Advent 3 “Make straight the way of the Lord.” (John 1:6-8, 19-28)
The straight way is the way to the Real Presence of the living God. It is not a religion it is a relationship. The relationship is with Jesus Christ. The relationship is characterized by love and compassion. And, it is a relationship initiated by the Holy Spirit in the call to worship.
There are many detours along the way. There are no short cuts. Short cuts make long delays, as JJR Tolkien once wrote.
When John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, preached to the people of Judea and Galilee there were three main detours off the straight way of salvation.
For the Romans, power was the detour and war was the short cut.
For the Greeks, knowledge was the detour and cynicism was the short cut.
For the Jews, religion was the detour and legalism was the short cut.
At the risk of offending any one, I suspect that for contemporary Western Civilization the love of money is the detour and self indulgent pleasure is one of many short cuts.
The true prophet of God has the clear sight to discern these detours and short cuts. The Holy Spirit provides the clarity. And, the Holy Spirit directs the prophetic message with two words: repent and prepare.
John the Baptist had the unenviable task of announcing to a very religious culture that they had missed the mark. They maintained the outward and visible signs of religion whist rejecting the inward and spiritual grace.
John’s call to repentance attracted huge crowds. His message stirred the emotions of thousands of people. What John could not do was to change the hearts of those multitudes. He understood the dynamic of the crowds. People might enter into the waters of repentance today and the quickly forget their promise to God by evening. The religious leaders might listen to the message in silence even as they considered how to use John to maintain their position and extend their influence.
John knew his time was short. The true prophet usually does not live long. The true prophet tells people we are lost and in a state of rebellion against the Divine Plan, pattern and purpose of Creation. People in general and people with religious and political power don’ t like that message.
The lost do not want to be found. The rebellious strike back and strike back hard when a true prophet speaks the true word of God.
John’s purpose as the last of the prophets is to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. John calls people to recognize their sin, to repent of their sin, and to understand that the problem of sin runs far deeper than any prophet or religion can reach.
The problem confronting humanity is our choice to separate from God. The solution is to prepare for the One whom God sends into the world to save us from sin. That salvation comes as a gift. It is the gift of reunification with God the Father and transformation in God the Holy Spirit through a personal relationship with God the son.
The straight way to salvation is modeled for us in holy mother Mary’s response to the message of the archangel Gabriel. It is a response to grace by faith summarized in one word: yes.
The call of the true prophet begins with the urgent invitation to consider where we say no to God and how we say no to God. Where are we moving into a detour off the straight and narrow road of salvation? How do we seek the short cuts of self will to tell God what we demand of him?
Jesus is the unity of divinity and humanity. He the second Adam- the pattern of a new life and the purpose for a new way of living.
During Advent we have the opportunity to consider the prophetic call to make our path to God straight- unencumbered by sin.
The straight way is the way of Holy Mother Mary who said: Behold, I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be unto me according to God’s word.
The straight way is the way of the apostle Paul who declared: for me to live is Jesus Christ.
The straight way is the way of the apostle John to whom God the Holy Spirit gave the name: beloved of the co-eternal Beloved.
The straight way is the way of unconditional love.
The last of the true prophets calls us to consider where have chosen detours and short cuts. His call is to return to the royal road of Divine Love and compassion. His call is to walk the pathways of this life with Jesus Christ.
His call is: “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
Friday, December 9, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Advent 2
Advent 2 “Prepare” (Mark 1:1-8)
The true prophet proclaims one message in two words: repent and prepare.
The call to repentance is the invitation to consider the fundamental problem that defines the human race. If you misunderstand the problem the solution our Heavenly Father offers makes little or no sense.
The call to repentance is the invitation to look into the perfect Law of God. It is as we perceive ourselves, our attitudes and actions, in the perfect mirror of the Law that we recognize sin.
Sin, however, is not the root of the problem. The prophets encourage us to ask questions. Through the prophet Isaiah God says: come let us reason together. Think. Ponder. Question. Dialog.
The logical question to ask ourselves when we look into the perfect Law of God and recognize sin is why? Why do I sin? Why does everyone sin?
The Bible offers a unique answer to this question. It is an answer that leads to another question. The reason why all people sin is because in each of us our reason, emotions and will are distorted.
More often than not we use our reason to rationalize sin. We experience an emotional attraction to sin. And we use our will to rebel against God and to compete with and fight against other people.
The next question is where did these distortions come from? The Bible offers an answer to that question as well. It is an answer grounded in the observation of human behavior spanning several thousand years, Distortion comes from pain. It is a deeply rooted all pervasive existential pain that we are born with.
If we are born with this pain where did it come from? This question takes us to the source of the problem. Deeply rooted existential pain comes from the original choice our species made to separate from God. The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church calls this choice “Original Sin.”
Original Sin is the real choice our species made to separate from God. Separation plunges our spirit into profound existential pain. That pain distorts the way we think, feel and make choices. Those distortions cause sin. The end of the process is death.
The true prophet calls people to recognize the reality of sin, the process of sin, and the origin of sin. As far as I can tell, almost every religion teaches actual sin. No religion other than Christianity teaches Original Sin.
If Moses and the prophets are correct in their observations of human behavior and human nature, there can be only one solution to the problem. The solution is Jesus Christ.
If Moses and the Prophets are correct in their conclusions about the human condition then our species is not only lost in Original Separation, we are lost and do not want to be found. We separated to avoid the Living God and we are willfully and rebelliously lost in that separation.
If this is true, then the moment Jesus came to earth he would meet opposition, redefinition, rejection and death. And, that is exactly what happened.
If this is true then the second prophetic word completes the first. The call to repentance is the introduction and foundation for the call to preparation.
What is it that the prophets ask us to prepare for? It is not the Law. We already have the Law and fail to keep it. Is it religion? There are a multitude of religions and an even greater number of denominations, sects and cults generated by those religions. The prophets declare human religion is distorted by the same process of sin that distorts our mind, heart and will.
The prophetic call to repent identifies the problem. The prophetic call to prepare identifies God’s solution to the problem. The solution is Jesus Christ.
Sadly, just as people rejected the call to repentance by killing the prophets then encapsulating a distorted image of the prophets in religious structures, so people rejected the call to prepare for the coming of the holy Beloved. Instead, they prepared for the coming of a Messianic Caesar. They prepared for the wrong person and the wrong plan because they incorrectly identified the problem.
Jesus knew this. He knew what he would find in his generation. He understood the problem better than anyone. He knew that a species lost in separation is also lost in religion, politics, economics, philosophy, culture, self-will, fear and pride.
The lost do not wish to be found. We are found only in the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus God unites His divinity with our humanity. It is that union that God finds us and makes it possible for us to receive reunification with the Way, the truth and the life of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent the Holy Spirit is calling us to prepare our minds and hearts and wills to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. In that birth we celebrate the holy Beloved of God who seeks the lost, finds the lost, and rescues the lost.
Repentance and preparation are two sides of one coin.
The Holy Spirit encourages us to ask the questions that can bring clarity to our thoughts, purity to our hearts and unity to our will. The question is: who or what do you prepare for this Advent season? Are you already caught up in the Santa celebrations? Are you preparing to celebrate the cleverly devised myths or the transcendent reality of the Living Lord Jesus Christ?
When Jesus was born into the world the world did not know him. The world did not want to know him. They were preparing for someone and something very different. Advent is that time when we have the opportunity to reflect on our religious lives and our spiritual needs. It is a time of quiet in the midst of a time of activity and distraction. It is a time of real choice.
The true prophet call out “Prepare!”
The Holy Spirit calls to us: Prepare for the holy Beloved of God. Make the pathways of your mind, heart and will straight in the light and love of Jesus Christ. Enter into the new life of grace. Enter into the new way of living by faith. Make a real choice to believe in Jesus. Make a real choice to receive Jesus into your soul. Make a real choice to prepare for the birth of the co-eternal Beloved of God.
The true prophet proclaims one message in two words: repent and prepare.
The call to repentance is the invitation to consider the fundamental problem that defines the human race. If you misunderstand the problem the solution our Heavenly Father offers makes little or no sense.
The call to repentance is the invitation to look into the perfect Law of God. It is as we perceive ourselves, our attitudes and actions, in the perfect mirror of the Law that we recognize sin.
Sin, however, is not the root of the problem. The prophets encourage us to ask questions. Through the prophet Isaiah God says: come let us reason together. Think. Ponder. Question. Dialog.
The logical question to ask ourselves when we look into the perfect Law of God and recognize sin is why? Why do I sin? Why does everyone sin?
The Bible offers a unique answer to this question. It is an answer that leads to another question. The reason why all people sin is because in each of us our reason, emotions and will are distorted.
More often than not we use our reason to rationalize sin. We experience an emotional attraction to sin. And we use our will to rebel against God and to compete with and fight against other people.
The next question is where did these distortions come from? The Bible offers an answer to that question as well. It is an answer grounded in the observation of human behavior spanning several thousand years, Distortion comes from pain. It is a deeply rooted all pervasive existential pain that we are born with.
If we are born with this pain where did it come from? This question takes us to the source of the problem. Deeply rooted existential pain comes from the original choice our species made to separate from God. The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church calls this choice “Original Sin.”
Original Sin is the real choice our species made to separate from God. Separation plunges our spirit into profound existential pain. That pain distorts the way we think, feel and make choices. Those distortions cause sin. The end of the process is death.
The true prophet calls people to recognize the reality of sin, the process of sin, and the origin of sin. As far as I can tell, almost every religion teaches actual sin. No religion other than Christianity teaches Original Sin.
If Moses and the prophets are correct in their observations of human behavior and human nature, there can be only one solution to the problem. The solution is Jesus Christ.
If Moses and the Prophets are correct in their conclusions about the human condition then our species is not only lost in Original Separation, we are lost and do not want to be found. We separated to avoid the Living God and we are willfully and rebelliously lost in that separation.
If this is true, then the moment Jesus came to earth he would meet opposition, redefinition, rejection and death. And, that is exactly what happened.
If this is true then the second prophetic word completes the first. The call to repentance is the introduction and foundation for the call to preparation.
What is it that the prophets ask us to prepare for? It is not the Law. We already have the Law and fail to keep it. Is it religion? There are a multitude of religions and an even greater number of denominations, sects and cults generated by those religions. The prophets declare human religion is distorted by the same process of sin that distorts our mind, heart and will.
The prophetic call to repent identifies the problem. The prophetic call to prepare identifies God’s solution to the problem. The solution is Jesus Christ.
Sadly, just as people rejected the call to repentance by killing the prophets then encapsulating a distorted image of the prophets in religious structures, so people rejected the call to prepare for the coming of the holy Beloved. Instead, they prepared for the coming of a Messianic Caesar. They prepared for the wrong person and the wrong plan because they incorrectly identified the problem.
Jesus knew this. He knew what he would find in his generation. He understood the problem better than anyone. He knew that a species lost in separation is also lost in religion, politics, economics, philosophy, culture, self-will, fear and pride.
The lost do not wish to be found. We are found only in the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus God unites His divinity with our humanity. It is that union that God finds us and makes it possible for us to receive reunification with the Way, the truth and the life of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent the Holy Spirit is calling us to prepare our minds and hearts and wills to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. In that birth we celebrate the holy Beloved of God who seeks the lost, finds the lost, and rescues the lost.
Repentance and preparation are two sides of one coin.
The Holy Spirit encourages us to ask the questions that can bring clarity to our thoughts, purity to our hearts and unity to our will. The question is: who or what do you prepare for this Advent season? Are you already caught up in the Santa celebrations? Are you preparing to celebrate the cleverly devised myths or the transcendent reality of the Living Lord Jesus Christ?
When Jesus was born into the world the world did not know him. The world did not want to know him. They were preparing for someone and something very different. Advent is that time when we have the opportunity to reflect on our religious lives and our spiritual needs. It is a time of quiet in the midst of a time of activity and distraction. It is a time of real choice.
The true prophet call out “Prepare!”
The Holy Spirit calls to us: Prepare for the holy Beloved of God. Make the pathways of your mind, heart and will straight in the light and love of Jesus Christ. Enter into the new life of grace. Enter into the new way of living by faith. Make a real choice to believe in Jesus. Make a real choice to receive Jesus into your soul. Make a real choice to prepare for the birth of the co-eternal Beloved of God.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Advent 1
Advent 1 “Keep awake!” (Mark 13:24-37)
Jesus sets us free to be.
The imperative to keep awake is the call to the present moment.
Jesus understood time more completely than anyone who has ever lived or will ever live. In his pre incarnate form Jesus is the pattern by which our heavenly Father created time, space, matter and energy.
The Beloved of the Father voluntarily left the realm of the eternal to enter the world of time. Jesus entered time to seek and to find a people who are lost in time.
How is this possible?
The Bible presents a clear and consistent record of how most people most of the time simply do not pay attention to the world as it is in the present moment.
Moses encountered this aspect of human nature throughout his ministry. When the people lived in slavery in Egypt they longed for deliverance and cried out for the future Messiah to come quickly. When Moses led them out of Egypt into the desert the people forgot their plea and would only complain that they no longer had the food and comfort of their past lives as slaves back in Egypt.
The persistent preaching of the prophets called people into the present moment of the Sabbath, the day of divine Real Presence. It was a call to worship most people most of the time ignored then, and continue to ignore now.
Moses came to understand how the people chose to live for a future paradise or a past pleasure. The prophets were dismayed to realize that the people largely abandoned the Real Presence of God for the illusions of philosophy and the memory of past glories and future pleasures.
The Bible is very clear. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. Now. Not yesterday or in the distant past. Not tomorrow or in the distant future. That is why Jesus teaches that the signs of his return are fulfilled in that generation. Nothing needs to happen before Jesus returns.
Jesus could return at any moment.
Because Jesus could return at any moment it is folly to try to predict let alone announce the exact date. Of that time and of that hour no one knows, not even the angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows the time and the hour.
Jesus warns against the folly of predicting the future and admonishes us to be wary, to keep alert and to keep awake. The teaching is to wake up, pay attention to what is. Live in the present moment.
Philosophers and psychologists often observe that many people sleep walk through life. Many people live by default rather than by conscious intent.
We sleep walk through life by adopting an easy routine, the path of least effort and least resistance. We live by default by accepting without question the conventions of our culture and the expectations of other people. As we do this we disconnect from the reality of the present moment. We allow past fears or anxiety about the future to set our priorities and form our lives.
The invitation to keep awake is the call to make a real choice to live by conscious intent in the present moment here and now. The best and only way to live most fully and completely in time is to hear the call to meet the at the time and place of worship.
This is how Jesus lived and moved and experienced time. He formed his life in the here and now of the present moment by attending to the eternal now of the eternal Sabbath Day of Real Presence. In Jesus the timeless touches time as the eternal God unities his divinity with our mortal humanity.
It is as we make a real choice to immerse our souls in the timeless touch of Real Presence that the eternal sets us free from past fear or anxiety about the future. The timeless touch of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ on the seventh day at the altar of sacrifice liberates us from the tyranny of time and the tedium of time to live most fully in the present moment: now.
It is the perfect love of the incarnate co-eternal Beloved who releases us from the bondage of past fear into the ineffable joy and wonder of the present moment. It is the Beloved who has come to earth and promised to be present to us on the Seventh day to assure that the future is safe and secure in the everlasting arms of our Heavenly Father.
Jesus sets us free to be.
Jesus sets us free from fear and anxiety to be exactly who our Heavenly Father created us to be. From God’s perspective we are the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved. It is only our stubborn insistence on wandering in the wilderness of past fear or in the anxiety of future distress that blinds us from this reality.
During this Advent season the one holy catholic and apostolic church invites us to experience a new life in the midst of the present moment. The first step in this new life is what Jesus teaches us today. Keep awake.
Pascal, the French scientist and philosopher, once commented that all of man’s problems can be traced to his inability to sit still in silence for five minutes. Pascal understood how the sin nature perpetuates humanity’s original choice to separate from God.
As a species we are lost in separation. We perpetuate that separation by choosing to be lost in time. We remain lost in time until we make a real choice to be found in the present moment of the here and now.
Set aside time to encounter the eternal. This is called meditation. It isn’t easy. It requires a choice and a commitment. Make a conscious intent here and now to set aside five minutes a day to sit in silence. You may choose to hold your intent before God in the words of Psalm 62:1 “For God alone my soul in silence waits.”
It is in the real choice to meet the co-eternal Beloved in a moment of silence that we discover how we are lost and where we are lost. The fundamental challenge is that our sin nature does not want to be found. The great promise of God in Jesus Christ is that through the incarnation God has already found us. All we need to do is say: yes. All we need to do is to say what Holy Mother Mary said: Let it be.
Let it be. Be who you are. Make a real choice to enter into the Real Presence of the Living Lord Jesus Christ in the present moment of the eternal “Now”. Wake up to who you are in Jesus Christ.
And, once you wake up keep awake in the Present Moment with the conscious intent to be the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved, Jesus Christ.
Jesus sets us free to be.
The imperative to keep awake is the call to the present moment.
Jesus understood time more completely than anyone who has ever lived or will ever live. In his pre incarnate form Jesus is the pattern by which our heavenly Father created time, space, matter and energy.
The Beloved of the Father voluntarily left the realm of the eternal to enter the world of time. Jesus entered time to seek and to find a people who are lost in time.
How is this possible?
The Bible presents a clear and consistent record of how most people most of the time simply do not pay attention to the world as it is in the present moment.
Moses encountered this aspect of human nature throughout his ministry. When the people lived in slavery in Egypt they longed for deliverance and cried out for the future Messiah to come quickly. When Moses led them out of Egypt into the desert the people forgot their plea and would only complain that they no longer had the food and comfort of their past lives as slaves back in Egypt.
The persistent preaching of the prophets called people into the present moment of the Sabbath, the day of divine Real Presence. It was a call to worship most people most of the time ignored then, and continue to ignore now.
Moses came to understand how the people chose to live for a future paradise or a past pleasure. The prophets were dismayed to realize that the people largely abandoned the Real Presence of God for the illusions of philosophy and the memory of past glories and future pleasures.
The Bible is very clear. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. Now. Not yesterday or in the distant past. Not tomorrow or in the distant future. That is why Jesus teaches that the signs of his return are fulfilled in that generation. Nothing needs to happen before Jesus returns.
Jesus could return at any moment.
Because Jesus could return at any moment it is folly to try to predict let alone announce the exact date. Of that time and of that hour no one knows, not even the angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows the time and the hour.
Jesus warns against the folly of predicting the future and admonishes us to be wary, to keep alert and to keep awake. The teaching is to wake up, pay attention to what is. Live in the present moment.
Philosophers and psychologists often observe that many people sleep walk through life. Many people live by default rather than by conscious intent.
We sleep walk through life by adopting an easy routine, the path of least effort and least resistance. We live by default by accepting without question the conventions of our culture and the expectations of other people. As we do this we disconnect from the reality of the present moment. We allow past fears or anxiety about the future to set our priorities and form our lives.
The invitation to keep awake is the call to make a real choice to live by conscious intent in the present moment here and now. The best and only way to live most fully and completely in time is to hear the call to meet the at the time and place of worship.
This is how Jesus lived and moved and experienced time. He formed his life in the here and now of the present moment by attending to the eternal now of the eternal Sabbath Day of Real Presence. In Jesus the timeless touches time as the eternal God unities his divinity with our mortal humanity.
It is as we make a real choice to immerse our souls in the timeless touch of Real Presence that the eternal sets us free from past fear or anxiety about the future. The timeless touch of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ on the seventh day at the altar of sacrifice liberates us from the tyranny of time and the tedium of time to live most fully in the present moment: now.
It is the perfect love of the incarnate co-eternal Beloved who releases us from the bondage of past fear into the ineffable joy and wonder of the present moment. It is the Beloved who has come to earth and promised to be present to us on the Seventh day to assure that the future is safe and secure in the everlasting arms of our Heavenly Father.
Jesus sets us free to be.
Jesus sets us free from fear and anxiety to be exactly who our Heavenly Father created us to be. From God’s perspective we are the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved. It is only our stubborn insistence on wandering in the wilderness of past fear or in the anxiety of future distress that blinds us from this reality.
During this Advent season the one holy catholic and apostolic church invites us to experience a new life in the midst of the present moment. The first step in this new life is what Jesus teaches us today. Keep awake.
Pascal, the French scientist and philosopher, once commented that all of man’s problems can be traced to his inability to sit still in silence for five minutes. Pascal understood how the sin nature perpetuates humanity’s original choice to separate from God.
As a species we are lost in separation. We perpetuate that separation by choosing to be lost in time. We remain lost in time until we make a real choice to be found in the present moment of the here and now.
Set aside time to encounter the eternal. This is called meditation. It isn’t easy. It requires a choice and a commitment. Make a conscious intent here and now to set aside five minutes a day to sit in silence. You may choose to hold your intent before God in the words of Psalm 62:1 “For God alone my soul in silence waits.”
It is in the real choice to meet the co-eternal Beloved in a moment of silence that we discover how we are lost and where we are lost. The fundamental challenge is that our sin nature does not want to be found. The great promise of God in Jesus Christ is that through the incarnation God has already found us. All we need to do is say: yes. All we need to do is to say what Holy Mother Mary said: Let it be.
Let it be. Be who you are. Make a real choice to enter into the Real Presence of the Living Lord Jesus Christ in the present moment of the eternal “Now”. Wake up to who you are in Jesus Christ.
And, once you wake up keep awake in the Present Moment with the conscious intent to be the beloved of the co-eternal Beloved, Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thanksgiving 2011
Thanksgiving 2012 “Do not worry.” (Matthew 6:25-33)
Gratitude is the antidote for worry.
My grandfather frequently quoted this scripture to me when I was a child. He would always add an addendum. Don’t you worry- your father worries enough for the whole family. That’s his job.
One of the consequences of Original Sin, the choice our species made to separate from God, is the distortion of thought that produces worry. Through the pain of original separation our brains forms structures that some people identify as threat assessment mechanisms.
The brain in a state of separation and distortion constantly scans the environment for threats. Not only does it passively scan for threats, it actively runs scenarios to test for threats.
And so if someone says something like “I missed you at the meeting last night” the brain will run scenarios to determine if that statement is a criticism, a judgment or a threat.
When we worry, we experience a mental process that produces an emotional result. The brain is preparing the body to run away or to fight if there is indeed a threat. It’s called the flight or fight response. There is a third response called “freeze” where action is paralyzed.
The brain produces a certain level of what Psychologists call “negative self-talk.’ This “negative self-talk” can be very inconvenient and annoying. It is what Jesus wants to heal in us.
Jesus knows all of these things about us. He is the original pattern of human nature. He knows how original separation produces what some philosophers and psychiatrists call “existential pain.”
The Bible is a record of how that existential pain creates distortions in our thoughts, emotions and will. It is those distortions that result in sin. The end result of sin is death.
Jesus just doesn’t say: “don’t worry; be happy”. He tells us how we can heal the distortions that result in worry. And, he not only tells us he shows us. And, he not only shows us he offers to infuse our souls with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the healing.
On this Thanksgiving Day 2011 we remember how the Christian founders of this nation drew on the divine love and compassion of Jesus Christ when they set aside a day of national thanksgiving. They knew, they chose and they experienced the transforming power of the Living Lord Jesus Christ. They commended that transforming power to the nation as the way of gratitude.
Worry produces anxiety and fear. Worry molds us to live defensively and experience our daily lives as a constant threat that demands fight, flight or freeze.
Gratitude, thanksgiving, resets the mind, heart and will to their original pattern and proper function.
Thanksgiving resets the direction of our lives by the compass that points true north. In the spiritual life true north is Jesus Christ.
Consider your many blessings. Consider family, friends and neighbors. Ask the Holy Spirit to infuse in your soul a new and transforming attitude of gratitude.
Jesus’ ardent and passionate desire is for all of us and each of us to experience life as a journey to celebrate. And so, on this Thanksgiving day Jesus teaches and encourages and empowers us in the word of God: do not worry. Seek first the kingdom of God. As you do that the Holy Spirit will set you free to celebrate life and to enjoy the amazing blessings of life.
Gratitude is the antidote for worry.
My grandfather frequently quoted this scripture to me when I was a child. He would always add an addendum. Don’t you worry- your father worries enough for the whole family. That’s his job.
One of the consequences of Original Sin, the choice our species made to separate from God, is the distortion of thought that produces worry. Through the pain of original separation our brains forms structures that some people identify as threat assessment mechanisms.
The brain in a state of separation and distortion constantly scans the environment for threats. Not only does it passively scan for threats, it actively runs scenarios to test for threats.
And so if someone says something like “I missed you at the meeting last night” the brain will run scenarios to determine if that statement is a criticism, a judgment or a threat.
When we worry, we experience a mental process that produces an emotional result. The brain is preparing the body to run away or to fight if there is indeed a threat. It’s called the flight or fight response. There is a third response called “freeze” where action is paralyzed.
The brain produces a certain level of what Psychologists call “negative self-talk.’ This “negative self-talk” can be very inconvenient and annoying. It is what Jesus wants to heal in us.
Jesus knows all of these things about us. He is the original pattern of human nature. He knows how original separation produces what some philosophers and psychiatrists call “existential pain.”
The Bible is a record of how that existential pain creates distortions in our thoughts, emotions and will. It is those distortions that result in sin. The end result of sin is death.
Jesus just doesn’t say: “don’t worry; be happy”. He tells us how we can heal the distortions that result in worry. And, he not only tells us he shows us. And, he not only shows us he offers to infuse our souls with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the healing.
On this Thanksgiving Day 2011 we remember how the Christian founders of this nation drew on the divine love and compassion of Jesus Christ when they set aside a day of national thanksgiving. They knew, they chose and they experienced the transforming power of the Living Lord Jesus Christ. They commended that transforming power to the nation as the way of gratitude.
Worry produces anxiety and fear. Worry molds us to live defensively and experience our daily lives as a constant threat that demands fight, flight or freeze.
Gratitude, thanksgiving, resets the mind, heart and will to their original pattern and proper function.
Thanksgiving resets the direction of our lives by the compass that points true north. In the spiritual life true north is Jesus Christ.
Consider your many blessings. Consider family, friends and neighbors. Ask the Holy Spirit to infuse in your soul a new and transforming attitude of gratitude.
Jesus’ ardent and passionate desire is for all of us and each of us to experience life as a journey to celebrate. And so, on this Thanksgiving day Jesus teaches and encourages and empowers us in the word of God: do not worry. Seek first the kingdom of God. As you do that the Holy Spirit will set you free to celebrate life and to enjoy the amazing blessings of life.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Christ the King Sunday 2012
Christ the King Sunday 2011
(Matthew 25:31-46) “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.”
How we treat other people reveals the state of our soul.
Jesus goes so far as to say how we treat the least, those who are different, those who are disadvantaged, reveals how we treat him.
Jesus is not speaking of a point system of credits and debits by which we earn a place in the kingdom of heaven. He is speaking of relationships.
What the Bible teaches is that life is about relationships. Moses, the prophets and Jesus reveal that there are three orders of relationships for human beings. The first and most important relationship is with God. The second is how we treat others and the third how we treat ourselves.
What reveals the inner most nature of our souls is the attitude and action we bring forth in our relationships.
As we relate to other people we can choose to bring forth indifference, intolerance, aggression, or compassion.
The people at the final judgment are surprised by the standard.
They expect a checklist based in credits and debits. They expect a standard grounded in performance and results that has nothing to do with attitude. Much to their, and perhaps our, surprise the standard is love and compassion. The question Jesus wants us to ask ourselves here and now before we appear at the judgment seat is: how do I love?
Jesus himself is the answer to that question. How did Jesus love? How does Jesus love?
As we study the life of Jesus Christ we see that first and foremost Jesus loved unconditionally. He loved everyone- even his enemies, even those who abandoned him and even those who tortured and killed him.
Jesus was able to love unconditionally by a real choice to immerse his mind, his heart and his will in the will of God the Father by staying centered in the Divine Presence of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the union of divinity and humanity in a single individual who manifests the infinite love of God in a particular time, at a particular place in a particular person.
Jesus reveals the universal love of God one person at a time.
Jesus is the universal love of God for each unique person in a unique way.
It is as we make a real choice to reunify with the Father, through the Son by the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit that we have access to the infinite unconditional love of God. And, it is as we make a real choice to immerse ourselves in the Real Presence of divine love that we are set free from sin to express compassion.
Sin always kills. Divine love always transforms death into life.
Religion without love is abomination. Religion without compassion becomes either rigid and judgmental, or sentimental and amorphous. Apart from the constant input of divine grace to transform our souls, we stagnate. As we stagnate we hide from the truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Some people hide from Jesus in religion. Some hide in science. Still others hide in self-indulgence. That is why at the last judgment Jesus says: I never knew you. Jesus does not hide from us. We hide from him.
Jesus says I never knew you for I was present to you in the child you abandoned and abused. I was there to you in the people you judged unworthy of food. I was there to you in the people you defamed and bullied. I was there for you but you turned your back on me. You hid in the illusion of self will and now you are lost in that illusion.
I was hungry and you did not feed me.
Hunger is the scandal of a species unwilling to practice compassion. Hunger is the product of souls in a state of self will, fear pride. The starvation of over a billion people on this planet is the outward and visible manifestation of the spiritual state of our species. People starve for their daily bread because our species hides from God and is starving spiritually in the illusion of the will to power, the demand of the soul to dominate other people, nature and even God.
We at St. Luke’s cannot feed a billion people. We can help to feed some of the needy here in the Newtown area. We can do this as we make a real choice to enter into the Way of life Jesus demonstrated.
The steps are very clear and practical.
First: surrender judgment. Give up the illusion that we have a right to judge other people as less worthy than we are.
Second: ask the Holy Spirit to convert the demand of self will into the true freedom of divine will. Make it part of your daily prayer life to say: Heavenly Father, not my will but Thy will be done.
Third: During the four weeks of Advent give up the insistence to have everything done your way. As you come to the altar of sacrifice to receive the gift of divine life ask Jesus to release you from the distortions of sin.
Jesus does not ask us to submit to Law. Jesus asks us to surrender to Love. As we surrender to divine love we are transformed by that love to live and move and have our being in that love. We meet Jesus in the lives of the people God created in His image. And, Jesus meets us through those people in such a very simple and direct way that Jesus says:
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.”
(Matthew 25:31-46) “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.”
How we treat other people reveals the state of our soul.
Jesus goes so far as to say how we treat the least, those who are different, those who are disadvantaged, reveals how we treat him.
Jesus is not speaking of a point system of credits and debits by which we earn a place in the kingdom of heaven. He is speaking of relationships.
What the Bible teaches is that life is about relationships. Moses, the prophets and Jesus reveal that there are three orders of relationships for human beings. The first and most important relationship is with God. The second is how we treat others and the third how we treat ourselves.
What reveals the inner most nature of our souls is the attitude and action we bring forth in our relationships.
As we relate to other people we can choose to bring forth indifference, intolerance, aggression, or compassion.
The people at the final judgment are surprised by the standard.
They expect a checklist based in credits and debits. They expect a standard grounded in performance and results that has nothing to do with attitude. Much to their, and perhaps our, surprise the standard is love and compassion. The question Jesus wants us to ask ourselves here and now before we appear at the judgment seat is: how do I love?
Jesus himself is the answer to that question. How did Jesus love? How does Jesus love?
As we study the life of Jesus Christ we see that first and foremost Jesus loved unconditionally. He loved everyone- even his enemies, even those who abandoned him and even those who tortured and killed him.
Jesus was able to love unconditionally by a real choice to immerse his mind, his heart and his will in the will of God the Father by staying centered in the Divine Presence of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the union of divinity and humanity in a single individual who manifests the infinite love of God in a particular time, at a particular place in a particular person.
Jesus reveals the universal love of God one person at a time.
Jesus is the universal love of God for each unique person in a unique way.
It is as we make a real choice to reunify with the Father, through the Son by the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit that we have access to the infinite unconditional love of God. And, it is as we make a real choice to immerse ourselves in the Real Presence of divine love that we are set free from sin to express compassion.
Sin always kills. Divine love always transforms death into life.
Religion without love is abomination. Religion without compassion becomes either rigid and judgmental, or sentimental and amorphous. Apart from the constant input of divine grace to transform our souls, we stagnate. As we stagnate we hide from the truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Some people hide from Jesus in religion. Some hide in science. Still others hide in self-indulgence. That is why at the last judgment Jesus says: I never knew you. Jesus does not hide from us. We hide from him.
Jesus says I never knew you for I was present to you in the child you abandoned and abused. I was there to you in the people you judged unworthy of food. I was there to you in the people you defamed and bullied. I was there for you but you turned your back on me. You hid in the illusion of self will and now you are lost in that illusion.
I was hungry and you did not feed me.
Hunger is the scandal of a species unwilling to practice compassion. Hunger is the product of souls in a state of self will, fear pride. The starvation of over a billion people on this planet is the outward and visible manifestation of the spiritual state of our species. People starve for their daily bread because our species hides from God and is starving spiritually in the illusion of the will to power, the demand of the soul to dominate other people, nature and even God.
We at St. Luke’s cannot feed a billion people. We can help to feed some of the needy here in the Newtown area. We can do this as we make a real choice to enter into the Way of life Jesus demonstrated.
The steps are very clear and practical.
First: surrender judgment. Give up the illusion that we have a right to judge other people as less worthy than we are.
Second: ask the Holy Spirit to convert the demand of self will into the true freedom of divine will. Make it part of your daily prayer life to say: Heavenly Father, not my will but Thy will be done.
Third: During the four weeks of Advent give up the insistence to have everything done your way. As you come to the altar of sacrifice to receive the gift of divine life ask Jesus to release you from the distortions of sin.
Jesus does not ask us to submit to Law. Jesus asks us to surrender to Love. As we surrender to divine love we are transformed by that love to live and move and have our being in that love. We meet Jesus in the lives of the people God created in His image. And, Jesus meets us through those people in such a very simple and direct way that Jesus says:
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.”
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Pentecost 22
Pentecost 22 (Matthew 25:14-30)
For to all those who have more will be given.
The underlying principle of the parable of the talents is “use it or lose it.”
In Biblical times a talent was a unit of money. A silver talent was worth a year’s wage for a day laborer. The man in the story is both incredibly wealthy and incredibly generous. He has a great deal of trust in his servants. And, he has high expectations for their productivity.
The word “talent” passed into English through this passage. The word shifted in meaning as people pondered the meaning of the parable. We no longer use the word “talent” to refer to a unit of money. We use the word to describe natural gifts and abilities.
In the parable the rich man gives different amounts of money to his servants according to their abilities. The man expects his servants to use the money productively. And, he recognizes each servant has his own strengths and weaknesses that will affect his productivity.
Two of the servants take the gifts and use them wisely. They double the investment. The master returns after a long absence to settle accounts. He commends the wise servants for using their natural gifts and abilities prudently and productively.
The third servant doesn’t use his gift at all. Through fear he hides his gift of one talent and simply returns it untouched and un used. The master confronts the unproductive servant and tells him that he could at the very least have opened a secure savings account and received a modest interest.
The parable is not a lesson in finances. It is also not teaching that we earn God’s favor, God’s grace.
The parable is a lesson about our response to God’s grace. The master represents God. Within the context of the parable He gave each of His servants amazing gifts few people would ever receive. He gave the gifts judiciously, taking into account each person’s unique abilities.
The Bible is very clear that God pours forth his grace, his unmerited favor, to everyone. God even gives each of us unique capabilities by which we can, if we choose, use the gifts.
The point of the parable is our choice to respond or to react to God’s grace.
Money is the ideal symbol for the process of unfolding grace because money is frozen energy. People invented money to quantify the value of time, talents and work. Units of money are units of the life force frozen in place. Money can reveal to us what we truly value. And, money can enter into the life of grace to produce an abundance of blessing.
The difference between the productive and the unproductive servants is the distinction between faith and fear.
St. Paul teaches that we reunify with God and are transformed by God through grace through faith. The operating force is choice. God pours forth his grace to all people in Jesus Christ.
The parable raises the vital question: how do we each respond or react to universal grace?
Do we make a real choice to receive the grace of God by faith? Will we use our natural abilities with understanding and wisdom to unlock the frozen energy of our souls? Do we see life as an adventure to explore?
It is as we choose to respond to God’s grace by faith that we experience the release of the frozen energy of our lives. It is as we use our talents that those talents expand, grow, and mature into the abundance God has placed in them for us to experience and for us to bring forth into the world.
The alternative to a response of faith is a reaction of fear. Fear paralyzes the soul. Fear locks the soul in stagnant life force that produces sin. Fear is always self-absorbed and self-justifying. And fear always erodes faith by spite.
Jesus teaching is very clear. We all have different abilities and different talents. God does not expect us to manifest gifts we simply do not have. God passionately desires for us to take the gifts he has given us and use them by faith.
The actual quantifiable result is less important that the process involved. The process opens our minds and hearts and souls to experience a greater degree of grace. It is as we practice our faith in the daily choices we make with what we have and where we are that we release the frozen energy of our lives.
The servant with five talents used his talents and doubled them. So did the servant with two talents. The blessing is not in the numbers. The blessing is in the process of growth and maturity. The blessing is in the joy.
A good question to ask yourself is: where am I experiencing joy in my life? Does my service to God produce joy?
The joy comes as a natural consequence of a life lived by grace through faith. If your service produces fear, anxiety, frustration and spite you need to step back and ask the Holy Spirit two questions. Where am I not in truth? Where am I not in love?
Those who choose to use grace through love expand their ability to experience grace through love. For to all those who act from the place of self will, fear and pride even what they have will collapse into stagnation and fail to bring forth a blessing.
But, to those who act from faith in love even the abundance of God’s gifts to them will increase, grow and mature into a wealth of blessing and a never ending fountain of joy.
For to all those who have more will be given.
For to all those who have more will be given.
The underlying principle of the parable of the talents is “use it or lose it.”
In Biblical times a talent was a unit of money. A silver talent was worth a year’s wage for a day laborer. The man in the story is both incredibly wealthy and incredibly generous. He has a great deal of trust in his servants. And, he has high expectations for their productivity.
The word “talent” passed into English through this passage. The word shifted in meaning as people pondered the meaning of the parable. We no longer use the word “talent” to refer to a unit of money. We use the word to describe natural gifts and abilities.
In the parable the rich man gives different amounts of money to his servants according to their abilities. The man expects his servants to use the money productively. And, he recognizes each servant has his own strengths and weaknesses that will affect his productivity.
Two of the servants take the gifts and use them wisely. They double the investment. The master returns after a long absence to settle accounts. He commends the wise servants for using their natural gifts and abilities prudently and productively.
The third servant doesn’t use his gift at all. Through fear he hides his gift of one talent and simply returns it untouched and un used. The master confronts the unproductive servant and tells him that he could at the very least have opened a secure savings account and received a modest interest.
The parable is not a lesson in finances. It is also not teaching that we earn God’s favor, God’s grace.
The parable is a lesson about our response to God’s grace. The master represents God. Within the context of the parable He gave each of His servants amazing gifts few people would ever receive. He gave the gifts judiciously, taking into account each person’s unique abilities.
The Bible is very clear that God pours forth his grace, his unmerited favor, to everyone. God even gives each of us unique capabilities by which we can, if we choose, use the gifts.
The point of the parable is our choice to respond or to react to God’s grace.
Money is the ideal symbol for the process of unfolding grace because money is frozen energy. People invented money to quantify the value of time, talents and work. Units of money are units of the life force frozen in place. Money can reveal to us what we truly value. And, money can enter into the life of grace to produce an abundance of blessing.
The difference between the productive and the unproductive servants is the distinction between faith and fear.
St. Paul teaches that we reunify with God and are transformed by God through grace through faith. The operating force is choice. God pours forth his grace to all people in Jesus Christ.
The parable raises the vital question: how do we each respond or react to universal grace?
Do we make a real choice to receive the grace of God by faith? Will we use our natural abilities with understanding and wisdom to unlock the frozen energy of our souls? Do we see life as an adventure to explore?
It is as we choose to respond to God’s grace by faith that we experience the release of the frozen energy of our lives. It is as we use our talents that those talents expand, grow, and mature into the abundance God has placed in them for us to experience and for us to bring forth into the world.
The alternative to a response of faith is a reaction of fear. Fear paralyzes the soul. Fear locks the soul in stagnant life force that produces sin. Fear is always self-absorbed and self-justifying. And fear always erodes faith by spite.
Jesus teaching is very clear. We all have different abilities and different talents. God does not expect us to manifest gifts we simply do not have. God passionately desires for us to take the gifts he has given us and use them by faith.
The actual quantifiable result is less important that the process involved. The process opens our minds and hearts and souls to experience a greater degree of grace. It is as we practice our faith in the daily choices we make with what we have and where we are that we release the frozen energy of our lives.
The servant with five talents used his talents and doubled them. So did the servant with two talents. The blessing is not in the numbers. The blessing is in the process of growth and maturity. The blessing is in the joy.
A good question to ask yourself is: where am I experiencing joy in my life? Does my service to God produce joy?
The joy comes as a natural consequence of a life lived by grace through faith. If your service produces fear, anxiety, frustration and spite you need to step back and ask the Holy Spirit two questions. Where am I not in truth? Where am I not in love?
Those who choose to use grace through love expand their ability to experience grace through love. For to all those who act from the place of self will, fear and pride even what they have will collapse into stagnation and fail to bring forth a blessing.
But, to those who act from faith in love even the abundance of God’s gifts to them will increase, grow and mature into a wealth of blessing and a never ending fountain of joy.
For to all those who have more will be given.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
All Saints Sunday 2011
All Saints/All Souls Sunday 2011 “
The blessings of God are infinite and eternal.
The blessings of God are infinite and eternal because they are an infusion of the infinite and eternal love of God into our souls.
The saints are the saints because they came to understand this principle and to act on this principle. They are blessed because they said “yes” to the blessing our Heavenly Father offers all people everywhere in the ordinary events of life.
God is working his purpose out in our world. God is working His purpose out in the circumstance of our lives. God never promised to annul the folly of human sin. The world is structured according to the laws of choice, cause and effect, and consequence. God does not use magic to cancel the laws that he formed to govern the universe he created.
He does promise to transform sin back into virtue in the Real Presence of the living Lord Jesus Christ. He does promise that despite the bad things that happen in this world He is working to bring all things back to their original perfection.
How does this happen?
Jesus gives us some very profound and difficult teaching on the subject of blessing in his sermon on the mount. In this sermon, Jesus reveals to us the Great Mystery of salvation. That Great Mystery is counter intuitive to most if not all people.
Ponder for a moment the words Jesus uses to complete the statement “Blessed are.”
The people who gathered to hear him that day would have expected something very different. Based on their experience, their values and the way they had been taught to practice their religion they would have expected something like:
Blessed are the rich because God has rewarded them with an abundance of money.
Blessed are the happy because God has rewarded them with pleasure.
Blessed are the strong for God has rewarded them with the power to dominate other people.
Blessed are those who know they are righteous for God has rewarded them with positions of importance.
Blessed are those who condemn the unrighteous for God hates those who they hate.
Blessed are those who refuse to compromise for God rewards their narrow minded dedication to ideological purity.
Blessed are those who conquer and destroy their enemies for God gives victory over the unrighteous.
Blessed are the righteous bullies who impose their will on the weak and foolish for God rewards their perfection by helping them dominate other people.
These are the “beatitudes” those lost in separation from God expect and seek. They are grounded in the will to power of the sin nature.
The blessing of God reaches out to the lost, lonely and broken souls of our world with a very different message. You are most blessed when you are most vulnerable. You are most blessed when you recognize your need, your poverty, your hunger and thirst for meaning and purpose… for God.
The righteous are not those who stand before God filled with pride of accomplishment. The blessed are not those who manage to accumulate wealth, power and position.
The righteous are those who hear the invitation of God to enter into a personal relationship with Him in Jesus Christ. The blessed are those who hear and believe the words of Jesus when he says: I am with you always.
The Blessing of God is the Real Presence of God in Jesus Christ.
God does not bring poverty and suffering into our life. We do that both individually and as a species when we chose to violate the triune law of Love and bring forth those choices into the world of cause and effect.
Jesus perfectly fulfills the triune Law of Love within the context of the laws of choice, cause and effect and consequence. Jesus is the answer to the question so many people ask from time to time in the midst of tragedy: where was God?
Jesus is the Real Presence of God to the poor, the mournful, the meek, the hungry. Jesus is the Real Presence of God to those who embrace the blessing of God and become the blessing of God as the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers.
Jesus invites all people to receive the blessing of His Real Presence, to live the blessing, and then to become the blessing. More often than not, we reach for the blessing in a moment of pain and in a moment of need. It is then the Holy Spirit can reach past the distractions of our possessions and pleasures to show us our true spiritual state and our prodound spiritual need.
No one is born a Christian. We are made Christians by a choice. No one is born a saint. We make choices that open our minds and hearts and wills to receive God’s blessing. It is as we make that choice to value the blessing God offers that we experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to live from the place of blessing.
Where is your greatest need today? Where is your sorrow? Where is your pain? It is there that our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to offer you the blessing of personal transformation in the Real Presence of the Living Lord Jesus Christ.
The purpose of God’s blessing is three fold. God wants to reunite you to the eternal life of the Holy Trinity. God wants you to experience the joy and wonder of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in your daily life here and now. God wants you to be a blessing of love and compassion to other people.
The saints were those who made a choice to reject the demands of the sin nature and to receive the blessings our Heavenly Father offers all people everywhere in all the circumstances of our lives. They weren’t perfect. They simply met God where God offered to meet them. They met God in both the pleasures and the pain of this life. They yielded self will to divine will in a moment of grace.
The saints lived the words Jesus spoke to the crowds and speaks to us today: blessed are you.
The blessings of God are infinite and eternal.
The blessings of God are infinite and eternal because they are an infusion of the infinite and eternal love of God into our souls.
The saints are the saints because they came to understand this principle and to act on this principle. They are blessed because they said “yes” to the blessing our Heavenly Father offers all people everywhere in the ordinary events of life.
God is working his purpose out in our world. God is working His purpose out in the circumstance of our lives. God never promised to annul the folly of human sin. The world is structured according to the laws of choice, cause and effect, and consequence. God does not use magic to cancel the laws that he formed to govern the universe he created.
He does promise to transform sin back into virtue in the Real Presence of the living Lord Jesus Christ. He does promise that despite the bad things that happen in this world He is working to bring all things back to their original perfection.
How does this happen?
Jesus gives us some very profound and difficult teaching on the subject of blessing in his sermon on the mount. In this sermon, Jesus reveals to us the Great Mystery of salvation. That Great Mystery is counter intuitive to most if not all people.
Ponder for a moment the words Jesus uses to complete the statement “Blessed are.”
The people who gathered to hear him that day would have expected something very different. Based on their experience, their values and the way they had been taught to practice their religion they would have expected something like:
Blessed are the rich because God has rewarded them with an abundance of money.
Blessed are the happy because God has rewarded them with pleasure.
Blessed are the strong for God has rewarded them with the power to dominate other people.
Blessed are those who know they are righteous for God has rewarded them with positions of importance.
Blessed are those who condemn the unrighteous for God hates those who they hate.
Blessed are those who refuse to compromise for God rewards their narrow minded dedication to ideological purity.
Blessed are those who conquer and destroy their enemies for God gives victory over the unrighteous.
Blessed are the righteous bullies who impose their will on the weak and foolish for God rewards their perfection by helping them dominate other people.
These are the “beatitudes” those lost in separation from God expect and seek. They are grounded in the will to power of the sin nature.
The blessing of God reaches out to the lost, lonely and broken souls of our world with a very different message. You are most blessed when you are most vulnerable. You are most blessed when you recognize your need, your poverty, your hunger and thirst for meaning and purpose… for God.
The righteous are not those who stand before God filled with pride of accomplishment. The blessed are not those who manage to accumulate wealth, power and position.
The righteous are those who hear the invitation of God to enter into a personal relationship with Him in Jesus Christ. The blessed are those who hear and believe the words of Jesus when he says: I am with you always.
The Blessing of God is the Real Presence of God in Jesus Christ.
God does not bring poverty and suffering into our life. We do that both individually and as a species when we chose to violate the triune law of Love and bring forth those choices into the world of cause and effect.
Jesus perfectly fulfills the triune Law of Love within the context of the laws of choice, cause and effect and consequence. Jesus is the answer to the question so many people ask from time to time in the midst of tragedy: where was God?
Jesus is the Real Presence of God to the poor, the mournful, the meek, the hungry. Jesus is the Real Presence of God to those who embrace the blessing of God and become the blessing of God as the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers.
Jesus invites all people to receive the blessing of His Real Presence, to live the blessing, and then to become the blessing. More often than not, we reach for the blessing in a moment of pain and in a moment of need. It is then the Holy Spirit can reach past the distractions of our possessions and pleasures to show us our true spiritual state and our prodound spiritual need.
No one is born a Christian. We are made Christians by a choice. No one is born a saint. We make choices that open our minds and hearts and wills to receive God’s blessing. It is as we make that choice to value the blessing God offers that we experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to live from the place of blessing.
Where is your greatest need today? Where is your sorrow? Where is your pain? It is there that our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to offer you the blessing of personal transformation in the Real Presence of the Living Lord Jesus Christ.
The purpose of God’s blessing is three fold. God wants to reunite you to the eternal life of the Holy Trinity. God wants you to experience the joy and wonder of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in your daily life here and now. God wants you to be a blessing of love and compassion to other people.
The saints were those who made a choice to reject the demands of the sin nature and to receive the blessings our Heavenly Father offers all people everywhere in all the circumstances of our lives. They weren’t perfect. They simply met God where God offered to meet them. They met God in both the pleasures and the pain of this life. They yielded self will to divine will in a moment of grace.
The saints lived the words Jesus spoke to the crowds and speaks to us today: blessed are you.
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