Happy Father's Day
JUNE 21ST, 2009 — 12ND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR, FATHER'S DAY
POEM FOR THOMAS BERRY (by Drew Dellinger), 2 COR 5:14-17, MARK 4:35-41
Dear Friends,
In thinking about Father's Day this Sunday, I recalled that when we speak or preach about Mother's Day, we are very mindful to mention all the ways in which those who have not given physical birth (women and men) are "mothering" in a profound way in our lives. The question that came to my mind today is: Do we feel the same about "fathering"? Somehow it seems easier, more natural, and indeed more 'politically correct' to acknowledge the feminine side of each of us... men included; but less 'correct' or innate to acknowledge the 'masculine' side of each of us. Perhaps it is because we women (and the men who support us) have had to work so hard to educate ourselves and the world around us (with varying degrees of success) that terms such as "mankind" and "all men" are not experienced by women as inclusive, that we shy away from acknowledging our 'masculine' side, the "fathering" side each of us holds.
What words come to mind when you think of "fathering"? I am blessed to have benefited from a very positive experience of being 'fathered' so for me, words like strength, endurance, patience, determination, and action-taking... making 'things happen' come to mind. As a woman, it has taken work in my life to claim these traits as positive and a part of me. Perhaps my struggle has been not unlike that of a man working to claim his 'feminine' side. Interesting... I invite you to consider who you have 'fathered' in your life?
One renowned "Father" (using our Church's designation for male priests), Rev. Thomas Berry, a Passionist priest and acclaimed cultural historian died on June 1, at the age of 94. His obituary in the NCR attests that "Berry was one the 20th-century's most probing thinkers on the human relationship with the natural world and its implications for religion. In 1989, Fr. Berry was described in Newsweek as "the most provocative figure among the new breed of eco-theologians." He was among the first to say the earth crisis is fundamentally a spiritual crisis. His diagnosis of the negative effects of our religious views on our treatment of the planet rang true for many who were willing and able to work for a cure. Many created their own earth ministries, inspired by the work and life of Fr. Thomas Berry. Rather than a theologian, Berry considered himself a cosmologist and "geologian," an Earth scholar.
Thomas Berry believed the only way to effectively function as individuals and as a species is to understand the history and functioning of our planet and of the wide universe itself, like sailors learning about their ship and the vast ocean on which it sails. "It takes a universe to make a child," he said, adding that he was "trying to establish a functional cosmology, not a theology." The amazing, mind-boggling cosmological perspective, he felt, can resuscitate human meaning and direction. The most important spiritual qualities, for Berry, were amazement and enchantment. Awe is healing. A sense of wonder is the therapy for our disconnection from the natural world." (http://ncronline.org)
The poem below, written by a friend and colleague of Fr. Berry will be our first reading this Sunday. We hope that this reflection will bring you a sense of Awe and Wonder.
Poem for Thomas Berry
We were dreamed in the cores of the stars.
like the stars we were meant to unfold
we were dreamed in the depths of the undulating ocean.
like the waves, we were meant to unfold
like bursting supernovas, birthing elements,
which crucibles give rise to creativity?
the world makes us its instrument.
Father Thomas,
speaking for stars, in a voice old as wind: 'origin moments
are supremely important'
what are the origins of a prophet?
found in syllables of Sanskrit,
or Chinese characters?
in a decade of midnight prayer?
in childhood epiphanies
rising like heat?
blue Carolina sky;
dark pines;
crickets;
birds;
sunlight
on the lilies,
in the meadow,
across the creek.
born in Carolina
on the eve of the Great War,
Saturn conjoining Pluto in the sky.
raised in a world of wires and wheels,
watching dirt roads turn to pavement.
brooding intensity,
measuring loss
when others could see only progress.
white hair communing with angels of Earth
Father Thomas, reminding us
we are constantly bathed in shimmering memories
of originating radiance
we are constantly bathed in shimmering memories
of originating radiance
the psychic stars:
the conscious soil:
this thin film of atmosphere;
and only gravity
holding the sea from the stars.
when a vision of the universe takes hold
in your mind, your soul becomes vast as the cosmos.
when the mind is silent,
everything is sacred.
like the spiral
like the lotus
like the waves
like the trees
like the stars,
we were meant to unfold.
like the stars we were meant to unfold
we were dreamed in the depths of the undulating ocean.
like the waves, we were meant to unfold
like bursting supernovas, birthing elements,
which crucibles give rise to creativity?
the world makes us its instrument.
Father Thomas,
speaking for stars, in a voice old as wind: 'origin moments
are supremely important'
what are the origins of a prophet?
found in syllables of Sanskrit,
or Chinese characters?
in a decade of midnight prayer?
in childhood epiphanies
rising like heat?
blue Carolina sky;
dark pines;
crickets;
birds;
sunlight
on the lilies,
in the meadow,
across the creek.
born in Carolina
on the eve of the Great War,
Saturn conjoining Pluto in the sky.
raised in a world of wires and wheels,
watching dirt roads turn to pavement.
brooding intensity,
measuring loss
when others could see only progress.
white hair communing with angels of Earth
Father Thomas, reminding us
we are constantly bathed in shimmering memories
of originating radiance
we are constantly bathed in shimmering memories
of originating radiance
the psychic stars:
the conscious soil:
this thin film of atmosphere;
and only gravity
holding the sea from the stars.
when a vision of the universe takes hold
in your mind, your soul becomes vast as the cosmos.
when the mind is silent,
everything is sacred.
like the spiral
like the lotus
like the waves
like the trees
like the stars,
we were meant to unfold.
(by Drew Dellinger, June 2, 2009)
If you are seeking to grow in your sense of Awe and Wonder we invite you to come and pray with us. We are a community where every voice is heard, and women and men are unafraid to acknowledge the equality of women and men; and to embrace feminine as well as masculine... and beyond... images of God, we invite you to join us at Spirit of Life. As a community, we try wholeheartedly to "be Christ" to one another, to tend to the needs of one another, and to those in need in our world. Together, we celebrate our belief that we are being transformed by God's grace as we gather together in prayer. We warmly invite you to come and gather with us at our Table, and join in our experience of the "kin-dom" of God. We are an inclusive, open, affirming and interactive community, deeply committed to being a people of "justice and joy."
May you be touched by a sense of Awe and Wonder,
Find more about past weekly reflections and podcasts in our ARCHIVE PAGE.
