February 2015 – Father Bob's Reflections

Have you been to the mountain?

February 27, 2015February 27, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

The Second Sunday of Lent

Jesus takes Peter, James and John to a mountaintop and there they have ~ well ~ a “peak” experience extraordinaire.

For the full text of the day’s Mass readings go to the link provided here. When you are ready to return to this blog page, click on the little arrow (<) on the top of your computer that points to the left.

Click here for the Mass readings, if you’d like to read them.

I’d like to begin as I did last week with some notes from Scripture scholar William Barclay. He say that tradition has it that this event took place on Mount Tabor but is no more than 1,000 feet high. It is more likely , Barclay, suggests, that the transfiguration event took place on snow-covered Mount Hermon that is 9,200 feet high where there would be more solitude.

Then he talks about the significance of the cloud. In Jewish thought, God’s presence is regularly connected with the cloud. It was in the cloud that Moses met God. It was in the cloud that God came to the tabernacle. Here, the descent of the cloud was a way of saying the Messiah had come.

The transfiguration has a two-fold significance,

First, it did something significant for Jesus. He had made the decision to go to Jerusalem, which meant facing the Cross and his death. On the mountain he received the approval of Moses and Elijah. They basically said, “Go on!” And he received the wonderful affirmation of his Father, who basically said, “You are acting as I own beloved Son should and must act. Go on!”

Secondly, it did something significant for the disciples. They were shattered that he was going to Jerusalem to die. Things were happening that were breaking their heart. What they experienced with Jesus on the mountain, even though they didn’t understand, gave them something to hold on to. It made them witnesses to the glory of Christ; they had a story they could hold in their hearts until the time came when they could share it. (Barclay / Mark pp. 210, 11.)It’s is a great story. It contrasts with last week’s story of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil. Today Jesus is receiving a wonderful affirmation.

And here are my reflections. It contrasts with last week’s story of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil. Today Jesus is receiving a wonderful affirmation.

Peter, James and John are genuinely high in this morning’s gospel story. First, they’re on a mountain – that’s high already, and secondly, they see Jesus transfigured before them in dazzling glory. This is a wonderful spiritual high , lest you get the wrong idea. For Peter, James and John, this is as good a high as it gets – seeing the Son of God in his true glory. They’re blown away.

Peter, speaking for all of them, wants to stay there, at least, a good while longer. But it doesn’t happen. They have to come back down from the mountain. We might say they had to return to reality, but that’s not accurate. The vision of Jesus in brilliant light was reality too. It wasn’t imaginary; chemicals didn’t artificially produce it.

We experience wholesome highs, too. A particularly rewarding achievement, an especially fulfilling moment in a relationship ~ a time when, for whatever reason, the world is bright, life makes sense, and most of the pieces of our lives fit together.

It can happen in our spiritual life, too. A retreat or some other spiritual experience can send us soaring. At such moments, we may feel the immense joy of God’s love and affirmation intensely. But the experience inevitably fades. We “come back to reality.” But, again, that’s not accurate. The spiritual high was also reality; it becomes folded into the rest of our life, like salt that enlivens the taste of food.

Imagine that you are in Jesus’ company, along with Peter James and John as they are climbing the mountain. You are about to have your own mountain top experience.

Perhaps you’ve lived in a valley all your life or are pretty much confined to the view that four walls bring you.

In the valleys, your view is limited; you cannot see either the sunrise or the sunset. On a mountain top, your horizon gets expanded. You can look far into the distance and see the sunrise if you are looking east, or the sunset if you are looking west. Life in a valley can be boring, dull, monotonous. Life as viewed from a mountain top can be exhilarating and exciting.

You may never have a mountain top experience like Peter, James and John have had. Even ONE mountain top experience ~ one “peak experience” as Abraham Maslow likes to call them can be life-changing.

Any close encounter with God can be life-changing. I remember one I had in 1976.

I was making a private retreat. My retreat director assigned me a scripture on which to meditate. I was to take a full hour to reflect on the account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert from the gospel of Mark. Nothing came the first time. Nor the second. The third one connected. One brief experience (it lasted only about 15 minutes) has changed my relationship with Jesus forever.

I had the experience that Jesus was quite close to me; in the meditation I got close enough to wrestle with him. Yes, wrestle with him! If that happened in my mind’s eye, then it was and is possible to think of myself very often as that close to Jesus. (I felt quite certain that I did not conjure it up because I never would have dreamed of myself in that situation with our Lord.)

How about you ~ have you ever had a peak experience? Have you had more than one? Then you understand what I am talking about. You know that such moments can be life-changing.

What does it take to have a peak experience?

It can happen just in the faculty of our imagination ~ that special place inside us where we can be led to new and wonderful things, things never seen before.

It requires openness ~ a sense of adventure, a willingness to leave our comfortable place to climb a mountain.

Now imagine that you are accompanying Jesus and Peter, James and John as they climb the mountain . . . . And you see Jesus become radiant. Dazzling. Incredibly beautiful in his appearance ~ his face, his hands his hair, his robe.

And then hear the Voice from above proclaim to you and the others:

“This is my beloved son. Listen to him.”

How would you feel? Would you be afraid? Would you be filled with joy? Would you fall to the ground in worship?

Let’s focus on one point of the story.

Jesus received a tremendous affirmation from his heavenly Father who was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

This was a moment of affirmation for Jesus. Surely he needed it; he could feel the weight of his mission upon his shoulders. He had an intuition that his life would enter upon tremendous suffering and death. He also received affirmation from Moses and Elijah and then, Peter, James and John, in turn, were affirmed that their choice to follow him was essentially correct.

How about you — how often do you receive affirmation?

How often does your spouse praise you for something that you did or for who you are? How often do your children praise you? Probably not very often. How often do you sense God is affirming you?

Affirmation is very important. It was important for Jesus; and it is important for you and me.

Athletes get lots of affirmation and praise especially the ones who get gold medals but maybe not so often for the rest of us.

I used to receive a lot of affirmation when I was in a parish. These days my dog Shoney gets all the praise and attention.

As I conclude, I encourage you to make the intention to be open to joyous experience of your own when such moments come. When they come, embrace them. Try not to resist or deny them as many of us do. Surrender to the moment and experience it as deeply and richly as you can.

I pray for God’s affirmation for each of you. Hear him say: “You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter. “You are my beloved son, my beloved daughter.

Now give someone a really good affirmation before the day is over. And, before you go, here’s our traditional Catholic hymn Holy God We Praise Thy Name as you’ve never heard it before. Click here.

the Gospel of Mark Revised Edition / The Daily Study Bible Series / William Barclay

The Westminster Press / Philadelphia 1975

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

The Fidelity of Jesus

February 20, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

The First Sunday of Lent ~ The Fidelity of Jesus (February 22, 2015)

(All the Scripture texts for this Mass can be found at the link that follows. After you’ve looked at this site, to get back to this page, at the top Left corner of your computer screen look for the tiny arrow ( <) pointing left. Click on it. Here’s the link for the Mass readings: Click here.

This is a story about fidelity in the face of temptation. In Mark’s Gospel, the author condenses the story to two sentences, beginning with the fascinating line, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert . . .tempted by Satan.

Let’s begin with a couple of qualifications. First, I was God’s idea. Jesus was driven out there, Mark says. Mmmm. William Barclay in his commentary on sacred scripture tell us that the purpose for this “was for a testing time.” Temptations are not sent to make us fall, but to strengthen our nerve and our will. They are not meant for our ruin but for our good.

Second, “forty days” is not meant to be taken literally. Moses was on the mountain forty days; the Israelites wandered in the desert 40 years. This is just a Hebrew phrase meaning “a considerable a mount of time.”

Third, the word Satan in Hebrew simply means advesary. In the book of Job, Satan is one of the sons of God (Job 1:6). And, of course, the other title of Satan is the devil from the Greek diabolos, which literally means slanderer. Through their captivity to the Persians, they learned something: there are two powers ~ one of darkness and light. Thus, in this world, there is God and God’s adversary. Satan becomes in essence everything that is against God. (Barclay Gospel of Mark pp.21-23.)

And so, with this as background, I’d like to elaborate on the story from my imagination here . . . .

This is a story about the Jesus I know and love.

This is a story about earth-shaking silence that bore the sound of deafening harsh voices and one soft and gentle voice Who sent Jesus among us so we could know we had a father/God who loves us with an everlasting love.

This is a story of confrontation and testing.

Dramatic confrontation with the elements ~blinding sun and penetrating darkness, blistering wind and numbing cold, impassioned hunger and parching thirst.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to pray and fast.

There, he would shape his mission. He was searching for the answer of the question: What kind of spiritual leader would he be?

There, he was also tempted by the devil, who sought him to distort that mission.

First, a harsh voice prompted Jesus to turn stones into bread as a way of manipulating others to get them to follow him. Jesus could have made people dependent on him; instead, he shared with them what he realized: One does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Another harsh voice tempted him to throw himself down from the parapet of the temple and have his angels come and raise him up. He could put together a traveling road show of clever signs and wonders. Things would be easier that way. People would easily follow a clever magician. But this would draw people away from the Father, not toward him.

The soft voice was simply asking Jesus to reveal the real order of the Father’s kingdom.

Jesus realized his mission in life was to reveal Abba’s love as Father of all. Jesus was to let the world know that there was a soft voice within us all, who is there to affirm and to love, to test and to guide.

A third harsh voice promised Jesus the whole world, saying: “You’ve got the power to gain the whole world. You can be king of this world.

And Jesus sadly realized that many of his followers, even in the Church, would succumb to greed of every form. They would kill in Crusades and Inquisitions in the name of love.

As he was tempted, he was led into a soul-embracing love of the One he was to reveal. In the desert, Jesus must have knelt down and promised in all simplicity to seek and to do the will of the Father from moment to moment. And in that act of fidelity, in that decision, the new covenant surely was sealed in Jesus’ heart.

In the desert and its temptations, the whole of humanity was drawn into the possibility of intimate experience of the divine. Because one person was willing to be led into the holy of holies, we all can go with him. We can go–provided that we ~ like Jesus, are willing to be tested and cleansed, strengthened and purified.

You see, dear friends, in this story, at the beginning of Jesus’ mission, is the answer to the question: Why did Jesus have to die?

The answer is: to surrender himself into the hands of evil people was the only way Jesus could be faithful. God could have intervened on behalf of his own son. But that was out of the question. The world could not accept God as a gentle Father. They found his message of love much too demanding. And since the authorities could not and would not accept him and his message, the only recourse left to him was simply to give witness to that message–even to the end. He chose to be faithful to the soft Voice of the Father , not compromise the message, even if it led to his death.

Jesus had to suffer and die because, tragically, that was the only way the world would allow him to be faithful to the Word he heard and preached.

The Father was more pleased with the fidelity of one son than he would have been with the spread of a message that did not reveal his love.

This is a powerful lesson for those among us who would coerce others into being good ~ church leaders, or any one else in authority.

The false voices which Jesus tamed and quieted ~ the voices of greed or accolade or power–we must tame and quiet, relying on his power as elder Son.

The soft voice of the Father to whom he was so devoted, the voice that was the source and object of all his fidelity, each one of us should train ourselves to hear. And then learn . . . day after day after day to love . . . more deeply . . . more intimately . . . more really–the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This ~ is the Jesus I know and love!

And I ask him to teach me the gentle ways of the Father. Through Jesus, may we be faithful too.

And now, before you go, here’s a song I’ve always loved with a lovely slide show ~ Be Not Afraid. Click here. Remember to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

William Barclay: the Gospel of Mark Revised Edition / The Daily Study Bible Series / The Westminster Press Philadelphia / 1975

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

The Jesus I know and love

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Thursday after Ash Wednesday, February 19th, 2015

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

In the first reading, Moses says:

“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.

Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Now here are my thoughts on Mose’s address to his people. One often hears the word’s Choose Life as a Pro-Life message. That’s important, but each of us are invited to choose life again and again, every day. This Lent is an acceptable time to choose the life that affirms and nourishes us and extricate ourselves from the dysfunctional communication and game-playing within the walls of our own home that cauterise the souls of our spouses and our children. Choose Life this day in the way you speak to and about everyone you meet today. Choice is an act of the will, the highest power of the human person. Choose your words carefully. Preside over ~ take responsibility for what comes out of your mouth. Realize your words create life or death.

In today’s gospel, Jesus says,

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? (Luke 9: 22-25)

My reflection: Jesus gives us a koan ~ a Zen word that denotes a riddle that often takes a long time for us to get it.

Try to get into it this Lent. Ponder its meaning for you right now. Repeat it often until you get it.

It’s So counter-cultural. In our society people do everything to avoid the smallest bit of pain. They even have numbing pads so that you don’t feel it when you prick your finger for the Accu-check for diabetes. And we avoid emotional pain by not thinking through our problems. We might be tempted to do this by running away. A hasty divorce or a cruel text message to dump a girl friend who no longer suits us.

The Cross of Jesus is about commitment. Lent places before us the Cross of Jesus and his loving embrace of it. He willingly stretched out his arms to be nailed. Jesus knew he would have to face a lot of suffering on his journey. He knew he would make people angry by telling the truth he saw in his heart. He knew that it would lead him to death every step of the way up to Jerusalem. The issue is Acceptance of whatever life calls us to. Jesus accepted the Cross because he chose to be faithful to his mission.

Jesus did a brand new thing. His message was that his Father-God embraces every person without exception. His message was that He, Jesus, transcended the Law; that the only law was to love. This went against the grain of those who saw him as a threat to all they knew.

In the desert, Jesus made a firm commitment to BE the truth that he saw in his heart no matter what. Jesus embodied that highest moral standard: to commit his life to justice and love, no matter what it cost him. His mission was very simple: Stay on message, no matter what. He was a person of absolute integrity. No one was going to dissuade him from being who he was.

Very sadly, many in the church say that they believe in Jesus but are quick to condemn, quick to hate. If you are one who has been condemned by the church or treated hatefully, I, for one, ask forgiveness from you for I know Jesus would never want that for you. And I ask for forgiveness and change of heart for those who do the condemning and the hating.

Yesterday 21 Egyptian Coptic Catholic Christians were brutally martyred for their faith because of such hate and went swiftly and triumphantly to their Lord. Yet Jesus would remind us not put to violence put on top of violence!

Finally, I would like to be in solidarity with so many of us these days who have crosses to face that are profoundly difficult. Let us help each other to bear the cross we must carry. But remember, the key is acceptance. Acceptance ~ the willingness to be nailed ~ is the secret to yours and my recovery.

This is the Jesus I know and love: The one who has the strength to love, no matter what. He’s my hero. I would like very much to be like that. How ’bout you?

Tomorrow we begin to reflect on Jesus’ forty-day retreat into the desert, (the Mass text for this coming Sunday) to prepare for his mission. Now before you go, here’s a concert version of the old hymn “Jesus walked the lonesome valley” Click here.

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

February 17, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Dear Friends,

Ash Wednesday is upon us once again. Easter is early this year ~ April 5th

So, you may ask ~ what’s this Ashes thing”

We Catholics like symbols. (So does Harry Potter.)

What are ashes about?

What can they tell us about life? And death? And reality?

When the priest smears ashes on the penitent’s forehead he says one of two poignant phrases:

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST AND UNTO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN,

or REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.

So, it’s a sign of humility, a sign that we are part of the earth, that we are dust.

Are we to reflect and ask ~ Are we just dust?

Have we made an ash-heap of our life?

Are we sitting in an ash-heap?

Is there nothing but ruin, smoldering embers around us?

If so, do we despair?

Or can we dream of re-building?

Whether or not, the answers to these questions apply to us literally, it is important to humble ourselves before our God.

They could very well be true at any moment of our life. There but for the grace of God go I.

I was searching for a song about ashes and I found one by the Rock group Rev Theory in their song The Fire.

Here’s an excerpt of the lyrics; they seem to know something about this stuff:

Tell me that I’m hopeless
Tell me I’m a lost and wayward son
Tell me that I’m callous
Tell me that our life is too forgone

So take a breath and brace yourself

Tell me I’m a lost soul
Tell me I’ve one foot in the grave
Tell me that I’m shallow
Tell me it’s enough to keep you awake

So take a breath and brace yourself

[Chorus]
Coz tonight this could be the last chance before we die
Can we rise again from the ashes?
In this final moment
Is the fire still alive?
Tonight

Notice these guys are dealing with the same issues here.

Of being lost; of needing a change. And, amazingly, they use the metaphor of ashes and ask if the fire is still alive.

What is the fire for them? Love? Creativity? The Holy Spirit perhaps?

But for us, Lent is a season of hope that ends in new life ~ in risen life.

It’s a time to TURN AROUND ~ to make a U-turn ~ when we realize our life has gone in the wrong direction.

That’s what the word conversion means. To simply do a U-turn.

Turn around and head in a different direction.

Get going again.

CHANGE, so you don’t keep on doing the same old thing and expecting different results.

Or of just renewing and deepening our commitments. Or just deepen our fervor.

I have a little bone to pick with Catholics who show up on Ash Wednesday, get a smudge of ashes on their forehead without the slightest intention of doing what they symbolize: CHANGE.

Don’t just give up something for Lent. Get at the root of your life where you need to look at the real stuff.

I invite you to go deeper into the practice of your religion.

Make the sign Mean Something!

Let it transform you from inside out.

The question is: Do we ~ you and I ~ have the COURAGE TO CHANGE?

So, let’s do Lent well together.

During Lent, be ready to walk with Jesus to Jerusalem.

Find out who this Jesus is ~ for you.

And what wisdom he has to offer us that will help us to change.

It seems Rev Theory are on their way to it already.

Whether you are Catholic or not, perhaps you will find some wisdom,

some meaning for your life in these pages. Join us as we walk the journey together

as Jesus did ~ through suffering to death to new and risen life these six weeks of Lent 2015.

God of pardon and of love,

Mercy past all measure,

You alone can grant us peace,

You, our holy treasure.

Now here’s Rev Theory’s ~ The Fire Click Here. Be sure to enter full screen but if you’re not used to rock music DON”T turn up your speakers.

With love,

Bob Traupman

Contemplative Writer

Thursday ~ The Jesus I know and Love

Carnival

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Well, this week the Big Easy and Rio have one thing in common — one huge party. And what is so interesting its very Catholic. It’s a time to let your hair down before the strike of midnight on Ash Wednesday when we Catholics fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays during the six-week Lenten season.

The root of the word “CARnival is the same as the word “inCARnation”~ a word that means the enfleshment of the Son of God.

Now here’s a bit of carnival or Mardi Gras history for you.

A carnival is a celebration combining parades, pageantry, folk drama, and feasting, usually held in Catholic countries during the weeks before Lent. The term Carnival probably comes from the Latin word “carnelevarium”, meaning “to remove meat.” Typically the Carnival season begins early in the new year, often on Epiphany, January 6, and ends in February on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French).

Probably originating in pagan spring fertility rites, the first recorded carnival was the Egyptian feast of Osiris, an event marking the receding of the Nile’s flood water. Carnivals reached a peak of riotous dissipation with the Roman BACCHANALIA and Saturnalia.

In the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church tried to suppress all pagan ideas, it failed when it came to this celebration. The Church incorporated the rite into its own calendar as a period of thanksgiving. Popes sometimes served as patrons.

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The nations of Europe, especially France, Spain, and Portugal, gave thanks by throwing parties, wearing masks, and dancing in the streets. All three colonizing powers carried the tradition with them to the New World, but in Brazil it landed with a difference. Not only did the Portuguese have a taste for abandoned merriment, (they brought the “entrudo”, a prank where merry-makers throw water, flour, face powder, and many other things at each other’s faces), but the Negro slaves also took to the celebration. They would smear their faces with flour, borrow an old wig or frayed shirt of the master, and give themselves over to mad revelry for the three days. Many masters even let their slaves roam freely during the celebration. Since the slaves were grateful for the chance to enjoy themselves, they rarely used the occasion as a chance to run away.

Pre-Christian, medieval, and modern carnivals share important thematic features. They celebrate the death of winter and the rebirth of nature, ultimately recommitting the individual to the spiritual and social codes of the culture. Ancient fertility rites, with their sacrifices to the gods, exemplify this commitment, as do the Christian Shrovetide plays. On the other hand, carnivals allow parody of, and offer temporary release from, social and religious constraints. For example, slaves were the equals of their masters during the Roman Saturnalia; the medieval feast of fools included a blasphemous mass; and during carnival masquerades sexual and social taboos are sometimes temporarily suspended.

Tomorrow: Why Ashes on Ash Wednesday?

May I suggest that by Wednesday morning to try be ready to enter into a deeper journey into your inner depths to discover our Lord and at the same time your deepest Self. Be ready to experience new life, new growth for your self — and for our country.

Dear Lord,

Today we let our hair down a bit and when the fun is over,

may we be ready to enter the desert on Wednesday with you

and discover how desert experiences can cleanse and purify us and make us whole.

Let us enter the desert willingly and learn its lessons well.

We ask you, Lord, to lead the way.

Amen.

But, before you go, here’s a musical slide show of what a Carnival parade is like down in Rio. Click here. Be sure to enter full screen. (Ladies: Let your husbands have some fun. It’s not ~ um ~ exactly R rated.)

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Love is fidelity

February 13, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Flagler Beach sunrise / bob traupman.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, EVERYONE!

We’ve been reflecting on St. Paul’s eloquent words about love from I Corinthians 13.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Romantic love may wear off in a few months or in a year or so. True love requires fidelity.

I often remember people I met briefly forty or fifty years ago and there is still a place in my heart for them, even those who were adversaries. And when I think of them I believe my prayer is able to touch them even now, either living or dead and in some way let them know I still love them.

We think we know all about love, but Love is an Art and a Discipline to be learned and acquired by trial and error. As such, we have to learn how to love. Or perhaps unlearn what we have learned in abusive homes and find people who can teach us how to love well. I am profoundly grateful for the people who allowed my soul to unfold and blossom because of their love.

When I taught high school seniors (45 years ago!) I had them read two books, Erich Fromm’s Art of Loving and Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Both books still should be required reading by anyone who wants to become a whole and healed human person.

Many of us keep focusing on finding the right object of our love. Fromm ~ and Jesus ~ tell us that being a person who is capable of loving the stranger in the checkout line at the 7-11 or your sibling whose guts you can’t stand is the way we will learn to love.

Love is being free to love the one you’re with so you can be with the one you love.

It is just not possible to love some and hate others. St. John says, “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).

Love is being able to see and respond to the loving energy of the universe and spread it around instead of trying to possess it for oneself.

Love is faithfully loving whomever God puts in our life at every turn of our life’s journey.

Good and gracious God,

We live in a world that gives us so few models of faithful love.

Help us to learn the art and discipline of loving.

Help us to understand that we cannot love one person ~ even ourselves ~ unless we let love ~ rather than hate ~ flow from our heart to touch and heal and nourish those around us.

Heal us, Lord.

Let us trust in You for you are the Source of all Love,

Your Love is flowing like a river giving life to everything along the day.

May love flow like a river from our own hearts to every one we meet this day.

And what better way to end our series “What is Love” on this Valentine’s Day with Andre Rieu’s rendition of the Romeo and Juliet theme. Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen to view the lovely video.

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

And here is the entire text of St. Paul’s Ode to Love (I Corinthians 13) Savor each line and see how you measure up. . . .

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;

if I have all faith so as to move mountains

but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast

but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous,

Love is not pompous, it is not inflated,

it is not rude,

it does not seek its own interests,

it is not quick-tempered,

it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never fails.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

What is Love? (or the Man from Tennessee)

February 12, 2015February 12, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Dear Friends and Lovers everywhere,

I had a delightful conversation with these two good people from Tennessee a summer or two ago while I was living in St. Augustine. Or was it Kentucky? (I have difficulty remembering which is which.). They were sitting on the curb behind the Village Inn. The conversation began with a polite reprimand to the dude for throwing a cigarette butt on the ground. (Actually, I don’t think you call a young man from Tennessee a dude, do you?) I care for the planet that supports my every step and I try my best to show respect and reverence to her and gently persuade others to do the same.

As a writer, I am always interested in people’s stories. And the conversation became quite up close and personal quite quickly. They told me a bit of each of their stories. About their work and school and families. The young lady was still in high school. They were thinking about getting married. I was very much impressed with these young folks. Salt of the earth folks. Reminded me of last Sunday’s gospel reading.

Valentine’s Day is coming up. Another day where our economists try to persuade us to think we need to spend money to show our love. We’ll explore the question What is love? in the next few days.

So, what is LOVE? I’m going to interweave two threads into my blog – the themes What is Love? and What is Life? The two provide the tapestry of a life well-lived. If we seek life and love every day – if we choose to turn away from hateful words and thoughts and the cruel deeds that spouses and jilted lovers throw at each other in cruel text messaging, we will find both. Love and life.

We’ll reflect a little more each day on these two themes. There’s all kinds of love, you know. There’s romance that is the kind that pervades the soaps, the news stand magazines. There’s erotic love. There’s brotherly (or sisterly) love, the love of friends, neighborly love. And there’s sacrificial love. There’s conditional and unconditional love. There’s love that isn’t love at all.

But here’s a practical suggestion so that you can make your own reflection and thereby make your own meaning.

At day’s end, reflect on the positive things — even the tiny little things in a chaotic, insane day. Where was the LOVE? Where was the LIFE?

Take a moment. Reflect on your day. Pick two incidents, however fleeting, however small that you might have missed at the time. Savor them for a moment as you get ready for bed. Those are the moments in which God is speaking to you. Be ready to receive into your life and your heart the little moments of LIFE and LOVE that do happen even in on the cruelest day or even despair. It is not the destination that is important; life and love happen on the way.

God bless you, my two young friends from Tennessee (or Kentucky). It was such an honor and a joy to talk with you. I pray for you now as I think of you, even a few years later. Maybe you’re married now ~ to each other or to someone else. but I hope you finished high school. Have a wonderful life — both of you and each of you.

Before you go , if you’ve got a ramblin’ boy in your life or in your soul, here’s Dave Loggin’s famous song about the Man from Tennessee with beautiful images to carry your soul away, if just for a moment on love’s nostalgia and grace. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen. Have a great day!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Love Transforms Us

February 11, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Dear Friends,

We’ve been talking about St. Paul’s Ode to Love (1 Corinthians 13) ~ the awesome love that transforms.

But many of us don’t know how to love in a way that transforms because we’re more interested in getting love than giving it.

So, let’s think about that for a moment.

Many young folks in our society have not experienced the love that transforms, even from their own parents or their spouses. Very often, their relationships center on their own needs, even when they’re “giving” to their significant other.

But in order to love in a transforming way, we have to love in a way that frees us.

So I ask you . . . .

Who are the people in your life who were able to recognize the YOU inside you?

Who-knew-who-you-were behind the mask you present to the world each day?

Who are the people who recognized your gifts and called them forth from-the-deep-within-you?

Who drew forth the goodness they-saw-in-you when what you were presenting to the world you thought wasn’t very good at all?

That’s love that transforms! That heals. That gets us going again. That moves us down the road a bit.

At this moment I’d like to name one such man who has had an enormous influence on my life. He is Father Eugene Walsh. We used to call him Gino. He was the rector of my seminary the year I was preparing for ordination. He was a Father-figure for me and a mentor; and I also learned most of what I know about the sacred liturgy from him.

I had the good fortunate to get on his short list to have him as my spiritual director. He had a way of listening deeply below the level of my words.

I remember one night in his study. We were sitting across from each other in two easy chairs. I was always intrigued that the wall behind him was bright orange with a large abstract painting on it. I was struggling that night about whether I would go on to be ordained a priest.

Of a sudden, he sprung from his chair, hugged me and whispered in my ear my name ~ Bob. And I heard it resonate for the longest time. His voice found me ~ some place deep within and called me forth.

I can still hear him calling me ~ right now. At that moment, his deep, resonating love ~ transformed me. Affirmed me, confirmed me.

More than any other person, there is Jesus; I have tried to be like him. He was so human. He has ~ he is teaching me how to be a human being, above all. A simple, decent, human being. And to be human, most of all, is to be capable of loving and receiving love. The same was true of Father Walsh.

So ask yourself: Who are the people who really knew who you were on the inside, accepted you as you are ~ the good and the bad ~ and called you forth to be the best person you could be?

Why don’t you reflect on this through the day ~ while you’re driving, sitting on the john or doing the dishes. Give thanks for them. And maybe give them a call. Not an email ~ a phone call.

And finally, I want to honor the two-love birds in the picture above. They are John and Betsy Walders of Sebastian, Florida. They will be married sixty-six years next week (February 19, 2015) and are as much in love as the day they met as teens. (Take note that there both still wearing denim.) In their early eighties they went on a serendipitying around the country, quite oblivious to the fact that they weren’t teenagers anymore! The joy and memory of all those years sustains Betsy as she witnesses her beloved withdraw into Alzheimer’s. They’re both in their nineties.

Asked if they ever considered a divorce, she thought a moment and said, “Divorce, no, murder, yes!”

I love them dearly and miss visiting, but Betsy and I talk and have many a laugh on the phone every couple of weeks.

Dear Friends, see if you can make this prayer your own . . . .

Good and gracious God,

You are the One most of all who has loved me into wholeness,

who is calling me forth to be the best person I can be,

calling me not so much to want to be loved as to love.

I thank you for sending people into my life who, even for a brief moment,

have touched me deep within and helped to transform me into a more deeply loving person.

Help me always to be a person who is capable of transforming love.

And now, before you go, here’s Joan Baez’ Forever Young Click here. Turn up your speakers. Be sure to enter full screen; it’s a song I’ve always enjoyed!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Jilted lovers

February 10, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

mesa verde national park of southern colorado / march 2008 / bob traupman.

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Our society finds it quite acceptable for people to hop into one relationship after another or just satisfy their needs by”hooking up”.

How many times have young people thought that this was the person of their dreams and been dumped by a rude text message ~ or done the dumping themselves?

How many marriages have ended when one spouse shows up in the kitchen and announces, “I want a divorce!” No discussion. No attempt to work out problems. No mercy. No forgiveness. It’s over. Done.

And what happens is that we may add one unsuccessful relationship on top of another. As a result, our heart can become more and more wounded. And less and less trusting, less and less capable of loving . . . unless we somehow find a way to believe again, to hope again.

So, let’s take a deeper look at the truth and the transforming power of St. Paul’s words in I Corinthians 13 that we’re reflecting on in this series “What is Love?”

LOVE . . .

. . . it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests,

it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

it bears all things. believes all things, hopes all things. endures all things.

Love never fails.

We just have to learn to love anyway.

At least, that’s what St. Paul is getting at “Love does not brood over injuries.”

In the Art of Loving, psychoanalyst Erich Fromm’s classic book written in 1956, consider his statement that will blow most of us out of the water:

“Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person: it is an attitude, an orientation of character which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole, not toward one “object” of love. If a person loves only one person and is indifferent to the rest of his fellow men, his love is not love but a symbiotic attachment or an enlarged egotism . . . If I truly love one person I love all persons, I love the world; I love life. If I can say to somebody else, “I love you,” I must be able to say”I love in you everybody. I love through you the world, I love in you also myself” (emphasis mine)~ p. 39.)

This is, of course, is the heart of Jesus’ message, but many, if not most of us who say we’re his followers, still don’t get it.

As tech opportunities for “communication” proliferate, the less we communicate. We communicate more and more on a superficial level. You can’t really know someone through texting or on Facebook or in an email. A person can present a false persona. The only real way to communicate with someone is to be in their presence using all our senses.

We need to learn, once again how to come to true intimacy ~ the coming together of two or more persons who have the courage to open ourselves to the transformative power of love.

If you are one who seeks that, I’m with you. That’s what my writing is about.

In tomorrow’s blog in this series, I’ll turn this subject around to consider “The Transformative Power of Love.”

Good and gracious God,

we ask you to heal the hearts that are broken.

Help us to see even in the midst of our brokenness the depth of Your Love for us.

And may we see Your brokenness when we reject Your love.

We may feel we cannot take the risk to open our hearts once more.

Give us the courage and strength to stop destructive patterns that lead only to more pain.

Give us hope, Lord.

Instead of seeking to find our true love,

let us simply become persons who love ~

. . . whomever we’re with,

. . . to grow in our capacity to love that we can hold the whole world in our embrace

as You do at every moment,

in every time and place.

To You, God of our understanding,

we give You praise, now and forever.

AMEN!

Now one more time, look at that tree at the top of the page, weathering the mountaintop at 8000 feet. It has been jilted by the weather. But it still stands nobly and proudly ~ broken, gnarled and twisted ~ but a fine lesson to us of the meaning of life.

And here is the entire text of St. Paul’s Ode to Love (I Corinthians 13) once again. Savor each phrase and see how you measure up . . .

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous. Love is not pompous, it is not inflated,it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, does not brood over injury,it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. So faith, hope love remain, these, but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13

Now, before you go, here’s Paul Mc Cartney singing “All my loving” Click here.

With Love,

Bob Traupman

Contemplative Writer

Ode to Love

February 5, 2015bobtraupmanLeave a comment

Many of us are thinking of our Valentine’s these days — our lovers, “intendeds.” spouses, classmates, mothers . . . At least Hallmark would have us “send the very best.”

So, what is love?

I’ve officiated at the marriages of many young couples over the 45 years of my priesthood who’ve chosen St. Paul’s Ode to Love for their wedding Mass.

It has got to be one of the most glorious pieces of prose of all time.

Take the time to take it in and see how you measure up.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;

if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient,

love is kind.

It is not jealous,

Love is not pompous,

it is not inflated,

it is not rude,

it does not seek its own interests,

it is not quick-tempered,

it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never fails.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is Love.

I Corinthians 13

Dearest God,

You are Love itself.

We give you thanks for the people in our lives who have loved-us-into-the-Persons-we-are.

We rejoice in them and remember them in love.

But so many of us are wounded because we have not experienced the parental love

that would allow us to know and experience how to love.

Help us take your apostle Paul’s words to heart that we may understand the true meaning of love.

May we have a heart that is open to all persons, all of life, all of the universe.

To You Lord, be glory and praise, now and forever.

Amen!

Before you go, take a moment to listen to Bette Midler’s The Rose. Click here. Turn up your speakers and be sure to enter full screen and have a great day!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer