2nd Trinity III 2020, Projecting Dramas

2^nd Trinity

Matthew 7:1-29

 “Do not judge your fellow human beings, so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, you too will be measured. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the beam in your own eye? And how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye”  while there is a beam in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Salvatore Rosa

Ask from the heart, and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; for whoever asks in uprightness will receive; whoever earnestly seeks will find; whoever knocks, to them will be opened. Or are there among you those who when their son asks for bread would give him a stone, or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that someone should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the path is easy that leads to ruin [the abyss], and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it. 

Be on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the garments of peaceful lambs but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the fruits of their deeds.

Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord! can be taken up into the kingdom; only whoever accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”

Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’

Everyone who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like

Burnand

someone who wisely built their house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the rock.

However, whoever hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like someone who foolishly builds their house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].

 2^nd Trinity

August 2, 2020

Matthew 7:1-29

In the theater, a film projector throws its pictures onto the screen. The pictures themselves exist in two places - both on the film in the projector and out on the screen.

In our own lives, we often have a ‘film’ running inside our souls. It is a drama with our Self cast as the main character. The script was written by our self, earlier in our life, or lifetimes.

 But sometimes we project our story, our film, onto others, making them a screen for the unfolding of our own narrative. We are unconsciously forcing them to play a role we have assigned to them, whether or not it fits, whether or not it is appropriate for their nature. This is actually a violation of their being. Our projecting onto them masks for us who they truly are.

In the Gospel reading, Christ encourages us to stop projecting our dramas onto others. He encourages us to stop seeing what is in need of correction ‘out there’, when in fact it is what lives in us that needs correcting.  But, as Rilke says:

We would like to heed his words,

but we only half hear them.

The big drama between us

makes too much noise

for us to understand each other.*

 

David Hayward

Christ is not asking us not to notice what is going on with others; rather we are first to discern between what is ours and what is truly theirs. And we are to take responsibility for our own stuff first.

This is not easy. It is the narrow gate, the gate of self-responsibility, through which few are willing to walk. But Christ, whose being is love, is both the Way and the Goal. He is the Way that leads to Life, the Living One. He helps us to see the Truth, the truth of who we are, the truth of others.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

*Rilke, The Book of Hours, Macy and Barrows.  

 

 

2nd August Trinity 2019, Joyous Feast

3^rd August Trinity

Luke 15:1-32

Now many customs officials, despised by the people, who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law, however, were upset by this and said, “This man accepts sinners and eats with them!”

So he told them this parable:

“

Tissot

What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

Tissot

Or which woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!’

In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the spirit who manages to change his heart and mind. “

And he said further: “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Give me the share of the estate which falls to me.’  And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later the younger son gathered ever

Fritz Eichenberg, The Prodigal Son, wood engraving

ything together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, but no one gave him anything.

Then he came to himself, and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger. I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

So he rose up and traveled along the road to his father. When he was still a long

Rembrandt

way off, his father saw him, felt his misery, ran toward him, embraced him and kissed him. And yet the son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

But the father called his servant to him. ‘Quickly! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For this, my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.’ And they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he returned home and came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him the news: ‘Your brother has come home again. So in joy, your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.’

The son grew dark with anger and didn’t want to go in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He, however, reproached his father saying, ‘Look! For so many years I have been with you and have never neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.’

The father, however, said to him ‘Child, you are always with me and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be glad and rejoice, for this your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has been found again.’

2^nd August Trinity

August 4, 2019

Luke 15: 1-32

When seeds are ripe, they fall to the ground and disappear. If the mother plant were sentient, she could feel this moment as a loss. The potential for new life has disappeared from her; but only apparently. For at the right season, those seeds will indeed sprout and grow and blossom.

Today’s gospel reading tells the story of humankind as a whole. At

John Macallan Swan - The Prodigal Son 1888

first, we were at home, close to God, our Father. But at a certain point, we broke away, took our gifts, and went out to explore and enjoy the world. And at first, came the joy and excitement. But eventually, we found ourselves, like the seeds buried in the ground, feeling nigh unto death. But whereas seeds are programmed to grow and rise, human beings need to make a choice. The lost son notices his own condition. As it says, “he came to himself.” And now he has the choice: he can continue crawling toward death, or he can overcome his pride, and his humiliation, seek out his Father, apologize for the waste and start over at a lower level.

Kathryn Doneghan

What Christ wants to tell us with this story is the amazing fact that the Father does not judge. The older brother tries to, but the Father receives His lost son with nothing but joy and forgiveness. The younger son has judged himself. He has discerned and taken responsibility for his own misdeeds. Under those circumstances, the Father does not need to judge or punish. He is a being of Love, whose greatest joy is to see us face to face. He has let us go from Him in the hope that we will one day find our way back to Him, stronger for our experiences. He rejoices in our coming back to Him because we choose to, since He is anyway aware of all our straying from Him, all our pretending that He doesn’t exist, all of our weaknesses.

Therefore here in this Act of Consecration, we are bringing You, O Father, the best we have to offer – ourselves. May You and Your angels rejoice at this celebratory feast. May we grow and blossom with new life.

1st August Trinity 2019, Regions of Kindness

Matthew 7, 1-29

August Trinity

“Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye” - but mark it well, there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it. 

Be on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the garments of peaceful lambs but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the fruits of their deeds.

Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord! can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”

Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’

Burnand

Everyone who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like a man who wisely built his house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the rock. He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”

When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].

 1^st August/September Trinity

July 29, 2012

Matthew 7: 1-14

In ancient times, caves were often places used for certain kinds of initiations. They involved tests of courage. Even today, being in a cave, or any dark tight space, are places where the only light is the one you bring with you. Often the darkness brings one face to face with oneself.

Our lives can also bring us to tight dark places, where the only light seems to be what we can bring to the situation ourselves. They often involve tests of our courage and our faith.

Today’s gospel reading is a kind of instruction on ‘soul-caving’. It encourages us to enter our perhaps dark and tight soul space. We are encouraged to turn our powers of discernment inward into ourselves, rather than only onto our fellows; to notice the hindrances to seeing that exist within our own soul; to avoid the cynical, the broad and easy.

For what is to be learned is the courage to face, not what is outer, but one’s own inner darkness; to bring our inner light to bear upon ourselves. We are to generate the light of trust toward the beneficence of our God. We are to generate the light of nourishing kindness to shine toward ourselves and toward our fellows. As Naomi Nye says:

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness....*

---

 *‘Kindness’, by Naomi Shihab Nye, in Words From Under the Words: Selected Poems

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2nd August Trinity 2018,

Matthew 7, 1-29

2^nd August Trinity

“Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye” - but mark it well, there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it. 

2^nd August/September Trinity

July 29, 2018

Matthew 7: 1-14

In ancient times, caves were often places used for certain kinds of initiations, through tests of courage. Even today, being in a cave, or any dark tight space, often brings one face to face with oneself. Often caves are places where the only light is the one you bring with you.

Our lives can also bring us to tight dark places, where the only light seems to be what we can bring to the situation ourselves. They often involve tests of our courage and our faith.

Today’s gospel reading is a kind of instruction on ‘soul-caving’. It encourages us to enter our perhaps dark and tight soul space. We are encouraged to notice the hindrances to seeing that exist within our own soul-eye; to turn our powers of discernment inward into ourselves, rather than on our fellows; to avoid the cynical, the broad and easy.

For what is to be learned is the courage to face one’s own inner darkness; to bring our inner light to bear upon ourselves. We generate light of trust toward the beneficence of our God. We generate the light of nourishing kindness toward our fellows, and even ourselves. As Naomi Nye says:

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness....*

Visit our new website!

*‘Kindness’, by Naomi Shihab Nye, in Words From Under the Words: Selected Poems

2nd August Trinity, Plumb the Depths

Kenneth Dowdy

2nd August Trinity

Matthew 7, 1-29

 “Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye” - but mark it well, there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it. 

2nd August Trinity

July 30, 2017

Matthew 7, 1-29

Our eyes were shaped and formed by the light, in order to see what the light reveals. Our souls have eyes, formed and shaped by our inner experiences and by the soul's attitudes. A critical attitude sees what is lacking, in oneself and in others. Harsh criticism perceives and measures how far we fall short. It is cutting. We need to keep quiet.

Our souls can also be filled with what is holy. In our enthusiasm, we can spill this holy substance in front of cynics, squander holy substance on those who have no capacity to receive it. We need to keep quiet.

Instead of criticizing or gushing, we can quietly center ourselves. We can plumb the depths of our own hearts. With compassion and without harshness, we can honestly recognize our lacks and faults. With an upright heart, we can ask the spiritual world for the strength of soul and nourishment of spirit to become the kind of soul that can help both ourselves and others. Through the Father, we can become conscious of our humanity; through Christ, we can experience the evolution of our humanity; through our human capacities, we can receive and grasp God's Spirit of Love and Light. 

2nd August Trinity 2016, Protect the Holy

Matthew 7, 1-29

2nd August Trinity

“Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye”. But mark it well, there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it.  

2nd August Trinity

August 31, 2017

Matthew 7, 1-29

Today’s gospel reading takes us on an inward spiral. This spiral clears a path for Christ to enter our hearts.

The first step inward is to notice our tendency to criticize and judge others. By focusing on others, we can fail to notice how such faults live within us. Critical judgment of others blinds us to what needs correcting within our own souls. It creates a closed door, a barrier to inwardness of heart. We need to pay attention to the direction in which we focus our attention.

The next step is to learn to protect the holy, to refrain from letting the profane overwhelm what is sacred. That which is holy is that within us that connects us to the divine. It must be protected from destruction. One way we profane inner holiness is by talking it to death. So this step suggests we enter an inner silence, and create a well-guarded inner treasure-chamber.

The third step is to bring our practice of prayer into the deepest part of our heart. We are not to treat the divine world as a kind of cosmic vending machine to satisfy our material wishes. Rather we are to offer our deepest needs, our deepest heart to the Father. We submit our hopes to his greater will and wisdom. He knows even better than we do what would truly benefit us.

And lastly we are to choose to treat others with respect and with wisdom.

A critical attitude of mind, a profaning of the sacred and a demanding heart; they operate within us as powers of diminishment and destruction. They eat away at our true, wise discernment, our inner relationship with God and with our fellow human beings.  John O’Donohue said,

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear and force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one.

“The Inner History of a Day,” John O’Donohue, in To Bless the Space Between Us

www.thechristiancommunity.org

2nd August Trinity 2015, Too Dangerous

2^nd August Trinity

August 2, 2015

Matthew 7:15-27

Be on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the garments of peaceful lambs, but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the fruits of their deeds.

Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord!“ can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! Have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”

Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’

Everyone who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like a man who wisely built his house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the rock. He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”

When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].

2^nd August Trinity

August 2, 2015

Matthew 7:15-27

“Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit.” Matthew 7: 17

Christ suggests that we direct our attention in a somewhat scientific manner. We are to look at the results of our own and others’ actions, the consequences, rather than at the wish or the talk. In a way, it doesn’t matter much what we say about ourselves, for we can present ourselves in any way we wish. We may present ourselves as lambs, when actually the hungry wolf of vainglory is at work in us.

We can say we are working for the good, and perhaps we are. Yet often the law of unintended consequences operates. The good we would do sometimes turns out not to be so good after all. What really counts however is what results from our deeds. We look to the consequences and correct our actions.

The bitter and unusable fruits of a wild tree of soul come from self-promotion and the desire for power. Me first! The good intentions of a noble tree of soul come together from three places: from clean and clear thinking, from a loving heart, and a devotion to the progress of others. Such a soul tree will in combination produce deeds that are beautiful, sweet and nourishing, fruits that serve the world. Such fruits serve God’s kingdom of heaven on earth.

They are the bedrock of the progress of the world. Tests and trials, misfortunes and reversals will come. But we will overcome them together through our solid foundation in the world of inner and outer reality. As Hafiz says:

Out

Tissot, The Blind Leading the Blind, wiki

Of a great need

 We are all holding hands

 And climbing.

 Not loving is a letting go.

 Listen,

 The terrain around here

 Is

 Far too

 Dangerous

 For

 That.*

*Hafiz, “A Great Need". In The Gift – versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

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2nd August Trinity 2009, Bedrock of the Heart

Matthew 7, 1-29

2^nd August Trinity

“Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be

Rembrandt

visited upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye”--but mark it well, there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.

Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly ask him for it.

All that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true content of the Law and the Prophets.

Walk through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds it. 

Be on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the garments of peaceful lambs, but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the fruits of their deeds.

Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord! “ can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”

Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’

Everyone who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like a man who wisely built his house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the rock.

He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”

When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers]. 

2^nd August Trinity

August 2, 2009

Matthew 7:15 – 27

In living things there are always three phases: first the founding or rooting, then the leafing, blossoming and fruiting, and finally the falling away. Or, one could say, the up-building, the peak, and the disintegration.

There are some places where Christ speaks in what are called “hard sayings”.  Today He says, “Not everyone who addresses me with ‘Lord! Lord!‘ can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens.” Matthew 7:21

The Father’s will lives especially in the up-building and peaking phases of things, especially in the up-building of the next phase or situation, the forward-moving building of the future. The disintegration of the old happens on its own—it happens where life and spirit are no more.

Therefore Christ warns those who say “Lord! Lord! have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word? Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].”Matthew 7:21-23

Though well-meaning, they are serving in the place where life and spirit are no more, in the old places of power and hierarchy whose time has passed, which are disintegrating. They are serving destruction.

A new living thing is being formed. It is founded on the bedrock of warmth of heart, love and service, rooted in Christ’s heart. This is a kingdom whose fruits are visible as healing and peace, as an ennobling of souls. It is a kingdom that wants to grow out of the very inmost center of our being.

The Act of Consecration of Man helps us to dedicate ourselves to this new future kingdom of the heart. Through Christ we are offering to the Father our noblest thoughts. We are offering Him the love that lives in our hearts. We are offering Him our devoted willing toward the up-building of His kingdom. Through Him, whose very being is love, we receive them back purified, strengthened and renewed, as the Father’s will for the future, to be carried out into the world as peaceful love and healing service.  

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