13. Thank you is the best prayer.

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Meister Eckhart
Praise, petition and gratitude. For me prayer has three legs but the first and most important leg is gratitude. He does not need praise, but we need to give it to him so that we can make sure we oriented toward him.

Petitions are important because we can define our needs and, in the process, understand them and how they relate to service of him, but he knows our needs before we can voice them, even before we discover them. We ask for our own sake, for clarity, if for no other reason. Gratitude fills the other gaps.

We praise because we are grateful.

We raise our petitions up and we are grateful he acknowledges them.

We thank him because we need to comprehend the bountiful blessings, mercies and graces he offers us.

As the Father says in the prodigal son, everything he has is ours. Thank you is enough. He does not need to hear it, but we need to say it. Every time we offer thanks we increase our ability to know the true meaning of happiness and joy. 

We cannot say thanks without it reaping us rewards.

12. To the quiet mind, all things are possible.

“To the quiet mind all things are possible. What is a quiet mind? A quiet mind is one which nothing weighs on, nothing worries, which, free from ties and from all self-seeking, is wholly merged into the will of God and dead to its own.” ~ Meister Eckhart

“The quieter the mind, the more powerful, the worthier, the deeper, the more telling and more perfect the prayer is. Meister Eckhart
“God reduces to nothing that which he will use for his purpose” popped up in a Grapevine story we ready at an AA meeting this morning. Is a quiet mind one which has been reduced to nothing? Is there were the quiet mind where all things are possible found. Perhaps. Quiet comes from reducing noise internally and reducing distraction which simply our ability focus. Clarity comes to me not when agitated but when I am able to step to the side and casually observe the agitation as if it is happening to someone else unknown to me.

I don’t really believe a quiet mind that is wholly merged into God is possible for a living human. A peaceful mind as described by Eckhart is an elusive goal because it depicts a perfect state of completion. We can, at times, experience peace or something close but it is ephemeral like a wispy morning mist. Here one minute and gone the next. We pursue peace. We practice how to seek it. We take steps to create a place where we can find it but it remains just out of reach like a slippery fruit we can't quite grab.

I imagine what prayer of Jesus would have been like. Perfect, I should think, comfortable and uncomplicated because he was wholly merged into the will of God. I marvel at what it would have looked like to observe. Sometime I like to watch people pray. Several weeks I ago I happened to see Monsignor O'Neill praying silently before the tabernacle. He was totally relaxed but sat perfectly erect as though he had completely drawn within himself. I felt great peace just watching him pray and felt some envy he could just let if flow. Of course he has a lifetime of experience so he should be able to make it look easy. My wife can do it as well.

I am, well, a work in progress. Peace is out there and I can sense it at times.

11. God is with you everywhere.

“Some people prefer solitude. They say their peace of mind depends on this. Others say they would be better off in church. If you do well, you do well wherever you are. If you fail, you fail wherever you are. Your surroundings don’t matter. God is with you everywhere — in the market place as well as in seclusion or in the church. If you look for nothing but God, nothing or no one can disturb you. God is not distracted by a multitude of things. Nor can we be.” ~ Meister Eckhart
In his retreat on Meister Eckhart James Finley used a metaphor about a tree to make this point. He said if we could know everything there is to know about a tree we would never need to go church again because if we reached that point, we would be as if we were God because only God can grasp that much knowledge. This statement hits me right at the core. I am so deeply drawn, of late, to silence and solitude I feel as thought I am not capable of being contemplative anywhere else.

Yesterday, I challenged that concept by beginning to seek a path into myself while sitting in a waiting room at a doctor’s office surrounded by all manner of distractions and then again while driving home from Great Falls, admittedly alone. Today I pursue the matter further by addressing matters of reflection while surrounded by an anthill of activity at work. While I am not as a effective at formulating my thoughts while tuning out the buzzing around me, I am actually getting there and it is clear that with more practice I will be even more adept at creating my own space of silence in a horn of noise.

God is with me everywhere. I am reminded of that particularly today as encounter people whom I value who are hurting and for whom I wish to be of service. God is not just in the thin places were I can presume to be able to think deep thoughts and reach lofty points of understanding but right where I am, wherever I am and whomever I am with at any point of time.

10. You should not worry as much about what you do but rather about what you are.

People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works. Meister Eckhart
How curious. We always read and are taught the maxim that we say matters less than what we do because people watch our actions are far more intently than they the listen to our words. We also are taught that what we do defines who we are. This turns the whole premise around. If we are righteous, what we do will be righteous because holiness flows from holiness and goodness flows goodness.

This is backwards from what I believe. We are not righteous or holy in any sense of completeness because of our humanity. We are works of progress toward those goals but only if we make a daily choice to do so. When we learn to speak with holiness and act in a holy manner we come closer to what we desire but we will never be purely righteous until our imperfections are burned away by salvation.

There is however a recollection that differs from my argument. I read in a description of the ordained role of deacon is that ordination means the role is more about who a deacon is than what a deacon does. They represent a literal association with other deacons throughout history. It job that is not just about ministry here and now but through all time.

I need to reflect more on what Eckhart suggests in the quote. A priest is a priest always and not just when he is wearing a collar or vestments. Can I be righteous at all times or only when act that way?

When I serve as a chaplain I do so as a Catholic and a Christian. My services are motivated by a desire to serve him and what offer others is care, comfort and consolation that grows out of my faith and desire to serve. From that perspective my Christianity may very well sanctify my works. There is no doubt in my mind that trying to fill the shoes Eckhart has made for us is a very tall task but one worthy of effort.

9. Go into your own heart and learn to know yourself there.

“A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don’t know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox’s or bear’s, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.” ~ Meister Eckhart
This teaching shows up in the philosophy of John O'Donohue. We don't know ourselves but more importantly, we deeply desire to hold the knowledge of the self but we do everything we can to avoid learning precisely that. Why? Fear is likely the first and best reason yet I can't make the connection in confidence. Why? Almost certainly it is because of fear.

We each have our own reasons why we are afraid because we all have our own stories, experiences and characteristics. I am afraid because I might find, when all of the skins are peeled away, an insecure little boy who has not earned any of the things of value I have gathered over the span of lifetime. Once uncovered, all of those good things will vanish like smoke from a small fire and I would be left alone, bereft but perhaps a touch relieved the charade has finally ended.

Such fear is not rational. It does not line up with the faith I have hoped to have grown through conscious effort and unseen blessings which flowed to through mercy and grace. Rational thoughts are scarce, however, when things go bump in the night. Eckhart is right, however, we are expected to go into our own ground and learn what we can about our own essence.

This is the heart of contemplation, to learn the nature of things and contemplation is the tool of mystics to undertake voyages of self-discovery. We contemplate to study and we study to learn and what we learn is all about our uniqueness. At the end, we have been promised we will learn our uniqueness comes from being a creation of God. Ultimately, that is what study is all about - to learn who we are, what we are, why we exist and who created us. Why? So he can love us and we can love him.

Pray Psalm 139. He knows us. There is nothing to fear.

8. It is in the darkness that one finds the light.

Monday, October 8, 2018

Truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us.” ~ Meister Eckhart

The imagery of light and dark reaches back to the beginning in the story of creation in Genesis:

Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.c 4God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness.
From <http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/1>

From the earliest days of our faith, understanding God wanted us to live in the light and to seek him in the light has been our bedrock. Avoiding the dark is a running through scripture from the Hebrew Testament into the Christian Testament. The symbolism of light overcoming darkness is so powerful throughout the Gospels in the letters of Paul.

Eckhart truly understands that in order grow spirituality we must know and experience darkness. When times are good, we get complacent and this unwinds our motivation to seek God. It is easy to forget our existence is separated into light and darkness and without one the other has no meaning.

I like to think I am praise and gratitude driven creature. I hope I am one who appreciates what has given me and the beauty of the world around me. I would like to avoid the sadness and pain that is a hallmark of being lost in darkness but, alas, as a human I must experience the darkness.

Over the years I have been taught that rather than shout and curse at the darkness I should, instead, ask what I am supposed to learn from of it. What lesson or outcome should I seek that will literally shine down on my path toward living according to his will?

On a grand day like this it is to look around and relish in creation and feel like everything will always be great. It is not reality. Reality is remembering my uncle is deeply grieving the loss of his partner and mother is also suffering from the pain of Hawn's passing along with an ongoing battle with debilitating anxiety. I also am mourning the loss of Hawn who was a larger than life presence in our family. The darkness creeps in and shadows fall across the day.

Time in darkness has given me tools to put perspective on sadness and loss, tools which are gifts of the holy spirit delivered by grace from a merciful God who understands the human condition far more than we can begin to grasp.

Paul wrote to church in Corinth about relieved from troubles but the response from God he related was that God's grace was sufficient because his power his made perfect in weakness. Without darkness, there would be no way to experience our humanity, no reason to search for a purpose in life that is only answered by understanding God's purpose for us. There would be no way to give perspective to seeing the power of Christ on the cross as the deliverance of salvation.

7. Attitude is everything.

“When you are thwarted, it is your own attitude that is out of order.” ~ Meister Eckhart

Over the past 10 years the tenet of the 12 steps most difficult for me to grasp is when I am upset or angry fault lies with me regardless of the cause of my distress, regardless of ANY other cause. This is so difficult to bear because self righteous anger at being wronged can be so delicious.

Having the opportunity to blame someone, or something else, for causing a problem is appealing because it gives me permission to yield to high emotion and not have either the initial wrong or the my response. The problem is, however, by letting the genie of innocent outrage loose it is far too easy to for things get out of hand once anger gets burning. The flames will consume far more and roar far longer than the initial harm would warrant.

Far too often the lasting outcome is damage caused by runaway anger is far greater than anything that might have be done to begin with. The focus shifts from it should lie -  the need to recognize harm and to forgive the harm so reconciliation and restoration of a relationship harmed by any insult or injury

My past is littered with instances where someone has committed an error, perhaps something seemingly consequential or, perhaps, something far more serious. Rather dealing with the event with any sense of grace or mercy, it is far to easy for me to confuse accountability with over the top haranguing that spilled over into the terrible territory of abuse. The first hurt is forgotten but the second harm is long remembered. Any moral authority I might have held is lost, drowned in sea of self protective rage.

Bill  Wilson did not coin the phrase from the fertile ground of his mind, instead he paraphrased an 800 year truism and made it suddenly relevant. Eckhart was a astute observer of the dangers of a damaged ego running a muck, much more  than would seem a possible from a time so different than today. Ego is dangerous thing which has both motivated and distracted centuries of success and failure.

For spiritual growth to happen, adversity must be used as an opportunity to learn patience, acceptance and humility. If our Lord can be tortured and then hanged from a cross, surely I can bear the injustice of someone cutting me off in traffic.

Attitude is the key. Not just from an emotional standpoint but directional as well.  Our attitude should be positive and focused on our relationship with God. The proper positive attitude provides us with resilience against adversity and enables to rely on God rather than on our own desires, wishes or perceived needs.

During my time as a chaplain the one thing evident from when I first peered into the room was attitude. The patient could be recovered and waiting for discharge or failing toward inevitable passing but his or attitude defined the true state of their being. I experienced both extremes. Recovered people who were totally dejected and just oozed negativity but also patients with a grim diagnosis who would soon be dying with a bright demeanor and cheerful countenance . Attitude I quickly discovered was largely a function of faith. Where faith was strong, the outlook was shiny and positive. Where faith was missing there was little to suggest hope for a future.

Attitude is fueled and driven by faith. Reliance on faith was critical toward a positive outlook. It is also a choice we can make, or not. It is up to each to of us every moment of every day to make the right choice.