" ... People who are approaching ... spiritual evolution are having an impact on society, because the energy they are channeling is so sublime that it secretly influences social events or decisions anywhere in the world."
This morning, as I read this quote by Thomas Keating on www.contemplativeoutreach.com, it occurred to me that this is what I am striving for in choosing to stay away from reading and watching the news and refraining from talking about politics. I’m often not successful, but I’m getting better and better at returning to my purpose, which is to live prayerfully and positively. As God calls me to intercessory prayer, God calls me to step outside the hubbub of many areas of public life. I have to listen to what God wants me to do to help ‘Thy kingdom come’.
     I have no illusion that everyone ought to follow this path; it just my path. I believe, however, that spiritual energy can change the world.

Celebrate Earth Hour TODAY with millions of people around the globe by turning off your lights for one hour, beginning at 8:30pm.  For more information, see  www.earthhour.org/ AND www.worldwildlife.org/focusearthhour.  Thousands of cities and towns in almost every country and territory in the world will participate.  "Earth Hour is the single, largest, symbolic mass participation event in the world.  Born out of a hope that we could mobilize people to take action on climate change."

I am participating in a Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast sponsored by the United Church of Christ. Along with the specific suggestion that pops up on my screen every morning, I am also told to share what I’m doing with someone else and invite them to join me. So here I am, doing just that.

      When I think of fasting as ‘holding onto’ something, I’m reminded that I want to hold onto my commitment to hang my laundry to dry and thus use my dryer less. This morning it’s a challenge. After all, daylight saving time has just robbed me of a precious hour. How pathetic is that for an excuse? Very.

Do you know the power of two or more being baptized together? It is part of the Roman Catholic tradition and can be traced back the early church. In my UCC church, however, it is usually one baptism a Sunday. But yesterday two babies,  born six months ago within a few weeks of each other, were baptized together: the son of our pastor and his wife, and the daughter of a young couple in the church.

    There was so much ‘God is still speaking,’ energy in the sanctuary, with equal attention given to each baby. At the close of the baptism, my pastor carried the little girl and introduced her to the congregation while a deacon carried his son to do the same. Scripture tell us that ‘God shows no partiality,.’

A few days ago I posted about Assisi but I have more to say because today, October 4th is the Feast Day of St. Francis and this year Pope Francis, the first pope to have chosen that name, is there to celebrate. The citizens of Assisi must be particularly elated as plans were made, satisfying hopes and dreams.

     I was in Assisi in 2004 on the very day that Pope Benedict was elected. It was early evening and my friend and I stepped into a bar to see if the white smoke had risen from the Sistine Chapel. Indeed it had, and the TV was just announcing that Cardinal Ratzinger, a German, was the new pope. The owners of the bar, husband and wife, looked disgusted, turned off the TV, and went about closing up for the night. On the street outside a little nun, all by herself in the middle of the street, clasped her hands in gratitude. She had a ‘papa’.

      Although my daughter and I only spent twenty-four hours in Assisi, I find that with each visit I feel a closer affinity to this little town on the hill, this hometown of St. Francis, this town that calls out to us to care for the earth, the animals, the poor. I sense that everyone who visits here, everyone who lives here, loves St. Francis. Many are Roman Catholic and of course one sees many Franciscan monks and nuns. But there are also the rest of us who, with our own thoughts about saints, know that St. Francis energy can only benefit us and the world. It’s already affected Pope Francis.

S. Damiano is one of my favorite prayer spots. While sitting in front of this cross, St. Francis heard God tell him to mend God’s church. Much later the cross was moved to the Church of St. Clair, where I took this picture.

     If you follow my cottage by the sea blog, you’ll find the following entry.

I said goodbye to Florence yesterday and now I am saying goodbye to Assisi. We had a magical twenty-four hours in this little Umbrian hill town. You have walk the streets and look out at the vista to feel the magic. Best I can do is offer a few photographs. Suffice to say, I’m dreaming of returning.

     I love the energy in Assisi. Alive but peaceful. For one reason or another everyone is bustling up and down the steep streets and stairways because of St. Francis. To add to the energy, October 4th is St. Francis’ Feast Day, and yes, Pope Francis, the first pope to claim the name Francis, is coming to celebrate. 

     Yesterday we walked beyond the city gates and down the hill to the Convent of S. Damiano, founded by St. Clare and where she lived for twenty-five years after the death of her soul mate St. Francis. S. Damiano is also where St. Francis heard the voice of God to ‘mend my church’ and where he wrote the Canticle of the Creatures.

       It was a lovely stroll as thunder clouds formed, and we felt the first drop of rain just as we reached the portico. It poured and thundered for a good hour as we wandered through the convent before sitting in the cloister waiting for it to clear. The monks and nuns offered us umbrellas. A lovely moment. When the rain abated, we headed up the hill, feeling the last drop just as we reached the Church of St. Clair.

    Airports and air travel are excellent places and times for prayer. In fact, I’d venture to say that there is more prayer going on in airports and on airplanes than in churches. Everyone prays, even the people who don’t believe in God or in prayer. It just happens. That deep place that atheists and agnostics don’t acknowledge just takes over. God is deeper than the mind can know or imagine. So in spite of the intense and often stressful energy inherent in air travel, it is as safe a place as any for prayer.

     I had a call from my sister this morning, so full of life energy, overflowing with glowing reports of the museum visiting that she and my other sister were experiencing in DC. She talked, I listened.

    Quite a contrast, to where my life is focused these days. A dear friend is in hospice care; at age 67, is she ready to let go?  And I am about to head out to visit a friend hospitalized last night with pneumonia and a massive heart attack; at age 92, is she ready to let go? I don’t know; they don’t know. I continue to be amazed at the tenacity of human beings to hold onto life, whether they feel God’s presence or not.

    I love picturing my sisters buzzing about DC, and I’m looking forward to a sisters’ trip in March with them. The universe needs balance: of life energy and letting go energy; of museums and hospice beds; of talking and listening. My sister and I also part of the balance.