A view from the deck during one of Baltimore's record snowfalls. Photo by Mary Aquin O'Neill, RSM
Ice and snow, bless Our God!Night and day, bless Our God!Light and darkness, bless Our God!Lightening and clouds, bless Our God!Let the earth bless Our God!Mountains and hills, bless Our God!Everything that grows on the earth, bless Our God!Springs of water, bless Our God!Seas and rivers, bless Our God!Dolphins and everything that lives in water, bless Our God!Birds in the sky, bless Our God!Animals wild or tame, bless Our God!Praise and exalt God forever! Taken from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 3 (verses 70-81). This particular translation appears on p. 416 of The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures, published in 1999 by Priests for Equality at the Quixote Center in W. Hyattsville, MD. This volume is one of many gifts to this Center by Rosie (mother-wit) Douglas and Grace Byerly, charter members and pillars of our local community in Baltimore. February 6, 2010
Dear Friends of Mount Saint Agnes,
Both national and local weather watchers insist that today's snowfall records the highest depth EVER. As stunned and confused as Bally (as we attempted our first "walk" of the day) I estimated the wall bordering the carport to be about 28 inches deep.
Ice and snow, bless Our God, indeed!
Lest anyone think I knew where to find such a perfect bible verse on my own, I confess that in preparation for the Lenten program, I am re-reading Kathleen Norris' life-changing volume on the "bad thought" of acedia, revisiting how her humble and open study revolutionized the way she lives her life and mine. One example: Norris recounts the experience of a biting wind blowing icy air that hurts to inhale. She then remembers and recites this song of praise from the Book of Daniel and permits herself a smile in the midst of her bone-chilling misery. Please accept the verse above as a gift - something essential to remember as you scrape your windshield or shovel snow.
Acedia (pronounced "ah seed eee ah" with emphasis on the "seed") was known to our Christian ancestors as one of the eight bad thoughts. Gradually, (some might say to the devil's delight), this bad thought was collapsed into one of the seven deadly sins, still part of the Catechism to this day. The reason Norris believes that demonic powers would appreciate for acedia to remain hidden from view is precisely because it thrives in human beings as a kind of spiritual indifference doing its best work and damage in the dark; a human temptation known all too well by the desert monks and nuns; a power that shares aspects of depression, sadness and sloth but is more dangerous than any of these because it is a despair that is devoid of compassion; an aridity that can see the goodness of creation, the suffering of other creatures, or the glory of God and respond in perfect indifference.
As Susan Spence, the Chair of our Board, used to observe after attending several MSA programs sequentially, "did you all know everything was going to connect and come together like that?" Aquin and I sometimes feigned that it was all the result of careful planning but usually admitted that we too were surprised to see for example, that the study of the virtuous life in one class was going to dovetail beautifully with a novel we read together in another; or how the ever-popular All Saints Prayer picked up right where an exquisite film discussion left off.
It is just that kind of connection that is unfolding as we gear up for the spring program of studies. Some serendipity is startling. The Lenten Program connects to the Spring Retreat in ways I did not envision when Aquin first listed the spring program offerings.
In the five week Lenten program, Acedia and Exuberance, after we spend time on acedia's critical relevance for contemporary Christians, we'll turn to Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison's psychological exploration of human joy or exuberance. Jamison introduces her study with an overview of the invaluable contributions of two American heroes: Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir. Though "different in a thousand ways," these two men shared a love of and devotion to the created order that revealed itself in their exuberance to preserve, share and care for it. Muir reflected that going outside for a morning walk, he'd find himself lingering until sunset, "for going out, I found, I was really going in." And who can forget the words spoken by our infectiously enthusiastic boy-president at the Sorbonne in 1910:
It is not the critic who counts; not the [one] who points out how the strong stumble, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the [person] in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly . . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends [life] on a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if [they] fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have . . . known neither victory nor defeat.
(Jamison, Exuberance: The Passion for Life. (New York: Knopf, 2004) p. 14.
As you have probably already seen, Muir and Roosevelt, with their loving eyes on the unspoiled created order, called for a kind of religious devotion to its care. Muir finds inner meaning as he wanders outside. Roosevelt comes upon giant Sequoias and sees cathedrals. So it is that two very different women, authors of these investigations and writing about two very different human characteristics, will lead us through Lent to the Holy Week Prayer and just beyond Earth Day for something unprecedented in MSA programming.
From April 23 - 25, 2010, Mount Saint Agnes is engaged in the first of its kind weekend retreat program that unites our teaching methods and theological background with the goals of Earth Hope Ministry and the Bon Secours Spiritual Center. We have named this program, Women, Earth and Divine Love and are featuring Helen Prejean and Marya Grathwohl of Earth Hope. We booked the entire building and grounds of the newly remodeled Bon Secours Spiritual Center. It is a big commitment carrying some financial risk for MSA but we think Roosevelt was right about avoiding defeatist thinking of timid souls. If you can help to spread the word, print off the attached PDF and post where this ad will do the most good.
A major aim of the retreat is to renew and rejuvenate the existing concern that many women feel for the condition of the planet. As our presenters explore creation and earth's wonders, we'll also be offering plenty of time for group sharing and individual rest. The idea is to identify any hopelessness or futility that activists might be feeling so that our passion for ecological matters is not being extinguished or ignored. In other words, part of the plan is to identify and fight back against any spiritual indifference for the cause of a healthy human future in relationship to the earth - this glorious gift from God entrusted to our care.
Can we really look at what human carelessness is doing to the earth and respond merely, "so what?" Not if the temptation of acedia is understood and consciously resisted. Can a gathering of women in Maryland in April make a difference for the future? You bet we can. You have to see it to believe it. Easter joy will find us there.
Did we know these elements of the spring program was going to come together like this? You bet we did!
Take good care of yourselves and each other, whatever the weather forecast. Kathleen Norris says doing good things for others is not only one way to serve God, it is also an effective weapon in the war on bad thoughts. So are your daily devotions whether prayer or song or service. Be faithful to all.
Light and darkness, Bless Our God! Praise and exalt God Forever!
Diane M. Caplin, Ph.D.
Director