Easter's Special Grace

When the women visited the tomb on the first Easter morning, they didn’t expect anything more than grief. They were prepared to anoint the dead body of their beloved Teacher and Friend. Instead, they were met by the Risen Lord. Their lives were transformed.

If we take seriously our Easter experience, we too can be surprised and transformed into a new way of living. We can be ‘Easter people’ living into a life filled with grace, even while we are in the midst of the day-to-day living.

Christian mystics through the centuries and Celtic Christianity call us to see that there is Holy in each and every aspect of our lives. For Celtic Christians, the day was imbued with prayer to and interaction with the Trinity. Brother Lawrence is credited with praising God even in the menial kitchen tasks of scraping the pans and washing the dishes. He was able to do that because he understood that God is present and revealed in every second, every action. When we are able to see our day-to-day tasks in that way, we very well could find our lives transformed.

There can be many distractions every day. We may not see the Risen Lord in front of us. Mary did not recognize Jesus at first. She thought he was the gardener. Our own pre-conceived ideas, messages from our past, or from society, may make our vision blurry. I’ve borrowed some topics from other bloggers, and added some of my own thoughts, as tools to help us learn to be aware and see God in all things.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll look at some ways to renew our souls and open our eyes as well as nurturing not just ourselves, but one another. Come along on the journey to ‘recharge’, ‘play’, ‘mentor’, ‘speak’, and many other topics.

One way to start being transformed by prayer like using this Celtic Trinity Blessing from the Carmina Gadelica:

God’s blessing be yours,
and well may it befall you;
Christ’s blessing be yours,
and well be you entreated;
Spirit’s blessing be yours,
and well spend you your lives,
each day that you rise up,
each night that you lie down.

God is in All

We are continuing to meditate on some of the works and words of Hildegard of Bingen. This mystic, abbess, writer, healer, and counselor of the 12^th Century had a worldview similar to that of the Celtic monks and nuns. For her and for them, all of creation is filled with God’s creative Spirit, from the rocks to humanity. In Celtic spirituality, you will find prayers for every aspect of the day. There are Celtic prayers for rising, for lighting the fire, for doing each task, for new life and for death.

In our busy, modern world we often can forget the basic rhythms of life, much less remember to pray for each action. In the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, Eucharistic Prayer C reminds us that God is in charge of everything. “At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home….From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation.” This would be a familiar sort of prayer for Hildegard who stated, “no creature, whether visible or invisible, lacks a spiritual life…all creatures have something visible and invisible.”*

Interestingly, in her thoughts about creation, like in her dietary practices, Hildegard was ahead of the science of her time. She understood that there were parts of creation too small to be seen and included them in having a spiritual life. Scientists now know that there is much matter that is to minute even for the most powerful microscopes and galaxies so far away that we cannot see them. All of that is imbued with God, just as Hildegard stated. She saw all of creation as glowing with God’s presence and wrote down a vision in which God told her “I am the supreme and fiery force who kindled every living spark…the air is alive in the verdure and the flowers, the waters flow as if they lived; the sun too lives in its light..”*

Her mandala shows all of life flowing from and surrounded by God. 

Stop. Do you see God as alive in all creation-even the rocks and water?

Psalm 24 is a hymn to all of creation, beginning with “The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers…” There is no doubt that we have, and continue to, damage the earth. Even if you doubt global warming, there are islands of trash in our oceans, pollutants ruining our rivers, hazy skies from smog in many places. This impacts us whether we realize it or not. Our relationships with one another are stressful and strained, perhaps because we are less connected to the cycles of the living earth than we used to be. Eucharistic Prayer C continues, “We turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.”

The technology that is supposed to make our lives easier sometimes seems instead to be taking over our lives and all our time. We can laugh at videos of texting people walking into fountains or even running into bears (!), but the truth is most of us do, at least from time to time, use our phones while walking somewhere-or worse yet, driving. If we are so immersed in the next posting on Facebook that we miss the splendid sunrise or the blooming of a rose, we are separating ourselves from the source of life. If we think we have to be ‘on call’ every second so that we cannot even put our phones down to eat, are we are alienating ourselves from our families, friends, nature, and God? 

Stop and think about how the stresses of modern life are different than a generation or 2 ago. How can you become more literally grounded in the cycles of the earth?

Ephesians 1: 22-23 reminds us that “[God] put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Hildegard would not have doubted the truth of this citation. The God she knew intimately was intimately entwined with all of life, both natural and human and in relationships.

Eucharistic Prayer C concludes by affirming, “Again and again, you called us to return. Through prophets and sages you revealed your righteous Law. And in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, born of a woman, to fulfill your Law, to open for us the way of freedom and peace…And so, Father, we who have been redeemed by him, and made a new people by water and the Spirit, now bring before you these gifts. Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Hildegard believed, like Isaiah, “[God] will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law. Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it, ‘I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations’…” (Isaiah 42:5-6) For her, the greening power of God’s Spirit was filling and renewing all life. The “supreme and fiery force” Hildegard spoke of is “the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him…” (John 1:9-10)

Stop to ask if your appreciation of God’s work in salvation would change if you fully believed God was working in and through all creation all the time?

Next week we’ll conclude this series with a look at Hildegard’s words about compassion and beauty.

*Praying with Hildegard of Bingen by Gloria Durka

Thanksgiving is a Thin Tinme

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. I think every culture in the world has some sort of celebration in recognition of the bringing in of the harvest and rejoicing that there is food in the barns for the winter months. In most traditions this takes place at the end of the growing season rather than later in the fall as we, in America, celebrate it.

For the Celtic Christians and many other traditions, the harvest festival was a time to celebrate, and also to share and ensure that others in the community were not hungry. It often came in late summer-August or September. Like most harvest traditions, special foods were associated with it. One is a kind of biscuit or scone called Bannock:

Pitcaithly Bannock
1 cup flour
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
2 T. chopped almonds
2 T. mixed candied citrus peel

Set oven to 325^oF. Grease a baking sheet. Mix flour, butter, and sugar to form a dough. Add the almonds and the peel, making sure they are evenly distributed. Form a thick round on a lightly floured surface and prick all over with a fork. Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool and serve sliced thinly, buttered or with fruit jelly.

The Jewish festival of Sukkot (Succoth), in the fall, is the celebration of the ingathering of the fruits of the fields, and a reminder of the time in the wilderness. In Leviticus, Moses tells the people, "On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook" (Lev. 23:40), and "You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt" (Lev. 23:42-43).

By creating booths of the branches, the Jewish people are reminded of their sacred history. They are made aware of the thin time when God was present and led them in the wilderness wanderings until they came to their new home. There are special foods for Sukkot. Challah, the soft, egg bread braid is one, as is apple crisp.

The Celtic Christians, and the Jewish people, and we all celebrate God’s providing for our needs during the harvest festivals of our lives. Whether we call it Lughnasadh, Sukkot, or Thanksgiving we need to take a moment to remember that God is near when we give Thanks and that there are those who are less fortunate who need our care.

There is a prayer from the Celtic book of prayers The Carmina Gadelica that reminds us that God in Jesus Christ is in all things and that we should give praise and thanks.

It were as easy for Jesu
To renew the withered tree
As to wither the new
Were it His will to do so.

(Antiphon)
Jesu! Jesu! Jesu! Jesu!
Meet it were to praise him.

There is no plant in the ground
But it is full of his virtue,
There is no form in the strand
But is full of his blessing

(Antiphon)

There is no life in the sea
There is no creature in the river
There is naught in the firmament
But proclaims his goodness

(Antiphon)

There is not bird on the wing,
There is no star in the sky
There is nothing beneath the sun,
But proclaims his goodness.

(Antiphon)

I hope you have blessed Thanksgiving times with family and friends. In this season there are many who are not as blessed as we are. Some may even be our neighbors. Keep them in your prayers and perhaps take some kind of action as your heart leads you.

Next week we will look at a Thin Time in the life of Jesus himself.

Thin Times-Thin Places

Welcome to the new series of blog meditations. The time between Pentecost and Advent has been called “Ordinary Time” because there aren’t any big feasts. It’s a time of learning to live the Gospel in day-to-day fashion instead of hopping from mountaintop to mountaintop with great church feasts like Christmas-Epiphany-Lent-Easter-Pentecost which occupy the first quarter to third of every calendar year.

One reason festivals were held during the cooler months was that for our earliest ancestors, the time between spring planting and fall harvest was busy. Farmers and warriors could devote time to worship during the 'down time' of fall and winter. Another reason is found in the nature of the worship.Many or most ancient religions followed the cycles of the sun and moon more closely than we do now. The shortening days of fall meant it was possible that the sun would some day never rise and so extra worship needed to be done to appease the sun god and keep away the ‘dark lord’ in whatever form that was perceived.

The ancient Celts believed that the time between the Autumnal equinox (Alban Elued) and Samhain (Nov. 1) was especially holy and a ‘Thin Time’. That is, it was a time when heaven and earth came very close. Indeed, on Samhain, the souls of the dead could actually return to earth. (More on that later in the month.)

When Christianity came to the British Isles, (some say as early as the 1^st century, others the 3^rd century), the missionaries incorporated and Christianized many Celtic beliefs including the idea that there are Thin Places and Thin Times.The image of heaven coming near isn't just a Celtic idea, though. In fact, as you read the Bible, you will notice that there are many times where the veil between earth and the Holy has drawn aside. Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at some of these events.

Consider Noah and the ark, Jacob’s dream of a ladder to heaven, Abraham’s 3 visitors and Sarah’s laughter, the ram in the thicket at Isaac’s sacrifice, Moses at the burning bush, Elijah in his cave, Balaam and his donkey meeting an angel, Mary greeted by an angel, Joseph’s visit from the same angel, Jesus transfigured, Jesus walking on the water, Peter’s vision on the roof in Caesarea, Paul on the road to Damascus, John on Patmos. The Bible is peppered with times when God stepped near and a glimpse of heaven was seen.

To Celtic Christianity, the Holy One is not just present in dramatic occasions, though. Every bit of life is imbued with holiness. Holiness is present in everything, from the smallest microbe (and even to the tiniest sub-atomic particle) to the furthest reaches of space. God is in nature red of ‘tooth and claw’ or soft and cuddly and in our daily routines.

Rich Mullins song With the Wonder (adopted from Psalm 19:1-4) gives a sense of what it means to see God present in all creation:

Down at Johnson's Creek
The trees grow tall
Like a man who feeds his soul on Your word
And I can look in the water
I can see the stars fall
Hear the fires crackle
And the crickets chirp
And there are bluffs
On the banks of the cumberland
Where I can see the sun rise
From a world away
And I can see the marvelous things
That You have done
In the beautiful world
That You have made
And in the winter it's white
In the summer it's green
And in the fall it's orange and red and gold
Then it comes alive
In the rites of spring when the rivers thaw
And the flowers unfold
And there are beads of dew on a spider's web
And there are motes of dust
In these beams of light
We who are bone and spittle and muscle and sweat
We live together in a world where
It's good to be alive

CHORUS
'Cause it flutters and floats
It falls and it climbs
It spins and sputters and spurts
And You filled this world
With wonders 'round every turn
And it buzzes and beeps
It shimmeys and shines
It rattles and patters and purrs
And You filled this world with wonders
And I'm filled with the wonder of Your world
If there's a better world
And a brighter day
Even brighter than the one we're in
We'd all be fools to think
That it could be made
By the wills and the hands of foolish men
So Lord to You we give our deepest praise
And to You we sing our loudest songs
And while we live in the world that You have made
We hear it whisper of a world
Of the world that is to come.

Celtic Christianity also invites God into all parts of living-from getting up in the morning to going to sleep at night. Prayers when getting dressed and when starting the fire and when milking the cow are all part of finding God and inviting God into life. Jewish prayers also keep God in the center of all things by reciting “Blessed art Thou, Lord God, Ruler of the Universe, who gives this bread (or this day, or this gift, or whatever)" in the morning and evening and many times between.

In this “Thin Time” of the calendar, I offer a Journey Prayer for your use:

Bless to me, O God, the earth beneath my foot.
Bless to me, O God, the path whereon I go.
Bless to me, O God the thing of my desire;
Thou Evermore of evermore,

Bless Thou to me my rest.
Bless to me the thing whereon is set my mind,
Bless to me the thing, whereon is set my love;
Bless to me the thing, whereon is set my hope;
O Thou King of kings, Bless Thou to me mine eye!

Next time we'll start to look at some of the Thin Times and Places in the Bible and what they might teach about God being present in all times and all places and all things.