Film on Friday - Wood Skis - Advent 2016

Skis? I know, but some of us do like skiing and sailing ... but what actually caught my attention about this video was the sense of craftsmanship and the philosophy about choosing a different road. Who do you choose to measure success? What is a successful life? What and how are you passing down what you know to the next generation?

Enjoy and Blessed be,

Joel

Wednesday Quote - Manafesto: The Mad Farmer Liberatation Front - Advent 2016

This is always a delight when I read this poem by Wendell Berry. Enjoy.

Blessed be,

Joel

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have not answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Monday's Practice - Practicing the Presence of God - Advent 2016

Today's "practice" is probably more an attitude, a perspective upon which to look at the world, if you will. Practicing the Presence of God is about seeing God in all things, recognizing that we belong to a part of the Body of Christ, which is much bigger than we are. It is learning to constantly commune with this larger source out of Love.

Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God has had many editions (I'm referencing Whitaker House's 1982 edition) as it is considered a classic in Christian devotional literature. I've decided to give a little history on who Brother Lawrence was, before moving onto using his own words to describe his practice. Lawrence's practice is absolutely simple, which is perhaps why it is difficult to "practice."

Blessed be,

Joel

Nicholas Herman was born in 1611 (died in 1691) to peasant parents in Lorraine, France. When he came of age, he joined the armed forces (in part for a steady diet and a small stipend). An injury eventually brought him back to his parents home to recuperate, where he finally decided to devote his life to serving God. Consequently he entered the Carmelite Monastery in Paris as a lay-brother, taking the name Lawrence. During his time at the Monastery, he served in the kitchen calling himself the lord of the pots and pans.

I should note that joining the Monastery wasn't a sudden decision (he had already had "spiritual experiences," and spent time as a hermit in the desert). As Christianity Today notes in their Christian History  section on Brother Lawrence:

During this period [of serving in the army], Herman had an experience that set him on a unique spiritual journey; it wasn't, characteristically, a supernatural vision, but a supernatural clarity into a common sight.
In the deep of winter, Herman looked at a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit, waiting silently and patiently for the sure hope of summer abundance. Gazing at the tree, Herman grasped for the first time the extravagance of God's grace and the unfailing sovereignty of divine providence. Like the tree, he himself was seemingly dead, but God had life waiting for him, and the turn of seasons would bring fullness. At that moment, he said, that leafless tree "first flashed in upon my soul the fact of God," and a love for God that never after ceased to burn. 

Lawrence began practicing the presence of God by first cultivating a deep presence of God in his heart. This presence was maintained by love rather than understanding, speech or a fear of judgement.

"In the way of God," he said, "thoughts count for little, love does everything."
"And it is not necessary," he continued, "to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it, after which I arise, more content than a king. When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God.
"People seek for methods of learning to love God. They hope to arrive at it by I know not how many different practices; they take much trouble to remain in the presence of God in a quantity of ways. Is it not much shorter and more direct to do everything for the love of God, to make use of all the labors of one's state in life to show Him [sic.] that love, and to maintain His presence within us by this communion of our hearts with His? There is no finesse about it; one has only to do it generously and simply." (p. 81) ...
"During my work, I would always continue to speak to the Lord as though He were right with me, offering Him my services and thanking Him for His assistance. And at the end of my work, I used to examine it carefully. If I found good in it, I thanked God. If I noticed faults, I asked His forgiveness without being discouraged, and then went on with my work, still dwelling in Him.
"Thus, continuing in this practice of conversing with God throughout each day, and quickly seeking His forgiveness when I fell or strayed, His presence has become as easy and natural to me now as it once was difficult to attain." (p.82-3)

Film on Friday - Ten Tuamotos Days - Advent 2016

Liz Clark is an exceptional young woman who set out many years ago on Swell to tour the world. Enjoy the video.
Blessed be,
Joel

PS - to find out more, you can visit her web page here: Liz Clark and the Voyage of Swell
For instance, here is a recent blog post: A Better World: What We Can Do (10 Simple Ways to Contribute to a Healthier, Happier through Daily Activism and Positive Living).

Wednesday Quote - The Floating Harpsichord - Advent 2016

Boats and mediation can go together. I believe there is something about trying to work with the forces of the natural world that effect us, that can bring us back into "natural" alignment. As Aquinas, among others has pointed out, the world is God's first book. In some ways, like Mondays' post, do we allow ourselves to see it as spiritual work. Do we allow our lives to be a spiritual practice - a place we expect to meet the divine?

Enjoy and Blessed be,

Joel

        Some people (guess who among them) started this solo sail hoping and expecting to find clarity in some of their soul searching. The solo sailor is either too busy, too tired, or too elated to do any meditating. A drive during rush hour in an automatic automobile is probably more appropriate for meditating. There is a situation where there is nothing one can do. Turn off the radio and that is the time to meditate. For many of us civilized western people it is the only time that we have no piped-in music or bosses, wives [does this mean husbands are not a distraction?], children, telephone, singing birds, or beautiful nature, food, drinks, exercises, set, etc. to distract us. The only thing we have to do is steer the car. That is enough distraction to create an atmosphere for meditating. To have to concentrate on meditating can be in itself very distracting. There are some people who even want to take that single moment of tranquility away from us and who advise such things as "share a ride" or increased public transportation. Let's do the meditating or soul-searching behind our two hundred horse-power, but do not single-hand to Hawaii for your answers! Anyway, I am not going to talk into this tape recorder about my soul. That is my private business as long as I'm alone on my boat."* (Peter H. Strykers, M.D. The Floating Harpsichord: One Sailor's Log and Manuals for Solo-Sailing and Solo-Medicine. Ten Speed Press, 1987. p. 164)

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*Stryker's middle section of his book is a daily log that he edited from spoken tapes (and yes, he did take a harpsichord and play it on the passage. I think this section gives you an idea of how delightful this book is to read). I think the above quote says that he probably did some more soul searching than he thought, but not as much as he wanted. It is interesting to note that Bernard Moitessier seems to have done a lot of it during the Long Way. And this Friday's film, I think, points out how living a different way can and does change us.

Monday's Practice - Meditative Walking - Advent 2016

 As I was working on these Monday Practices, and trying to tie them in thematically to the readings and videos, I already knew I wanted last Monday’s Practice to be about Examine. I was thinking about using Contemplation as the next Monday Practice, when I read my email with the following reflection from Richard Rohr. This fits so well with the Slowmo video (and sailing or slow-boating) in general, that I had to include it for today’s Monday Practice.

Enjoy and Blessed Be,

Joel

From Richard Rohr’s Saturday, December 3, 2016 email mediation.

Practice: Walking Meditation

Jonathon Stalls, a Living School student and founder of Walk2Connect, writes about learning how “we share a common journey of wanting to love and be loved; that we want to feel safe, comfortable, and connected; that we want to belong—somewhere. . . . We’re afraid of exposure and vulnerability. We’re afraid of the unknown. We’re afraid to be wrong. We’re afraid of abandonment. We’re afraid of weakness, of truly trusting, and the fragility of letting go.” [1]

Stalls offers this wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh:

When we practice [mindfulness], we are liberated from fear, sorrow, and the fires burning inside of us. When mindfulness embraces our joy, our sadness, and all our other mental formations, sooner or later we will see their deep roots. With every mindful step and every mindful breath, we see the roots of our mental formations. Mindfulness shines its light upon them and helps them to transform. [2]

Stalls continues:

I can’t think of a better way to bring mindfulness practice into our body and into the outside world than through walking, strolling, or rolling at one to three miles an hour. It changes everything. It trains us, both on the inside and the outside, to begin seeing God, the Great Spirit, in ourselves and in others in such foundational ways. This humble posture invites us into the fragile details behind our own breath, the curious creatures high in the trees, and the struggle in being a pedestrian in today’s time. Whether it’s twenty minutes or four hours, mindful walking can invite new ideas, new ways of seeing, and new ways of understanding with every step. [3]

I invite you to step outside and walk mindfully, present to God’s presence in all things.

References:

[1] Jonathon Stalls, “What Really Frightens Us?” “Evolutionary Thinking,” Oneing, Vol. 4, No. 2 (CAC: 2016), 99-100. Learn more about Jonathon’s work at walk2connect.com.

[2] Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching (Berkeley: Broadway Books, 1999), 75.
[3] Stalls, “What Really Frightens Us?”, 100.

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Remember, if you’d like to sign up to receive Richard Rohr’s free daily meditations via email, you can do so by clicking on this link.

Film on Friday - Slomo - Advent 2016

I think those of you who love boating will appreciate and understand the skating - and aptly apply.

Blessed be,

Joel