Re-Consecrating Desecrated Spaces

Posted on August 27, 2019August 27, 2019 by rita kowats

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When the city of Milwaukee experiences violent crimes now, something different happens. The Black Strings Triage Ensemble arrives and re-consecrates the space by surrounding it with healing classical music.

This hopeful story has moved me deeply, taking me back to a time in my life when I lived in a house that overlooked the railroad gate to Naval Base Kitsap. I held vigil as shipments of fuel propellant entered and left the base. Afterwards, I knelt on the tracks and prayed. Burning cedar became a cleansing sacramental which reclaimed that space and the empty space in my soul. It began the healing process.

Take solace with me from the actions of these musicians. Who knows. Maybe some musicians among you will feel called to begin this healing ministry in your city.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2019/06/05/milwaukee-crime-string-group-plays-alongside-scenes-gun-violence/1328211001/?fbclid=IwAR334_5JV25vgWXrZm72FFQ6pwdbfpVz_0Drry3GOKnY–X83kdiokYRlLI

Navigating Ego Storms

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rita kowats

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In a previous post I described an image I use for the state of being bound to the ego. Meister Eckhart uses the term ichgebundenheit to describe this state. In my image the eye of a hurricane recklessly swings me around its periphery, subjecting me to a destructive array of errant ego-blasts, each one taking me farther away from the calm of the eye. Divine Presence resides in that center, calling me away from the storms I conjure.
Thich Nhat Hanh likens the state to clinging to the top of a tree during a storm, not a very safe place to be. In a collection of meditations he shared with prison inmates,

In a previous post I have described an image I use to describe the state of being bound to the ego. Meister Eckhart uses the term ichgebundenheit to describe this state. In my image the eye of a hurricane recklessly swings me around its periphery, subjecting me to a destructive array of errant ego-blasts, each one taking me farther away from the calm of the eye. Divine Presence resides in that center, calling me away from the storms I conjure.
Thich Nhat Hanh likens the state to clinging to the top of a tree during a storm, not a very safe place to be. In a collection of meditations he shared with prison inmates, Be Free Where You Are, he shares the spiritual practice,”The Art of Handling a Storm.”

“The Art of Handling a Storm”

When a strong emotion takes hold of you and you can’t seem to let it go, get into a stable position in which you feel grounded (sitting with feet planted firmly on the ground, lying down.) Focus away from the storm in your head and turn your attention to the stability of your belly. Feel your hands firmly in place on your belly and begin breathing in and out. With each inhale say,”Breathing in I feel my abdomen rise,” with each exhale say,”Breathing out I feel my abdomen fall.”

Thich Nhat Hanh assures us that after twenty minutes of this we will feel strong and after a while the emotion will pass. I may follow this up with a mantra that brings me into divine presence, such as Julian of Norwich’s words,”All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

May we all be well, friends.

Peace.

Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/search?q=trees+in+wind+free+clip+art&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwimwsn12IXkAhWikJ4KHZPwAXIQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=trees+in+wind+free+clip+art&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-img.3…8205.10155..11718…0.0..0.174.665.0j5……0….1………33i10j30i10.2L-WKL4lpUw&ei=wb1VXebdIKKh-gST4YeQBw#imgrc=JTbPelTwTNLzbM

August 8: A Juxtaposition

Posted on August 8, 2019 by rita kowats

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Occasionally I research what was happening in history on the day I am currently living. It often provides perspective and insight. Sometimes it slaps me across the face with an alarming wake-up call. Always, it calls for prayer and a spiritual practice of compassion.

August 8 Wake-Up Call

1. On August 8, 1945 The USSR, England, United States and France signed the Treaty of London which laid the groundwork for the Nuremburg Trials. The charter defined three crimes:

Crimes Against Peace
War Crimes
Crimes Against Humanity

The Nuremberg Trials later influenced the United Nations Charter of Human Rights

2. On August 8, 1925 between 25,000 and 40,000 Ku Klux Klansmen dressed in their white-hooded robes, marched for the first time down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. At Arlington Park they stopped to burn an 80 foot cross and to initiate 200 new members. (Washington Post article by Terence McArdie 8-11-18) The Library of Congress photo of the march seems to show a contingency of military forming the cross.

3. August 8, 2019. We are still reeling from the hate-filled terror in Texas. Has that march down Pennsylvania Avenue reached the White House?

Juxtaposition

The UN Declaration of Human Rights is a powerful document that can make a difference if we live it. I will shape my spiritual practice around the concept of duality which is the underpinning cause of human rights violations. If I separate others from myself perceiving their difference as inferior, I separate myself from myself and from the divine.

Breathing in, we are one.

Breathing out, I release separation.

May it be so.

For Your Pondering

The Washington Post article by Terrence McArdie 8-11-18

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/17/the-day-30000-white-supremacists-in-kkk-robes-marched-in-the-nations-capital/

James Cone The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Sermon by Pastor Megan Ramer Seattle Mennonite Church

https://seattlemennonite.org/cross-and-the-lynching-tree/