a spiritual director over these days, yet most importantly the time will be negotiated and worked out in a way that is really directed through her relationship with God. The days may get long and as they do,  my hope is that she is able to trust in the calendar she is co-creating with God while steeped in prayer. I recall the wind-up toy she gave me for retreat. Now I regret not saving it and returning it to her for entertainment during this sacred time. I did make her a playlist of special end-of-formation songs that may help...still not the same as something being wound-up and then hopping across a table. As she reflects on her future of hope and what it brings to the world I dedicate the song Mercy by the Dave Matthews Band to accompany her during this special time. Hope is something that can be realized.   Let it be abundant in Lisa's life and drawn-out by all those she comes in contact with.

An Execution

As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder.
       –Coretta Scott King

Last week I heard that the violence in our world is lower ever before in recorded human history. This seems like a reasonable claim, knowing that things seem so bad because we are so tuned in to instant media in our growing global consciousness. A few days after hearing that violence is down i was on facebook and learned of a coming execution for a man I never met. Whenever there is an execution in the U.S. we burn a candle and display the name of the person who will die that day. Tuesday the person being executed is related to a woman I knew from St. Michael, AZ and she is going to be with him when he dies to be a witness of love. The past couple of days my mind keeps returning to the reality of government sanctioned execution and its brutality. I also reflect on the lives of innocent people lost in heinous crimes, in this case the woman  Winda Snipes. The life of the human person is precious and we suffer all of the loss together if we see how connected we are in this human family. And, I recognize that I am not a mother, sister or friend to someone whose life was  robbed from them through a violent crime. Coretta Scott King's quote helps me see the futility of exchanging one life for another and Tuesday my prayers will join with both families and Bret Hatman as he faces the reality of his own death.

Who's Driving?

This has been a difficult week for people affected by Hurricane Sandy and my prayers go out to all who are now dealing with the aftermath. I am not aware of too many personal stories, yet know the loss  is devastating.

Milwaukee's Third Ward (from a different day in traffic)

The other day I was driving to Milwaukee during rush hour and found myself cursing out other drivers as we shared the highway. My guess is I do this often and usually do not notice my frustration being put out onto other people. Who are in the same situation, attempting to get to a destination safely, and likely just as, if not more, frustrated as me. So, as the days have passed I am realizing more the need to do breathing exercises in the car rather than allow my angst to spill onto the lives of people I do not even know. Not sure why I am writing about this when there are so many other things going on, yet it is pertinent to the spiritual life it seems. One of the questions that occurred to me was, "Would I react related in the same manner if I knew the other people driving?" Another was, "Would I respond differently whether I liked them or not?" And, finally (unfortunately not for the first time) I realized that it matters not whether I know the other people in there cars driving, or if I like them. We all are attempting to complete a task as efficiently as we can. This does not mean that we all have the same driving skills, nor do we have the same understanding of efficiency (after all some might be going slower to save gas, while others speed up to save time). My role is to hold the diversity of the road in a thoughtful space and attempt to respond through a stance of compassion. My guess is that recognizing this offers another challenge in how to live a life of love. My next guess is that it is not so easy and it seems I have stumbled upon these insights before. Maybe someday it will stick.

Geez, I was going to write about Dietrich Bonhoeffer this week, I guess the greater inspiration was in the dailiness of life and how to manage conflict. I was going to focus on the social gospel, and in some ways this does fit...just not the avenue I intended to take. Maybe next week Bonhoeffer will arise.

Leave Your Sleep

Okay, I am not even going to hold back on an experience I had last night. I met one of my inspirational people and we chatted, then she gave me a hug. So, this is the ultimate in white and nerdy...I know, yet I am still elated from the experience. Natalie Merchant was playing with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and I have been debating seeing her since last spring. When I moved to Fond du Lac I invited Deborah, the sister I live with, to join me for the concert. Well, last night we went and afterward we walked to where the car was parked and went in through the hotel connected to the parking ramp. Well, two women who were former Sisters of St. Agnes were there in the lobby and Deborah was chatting-it-up with them while I waited. Then, to my amazement I saw her band members. Well, I did not even know Deborah and the other two were there any longer as I pondered what to do. Woohoo...then, lo and behold in walks Natalie Merchant. So, I left the three of them (it was like the disappeared) and walked over to her and thanked her for all she does for women and blahblah. Deborah came over and we talked for a bit. I shared with Deborah during intermission that Ophelia was the song that got me through novitiate, along with some other favorites. And, then shared the story with Natalie or Ms. Merchant...not sure how to call her in a blog....you know who I mean. Then she said, "So, you are not cloistered?" We then talked a bit and as we were saying good-by she hugged me and Deborah. I do not know if this story is blog-worthy, yet it was so great to actually meet Natalie Merchant, a woman artist who lives her passion through music. Heroine's inspire for a variety of reasons and this woman's grasp of life provides strength and courage through her poetry and verse. It was a good time and now, sitting back in my little world I am forced to reflect on whether I use my talents and gifts to do the same? Something to think about. I

I debated sharing this story because in one way this experience seemed very adolescent. However, after thinking about it I realized that this is also an opportunity to promote her collection of songs created through poetry in an attempt to promote literacy. Have a great week.

Live Simply, So That Others May Simply Live (Gandhi)

“It is impossible to detach from the love of material things unless it is replaced by love for things unseen.”   --Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila's feast day was celebrated last week and the above quote reflects some of the things I have been pondering of late. This morning I was reading a chapter from Susan Murphy's Upside Down Zen where she states, "Recently I learned that the ecological footprint of how we live here in Australia is such that for every person on Earth to live as we do, seven more Earth's are needed. It is of little consolation to learn that the way of life in the United States requires eleven more Earths" (p. 85). It is necessary to recognize the role I play in living a consumeristic lifestyle. This is not easy to do, and since taking the vow of poverty in some ways it has become more difficult for me. I have commitments in Milwaukee and lately have been making 1-3 trips a week in that direction. One of the things I am attempting to do is stay overnight with a friend when possible to save on travel and gas. Gas is one of the areas where I may be able to cutback and attempt to lessen my footprint. Now I have to figure out how to be wiser about travel. It was so convenient the two years I lived across from work and near where I shopped and spent most of my time. 

A couple of years ago I began using a glass drinking bottle rather than plastics and then I broke it last week. The time in between then and getting a new one I purchased water at least 5-6 times, plus had to use plastic cups with water at some establishments. Living with water as a commodity is not an easy task and my hope is to find a way in which I do not have to pay for it ever. So far this has not been a success. 

I think this week may offer a good time to take an inventory of how I am using the resources given to me. Do I have a love for the unseen? Is this greater than my operating out of the dullness of convenience and my desire for more? There are areas in my life where a good cutback can take place. Using my own bottle and less gas offer a some ways that I am awakening to my consumeristic ways, and this journey at times feels like a purification. Yet, there is much to do yet as I look at what it means to live simply and attempt to lessen my ecological footprint.