Luke 11:29-36
And as the crowds increased, Jesus began to speak.
“This generation is a stranger to their true being. They look for signs and
outer proofs of the spirit, but none other will be given to them but the sign
of Jonah. For just as once Jonah shared the experience of the spirit with the
inhabitants of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man share the experience of the
spirit with this present generation. The Queen of the South will rise in the
time of great crisis and decision against the men of this present generation
and judge them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon. But know this: here is more than Solomon.
The inhabitants of Nineveh will rise up in the days
of crisis and decision against the men of this present generation and will
pronounce judgment over them, for they changed their ways after the
proclamation of Jonah. But know this; here is more than Jonah.
No one lights a lamp and then puts it in a hidden
place or under a vessel, but rather sets it on a lampstand, so that all may see
the light shining.
The lamp of your body is your eye. When your eye
looks at the world clearly, then all your body is light.
But when it is evil, your body is also dark. [But if, however,
the eye’s desire sees the world separated from the spirit, darkness will pour
itself into you.]
See to it, then, that the light within you is not
darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with
no dark part in it, it shall be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines
you with its rays.”
1st
Passiontide
March 15, 2020
Luke 11:29-36
This gospel reading is a wake-up call. Present-day humanity is under a
great deal of duress. Under stress, it is easy for us to wish for an all-powerful,
magical ruler who will set everything to rights. But the problem, as Christ
puts it, actually lies within us. As does the solution.
 |
| Roland Tiller |
We are estranged from our own true being, deaf to higher inspirations.
So rather than searching for salvation from without, we need to be willing,
like Christ, to take the path of descent, to ride out the hard road of
suffering. We need to be willing to change our own inner ways. We can develop
the capacity to see and hear both ourselves, and the world, clearly and
impartially, with inner equanimity.
In this way, the light of the Risen One, who shines in the depths of
every human heart can illuminate every circumstance in which we find
ourselves. He will help us drive out our inner demons so that a clear light,
awakened by His Word, shines out from the depths of our being. As the poet David
Whyte says:
…the
lightest touch,
…
 |
| Raising of Lazarus |
a
whispered healing arrival,
a
word in your ear,
…then,
like a hand in the dark,
it
arrests the whole body,
steeling
you for revelation.
In
the silence that follows
…you
can feel Lazarus,
deep
inside
even
the laziest,
most
deathly afraid
part
of you,
lift
up his hands
and
walk toward the light.*
*David Whyte, “The Lightest Touch”, in River Flow: New and Selected Poems
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