Monthly Archives: August 2020

Virtue in a Pandemic

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Today I share wisdom from “Contemplify,” a monthly, very thought provoking and entertaining post I get in my email inbox. (hello@contemplify.com). I have taken license to cut and paste a little.

I enjoy messages like this that call me back to the important. And this one just seems timely for me—perhaps it is also for you. Blessings!

Contemplify:

My home tradition, Christianity, has championed four cardinal virtues: wisdom, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Sounds underwhelming to some, but the exemplars of these virtues were vivacious change agents. They lavishly personified these virtues in their daily lives. Over the arch of history I admire the temperance of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the wisdom of Hildegaard of Bingen, the justice of Francis and Clare, and the fortitude of Tertullian. These are ancestral examples, but modern ones are aplenty; Bryan Stevenson (justice), John Lewis (fortitude), Beyonce (wisdom), and John Dear (temperance). The visible fruit is half the story. The daily participation in Mystery’s doing and undoing is the creative art of cultivating virtue for the sake of resounding the Divine within. 

  • Wisdom: I am attending to the wisdom of the ancestors who have endured through pandemics, abject systemic suffering, and immersive exterior solitude. Folks who faced the heat of suffering while also tending to the coals of an inner fire. Hence my reading has focused on Julian of Norwich, Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Marcus Aurelius, Plotinus and the like. Asking myself questions like, how did Julian sustain her joy in God during the relentless bubonic plague? What does it mean that Douglass’ courage inspires me and makes me question the strength of my own backbone?
  • Temperance: This virtue is often regulated to abstaining from alcohol, but it is so much more. Temperance is practicing restraint or self-control for the sake of the whole. In this practice of self limitation a wellspring of potential disrupts passive consumption. I am reducing my input of media, upping my exercise and outside time, and becoming choosier about gifting my attention. And yes, limiting the intake of my beloved IPAs too.
  • Fortitude: This virtue seems to be naturally growing for many of us because of the pandemic. Life as it was has shifted to life as it is. The accepting of this reality strengthens the muscle of endurance in uncertain times. When I am dwelling on the gifts of this moment (a deep breath, clean water, a hug from my son) I am doing reps of forbearance. When I am truly looking at the suffering of our times in the systems that oppress and a pandemic that grips, I build the grit necessary to bear and break through burdens. Gratitude for what is and the imagination to dream what could be pairs wells with fortitude.
  • Justice: I am confronting my internal biases on race, systems, and supposed normalcy. The self-evaluation of this work is akin to scraping off barnacles from a boat. Barnacles that create a drag in the water that slow my efforts in right relationships.  It is taxing to peel off crusty layers of my personal and historical barnacles of biases. For me this work is undergone through self-reflection, conversation, showing up, trainings, practices, and opening the doors of my curiosity even wider. I feel like I am never developing this virtue enough and those sneaky barnacles keep showing themselves in unexamined corners.

At the edge of suffering, may you find meaning.
In the midst of suffering, may you find virtue.
In the legacy of suffering, may you hear ancestral voices guiding you forward. 

Helping out where I can,
Paul

Wisdom: Attune to the Heart

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WISDOM: The voice you need to listen to is the voice of the Spirit that is within you. ThIs is indeed the Spirit of God telling you of the wonder of your SELF.

Why do you spend time dwelling on questions like, “How have I spent my life so far?” “What is my purpose?” “What about the times I regret…the times I have made mistakes?” These are NOT IMPORTANT! Look! See where you are spending your time—IN THE PAST! And what are you listening to? The voice in your HEAD.

Are you trying to improve yourself, or seeking to repent? Ask yourself, for what? It is in the past! Long forgotten. Spend your time and your energy in the PRESENT.

Ask—what am I doing in this moment? What can I do right now to help myself or others? What is the will of God for me right now—in this moment?

When you stay open to these, the questions of the HEART, the voice you hear will be clear. The way to God is LOVE. Find LOVE within your heart—for yourself and for others. Therein is God.

Then, send Love out—so strong that others can feel it. Constantly project Love. From your heart will come any words necessary…any actions needed. Send out: Compassionate Love. Healing Love. Listening Love. Supportive Love. Loving Love.

These, and more, are the HEART’S gift to a suffering world. Through these do you SPEAK and LOVE God into the world. Pay attention to this!

Attune to the HEART. This is the secret. The mind is about the unimportant past and future. Stay out of the mind except as it can become the Heart’s servant.

You are much loved.

Acceptance—No Resistance

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I can remember my dad, a father of nine children, in his more harried moments, mumbling under his breath, “acceptance—no resistance.” That was his mantra when he felt overwhelmed and wanted the situation to be different than it was. Whether it was the commotion of many children in our home, or a car that wouldn’t start, Dad had learned a valuable lesson, and, even under his breath, he taught it to me.

I have since learned why “acceptance of what is” can be so important. The situation or circumstance ALREADY IS. We can choose to fight against it and wish and pray it was different, using lots of energy in that effort…or we can ACCEPT what IS, and find our way through it. Acceptance allows us to think more clearly and be better able to deal with the situation.

The second part is equally important. When we RESIST what IS—what we think is causing us pain and suffering—our energy is wrapped up in a “fight” we have already lost. And in the fight we are blocking God—who is always there to show us the way through any situation. In our right minds it seems rather futile, or silly, to try to change something that already IS, but it is a common, and very human, response. We all do it. And we don’t realize that often it’s the resistance that causes a lot of our pain and suffering.

So I am in acceptance–no resistance mode lately:

I accept this heat. I accept that I can’t travel to see my children and grandchildren. I accept that I can’t go to my friend’s mother’s funeral, or a graduation, or wedding, or to visit someone in the retirement home. I accept that my granddaughter will be teaching in a situation she was never prepared for. I accept that some of my children are on the front lines caring for the sick, and are facing very difficult challenges and possible illness.

I also accept that my situation is far different than those who, because of Covid-19, have lost their jobs, their homes, and for many—their loved ones. Those who are struggling to feed their families, and make the difficult decisions around their children’s schooling this fall.

It would be so easy to rail against this virus and the disruptions to our lives, the economy, the schools, etc. To try to find someone or something to blame for its presence in our lives. To cry out to God about the many injustices around it. But it IS here, and it IS changing all of our lives.

And so…perhaps we can say, without resistance, and with trust in God, I accept what IS in this moment. Perhaps then we can use our energy for the actions, and prayer, that will help us get through it.

Acceptance—no resistance lets us be a little more peaceful, to see with greater clarity what we need to do, knowing that God is still in charge. Acceptance doesn’t mean we must be happy about it. It means we accept that “it is what it is.” And that allows us to be able to feel God’s presence in our lives, and hear God’s words of comfort and encouragement.

Acceptance—no resistance. Thank you, Dad.