8th September Trinity 2015, Fog of Old Unease

8^th September Trinity

Ten Lepers, James Christensen

September 13, 2015

Luke 17: 11 – 19

 And it happened as he was on the way to Jerusalem that he passed through the middle of Samaria and Galilee.

And as he was entering a certain village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and they raised their voice, saying

“Master, Jesus, have mercy on us!”

And seeing them he said, “Go, and show yourselves to the priests.” And it came about that as they went on their way, they were cleansed.

Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and fell on his face at his feet, and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan.

And Jesus responded and said, “Were not all ten cleansed? And the nine—where are they? Was no one seen returning to praise the revelation of God’s working in this event except this foreigner?”

And he said to him, “Rise, and go your way. The power of your trust has made you strong.”

8^th September Trinity

September 13, 2015

Luke 17: 11 – 19

Leprosy is a disease that is obvious to everyone, for it sits on the surface. And because of contagion, the lepers of Jesus’ time were sent away from their religious and social community.

In our time, it may be that we suffer from a kind of inner leprosy. It may be that our souls show a certain deformation, obvious to all – a deep and abiding anger, or an irresponsible flightiness, or an excessive degree of self-preoccupation. Or as one wisdom teacher puts it, Certainty can become an illness that creates hate and greed.[1] Aware of it in us, others are unable to maintain community with us, and we feel isolated.

The first step is to become aware of our inner illness. And then we can ask Christ, the Master Human Being, to help us. And like the lepers in the story, he will send us back to our religious community, to show that we are aware of our flaws and are working to change them. For the ills can only persist when we are unaware.

But before anything else, the true source of our soul healing lies the strength of our trust, and results in expressing gratitude, in a loud voice, and with deep humility. Thanks to our community for our awareness of soul sickness. Thanks to God for his merciful attention to our need for help in overcoming the sickness of sin. Thanks to our angel for progress made on the way back into the community of those who are aware of the health-giving power of Christ.  As the poet John O’Donohue says,

Leper Healed, Adriaen Collaert

May you use this illness

As a lantern to illuminate

The new qualities that will emerge in you.

May your fragile harvesting of this slow light

Help to release whatever has become false in you.

May you trust this light to clear a path

Through all the fog of old unease and anxiety…[2]

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---

[1] “Certainty”  Tukaram in Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, versions by Daniel Ladinsky

[2]“ A Blessing for a Friend on the Arrival of Illness”, John O’Donohue, in To Bless the Space between Us, p. 60

7th August Trinity 2015, Message in a Bottle

7th August Trinity

Good Samaritan, Corinne Vonaesch

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

7th August Trinity

September 6, 2015

Luke 10:25-37

Someone well-read in scripture asks Christ how to attain eternal life.The man’s answers that to love God with one’s whole being and to love one’s fellow human beings as well as oneself  is to attain eternal life. And Christ affirms this; love directed outward, beyond oneself, overcomes the deadening effects of mere self- love. Yet there comes the man’s somewhat defensive next question: which of my fellow human beings am I supposed to love? Christ’s answer in story form is: Not just my family, not just my own tribe or those with whom I can identify. Any fellow human being whom I happen upon along the way can be the recipient of a love that expresses itself in concrete action. For it is our deeds, not our feelings, that live beyond the boundaries of this life. The key here is to regard others with an attitude of mercy, of loving kindness. And then we give and do what we can.

It may be that the priest and the Levite felt that they could touch the unclean man because they were on their way to a work that required their ritual cleanliness. The Samaritan, though despised by the Jews, was truly free to help (or not). He helps a stranger, in both a personal, hands-on way, and also by deputizing and paying the innkeeper to complete the work of healing. He is thereby encouraging others to help. And he thus also maintains his own freedom to help the next victim he finds, to further practice his love for his fellow human beings. Christ is saying that our neighbor is not necessarily one whom we know, the one who lives next door. It is the stranger whom we meet along the way. It is we who are to act neighborly. A poet expresses the universality of this:

Some fishermen pulled a bottle from the deep. It held a piece of paper,

with these words: "Somebody save me! I'm here. The ocean cast me on this desert island.

I am standing on the shore waiting for help. Hurry! I'm here!"

"There's no date. I bet it's already too late anyway.

It could have been floating for years," the first fisherman said.

"And he doesn't say where. It's not even clear which ocean," the second fisherman said.

"It's not too late, or too far. The island Here is everywhere," the third fisherman said.

They all felt awkward. No one spoke. That's how it goes with universal truths.*

*Wislawa Szymborska,  “ Parable” Poems New and Collected 1957-1997, trans. S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)

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6th August Trinity 2015, Hearing Loss

Mark 7, 31-37

6th Trinity August

As he was again leaving the region around Tyre, he went through the country around Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the region of the ten cities of the Decapolis. They brought to him one who was deaf and who spoke with difficulty, and asked him to lay his hands on him. And he led him apart from the crowds by himself, laid his finger in his ears, and moistening his finger with saliva, touched his tongue, and looking up to the heavens, sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphata, be opened.” His hearing was opened and the impediment of his tongue was removed and he could speak properly. And he commanded them not to say anything to anyone. But the more he forbade it, the more they widely they proclaimed it. And the people were deeply moved by this event, and said, “He has changed all to the good: the deaf he makes to hear and the speechless to speak.

6th Trinity August

August 30, 2015

Mark 7, 31-37

We can think of our senses as portals into the soul. They allow the outer world and our inner life to interact. Our sense of hearing brings things deep inside of us; it is also necessary so that we can speak properly. Our modern sense of hearing has lost its fineness. We no longer hear the music of the spheres, the singing of the stars. We are deaf mutes in the face of the higher worlds. The poet David Wagoner describes this:

When Laurens van der Post one night

In the Kalihari Desert told the Bushmen

He couldn't hear the stars

Singing, they didn't believe him.  They looked at him,

Half-smiling.  They examined his face

To see whether he was joking

Or deceiving them.  Then two of those small men

Who plant nothing, who have almost

Nothing to hunt, who live

On almost nothing, and with no one

But themselves, led him away

From the crackling thorn-scrub fire

And stood with him under the night sky

And listened.  One of them whispered,

Do you not hear them now?

And van der Post listened, not wanting

To disbelieve, but had to answer,

No.  They walked him slowly

Like a sick man to the small dim

Circle of firelight and told him

They were terribly sorry,

And he felt even sorrier

For himself and blamed his ancestors

For their strange loss of hearing,

Which was his loss now.  ....*

In the gospel reading the man’s lack of hearing and speech cut him off from his ability to interact with his fellow human beings. This must have resulted in an enormous sense of isolation. His own inner activity is severely hindered. And yet this deaf mute has a community of friends who bring him to Christ.

It is interesting that the first thing Christ does is to isolate him again – he takes him apart from the crowd. This probably serves to focus his attention and to emphasize his existence as an individual human being. Then Christ engages in a series of actions involving the sense of touch. He touches the man’s ears, his tongue. Then looking up to the heavens, from whence the life of our senses flow, he speaks the divine word that has the power to become reality on earth, the fiery word  - Be opened!

And the gateways are opened. The man can hear and speak. His isolation is overcome. At the same time Christ then asks the crowd not to speak. For we can both speak too little or too much. It is as though Christ is warning them against uncontrolled speech, which becomes just noise. Be opened, yet find the middle way.

*David Wagoner, "The Silence of the Stars" in Traveling Light

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5th August Trinity 2015, Corn Maiden

5th Trinity August

Brian Jekel

Luke 18, 35-43

It happened as he approached Jericho: a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging. Hearing the crowd going by, he wanted to know what was happening, and they told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He cried out in a loud voice: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Those leading the way threatened him and wanted him to be quiet. But he cried all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and had him led to him. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want that I should do for you?”

He said to him, “Lord, that I may look up and see again.”

And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Through your faith and your trust, the power for healing has been awakened in you.” (your faith has healed you)

In that moment his eyes were opened. He followed Him and thus revealed the working of the divine within the human being--and all who saw it praised God.

5th Trinity August

August 23, 2015

Luke 18, 35-43

We can think of our senses as doorways between our souls and the world. They bring the outside world into us. Even if one or the other of the senses is weak, the others can to some degree compensate.

In today’s gospel, the blind man is lacking the vision’s input into his soul. All the more acutely does he depend upon his hearing.  He is aware of the crowd passing, all abuzz with something happening ‘out there’. And he rouses himself to find out what is happening. When they tell him that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, he becomes even more active. He shouts for an interaction with Him. He knows that this is not only someone called Jesus of Nazareth, but also that this is a Son of David, of the kingly line, and so he asks for His mercy and grace. He lets no one stop him from an interaction with Jesus.

Jesus asks what He can do for him. Again the blind man must become active – this time inwardly. He searches his soul and recognizes that he wants not only to see again in the ordinary way, but that he wants to ‘look up and see again’. He wants not only to see earthly things, but also things of heaven. And when the blockage is removed and his vision restored, he looks up and sees – Christ, the one who has brought heaven to earth. And so he resolves to follow him and become a disciple.

This reading encourages us too to ask for mercy; to override hindrances, to ask again. It asks us to recognize that what we truly and deeply want is a relationship with Christ, actively pursued. We want our senses to be healed so that we can see and recognize Him, the Lord of Life, here and now on the earth.

The poet Mary Oliver writes about our longing to see and our faith that it is possible:

Every summer

I listen and look

under the sun's brass and even

Corn Maiden, T. Lambert

into the moonlight, but I can't hear

anything, I can't see anything --

….

And still,

every day,

the leafy fields

grow taller and thicker --

[the corn’s] green gowns lofting up in the night,

showered with silk.

And so, every summer,

I fail as a witness, seeing nothing --

all of it

happening

beyond any seeable proof, or hearable hum.

And, therefore, let the immeasurable come.

….

One morning

in the leafy green ocean

the honeycomb of the corn's beautiful body

is sure to be there.*

*Mary Oliver, “Little Summer Poem Touching the Subject of Faith” in West Wind 

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4th August Trinity 2015, Sharp, Strong and Balanced

4th Trinity August

Luke 9: 1-17

He called the twelve together and gave to them potent authority and formative power, so that they could work against all demonic mischief, and heal all sickness.  And he sent them out to heal and to proclaim the Kingdom of God, appearing now on earth, the kingdom of human beings filled with God’s spirit.

And he said to them, “Take nothing with you on the way: no staff for support, no bag for collecting, neither bread nor money, no change of clothes. If you enter a house, remain there until you go further. And where they do not accept you, leave their city and shake the dust from your feet as a sign that they have refused community with you.”

They left and walked through the villages of the country, announcing the joyful message of the new working of the kingdom of the angels and healing everywhere.

Meanwhile Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was happening and he was very perplexed, for some said, “John is risen from the dead,” and others said that Elijah had appeared, and yet others, “One of the Prophets of old has risen again.” And Herod said, “John I have had beheaded; who now is this, about whom I hear all these things?” And he wished to see him himself.

Feeding 5000, Woloschina

And the apostles returned and reported to Jesus everything that they had accomplished. So he gathered them to himself and retreated with them to a city called Bethsaida for special instruction. But the people became aware of it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God of the future, of the human kingdom on earth filled with the divine spirit, and he healed all who had need of it.

But the day began to decline. The twelve came up to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can reach the villages and farms in the vicinity and find food and lodging, for here we are in a deserted place.” He however said to them, “From now on it falls to you; you give them to eat.”

They answered, “We have nothing but five loaves and two fish. Or shall we go and buy food for all of them?“ There were about five thousand people.

Then he said to the disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of fifty”. And they did so, and all reclined.

Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his soul to the spirit, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. And they ate, and all were satisfied. And they took up the pieces that remained: twelve baskets full.

4th Trinity August

August 16, 2015

Luke 9: 1-17

If I have the right tool, I can do amazing things. With a well-balanced mallet and a strong, sharp chisel I can sculpt wood or even stone. But if the mallet is off-balance, if the chisel is weak or dull, even the most talented of artists cannot use them.

We are to become the instruments Christ uses to help build His kingdom of heaven on earth. He needs us to be sharp, strong and balanced. Then His formative power can stream through us. But as tools we may not yet be in the best shape for His work. He therefore works on the tools themselves, to sharpen and balance us.

The story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand prefigures our own age. The people are strengthened with the bread and the fish, which contain the formative forces of the stars. In the Act of Consecration we similarly take in bread and wine to sharpen our thinking and strengthen our will. We take them in so that we become balanced tools in Christ’s hands. We take them in so that He can work on building the kingdom of heaven on earth, with us, through us.

3rd August Trinity 2015, Polestar of Laughter

3rd August Trinity

Luke 15:1-32

Now many customs officials, despised by the people, who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law however were upset by this and said, “This man accepts sinners and eats with them!”

So he told them this parable: “What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!’

I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes his mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance.

Lost Drachma, Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

Or which woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!’

In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the spirit who manages to change his heart and mind. “

And he said further: “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Give me the share of the estate which falls to me.’  And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, but no one gave him anything.

Then he came to himself, and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger. I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

So he rose up and traveled along the road to his father. When he was still a long

Return of Prodigal Son, Rembrandt, Wiki

way off, his father saw him, felt his misery, ran toward him, embraced him and kissed him. And yet the son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].’

But the father called his servant to him. ‘Quickly! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.’ And they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile the older son was in the field. When he returned home and came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him the news: ‘Your brother has come home again. So in joy your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.’

The son grew dark with anger and didn’t want to go in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He however reproached his father saying, ‘Look! For so many years I have been with you and have never neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.’

The father however said to him ‘Child, you are always with me and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be glad and rejoice, for this your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has been found again.’

3rd August Trinity

August 9, 2015

Luke 15:1-32

Losing something that belongs to us means of course that we are separated from it. Being lost ourselves, losing our way, means having lost our own orientation, not being able to find our goal. Perhaps we don’t even know what it is.

The stories in today’s readings are about both losing and being lost. And yet each narrative ends in rejoicing. Through the human being’s diligent searching, the lost coin and sheep were found. And the son, who himself was lost in the far country, turns himself around and makes his way home.

We search for what we have lost, whether it is a precious thing of value, or it is our own orientation and goal. For this is what it means to be truly human: to be aware of separation, to seek and to find, even when searching and finding are arduous and painful. Searching and finding are basic keys to our humanity.

We ourselves are all a bit lost, separated from our own true being and our home in the divine world. We are separated from our true selves and thus from our own real future. At the same time, the good beings of that world, like the son’s father in the story, are on the look-out for us. They cannot go out and search for us (though One did). They cannot drag us back. The return is our own choice, accomplished through our own efforts. But our heavenly Father and the whole angelic household are watching and waiting for us. They are sending out their love, as a golden guide home. And they greet our return with great joy, celebration and laughter. The poet Hafiz says:

Laughter is the polestar

Polestar (North Star)

Held in the sky by our Beloved,

Who eternally says,

"Yes, dear ones, come this way,

Come this way towards Me and Love!

….

O what is laughter, …?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up!*

Having once found the way, we can always return. And both we and the good beings rejoice, even if we can only stay for an hour.

* Hafiz, “Laughter”, in I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 125.

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2nd August Trinity 2015, Too Dangerous

2^nd August Trinity

August 2, 2015

Matthew 7:15-27

Be on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the garments of peaceful lambs, but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the fruits of their deeds.

Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord!“ can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! Have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”

Then I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths. Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’

Everyone who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like a man who wisely built his house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the rock. He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”

When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].

2^nd August Trinity

August 2, 2015

Matthew 7:15-27

“Every noble tree brings forth good fruit, but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit.” Matthew 7: 17

Christ suggests that we direct our attention in a somewhat scientific manner. We are to look at the results of our own and others’ actions, the consequences, rather than at the wish or the talk. In a way, it doesn’t matter much what we say about ourselves, for we can present ourselves in any way we wish. We may present ourselves as lambs, when actually the hungry wolf of vainglory is at work in us.

We can say we are working for the good, and perhaps we are. Yet often the law of unintended consequences operates. The good we would do sometimes turns out not to be so good after all. What really counts however is what results from our deeds. We look to the consequences and correct our actions.

The bitter and unusable fruits of a wild tree of soul come from self-promotion and the desire for power. Me first! The good intentions of a noble tree of soul come together from three places: from clean and clear thinking, from a loving heart, and a devotion to the progress of others. Such a soul tree will in combination produce deeds that are beautiful, sweet and nourishing, fruits that serve the world. Such fruits serve God’s kingdom of heaven on earth.

They are the bedrock of the progress of the world. Tests and trials, misfortunes and reversals will come. But we will overcome them together through our solid foundation in the world of inner and outer reality. As Hafiz says:

Out

Tissot, The Blind Leading the Blind, wiki

Of a great need

 We are all holding hands

 And climbing.

 Not loving is a letting go.

 Listen,

 The terrain around here

 Is

 Far too

 Dangerous

 For

 That.*

*Hafiz, “A Great Need". In The Gift – versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

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