Sunday, October 12, 2014

2nd Michaelmas, Withstand


2nd Michaelmas
October 12, 2014
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6: 10 – 19

What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength.
Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor, so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but against

spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,
against spirit beings powerful in the molding of earth substance,
against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time,
against spirits who carry evil into the realms of the spiritual world.

Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest strength, and victoriously withstand it.

Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you like a strong breastplate.

And may Peace stream through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels.
In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust will be like a mighty shield; with it you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet.

And the spirit, which has become living in you, you shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working of the Word of God.
May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications, so that in the right moment you raise yourself in prayer to the spirit, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.

Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.


2nd Michaelmas
October 12, 2014

In this reading, we are presented with the image of a strong warrior. He stands upright, stands his ground, withstands. He spreads, not destruction, but Christ’s peace, which radiates from him down into the ground, guiding his path.

His power comes from Christ, who is truth itself, the real, true reality beyond illusion, beyond death.

The warrior shields himself with trust in God, his head and thoughts are helmeted with the certainty of Christ’s healing deed on Golgatha, so that we can be sure we survive beyond death.

artist unknown
He grasps and takes hold of the Word of God who is Christ the Creator Himself.
In this posture of defense the warrior protects himself from fear, from doubt, and from hatred. All of these are dark spirit beings of our time. Becoming spirit warriors, we put on the armor of God, the armor of peace, of truth. We clothe ourselves in the certainty of Christ, so that we may withstand the attacks of these beings, who are trying to conquer our souls. We may hear the voice of the spirit warrior in the prayer against fear by Adam Bittleston:

May the events that seek me
Come unto me;
May I receive them
With a quiet mind
Through the Father’s ground of peace
On which we walk.

May the people who seek me
Come unto me;
May I receive them
With an understanding heart
Through the Christ’s stream of love
In which we live.

May the spirits which seek me
Come unto me;
May I receive them
With a clear soul
Through the healing Spirit’s Light
By which we see.[1]







[1] Adam Bittleston Against Fear, in Meditative Prayers for Today. 
Purchase  here.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Michaelmas, October 5, 2014, Preparation for Love

Michaelmas
Marriage of the Lamb
Oct 5, 2014


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.

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.



Bride of Christ, Danny Hahlbohm
Michaelmas
Oct 5, 2014
Matthew 22: 1 – 14

A wedding is cause for great joy; for the couple have found each other on earth.  They are joining forces for a creative and fruitful union, for something that neither could do alone.

This gospel reading of the wedding of the king’s son is about the relationship between our souls, individually and collectively, and Christ. Christ is the Bridegroom. Our souls are meant to be the Bride. The divine Father invites us to wed Christ his Son.

This means that first of all we must show up. We need to extricate ourselves from the demands of ordinary everyday life and enter the hall of prayer, the hall of the celebration meal.  In order to do so worthily, we are to clothe ourselves in the appropriate soul attire. This attire we receive as grace from the King. We are to receive and clothe ourselves in three garments: We are to drape ourselves in an open reverence and grateful awe of thought. We are to wear an open empathy of heart for all the world. We are to attire ourselves in the promptings of the angels who inspire our thoughtful actions.

Thus clothed we are ready to celebrate the Great Wedding. We step into the hall of light, in the company of other such souls. There our souls are joined with Christ, the King’s Son. We have found Him on earth. We are joining forces with Him for a creative and fruitful union, for something that neither could do alone. St. Francis said in a poem called “A Wedding Gift” :

I hear you singing, dear, inviting me to your [arm] limb.
I am coming , for all that we do is a
preparation for love.

I hear you singing, my Lord, inviting me to your throne.
We are coming, dear, for all the toil you have
blessed us with is a preparation to know and hold the
sacred.

I hear you singing, my soul, but how can it be that
God’s voice has now become my own?
“That’s just a wedding gift for our
Divine Union,”
my Beloved
said. [1]




[1] St Francis of Assisi “A Wedding Gift” , In Love Poems to God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 44

Monday, September 29, 2014

10th September Trinity 2012, Diving the Depths

10th Trinity August September

Luke 7, 11-17

And it came to pass that on the next day Jesus went into a city called Nain, 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.


10th August Trinity
September 23, 2012
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 the 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, the 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

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]





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

Sunday, September 28, 2014

10 August/September Trinity 2014, Young One, Arise!

10th Trinity August September
Luke 7, 11-17

And it came to pass that on the next day Jesus went into a city called Nain, 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


10th August/September Trinity
Franz Dvorak
September 28, 2014
Luke 7: 11 – 17

Every night we go to sleep. We meet with our guardian angel, our higher self and guide. We are cleansed of our fatigue and together we and our angel look at the events of the previous day. We plan for the coming day, what we need to do, how we will need to act. The next day, we rise to our tasks and inspirations.

When we die, we meet with Christ. We are cleansed of our weariness and ills. With him we look at our previous lifetime. We plan for what we need to do and be, how we shall conduct our next life. After a rest, we will hear his voice, “Young one, I say to you, arise!” And we will be given to our mother.

Our fear of dying is sometimes a fear of not having lived the life that we intended before we were born. For we have all come with a unique mission. We would do well to pay attention to those glimmerings of inspiration, those subtle intentions, the angelic promptings that we bring back with us from sleep. For they are our day by day guide for living the life we truly intended. 

The poet’s words express the hopes of our angel:

May the beauty of your life become more visible to you, that you may glimpse your wild divinity.
…May the light of dawn anoint your eyes that you may behold what a miracle a day is.
May the liturgy of twilight shelter all your fears and darkness within the circle of ease.
 …May you find enough stillness and silence to savor the kiss of God on your soul and delight in the eternity that shaped you, that holds you and calls you.[1]






[1] John O’Donohue, “A Blessing for Beauty”, from Beauty – The Invisible Embrace 

Sunday, September 21, 2014

9th August/September Trinity 2014,

9th August/September Trinity
Matthew 6: 25-34

“No one can serve two masters: either he will hate one and love the other, or he will  put up with one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and greed’s demon of riches [mammon].

“That is why I tell you, do not trouble your heart about what you will eat and drink or with what you will clothe your body. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: they do not plant, do not harvest, and do not fill barns, and your heavenly Father still feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Can any of you, by being vastly concerned, add one moment to the span of your life?

And why do you worry about clothing? Study how the lilies of the field grow: they do not work, and they do not spin cloth. But I am telling you that not even Solomon in all his glory was ever arrayed as one of these. If that is how God clothes the wild grass of the field, here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will He not do much more for you, o small in faith?

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What will we drink? What will we wear?’ It is the nations who ask for all these things, and indeed, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Ask first for God’s kingdom and its harmonious order, and these other things will be delivered to you as well.


So do not worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow can worry about itself. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

9th August/September Trinity
September 21, 2014
Matthew 6:25 – 34

Killing Frost
We have come to the equinox, the time of balance between the light and the darkness. From now on, here in the north, the balance will rapidly begin to shift. Temperatures cool; leaves fall; frost and winter kill set in. [In the southern hemisphere it is the opposite – the warmth, the budding life of spring.]

Today’s reading is a warning to us. At this time of the year we are not to follow nature’s course. We are not to become dark and cold. We are not to let the killing force in us, our critical side, gain the upper hand. Instead, we are to warm the analytical side of our soul with compassion and love.

We are not to let our fears of what is to come extend beyond today. The greatest fear of all is that there is nothing beyond us, that we are alone in the universe. Instead, we are warm our freezing anxieties and fears by concentrating on the wondrous harmony of the greater ecology of God’s creation, and our own place in it. For every night in sleep we visit God’s home. We receive the night’s measure, our gifts of strength and inspiration to cope with the coming day. To extend our fears anxiously into the future is to salt the fields of our own souls, to render them infertile. God’s generously pours out gifts for us, given to us day by day, night by night. As the poet says:

…An empty heart, a tormented mind,
Unkindness, jealousy and fear

Are always the testimony
You have been completely fooled!

….Come, join the honest company
Of the King's beggars -
….
Who need Divine Love every night.

Come, join the courageous
Who have no choice
But to bet their entire world
That indeed,
Indeed, God is Real.

…. Everything,
Everything in Existence
Does point to God.[1]





[1] Hafiz, "A Golden Compass."

  

Sunday, September 14, 2014

8th August/September Trinity 2014, Paint with Light

8th August/September Trinity
Luke 17:20 -27

Robby Donaghe
At that time the Pharisees asked him, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”  And he answered, “The Kingdom of God [The human Kingdom of the Spirit, permeated by God], does not come in a form which is outwardly perceptible. Nor does it come in such a way that one can say: Look, here it is, or there. Behold—the Kingdom of the Spirit will arise in your own hearts.

And he said to his disciples, “There will come times when you will long to experience even one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not experience it. Then they will say to you: Look—there! or Look—here!  Do not follow this call; do not go on their spirit paths. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning which flashes up in one part of the sky and yet instantly pours out its bright light over the whole firmament. But first he must suffer great  agony and be rejected by this present earthly humanity. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it again be in the day when the Son of Man will reveal himself: they ate and drank, they came together in marriage as man and wife, until the day when Noah entered the Ark and the great flood destroyed everything. It was the same in the days of Lot: they ate and drank, bought, sold, planted, built, until Lot left Sodom, and fire and sulfur rained from heaven and everything perished. It will be like that, too, in the days when the Son of Man will reveal himself.

When that time comes, let him who is on the roof of his house, having left his goods in the house, not go down to fetch them. And let him who is out in the open field not go back to what he has left behind. Remember Lot’s wife! For whoever tries to preserve his soul unchanged will lose it, and whoever is prepared to give it, will in truth awaken in himself a higher life. I tell you; then there will be two sleeping at night in one bed; when the power of the spirit comes, one is gripped by it, the other is left empty-handed. Two women will be grinding at one mill; one is deeply stirred, the other is left empty-handed.

And they said to him, “Where shall we turn our gaze, Lord? And he answered, “Become aware of your life body, and you will see the eagles that are gathering. [or, Where the formative forces in the human being begin to work in freedom, there the Spirit of the World reveals himself.] [or, Where there is descent and disintegration, there also is revelation.]

8th August –September Trinity
September 14, 2014
Luke 17: 20 – 37

In cartoons, when the character gets an idea, the cartoonist draws a bright light bulb over his head. This icon resonates with us because we experience insight or ideas as a light phenomenon. They come to us as enlightening our awareness, as a flash, or a slower dawning. For increased awareness is indeed another form of light.

When the gospel reading speaks about the human kingdom of the spirit, it tries to make clear that this kingdom is not located outside of us. It arises in the human heart. For Christ, the light of the world, would now reside in human hearts. Like the outer sunlight, his light generates life, that ever progressing, forward-moving, unfolding of living forms that bud, open, and die away, scattering the seeds  of future forms. It is through Him that we experience our flashes of insight, the dawning of a new awareness, the creative solution, or the golden warm light of love

The kingdom of God in human hearts is radiant: radiant with grace, radiant with love, radiant with thanks. Christ dwells in the life of our bodies, where forms are constantly being built up and disintegrated in order to be regenerated again.. It is through Him that the revelation of new beginnings open up again and again. And these ever-changing forms are the vessels for the workings of our inner life, our life of soul and spirit, our life of thought and ideas, our enlightenment.

We need have no fear of the disintegration; for just there, Christ is working for the future. The old form must give way. But if we look, we can find the shining seeds of what will develop. And we can give thanks for the light of grace, the light of love that impels us forward. The poet muses:


Kate Mabee
…it seems to me
all you have to do
is conceive of the whole world
an art project of the god of light
the whole earth and all that's in it
to be painted with light

And the first thing you have to do
 . . .to paint yourself
in your true colors
(without whitewash)
Then paint your favorite people and animals
with your brush loaded with light
….And don't forget to paint
all those who lived their lives
as bearers of light
…Paint the light of their eyes
the light of sunlit laughter

And remember that the light is within
if it is anywhere
and you must paint from the inside….*




* Lawrence Ferlinghetti,  “Instructions to Painters & Poets” in How to Paint Sunlight



Sunday, September 7, 2014

7th August Trinity 2014, Quiet Immensity

7th August Trinity
Jan Luyken
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 [kuh-puhr’-nay-uhm], 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).


7th August /Sept Trinity
Sept  7, 2014
Luke 10:1-20

Numbers are for quantities. They describe a collective of two or three (or 72) units. A name, however, describes quality. A person’s name becomes shorthand for the unique quality of their being. Even though there may be many Johns or Sallys, any particular John or Sally is like no other.

The gospel reading begins with a collective. Seventy-two are sent out in 36 pairs. When they return they are somewhat intoxicated with their own spiritual effectiveness. Christ does not deny their effectiveness. But he encourages them to rejoice that the quality of their unique being, their name,
will be preserved in the heavenly worlds,

Christ came so that our true being would not fall prey to ruin. He rejoices in our individuality, our uniqueness. We are to clothe our uniqueness in an attitude of peace. Quality shall be uppermost, the quality of peaceful, non-violent dignity. And so we may hear the voice of our angel in the poet’s wish:

May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path.
….May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.[1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org




[1]  John O'Donohue , in Anam Cara