3rd Michaelmas 2021, Enduring Fire

2^nd 3^rd or 4^th Michaelmas

Revelation 12:1-17 

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

Benjamin West

was revealed in the heavens: a great fiery-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. On its heads, 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 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 amid 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 deliverance, the power, and the kingdom of our God.

[or, 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 spiritual 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

Durer, colorized

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 the great eagle so that she could fly into the desert to her appointed place; there 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.

3^rd Michaelmas

October 17, 2021

Revelations 12:1-17 

We have before the eye of the soul two great images. One is the cosmic eternal feminine, the soul of humanity, laboring to give birth to the Son, the God of Love, who will shepherd nations. And the other is a destructive, devouring red Dragon, full of rage, who tries to prevent this.

Norman Cloister

And we are told that the hosts of the Archangel Michael have thrust this
destructive Dragon 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.

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 can 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.  In the words of Adam Bittleston,

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,

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.*

 

* Adam Bittleston, “Michael I”, in Meditative Prayers for Today