2nd Michaelmas 2007, The Door

2^nd 3^rd or 4^th 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,

Michael, Arild Rosenkrantz

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.

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.

2^nd Michaelmas Sunday

October 7, 2007

Ephesians 6: 10-19

  

Sometimes someone knocks at our door. It is possible that we could open the door to find a stranger, perhaps threatening. Our prudent response would be to close the door.

Thoughts are beings who come to visit. For most of us, for most of the time, the door of our mind stands wide open to whatever visitor wants to enter. Harmless thoughts flit through the house of the mind like ghosts. However, more powerful destructive thought beings can find entry and actually take up residence. This is one of the ways the spiritual adversary forces attack us.

In this gospel reading, Paul advises us on how to arm ourselves against these adversarial attacks. “Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet.” Ephesians 6:17 He is suggesting

that we place Someone at the doorway of our thoughts, Someone who in fact called Himself the Door. Christ can help us regulate which thoughts are allowed entry. In the certainty of His ongoing deed of healing, we can begin to recognize and close the door of our soul on thought beings who are unhealthy, untruthful, or destructive. Conversely, this placing of Christ at the door helps us to actively invite into ourselves beings of truth, which in turn help us discern with our feelings what is just and right. Then, in Christ, through Christ, our deeds become God’s working on the earth, spreading peace.

In the words of Angelus Silesius:

The peace most highly prized, which keeps the soul delighted,

Is knowing itself to be close with God’s will united.[1]

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[1] Angelus Silesius, The Cherubinic Wanderer, translated by Maria Shrady, p.97.

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