Advent has arrived. A new church liturgical year begins. We are on the threshold of a Year of Mercy as proclaimed by Pope Francis.

Advent, like the seasons of the natural year, has its own texture. It takes its texture from the season of winter. In the darkness of dreary wintry days, the sun shines fewer hours and does not provide enough heat to ward off wintry chills.

Winter represents a season when we, like many folk s/heroes, plunge into the dark abyss sometimes called hades or hell. Odysseus had to go into the nether world on his return home. Enter the myth of Persephone. Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus is abducted by Hades, god of the Underworld. She then reigns as the Queen of the Underworld. Hermes rescues her but she must return each year to Hades: Continue reading →

November 18 ushered in a very stormy day with high winds, tornados, and torrential rains. We were spared the harshest effects of this weather in Young Harris; however, it was a stormy, dreary day with occasional visits from the sun. I was headed east out of downtown Young Harris when I spotted the largest, most pronounced rainbow I have ever seen. All the colors of the spectrum surrounded by dark black storm clouds. Being a photographer, I said, “I wish I could get a picture of that.” I had forgotten that the camera that you have with you is the best camera. I then pulled off the road to a safe place and took photographs of the rainbow with my IPhone 6s. Later in the day I edited the photo and posted it on Facebook. Continue reading →

STS_119 Launch March 15

As we approach Advent where we delve deep into darkness. The liturgical calendar focuses our attention on the end times. The horrific attack on humanity in Paris last week immerses us in evil, darkness that abounds. We sense that we are living in “end times.”

How we react to end times and dark evil is up to us. The Bible tells us that we have choices–life and death–and enjoins us to choose life. Continue reading →

Merton’s Chapter 10, “A Body of Broken Bones,” in New Seeds of Contemplation is very poignant. Here are a few excerpts:

As long as we are not purified by the love of God and transformed into Him in the union of pure sanctity, we will remain apart from one another, opposed to one another, and union among us will be a precarious and painful thing, full of labor and sorrow and without lasting cohesion.
All over the face of the earth the avarice and lust of men breed unceasing divisions among them, and the wounds that tear men from union with one another widen and open out into huge wars. Murder, massacres, revolution, hatred, the slaughter and torture of the bodies and souls of men, the destruction of cities by fire, the starvation of millions, the annihilation of populations and finally the cosmic inhumanity of atomic war: Christ is massacred in His members, torn limb from limb; God is murdered in men.

As long as we are on earth, the love that unites us will bring us suffering by our very contact with one another, because this love is the resetting of a Body of broken bones. Even saints cannot live with saints on this earth without some anguish, without some pain at the differences that come between them. There are two things which men can do about the pain of disunion with other men. They can love or they can hate.

The root of Christian love is not the will to love, but the faith that one is loved. The faith that one is loved by God. That faith that one is loved by God although unworthy—or, rather, irrespective of one’s worth! In the true Christian vision of God’s love, the idea of worthiness loses its significance. Revelation of the mercy of God* makes the whole problem of worthiness something almost laughable: the discovery that worthiness is of no special consequence (since no one could ever, by himself, be strictly worthy to be loved with such a love) is a true liberation of the spirit . And until this discovery is made, until this liberation has been brought about by the divine mercy, man is imprisoned in hate.
IF you want to know what is meant by “God’s will” in man’s life, this is one way to get a good idea of it. “God’s will” is certainly found in anything that is required of us in order that we may be united with one another in love.
For Christianity is not merely a doctrine or a system of beliefs, it is Christ living in us and uniting men to one another in His own Life and unity. “I in them, and Thou, Father , in Me, that they may be made perfect in One…. And the glory which Thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be One as we also are One.” In hoc cognoscent omnes quia mei estis discipuli, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem. “In this shall all men know that you are my disciples— if you have love one for another.”

• In the bible, hesed refers to the loving action of God in us as God brings us to new life. Hesed has been translated as mercy, loving kindness and steady love. I like to think of hesed as a verb—God heseds us into life. I believe Merton’s concept of mercy, about which he often writes, captures the full meaning of God’s action in us.

Geese on Parade
c. J. Patrick Mahon

A week ago this morning we were still in Hot Springs, NC for the conclusion of the Wild Goose Festival (WGF). All week my mind has been going back to Hot Springs. I flew back like a wild goose this morning when I read the readings for Good Shepherd Sunday.

In Jeremiah 23 the prophet laments the fact that the shepherds have deserted and betrayed the sheep. Wild Goose was a reminder about how the shepherds have often deserted the sheep. I shared my previous reflection and one person picked up on the theme of how institutional religion has deserted the people. What should be a refuge, a banquet amid trials and turmoil according to Psalm 23, has morphed into an exclusive club where only the best of the kowtowing (sheeptowing?) are welcome. Religion has become creeds, codes, rules, and regulations. Follow the rules or you are out. Continue reading →

Merton–These day lilies are saints praising God.

[Click on photo for larger photo]

It took several days and committed determination to work my way through Laudatio si, Pope Francis’ thorough analysis of the human/ecological crisis. The papal letter is worthy of detailed study. Various non-Catholic church groups have enthusiastically endorsed it. Francis is speaking from a scientific mind and a Christian heart to address the crisis that faces humankind worldwide.

In my opinion, the Pope has used the best available science to conclude that human activity is largely responsible for the environmental crisis. Deniers, such as Jeb Bush, say that the pope should not be mixing religion and politics; however, this very week, Republican presidential hopefuls have met with Ralph Reed in Atlanta to learn how to mix their politics with religion in the upcoming campaign. Spiritual values apparently become an impermissible mixture of religion and politics when an individual’s religion and politics disagree with what is being put forth. Economics, moral values, science, religion and politics must work together to solve the eco crisis threatens mankind and all of creation.

The major argument of the letter, which I plan to analyze more thoroughly over time, is that greed, consumerism and a throw away culture have created the crisis. Humankind has confused “dominion” over creation with the rape of natural and human resources regardless of the cost to humanity now and into the deep future. Economic domination based on greed drives decision making and impedes workable solutions to the world crisis.

The Pope casts his appeal in terms of Gospel values—love, justice (especially for the poor), and the common good of all humankind. The pope resuscitates perennial human values such as beauty:

By learning to see and appreciate beauty, we learn to reject self-interested pragmatism. If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats every object as something to be used or abused without scruple (215).

Francis reminds us that we come to know the Creator through the “beauty of creation.” This is music to my photographer’s heart. Long accustomed to a domination based approach to photography—shooting pictures, capturing images—I have learned a new approach through my study of Thomas Merton’s photography. Christina Valtners Paintner, abbess of the monastery of the arts,” also helps me understand the very approach to creation the Pope is endorsing. All creation is a gift from God, however we want to define “God.” I no longer take photographs. Rather, I receive images which become icons of the reality they represent. I am not an objective observer with a machine called a camera. I am a human being who is immersed in creation; therefore, I am very much a part of what I am photographing and the final product reflects the subject and my personality.

Teilhard de Chardin who was ostracized by the Church died in obscurity. Chardin must be rejoicing in his grave because Francis roundly rejects the false dichotomy between matter and spirit, “Christianity does not reject matter.” (235) Francis, like his name sake, has highest regard for the material universe which embodies the Creator. Thomas Merton learned from Blake—everything is sacred. All creation reflects the glory and splendor of God. As Gerard Manley Hopkins put it, “The earth is charged with the grandeur of God.”

Throughout the letter, Francis is so aware of one thing. Thomas Merton put it so well, “We are already one. . . . we have to become what we are.” We are intimately related to the Creator, one another, all creatures and the material universe. This fundamental interdependence requires that we reassess on position vis a vis the material world and our interaction with that world. We are not conquerors and controllers; we are stewards of God’s creation. How we relate to creation affects our very life on this planet.

From the heights of such theological arguments so well phrased, the Pope also sounds a practical, pragmatic note:

There is a nobility to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle. Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting which directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of paper and plastic, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transportation and car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices (211).

Finally, the Pope sees that the “ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion.” (217) “Gratitude, gratuitousness, [and] a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift” are elements of conversion.