Trinitarian Prayer

Morning after Memorial Day this was my alarm clock.
Our prayers have always been Trinitarian, "In the name of the Father and of  the Son and of  the Holy Spirit," but we don't often advert to it.  Our prayer can be richer when we pray in the Blessed Trinity.  We surrender to Love living within us, Who unites us to the Risen Christ, Who gives us to his loving Father.  I start my prayer, "You are Love (Spirit) with Whom (Son) I love You (Father.)"

Overflowing Love

God is Love 

1 John 4:8  

God is an overflowing communion of Love.

Love flows towards us as the Energy that powers evolution, creating our entire universe, the source of everything that is.  We are used to calling that manifestation of Love "Father."
Love flows towards us taking on human flesh as Jesus and living among us, uniting humanity forever with Divinity.  We are used to calling that manifestation of Love "Son."
Love flows towards us remaining within and among us, building us up into a community which calls attention to gracious Love.  We are used to calling that manifestation of Love "Holy Spirit."

Common Holiness

These violets are holy just by being violets.  They made my walk richer.   We are holy just by being ourselves.  The Holy Spirit enables each of us to be faithful to our deepest self, to be the very specific person that God intends us to be.  Nothing extraordinary is required.   Just to live  the present moment, filling it to the brim with love, enriching the life of all who pass by.

Mother's Witness

Church was about a two mile walk across the hill.  When I was nine and snow was heavy and I was scheduled to serve 7 AM weekday Mass, Mother would walk ahead of me and make footprints so my short legs could fit in them.

Nothing Profane

By virtue of creation, and still more of incarnation, 

nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see. 

--Teilhard de Chardin

This was, I think, the first quote from Chardin that caught my fancy many years ago.  I was not attracted to spiritualities that separated me from the world.  I found myself drawn to fall deeper in love with it.  Hikes in the wilderness of Dolly Sods meant so much to me because I found God there.  Giving up movies for Lent seemed so backward because they helped me see the Divine in human relationships.

Everything Ablaze

A friend sent me a book of meditations on the mystical vision of Teilhard de Chardin, Everything Ablaze, by David Richo.  It is helping me to recognize even more God's presence in me and all around me.  It occurred to me yesterday that the pictures that I include in this blog very often reveal the Divine.  I don't so much "take" these pictures as "receive" them.  They are pure gift.  I had to go back several years to find this sunrise that has stuck in my memory and that would have made a perfect cover for the book.

Ready for Launch

Weeds this morning glistening with divinity.
The number 40 in the Bible usually means "enough."  Moses led the Hebrews through the desert enough years to mold them into a people.  Jesus was in the desert enough days to prepare for his ministry.  After the Resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples enough times to get them ready to carry on without him.  "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth."  The Spirit empowers us to call attention to Jesus everywhere.

Higher Power

Some years this plum tree doesn't even blossom, so this was a happy sight on Tuesday's walk.
 In a current survey 69% of  U.S. Catholics believe in God "as described in the Bible;"  28% believe in a "higher power."  88% believe that God is all-loving.
Most who believe in a "higher power" believe in a personal God because 88% of Catholics believe that God is all-loving.
Probably those who believe in God "as described in the Bible" are thinking of a human-like image.  Some, however, may be thinking of the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and said "I AM WHO I AM," refusing to give a human-like image, but who loved and cared for the Hebrews.  Others may be thinking of St. John's expression, "God is love."

God Is Love

"Love" is  the closest that I think we can come in human language to saying Who and What God is.  Twice in his First Letter John asserts flat out, "God is love."  John affirms without qualification that the very nature of God is disclosed in love.  "Those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them" (4:7-16.)  The little girl said, "God is like the air.  It is everywhere." I find it helpful to think of God as Love that is everywhere, Love that is personal, Who knows me and loves me.  I chose this picture of the same sunrise again because I think a reflection is the closest we can come to God.