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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4th Easter 2019, Earth, Beloved

4^th Easter

John 15: 1-27

I AM the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful. You have already been purified by the power of the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me and I in you.

Just as the branch cannot bear fruit out of itself unless it is given life by the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you stay united with me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains united with me so that I can work in him, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does

not remain united with me withers like a branch that is cut off. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words live on in you, pray for that which you also will, and it shall come about for you. By this my Father is revealed, that you bear rich spiritual fruit and become ever more truly my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Ground your being in my love, just as I have taken the aims of my Father into my will and live on in his love.

These words I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is the task I put before you: that you love one another as I have loved you.

No man can have greater love than this, than that he offer up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you follow the task I have given you. No longer can I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you my friends because I have made known to you all that I have heard from my Father.

You did not choose me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruits should live on after you, so that what you ask the Father in my name he should give it to you. I say to you out of the fullness of my power: Love one another.

If the world hates you with hatred, remember that they hated me first. If you belonged to people in general, they would love you as belonging to them; but you do not belong to them because I have chosen you out of mankind. That is why people hate you.

Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master’. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have held on to my word, they will hold on to yours also. Everything that they do to you they will do as though they did it to me, for they do not know Him who sent me.

If I had not come and had not spoken to them, they would be without sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who turns in hatred against me turns in hatred against my Father also. If I had not done deeds among them, deeds which no one else has ever done, they would be without guilt. But now they have seen me, and have still hated both me and my Father.

But it was to fulfill what is written in their law: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

But when the Comforter comes, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bring knowledge of me and will be my witness. And you also will be my witnesses, because you have been united with me from the very beginning.4^th Easter

May 12, 2019

John 15:1-27

Grapevines can live hundreds of years. Those caring for the vines remove the rank leafy growth. This encourages the vine’s energy to be concentrated and multiplied in the fruit. The roots descend thousands of feet, drawing up water from deep in the earth. In the fruit, earth’s water is transformed into mineral-rich, sweet, nourishing juice through the power of the sun.

Our lives too are rooted in the earth. We draw life, strength, and nourishment from her. Our task too, is cultivation, cultivation of the earth, cultivation of our own souls. We ourselves, or the Father’s angels guiding our destiny, will remove what is useless. For we are meant to transform substance of earth into fruits of pure spirit-awareness, into loving devotion.

Christ called Himself the True Vine, the Living Being of whom we are all branches. He has rooted Himself deep in the earth. He transforms work of earth into work of spirit. We, as His branches, are to concentrate and multiply His life energy into the fruitfulness of our own lives, our own souls. We are to be the bearers of His work of transformation.

When Christ’s fruit, our fruit is ripe, the angels will gather the clusters from the earth’s vine. (Rev 14:18) What will they do with the earth’s harvest? They will press out juice to become the blood of a new kind of human being, the water of a new kind of earth.

For as Rilke says:

Earth, is it not this that you want: to rise

invisibly in us? – Is that not your dream,

to be invisible, one day? – Earth! Invisible!

What is your urgent command if not transformation?

Earth, beloved, I will.*

---

*Rilke, from 9th Duino Elegy

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3rd Easter 2019, The Great Gatekeeper

3^rd Easter

John 10: 1-21 adapted from Madsen

“Yes, the truth I say to you: Anyone who does not go into the sheep through the door, but breaks into the fold elsewhere, he is a thief or robber. Only he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls each one by name, according to its nature, and he leads them out into the open.

When he has brought them out, he walks before them, and the sheep follow after him, for they trust his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but rather flee because they do not know the stranger’s voice.”

Thus did Jesus reveal himself to them in pictures, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then Jesus went on. “Yes, the truth out of the spirit I say to you. I AM the door to the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them.

I AM the door. Anyone who enters through me will find healing and life. He learns to cross the threshold from here to beyond, and from there to here, and he will find nourishment for his soul. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. But I – I have come that they may have life, and overflowing abundance.

Yongsun Kim

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who works for wages, and who is no true shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, he sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and flees while the wolf snatches them and scatters them. For he is only a hireling and he cares nothing for the sheep.

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. I know who belongs to me, and my own recognize me, just as my Father recognizes me in the depths, and I know the being of the Father; and I offer my life for the sheep.

Other sheep have been entrusted to me who are not of this fold; I must also lead them. They too will listen to my voice, and one day there will be one flock, one Shepherd.

3^rd Easter

May 5, 2019

John 10: 1-21

Some establishments have a person stationed at the door. They give a friendly greeting to whoever belongs there. And if necessary, they keep out the undesirable elements or at least keep an eye on them.

We ourselves also have such a doorkeeper. It is positioned at the boundaries of our selves. It helps us distinguish ‘me’ from ‘not me’. It decides if those who want to enter our lives, our souls, are there for a legitimate purpose, or whether they are ‘thieves and robbers’, that is, those who would steal our treasures: our time, our energy, our resources. A strong and discerning gatekeeper is not long deceived by appearances or empty promises.

William Hunt Holman

This gatekeeper is our ‘I’, our Self. Its task is to pay attention and to make decisions. But sometimes it is distracted, or just plain asleep on the job. And as we all know, its decisions are fallible.

Christ is humankind’s Greater Self. He has nothing but our own truly best interests in mind. He models how all respectful human beings should interact: ‘Here I am, he says. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in….’ Rev. 3:20

His voice resonates in the deepest part of our being. And he waits respectfully for us to pay attention, and to decide to open. And when we do, he says ‘I will come in… and eat with that person, and they with me.’ He brings our souls guidance, nourishment, and strength. He is the Great Gatekeeper, watching out for us, guiding us all.

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2nd Easter 2019, Breath Is Resurrection

2^nd Easter

John 20: 19-29, adapted from Madsen

Tissot

On the evening of the first day after the Sabbath, the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the authorities. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said,

“Peace be with you!”

And while he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Full of joy the disciples recognized the Lord. And again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”And when he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive Holy Spirit through which the world will receive healing. From now on you shall work in human destinies with spiritual power so that they shall have the strength to wrest themselves free from the load of sin, and at the same time to bear the consequences of their offenses.”

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. Later the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”But he replied, “If I do not see in his hand the marks of the nails, and do not put my finger in the place where the nails were, and place my hand in his side, I cannot believe it.”

Tissot

Eight days later, the disciples were again gathered in the inner room and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”Then he said to Thomas, “Stretch out your finger and see my hands, and stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Be not rigid in your heart, but rather feel and trust in my power in your heart.”Then Thomas said to him, “You are the Lord of my soul; you are the God whom I serve.”And Jesus said to him, “Have you found my power in yourself because you have seen me? Blessed are those who find my power in their hearts, even when their eye does not yet see me.”

2^nd Easter

April 28, 2019

John 20: 19-29

Our breathing is in two parts: we inhale. We take in not only life-giving oxygen, but also moods, atmospheres, inspirations. And when we exhale, we add our own moods and inspirations to the atmosphere. Our spent breath nourishes the plants.

Sombart

The disciples had been holding their breath in fear and sorrow. The locked door was an image of their hearts, closed in fear. But Christ enters anyway. He breathes on them. After his own ordeal, imprinted into his hands and his side, he exhales an atmosphere of joy and peace. His healing breath, the loving exhalation of his spirit, gives us the strength and power to work in a positive way with destiny. He gives us all the strength to do the work of repair.

Thomas is not wrong to want to experience Christ directly himself. Christ only warns him against being rigid of heart. When Thomas has satisfied his healthy skepticism, he opens his own heart, so that Christ’s healing, loving power can enter.

Since His resurrection, Christ’s power is available in every breath we take. For He inhabits the earth, the air, as His body. As the poet says:

It's not magic; it isn't a trick.

Every breath is a resurrection.*

---

* Gregory Orr, in Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved. Picture from the Egbert Codex – The Incredulity of Thomas.

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Easter Sunday 2019, Walks Before You

Ingeborg Psalter

Easter Sunday
Mark 16: 1-18 (adapted from Madsen)

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”
And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”
And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.
When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene f

Woloschina

rom whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.
After this, He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.
Afterwards, He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim

the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it [does not let the power of selflessness into his heart, or, does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who [believe]unite themselves with it and will attend their path: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick and give healing forces to them.

Easter
April 21, 2019
Mark 16: 1-18

A few weeks ago the bowl of the crescent new moon could be seen in the western sky. The faint outlines of the old moon could be seen in its arms. Night by night its cup slowly filled with light until it became full of the reflected light of the sun. For us in the north, in the days to come, the sunlight will continue to increase.

Christ, the great Sun-Being, came to earth and settled into the body of Jesus.  There He shone for three years. And then He died. Jesus body became the dark of the moon, when earth, moon and sun are aligned. And He irradiated death with the light of life.

On

Gruenewald

 Easter morning the three women arrive at the tomb to see, not an empty corpse, but an angel. The angel tells them that Christ Jesus, whom they love, has gone ahead of them to the beautiful life-saturated land around the sea of Galilee.

In Christ, with His death, a new crescent moon has been born. He holds the old moon, our old earth, in his arms. His light will gradually grow until it is full.

We are a part of this process. The new crescent moon of our souls has been born again. Christ has once again entered our rejoicing pulse of life. Gradually, cycle after cycle, our souls will fill with the loving light of the Christ Sun. The sun of Christ’s light will be reflected in us. And one day, when all is aligned, humanity will have become a new order of angels. And we will be the ones to say to the kingdoms of earth: He is risen; he walks before you, leading you into life.

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4th Passiontide, Palm Sunday 2019, Bright Wedge of Freedom

4^th Passiontide

Palm Sunday

Matthew 21: 1-11 (adapted from Madsen)

And they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage by

Hippolyte Flandrin

the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus sent two disciples ahead and said to them, “Go to the village which you see before you and at once you will find a donkey tied there and her foal with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will let you take them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

‘Say to the daughter of Zion,

Behold, your king comes to you in majesty.

Gentle is He, and He rides on a donkey and on a foal of the beast of burden.’

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the foal, placed their garments on them, and Jesus sat on them.

           

Many out of the large crowd spread their clothes on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of them and followed Him shouted:

Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the Name and Power of the Lord!

Hosannah in the highest! [Sing to Him in the highest heights!]

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is he?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

4^th Passiontide,

Palm Sunday

April 14, 2019

Matthew 21: 1-11

Vessels such as bowls are made, obviously, to carry content. The content is on the inside, and the vessel surrounds it. At the same time, there is a further aspect; the person carrying the bowl carries both the bowl and its

contents.

Christ Jesus enters Jerusalem carried by a beast of burden and its foal. This animal is a symbol of our physical body. The body bears the weight of our destiny and of our deeds. In the picture language of this reading, Jesus’ body is the vessel for Christ’s spirit of love. Christ is the content of the vessel of the body of Jesus. And at the same time, Christ is both inside and outside. Christ Jesus rides above the bodily beast of burden. And he guides it regally toward its own suffering and death, and toward its resurrection.

We too are spiritual beings carried within a bodily vessel. Our body as a beast of destiny’s burden carries us, too, ultimately toward the end of earthly life that we all must approach.

But our hearts can connect with Christ. He can be the content of our souls, the ‘small, bright wedge of freedom in your own heart’, as the poet* says. And at the same time, He can be both content and the One carrying the vessel. Our heart’s connection with Christ gives us One who rides with us, guides us. He is riding both the old beast of destiny’s burden and the young foal which will carry us into the future. He accompanies us on our journey with His strength and love and power of resurrection.

* David Whyte, “The Journey”.

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3rd Passiontide 2019, Soul Deaf

Giusto

3^rd Passiontide

John 8:46-59 (adapted from Madsen)

[Jesus said,] Who among you convicts me of error? Why do you not trust in me, since I am proclaiming the true existence to you? Whoever is of God receives the words of God. The reason why you do not receive them is that you are not of God.

 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?”  Jesus answered, “I have no demon within me. Nothing but reverence for the Father lives in me; but you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who wills it and he will be the judge.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever keeps my word in his heart is free of the sight of death through all earthly time.”  

The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you are possessed by a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, ‘If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death for all time.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets who also died? Who do you think you are?”  

Abraham's Vision, Tissot

Jesus answered, “If it were my own aim to reveal my being, such a revelation would be worthless. But it is my Father who reveals me, and although you call him ‘our God’, you do not know him.  But I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I would be deceived as you are; but I do know him, and I bear the power of his word within me.  Your father Abraham rejoiced that it was granted to him to see the coming down of my being; he saw it and was filled with joy.”  

The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, from before the days Abraham was born, I existed as the I AM.”  So they took up stones to hurl at him; but Jesus was concealed from them and left the temple.

3^rd Passiontide

April 7, 2019

John 8: 46-59

As we get older, we may begin to lose our hearing. As the high tones disappear, we start to miss parts of words. If a key word fails, we may miss the meaning of the whole sentence. As the loss progresses, we may eventually become stone deaf, unaware that someone is speaking to us at all.

Our souls can go deaf too. At first, we miss little things. Indeed we are often unaware that we are missing anything at all, for the noise of living glosses it over. Gradually our souls and spirits become ‘hearing-impaired.’ We may only become aware of it when in inner crisis, our prayers and pleas fall into a great inner silence.

The Pharisee in all of us wants to insist that the truth be rational, literal and physical, and loud. Anything else is the senseless babbling of a madman, only worth throwing mental and verbal stones at.

It is part of Christ’s passion, his suffering, to go unheard, unrecognized and unacknowledged. Because of the inner deafness caused by hardening of our hearts, he is unable to do what he came to do—to open our soul’s ears to the words of the spirit.

“Why do you not trust in me, since I am proclaiming the true existence to you?” John 8:46

Tissot

Our true grounding is within the spirit. The solidity of the certainty of Christ’s existence is the truth upon which we can stand. The heart is the ear of the soul, a resonating chamber for the words he wants to speak to us. His word pours life into our hearts and spirits. His word strengthens and clarifies. His word enlivens, lives in our hearts as his eternal life.  Taken in, his word grants us existence in the realm of the spirit: For as He said, “Whoever keeps my word in his heart is free of the sight of death through all earthly time.” John 8: 51 

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