2nd, 3rd or 4th
Michaelmas
Revelation 12: 1-17
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| Ottheinrich Folio, wikimedia |
And a momentous image was
unveiled in the world of spirit: a woman, clothed with the radiant power of the
sun, the moon under her feet, her head adorned with the crown of the twelve
stars of heaven. And she is with child and cries out in the labor and pain of
giving birth.
And at the same time a
second image was revealed in the heavens: a great fiery-red dragon with seven
heads and ten horns. On its head it has seven crowns and its tail is sweeping a
third of all the stars in heaven and dashing them onto the earth. And the
dragon is standing before the woman about to give birth, so that when she bears
the child he can devour it. And she bore a child, a son ”who would shepherd all
nations with a rod of iron.” And the woman’s child was caught up to God and to
his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place that
God keeps ready there, so that they can take care of her for days numbering one
thousand two hundred sixty.
And a war flared up in the
spirit world. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon
fought in the midst of his own angels, but he was not strong enough, and there
was no longer any place for them in heaven. Down came the dragon, the giant,
the serpent, the evil one called both Satan and the devil, deceiver of all the
world. Onto the earth he came hurtling down, and all his angels with him.
And I heard a great voice
in heaven, saying:
Now can begin the working
which proceeds from our God—
The power to heal the
world,
The power to transform all
being,
The power to draw
everything into godly being.
Arisen is the spirit
leadership of his Christ.
Overthrown is the accuser
of our brothers,
He who accused them night
and day before the countenance of God.
They have overcome him
through the blood and the sacrificial power of the Lamb
And by the divine Word to
which they bore witness.
They did not love their
own lives too dearly, nor did they fear death.
Therefore, rejoice you
heavens
And all who lodge therein!
But woe to the earth and
the sea:
For the Adversary has come
down to you,
And he seethes with
measureless fury,
For he knows that his time
is short.
And when the dragon
recognized that he had been cast onto the earth, he began to persecute the
woman who had borne the son. Then the woman was given the two wings of a great
eagle, so that she could fly into the desert to her appointed place, where she
is to be nourished for a cycle of time, for cycles of time, and for half a
cycle of time, far from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent opened his
mouth and spewed out a river of water after the woman so she would be swept off
her feet by the river. But then the earth came to the woman’s assistance; it
opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon spewed from his
mouth. And the dragon burned with fury against the woman. He stormed away to
make war on the rest of the woman’s seed, people who keep to the divine world
aims and who are united with the destiny and witnessing of Jesus. As I saw this
I was standing on the sandy shore of the sea.
3rd Michaelmas
October 18, 2015
Revelation 12: 1-17
We have before the eye of the soul two great images. They are the cosmic eternal
feminine, the soul of humanity, laboring to give birth to the son who will
shepherd nations. And we see the destructive, devouring red dragon, full of
rage, who tries to prevent this.
And we are told that the hosts of the Archangel Michael have
thrust this
destructive being and his minions onto the earth. Michael has done
so in order to cleanse the heavenly realms, so that Christ’s healing and
transforming power, his power to spiritualize, can work unhindered from the
heavens.
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| Breugel the Elder, Fall of the Rebel Angels, wikimedia |
But woe to us. The dragon has come down to us, seething in
measureless fury. Recent events can prompt us to ask: why does God allow war
and massacre; why does he allow such tragedies to happen to innocent people?
But that is the wrong question. Given the fact that it was necessary for the
dragon to be sent down to earth, the question now comes toward us, from
Michael’s heavenly hosts: How is it that human beings allow such tragedies to happen?
The beings who oppose our human development are making war
upon us. We have the armor of God, the armor of truth, trust and peaceful
intentions to protect us. It is now the task of the human world to keep the
dragon in check; to keep the dragon’s fury and destruction from infecting our
souls and destroying the earth. Should we choose to accept the task, Michael,
the strong leader of Christ’s heavenly forces on earth, will come to our aid.
Amid the storm of the
world,
In which our souls share
We seek the leader of the Angel-host,
Michael, who casts down the Dragon.
Into our thoughts may come through him
The sense of gentle awe,
The sense of gentle awe,
Of patient reverence for the hidden wisdom
That is in all things.
And in our acts his courage
Will overcome the cramping fear
Which makes a slave of man.
Michael calls, when autumn darkens earth;
He leads to Christ, and fights for Christ, for ever;
So may we follow him, and fight beside him
Against the Dragon with enduring fire.[1]
