5th Easter 2019, Master of the Game

5^th Easter

John 16, 1-33, adapted from Madsen

“All these words I have spoken to you so that you will not go astray [because you discover what destiny falls to you through being connected with me]. For they will exclude you from their communities, and the hour will come when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God. They will do all this because they have not known my Father or me. All these words I have spoken to you so that when the time comes you will remember that I told you about it. In the beginning, I did not need to say such things for I was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me; yet, none of you asks me “Where are you going?”  Now that I have said these things to you, sorrow enters your heart.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is for your salvation and healing that I leave you, for if I did not go away, the Comforter, the giver of spirit courage, [who will stand by you in all trials, the Spirit upon whom you can call for assistance at any moment,] would not come to you. When I now  go away, I will send him to you. When he comes he will call mankind to account for the decline into sin, for the working of man’s higher being and for the great world separation; for the decline into sinfulness, because they did not fill themselves with my power; for the working of Man’s higher being, because I go to the Father and you see me no more; for the great world-separation, because the decision has already been made about the ruler of this world.

I have yet much more to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will be your guide on the way to the Truth that Embraces All. he will not speak out of himself, but what he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you what is to come.  he will reveal me, for what he draws out of my being he will proclaim to you. Everything that the Father has is also mine. That is why I can say, ‘He will draw upon my being and proclaim to you’.

Yet a short time you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me.”

Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying ‘Yet a short time you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me’, and ‘I am going to the Father’? They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a short time’? We do not understand his words.”

Bible moralisèe The Creation of Eve and The Birth of Ecclesia, 

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him and he said, “You are wondering that I said, ‘A short time and you will see me no more, and again a short time and you will see me.’  Yes, the truth I tell you, you will weep and lament while other people will rejoice. You will be filled with sorrow, but this your grief will be turned into joy. A woman giving birth must bear pain, for her difficult hour has come. But when the child is born, she no longer considers the anguish because of her joy that a human being has been born into the world.

So it is with you. Now is your time of grief. But this your grief will become the power of Spirit-Birth, for I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one can take that joy from you. On that day, you will no longer need to ask me anything.

Yes, I say to you; from now on what you ask of the Father in my name, He will give to you. Until now, you have not been able to pray in my name. Pray from the heart, and it will be given to your heart so that your joy may be full.

All this I have given to your souls in imagery. But the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in pictures but will tell you plainly about the Father, [so that you can grasp it in full, knowing consciousness]. On that day, you will ask out of my power and in my name. And no longer will I ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me, and have known in your hearts that I have come forth from the Father. I have come forth from the Father and I have come into this world. I am leaving the [sense] world again and going to the Father, [of which you say that it is the world of death].”

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking in clear thought and without imagery. Now we know that all things are revealed to you and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. By this, we believe that you came from God.”

Jesus answered, “Do you now feel my power in your heart? Behold, the time is coming and has already come, when you will be scattered, each to his own loneliness. You will then also leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is eternally united with me.

All this I have spoken to you so that in me you may find peace. In this world, you will have great fear and hardship. But take courage. I have overcome the world.”

5^th Easter

May 19, 2019

John 16: 1 – 33

Devil's Mirror

There is a fairy tale that tells how the devil made a great world mirror, in which everything was distorted unrecognizably into its opposite. This mirror shattered into billions of pieces, and specks flew into people’s eyes. It made them see the wrong side of things. If the specks penetrated into their hearts, their hearts turned to ice.*

In today’s reading from before his resurrection, Christ feels compassion for the disciple’s hearts; for his impending crucifixion will activate such the mirror shards and, for a while, things will not appear to them as they truly are. But He also promises that this condition will be temporary. For, after a short time, He will send a Healer who will remove the specks and show them the Truth. Their vision will be healed of its ills. Although each of them will only see from a certain angle, from a partial perspective, they will indeed see truly.

We human beings are all partial. We are on a path of evolution toward greater wholeness, toward alignment with the greater and great levels of Truth. Moments of suffering and moments of enlightenment follow each other in greater spirals. For, in the words of St. John of the Cross,

If

you were playing chess with someone who

had infinite power and infinite knowledge

and wanted to make you a

master of the game,

where would all the chess

pieces be at every

moment?

Indeed, not only where he wanted them,

but where all were best for your

development;

and that is every situation

of one’s

life.**

*Hans Christian Anderson, “The Snow Queen”.

**St. John of the Cross, “Development", in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 322.

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5th February Trinity 2019, Let It Go

Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7^th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34 (adapted from Madsen)

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!

He said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”

[Jesus, looking at him, loved him… Mk 10:21] When Jesus heard this, he said,  “One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me!

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!”

Those who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”

He said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the power of God working in man.”

Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up everything to follow you.”

He replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in earthly life, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

5^th February Trinity

March 3, 2019

Luke 18: 18-34

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are anticipating the richness of spring and the fullness of summer; but below the equator, it is turning into autumn and winter is approaching. This great balance over the whole earth is a picture of a great truth that also exists on the soul level:  over the whole of a lifetime, no matter what our inner or outer riches, we must pass through loss and death to arrive at a new life.

In the gospel reading, Christ brings this home to the rich young man.

Heinrich Hoffman

The young man is rich, both inwardly and outwardly; he is in the summer of his development.  But Christ is asking him to take the next step—the step into an autumn shedding, the step into a winter sleep. The episode ends before we find out whether the rich one does carry out Christ’s request. At this moment in the gospel story, the young man is very sad—he already anticipates the grief of loss.

But when the young man summons the courage to follow through, he will leave behind his wealth for others and lay down his life. His loss and death will be real and complete. But so will his completely new and unforeseen life. He is to become a Lazarus. Christ will call him forth to a whole new level of being.  And Christ will intimately and continually accompany his further development – through loss and death, and into a further life. 

The recently deceased poet Mary Oliver* says:

Every year

everything

I have ever learned

in my lifetime

leads back to this: the fires

and the black river of loss

whose other side

is salvation

….

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

*Mary Oliver, “In Blackwater Woods.”

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10th August September Trinity 2016, Spirit Can Summon (Redux)

10th Trinity August- September

Luke 7, 11-17

And it came to pass that on the next day Jesus went into a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. And as he drew near to the gate of the city, they became aware that a dead man was being carried out—the only born son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd of people from the city accompanied her.

And seeing her the Lord felt her suffering, and said to her, “Weep no more.”

And approaching, he touched the coffin, and pallbearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him to his mother. Astonishment and awe seized all who were standing there, and they began to praise God and to glorify what was here revealed, saying,

“A prophet powerful in spirit has been raised among us, and God has come down to us, his people.”

Word about him spread out into all of Judea and all of the neighboring regions.

10th Trinity August- September

September 25, 2016

Luke 7, 11-17

When someone close to us dies, we grieve. Part of the difficulty we have is that, for our perception, the loved one seems swallowed up by an abyss. A darkness engulfs us, separates us from them. They are lost to us, and we weep for what is now missing in our own lives – their words, their touch, their love.

Christ approaches the grieving widow, now a grieving mother. He speaks to her kindly, tenderly. Like an approaching dawn, he comforts her – weep no more.

And then, like the glory of the sun rising above the horizon, he says to the dead one, ‘Arise!’ The darkness of separation is flooded with light and with life. Loves are reunited.

In our own lives, we too grieve our losses, be they loved ones, lost possessions, or unfulfilled dreams. These are the moment when Christ approaches. He bids us weep no more. He shows us that no matter how great the loss, no matter how deep the hopelessness, there is always a future, a new day. It may take time for the sun to rise, but, in the words of John O’Donohue:

As twilight makes a rainbow robe

From the concealed colors of day

In order for time to stay alive

Within the dark weight of night,

May we lose no one we love

From the shelter of our hearts.

When we love another heart

…We journey deep below time

Into that eternal weave

Where nothing unravels.

May we have the grace to see

…That whoever we have loved,

Such love can never quench.

Though a door may have closed,

Closed between us,

May we be able to view

Our lost friends with eyes

Wise with calming grace;

….

Bring warmth again to

Where the heart has frozen

In order that beyond the walls

…We may be able to

Celebrate the gifts they brought,

Learn and grow from the pain,

…Where spirit can summon

Beauty from wounded space.*

*John O'Donohue , “For Lost Friends” in To Bless the Space Between Us