2nd November Trinity 2017, Stand in Awe

3rd Nov Trinity
Revelation 14,1-20   

And I looked, and there was the picture of the Lamb, standing atop Mt. Zion and with him one hundred forty-four thousand having his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
     
And I listened and heard a voice from the heavens, a voice like a mighty rush of waters, and like a mighty thunderclap—the voice I heard was like the voices of harpists playing on their harps.

And they all sing a new song, there in front of the throne and in front of the four creatures and the elders, and no one could learn the song but the one hundred forty-four thousand ransomed from the earth. These are the ones who did not defile themselves by the straying, through which the spiritual in man is betrayed; they have remained virginal [pure] in their inmost being and follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were ransomed as the seed of a new humanity which belongs to the Father God and to the Lamb. Deceit and lies are not found in their mouths; pure and unblemished are they in their innermost being.

And I looked and saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, bringing the good news which is good news forever to those live on earth—to every race and nation and every tongue and folk. And the angel cried out with a great voice, saying:

“Stand in awe of God and turn to honor him. For we have come to the hour of his divine decision. Raise yourself in prayer to him who in truth created the heavens and the earth and the sea and all the springs of water.”

And a second angel followed, who said, “Fallen, fallen is the great city of Babylon, who made all nations drink of the wine of her sacrilege, in order to draw the holy into misuse.”

And a third angel followed them, who cried out with a powerful voice: “Whoever adores the beast and its likeness and accepts its stamp on forehead or hand, he will drink of the wine of God’s anger, thick and strong and undiluted, from the cup of his wrath. And in the presence of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb shall anger be transformed into pain like the pain of fire and sulfur.

Their suffering rises and darkens the encircling air like smoke through the cycles of time. And day and night those who made the beast into their god, who honored its picture as the highest, who took its being into their innermost being, find no peace. In this place however there works the power of the steadfast endurance of those who have taken the healing power of the Spirit into themselves, who have fulfilled the goals of the Spirit, and who have worked trusting in Jesus’ healing deed.

And I heard a voice out of the worlds of

Spirit which said, “Write this down: People of heaven are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the spirit, let them rest from their efforts and labors, since their good deeds, the fruits of their lives, are not lost along their paths of soul, but have preceded them here.

And I looked, and suddenly I saw in the spirit a white cloud, and seated upon the cloud the figure of a son of humanity, with a golden crown upon his head and a sharpened sickle. And another angel stepped forth from the temple crying with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud:

“Let your sickle go forth and harvest, for the hour of harvest has come; ripe and dry and firm are the crops of the earth.”

And the one seated on the cloud threw his sickle down upon the events on earth, and the earth’s crop was harvested.

And again another angel came out of the temple in the heavens, and he too held a sharpened sickle. And a further angel came out who tended the fire at the altar. He cried out with a mighty voice to him who held the sharpened sickle and said, “Let your sickle go forth and harvest the grapevines of the earth, for their grapes have reached their prime.”

So the angel threw his sickle down to the events on earth, and he harvested the earth’s vineyard and threw the grapes into the great winepress of God’s anger. And they took the winepress outside the city and trampled the grapes. Blood flowed from the winepress that reached to the muzzles of the horses for sixteen hundred miles around.

Nov 5, 2017
Revelation 14: 1-20
Revelations 14:7

“Stand in awe of God and honor him. For we have come to the hour of his divine decision. Raise yourself in prayer to him who in truth created the heavens and the earth….’ Revelations 14:7

This year’s leaves are falling from the trees. They have finished their work of drinking sunlight, and so the tree lets them go. But just where the old leaf attached to the branch, the tree has already formed the buds of next year’s leaves. The tree will remain standing bare, over-wintering, yet already equipped to be able to drink in the light of the future.

Our lives, too, have had their old leaves, long since left behind. Even our bodies have let go of old forms—infancy, childhood, youth, maturity—all give way. But the buds, the seed of the next phase are already laid down.

When the body itself falls away, we will find that we have already formed the buds for the next life. The reading hints at this: ‘Stand in awe of God and turn to honor him….Raise yourself in prayer….’ Rev. 14:7

Our prayers of praise and honor, our prayers of thanksgiving, form the buds for our future life after life. Praise and thanksgiving are the buds for a new humanity. Those who praise and give thanks in the purity of their inmost heart ‘…have been brought out of humankind to become the foundation of a new humanity, which belongs to God and to the Lamb. Rev. 14:4

And so we pray:

Master of beauty, craftsman of the snowflake,
inimitable contriver,
endower of Earth so gorgeous…
thank you for such as it is my gift.

I have made up a morning prayer to you
containing with precision everything that most matters.
'According to Thy will,' the thing begins….

I only as far as gratitude & awe
confidently & absolutely go.

…Whatever your end may be, accept my amazement.
May I stand until death forever at attention
for any your least instruction or enlightenment.
I even feel sure you will assist me again, Master of insight & beauty.*

*John Berryman, “Eleven Addresses to the Lord” in Collected Poems

Easter Sunday, 2017, Weaving Fires of Fate

Easter Sunday 

Mark 16: 1-18

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tombAnd looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large.

Mileseva Monastery

And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”

And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.

When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.

Vonesch

After this, He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

Afterwards, He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it  [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing forces to them.

Easter Sunday

April 16, 2017

Mark 16: 1-18

Tourmaline

Even if they are beautiful, stones are lifeless. The only change they are capable of is turning into dust. They symbolize what is hardened and dead, inert. Living things, by contrast, are capable of a thousand transformations.

There are such stony, deadened elements in our own nature – the mineral element in our bodies; the old habits of mind and body that no longer serve; the protective shells around our hearts.

The women at the grave ask, "Who will roll away the stone for us?" It is their intention to set aside what is lifeless. And in answer, they see that it has been done. They see an angel, a Son of Life, sitting on the right side – the active side – of the tomb. For from that moment, death is no longer inert. Death has become a portal into something transformative, something living. It has become a portal into a new kind of life.

Christ's transformative power inhabits death. It gives us the strength to overcome the deadened parts of ourselves - our useless habits, our hardened hearts. With Him, we can overcome the death-dealing forces in us. With Him, we can learn to speak a new language, a language of uprightness and healing; a language of love.

We each have our own angel, sitting beside the grave of our heart; all we need to do is to set an intention, set the intention toward what is living and transforming, and ask our ever-active angel, devoted to Christ:

 Burne-Jones

You, my heavenly friend, my Angel

You who've accompanied me to the earth,

And you who will accompany me through the gates

of death . . .

Do not cease to enlighten me, to strengthen me, to counsel me,

So that from the weaving fires of fate,

I may emerge a stronger vessel of destiny

and more and more learn to fill myself

with the meaning of God's World goals . . . *

* "Guardian Angel Meditation", Ernst Karl Plachner, (not Rudolf Steiner)

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3rd Epiphany 2017, Love Thaws

3rd Epiphany

Matthew 8, 1-13

When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And behold, a man with leprosy approached him, and kneeling down before him said, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

And immediately he was cleared of his leprosy. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priests and offer to them the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony of your cleansing.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Roman captain, leader of a hundred soldiers, approached him, pleading with him and saying, “Lord, my boy lies at home, paralyzed, suffering great pain.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Just say a word, and my boy will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. If I say one word to this one—‘Go, ’ he goes, and if I tell another ‘Come,’ he comes. If I tell my servant ‘Do this,’ he does it.

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, the truth I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great power of trust. And I tell you, that many will come from the east and from the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the darkness of [godforsaken] external existence, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go home.  Let it be done to you as you have believed.”

And the boy was healed in that hour.

3rd Epiphany

January 22, 2017

Matthew 8, 1-13

Today we hear of two different healings. The leper asks for his own healing. The centurion asks for the healing of another's suffering and paralysis. Furthermore, the centurion humbly asks for a healing at a distance. Christ responds, both with a healing and with warm praise for his trust.

We, too, like the centurion, are used to controlling certain things, making them happen. And at other times, especially when praying for another, we recognize that Christ can work at a distance.

In the Act of Consecration, we, like the centurion, are humbly aware of illness. It this case, it is the illness of our own soul and bodily constitution. Before communion, the priest acknowledges that Christ is entering a dwelling that is sick. And at the same time, there is humble trust in the power of Christ's Word of Healing.

Jane Delaford Taylor

Christ heals because He loves. He stands respectfully at a distance, waiting for us to approach. It is our trust in Him which allows Him to ease our suffering and paralysis of soul. 

As Theresa of Avila says,

And God is always there, if you feel wounded.  He kneels

over this earth like

a divine medic,

and His love thaws

the holy in us.*

St. Teresa of Avila, "When the Holy Thaws," in Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West --versions by Daniel Ladinsky

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Christmas Dawn 2016, Healing

Christmas II Luke 2: 1-20

Now is proclaimed the [middle of the Gospel[s], according to Luke in the second chapter.

Newbatt

Now it came to pass in those days that a proclamation went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone set out to be enrolled, each to the town of his ancestors.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David. He went to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed. And Mary was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the time was fulfilled for her to be delivered. And she bore her son, her first-born. And she wrapped him in linen and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

Marie-Laure Viriot

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks in the night. And an angel of the Lord came upon them [appeared before them] and the light of the revelation of God shone about them. And great fear came upon them [they felt the fear of fears].

But the angel said to them,

“Do not be afraid; for I announce to you a great joy, which shall be for all men on earth: today is born unto you the Bringer of Healing, in the city of David,

Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign for you: you will find a little child wrapped in linen, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly around the angel was the fullness of the heavenly angelic hosts: their song of praise sounded forth to the highest:

God’s Spirit reveals itself in the heights

And brings peace to men of earth

In whose hearts good will dwells!

Marie-Laure Viriot

And as the angels withdrew from them into the heavens, the shepherds said to one another:

“Let us go to Bethlehem to see the fulfillment of the Word that has happened here, which the Lord let be proclaimed.”

And they came hastening and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known the Word that was spoken to them concerning this child. [or, When they saw that, they understood what had been told them concerning this child.] And all who heard it were astonished about what the shepherds said.

But Mary treasured [preserved] all these words, pondering them [turning them over] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God to everyone for everything they had heard and seen, which was just as it had been announced to them.

Christmas II

Dec 25, 2016

Luke 2: 1-20

Newbatt

Here on this Christmas morning, we hear the ever-present story of the first Christmas, the first Christ-Coming: the birth, the glory of angels, the shepherds' hastening to His presence. They pass along the angel's announcement. And Mary ponders it all in her heart.

This great event draws near to us every Christmas morning. We can feel Him, theCreative Word of God, drawing near. For the birth of Christ wants to become a reality in every human heart. We ask that we join in his new and present creating.

May our speech be filtered and warmed by His love. May He fortify our will, keep it good, so that we can devote ourselves in strength for the Healing Spirit's work in our present time.  May we do the work of healing what is ill, healing what is divided and broken. Like the shepherds, we can begin to understand. And like Mary, we can ponder and preserve the Creative Word of God, the Word of Wisdom and Love, within our hearts. So that when time is right, we can act, filled with His peace.

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Christmas Midnight 2016, Be a Beginner

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1: 1-25

[Now is proclaimed the beginning of the whole Gospel, according to Matthew in the first chapter.]

This is the book of the new creation, which has happened through Jesus Christ [or, the generation of

Tree of Jesse, Hildesheim

Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.

 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

   Isaac the father of Jacob,

   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

   Perez the father of Hezron,

   Hezron the father of Ram,

  Ram the father of Amminadab,

   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

   Nahshon the father of Salmon,

  Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

   Obed the father of Jesse,

  and Jesse the father of King David.

   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

  Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

   Abijah the father of Asa,

  Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

  Uzziah the father of Jotham,

   Jotham the father of Ahaz,

   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

  Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

   Manasseh the father of Amon,

   Amon the father of Josiah,

  and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

  After the exile to Babylon:

   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

  Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

   Abihud the father of Eliakim,

   Eliakim the father of Azor,

  Azor the father of Zadok,

   Zadok the father of Akim,

   Akim the father of Elihud,

  Elihud the father of Eleazar,

   Eleazar the father of Matthan,

   Matthan the father of Jacob,

  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

From Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph. But before they were aware of having come together, she conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, however, her husband, who was an upright man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, was considering whether he should quietly set her free [or, decided to consider all this a mystery.] As he was pondering this, behold the angel of the Lord appeared before him in a dream and said to him:

Joseph's Dream, Goya

 “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because that which is to be born of her is conceived out of the power of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus, that is, the Bringer of Healing, for he it will be who will heal his own of their error and guilt. “

All this took place so that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of the prophet, might be fulfilled:

“A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, that is, God in our midst.”

               

Now when Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord directed him, and he took Mary to himself as his wife, and he knew her not until she bore her son, and he gave him the name Jesus.

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1: 1-25

When some new stage of development is to begin, there is first a kind of review of the past. For the new is always built on the foundation of the old.

In this reading, we hear of the long line of forty-two ancestors who prepared a suitable body for the coming of Christ. Meanwhile, humanity had sunk further and further into the darkness of separation from the Divine. And the darkness of this separation had made men weak and ill.

Christmas, Ninetta Sombart

At the midnight hour, the Light of Grace begins to shine. The glorious radiance of the Divine Father's plan for healing the sickness of separation begins to shine on earth. A body for the coming Light of the World is born. Humankind stands before a new beginning. An angel announces to Joseph that his role is to protect and help carry out this plan of development. Soon Herod's darkness will try to put out the Light. But for now, the child is developing in the womb of worlds, in ripening glory.

Every year, we stand before the same mystery of renewal. And every year we, too, are to protect what is developing. We are to protect what is good, what is true, what is beautiful, developing in the womb of our soul. For a new stage is beginning. In the words of Rilke: If the angel deigns to come, it will be because you have convinced her, not by tears, but by your humble resolve to be always beginning; to be a beginner.

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4th Advent 2016, Have No Fear

2^nd 3^rd or 4^th Advent

Annunciation, Rogier van der Weyden, WikiCommons

Luke 1: 26-38

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was confused at those words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,

And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom will have no end. “

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?”

Visitation, van der Weyden

And the angel answered and said to her,

 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

And for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”

 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “

And the angel departed from her.

4nd Advent

December 18, 2016

Luke 1: 26-38

An angel of the Lord comes to Mary. He tells her not to be afraid. She will conceive. She will bear the Lord's Son. This will happen through the creative, engendering power of God's healing Spirit. Mary's response is to humbly declare herself to be God's servant. She assents to the will of the spiritual world.

Annunciation, James Janknegt

Mary is the archetype of the soul of humanity. Our souls, must not be afraid. Our souls, too, can conceive. We can take in accurate conceptions of Christ, and how he wants to be conceived in us.  We can make our souls, virginal. incapable of harm and receptive for God's healing spirit. We can bear Him within. And we can say yes to whatever God sends as personal destiny, as world destiny, and agree to serve His purposes in humility.

Christ wants to be born in us. His angels draw near, whispering words of great moment and encouragement. And as angels always say when they approach, 'Do not be afraid. The Lord is with you.'