The Crisis of the Hour

Have you ever noticed how our collective attention span is so very short?  It has been a very challenging few weeks internationally and as each crisis erupts we seem to forget the last one.  Wildfires in the West, the current Covid surge, flooding in Tennessee, the earthquake in Haiti, the unfolding disaster in Afghanistan, and now Hurricane Ida.  Each of these have had their time at the top of the news, and then gradually slipped down the list and eventually even out of sight.  One study based on the number of Google searches for information about a news story noted that even the biggest stories have a median cycle of seven days.  One week.  That's how long we are interested enough to find out more.

I am not really sure what we can do about it, except this.  What if we all truly took a concern, a story, an area of need, and focused out attention on that?  Learned all we could about it. Prayed about it.  Discovered how we could make an impact on the situation and then took action?  Rather than simply moving from crisis to crisis, like some sort of disaster tourists, really honing in on one particular issue and making it our own.

Obviously we can't solve all the world's problems.  And just as obviously we shouldn't ignore any of them.  But we can make a concerted effort to address one of them.  Seriously.  Prayerfully.  Concertedly.  

Does God Hate Haiti?

Yesterday a parishioner forward a blog post by Canadian pastor Jim Taylor in which he asks, "Dear God, why do you keep picking on Haiti?"  He follows his question with a short summary of all the human-made and natural disasters and dilemmas the island nation has faced.  And they were and are many.  I recently taught a course on the history of Haiti, and there is little question that both nature and foreign powers all seemed and seem to be aligned against the first independent black-led nation in the West.  

I think Taylor's post is theologically tongue-in-cheek.  Certainly I don't believe God is picking on Haiti or any other nation for that matter.  I just don't think that's how Divine Love operates.
But I do think God expects us to reach out in responsible ways to our sisters and brothers in need.  And they don't come any needier, at least not in this hemisphere, than folks in Haiti.  

Responsible ways.  Sustainable ways.  Haitian directed ways.  Too often Americans and other good hearted folks just pour money into a problem without giving it a lot of thought to how it will be spent.  That has happened over and over again in Haiti.  To really make a difference we need to ask questions of the charities and organizations we help fund.  Who will be overseeing the spending of donations?  How will projects and efforts be chosen?  Will folks on the ground be involved in the choosing, especially nationals?  Is the technology to be used appropriate for the location and the people who will be using it?  What plans are being laid for the future?  Is the project sustainable?

No, God isn't picking on Haiti.  God doesn't hate any nation.  But God is expecting us to respond.

(If you want to read Taylor's full post you can find it at http://quixotic.ca)

 

Spiritual Sneakers

Covid is on the rise (again).  Afghanistan is crumbling (again).  Parts of Haiti are in ruin (still).  Hurricanes and tropical storms are working there way through the Caribbean and onto various coastlines here and elsewhere.  Wildfires continue to burn.  Climate change is bringing bizarre weather to much of the world. It is enough to make one want to turn off the television, close the lap top, ignore social media and simple hide away.  But of course we can't--not if we want to be responsible members of the human race.  But though we can't escape we can find a bit of respite.  How?  By making sure we create and adhere to our spiritual practices.

There are many ways to do that.  We might find comfort and sustenance in meditation.  We might feel more connected to the Source of Life in and through prayer.  Journaling might give us an opportunity to sort out our thoughts and feelings and offer up our concerns to God in written prayers.  Worship, online or in-person, might help us remember we are part of a greater community which is traveling though these days with us.  

There are any number of good books which can help you explore spiritual practices and identify one or more for yourself.  Modern classics include Anthony Bloom's Beginning to Pray, Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline and Marjorie Thompson's Soul Feast.  But there are many others as well geared for many different religious traditions.

Whatever you plan on doing, whatever you think would be good to you, as the sneaker manufacturer
puts it, the most important thing is to just do it.  

There's Just Something about a Sunset

There's just something about a sunset, isn't there?  Especially when seen across the waters.  Whatever waters!  I took this picture when I was in Maine last month on retreat, and its beauty shines across Boothbay Harbor, which opens out into the North Atlantic.  But sunsets over the retention pond that our lanai overlooks here at our condo in Florida can be equally inspiring!

Sunrises have a similar effect--at least on me!  Maybe for slightly different reasons.  A sunset puts a seal on the day just ending.  It seems to say, you worked hard, well done!  Now, take a break, you've earned the rest.  Whereas a sunrise promises a fresh start, a new day, a new opportunity to make a difference in the world.

Both sunrises and sunsets, though,, are also reminders that though this is an often troubled world, it is still a place of beauty.  A place we need to protect.  And the rising and setting of the sun also reminds us of the cyclical nature of life.  There are always beginnings and endings and then new beginnings.  There is something reassuring in that.  Something, that for me at least, is a reminder that though my thoughts and feelings about God, my awareness of God's presence, may wax and wane, it is always present.

It's true, there's just something about a sunset . . . .

Conversations with Silence: A Review

"Attempting to describe silence," writes author Sally Longley, "is like trying to grasp air . . . ." (4)  And so it is.  But despite spending a fair amount of time delineating the different forms silence can take, Longley's book is, as the author of the book's introduction Trevor Howard puts it, not so much "about" silence as an "encounter with silence."  (xi)

Longley organizes her book around a variety of her own experiences and those of others.  generally her illustrations work well and do add a measure of clarity.  I found the second chapter, "The Eloquence of Silence," especially helpful.  She deals, as the chapter title implies, with shadow experiences and how they can lead into a greater awareness of life itself if we are willing to sit with them in silence.  Such experiences require, she reminds us, a level of vulnerability many may experience as uncomfortable at first.  But in drawing us closer to the Holy Presence, they can also be a source of reassurance.  In particular she encourages the use of imagination in such experiences.  

The chapter, as is the case with each chapter, ends with a number of possible practices and exercises/experiences with which the reader might engage to further the learning.  These are well-thought out and certainly worth the effort.

Among other things, Longley takes a very creative look at the Biblical character Susanna, and fleshes out its meaning relative to silence for our day.  She also offers an interesting take on the largely untranslatable word selah, often thought to be a rubric for choristers.  "It is not easily translatable," she writes, "but there is general agreement among Hebrew scholars that it may mean pause, wait, notice or lift up."  (93)  These "slivers of silence," as she calls them, are present in every day, in every life, and we are wise to pay attention to them.

Enough of words, though.  This review, after all, is about a book focused on silence.  It is well-worth ones time.  But even more so is silence.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255