Spirituality – Educhirp

The Sacredness of Now

How much time do we spend daydreaming or reflecting on the past and contemplating the future? The time we spend on the past and the future takes away from the very thing that effects them – the Now. The past was once the Now and the future is shaped by the Now. Sure, we do have to spend time planning for the future, and constructively reflecting on the past, but we also need to try our best to make the Now matter.

The following words from Mark’s gospel show us plainly how we are to live in the Now. The Now should be infused with the love of God and neighbor and in so far as we do this well, we redeem the past and build a future without fear.

“Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

To bring this into more practical terms, I offer the following simple scenarios as little illustrations.

The morning alarm rings. Do you procrastinate in bed, not wanting to get up and wishing it were the weekend; or, do you offer thanks for the new day, rise and follow a routine that will help you fully meet the new day and all it has to offer.

You are seated comfortably with your own thoughts, when your wife, child or colleague invites you to help them with something. Do you wave them away with a dismissive “not now” or, give them your full attention, time and consideration.

You hear news of a disaster. Do you say, “poor things” and move on with the day; or, do you at least offer a prayer for the victims or try to help out in some small way.

You are on a hike. Do you walk mindlessly or do you walk with your senses fully awake, taking in the wonder of the sights, sounds and smells around you.

You are traveling on a train or plane seated next to a fellow traveller. Do you bury yourself in a book or sleep; or, do you make an attempt to communicate and at least acknowledge his or her presence.

I have, at one time or another, been personally guilty of each one of the self-indulgent sides of these scenarios. When I consider that we are are all children of God, and created in His image, I shudder at my ability to neglect and waste the God given opportunities of the Now. I know that changing my attitude and habits towards the Now opens the flow of Blessings that God wills for all of us. Treating the Now as sacred, as God intends it, is all there really is. Our knowledge of God and his Will for us increases. Our family and personal relationships become more genuine, meaningful and fulfilling. Our work, seen as Now opportunities and free from deadly procrastination, increases our learning, contributions, satisfaction and well being. Our appreciation and acknowledgment of God’s many gifts of creation unveil to us the fullness of their splendor and glory;

We are all self-indulgent, self-caring individuals and it is certainly not wrong to take time for ourselves. What we should consider is whether our self-indulgence takes up most of our Now, thus crowding out the opportunity for God and neighbor. May we, with God’s help, slowly but surely, change the quality of our Now, and enrich ourselves with fuller relationships of God and neighbor through the daily opportunities He sends us.

For Lent – A Simple Examen

Lent is always a time for personal reflection and improvement. The Jesuits have a reflective exercise known as the Examen. I use a simplified form of the Examen and offer it as something to try during this Lenten season. I make a habit of doing this reflective exercise in the quiet of each night before I go to sleep.

Step 1: Acknowledge and be thankful for the many good things in your life. After you do this for a while, you will have a key list list of important people and situations that you give thanks for each night. Next, be thankful for the particular day that you just lived. Try and specifically recall at least one thing from the day that you are thankful for.

Step 2: Deliberately go over the events, situations and interactions of the day from the time you woke up in the morning. Pay attention to any of your thoughts, words and deeds that may not have been as loving as they could have been. Reflect upon how these can be reframed differently in the future. Identify, if it presents itself, a particular behavior that you know you should cease or improve upon.

Step 3: Ask God to forgive your shortcomings of the day and pray for the grace to do better tomorrow. Offer the one behavior you identified in (2) above to God, commit to cease or improve the behavior, and pray for the grace to keep your commitment.

Step 4: If there is something heavy on your heart, offer it to him and leave it in His hands. Take some time to silently remain in His presence and just listen as you drift off to sleep.

Sometimes, the next morning you may awake with a helpful thought or a meaningful dream. At very least, I find that I often awake restful and at Peace.

Faith & Doubt

Faith by definition is the belief in what cannot be known. So yes, there have been doubts at many different times in my faith journey. I would say that anyone who has not doubted, has not deepened their faith and may have a shallow and fragile faith. In my personal experience, doubt and a questioning faith, over the years, have helped my faith grow.

There are times when different Faith traditions try to “protect against false teaching” by banning certain books or ideas. I find that difficult to understand or accept. Anyone who is a true seeker of the truth will have to face challenges and competing and contradictory ideas. God created us with the ability to reason and although I believe our reasoning is only capable of accessing a fraction of the mystery of God, it is honest and discerning reasoning working together with Faith, that leads us closer to God. When we have reached an impasse, when reason, by its very limited nature is unable to traverse, that’s when Faith comes in – “to touch the face” of what cannot be reasonably known.

I believe that religious teachings are the result of honest study by the many seekers of truth over the years, to provide an understanding of God. As such, they contain the wisdom of the ages and should not be dismissed lightly. However, it does not mean that they cannot be questioned and their underpinning reasons examined. The various teachings of different traditions help their adherents walk closer with God. God, I believe, has revealed himself to all traditions and different traditions have used different symbols and interpretations to explain their “truths.”

Problems arise when one or more traditions claim to be the true mouthpiece of God. I have been fortunate to grow up and live among many faith traditions. I have discovered that there is a common core to all religions that transcend all the different teachings. All the main traditions at their core, teach some form of the Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have done unto you”, or, “Do not do unto others what you do not wish done unto you.” No matter what the different traditions teach, Love and Compassion are at their core. Despite this core, there have been wars and mass killings done in the name of religion. This is because the tenets of different religions can be interpreted and used, purposely or inadvertently, to blindly lead the unthinking.

I’ll end by stating that I believe Faith is important. It helps you to fully know and examine yourself and to continually become a better person. It is both a communal and personal commitment and its very nature is revealed in your person. If you are becoming a more loving and compassionate person as a result of your Faith, it is doing what it was meant to do – bring you closer to Truth and God. If your Faith is causing you to harm or cause pain to others, you should certainly question teachings that are causing those actions. That is a first and good reason to have doubts about the teachings of your Faith.

Some Advice to my Grandchildren

Do not be afraid to live the life you were destined for. That is a lot to swallow, but it is grounded in the belief in a loving God who created each one of you with unique gifts and the potential for great personal growth and holiness. The purpose of personal growth is to serve God and others.

Take every opportunity to learn and do not be disheartened by failure. Good things take hard work, so do not be afraid to work hard and persevere. You will often fall short and fail, but keep going because that is how we learn and improve. This goes for both intellectual and technical learning, as well as learning to be a more loving person. You may sometimes not like who you are because of things you have done, or not done. Do not beat yourself up, but repent and be determined to change for the better. Persevere, no matter how many times you fail. God never gives up on you.

Love people, not things – and use things, not people. In short be kind and live by the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Love is more than a fleeting feeling. It is a constant. It is a personal decision you make every day to only want what is best for others. You cannot say you love God, whom you cannot see, if you cannot first love those around you. To me, the fact that I love, is proof of the existence of God.

In order to have the discipline to love well, we need to develop good habits. We develop good habits by consistently making good choices over a period of time. We have a lot of opportunities to practice this, as we are faced with choices each and every day of our lives. Making the loving choice on a regular basis helps us become the person God wants us to be. We develop habits in thought, word and deed. Here is an ancient quote that has helped me learn to appreciate the power of habit.

“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.

Be careful of your words, for your words become your deeds.

Be careful of your deeds for your deeds become your habits.

Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.

Be careful of your character, for your character is your destiny.”

One habit you should develop is the habit of gratitude. Everyday, be thankful for who you are and what you have. Do not compare yourself to others or what they have, to what you have. Instead, give thanks to God for the many blessings He has given you. Being thankful is the only response to a loving God who knows who you are and what you need.

And, above all, love. This is what St. Paul says about love.

“Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.”

Jesus loves you, and so do I.

Perfect Happiness?

I do not believe in the idea of “perfect” happiness. That is a concept left to the state of heaven. To me happiness is a fluid state of consciousness drawn from the high and low points of one’s life. Happiness is not a destination, at least not in our lifetime. Rather it is derived from a sense of appreciating and being thankful for the good things in our lives, and being able to overcome or transcend those inevitable low points in our lives.

So, rather than the term perfect happiness, I will base this essay on what happiness is to me.

Happiness is seeking and knowing who I am and what I stand for and attempting to integrate that understanding into all my relationships and aspirations.
Happiness is knowing I am attempting to do my best with what I have and continuing to learn to be better a version of myself.
Happiness is when I experience caring and the giving and receiving of kindness and blessings.
Happiness is when I have good health, strive for good health, am recovering from poor health, or when I decide to leave a difficult health condition to God.
Happiness is being appreciative and thankful each day for the blessings and lessons of life.
Happiness is being surrounded by family and friends.
Happiness is having and keeping faith.
Happiness is looking in the mirror and liking who I see.
Happiness is knowing I am loved by God and family despite my many shortcomings.
Happiness is being alive.