2nd Trinity II 2022, Source of Life

 2nd June Trinity II

John 4:1–26 

At this time, the Lord became aware that it was rumored among the Pharisees that Jesus was finding and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, though his disciples did.) Therefore he left Judea and went back again to Galilee. 

Julia Stankova

Now he had to pass through Samaria.

So he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was also there. Jesus was weary with the journey, and he sat down by the well. It was about midday, the sixth hour. 

Then a Samaritan woman came to draw water. And Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" for his disciples had gone into town to buy bread. 

Then the Samaritan woman said to him, " You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" For the Jews avoided all contact with the Samaritans. 

Jesus answered her, "If you knew how the divine world now draws near to human beings, and who it is who says to you, 'Will you give me a drink,' you would ask him, and he would give you the water of life [or, the living water]. 

"Sir," the woman said to him, "you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where will you draw the living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his flocks and herds?" 

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I will give them, their thirst will be quenched for all time. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up as true life for eternity." 

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may never be thirsty again, and need never come here again to draw." 

He said to her, "Go call your husband and show him to me." 

"I have no husband," she replied. 

Jesus said to her, "You have well said that you have no husband. Five husbands you have had, and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly."

"Sir," the woman said, "I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that only in Jerusalem is the place where one should worship." 

Jesus answered, "Believe me, O woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship a being you do not know; we worship what we do know. That is why salvation had to be prepared for among the Jews. But the hour is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father with the power of the Spirit and in awareness [or, knowledge] of the truth." 

Then the woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming who is called Christ. When he comes, he will teach us all things." 

Jesus said to her, "I, I AM he who is speaking to you."

2^nd Trinity II

June 19, 2022

John 4: 1-26 

The Persian Muslim poet of the 14th century, Hafiz*, wrote:

In many parts of the world

Water is

Scarce and precious

People sometimes have to walk

A great distance

Then carry heavy jugs upon their

Heads.

Because of our wisdom, we will travel

Far for love.

All movement is a sign of

Thirst. 

We might think of death and life as our close companions. We might imagine life as a woman carrying a water jar walking ahead of us, leading us onward, turning to quell our body’s thirst, then going on. And behind us is our other companion, for most of us, a shadowy figure. Though we may hasten from him in fear, he inspires us to make our journey meaningful. At a certain point, he comes from behind, takes our hand, and leads us home to the Father. 

Christ came to the well of his forefather Jacob, bringing water of a different order — not the maternal water of earth that sustains our bodies, but the divine water from the Father’s kingdom that sustains our souls and spirits. With Christ, the Father’s never-ending water of life is brought to earth. It does not keep our bodies from dying, though it may heal our illnesses; it is the water of life, of love, that keeps our souls and spirits alive.

Julia Stankova

Since Christ died, he has become the one who is walking both behind us and before us. Christ died and poured the water of life into death. Though we may run from him, it is he who inspires us to make our lives meaningful. And He is the one bearing the water that keeps our souls and spirits alive. He is the one who takes us to the Father.   

In our time especially, the divine world draws near to us. And now Christ approaches us and asks us, “Will you give me a drink?” He thirsts for what we can give him – our purest thoughts, our noblest feelings, our devotion. In return for what we offer him, he will not only keep our souls and spirits alive. He also offers to transform them into a wellspring, a source of eternal life. In Christ we become the woman with the water jar, quelling His thirst. Through Him, we can become a source of sustenance and healing, a source of life for others and for the earth. 

*The Subject Tonight Is Love, Poems of Hafiz, transl. by Daniel Ladinsky

www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

2nd Epiphany 2022, Veracity and Love

2^nd Epiphany

Luke 2:41-52 

Every year his [Jesus'] parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they took him with them. Now, after they had gone there and fulfilled the custom during the days of the feast, they set off on their way home. But the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; they thought he was among the company of the travelers. After a day's journey, they missed him among their friends and relations. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. 

William Holman Hunt

After three days, they found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And those who heard him were amazed at his mature understanding and his answers. 

And when they saw him, they were taken aback, and his mother said to him, "My child, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress." 

William Holman Hunt

And he said to them, "Why did you look for me? Did you not know that I must be and live in that which is my Father's?" 

But they did not understand the meaning of the words he spoke to them. And he went down with them again to Nazareth and followed them willingly in all things. 

And his mother carefully kept all these things living in her heart. And Jesus progressed in wisdom, maturity, and grace [or, favor] in the sight of God and humans.

2^nd Epiphany

January 16, 2022

Luke 2: 41-52 

Durer

At twelve, the boy Jesus undergoes a great change.
Overnight he is transformed from a sweet and simple child into a wise and mature young man. His parents don't know what to make of him. They chide him; he answers innocently, yet with some surprise, that he thought it obvious where he belonged. At the same time, he returns with them cheerfully and willingly. 

There are nodal points in all our lives, points where something shifts. Something new emerges; the old dissolves, and the new consolidates. It happens to us; it happens to those we love and think we know, even to adults. 

This reading gives us two lessons: the first is that no one stays the same. We all develop (or else we gradually devolve). 

Therefore the second lesson is that it is helpful to approach each person we encounter with a kind of open and neutral curiosity—as if we had never met them before, even if we think we know them well. Otherwise, they are trapped in a cage we have made for them, a cage of assumptions and expectations, of disappointments, even of disapproval. Such an open, curious, and unprejudiced practice from the heart supports the other in becoming what they truly are. 

With open-hearted curiosity, we can offer them a broad but impartial mirror in which they can see the truth of themselves reflected clearly. We are offering them a form of Christ-love, for He said, 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'* 

Bernardo Luini

So as the poet Hafiz said, 

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child's training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

with veracity and love.**

 

 www.thechristiancommunity.org

* John 8:32

** Hafiz, "Now is the Time," in The Gift, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 160.

 

 

3rd Trinity IV, This Exquisite World

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. 

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.

3^rd 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.

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

 

 www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

4th Sunday after Easter 2021, Cup of Solace

 

4^th Sunday after Easter

John 16:1-33

"All these words I have spoken to you

Stephen B. Whately

so that you will not go astray [because you discover what destiny falls to you through being connected with me]. For they will exclude you from their communities, and the hour will come when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God. They will do all this because they have not known my Father or me. All these words I have spoken to you so that when the time comes, you will remember that I told you about it. In the beginning, I did not need to say such things, for I was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me; yet, none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'  Now that I have said these things to you, sorrow enters your heart.

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is for your salvation and healing that I leave you, for if I did not go away, the Helper, [the giver of spirit courage, who will stand by you in all trials, or, the Spirit upon whom you can call for assistance at any moment,] would not come to you. When I now go away, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will call humankind to account for the decline into sin, for the working of human's higher being and for the great world separation; for the decline into sinfulness, because they did not fill themselves with my power; for the working of their higher being, because I go to the Father and you see me no more; for the great world-separation, because the decision has already been made about the ruler of this world.

"I have yet much more to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will be your guide on the way to the Truth that Embraces All. he will not speak out of himself, but what he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you what is to come.  he will reveal me, for what he draws out of my being, he will proclaim to you. Everything that the Father has is also mine. That is why I can say, 'He will draw upon my being and proclaim to you.'

laudario of sant'agnese

"In a little while, you will see me
no more, and again a little while, and you will see me."

"Then some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying 'In a little while you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me,' and 'I am going to the Father'? They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a short time'? We do not understand his words."

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, and he said, "You are wondering that I said, 'A short time and you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me.' Yes, the truth I tell you, you will weep and lament while other people will rejoice. You will be filled with sorrow, but this your grief will be turned into joy. A woman giving birth must bear pain, for her difficult hour has come. But when the child is born, she no longer considers the anguish because of her joy that a human being has been born into the world.

"So it is with you. Now is your time of grief. But this your grief will become the power of Spirit-Birth, for I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one can take that joy from you. On that day, you will no longer need to ask me anything.

"Yes, I say to you; from now on, what you ask of the Father in my name, He will give to you. Until now, you have not been able to pray in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart so that your joy may be full.

"All this I have given to your souls in imagery. But the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures but will tell you plainly about the Father, [so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness]. On that day, you will ask out of my power and in my name. And no longer will I ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me, and have known in your hearts that I have come forth from the Father. I have come forth from the Father, and I have come into this world. I am leaving the [sense] world again and going to the Father, [of which you say that it is the world of death]."

Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking in clear thought and without imagery. Now we know that all things are revealed to you and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. By this, we believe that you came from God."

 

Jesus answered, "Do you now feel my power in your heart? Behold, the time is coming and has already come, when you will be scattered, each to their own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is eternally united with me.

"All this I have spoken to you so that in me you may find peace. In this world, you will have great fear and hardship. But take courage. I have overcome the world."

4^th Sunday after Easter

May 2, 2021

John 16:1-33

Hiking in nature, we need to find a path. The path may lead us to a high and windy peak, where we can see everything. We could imagine that spreading our arms to the wind, we could be airborne. But we know better than to try. On the path downward, we may try to take a shortcut down through a ravine; but losing our footing could also cause us to lose our life. We need to find a sure path.

In today’s reading, Christ promises that He will send us the spirit of Truth. The Truth that Embraces All is the firm ground in our walk of life. In the truth, we remain both grounded and mobile. We neither fly away nor fall into an abyss. For the Truth that Embraces All is large. It is so large that it also embraces all human beings. It is our comfort in whatever landscape we find ourselves. And truth is our guide toward what is yet to come.

One thing that is definitely coming is the need to extend that comfort to our fellow travelers. Not by trying to hammer them with the truth as we perceive it. But by offering our compassion.  As the 13^th century Persian poet Hafiz said:

 

Here soar

He Qi

Not with wings,

But with your moving hands and feet

And sweating brows -

 

Standing by your Beloved's side

Reaching out to comfort this world

 

With your cup of solace

Drawn from your vast reservoir of Truth.*

 

---

*“Not With Wings”, by Hafiz in The Subject Tonight is Love - versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

 

 

3rd Trinity IV, Divine Courage, Freedom and Light

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14th-Century Tapestry

November Trinity
Revelations 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 [bodily pain, nor soul pain, nor any other burdens of the inmost being] death, nor sorrow, nor weeping [uproar] nor any other sound of 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 hem and flames of sulfur blaze. That is the second death.
 
 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 [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 [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 15, 2020
Rev 21:1-9
 
To create a building, we need a clear idea of its purpose so that the architect can create an appropriate design, and the builders can work accordingly.

At earth's beginning, Adam's sons had to learn how to build dwellings on earth in which to live. So too, does humanity as a whole need to learn to build a future collective dwelling place. But this future dwelling place of humankind will not be on the earth. It will exist in the spirit and will include God and His Son.

This dwelling place will arise out of 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 building also 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 humankind's 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 makes everything anew. For in the words of the poet:

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

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1st June Trinity 2020, God Pours Light

2^nd June Trinity

John 3:1-17

 There was a man in the circle of the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus; he held high rank among the Jews. He came to Jesus in the night and said, “Master, we know that you are a high teacher of humankind, come to us from God, for no one can do such signs of the Spirit as you do unless God himself is working together with them in their deeds.”

 Jesus answered and said to him, “The truth out of the spirit I say to you: whoever is not born anew from above cannot behold the kingdom of God.”

 Nicodemus said to him, “How can someone be born again when they are old? Can they return to their mother’s womb to be born again a second time?

Jesus answered, “the truth out of the spirit I say to you: whoever remains as they are and does not come to a new birth out of the formative power of the water and out of the breath of the spirit [or, …and is not 

born anew out of the spiritual power of eternal becoming and out of being touched by the might of the spirit world] cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What is born out of earthly elements is of earthly nature. But what is born out of the breath of the spirit, is itself spirit. Do not wonder that I said to you that you must be born anew from above. The spirit wind blows where it wills; you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born anew out of the breath of the spirit.

Nicodemus replied and said to him, “How can one attain this?”

Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and do not know?

Amen, the truth I say to you: we speak of what we know, and we bear witness to what we have seen in the spirit, but none of you accepts our testimony. When I speak to you of earthly things, and you do not believe them, how shall you believe when I want to speak to you of heavenly things? No one has ascended to the spiritual world who has not previously descended out of the spiritual world, that is, the Son of Man.

Just as Moses once lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who finds his power in their hearts can win a share in the higher life beyond time. God has so loved the world that he has given his only begotten Son. From now on, no one who fills himself with his power shall perish, for they will share in timeless, higher life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn it, but so that the world be saved [healed] through him and not fall prey to ruin.”

1^st June Trinity

June 7, 2020

John 3: 1-17

The blossom opens itself to the sun. Its pollen rises carried to the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Enlivened by the warmth and light of the sun, it returns to earth, bringing new living forces, the power of germination, to the plants.

Nicodemus comes to Christ in the night realm, with soul and spirit open. Christ speaks to him about life renewed from above, from the warmth and light of the realm of the spirit. At first, Nicodemus confuses this renewal of life with the earthly level of physical birth. But Christ explains that being touched by the spirit’s power of eternal becoming, is what allows our lives to be ever renewed. It is our contact with the regions of moving light and warmth that is our entrance into the kingdom of the heavens, even as we still live in bodies on earth.

Our own eternal spirit, the drop of the divinity given to each of us at our beginning, has descended with us out of those regions of light. Our awakening to this eternal part of our being allows us to open and ascend again into the realms of spirit, now, like the pollen rising from the flower. It is the power in us of prayer, the power of mindfulness, the power of gratitude that helps us rise. This is the Christ power, the power of the Son of Man, working in us. As the poet Hafiz says:

God

pours light

into every cup,

quenching darkness.

…God pours light

 

and the trees lift their limbs

without worry of redemption,

every blossom a chalice.

 

…as light

pours like rain

into every empty cup

set adrift on the Infinite Ocean.*

This is the power that lets us rise, even daily, into the realms of timeless life, to be renewed and refreshed, so that when we descend again, we can see to it that in Christ’s words, ‘the world can be healed and not fall prey to ruin.’

*Hafiz, “God Pours Light,” (Interpretive version of Ghazal 11 by Jose Orez)

 

 

3rd after Easter II, Liquid Ruby-Light

3^rd Sunday after Easter

John 15:1-27 (adapted from Madsen)

Icon, Vine and Branches

I AM the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit HE takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit HE makes pure that it may bear more fruit. You have already been purified by the power of the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit out by itself unless it is given life by the vine, neither can you unless you stay united with me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains united with me and I in them, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain united with me withers like a branch that is cut off. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words live on in you, pray for that which you also will, and it shall come about for you. By this, my Father is revealed, that you bear much fruit and become ever more my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Live on in my love. If you take my aims into your will, then you will live on in my love, o just as I have taken the aims of my Father into my will and live on in HIS love.

These words I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

This is the task I put before you: that you love one another as I have loved you.

No one can have greater love than this, than that they offer up their life for their friends. You are my friends if you follow the task I have given you. No longer can I call you servants, for servants do not know what their master is doing. But I call you my friends because I have made known to you all that I have heard from my Father.

You did not choose me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should live on after you so that what you ask the Father in my name HE should give it to you. I say to you out of the fullness of my power: Love one another.

Arthur Ernst Becher

If people hate you, remember that they hated me before you. If you belonged to people in general, they would love you as belonging to them; but because you do not belong to them since I chose you out of humankind, people hate you.

Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than their master.’ If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have held on to my word, they will hold on to yours also. Everything that they do to you, they will do as though they did it to me, for they do not know HIM who sent me.

If I had not come and had not spoken to them, they would be without sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done deeds among them, such as no one else has ever done, they would be without guilt. But now they have seen me and have still hated both me and my Father.

But it was to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

But when the Comforter comes, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, HE will bring knowledge of me and will be my witness. And you also will be my witnesses, because you have been united with me from the very beginning.

3^rd after Easter

May 8, 2020

John 15:1-27

The air is both inside us and outside us. It is like a great ocean of light and life, filling all spaces. We breathe it in and out in the rhythm of the waves. We breathe in the Father’s light, His life, His love. And the whole future existence of the earth depends on what we breathe out—darkness or light, death or life, hatred or love.

We breathe out light along with the quality of our awareness. Our awareness of the spirit, of the divine, builds the future. We breathe out life when what we create and upbuild toward the future outweighs those destructive forces that are necessary to maintain life itself now. We breathe out love when we connect ourselves to the universe and all its kingdoms in warmth, joy, and gratitude.

‘I am the vine’, Christ says. ‘You are my branches. Without me, you can bear no fruit’. Without Christ’s light and life, human life on earth will bear no fruit, and thus will have no future. Without the fruit of his love, which has become concentrated in the wine of his blood, our souls sicken. Without this connection, our souls would die. The poet Hafiz describes it this way:

True Vine, Sjodin

Why all this talk of the Beloved…

Liquid ruby-light we can lift in a cup?

Because it is low tide

A very low tide in this age

And around most hearts.

We are exquisite coral reefs,

Dying when exposed to strange

Elements.

God is the wine-ocean we crave—

We miss

Flowing in and out of our

Pores*

Christ is our connector, the divine/human channel to the greater ocean of the Father’s light, life, and love. He mediates the light-filled air of life within and without. His being is the essence of love—giving, circulating, connecting, maintaining. Connecting ourselves with Him, through and in the symbolic reality of the wine, we are connecting ourselves to the wine-red ocean of the Father’s life, to the Father’s loving awareness. Connecting ourselves with Him we are connecting with our future.

*Hafiz, “Why All This Talk?”, in Tonight the Subject is Love, by Daniel Ladinsky, p.7

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2nd after Easter II, April 29, 2020, Brilliant Angel Feathers

2^nd Sunday after Easter

John 10:1-16

“Yes, the truth I say to you: Anyone who does not go into the sheep through the door, but breaks into the fold elsewhere, is a thief or robber. Only he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls each one by name, according to its nature, and he leads them out into the open.

When he has brought them out, he walks before them, and the sheep follow after him, for they trust his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but rather flee because they do not know the stranger’s voice.”

Thus did Jesus reveal himself to them in pictures, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then Jesus went on. “Yes, the truth out of the spirit I say to you. I AM the door to the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them.

I AM the door. Anyone who enters through me will find healing and life. He learns to cross the threshold from here to beyond, and from there to here, and he will find nourishment for his soul. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. But I – I have come that they may have life, and overflowing abundance.

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

Brueghel, Bad Sheperd

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who works for wages, and who is no true shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and flees while the wolf snatches them and scatters them. For he is only a hireling and he cares nothing for the sheep.

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. I know who belongs to me, and my own recognize me, just as my Father recognizes me in the depths, and I know the being of the Father; I offer my life for the sheep.

Other sheep have been entrusted to me who are not of this fold; I must also lead them. They too will listen to my voice, and one day there will be one flock, one Shepherd.

2^nd after Easter II

April 29,2020

John 10:1-16

In this parable of the Good Shepherd,

Tissot

we might not like seeing ourselves cast as sheep. We might prefer the parable of the single lost sheep,* the one who is so important to the shepherd that he leaves the rest of the flock to go searching for it. But in today’s picture, Christ is speaking about his relationship to those who find themselves in communities, those who are gathered together. And he is looking at the ways in which His flock, His community is either protected or threatened.

What is it that holds His community together, gives it cohesion? It is Christ himself who holds His community together. The will of the group is to follow in trust Christ’s will: his being, his love.

It is He who knows what we need—when it is time to go out and be fed and when it is time to stay safe in the fold. We, the flock, know that we can trust and follow His voice. He knows us, individually and collectively. He speaks to us in the sacraments, in prayer. He continues to offer His life for us, to us, in physical and spiritual communion. It is He who cares for, protects, and guides the life of His community.

Christ gathers us into a community to protect us from the wolves of solitude, illusion, and untruth. Those wolves divide and scatter, snatch and devour. Christ keeps us together, saying, in the words of the poet:

Someone

Fra Angelico, Sheep and Goats

Will steal you if you don’t stay near,

And sell you as a slave in the

Market.

I sing to the nightingales’ hearts,

Hoping they will learn

My verse.

So that no one will ever imprison

Your brilliant angel

Feathers.

Have I put enough spiced manna

On your plate?

…If not, please wait

For more light is now fermenting. . . **

*Luke 15:3

**Hafiz, “Spiced Manna”, in The Gift, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 210

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