Elton John

I am going to see Elton John perform.  My life is complete!  But not really.  Now I love the songs he has written and his showmanship, so it will be a great night in the Denver Pepsi Center.  Plus I like Pepsi.  There is more about Elton John that merits my attention.  He is about my age, but he is still performing though it is called a three year farewell tour.  He is still performing because he loves what he does.  This is an important lesson for me.  I am often asked when I will retire.  Why retire?  I love what I do.  A couple of people like what I do too.  But even if most people might find me forgettable, good for humility, I still love what I do.  So age is not going to stop me.  And if we love what we do and it benefits others, my two or three fans, then why not go on doing what I do?  Welcome to Mile High Country Elton.  Rocketman!

Selfish Cells

There are certain cells in the body that do only what benefits themselves.  They will harm other cells in order to get what they want.  They are called cancer cells.  Cells that are healthy act to benefit other cells, to cooperate with other cells to benefit the whole organism.  Is it not the same way with we humans?  Some of us, sometimes, if not always, act in a way to benefit only ourselves.  We act selfishly, with no compassion or interest in others around us, except as they may benefit our own selfish agenda.  People in recovery, or people who have consciously entered into a spiritual way of growth, through steps, prayer, action, look back and see how they have been cancerous in their previous life.  Selfishness kills the selfish person, slowly but surely, and will take others down with them.  Alanon is a kind of cancer treatment for those who are in contact with cancerous addicted people.  I think of my daily meditation and active life as a way to keep cancerous behavior in remission.  If I think of myself as totally cured of bad behavior, I may stop the program that got me healthy in the first place.  It is a one day at a time spiritual practice for the humble and patient.

Widow's Mite

HOMILY NOTES

FR. TERRY RYAN, CSP

BOOK OF KINGS 17: 10-16 & MARK 12: 41-44

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

I hear some senior citizens say that they are too old to do much.  They don’t have their former stamina, eye sight, hearing, and so on.  They are full of aches and pains.  I am old and feel washed up frequently.  Well we may be past our prime when we compare and contrast ourselves with other younger more vigorous persons.  In comparison we focus on our “less” and their “more.”  

In the “Widow’s Mite” Jesus is more impressed not with how much one gives in comparison with someone else, but rather with how much one gives of what they have.  Jesus does not compare and contrast.  His challenge is to surrender all and not worry about its absolute quantity/quality relative to another person.  

On page 164 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous it says, “Abandon yourself.”  Well, there is not much to give up or abandon.  By this point a person very likely has lost job, health, money, friends, family, and maybe even a roof over their head.  But the point in not quantity of surrender but the act of giving whatever you are, and all of it.  That is the point of surrender.  Trust.  Hope.  Spiritual renewal does not come in the absolute amount but in the amount relative to what we have to give.  No half measures here.  

So even if we say that we have next to nothing to give, it is good enough for God if we give this “next to nothing.”  It seems that God does not want us just to apologize for our wrongs, or give up bad behavior.  God wants the “all” of us.  Whatever we have left when we hit bottom, is enough for God. Why not say, “I will give it my all,” instead of a flat “no”  the next time someone asks for help.  You are not in charge of the results.  God is. 

Pie

In the musical, " Waitress" many scenes take place in a Pie Diner.  A great pie is referred to as a pie that tastes so good the first mouthful, you want to eat more, and each bite has a bit of an added or new flavor come forth.  People who attract us can be just like a good pie.  Say what?  Well, I remember years ago I was a young man in New York City, at a party.  I saw a young woman.  We were about to leave at the same time and she asked me if I knew where her jacket might be.  I found it and we walked out together.  I was intent on getting home for a good night's sleep before work the next day, and was going to walk her to her nearby apartment.  We began to talk as we walked.  We walked around the block, a big square block in New York City.  We walked around a second, third, and fourth time.  About the fifth time, still talking, I walked her to her apartment.  Neither of us talked about how late it was getting, we were so absorbed in one another, or at least I was.  Each flavor of ourselves that we talked about brought up something connected but new, layer upon layer of our life.  That is like pie.  It is special to meet and be with a pie person.  Oh, and she let me kiss her goodnight.  Mmm, Mmm good.  

The Why Question

People often ask me, “What is meditation?” Or they ask the next question, “How do you meditate?” I think these are questions from a modern science focused mind.  These questions are the what and the how of things, but I believe the important question is the one that might actually lead to the practice of mediation.  That question is, “Why meditate?”  Why is it at all?  This is the more spiritual question.  We are all drowning in information from the what and how questions.  We are starving for wisdom, and a wisdom that might lead to transformation through practice.  Meditation at depth is not something that can be grasped with the intellect.  Our spiritual innards remain essentially mysterious.  It is a place of wonder, as in awe.  The Power that does not need to be known by the mind resides there.  It is Love.   What is needed is a patient gaze in which you do not impose yourself in the seeing.  You are receptive.  You allow things to be.  You are attentive, welcoming and disciplined to stay with it.  It is a stance of wonder.  Here in this stance you do not strive to be anyone else.  Just be.  Resist the tendency to put yourself at the center of anything.  Let go of control.  Like a fruit, let yourself ripen into all you are meant to be.

Your Ass

So I am sitting in a room where we are talking about things spiritual and someone irreverently pipes up with, "The message comes through your ass!"  What?  I waited to see how or if he would explain himself.  The shock passed as he said that you had to be at the place where you can hear the message of spiritual growth from someone else.  "Ass" refers to taking a seat where someone else is delivering the message.  The message comes from others, is delivered through contact with other seekers.  At some time each of us might be the messenger of wisdom.  I think of being in a meeting, a conference, a class, or a place of worship where I might get the message from another.  I can go to coffee with a friend, as I did with my friend Deborah last month, and get the wisdom.  I have to sit and listen.  But first I have to sit down on a chair.  So I guess this fellow was correct in his own way of saying it.  But he was memorable, I have to say that.  Could I say it his way in a homily?  Maybe my final homily😇

Poverty Of The Present Moment

A gift of mediation is that we learn to live in the "poverty of the present moment" whether bored or not bored.  In prayer the spiritual dimension is actualized within us, is open to GRACE being at work.  An example: nothing seems to be happening, yet something is.  We are able to abide in this moment and not get bored.  We are open to surprise, wonder, grace at work.  Patience is required, and trust.  Children tend to get bored if something is not happening, or going on, as they see it.  They have the capacity for a spiritual life, but alas, they are not exposed to it in a way that would open them to "abiding in the poverty of the present moment." If they go to a worship service, they rue silence. The more affluent household keeps the child busy and active so as to prevent boredom.  Learning comes across as "doing stuff."  There are no dull moments in that pace of life, but there might be many a dull soul.