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WHAT TO PRAY FOR?


By Rev.Michael E. Evernden, CSP oulcKLINKDoesGodanswer ourprayers? Whatoughtweto prayfor?For whohasspent anytime at all praying, these aretwo weighty n*"rr44'"r ro* anyone, F1ffiquestions.FromexperienceweknowthatGoddoesanddoesnot E.EVERNDEN. answer ourprayers. Whenwe aregetting whatwe askfor in prayer, csP God'isanswering obviously out p*y.ts. Whenwe arenot getting whatwe askfor, thenGodis not answering ourprayers. In this situation we,I am,thecriteriaof whether or not Godis answering prayers. I believe thatthereis something wrongwith fundamentally I believe this picture. thatGodalways answers ourprayers, sothere is something wrongwhenI makemyself thecriteriaasto whether or not Godis coming through on God's endof thedeal-- I prayand God'sdelivers. I don'tthink this is thewavit works. It hasn't worked this wayfor mein thepastmonthor so.My mother ill abouteightweeks became seriously agoanddiedon Good prayed Friday.This is something I wouldnever happen, or at least wouldn'thappen anytime soon. Goddid not answer my prayer. Manyof my friends herein Morgantown andaround thecountry prayed prayers for herhealing. not Goddid answer those either. praying mightsay,why bother Some at all, sinceit evidently doesn't do anygood? Duringthis time I havelearned a fewthingsandoneis thatprayer does WhileI didn't getanything do good. I wanted I got I needed. everything ! A phrase came to mind abouta weekbefore my momdiedandthe phrase was"acceptance is thepathway to peace." Thisbecame a mantra for me.So,I prayed almost for acceptance andtheability to be reallypresent to bothmy momanddad.I wentplaces that fewwantto go to andremained emotionally surprisingly calmand Thisdoes centered. not mean thatunpleasant thingsin our lives pleasant. become It doesn't mean thatwe don'texperience, in a very deep way,personal loss.It does means thatwe canbetruly present to whatis goingon in our livesandthelivesof others andknowthe abidingpresence of Godin themidstof it all.

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As someone oncesaidprayer does not change God,but changes the onewho is praying. Godknowswhatwe need evenbefore we ask. Prayer is a wayof opening ourselves up to whatwe need andthe powerful gifu thatGodwants to bestow uponus.Whileour"wants" maybeanswered or not depending on ourperspective, our"needs"

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positivervbv answered Godwho

As anendnote I wantto thankall of you andthe prayerfulsupport thatI havereceived duringthepastmonth.

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TRAGEDY
E. Evernden, By: Rev.Michael CSP qqcf_L$Ig Fromeveryangle in Jonesboro, theschool shootings Arkansas last ARCHIVES THE ..ffi-weekisatragedy.Itisanationaltragedyandpointstoacrisisof Onceagain with symptoms utelIAEL!- meaning. wearedealing rather thanthe EVERNDEN' csProot causes of ourproblems. Theshooting is nottheproblem. What people, leads betheyeleven or seventy, to takesuchactionis the problem. I believe it is a crisisof meaning. Everyone wants to know why andhow suchan incident couldhappen, andthese arevery goodquestions. questions getovershadowed Unfornrnately these by for revenge thequest against theperpetrators of this uglycrime. There is no doubtthattheymustbepunished for theiractions but thequest for punishment should not blind us fromour quest for a solution. There is a hunger for meaning in our livestoday. There is a spiritual people hunger thatis theresultof many beingunable to avoidthe brokenness of theworldandof beingunable to escape theemptiness of theirlives.Douglas Coupland, whohasbecome theunofficial for Generation spokesperson X andauthor of "Life afterGod," generation that his declares is thefirst to beraised withoutreligion. In his bookthereis a series of encounters between a youngman named Scout anda castof characters whohavenumbed themselves jobs andarenowawkwardly with drugs, sex,andpointless for something searching moremeaningfirl in theirlives.Scoul identifies theneed thathasgivenriseto this generation's search for moreasan inabilityto "makeit alone." something Whattheyseern to lackis a visionof life thatis compelling andchallenging, andthe abilityto feelsecure in knowingwhotheyare. yearoldsthatdonmilitia t',peuniforms Eleven andthirteen and ambush otherchildren coming out of school don'tknowwhothey are.Theyarenumbto the consequences of violence because of all theysee via themedia. Themedia rarelyseems to capture thelost hopes, dreams andpossibilities of those who sufferfromviolent northeconsequences acts, of those whoperpetrate them.This is not to blame themedi4 only a recognition thatwhenwe lacka sense of

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our ownidentitywe will co-optan identityfrom some placeelse. Weneed to takea look at themasks wewearthathideusfrom others but moreimportantly hideusfrom our owntrueselves. Masksareworn,or wenumbourselves in a varietyof ways,because we feartheemptiness wemightfind inside. It is a crisisof spiritand a crisis of spirituality. what we lackis a profound sense of being rooted in goodness, in loveandmercifulforgiveness. our religious institutions need to reformthemselves too.our churches cannot affordto getcaught up in management issues of who is in andwhois out,creating yet another placeof estrangement. Churches thatmoralize andtell others howtheyoughtto act, giving without themthetoolsto behave differently, committhe worse of all sacrileges. Thechurch hasrich resources within its traditions, whichaffrrms thevalueanduniqueness of each individual, theincarnation, justice whichtiestheSpiritandsocial to the earth, gift andthe of forgiveness thatreconciles ourestranged relationships. we need to knowthatwe arepartof a sacred universe, anddespite everything thatis wrongwith ourworld,this life is ultimately trustworthy. Everything belongs, evenourbrokenness, andit is through ourbrokenness thatwe mostoftencome to Love.My suspicion is thatthetwo boysin Jonesboro knewnoneof this for if theyweremotivated by love,mercy, forgiveness anda knowledge of the sacredness of all creation, this tragedy wouldnever have happened. pastorat st. TheRev.MichaelE. Evernden, csP, is Associate ,,Father John'sUniversity Parishin Morgantown, W. Michael,,,as hisfriendscall him,isfeatured everyweekinThesunspot spiritual section. Drop him an e-mailat mecsp@,earthlink.net.

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LentenSeason
By: Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP OL'ICKLINKTo in themiddleof theLenten find themselves MostChristian churches
season. The word lent is a Latin word meaningspringtime. We -ffi* E associate \rrcHAEL of daylight, and the springtimewith the lengthening EVERT\DEN' csPgreening It is a time to plant new seeds so we can of our gardens. new life, both in our gardens and in our own lives. experience of Lent is madeup of threeactivities:prayer,fastingand The season of new behavior almsgiving.Theseactivitieshelp us plant the seeds relationshipwith God, one in our lives and help us developa deeper growing WhenI was up aboutthe only anotherand ourselves. questionheardwas "what areyou giving up for Lent," the focus being on fasting.For manyLent didn't meanmuch morethan elsethat might be unpleasant. Lent shouldnot fastingor something be a downerseason andthe world needsa lot morethan womenand men fastingfrom HersheyBars.The world and our lives need prayer,fasting and almsgiving. In our very busy lives we do needto pull awayto reflect and pray. We all needit, and most of us recognize this need;yet so many find it terribly diffrcult. Peoplewonderwherein the world they aregoing to find time to pray in an alreadyfull day. RobertMorris writes aboutwhat he calls "The SecondBreath"prayer.This prayeris born out of our fiustrations- the momentwe are aboutto lay on the horn, with our finger, when someone or do someotherliturgical gesture cuts us offin traffrc -- we needto take a secondbreathand bless ratherthan curse.If we arecaughtin a long line at a checkout stand,ratherthan pagethrough the "National Inquirer" we could take a secondbreathand pray for all thosepeopleaheadand behind us in line. Anytime we areon the vergeof "loosing it" we can enter into the peacefulplace of this secondbreathprayer. Wittr all the of our day this would add up to a rathersignificant little annoyances prayertime. amountof We needto fast. We don't haveto fast from HersheyBars, but we do We needto fast in consumption. needto fast from conspicuous
THE ARC}IN/ES

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a a a ,) t) t) t) a t) t) a orderto useournatural resources for the benefit of all. Weneed to fast from war, oppression andprejudice. Weneedto fast from activities thatjust dull themindandengage in activities that enhance our common life. Weneed to fastfromour angers and resentments andthefears thatcause them.Hershey Barswouldbe easier, but thatis not whattheworldneeds. Thelastactivityof the lrnten season is almsgiving. Manythink of almsgiving asdonating to thechurch - or at leastthepoorbox at the rearof church. Almsgiving is muchlarger thanthat.It is about teaching our children howto read, helping thehungry havefood,

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to ourselves.

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turrest' deepening our rerationship with God, :lftrJffiiil'f;i:.Te


TheRev. Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePsstor at St. John's University Parish in Morgantown, I{V. "Father Michael,,, as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual section.Drophimane-mailat@.

TheLenten season rather thanbeingabout givingup is about plantrng rich seeds garden in the of our life. Thisseason is about

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TheSunspotism opnforumand,assuctr, provides space for a wide rarietyof vieun andopiniors.Maerials appearmgmThe Suwpot represent fie viewsandopinions of frrewriten andnoinecessarity $ose of ifr" Su p"i ita

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FAITH OR APATHY
By. Rev.Michael E. Evernden, CSP qW5=L=!gIgThereis a fine line between faith andapathy.Some regard faith as
just letting God do what God wantsto do with the people,places, r'tcnenr,B. things and situationsin our lives; sitting back and doing nothing EVERNDEN' -oRffi: csPexcept maybepraying.St. Paul remindsus that ufaithwithout works is dead."This meansthat thereis alwaysan action component to our faith. So,what do we do or not do? I am leamingwhat to do or not do right now one dayat a time. My motherhad major surgeryon Saturday, February2l to removea cancerous tumor that was blocking her intestine.Someof the cancer hasmovedto her liver. Right now the doctorsarevery optimistic that this can be treatedsuccessfully with chemotherapy. What does one do?One response is to pray of course.I don't think, however,it just to pray andthen sit back and wait for the outcome-means doing nothing.What doesone pray for? CertainlyI pray for my mother'scompleterecovery,but more importantlyI pray for acceptance ofwhatever happens, and I pray to know how I can be of serviceright now, not only for my mother,but alsofor my dad and myselfaswell. I havefaith that God makesall things work togetherfor the goodbut I alsoneedto know what I needto do right now -- today.I prayed over it and talkedwith someclosefriends as to whetheror not I shouldfly out to [.os Angeles.With their help and God's,I discerned that I should.It hasbeena gooddecision. How long shouldI stayin LA? How can I be supportiveof my mother'srecovery? Thesetoo arequestions that needto be broughtto God in prayerand faithfulness;but which alsorequireaction.In suchsituationswe needto listento our hearts,to our guts,because it is thereand in the words and deedsof closefriendsand advisorsthat God'sspeaks to
TI{E ARCHIVES

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us. WhenI first heard thenewsI wasveryupset. My mindwentrunning in a hundred different directions with a lot of "if only's"and"what ifs" goingon in my head. It wasprayer thatfinally calmed me down

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andallowed meto makethe contacts thatI needed to make. The prayer serenity of my l2-Stepfellowship helpa lot, "Godgrantme the serenity to accept thethingsI cannotchange, courage to change thethingsI can,andwisdom to knowthedifference." Thisis oneof the bestfaith in actionprayers that I know.It means thatwe do what is possible andallowGodto do whatis impossible. Faithis far from apathy because faith callsusto engage in life at levels thatwe never possible. thought The Rev. MichaetE. Evernden, CSP,is Associate Pastorat St. John'sUniversity Parishin Morgantown, WY."Father Michael,"as hisfriendscall him, isfeatured everyweekinTheSunspot spiritual section. Drop him an e-rnailat mecsp@earthlink.net.

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TheSunsoalld. Ihis siteMaintoincd bl SpotDlritens Daelopment Conpuny -A Web 1997-9t TheSunspd Ltd Retise&Morch 2, I99E TheSmspotis anopenforumand,assucb provides space for a wide varietyof viewsandopinions. Maieriats appearing in The Sunspot represent theviewsandopinions of thewritersandnotnecessarily drose of TheSmspot,Ltd.

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.4,MAN, A WOMAN' AND A WELL By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP

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years andlet,vour minddrift backtwo thousand Retax to a hot and town.it is around noonandpeopie dry Samaritan arethirsty.At that
time,if you werein the town square, wrtuldc(imeup(maman,a .vrtu meeting"The Womanat woman,and a well. The storyaboutJesus The ts;'eii,"is found in ihc Gospelof Johnchaplerfour verses hvc throughforty-two. I would suggest that you readthe story slowly. Try to feel the heat,picturethe well, and imaginewhat ihe characlers kxik lik-e- smell like - try on thc characters lirr size, picturing yourselfasone of the characters. Readthe storynow. In our searchfor spirituality we, at times,get hung up or caughtup in techniques, the right postureor paceof our breathing. We can wind up wonderingif we aredoing somethingcorrectlyor not and miss the spiritual dimensions of what we arefiying to do. What we reallyneedLoclois imme.rse ourselvcsin wisdom andletthat wisdom speakto the deeprecesses of our heartsso that our lives may be lransforrncd. Thereis wisckrmin silenceanclthereis wisdom in stillnessbut oftentimeswe needto turn to othersources of wisdom to jog our minds,to connectwith what divine wisdom is t-rying io revealtri us-The readingandreflectingon the sacredLe-xts of the greatreligioustraditionsis oneway to makethe connection
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Depending on our moodsthe sacred texts will hit us in a varietyof ways.What we heartodayin one of the readingsmay be totally different lnm whai wc hearin the samereadinga yearfrom now, rir what we heardin that readinga year ago.I believethat peopleare seekingspiritual rvisdombut o{lcn get trappedin the rulesand regulations of variousreligionsand neverarrive at the spiritual wisdom they hungerfor andwhich our spiritualiraditionsoffer. i oftenthink ihai peoplefeelif a stalement doesn'thave"[hou shali pay not" in front of it they don't much attentionto it. Jesus, howevcr,didn'l l.'each this way. I o{len feel that pcoplelisten to storieslike "The Womanatthe Wellu and walk awaythinking - EEE, was a really nice guy for talking with that woman but what Jesus haveto deiwith me and the way I live my life. We frrrgeL drns Lhal, that Jesus,like other spiritual teachers,aretrying to teachus how to

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it was necessary for her to travel to the next town over to draw water but to quenchher iirirsi. Shemusi havebeennot oniy surprised delighted lhat,Jesus would engage her in conversationThc miraele isn't that Jesus told her everythingsheeverdid, but that Jesus
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Jesus in the courseof their healingconversation. was not afraidto is ihem and this is what Jesus breakdown the baniersthat separated tryingto icach us, to noi he alraid to hreakdriwn the lrarriersihai from one anotherand from God. separate us from ourselves, We havesuchbarrierstoday.Therearepeoplewe:re afraid of or
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or the sexualorientation.This week is gay pride weekat the gays,iesbians, bisexuai university.The womanat the weii embo<iies We are calledlr.vJesus persons. and f.rans-gendered Loengage ihem not in stonethrowing or the shoutingof obscenities but in healing
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throughhealingconversations ignorance mustbe overcome with persons Thesepeople that we areafraid of orjust cion'tunderstand. areour sisters andbrothers; andevenif you cann(ltcome[o lhe point of "agreeing" with themyou can engage them in conversations
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neverhavecondoned the kind of hateandviolence that somepeople going out of his ievel at the gay community.Jesus was constantiy way lrr engage is thosewhrimsocieiyexiledand this is whai Jesus callingus to do aswell. I havehearda lot of things in confession and therearesomethings
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aboutgoing to hell because they forgot and ate a hot dog on Friday. I haveneverheardany one anxiousbecause they forgot to talk to the "womanat the well." TheRev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP,i.sAssociatePastorat St. John's University Parish in Morgantovtn, W. "Father Michael," as
h.i.s{ric.nds aalL him is feahrp.rJ ev".ry weck inThe. Snnsnot snirihml

section.Drop him an e-mail at mecsp@I.abyri?th.net.

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''THY WILL BE DONE?''


CSP Br- Rev.MichaelE. Evemden. C)ne of our readers wrotethe following: "One of the challenges I face in prayeris that if I iruly believein 'Thy Will be Done' and accept plan thenwhy thathappens thal. everything in lile is jusLpart of Lhe pray at all. It is like prayerisn't going to changethe courseof things, I could pray dayand night for r-rr aboutsomethingand if it isn't God'swill then all the prayerin the world isn't going to change anything.What is going to happenis alreadydetermined" The abovestatementis one of the most diffrcult aspects of prayerto uGod prayers,it is understand. .* As it hasbeensaid alwaysanswers just that sometimes God saysno." The problem,or ratherthe mistake,we often makeis that'* presume re alwaysknow the right answer, the way God shouldanswerour prayers. This becomes real difficult whenwe areprayingfor someone's healingor that s(lmeone shoulel nol.dic. We presume Lheanswer is veryeasy. Oflen I don't, for a moment, what we needto pray for is acceptancg. believethat Goclinllicts canceror other clisabilitigs, or lvantsour death. God is love.God is life. All that God wantsfor us is love and life; and naturedoeswhat naturedoes.i don't beiieveihat God sends earLhquakes, flcxrds or lornadoes, naturejust doeswhai nature does.Yes therearesituationsin which the peoplewe pray over or hold in prayrdo get bcttEr.I think prayeris very pcwcrful. If, for example,I am surrounded by an angrymob I am going to feel tenible. If I am surrounded by a prayerfulgatheringI am going to feel much beLterWe can oflen feel anotherperson'sangeror loveWhetherwe focus our angeror our loving prayer on someone makes If everyone in the world held eachother in prayer a hugedifference. ratherthan hate it would makeall the differencein the world. To the degree that we can do this is the degree to which we can bring of our wrrld. Prayerdoesmakea aboutthe transftrrmaLion difference. I pray overpeople,places,things and situationsbut not the way I useto, not presumingwhat ought to be the cutcome. Prayeris not aboutchangingCrod'smind but aboutchangingour minds and our attitudes,towardwhat is going on in our lives and in our world-We couldn'L change Crod's mind evenif we wanLed to. If

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his/lrermind it would meanthat God had to change God needed to makea goodone- namely madea bad decisionand now needed hislhermind Grd would If Grld wereabletri change our clecision. not be God - namelyperfectin everyrespect. A prayerthat hasbeenvery helpful for me is the serenityprayer. the "God gant me the serenityto accoptthe things I cannotchange, the thingsI can,andthe wisdomto know the courage to change difference."Thereare five key words in this shortand simpieprayer; and wisdclmcourage Grrcl, serenity,accepLanoe, courageand wisdom.Praying I pray to God for serenity,acceptance, to God shouldbring us serenityand somepeaceof mind. it should put us in a staLe of mind in whieh we can kxft aLlife gracioLrsly, At times I amjust going to haveto accept with a certainperspective. the way things are.I needto au;eptthat at this tirns thcrearejust somethingsthat I can't do anythingahout.At othertimesI needto pray for the courage what is wiihin my abiliry to change. to change Most importantlyI needLopray frrr the wisdom [o knriw lhe about. what I can and what I cannotdo something differencebetween tapping into the very loving I believethat prayeris fundamentally pow'er of God. Prayeris aboutbringing balanceinto our lives,to with the will of God so we can live in wisdomand align ourselves

sereniry.

Michaei E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor at St. The Rev. John's LinfuersiiyParish in Marganiolan, WV. "Fether Michael," es spiritual hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot secdon.Drop him an e-maii at mecsp@Labltrinth.net.

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THNGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THBY SEEM CSP Bv Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, Things arenot alwayswhat they seemto be. Oneof my all time tbvorite booksis'Thefiitchhiker's Guide to TheGalary. ht the the following. "It is an importantand beginningof the book it states popularfact that things arenot alwayswhat they seem.For instance, tliat tirey wereitroi on pl+*et Eaidt, liuinaitsliad alwaysassutiie.J so much:the humans had achieved intelligent thandolphinsbecause wheel,New l-ork City, wars and so on -- while aii the doiphinshad having a gtu:dtime-C)nthe wasmuck aroundin Lhewal-er everelr.rne otherhand,dolphinshad alwaysbelievedthat they werefar more
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the dolphinshad long knowno{the impending "Curiouslyenough, desiructionof pianetEarih and had mademany atteinptsto alert were trr-rl mostol'their r:rtmmunicatiuns humans to the danger; punch footballsthrough to misinterpreted as amusingattempts hocps,r.rr whistie for iidbits, so they evcniuallygaveup and lcll was Earthby their own means. "The lasteverdolphinmessage anemptto do a misinterpreted as a surprisingiysophisticated througha hrxrpwhilc whisilingihc somersauli dr-ruhle-hackwarri wasthis: 'solong and Banner,'butin fact the message 'star-spangled
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the meresurface Having a spirituality meansthat we can go be.vond ievei ihat can at a deeper appearance of things.Therearemessages It is very difl]culL[o judge makeour livcs m{rrewhrileand complelc. just gaverne Thereis anotherquotethat someone life at the surface. by saying:"DoR't ailributc to maiice whal can be explainerJ someone stupidity."We run into this all the time when,for example, cutsus offin traffic. it probablyisn'i malice,and it may not evenbe stupidiiy- it might havcjust beena mistakcor hadjudgmenton why peopleact the their part. Therecould be a totally logical reason of what is rnotivatingthem way they do and lve are totally unalvar - they may not evenknow themselves. peoplethereis a lot of angerand As I listento and observe going around.We aii haveour pet peeves. Many of us resentment arcplagued try thesefcelingsat varioustimesin our livcs. Having

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someone tell usnotto beangry or resentful doesn't helpmuch.If, go a bit deeper however, we canfind ihe source of suchieelings. Oflenthesource of ournegative is lear Whenwecxamine leelings our fears behind our anger andresenfinent thenwe areon theroad of riclding or ai least ourselves of suchemotions brininglhemunder

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Developinga spirituality meansthat we are rooting ourselves at a much deeper levei wherewe aren't tossedaroundby all the whims of chance at the surface of things.Rootingourselve.s throughdaily quiet meditation, time, fear-iess time with Godwho lovesus questions unconditionally helpsus ask thc dceper that will leadtcr our wholeness andwell beingboth with ourselves and with others. Humansmay well haveknown aboutthe impendingdoom awaiting planetearih,theyjust ignoredall the signsand mesiages. If they ha<i questions, listened, the deeper asked they like the dolphinscould havetakencorrectiveaction. The Rev. Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morganiown, WV. "Father Michael," es
his fricnrJs cnll him i.s fcnturerJ cvcrv wc.ck in The Srrnsnof .snirihnl

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1997 Thesunspotlld. Revked: August lE, 1997 TheSunslntis anopenforum an4 assuch,provides space for a widevarietyof viewsandopinions. Materials appearing n TheStmspot repiesent dreviewsandopinions of the writersandnoi necaqsari! thosecf TheSmrl'nq Ltd.

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DRIVEN
CSP By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden,

people doingin their carson the It is amazing whatyou canobserve phone Cars wayto work,Fixingtheirhair,makinga call,shaving.
exLended homesandofficeson wheelsincludingnoL havehec,rime phones, fa:r machines, and only mobile but televisions, computers jusl. printers.tsesides hr-rw it demonstrates drivcn being dangerous we havebecome. [n New York, wheremany peopledon't drive to work but walk or take the subway;you can stop someone on the Lhcy havein streeland complete an enLire day's work with whaL their briefcase or backpack.Walking, riding or driving we are aroundus knowjust how busy driven people,driven to lct everyone and thereforehow importantwe are. that I For the pastcoupleof weeksI havebeenholdingto a decision I am on the interstate I decidedthat I am not maderecently.WJren jusL gcingto try to be at or speed limiL.Oh, I am noL ab{rve, Lhe just going to poke along, go at a comfortable speedand enjoy the whenI will or will ridc; not pushingthe limits and then ',vondering not get a ticket. It hasbeena lot morerelaxingand I am actually enjoyingdriving again.On the my last run to Pittsburghi was thinking,day dreaming about,what it waslike whenI first learned of my dad teachingme how to to drive. I was enjoyingthe memories of the car, the freerjom shift, the feel of the wheel,thc dimensicns gave passed me. Time morequickly andwhile andmobility this all going a tad slowerit seemed like the shortest trip to PittsburghI havehad in a lrmg time. Spiritualityis not found in the fast lane.Spiritualityis foundby slowing down literally and figurativeiy. Spirituality is found in the o[ fixing our hair, havinga conversation on the phoneor cnjoyment shaving.It is found by doing one thing at a time and doing it well anclwith our full attention. kisure is a preciousand rare commodityin our driven society. Whenwe are in leisurernodewe feel that we areuseless, that we are wastingtime and in orderto avoidthis evenour leisurelime becomesdriven time tying to cram as much as we can into a day off or a vacation.

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Maya Angelousaysthat we needto take one day away,a day in from the pastand the which we consciousiy separate ourselves johs, a rJay awaylrorn lrtvers,family, employers lr-rture; and friendsIn this holy time magic often happens for whenwe returnwe find havebeenrevealeci lo us and enlanglemenl.s havebeen that answsrs unraveled. lrisure leadsus to holy and creative times.Leisure leads joy and creativiryof God. us very nearthe I will end with this: "Nappedhalf the day; no one punished me!" by Issa in "TheEssential Haiku" Editedby Robeft Hass The Rev. Michael E. Evernden,CSP,is Associate Pastor at St. .Irthn'sUniversityPari,shin Morgantown, II/V. "Father Michael," as hisfriends eall him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual seciiun.Drup ]tim urt e-nuil ui mecsp@Labyrinth.net.

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ffiron - / wch rrrernnmontcnmyon;t \, swr Daisrr$ 1997TheSunspot Ltd.
Tlc Sunspot is an opfl forum an4 as such, provides spacefor a wide variety of vieurs and opinions.Matedals appearingin The &mspot r?rasent the views and nryrinicrrs of dre writers and not nece.icarilythrrseof The Smsint, I-td.

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a, DISCERNINGGOD'SWILL By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP RecentlyI havebeena part of severalgroupswherepeople mentioned trying to discemGod's will in and for their lives. Often I am Lrying to discern God's will lirr my life. Il-isn'Laseasya.s we would like it to be and I think the reasonfor this is that we areoften looking in the wrong direction. One of my favorite scripturereadingsis the call of Samuelin the First Book of Samuel, Samuel 3, 3-10.Samuel was sleeping in the templewhenGod callsoul to him not oncebul threetimes-Each time Samuelgoesto Eli thinking that he was calling him. Finally Eli figuresout that God is calling the youth and tells Samuclthat the next time God callsanswer Lord, your servant is listening." "speak Thus Samuelmakesconscious contactwith God. This story is very neul,beautilul and pcnLicand ihat is how we often expeclGod to call out to us in our lives. When I readthis story [ hearabouta naggingGod. God nagsnot once,but four timesbeforeGod getsboth Eli's and Samuel's attention.God is anaggingthought,or dream,that won't go away. Payingaitentionto this is a key for how we can often experience God's call in and frrrour livesthat t havehada numberof spiritualexperiences, I believe times when God has caliedout to me but noneof themwereneat beauf.iful or poeLic;theyne now but not whenLheywerehappening. Cnowingup I alwayshad this naggingthought in the back of my headthat I would like to be a priest.I neverreally paid much attentirinLoit and cerlainlydidn't act on it One day someone I was go working with wantedto becomea Catholic,didn't want to to the classes aloneso I decidedto go atongwith her. Althouglr I didn't realiznit at the time, accepting that invitation was a response to God's call and it broughtme into contactwith Fr. Tom Dove,CSP which lead to my interestin the PaulistFathers of CommuniLy which I am a memberto this day. Therewereno voices,no visions, just a decisionto accornpany someone tc class.Ir{rking backI can seethat it was Crod'scall and thosewereCrod'snaggingthoughts

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that broughtme to whereI am today. alcoholicand againGod was callingme to give up I am a recovering a new way of life. For at leastseveral an old way of life and embrace years I just had this naggingthought, belirreI got into rcc()vcry feeling,that the way I was living just wasn't right, that theremust be a bettcrway. Erhile I didn't kno',vwhat tc do a coupleof fricnris ol mine in Seattle did by telling me theycouldget me help if I wanted it. i did, andthe decision to iake their ieadled me to the new life i it didn't seem all wasseeking. Again,duringthis whrileincidenl"

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So,what naggingthoughtsdo you have?Is theresomething that you alwayswantedio do bui neverhave?Is theresomething that you'd like to change ahoutyour life? I helievethat these naggingthoughts

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nafure,in a churchor a templeare sometimes necessary so we can quietthe noiseof our daiiy tiving so that we can more cleariyhear thiscall in our lives. The Rev. Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastorat St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, WV. "Father Michael," es
hi.s {rie.ruls anll him i.s fcnture.rl evcry wcck in The Srrnsnot .sniritunl

section.Drop him on e-mail ot mecsp@Labltrinth.net.

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contactingus todaY' La$ apdated 8/18/97
TheSunsodlJd- / rvehlrctctanttent cnunnntr l;r"i;:mo'4'*ror*t Reised: August 18,1gg7 rn The&mspot Dre Sunsptisanopanforumand"8ssuch,provides space for a widevarietyof viewsandopinions. Materialsappearing r+resentdreviewsando'pinions of*re writerssrd rxrtnece.ssarily those crfTheSmspot,Ltd

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THE POWEROF WE
CSP By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, RosaParksis notedfor beingthe first black personto makethe decisionnot to walk to the back of the bus to sit down.Her simple in our and courageous aclionsel loosethc Civil RightsMovement country."The Powerof One" is a beautiful and powerfulmovie abouta youngBriiish boy who skris teachingEnglishto black movementin that SouthAfricansthus furtheringthe anti-apartheid coun$. Receniiywe heardhow oneNASA worker broughtan shutt-le missionto a halLhy ftirgetiingtrtadjusta screw entirespace of correctlyon the shuttle'sair lock. We haveall had the experience driving wheretwo or threelanesof traffrc funncl into one lane;and thoseruggedindividualistswho think they are hetterthan the restof of ihe pack. us go sneakingdown the side and oy to slip in aheaci p('werol-oneFor grxrdeirill thercis greatp(lwerin Lhe In RosaPark'sactionandthe actionof the youngBritish boy the powerof onewas iransformed into the powerof we. For whatever adjusictl, arrdceriairrl,v in the case reason the screwgoLincorrectly of the sneakyd.rivers, the powerof one only tums into chaosfor the rest of us. We live in Lheageof egr.r; and l2-step programspoint out edgingeveryone for "edgingGod out." It alsomeans "ego"stands of seifwill run riot elsebut myself out aswell. The exampies in our societyabr.rund for the manyso the Spiritualityis born out of the one'sconcern manymay becomeone.Spiriruality is born in us whenwe heip and shrtrlcomings, faults eachol-her, makingup ftrr rineanother's assist programs say "we can do togetherwhat we and failings. l2-step principle is found,oflen too subtly, in cannotdo alone."The same we raiseour heartsin our major religioustraditions.The very reason prayeris because we needto be a we recognize our needfor another, t'we"andnol-alonein our oneness says,"We believein one The creedof the major Christianchurches begins,uOurFather God..." The mostfamiliarof Christianprayers in The stepsin l2-stcp pmgrams arephrased who art in heaven.--" Constitutionof the United the plural not the singular.Our cherished uWe thal we losesight of Slatesbegins the people."To the clegree

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the "we" we losesightof our spirituality,not only in termsof our religiousaffiliations but who we areas a people,as a nation. Last week we had nvo dramaticexamples of self wiil run riot. The bombingof a clinic just outsideof Atlanta, Georgiais one example is not the answer of self will run riot. Reekinghavocand destruction no spirituality'in such to our humanproblems- thereis absoluteiy actionsfor thereis no careor concern for the "we." The shooting deathof Bill Cosby'sonly son in lns Angelesis anothertragic example, [tto oftenreplicaLed ac]n'rss t)ur crountry, of Lhe wanLs of the one caring not at all for the needsof the other,for the "we." Heretoo thereis no spirituality,onl3r self rvill run rir:i.. During this week in which we remember the one,Dr. Martin Luther King, who taught us io sing "We shali overcome;" we arereminded only by caring ftrreachtiLher can we srtlvcour Lhat only [ogether, commonhumanproblems. TheRev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor at St.
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hisfriendscall him,isfeaturedeveryweekinThe Sunspot spiritual Drop him an e-mailat mecsp@Labyrinth.net. section.

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ffiron - r' woh Dorofnnmontcnmnnnu ryt sDd Designs 1997 The Sunspot ltd. ReYised: August lE,1997 The Sunspotis an opan forum an4 as suclr, provides spacefor a wide variety of views and opinions. Materials appearingnThe Smspot iepr:rntthe liews and cryrinicrns of fre writers and not nece*arily thoseof The Srmsgx{ Ltd.

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SUPERLATTVES
Bv Rev.Michael E. Evernden. CSP
First I want to wish all our readers a very happynew year.For the pasttwo weeksI havebeenin Los Angeleswith my folks. It is good to be on a morereasonable to be back wherelife seems scale.

Asyouprobably know Los Angeles isbig,really big- hUge


big. Thefreeways arebig. Thetraffrcis big. Thegeography is big stretched, asit is, between thehugePacificOcean andthe big San Bernardino mountains. Formanylife is livedon a grand large scale; grand houses, LA is notedfor big stars, big carsandlofty incomes. parties and,at times,big earthquakes. LosAngeles is a symbol for in our lives. thesuperlatives Herein Morgantown we alsolive with superlatives. Wetakea pride certain amount of in saying we arethelargest city in West pride Virginiaon footballweekends. Wetakea huge whenthe Mountaineers l0 is are and0, but where our support whentheyare not,whentheyarejust havingan average season. Weall gettrapped into the alluresuperlatives haveuponour lives.I wantthebest fastest in thehouse. camera" thebiggest and computer, thebestseat Our youngpeople areconstantly comingup with innovative waysto in a cult describe whatis best,mostradical, cool.We live, almost, of superlatives. Whenwe live on a superlative-intensive levelsomuchof life, really goodandbeautiful life, becomes rate.In a unacceptable evensecond superlative-intensive cultureit alsobecomes diffrcultto describe or evenrecognize our spiritualexperiences. Wheneverything is describe in god-like waysnothing, not evenGod,is god-like to us. AuthorAnnieDillard in herbook"Teaching a Stone to Talk*wrote have thefollowingaboutSunday worship services. anyone "Does power foggiest the ideawhatsortof weblithelyinvoke? We should preservers all bewearing helmets, issue crash ushers should life and signalflares. Theyshould lashusto ourpews. Forthe sleeping God maywakesomeday andtakeoffense, or the wakingGodmaydraw

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us out to wherewe can neverreturn." going on in our societyand Thereis a tremendous spiritual search the tempowill only increase {Nwe nearthe year 2000. Peopleare alreadymarking out their turf for wherethey want to celebrate the passag from onemillenniumto another. On a deeper levelpeople for a spiritual superlative that will truly fill and fulfill aresearching their lives. fu big and grandasthe years2000 and 2001 are, markingthe passage from one millennium to another,this time also showsus how small we are,how vulnerablewe are,how much we are in needof a powergreater than ourselves. As we beginthe new year,1997,the most radical,cool, rad thing we can do is set out on a spiritual path.Make room for the God of our understanding so that God cantake us werewe would neverhave dreamtwe could go. At timesthe walk alongthis path may not seem asexcitingas a 10 and 0 season; but this pathwill leadus into the peace, calm and sense of well beingwe search for. Walkingthis path will allow the spiritual superlative in our lives to radically changeour future and the future of our socieff. TheRev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, lItV. "Father Michael," es hisfriendscall him, isfeaturedeveryweekinThe Sunspot spiritual section.Drop him an e-mail at MEverndcsp@qol.com.

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Thb site Maintoined by Soot Dgsipns- A WebDeveloprcenl Company ..",t sea: Augusr t,,, rvv/ Thc Smsporis an open forum an4 as suclg provides spacefor a wide variety of views and opinions. Marerials appearingrn Ihe Stmspot representdre views and opinions of the writen and not necessarilytrose of The Sunspo! Ltd.

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1996 Christmas
By: Rev.Michael E. Evemden, CSP Thetraditions of Christmas aremany.Theactualdateof Jesus's until around 400AD thatthedatechosen birth is unknown. It wasn't wasDecember 25. Selecting this datedid two things.Thedatemade universal Christian feast. Thedate thecelebration of an important alsoeclipsed the old custom of celebrating the wintersolstice, the gave timewhenfarmers thanks asthedays began to lengthen. Old St.Nick is morethana figmentof our irnagination. Nicholas wasa bishop of Myrawholived in AsiaMinor duringthefourth century. Notedfor his generosity hesaved from threedaughters beingsoldinto slavery theirfather w.Ntoopoorto support because hasit thatNicholas them.Legend didn'twantthefamilyto know where from;soNicholas thegoldcoinscame themdownthe tossed in thetoeof a sock."Santa chimney where theylanded Claus," a Dutchname for St.Nicholas, appeared duringtheeighteenth century no longer bishop's robes wearing but a redsuitbased on the popular clothingof Father Christmas andmade by Clement Clarke poem, MooreAEs famous "TwastheNight BeforeChristmas." TheChristmas is a blending treein our homes of nvo German traditions fromtheMiddleAges. A feasthonoring AdamandEve useto be celebrated A on Christmas Eve. fir treedecked with representing apples, theFall,wascentral to thecelebration. On Daythe custom wasto bumpyrarnid-shaped Christmas candelabra. In timethecandles wereadded to thefir treealong with round cookies symbols of communion bread. Thepoinsettia from our Mexican comes neighbors to thesouth. Legend hasit thata poorboy hadnothing to offertheChristchild at plantwith As heprayed in front of a churcha beautiful Christmas. grewat his feet;where brightredblooms upontheboytook it into church andplaced it nextto the manger These scene. andhundreds moretraditions havegrownup around thebirth of a child which Themusic,thepageants, almost wentunnoticed. thefrees, lights andgift givingall havegrownup around the birth of a child in a chilly stable. Forme,Christnasis about wordsor rather a word.[n the silence anddarkness Godspokea word sopregnant with

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flesh and dwells amongus. Meister meaningthat the Word became Eckhart,a fourteenthcenturymystic, asked:uwhatgood is it that Christ wasborn in Bethlehemif Christ is not continuallyborn in us?"I believethat God doesspeakin us, givesbirth in us; andwe is about are calledto speakwordsthat becomeflesh. This season joy and hope. words madeflesh; words like love, peace, Throughthe ages, throughall the traditionsold and new, all the legends, we havebeentrying to put flesh on this act of hopeGod spokein our lives. Our task is to put flesh on the hopeGod has implantedin us. Merry Christmas- Fr. Michael The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, WV. "Father Michael," as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual section.Drop him an e-mail at MEverndcsp@aol.com.

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SECULARCHRISTMAS-- IMPOSSIBLE
By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP is no doubtthat "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," There rush.I havealready andthatwe arein themiddleof theChristmas heard my fair share the commercialization of criticismbemoaning season. Maybepeople forget andsecularization of theChristmas if it werenot for Christ. that we wouldn'tevenhaveChristmas whether we remember it or not.Oh, surethere Christis in Christmas probablyarea few people whousethis feastasanexcuse to partyor makemoney;but for the vastmajorityall the rushingaboutis consciously or unconsciously connected to Christ. Thefirst Christmas happened in themiddleof a totallysecular Augustus ordered thata census of thewhole event.TheEmperor for the world betaken.This wasthe first suchcensus andthe reason people wastaxation. No matter where livedtheyhadto travel census for this @nsus. Soit wasthat Mary to their hometownsto register hadto travelto Jerusalem to register. People were andJoseph packing, travelingtakingcareof noisykids,lookingfor places to Jesus wasabout to bebombut because a census of staf not because theworldhadbeen ordered. In themiddleof thisrush,all this hecticactivity,almost no one Weknowthestoryandweknow noticed thebirth of the childJesus. in the inn, andsothey thattherewasno roomfor Mary andJoseph probably There, in total in a nearby stable, a cave. sought shelter no onenotices. Marygivesbirthto Jesus obscurity, - andalmost Therewereno Christmas with brightly trees or lights,no presents just paper, a lot of noise, hugecrowds andlotsof traffic. colored familiar? Sound Almostno onenoticed thebirth of a child. the shepherds who Only onesmallgroupnoticedthe birth of Jesus, weretending didn'tcountandsotheydid not theirflocks.Shepherd haveto regrster for the census. Theywereliterallynobodies. They alone seem to havehadthetimeto noticeandwonder at thebirth of a child. people in happen thinkthat all thingsspiritualandreligious Some happens in the churchandthat nothingof spiritualimportance

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world of our daily lives. The Christmasstorytells us, loud and clear, that this isn't fue. God wasn'tbom in a cathedral, churchor chapel. The Christmasstoryteaches us that God was born in our midst, in the world, in the middle of the rush to do many things.The of the Christmasstoryteachus that we needto be still, to shepherds pause, to look andto wonderat what is going on aroundus. The shepherds teachus that right in the middle of hunied activity divine things are happening. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, IIIY. "Father Michael," es hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual section.Drop him an e-mail at MEverndcsp@aol.com.

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By Rev.MichaetE. Evernden, CSP TrappistmonkThomas Mertonwrote,"Oneof the mostimportant, in thebeginnings andmostneglected, elements of the interiorlife is the abilityto respond to reality,to see thevalueandthe beauty in ordinary things, aliveto thesplendor tocome thatis all around us." like Thomas Merton,Buddh4andJesus Spiritualleaders oftenpoint to thebeauty of creation to pointout spiritualrealities. WhenJesus is teaching us aboutworry andanxietyhepointsto creation asan example live our lives."Cananyof you by of howwe should worryingadda single hourto yourspanof life?Why do you worry somuch? Consider thelilies,howtheygrow:theyneither toil nor you, spin;yet I tell in all his glorywasnot clothed evenSolomon like oneof these. If Godsoclothes thegrass of thefield whichis gone howmuchmorewill Godclothe alivetodayand tomorrow, you."(Luke12:22-34) Wemisssomuchof thebeauty thatis around usin thepeople, places, is thingsandevents thatwe encounter eachday.Onereason I remember because theyhavebecome soordinary. drivinginto the Mountains, SanBernardino in Southern Califomi4 for my first encounter with snow.It waswonder-filled. I remember living through my first realWinterin Baltimore andseeing anentirecity It toowaswonder-filled. Thebeauty covered with snow. of snow hasn't changed but my attitude towardsnowhaschanged, to some feelthatit is gettingin the degree, Now I sometimes overtheyears. wayof whatI wantto do.OnetaskI reallydislikeis havingto scrap andclean the caroffbeforeI candriveit. Snowhasbecome an obstacle or a delayfor whatI wantto do.Thebeauty is still there andI haveto remindmyselfto stepbacka bit andsee thebeauty. priestandmodem Matthew Fox,anEpiscopal mysticsays, is a wayto nourish beauty thesoul.The "Lookingfor andenjoying is in habit making There universe the of beauty. areflowersand great songs, and smiles, acts courage, laughter snowflakes of friends, ajob well done, the smellof fresh-baked bread. between Beautyis everywhere."

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We are a goal orientated society.We get fixated on destinations. Aggressive driving is becomingthe second most deadlykiller on the highways after drunk driving. Angry aggressive drivers see everythingand everyone as an obstacle to their destination. It takes real spiritual disciplineto enjoythejourney. We fuss and fume aboutpastevents,keepingthem alive in our memories; or worry and fret aboutwhat tomorrowmay bring, or evennext weekor next year, so we totally miss the present momentwherebeautyand spirituality can be found. It takesreal spiritual disciplineto stay in the presentmoment,the only real momentwe havein our lives. GerardManley Hopkins says,"all of creationis chargedwith the grandeurof God." This fruth teaches us that at eachmoment,at any momen! we can find refresh beautyto our soul. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, WV. "Father Michael," as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual section.Drop him on e-mail at MEverndcsp@aol.com.

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THANKSGIVING -. BAH-HUMBUG
By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP ThisThursday is Thanksgiving. It marks thebeginning of the holidayseason. Perhaps it is wisethatthe first holidayis Thanksgiving because often,by theendof the season, we arenot in a thankfulmoodbut a bah-humbug mood.We aretiredand exhausted from the sprintthat lastsonly four or five weeks. Whether you areNewAge,or traditional Christian, Jewish or Muslim,it is Thewintersolstice, themostspiritualof seasons. endings andnew beginnings, the celebration of God's Wordmadefleshin ourmidst, all pointustowardthespiritualmeanings of our lives. Whilethis season is themostspiritualit alsotestsour abilityto live spirituallives.Already we arebeginning Places to feelthe crunch. to go,presents to buy,turkeys to coolgdecorations to unpaclg trees to trim, people to visit, andpeople to include on our lists.On top of all the "have to be dones," thereareour emotions We andexpectations. possible. wanteverything to beperfect, magical.if Manyof ustry to recapture the perfectChristmas of our past,or create the Christmas we never had.On all levels, bothof doingandfeelingwe arein crunch time.I don'tbelieve thatit hasto bethis way.WhileI don't believe theperfect holidayseason is possible, it canbe a verygood holidayseason if wejust do a little planning. Well,not somuch planning,aspayingattention to whatwereallywantanddon'twant. Sit downandmakea list of whatyou'dlike to see happen during Makeit a simplelist of tenthings,attitudes, this holidayseason. or you'd yet, feelings that like to have. Better makeit a list of five or less. Lowering thenumber of ourexpectations will makeit a much morepeaceful for involved. The first expectation season everyone to let go of is perfection. Realize that it isn't goingto be perfectno matter whatyou do.Thistakes a lot of ttrepressure off. Expect the get you Expectthe sizes for all the clothes turkeyto overcooked. you relatives bought the haven't seen in overa yearto beall wrong. Toomuchturkeylastyear.Expectthat not all the lightswill work whenyou go to trim thetreeor the house; andcertainlyexpect them to be in a big tangled mess whenyou openthebox they've been storedin. Expectlinesto be long andtempers to be shortbecause

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yet.Now if noneof haven't lowered theirexpectations otherpeople youwill behavinga nearlyperfect If it theabove happens season. you asmuch. happen it won'tbother does yourexpectations If you havelowered, realabout, then or gotten thereis roomfor some spiritualliving. "I wantto praymore."If this is whatyouwant,spend five or tenminuets eachdayprayingabout for yourThanksgiving Day meal.Makeit a andcomposing a prayer prayer thattruly blesses all gathered, andexpresses whatyou are thankfulfor. "[ wantto touchthe spiritualmeaning of this season." just five or tenminuets If this is whatyouwant,thenspend day each You canfocuson the originalevents, in quietprayer. whatthey musthavebeen like, howthepeople were,whatit wouldhavebeen like for you to bethere.Go out at night andwalk underthe starsto bemuchbrighter the theyseem at this time of year.Walkunder years same stars theshepherds walkedtwo thousand ago."I wantto lovemore."If this is whatyou wantpick presents not for theircost, you andyourfeelings but for whattheysayabout towardtheperson you aregivingthemto. Whenyou arein a linethatyou can'tgetout in smalltalk. tt of, create cheer rather thana leer.Engage someone Ifyou arestuckin traffic, will maketheline seem to movefaster. gifts of goodwill rather saya prayer thanfume.Giveunexpected lettingpeople intoyourlaneof traffic,or allowingsomeone with onlytwo items of youin line.There ways to go ahead arecountless for all. to makethis a moreholy andspiritualseason Aboveall, payattention. Therearethose who bemoan thatChrist isn'tin Christmas That's not In midst anymore. true. the of all the lights,theSanta Clauses andthereindeer, thereareangels and is all manger scenes, signs of hopeandthelovethatthis season recognized about. It just takes a little attention. Jesus wasn't two years thousand agoeither, except by a few shepherds whowere quietenough It just takesa little attention to notice. - thenandnow to makeit a grateful andnot a bah-humbug season. TheRev. MichaelE. Evernden, CSP, is Associate Pastorat St. John'sUniversity Parishin Morgantown,WV."FatherMichael,"as spiritual hisfriendscall him, isfeatured everyweekinThe Sunspot Drop himan e-mailat MEverndcsp@aol.com. section.

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PAYING ATTENTION By Rev.Michael E. Evernden, CSp Places to go,thingsto dq people to see; our livesarevery complicated mostof thetirne.Mostof us feelpulledin a varietyof directions, flffiy not of ourownmaking ail aithe same time.Ii amazes methatfamilies makeit to church at all on Sunday mornings. shoes andsocks to matchandput on; pettysquabbles to food prepare, to gyj9t" thelist canbequitelong.Sometimes I find it difficult enough to getmyserf to church, to saynothingof havingto getanentirefamilythereon time.we arein a constant state of distraction, seeing manythingsandpayingattention to few.we wind up at theendof the daytired,sometimes feelingempry, wondering whatit all means. Themeaning of whatwehavedone escapes us;thespirituality of whatwe havedoneescapes us, because wehavenot paidattention. Sr.Joanchittister,spiritualwriterandlecturer, writesabout finding enlightenment andspirituality in everything. "whereshallI look for Enlightenment?" the disciple asked. "Here." Theelder said. "Whenwill it happen?" thedisciple asked. "It is happening right now,"theelderanswered. "Thenwhy don't I experience it?" the disciple persisted. you do not look,"theeldersaid. "Because "But whatshould I look for?u the disciple continued. "Nothing. Justlook,"theeldersaid. "But at what?'thedisciple asked again. "At anything youreyes arightupon,"theerder answered. "But mustI look in a speciar kind of way?"the disciple wenton. 'No. Theordinary waywill do,"theeldersaid. don't I always look theordinary way?"thedisciple said. fl_But "No,you don'!" theeldersaid. "But why evernot?"thedisciple asked. you're mosflysomewhere "Because to look youmustbehere. elsg', theeldersaid. (Joan Chittister inThereIs a Season)

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journalistsaid:"Everyhappening MalcolmMuggeridge, Christian greatandsmallis a parable whereby Godspeaks to us,andtheart of life is to getthemessage." spiritualitydoesn't beginwhenwe getto church, it happens longbefore that.spiritualityis to befoundin the tying of shoes, matching preparing of socks, of food,quieting the squabbles andthedriveto church. To bespiritualwhatis needed is attention; andwhilethis is a verysimpleconcept it takes a rot of discipline to develop. Thenexttime youfeelcompletely out of control, pulledin a thousand different directions all at once, simplypayattention to whatis right in frontof you.Don't worryabout youhave where just you need been, or where get payattention to to, to whatever is happening right in font of you.If it is a painfulmoment - holdit gentlyin prayer joyful If it is - askfor healing. - relishit for all that it is worth.Thispresent moment is all thatwe have. Thispresent moment is theonly onethatwe canbespiritualin; theonlymoment in whichGodspeaks a parable to us.Payattention. The Rev. MichaelE. Evernden, CSP,is Associate Pastorat St. ,,Father John'sUniversity Parish in Morgantown,I|/V. Michael,,,as hisfriendscall him, isfeatured everyweekinTheSunspot spiritual section. Drop himan e-moilat Michael@.host.&nsc.net.

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WHO ARE THE OPPRESSED?


E. Evernden. CSP Bv Rev.Michael priest,author Fr. ElwoodKiessr, went CSP,Paulist andfilm maker, to Ethiopia in themid 1980s at theheightof theirdevastating andfaminewhichkilledthousands uponthousands. He drought in raise wentthere to film anddocument the crisis orderto in and money, here theUnitedStates, to ease their consciousness foundthesulleneyes of starving children tenibleplight.Fr. Kieser of theirmothers, fathers, farnily,friends andthehopeless situation neighbors. He found Fr. Kieser and also something verysurprising. joy amidthedevastation. found In prayer meetings, worship services bothCatholic andnon{atholic, therewasa levelofjoy thatFr. Kiesersaidhe rarelyfoundin prayerandworshipherein the United States. Theirjoy,theirspirituality wasbornout of theirhunger and Theirhopewasfocused oppression. on a powergreater than themselves thatwoulddeliver themfromtheir slavery to hunger poverty andoppression. people Whenwethink of poor,hungry weoften or oppressed immediately or people behind thenow think of ThirdWorldpeople, nonexistent BerlinWall.Rarely, if ever,do wethink about ourselves aspoor,hungryor oppressed. If you arereading this articleyouhave probably access to a computer, havea roof overyour head, enough your foodto eat,andno oneis lookingover shoulder asmightbethe previous case in a totalitarian state. I havementioned, in articles, thatspirituality is oftenbomour of our feelingof beingup against praying thewall. Sooftenwe find ourselves whenlife isn'tgoingour way,whenwe arefacinga crisis.Spiritualityis abouthope,it is it is aboutturningto a powergreater aboutliberationandfreedom, thanourselves. Hope,liberation,freedom wordsfor arealternative salvation andredemption. If we see no need in our livesfor these qualities going to develop howarewe ourspirituality? Whenwefeel power greater than self-satisfied we feelwe haveno needof a ourselves. If we believe that we arethe center of the universe thereis place no for God. I believe that deepspiritualliving is bornout of adversity and oppression. I believethatthepowerof the scriptures, andof

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spirituality, is experienced bestby thosewho feel the needto be liberated.We, in the Fint World, experience an almostinvisible form of oppression of our own making. Why do, so called,"well off' peopleend up in divorce,separated, alone,usedrugsand alcohol, in the workplace. andtake their own lives?Thereis oppression perceptions Peoplecan be spiritually crushed by their of what god other is. can by itself. Any be crushed success "success" One than the Living God will turn out to be, in fact, an oppressor, evena killer. Suchgodsdemandunbearable sacrifices,and suck the life right out of the soul.Wealth... public image... body imageor physicallooks ... politicalpower... "excitement"... a needto prove oneself... demands to "produce something...""romance" andeven the needto feel "loved" ... are amongthe hundreds, maybe thousands, of oppressive falsegodsout therethat we fall victim to. Until we get to the basic,humblingtruth of how UN-wholewe are, how much we needliberation,we arepretty much oppressed. We will continueto sacrificeourselves and our families, friends and neighbors to somehonific falsegods.We will continueto sufferour propheticcomesalong own negativeselfjudgmentsuntil someone who can bring us goodnewsof liberationand help us to pick the right God and dump the falseones. Our religions, timesof prayerboth public and private,our andthe moments, spirituality oughtto be the bearers, of the good newsof liberation.If they arenot, then they too havebecome oppressive falsegods. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor st St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, WV. "Father Michael," as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual section. Drop him an e-mail al mecslf,ELabyrinth.net

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US? WHAT GOVERNS CSP E. Evernden, Michael By'Rev. an elected a newor re-elected thiswewill have By thetimeyouread president. weekfor that Election Tuesday, or election incumbent asa nation our affention on howwe aregoverned matter, focuses govems us?In l2-stepprograms Whator who andasindividuals. personalities" is usedasa guiding before the ideaof "principles to Havingpaidattention attitude towardlife within thefellowships. thanI do I know moreaboutthe personalities the recentcampaign have of those runningfor office.Elections theprinciples about could defects; andno candidate turnedinto a battleof character place As a them. possibly we upon live up to theexpectations that protect The anddefend principle, is elected to "serve, thepresident to saynothingof TheBill of of theUnitedStates," Constitution is not a ruler,not a thepresident In our form of government Rights. roleit is to providefor the whose king or a queen, but a servant our Godgiven welfare sothatall of us mayrealize common will not personality, by principle, Only government destinies. this end. achieve and our safety us aswell; to ensure ourlawsto protect Weexpect just increasing the Our lawsaren'tdoingthis, and welfare. common It seems thatthelaw hasrun of lawswon't do this either. number grader whogivesa girl a A first or second amuckin manyareas. lady An elderly peckon thecheek is accused of sexual harassment. jail is thrownin tryingto be a goodSamaritan, in Cincinnati, else's the law" to put coinsin someone it is "against because thattheletter parking warned time andagain meter. Wehavebeen of thelaw will kill us,onlythespiritof the law will freeus.I think andtoo muchfromthelaw. too muchfromthepresidency we expect and/or thelaw to do for uswhatwe cannot, Weexpect thepresident andthe to blame Wewantsomeone or won'! do for ourselves. of the Thereis thecase president andthelaw arebothgoodtargets. person who sued the stateof California andthe nationalparks, on Half Domein Yosemite theywerehit by lightening because We there wereno warningsigns. because Park.Theysued National knowsneither This person to blame. arealwayslookingfor someone me,we do or thelarv.Don't misunderstand of nature theprinciples
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needlaws,guidelinesand regulations but we needsomething far deeper aswell; we needspirituality. We needto be changed, transformed not from without, but from within. We needsoul. Millions of peoplein l2-step fellowshipsaregoverned by spiritual principles.Thereareno electedleaders, no hard and fast laws or rules,but spiritual suggestions asto how one can transformtheir lives from within with the goodwill, prayerand supportof others; and most importanta God of their understanding, a powergreater than themselves. [n thesefellowshipsmiracleshappenon a daily basis,peoplepassingfrom the way of deathto the way of life and freedom.M. ScottPeck,the authorwho wrote "The RoadLess Traveled,"saysthat l2-step programscould very well be the salvationof WesternCivilization. I believehe is very closeto the truth. Our political and religiousinstitutionsneedto take note of peopleliving by principlesratherthanpersonalities. these We needa revolutionin our country,not with handguns or street fighting, or evenmorelaws; but a revolutionof our spirit, a revolutionof our soul which unitesus, supportsus and sustains us. TheRev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, WV. "Father Michoel," as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweekln The Sunspot spiritual Drop him an e-mail6y mecsn@Labvrinth.net section.

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WHEN YOU'RE FEELING UP AGAINST THE WALL Bv Rev.MichaelE. Evernden. CSP The televisionimagesof fires raging in Southern California is an all too familiar sight for me. I was bom and raisedin Los Angeles.The fires area tragic annualevent.They becomeevenmoretragic when they sweepthroughneighborhoods, burning to the groundall that peopleown in the world. We are not without our own disasters here in WestVirginia. In 1985the CheatRiver went on a rampage desfioyinghomesand businesses in its path.Inevitablytelevision crewsarrive to report the tragediesand to interview thoseaffected by them.As peoplestandat the sight of their bumedout or flooded homesinterviewers askthe samequestion."What would you have journals savedif you could?"The reply is almostuniversal,pictures, or anythingthat would connectthem with their memoriesand the past. Spirituality abounds but we often don't seeit until we arepushedup againstthe wall. Whenmy life is going well I am morethan willing to taketotal responsibilityfor what is happening. It is when life tums sourthat I begin askingquestions. When the tragedyof fire, flood, or someotherpersonal or family tragedyhappens the question that comesto our lips first is: "why is God doing this to me?"There arethosewho blameGod for all the unfortunateeventsin their lives; andthen take personalcredit for what is going right. Therearethose too who say that God sendsthe fires and the floods,tornadoes and While I don't believe is earthquakes. that God the causeof our I do believethat God can be found in the midst of our tragedies, It is when our lives aretotally out of control that we begin fiagedies. seekinga powergreaterthan ourselves. This is what is beginningto happenwhen peoplesaythey would like to savethosepersonal items that connectthem with their past. What we seelgmore than anythingelse,are spiritual connections. We want to know that we arenot alone. A feelingof communityoften only forms in the faceof tragedy.The Israelites becamea peoplein the faceof their commonslaveryin Eg5pt, I have beenthrough a number of earthquakes. After a quake peoplewe may not havetalkedto in years,are chatting neighbors, togetherlike old friends about a commonexperience.In the

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aftermath of tragicevents all sortsof localandnational organizations rushin to assist where needed. WhenJohnF. Kennedy wasass{lssinated in Dallas therewasa feelingthatthe wholecountry wasone.In these situations we feela spiritualconnection, we feela with oneanother. spiritualcommunion Therealtragedy is thatit to feellike this. takesa tragedy I don't believe thatit hasto bethis way.[t is goodfor usto reflect on whatwe share in common with all othermembers of thehuman race.It mightbegoodto think aboutwhatwe wouldwantto save if everything wasgoingto be swept out of our lives.I believe that our

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plane. whatwe mightloose on thematerial personal People canonly endure or communal tragedy whenthey

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hisfriends call him, isfeatured irrry week inT-heSunspot spiritual section.Drop him an e-mail Dy mecsn@Labyrinth.net

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Revised: Aagust 18'1997 fitc Smspotisanopsr forumand,assuch,provides for a widevarietyof viewsandopinions. space Materials appearing nThe Stmspot represent those dreviewsmd opinions ofthe writersandnot necessarily of TheSmspo! Ltd.

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WE MOT]NTAINS B1':Rev.MichaelE. Evemden, CSP

Manypeople think rhatspirituality is difficult to comeby butthis is not so.Manybelieve thatlotsof prayers andfancygestures are needed in orderto be spiritual, but this is not so.othersbelieve that only by goingoffto remote or far awayplaces cantheygetin touch with theirspirituality, but this too is not so. Spirituality surrounds us.Spirituality is bornout of silence, a silence whichconnects uswith our deepest selves, with ourhuman companions on theroad,andwith all creation. Thissilence is hospitable. This silence welcomes all who call andembraces with love.Spiritualrty is a verygentile thing;at timesasfragileasa snowflake, at othertimesasstrong asthemountains, but always gentile. We,wholive in WestVirginia, aresurrounded by spirituality; in our mountains andriversandin thepeople whohavesettled here. This spirituality is soclose to usthatwe oftenmissit or takeit for granted. It is a verygentile thing. just overseven As anoutsider, arrivinghere years ago,I wasstruck by the general hospitality of our state; people notjust some but a general feelingof havingtruly comehome. Thisfeeling, this "spirituality" haspersisted in my travels around thestate. Partof this spirituality is theeverpresent mountains. Theyarenot loud, grandandboisterous like those foundin the westernunited States; they aregentile, evensilent. Sister RobinElam,S.S.J., a native of WestVirgini4 captured our mountains in a poemwhichreflects for methespirituality of West Virginia.

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"We Mountains" "We mountains... Rootedin the sarneland. Reachingfor the samesky. We arenot the largestof mountains,

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we are not the least neitherare we alone. Yet we standtogether. Mysteriousclarity in loving shadow, strainingup wardsto crystalclearness Depositsof blue, painful silence. Distancesharpens our forms, An infinity of space opens'round us. lntimacy deepens our love. Scarsvisible, new growth. Patterns emerge, are cherished. We Mountains. .. Dying in this sameland, Rising towardthe samesky. Spirituality is aroundus and within us. All we needdo is be still and embrace it lovingly TheRev. Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, I(V. "Father Michael,,,as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inTlte Sunspotspiritual qbvrinth.net section. Drop him an e-mail by mecso(Dr

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POWERLESS
By Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP We hearphrases like "powerful headache reliet the most powerful antacid,works twice as fast as any other," and the military always wantsmore "bangfor the buck." We alwaysseemto be searching for what is morepowerful,faster,bigger.Howeverwhen it comesto spirituality lessis actuallymore,A major key to spiritual is not something is powerlessness. Being powerless we development like to hearabout,or be, in a world wherewe equatepowerwith We would havea lot fewer headaches, control and success. upset stomachs, and war if we exercised a bit morepowerlessness. The alarm clock rings, we pressthe snooze bar, and OOPS,we're going go late.All's well until we to tie our shoes. There'sa knot pull, yanh we fight to the bitter end and nothing gets drats,tug, better.It is time to admit that we arepowerless over the shoelace. We relax for a moment,meetit on it's own termsand graduallyit comesunraveled. We areon our way qt last. We wastedmoretime tugging,pulling and swearingthan the time it too to gently unravel the mess. But, we are late. ['m not golng to give an inch to anyoneon the way The pressure is to work. We guardour spacelike a buriedtreasure. building. Thereis a slight throbbing in our templeand our stomach doesn'tfeel very goodeither.For all our effort we may haveshaved a whole minute offour commute.We arepowerless over other people's mistakes,and bad habitsbut that doesn'tmeanthat we have to be angryand upset.Relax,I'm powerless. I may aswell makethis an enjoyableexperiencefor all; giving othersthe right of way, being gentile,being goodto myself.I may loosea minute or eventwo but I feel soooomuch better. Embracingthe realrtyof my powerlessness makesme immediately I recognize more spiritual because that I don't haveto control everything.I don't haveto control or make excuses for other people's bad behavior.I don't haveto take on total responsibilityfor our world. I'll leavethosejobs to my higher po\iler, to the God of my understanding.When we let go we can recognizewtrereall good things comefrom. The good things comefrom God; and thosegood

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things can flow throughme into the lives of others.The bad things usuallyresultwhen I try to take back control,not allowing the goodness of God to flow throughme. I needto add that being powerless doesnot meanthat we are helpless. Being powerless doesnot meanthat we becomedoor mats for the whims of otherpeople.Being powerless simplerecognizes placesus in the sourceand meaningof our lives. Being powerless the correct context, and brings balanceinto our lives. Life is not a matterof winning or losing,but of living in balanceand harmonywith all that is aroundus. When our headsbeginto throb We and our stomachs beginto ache,we needto let go of something. aredoing something that is not ours to do. We aretrying to control somethingthat is not ours to control. Each and everydaywe are receivingmessages that will leadus to a moreharmonious and life; balanced but we areoften to busy trying to controleverythingto hearthosemessages. The gospelmessage of love, healingand wholeness comesmost powerfullyto the powerless, the poor and the oppressed. It was the rich and powerfirlwho could not hearand receivethe message of because Jesus they weretoo busytry to protectthemselves and controlothers.If you want to be morq spiritual - stop,relan,let go. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, WV. "FatherMichael," as hisfriends call him, isfe atured everyweek in The Sunspotspiritual section.Drop him an e-mail by mecs{dr obvrinthnet

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CHANGINGOURMIND
By Rev. Michael E. Evernden, CSP

Thethingthat andpossibility. Our worldis touched by wonder Theoneconstant in life is change. Everything makes it sois change. Fall is in theair. Wecanseeandfeelthetransition from changes. to thecoldof Winter.Change is everywhere. thewarmthof Summer our minds, thecourse Whythendo wefind it sodiffrcultto change leafclinging or pattem of our lives? Oftenwe arelike the lastmaple and to a branch, unwillingto let go andmoveon to newwonders possibilities. people Whyaresome soresistant, sounwillingto let go of the new? something Weholdon even winter-dead branch andembrace go relationship whenwe knowwe oughtto let of somedestructive or behavior. Weholdon to thefamiliarevenif thefamiliaris painful.Why?Fearis a majorreason. or downright uncomfortable Fearof failure.We areafraidthatthe newwaywon't work.We are doingdoesn't work anymore, afraidto admitthatwhatwe havebeen maybe never workedat all. N0 onelikesto admitfailure.Perhaps Lastly, we areafraidof whatothers will think andwe fearrejection. we maybe afraidthatwe arenot up to the taskof changing because require on theheels fears is change does energy. Close of these winningandlosing;wewantto bewinner'snot losers. me.Voyager's flight fascinates odyssey irmong theplanets Space andbeyond is particularly excitingto me.However, thevoyage of withouthundreds, even thistiny craftwouldnot bepossible corrections. A change in plansis what thousands, of tiny midcourse possible makes voyage andopens usup to the this wonderful worlds. wonders of unseen joumeyto the stars is trueof ourjourney Whatis trueof Voyager's people nations. Therecent andbetween froubles between among people IsraelandPalestine who refuse to change their arebetween tired,ideas theyfight to minds.Holdingfastto old, andsometimes path. the bitter end,not knowrng how or trying to find a peaceful Afraid of losing,theystandpat in the pain andmisery. Whatis true of nationsis alsotrueof somefamiliesandfriendships.

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not evenknowing drift into different corners, We unconsciously how we got there.What is worsewe don't know how to get out of comers- gracefully.So afraid of giving in, of looking our respective like a loser,we too standpat in our pain and misery.Sometimes but often evendivorce,arenecessary; radicalmoveslike separation, our pathsjust needto be tweakedin new and exciting directionsto improvethe quality of our lives. What is true of somefamilies and friendshipsis alsotrue in our individual personallives. For yearsI knew I was in troublewith my my abuseof alcohol.I didn't want to admit that I could not manage own life. I didn't want to be a loserand I didn't know how to ask for but didn't or whereto go for help. I knew changewas necessary two friendsof mine in know how orwhere to begin.Fortunately Seattledid know what to do, did it, and I am now enjoyingyearsof recovery. Changecontinuesin my life. RecentlyI've had to makesomevery difficult changes to improvethe quality of my life. What I find, when t look back over the years,is thatjust the right peopleare there,sayingand doingjust the right thing, that I needto makethe me that just in r$y life. My spirituality teaches necessary changes just the right peopleare goingto continueto the right opportunities, the crop up in my life. What I needto pray for is the wisdomto seize the peoplethat the God of my opportunitiesand recognize placesin my path. understanding While the one constantin life is change;the one constantin my spirituality is the unconditionallove of God who wantsnothing but goodfor me. I needto pray so asto align myselfwith the loving powerof God. I needto pray so ttsto experience the wonderand possibilityof eachnew day. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's University Parish in Morgantown, IV'V."Father Michael," os hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspotspiritual section.Drop him an e-mail by nucsp(dr 'bvfuuhnet

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SAINTS, ANGELS, and UFOs By'Rev.MichaelE. Evemden, CSP

An all time record at thebox offrcewassetwith therelease of the megrmovie Independence Dry. Our imaginations, if not oureyes, with therelease areturnedupward of suchmovies, andthe popularity of television like TheX Files.A sholl through series any bookstore, or evena Hallmarkcardstore,reveals the interest in People angels andotherspiritual beings. aretryingto getin touch with theirpastlives;tying to find something moresecure thanthe present moment. TheCatholic hasrevered everchanging Church it's saints overthecenturies. PhyllisMcGinleyin herbookSaint Watching for anddesire shows the concem to knowour spiritual heroes. super Wearemarking time aswe approach theendof onemillennium and thebeginning of another. We areinterested, andsome seem regarding obsessed, thingsspiritualandthingsreligious. There is no doubtin this writer'smindthatwe arelookingfor a powergreater thanourselves, hopefully a benevolent one.UFOsandaliens may verywell bethetechno-angels of our day;benevolent or malevolent depending uponwhattheybringto ourtiny planet. We always seem "higher,"andhopefully to assume thattheyaremoreadvanced, wiserthanwe are,though Independence Dayshatters thatillusion. However, we areseeking, for a searching theskiesandthe universe sign,a word,a gesture, some hint of hopefor ourtoo fragmented world.Maybewe arelookingin thewrongdirection. andbroken Most,if not all, of theworld'sgreat religions teachusnot to lookto power heavens, the but to lookwithin for the andshength to guide pries! obviously, is the our lives.As a Roman Catholic Catholicism traditionthatI knowbest. As a Christian, among Christians, Jesus is my superhero.Jesus is my Word,the powerandthe strength of my life. Againandagainin theGospel reminds stories Jesus usthat: "The Kingdom( TheRealm)of Godis within you." WhenJesus instructs us on how to prayhe tells usto go to our rooms,closethe doorandprdy,in private;in otherwordsgo inside,go into the within uswhereGodour higherpowermaybefound.The silence great mystics, Eckhart, Meister Johnof theCross, Theresa of Avillq andcountless othersshowuspathsdirectingus deepinto the

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interior life wherethe power,direction and serenityof God may be found.


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Having tappedinto this powerand serenf we areenabled to better live the lives we havebeengiven. On a practicallevel I haveoften fell into the trap of thinking that God is with me when all is going well, and not with me when all is going to pot. In the moments when I havefelt God's absence it is a temptationto think that I am not praying in the right way; that someotherformula will get God's attention,or maybeI needto run offto a whole differentkind of religion or religiousexperience. Howeverreligion, spirituality, prayeris all aboutestablishing and maintaininga living relationship with God. Whenlife doesn'tseemto be working the way we want it to work; this is not the time to blastoffon somenew venture,get high on drugsor alcohol,or search the heavens for a benevolent tells us it is time to onceagaingo within - to look alien- Jesus deeper within our own spiritual and religioustraditions,to look within ourselves deeper and reestablish contactwith the sourc,e of all life and all good.The reality is that God hasn't moved,we have. For thoseof you who may haveno formalizedreligioustradition, or way of prayingdon't worry. Just startwhereyou a^re. Talk to God as you imagineGod to be. Talk to God asyou would talk with a close friend. Ask for whateverhelp you may needin a given day, and say a quiet thank you whenthe day drawsto an end. Realizpthil walking in the woods,fishing, playing on the floor with a two year old, can be very profoundforms of prayer.Prayeris as nearto you as your desireto pray. It is all quite simple,so don't complicateit. This articleof "reflections"weremeantto be introductoryonly. I hopein future to reflect- to chat aboutthings spiritual,things religious.In the meantime, find your religioussuperhero,walk with the angles,and keepan eyepointedskyward- you neverknow.

The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,is CSPAssociatePastor at St. John's University Parish, Morgantown, W.

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\\.H}' CAN'T I GET HAPPYAND PEACEFUL? Bv Rev.Michael E. Evernden Mostof uswantto live peaceful andhappylives.So,why areso people many prayer anxious andunhappy? I believe thatspirituality, path peace religion lead and should usin the of andhappiness. Why, people then,do somany"religious" seem sounhappy, or come across sonegative andjudgmental? I think it is a matterof where ourspirituallivesarecentered. Theheartof the matteris that we areconstantly drawnawayfrom ourcenter. We live on thesurface andonlywith difficultydo we sink downinto the spiritualandtherefore sink downinto peace and happiness. Oneof my favoritereadings from scripture is foundin thefirst Bookof Kings,chapter 19.It is the storyof Elijah,the prophet, goingon to the mountain of God- Horeb.Therehe is instructed to go outside thecaveandlook for Godwhowill be passing by. Firstthereis a strong heavy wind - but Godwasnot in thewind.Nextthere wasanearthquake, thenfire, but Godwasnot in these Finalty either. therewasa "tiny whispering sound" and hid his facefor this wasGod. ElUah place In another Godsays "Bestill,andknowthatI amGod.""Be still?"You have I'vegot places to bekidding. to go,things to do, people to meet, expectations to bemet."Be still?"You gotto be kidding.Berng still is a majorkey into thespirituallife, a majorkey peace to unlocking Timeandagain andhappiness. reminds Jesus us goes thattherealmof Godlieswithin us.Timeandagain Jesus off placeto bestill andcommune to an isolated with God- his Father. WhenI takea brief inventoryof spiritualpeople I admiretheyare the oneswho wereableto be still for significantmoments in their lives.Rarelydo wehearthat"tiny whispering sound" because our just as livesarejust toobusy,too noisy.Oftenourvacations are busyandnoisyasthe restof the year. Anotherfavoritescripture storyis that of Peter, at thebiddingof walkingon the water.As long asPeter Jesus, wasfocused on Jesus, on the calmcenter, hewasaUright. As soonasPeter aware became of the wind andthewaves, the worries,fearsandanxieties of life he get Ortl to sink.Wetoo easily ovenvhelmed by all that is goingon

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usawayfrom our spiritual in our lives,all thatstuffthatdraws the moreanxious Thefurtherwe getfrom our spiritualcenter center. andfearfulwe become. metheotherday.His mindwasracing.Hewas called Someone jumpingfromoneexpectation to thenextthatmightcometruein nWhat I told him to consciously I do?"heasked. should his life. moreslowly.I told him to walk moreslowly.I told him to breathe physical thingshis talk moreslowly.t told him that if hedid these mindwouldfollow,it too wouldslowdownandbemorepeaceful I hadjust been tryingthe same I told him thisbecause andhappy. thing,findingmyselfracingfromonethingto thenext.Thissimple where thatwe cando no matter works,andit is something exercise prayer is anything because a form of prayer we are.It is, I believe, we can At anymoment that bringsusbackto our spiritualcenter. get and of ourlives, ourbearings returnto thecalmspiritualcenter peaceful, happyandserene. moveon morerelaxed, of a caveanda "tiny center at theentrance Elijahfoundhis spiritual on foundhis spiritualcenter by focusing Peter sound." whispering Wetoo mustfind our spiritual of his life, Jesus. the calmcenter waysof anivingthereat a nytimewe want.Our center andpractice quiet,calm,in peace fromtimesof solitude, results andhappiness ourabilityto bestill.

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The Rev.Michael E. Evernden.is CSPAssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish, Morgantbwn, WV. Return to The SunspotHome Paee

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E. Evernden, CSP B1': Rev.Michael TheAmazonriver flows into the SouthAtlantic with suchforceand volumethatthereis drinkable wateronehundred to onehundred It hasbeen reported thatpeople andfifty milesout in theocean. havediednot knowingthere waterright undertheir wasdrinkable boats. This is the case for manywho areseeking spirituality. Justas milesout at we wouldnot expect to find drinkingwatera hundred right under se4 we don'texpect to find spirituality ourfeet.The like anunlikelyplace ocean seems to find drinkingwater;andour livesseems like anunlikelyplaceto find spirituality. ordinary I havebeensayingthat thereis far moreto Overthe pastfew weeks prayer andspirituality thanjust goingto church or saying our prayers. I oftenfeelthatwe put the cartbefore theox. Mostof the pointis with church, timeour starting anychurch, with its beliefs, practices, rulesandregulations; thenwe try to figureout how all this pegsin roundholes. fits into our lives.Oftenit feelslike square I believe we haveto startat theotherend.We need to beginwith our practices, livedexperiences rules andmovetowardbeliefs, church, andregulations thatwill helpusmakesense out of ourlives.We need to beginwith the "stuff'ofour livesandthenfigureout how we aregoingto dealwith our "stuff." needs within us.Onlythere Thecenter of our spirituality to reside prod us,moveusto deeper canthe spiritof spiritualrty us,motivate anddeeper insights about ourselves, our Godandtheworld in which is something we live andmoveandhaveourbeing.Our spirituality pervades of that everysingleaspect of ourlives.Theseparation good providing freedom is for of worship but we churchandstate cannot canandshould color takethis too literally.Our spirituality andactions, all of ourthoughts shouldcolorall thatwe do whether in churchor out of church.We cannotrelegate our spiritualityto prayer private is in or in community. moments of formal Spirituality of ourselves as fundamentally aboutour lives andthetransformation individuals andtogether asa community. in faith movedfrom their experience of Godto ways Our ancestors the their relationship with God.First comes of expressing

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The of that experience. then comethe expression experience, experiencealways comesbeforethe story. We write down or not the other way around.This celebratewhat we haveexperienced is why birthdayscomeat the end of the yearwe are celebrating ratherthan at the beginning. To developour spirituality we haveto beginwherewe are - not wherewe hopeor want to be. I often hearpeoplecomplainthat when they pray they get so distractedby thoughts, feelings and they emotionsthey would rathernot have.Peoplecomplainbecause think that prayershouldsomehowalwaysbe blissful, calming,holy sounding.Peoplefeel that if they go to a quiet placethen it should is that all sortsof moods,feelingsand be quiet.Often what happens voicesenterinto the quiet placein our minds we havetried to The questionis what areyou being distractedby? The create. we havecan be the "stuff' of our prayer.If we are distractions angry,moody,upset- then this is what we needto pray over.Prayer shouldalsoleadus to actionswhich will bring aboutthe desired in our lives and the lives ofthose aroundus. transformation I needto pray over it and then I may If I am moodyor depressed or someself help group.If I am ecstatic needto seekout a counselor aboutsomeeventI needpray a prayerof thanksbut alsoseekout a our friend to shareit with or a whole goup of people.We deepen spirituality when we seekout the fellowshipof otherswho have the samethings as we have.Togetherwe draw uponthe experienced experience, sfrengthand hopeof one another. When I gatherfor worship with my Catholic communityI do so to in faith haveto saythroughthe listento what our ancestors join I in the sharingof the breadof life andcup of scriptures. salvationwe shareto draw strengthfrom God and one another.I and the failuresof bring to Sundayworship the cares,the successes the pastweekand put them in God'shands;and I pray for the strengthto do what God wantsme to do in the comingweek.Our lives arethe "stuff' of both our communaland our privateprayer. The "stuff' of our spirituality is right underour feet. TheRev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's University Parish in Morgantown, I{V. "Father Michael" is spiritual section.Drop him an featured everyweekin The Sunspot e-mail be clicking lgre.

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ta WHAT'S IN A NAME ?
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CSP Bv Rev.MichaelE. Evernden. I had a baptismthe otherday, and as usual,the first questionI asked was "what namedo you give your child?" What'sin a the parents name?Justabouteverything.Refening to the child as "child, boy, way of relatingto the child. girl or it," u'ould be a very impersonal just love it," has a far differentfeeling than "don't you "Don't you just love Mary, or John" or whatevernameyou gavethe child. Think of how many times a dayyou namesomething.We name people,places, things, eyenmoodsand feelings,so that we canbe in relationshipwith them. Without a namewe are stuck.How we name the feelingswe have of things often determines our experience How we namethings can often determine toward varioussifuations. mood and our well being. our psychological Just as namingthe people,places,and things aroundus is importanl how namingGod is also important.How we nameGod determines we are going to relateto God or whetherwe aregoing to relateto God at all. I run into peopleall the time who havegrown up with very dysfunctionalimagesof God. God is imaginedasthe angryold the one who is "going to get you" if you aren't man,the taskmaster, good.Often thesenegativeimagesof God havebeenusedby individualsand institutionsto control otherpeople.Many people don't think they havethe ability or the right to nameGod for Othersworry that if we allow peopleto nameGod that themselves. we will comeup with all sortsaf crazygod'sand not be in nor has it relationshipwith God. This has not beenmy experience, in the faith. of our ancestors beenthe experience Even a brief overviewof the bible revealsa multitude of imagesfor God. God is roch motherhen, friend, lover, savior,warrior, king, wall of brass,pillar of fire by night, smokeby day, eagle's defender, go. God is all of thesethings wings and on and on the descriptions and yet noneof thesethings.The biblical writers usedimagesthat and were familiar to them, imagesthey felt capturedthe goodness it is my no meansinclusive love of God.While their list is extensive because they werewriting from a very patriarchalpoint of view. we just can't contain, in There are so many nirmesfor God because the onewe humanwords,the mysteryof God'strue nafure.Perhaps

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love,compassion, usethe mostis "Godis love."Godis perfect justice,forgiveness, life giver,andall theotherpositive aspects that darlqevil, or sinister to God.We don'tattribute we wouldattribute
The problemis that we expectGod to God, and that isn't possibte. be and to interactwith us aswe do with eachother.If we call God fatheror motherwe expectGod to be like our fathersor mothers. That is okay if we havegoodmothersand fathersbut what about thosewho don't'

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by the men Someyearsago I met a womanwho was brutally abused in her life including her father.Shehad a very difficult time praying to God as fatherbecause that only broughther imagesof cruelty and I suggested abuse. that shefiy namingGod anotherway, as mother that shechange the malepronouns or loving friend. I alsosuggested in the bible to femaleones.Shedidn't feel shehad the right to do this, but shetried it and it hasmadeall the differencein the world in her PraYer [ife' God is good.God is loving. Whateverwill help us to make conscious contactwith our good and loving God isn't wrong it is vitally necessary' So, what'sin a name? Everyrhing!
The Rev. Michael E. Evernden, CSP, is Associate Pastor ot St. John's University Parish in Morgantown, ['I/7. "Father Michael" is featured every week in The Sunspot spiritual section.

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''WHY IS GOD DOING THIS TO ME?''

Br Rev.MichaelE. Evernden. CSP Why is God doing this to me?Why is God doingthis to us?We've probablyall askedourselves thesequestions at onetime or another. In light of the recentTWA tragedyand the Olympic Park bombing we might be askingourselves theseand similar questions right now. As horrifring as theseeventsare, it is evenmore honiffing for me to think that God, somehow, had a handin thern. After the earthquake, two yearsago in Los Angeles,there were a numberof peoplewho blamedit on the decadent lifestyle lived there,sayingthat it was God's punishment. Peoplealsosaythis aboutpersons with AIDS. Thereis no doubt that bad thingshappen in our world and in our own lives. Outsideof floods,earthquakes, tornadoes, and otherdevastating naturaldisasters; most of the bad thingsthat happen,happenin the handsof humanagents. Peopleare going to do what peoplearegoing to do. Naturetoo is going to do what natureis going to do. The problemof goodand evil hasbeen with us a long time. How we respond to goodand evil hasalsobeen with us a long time. How we understand God can makea huge as to how we respond difflerence to tragedy. Many of us grew up with a SantaClauseideaof God. God passing out presents to thosewho are good,giving nothingto thosewho are bad.Scriptures tell us that God makes the sunriseon the goodand the bad alike;the rain fall on thejust andthe unjust.The question is what do we do with the sun and the rain. The questionis what do we do with earthquakes, tornadoes,and other natural and human We like God as SantaClauseas long aswe aregetting disasters. presents; but whereis God whenwe aren't gettingpresents. God as is alsovery helpful. The vengefulGod is responsible scapegoat for somenatural disaster because God's trying to get evenwith a few bad folks. Sucha God keepsthe responsibilityoffour backs.When peoplepray for healingand don't get it doesthat meanthey aren't goodenoughor prayingrightly. I don't think so. God is love. We've heardthat thousands of times.All that God can do is love. God can't havea bad hair day,get ticked offand wipe people.All God doesis love. We needto tap into out a few thousand

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the infinite powerof God's love to transformour world. That is our responsibility. I believein the powerof prayerand I believein miraclesbecause I haveseenthem. We cantap into the powerof just as easilyas we can tap into God's infinite love. If we darkness walk throughlife with a hatefulattitudelife is going to be pretty dark and foreboding.We can feel the powerof hatredwhenit is directedat usjust as easilyrNwe can feel the powerof love. we learnlife's mostpowerful lessons Sometimes in times of crisis.It people is a shamethat we seesuchunity after a naturaldisaster; helpingpeople,neighborsmeetingneighbors. It shouldbe like this all ofthe time. I haveseenpersons with AIDS accomplishin a few yearswhat it takesthe rest of us to do in an entirelife time - if then. The powerof God's life and love is transforming,always transformingdeathinto life. Our task is to pray in union with those who havegonebeforeus, and to assistthe relatives,families,and friends- by our prayersand actions,into new life as well. Oh, yes,at times we'd like to useGod to threatenand coerceothers into doing what we want them to do. We'd like a scapegoat to take careof what we arecalledto take careof. In the end God isn't doing anythingto us but everythingfor us - loving us unconditionally. The prayerof St. Francisbesttells us what to do with the love that God hasfor us.

Lord, makeme aninstrument of yourpeace.


Wherethereis hatred,let me sow love. Wherethereis injury, let me sow pardon. Wherethereis friction, let me sow union. Wherethereis error,let me sow truth. Wherethereis doubt,let me sow faith. Wherethereis despair,let me sow hope. Wherethereis darkness, let me sow light. Wherethereis sadness, let me sowjoy. O Divine Master, grantthat I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood asto understand, be loved as love. to to For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoningthat we arepardoned. It is in dying that we areborn to eternallife.

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St. Francisof Assisi (1182-1226) ) ) )

The Rev.Michael E. Evernden, is CSPAssociatePastor at St. John's (JniversityParish, Morgantown, VW.

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Rcir& AugusrIE,Ig97 in TheSmspot for a widevarietyof viewsandopinions. Marerials appeanng Dr Smsptis anopenforumand,assuclr,provides space those of TheSrmspo( Ltd. rcprscrtrthevrewsurd opiniursof thewritersandnotnecessarily

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HOSPITALITY & SPIRITUALITY


Bv Rev.MichaelE. Evernden

WestVirginiahospitality, in Morgantown, is put to thetesteach yearasthousands of students, facultyandstaffgather for the year.Theeasy paceof summer opening of another academic driving,findingparkingplaces, peace andthegeneral of life in Morgantown year.Hopefully dissipates aswegearup for another our hospitality won'tdissipate at thesame time.Whathasthis have to do with spiritudity? Hospitality is oneof thehallmarks of Christian spirituality. Themes about welcoming thestranger, takingin theforeigner, assisting the alienarethemes for manyof our biblicalstories. Themostwell knownstoryof hospitality is the storyof TheGoodSamaritan. Traveling around themiddleeastin thetime of Jesus seems to be aboutasdangerous thenasit is today. Thenameless is fraveler beaten to within an inchof his life. Hospitality thenandnow can mean thedifference life anddeath. people pass between Some him by, among thema priestanda Levite,not wanting to takethetime to getinvolved. TheGoodSamaritan recognizes theseriousness of thesituation, bandages thevictims'wounds, takes him to aninn and makes certain thathewill becared for. There wasa time in the UnitedStates whenit wasrelatively safeto pick up a hitchhiker, or pull overto helpsomeone with a flat tire or boilingradiator. Wehaveall heard enough horrorstories to makeus think twiceaboutdoingsuchactsof hospitality today. But, aren't therewaysthatwe canstill maintain a sense of hospitality and civility. Perhaps we couldgetoffat thenearest exit andinformlocal people, or localauthorities, of theplightof a sftanded motorist. Hospitalityalways means a few extrasteps, steps that mostof us feelwe don'thavetimeto make. It always sems thatwe feelit is problenq someone else's or someone elsewill takecareof it. Oftenwe relegate our spiritualityandprayerto an houron Sunday or privatemoments at homeor at ourfavoriteplaceof inspiration. Thegoalof our communal worshipwith othersandour private prayertimesis to enable usto live our beliefsin concrete waysfor the restof the dayor week.Beingspiritualis not something that we

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that we are all of the time. do at settimes,but rathersomething of a lived spirituality. Hospitality is one of the characteristics Teihardde Chardinoncesaidthat "we arenot humanbeingshaving but spiritual beingswho arehaving a human a spiritual experience, it speaks aboutwherewe havecome I like that because experience." identity as to go, and our fundamental from, wherewe aredestined createdin God'simage.Akin to this is the fact that we can'tthink but must act our way into new our way into new behaviors, thinking. We can talk and think abouthospitality,or spirituality in general, until the cowscomehomebut nothingwill happenuntil we take action; until we start acting hospitablyand spiritually. It only takesa maybeminuets,to give anotherdriver a break,showa few seconds, might be held, be a bit morepatient new studentwheretheir classes with all the new out of townerswhen they don't know the way. Oh it is true that not all will thank us. Somepeopleact like they deserve it, and maybethey do; but most aretruly gratefulfor the small gifts we can give on a daily basis.Our actionscan ease hospitable maybefor the first life, but most of all allow peopleto experience time the innatehospitalityof WestVirginia.

Pastor at St. ]t{icltael E. Evernden.is C,SP'lssociate The Rev. John's UniversityParish, Morgantown, WV.

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wHO DOESGOD LOVE? WVU OR Pitt - Why Pray? Bv Rev.MichaelE. Evernden long time rivalsWVU andPitt faceoffthis comingSaturday to going beginour footballseason. Bothteams are to huddle before the gameandprayfor victory.Thequestion is whichteamdoesGod love? Whichsideis Godgoingto be on?Theanswer for us Mountaineers is easy - ourteamof course. questions prayer. A simplesituation like this canraiseserious about To be objective we cannot saythatGodlovesWVu or Pitt better thanthe other.So,why pray?If Godis not goingto give uswhatwe want,andobviously we onlywantwhatis best, why pray? What in his letterto the Romans, doesSaintPaulmean, whenhe asks"if Godis for us,whocanbeagainst us?" ln manycases we haveturnedprayerinto a commodity. If one prayeris good,two or moreareevenbetter.In othercases we border on magicbelieving thatif we saya prayer in just theright way,or a in just theright orderthenwe will beheard series of prayers and Godwill give uswhatwe want.Many of usgrewup with the phrase "now sayyourprayers." Thesaying of prayers is not bad,or wrong, but few of us havegoneon to explore thedeeper dimensions andthe powerof prayer in our livesandin the livesof others. Thesaying of prayers is a goodwayfor usto begina prayer timewith God. Prayer, andprayer time,for me is thattimewhenI try to establish conscious contact with God.This couldtakea few moments or last aslongasa dayor a weekif I arndoinga dayof recollection or a retreat. Prayer canbe assimpleassaying'thankyou" whenyou you,or "Godplease noticesomething beautiful around helpme" if we find ourselves in a sudden anddistressing Many situation. o'God people, prayer grantme whenbefuddled, oftensaythe serenity the serenity to accept thethingsI cannotchange, courage to change the thingsI carU andwisdomto knowthe difference." Simple moments like this canhelpus reestablish our conscious with contact Godthroughout the day. I alsoneedmoreformaltimesof prayer.Thefirst two thingsI need area time anda placewhereI won't be distracted by the comingand

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going of otherpeople,by the telephone or anythingelsethat will take me awayfrom this time with God. Most often I startthis time from scripture,maybeone of the psalms,or by readinga passage recitea favoriteand comfortingprayer,or readfrom someother to jump inspirationalliterature.Most of the time I needsomething start me to get me in the mood. What I needmost in this noisy world of ours is silence,quiet time to tap into God's powerand not my for me, is tapping into God's peace, own. Prayer,fundamentally power,serenityand love so that I can acceptlife on life's terms. Prayerpointsme in the directionof being ableto acceptwhatever of peaceand serenity.Prayerisn't meantto comeswith a deepsense me to live out God's me. Prayerenables changeGod but to change dreamfor me, to do God's will and not my own. Prayertime creates or an attitudetoward the life I live whennot in an afinosphere, that someone is happy, formal times of prayer.Justas we can sense sad,angryevenwhennot one word is spoken;prayercan color the way we live our lives. It can changeour attitudetowardeverything that is going on in our lives. I believetoo that prayer'shealing powercan be directedtowardotherswho needour support. So, what aboutWVU vs. Pitt? Prayershouldenableboth teamsto play to the bestof their ability. Prayershouldlead to acceptance of the game'soutcomewith the knowledgethat win or loosewe are at peacein the knowledge that we did the bestwe could, andthat we by the areloved unconditionallyby God thoughnot necessarily coaches or the fans. Go Mountaineers!

The Rev.Michael E. Evernden.is CSPAssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish, Morgantown, WV.

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SOLITUDE Bv: Rev.Michael E. Evernden. CSP A few daysagoI met with members of a family who weregoingto Thesightof our meeting burya lovedonethenextmorning. wasthe patioat therearof theirhomewhichoverlooksall of downtown Morgantown. University classes werein session andpeople were still makingtheir wayto work. Thereweresome heavygrayfoggy low overdowntown cloudshanging but whatstruckmethe most washow quietit waswith all thatactivity.It wasveryquiet,very peaceful. It wasjust the right settingfor whatwe wereaboutto do, plana funeral service. Whenwe wantto touchthe deep thingsof God,whenwe wantto pray,reflectandcontemplate, is a primeingredient. solitude I am oftenamazed at hownoisymostrestaurants are.[t is almost you are impossible to carryon an intimate conversation unless yellingandthatisn'tveryintimate. Evenat home is thetelevision We aresouseto noisethatwe oftenblaringduringthefamilymeal. person, don'tknowwhatto do withoutit. To commune with another a family,or with Godsolitude andstillness areprimaryqualities. in faith knewwell theneed Our ancestors for stillness andsolitude. Theywentto thestillness andsolitude of the desert. Our ancestors, like Moses, climbed highmountains andthereexperienced the powerandgloryof God.Jesus, especially asHe is remembqred in theGospel of St.Luke,goes to a place of stillness andsolitude makingall of His majordecisions; before before choosing the twelveapostles, before makingHis final trek to Jerusalem to face suffering anddeath. is first experienced Jesus asrisenfromthe dead in a garden. Through the centuries monksandmonasteries have been located in quietout of thewayplaces. All this attests to our qualities need for stillness andsolitude to beableto touchthedeep of our lives,andto hearthe deep thingsof Godandoneanother. Wemightfeelat this pointthatweneed to "goto themountain," to monk monastery the desert, or become a andentera in orderto be still, to find solitude sothatwe mightpray.This is not thecase. Dick andDorothyChanski weregoodfriendsof minewhenI lived in Grand andministered Rapids, Michigan. Oncewhenvisitingtheir

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homeI went toward a wonderfullycomfortablelooking chair in their living room nearthe bay window. Dorothy said "no, you can't sit there- that'sDick's prayerchair." Very earlyeachmorning,before Dick headed out on his mail route,that chair was his placeof prayer. solitudeand The chair was usefor nothing elsebut prayer. That chair was Dick's desert, Dick's mountain.I don't havea very largeroom but because of Dick and Dorothy'sexampleI have prayer alwaysmaintaineda cornerconsistingof a chair, a candle and an icon named"Compassion." The icon,by the way, is oneof a youngboy embracing the earth.As it was for Dick, so it is with me nothing happens thereexceptsolitudeand prayer. Fr. JohnCarol, CSP,a goodpriestfriend of mine who died some yearsago,often bemoaned the fact that so many churches in large urbanareas had to be lockedto preventcrime. He contended that weredesertareas, the placesof solitude,in our downtownchurches largesprawlingcities. For us in WestVirgini4 and Morgantown, Cooper's Roclg ChestnutRidge Park and it's hiking trails arereadily availableto us asplacesof stillness,solitudeand prayer. All that is needed to touch the things of God are a little time, a place,maybea comfortable chair, somescriptureor otherdevotional literature to get us going;andmostimportant-- somewillingness. TheRev.Michoel E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown,II/V. "Father Michael," as hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspot spiritual section.Drop him an e-mail be clicking here.

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THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHA-TTHEY SEEM By: Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP I cannotcountthe numberof times I haveheardpeoplesaythey don't go to churchanymorebecause thosewho do area "bunchof hypocrites."What they usuallymeansis that peoplewho go to churchdon't live, and live perfectly,the faith they preachand To sucha personall I can say is "you areabsolutely celebrate. right.' Wherethe ideaoriginatedthat churchpeopleare,or should be, perfectI don't know but it is certainlya falseidea. Someyearsago a woman, who had beenaway from church for twenty plus years,canne up to me and said shewould like to come backto church.I told her that I hadthe ten o'clock massthe following Sundayand would be pleased if shecame.Sheshowedup right on time and like a goodCatholic sat in the last row. I began mass,got throughthe openingprayers, the scripturereadingsfor the day, and I was into the first few minuetsof my homily whenI noticedthat shegot up and left. It was severaldaysbeforeI sawher againand when t did t askedher why sheleft. Sheproceeded to tell me that shedidn't belongthere."Things arenot alwayswhat they seem."What shesawwerefamilies,all of them perfect,praying together,dressed up, holding hands,looking betterthan good.She went on to explainthat shewas a alcoholic,had lived on the sfreets, and had nothing in commonwith thoseperfectSundaypeopleshe sawthere. I askedher to listen for a few momentsat what I saw that very same moming. Beforeme werepeoplewho had sufferedthroughdivorce, otherswith marriagesand relationshipswhich were going on the rocks,a teenwho had contemplated suicideseveralweeksbefore, single motherstrying to make endsmeet otherspeoplefacing cancer,or othermentaland physicaldisabilities;in shortof hostof brokenpeople.This womanfinally said, "what you aretying to tell me is that I do belongthere,"and I said "absolutely."She'sbeen back everySundaysince. Jesus said "peoplewho arewell don't needa doctor,sick peopledo." He alsosaid "cometo me, thoseof you, who find life burdensome and I will refreshyou." Church is a gatheringplace for thosewho

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are broken, not for thosewho have life all together- if there are any to suchpeoplein the fint place.Someof the preachingI hearseems tell people,that when you areperfectthen you can comeandjoin us. This is putting the cart beforethe ox. In our own Catholic tradition like we havemadethe Eucharistinto a prize for being it seems good.I don't buy that. Eucharist(Holy Communion)is the food we eatso that we can becomebetterpeople.The old sayingis "you are what you eat,"how very true. didn't say "go and get perfectandthen comefollow me". Jesus RatherHe said "comefollow me" and by being aroundHim we would become betterpeople.For thosewho are aroundor know about l2-step progrirmsthis would soundvery familiar. l2-step programs don't tell peopleto go and stop drinking, eatrngor taking tell peoplethat if they havea "desire"to drugs. l2-step programs behavior,then come,be a part of the fellowship, stopa destructive and togetherwe can work through the destructivebehavior and become befferpeople. This basicprincipleof l2-stepprogrirms shouldbe alive in our faith communitiesas well. Yes,churchis not alwayswhat is seems and that'sunfortunate because we often hide our cornmonbrokenness and so we block off throughfaith communities. the healingspirituality that courses happens Transformation whenwe discoverthat we needeachotheq that togetherwe can do what we cannotdo by ourselves. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor ot St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantown, II/V. "Father Michsel," es spiritual hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweekin The Sunspot section.Drop him qn e-mail by clicking here.

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HOW SHOULDI PRAY ?


81'Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP Hardly a weekgoesby that t am not askedsomething aboutprayer, in my line religion and spirituality. This is not strangefor someone of work. Thereis an avid interestin religion and spiritualiff, perhaps millennium. For whatever heightened by the approaching reasonpeopleare asking how to pray. Along with how to pray, they want to know when to pray, what postureto usewhen praying, what to sayor not saywhen praying.Their questions alsooften meanthat with they way they areprayingnow, or a thereis a dissatisfaction feeling that the way theyweretaughtto pray as childrendoesn't t'workt'anymore. There arethousandsof ways to pray alone and or with others. I get Choosinga way to pray is like going into a bookstore. pwalyzsdin bookstores. I know thereare lots of goodbooksto read therebut which one do I choosefirst? I don't want to wastemy time I want to know which is the bestbook to readright on nonsense. now. Approachingreadingin this fashion I leavebookstores empty handedbecause I can't choose the bestbook. Looking briefly at all the ways I can pray can leaveme paralyzed too. Which is the best way to pray?I don't want to wastemy time doing something that prayerthis way I will neverget isn't worthwhile. If t approach started.Just as I haveto choose a book to read,I haveto choosea way to pray.When I selecta book I rely on the recommendations of that interest me, and hopefor the best.When others, choose subjects I selectaway to pray I listen to what othershavedone,and choosea for me. Prayerought to establishand way that is comfortable maintainmy conscious contactwith God asI understand God. If a particularway of prayingdoesn'tpan out for me, deepen my contactwith God, thenI try spirituality, or maintainmy conscious somethingdifferent. for prayer.I havehinted at thesein Therearesomekey ingredients previousarticles.The first ingredientis a desireto pray. St. Augustinesaid that eventhe desireto pray is prayer.The second ingredient is a time, a regular time to pray. It should be a time when we know we are not going to be intemrpted by anything or anyone

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we else.The third ingredientis a place.The placecan be anywhere with God. The place can focus on our prayer,and our relationship that you can fall but not so comfortable shouldbe comfortable, The samecan be said for our posture,it shouldbe asleep. comfortablebut not sleepinducing.The placecan be as simpleas a Just chair in the cornerof a room, or as ornateas a gothic cathedral. makesurethat you can get to your prayerplaceeasily. Once we get to our place and time for prayer,then what do we do? Thereare all sortsof possibilities.Many peoplewant to be still, to to "commune"with God silently. However,thereis contemplate, often an immediateproblem.In this quiet placecomevoices,voices from the pastbut mostly voicesfrom the presentand what is going on in our lives. This quiet placecan get very noisy with anger, resentment, things left undone,thingsthat needto be donein the Peopleget very nearor distantfuture. Theseare calleddistractions. and often give up trying to pray. whenthis happens discouraged They think thesedistractions are bad.They think that this quiet time of prayershouldbe blissful and when it is not, they give up. My arepreciselywhat we needto pray feeling is that thesedistractions over and about.We needto pray and take action on resolvingthe issues our quiet that cometo us; and as we take careof theseissues with God.A time of prayerwill become a quiettime of communion prayer."God, goodprayerto prayoverthis noisystuffis the serenity grantme the serenityto acceptthe thingsI cannotchange, the to change the things I can,and the wisdomto know the courage difference." Thereis no doubt that we aredoers.We naturallywant to do just aboutall the time. Sitting still and doing nothing is something This is why a simpleritual is very dillcult for a lot of people. important.Prayertime shouldhavea beginning,middle, and an end. like lighting a candle, or blessing Beginwith a simplegesture yourself.Thenbeginyour prayertime with a readingfrom scripture, onethat you like, or onethat is just chosenat random.Bookstores usuallyhavea sectionwith booksof daily meditationsfor eachday of the year.I usea coupleof theserelatedto my | 2-stepprogram and find them very helpful to get rne startedon my prayertime. or someotherholy Focusingon a lighted candle,an icon of Jesus figure can also get us startedon our prayertime. Then allow time for that come;just let silenceand don't worry aboutthe distractions them come.Don't fight the distractionsor hold on to them,just and let them gentlygo. At the end of the their presence acknowledge prayertime do anothersimplegesture, blessingyourselfand

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The most important thing is to begin. Begin simply and keep it simple.Don't ty to pray or meditatefor an hour in the beginning. Work up to that if you want to. Prayerought to be transforming. It shouldtransformour relationship with God and with one another. of well being deepen our sense of Prayershoulddeepen our sense our spiritualtty. balance,in other wordsdeepen The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's University Parish in Morgantown, l4/V. "Father Michael," es hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweekin The Sunspotspiritual section. Drop him an e-mail by mecsr{dlabvrtnthnet

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JT-,STICE CSP By'Rev.MichaelE. Evernden, sagacameto a The two anda half yearplus O.J.Simpson lastweekwith a guilty verdictin the civil trial. The conclusion The Goldmansand the reactions to the verdict werepredictable. Brownsfelt like winnersand thatjustice had finally beenachieved. The Simpsons obviouslyfelt very differently.As the partiesfor the prosecution left the SantaMonica court housethey and the defense respectively. The weremet with boosand hissesand loud applause issueofjustice was broughtto the low point of figuring out who rverethe rvinnersand who werethe losers.The fact is there were no winnersor losers,everyone was a loser.The Browns and the havelost, foreveEa loved one. Simpsonhaslost his Goldmans reputation,self respect, his word and all that makeshis life valuable. In the end this is not aboutwho's guilty or innocent,aboutwho won or lost it is aboutjustice. For the spirituallyinclinedjustice is abouthealingnot punishment. Whetherit is the so called "trial of the'century"or a family spat, justice is abouthealingard not punishment. Yet, punishment is what we as a societyand as individuals seemto do best.The "['m gonnaget you sucker"mentalityis cloakednicely in our judicial system.Often we are more bent on getting eventhan being agentsof justice. This revenge mentalitypermeates our thinking from capital punishment back or making down to talking behindsomeone's It is all donenot for libelouscomments aboutsomeone's character. justice but to makeus look bigger,better,stronger, wiser or more else.Thereis no justice herebecause thereis correctthan someone beating no healing.At timeswe turn this falsejustice on ourselves, ratherthan for simply beinghumanand making mistakes, ourselves trying to find solutionsthat will truly heal our lives. seemto agreethat truejustice always Greatspiritual leaders involves healing. The prophetsof old announcedagain and again God'sjustice; and time and againthe peoplejust carriedon with their own pursuits often experiencingthe calamity of their actions. Time and againGod announced that he/shewas comingso that we "may havelife and haveit to the fuII." Time and againwe say "no thank you," chargingoffin our own directions.

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a) Capitalpunishment, or anypunishment, for the sake of punishmenl justicebecause will never exact it does not enact healing. Forthe
taxing questionof our societyought to be not how we can inflict morepunishment but how do we bring healingand wholeness to people's livesbeforepunishment is inflicted?

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Buddhawas oncethreatened with deathby a bandit called Angulimal. "Thenbe goodenoughto fuffil my dying wish," said Buddha."Cut offthe branchofthat tree."Oneslashofthe sword, and it was done!uWhatnow?" askedthe bandit. uPutit back again," said Buddha.The bandit laughed."You must be crazyto think that anyonecan do that.u"On the confrary,it is you who are crazyto think that you aremighty because you can wound and destroy.That is the task of children.The mighty know how to createand heal." TheRev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP, is AssociatePastor at St. John's UniversityParish in Morgantoutn,WV. "Father Michqel," es hisfriends call him, isfeatured everyweekin T"lte Sunspot spiritual section.Drop him an e-mail at mecsp@Labyrinth.net.

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LAZARUS By Rev.Michael E. Evernden, CSP LastweekI wastalkingaboutgettingin touchwith thewisdom of our spiritual traditions. Thereis another storyof wisdom thatI wouldlike youto consider. Onceagain I suggest you get that comfortable, relaxandlet yourimagination wander back2,000 years to a familytragedy turnedsurprising. Thestoryis foundin the Gospel of John, Chapter I l, verses l- 45. It is thestoryof Jesus raisinghis friend Laarus from the deadafterhe wasin thetombfor four days. I havealways wondered whatit musthavebeenlike to sit downto dinner- with Lazarus at theheadof thetable- theevening after Jesus broughthim backfrom the tomb.I ama little strange andI wonder about thingslike that.There is stonysilence aboutit in the story-- not oneword.Perhaps for Mary, Martha,Lazarus andJesus it wasthesilence of awe,respect evenreverence. [t is thesilence of theWOWthatjust couldnot beuttered. Themostsignificant line in this storyfor meis "Lazarus, Lazarus! Comeout.Untiehim andlet him go free."This is a storyof love, lovethat hasthepowerto call forth andsetfree.This is a story aboutlovethatcanlook into the darkstench of a tombandsee light, life andpossibilities. Thisstoryis about themanydeaths and resurrections we go through throughout our lives. Lazarus would,oneday,die againbut for thetime berng "Life Goes On." "Life Goes On" wasa television series featuring a downs syndrome childnamed CorLyanda familyhowlovedhim. Despite the seeming tragedy, onethatparents wouldfind at bestdifficult to handle, life did go on.It wasableto go on because theparents give refused to up. Theycontinually invitedCorkyto come out. TheycontinuallyuntiedCorkeyandlet him go free,encouraging hirn to experience anddo asmuchashewascapable of doing. Christopher Reeve is a morerecentembodiment of this Gospel, not givingup on himself, attempting to do theimpossible with the supportof family andfriends.Thestoryof lazarusinvitesusto take alook at ourselves andothers whenwe arereadyto giveup or write

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someone off. Thisstoryis aboutall thetombswe getourselves lockedinto.Imaginel-azartts lying in thetomb-- nowreallysfretch your imaginations lying in thetomb on this one-- imagineLazarus goingon in his head whenheheard Jesus andwhatmusthavebeen musthavebeen overjoyedsaying call out to him. Lazarus "hedidn't for me,hedidn'twritemeoff." Weall knowwhatit forget,he came infuses into feelslike to be remembered andthelife remembering ourown. is aboutmakingconnections. is about Spirituality Spirituality knowingthatwe arecalled by name thatwe areuniqueandspecial; sotheymaycontinually andit is aboutcallingothers by name realize It is aboutcallingeach other thattheyareunique andspecial. to life on a dailybasis. TheRev.MichaelE. Evernden, CSP,is Associate Pastorat St. John'sUniversity Parishin Morgantown, W. "FatherMichael,"as in TheSunspot hisfriendscall him, isfeatured everyweek spiritual Drop him an e-mailat mecsp@I,abyrinth.net. section.

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A LOVE STRONGER THAN DEATH By'Rev.MichaelE. Evemden, CSP

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persons in Details for the suicide of thirty-nine about thereasons Rancho Fe,California Thequestion Santa are,at best,sketchy. raised for meandsomanyothers is howcanpresumably intelligent people Givinga life for a commitsuchanactof selfdestruction? goodcause nor in thecircles is not rare,not in Christian circles, of just around othergteatworld religions.Christians the worldhave finished feastof Easter. Easter momingmarks celebrating thegreat gavehis life sothatothers may thetriumphof life overdeath. Jesus live.Through thecenturies manypeople havegiventheirlivesin the service of theGospel, andmanystill do today.I suppose some wouldcall suchpeople crazyandmighteventhink thatof Jesus but thatis not the cornmon opinion. Jesus, andthose whofollowhim, do not go out seeking death nor willfully ty to bring about theirown death. himselfasked that Jesus be from him. His death was result what the cross takenaway the of hestood for, standing against thevalues of thereligious andsecular leaders life wasoneof tryingto setothers of his day.Jesus'entire free,by forgiving,healing, a message of loveand andpreaching justicefor all. Jesus came thatwemayhavelife andhaveit to the is not a message full. Themessage of theGospel to escape fromthis world,but to work for its transformation. Yes,Christians andother traditions in a life, a better life, in theworldto spiritual do believe is something come. This,however, thathappens in God's timenot our own andit is the resultof how we live our livesin the world givento us asa gift. whichhasbeen Theworkof Jesus wasa partof tookplaceon theworldstage. Jesus Thework of cultsandcult leaders thelongJewish heritage. takes placein very isolateplaces, aput from the world stage. Usuallythe is whenwe arefaced with onlytimewe hearof theiractivities like the onein Rancho Fe.Theactivitiesof cults, Santa tragedies even theones in thename and of Christianity, areveryprivatized Their leaders respect center self-seeking. demand anddemand stage. pointedto Godandfocused neverdid this, but always his Jesus minisbyon others, for the goodof others.

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our searchfor spirituality and for spiritual valuesthat will guide our lives must takeplaceon the world stage. we needthe valuesand the opinionsof othersaroundus, and the wisdom of pastgenerations, not only to keepus on track but alsoto keepus in balance. Jesus was guidedby the traditionsand valuesof his Jewishancestors, seekingto call peoplebackto the covenant of unconditionallove that God had for them and us. Christiansaroundthe world havejust completed their celebration of Easterand it is a celebration of a love,which is strongerthan deatha love for othersthat is strongerthan death. The Rev.Michael E. Evernden,CSP,is AssociatePastor at St. John's University Parish in Morgantown, W. ,,FatherMichael,,, as hisfriends coll him, isfeatured everyweek inThe Sunspotspiritual section.Drop him an e-mail at mecsp@Labyrinth.net.

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lHomelorisinalworklviews lclassified I communifv lHot snots I The Sunspot is YOUR comrirunity nervspage!!! your contributionto North CentralWestVirginia's online newsand entertainment N'lalie sourcebv contactingus today. LasrUpdoted 8n8n7
The Sunsoot lld. Thit sile Mai&oined by Smt Dgf,isns- A Web De+ulopmenlCompcny 1997 Thc Sunspd IlI Raised: Augusl It, 1997 Tlc Sunspotis an open forum and, as sud provides spacefor a wide variety of views and opinions. Materials appearingin The Swspot repreent lhe views and opiniors of tre write$ and rnt necessarilythoseof The Sunspot,Ltd.

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ARE THEY OR ARB THEY NOT? CSP Bt'Rev. MichaelE. Evernden,

In the lastyearJesus, Mary,angels andheaven havemadethe front covers of suchmagazines asTimeandNewsweek andLife.Thisis thatpeople areinterested in thingsspiritualbecause clearevidence magazines don'tflaunttopicsthatwill not sellat thenewsstands. is thatwe aregoingto getdefinitive The"come on" of these articles asto whoJesus andMary are,andif angels answers andheaven reallyexist.Needless to saynoneof the articles livedup to that expectation. Naturallywewantto be assureaswe canaboutwhat we believe. We don'twantto appear or misguided. stupid,ignorant whenSt.Thomas Since, andevenbefore, themid-1200s, Aquinas it hasbeen wrotehis "Summa Theologiae," believed thathuman reason cancome to knowor at least acknowledge theexistence of reason investigation the divine.Human andscientific cantakeus just sofar.We,however, point always come to a somewhere along the line whenwehaveto makea leapof faith; we simplyhaveto believe. Havinga deeply rooted helpsus fill in theblanksand spirituality edges of our lives. smooth out theroughplaces andsharp joy and Spiritualif opens us upto love,wonder, awe,surprise, helpsus makesense our of senseless thingslike war,hate, sickness These arethingsthatscience andscientificinvestigation anddeath. giveus.Science, logicandcold investigation cannot canbringusto of these experiences but only spirituality will takeus theedges us in whatmakes our life wholeand beyond the edgeandimmerse joy andlove. meaningful. We can'tprove wonder, awe,sulprise, These These are arethingsthat weexperience at our soulcenter. andstories about,sing songs thingswe write poems andpaint pictures grasping for wordsandsymbols thatnever see about, the experience we arehaving. suffrcient to express I guess I believe in Godbecause I cannot describe God.Godfor me joy andlove-is at my soulcenter. Godis wonder, awe,surprise, love.Spiritualityopens us in that unconditional usup andimmerses whichcannot or angels couldbeproven, beheld.If God,heaven, in a box,measured theywouldnt be whattheyreallyarein trapped my soulcenter, nor havethe powerto do what do for menamelyto

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helpmemakesense out of [ife. Are theyor aretheynot?Only a leapof faith will give usthe answer. TheRev. MichaelE. Evernden, CSP,is Associate Pastarat St. Parish John'sUniversity in Morgantown,WV."FatherMichael," as hisfrierds call him,isfeatured everyweekinThe Sunspot spiritual Drop section. him an e-mailat mecsp@Labyrinth.net.

I HomeI OrieinalWork I ViewsI Classified I Cpmmunitv I Hot Spots I The Sunspot is YOUR communitynervspage!!! \{alie your contributionto North CentralWestVirginias online newsand entertainment sourceby contactineus today. I-as Updated 8n8n7
fb St tttM Lld. TLb silc Msin ained by Sod Dgg,isns - A WebDevelopmcnl Company tr7 The Sanspot ltd. W: August IE, 1997 Ik Snspot is an opan forum and, as such, provides spacefor a wide vuiety of views and opinions. Materials appearingn The Smspot rcprsntrhe viens and opinions of the writers and not necessarilytrose of The SunspogLtd.

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