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Dear friends,
The New Year dawned unseasonably warm this year, though it wasn't long before the deep cold of winter set in. During this time we catch up on the projects and tasks that languished in our inboxes over the summer, and we spend time in retreat, prayer, creative pursuits and planning for the coming year.
We hope this mid-winter brings its sense of quiet and rest to your lives, too!
The Community of the Holy Spirit
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The Bishop's Cross 
On January 14, several of the sisters were able to attend the Diocesan Convention in New York City to witness the award of the Bishop's Cross to Sr. Faith Margaret. As you will see in the text of the citation, she has contributed selflessly and unstintingly of her time to the church at large, to the Diocese and to the Community.
Congratulations, dear Sister!!
SISTER FAITH MARGARET, CHS
In The General Thanksgiving of the Daily Office, we ask for such an awareness of God's mercies that we will, with thankful hearts, display our praise of the sacred "not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to [God's] service...walking before God in holiness and righteousness all our days...." In the life and ministry of Sister Faith Margaret, CHS we have a living witness to God's mercy, of a thankful heart, of an example of praise and self-sacrifice and of a model of holiness and righteousness. A native of Staten Island who majored in mathematics in college and worked for a time as a group underwriter and employee benefits consultant, she entered the Community of the Holy Spirit in 1986 and made her Life Profession in 1992. She taught Math at St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School for five years, while she also worked as a Financial & Benefit Analyst at the Episcopal Church Medical Trust for seven years. For her religious community she has served as a member of its Community Council and as Treasurer. In addition to being a spiritual director and retreat conductor, she has been the Treasurer of the Diocese of New York since 2004. She is tireless and gracious in her efforts, professional and devotional in her focus and merciful in her life.
Therefore, in recognition and gratitude for her service to her community, her diocese and the larger Church offered to the glory of God, we, on this 14th day of January 2012, in the fourteenth year of our consecration, do award her
The Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk
Fifteenth Bishop of New York
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| | Photo credit: Nick Richardson, Episcopal Diocese of New York |
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Animal Companions Expand
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Brother Turtlegirl moves to the convent
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Our animal companion family expanded a bit lately; a lovely Red-eared Slider (turtle) moved from the Longhouse to the convent great room. She's well over ten years old and was named Turtlegirl when her people were told she was a female.
However, time and experience caused that statement to come into question, so we've renamed her Brother Turtlegirl, just to cover the bases. S/he is a delight to watch; Red-eareds are aquatic turtles who love to swim, yet also enjoy a daily sun bath.
We added a few small goldfish for company, and then realized a plecostomus would be needed to keep the algae from taking over the aquarium. The "pleco" is somewhat vampire-like, in that it hides from the light, then comes out in the darkness to dart all over the tank in its mission of algae cleaning. It barely moves during the day, and I've thought more than once that it might have departed this life, only to watch it the following night, zooming hither and yon. This interesting fish has special eyelids that cover and protect its very sensitive eyes from light.
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BTg enjoys a morning sunbath
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Br. Turtlegirl's favorite sun-bathing time is during Lauds, which we have been singing in the great room during winter. S/he sits on her sunning rock, head stretched aloft and dead still. We think she's listening carefully----- maybe even offering turtle-prayers of her own.
Sitting quietly at the end of the office, my eyes are drawn to the soft sound of the tank filter bubbling, and to the soothing sight of goldfish enjoying their daily feed and Br. Turtlegirl's swimming antics when his sunbath is over. God's creatures have so much to teach us, so much to offer us as we swim through our own busy lives. I think peace and quiet attention are this lovely turtle's gift to me this year.
Thank you, BTg!
Catherine Grace, CHS |
Thoughts on ... thoughts
Abbot Pastor said: If you have a chest full of clothing, and leave it for a long time, the clothing will rot inside it. It is the same with the thoughts in our heart. If we do not carry them out by physical action, after a long while they will spoil and turn bad.
I recently took an online course* on Centering Prayer led by Cynthia Bourgeault. Centering Prayer is based upon ancient Christian practices of meditation and very much in line with my beloved old teachers, The Cloud of Unknowing, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross, plus centuries of passed-down wisdom from plodding-along practitioners in every generation from the early church until now. I'd let my meditation practice slip years ago, and when the course was offered I found a good excuse for getting back in the groove. A feature of Centering Prayer that interests me very much is the daily practice (two twenty-minute exercises a day) of letting go of thoughts. Gently, of course. "As if," says Cynthia Bourgeault, "you are opening your hand and letting a ball simply roll away from your grasp."
Well, it's amazing how easy it is to cling to a thought. But its endlessly fascinating to observe what kind of thoughts tend to stick, tickle, burrow, dive in deep, boomerang around the room and slap me back in the face. I find I laugh a lot at myself in this practice. But I'm also feeling the effects of the practice in surprising ways throughout the day. Letting go of thoughts helps me let go of many other things.
A brother came to Abbot Pastor and said: Many distracting thoughts come into my mind, and I am in danger because of them. Then the elder thrust him out into the open air and said: Open up the garments about your chest and catch the wind in them. But he replied: This I cannot do. So the elder said to him: If you cannot catch the wind, neither can you prevent distracting thoughts from coming into your head. Your job is to say No to them.
Watching my thoughts go (and come back) offers me an intimate look at myself and my interior and exterior priorities. If I am to change I need to know what needs to be changed. Occasionally I write down my distractions. And I'm shocked shocked shocked to find how trivial my complaints are when I actually name them. I feel I'm growing somehow in my practice, even if diminishment is my growing edge. I don't NEED all these thoughts...
One of the elders said: It is not because evil thoughts come to us that we are condemned, but only because we make use of the evil thoughts. It can happen that from these thoughts we suffer shipwreck, but it can also happen that because of them we may be crowned.
Suzanne Guthrie, Resident Companion |
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