Friday, July 25, 2014

1st August Trinity 2008, Hiding in Plain Sight

Mark 8, 27-Mark 9-1 (Peter’s Confession)

1^st August Trinity

And Jesus went on with his disciples into the region of Caesarea Philippi (in the north of the land at the source of the Jordan where the Roman Caesar was worshiped as a divine being). And on the way there he asked the disciples (and said to them), “Who do people say that I am?”

They said to him, “Some say that you are John the Baptist; others say Elijah, still others that you are one of the prophets.”

Then he asked them, “And you, who do you say that I am?’

Then Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

And he began to teach them: “The Son of Man must suffer much and will be rejected by the leaders of the people, by the elders and the teachers of the law, and he will be killed and after three days he will rise again.” Freely and openly he told them this.

Then Peter took him aside and began to urge him not to let this happen. He, however, turned around, looked at his disciples, and reprimanded Peter, saying to him, “Withdraw from me; now the adversary is speaking through you! Your thinking is not divine but merely human in nature.”

And he called the crowd together, including his disciples and said to them, “Whoever would follow me must practice self-denial and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever is concerned about the salvation of his own soul will lose it; but whoever gives his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel, his soul will find power and healing. For what use is it to a human being to gain the whole world if through that he damages his soul, which falls victim to the power of an empty darkness? What then can a man give as ransom for his soul? In this present humanity, which denies the spirit and lives in error, whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the shining revelation of the Father among his holy angels.“

And he said to them, “The truth I say to you, among those who are standing here there are some who will not taste death before they behold the kingdom of God arising in human beings, revealing itself in the power and magnificence of the spirit.”

1^st August Trinity

July 27, 2008

Mark 8: 27 – 9:1

We may have had the experience of being introduced to someone about whom we have already heard a lot. In the first few seconds they are just an ordinary blank stranger. But as it dawns on us who they really are, a whole inner story lights up around them.

Our relationship with Christ begins with a kind of introduction, followed by a first dawning recognition. The disciples had long before heard about a coming Messiah, a prophet and a priest-king. In today’s Gospel, Christ is in a circumspect way introducing Himself to them: “Who do people say that I am? What do you say?” No boasting here. He counts on them to recognize who He truly is. It is Peter who on whom it dawns that the Jesus they already know and love, is the Christ, the Messiah. But Christ Jesus is careful to warn them that there is a darker side to His story than the glories of priest, king and prophet: there will be suffering, rejection, and death; but also resurrection.

Christ in fact still walks the earth. And today it is just as important to Him that we come to an inner recognition of His presence and being. He walks and operates among us.

How can we recognize Him? He “hides” in plain sight. His self-description in the gospel gives us a hint at where to look. Whenever we see suffering and death, He is there at work. Whenever we rise up again, from our griefs and blows, from our sick bed, even from a night’s sleep, there He is working. He lives every moment in every breath we take. We only have to open our eyes, and our souls. We can see Him everywhere, working in everyone, infusing the world with the strength of His life and His love.

The poet Hafiz writes:

When your eyes have found the strength

To constantly speak to the world

All that is most dear

To your own

Life,

When your hands, feet, and tongue

Can perform in that rare unison

That comforts this longing earth

With knowledge, your soul

Your soul has been groomed

In His city of love….[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Hafiz, “I Vote for You for God”, in The Gift, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 175.

4th St. Johnstide 2008, Engage

St. Johnstide

John 3:22 - 36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon [ee’nuhn] near Salim [say’lim], because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

Balduino

John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.

But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to this: that God is true [truth] [that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens in man.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

4^th St. Johnstide

July 20, 2008

John 3: 22 – 36

Power has a kind of radiance. It moves outward and creates effects. It can be positive or negative. It can overwhelm. Love from the spirit is a bit different. It too radiates – warmth and support. But the highest form of love does not overwhelm. It invites. And it waits for assent.

Today’s gospel reading is about the difference between power and love. Some of John the Baptist’s disciples come to him complaining that one of the people he had baptized, that Jesus fellow, is preaching a path of purification that is drawing greater crowds. John emphasizes that legitimate spiritual power is granted by the divine world. John reiterates that he himself is only a forerunner of One to come.

Christ as Bridegrooom

The One to come, however will move humanity a giant step forward, step beyond power. His “power” will be the power of purest, sweetest, most warmly supportive, patient and empathetic love; the highest love imaginable. John describes Him as the bridegroom. His bride is the human soul spirit. Indeed He is the bridegroom of the collective soul of all humanity. He gazes in love at each and every human being. He does not overwhelm. He invites. He awaits the consent to union.

Moving forward into this second half of the year, our soul is being invited to become engaged to Christ. As we move through the summer we have the opportunity to gradually approach Him, to align ourselves with Him, to develop a trust in His will, His love, His healing. We are preparing our souls and spirits for the great wedding with the King’s Son in October, at Michaelmas. We are looking forward to the birth of the eternal spirit Child at Christmas, that will arise out of this marriage.

But first we have to engage. First we develop an active relationship of trust in this powerfully loving Divine human being, this God-Man, who is the soul’s true intended. This engagement is a matter of the heart. We will decide to betroth our soul’s heart to Christ, not because He is powerful, but because He is our great teacher of love. This love from above, from the divine heights, is food and nourishment for the soul’s journey of life. It is the protector of the generative, creating capacity of the heart.

“Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within herself, she grows out of the earthly into timeless life.” John 3:36

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

4th St. Johnstide 2010, Bride Soul

St. Johnstide

John 3: 22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.

Gerhard Wagner

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

4^th St. Johnstide

July 18, 2010

John 3: 22-36

John refers to Christ as the Bridegroom, and himself as the bridegroom’s

Balduino

friend. If John is the bridegroom’s best man, who then is the bride?

The bride is the soul of humanity. She is that greater entity made up of all human souls; those now living on earth, those yet to be born, those who have died. The greater Soul of Humanity yearns for her Bridegroom, just as the individual soul yearns for union with its higher self.

Every married couple, rising to a new day, reaffirms their union once again. Day by day, this affirming, this saying yes to each other, this offering of self to the other, creates a stronger and stronger bond.

Every time we celebrate the Act of Consecration of Man, we are re-celebrating, reaffirming the union of the Soul of Humanity with her Bridegroom. The souls of all on earth, the souls of those not yet born, the souls of all who have died, are invited to join with us. And at this time of the year, we also acknowledge the presence at the altar of John, the friend of the Bridegroom, he who stands by and listens. For he is the witness of the affirming of our union. We ask him to look upon this deed, to witness and strengthen the union of mankind’s Soul with Christ, her Bridegroom.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Monday, July 21, 2014

4th St. Johnstide 2012, Good Fruits

St. Johnstide

John 3: 22-36

Balduino

He who descends from above, out of the spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.

The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love, and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.

Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”

4^th St. Johnstide

July 15, 2012

Luke 3: 7-18

Sometimes the sweetest fruit comes from an old tree; but usually it is a tree that has been long cared for with thoughtful pruning and generous stimulus to growth.

One of humanity’s old ‘cultural trees’ is Buddha’s eightfold path. The path is a call to be mindful of how a one thinks and acts. He encourages us to make rightful decisions based on appropriate strivings, and to accurately recollect and contemplate our past thoughts and actions.

The eightfold path is echoed in today’s reading. John the Baptist’s suggestions for preparing our hearts and minds for an encounter with Christ is especially relevant for today:

Share, don’t hoard. Speak truth. Don’t intimidate.

J.P. de Rothchild

These are the heart generosities and soul prunings that produce “good fruits in keeping with a change of heart and mind”. It doesn’t matter how young or how old the soul. Neither do genetics, social standing or cultural heritage matter. We all can practice cultivating our own hearts and minds. For every tree that does not produce good fruit is of no use to the world. No matter how insignificant our outer lives may otherwise seem, our hearts and minds can become like the tree described by Denise Levertov:

    …this tree, behold,
    glows from within;
    haloed in visible
    invisible gold.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Denise Levertov, “Last Night's Dream”

Sunday, July 20, 2014

4th St. John's Tide 2014, Enter Our Enormity

St. Johnstide

Matthew 11: 2-15

When John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are awakened, and those who have become poor receive the message of salvation. Blessed are those who are not offended by my Being.”

When they had gone, Jesus began to speak about John. “Why did you go out into the desert? Did you want to see a reed swaying in the wind? Or was it something else you wanted to see? Did you want to see a man in splendid garments? Those in splendid garments are in the palaces of kings. Did you go to see a man who is initiated into he mysteries of the spirit, a prophet? Yes, I say to you—he is more than a prophet. He it is of whom it is written:

Behold it well: I will send my angel before your face;

He shall prepare the way of your working in human hearts

So that your being may be revealed.

The truth I say to you: among all who are born of women, not one has risen up who is greater than John the Baptist; and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist, and even more now, the kingdom of heaven will arise within human beings through the power of the will; those who exert themselves can freely grasp it. The deeds of the prophets and the content of the Law are words of the spirit that were valid [worked into the future] until the time of John. And if you want to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

4^th St. John’s Tide

July 20, 2014

Matthew 11: 2-15

A child may wish for a pony. If they receive a toy pony instead of a real one, there may be disappointment. Yet in a child’s world of imagination, that toy pony may be able to take them on greater and broader adventures than any physical pony could.

Grunewald

The Hebrew people were expecting a certain kind of threefold Messiah. He would be a great king who would overthrow the Roman occupation. He would be a high priestly initiate; and he would be a great prophet. What they got instead was a poor itinerant preacher and healer who would be executed as a criminal. Even John the Baptist, who had seen the spirit of God descend upon him, became unsure if this was truly the Messiah. And yet….

The reality of Christ in Jesus was far greater than their hopes and expectations demanded. Jesus asks them to look to His deeds of teaching and healing, for they are the beginning of the founding of a new race, a new people, the Christ folk. Instead of being an earthly king, he would become the Lord of Karma. Instead of serving as priest in the temple in Jerusalem, he would fulfill in his own person the sacrificial rites of bread and wine that Melchizedek initiated. And he would give humanity the universal prayer that we call the Lord’s prayer. Instead of merely foretelling the future, he would become mankind’s future.

In our lives too, often what we get from the Lord of Karma is far greater than what we wish for. And thus, we may unite our souls, our thoughts, our feelings, our will, with Christ and with whatever He wants to give us. It may not look anything like what we expected or hoped for. In fact it may appear to be something we most decidedly did not want. But in His own secret way, Christ makes our lives inexpressibly deeper and richer. Stephen Levine says:

There is a grace approaching

that we shun as much as death,

it is the completion of our birth.

It does not come in time,

but in timelessness

….

It is an insistent grace that draws us

to the edge and beckons us surrender

safe territory and enter our enormity.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Stephen Levine, “Millennium Blessing” in Breaking the Drought

Saturday, July 19, 2014

3rd St. Johnstide 2007, God's Door

St. Johnstide

Matthew 11: 2-15

When John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

John the Baptist

Behold it well: I will send my angel before your face;

He shall prepare the way of your working in the hearts of men

So that your being may be revealed.

July 8, 2007

Matthew 11: 2-15

Evolution has a way of introducing surprises. One could not predict for example the emergence of a rose blossom out of the leaves and thorns that precede it. The surprise development is something softer, more beautiful, colorful and fragrant. Something with no thorns at all. And something that will develop the seeds of new life.

We have come to a doorway in the year when something totally new is to begin. The ancient Hebrews expected the flower of their development as God’s people to be a mighty priest-king or prophet, an upholder of the ancient law. Instead, the Messiah was different from what went before, unexpected, unpredictable. The flowering of divine humanity in Christ Jesus appears as a healer. He strengthens others. He supplements what is missing. He heals, cures, saves through a new capacity. Christ evolves a new capacity of love. This love is characterized by being voluntary. It volunteers to love all, without any kind of preceding sympathy or ties of relationship. This voluntary love contains the seeds of life. Volunteering to love creates heaven on earth through an act of will. Learning to love has been given into our hands. Now it is up to us to germinate the seeds of Christ-love in our hearts.

The words of Hafiz are helpful here:

Are not

In pursuit of formalities

Or fake religious Laws,

For through the stairway of existence

We have come to God’s

Door.

We are

People who need to love, because

Love is the soul’s life,

Love is simply creation’s greatest joy.

….we all now come to

The Beloved’s

Door.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Hafiz, “The Stairway of Existence” in The Gift, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 96.

Friday, July 18, 2014

3rd St. Johnstide 2008, Appalling Goodness

St. Johnstide

van der Weyden

John 1: 19-39

This is the testimony of John, when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” Freely and openly he made confession. He confessed, “I am not the Christ [the Anointed].”

Then they asked him, “Who are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “No, I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said, “Who are you? What answer are we to give to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”

He said in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying in the loneliness: Prepare the way for the Lord [so that the Lord may enter into the inmost soul [self].”

And those who had been sent by the Pharisees asked him, “Why do you baptize if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

John answered them, “I baptize with water. But someone is standing in your midst whom you do not know, who comes after me although he was before me. I am not worthy even to untie the strap of his sandals.”

This took place in Bethany near the mouth of the Jordan where John was baptizing.

The next day he [John] sees Jesus coming to him, and says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the burden of the sin of the world. He it is of whom I said: ‘After me comes one who was before me, for he is greater than I [for he is ahead of me].’ [After me comes one who was (generated) before me, for he is the prototype.] Even I did not know him; but for this I have come, and have baptized with water, so that human souls in Israel might become able to experience the revelation of his being.”

And John testified: “I saw how the Spirit descended upon him as a dove from the heavens and remained united with him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend, so that it remains united with him, he it is who baptizes with the [breath of the] Holy [Healing] Spirit [and with fire].’ And I saw this, and so I testify that this is God’s Son.”

The next day John was again standing there, and two of his disciples were with him. And as he saw Jesus walking past, he said, “Behold, the [sacrificial] Lamb of God [through whom humanity’s sense of self will be purified.]”

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?”They answered, “Rabbi [Teacher], where are you staying [where do you live] [where do you take refuge]?” He said, “Come and you will see!”

And they came and saw where he stayed [lived], and remained with him all that day. It was about the tenth hour [four o’clock].

3^rd St. Johnstide

July 13, 2008

John 1: 19-34

Both illness and recovery are mysterious processes. Out of the blue, it seems, we “catch” a cold. We run a fever. No matter what we do, we don’t recover until the illness has run its course. Then healing, equally mysterious, arrives too, on its own. We can experience healing as grace.

In the seasonal prayer, St. John the Baptist speaks in words of flame. His flame-words are described first of all as health-bearing; for all human souls are suffering from an illness, the sickness of being separated from their own divine origin. John’s health-bearing flame word is like a soul-fever, designed aid the process of healing.

His flame words are also ‘guilt-conscious’. In the light and heat of the fire of his words, we become aware that we are ill. We were created in God’s image and likeness. This sickness means that we are failing to live up to our truly divine human nature and task. The sickness of sin has laid us low. As one of the mystics describes it:,

When I enter that darkness I cannot

recall a bit about anything human,

or about the God-man.[1]

Mengs

Once awareness arrives, burning shame and guilt are the result.

But John’s words are also ‘grace-divining’. In our state of illness we look for the medicine and the healing. And it has indeed been given us. It is in the descending of the true Spirit of the human being, the Healing Spirit, into Jesus, the Christ. He takes upon Himself the burden of the sin, the separation of the world. He is the medicine for our illness.

The burning fever of the longing for healing is found in the depth of the heart. It is this flame of longing that begins the process of purification, in which the heart rises in love toward our Healer. Health-bearing, guilt-conscious, grace-divining describe the interaction between the human and the divine.

Again the mystic:

The [healing] embrace of God puts fire to the soul,

by which the soul entire is felt to burn

for Christ, accompanied by a light so great the soul

suspects the immensity of God’s appalling goodness. [2]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

[1] Blessed Angela of Foligno, “The Darkness”, in Love’s Immensity, by Scott Cairns, p. 89.

[2] Ibid, “His Blazing Embrace” , pg. 88.