2nd Michaelmas 2018, Peace Streams

2^nd Michaelmas

October 7, 2018

Ephesians 6: 10-19

There are two types of lines that every young child learns about. One is the curve – a line that continuously changes direction. Its classic form is the circle – enclosing, harboring. The other line is the straight line that starts at a particular point and travels unerringly in one direction, towards infinity. These two basic gestures, the circle and the line, come together in every child’s drawing – in the circle and rays of the sun.

The sword is an archetype that partakes of the straight line – like the rays of the sun. Although we typically think of a sword as an instrument of destruction, when it is raised in victory, it is a symbol of peace. And pointed downward it forms a cross. 

In artistic depictions, the Archangel Michael holds a light-sword that rays out the light of the sun. Sometimes the sword is pictured pointed downward.  There it illuminates the depths, holding at bay a dark dragon. Sometimes the sword of light points upward as if to indicate where we are to send our thoughts, where we are to direct our attention.

Today’s reading says that we are to grasp the living spirit working in us the same way that we grasp a sword of light. What the living spirit is, indeed, is light; it is the light of consciousness, the light of awareness. With Michael’s spirit sword of awareness, we can direct our attention into the heights. With Michael’s light sword of awareness, we can illuminate the darkness of our own inner depths.

G. David, Altarpiece St. Michael

For in the depths there is a great secret: the dark dragon in the cave sits on a measureless treasure. In the depths of the soul, hidden in the darkness, is Christ. He is the treasure the dragon would hide. Christ sends his powers of trust, of confidence and peace from the inner depths up into our hearts. When we illuminate the depths and hold the dragons of fear, doubt and hatred at bay, we will win access to the treasure, the Pearl of great price. And then will we hear the Word of God, speaking to us:  My peace is with you; my peace streams through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you may spread peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels.  (Ephesians 6:15)

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1st Michaelmas 2018, Deeply Loves

1^st Michaelmas 

Matthew 22, 1-14

And Jesus continued to speak in parables to them: The kingdom of the heavens arising in human hearts is like a man, a king, who prepared a marriage feast for his son. And he sent out his servants to call the guests who had been invited to the marriage, but they would not come.

Then he again sent out other servants, and said, “Say to those who have been invited, ‘Think, I have prepared my best for the banquet, the sacrificial oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered; everything is ready. Come quickly to the wedding.”But they were not interested and went off, one going to his field to be his own master, another falling into the hectic pace of his own business. The rest, however, took hold of the servants, mistreated them and killed them. 

Then the king grew angry; he sent out his army, brought the murderers to their destruction and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, “Although the marriage feast is prepared, the invited guests have proved themselves unworthy. Go out therefore to the crossroads of destiny and invite to the wedding whoever you can find.”And the servants went into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. 

Corina Ferraz

Then the king came in to see the guests, and among them, he noticed a man who was not dressed in the wedding garment which was offered to him. And he said to him, “My friend, you are sharing the meal; how is it you came in here without putting on the wedding garment that was offered to you?” But the man was speechless. 

Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot and cast him out into the darkness, where human beings wail and gnash their teeth. For the call goes out to many, yet only a few make themselves bearers of the higher life.”

1^st Michaelmas

Sep 30, 2018

Matthew 22:1-14

Today’s reading describes the human heart as a kingdom. This kingdom in our heart is populated by a dynamic cast of characters.

There is the king, who oversees the whole kingdom and guides its events. One could say that the King is our destiny. There are the parts of us bringing us messages from the King; there are parts of us that are busy, distracted from our true destiny, even murderously destructive. And there are the parts of us that answer the call, even if they are not yet fully fit to participate, like the one who did not put on the wedding garment.

And finally, there is the King’s Son who is to wed. Whom will the Son wed? He wants to wed our soul: our willing, our feeling, our thinking. Not only our individual soul, but the heart and soul of our community. For He deeply loves us. In the depths of our heart there dwells One ready and waiting to join His life to ours.

Our destiny tries to guide us to the wedding. We must, in freedom, ignore the busybodies in us, subdue the fear that would destroy our true destiny. Now is the time to answer the invitation. In the words of the poet:

          ….

Now is the time to understand

David Newbatt

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child's training wheels

To be laid aside

When you finally live

With veracity

And love.

….

What is it in that sweet voice inside

That incites you to fear?

 ….

This is the time

For you to compute the impossibility

That there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is sacred.*

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* Hafiz, “Now is the Time” in The Gift - versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

10th August Trinity 2018, Awaken in Christ's Body

10^th Trinity August, September

Luke 7, 11-17

And it came to pass that on the

next day Jesus went into a city called Nain,

Nicusor Dumitru

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.

10^th August Trinity

September 23, 2018

Luke 7: 11-17

Watching as a high diver plunges into the depths, he seems to disappear for a time before he re-surfaces. This is the time of the year when we are being encouraged to plunge into our own depths. And in the deepest and darkest part of our being there lies the fear of dying.

Part of this fear comes from the body’s need to protect its existence. But the other part comes from the soul’s fear of transformation, and little ego’s fear of extinction. This is because in our time, the little ego is so intensely interwoven with our bodily existence.

In today’s reading, a mother mourns because her son, a young man, has died. His path has taken him to where we all must go—into our deepest fear. And there he meets Christ, who calls him awake and bids him rise, to take up his bodily existence yet again.

Thus Christ establishes a new eternal archetype: one’s Self rises and lives through its relationship to the greater Self, Christ's I AM. Christ calls us awake and bids us rise, both now, and after we die. In the words of a mystic:

We awaken in Christ's body

as Christ awakens our bodies….

For if we genuinely love Him,

we wake up inside Christ's body

Danny Hahlbohm

where all our body, …

is realized in joy as Him,

and He makes us, utterly, real,

and everything … is in Him transformed

and recognized as whole, as lovely,

and radiant in His light

he awakens as the Beloved

in every last part of our body.[1]

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[1] Symeon the New Theologian (949 - 1032), “We awaken in Christ's Body”, translated by Stephen Mitchell.