When our meditation bell rings here at the Christine Center, it sounds: “Wake up!”; “Attention!”; “Pause.”; “Breathe.”; “Hold steady.” Since our last newsletter, these same soundings bring a new raw reality. Pinned to the ground by the racism in our country, George Floyd was prevented from breathing. Stricken down by the Covid-19 virus, over 100,000 in our country have died, unable to breathe.
Now we ring the bell to wake up to racial injustice and social inequality. We ring the bell for the burden of varied vulnerabilities and susceptibilities.
May all breathe deeply.
Now we ring the bell to attend to violence that is a last desperate cry for justice. We ring the bell to pause at violence that is opportunistic harm, self-serving supremacy and mayhem.
May all breathe deeply.
Now we ring the bell to hold steady through anger, grief, death, loss, sorrow, hopelessness. We ring the bell to breathe through fear, denial, guilt, shame, and simple ignorance.
May all breathe deeply.
Asked recently if the refuge of Christine Center is relevant in these turbulent times, we affirm, “Yes!” and ring the bell for our Franciscan heritage, sounding all are equal – brothers and sisters of our God, no exceptions. We breathe with all those on the front lines of justice-making and compassion-caring, holding space for them here, wrapping them in the solidarity of our prayers and spiritual practice. Through our commitment to the Charter for Compassion, we invite all to wake, to speak up, to advocate, to vote – in full support of our Black communities. We invite all to hold space and to offer help to anyone struggling to breathe. Let us be “ventilators” – offering the “oxygen” of our compassion, presence, and practice; doing our part in whatever way we can, to flatten the curve of disparity and of suffering.
We ring the bell one more time, for the woodland sanctuary of the Christine Center: the pond and its peeper-frogs, the trees and the owls, the compost pile and the prairie patch, the mama deer and their fawns, the hawks, garter snakes and snapping turtles. They are our sentinels and teachers. Holding space for any spiritual seeker, they whisper, “All is One”.
It is the essential affirmation of the Christine Center that the surest path to the more beautiful world of our heart’s desire is the wise action and courageous compassion that arises from depth of soul. We are here to serve that mission: spiritual deepening for global transformation.
Let’s take a deep breath together right now.
The bell rings: May all be safe, healthy, deeply cherished and at ease.
