1st Advent 2016, Grace of Beginning

1st Advent

Luke 21:25-36

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth, the nations will be constricted with anxiety and doubt with the advent of these spiritual revelations, as before a roaring sea and waves. And men will lose their inner strength of soul out of fear and foreboding of what is coming over the living earth: for the dynamic powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, in the sphere of life, with dynamic power and great radiant glory.

And when these things begin to happen, stand upright and lift up [raise] your soul to the spirit, for your deliverance draws near.

And he gave them a comparison, saying, ‘Observe [behold] the fig-tree and all the trees when they burst into leaf. Seeing this, you know yourselves that summer is near. So also when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Amen, the truth I say to you: this present age of Man’s being shall not pass away until all has happened.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Guard yourselves lest the perceptive power of your hearts be smothered by an excess of food and drink and by over-concern with the cares and worries of life, and the light of these spirit events break upon you suddenly like a snare…for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. So be awake in the spirit at all times, praying, so that you may have the strength to live through all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

1st Advent

November 27, 2016

Luke 21:25-36

Today is the new beginning, the sunrise of the new liturgical year. We are told to look for 'the Son of Man, coming in a cloud, in the sphere of life, in dynamic power and great radiant glory.' When the sun rises, it enlightens the overarching darkness. And at the same time, objects that do not absorb the light cast dark shadows.

In our own lives, we also stand at a new beginning. The Son of Man is rising. We are to stand upright before His countenance. We are to absorb His light, become 'enlightened'. It helps if we can banish that in us which casts inner shadows – too much food and drink, over-concern and worry, fear and foreboding. These things reject the light; they reject the life and the power of the Coming One.

Instead, we are encouraged to pray wakefully. We can pray that we begin to see through the illusions that ignorance creates. We can ask that the Kingdom of the Coming One's Father extend itself through our own deeds and moral conduct. We can pray that our mercy toward others becomes restorative justice. We can pray that we are ready to begin again. In the words of John O'Donohue:

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

Though your destination is not clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning…*

*John O'Donohue, For a New Beginning

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4th November Trinity 2016, Openings into Peace

4th November Trinity

Revelation 21: 9 -27

And there came to me one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls filled with the last seven plagues of the world; and he spoke with me and said, “Come, I will show you the eternal Feminine, the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

And he carried me in spirit-form up to a great high mountain, and let me see how the Holy City, Jerusalem, the City of Peace, descended out of the spiritual worlds, coming forth from the being of God, wrapped in the most intimate splendor of the revelation of God.

Her shining [gleaming] is like that of a precious gemstone, like the stone jasper, clear as crystal.

Her walls are of mighty size and height; she has twelve gates and at the gates stand twelve angels. On the gates are written the names of the twelve sons of Israel; three gates from the East, three gates from the North, three gates from the South, and three gates from the West.

And the wall of the City rests on twelve sacred foundations, and the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb work in them.

And he who spoke with me carried a golden measuring rod, in order to measure the City and her gates and her walls.

And the City is spread out in a square; her length is the same as her width. And he measured the City with the measuring rod. It measured twelve thousand miles; the length and breadth and height were alike. And he measured her walls at one hundred forty-four cubits [ells], the measure of a man, which now the angel was using.

The covering of her walls was of jasper, and the City herself of purified gold, clear as glass. And the sacred foundation of the wall were adorned with every precious stone:

 

the first, a jasper,

the second, a sapphire,

the third, a chalcedony,

the fourth, emerald,

the fifth sardonyx,

the sixth, carnelian,

the seventh, chrysolite,

the eighth, beryl,

the ninth, topaz,

the tenth, chrysoprase

the eleventh, hyacinth,

the twelfth, an amethyst.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each of the gates made of a single pearl. And the city was of purified gold, like a transparent crystal.

I did not see a temple in the City, for the Lord God, Ruler of All, is her sanctuary, and the Lamb.

And the City needs neither sun nor moon, for she shines from within; for the shining revelation of God is streaming brightness in her, and her light is the Lamb.

And all nations shall walk in her light, and the rulers of the earth will carry their spiritual treasures into her. And her gates will never be closed by day, for there, night will be no more.

And all the shining treasures of the revelations of the world, and all the spiritual worth of the nations and all achievements of the soul will be brought into her.

And nothing can enter which is not spiritualized [consecrated], nothing which perverts the image of Man, nothing which remains under the power of the Lie, but rather only those who are written into the Book of Life of the Lamb.

4th November Trinity

November 20, 2016

Revelation 21: 9 -27

This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and so it is fitting that we look toward our goal, toward what will definitely appear at the end of earth evolution. What John sees is a beautiful city. A city is constructed by human effort and creativity. The New Jerusalem, the City of Peace, is not a material city. It is a vast and ordered time/space, transparent and shining with life. It is created out of the spiritual values and shining revelations of all the nations of the world. 

The spiritual gemstones for the foundations of the city will  have been mined from the spiritual and moral work of hard-won virtue.

The gateways, the openings into this vast human/spiritual creation are made of pearl. When a grain of sand enters an oyster, it is not expelled. Rather, it is endured. The creature produces layer after layer of lustrous substance to transform this pain into a shining thing of beauty.

The portals into the beautiful spirit city, the gates of pearl, are always open. They are the achievement of human suffering rightly endured. We are reassured that all our pain, all of our losses and suffering are meant to become openings into a place of peace. They lead us to a place of light, a place of triumphant joy, where the bejeweled soul of humanity weds her Bridegroom. 

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3rd November Trinity 2016, The Great Suffering

3rd November Trinity

Durer, Adoration of the Lamb ,Metropolitan Museum

Revelation 7: 9-17

Next I looked and saw a great crowd beyond anyone’s power to count, from every nation and all races and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb draped in garments of white and with palm branches in their hands, and they shout with a great voice saying, “Healing and help [salvation] to our God who sits on the throne and through the Lamb.”

And all the angels were standing in a ring around the throne and the elders and the four living beings, and they fell down in front of the throne upon their faces and adored God saying,

Yea, so be it. Amen. 

All the blessing power of the Word, that creating permeates the world, all the revealing might of the spirit, that enlightens the senses appearance, all the light of wisdom that leads us to true knowledge, the secret of transformation which gives worth to all being, that brings the world forward, and all the strength and power of the spirit –they belong to our God from aeon to aeon. Yea, so be it, Amen. [To our God be blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength for an age of ages. Amen.”]

And one of the elders spoke up, asking me: “These people draped in garments of white, who are they and where did they come from?”

And I said to him, “Good sir, you yourself know.”

And he said to me: "These are the ones just come from the great Suffering. They washed their garments clean and made them shining white in the blood of the Lamb.

That is why they can stand here before the throne of God

And serve him day and night in his temple.

The One who sits on the throne shall settle down upon them [dwell upon them].

They shall not hunger ever again, nor thirst again;

The sun shall not bear down too hard upon them, nor anything burn them,

Because the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, will be their shepherd

And guide them to the springs of the water of life,

And God will wipe away each teardrop from  their eyes."

3rd November Trinity

November 13, 2016

Revelation 7: 9-17

The word 'suffer' has two meanings. One meaning is to mourn, to fell sorrow or regret over loss. The second meaning is to 'undergo', to endure patiently, to allow.

Grunewald Crucifixion

In the reading today, we hear about those who have undergone the Great Suffering. They are those who on earth have patiently endured life's losses. One existential loss we all suffer under is our lack of an immediate awareness of God and his angels. We long for a lost paradise. This is a trial certainly, but a suffering to be endured for a purpose. This very lack of awareness is the basis for our freedom of choice. We can choose to rail against our fate. Or we can decide to patiently endure this condition of separateness. And eventually, our suffering will bear fruit. For pain and suffering properly endured are purifying. Through suffering endured, our life garments are washed clean of egotism.

Master of the Holy Trinity, Mosoc

Pain and suffering create organs of perception. Our inner eye opens to the great suffering of others. They open to the great suffering of the divine on behalf of humanity. We become aware that the divine world needs our help, our active participation. Our acknowledgment, our praise and honoring of the great divine work of World Karma strengthens God's purpose in the world. 

Those whose eye is opened can, like Job, begin to see. They can begin to say, The Lord gives, and the Lord takes back. May the name of the Lord be praised.*

*Job 1: 21
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2nd November Trinity 2016, Cannot Forget You

2nd Trinity November

Rev. 3, 1-6, (Sardis)

And to the angel who penetrates the congregation of Sardis write:

Angels of Seven Churches, Tiffany

Thus speaks he who has power over the seven creating spirits of God and over the seven stars: I know the consequences of your deeds, for one says of you that you live, and yet are dead. Awaken and strengthen what remains in you, that is otherwise about to die, for I have not found that your works possess reality before my God.

Remember how you were once receptive for all the workings of the spirit, and for all words which came from the spirit. Care for them in your soul in inner loyalty. Change your heart and mind.

If however, you do not awaken, I will come over you suddenly like a thief, and you will not know at which hour I will come over you.

But you have some names in Sardis whose souls have not been darkened by illusion and addiction to the senses. They will walk with me in white garments, for they are worthy of them.

He who overcomes, he shall be clothed with white garments, and I will not wipe out his name from the Book of Life. I will speak out his name and acknowledge him before my Father and his Angels. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

Angel of Sardis, Tiffany 

2

2nd November Trinity 

Nov 6, 2016

Rev. 3, 1-6, (Sardis)

Whenever a group of people come together regularly and voluntarily, there is an angel who takes an interest in their working. What the members of the group do together enables the angel connected with them to work in a wakeful, creative and inspiring way.

The strong words of the Son of Man in this reading are directed at the angel of the congregation. He says that the angel is about to die, that is, to fall unconscious. The angel's works do not possess full spiritual reality.

This causes us to ask how the creative power of the angel and the members of the congregation work together. For in their essence, they are bound together.

Individual in the congregation, the names of souls, are themselves to be conscious, awake and receptive to the creative workings of the spiritual world and the promptings of their angel. They are to remember and remain loyal to the inspirations they have received in the past. They are not to allow their relation to the sense world to darken their perceptions of the spirit.

It is then that the individuals who join in congregation can nourish and refresh the community's angel. We might hear the angel's voice in a poem by Rolf Jacobsen

I am one you have loved long ago.

I walk alongside you by day and look intently at you

and put my mouth on your heart

but you don’t know it.

I am your third arm and your second

shadow, the white one,

whom you don’t have the heart for

and who cannot ever forget you.*

*Rolf Jacobsen, "Guardian Angel" transl. by Roger Greenwald http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/390357.html

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