Pentecost
John 14: 23-31
Jesus replied, “He who truly
loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him
and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He
who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word
that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.
I have said this to you while I am still with you.
But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all
that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do
not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do
not be afraid [have no fear].
You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away,
and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am
going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I
am.
I have told you now, before it happens, so that
when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for
soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me he has no power.
But the world shall see in this how I love the
Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s
purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be
on our way.]
May
11, 2008
Whitsunday
John
14:23-31
A
flame is the light and warmth that arises from the transformation of earthly
matter. It is the perfect picture for how the flaming light of our awareness
arises out the body’s work of transformation of our food. It is also the
fitting picture for how warmth arises when this awareness is converted into active,
loving deeds of limb.
In
the events of Easter, Christ rooted Himself in the earth. At Ascension, Christ,
the Tree of Life, expanded His being into the heavens, joining heaven and
earth. His expansion into all of the earth means that every human being has a
share in His being, in His love, at least unconsciously. For His love is the
very life of the earth, the very life in our bodies.
However,
it is our task not only to receive His life, but also to become aware, conscious of Christ’s
relationship to us, or else this life in us will gradually fade. The Life will
be forced to withdraw. Christ’s life in us needs to wake up, rise up, become a
flame of conscious in us. We need to join with Him in conscious awareness, in
love. We need to join hands with Him, so that our hands become His hands on
earth. The food we receive to support His work on earth is Communion with Him. His
work on earth is the transformation of the earth itself.
Whitsun
or Pentecost celebrates the moment in human history when this wide-awake
knowledge of His spirit, the love connection of each individual to Christ on
earth, lit up in the awareness of His disciples. They were together in heart
and mind, celebrating the meal in remembrance of Him. And suddenly flames
appear. In the light of the flames they understood Christ’s mission on earth.
They felt the immensity of His selfless love. Into their wills they took the
warmth of His intentions, so that His deeds would continue to bear fruit on
earth through their deeds. They began to return His embrace of love.
One
of the mystics said,
The embrace of God
puts fire into the soul.
by which the soul
entire is felt to burn
for Christ,
accompanied by light so great the soul
suspects the immensity
of God’s appalling goodness.
You won’t get used to
it, nor will you know its scope.
The effect of this
fire within the soul is to render it
certain and secure
that Christ is there within it.
And still, what we
have said is nothing
compared to what you
find in the embrace of God.[1]
His
love leads to the light of awareness, to warmth of will. So may we, as Christ
gives us the strength to do, become the flames of His love. As He says: “Arise,
rise up; let us be on our way.” John 14: 31 Let us transform the earth.
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