6th Easter
John 14: 1-31
“Let
not your hearts be troubled. Trust in the power that leads you to the Fatherly
Ground of the World and to me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it
were not so, how could I have said to you, ‘I go there to prepare a place for
you’? And when I have gone and prepared
a place for you, I will come again and take you up into the realm of my being
and working, so that where I work, you also may work. And you know the way
where I am going.”
Then Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How
can we know the way?”
Then Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father; that would satisfy
our deepest yearning.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know
me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us
the Father’? Does your heart’s voice not tell you that I am in the Father and
the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. But the
Father, who lives eternally in me, continues to do his works in them. Build
your faith on the power of my Being that lets you know: I in the Father, the
Father in me. Or at least learn to trust through looking at the works
themselves that have arisen.
Truly, truly I say to you, whoever trusts in my Being will also do the
works that I do --and greater deeds will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask for in unity with
me, I will do it, so that the deeds of the Father may be revealed in the
working of the Son. When you turn to me in prayer in the power of my name, I
will be the Creating One in all your works. If you truly love me, you will
share in my spiritual goals. And I will ask the Father and He will send to you
another Counselor, who will stand by you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth.
The earthly world cannot receive this Counselor, for it cannot perceive his
working and does not recognize him. But you know him, for he will live with you
and will work in you.
I will not leave you desolate—I will come to you. Yet a little while,
and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live,
you will live also. On that day you will truly know what it means that I am in
the Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever bears my spiritual goals within himself, and brings them to
revelation in his working, is one who truly loves me. And whoever truly loves
me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to
him.”
Then Judas, (not the Iscariot) said, “But Lord, how is it that you will
reveal yourself to us and not to the people who are in the world?
Jesus
replied, “Whoever 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]. Whoever 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.
 |
| Mengs |
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled nor let them be afraid.
You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’.
If you loved me you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for
the Father is greater 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 ruler of this
world is coming. He has no power over me.
But I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted
to me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Do the same. Arise,
let us be on our way.
May
13, 2007
This
week the air here was filled with wildfire smoke; but at the same time with the
voices of many birds. Each bird has its distinctive song. It has been said that
birdsong, each note shaping the living atmosphere, keeps the air alive.
His
voice is the voice of the great Fire-Bird of the sun, eternally consumed,
eternally rising again. Christ, who is eternally emerging from the Father’s
heart, sings out the Father’s love for us; he sings of the dove of Truth that
He will send from the Father’s heart to guide us; He sings of His continuing
presence.
6th
Sunday after Easter
John
14: 1-31
This
week the air here was filled with wildfire smoke; but at the same time with the
voices of many birds. Each bird has its distinctive song. It has been said that
birdsong, each note shaping the living atmosphere, keeps the air alive.
When we stop to listen, we realize that the world is
full of voices. One of the quieter, more subtle voices is the inner voice of
the heart. Our heart’s voice is distinctive. It can sing; it can lament; it can
comfort and inform. And our heart’s voice is in conversation with other voices.
In
conversation with his disciples, Christ, the voice of the Father’s heart,
prompts: “Does your heart’s voice not tell you that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me?” John 14:10
He reminds them of what their heart’s voice has told them.
His
voice is the voice of the great Fire-Bird of the sun, eternally consumed,
eternally rising again. Christ, who is eternally emerging from the Father’s
heart, sings out the Father’s love for us; he sings of the dove of Truth that
He will send from the Father’s heart to guide us; He sings of His continuing
presence.
Despite
the smoke and consuming fire in our lives, in our heart we can hear the voice
of Christ, reminding us of our spiritual home.
He is singing to us of the goals of our lives, assuring us that we are
not alone. His voice in our hearts shapes the atmosphere in which we live.
Catherine
of Sienna could hear the Voice:
My perfect Lord sang,
“Less likely is God to
condemn my hand’s action
than to condemn any
soul.”
How could that be
possible,
My heart thought?
And the Christ,
knowing all minds, replied,
“Forgiveness is the
foundation of God’s
being”.[1]
[1]
“The Foundation of God”, Catherine of Siena
(1347-1380), in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 196.
