Beatitudes Community
Log in
Log in

Tag: journey

Japanese Kintsugi

Sun, October 24, 2021 Published by

Awhile back I broke a favorite vase of mine and I tried as best I could to put it back together again. It brought to mind the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty after his fall. I kept the vase although it didn’t look the same and I couldn’t use it for it’s original purpose. Perhaps it looked ok from afar but upon closer inspection you can see where it was broken and repaired. I thought of my vase when I learned about the Japanese artform called Kintsugi. It is a beautiful form of ceramics which has much to teach us. When a vase or bowl or cup is broken, artists gather up the broken pieces and glue them back together. It is how they put them back together that is steeped in wisdom and beauty. They mix gold dust with the glue and instead of trying to hide the cracks they own them, honor the, even accentuate them by making them golden. They celebrate the cracks as part of their story. Kintsugi ceramics are stunningly beautiful and it is believed that once repaired in this ancient method, Kintsugi pieces are more beautiful, and more loved than before they were broken.

According to art historians, kintsugi came about accidentally. When the 15th-century shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa broke his favorite tea bowl, he sent it to China for repairs and was disappointed that it came back stapled together. The metal pins were unsightly, so local craftsmen came up with a solution — they filled the crack with a golden lacquer, making the bowl more unique and valuable. This repair elevated the fallen bowl back to its place as shogun’s favorite and prompted a whole new art form. Recently, a resident gave me a book called Life is Messy by Matthew Kelly who asks the question, “Can something that has been broken be put back together in a way that makes it more beautiful than ever before?” Kelly laments how quickly and easily our society throws broken things away because we cling to the false notion that we have to try to keep everyone and everything from being broken. He says, “I marvel how God doesn’t use straight lines or right-angles in nature. We invented right-angles and straight lines to prop up our insecure humanity. The perfection of nature is marked by crooked lines, brokenness, imperfect colors, and things that seem out of place. The perfection of creation is achieved through its imperfection. And so it is with human beings. Your imperfections are part of what make you perfectly yourself. If we put on the mind of God, we discover one of the most beautiful truths this life has to offer: Something that has been devastatingly broken can be put back together in a way that makes it more beautiful than ever before. It is true for things, but it is even more true for people, and it is true for you. This is the source and the summit of hope.”

Scripture agrees that like the kintsugi crafters who repaired the shogun’s bowl with gold long ago, imperfections are gifts to be worked with, not shames to be hidden. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” Owning the fact that we are all clay jars allows us to be free and human in the way God intended. Each of us is subject to chipping and cracking and likely to contain imperfections but it is those cracks and imperfections that give us character and beauty.

Pilgrimage Socks

Sun, October 3, 2021 Published by

What do you think of when you read the word ‘pilgrimage’? Websters Dictionary offers us two definitions; ‘a pilgrimage being a journey undertaken by a person to a shrine or a sacred place’, and also and perhaps more interestingly, ‘the course of life on earth’. Whether we think of pilgrimage being to a particular place, or within the wider sense of life itself being a constant journey towards finding enlightenment and joy, it remains clear that by necessity pilgrimage (even a metaphorical one) includes change, and importantly, a change within the person undertaking the journey.

Some time ago, while listening to a Rabbi speak about Jewish values relating to aging, I heard this quote; “I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to”. Perhaps some of you can connect with that sentiment, and if you can then you are among illustrious company because that quote comes from Albert Einstein. I’m not sure how often Einstein wore socks, but there is something wonderful and refreshing about anyone who in growing older has also grown bolder.

The pilgrimage of aging is a journey, a journey to allowing us to know ourselves and God in a new light, accompanied by the wisdom of our years. That journey might be difficult, but if we look around us there will be people to help us on our way. If we approach aging as a pilgrimage to greater understanding rather than just the nuisance of ‘getting old’, then we open our hearts to learning, self-appreciation and freedom- even the freedom of not wearing socks if you don’t want to. May we all know that on our pilgrimage of life we do not journey alone. We all as fellow pilgrims journey with God as our guide. Perhaps this is best put by Sidney Carter in his hymn One More Step Along The World I Go; “You are older than the world can be, you are younger than the life in me, ever old and ever new, keep me traveling along with you: And it’s from the old I travel to the new; keep me traveling along with you.” So let us journey on together.

@nina_p_v via Twenty20

One Step Enough For Me

Fri, August 20, 2021 Published by

And yet his words are a prayer not for supernatural problem solving, nor even to grasp the entirety and complexity of whatever befalls us, but simply for the guidance and support to simply take one more step forward on our pilgrimage of life.

State of the Campus – July 31

Fri, July 31, 2020 Published by

On Thursday, Beatitudes Campus did another mass testing of all Beatitudes Campus staff. As I have said in many letters, we feel that this is one of the most important things we can do to slow the spread of COVID-19. We will be getting the staff results starting this evening. We did receive the results of Tuesday’s retesting of residents on the third and fourth floors in the Health Care Center. There were two positive asymptomatic residents and 26 negative results. We have moved the two residents from the fourth floor to our Isolation Unit on the third floor.

A Phoenician Easter

Sun, April 21, 2019 Published by

In our Easter celebrations, we find the truth of that victory in ourselves and the world around us, which sets an undying flame of faith within our hearts. May that flame burn brightly today and always. Alleluia.

Weave: The Social Fabric Project

Sun, February 24, 2019 Published by

Every year 47,000 Americans kill themselves and 72,000 more die from drug addiction. Journalist David Brooks says: “This kind of pain is an epidemic in our society. When you cover the sociology beat as I do, you see other kinds of pain. The African-American woman in Greenville who is indignant because young black kids in… read the whole article here https://wp.me/p7o8lu-gQi

‘Tis a Gift

Sun, December 16, 2018 Published by

Gifts arrive on birthdays, at Christmas, on Hanukkah, anniversaries, retirements and on so many other beautiful occasions throughout our life’s journey.  We celebrate great events and individuals who are extra special to us by offering something of ourselves in the form of a gift that reflects our gratitude and appreciation.  Some of you might have figured out that I try to send a birthday card of appreciation to all of you and begin writing them just before the new month.  Not a card goes by that I do not find myself reflecting on what a gift to the Campus, and to me, the particular individual is to whom I am writing.  We give gifts, but the greatest gift is not the gift itself but the giver and receiver themselves.  They make for the true treasures in life. And, like all gifts, with time, they are all meant to be shared and that is what makes our Campus so beautiful.  The sharing is abundant!

As the Holidays approach, and as much as gift giving is on many of our minds, it is a strange phenomenon whereby individuals forget just what an amazing gift they genuinely are.  This time of the year can be especially painful for the ones who just cannot see the truth and beauty about themselves.  In that we shine when it comes to gifts that keep on giving, I want to encourage you to make an extra special effort to keep an eye out for a neighbor who might very well be struggling and needing a special word or a little affirmation from you.

You are a gift! There might not be a more perfect time than now to share the gift you are by inviting someone you have not seen for a while to join you for dinner or a Campus event.  Or when you notice that fellow resident a few tables down eating alone consider checking and seeing if they might be open to some company.  They will be gifted by the amazing individual that is in you and I am willing to bet you will receive a beautiful gift in return in the gift they are as well.

It is every day of the year that Beatitudes Campus excels at sharing and caring for one another, but the Holidays allow us to be even more sensitive and compassionate creating a community where everybody belongs and is unmistakably valued.

You are a gift!  And there is no greater gift than sharing yourself to uplift another.  Enjoy the Holidays. *

Watching, Waiting, Hoping

Sat, December 8, 2018 Published by

Advent, which we now find ourselves in the middle of, is without doubt my favorite season of the year. Described by the poet Malcolm Guite as “a season for stillness, for quiet, for discernment … for active waiting, straining forward and listening”, Advent brings into sharp focus the advantages of learning to wait well and to exhibit patience whenever we can. We open the doors of our Advent calendars or light the candles of our Advent wreaths, with each being another step on a challenging journey of waiting. The whole idea is, according to the Prophet Isaiah, that by waiting well our inner strength is renewed by the time the Christmas festivities begin.
Learning to wait effectively is never easy no matter where we are on life’s journey. In our increasingly digital age, being patient and learning to wait is made more difficult each day. We don’t have time anymore to wait. Waiting is seen almost exclusively as a bad thing. Perhaps as a reaction to this, a British restaurant chain is currently trialing an initiative encouraging families to hand in their cell phones before being shown to their seats. The idea is to encourage people to view the time spent waiting for their food as an opportunity to talk to one another, to engage with one another, to listen to each other. The need to provide and receive an instantaneous reply to our wants and needs seems to be encroaching on all aspects of our lives, as is our need for speed in all things and our impatience when we are left waiting. It would appear as though waiting time is now wasting time.
Yet this season of Advent, when our eyes and ears are surrounded by all the glitz and glitter, with all the pressure and sales-hype and the stresses on our schedules and the wallets, it is good to pause. To be still. To wait. Of course, the partying and celebrations are wonderful things, and there is great joy to be had in the real meetings of faith and friendship in these days, but whilst Advent is still Advent, it’s good to keep a quiet space, a sacred time, a sanctuary away from the pressures, to be still and to listen to how God is speaking to each of us. That is the Advent challenge. *

Finding Healing in Our Scars

Sun, November 25, 2018 Published by

This past week the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, celebrated his 70th birthday. I was reading an interview with The Prince which quoted him as saying that his birthday had brought him to the realization that he had reached a Biblical threshold, referring to the 90th Psalm: “The days of our age are threescore years and ten”. In reflecting on his own aging, Prince Charles described himself as having being prompted to examine “the scars’ of life which in different ways we all bear”. Those scars are perhaps the memories of things we wish we hadn’t done but can’t now do much about. Perhaps they are thoughts of things which we now wish we had done, apologies that we wish we had made, things left unsaid.

Many of Charles’ scars have been born under public scrutiny, and although the same cannot be said for most of us, none of us are impervious to picking up a few scars and scrapes along the way.

Reflecting on a similar theme, columnist Alexandra Heather Foss, wrote recently “I struggle because huge chunks of my life have not been beautiful. They have been ugly, marred by trauma, with pain, and anger… however I see beauty in the grace point between what hurts and what heals, between the shadow of tragedy and the light of joy. That way I find beauty and healing in my scars. We all have scars, inside and out. We have freckles from sun exposure, emotional trigger points, broken bones, and broken hearts. We have lived, and have the marks to prove it.”

Prince Charles was clearly mindful of a similar sentiment as he celebrated his threescore years and ten, but the ninetieth psalm which he quoted goes on to include a prayer following that reflection; ‘So teach us to number our days: that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom’.

As we all continue on our journey of life and take our own next steps in the pilgrimage of aging, let us all join in that prayer. As we number our days may we be mindful of our scars and discern in them opportunities for healing and growth as we reflect on how to apply our hearts unto wisdom.*

Our Leaders’ Journey

Sun, July 15, 2018 Published by

If you had a hard time finding any of our campus supervisors, managers, directors and executives last Monday, It’s because I had them all, 62 of them to be exact, in the Life Center for a two-hour meeting to kick off a new initiative on leadership development.

It has been a priority of mine to establish a consistent and regular program for developing our leaders. Through ATLAS, a capacity-building grant we received from the Piper Charitable Trust, I am excited to announce that we were able to start this program this year. My vision for this group is to gather as a whole two to three times a year for full-day summits on the various aspects of leadership, while subsets of the group—whether they be by department or management level—will convene throughout the year, working on leadership competencies and management issues.

At the kickoff last Monday, the group had fun learning about each other’s personality types and how that plays into our interactions with each other. The next gathering will be a full-day retreat held in August on two different days to ensure proper management coverage and will focus on the six critical practices for leading a team. I chose that topic because the manager and employee relationship is a key component of staff retention and therefore the heart of our service to you.   This program is going to guide campus leaders in how to best motivate and support employees for professional growth while also teaching them how to provide productive feedback to enhance the employee performance.

Additionally, each campus leader will have access to online leadership content on a variety of different topics to support her or his leadership journey. The content is on-demand and offered in a variety of formats and time windows to enhance your leadership, management and supervisory skills.

A leader’s journey is never complete. It is important to me to continually grow as a leader, as well as help those around me do the same.   It is also my proud duty as CEO to prepare our organization’s team for the next step in their career, whether it be here at the campus or another company.

I am so excited about what this leadership program will do for all of our leaders and for the campus collectively. I look forward to our summits in August and as always, I would love to hear your feedback, as residents, as you observe our leadership culture evolving.*

An Element of Faith

Mon, February 20, 2017 Published by

A humble wardrobe was given magical significance by the story telling of C. S. Lewis. Aslan, the White Witch and a whole cast of creatures have delighted readers ever since the Chronicles of Narnia were published in the 1950s.

Although I love the world of Narnia, my favorite of Lewis’s works are not his fiction, but his writings about finding faith. A more correct description of them might be “his writings about trying not to find faith, but eventually giving in”. During the 1920s he wrote as a convinced atheist. He then went on a journey of intellectual wrestling, finally kneeling down in his room at Magdalene College, Oxford, describing himself as “the most reluctant convert in all England”.

His spiritual struggles and doubts did not end that night on the floor of Magdalene College. Far from it. Although he became a highly respected theologian, he also wrote books like A Grief Observed. In its pages he described the aftermath of the death of his wife, saying that his prayers seemed to be met with stony silence, and that when he needed Him most, God felt horribly absent and unresponsive.

I find Lewis’s honesty very reassuring; it gives me a sense that I can trust his writings on spirituality as he’s sharing his full story with all of its ups and downs, rather than just a handful of positive sound-bites. Sometimes, presentations of faith can lack this, and instead feel like meeting a salesperson who is over-selling a product that will apparently “never go wrong” and promises to “make life perfect”. I am far more convinced by people like Lewis who admit that the journey of faith is always a work in progress.

As German theologian Paul Tillich put it: “Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.” Uncertainties can be positive catalysts that add energy and prevent faith from becoming static and fossilized. Thomas in John’s Gospel was famously honest about his reservations. I’ve often felt it unfair that he’s become known as “Doubting Thomas” as it sounds so negative. Perhaps instead he should be named “Authentic Thomas”, for bravely owning up to his uncertainties. Maybe it’s time to give his reputation a re-brand and hand him some belated credit.

Those following in Thomas’s footsteps today, and I count myself among them, honestly acknowledge the black, white and difficult gray aspects of faith. On that journey of authentic spirituality there are few better guides than C.S Lewis and the writings he leaves behind.

‘Tis A Gift

Mon, November 28, 2016 Published by

Processed with MOLDIV

Gifts arrive on birthdays, at Christmas, on Hanukkah, anniversaries, retirements and on so many other beautiful occasions throughout our life’s journey.  We celebrate great events and individuals who are extra special to us by offering something of ourselves in the form of a gift that reflects our gratitude and appreciation.  Some of you might have figured out that I try to send a birthday card of appreciation to all of you and begin writing them just before the new month.  Not a card goes by that I do not find myself reflecting on what a gift to the Campus, and to me, the particular individual is to whom I am writing.  We give gifts, but the greatest gift is not the gift itself but the giver and receiver themselves.  They make for the true treasures in life. And like all gifts, with time, they are all meant to be shared and that is what makes our Campus so beautiful.  The sharing is abundant!

As the Holidays approach, and as much as gift giving is on many of our minds, it is a strange phenomenon whereby individuals forget just what an amazing gift they genuinely are.  This time of the year can be especially painful for the one who just cannot see the truth and beauty about themselves.  In that we shine when it comes to gifts that keep on giving, I want to encourage you to make an extra special effort to keep an eye out for a neighbor who might very well be struggling and needing a special word or a little affirmation from you.

You are a gift! There might not be a more perfect time than now to share the gift you are by inviting someone you have not seen for a while to join you for dinner or a Campus event.  Or when you notice that fellow resident a few tables down eating alone consider checking and seeing if they might be open to some company.  They will be gifted by the amazing individual that is in you and I am willing to bet you will receive a beautiful gift in return in the gift they are as well.

The Lenten Journey

Mon, February 16, 2015 Published by

On Wednesday, the season of Lent begins, and we are invited again on a journey to refocus our spiritual selves for inner renewal and reconciliation with God and others. The Lenten journey is a time of self-examination when we are encouraged to slow down, take a deep breath, and take stock of things. In the words of Pope Francis, “The purpose of Lent is to adjust your life.” We often associate Lent with giving up something, however, why not do something positive, too, instead of just removing the negative? Maybe this year resolve to spend more time volunteering, take time with your family, or write a letter to a dear friend.

lent wordThe 40 days begins this Ash Wednesday as you are invited to come and receive the imposition of ashes upon your forehead—a sign of humility that we all are in need of God’s grace. There are two opportunities to receive the ashes: Rosary and Communion in the Plaza View Lounge at 10:00AM, or anytime between 10:00AM—3:00PM, the Life Center will be available as a space for prayer and reflection with your Campus Chaplains offering the opportunity to be marked with ashes. Throughout the Sundays in Lent, worship opportunities are Catholic Mass at 10AM and the campus Vespers services at 3 and 4PM when the Chaplains will be preaching on the theme of “Characters of the Cross.”

There was Peter who denied Jesus three times, Judas who betrayed him, Pontius Pilate, the judge at Jesus’ trial, Barabbus, whom the crowd chose to be released instead of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, who experienced the power of forgiveness. Or perhaps you might hear a reflection on one of the soldiers who mocked Jesus and took his clothes, or the two thieves who hung on the cross beside Jesus at the crucifixion. Then we come to Holy Week which will be marked by special services on Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday, the Life Center will be beautifully set up with the Stations of the Cross. And the culmination of it all, of course, is Easter Sunday, which celebrates the promise of the empty tomb as we meet our Risen Lord once again! Our Sunrise Service is at 7:00AM on the west walkway outside the Plaza Bistro, followed by a continental breakfast Catholic Mass is at 10:00AM, and there is a service led by the Chaplains at 3:00PM in Plaza View. Join us in this journey of Lent as we take time to be holy!