Do You SEE That Woman?

Yesterday I had an excellent day. In some ways the day itself was the product of the last several weeks: eating right, getting enough sleep, taking care of myself, meditation. In some ways the day was the coalition of a hundred tiny factors that I had no control over, and wouldn't have even thought of.

On Friday I drove out to the Washington coast, to stay the weekend at one of the San Juan islands. Yesterday I got up early for a kayaking tour departing from the marina on this island. We spent 3 hours in the water, paddling out to and around a neighboring island. Serendipity: Yesterday's weather could not have been any better. Brilliant blue cloudless sky, and perfect temperatures made just being outside blissful. The fact that my tour was at low tide and it was the lowest tide of the month (new moon) meant that we got to see all kinds of little sea critters.

After kayaking, I grabbed lunch (little burrito stand in town, like a Mom & Pop Chipotle, mmmm) and stopped back by the hotel to watch the last little bit of the US / England World Cup game. Then Misty and I headed out to Deception Pass state park and hiked all around *that* island. We walked along the beach, and then up the terrain of the island to the highest point. Indescribably beautiful. I choked up a little - something about the way the ocean looked with islands rising out of it layered against each other, in every direction, got to me.

We hiked back out and I dropped Misty back at the hotel and ran off to Mass. The inside of the church reminded me of a more contemporary version of St. Matthew's Cathedral in DC. There weren't any mosaics, but the entire inside was painted with bright, vibrant colors. The priest leading Mass was a visiting Jesuit who ordinarily works at a nearby reservation, and he gave a great Homily. The theme of this week's readings is forgiveness, and being saved/justified by faith. He talked about how in the gospel Jesus asked Simon, "Do you see that woman?" in reference to a woman with bad reputation who had approached them seeking Christs' forgiveness.

He tied this back into the narratives that we all experience in our daily lives, particularly the narratives that we let others set up for us about ourselves, ones that include elements of truth but not the entire truth about us. He said, "If you feel isolated, angry, or helpless then you've bought into someone else's narrative about who you are. That's never the whole story, and when we pull away from the stories put forth by others and society and reflect on who we really are in the eyes on God - based on the way that Jesus SAW this woman - we find peace. Truth in the eyes of God brings us balance, connection, and empathy with others."

It made a lot of sense, and I appreciated the depth of rationality there - no angry judgmental God, and no denial of who we are - but acceptance, and strength to go beyond the negativity that is so easy to absorb about ourselves, and just as importantly, about others - to find something much more substantial and WORTHY OF LOVE. Also, it's not as though Jesus was making up things to like about the woman, just because he felt sorry for her. She had genuine love in her heart, and faith in Him, which is what he responded to.

What the priest didn't say but what I also pulled from the readings was that we don't have to be angry or defensive in response to the narratives of others - surely being justified in faith before God gives us the strength and the character to just live as we are without needing to expend energy to correct the conceptions of others. I think that in time those conceptions correct themselves.

I also think that the philosophy there underlies many other religious and spiritual - as well as secular psychological - practices. So, good stuff. Two weekends in a row now that I've gone to Mass...I'm considering making it a consistent practice, but I need to find a church back home that I can relate to.

Anyway, so the day was good and Mass was good, and then I ate dinner at the brewery in town which was delicious.