What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9
Last week our little village here in Italy celebrated “The days of glass” – honoring its 800+ year history of glass making, as well as acknowledging the 150 years of a United Italy. There were events such as a dance competition, nightly meals and demonstrations of glass making from blowing glass to weaving the fiaschi at the bottom of the Chianti bottles. People who used to live here in Piegaro returned to celebrate the history of their hometown.
Yet in this week, I found it interesting that one guest at a local hotel mentioned he was having difficulty in our small town because he preferred to look forward than to look past, but he was very interested in the festival, for festival’s sake. Which had me going right back to my favorite book of the Bible Ecclesiastes, which has been quoted by so many writers from Shakespeare to the Byrds. It has always been my thought that if we really want to look forward, we must look back, because as a people, as individuals, our lives are cycles. Just an ever spinning wheel that seems to return to the same place at different points in time.
In this time in history there is much discussion over debts, countries failing economically, wars continuing throughout this world, and droughts caused in many ways by human mismanagement. This is not the first time in history, and God willing won’t be the last time. Besides these tragedies something else is constantly repeated, grace, the loving gifts that bless our lives every day: food, friends, life and always hope for a world of love. When we are hungry, when our friends seem lost, when our life seems sad, with Spirit, God and resurrection in Christ there is always hope.
Here in Piegaro things are not easy, they are as the rest of the world, facing economic hardships, everyday losses and tragedies and people are in need of hope. We are the same, everywhere, God’s children, and as Ecclesiastes says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” People have asked if it is better economically in America now, as they see tourists here, even in our little village. There are fewer tourists from America my friend Colleen tells me at her inn, but she stays full with Europeans who are staying closer to home for vacations. Even those who have resources worldwide are being more cautious with their money but still know the value of rest and quiet.
Thinking on what my life has been like here in Italy on Sabbatical, and now preparing for confirmation in the Catholic church, returning to the faith of my ancestors, it seems to follow that circular pattern. Troubles, concerns, and worries that felt like crushing weights were lifted when I had time to rest and pray, time for my focus turn to circle back to hope, to mystery, to miracles, ultimately to God beyond institutions. When the celebration of faith is so focused on the mysterious love of God who works miracles of salvation and comfort through Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary and the saints that have gone before us; we are transformed into the very witness of love.
Slowing down, remembering what is truly important in our lives, forgetting the trappings of a world spinning out of control for love of money and in sore need of love of neighbors is vital now, and always. History repeats itself, we can see similar stories of angst throughout the ages, throughout scripture….but there is hope, faith, and above love to set us back on the mark. I remember when the first dip of the recession came and the women of Church of Mary Magdalene for Homeless women during Saturday’s prayers lifted up: “I pray for those who ain’t been poor before, it’s hard,” “I pray that if people who need help getting used to being poor come to us, we can help them, because we know,” “I pray that all us poor know the love of God and stay strong.”
Are their times when you see your poverty in life of spirit or material goods and feel the presence of the strength of God?”
How do you utilize the love of God to get through a world of worry?
Is it a comfort to know that even when we suffer that God, through Jesus knows the depths of suffering and is there to love and care for us through to eternity?
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