2nd 3rd or 4th
Michaelmas
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19
What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that
streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful
regency of his pure spiritual strength.
Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor,
so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our
struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but against
spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,
against spirit beings powerful in the molding of
earth substance,
against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the
present time,
against spirits who carry evil into the realms of
the spiritual world.
Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you
may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest
strength, and victoriously withstand it.
Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a
warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified
in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you
like a strong breastplate.
And may Peace stream through you, down to your
feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the
realm of the angels.
In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust
will be like a mighty shield; with it you can quench all the flaming arrows of
the evil one.
Take into your
thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like
a helmet.
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And the spirit, which has become living in you, you
shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working
of the Word of God.
May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and
supplications, so that in the right moment you raise yourself in prayer to the
spirit, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.
Feel yourself united in prayer with all other
bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be
given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery
which lives in the message of the gospel.
2nd Michaelmas
October 6, 2013
Ephesians 6: 10-19
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There are two types of lines that every young child
learns about. One is the curve – a line that continuously changes direction.
Its classic form is the circle – enclosing, harboring. The other line is the
straight line that starts at a particular point and travels unerringly in one
direction, towards infinity. These two basic gestures, the circle and the line,
come together in every child’s drawing – in the circle and rays of the sun.
The sword is an archetype that partakes of the
straight line – like the rays of the sun. Although we typically think of a
sword as an instrument of destruction, raised in victory, it is a symbol of
peace. And pointed downward it forms a cross.
In artistic depictions, the
Archangel Michael holds a light-sword that rays out the light of the sun.
Sometimes the sword is pictured pointed downward. There it illuminates the depths, holding a
dark dragon at bay. Sometimes the sword of light points upward, as if to
indicate where we are to send our thoughts, where we are to direct our
attention.
Today’s reading says that we
are to grasp the living spirit working in us the same way that we grasp a sword
of light. What the living spirit is, indeed, is light; it is the light of
consciousness, the light of awareness. With Michael’s spirit sword of awareness
we can direct our attention into the heights. With Michael’s light sword of
awareness we can illuminate the darkness of our own inner depths.
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| Arild Rosenkrantz |
