Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent

All that we do
Is touched by an ocean, yet we remain
On the shore of what we know. -- Richard Wilbur

I love walking a beach, swimming in the ocean, listening to the waves, watching the pelicans dive, dolphins swim, my list goes on and on. I wish my heart would race the same way when I get away from the shore, and I am back at work. Thus Wilbur's words have special significance to me.

I think it is important to examine during Lent why we remain on shore in so many aspects of our lives. Especially in these trying times we move even further away from the water. "Don't give your day job," is said everyday and resonates as sound and solid advise. But where can you in your everyday life "dip your toes" at least "in magic waters?" Can it be found in your journal, during meditation, and the most likely source -- your prayer life?

I also think during Lent that we need to spend some time examining where is your "ocean?" Is it in your marriage, the company of friends, your children and/or grandchildren. How do we incorporate our "ocean" more into our daily lives. Maybe there is something we can do every day that allows us to leave the shore of what we know and enables us to immerse ourselves in the healing waters of our personal ocean. If we can do that this Lent we truly will have cause to sing.

Tuesday in the Second Week in Lent

Have you ever seen an inchworm crawl up a leaf or a twig, and then, clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something, to reach something? That's like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have footing. -- Albert P. Ryder

There are two ways to read this quote.The first is to be secure in one's footing before you reach out to a new adventure or calling. It implies that we must be first secure before venturing out, not taking risky chances, or reaching for something beyond our grasp.

I prefer a different interpretation. To go out into our world without the security of a strong foothold beneath us. We should reach beyond our comfort zone and explore the unknown. I believe that if we search for our true selves and God's call we must go beyond our "grasp, and go beyond where we have ever gone before, exploring new planets...." Beyond our grasp is the world we are meant to habitate. It takes that leap of faith much like Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade."

Either way we are searching.

Monday in the Second Week of Lent

A fresh attitude starts to happen when we look to see that yesterday was yesterday, and now it is gone; today is today and now it is new. – Rinpoche

Nothing is static. We are not even in control of what thoughts or emotions are going to arise, nor can we halt their flow. Even persistent pain, when we pay attention to it, changes like the tides.
Because of the current economy, we feel less secure, uncertain, and groundless. Although we know that all is impermanent, we have deep seeded aversion to it. We want permanence, we expect permanence. Our natural tendency is to seek security; we believe we can find it.

Life does go up and down. People and situations are unpredictable, and we need not suffer because of our inability to halt change. It is time we say to ourselves, “We are all always in transition, and I can relax with that.” If we can we accept impermanence and quit trying to escape its inevitability, we will be able to live in the moment and in all its glory

Second Sunday in Lent

If you look to others for fulfillment,
You will never be truly fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
You will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you have;
Rejoice in the way things are. – Tao Te Ching

Easier said than done? With all of us struggling right now it is difficult to “be content.” Yet that is exactly what we need individually and as a society.
In this era of 24 hour news we listen to a steady drumbeat about how terrible these times are, and the drumbeat becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now I don’t mean to demean anyone who has lost their job, is losing their home, or going hungry. Their struggles are real, and I am as guilty as the next person of being caught up in the gloom and doom we hear about every night.

Yet, the Tao saying reminds us all that to allow “others” and “stuff” to control our happiness is folly. How quickly as a society would we recover if we saw what was happening as an opportunity as opposed to a disaster -- an opportunity to rebuild and to be more caring of others. As individuals, if we are simply content with what we have, not obsessing about the opinions of others or money, we honor God.

Saturday in the First Week of Lent

Worshipping the teapot, instead of drinking the tea. --Wei Wu Wei

I am very guilty of this. I suspect there is a little of this in all of us. Jesus railed at the high priests who enjoyed their trappings of their office and prayed loudly in public, but failed to tend to those who needed kindness and spiritual guidance. Things haven't changed much in 2000 years. The spiritual tea that provides sustenance is found in serving others.

But where else do we worship the teapot instead of drinking the tea. As I have become older, I find myself becoming more set in my ways. I am not as willing to explore, try something new, or take risks. In a sense, I find myself worshipping life as it exists; instead, of drinking in life and being nurtured by it. Perhaps, the best Lenten discipline I can give myself is to break out of my daily routine and once again seek out the nourishment of new and different things.

Do you have a teapot that is full of tea?