2nd St. Johnstide 2018, God's Voice

St. Johnstide
John 3: 22-36

After this, Jesus and his

Egbert Codex

disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But

whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

2^nd St. Johnstide
July 1, 2018
John 3: 22-36

Here

Workshop of Titian

in the Northern Hemisphere, it is high summer. The earth is in the sun’s embrace. Meanwhile, the other side of the earth is in midwinter. With both sides of her being, the earth is looking to her sons and daughters. Her greatest wish is that the soul of humanity be joined with the Sun-Spirit, just as she herself has joined with Him. In joining with Him we will become fruitful and fulfill our divine destiny.

It is no accident that the gospel reading mentions a bride and bridegroom. For it is the time when the soul of humanity is to wed its Beloved.


St Francis of Assisi said:

I hear you singing, dear, inviting me to your limb.
I am coming, for all that we do is a
preparation for love.

I hear you singing, my Lord, inviting me to your throne.
We are coming, dear, for all the toil you have
blessed us with is a preparation to know and hold the
sacred.

I hear you singing, my soul, but how can it be that
God’s voice has now become my own?
“That’s just a wedding gift for our
Divine Union,”
my Beloved
said.* 

*A Wedding Gift”, St Francis of Assisi, in Love Poems to God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 44. 

Visit our new Website!

3rd St. Johnstide 2017, Loving Embrace

St. Johnstide

John 3: 22-36

John in Prison

After this, Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

3^rd St. Johnstide

July 9, 2017

John 3: 22-36

The plant grounds its roots in the earth; it rises and spreads its leaves into the air. And then it holds up the chalice of its blossom to the sun. It sends its fragrance and pollen heavenward, where they will be enriched (and inseminated) by the sun's life-giving rays. Into its chalice-blossom the plant receives new life, which will form in its seeds.

Without the sun, none of this would happen. The plant and its processes have their reality. But the underlying, pre-existing reality rests in the sun.

But the most real reality, the real antecedent truth behind the existence of everything, even of the sun, is God. God is the highest, the truest, the most real of all levels of reality. Far in the future, nature and all its forms will have disappeared. But God will still be, holding all in His loving embrace.

He gave us, gives us His Son, whose presence abides with us, in us, on earth. With His Son, God has given us the power to awaken His own creative potential, His divinity, within us.

As we raise the chalice of our heart, as we send the fragrance of our self-offering toward the Christ-Sun, He, humanity's bridegroom, in turn sends His life-giving grace to fill our hearts, to make fertile the seeds of divinity within us. He sends into us the highest reality of God, as seed of a new life.

Visit our Website! 

3rd St. Johnstide 2016, Fire of Love

St. Johnstide

John 3: 22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the Spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

3^rd St. Johnstide

July 10, 2016

John 3: 22-36

Cell mitosis (division)

After an egg is fertilized, there follows a rapid division, as 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 cells multiply. But the division and multiplication are directed by an over-arching wholeness. They are driven by the spirit of a living creature.

In today’s reading, the arrival of Christ Jesus in John the Baptizer’s sphere prompts a division among the people. But John understands that an over-arching spirit is driving this development. Christ has arrived as the bridegroom of humanity. And his union with us is creating a rapidly multiplying new people, a new and all-inclusive race of Christ-people. This new folk crosses and transcends the previous racial and tribal boundaries.

The ideas and thoughts of the divine world are directing this new development in humankind. The growth of the Christ folk is surrounded, warmed and enlivened by the Father’s love. The Spirit fire of a love creative of being has been ignited in humankind. It unites us and burns away selfish egotism. Individuals can feel it, like the poet who says:

Listen, I've light

in my eyes

and on my skin

the warmth of a star,

….

  And

everything alive

(and everything's

alive) is turning

into something else

as at the heart

of some annihilating

or is it creating

fire

that's burning, unseeably, always

….*

*Franz Wright, “The Fire”, in God's Silence

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd St. Johnstide 2015, Who Can Be Trusted

St. Johnstide

Florentine School, Wikimedia

John 3: 22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

St. Johnstide

July 12, 2015

John 3: 22-36

There is a part of ourselves that wants to make things happen. And to do that, we need energy and power. After all, we can’t use our power tools without plugging them into an energy source! In this earthly world, we have figured out how to create our own energy sources for our power tools.

John the Baptist also speaks about the uses of power and spiritual energy sources. ‘No one can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from higher worlds,’ he says. John 3:27 In the spiritual world we don’t create power; we receive it. For the energy source to perform spiritual deeds is generated in the heavens. We have to ‘plug in’ to a higher source.

When John says ‘I must decrease,’ he is recognizing the source and energy in the universe, which is Christ. John recognizes that he himself must depend less and less upon his own self-generated deeds and come to receive more and more of what Christ wants to generate through him. The course of John’s outer life, his beheading, seems tragic. But we know that his life continues on another , more angelic level. He is the guiding spirit of the circle of the disciples. He inspires John the Evangelist’s gospel and Book of Revelation. For within himself John the Baptist trusts in the power of the Son, the Bridegroom, and grows out of the earthly into timeless life. John 3:36  

As Psalm 15 says:

Lord, who can be trusted with power,

and who may act in your place?

Those with a passion for justice,

who speak the truth from their hearts;

who have let go of selfish interests

and grown beyond their own lives;

who see the wretched as their family

and the poor as their flesh and blood.

They alone are impartial

and worthy of the people's trust.

Their compassion lights up the whole earth,

and their kindness endures forever.[i]

 Visit our website!

---

[i] Psalm 15 (The Psalms, translations by Stephen Mitchell)

4th St. Johnstide 2007, Rest In Prayer

Sombart

St. Johnstide

John 3: 22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

Nicoletto Semitecolo

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

4^th St. Johnstide 

July 15, 2007

John 3: 22-36

To plant a seed is an exercise in trust – we trust that this tiny hard little thing we stick in the ground has the power to develop into something quite different. We trust that the seed will grow up out of the earth, into the light and air, and will undergo its enormous changes of form. These changes are generated by the life-giving power of the sun.

Something similar takes place within us. Our lives, our souls, undergo tremendous changes and development. The powers that be have planted us here on earth. They have tremendous faith in our ability to develop. They have even given us all the potential. It all depends on our capacity to trust in the power of God’s Son within us.

“Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of earthly life into timeless life.” John 3:36

If the seed were too afraid to stretch into the light and air, it would remain in the earth and moulder away. If our souls and lives are ruled by fear and anxiety, we remain chained to the earthly.

“Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life. John 3:36 The Son God is the power behind our becoming. He is the power that gives us the courage to proceed through all our changes, to keep growing, ever higher, ever deeper. We don’t need to be so anxious, so full of our own efforts. We have help.

Catherine of Sienna wrote:

The sun hears the fields talking about effort

And the sun smiles

And whispers to me

“Why don’t the fields just rest, for

I am willing to do

Everything

To help them grow?”

Rest my dears, in

Prayer.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Catherine of Sienna, “Rest in Prayer,” in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky. P. 195.

4th St. Johnstide 2008, Engage

St. Johnstide

John 3:22 - 36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon [ee’nuhn] near Salim [say’lim], because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

Balduino

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

4^th St. Johnstide

July 20, 2008

John 3: 22 – 36

Power has a kind of radiance. It moves outward and creates effects. It can be positive or negative. It can overwhelm. Love from the spirit is a bit different. It too radiates – warmth and support. But the highest form of love does not overwhelm. It invites. And it waits for assent.

Today’s gospel reading is about the difference between power and love. Some of John the Baptist’s disciples come to him complaining that one of the people he had baptized, that Jesus fellow, is preaching a path of purification that is drawing greater crowds. John emphasizes that legitimate spiritual power is granted by the divine world. John reiterates that he himself is only a forerunner of One to come.

Christ as Bridegrooom

The One to come, however will move humanity a giant step forward, step beyond power. His “power” will be the power of purest, sweetest, most warmly supportive, patient  and empathetic love; the highest love imaginable. John describes Him as the bridegroom. His bride is the human soul spirit. Indeed He is the bridegroom of the collective soul of all humanity. He gazes in love at each and every human being. He does not overwhelm. He invites. He awaits the consent to union.

Moving forward into this second half of the year, our soul is being invited to become engaged to Christ. As we move through the summer we have the opportunity to gradually approach Him, to align ourselves with Him, to develop a trust in His will, His love, His healing. We are preparing our souls and spirits for the great wedding with the King’s Son in October, at Michaelmas. We are  looking forward to the birth of the eternal spirit Child at Christmas, that will arise out of this marriage.

But first we have to engage. First we develop an active relationship of trust in this powerfully loving Divine human being, this God-Man, who is the soul’s true intended. This engagement is a matter of the heart. We will decide to betroth our soul’s heart to Christ, not because He is powerful, but because He is our great teacher of love. This love from above, from the divine heights, is food and nourishment for the soul’s journey of life. It is the protector of the generative, creating capacity of the heart.

“Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within herself, she grows out of the earthly into timeless life.” John 3:36

www.thechristiancommunity.org

4th St. Johnstide 2010, Bride Soul

 St. Johnstide

John 3: 22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

Gerhard Wagner

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

4^th St. Johnstide

July 18, 2010

John 3: 22-36

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full.” John 3: 29

John refers to Christ as the Bridegroom, and himself as the bridegroom’s

Balduino

friend. If John is the bridegroom’s best man, who then is the bride?

The bride is the soul of humanity. She is that greater entity made up of all human souls; those now living on earth, those yet to be born, those who have died. The greater Soul of Humanity yearns for her Bridegroom, just as the individual soul yearns for union with its higher self.

Every married couple, rising to a new day, reaffirms their union once again. Day by day, this affirming, this saying yes to each other, this offering of self to the other, creates a stronger and stronger bond.

Every time we celebrate the Act of Consecration of Man, we are re-celebrating, reaffirming the union of the Soul of Humanity with her Bridegroom. The souls of all on earth, the souls of those not yet born, the souls of all who have died, are invited to join with us. And at this time of the year, we also acknowledge the presence at the altar of John, the friend of the Bridegroom, he who stands by and listens. For he is the witness of the affirming of our union. We ask him to look upon this deed, to witness and strengthen the union of mankind’s Soul with Christ, her Bridegroom.  

www.thechristiancommunity.org