7th August Trinity 2015, Message in a Bottle

7th August Trinity

Good Samaritan, Corinne Vonaesch

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

7th August Trinity

September 6, 2015

Luke 10:25-37

Someone well-read in scripture asks Christ how to attain eternal life.The man’s answers that to love God with one’s whole being and to love one’s fellow human beings as well as oneself  is to attain eternal life. And Christ affirms this; love directed outward, beyond oneself, overcomes the deadening effects of mere self- love. Yet there comes the man’s somewhat defensive next question: which of my fellow human beings am I supposed to love? Christ’s answer in story form is: Not just my family, not just my own tribe or those with whom I can identify. Any fellow human being whom I happen upon along the way can be the recipient of a love that expresses itself in concrete action. For it is our deeds, not our feelings, that live beyond the boundaries of this life. The key here is to regard others with an attitude of mercy, of loving kindness. And then we give and do what we can.

It may be that the priest and the Levite felt that they could touch the unclean man because they were on their way to a work that required their ritual cleanliness. The Samaritan, though despised by the Jews, was truly free to help (or not). He helps a stranger, in both a personal, hands-on way, and also by deputizing and paying the innkeeper to complete the work of healing. He is thereby encouraging others to help. And he thus also maintains his own freedom to help the next victim he finds, to further practice his love for his fellow human beings. Christ is saying that our neighbor is not necessarily one whom we know, the one who lives next door. It is the stranger whom we meet along the way. It is we who are to act neighborly. A poet expresses the universality of this:

Some fishermen pulled a bottle from the deep. It held a piece of paper,

with these words: "Somebody save me! I'm here. The ocean cast me on this desert island.

I am standing on the shore waiting for help. Hurry! I'm here!"

"There's no date. I bet it's already too late anyway.

It could have been floating for years," the first fisherman said.

"And he doesn't say where. It's not even clear which ocean," the second fisherman said.

"It's not too late, or too far. The island Here is everywhere," the third fisherman said.

They all felt awkward. No one spoke. That's how it goes with universal truths.*

*Wislawa Szymborska,  “ Parable” Poems New and Collected 1957-1997, trans. S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)

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7th September Trinity 2007, Levels of Work

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

7^th August Trinity

Martha and Mary, Huis

September 2, 2007

Luke 10:38 -42

In The Christian Community, the Sunday Service for the Children speaks of the purpose of a human life: it is to learn to understand and work in the world. For millennia humanity has been practicing working in the world. But in addition there is another level of work we need to be doing: inner work. For the human being is also a part of the world that needs to be understood and worked in.

Martha represents the well-developed part of the human soul that knows how to work in the world. However, this constantly being drawn out into the world’s busyness is tiring and distracting. Martha is the part of us that becomes irritable and resentful because there is too much to do in the world, and we can’t stop. After all, if the Lord came to visit, surely it would be important to offer Him the best hospitality!

Mary on the other hand represents the part of the soul that begins to learn and understand that there is another equally important level of work – inner work. She not only receives the Lord into her home; she receives him into her heart. She is willing to engage in the equally important inner work of listening to the Lord, of letting His words begin to work in her. She works to absorb His words, to ponder and remember them; she works to tend the inner hearth.  

It is important for us to realize that we are not being asked to choose one kind of work over the other. Rather Christ is pointing out that our souls need the balancing of both kinds of work. We need periods of enthusiastic outer activity, of working in the world. And we need times of quiet contemplation, of listening to the Lord.

Christ’s word, in the gospels, in contemplation, helps us to do our inner work. His word cleanses our inner house of the soul. It scours away our negativity and stress, wipes away the soul’s impurities. His word lights the fire of love in the soul’s hearth. He helps us discern what is truly important, the good part, the real purpose of our life.

7th September Trinity 2008, Pour Light into a Spoon

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to  help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

or, [“Martha, Martha, you are worrying and making noise about many things, when only one thing is needed. Mary chose the better half, and it won’t be taken away from her.” Gaus]

7^th August Trinity

Sept. 7, 2008

Luke 10:38 – 42

In human interactions, the quality of how one thinks, of what one feels, the quality of our intentions is decisive. It’s not so much the what, as the how.

Martha and Mary, along with their brother Lazarus, are intimate friends of Jesus. He visits them often. Hospitality of course dictates that they offer their guest a meal. When a guest arrives, possibly unexpected, work ensues; water drawn for washing, pouring drinks, possibly a quick trip out the village market, preparing and cooking food. Martha is the part of the human soul that recognizes and tends the earthly needs.

Mary, on the other hand, is the part of the soul that recognizes that it is equally important to entertain the Guest with one’s listening ear and devoted attention. Especially considering who this Guest is. When Martha complains that all the earthly work seems to fall to her, Christ says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things, when only a few things are necessary, really only one.” Luke 10: 41,42

For Christ recognizes in Martha the very human experience that work can multiply itself endlessly, especially when one’s own ego is involved, with, say, making a good impression. Only a few things are truly necessary, He says, really only one. And that single thing is one’s own cohesive, integrated presence, a kind of calm Zen attentiveness to being where one is. Martha was scattered. Mary chose to gather herself together at the Lord’s feet.

Christ goes on to say that Mary chose the better part, and that it won’t be taken away from her. The better part. For our lives are indeed currently divided into an active outer part that works in the world, and an inner contemplative one. By saying that the contemplative side is the better part of life, Christ is underscoring the necessity that each human soul has of gathering itself together at the Lord’s feet, of listening to His words, of becoming whole and integrated. The results of such inner contemplative work cannot be taken away, for they become eternal. Then that calm wholeness of spirit can begin to also permeate our outer work in the world. That way, instead of our egotism making us  distracted, envious and cranky, we can bring the radiance of love into our daily life and work. In the words of the poet, we

…can pour light into a spoon

Then raise it

To nourish

Your beautiful, parched, holy mouth.[1]

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[1] Hafiz, “Your Beautiful Parched Holy Mouth,” in I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 115. 

7th September Trinity 2009, Be Glad

7^th August Trinity

Luke 10: 1-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him, before his face, to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “An ample harvest, and few workers! Ask the harvest master, therefore, to send out workers to help with the harvesting. Go: I hereby send you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. Do not take a wallet or knapsack or sandals; and do not pause to greet anyone on the way.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will alight on him; if not, it will turn round and come back to you. Stay in that place, eating and drinking with them, because the worker is worth his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is close upon you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we are shaking off (to your face). Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is approaching ’ I am telling you, Sodom will be better off than that town on that day.

“The worse for you, Chorazin! The worse for you Bethsaida! Because if the deeds of the spirit that occurred in you had had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would long since be sitting in sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their change of heart and mind. But Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the day of decision than you. And you, Capernaum, won’t you be exalted to the skies? You will go down to the depths.

He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. “

The seventy-two returned with joy and said “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Here, I have now given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy and none of it shall ever hurt you. But do not be glad that the spirits submit to you; be glad that your true being is taken up into the world of the heavens (that your names are recorded in the heavens).

7^th August-Sept. Trinity

Sept 6, 2009

Luke 10:1-20

We move toward the time of harvest. Grain is severed from the plant, dies, in order to serve the life of higher species.

Christ now sends out ahead of Himself a now growing number of disciples, six times as many as before. They are to act as His heralds and forerunners, as messengers from the living realm of the angels, bearers of the good news. He also gives the picture of them working as harvesters—for many souls are now ripe and waiting to be gathered in.

He has given the disciples spiritual potency. And they are delighted that it yields results, even against demonic powers. But Christ warns them that spiritual power is not the most important thing: what is important is that their own souls and spirits maintain their connection to the true source of their life—their Father in the heavens. For power by itself has the tendency to corrupt the bearer. “Be glad” He says, “that your true being is taken up into the world of the heavens.”

This recognition is an important signpost along the way, the path that Christ Himself is walking. For He Himself, with all His mighty spiritual power, submits Himself to powerlessness, even unto death. The paradox here is that only through submission to death can He ensure that humanity will live; for He brings Life into the realm of death.

We too sometimes think simplistically that our connection with Christ will give us power and prosperity, even if only inwardly. And perhaps for a time it does. But as long as our names remain written in the Father’s Book of Life, we can confidently let go of, surrender even our inner wealth and power when time is ripe. For we know that Christ is there too in that place. So the poet encourages us:

First, still and yet, come closer,

come forward as a rock of any kind,

igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary,

not even knowing what kind you are,

come anyway.

Then, just this:

Commit to fall toward the wind

that takes and gives;

The fire that burns down

and yet also creates;

The earth that knocks you sideways

yet nourishes you in the aggregate;

The water that drowns your ego out,

yet uncovers the Treasure. [1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Clarissa Pinkola Estes

7th September Trinity 2010, I Am Not I

7^th August Trinity

Luke 10: 1-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him, before his face, to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “An ample harvest, and few workers! Ask the harvest master, therefore, to send out workers to help with the harvesting. Go: I hereby send you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. Do not take a wallet or knapsack or sandals; and do not pause to greet anyone on the way.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will alight on him; if not, it will turn round and come back to you. Stay in that place, eating and drinking with them, because the worker is worth his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is close upon you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we are shaking off (to your face). Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is approaching ’ I am telling you, Sodom will be better off than that town on that day.

“The worse for you, Chorazin ! The worse for you Bethsaida ! Because if the deeds of the spirit that occurred in you had had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would long since be sitting in sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their change of heart and mind. But Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the day of decision than you. And you, Capernaum , won’t you be exalted to the skies? You will go down to the depths.

He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. “

The seventy-two returned with joy and said “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Here, I have now given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy and none of it shall ever hurt you. But do not be glad that the spirits submit to you; be glad that your true being is taken up into the world of the heavens (that your names are recorded in the heavens).

7^th August/Sept Trinity

Sept 5, 2010

Luke 10: 1-20

Living things breathe. They open and expand, contract and close, only to open again.

Our souls, too, have their times when they expand in joy, contract in sorrow. Even in the tight circles of grief, we will experience that one day, our grief will be turned to joy. John 16:20

Christ works closely with individual souls. Yet His working wants to expand. He sends out seventy-two to prepare His working, to ‘harvest’ ready souls. They are to do so peacefully, respecting the right of refusal that each of those other souls has. Their basic task is to spread the good news of change, of transformation, of the renewal of human evolution. They are to help remove the impediments to change.

After a period of expanding the work outward, the seventy-two return. They report with joy that the Christ power working in them, the power of love, overcame the destructive beings impeding others. Christ affirms the positive in their report of changes made. But He also expands their goals further.

The good news from the realm of the angels is that each soul has a true being. This true being is what is good in us, which manifests in our transformative deeds, founded in love. This true being has an abiding existence, beyond the transitory changes of the mortal world.  ‘Be glad that your true being, your names, have been written into the world of the spirit.’ Luke 10:20 Our real existence, our real being, is anchored in another, invisible world.

The words of the poet Jimenez illustrate the nature of our true being:

My Soul and Me, Simeon Solomon

I am not I.

I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see,

Whom at times I manage to visit,

And whom at other times I forget;

The one who remains silent when I talk

The one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,

The one who takes a walk where I am not.

The one who will remain standing when I die.[1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] [1] “I Am Not I”, by Juan Ramón Jiménez, in Risking Everything, ed. By Roger Housden, p. 19

7th September Trinity 2011, Attention

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Martha, Mary, He Qi

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

7^th August Trinity

September 4, 2011

Luke 10:38-42

A guard at the gate is there to stand watch. He pays attention to the surroundings, so that he can engage friend or foe. Sometimes his mere attention deters the foe. He must recognize the friend, to whom he will open.

In the spiritual, what counts, the coin of the realm, is units of attention.[1] For in the spirit realm, thoughts are living beings; we are engaging with those thought beings to whom we give our attention. Our inattention lets the adversary slip past.

In the gospel reading, Mary attends to the Living Word of Christ, while Martha attends with worry to a multitude of earthly details. It is not that paying attention to the earthly is itself a bad thing. It is here a question of its appropriateness in the particular setting. Better to pay attention to the words of Christ as He speaks than to be preoccupied with the array of dishes and quality of the tablecloth. Christ chides Martha for her worried and scattered attention to the details of the merely earthly, instead of listening to the spiritual within the earthly.

Worry is fear that there is not enough—not enough time, not enough within the space. The native Americans have a saying: Worry is praying for what you don’t want to happen. We would do better to focus our attention on the living word, the Christ being, the spiritual within the earthly. In the analogy of the guard, we are to keep watch, not just for the enemy, but also for the Friend, to Whom we are to open.

The poet Machado said:

I love Jesus, who said to us:

heaven and earth will pass away.

When heaven and earth have passed away,

my word will still remain.

What was your word, Jesus?

Love? Forgiveness? Affection?

All your words were

one word: Awaken.[2]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Dennis Klocek, Dealing with Addiction, available at http://dennisklocek.com

[2] Antonio Machado, Translated by Robert Bly, in The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy

7th September Trinity, 2012, Two Souls

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

or, [“Martha, Martha, you are worrying and making noise about many things, when only one thing is needed. Mary chose the better half, and it won’t be taken away from her.” Gaus]

7^th August Trinity

September 2, 2012

Luke 10:38-42

Pairings and contrast play a large role in life: day and night, up and down, inner and outer. Yet these seeming polarities have their own place within a larger whole.

Our souls also swing between opposites. As Goethe says, ”Two souls reside within my breast.”[1] One soul is engaged in working in the outer world—at a job, in our homes. The other soul is inwardly active—reading, contemplating, praying. Yet both souls are two sides of our one selfhood.

The gospel reading warns us about residing too one-sidedly or too emotionally in only one of our ‘souls’. Christ gently chides the Martha soul, not for doing outer work, but for being too worried and bothered about too many things. She is beside herself with anxiety.  He defends the Mary soul that is centered and receptive to Him and His words.

In Christ, our two souls, the Martha and the Mary in us, can eventually merge. Our Martha soul can begin to work in the world from a prayerful, contemplative center, instead of a place of worry. And our Mary soul can pursue the inner life as energetic work. Thus do the two souls within our breast begin to merge their work as one; for they are gathered together under the guidance of Christ, who is our truest Self.

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[1] Goethe, in Faust

Picture: Martha, Mary, He Qi

7th September Trinity 2013, Absorb Peace

7^th August Trinity

Luke 10: 1-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him, before his face, to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “An ample harvest, and few workers! Ask the harvest master, therefore, to send out workers to help with the harvesting. Go: I hereby send you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.

Do not take a wallet or knapsack or sandals; and do not pause to greet anyone on the way.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will alight on him; if not, it will turn round and come back to you. Stay in that place, eating and drinking with them, because the worker is worth his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is close upon you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we are shaking off (to your face). Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is approaching ’ I am telling you, Sodom will be better off than that town on that day.

“The worse for you, Chorazin! The worse for you Bethsaida! Because if the deeds of the spirit that occurred in you had had occurred in Tyre and Sidon  they would long since be sitting in sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their change of heart and mind. But Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the day of decision than you. And you, Capernaum, won’t you be exalted to the skies? You will go down to the depths.

He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. “

The seventy-two returned with joy and said “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Here, I have now given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy and none of it shall ever hurt you. But do not be glad that the spirits submit to you; be glad that your true being is taken up into the world of the heavens (that your names are recorded in the heavens).

7^th August/September Trinity

Lamb of God

September 8, 2013

Luke 10: 1 – 20

In the reading, Christ sends out a multiplicity of people into the world. He tells them that their situation is like a lamb being sent out among wolves. He also tells them three things that will protect them from being ‘devoured’.

First they are not to hoard (no wallet or knapsack). Then they are not to lose focus and get distracted by pausing to greet others on the way. And further they are to develop a peaceful equanimity. They are to radiate peace. They are not to worry about results—if they are not welcomed, they should move on.

We all have our task in life, and our karmic appointments to keep. Nowadays it is tempting to accumulate ‘stuff’ as a hedge against the wolf of anxiety.  And it goes without saying that we are inundated by sales calls, emails, media posts that may be distracting us from our true task.

At the same time, amazingly, we are to send out our peace, and if it is not accepted or absorbed by others, it is meant to return to us, that is, we are to absorb it back into ourselves. We are meant not to lose our inner balance if people reject us, or to be disappointed if things don’t turn out the way we had hoped.

If we can succeed in the difficult inner tasks of avoiding accumulating, of avoiding distractions, if we can focus in peace and inner balance, then indeed the wolfish demons of fear and false expectations must submit to us, to Christ working in us. For this is the way Christ now works on the earth—in us, and through us.

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