3rd Advent 2015, Laboring in Travail

3^rd Advent

1 Thessalonians, 5, 1-8, 23, 24

About time spans and right moments, dear brothers, I have no need to write to you. You know very well yourselves that the Breaking of the Day of Christ comes like a thief in the night. When people say, ‘Now peace reigns, and all stands secure, then suddenly catastrophe breaks upon them, like the birth pangs of a woman with child, and there will be no escape for them.

You, however, dear brothers, are not to remain in darkness, so that the breaking of day will not surprise you like a thief. For you are sons of light and sons of the day. Our being is not filled with night and darkness. So let us not sleep like the others, but rather cultivate an alert and sober state of mind. Those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk are likewise of nightly nature. But since we belong to the brightness of day, let us be sober, clothed with the breastplate of faith and love, our head armed [protected] with the hope of healing….May God himself, however, the source of all Peace, hallow and heal your whole being. May your complete and undivided being,

Spirit

Soul, and

Body

remain pure and unclouded at the coming in the spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord. You may trust in him who calls you. He it is who also lets you reach the goal.

3^rd Advent

December 13, 2015

1 Thessalonians, 5, 1-8, 23, 24

In the last weeks of pregnancy, a woman often slows down. If her preparations are done, she is often peaceful, waiting. But as the date nears, she may get restless. And when labor begins, it brings turmoil and anxiety.

Catastrophic personal events, as well as world events, bring turmoil and anxiety. Many are those who suffer. Yet it may be that these events are in fact birth pangs. Humanity is laboring in travail to bring forth a new version of itself.

We are laboring to bring forth enough sons and daughters of light, who shine in the inner and outer darkness; sons and daughters who are calm and self-possessed, whose hearts overflow with trust and love. Such sons and daughters look forward in anticipation of the healing of humankind, because they know that Christ is near. He is seeking to be born again within human souls and hearts.

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2nd Michaelmas,

2nd 3rd or 4th 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 in 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

Durer, The Knight, Death and the Devil (wiki)

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, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.

Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.

2nd Michaelmas

October 11, 2015

Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 6:10-19

When we ship out something precious, we know to pack it well . We give it layers of protection, so that it can withstand the shocks and drops and weight of the shipping process.

In this reading, called The Armor of God, it is clear that we are being sent out in the midst of a battle against spiritual adversaries. We are to receive and bear protective armor. We are to put on the protections of truth, of trust in God, and of the knowledge that Christ heals. The only weapon we hold is the sword of spiritual discernment, discernment according to Christ’s Word.  Yet we are not being called upon to attack the adversary, nor to destroy them. Our part in the battle is a defensive one. We are to endure their attacks, and remain standing.

Through the wearing of this armor we are called upon, not to thrash about and flail our weapons. We are called upon to become a protected vessel that contains and pours out peace, a peace that reaches down into the way we walk in the world, a peace that streams out from us so that we become messengers of the good news from the realm of the angels. As Adam Bittleston says:

We need in the strife of our day

St. Michael, Norton Simon Museum

The eternal Peace of the Word of God.

Seeking this Peace with our whole being

On the path which leads from the nightmare

Of endless chaos,

Into the order of heaven

And to the Father of all things—

We shall meet Michael

Who reveals how Christ

Awakens Man

That he may serve God.[1]

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[1] Adam Bittleston, Michaelmas II, in Meditative Prayers for Today, 

Pentecost (Whitsun) 2015, Healing Spirit

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 be on our way.

Pentecost

John 14: 23-31

May 24, 2015

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 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, 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….

Sudden 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 mankind.[1]

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[1] Francis Edmunds, “Words for Whitsun”

2nd Michaelmas, Withstand

2^nd Michaelmas

October 12, 2014

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 in 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, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.

Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.

2^nd Michaelmas

October 12, 2014

In this reading, we are presented with the image of a strong warrior. He stands upright, stands his ground, withstands. He spreads, not destruction, but Christ’s peace, which radiates from him down into the ground, guiding his path.

His power comes from Christ, who is truth itself, the real, true reality beyond illusion, beyond death.

The warrior shields himself with trust in God, his head and thoughts are helmeted with the certainty of Christ’s healing deed on Golgatha, so that we can be sure we survive beyond death.

artist unknown

He grasps and takes hold of the Word of God who is Christ the Creator Himself.

In this posture of defense the warrior protects himself from fear, from doubt, and from hatred. All of these are dark spirit beings of our time. Becoming spirit warriors, we put on the armor of God, the armor of peace, of truth. We clothe ourselves in the certainty of Christ, so that we may withstand the attacks of these beings, who are trying to conquer our souls. We may hear the voice of the spirit warrior in the prayer against fear by Adam Bittleston:

May the events that seek me

Come unto me;

May I receive them

With a quiet mind

Through the Father’s ground of peace

On which we walk.

May the people who seek me

Come unto me;

May I receive them

With an understanding heart

Through the Christ’s stream of love

In which we live.

May the spirits which seek me

Come unto me;

May I receive them

With a clear soul

Through the healing Spirit’s Light

By which we see.[1]

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[1] Adam Bittleston Against Fear, in Meditative Prayers for Today. 
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7th August Trinity 2014, Quiet Immensity

7^th August Trinity

Jan Luyken

Luke 10: 1-20

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him, before his face, to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “An ample harvest, and few workers! Ask the harvest master, therefore, to send out workers to help with the harvesting. Go: I hereby send you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. Do not take a wallet or knapsack or sandals; and do not pause to greet anyone on the way.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will alight on him; if not, it will turn round and come back to you. Stay in that place, eating and drinking with them, because the worker is worth his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is close upon you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we are shaking off (to your face). Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is approaching ’ I am telling you, Sodom will be better off than that town on that day.

“The worse for you, Chorazin! The worse for you Bethsaida! Because if the deeds of the spirit that occurred in you had had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would long since be sitting in sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their change of heart and mind. But Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the day of decision than you. And you, Capernaum [kuh-puhr’-nay-uhm], won’t you be exalted to the skies? You will go down to the depths.

He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. “

The seventy-two returned with joy and said “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Here, I have now given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy and none of it shall ever hurt you. But do not be glad that the spirits submit to you; be glad that your true being is taken up into the world of the heavens (that your names are recorded in the heavens).

7^th August /Sept Trinity

Sept  7, 2014

Luke 10:1-20

Numbers are for quantities. They describe a collective of two or three (or 72) units. A name, however, describes quality. A person’s name becomes shorthand for the unique quality of their being. Even though there may be many Johns or Sallys, any particular John or Sally is like no other.

The gospel reading begins with a collective. Seventy-two are sent out in 36 pairs. When they return they are somewhat intoxicated with their own spiritual effectiveness. Christ does not deny their effectiveness. But he encourages them to rejoice that the quality of their unique being, their name,

will be preserved in the heavenly worlds,

Christ came so that our true being would not fall prey to ruin. He rejoices in our individuality, our uniqueness. We are to clothe our uniqueness in an attitude of peace. Quality shall be uppermost, the quality of peaceful, non-violent dignity. And so we may hear the voice of our angel in the poet’s wish:

May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path.

….May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.[1]

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[1]  John O'Donohue , in Anam Cara