Tag: Faith Journey

Gratitude and Thanksgiving

I sat here in front of a blank page for a while wanting to write something but couldn’t get started. The season brings many memories, most with warm and loving feelings.  From our earliest days in Brooklyn to most recent holidays in Florida so much has changed around us. The family has grown and spread out around the country.  Last year we spoke about having one big family holiday like the old days at some midpoint probably on the East Coast.  It’s not as easy as it sounds. It’s still a work in progress. We gather in smaller groups, now. Some of us have become part of other families while others create new traditions with friends. 

As I reflect back through the years, I think of the faces at the table that have come and gone; friends who’ve moved away,  partners that didn’t work out, loved ones who have passed.   I am amused thinking how the contents of our table have changed through the years as well.  Often persons who join us being a part of their traditions.  Through the years we’ve added things like homemade stuffing, collard greens, sweet potato casserole with pecan toppings from the South; kremsnita, a phyllo cheese pie from Croatia, or yucca marinated with onions, olive oil, and vinegar, common in the Carribean.  

Thanksgiving was not a tradition in Puerto Rico for my parents growing up in the 1930s and 40s, but I remember in Brooklyn in the 1960s we celebrated it every year with my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Our parents blended their traditional foods and flavors with what was usual holiday food in the NorthEast. Growing up we would have a roasted turkey prepared with a rub of garlic, salt, and oregano; it was the same type of seasoning Puerto Ricans traditionally used for roast pork during the holidays and special occasions.  We had baked sweet potatoes or yams and guineitos en escabeche; pickled green bananas that were marinated days before. These were served alongside a dish called arroz con gandules; it’s like a paella, prepared in one pot with pigeon peas, peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, and tomatoes or tomato sauce.   My mother loved to cook and often made pumpkin pie,  flan, and Pillsbury sugar cookies.  

All the years of memories tend to blend together, and in my recollection, I remember our faith practice of gratitude and singing; in old photographs, I see dancing. I distinctly remember lots of laughing and warm smiles.  My mother had started experiencing symptoms of her illness, and my dad took to drinking every day after work and yet,  I remember feeling safe and loved. With all their personal struggles, they made us, their children, a priority.  For that alone, I am eternally grateful.  I think that supportive foundation helped me tackle a lot of challenges throughout the years.

It was that feeling of love and security that I wanted to re-create for our kids.  My siblings and I did.  My daughters and their cousins remember the holidays with the same nostalgia.  They want to pass on the same love, laughter to their own children.  Thankfully, as the family grows, they have added new traditions along the way. 

Today as I contemplate the holiday season, I wonder why Thanksgiving is not a more important holiday in this country. Of all the holidays, I think Thanksgiving can serve to unite us as a nation.  Many cultures and religions practice gratitude. From earlier times people have celebrated a good harvest giving thanks to a higher power.  Even folks who are not “religious” recognize that living in gratitude and being appreciative is to be in a good state of mind. One would think that given the emphasis that our leaders place on God’slaws and God’s rules, that they could agree to celebrate gratitude with more enthusiasm.  Giving thanks seems to be a common denominator, even if you are a humanist you can be grateful for your particular abilities and achievements. 

Perhaps someone’s White House can one day hold a service and invite religious and secular leaders of diverse groups to a Thanksgiving dinner.  There is something about literally breaking bread together that unites people and overcomes barriers.  I know it’s not even remotely on the agenda for this administration but its something to consider for the future. I understand that similar activities have been attempted at different times without success, falling apart at party lines, but I am sitting here living in the moment during a season of hope and so I continue to believe in our democracy.

I am mindful that not everyone feels the same during this season, perhaps some can’t find anything to be grateful for, not past or present.  Itis actually very common to feel sad and alone especially during this holiday season.  I would encourage my readers to open your eyes, look around and reach out to a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker and perhaps invite someone to join you.  My family has never had excessive material wealth, but there has always been room at the table for one more.  To those who may get an invitation, don’t turn it down.  Its never too late to make a pleasant memory. 

I am thankful that you stopped by today.  Peace be with you. 

Twinkle little star. A to Z Challenge

Windows in heaven
Perhaps they are not stars, but rather windows in Heaven where the love of those who went ahead pours through and shines upon us…

 

Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky… or as my fifteen-month granddaughter sings it “kakle, kakle, sahh, ahh, ahh.” Don’t judge.  Her mother grew up in New England where people say “Pahk yah, cahs in Hahvahd Yahd.”  It could be she’s already picking up the accent her mother brought to their new home fifteen hundred miles away. The point is that my granddaughter loves that song. Every time I go to visit, almost as soon as I walk in through the door, she brings her storybook with the big yellow star on the cover. We put the world on “pause”,  she proceeds to climb on my lap and rests her little head on my chest. We cuddle to read it- at least three times before we can move on. I don’t mind. I love it!

I can’t say that she’s made a connection between the star in the book and the immense collection of twinkling diamonds in the night sky outside her window. She rarely stays up past 7:30 anyway. I’m sure when she’s old enough; she will be as mesmerized by the vast infinity of bright lights in the night sky as I am. How can she not?

The first time I was aware of the overwhelming expansion of the stars in the black velvet sky, I was breathless. To understand the extent of my reaction, you have to remember that I am a “city kid.” I grew up at a time when folks were talking about smog, pollution and how to make the air better in the large cities across the country.  I don’t lie when I tell you that I never imagined the night sky could be so much more amazing than a visit to the planetarium. I was about 16. It was during a Winter Youth Retreat in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, the night was crisp and not a cloud in the sky. It was magical.

I’ve lived just outside city limits since then, and whenever there is a night clear enough to see the sky full of stars, I swear I feel a little tipsy.  It still takes my breath away.  In one of those moments of stretching reality through imagination, I promised my kids that when I’m gone from this world, I’ll try to find a way to still keep looking out for them. Maybe I’ll be looking out from behind one of those stars. In our family, many of our loved ones have left this earth before we were ready to  say “Goodbye.” I love that quote that suggests that stars are windows in the sky for our loved ones to see us. Here Anne Murray’s version of the same idea.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZBZC01_sQ

I do believe that our loved ones have the opportunity to become angels or spirit guides as some faith practices believe. A teacher once said it might take some longer than others, but that’s why we pray for the deceased souls and offer services. I find that comforting, maybe that’s why I will always love a starry, starry night. It lights my soul and gives me hope. Blog challengea2z-h-small.

AtoZ Challenge – JOURNEY

Blog challengea2z-h-small.

“Life is about the JOURNEY, not the destination.” I consider this quote one of my favorite expressions which continually renews the way I look at life. Whenever I’m with someone who is planning a wedding or a great vacation, I always remind them to enjoy everything leading up to the big event because it’s all over so quickly. People today spend countless hours and dollars planning for that special day, but then they are too busy or tired to enjoy it. I love to look at old photos of fun times, but I also warn people about trying to capture too many moments with the phone, you may be missing the opportunity for adventure or special moments that you can’t rewind. Laugh about the stressors and mishaps for someday they’ll be great stories to tell the grandchildren or reminders for yourself before you put your head down to sleep.

I often remember people that I’ve met on my JOURNEY and I acknowledge that whether it was for a moment or a season, a blessing or a lesson; those who’ve crossed my path have touched my life and added a bit to who I am today. One friend was especially attentive to enjoy the JOURNEY and life’s offerings. “Why stress about where it’s going tomorrow if it’s wonderful now?” Over the years, I’ve come to understand the importance and adapt that philosophy to my life and my JOURNEY.

To give proper credit, I went searching for the author of the quote that has become such a part of our everyday language (and of course memes). I found that Ralph Waldo Emerson is often credited with “Life is a journey, not a destination” but in fact, several ministers and Bible teachers of the time used similar language in journals or teachings. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/31/life-journey/

It makes sense to me that such a quote would also have religious connotations. I’m glad some preachers and teachers have tried to redirect their communities. If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you may have guessed that my JOURNEY has been via a road with twists and turns. For part of my life, I was teaching that the most important thing in life was the final destination on the other side of those Pearly Gates. For that, I’ve apologized.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped to take a break and look around me. I noticed that some people were too focused getting to the Promised Land, the mansions, walking on the Streets of Gold that they lost the purpose of their JOURNEY and forgot the words of Jesus Christ. “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.” … ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’Matthew 25:35-40.

After a while, I took up my satchel and changed direction –  same JOURNEY, different route. Rather than waiting to see all the wonders “over yonder,” I’ve decided to enjoy JOURNEY, and make the most of the blessings in my simple life.

Give to Caesar…

The other day, in answer to a recent assignment, I wrote a quick knee-jerk response to a blog post that piqued my interest.  I found the post on a blog I follow that recommended another site.  https://promptlings.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/we-have-met-the-enemy-redux/   Today, I am trying to respond in a more thoughtful way, and hopefully, it makes sense.

A couple of years ago, when I first started this blog, I thought I would use it as a place to respond in an unfiltered or uncensored way, to the political news of the day. In the same way that J.Dennison describes in her Filosofa’s Word, I am often annoyed by the response of extreme, right-wing, conservative political groups in regards to social issues in our country. I had planned to use this forum to voice that sentiment, but as time and the election passed, I became more infuriated with frustration and decided that type of blog would not work for me. I feel that people are so entrenched in their point of view that there is no longer room for dialogue. However, when confronted by the blatant abuse of power, I feel compelled to comment. J. Dennison’s article was written last year, but as she explains the problem continues and appears to be a norm more than an isolated incident.

A couple of days ago I received CBS News article about former President Jimmy Carter titled, Jimmy Carter on his journey of “Faith”. It was an interview with Jane Pauley about his impressions on life, religion, politics and the current state of affairs in this country. It also served to promote for his new book, “Faith: A Journey for All” (published by Simon & Schuster, a CBS company) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-on-his-journey-of-faith/

Jimmy Carter has been a favorite of mine for a long time. Even though he was a one-term president, his life out of office has been remarkable in terms of his work with human trafficking, civil rights, world peace etc. What I like the most about Jimmy Carter is that although his faith is part of who he is, he has always been very clear about the importance of maintaining the separation of church and state. President Carter has used the Biblical passage in Matthew 22: 20-22 to support his stance with religious leaders in this country. In this passage, Jesus of Nazareth is asked by a prominent religious group of the time if they should give “the tribute to Caesar”. Jesus asked them to show him a coin and poses the question, “Whose image is this?” When they respond, “It’s Caesar”. He gives them back the coin and simply tells them “then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”

I believe that many of the religious leaders of today are very much like the High Priests in Jesus time. In a simple comparison, both groups are driven by special interests that benefit them over the common good. They get caught up trying to maintain the status quo by clinging to archaic traditions and forgetting basic spiritual teachings. Christian religious leaders in this country have overstepped the boundaries and not for the good of the faithful. I can also easily compare their increasing influence over our government policies to Ayatollah Khomeini’s surge to power in Iran in 1979.

The meshing of fundamentalist and conservative “values” in current political trends is part of what is causing such divisiveness in our country. On the surface, it appears that it is merely tension among racial or ethnic groups.  Unfortunately, we often see that the churches can turn believers against each other for the “sake of the Gospel”. We can look back to see that Christians were OK with slavery because the Bible talks about Christian slaves. Now we see that many prominent Christian groups are hateful toward the LGBT groups. They are Ok with domestic violence and rape of a wife because of a verse in the Bible written to address a particular faith community. These groups advocate for employers to provide medical care s they see fit – Cialis for men but not birth control for women and I can go on.

I was raised in a fundamentalist, Christian environment. I even attended a Christian Bible College my first year right after high school. It was there when I first began to really question what I had been taught. I would often be sitting in a class and think to myself “Wait- what?? Come again? Can you repeat that? I don’t think I heard you right? Didn’t Jesus pray for us to be as one so that the world would know that this is from God? Why are you throwing the brother under the bus?” Bottom-line, although my faith remains intact, I have moved away from the basic premise that the only way to God is by way of the Fundamentalist Evangelical teachings.

Twelve years ago I converted to Catholicism with all its scandals and turbulent history. It was at a time in my life when I craved spirituality but did not want to go back to my previous involvement in” holiness churches”. I was fortunate to find a Catholic Community that met my needs. I had friends, members of the local parish who were good, sincere, caring souls. I decided to take a closer look. The Pastor was an Augustinian Friar who demonstrated a great love for the people in the immigrant city where he served. I was taught the importance and the difference between traditions, rituals and a personal spiritual relationship with God. Contrary to what I had been taught, this was not mindless idol worship, but rather these traditions are tools to help enhance our spiritual practice and connection with God. This community participated in different yet fulfilling types of worship; all within the Christian teachings of the Catholic Church.

Since this is Holy Week for Roman Catholics and other Christian faiths, I wanted to share a “verbal snapshot” of how I experienced my first Lenten season and Holy Week in that Catholic community. The first thing I noticed was on Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent was that Church was dressed as the desert, devoid of all splendor to reflect a spiritual pilgrimage of sacrifice that would end with Easter Sunday celebrations. As Lent progresses into the final days of Holy Week, the dressing of sanctuary continues to change to reflect the spiritual journey of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday.

One of the biggest traditions of Lent around the world is the Via Crucis or the Way of the Cross. It refers to a series of images and Bible readings depicting the life Jesus Christ culminating on the day of his crucifixion. In my parish, these images were placed around the Sanctuary and during the weeks of Lent, each day prayer groups would stop at each image to reflect on Bible passages and pray. This particular community in an old mill city in Massachusetts had a predominantly Latino population. Culturally it was a big deal that on Good Friday the Via Crucis was taken to the streets. The Stations of the Cross were now at a homeless shelter, food pantry, soup kitchen, school, nursing home, hospital, rehab facility etc – wherever there was a need. The crowd that gathered behind the priest, the simple wooden Cross and Bible characters, numbered several hundred. As we walked, we sang solemn songs of repentance and sorrow and yet there was an uplifting spirit of hope.

At each station we stopped, the Priest read a passage from scripture, shared a reflection about the need of the particular station and most of us joined in prayer. I imagined that the group gathered here had similar characteristics to that crowd outside of Jerusalem on the way Golgotha. There was the faithful who came to worship and relive those moments spiritually with the Lord. There were those who came out because that’s what you do on Good Friday if you are Catholic Latino and live in this city. There were kids that had obviously come out to check out the cute girls and vice versa. There were moms with little ones and old ladies in wheelchairs. There were those hanging out the windows and front steps watching the “procession” go by – some probably silently praying for the souls of idol worshippers – not really understanding what was going on but what they were taught. No judgment- I was there once.

The crowd, in response to the scriptures that the Priest read, were yelling “Crucify him, crucify him” or a little further responded by mocking “Jesus” as he carried the cross. It was around this time that I got lost in my thoughts and transcended to that place so long ago. I asked myself a simple question… if I had lived then, which side would I be on? I had been raised a good, church girl. I had respected the church leaders and more than once followed their advice – sometimes even when things didn’t feel quite right. I probably would have listened to him for a while as he taught on the mountainside. I would have heard of his miracles. Perhaps he would have healed my mother. According to what is written, for their own special interest and personal gain, the high priests and religious leaders enticed the crowd to request that the Roman government crucify the Nazarene. Would I have turned my back on him now because the High Priest told me he was evil, blasphemes? Hindsight is 20/20 they say. Sound familiar?

We don’t have a physical Christ to crucify today, but His teachings are being attacked or shredded bit by bit each day. In John 18:36 Jesus said “my kingdom is not of this world… It is in another place.” So why are church leaders today forcing their beliefs upon our nation, hating strangers like the Good Samaritan of the Bible, making judgments by their own standards and blaming Jesus? They use verses out of context to convince their followers. Even Trump has been heard quoting the Bible.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have friends who I care about, and I believe they are truly faithful to the spirit. They are filled with all the love and compassion that one would expect of a follower of Christ. There are many good people in these fundamentalist evangelical churches looking for peace, looking for love and have found it for the Spirit is more powerful than man. There are plenty of good pastors that truly have a vocation to serve. We must not let those power hungry people turn us against each other and take over all that is good in our country. Church and state must coexist. I believe people need spirituality but the government should not dictate how we address our personal spiritual needs.