8th September Trinity
Luke 17: 20-37
At that time the Pharisees asked him, “When will the
Kingdom of God come?” And he answered,
“The Kingdom of God [The human Kingdom of the Spirit, permeated by God], does
not come in a form which is outwardly perceptible. Nor does it come in such a
way that one can say: Look, here it is, or there. Behold—the Kingdom of the
Spirit will arise in your own hearts.
And he said to his disciples, “There will come
times when you will long to experience even one of the days of the Son of Man,
and you will not experience it. Then they will say to you: Look—there! or
Look—here! Do not follow this call; do
not go on their spirit paths. For the Son of Man in his day
When that time comes, let him who is on the roof of
his house, having left his goods in the house, not go down to fetch them. And
let him who is out in the open field not go back to what he has left behind.
Remember Lot’s wife! For whoever tries to preserve his soul unchanged will lose
it, and whoever is prepared to give it, will in truth awaken in himself a
higher life. I tell you; then there will be two sleeping at night in one bed;
when the power of the spirit comes, one is gripped by it, the other is left
empty-handed. Two women will be grinding at one mill; one is deeply stirred,
the other is left empty-handed.
And they said to him, “Where shall we turn our
gaze, Lord? And he answered, “Become aware of your life body, and you will see
the eagles that are gathering. [or, Where the formative forces in the human
being begin to work in freedom, there the Spirit of the World reveals himself.]
[or, Where there is descent and disintegration, there also is revelation.]
8th August Trinity
Luke 17:20-37
There are creatures which, when they reach a certain stage, have
to shed their skins or shells, in order to grow further. This is one of the
great themes of evolution. Again and again there come nodal points in
development when what is no longer suitable is expelled or left behind. Children
regularly outgrow their clothes. We will all eventually shed the shell of our
material body. In the future, in order to progress, mankind will have to shed
materiality altogether.
Today’s reading touches on this theme of growth and
shedding. Christ says that the future kingdom of God
Uncomfortably, this entails suffering. All the elements of
our not-loving will eventually have to be ejected so that we can ascend to the
next stage. For, as He says, “Whoever tries to preserve his soul unchanged will
lose it, and whoever is prepared to give it [that is, to offer up the soul to
be purified of egotism and filled with love] will in truth awaken in himself a
higher life.” Luke 17:33 He
goes on to tell us not to worry or be too anxious about the falling away and
disintegration of the old, the painful shedding of the shell. For where this
happens, the progressive evolutionary forces within the human soul begin to
work in freedom. There, in the cleansing, the Spirit of the World, who is Love,
reveals Himself. He is working to create a new kind of body for humanity, His
Body, a living tender, invisible form in which we will dwell. He couches this in the mysterious formulation,
“Where the living body is, there the eagles will gather.” Luke 17: 37. Those souls who can rise above
not-loving will gather within Him, in His name, in his power, in his radiance.
Perhaps the words of the poet can illuminate:
My heart sits on the arm of God
Like a feathered falcon….
My piercing eyes,
Which have searched every world
For Tenderness and Love,
Now lock on the Royal Target—
The Wild Holy One
Whose Beauty Illuminates
Existence….
Quivering at the edge of my Self
[1]
Hafiz, “A Feathered Falcon”, in I Heard
God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 97.
