“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”
Jer 5, 17

“At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am known.
1 Paul, 13, 13

“Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of those that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.”
Lk 4,

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Photo: Kathryn Holt “A word found me,” a friend told me after Mass yesterday. “Reveal.”

She had been looking for her word for the year, prompted by a spiritual mentor, and it shimmered before her right out of the Scripture reading on New Year’s Eve.

“You might want to try it,” she suggested. I might. I would. It sounds so…well…contemplative. I thought I would go home and be still and receive a word.

I did return home, but ran a couple of errands on the way. And then I straightened up the house and prepared some food for dinner (my sister and brother-in-law were coming). I sat quiet for a few moments, and then decided to finish the, I am embarrassed to say, Christmas cards I had been working on little at a time for a couple of weeks.

“It’s a good thing there are 12 days of Christmas,” I wrote on each one, ” That gives me time to send out the cards!”

True. Christmas season isn’t over yet, and I did enjoy taking time with each card, writing personal notes and slipping a copy of my December column into the envelopes before sealing them.

Dinner was wonderful. Michael and I savored pork and sauerkraut. Elizabeth enjoyed the black bean lasagna she brought along. The best part of the evening was the long rambling conversations that included children, grandchildren, my book in process, homographs and triple homonyms, and how to earn badges on “Drawsomething.”

A good beginning to 2013, but no word appeared, shimmering before me.

This morning, the Psalms, reflections, and Mass readings in the January issue of “Give Us This Day” spoke to me, not with a single word, but with an image: Resting in God. Living There.

The January issue began with a reflection by Ronald Rolheiser, OMI about “Blessed Consciousness.” He shared a story of a Buddha sitting under a tree, called a “pig” by a passing soldier.The Buddha responded by telling the soldier he looked like God. Puzzled, the soldier asked why the Buddha would say such a thing. The Buddha explained that what we perceive as outside of us is really a reflection of what is within. The Buddha sat and thought about God….so when he looked outside himself, he saw God. He left the soldier wondering what was filling his own thoughts.

On the other hand, our thoughts are also colored by how the world sees us: Are we told we are beautiful, beloved, treasured? Are we treated with respect or disdain? With love or contempt? What wounds do we carry within that make resting with the Holy One within difficult? That make peace hard to find?

One of today’s Psalms say our hearts cry out: “Seek his face.”

Where do we see the face of the Holy One? Can we see it in ourselves? Can we rest knowing we are the Beloved of Love Herself? If we can, doesn’t that change how we see the world?

The Letter of Saint John admonishes us to “remain in him…”

To rest in the Holy Mystery. To see through the eyes of one who is Loved. To know the assurance and peace that comes with the gift of Embracng Presence given every moment. Every day.

I may not receive a word, but I have an image: being the beloved, resting in the ample lap and arms of the most Holy Mother God, whether I am working at home, relishing quiet prayer time, or selling goods to Macy’s customers.

Living out of such an image is a challenge. The world doesn’t always share Her glorious opinion of me. ( A bit like the grandparents I saw over the holiday looking at their almost year old grandchildren with joy, love, and pride.) Neither do I. But I have an image. And I will try.

Durate: Acrylic on Canvas His betrothed was pregnant. Not his child. Still, he loved her and wanted to spare her the shame and consequences of her condition. What to do? How to love her in such impossible circumstances. And his life? What next for him if what he had most desired and planned was no longer possible?

With so much weighing on his mind and tearing at his heart, how did Joseph sleep deeply enough to have the dream? He did, though, and remembered it on awakening. Mary hadn’t been unfaithful. Really she had been radically faithful to the One they both worshipped.

In the midst of his turmoil, what word had he received? Get up. Take Mary home. Love her. Love her child. Make a home.

Extraordinarily common instructions from Adonai Yir’eh, the God Who Sees.

Difficult for Joseph, no doubt, this faith, this call to live as if nothing unusual had happened.

Today, in the midst of personal and national grieving for the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary, in the face of a “fiscal cliff” and global economic crisis, in a world filled with poverty and violence, in a world where children are not safe, where the vulnerable are not protected. In such a world, what is Adonai’s word for us?

Love.

Love Mary’s child. Make a home for Love Incarnate in your heart, in your home, in your city, your world. Do what Love compels you to do where you are. Everyday. Everywhere. At home. At work. At the grocery.

Love. Extraordinarily common instruction for us.

Protect those who cannot protect themselves. See God Incarnate in the faces of others. Give generously of time, resources, gifts that are your blessings to share.

Love. Where you are. Pray. Where you are. Serve. Where you are. Weep. Hold. Encourage. Laugh. Be radically faithful to the One you worship and let Love Incarnate touch the world through your hands, your feet, your mind, your heart.

Love.

PHOTO: Mary van Balen Preparing to write my monthly column, I had read today’s readings last week. As I sat in the pews at church and listened to them again, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the campaigns that ended with re-electing President Obama last Tuesday. I know Jesus was not talking about election funding and stretching the story of the widow’s mite to do that may draw criticism. So, I want to be clear that I am not attempting an interpretation of Scripture here. Just sharing what came to mind.

First, an obscene amount of money was spent on this election. I have heard an estimate of 2 billion. I don’t know what the exact numbers are, but they are staggering and surely could have been put to better use.

Second, small amounts of money, small investments of time, one person, can make a difference. Over the past few days, a number of conservative spokesmen (most were men…) have pointed to a variety of reasons their candidate lost. Besides accusations of Obama suppressing the vote, hurricane Sandy derailing Romney’s momentum, the 47% backing Obama, or the demise of the white majority, the claim has been made the liberals bought the election. (Huff Post Politics Nov. 11 article by Sabrina Siddiqui)

As I pictured a widow placing her two coins on the table beside much larger donations to the Temple treasury, I thought of the money spent on the presidential election. While I am not suggesting the the Democratic Party ran its campaigns solely on small amounts of money given by ordinary people, I do believe that much of their money was raised by small donations given by individuals.

I am proud that a coalition of many people and groups held together to make their voices heard on Tuesday. Big money could not buy the election…either way. People who stood in long lines, who rode buses to polling places, who chipped in $3 countless times when an email arrived in their inboxes, these people helped make the re-election of President Obama a reality. People who wanted their voices heard. The “ground game” involving countless people hitting the streets, making phone calls, driving people to polling places made a difference.

What happens next is more important. How will this country, divided as it is, come together to address serious issues? Will we be able to work for the common good rather than try to protect special interests? Will programs like Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid be viewed as rights given to those who have contributed all their lives to those funds or as assistance to the most vulnerable among us rather than as “entitlements?” Will issues of poverty be raised as well as issues that affect the middle class? Will the LGBT community enjoy the respect every human being deserves?

As Jim Wallis of “Sojourners” has pointed out that the Bible contains more than 2,000 verses about poverty. Poverty did not make it into the campaign spin. Abortion and Gay marriage did, put forth by some Christian churches as the only two non-negotiable Christian values. (I have to ask why protecting a child in the womb is more important that protecting it once it arrives.)

Our nation is no longer a majority “Christian” nation. It is comprised of people of many faiths and no faith. I think rather than worry and wring their hands over it, Christians should be busy about living their faith. Stop wasting time, money, and energy fighting over issues like putting the Ten Commandments on public property and reach out to those in need.

Madeleine L’Engle, one of my favorite authors, has inspired not only my writing, but also my commitment to try to live out my faith. She told a story about speaking at an evangelical college not long after her Newberry Award winning book, “A Wrinkle in Time,” was published. Some attending her lecture found fault with her book and questioned her faith. They wondered why she didn’t do more “evangelizing.”

Her answer was simple: She would live her life in such a way that others would look at it and want something similar for themselves. She would evangelize, it seemed, not so much by her words as by her life. Reminds me of a comment often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (Though I have searched his works and have not found it stated just so.): “Go forth and preach; use words if you have to.”

That seems to me the message of this election. People of many nationalities, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual preferences, faiths, non-faiths, philosophies, and economic circumstances have joined together and said: We are hurting. We are suffering. We are in need. We have ideas. Listen to us. Reach out to us. Do something that matters.”

Will we? Will those Christians among us live and respond to need with such joy and faith that others will be moved to wonder how we do it? Will compassion be evident? Will we give, as the widow in today’s gospel did, out of our need, not just out of our surplus?

This election is not an end. I hope it is a beginning.

PHOTO: Mary van Balen I was able to crawl into bed with a grateful heart much earlier than expected. The vote count did not extend into today, or as some feared, even weeks ahead. Romney delivered a gracious concession speech, Obama a rousing acceptance speech. I know rough months loom ahead. Some Republicans are already placing all the demand for concessions on economy at the President’s feet. Doesn’t bode well for compromise or an end to gridlock. Still, Obama is in for four more years, and that in itself is encouraging to me.

I am also relieved the the Roman Catholic Church’s dangerously political posturing did not prevail as more than 50% of the Catholic vote was cast for Obama. I had followed what appears to me to be obvious crossing the acceptable rhetorical line by RC church officials. Cardinal Dolan allowing some of his priests to run obviously partisan rants in their bulletins; Bishop Jenky listing many of Obama’s stands and implying that Catholics who voted for such a candidate did so at the peril of their eternal soul; Fortnight for Freedom running from June 21 through July 4, are just some of the most blatant examples of good reasons to remove tax exempt status from some of those churches. That likely will not happen, but the question has been raised already by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Bishop Jenky comparing Obama to Stalin and Hitler is NOT telling Catholics in his diocese how to vote? Ludicrous. I am outraged by such tactics in the name of faith. What happened to the Catholic Church’s doctrine of primacy of conscience? Maybe, because it is part of Vatican II documents, some Catholics think it doesn’t count?

The Church, the Republican party, the nation, must accept the growing diversity in our country. This election shows not only a politically divided nation, but a nation of a many races, nationalities, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It is a nation that must face questions of climate change, poverty, the economy, and violence.

I take heart in the results of this election. Big money, hateful, in some cases racist, adds funded without required accountability of those who footed the bill, was not enough to buy the election. That is hopeful. I will be listening to posturing by the two parties to see who is really interested in dealing with these challenges that loom ahead.

And I will be praying for true cooperation.

PHOTO: Mary van Balen, View: Afton VA My week-long vacation began with a foggy drive through West Virginia and Virginia that necessitated an unplanned overnight in Lexington, VA. The stay was nice, though, and gave us a chance to slow down. One shouldn’t have to hurry into a “vacation.” Strictly speaking, I was the one headed for weeks vacation. My daughter would take off a few days to spend with me at the beach, but our friend was headed back to work after attending a wedding. No matter. I think we all enjoyed a good night’s sleep and arriving in Williamsburg in daylight.

The first day I did a lot of sleeping and reading, surprised at how tired I was. Tuesday I took my daughter to work and wrote a couple of blogs at a local coffee shop before going to visit a friend. Wednesday began four amazing days: First seeing the Dalai Lama, next going to the beach, and finally, seeing the presidential motorcade and the president himself as he arrived at Kings Mill Resort.

Hurrying across the street and up a pine-needled bank to a walking path, I twisted an already sore knee and have spent much of today alternately Icing it and applying heat, preparing to return home tomorrow.

Read the past three blog posts to learn more about a vacation packed with amazing events. As my daughter said, this years visit will be tough to top. I guess she doesn’t want me counting on Dalia Lama and President type expeinences! Who could blame her?

No worries. Time with her and time to relax and enjoy the beauty of the place is more than enough. Though, I have to admit, this has been an amazing week.

PHOTO: Mary van Balen Kill Devil Hills, NC Time on the beach is always a grace. This week my daughter and I spent three days there, walking, looking for shells, watching birds, listening to waves crashing and tides going out and coming in. We splashed through cold water and waded in tide pools, remembering ocean vacations with my parents. Mom loved the tide pools and sat in her beach chair right in the middle. She had a good eye for sharks’ teeth when walking along the oceans edge. With a sieve, she found some big ones in the tide pools.

Wonderful memories.

Kathryn and I enjoyed watching the sanderlings scurrying up to the water’s edge looking for food, and hurrying back up the beach when the waves flowed in. Some of the tiny birds stood on one leg…and as Kathryn noticed, hopped on one foot as often as running on two.

Time and distance are different at the beach. We lose time of both and walk further than we imagined. The beach demands attention. How can one ignore the salty wind, the hollow crash when a wave breaks along a sandbar, or the cold water circling your ankles or sliding up to your knees?

Sometimes we talked. Sometimes we just walked near each other, eyes combing the sand for shells or sea glass. Nothing in particular. Whatever the sea offers that day, that moment.

We had brought books. I had colored pencils and journals. But few pages were read, those mostly at night. No drawings this year. Just walking and being.

Prayer of Presence. Nothing required. No prayer books or Psalms. Just being and occasionally reverencing the Sacred in which all this creation-ocean, wildlife, people, my daughter and me- lived and breathed. It was enough. It was more than enough.