Smiles - God smiles at us all the time. If we want to, we can smile back.

God’s Business - Our busyness can at times interfere with our true business.

Water and Spirit - Giving thanks to God for water arises readily in those who know that God loves them.

Dirt and Life - As Jesus once taught, it is what comes out of our hearts that can really make us unclean.

Healing of Injustices - The healing of injustices begins with complete openness to God.

Rest, in Peace - Resting, in peace, is not for the dead, but for the living.

Giving Up? - What did Jesus give up for Lent?

A Good Mystery - There is no joy quite like that of experiencing directly and personally the mystery of God-as-human relating with us.

Comparisons - The question is not whether we are better or worse off than someone else.

“Be Happy!” - God not only wants us to “act justly,” but to experience some of the positive consequences of acting in accord with the inspirations and guidance God gives us.

Three Kings? - Imaginative prayer is not dependant upon detailed historical accuracy.

“Our Father…” - Trust makes every prayer of any kind worth while.

Next Year - For us, the New Year is not a replacement for a worn-out set of days, but a continuation of choosing an attitude and manner of living that befit children of God.

Christ-Mass - Jesus comes from God, and is the most effective means to “bring us back to God.”

Smiles

Smiles are perhaps our most powerful means of communication. Recently, I looked at a picture of the new General Superior of the Jesuits, just after he had been chosen to bear the responsibility of governance for an organization of some 20,000 men around the world. The smile is radiant and unaffected, not the strained smile of a politician or the practiced smile of someone in entertainment. Whenever we smile spontaneously, we are very likely manifesting visibly the joy that we experience at the hidden presence of God within us.

Most of the photos we keep are of people smiling. Some of our deepest desires, for us and for others, are to experience the conditions that most readily draw forth smiles from us. When we smile, our eyes act as the windows of our souls. We can indicate respect, care, consideration, acceptance, and understanding in our smiles, just as we can manifest the opposite through frowns. The truth of our love for others, in all its various forms and degrees, becomes visible in our smiles.

We give one another great gifts with sincere smiles of appreciation. Of course we can “force” a smile, or smile outwardly while feeling anything but loving. But spontaneous smiles come from our hearts, where we are most intimately connected with the Spirit of God. We do not have to think or intend to convey anything of God to others when we smile, but God is love, and every least manifestation of love is of God.

Does God smile? Since the consequences of God within us are often manifested in smiles, even inward smiles that do not always become visible on our faces, we can imagine that the invisible God is a God of smiles. What moves the muscles of our faces when we are relieved, or healed, or become aware that “all is well?” The smile of God is on our faces, for the sake of others, and for us too.

How do we picture the face of Jesus, who has accomplished all he intended by his life, death, and resurrection? Frowning is out of the question! When we greet those who are sick, or those who are in serious difficulties, we do not smile at their pain, any more than Jesus smiles at our suffering. All of us, including Jesus, declare with our smiles, that we care, and are ready to respond to whatever another person experiences.

When we are alone, we still might have many occasions to smile. Imagine Jesus Christ coming up, and calling us by name. As we look up, we are met with a radiant and gracious eye-to-eye smile. If we let ourselves imagine this, our own facial muscles will probably relax, and we might even smile in return. Again, we can imagine encountering someone we know, and while thinking of that person, allow a smile to develop on our faces. If a smile develops, even if it remains invisible, love is very likely at work in our hearts. Finally, imagine a smile on our faces as we turn towards God in prayer. If we smile at God, our prayer must be some kind of statement of love, even if we also communicate a request or express another concern.

God smiles at us all the time. If we want to, we can smile back. And in the smiling, we can be sure that God’s love is active within us.

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God’s Business

We are busy persons, whether or not we are engaged in a formal business that is for-profit or not-for-profit. Each of attends, with all that we have of mind, body, and spirit, to the occupations that we have chosen or that have in some way “chosen us.” Though many of our thoughts and activities involve interactions with other persons, we want to be known as persons who mind our own business; we do not want the reputation of being “busy-bodies.”

Is God busy? We cannot imagine that God becomes tired and requires rest from the ongoing business of holding all that exists in being. God is not subject to limitations of time, space, size, or shape. So God is not occupied with creation to the exclusion of some other activity or way of being. If we are to say that God is busy, we can only mean that God is occupied with what is proper to God and to no one else. Although God is our creator, God is not a “busybody,” telling us what to do with the freedom that is proper to us.

Does God have a business? Businesses are most often associated with making money. They produce something or provide services that others want or need, and for which payment of some kind is expected in exchange. God does not create all that we need in order to receive something in exchange. We have no means of paying for what God creates and gives us as pure gift. God’s business is definitely not-for-profit.

When we consider that God is love, not just the creator of all that exists, our concept of God’s business must be modified. God loves what God creates. We can rightly say that it is God’s business to love, and that it is our business to love back. We do not have to love God, any more than God has to create us or love us. But if we believe that God’s business is to do what is proper to God, we can reflect honestly on our position in the world, and recognize the business that is proper to us.

The business we all have is to respond to God in thanks and praise, and to love God’s creation, especially our fellow humans. We cannot put our profit in the bank, nor can we earn interest on it. But we can fulfill the purpose God had in creating us – to love.

Our busyness can at times interfere with our true business, as when we say that we are too busy to attend to God this day. We are indeed too busy - about things other than our business. It is as though we had a fine business of providing quality musical instruments for the world, but we occupied ourselves solely on making instruments, and never took the time to sell or give away even one. A room full of products, but no one having a chance to purchase or make use a single one: not a good business. If we do not spend any time with God, what have we done with our day? If we have not made any connection between all our activities and a return of love to God who gives us our talents, capabilities, freedom, and all of creation that is ours to use, we have not handled our business very well. Our ultimate profit is to fulfill our purpose in life. We are not here primarily to make money or to become famous. We do not believe that the billionaires and “stars” of this world are necessarily those who are most successful at the business of life.

God’s business is love. And our business is to respond.

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Water and Spirit

We appreciate water, for drinking or for nurturing plants. Too much water can cause harm through floods that destroy property and lives. We need water, regularly; without water we die. Water contains trace elements that are necessary for life. Water can also bear harmful minerals that destroy crops or cause cancers and other life-threatening illnesses in humans. We did not create water. We use water. And we need to include our uses of water in keeping with our relationship with God.

At times, we have control over at least some aspects of water. We can determine for ourselves whether or not to drink it. Water can be used for good or for ill, to slake our thirst, or to torture prisoners; we can rinse fruit and vegetables with water, and we can ruin electronic equipment with it. Sometimes we have no power over the availability of water, as exemplified by people who live in countries with polluted drinking water or who dwell on land stricken by severe drought. In creating us humans as entirely dependent upon water, God gives us cause for cooperating with one another to protect the sources of water, and for gathering, storing, and distributing it. We can exercise our spirituality in a common enterprise for the welfare of all, or we can think only of ourselves as individuals, frustrating our own nature as well as that of the gift of water.

Water is a good example of the creativity of the Creator. When water freezes, it expands and floats; it does not contract and sink, as do most liquids when they freeze. If ice sank to the bottom of seas and rivers and lakes, it would never melt, and the life cycle that sustains us would end. Floating, as it does, permits aquatic life to continue beneath the insulating blanket of ice, and the liquid water that remains on the earth affects the world-wide movements of weather, and life-supporting rain. Our lives as individuals are not “accidents,” nor are the wonderful properties of water.

When we pray before eating a meal, we acknowledge implicitly that God’s gift of water has made possible both the food we eat and whatever we drink. Giving thanks to God for water arises readily in those who know that God loves them. First, we have the experience of the goodness of the gifts for us, then the realization that the Giver of the gifts loves us, followed by spontaneous gratitude for the gifts. The process is like having a healthy body, where bone marrow produces red blood cells from the water we drink.

We can consider some of the many ways that water serves us, or has this day served us, and express our thanks to God. In so doing, not only are the physical and biological purposes of water fulfilled, but our every act of gratitude unites, in us, both water and spirit.
 

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Dirt and Life

Dirt has a bad name in our culture. Soil might be a more acceptable word, though there are almost as many ads for getting soil out of clothes as there are for cleaning whatever is dirty. We tend to associate dirt with germs and illness. We were told, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” And, a moral corollary for living is that we should never be involved in anything “dirty.”

Dirt is necessary for life. We not only need soil for growing food, but without some exposure to the ordinary germs that exist in normal dirt and dust, we would have no immunities to the wide range of sicknesses that are present around us every day. From another perspective, rightness of life is not the prerogative of those who never encounter anything immoral or contrary to their values. We become good persons by making choices in the midst of conflict and of confrontation with forces that challenge our beliefs and values.

We use “dirty” in an applied sense when we speak, for example, of athletes who cheat, politicians who tell lies, and media organizations that claim to be providing news while promoting a prejudiced view about individuals, races, and religions. Those who seek to make decisions based on their experience of God will do so while being exposed at times to such dirt. We build up immunities by bringing the opinions of others to an honesty test in our hearts, where we consult God in determining the difference between the dirt of anger, or fear, or the desire for power, and the love for which we are created. Turning away from this kind of dirt is accompanied by an experience of inner peace.

The life that God gives us as gift is not centered on the avoidance of getting soiled, but on our attempts to make a positive contribution to our world. We work and play, and need to wash up afterwards. We interact with people and things, and need to reflect and pray about what was appropriate for us and what was not. Through our use of material creation and the quality of our relationships, we are called to become more closely conformed to the image and likeness of God; dirt and germs do not in themselves interfere with our decisions to do what we know to be right. As Jesus once taught, it is what comes out of our hearts that can really make us unclean.

If we engage in thoughts and actions that are contrary to our purpose in life, it is not soap that can cleanse us, but an honest and direct turning towards God who loves us. Through our perhaps embarrassed acceptance of this love, we can be washed of any and every kind of dirt that affects our spirits. In this life, most of us contract “diseases” at times from the germs of hatred, projected anger, denial, and many others that are in the culture about us. If we recognize thoughts, attitudes, or actions as being “sick,” we should strive not to infect others, and go immediately to the Healer of our souls. Our willingness to change draws in the love of God that enables us to become well again.

While we do not want to get dirty, we will never fulfill the basic commandment of loving God and our neighbor without taking the risk of sometimes seeking love in the wrong places or projecting our needs onto others. Rather than remain within a wholly protected environment, where a germ of selfishness might one day enter and kill us, we are urged by our Creator to love others in the messiness of the world as it is. This Jesus did, and this Jesus enables us to do, if we keep his company.

God did not make a mistake: we either live in a place where dirt is always present, or we do not have a life.

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Healing of Injustices

Whether it is intended or not, all of us suffer a variety of minor or serious injustices, from unkind words to theft, threat, or injury. Without our deserving it, we might endure stress or discomfort at the actions or inactions of others with whom we live, work, or associate. No matter what has happened to us, we retain a significant choice: to “pay back” those who have disturbed us, or to continue following our own direction in life. We can follow the examples given us in many popular novels, movies, and TV programs in seeking “justice” through revenge, or we can leave aside all such considerations in favor of accomplishing what we want with our lives.

Revenge is not a normal or a helpful means of working through anger and hurt, no matter how blatant the injustices to us might be. The personal consequence of “getting back” at others is that we not only suffer the original injustice, but we change, and become less than we were before: a double loss. We ourselves become a source of more suffering, and retard the successful healing of our hurts and injuries, real or imagined.

Wishing others harm, spending time and energy on imagining how to get even with those who have hurt us, adds to our hurts. We place ourselves in an uncomfortably hot room and set the thermostat to a high temperature, with a timer: we will not allow ourselves to return to a normal state until the other person or persons suffer for what they have done to us. What a waste! How contrary to our own interests, and to the well-being of those around us!

Pain, stress, or discomfort can surprise us at times, and as a defense that ultimately provides no protection, we can focus our attention on those who have caused us harm, and fail to attend to our very real need for healing, recovery of balance, and as swift a return as possible to the life we choose to live. If, before we move ahead with our lives, we require an apology or expression of sorrow from those who might have offended us, we leave our lives in their hands. Seldom can we force others to accept responsibility for the effects of their words and actions upon us, but we always retain the power to appeal to our Advocate.

God will immediately come to our aid when we ask, seek, or attend. But God’s response to the injustices we suffer might not immediately match well with some of the thoughts that arise from our feelings of hurt and anger. God, in being our Advocate, is against those who might have treated us unjustly. Our healing is not dependent upon whether others are “brought to justice,” but upon our letting God see and feel what we find within us as our responses to injustice. Our experiences of acceptance and compassion (Jesus knows injustice quite intimately) allow us to regain our balance, and to become capable of decisions that are not governed by hurt or anger.

The healing of injustices begins with complete openness to God about all the thoughts and feelings that roil within us, and concludes with the gift of restored peace that comes to those who entrust themselves to the One who rose after having suffered an unjust death.
 

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Rest, in Peace

Who does not become tired, and need rest? But do we actually rest after work, after shopping, meeting, driving, walking, speaking and listening all day? Some turn on the TV. But does it provide rest? Often, not. We might occasionally be able to ignore unresolved events and their accompanying feelings, but habitual or frequent avoidance of reflection about our daily experiences makes rest unlikely to occur.

Real rest is connected with peace. The fastest, most efficient means of getting rest is to seek inner peace. If we are pushed and pulled in our thoughts, and our emotions move this way and that, we cannot obtain rest by means of a short nap or a few minutes of silence. We have to deal with agitation by facing it, not ignoring it. If we seek and strive for peace, rest will follow.

Sometimes we are so tired that we desperately want to fall into sleep, but sleep does not come; we are so agitated that we cannot rest. On the other hand, people who carry huge burdens of unresolved hurts may sleep, for many hours, but wake up literally restless. Sleep alone does not provide escape from domineering thoughts, fears, and anger. God created us to be free, not slaves of negative movements in our minds and hearts. If we go to God with the conflicts and concerns that trouble our spirits, we will come to a state of peace, enabling rest.

We all need God to help us work through some of the mental and emotional challenges of every-day life. Compulsions are not the exclusive characteristic of alcoholics. Many of us find that at times our own minds are so disorderly, pushy, and insistent on activity that we cannot rest. On our own, we can confront these situations through deep breathing, stretching exercises, or strong physical exercise. But we do not have to do it all ourselves. We can turn to God who cares about every aspect of our lives, including the hurts and hits, the stresses and concerns about the whole range of our interpersonal relationships of family, work, and friends. God who made us will surely help us.

We children of God can bring anything and everything to God. And, we can remain in the conversation until we achieve a level of resolution that makes it possible for us to rest. Perhaps we come to a decision to seek reconciliation with someone, or we gain a clear understanding of what is taking place in and around us, or an acceptance of what has happened. We are enabled to move from a state of pain and struggle to an awareness of God as our friend, God who understands, accepts, and loves us, God whose power saves us from the inner and unnamed forces that churn within us, out of our control.

When we have gained some perspective and balance through our honest prayer, and have turned to God away from our focus on being a victim or on gaining revenge, peace ensues, and rest easily and naturally follows. Or, we might go to God with pain and anger, and in the very midst of presenting these feelings, fall asleep. When we wake up, we probably have no “answers,” and have received no explanations of why we suffered our negative experiences, but we are rested.

Resting, in peace, is not for the dead, but for the living. Those who have gone before us through death are no longer harried, hurrying, or worrying, nor are they subject to depletion of energy, as we are. We do become tired, and we also experience various forms of stress. As long as we live, we need rest, in peace.
 

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Giving Up?

“What are you giving up for Lent?” – A question that, in times past, children frequently asked of one another in Catholic schools. We might now ask ourselves a different question: “What motives do we have for making changes to some of our habits?” Why would any of us choose to give up a TV program, or take a shorter amount of time in the shower, or engage more consciously in some form of recycling? Or, why might some of us pray for politicians, contribute money to a non-profit service organization, or express gratitude to people and to God more frequently than we have done previously?

One of us makes little adjustments to his or her way of doing things so as to use less water. Another person helps at a home for abused children, or teens at risk, or elderly shut-ins. One person visits the sick as a member of a church organization. Someone else volunteers on the board of an organization that helps homeless persons find jobs. Each of us has good reasons for acting as we do, but we might find it difficult to put our motivation into words. We might be shy about saying that love is the ultimate reason for our decisions, but it is probably true.

We are under no obligation to reveal our motives to anyone, but we will know when our choices and actions are consonant with our values and our hearts. We are willing to prioritize time and energy, and use our resources of mind, money, and talent on behalf of the persons we choose to love: family and friends, coworkers and those known to us, strangers, and, God.

We give up doing one thing so that we can do another. If we take care of a child in need, or spend time as a care-giver for an elderly or sick person, our attention is focused on the person, and what we can do to help, not on what we are giving up. Our concern is centered on what we want to do, not the things we omit. Love is choosing what we most deeply prefer, since we cannot give ourselves wholly to two different things at the same time.

What did Jesus give up for Lent? His priority was, and is, us. He gave his life for us, from the motive of love. Obligation was never a factor. We were then, and are now, the objects of Jesus’ love, not any other human or divine motivation that we can imagine. He loved us “to the cross.” An appropriate response for us is to love those whom Jesus loves, even though we will surely leave aside some of life’s pleasures when we freely choose to follow the deeper desires of our hearts. We do not go looking for hardship any more than Jesus did. But if we love our neighbor as ourselves we will give up some negative or selfish behavior for the sake of helping others. And we will love ourselves well enough to take time for prayer, for exercise, and for laughter, giving up some habitual time-wasters that do nothing for us.

Lent, as with all of life, is for loving, that is, giving, “up.”
 

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A Good Mystery

Some people enjoy reading mystery stories, in which crimes are solved, mostly through the use of skillful reasoning and openness to inspiration. Mystery stories are fine entertainment for those who like the challenge and the clever twists and turns of the plots, as well as appreciation for the humanity of the characters the authors have created.

We use the word mystery in another sense when we refer to puzzling facts or situations for which we have no explanation: everything from the disappearance of a set of keys, “They were here a minute ago; it’s a mystery how they could be gone,” to our inability to understand fully another person, “She’s a complete mystery to me.” We might have incomplete knowledge, as of the origins of human life, and admit that some aspects are still mysterious: “We know we are here, but cannot explain fully how we came to be.”

Almost everything about God can rightly be called mysterious: The mystery of God’s love for us, the mystery of faith, the mystery of the Eucharist, and many others. Also, every event in the life of Christ can be considered as a mystery: an event to be looked at with reason and reflection, open to inspiration and ever-new discoveries, without any one of us ever fully comprehending all that God does in even one small portion of the life of Christ.

When we think or talk about God, we might use the word mystery in the sense that there are many things that we cannot possibly know or understand. We also talk about the mysterious ways of God working in us and in the world. We notice and learn some of God’s actions and movements in our lives, much as we can enjoy reading a mystery story that, when we have finished, leaves us in admiration of what we learned and experienced. We are incapable of comprehending God, eternal and infinite. God is a true mystery to us. But we can appreciate the cleverness of the Author of the seas and skies and earth and all created things, as we keep learning more about the mysteries of creation. Pondering the mystery of God is a pleasurable and profitable activity that does not “grow old” no matter how often we engage in it. And, for all who engage the Jesus stories of the Gospels, there is no joy quite like that of experiencing directly and personally the mystery of God-as-human relating with us.

When we talk to God, we also enter a process that is somewhat mysterious. We know what it is to pray; we have experience of meaningful communication with God. But how this takes place, how much is “us” and how much is “God,” how much is our initiative, how much is God’s we cannot measure or know for certain. Yet, the mysterious aspect of prayer is often consoling and interesting, and a significant quality of our relationship with God. We can almost take for granted the easy access we have to God, at any time and in any place, but we can never explain fully what takes place when we pray.

When we consider that we creatures are able to not only converse with our Creator, but to partake of never-ending friendship with God, we have encountered a very good mystery.
 

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Comparisons

Many of us, when we suffer a mishap or sickness, think of someone we know who has a far more serious event or condition that he or she endures. We are reasonable people, so we often resort to thinking as our first means for dealing with something unpleasant. By comparing ourselves with someone in more difficult circumstances, we try to minimize our own experience – usually with minimal benefits.

When we suffer even minor inconveniences, we are aware of them not just in our minds, but in our bodies and in our spirits. We have thoughts about the illnesses, setbacks, or frustrations, and we have feelings of anxiety, anger, or perhaps an increase of energy. We have human experiences that are uniquely ours. Whether or not someone else has greater pains or more grievous challenges does not change our particular responsibilities to deal with our own hurts and disappointments.

If we consider how God’s love moves in us and in those with whom we might make comparisons, our focus changes from who might be better off to gratitude for graces God gives us for properly engaging with a missed flight, health problem, or painful loss. The emphasis on God’s love takes us to the level of our spirituality, where denial and rationalization are out of place. We cannot explain how it is that one person faces life-threatening cancer, and another has only a cut finger; or that I have a slight injury that a medical practitioner can cure, while many, many people have severe health problems with no access to medical care. We can turn aside from the realities that confront us, or, in God’s love, we can find from within us the appropriate response to each situation we face.

The question is not whether we are better or worse off than someone else. In our response to God’s love, we can question ourselves, positively: Are we becoming more generous as we live through the events that are uniquely ours? Do we accept the challenges that occur in our lives? What we do now, with the gifts and graces we receive, is pleasing to God, and is the distinctively human means through which we put our trust and love of God into actions rather than mere words. We might not see ourselves as heroic; the difficulties we face might be less than what others appear to undergo, but our honest response to the realities within and around us are the only and also the best means for saying “yes” to God.

Love is not “fair,” and love is not “equal.” God’s love for us and ours for God is literally incomparable. There never has been and never will be the same interaction of God and a child of God’s as is our particular relationship. God does not make any two of us the same, and yet loves us each with a unique, all-encompassing love. We ourselves do not love any two people in exactly the same way.

God gives differing calls and invitations to different people. And we respond according to our personalities, the interpretations we make of our experiences and the inspirations we receive directly from God. Our ultimate responsibility is to live as best we can in the present, according to the particular circumstances of our lives, one day at a time, and one grace at a time. Such a life is beyond compare.


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“Be Happy!”

If we hear or see the words, “Be happy,” we do not take them as a command. We cannot make ourselves happy in the same way that we can make a cup of coffee. We can choose a course of action that is so in accord with our capacities and basic orientation in life that we will likely experience happiness. Or we can reflect upon some of the positive aspects of our actions and interactions, and thus renew our awareness of inner peace that we might identify as happiness.

A happy person is not someone who never suffers; those who are at peace with themselves and the world about them were not born that way. Inner contentment is most often perceived or felt after we have dealt as best we can with challenges. Happiness is a natural, spiritual consequence following appropriate choices that we make in our daily lives.

Some of the most helpful things we do, and a number or the most difficult decisions we make, are stressful and perhaps painful for us, yet we know that they are in complete accord with our values and chosen way of life. We are not always having fun, but we can often recognize, especially when we reflect upon our inner state of being, that we have a general, abiding sense of peace. If “joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God,” an abiding sense of peace is also a manifestation of the working of God’s Spirit within us.

Many people do not identify with the word “happiness,” even if they are the men and women of whom anyone who knows them would say: “They always do the right things, and for the right reasons.” People who live in accord with their calling in life may endure distress and sadness in their lives; rarely do they feel that particular kind of pain that comes from acting contrary to the truth they find in their hearts. But if they do not recognize, acknowledge, or value the integrity of their day-to-day choices and actions, they might not experience what is meant by “happiness.”

God not only wants us to “act justly,” but to experience some of the positive consequences of acting in accord with the inspirations and guidance God gives us. “Doing the right thing” is praiseworthy; reflecting on the graced choices we have made often results in a sense of quiet joy and peace of spirit. Actions, even our best efforts, might not bring us satisfaction if we immediately run on to the next item on our internal agenda. But if we take a brief moment to reflect at the conclusion of one event, or a few moments to reflect later in the day (or in the evening) we will integrate our actions with the spirit from which they flow. The normal human spiritual response to such integration is a sense of inner appreciation, which some call “happiness.”

The opposite of peace and happiness is true guilt, which is not the same as suffering. If we make choices that are contrary to the ordinary inspirations and graces we receive, we will experience dissonance and disruption in our hearts. Happiness and peace cannot abide in a divided heart. If we know what is ours to do or say and we do not act because we are afraid of possible difficulties, we will feel dis-spirited. We cannot bring about happiness by any other means than being true to ourselves as children of God.

Happiness, or its counterpart, an interior sense of peace, is akin to sunlight. We cannot hold on to sunlight, but we usually know what to do that will place us in the path of the continually moving sun. If we close ourselves off in a place where we believe that we will be safe and will not be hurt, we will not see the sun rise or set. Avoiding pain as if it were the direct opposite of happiness is like keeping the blinds perpetually closed. The people who are most fulfilled are those who are so busy loving that whatever suffering they experience is not their primary concern.

God does not command us to “be happy,” but does give us the “Great Commandment” to love. Following that directive enables us to encounter happiness.

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Three Kings?

The story in the Gospel of Matthew about some special visitors at Jesus’ birth does not use the word “kings,” and does not specify that there were three individuals – just “wise men” and “three gifts.” We can be sure that Jesus was born, and that Mary and Joseph were there. We can also let our faith-informed imaginations assist us to appreciate God’s great gift to us in becoming one of us. Artists and writers, mothers and fathers, lay and religious persons have learned much about themselves and God-become-human as they imagined prayerfully some of the people who visited the scene of his birth.

If we use images that have come to us from artists who pondered the birth of Jesus, we might well be content with three kings and their gifts. Others might imagine that some scholars of astronomy, who also were aware of spiritual movements within them, came to the birth of Jesus. Perhaps they came from different parts of the world, or perhaps a group of more than ordinarily astute persons, accompanied by some men and women associates, made the trip. Imaginative prayer is not dependant upon detailed historical accuracy, but upon the essential reality of the birth of Jesus in a human context that we can recognize. An 18th Century painter might well depict the characters wearing clothing of the 18th Century. Another artist might dress everyone in royal attire. Each expresses some sense of the historical event as being present to them, as believers. We are welcome to imagine the situation in whatever ways our faith supports.

When we view an adventure film, read a piece of fiction, or watch a situation comedy, we “suspend our judgment” so as to let ourselves enter into the story and experience the human emotions and reflections that are evoked. When we participate in a Gospel story, rather than put aside our rational powers, we consciously add, and enter into, our trust relationship with God. Since we believe that God became a human, we can imagine that some people were gifted with knowledge, perhaps inspired, to understand that a special event was taking place, and traveled to observe it. If we are led to imagine that visitors to the birth of Jesus exhibited some reverence for the mystery of God as an infant, we are the ones who bring that sentiment to the story as we prayerfully consider the persons, words, actions, and feelings of those involved. The story is old in terms of history but it is immediately present in terms of our experience.

When we tell people about a trip we took, each time we tell the story we vary it according to the listeners we are addressing, our priorities at the moment of telling, and many other circumstances that affect us. Yet the story is basically the same, as often as we tell it. Whether or not we relate the exact chronology of events and all the other details, we certainly communicate the more significant information about how we were affected by our travels. We might have been delighted, disappointed, or experienced any combination of personal involvements. These we communicate, for it is our story.

When we prayerfully imagine a Gospel story, such as Matthew’s description of the visitors who brought gifts to the infant Jesus, it becomes our story, which includes the affections that spontaneously arise within us. Each time we engage the account, our attention might be drawn to different elements: at one time to the persons, in another moment to their words and actions, and, as we let our trust in God guide us, we might ourselves engage in some interactions with Jesus, Mary, or Joseph.

We might let ourselves imagine that we come to the birth place of Jesus in company with “three kings.”
 

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“Our Father…”

A familiar prayer can provide the occasion for fresh discoveries when we use a method that Ignatius of Loyola described in his book, The Spiritual Exercises. An alternative to “saying the prayer” is to imagine, consider, and reflect on the many possible ways of understanding each word and phrase. The exercise calls for spontaneity rather than serious study, so creativity and openness are encouraged. We can, with relative ease, find interesting and revelatory connections of faith with everyday realities of our lives through this simple kind of prayer.

We might take “The Lord’s Prayer,” and begin by considering the many positive ways we can consider God to be “our” Father. One of the first words children learn is “mine,” and they can become quite possessive of their parents and of everything around them. To say that the Father is “ours” opens us to community at any and all levels. Though our relationship with God is unique, we are not alone in that relationship. We can rightly say “my” God, indicating our personal connection, but “our” expands as wide as our imaginations might take us: fellow believers, people around the world, those who call upon a personal God as well as those who do not, and the God of all who exist. In this kind of prayer, we can let our thoughts extend as far as grace and inspiration support us.

In a similar fashion, we can take any word or phrase, and spend as much time and think of as many possible ways of understanding them, as we find meaningful. We can move on to the next word or set of words whenever we wish. We might be surprised at the interconnectedness of our beliefs and the ordinary elements of our daily lives that come to mind during this spiritual exercise.

If the use of modern exercise machines in gyms, spas, and homes is for the purpose of building up muscles, a spiritual exercise such as the one proposed here builds up our trust in God. Every form of prayer increases faith by using it, and hope and love also grow together with faith that is exercised. Using the words of a familiar prayer in a slow, meditative and reflective manner does not require an expensive machine or membership in a club. The only requirement is that we provide some of our time and attention for the sake of our spiritual health.

For physical exercise, some people find that having workout companions or personal trainers are a help. When we pray, we are never alone: the Holy Spirit is a constant, dependable companion. Though it may appear, in our consideration of words and phrases, that we do all the work, God moves in our minds and imaginations, opening possibilities for us that are helpful and encouraging. With physical exercises, we are advised to start off with a few repetitions of lifting weights, or taking a brisk walk for a few minutes and gradually increasing our efforts over time. While it is reasonable to start out with praying a few minutes and increasing the time as we find it profitable, the length of time and the numbers of repeated exercises are not nearly as valuable for us as is the attention we give to our Partner. Trust makes every prayer of any kind worth while. Our thoughts and considerations are important; the Company we keep is of ultimate value.

Sometimes when we take words of a familiar prayer as here described, all kinds of thoughts flow easily to mind. At other times, we might not find such ease. Prayer is a bit like riding on a bicycle built for two, where we are sometimes quite conscious that we are pedaling, and at other times hardly aware of our efforts, yet all the time we are moving forward, and we are always close to our Companion. “Our Father…”
 

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Next Year

We regularly celebrate anniversaries and birthdays; we commemorate special events; on January 1 we begin a new year. The dates appear on a calendar as occurrences; they do not make us older or better. But these designated times do provide us with opportunities for reflecting on the quality of our lives.

Birthday card racks are filled with not-so-funny negative jokes about ageing. And, while the New Year is usually depicted as being filled with opportunity, the previous year is imaged as being decrepit and useless. If the passing of years is considered “bad news,” the next year would seem to have little possibility of being better.

But the passage of days, weeks, and months does nothing, positive or negative. All the dates that appear on our calendars – for anniversaries, significant holidays, family gatherings, and memorials – are occasions for some response or action on our part. The choices we make give meaning and value to life, and provide cause for celebration. The mere passage of time has no significance for us.

We have the capability and responsibility to interpret and evaluate what we do and what we observe. Those who find meaning in their struggles and joys can look ahead into the next year with a perspective of sincere hopes and desires for what lies ahead, both for themselves and for others too.

The greetings we give, from “Happy Anniversary” and “Happy Birthday” to “Happy New Year,” are gifts of hope that we can give to others, not mere wishes. We are not able to offer or guarantee future health or happiness to anyone, but we can convey our present care for the persons we greet. Whether or not we tell them about our intent, we can easily combine our expressions of concern with the added value of our entrusting them to God’s guidance and care.

We “bless” people whenever we desire for them peace, happiness, or a life worth living. We all go forward one day at a time, just as we did in living through the previous 365 days. If we see ourselves and others as active participants in a life that comes from God as a gift, and leads back to God as our gift in return, we are both reasonable and loving in congratulating people on the annual events we commemorate, and on whatever lies ahead in the next year.

The significance of our greetings will be the greater as we take some time to reflect on at least a few of the details of the past year. If we wish someone a “Happy Birthday,” we will be able to convey some real hope for the future if we consider one or more choices the person made in the last twelve months that manifested the presence of God. For a child who has taken on some age-appropriate responsibility, we can readily imagine and pray for his or her continuing maturation. For a cancer patient, we might call to mind that person’s courage, which we reverence and support as an ongoing positive choice.

For us, the New Year is not a replacement for a worn-out set of days, but a continuation of choosing an attitude and manner of living that befit children of God. We can look back, and find some signs of cooperation with the Spirit of God, and prayerfully hope for more of the same for anyone and everyone we greet, think of, or care about. Rather than being spectators, we are actors; God has been our Director during the last year, and will be during the next year.

Happy New Year.

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Christ-Mass

We know that Christmas has been commercialized with “buy now” advertising beginning immediately after Halloween. But we still enjoy the music and the lights associated with the season, and the special efforts that most people make in their care for family, friends, and associates, and for strangers and persons in need. Parents try to let their children know about the birth of the Christ Child, and many of us take some time to reverence the mystery of God’s love for us in the person of the birthday child, Jesus.

God’s joining with the human family through human birth has been celebrated with family gatherings in homes, and in places of worship, for more than 2,000 years. People have participated in the Christ-Mass as a main event of their celebrations, in every land, language, and culture, whether or not there were gifts under the tree, or a huge meal on the table. This birthday has been and still is cause for both amazement and joy.

Whether or not we attend Christmas Mass or a religious celebration in a church, we can all find something of value by taking time to consider the birth of Christ as described in the Gospels and handed on to us in traditions and in art. The date on the calendar is an occasion for more than food and friendship; we are presented with an opportunity to meet God “on our terms” which are equally and wondrously “God’s terms.”

We are right in telling our children about “baby Jesus,” for they do not need three units of academic theology to understand that an infant is loveable, special, and must be treated with care. Helping them to associate God with familiar realities is both honest on our part and a true representation of a mystery that transcends human knowledge. As we mature, and learn about love from the perspective of giving more than receiving, we can appreciate more readily what God does in and through the birth of Jesus, born of Mary.

We cannot explain to children how an infant can also be God; we invite them to accept it. Neither can we fully comprehend what God does in choosing to meet us in the limitations of our humanity. But, with an attitude of acceptance, we can learn more about ourselves, and God, every time we reflect on the events that are celebrated on the day of the Christ-Mass.

At one time, we notice that God, in Jesus, chooses to be needy, dependant, and inconvenienced; Joseph and Mary were without a home, family, or minimal access to healthcare at the time of Jesus’ birth. In another moment we notice that the living God, who saves us from the dark possibilities of which we are capable, does so through weakness, not power. God, a human, has to be cared for and educated, rather than coming among us as one with control over every situation. We can see with fresh understanding that God’s decided preference is not coercion, but attraction: a living expression of the moral high ground that is rejected by those who seek power over others.

With new-born children, we have hopes for their future – good health, security, a prosperous life. As we look at the Christ child, we know what lies ahead: acceptance by some, rejection by many, with torture and death as a criminal as the concluding events of a rather short life. God’s wisdom in choosing this means of saving us is not “worldly-wise,” but is perfectly effective. The power of Rome was complete when Jesus was born; God can and does work through and around all such empires, but they do not in themselves manifest God’s direct and personal means for eliciting the trust that enables us to fulfill the purpose of our existence. Jesus comes from God, and is the most effective means to “bring us back to God.”

A blessed Christmas to all, through our trust in the Child who is God.