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!

First November Trinity 2015, Creative, Radiant

1st November Trinity

Revelation 1, 1-20

This is the unveiling of the being of Jesus Christ, which proceeds out of the divine world for those who would serve him. To them shall be revealed what must of necessity happen in the future and which powerfully presses into world events. God formed this revelation in imagery and sent it through his angel to his servant John. And so John speaks as a witness to everything he saw, that is, to the Divine Word, and to the life of Jesus Christ, which serves as a testimony. Blessed is he who knows how to read the prophetic words, and blessed are those who know how to hear them, and all who take what is written in this book into their souls; for time presses.

John, to the seven congregations in Asia:

Grace and peace to you

Durer

From Him who is, and who was, and who is coming

And from the seven creating spirits before his throne

And from Jesus Christ.

By his witnessing he is the archetype of trust.

He is the first born from the realm of death,

He is the leading spirit of the Kings on earth.

He has turned to us in love, and by the power of his blood

He has released us from the spell of sin which lay upon us.

He has established us as true kings and made us into priests

before the divine Ground of the World, his Father.

To him belongs all light of the spirit and all power of soul from aeon to aeon. Amen.

See: he comes in the realm of the clouds.

All eyes shall see him, also the eyes of those who pierced him.

And men down the ages will lament about him. Yes. Amen.

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

Thus speaks the Lord our God

who is, and who was, and who is coming

the divine ruler of the world.

I, John, your brother and your companion in all trials and also in the inner kingdom and in the power of endurance which we possess through our one-ness with Jesus: I was on the island of Patmos. There it was granted to me to receive a share of the divine Word and to bear witness to the sufferings of Jesus.

On the Lord’s Day I was lifted up to the world of spirit, and I heard behind me a mighty voice like the sound of a trumpet. It said: write what you see in a book and send it to the seven congregations: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicia.

And I turned to see him whose voice was speaking to me. And as I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, a figure like that of the Son of Man:

clothed with a long billowing garment,

encircled round his breast with a golden band;

his head and his hair shining white like snow white wool,

his eyes like a flame of fire,

his feet like burnished bronze glowing in a furnace,

his voice like the rushing of many streams of water.

In his hand he held seven stars;

from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword

and his face shone, as the sun shines in its full radiance.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet and was as if dead. But he laid his right hand upon me and said: 

“Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and look! I am living and I bear the life of the world through all aeons. Mine is the key to the realm of death and of the shades. Write down what you see: what is now, and what is to come.

The secret of the seven stars, which you see in my right hand, and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the picture in the spirit for the angels of the seven congregations, and the seven lampstands are the seven congregations themselves.”

Artist Unknown

1st November Trinity

November 1, 2015

Revelation 1, 1-20

This reading gives us the image of Christ Jesus surrounded by golden lampstands. We are told that the lampstands represents seven congregations. This implies that one of the functions of a congregation is to provide light; perhaps the light of insight, or better, to be a kind of beacon, a light that beckons towards Christ in their midst.

Christ also holds seven stars in his right hand. We might infer that these stars are an image for the seven archangels who rule the various ages of time. They are the guiding stars of the congregations. Christ holds them all in his hand.

Michael, Arild Rosenkrantz

One could perhaps imagine that each of the lampstands of the assemblage of those from each time period humanity is led by a shining star of guidance.

The guiding archangel of our time is Michael, whose name is a question: Who is like God? With the image of Christ, the Son of Man, we have an answer: the one born out of death, shining, flaming gold like the sun, with the sword of the creative word of God issuing from his mouth. And he says to us, Do not be afraid. I bear the life of the world through all aeons.  And perhaps we can hear the voice of Michael echoing, telling us as a congregation to become like the image of the Son of Man: full of life in spite of death, creative, and radiant.


Visit our Website!

3rd Michaelmas 2015, Michael Calls

2^nd, 3rd or 4th Michaelmas

Revelation 12: 1-17

Ottheinrich Folio, wikimedia

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 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 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.

3^rd Michaelmas

October 18, 2015

Revelation 12: 1-17

We have before the eye of the soul  two great images. They are the cosmic eternal feminine, the soul of humanity, laboring to give birth to the son who will shepherd nations. And we see the destructive, devouring red dragon, full of rage, who tries to prevent this.

And we are told that the hosts of the Archangel Michael have thrust this

Breugel the Elder, Fall of the Rebel Angels, wikimedia

destructive being and his minions onto the earth. Michael has done so in order to cleanse the heavenly realms, so that Christ’s healing and transforming power, his power to spiritualize, can work unhindered from the heavens.

But woe to us. The dragon has come down to us, seething in measureless fury. Recent events can prompt us to ask: why does God allow war and massacre; why does he allow such tragedies to happen to innocent people? But that is the wrong question. Given the fact that it was necessary for the dragon to be sent down to earth, the question now comes toward us, from Michael’s heavenly hosts: How is it that human beings allow such tragedies to happen?

The beings who oppose our human development are making war upon us. We have the armor of God, the armor of truth, trust and peaceful intentions to protect us. It is now the task of the human world to keep the dragon in check; to keep the dragon’s fury and destruction from infecting our souls and destroying the earth. Should we choose to accept the task, Michael, the strong leader of Christ’s heavenly forces on earth, will come to our aid.

Amid the storm of the world,

In which our souls share

We seek the leader of the Angel-host,

Michael, who casts down the Dragon.

Into our thoughts may come through him
The sense of gentle awe,

Of patient reverence for the hidden wisdom

That is in all things.

And in our acts his courage

Will overcome the cramping fear

Which makes a slave of man.

Michael calls, when autumn darkens earth;

He leads to Christ, and fights for Christ, for ever;

So may we follow him, and fight beside him

Against the Dragon with enduring fire.[1]

Visit our website!

---

[1] Adam Bittleston, “Michael I”, in Meditative Prayers for Today, purchase here

4th Michaelmas 2014, Lose the Game

4^th Michaelmas

October 26, 2014

Revelation 19: 11-16

Tolkovy Apocalypse

And I saw the heavens opening up. And behold, a white horse! And the rider who sat upon it is called faithful and true, who judges justly and battles for justice. His eyes are like flames of fire, and his head wears many crowns, inscribed with a name which no one knows but he himself. The cloak that covers him has been dipped in blood, and he is known by the name “Word of God”.

And the warriors of the sky ride behind him upon white steeds, clad in clean, white linen. And he has a sharp-edged sword coming out of his mouth with which to subdue the nations, and he will shepherd them with a staff of iron. He treads on the winepress holding the wine of the wrath of the will of God, the ruler of all.

And written on his cloak and on his thigh is the name: King of all kings, Lord of all lords.

4^th Michaelmas

October 26, 2014

Revelation 19: 11-16

In a game like chess, there are rules. Certain moves are allowed and others aren’t. All the moves are sequential. All the moves will ultimately have their consequences.

God created the greater universe with a certain structural integrity. Things happen in a certain way, in a certain order. There are consequences for everything that happens. Thank goodness!

Last week’s reading gave us the image of the great feminine archetype, the soul of humanity. She is impregnated with the sun-radiant Son of God. She struggles to give birth to the Son of Man, God within and among us. In today’s reading, we hear of how this Son of Man operates when he is fully grown. He battles to maintain the greater order, the order of justice and just consequences. He, humanity’s great I AM, the Creating Word of God, subdues the nations. God’s love for us and ours for Him is not to be supplanted by a nationalistic and warring love of nation that destroys other nations. That time in the game has passed. That belonged to the Gabrielic age, the age of exploration and dominance.

Now we are well into the age of Michael. It is the age of the family of humankind. If humanity continues to make unjust wars based on greed and national interests, we will have to experience the other side of God’s love: we will experience the wrath which is the natural consequence of our defying the greater order. If humanity continues to ignore what is truly just, truly in line with the greater game plan that God has put into place, we will be defeated by our own maneuvers. We will not be allowed to up-end the chess board. If we break the rules, set ourselves against the greater reality of the way things are, we can only ultimately lose the game.

Visit our Website!

3rd Michaelmas 2014, She is Vulnerable

3^rd Michaelmas

October 19, 2014

Revelation 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.

Michael, Durer

And a war flared up in the 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 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.

3^rd Michaelmas

October 19, 2014

Revelation 12: 1-17

When we undertake to create something new, something that has never before existed, there is a period of laboring. And in this creative struggle, we are vulnerable. We can become anxious about whether we can achieve the new; we can be anxious about whether our inner and outer resources will suffice; we can experience inner and out opposition to what we are trying to achieve.

Humankind is struggling to give birth to a new way of being. The cosmic woman in the gospel reading is crowned with ideals from the realm of the stars. She is clothed with sun-radiant loving kindness; she stands upon earthly deeds done in justice, in accordance with reason and God’s higher purposes. She is the soul of humanity.

Glorification of the Virgin, St. Jans

She is vulnerable. She is being attacked by the universal many-headed dragon of fear and doubt, of hatred and greed. For the dragon and his minions have been cast down onto the earth by the progressive powers that serve the good. Michael and his angels have cleared the heavens of pollution, so that from there they can send us powers of healing, powers of transformation, powers of spiritualization. It is these powers for the good that humanity is trying to gestate.  These are the powers of Christ in us.

Yes, we are persecuted by powers of destruction. But at the same time, we are protected. We have been given the wings of prayer, the wings of meditation, the wings of the sacraments and community life. They bring us to the protected place, the place of divine nourishment. And we can know that the dragon’s persecution is ordained by God to last only for a short time. This is why the dragon ‘seethes in measureless fury.’ For his time is short. And his power to destroy everything is thwarted.

Visit our Website!