November Trinity
Revelation 21:1-27
And
I beheld the events in the spirit out of which a new heaven and a new earth
proceeded. For the earlier heaven and the earlier earth were gone, and the
billowing ocean is no more.
And further, I saw the Holy
City, untouched by the earthly, coming forth out of the being of God,
descending out of the spiritual worlds: the New Jerusalem. She appeared in her
beauty like a bride who has adorned herself for the bridegroom.
And I heard a powerful voice
coming from the throne that said: "Behold the dwelling of God in the midst
of humanity. He will indeed dwell in your midst, and the people will be His
people.
God himself will be with
them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eye. There will be no more death,
mourning, crying, or pain for the old world is gone."
And He who was seated on the
throne said: "Behold: I am creating all anew."
And He said, "Write,
for it is these words that shall make faith and knowledge into true reality."
And He said to me: "It
is accomplished! I AM the Alpha and the Omega, World Beginning and World Goal.
To the thirsty, I will give from the springs of the waters of life, outside the
workings of destiny, as grace. Whoever overcomes shall inherit all this. 'I
will be His God, and to me, He will be like a son.'
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."
But as for the fearful
souls, those who have no faith, who pervert the image of the human being, those
who spread death around them, who tread impure paths of soul, make use of dark
magic forces and serve demonic powers, as well as all frauds—the fiery swamp of
the abyss opens for them and flames of sulfur blaze. That is the second death.
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| Heavenly Jerusalem, Tapestry of the Apocalypse, Château d'Angers, France |
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 [or, 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 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 human, 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 foundations of the walls 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, the 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 that
is not spiritualized [or, is not consecrated], nothing that perverts the
image of the human, nothing that remains under the power of the Lie, but rather
only those who are written into the Book of Life of the Lamb.
3rd November Trinity
November 14, 2021
Rev 21:1-27
If we wish to construct a building, we need a clear idea of
its purpose, so that the architect can create an appropriate design, and the
builders work accordingly.
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| Maronite |
At earth’s beginning, the sons of Adam had to learn how to
build dwellings in order to live on the earth. So too does humanity as a whole
need to learn to build a future collective dwelling place in the spirit—but not
just for humans. We need to create a dwelling place that would include God and
His Son. This dwelling place of the future is being built by the collective
heart of humanity. It is imaged as a place of many mansions, a city. It will be
a place where all the beauteous inner treasures of humankind are gathered as
gem-like building stones. This heart-city will be a place where the divine
enters and dwells like a groom enters the bridal
bower.
Paradoxically, this heart-city that we are
even now building actually emerges from the heart of God. For all of our
noblest thoughts and feelings, all our love and devotion, all our striving and
work, we can offer to God. He treasures it in His own great heart, until the
time comes when the heart-city is complete. It will be a place where Christ’s
light is our daylight; a place where
mercy and comfort abound; a place where grace creates everything anew.
For in the words of the poet Hafiz:
We have not come here to take
prisoners,
But to surrender ever more
deeply
To freedom and joy.
We have not come into this
exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from
love….
For we have not come here to
take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous
spirits,
But to experience ever and ever
more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
Light!*
*Hafiz, “We Have Not Come to Take Prisoners”, in The Gift--Versions of Hafiz
by Daniel Ladinsky
