3rd Michaelmas 2020, Curious Confidence

2^nd 3^rd or 4^th Michaelmas

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19 

What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength. 

Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor, so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but 

against spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,

against spirit beings powerful in the molding of earth substance,

against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time,

against spirits who carry evil into the realms of the spiritual world. 

Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest strength, and victoriously withstand it. 

Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you like a strong breastplate.

And may Peace stream through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels. 

In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust will be like a mighty shield; with it, you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet. 

And the spirit, which has become living in you, you shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working of the Word of God. 

May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications so that in the right moment, you raise yourself in prayer to the spirit. To this end, direct your spirit-strength in all your efforts of soul and in your intercessions for all who would know Christ’s healing power. 

Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit. Take me into your prayers, so that when I open my mouth, the strength of the word will be given to me.  Then I can courageously and openly bring the knowledge of that holy mystery that lives in the message of the Gospel, for which I am a priestly messenger enchained. Out of the Gospel itself, there streams to me the free strength to speak with the courage I need. 

3rd Michaelmas Sunday

October 18, 2020

How timely is the Gospel reading in this year! Our spiritual enemies, spiritual beings aiming their arrows of fear and despair at our souls full, are on the attack. Paul encourages us to fight a spiritual battle. It is not a battle of aggression, for it is not our task (nor is it even possible) to destroy our eternal enemy. Rather we are to arm ourselves for our own souls’ self-defense so that we can resist the fear and remain inwardly upright. 

Don Dos Santos

We shield ourselves from these attacks of fear by remaining in trust and truth. This trust is in humankind's ultimate goal, the goal of learning to love. This truth we acquire by remaining in the current moment, the Now, which is ruled by Christ. For the truth is that fear often causes us to project a false picture into the future, which, in a vicious cycle, then inspires more fear. The truth is that the future is constantly changing, moment by moment, day by day, based on what human beings do in those moments and days. We are all involved in the process of creating the future. Any fixed picture of the future, hammered hard by constant discussion and steeped in worry generated by fear, is premature. 

“Do not worry about tomorrow,” says Christ, “for tomorrow can worry about itself. Each day has enough challenge of its own.” Matthew 6:34  We act, we trust, we pray, one day, one moment at a time. 

We must not underestimate the power of the light-filled energy that is generated by our prayers and sacraments, even when only an apparent few participate on earth. Behind each one of us stand all those who have died, who still take an active interest in their loved ones on earth. Mingling with them are those about to be born into the world, with their ideals and hopes. And above us, all stands the angelic world. Deeds of prayer and sacrament generate a healing light, a bright energy. Given into the hands of the angels, this energy can work as a positive force in world karma, helping shape the future.  Michael and his host of angels beckon us toward the courage and trust that arises in our awareness of this truth. 

A second-century mystic, Evagrios of Pontos, wrote: 

If you would pray in truth, you will

David Newbatt

suspect a deeper sense of curious confidence.

And a host of angels will walk beside you

Showing you the purpose of created things.

 

When the angel of the Lord arrives,

he scatters by his word alone

every force that acts against us,

and brings to our spirits that light

that shines without deception.*

 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

*Evagrios of Pontos, (345-399) “Effusions on Prayer,” in Love’s Immensity, Mystics on the Endless Light, Scott Cairns, p. 56

3rd Michaelmas 2018, Saved by Love

Bamberg Apocalypse

2nd 3rd or 4th MichaelmasRevelation 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 was revealed in the heavens: a great fiery-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. On its head 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 to 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

Nicholas Bataille

spirit world. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon fought in the midst of 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 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 spirit 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

B. West

that he had 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 a great eagle, so that she could fly into the desert to her appointed place, where 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.

3rd Michaelmas Sunday
October 14, 2018
Revelation 12: 1-17

We may have experienced that when someone expresses confidence in us, we find ourselves able to do things we had not thought possible. Their faith in us strengthens us for the challenge. Their faith can see us as already having overcome it.

Michael and his angels have conquered the accusing adversary, the critic, and thrown him out of heaven. The dragon of criticism, antagonism, and lies has been thrown down to earth, and now weaves himself among us. This is, of course, cause for alarm.

But it is also a vote of confidence

Rosenkrantz

in humankind. Michael sees us as ready to take on the challenge of confronting evil—the criticism, antagonism and lies both in ourselves, and in the world. The challenge is indeed a formidable one. Michael is the vanguard of Christ. In our time, Michael ‘goes before Christ’s face’, as His countenance. And his expression is earnest.

At the same time, Christ says in the Act of Consecration of Man, that after His death on the cross, there will flow in the blood a new faith. This is not only our faith, our trust that help is to be had from divine beings. It is also the faith that Christ and Michael have in humanity. With their strength in our blood, with their help, we will awaken and rise to the challenge of evil. With their help, we will manage to escape its devouring power. They will give us our own eagle wings of insight and creative thought, to rise and fly to our appointed place. With Michael’s help, the newly born Christ in us, the Christ in the soul of humanity, will be protected. Christ/Michael can see us as already having risen to the challenge of evil.

The world may scoff at our efforts, oppose them even; but we, too, have faith; for as Reinhold Niebuhr said,
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime;
therefore, we must be saved by hope.
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense
in any immediate context of history;
therefore, we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;
therefore, we are saved by love.*

*Reinhold Niebuhr, excerpt from The Irony of American History, cited in Leading from Within, ed. by S. M. Intrator and M. Scribner

Visit our new website!

2nd Michaelmas, Three Christ-Powers

Archangel Michael, Schongauer

2nd 3rd or 4th Michaelmas

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19

What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength.

Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor, so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but 

  

against spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,

  against spirit beings powerful in the molding of earth substance,

  against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time,

  against spirits who carry evil into the realms of the spiritual world.

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest strength, and victoriously withstand it.

Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you like a strong breastplate.

And may Peace stream through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels.

In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust will be like a mighty shield; with it, you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet.

And the spirit, which has become living in you, you shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working of the Word of God.

May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications, so that in the right moment you raise yourself in prayer to the spirit, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.

Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.

2^nd, 3rd or 4th Michaelmas

Memling

October 11, 2016

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19

"Grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength."

What is the power that streams to us in the experience of Christ in the soul? His power is three-fold:

It is the power to think the truth; to think thoughts that are true, that are in consonance not only with earthly reality but also with higher spiritual realities. The power of Christ in the soul heals us from the cognitive distortions of unhealthy, untrue thoughts.

Christ's power in the soul is also the power to feel a connection not only with what is beautiful and noble, but also to make peace with earthly reality, with what is. We are to absorb Christ's attitude: I stand at peace with the world, he says. And he gives us this peace so that we can spread peace out into the world. His Peace is to invade our whole being, down to our feet, so that the way we walk in the world spreads peace on the path.

And Christ's third power allows us to act with uprightness and in right relationship to the earth and all its inhabitants. We can do so, not by putting our faith in a static, absolute good, but by trusting in the ultimate victory of an ever-evolving goodness.

A well-known verse by Rudolf Steiner shows us this power of Christ that we can actively take in hand:

To wonder at beauty,

Memling

Stand guard over truth,

Look up to the noble,

Resolve on the good.

This leadeth us truly

To purpose in living,

To right in our doing,

To peace in our feeling,

To light in our thinking.

And teaches us trust,

In the working of God,

In all that there is,

In the width of the world,

In the depth of the soul.*

*Rudolf Steiner, in Wahrspruchsworte, GA 40, page 324.

Visit our website!