Acupressure Nudges

 

Leland Kaiser, a health futurist says, "Natural systems, like plants, animals and the human body, function simply and organically to achieve desired goals with just enough structure". For example, there are just enough cells to create tissues, there are just enough tissues to make organs and there are just enough organs to make a human body. If excess cells are produced, the organism becomes dis-eased and loses its original natural flow.

Human-made systems, like education, politics, healthcare etc. have a difficult time maintaining the achievement of their initial goals. Human-made systems easily become encumbered with rigidly structured elements. Adding complex structure easily constricts organic flow, and therefore ultimately tends to "break" or turn into "paralyzed-obsolescence" the system's initial effectiveness.

Natural healing approaches such as acupressure seem to acknowledge the body's desire to maintain its simple and organic nature by gently nudging its self-healing flow. Unduly heavy nudges hold the risk of introducing structural course-corrections that may overpower the existing self-correcting body mechanisms. In a life-threatening crisis or accident, major structural corrections immediately need to be made by wonderfully skilled practitioners. For other situations, there are amazing natural nudges which have been used for centuries that frequently help the body remember its original resilience.

God certainly is the ideal model-maker for organic simplicity and flow. It's another whole dimension to choose to follow the invitation to incorporate those two elements in my daily healthy living choices. One can only keep trying.

Spiritual or Religious?

Have you heard someone say, "I'm spiritual not religious"? Perhaps we'd like to ask the person help us understand the difference. And in some cases when the difference is stated, both spirituality and religion get a bad rap. Religion may seem to mean legal codes, judgmental moralism, and hierarchy. We must have done a bad job of teaching our religion. Spirituality seems to mean, well, almost anything I want it to mean, but mostly it's about my personal experience. We must have done a bad job of teaching the Christian tradition of spirituality.

Spirituality without a worshiping faith-community may be self-serving. Religion without spirituality may be without heart, dry and tedious.

I doubt that the early Christians of the first century spent much time debating these two terms. I doubt that the first century Christian martyrs ~ or for that matter the Christian martyrs of the 20^th century ~ agonized over the distinction.

Maybe we would be better off having the simple direct faith of children as in these letters to God:
     Dear GOD, I bet it is very hard for You to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it. Nan

     Dear GOD, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. Larry

     Dear GOD, Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't You just keep the ones You have now? Jane

Maybe these future theologians will help us to do a better job of integrating religion and spirituality in a way that gives meaning and purpose to our everyday lives.

    

Anniversary of the Dedication of Sacred Heart Chapel

Today, October 24, the Sisters of Saint Benedict celebrate the anniversary of the Dedication of Sacred Heart Chapel at the monastery. At 7:00 a.m. nearly 100 Sisters met for Morning Prayer in the chapel and Sister Micheala Hedican, the Prioress, began in a clear voice singing "Let all creation God's glory proclaim, with praise and thanks, we bless God's name." It is always amazing to me that that many women who have been keeping silence since the evening before, can begin a new day with strong vibrant voices. OK, some mornings we are flat but not on a feast day! We tend to really "get into it" on a celebration day and the house of God is something about which to celebrate.

The reading for the prayer service was from the Second Book of Chronicles and it seemed especially meaningful: "Solomon, I have heard your prayer. And I have chosen this place for myself to be a Temple for sacrifices. I may stop the sky from sending rain. I may send sicknesses to my people. Then my people, who are called by my name, will be sorry for what they done. They will pray to me and I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. And I will listen to the prayers prayed in this place. I have chosen this Temple and made it holy. So, I will be worshiped here forever. Yes, I will always watch over it and love it."

And this became even more meaningful for me when I got to my office. There was an e-mail from a friend thanking for the prayers of the Sisters for several people who are close to her. This friend asked the Sisters to pray and we did and, very often, our God is gracious enough to answer those prayers. God says to us, "Sisters, I have heard your prayer!"

A Catholic nun in a Zen Buddhist monastery?

From September 17 to October 5 I had the most unique experience of participating in an East-West spiritual exchange by spending almost three weeks in three different Zen Buddhist monasteries in Japan.

There were five participants in the program (see picture, l. to r., Sister Gaetane of Belgium, Brother Matteo of Italy, Brother Irénée of Belgium, Sister Clelia of Italy and I from North America). All of us are involved in Monastic Interreligious Dialogue in our respective countries. None of us had been part of an experience like this before this year.

Our journey began with a long car ride from the Osaka airport to the city of Okayama where we were to spend 4 days at Sogen-ji, a monastery of about 20 Buddhist monks and nuns. Because there are several westerners at this monastery it was felt that we would receive a good orientation to our other monastic visits. Indeed we were grateful for those four days where we were awakened at 3:30 a.m. and chanting sutras with great gusto by 4 a.m. We were each given to keep 5 bowls of various sizes which came stacked together and wrapped in a large napkin, along with chopsticks and a small linen towel to wipe our bowls after washing them in hot tea at the end of the meal. Eating in a Buddhist monastery is a very precise affair, with many rituals and "rules" to remember. We also learned the art of removing our shoes when entering a building without tripping over our feet; inside the buildings we walked barefoot. White socks were worn only for special ceremonies, not to keep one's feet warm!

From Sogen-ji, Sisters Gaetane, Clelia and I took a train to the city of Gifu where we spent 6 days at the women's monastery of Ten'ne-ji, a small community of about 12 women, all Japanese except for one young French woman who was our guide during our stay for everything from when to take a shower and bath, to reminding us about the "rules" at table, to when to wear our habits and white socks, to what our morning manual work would be and, when we had become more comfortable with each other, to share our monastic experience with her and she with us.

Finally, we spent out last weekend at Eihei-ji, a very large men's monastery of about 180 monks. Eventhough we were lodged in the guest house and ate our meals in a guest dining room, we had the privilege of spending two hours in conversation with two roshis (teachers) who, through an interpreter, were so open and willing to answer our many questions.

I could list many reasons why I am grateful to have made the trip to Japan but probably the most important one is what I learned about my own Benedictine monastic tradition.

Acupressure Nudges

Leland Kaiser, a health futurist says, “Natural systems, like plants, animals and the human body, function simply and organically to achieve desired goals with just enough structure”. For example, there are just enough cells to create tissues, there are just enough tissues to make organs and there are just enough organs to make a human body. If excess cells are produced, the organism becomes dis-eased and loses its original natural flow.

Human-made systems, like education, politics, healthcare etc. have a difficult time maintaining the achievement of their initial goals. Human-made systems easily become encumbered with rigidly structured elements. Adding complex structure easily constricts organic flow, and therefore ultimately tends to” break” or turn into “paralyzed- obsolescence” the system’s initial effectiveness.

Natural healing approaches such as acupressure, seem to acknowledge the body’s desire to maintain it’s simple and organic nature by gently nudging it’s self-healing flow. Unduly heavy nudges hold the risk of introducing structural course-corrections that may overpower the existing self-correcting body mechanisms. In a life-threatening crisis or accident, major structural corrections immediately need to be made by wonderfully skilled practitioners. For other situations, there are amazing natural nudges which have been used for centuries that frequently help the body remember its original resilience.

God certainly is the ideal model-maker for organic simplicity and flow. It’s another whole dimension to choose to follow the invitation to incorporate those two elements in my daily healthy living choices. One can only keep trying.

Psalm 65

This morning we stood in choir and prayed Psalm 65 about the lavishness of God’s gifts upon our earth:



“People everywhere

Stand amazed at what you do;

East and west shout for joy. . . .

With soft’ning rain

You bless the land with growth. . . .

All You touch comes alive:

Untilled lands yield crops,

Hills are dressed in joy.

Flocks clothe the pastures,

Valleys wrap themselves in grain.

They all shout for joy

And break into song.”

 

Now that’s something to sing about, year after year, while the earth lasts and we are here to read the poetry of our land! Can we hear the song of creation? The joy of the hills and valleys wrapped in grain? The blessings poured out on our land? Lord God, give us new eyes and good ears so that we can join the people everywhere who stand amazed at what you do!

Digging and Dumping: A spirituality of place

If you’ve been to St. Benedict’s Monastery lately, you see a huge construction job going on in front of the entrance to the Gathering Place. One definition of construction is “something fashioned or devised systematically”. Actually, right now it is more of a process of systematically destroying something.


As I watch, the workmen continue to dig and dump, dig and dump. Today a large tree had to be lifted up and away by the roots. But over time, a few skeletal structures are emerging. Something is being constructed on top of the destruction.

I’ve been reflecting on how this is a metaphor for the human and spiritual life. Dig deeper, dump some “stuff”; dig a little more and let go of a little more. Bit-by- bit and very slowly, something new begins to emerge! Something new and beautiful will rise up out of the mess!

The process of digging and dumping can be painful in our lives. We can become aware of things we’ve been hanging onto for too long. An old hurt and grudge that we should have dumped years ago still poisons our heart; a grief that we refuse to acknowledge haunts us ; the fear of the unknown keeps us hanging instead of risking something new and satisfying.


Letting go and moving on. Sometime it happens in a small decision we make. Other times there is some major milestone that calls us to “deconstruct” some part of our life in order to gain deeper inner freedom and peace. We experience a shift taking place within us. Something new is trying to find a place and space as a new entrance in our lives. We can only hope it is a strong foundation for a sacred space in the Gathering Place of our hearts!



Kathryn Casper, OSB

SUSTAINABILITY and SIMPLICITY

In several chapters of Benedict’s Rule, he addresses simplicity of life—living frugally and with due attention to others’ needs as well as our own. Most likely Benedict never knew or used the word so prominent now: sustainability. But clearly he did adhere to its principles, including being satisfied with “enough” and using the goods of this world with moderation. Benedict refers to such practices as being content with what is given, not being hoarders, using tools and other goods with reverence, etc. Surely he meant his followers to handle with care what was available and around them. (Even borrowed garments were to be washed upon return from a trip and then stored away for future use!)




Early October has the feasts of two much-beloved saints whose lives give witness to the desire and capacity for simplicity of life: St. Therese of Lisieux (Oct. 1) and St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4). Both expressed and exhibited a willingness to live simply, content with what they were given or allowed. Both are wondrous examples of living a rich interior life satisfied with a certain “enoughness.” Neither lived in dire poverty, nor is that what the Gospel teaches. We are to have what we need and anything beyond that is to be received with gratitude and without undue attachment. Living simply—avoiding excess—seems essential for sustainability over the long haul. Sister Carol Berg

The Beloved says to all who will hear

This morning I was giving the hibiscus plant in our lobby its every-other-day drink and talking to its bright orange blossom. I suddenly found myself thanking it for how eagerly it takes in the vibrancy of sun and water. Its striking blossom only lasts twenty-four hours. And surrounding it on various branches are buds, puffing up, pregnant with life. They seem poised and ready to share their in-the-moment color-burst with eyes eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their joyful self -expression.


It triggered in me a flashback to the words of a psalm I had just read from the book, Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness by Nan C. Merrill.

The Beloved says to all who will

hear,

“Come, walk with Me. Let us

give birth to a new Earth!”

For, the Spirit is the One who makes all things
new,
and ever awaits our “yes” to the

Dance!

Psalm 110

Thanks, shockingly beautiful hibiscus, for reminding me to dance on this earth that you have brightened with your daily drinking in of the life-giving Spirit and self-revelation.