Ascension 2018, Bee and Blossom

Ascension
John 16: 24-33

[Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name.] Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart, that your joy may be fulfilled.
All this I have given to your souls in

Mengs

imagery. But the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures but will tell you openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness. Thus will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. 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 will love 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 leave the sense world again and return to the world of 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. This makes us 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 his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. But 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.”

Ascension
May 10, 2018
John 16: 24-33

The bees fly through light and air, collecting pollen grains to feed their young. For the blossoms, however, this visitation signals the beginning of their end. Once pollinated, the blossom dies away to make way for the fruit.
Christ ascends into the light and air. He is both bee and blossom, the fructifier and the fruit. His resurrection body changes. Yet He does not leave; He expands. He spreads Himself out both up into the heavens and down into the earth. He becomes the True Vine, the great fruit-bearing World Tree, rooted in the earth, reaching into the heavens. The poet describes this event:

Lightly in His upraised

Ascension, around 1030, Codex Aureus

hands
was Heaven, Wideness,
Space, oh space!
Oh, astonished He felt the lavishing
Of this great light. Yet by storm-broken tree
His disciples could not grasp it,
How their Master now in silence, radiant
Now in ever bluer terraces
Climbed this heaven
Exceeded Himself.
Yet already a glance gave Him goal and direction,
And they were amazed, how He found the steps
Until He, in ever deeper light
He himself the light, now disappeared from their view.*

He expands into the far reaches of both heaven and earth. For His disciples, however, this signals a kind of death—for He whom they love is lost to their sight. For ten days they will grieve the apparent loss. Like all who grieve, they will be absorbed in their memories of Him. But in ten days, at Pentecost, their pain will begin to bear fruit. What is germinating within them through His ever-presence will become in them soul fruits: the fruits of joyful understanding, fruits of tolerance, fruits of love for all fellow human beings.

*Gottfried Fischer-Gravelius

Visit our new website!

Ascension 2017, Fragrance Ascending

Ascension

John 16: 24-33

Benjamin West (Wikimedia)

Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart, that your joy may be fulfilled.

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 openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness. Thus will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. 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 will love 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 leave the sense world again and return to the world of 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. This makes us 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 his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. But 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.”

Ascension

Blake

May 25, 2017

John 16: 24-33

Imagine a bush asking the Lord to be able to walk around like a cat, or fly like a bird. The Lord would smile regretfully and say, "It is not your destiny to walk like the animals or fly like the birds. I have grounded you in the earth. But I have made you flexible so that you can move with the wind. And the fragrance and pollen of your flowers can rise and fly."

In our lives, we may pray for what we want and need, for specific outcomes or specific solutions to our problems. But often the Lord simply has to say, "What you ask for is not in your destiny. Ask instead for the resilience to move with the changes. Ask for the ability ground yourself well in the earthly, and the ability to offer yourself up so that your heart rises."

In today's reading, Christ says, "Ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart." In the Act of Consecration, we pray for grounding in spirit consciousness. We ask that the fragrance of our heart's offering ascend. We ask that the gift of God's grace and love descend into our souls.  

Visit our website!

Ascension 2016, Water of Life

Ascension by Wm. Blake

Ascension

John 16: 24-33

[Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name.] Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart, that your joy may be fulfilled.

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 openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness. Thus, will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. 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 will love 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 leave the sense world again and return to the world of 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. This makes us 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 his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. But 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.”

Clouds, NASA

Ascension

May 5, 8, 2016

John 16: 24-33

Water has the wonderful capacity to change forms easily. As solid ice, it floats. As a liquid, it flows downward to the lowest point it can find. As water vapor, it is invisible, a small amount occupying a vast space. Under the right conditions, the invisible vapor condenses into visible clouds and returns to earth as liquid rain.

Christ is the Water of Life. He took on a solid body in Jesus. At his death, he descended into the earth. At the Resurrection, he gave birth to his life form, sometimes visible, mostly not. At Ascension he became like water vapor – he expanded his nature and being into the entire biosphere of the earth. Like water vapor, he is invisible. But he is the Life that surrounds and penetrates both the earth and us. We breathe him in with every breath we take. Under the right circumstances, he condenses and becomes visible again.

Last Supper, Rosenkranz

One of those times is during the Act of Consecration, the communion service. At his Last Supper, he chose bread and wine to be forever the visible forms of his life. He chose bread to be his body, the form in which he appears. He chose the juice of the vine to be visibly his rejuvenating life, his life blood. And he offers them to us in communion so that we have the opportunity to take in his formative forces, his Life, in a conscious way. In this way, he walks the earth, in us. We may hear him in the words of the poet:

In a mist of light

falling with the rain

I walk this ground

of which [dead] men

and women I have loved

are part, as they

are part of me.  In earth,

in blood, in mind,

the dead and living

into each other pass,

as the living pass

in and out of loves

as stepping to a song.

The way I go is

marriage to this place,

grace beyond chance,

love's braided dance

covering the world.[1]

---

[1]  Wendell Berry in The Wheel

Ascension 2015, Given to Your Heart

Ascension

Garofalo, Wiki Commons

John 16: 24-33

Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart, that your joy may be fulfilled.

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 openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness. Thus will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. 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 will love 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 leave the sense world again and return to the world of 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. This makes us 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 his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. But 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.”

Ascension

May 14, 17, 2015

John 16: 24-33

Michel de Broin, Superficial Mirror

In fairy tales, the hero sometimes wins a cloak of invisibility in order to do good. It is as though they enter another realm, just beyond ordinary sight, while still remaining in this one.  It is likewise with those who have died; they have entered another realm just beyond our capacity to see them with our ordinary eyes.

In this gospel reading for Ascension, the Ascension event itself is veiled. But there are hints of what is there. Christ says that he is leaving the sense world and entering the realm of the Father, “of which you say that it is the realm of death.” John 16:28 Yet with his Resurrection the realm of death was imbued with Life. The dead live, though invisibly, as does He. He indicates however that we will nevertheless be able to sense his presence through other means: we will sense him in praying, when our prayers arise from our hearts. For with his Ascension he expanded his being from that of Jesus to that of both heaven and earth. He has expanded Himself into the whole world. This enables him to be present within the life of every single human being.

We can sense him in the warmth of our blood, in the rhythm of our breathing. He is hidden in the light of our noblest thoughts, in the living changes and transformations of the music of our soul life. He is invisibly present in the very meaning of our lives. He appeared to ‘go away’. But his going away was in essence a drawing even nearer. He is hidden within us, in our heart of hearts. "Pray from the heart and it will be given to your heart:, he says. For I will give you myself, my very being – light, life, warmth and transformation.

Visit our Website!

Ascension 2011, Infinite Wishes

Ascension

John 16: 24-33

Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart, that your joy may be fulfilled.

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 openly and unveiled about my Father, so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness. Thus will I proclaim to you the being of the Father. 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 will love 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 leave the sense world again and return to the world of 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. This makes us 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 his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. But 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.”

Ascension Sunday

June 5, 2011

John 16: 24-33

Often in fairytales, someone is granted three wishes. How these wishes are granted depends on the character of the person wishing. In one tale, a husband and wife are granted three wishes; but the two exist in such disharmony that they squander their wishes on nonsense. In another tale, a fisherman has to ask for more and more for his prideful wife who wants more and more power and status; at last the bubble bursts and they find themselves back where they started.

At a certain point it usually occurs to older children that their third wish would be to have every subsequent wish come true. Yet we know that a child has not yet the wisdom to handle that kind of power.

Christ says to us: Pray, ask from the heart and it will be given to your heart, that your joy may be fulfilled….Ask out of my power and in my name. John 16: 24, 26.  Here we are being granted infinite wishes! But there is the caveat of wisdom—we must ask out of Christ’s bestowing love and in accordance with the Father’s lawfulness. We must align our wishes with the laws that lead toward the future of the universe.

We ask: lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from the evil. Not my will, but Thine be done.  Luke 22:42  In so doing, we are asking from a place of wisdom. We are asking from the place where all the red threads of human destinies join together. We are asking from the center of Christ’s heart, from the central place in the universe. We may ask where that place is; the poet answers:

Your kingdom of heaven, oh Man, is where you believe and love.

The ascension happens the more you practice love….

You seek Jesus Christ—he thrones not high and far;

He makes the earthly realm into His Love’s Star.[1]

---

[1] Rudolf Meyer

www.thechristiancommunity.org