7th September Trinity 2008, Pour Light into a Spoon

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to  help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

or, [“Martha, Martha, you are worrying and making noise about many things, when only one thing is needed. Mary chose the better half, and it won’t be taken away from her.” Gaus]

7^th August Trinity

Sept. 7, 2008

Luke 10:38 – 42

In human interactions, the quality of how one thinks, of what one feels, the quality of our intentions is decisive. It’s not so much the what, as the how.

Martha and Mary, along with their brother Lazarus, are intimate friends of Jesus. He visits them often. Hospitality of course dictates that they offer their guest a meal. When a guest arrives, possibly unexpected, work ensues; water drawn for washing, pouring drinks, possibly a quick trip out the village market, preparing and cooking food. Martha is the part of the human soul that recognizes and tends the earthly needs.

Mary, on the other hand, is the part of the soul that recognizes that it is equally important to entertain the Guest with one’s listening ear and devoted attention. Especially considering who this Guest is. When Martha complains that all the earthly work seems to fall to her, Christ says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things, when only a few things are necessary, really only one.” Luke 10: 41,42

For Christ recognizes in Martha the very human experience that work can multiply itself endlessly, especially when one’s own ego is involved, with, say, making a good impression. Only a few things are truly necessary, He says, really only one. And that single thing is one’s own cohesive, integrated presence, a kind of calm Zen attentiveness to being where one is. Martha was scattered. Mary chose to gather herself together at the Lord’s feet.

Christ goes on to say that Mary chose the better part, and that it won’t be taken away from her. The better part. For our lives are indeed currently divided into an active outer part that works in the world, and an inner contemplative one. By saying that the contemplative side is the better part of life, Christ is underscoring the necessity that each human soul has of gathering itself together at the Lord’s feet, of listening to His words, of becoming whole and integrated. The results of such inner contemplative work cannot be taken away, for they become eternal. Then that calm wholeness of spirit can begin to also permeate our outer work in the world. That way, instead of our egotism making us  distracted, envious and cranky, we can bring the radiance of love into our daily life and work. In the words of the poet, we

…can pour light into a spoon

Then raise it

To nourish

Your beautiful, parched, holy mouth.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Hafiz, “Your Beautiful Parched Holy Mouth,” in I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 115. 

7th September Trinity 2009, Be Glad

7^th August Trinity

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, 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 6, 2009

Luke 10:1-20

We move toward the time of harvest. Grain is severed from the plant, dies, in order to serve the life of higher species.

Christ now sends out ahead of Himself a now growing number of disciples, six times as many as before. They are to act as His heralds and forerunners, as messengers from the living realm of the angels, bearers of the good news. He also gives the picture of them working as harvesters—for many souls are now ripe and waiting to be gathered in.

He has given the disciples spiritual potency. And they are delighted that it yields results, even against demonic powers. But Christ warns them that spiritual power is not the most important thing: what is important is that their own souls and spirits maintain their connection to the true source of their life—their Father in the heavens. For power by itself has the tendency to corrupt the bearer. “Be glad” He says, “that your true being is taken up into the world of the heavens.”

This recognition is an important signpost along the way, the path that Christ Himself is walking. For He Himself, with all His mighty spiritual power, submits Himself to powerlessness, even unto death. The paradox here is that only through submission to death can He ensure that humanity will live; for He brings Life into the realm of death.

We too sometimes think simplistically that our connection with Christ will give us power and prosperity, even if only inwardly. And perhaps for a time it does. But as long as our names remain written in the Father’s Book of Life, we can confidently let go of, surrender even our inner wealth and power when time is ripe. For we know that Christ is there too in that place. So the poet encourages us:

First, still and yet, come closer,

come forward as a rock of any kind,

igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary,

not even knowing what kind you are,

come anyway.

Then, just this:

Commit to fall toward the wind

that takes and gives;

The fire that burns down

and yet also creates;

The earth that knocks you sideways

yet nourishes you in the aggregate;

The water that drowns your ego out,

yet uncovers the Treasure. [1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Clarissa Pinkola Estes

7th September Trinity 2010, I Am Not I

7^th August Trinity

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 , 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 5, 2010

Luke 10: 1-20

Living things breathe. They open and expand, contract and close, only to open again.

Our souls, too, have their times when they expand in joy, contract in sorrow. Even in the tight circles of grief, we will experience that one day, our grief will be turned to joy. John 16:20

Christ works closely with individual souls. Yet His working wants to expand. He sends out seventy-two to prepare His working, to ‘harvest’ ready souls. They are to do so peacefully, respecting the right of refusal that each of those other souls has. Their basic task is to spread the good news of change, of transformation, of the renewal of human evolution. They are to help remove the impediments to change.

After a period of expanding the work outward, the seventy-two return. They report with joy that the Christ power working in them, the power of love, overcame the destructive beings impeding others. Christ affirms the positive in their report of changes made. But He also expands their goals further.

The good news from the realm of the angels is that each soul has a true being. This true being is what is good in us, which manifests in our transformative deeds, founded in love. This true being has an abiding existence, beyond the transitory changes of the mortal world.  ‘Be glad that your true being, your names, have been written into the world of the spirit.’ Luke 10:20 Our real existence, our real being, is anchored in another, invisible world.

The words of the poet Jimenez illustrate the nature of our true being:

My Soul and Me, Simeon Solomon

I am not I.

I am this one walking beside me whom I do not see,

Whom at times I manage to visit,

And whom at other times I forget;

The one who remains silent when I talk

The one who forgives, sweet, when I hate,

The one who takes a walk where I am not.

The one who will remain standing when I die.[1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] [1] “I Am Not I”, by Juan Ramón Jiménez, in Risking Everything, ed. By Roger Housden, p. 19

7th September Trinity 2011, Attention

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Martha, Mary, He Qi

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

7^th August Trinity

September 4, 2011

Luke 10:38-42

A guard at the gate is there to stand watch. He pays attention to the surroundings, so that he can engage friend or foe. Sometimes his mere attention deters the foe. He must recognize the friend, to whom he will open.

In the spiritual, what counts, the coin of the realm, is units of attention.[1] For in the spirit realm, thoughts are living beings; we are engaging with those thought beings to whom we give our attention. Our inattention lets the adversary slip past.

In the gospel reading, Mary attends to the Living Word of Christ, while Martha attends with worry to a multitude of earthly details. It is not that paying attention to the earthly is itself a bad thing. It is here a question of its appropriateness in the particular setting. Better to pay attention to the words of Christ as He speaks than to be preoccupied with the array of dishes and quality of the tablecloth. Christ chides Martha for her worried and scattered attention to the details of the merely earthly, instead of listening to the spiritual within the earthly.

Worry is fear that there is not enough—not enough time, not enough within the space. The native Americans have a saying: Worry is praying for what you don’t want to happen. We would do better to focus our attention on the living word, the Christ being, the spiritual within the earthly. In the analogy of the guard, we are to keep watch, not just for the enemy, but also for the Friend, to Whom we are to open.

The poet Machado said:

I love Jesus, who said to us:

heaven and earth will pass away.

When heaven and earth have passed away,

my word will still remain.

What was your word, Jesus?

Love? Forgiveness? Affection?

All your words were

one word: Awaken.[2]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Dennis Klocek, Dealing with Addiction, available at http://dennisklocek.com

[2] Antonio Machado, Translated by Robert Bly, in The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy

7th September Trinity, 2012, Two Souls

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

or, [“Martha, Martha, you are worrying and making noise about many things, when only one thing is needed. Mary chose the better half, and it won’t be taken away from her.” Gaus]

7^th August Trinity

September 2, 2012

Luke 10:38-42

Pairings and contrast play a large role in life: day and night, up and down, inner and outer. Yet these seeming polarities have their own place within a larger whole.

Our souls also swing between opposites. As Goethe says, ”Two souls reside within my breast.”[1] One soul is engaged in working in the outer world—at a job, in our homes. The other soul is inwardly active—reading, contemplating, praying. Yet both souls are two sides of our one selfhood.

The gospel reading warns us about residing too one-sidedly or too emotionally in only one of our ‘souls’. Christ gently chides the Martha soul, not for doing outer work, but for being too worried and bothered about too many things. She is beside herself with anxiety.  He defends the Mary soul that is centered and receptive to Him and His words.

In Christ, our two souls, the Martha and the Mary in us, can eventually merge. Our Martha soul can begin to work in the world from a prayerful, contemplative center, instead of a place of worry. And our Mary soul can pursue the inner life as energetic work. Thus do the two souls within our breast begin to merge their work as one; for they are gathered together under the guidance of Christ, who is our truest Self.

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[1] Goethe, in Faust

Picture: Martha, Mary, He Qi

7th September Trinity 2013, Absorb Peace

7^th August Trinity

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, 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/September Trinity

Lamb of God

September 8, 2013

Luke 10: 1 – 20

In the reading, Christ sends out a multiplicity of people into the world. He tells them that their situation is like a lamb being sent out among wolves. He also tells them three things that will protect them from being ‘devoured’.

First they are not to hoard (no wallet or knapsack). Then they are not to lose focus and get distracted by pausing to greet others on the way. And further they are to develop a peaceful equanimity. They are to radiate peace. They are not to worry about results—if they are not welcomed, they should move on.

We all have our task in life, and our karmic appointments to keep. Nowadays it is tempting to accumulate ‘stuff’ as a hedge against the wolf of anxiety.  And it goes without saying that we are inundated by sales calls, emails, media posts that may be distracting us from our true task.

At the same time, amazingly, we are to send out our peace, and if it is not accepted or absorbed by others, it is meant to return to us, that is, we are to absorb it back into ourselves. We are meant not to lose our inner balance if people reject us, or to be disappointed if things don’t turn out the way we had hoped.

If we can succeed in the difficult inner tasks of avoiding accumulating, of avoiding distractions, if we can focus in peace and inner balance, then indeed the wolfish demons of fear and false expectations must submit to us, to Christ working in us. For this is the way Christ now works on the earth—in us, and through us.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

6th August Trinity 2006, Noise of Life

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 August Trinity

August 27, 2006

Mark 7: 31-37

For someone who is a little hard of hearing, background noise is difficult to filter out. All sounds begin to have equal weight, so that out of a sea of sound, it becomes difficult to locate the one voice one wants to hear.

Modern life is noisy; not only literally, with traffic noise, media and crowds; but there are also all the things, all the information, all the personal, professional and world input that clamors for our attention. Through over-stimulus our souls have become hard of hearing. We can’t find the really important voice we want to pay attention to.

In this healing parable, Christ takes the man who is deaf and leads him apart from the crowds, by himself, so that it is just the two of them. He touches ears and tongue. And then he says, “Be opened!”

When

The words stop

And you can endure the silence

That reveals your heart’s

Pain

Of emptiness

Or that great wrenching-sweet longing,

That is the time to try and listen

To what the Beloved’s

Eyes

Most want

To

Say. *

Christ encourages us to step aside from all the inner and outer noise of the everyday. He helps us find our way through our pain and longing. The pure tone of a bell touches our ears. In communion His body touches our tongue. And we hear him say, “I am at peace. My peace, my clarity of stillness I give to you.” And our souls open—open to Him in gratitude.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

* Hafiz,  “When You can Endure” in The Gift, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 143