Death, Be Not Proud!
As we approach Holy Week, I though it would be good to reprise an earlier post with a few additions . . . My theology class at Cleveland Central Catholic was on the fifth floor of St. Michael School. One topic was death and dying. As one student entered the room, he commented, “Sister, do you know what it’s like to climb those stairs knowing that for the next forty minutes you’ll be thinking about death?” (This, despite the fact that most TV dramas deal with murder!) Usually, though, we find death depressing. Why not? On the surface it seems like it’s the end of existence, not to mention that it takes away our family and friends. No one leaves this world alive. As my father commented on his deathbed, “Someone has to go first.” We all can all depend on being harvested by “the grim reaper” someday. But I don’t intend this post to be morbid! Rather, let’s consider death as a rite of passage, a passage into a better kind of life. (more…)
Take a Dose of Vitamin N ~ Nature
Spring is upon us, so venture outside! Recent reports claim that contact with nature makes us healthier and happier. In Greek mythology, Antaeus was invincible as long as he was in contact with his mother, Earth. Apparently we too gain strength by being in touch with Mother Earth, whose clay we were made from. Spring is a good time to be refreshed and renewed by taking a walk though the woods, in a park, along a beach, or in your own backyard. When I walk outside in the country— gazing on violets, mushrooms, and honeybees and filling my lungs with fresh air— I feel at peace. I’m sure my blood pressure sinks.
One evening when I was on such a walk in a field, a flock of birds—maybe purple martin or barn swallows—surrounded me. Dozens of them swooped and darted back and forth, sometimes coming within a foot of me. Now, this wasn’t like in the horror movie The Birds. Instead it was exhilarating.
Just looking at nature through a window is calming. The other day, I was worried about something. In the evening as I pulled down a shade, four lovely deer were grazing on the lawn next door. That peaceful scene was soothing. It reminded me that God is in charge and there are bigger things than my petty concerns.
Mother Earth also has power to lead us to our Father, God. In Romans 1:20 we read that God is understood and seen through the things he has made. Once when I was directing a retreat, I faced a wall of windows that opened up onto the ocean. It was awesome, but then at night when I looked out, all was black. I commented that the ocean at night is a metaphor for God. Although the ocean was invisible, I knew it was there, immense, powerful, and magnificent.
The shepherd-king David spent many hours outdoors. We attribute to him the creation psalms: Psalms 8, 19, 29, 65, 104, and 139. You might make time to pray these someday soon. St. Francis of Assisi, who spent much of his life walking the roads of Italy, composed that glorious “Canticle of the Sun,” praising God for all of creation. (Read it in the video here, accompanied by gorgeous photos.) The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins began a poem, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”
You are probably familiar with Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s words: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees, takes off his shoes, the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
Unfortunately, we human beings are slowly committing matricide. Rivers and lakes, forests, air, and animals are being destroyed. Articles in National Geographic attest to this. So do scientists. Global warming is not a theory but a fact.
Do you know what happened to Antaeus when his was separated from Earth? Hercules lifted him into the air and therefore was able to crush him to death!
Where is your peaceful place where by communing with nature you become aware of its Creator and are invigorated?
Who Is This God We Believe In?
Last week I listened to a panel discussion about God, sponsored by Notre Dame College’s Abrahamic Center. A Jesuit priest, a rabbi, and a Muslim were to answer three questions, but never got beyond the first one, “Who is God?” Their talks and the discussion that followed provided much rich food for thought. In this post I share some of the information and insights gathered there. You might find them as stimulating as I did.
The rabbi began by pointing out that naming animals was the first thing Adam was told to do. Names reveal people, and our names for God reflect what we think of him—like El Shaddai, the almighty one, or God of Hosts (a military title). A name for God in the Bible is Elohim. This name is mysterious because it is composed of a feminine beginning and a plural masculine ending.
God’s name as he revealed it to Moses was YHWH. Hebrew has no present tense. God was saying “I will be that who I will be” or “was.” He is the eternal one. The four letters in this Hebrew word are soft—like a breath. In Genesis, God brings Adam to life by breathing into him. Breath equals life. We share God’s divine life.
What distinguishes human beings from animals is not just a thumb or a larger brain, but the desire for more. This is an indication that God exists.
There is a human need to know God. The Muslim woman referred to a story about a man searching for God. He considered the stars, but they disappeared. He thought of the moon, but they too disappeared. Then he wondered if the sun were God, but that also disappeared. He looked for something that wasn’t transitory. God is eternal. He was there forever and will be forever. That thought is mind-boggling. God sends messengers to guide us to understand him. They come under different conditions and to different people, but their message is the same.
We give God names based on our experiences. Muslims have 99 names for God. Yet none of the names capture precisely who God is. Words are limited. They cannot express the total reality. We call God spirit, but who knows what a spirit really is? As the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides observed, the only thing we can say is “God is not . . .” To know God we must get past the words.
God is incomprehensible, a mystery. We know him only as far as he reveals himself, which he has done in Scripture and through certain prophets. This is believed by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. As the Jesuit noted, Christianity goes a step farther and holds that God made himself known to us by becoming a human being like us. Jesus is the face of God. What God is like is further conveyed by parables that Jesus taught, like the prodigal son and the good shepherd.
All religions are monotheistic, believing that God is one. The Hindus, for example, have hundreds of “deities,” but these are only manifestations of the one God Brahmin. Christians believe in one God who is three Persons. To say God is one means God is unique, integral.
The Jesuit mentioned that God is a personal God, not a force. Jesus is close to us, with us, Emmanuel. God is love and we identify with one we love. So the Word became flesh. Jesus is the face of God. He showed us how to be human. Jesus also told us to call God Abba, which is comparable to Daddy. At the Last Supper he said he was a Friend.
(The next two discussions are March 30 and April 6 from 4:30 pm to 6:00 in the Great Room of Notre Dame College. If you live near South Euclid, Ohio, you might plan to come.)
Who is God for you?
BOOK REVIEW My Heart Is Ready: Psalm-Poems for Prayer & Proclamation
David Haas, ClearFaith Publishing, 2016, $20.00
David Haas is the composer of a great many of the hymns we love to sing. Appropriately, he is now the author of a collection of prayers that has grown out of his love of the psalms. These ancient prayers express the gamut of human emotions and have the underlying theme of trust in God. Haas has taken all of these 150 psalms and after much reflection has rewritten them in whole or in part and has sometimes interpolated them to include his own thoughts. His paraphrases are not rooted in theology but spring from his heart. They are simple and intended to be used to cultivate the reader’s reflection and stir up love for God. The prayers lend themselves to both personal and communal prayer.
In the back of the book are several helpful indexes. One is a detailed list of topics and situations when the prayers can be prayed. This is followed by a correlation of the psalms and liturgical seasons, feasts, and sacraments. Then there is a calendar of saints and other people and the respective psalm that is fitting to pray on their day.
People who like The Message Bible will like this new presentation of the psalms.
A Word about Words
When I sent my manuscript of poems for children to a publisher, I was told they would like to use only the one “Good Words” and make it into a book. Because I wanted all 59 poems published, I said, “No, thank you,” and sent the poems on to ACTA Publications, which published them as “The Heartbeat of Faith.” That first publisher obviously knew the value of teaching children polite words. Speaking good words is important not just for children but for adults. Here are some thoughts about them.
To most of us, “please” and “thank you,” come spontaneously, drilled into us by our parents. But thank you notes seem to be going out of fashion. In graduate school I wrote a paper on the origin of the word “thank.” It is derived from the word “think.” When we take time to write a thank you note, it sends a message that we are thinking of someone who has been kind to us. We acknowledge their gift. Did you ever receive a thank you note out of the blue? If so, you know how it warmed your heart. This Lent you might write such a note to someone: the teacher who was patient with you, the priest who gives good homilies, the neighbor who always brings in your garbage cans. Who could you “think” to thank this week? (more…)
Lent: Are You Listening to Jesus’ Words
One book I have on the back burner is a devotional of reflections on things Jesus said. I’ve collected 356 sayings but haven’t made much progress in writing the reflections. Maybe that is why in the Transfiguration story we hear on the Second Sunday of Lent, the words that attract my attention are “Listen to him.”
God the Father speaks twice in the Gospels: at Jesus’ baptism, when he announces that Jesus is his beloved Son, and at the Transfiguration, when he again identifies Jesus as his Son, but adds, “Listen to him.” In other words, “obey him.” (The word obey is from the Latin for “to listen.”) The mother of Jesus says the same thing at the wedding in Cana: “Do whatever he tells you.” This is referred to as Mary’s commandment. (more…)
