Recalculate

Photo: Susan Sink

Architects may—and do—build structures of peace.  We recognize such places when we enter them and subsequently experience quiet peace. We also recognize places of tension, busy-ness, agitation and bad energy when we are disturbed emotionally upon entering such places.

We, too, can create beautiful places of peace within and around us . . . places that can integrate all the sensory in-take that we absorb each day.

Sometime ago I wrote a blog on noise, unwanted "musak" in every building we enter, machinery and pneumatic drills outside our apartment complexes, violent words and even bullets within earshot in many areas, locally or abroad.

I suggest that we need an internal GPS to guide us on our way to healthy living, meaningful relationships, and ultimately to God.  How can you and I and our beloved community change so that we, indeed, create the peace we long for but which—for days and endless years—we do not experience?

My internal GPS tells me: “Recalculate”, a one- word directive capable of either frustrating me or freeing me for new opportunities in creating peace in the midst of what I call noise.  I need to ponder the piece of grass or flower coming up in the crack of a sidewalk, or the unlikely bed-fellows we occasionally see on YouTube missives: the rabbit and a fawn, the lion and a lamb, a child with its hand over the hole of an asp or adder (Is. 11:6-8).  It’s positive psychology; it’s mindfulness of the other; it’s well-being in the midst of chaos; it’s being able to create PEACE unobtrusively.

Renee Domeier, OSB

Community Laughter

Last week, our Sisters met together at Saint Benedict's Monastery for our annual Community Day. We begin the day with Morning Prayer in Sacred Heart Chapel. During the service, we commit to serve in the role assigned to us for the following year by the prioress. Next on the agenda is discussion of a topic that's important to us. This year the history, present state and future of some of our ministries was on the agenda. We all learned a lot.

The afternoon ended with three groups of Sisters performing skits about imaginary future developments in the monastery. And did we have laugh? Yes, we did! Just look at the photograph by S. Karen Streveler.

That brings me to the "serious" point of my blog. Laughing together is one of the best ways to bond as a community. We all acknowledged it afterwards. Sharing humor and enjoying one another through it, made us feel close and harmonious.

The power of humor is not a new idea. Basil Hume, the English Benedictine monk who became Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, was once asked what he thought were the three most important qualities in a monastic. He replied, "Humor, humility and humanity." When pressed about which he thought was the most significant of these three, he chose humor. I can understand why. Humility is about understanding who we are and accepting ourselves as we are; humanity is about being able to connect and sympathize with others through our shared human-ness; humor is about being able to see our own absurdity in the light of eternity. It includes both humility and humanity; we see ourselves as we are and our ability to laugh at our faults, failures and striving is a sign that we can accept them and love ourselves despite them - which is just how God loves us.

Karen Rose, OSB

God as Wisdom Energy

On June 7^th I was able to celebrate being three-fourths of a century old.  So I’ve given myself permission to ponder “What if…” whenever it rises in me.  So here’s my most recent “What if … ?”

What if …GOD actually is

WISDOM-ENERGY born of unconditional love

What if the “Father-ness” of God, expresses itself as infinitely-creating-Wisdom-Energy

          Generating:  • awe • praise and • gratefulness

         

What if the “Son-ness” of God, expresses itself as embodied-Wisdom-Energy

Generating:  a template of how we earthlings can walk/speak/respond as 
           
 incarnate  unconditional love and respect. 
  

              Then we would readily be   recognized by

                             • the attentiveness of our listening   
• the consistentness of our  letting go and • the totalness of our forgiving

What if the “Holy Spirit-ness” of God, expresses itself as transforming-Wisdom-Energy

          Generating:        

          • gentle-patience   • emerging-truth    • empowering-strength

          • compassionate-presence    • gift-naming    • wound-naming

          • resilient-hope             • endless-reciprocity          • humus-laughter

          • mindful-fearlessness • humble-peacefulness    • inclusive-respect

Let’s walk together on this Incarnate Unconditional Path.

Mary Rachel Kuebelbeck, OSB

Five Days with a Prophet

Sandra Schneiders, IHM

Every once in a while someone comes into our life and gives us a message that we cannot ignore. And what a gift that is!  Last week, S. Tamra Thomas, OSB, one of our women in 1st Monastic Profession and I drove to St. Mary's College in South Bend, IN to spend five days with such a person. Sandra Schneiders, IHM, is professor emerita of New Testament and spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. For an unknown number of years she has dedicated herself to studying, reflecting and writing on religious life in the new millennium. In fact, she has just published the third volume of a trilogy on religious life and, in case you are interested, the three volumes combined are 4" thick. The last volume alone is over 650 pages. She had much to share with the 240 of us assembled at St. Mary's, representing 48 congregations.

In the title of this blog I refer to Sr. Sandra as a "prophet". I am positive that she certainly would not call herself that and she would be embarassed to know that I am dedicating this blog to her; then why speak of her as a prophet?  On her last morning with us, the topic of the day was: "The Prophetic Vocation". We heard her say God calls the prophet, it is a vocation and one does not declare oneself a prophet.  One called can refuse, he or she has that freedom. The prophet is someone who gives him/herself over to God's purpose. How can a true prophet be distinguished from a false prophet?  The answer is coherence between the prophet's message and the prophet's life according to Sr. Sandra.  Not everyone who teaches the "Good News" is a prophet. They may be giving the right message but there could be incoherence between their teaching and their lives. Prophets always have their eyes fixed on God's people, the Church, and they witness to God's true nature. Jesus disturbed the leaders of his day.  In fact, his only crime was to challenge the status quo. For Jesus there was no inequality of power. It was never about the strong versus the weak, nor was it about someone being superior to another.

Why do I consider Sandra Schneiders, IHM a prophet for today?  Simple.  God has called her, her life is coherent with her message.  She is in her mid to late seventies now and retired from teaching.  She could now have a quieter life; yet she has a message to share and despite her fatigue last week she gave us the benefit of her wisdom way beyond what she was committed to give us.  Her gift is clarity of thought and preciseness of language. Her closing words to us were:  "Prayer should be the heart and center of our lives."  I have no doubt that she lives this day in and day out.