Zoom for Dummies

Confronted with the necessity of learning to use zoom, and wading through a variety of apps, I managed to install a zero-cost Zoom app on my computer.  I had already mastered the skill of opening a Zoom meeting by clicking on the link sent to me via e-mail.  I bravely joined a small group of learners in an on-line webinar taught by Sister Kathleen, a patient member of my CSJ community.  With some extra private coaching, I succeeded in learning computer etiquette, to check the volume of microphone and speaker, join a meeting, move between gallery view and speaker view, adjust my camera, mute, unmute, leave the meeting, etc. Now I was ready to learn how to initiate meetings - on to the advanced class!

In the first session, I was expelled because I somehow managed to render my Zoom app “encrypted” and the resulting cacophony made the meeting inaccessible to all.  My teacher refused to give up; more private tutoring followed.  In the second class, I was again invited to exit the session early after a guided exercise in leaving and then rejoining the group resulted in my computer having two almost simultaneous versions of the meeting occurring, not quite synchronously, for all participants.  Nevertheless, our instructor has not despaired.  More private tutoring and assurances that I could master this next step have given me a modicum of confidence.  This evening, I have a semi-private lesson scheduled in which my intrepid teacher will coach another student and me in learning how to invite each other to schedule a Zoom meeting. Fortunately, our teacher can rove between her students’ adjacent locations to coach each of us.  I wish her success and hope for a happy outcome.

“Computers are a means of teaching us humility”

In my deplorable state I am encouraged by knowledge if children can learn to use computers then so can I! And I am comforted by a remark from Connie, one of our most accomplished staff members (who has shown remarkable restraint and patience in dealing with my computer woes).  Computers, she says, are a means of teaching us humility. Developing a new skill will yield added benefits.

- Sister Patricia McKeon, csj

Art as Prayer

Art does not reproduce the visible rather it makes it visible. 

Paul Klee (1879-1940)

The video Van Gogh Exhibition Paris is a must-see. There will not be one iota of doubt for anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear, that art and prayer hold an intimate relationship.  Viewing the video, I was seized by the sheer beauty of massive pieces of fabric printed with Van Gogh’s paintings.  They were flowing from ceiling to floor, while well-arranged lights created a moving ambiance.  At the same time, filling my ears and heart were the words from the song Vincent, by Don McLean.   A powerful and deepening visual and visceral experience reaching to the depths of my soul.  What a gift to soak in this art, born through the passion, pain, and spirituality of Vincent Van Gogh.  

Paintings by some of the world’s leading artists created centuries ago remain significant treasures today. People travel all over the world to see them, to be in the energy of the original painting, sculptures. Galleries position benches in front of paintings, as indicators/invitations to stop, rest, reflect, soak, breathe, and sink into the mystery of being with the painting and to let it speaks.   While not labeled as such, this becomes an experience of contemplation, that leads to stillness and holding the space. There, “behold” the energy conveyed through divine presence, listening to creator God, being Spirit-filled.  In creating one’s own art the process invites letting go, emptying, being with the shapes and sharp edges, noticing.  What does not feel comfortable? What softens and awakens, brings to newness?

“Both art and prayer are vehicles for transformation of consciousness.”

Both art and prayer, are vehicles for transformation of consciousness.  Van Gogh was continually in touch with “the vibrating light of God in the world around him” and had an ability “to see God even in the darkness of life, in nature, and to envision and paint the cosmos” (Baerg). Vincent painted from his soul and has enabled us to be more in touch with ours.  Painting for him was to feed his soul and ride on the energy of the stars.

-Sister Patricia St. Louis, csj

““There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.”  -Martha Graham”

References:

Erickson, Kathleen Powers.  At Eternity’s Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.

Rachel Baerg.  Vincent van Gogh: An Eye for God. http://directionjournal.org/27/2/vincent-van-gogh-eye-for-God.

CSJ Blue Community Update - Summer 2020

This summer, our CSJ Blue Community project has been active in supporting the People's Water Campaign - an effort to connect and strengthen various water justice causes in Ontario.

There have been several online conversations already on some of the key issues: plastics, privatization, and the pending sale of Nestlé operations in Canada to Ice River Springs. These events help us all understand the related impacts of water politics and guide our plans for a more just and beautiful future. 

New Posts Available

Our Project Coordinator Paul Baines has prepared 3 new blog posts on the Blue Community website for you to read and share. Each post includes a video recording of the webinar and follow up actions.

Part 1: Plastics and Pollution

Part 2: All Eyes on Nestlé

Part 3: Water Privatization

There will be more events coming for the People's Water Campaign this September, including one by Paul Baines about the purpose and power of various water justice declarations and commitments. 

Some Good (Blue Community) News!

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER -- by Vi Bui

July 28, 2020 marks a significant milestone in the fight to protect water. Ten years ago, the United Nations General Assembly recognized water and sanitation as fundamental human rights. Canada joined this international consensus in 2012, however, successive federal governments have failed to provide a framework or legislation to implement or enforce these rights. COVID-19 has made it even clearer that universal access to safe, clean water and adequate sanitation must be a reality to all. Click here to read the full story. 

We’re on Facebook!

Did you know that our Blue Community project now has a Facebook page? On it, you will find related news items and recent project updates. You can join and invite others to join here:

https://www.facebook.com/bluecommunitycsj/

Upcoming Events & Gatherings

In-person events will likely not happen this fall so the CSJ Blue Community Steering Committee is helping Paul plan at least one online gathering. Here, you will be able to ask questions, connect to the growing water justice movement, and dedicate the upcoming Season of Creation to the life of water. 

Stay tuned…

You can always connect with Paul Baines directly:

info@BlueCommunityCSJ.org

www.BlueCommunityCSJ.org

Make (Good) Trouble

On July 17, 2020, John Lewis died in Atlanta, Georgia.  Don’t know who John Lewis was?  I didn’t.  Only after his death did I learn what an amazing man he was.  In a nutshell, though nothing about this giant of a man could fit in a nutshell,  “Lewis … fulfilled many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States.”  Also from Wikipedia, I learned that in his later years, Lewis, a Baptist Minister, “was a politician and civil-rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives … from 1987 until his death in 2020.” And that’s merely the tip of the iceberg of all this Congressman accomplished in his 80 years of life.  Reading more about him, would be well worth your time. 

While I read about this man, I was in awe of who he was, but what really struck me was his ability to cause “good trouble.”  One might be tempted to call him, Mr. Good Trouble.  Ever since I read and heard about Mr. Lewis causing “good trouble” I have been cogitating what causing “good trouble” looks like.  I mean, doesn’t “good trouble” sound like an oxymoron? It does, at first sight, though of course, there are many folks, among them good, holy men and women, who caused “good trouble” and were even canonized for causing “good trouble.” 

Perhaps you can guess where this is going.  You might think I’m prejudiced, however, none other springs to mind as a perfect example of someone else who caused “good trouble” than Mary Magdalene whose Feast we celebrated on July 22.  Indeed, while reading about John Lewis’s fierce commitment to ending racial segregation, at huge cost to his life, I had to think of my beloved patron who stood by Jesus when he died, who did not run, who was faithful to the end.  Who knew a Baptist Minister and a Jewish woman, separated by more than 2000 years, have something in common?  Both were extraordinary people who were exceptionally good at making “good trouble.” I mean, think of Mary Magdalene, a Jewish woman, mentioned by name in all four Gospels, not once but twelve times.  If that were not enough proof, she is the woman who loved Jesus fiercely and fearlessly, until the bitter end.  When the disciples left, after a large rock was rolled across the entrance of the tomb where Jesus was laid, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb.” (Eugene H. Peterson; The Message) The disciples left. She remained.  Furthermore, as Cynthia Bourgeault conjectures, it was, “No wonder Mary Magdalene came so unerringly to the tomb on Easter morning; she’d stood by in silent, unflinching vigil the whole time Jesus was being laid to rest there. Maybe she never left . . .” (Mary Magdalene: Back to the Gospels July 20, 2020; Center for Action and Contemplation) 

And then there is the poignant moment Mary Magdalene’s fierce devotion is reciprocated by Jesus who endearingly calls her by name, “Mary.”  This moment sealed their relationship forever.  Dissuaded from clinging to him, reassured, confident and radiant, the bearer of stunning news, Magdalene hurried to proclaim to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” 

Though commissioned by Jesus himself to be his messenger, to be the first Apostle, over the centuries, as well we know, Mary Magdalene was much maligned. Seemingly forever, she was described as a “penitent” or “sinful woman.” Because she was suspect of being a prostitute, Mary Magdalene was depicted as the “sinful woman” who scandalized the Pharisees when she bathed the feet of Jesus. Finally seeing her for who she really was and officially acknowledging her status as the first Apostle only happened in our lifetime.

Similarly, John Lewis was finally honoured by President Obama in 2010 when he awarded him the Medal of Freedom. Despite being brutally beaten as a young man during the riots Mr. Lewis remained steadfast all his life to causing “good trouble.” As he tended to say, “I was in bad shape. I had concussion.  I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death.  But with … the help of the Almighty, I’m still here.” (Democrat & Chronical) None of this, however, deterred him to stand up and cause “good trouble” all his life.  What about Mary Magdalene?  I would say unwittingly she, too, caused “good trouble.” Far reaching “good trouble,” and with the help of the Almighty, she is also very much still here. 

Recently, I watched the Mass for the Feast of Mary Magdalene on TV.  Fr. Henk van Meijel, SJ, the celebrant, spoke eloquently about Mary Magdalene, pointing out that she was not only an admirable woman, but that she in fact represents all women in the Church, making her feast a celebration of all women, “who are the pillars of the church, women who always pick up the pieces.”

I would like to add that, like Mary Magdalene, many women quietly go about “causing good trouble” in multiple ways.  All of us probably are blessed to know many such women who, without much fanfare, “cause good trouble” which often goes unnoticed and at other times speaks loud and clear for all to hear.

-Sister Magdalena Vogt, cps