Whitsun (Pentecost) 2022, The Human Form Divine

Pentecost

John 14:23-31 

Tina Chwala

Jesus replied, "Whoever truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and prepare with them a dwelling in the everlasting [or, an eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me. 

"I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you. 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. 

"You have heard how I said to you, 'I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father(ly Ground of the World), for the Father is mightier than I am. 

I have told you now before it happens so that when it happens, you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon, the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power. 

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father (Ground of the World) and how I act according to the Father's purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [or, let us be on our way.]

Whitsun (Pentecost)

June 5, 2022

John 14: 23-31 

Many seeds, like sunflower seeds, are often flame-shaped. If we could see behind the way they look to our ordinary senses, we would see that they are indeed little flames, glowing with life, awaiting the right conditions.
 

Ain Vares

On that fiftieth day after Easter, described in Acts 2, the disciples were in the upper room where the Last Supper had been held. They were all together of one accord. They heard the rushing sound of a mighty breath, and flames appeared above each head. Suddenly they understood the meaning of Christ’s life. They were enlightened and filled with wisdom. Glowing with enthusiasm, they begin to pour out love in words and deeds. That day they baptized, immersing in the waters of life, three thousand people gathered from all around the world. 

The heart seeds of the next phase of Christ’s life had begun to burn within them, to burst into creative flame and grow. A new kind of human form is born –  a human form connected with its origins in the Father, working with the Spirit through Christ the Son. This new humanity is described by Blake: 

Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love

Is God our Father dear,

And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love

Is Man, His child and care.

 

For Mercy has a human heart

Pity a human face

And Love, the human form divine

And Peace, the human dress.* 

Christ came to earth as the Divine Human Being. Christ comes again, in us, through us, in the Human Form Divine. He manifests his Spirit as mercy and forgiveness in human hearts, as the compassion and empathy shining from human faces. He takes form as deeds of Love, clothed in Peace. “My peace I give you,” He says. It is a peace that comes from connecting with our own divinity through Him. 

The seeds of the Human Form Divine have been planted in all human hearts. They burn there quietly. They are waiting until hearts drink in Him, who is the water of life. Then will the Human Form Divine arise. Then do his flames of love and peace reveal His Spirit through human hearts, shining from human faces, in human form. Then do Christ’s deeds become what we do.  

* William Blake, “The Divine Image,” in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, J. K. Morrison, p. 139

www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

 

Whitsun (Pentecost) 2021, Don' Mind the Fire

 

Pentecost

John 14:23-31 

Jesus replied, "Whoever truly loves me reveals

Mark Wiggin

my Spirit, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and prepare with them a dwelling in the everlasting [or, an eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me. 

"I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you. 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. 

"You have heard how I said to you, 'I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father(ly Ground of the World), for the Father is mightier than I am. 

I have told you now before it happens so that when it happens, you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon, the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power. 

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father (Ground of the World) and how I act according to the Father's purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise,  let us be on our way. 

Whitsunday

May 23, 2021

John 14:23-31

 

Fra Angelico

At the first Pentecost event, the disciples see a mighty fire that divides itself into separate flames. Each flame comes to rest over the head of each of them. 

In paintings by Fra Angelico, the flame also appears above the heads of angels. It is the symbol of an expanded awareness. The flames are the fire of love, a love which creates. These flames are an awareness that a river of love, the water of life, flows through all of creation, pervading the entire universe. 

A sudden awareness of the love that creates and bears the universe can at the same time make us aware of our own shortcomings in the realm of love. How loveless we can sometimes be! This painful self-awareness becomes the fire that burns, that burns away the dross of our selfish egotism. Once overcome, however, we can then proceed to generate the fire and warmth of a quiet but enthusiastic love for others, especially for those whose path is different from ours. We can generate an enthusiastic love for the truth. We can generate enthusiasm for deeds of service. 

The poet Rumi helps us become aware of our fear of this transformation of the lower self. He says: 

On the left is a blazing fire and

On my right a cool flowing stream

One group of people walk toward the fire, into the fire

And the other toward the cool flowing waters

No one knows which is blessed and which is not.

Robby Donahey

But just as someone enters the fire,

That head bobs up from the water

And just as a head enters the water

That face appears in the fire….

The voice of the fire says:

I am not fire, I am fountainhead

Come into me, and don’t mind the sparks. 

Our true self is a fire that burns; it burns away egotism; it burns unextinguished in the waters of life-giving love.

 www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

Whitsun III, Good Will

Pentecost

John 14:23-31

Jesus replied, “Whoever truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and prepare with them a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens, you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon, the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act according to the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Pentecost III

John 14: 23-31

June 2020

At the Christmas altar we saw in golden letters: Peace on earth to all of good will. What does it mean to be of good will? Perhaps its opposite can point us toward an understanding. 

Ill will broods darkness. It sends negativity into the heart space between two people.  It either pushes hard on the other, or else it retreats. It poisons the heart space with its destructive criticism and contempt. It binds with chains of hatred.

Good will, on the other hand, holds the other in positive regard. Good will keeps the heart space between us clean and clear. It neither pushes past boundaries nor withdraws. It regards the will of another as a Holy of Holies, into which one can enter only by invitation, and with respect and reverence before their mystery. This kind of will is good because, like a candle flame, it radiates light and warmth in just the right degree. Good will allows the other to be and develop as he or she sees fit, at their own pace.

Christ says: He who loves me reveals my spirit. Good will arises because we love and recognize Christ, wherever he appears. He sacrificed his will to the Father for the sake of World Karma. He offered up his Life forces, his powers of metamorphosis and change, for the sake of humanity’s progress. At the same time, He does not force himself on us, or overwhelm us. He too respects our freedom of choice. His radiant will offers light in the darkness, love amidst hatred, life over death.

We who love Him connect with Him, take His radiant will into our will. Perhaps we can manage it only for moments (and we hope at the right moment!) But eventually, we will transform ourselves into those who reveal to our fellow human beings His Spirit of Love, streaming forth from our own willing hearts.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

cynthiahindes.blogspot.com

 

Whitsun II, 2020, Higher Truth

Pentecost

John 14:23-31

Jesus replied, “Whoever truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and prepare with them a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens, you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon, the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act according to the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Whitsun II

John 14:23-31

June 2020

We human spirits are enclosed in earthly bodies, enclosed in our own skin. This is what helps give us a sense of selfhood on earth – that we and no other can occupy the space we take up. It leads us to a sense of independence and gives us a taste of freedom. Yet that same sense of self is an illusion. For we are fully dependent upon the work of others for the maintenance of our earthly existence.  Their work feeds and clothes us. We all breathe the same air. And we are dependent upon the Divine for every breath we take, for the very fact that we exist, alive, at all.

The commands of Christ are simple, yet infinitely difficult for us. Christ asks us to remember the Father of Life and to send him our gratitude. And Christ asks us to acknowledge with humble gratitude the importance of others in our lives. Our heartfelt thoughts of gratitude, our awareness that we are all woven together in a great tapestry of destiny, that the other is striving and evolving, just as we are, all these become in us the basis for an objective spiritual love. It creates the potential for a living circulation of mutual support between us and the beings of the spiritual world; support between us and all others; and between us and the beings of the natural world.

Out of this gratitude and love, which we strive to engender within ourselves, Christ can appear. Within our striving, the Father’s Healing Spirit works. He stands by us in every moment. Our gratitude creates a portal for the Spirit of higher Truth to enter our understanding.

 www.thechristiancommunity.org

cynthiahindes.blogspot.com

Whitsun 2020, Baptized with Fire

Pentecost

John 14:23-31

Jan van Kalkar

Jesus replied, “Whoever truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and prepare with them a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens, you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon, the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act according to the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Pentecost I

John 14:23-31

May 31, 2020

Codex Egberti

In the event of the Pentecost festival that we celebrate today, the disciples are together in the upper room, praying together and waiting. The mighty wind of the spirit blows through and a spirit fire descends and tongues of flame appear above the heads of each. Their understanding of the events of Jesus’ life and death lights up. Legend has it that at that moment, each disciple uttered one sentence of his understanding, which came together as a whole in the creed.

The gospel reading seems to veil this event. Yet its elements are there: Christ speaks of preserving each individual by preparing for each their own spiritual dwelling place. Their uniqueness will not be erased. And at the same time, Christ brings a harmonizing peace. His is not the peace of suppression, like the Romans of His time, but rather the peace of freedom and understanding. The source of world strife, the narrow insistence on one’s own point of view as the only valid one, is fitted harmoniously into a greater whole. Instead of nullifying each other, each sentence contributes to a greater understanding of the whole. They do not invalidate each other.

This is the Spirit that Christ sends: A holistic spirit, the spirit of enlightenment. It is a spirit, creative of being, that enkindles a fire of love. It is a spirit that heals the rifts and tears in the body politic, in our interactions with one another. For together we are forming a higher body for Christ to live and work in. Christ sends his Spirit of love for the healing of the world. The original event is a model:

They all sat silent, watching, waiting, waiting….

Sr. Mary Stephen

Suddenly the heavens broke upon them

And sevenfold lightning flashed

And whirlwind swept all darks asunder

And tongues of flame descended on them.

Baptized they were with Fire, with the Holy Spirit,

The Word of Christ was born in them.

And so they rose

            And went out to the multitude,

Disciples of Christ—His Life, His Death—

Bearers of the Word to all humankind.*

*Adapted from Francis Edmunds, “Words for Whitsun”

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Whitsun (Pentecost) 2019, Baptism of Fire

Whitsun (Pentecost)

John 14: 23-31 (adapted from Madsen)

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]"

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

Whitsun

June 9, 2019

John 14: 23 -31

In a children’s story, the element of fire asks the Son of God how it can serve Him. He tells the fire that in order to serve Him, it must cease to burn, cease to consume; it must die so that the Son of God can awaken it to a new life of service. So the element of fire dies down and is extinguished. Then it is resurrected, rekindled as warm flames of love for God in the hearts of those who love Him.

In our own lives, our hearts can burn for many things. Our desire life can consume us, consume our resources, consume our relationships.

But drawing Christ’s power of sacrifice into our hearts can help us to bank the fires of desire; we can voluntarily extinguish them so that they can be transformed into love; the warmth of a love that serves others, that serves Christ in his evolving of the world. For Christ’s love, His heart, is a fire at the center of the world. His is the fire that generates an existence beyond time.  A poet caught a glimpse of this creative fire:

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

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Whitsun (Pentecost) 2018, Vessel for Flame

Pentecost
John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. [have no fear.]

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.
I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Whitsun I
May 20, 2018
John 14: 23-31

Continuously the sun streams its warmth and light onto the earth. It stimulates and supports the life of the plants. It warms and sustains both our bodies and our souls. For the warmth of the sunlight is the vehicle for the light of God’s life-giving love.

On the first Pentecost, or

St. Albans

Whitsun, the disciples are sitting together, mourning the loss of their Beloved at his Ascension ten days earlier. In his expansion into the earth and air, He was lost to their view. At Pentecost, at first, they experience a movement of air, the sound of a mighty wind. And then a fire, the warmth of the sun, descends and divides itself into single flames. A single flame comes to rest on each one of them. And they are filled with God’s Spirit of understanding and connecting love.

There are times in our lives, too, when we have our Whitsun moments. A flame of warmth descends; we sense it, we open to it—the fire of a creative love. We become vessels for God’s love, His light, His purpose for the earth. For a moment we become shining suns on earth.

There are words to a hymn that express this wish of ours, to be a vessel:

Come Down, O Love Divine
Seek thou this soul of mine
And visit it with thine own ardor glowing
O Comforter draw near
Within my heart appear
And kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

…For none can guess its grace
Till he becomes the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.*

* “Come Down, O Love Divine”, words by Bianco da Siena, translated by R. F. Littledale, set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

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Whit-Tuesday 2017, At Peace

Pentecost

John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Pentecost

Whit-Tuesday, June 7, 2017

John 14: 23-31

The state of the world is troubling. We are learning that the outer world cannot give us the sense of safety and protection it once did. The very cultural ground on which we base our lives seems to be shifting. We often lack a sense of peace.

Perhaps this is because we are looking for peace in the wrong places. In the Act of Consecration, the Communion service, we hear Christ say, 'I stand at peace with the world.' Astonishing! How can He, when so much seems so wrong? This is because He does not derive His peace from the state of the world itself. He derives it from His union with the Father's love. He has united Himself, His will and purpose, with the Father's will for the karma of the world.

The Father's will for the whole world is larger and far more complex than we can even begin to imagine. But we can trust that He has our best interests at heart. We can quell our sense of fear and anxiety by realizing that we will be given what we need in order to cope with what comes. We can remain open to the lessons by not expecting to have everything go the way our little ego wants. We can receive Christ's peace because we know that the decision has already been made about the prince of this world. (John 16:11)

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Whit-Monday 2017, You Know Him

Luca Rosetti da Orta

Whitsun

John 14: 15 -26

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Whitsun II

Monday, June 5, 2017

John 14: 15 -26

Every day of our lives, the sun has risen. Its timing may drift over the course of the year. But we trust, we know that the sun will rise tomorrow. Experience has taught us this.

Our experience has also given us other knowledge. We have learned to trust, in whatever degree we can, in others. We have learned how much we can (or cannot) rely on outer circumstances.

There is One in whom we can trust absolutely. God, the Father, His Son and His healing Spirit, love us unconditionally. They are always offering us strength, encouragement, and hope. Just beyond our seeing, they wait for us to open to them. They clearly differentiate between what is ours to deal with, especially outwardly, and what they can rightly arrange for us. They are always willing to strengthen the capacities we need to cope with circumstances.

We can always ask for the strength to fulfill what the Divine Will has in mind for us. We can ask for the light that reveals our purpose on earth. We can ask for peace in fulfilling the destiny we have brought with us to earth. And we will be answered, for as Christ says:

"I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, the giver of spirit-courage, to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know Him, for He guides you as a higher being above you and He will enter your innermost heart." John 14: 16-17 (Madsen)

Whitsun (Pentecost) 2017,Effective on Earth

Pentecost

Wikimedia

John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here [let us be on our way."]

Pentecost

June 4, 2017

John 14: 23-31

When we look out at the world with our ordinary eyes, we see shapes and colors, things, animals and people. We need other eyes to see what is really there. For behind what our earthly senses can perceive, the atmosphere of the world is filled with a flowing, life-giving love. Our heavenly Father has suffused the universe with His love, and with the highest possible sense of rightness for all.

He has sent us to fields of earth. At the core of each individual soul, He has placed a drop of his divine love. He hopes that we will learn to develop and grow that core of love within us; that we will teach ourselves to choose to love.

Operating out of this core of divine love brings peace into our souls. This love fuels our ability to feel our way into others, to accurately imagine in empathy their situation and inner state. This love allows us to recognize what we can do for them. This is the love that allows peace to spread into the world.

The Father's healing Spirit of love is the measure by which we recognize whether we have lived up to our Father's will. For the Father's will to love is what reigns in the heavens. It is up to us to make it effective on the earth.

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Whitsun 2016, Eye of the Beholder

Pentecost

John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me, he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act by the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Pentecost (Whitsun)

May 15, 2016

John 14: 23-31

The manner and mood in which we look at the world determine to a great extent what we will see. And our attitude also influences how the world responds to us.

R. Acosta

Even our idioms reflect this. We speak of a bird’s eye view – seeing the panorama – or a worm’s eye view – the details at ground level. We speak of turning a blind eye, seeing with a jaundiced eye, of giving the stink eye or the evil eye.

We can also see with stars in our eyes. We remind ourselves that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

In today’s reading, Christ speaks of love as a kind of eye. To know Christ, to see him best, we must look for him with the eyes of love. And whoever loves Christ also looks at the world with such eyes. And furthermore, anyone beholding this love shining forth is seeing something of Christ’s spirit. “He who loves me reveals my spirit.

The Father gives the world its being and substance, its existence. God, the Son, brings everything alive, gives the world and  us the power of creative becoming, the power to change and evolve. Seeing with the eyes of Christ means being able to see beyond what is, to what is evolving, to what will be.

The Spirit of the Father and the Son is

the spirit of healing. What is broken can be mended; what is ill can become healthy. Those who love Christ reveal his health-bringing spirit because they gaze upon the world with love and understanding. They see clearly both from the worm’s eye and the eagle eye view. And they see with the starry eyes of one who knows where all comes from, and where all is intending. They see the beauty of what is evolving. And patiently they tend it. 

Whitsun III, Good Will

Pentecost, wiki commons

Pentecost

John 14: 23-31

Jesus replied, “He who truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. He who does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

I have said this to you while I am still with you. But he who is called down, the health-bringing Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will awaken within you all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid [have no fear].

You have heard how I said to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would rejoice because I am going to the Father[ly Ground of the World], for the Father is mightier than I am.

I have told you now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the prince of this world is coming. Yet over me he has no power.

But the world shall see in this how I love the Father [Ground of the World] and how I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me. Arise, let us go on from here. [let us be on our way.]

Pentecost 

John 14: 23-31

May 26, 2015

On the Christmas altar we read in golden letters: Peace on earth to all of good will. What does it mean to be of good will? Perhaps its opposite can point us toward an understanding. Ill will broods darkness. It sends negativity into the heart space between two people.  It either pushes hard on the other, or else it retreats. It poisons the heart space with its destructive criticism and contempt. It binds with chains of hatred.

Good will, on the other hand, holds the other in positive regard. Good will keeps the heart space in common clean and clear. It neither pushes nor withdraws. It regards the will of another as a Holy of Holies, into which one can enter only by invitation, and with respect and reverence before their mystery. This kind of will is good because, like a candle flame, it radiates light and warmth in just the right degree. Good will allows the other to be and develop as he or she sees fit, at their own pace.

Christ says: He who loves me reveals my spirit. Good will arises because we love and recognize Christ, wherever he appears. He sacrificed his will to the Father for the sake of World Karma. He offered up his Life forces, his powers of metamorphosis and change, for the sake of humanity’s progress. At the same time, He does not force himself on us, or overwhelm us. He respects our freedom of choice. His radiant will offers light in the darkness, love amidst hatred, life over death.

We who love Him connect with Him, take His radiant will into our will. Perhaps we can manage it only for moments (we hope the right moment!) But eventually we will transform ourselves into those who reveal to our fellow human beings His Spirit of Love and Peace, streaming forth from our own willing hearts.