8th August/September Trinity
Luke 17:20 -27
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| Robby Donaghe |
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 will be like the
lightning which flashes up in one part of the sky and yet instantly pours out
its bright light over the whole firmament. But first he must suffer great agony and be rejected by this present earthly
humanity. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it again be in the day when
the Son of Man will reveal himself: they ate and drank, they came together in
marriage as man and wife, until the day when Noah entered the Ark and the great
flood destroyed everything. It was the same in the days of Lot: they ate and
drank, bought, sold, planted, built, until Lot left Sodom, and fire and sulfur
rained from heaven and everything perished. It will be like that, too, in the
days when the Son of Man will reveal himself.
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 –September Trinity
September 14, 2014
Luke 17: 20 – 37
In cartoons, when the character gets an idea, the cartoonist
draws a bright light bulb over his head. This icon resonates with us because we
experience insight or ideas as a light phenomenon. They come to us as
enlightening our awareness, as a flash, or a slower dawning. For increased
awareness is indeed another form of light.
When the gospel reading speaks about the human kingdom of
the spirit, it tries to make clear that this kingdom is not located outside of
us. It arises in the human heart. For Christ, the light of the world, would now
reside in human hearts. Like the outer sunlight, his light generates life, that
ever progressing, forward-moving, unfolding of living forms that bud, open, and
die away, scattering the seeds of future
forms. It is through Him that we experience our flashes of insight, the dawning
of a new awareness, the creative solution, or the golden warm light of love
The kingdom of God in human hearts is radiant: radiant with
grace, radiant with love, radiant with thanks. Christ dwells in the life of our
bodies, where forms are constantly being built up and disintegrated in order to
be regenerated again.. It is through Him that the revelation of new beginnings
open up again and again. And these ever-changing forms are the vessels for the
workings of our inner life, our life of soul and spirit, our life of thought
and ideas, our enlightenment.
We need have no fear of the disintegration; for just there,
Christ is working for the future. The old form must give way. But if we look,
we can find the shining seeds of what will develop. And we can give thanks for
the light of grace, the light of love that impels us forward. The poet muses:
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| Kate Mabee |
…it seems to me
all you have to do
is conceive of the whole world
an art project of the god of light
the whole earth and all that's in it
to be painted with light
And the first thing you have to do
. . .to paint
yourself
in your true colors
(without whitewash)
Then paint your favorite people and animals
with your brush loaded with light
….And don't forget to paint
all those who lived their lives
as bearers of light
…Paint the light of their eyes
the light of sunlit laughter
And remember that the light is within
if it is anywhere
and you must paint from the inside….*
* Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Instructions to Painters & Poets” in How to Paint Sunlight
