pray-write journaling – Page 3

Solemnity Body/Blood of Christ: 2023

I woke up this morning, as I often do, checking in with my body. No bad leg cramps in the night, check. Took high cholesterol meds before bed, check. In fact, took vitamins and supplements as intended yesterday. Check. Keep it up, M… Forgot to take a walk or work out yesterday. Oops. Food? Ehh… still working on eating healthier! But hey, today is a new day…

This sort of checking in with the body is a typical morning routine for many. Studies indicate that people in the USA, 25 years or older spend an average of 90 minutes a day on health-related self-care. And we should. Our bodies have been gifted to us by the Lord so we ought to take good care of them. I admittedly fall short on this task!

Meanwhile, a study on how people spend their time suggests that Americans help others through charity and volunteering about an hour a week. The study also indicated that much of the time people spend helping others is done informally, not through registered organizations. Clearly, we each spend time taking care of family members, co-workers and friends every day. The study also stated that 11% of the charitable organizations in the USA ceased to operated because of Covid.

The Body of Christ, if by that we mean all those people around us, those we know and don’t know, must have lots of unaddressed aches and pains, illnesses and wounds, if we are dedicating so little time and effort on its care as a collective! Health-related self-care is important, but what if we all spent an equal amount of time on caring for the Body of Christ? An hour and a half a day…

The menu-style to-do list of caring for the Body of Christ has many more options on it than it used to. We can help people by— reaching out to those we’ve not been in touch with for awhile, writing a kind online review about a business or restaurant we went to recently, writing compassionate and empathetic Facebook posts, praying for others, regularly maintaining a gratitude journal, signing up for a ‘random act of kindness a day’ blog post, encouraging younger people who face increased social anxiety due to isolation during their social skill formation years, engaging in a journal retreat posted on this site, holding our tongues and minding our manners— to name a few.

A study cited in the New York Times last year, suggested that as a whole, people are less creative, outgoing, conscience, and agreeable than they were before the Pandemic. This suggests that there are a greater number of things we can do to address the needs of the Body of Christ then there used to be; ways to be charitable and helpful that we’ve not yet thought of because the Body is suffering in new ways.

The saints used to pray for hardships because they understood that with difficulties come opportunities. The first reading suggests that the Lord gave the Israelites the opportunity to return to Him by providing them with 40 years of desert hardships. Wasn’t the Lord thoughtful! And frankly, the Pandemic has certainly left opportunity behind in its wake!

Reflection Questions

How much time do you spend, at present, on caring for ‘the Body of Christ?’ Could you do more?
Brainstorm, in list format, as quick as you can, all the needs you see around you. Brainstorm, in list form, all you could do.
Pick 1 need that you see and 3 things you could do about it. Explore in writing the need, as well as the time and resources needed to address it. Create an action plan. Put it in play, and reflect on your efforts.

13th Sunday in OT 2019

This week’s Sunday’s readings begin by recounting Elisha’s reaction to the call to follow Elijah; and in the gospel Jesus gives more information about how we are to answer His invitation to discipleship. Elisha models for us the ideal response … tidy up loose ends, celebrate the call with loved ones, say farewell, and leave your old way of life behind. In fact, the Paulist Biblical Commentary refers to this passage in 1 Kings as a ‘vocation story.’

We know the word vocation to refer to a call, profession, mission or ministry; many of us have discerned our vocation. Such experiences of a call from the Lord typically seem to be a specific invitation issued once, with a few clarifying communiques in the course of a life-time.

But the words vocal and voice also share the same Proto-Indo-European root as the word vocation. The shared root means to speak. We may wonder, then, not only the content, the what that the Lord is calling us to do, but about the nature of our Speaker’s Voice.

Before Elijah throws his coat over Elisha, he and the Lord had a fairly extensive tete’-a-tete’ … the Lord prepared Elijah for His presence by stating He would be present but not in the wind or fire or a storm. Although the Lord was often present to the Israelites through these natural phenomenon, He suggests to Elijah, this time He would be present in yet another, additional way, in the no-sound.

Similarly, we too hear the Lord’s voice in storms, the no-sound and the wind. In the New Testament, The Holy Spirit is often compared to wind.

Wind never really stops. Some days it’s very noticeable, but it is just ‘the flow of gases,’ and truthfully, on planet Earth, gases are always flowing, hence there is air to breathe and carbon-based life-forms survive. But we carbon-based life forms don’t tend to notice the flow of gases.

Jesus says to our three unidentified would-be disciples, in turn, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, let the dead bury the dead and whoever puts his hand to the plow but looks to what’s left behind is not fit for the Kingdom. These seem to me to be nuanced and various ways of reminding us time will not stand still, the Kingdom of the Shepherd is here and now, and His voice, His call, His Music, like the Wind, never cease.

Journal Reflection Questions

1. Where am I in the discernment process of my ‘call?’ Am I listening for a new to-do list, or have I noticed His voice, His call just never ceases to be?
2. What changes could I make so I am able to hear His voice or notice His Presence more often? What changes could I make so I am able to just sit with Him and enjoy His Presence more frequently?
3. What might change in my life, if I did so?

Theology within English Grammar

I was shocked at the age of 50, despite having taken a plethora of courses for my BA in English eons ago, to learn that our language does not have a future tense. According to the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, the word we assume and use to indicate a future tense, will, does not behave as it should, but rather acts like a mood marker and is thought to specifically signal the hypothetical.

You might argue, if I use a word to indicate the future, then that is what it does, however, our language seems to instinctually understand we simply cannot know the future. Any plan, intention or expectation for a future occurrence is never certain. For example, I might say, “I will take out the garbage… it’ll rain… you’ll have a great time when you visit.” These are indeed hypothetical: a million things could prevent them from coming to pass. In fact, all that can go wrong in the course of a day causes most of us significant anxiety and we put great effort into steering our ship so our desired future is more likely.

But we are not each a universe of one. Other people, with their attitudes, motivations, preoccupations, often derail, interrupt, and interfere with our clock-work precise plans. Conflicting agendas abound. Very frustrating …

… but then I remember we together comprise The Body of Christ, the Church. The Lord has counted the hairs on annoying people’s heads and knows their hearts and souls as well as He knows mine. I do not know the invitations He has issued to them. I have no clue as to the options, potentials, hypotheticals which might spring into my life as a result of their response, their acceptance or rejection of His Love and Gifts.

With the Lord at our side, witnessing the unfolding of hypotheticals can be rather like watching a draw bridge open when we did not realize that that piece of road could swing and shift, rotate and be moved.

Reflection Exercises:

- - With a three or 5 minute time-limit, jot down your hopes for your future.
  - Then return to the list, asking yourself, if it is a hypothetical, what other possibilties or options may surface. Write about each in turn.
  - Finally, reflect on how you feel after reframing your future as a hypothetical.

Third Sunday, Lent 2019

Exodus 3:1-15

To notice the bush is not burning normally, Moses needs to understand general laws of nature, and to observe how the bush in question is behaving differently. And because it must have taken Moses some time to figure it out, the Lord bides His time, patiently waiting to reveal Himself in the not-burning bush.

Robert Alter in the notes included in his translation, “The Five Books of Moses,” explains that because ancient Hebrew’s grammar is constructed differently than modern English, there are often a variety of translations which are accurate and reasonable. While we typically translate God’s name for Himself as I Am Who Am, the following would also be correct: I Will Be Who I Will Be, I Am That I Am, I Am He Who Endures, He Who Brings Things Into Being, and, I Will Be. (Reference #14)

Furthermore, in a similar discussion, the Paulist Biblical Commentary suggests the name the Lord offers as His own is an early form of the Hebrew verb, to be. The commentator writes, “The phrase ‘I Am’ or ‘I Will Be Who I am’ places the focus of God’s name on actions for Israel, and not God’s independent being or essence” (Reference #15). Before offering His name, however, which He does only after Moses demands it, the Lord says, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them.”

In other words, the Lord self-identifies with the actions He performs on Israel’s behalf, actions intended to save His beloved people. This rescuing continues down through the ages. Jesus’ name, Yeshua, in fact, translates as rescuer, savior.

Until Jesus’ Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, Sheol is it, as far as potential abodes for those who have died; He changes the landscape of the afterlife. The inhabitants of Sheol are not able to gaze upon the Lord’s face, they are not with Him. They did not fail to gain entry into Heaven, because they are somehow lacking or sinful or unrepentant. Not the case.

The doorway to Eternal Life did not yet exist. Jesus saves us from the otherwise unavoidable situation of separation from Him, from Sheol by providing Himself as the Gateway to a new abode. His self-identifying phrase clearly states the fact of the matter, I Am the Narrow Gate.

It is a small irony then that while Jesus gained for us ‘an afterlife’ where we can dwell with Him, where we need never be without Him, we fail to realize we are already with Him in the here and now. Are we, am I, waiting for Eternal Life to notice the Lord? Could I be failing to notice a not-burning bush at my feet?

Reflection Questions for Journaling

- - Am I waiting for Eternal Life to notice the Lord’s presence?
  - Could I be failing to notice a not-burning bush at my feet? Is the Lord patiently waiting for me to do so?
  - Referring to Paragraph 2, how do each of the varied translations of God’s name for Himself resonate with me? Do any cause me discomfort? Why?

Transfiguration 2019

Luke 9:28-36

Hebrew tradition holds that Elijah will appear before the coming of the Messiah and Scripture tells us he was one of only two people who did not die but was taken by God. On the other hand, Moses did die and was buried, as detailed in Deuteronomy, chapter 33. At the time of the Transfiguration, Jesus has not yet died, descended into ‘hell’ and brought those there up to Heaven with Him, therefore, Moses too would have been waiting for the Messiah. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 632-635). So, how does Moses journey from Sheol to the mountaintop; Jesus’ time to release these prisoners has not yet come.

When reading this gospel, we tend to regard Elijah as ‘The Prophet’ and Moses as ‘The Law-giver,’ each representing a vital aspect of Jewish tradition. I would certainly not argue against this, but Moses is also considered a prophet. If I consider his identity as such, I wonder, Why does Jesus appear with a prophet from the dead and a prophet who did not die?

According to Luke, in this mountain-top moment, Elijah, Moses and Jesus are discussing His exodus in Jerusalem. Moses’ presence implies the prisoners in Sheol will also experience an Exodus; Sheol is best understood not as hell or damnation, but rather, ‘an abode of the dead.’ Perhaps, metaphorically, we each have a Sheol within ourselves.

The Catechism also states, “Those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.” Moses’ presence on the mountain-top says to me, “The time of waiting is soon to be over, you will see Him ablaze with glory! His light will awaken whatever in you sleeps and breathe into you new life.”

Reflection Questions for Journaling

1. Recall three different experiences you had with regard to waiting and then obtaining that which you were ‘waiting for.’
2. After rereading these three experiences, explore the threads and repetitions between them.