Dialog and Christian Love in Difficult Times 

With the election season just getting into full gear, it may seem like an unlikely place to enter a discussion on dialog, love, and the Christian Way. Our democracy is being tested in a crucible of dividedness. This, unfortunately, has bled over to all groups in our society. I am going to go no further in what this may mean for us, partially because I don’t know exactly what it does mean for us at this time. It’s hard to write history as it’s happening. And, because I think at times like this we are being called to the core of our spirituality and Christian Faith. It is these topics I want to examine today in a meaningful and prayerful way. You, along with the Holy Spirit can determine where this is taking you, and perhaps us all in this future. 

I am going to try and examine one subject in this precious time we have together today. And the subject is Love. Our nation has a wonderful tradition of freedom. There are few examples of countries that have offered themselves up to maintain the freedom of others. Perhaps the most essential expression of the greatest love. To lay down your life for another. Many thousands of American citizens have died for the love of their fellow man. May God Bless them all.  

Blessed John Duns Scotus, the thirteenth-century Franciscan theologian, expresses God’s greatest gift to us is our freedom and our free will. This is the way we can show our alignment with God in all our actions or words. Or not as the case may be. We have the option to use our free will in whatever form we want; with of course, to be moderated by the law of our nation.

Scotus continues to illustrate this with blinding simplicity, if our choices are based in love, then they are from God. So, patterns of love are exercised if we align ourselves with God, and therefore do His will with this in our heart. All other actions are not of God.

This simple message is best communicated in Jesus’s words on the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes. Here, and thoroughly, the Way of God is illustrated in all parts of our lives. 

The word beatitude means “supreme blessedness.” How beautiful is that? Today, more than ever, I need this blessedness to guide me during my days and weeks. And I will use them as I make decisions to determine who I feel is most aligned with those instructions from the Sermon on the Mount. I also pray the divisiveness that permeates the country, communities, and even families will be dissipated soon, washed away in the Blood of Christ and the community we celebrate together today. And that we all may listen to each other, attentively and appropriately. 

Here is a reflection I have used to deal with my own feelings when challenged. Appropriately called oversensitive. May God Bless us all, and, in particular, God Bless America.  

Oversensitive 

When the pain comes in from those who dislike you,

Or what you have done,

Or seems you had done;

The fork in the road rushes up. 

To vilify and engage in debate,

Shredding their argument,

And then their clothes;

Until they are left naked, and your work is done. 

Or listen and pray,

Perhaps then, we might hear what is behind the words,

The critiques, the noise,

And learn what is in their heart.

Which may tell us what is in ours. 




Reflection, poem and photograph © 2024 Michael J. Cunningham 

Empathy … When a Soul Bleeds

I wonder what words are conjured up when someone says the word empathy to you? For many of us empathy occurs when we make a connection to someone or something that’s going on around us or going on in the world. Empathy can be sometimes just feeling sorry for another person, or the situation that they’re in. But it can be deeper.

Being empathetic is not a psychological response, it’s usually a heartfelt one. When we feel the other’s pain, if not physically, but emotionally as we travel with them on the journey that they are experiencing. We often are more empathetic to those who are close to us. I was talking to my wife recently, (as one does), and she noted how heartfelt her feelings are when one of the family members is going through some trauma or difficulty. In some ways this is involuntary empathy, we are journeying with them whether we want to or not, even if we don’t have control of the outcome. 

We pick up the phone and have an empathetic conversation, but we’re not thinking empathy, we’re doing empathy. As we travel through this period of Lent, this involuntary suffering or sharing of suffering is surely the same thing that Jesus was encountering many times in his ministry. This could be no more present than during the Passion of Jesus Christ. 

We see situations where empathy can move from just heartfelt sympathy or understanding into action. A recent presentation by Doctor Jeffrey Burns from the Franciscan School of Theology outlined how Maximilian Kolbe gave his life for another out of this sense of empathy. So, what does makes up empathy? Well like many things spiritual they are always entwined with love. Kolbe’s sacrifice for another didn’t just save one life but saved many others spiritually who witnessed the event before and since. 

I suggest that empathy is the soul bleeding. Your soul bleeding with love. Sharing another’s pain. Being present when you were most needed. Communicating God’s love through the vessel which is your soul. 

So, the next time you feel empathetic, and you don’t have to think about it too much, it just happens, consider the source that is making you feel this way. Whether it’s joy or sadness being empathetic is sharing the blood of your own soul. 

Just as Jesus shared His with us.

Image and Reflection Copyright 2024 Michael J. Cunningham OFS 

Gazing 

Inhabiting your soul. I heard this phrase recently from a paraphrase of the teachings of a 14^th Century Mystic, Meister Eckert, a Dominican priest and much sought-after preacher of the time. A non-spiritual take on the same phrase is listed below: 

“According to Psychology Today, inhabiting your soul means living in the deepest essence of who you are, your authentic self, or your spirit. You can recognize this aspect of you by its longings, by its deep soulful desires, by its creative impulse, by its desire to really live life.”

In my juvenile formation, facilitated by nuns from Ireland and the congregation of St. John of God, it seemed clear to me that my soul was important to me for salvation, but also it seemed it was inaccessible to me as a mere mortal. However, it needed a lot of care, and even at the time, I knew that to be true. 
Meister Eckert beautifully describes the soul as a location within where we could encounter the beauty, peace, and glory of God. If only we could feel that and experience it. In our secular world and experience, we often make the point that we can see “someone’s soul” by noticing the way that they are in the world. A little glimpse of the beauty which lies within, but is often hidden, unrevealed. 

We are oft instructed that our conscious is separated from our unconscious mind, and yet they are connected. Our soul, however, is often described again as being separate, but not accessible. But does that make sense? Can we, through discovery and plumbing the depths of our existence, gain entry into our soul? To see who we truly are? 

Many of the mystics seem to have made this transition. Where they boldly, or rather gently, go where we are not often invited. To look for the soul, to discover the doors that may open and close behind us, bringing us to newfound peace-filled locations where God resides deep within us. This mystical journey is where Eckert and others invite us … to take the long walk within to inhabit our souls. 

Clues that we may be making progress in this, are subtle. Often the changes in us, as we move deeper within, are less noticeable to us, and more recognized by others. We become more reflective than responsive, less judgmental, more loving, and more present to ourselves and others. 

If you find yourself beginning to make decisions, yet you don’t feel you are the decision maker, this may be evidence something is changing. Perhaps, you are starting to inhabit your soul. And that some other force is driving the car you are in, you are in the same vehicle, but not in control. 

Where might you be on this journey? To this interior place within, where our souls and God exist in harmony. 

Artwork and reflection Copyright 2024 Michael Cunningham OFS 

Noticing the Patterns in Everyday Life

The first step in helping ourselves move along a road of interior reflection is noticing what is happening around us in our lives. This seems like a pretty simple thing to do, but for many years I went through each day without savoring anything that was being tasted. I rushed from one minute to the next, focusing on little but the next moments, those to come.

The only way to start on a road of reflection is to begin to live in the now, the present. God lives in the present. It is there we will meet Him and we meet him first by noticing our own activities. Listening with our heart to what is happening, why it’s happening. Now if I sound like one of those people who find meaning in almost everything, it is because I do find meaning in practically all the happenings of our lives. It was not always that way.

So today start by noticing what is going on. Slow down, listen, and you will be surprised. Don’t worry about trying to analyze everything, but start to notice it. Journal your day or even your week. Notice the small things as well as the big ones. Imagine someone made a movie of your life this week. Your own reality show, starring you and God.

It’s a challenge to notice things going on around us. Some of it is the obvious nature of what goes on in a frenetic existence, but routine and boredom can also be a cause. Just as the human eye scans sections of the image in front of us and then puts it together in our brain, there are pieces we know are there, but we haven’t noticed them.

Some might call this camouflage of the senses, but often, to those around us, it’s an ineffective excuse for rudeness and uncaring behavior.

When we don’t speak to the person whom we consider more significant than another, what message does that send? And to all those around us?

Patterns 
Sometimes, actually a lot, I miss stuff.
It is lost in my every day,
unnoticed, or heavily disguised,
whatever,
it is missed.

Might be an image, a familiar noise,
people, food,
the autopilots in my life,
painting a backdrop which seems to be only
one color and one sound.
Gray and bleak.


So, let today be different. 

As I read this meditation/poem what does it mean to me?

What patterns are hidden in my life? Do I see my day in color or shades of gray? Are those patterns sounds, or visual, behavior, or ritual? Do I like the patterns I see? What are they telling me?


Reflection, photograph and poem Copyright 2024 Michael J. Cunningham OFS

Prayer without Agenda 

Do we ever consider that we might be praying purely for ourselves? That we might not be praying to God at all? That we may just be asking for things and outcomes that we want. 

If we are purely praying for ourselves, then we have to consider our motive once in a while. We’ve all had that situation when the only time we hear from someone is when they want something from us. And while there’s nothing wrong with petitionary prayer, that is, asking God for something, however, if that’s the only time and the only message, then what are we really saying? Are we trying to use God to give us what we want? Is it all about me and my desires? 

Even though petitionary prayer is a major part of our Catholic and Christian traditions, it should not be our solo approach. If prayer is about worship, and certainly worship should be involved, then that worship should not always want a result. Perhaps sometimes we should be praying just to be. To be with God. To rest in God. 

One of my favorite quotes from Saint Augustine is my heart is restless till it rests in thee. This short prayer says something about worship, it says something about prayer with no strings attached, it says something about understanding to search for inner peace, and it says something about prayer without agenda.

So perhaps one of the things that we can consider is this exactly. Prayer without agenda. There are so many examples of this, and of course, any prayer form can be in this category. However, the more we use our intellect, our imagination and our mind, the more likely we are to become distracted and have our thoughts and desires that move back towards what we need rather than just being present. Being present, specifically being present with God, was what Saint Augustine was talking about. my heart is restless till it rests in thee. 

It does tell the story of the search for inner peace, it also tells the story of God’s love for us, of God’s presence within us, and that the real reward comes when we experience God in our heart, not just in our minds.

Contemplative prayer, particularly silent prayer forms, such as centering prayer, eucharistic adoration, Visio Divina, all rely on us quietening down, not searching the exterior world for meaning, but rather moving towards the place where God dwells 24/7. In us. In our being, in our hearts, in our souls.

One of the most beautiful things about prayer without agenda is that it’s very transferable to our everyday life. That may sound like a contradiction, given the points I’ve just made about contemplative prayer. However, moving our personal agenda out of the way in other parts of our lives, decisions in the workplace, and conflicts in the family, All provide us with an opportunity to pray without agenda. That is removing our personal agenda to the rear of the bus. as soon as we do this, we immediately go into a quiet dialogue with God, giving God the opportunity to participate in our everyday decisions. 

This week think about this issue of prayer without agenda and how that plays out in your life. or has played out in your life, or may play out in your life. Having us come second in the priority chain and God coming first often needs a little more than a pause, or a reflection, for God’s will to be injected into the situation. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Litton Mill, Peak District, Northern England during Christmas of 2022

Reflection and Image Copyright 2024 Michael J. Cunningham