Spinnaker Spirit

The wind blows wherever it pleases.

--- John 3:8 (RSV)

Yesterday, we went sailing in the Chesapeake Bay.  I am returning to sailing after many years, so my husband patiently explained which line was connected to each sail.

It was a light wind of about five knots, and gaining momentum was a challenge.  Afar off on the horizon appeared a billowing spinnaker sail, with its red, blue and white geometric pattern.   I learned that the spinnaker sail is used under light-wind conditions.  The huge size allows it to balloon out, thus capturing as much of the wind as possible.

It reminded me of something I heard Bishop Donald Hyne, of Madison, Wisconson say recently. “When you hook the sail of your life to the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is going to blow you out into the deep water far from the safety of shore.  And then you’re gonna hear this gentle but urgent voice say ‘Get out of the boat.’”  He continued, “When we surrender to the Holy Spirit, our life becomes this Holy adventure.”[i]

Lord, help me to open wide my heart and life to you like a spinnaker sail – able to receive the movement of Your Holy Spirit.

 

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[i]Sanctifying Grace/Hope [Transcript, Radio broadcast]. (2021, April 15).  Morning Air. Green Bay, Wisconson: Relevant Radio. https://relevantradio.com/category/podcasts/morning-air/

 

Falling Three Times

 

Although it is Easter-tide, the situations of life sometimes toss us back onto the road of the cross.  That's why I appreciate the fourteen Stations of the Cross being displayed on the walls of the Church all year round.  

The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time.

The Gospels do not specifically say that Jesus fell at all on the way to Calvary. Saints Mark and Luke mention that Simon of Cyrene was seized from the crowd, suggesting he was forced to carry Jesus' cross.  Most likely, Jesus was so weak and injured from all the beatings that he kept falling, thus being unable to carry the cross on his own.  

In the Christian experience carrying one's cross is likened to our sufferings.  Sometimes the sufferings become so heavy, we fall.   I especially appreciate the following words:

"My Jesus, even with the help of Simon, You fell a third time...  There are times when the crosses You permit in my life are more than I can bear.  It is as if all the sufferings of a lifetime are suddenly compressed into the present moment and it is more than I can stand.

"Though it grieves my heart to see You so weak and helpless, it is a comfort to my soul to know that you understand my suffering from Your own experience.  Your love for me made You want to experience every kind of pain just so I could have someone to look to for example and courage.

"When I cry out from the depths of my soul, 'This suffering is more than I can bear,' do You whisper, 'Yes, I understand'?  When I am discouraged after many falls, do you say in my innermost being, 'Keep going, I know how hard it is to rise'?" 

Lord, thank you for your example to us in your human suffering.  When it seems like the enemy is winning, thank you for being my light.  

Quoted content taken from:   The Stations of the Cross | EWTN

Kudos to Kipling

He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.

-- Proverbs 16:32 (BSB) 

IF
by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

     If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with Kings -- nor lose the common touch.
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
    And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!


Lord, produce within us the virtue of self-control, by which we will respond to all things with measured wisdom.  

      

Peace from Penance

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

--- James 5:16 (RSV)

 

The beauty of it took me aback.  Walking towards the church on the Tuesday of Holy Week for a “Penance Service,” Those leaving looked happy and lighthearted. 

Inside, what I saw both humbled and amazed me.  The aisles of the large sanctuary were filled with lines.  Lines for the priests-in-residence, stationed in their usual confessionals, and lines for thirteen additional priests who were sitting, spaced throughout the pews.

Serene piano music floated down from the loft.  A handout listed the Ten Commandments, each followed by a thought-provoking question to encourage examination of one’s conscience.  The first:  “I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me,” followed by the question: Have I treated people, events, or things as more important than God?  

Muffled conversations filled the sanctuary, each followed by the priest’s hand raised in blessing with the sign of the cross.

My turn.  Through the mask, my words seemed a jumbled mess, but the priest wasn’t fazed.  He spoke pragmatically, indicating acceptance of certain situations, but not in any way condoning my sins.  He reminded me to pray throughout the day, assigned a simple act of penance and then provided absolution.

Later that evening, while lying in bed, I recited the scripture he had assigned, and enjoyed the blanket of peace that resulted from the entire evening.

Lord, thank you for the humble beauty of verbally confessing one’s sins.