The beauty of the Catholic faith is visible in the love and charity shown by the faithful. It is in our openness to all that seek and share our path that we grow into one body and spirit.

I refuse to buy into the rhetoric that there are good, bad, or nominal Catholics. We are all one, and we are all flawed, yet we seek God and strive to understand our path.  As we enter the final months of the election season, there is one Catholic on the ticket and yet by my count two. One can choose to worship elsewhere, but does that mean the person’s Baptism into the faith is invalid, or his confirmation is null? Our searches for faith, spiritual partners with whom to share our path, and meaning in life should be encouraged and embraced with love.

I left the Baptist faith I embraced as a teenager to become Catholic and in the process grew stronger in faith and love. I sit at a Zen center and as a result am more aware, focused, and able to hear. Life is a spiritual journey. I embrace the joy of the journey and embrace those that are on the path even when they don’t seeing the same things.

One would think that we would celebrate when we share something in common with those that are willing to stand up and lead. However, there are vocal groups that started hate filled attacks on the faith of not only Tim Kane or Mike Pence, but also Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  It is unfortunate when in our musing we even take a moment to consider the validity of the faith of people we do not personally know or worship with, but it is a tragedy when we speak those thoughts and malign the faith of another.

The richness of our faith allows for the exercise of conscience. We need to trust that in the search for God and meaning that people are being led by the Holy Spirit. Your path is not mine, and mine not yours, but we share the path just as we share 99.9% of our DNA. As Pope Francis said, it is boring walking alone. For me, it is the most natural thing in the world to be able to lift up in prayer anyone that seeks to find meaning in faith, spiritual wholeness in God, and enlightenment through understanding. I am happier by looking for the joy in their path and trusting that it is their path inspired for their needs. Our paths are like our DNA. They are 99.9% the same as every other human being and 0.1% different. Let us accept the blur that exists and embrace the reality that at any given moment the path that is clear to us may appear blurred to others.

Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the liturgical year. It is the beginning of Lent when I can reflect on the year and make a sincere effort to examine my conscience and practice the acts that help me to grow as a spiritual being. The ashes remind of the impermanence of existence and the need to join mind and body each day in meditation. It is a time to notice what is around me – sight, sounds, and my environment and all sentient beings that occupy that environment. It is often too easy not to notice the person that is homeless, the veteran that suffered injuries, or to take for granted clean air and water.

I hope to begin Lent by choosing a church home for the next year. I’ve visited all the churches listed in the table and some for extended periods of time. I am always hoping to find a parish that is as peaceful and mindful as the Zen Center and is as concerned about not just humanity, but all life and the environment that makes life possible.

As I visited parishes I considered my first impressions and wondered why I felt so much more comfortable and welcomed at the Missouri Zen Center. I think it is the same reason I found Sts. Claire and Francis, which is an Ecumenical Catholic Church, welcoming. In both places everyone introduced themselves at each gathering and there is no judgment and no doubt that we take refuge in the community and in our shared practice. Yet, my heart calls me to a Roman Catholic Church where all are welcome. How would you decide?

*The women that cook meals at Immacolata are welcoming and kind, but it didn’t make up for the man that insisted I move to another seat.

Key to smiley faces:

I seek peace from my faith and my meditation. I am always hoping that one day there will be a moment when all is clear to me, and I listen to my inner voice. Too often I worry about what troubles the world. Today, as with many days, I see our trouble as caused by fear and mistrust of our neighbors. In our efforts to relieve our fears, we forget that we have a responsibility to save all beings.

In my practice in Zen Buddhism, saving all beings extends broadly. I have a responsibility to the unborn and the elderly, but also to the animals of the earth, the fish of the sea, and the birds in the air. I am a holistic protector of like. In Catholicism, there is also a responsibility to protect life, but the loudest voices tend to focus on the unborn and certainly there isn’t the same holistic focus. What I take from both is the responsibility to seek peace and avoid violence. I, therefore, decline the right to bear arms. When Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) he did not say anything about killing another to save a life. I prefer to strive for compassion that is free of judgment and without limit.

I ask people to consider declining the right to bear arms. It is a right granted to us by the Constitution, but not one that must be exercised. Instead, seek freedom from fear and model the peace we seek in prayer and meditation. Let’s make violence rare and compassion the norm.

I love being Catholic, from the ritual of the Mass and the beauty of the churches to the focus on social justice. Each word has meaning, and each gesture brings mind, body, and spirit together. The Priest enters in procession, sometimes with incense and other times not. There are candles, songs, bells, recitations, readings, a homily, standing, kneeling, bowing, and a recession. Always at the center of the Mass is the Eucharist and that moment when I let go of myself and am fully open to being one with the body of Christ. We are in one moment a community with the entire Church and with all creation.

I love Sōtō Zen Buddhism for many of the same reasons. What is significantly different is the absence of music and the extended periods of zazen (silent meditation). Silencing my mind isn’t always easy, but it brings peace.As I sat Saturday night and tried to quit my mind of all the external distractions I recalled the meditative qualities of the rosary. Many people don’t like rote prayer, but I find them a way to calm my mind when I enter into prayer and meditation. I have frequently used it to shut down all the thoughts and words running through my mind. One might ask how a rote prayer shuts out words. Imagine having an annoying song stuck in your hear and the only way to get rid of it is to play music to change one’s focus. That is what the rosary does for me. It shuts down thoughts and words, worries and desires, and allows me to sit in silence. It is the silence that that I am at one time the most free and the most connected.

“All you have to do is take care of your posture and breathing with a kind, considerate, and thoughtful spirit.”
― Dainin Katagiri, Each Moment Is the Universe: Zen and the Way of Being Time

Religion and spirituality are both old and new to me every day. I recently posted a picture of my Sōtō Zen Buddhism lay ordination but provided little information about the reason or the journey to incorporated the practices into my life as a Catholic. The lay ordination would be similar to confirmation without the requirement to believe in any specific teaching or a deity, as Buddhism has no deity. As a Catholic, there is nothing in the practice that conflicts with my faith. The vows one takes are simple.

I have been interested in Zen Buddhism since my first courses in religious studies too many years ago. It wasn’t until I fully embraced Catholicism that I again remembered why I found Zen Buddhism intriguing. Zen means meditation. When I sit and meditate, I clear the clutter from my mind. Zazen isn’t about learning new ideas or beliefs, but about becoming free. It is in those moments of freedom from desires that I am most open and can hear clearly.

I hope to sit twice a day this year and say more about the journey. Along the way, I hope to find Catholics and others that practice and take refuge in the community.

Humility of a Servant

I will always remember the image of the young man in Tiananmen Square who stepped in front of a tank and stopped the Chinese military and caused the entire world to watch in awe. I will always remember the election Pope Francis who chose to wear a wooden cross and bow for the blessing of the people.  Today Senator Portman, an Ohio republican, stated a change of heart on marriage equality because his son is gay.

How courageous it was for that young man in Tiananmen square and how inspiring to the rest of the world.  He may never know how many people were willing to stand for human rights because of his actions.  Likewise, Pope Francis sent a powerful message this week when he wore a wooden cross, bowed for the blessing of the people, took a bus, and paid his own hotel bill.  The symbols did not require the courage of stepping in front of a tank, but did require the humility that is so rare today.  The trifecta was today when Senator Portman publically discussed his desire for his son to have equal rights.  He put aside his judgmental beliefs about sin and embraced the forgiveness and compassion that are signs of God’s Divine power.

What if one person chooses to lead with concern for the suffering of others and let that concern guide his or her actions without any concern for self? What if that leader chose not to take on a judgmental attitude about the sins of others?  I think we would follow, just as people followed Jesus.  I hope and believe that Pope Francis has the humility that is needed today to approach policies that are desperately needed.

It is clear that we must address poverty and violence.  There are currently 28 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the 113^th Congress related to guns and an additional 46 that address poverty.  The sad fact is that gun violence has a greater impact on people in poverty and not just in the United States. The trafficking in guns has a devastating impact in Africa and not just is lives.

Knowing the impact of guns and violence on poverty, today the increase in the minimum wage was rejected in the House of Representatives.  The current minimum wage is 35% below the poverty level.  One must ask, how is that we can set a minimum wage below the poverty line when we know it is not a livable wage?  Likewise we must ask businesses, especially large and profitable businesses with excessively rich owners, how it is that they do not voluntarily pay higher wages.   If we know that those in poverty are at grater of violence what are we saying when we pay low wages?  How much is a life worth?  How do your justify your greed and what do you tell yourself to make it acceptable?

I look to Pope Francis with hope.  I look to him because he voluntarily took a vow of poverty.  He chose wood over gold.  He chose to pay his own bills, to live in modesty, and to cook his own meals.   As a Cardinal he said,“…the duty “to work to change the structural causes and personal or corporate attitudes that give rise to this situation (of poverty), and through dialogue reach agreements that allow us to transform this painful reality we refer to when we speak about social debt.”   Cardinal Bergoglio said the challenge to eradicate poverty could not be truthfully met as long as the poor continue to be dependents of the State. The government and other organizations should instead work to create the social conditions that will promote and protect the rights of the poor and enable them to be the builders of their own future…” Chris Nunez, said “maybe he’s reiterating, in his own words, exactly what the late and much loved Dom Helder Camara (Brazil) said about the nature of violence. #1 violence is structural violence that inhibits the ability of the people to participate in the economy in a way that helps them escape poverty.”  Violence is not just gun violence.  Domestic violence, war, and terrorism all keep people in poverty.

I choose to be close to the poor and the victims of violence.  I choose to be close to them because the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and where I find the poor and where I find the victims of violence I will also find my Lord.

The LORD confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them  (PS 34:17-18)

Thanks to Chris Nunez for the inspiration

From Rosie to Title IX We Have a Long Way to Go to Do It

Today is International Women’s Day and we have certainly made much progress since I was a child and my father told me I didn’t need to go to college because I could marry my boyfriend and he would take good care of me.  I’ve always wondered if the Suffragists, Rosie the Riveter, or Title IX had the greatest impact on women’s equality.  Is the vote more powerful than economic independence or is equality in education more important than the others combined?  What I do know is we have a long way to go and I hope we don’t loose our compassion in the process.

During the Presidential election a conservative female friend asked me if I thought there was a war against women.  I replied no, but have more than once jokingly commented, after obnoxious comments like the one about legitimate rape, that I was glad there wasn’t a war on women.  I should have qualified my answer to my friend.  I do not think there is a war on women, but I do believe there is a lot of ignorance that unfortunately adversely impacts women.  It comes predominately from a small minority of religiously conservative men and women.  Unfortunately, there are those who are more progressive, that in their attempts to help, also harm women.

The conservative impacts are obvious to most people.  It is easy to point at the Republicans that didn’t sign the Violence Against Women Act, the ones that wrote laws proposing vaginal probes (a totally unnecessary and invasive procedure), comments about legitimate rape, and a plethora of regressive laws and sexist statements.  What are less obvious are groups like Emily’s List.  They are a progressive group that supports democratic women for office who absolutely must be pro-choice.  To me this is no less an attack on women.  It says the only good woman is one that absolutely agrees with their agenda.  In other words, if one believes for religious reasons that abortion is wrong, then that woman is not worthy to be in leadership as a democrat.  This benign attack on qualified women may be more harmful than the obviously ignorant comments about legitimate rape.  If to reach equality in elected office we require women to deny their conscience then what have we gained?  We have then only said equality applies to a subsector of women.

A female supervisor once told me that I would never be truly successful until I reached “bitch status”.  As I progressed in my career I figured out what she meant.  Essentially, one had to adopt a take not prisoners mentality to be taken seriously by both male and female colleagues.  One day I looked around and saw the people I considered the greatest leaders.  They were intelligent, hard working, and exceptionally kind and compassionate and they were all men.  Men did not have to prove themselves in the same way.  Kindness and compassion was not seen as weakness or lack of intelligence nor did men attack each other in the way women did.  The people who had been the most undermining in my career were all women. I examined the person I had become in the drive to succeed and realized that wasn’t the person I wanted to be.  If it took “bitch status” to succeed, the price was too high.  We must be able to be successful without feeling the need to exclude other women.

In the search for my soul I found the success I had sought.  I found it in a loving environment of Sisters that had succeeded as women and helped young women to succeed for over a hundred years.  They did it without ever reaching “bitch status” or feeling the need to exclude other women.  They succeed through freedom, education, charity, and justice.  They did it without equal pay and without equal status in the Church.  They did it with love and compassion and they taught thousands of young women how to do the same.

Success and equality as a woman should not be perceived as competition with men and it certainly shouldn’t be competition with other women.  We should be making every effort to bring other qualified women up with us.  Equality requires that people see us as equal and that should mean that without thought we are paid the same, promoted the same, elected at the same rates, and granted the same access to education.  In the mean time we do not have to be like men to be successful and we do not have to compete under their terms.  We must be careful that as we succeed we do not eat our young and harm women in the workplace.  We can continue to push equality in education, work, religious life, sports, and politics without loosing our compassion in the process.  We can lead and at the same time allow alternative work schedules, freedom of conscience, and freedom choice in more that just reproductive health.

On International Women’s Day I salute all the women that are working to enhance equality.  I look forward to the day that our government is inclusive, our religions are inclusive, and worldwide education is inclusive.  Until then, I hope all women will lead out loud.

I spent much of the weekend thinking about the fiscal cliff, which I think is misnamed.  Fiscal cliff implies that the problem is related to money.  The problem may end up being a financial one, but certainly the real problem is elected officials that have forgotten to check their egos at the door.  They seem to believe they were elected so they can run for office and be reelected, rather than being elected to lead the country. When Zell Miller wrote Corps Values there was no lesion in the book about taking your toys and hiding in the closet.  There was also no lesson about jeopardizing the economy or the reputation of the United States for self-interest.  Most of the lessons seem to represent God, Country, and Family.  There was no I in the equation.

Sending our country over the cliff that was created by the egos of Democrats and Republican is irresponsible.  It is time to for all the politicians to remember what their mothers taught them about playing nicely with others.  Maybe, Mr. President you should have the First Lady and Dr. Biden bake Congress some cookies and lead them in the Harlem Shake (since they are already acting like clowns) and then tell them play time is over and that they can’t come out of their offices until their work is done.

We need a budget.  It needs to protect the least among us (the poor, children, our wounded warriors, the sick, and the elderly).  It needs to ensure that we have an adequate defense budget, but one that is not loaded with planes and ships that the military says they do not need while sacrificing training they do need.  We need a budget that protects our environment, encourages job formation, maintains or enhances the safety of our country, and ensures an educated workforce.

We do not need lower taxes, tax loopholes for people who are already millionaires and billionaires, or even for me.  I will pay a little more to make sure others have health insurance, social security, and the other necessities of life.  We do not need to subsidize oil companies, or corn growers, or sugar, or any of the many other things we still subsidize while they get richer and richer.  In other words we do not need corporate welfare – the big takers.  We also don’t need large discretionary funds, slush funds for governors (you know what I mean), and large travel budgets.  The days are over when one must meet face-to-face.  Government travel could be significantly reduced, as could lucrative contracts to beltway bandits.  Let the federal employees actually do their jobs and stop insisting things be contracted out.  It is no longer cheaper and everyone knows it.  It is a way to make one’s friends and contributors rich.

We must also get beyond the mentality that small budget items do not matter.  Small amounts added together, over time, can be substantial amounts of money.   More importantly, the lax approach to small amounts puts Congress in the mind frame that a little here and a little there does not matter.  Over time the concept of what is “a little” has changed significantly.

Finally, if you are going to furlough some people and not others that is not helpful.  It allows Congress and the White House to pretend they are not adversely impacting the country and families, because the wages lost and the services are not “critical”.  Not critical to Congress maybe, but to the people that are impacted it is critical.

If you are thinking it is the other side that is at fault consider this, it takes two to tango.  You need to be friends.  It is much harder to be unkind to friend, but you will not get to friendship if you don’t go to Church together, let your children play together, and break bread together.  Life can be filled with joy, but Congress and Mr. President; you are making it unnecessarily stressful and unhappy for all of us.

Write your Senators and Representatives and tell them it is time to shake hands, share the toys that make up our economy, and play nice.  Or, just mail them some of your favorite cookies and send me the recipe.  Maybe it will sweeten their dispositions.

You can find your Senator or Representatives contact information at the link below.

Congressional Contact Information

Cookies for Congress

What a great day for women and for equality. There are a historic number of women in the Senate and it took both parties to make it happen. The country is speaking in many ways on freedom: freedom to choose, freedom to marry, freedom to get stoned. The country also said fairly loudly, if you hold repulsive attitudes toward raping a woman you will not be elected by either party. We also said, if you try and take away the right to vote we (R’s & D’s) will stand up and stand together and vote to support those that feel marginalized. I’m sorry people had to stand in lines for hours, but wasn’t it great to see them do it!!!

Freedom now requires that we make important decisions and I hope all the passion that went into the election goes into fixing our problems. We voted for freedom, but now comes responsibility. Freedom to choose means we must work to reduce abortion. We must work to reduce violence and ensure that men and women understand what it means to rape and be raped – it is never legitimate. Healthcare for all means we must educate more healthcare providers and we must emphasize cost effective care. If you want to reduce healthcare cost exercise, eat right, get a flu shot, and take time to relax and pray/meditate – it begins with you. We must work to reduce the deficit and that mean not buying things we don’t need or blaming the deficit on X, Y, or Z. If you get Social Security you are part of the deficit, if you enjoy the freedom the military ensure you are part of it, if you enjoy the nice roads you are part of the deficit. If you want to keep it then be willing to pay for it. But, when you think of what you want cut start by asking what benefits I can sacrifice rather than what he or she can sacrifice.

I love this country and the beautiful diversity. Democracy is amazing.