Whitsun II 2009, Loving Through Death

Pentecost

John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Whitmonday

June 1, 2009

John 14:23-31

A second image that belongs to the Pentecost story is the image of the dove. She is a creature belonging to both the air and the ground. She descends and ascends again and again, to the realm of light and warmth where gravity has little pull. And she returns to earth, happy to walk and feed there.

We too are creatures of two worlds, the airy world of soul and the world of earth. The poet explores our dual nature:

What's it like to be a human

the bird asked

I myself don't know

it's being held prisoner by your skin

while reaching infinity

being a captive of your scrap of time

while touching eternity

being hopelessly uncertain

and helplessly hopeful…

it's being on fire

with a nest made of ashes

eating bread

while filling up on hunger

it's dying without love

it's loving through death[1]

In the Pentecost story, the dove is the bird of truth, sent by Christ from the Father’s realm. Christ has expanded His being, so that now His feet are grounded in the earth, and His heart is in the clouds that surround the whole earth. Through the dove He sends the truth that we shall indeed keep on being creatures of two realms. But gradually, through love we shall make earth’s nest of ashes into a phoenix fire; we shall reach infinity through hope, touch eternity by loving through death. And one day the two realms will be one.

 www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1]  Anna Kamienska, in Astonishments: Selected Poems of Anna Kamienska,

 ed. and trans. by D. Curzon and G. Drabik)

Whitsun III 2013, Reaching Infinity

Pentecost

John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Whit-Tuesday

May 21, 2013

John 14: 23 – 31

At the end of the day children often have a meltdown over something relatively minor. The parent knows that the child is experiencing this because he is tired and hungry, or maybe even getting ill. The light of the parents’ awareness reaches higher and more broadly than the child’s. The parent knows that the child needs comfort, nourishment, and rest, not whatever it is that sparked the tantrum.

The divine Father’s Spirit also has this quality of higher and broader awareness. He knows that we are experiencing disasters because we are tired and overwhelmed. He knows that we suffer under the sickness of sin.

And so the Father sends His healing spirit, the active messenger of His love, to help heal us. He comes to comfort us, to nourish us, to give us the solace of his love.

The spirit of Love that operates behind the evolving situations in our lives knows what we need; it sees and operates out of a broader and higher level of awareness. It comes to heal the evils we face.

The poet imagines a bird asking a human being a question:

What's it like to be a human

the bird asked

…. it's being held prisoner by your skin

while reaching infinity

being a captive of your scrap of time

while touching eternity

being hopelessly uncertain

and helplessly hopeful

….

it's being on fire

with a nest made of ashes

eating bread

while filling up on hunger

it's dying without love

it's loving through death

That's funny said the bird

and flew effortlessly up into the air.[1]

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[1] Anna Kamienska, “Funny”, in Astonishments: Selected Poems of Anna Kamienska,

 ed. and trans. by D. Curzon and G. Drabik