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As it prepares to pay out big bonuses to employees, Goldman Sachs is considering expanding a program that would require executives and top managers to give a certain percentage of their earnings to charity.

From a religious perspective it makes perfect sense for religions to require this of adherents. But a secular institution?

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Newly homeless families will bunk here for two weeks before moving to another house of worship — and then another and another….

In the Oneg Shabbat room at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, children hooked angels on a tall Christmas tree.

I participated once with a team of churches that alternated providing a dinner and shelter once a week, as I recall.  So often homeless people are invisible. These rotating shelters help parishoners gain a short glimpse of homelessness. Sadly, nearly every semester I have at least once student explain to me that they are either homeless or “housing challenged”. I wonder how many of their peers realize they have homeless students in their midst.

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This is the home of PHIL 500 Philosophy of Religion for Spring 2009.

More to come! Dashing to class!

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I purchased a book from the Graduate Theological Union‘s (now defunct) bookstore during the summer. It’s Following Francis: The Franciscan Way for Everyone by Susan Pitchford. (Morehouse Publishing:2006) It dawned on me that it might be fun to read the book during this semester that I’m residing with the Franciscans. I know: duh!

The book has sixteen chapters. One for each week of school. How convenient. It’s already week four, going on to week five so I have some catching up to do. I’ve read the Preface and chapters 1 and 2, “Why Follow Francis?” and “Holy Eucharist: The Passion of Our God”.

The author is a senior lecturer in sociology at the Univ. of Washington in Seattle.  She’s a member of the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis. She’s an Episcopalian, as I am. I’m not sure what the relationship is between the SSF (Society of St. Francis) and the Community of St. Francis (CSF), which is where I’m living during the school week.

I started the book last week, a week before the Feast of the Stigmata, on September 17. I consider myself equal parts Franciscan and Benedictine, that is, I have a fun-loving, get-down-in-the-trenches sort of spirituality as well as a scholarly, reflective, and solitary bent. I could relate to Pitchford’s comments about the “romantic” and “passionate” Francis. There is definitely an exhuberance about him and his movement. I didn’t realize the Feast of the Stigmata was this week, though. Hearing the readings from Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so full of images of following Christ, being single-minded in desiring to follow Christ, all really impressed me. I hadn’t thought about Francis’ single-mindedness much. But if you think about it, all the saints have this trait. We “normal” folk are fairly scattered in our desires and wants. Our attention fleets from one “love” to the next.  I remember DZ Phillips shaking his head in wonder as we would think nothing of saying that “we loved” a particular kind of salsa or beer or what have you. The California penchant, well, southern Californian penchant for hyberbole always startled him.

Pitchford says that what finally drew her to Francis (and Franciscan spirituality) was the view of Francis the romantic. She does a good job describing the passion that’s involved here in both its senses.

Francis understood that the God who is love (I John 4:8) is also a “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29), and he spent his life being consumed by that love. Yet Francis understood passion in both its senses: his love wasn’t just a rush of intense feelings, the spiritual joyride that is the goal of those we used to call “bliss ninnies.” Francis’ passion embraced the Cross along with the Crucified: he longed and prayed to share in Christ’s suffering, a prayer that was generously answered.

Well, I’ll say so! I frankly had never given much thought to the stigmata. I don’t know if the sisters accept it as something that was very real (they’ve given every indication that they do) and not just something “symbolic”.  The readings we had for the the Daily Offices emphasized this “passion seeking” nature in Francis, i.e., the suffering-seeking nature.

This all probably sounds a bit creepy to the uninitiated. I certainly am no fan of the “dark” side of religious repression. I still have a hard time with certain feasts, especially Christ the King. I don’t mind talk of sacrifice, but good grief! It is such a downer! I’m showing my immaturity, perhaps. After all, there is the Incarnation but there’s also Calvary. I want to skip the “bad” part and go straight to Easter! Who wouldn’t?

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Speaking of eating, convent food is…um, interesting. They are masters at consuming leftovers. Honestly, they put the rest of us to shame. Lunch is basically the leftovers from several meals. It leads to some “creative” (shall we say) combinations.

I’m more accustomed to some of the rituals and traditions of the house, but even so, it’s always very clear to me that I’m in a “convent” and not a hotel or just hanging out with friends. Anyway, here’s this week’s top ways to know you’re living in a convent.

1. When you’re greeted at the door with the announcement that evening prayer will be at 5:30 instead of 6:30pm.

2. When it’s 5:49am and you’re taken the fastest shower you’ve ever had in your life.

3. When you feel something tickling your arm, see that it’s an ant, and your immediate impulse is to flick it off not kill it. (This especially indicates that you’re living in a Franciscan convent!)

4. When someone has just gotten off a 14? 18 hour? flight from Australia and that person is on tap to prepare dinner for the community in 2 hours — and does it cheerfully.  (Yes, the meal was delicious.)

5. When it’s 6:28am and you’re rushing to get downstairs because you’re almost LATE for prayer.

6. When you’re changing the linens on your bed and wish you’d paid more attention to your grandmother when she showed you how to make hospital corners with the sheets.

7. When it’s 7:30am and still during the great silence, and you’re about to leave the house until next week, and someone bows to you instead of saying goodbye.

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