On Monday January 20, 2025, Marcella Kraybill-Greggo and Henry Schoenfield offered a free one-hour Waypoints Pause via Zoom. On this day of both the Inauguration and the remembrance of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., we endeavored to encircle the globe with a network of wisdom waypoints, collectively attuning to the higher during this transitional time.
In advance of this event, Wisdom Waypoints Board member Henry Schoenfield prepared some thoughts about the time ahead of us. With his permission, we have reposted his blog post below as well as sharing additional resources from the the Waypoints Pause event. To view more of Henry’s writing, please visit his website here.
This Is The Moment by Henry Schoenfield
John 2:1-11
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
~~~~~
Over the past several years, I have been drawn more and more to the Season of Epiphany. And while technically, this is not a liturgical season – at least not in the sense of Advent or Lent. However, in a deeper way, I have come to appreciate that these few weeks between the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Lent have much to teach and to reveal.
Bookended with the visitors from the East and the Transfiguration, the season reveals much about who Jesus is, and by way of extension, who we are (and who we are called to be) as those who follow in the path of the Teacher.
This morning’s gospel text is no exception. In this familiar tale, we hear that Jesus and his band of students have been invited to a wedding feast. Only shortly after they arrive, the wine runs out and Mary approaches Jesus. He hesitates, but then turns a vast amount of water into the most choice wine. And this is declared to be the first of the signs in John’s Gospel, which is otherwise known as the “Book of Signs.”
Even in this briefest of recapitulation of the gospel narrative, there is a lot to tease apart and to get deeper into: what water might signify, the alchemy involved in it becoming wine, the abundance of choice wine, even the urging of Mary – who was herself deeply steeped in the Temple traditions.
And all of these are worthy of reflection. Though I believe that there is something else lurking beneath the surface of this text in Jesus’ claim that, “my hour has not yet come.” In that moment, perhaps he was not yet fully aware, but something was being called forth from him. The reason for his very existence was being called forth. We could go so far as to say that the Cosmos – all of creation – was summoning him in this moment through the voice of the Blessed Mother – to be a servant for the greater good. Briefly put, this was his moment.
I can’t help but place this reading in the context of where we are today – in this moment of history – as the new administration takes power in Washington tomorrow – as there are disruptions in governments and cultures all around the world. (And by far, not incidentally, as we are also on the eve of the celebration of the life and witness of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tomorrow.)
Friends… this is our moment.
And in all honesty, the clarion call of this moment goes far beyond one political party versus another – red vs blue, liberal vs conservative. These are labels that could obfuscate what is really in front of us – a deep invitation to transformation, a transformation that must be rooted in our own inner work.
It seems often forgotten that our brother, Dr. King was not only a social activist. He was also a committed contemplative. I will dare to say that – just like Jesus, the lasting impact of his work in the world would not have been the same were it not for a rich life of inner work and practice.
And so, the call rings out for us.
If our species is to survive – if we are to give birth to something new, there must be a shift of consciousness on a global, nay… a cosmic level. Anything less is not sufficient for this moment. We must wake up and embrace that the only reason for our existence is to serve to whole, for at the end of the day, we are intricately bound to each other. The fate of one is the fate of all.
This is our moment.
Friends, abundance awaits. The choicest wine – that is, the essence of divinity wants to flow into us and through us. May our yes! in this moment be the first sign in the new book of signs that we write together.
More Offerings from the Waypoints Pause
“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” ~ MLK
According to Cynthia Bourgeault, the capacity to midwife THIRD FORCE —or holy the reconciling—is 1 of the most powerful fruit of a spiritual practice, a contemplative practice.
Without a contemplative practice, midwifing third force is virtually impossible. It can feel like a random pull on the slots. But with a spiritual practice, you gradually develop the heart as an organ of alignment with God.
Denying (second) force is never an obstacle to be overcome but always a legitimate and essential component of the new manifestation. The enemy is never the ‘enemy’ but a necessary part of the ‘givens’ in any situation and solutions will never work that have as their goal the elimination of second force.
Resistance must be factored in: not simply to cover one’s bases but because it is an indispensable ingredient in the forward motion.
~ Cynthia Bourgeault, 2013, Holy Trinity and the Law of Three
What would happen to us, if the chances of our journey brought us to a naturally advantageous panoramic point (an intersection of roads or valleys) from which not only our eyes looked out, but from which things themselves radiate. The landscape would become legible and illuminated from within. We would see.
~ Teilhard de Chardin p 67 from Eye of the Heart, by Cynthia Bourgeault
“If we are absolutely grounded in the absolute love of God that protects us from nothing …even as it sustains us in all things, then we can face all things with courage and tenderness …and touch the hurting places in others and in ourselves with love.” ~ James Finley
…Mystical hope is not intended to be an extraordinary infusion, but an abiding state of being. The call is to become a vessel, to become a chalice into which this divine energy can pour; a lamp through which it can shine. (p 17)
1. Mystical Hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own. (p 9)
2. Mystical Hope has something to do with Presence, the immediate experience of being met, held in communion by something intimately at hand. (p 9) 3. Mystical Hope bears fruit within us at the level of sensation – strength, joy and satisfaction: an “unbearable lightness of being.” (p 9 – 10)
4. Mystical Hope pulls us out of the linear stream of hours and days, imbuing the moment we
are actually in with an unexpected vividness and fullness.
~ Mystical Hope by Cynthia Bourgeault p 11-12
“Every day we wake up, we should think, Is what I’m doing helping us to learn how to live together? Or is it pulling us further apart? That’s the biggest message for me from him.”
~ Dr. King. Rev. Bernice King, youngest daughter of Coretta Scott King and Dr. King
“Do not be afraid, little flock. It is my Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
~ Luke 12:32