The narrow path

No one hath so cordial a feeling of the Passion of Christ, as one who hath suffered the like himself.                    -Thomas a Kempis

ThosaKempis-Engraved

The principle underlying the Passion of Christ is that out of his infinite mercy, the Lord has taken our suffering upon himself. As long as any living creature is in pain, so is Jesus, for he lives at the heart of all(That “Divine Spark”). Wherever violence breaks out, no matter how cleverly we try to justify it, we are crucifying the spirit of Christ.

Patience and passion both come from a Latin word meaning to suffer or endure. When we speak of the Passion of Christ, we are recalling the suffering he endured on the cross.

Whenever we practice patience - cheerfully bearing with somebody who is irascible, or enduring a discomfort of our own  rather than imposing it on others - in a small way we are embracing the principle of the Passion.

(This does not mean becoming blind to what others are doing. I know when somebody is being rude or unkind, but it does not impair my faith in that person. I keep my eyes on the core of goodness in him; and I act towards her as I would have her act towards me. ) There is only one way to make others more loving, and that is by loving more ourselves.( from Easwaran)

One of the most puzzling things that Jesus told the Pharisees of his day, and it is still puzzling to the Pharisees of our day—is this-

"This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.  The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

All of the wisdom traditions, especially the wisdom tradition of the Christ- insist that true wisdom is given and not taken, waited for and not demanded, having much more to do with long term willingness, submission, patience and obedience than mere willfulness, or effort.

Like Jonah, we must be “thrown off the boat”—outside our own willfulness- into grace and mercy, and be patient enough to allow Grace, Mercy and Truth to be our Teacher…and the Holy Spirit of Christ is the Source of this Grace, Mercy and Truth, which, when humbly received, is true wisdom.

May it be so today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You can do it! Yes you can.

Image
I claim to be an average man of less than average ability.I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. -Mahatma Gandhi So, are you willing to give it your best? In this transformation of the small i's to the Real I, the essence, are you willing? to do the Work? Resolve to awaken to the inner motivations of the small self within. Observe yourself. Put some separation between you and your small self/ego. Observe your own behavior, thoughts, actions, motivations. Let the Spirit filter the way you respond to stresses from outside. For the Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two edged sword, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart-----------your heart! Who is The Living Word? The logos? You know.
Read more

Baylor has need of Christ’s wisdom

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve both God and Mammon.” We ( Baylor - as a university community which says its follows Christ) have blindly served mammon, with the other schools in Texas…and look where it has taken us. Now money is driving the conference groupings even more than before- in 1995. Where will this lead? Texas—that is the University of Texas at Austin, is the driving force of the ‘we deserve more money’ movement. Fair enough, that is as it probably should be. UT is a dominant force in NCAA athletics. It is a secular school. It has absolutely no ties to the Gospel, other than the Gospel’s influence on our culture. Although far less in influence, the same goes for our militaristic land grant school, and our state’s other outpost, which defies description. But Baylor—why do we follow them? We say we are of Christ . I question that. Especially ...
Read more

Handling God's blessings with care

It is permissible to take life's blessings with both hands provided thou dost know thyself prepared in the opposite event to take them just as gladly. This applies to food and friends and kindred, to anything God gives and takes away. -Meister Eckhart In order to live in freedom, we must learn to accept a temporary disappointment, if necessary, when it is for our permanent well-being. Sometimes, when we want to eat something that appeals to us, or when we want to eat a little more than is necessary, we can't help feeling disappointment as we push away from the table. We cannot help thinking that we could as well have stayed on for five more minutes of pleasure, forgetting that it would probably be followed by five hours of stomachache at night. The right time to get up from the meal is when we want just a little more. This is real artistry, real gourmet judgment: when we find that everything is so good that we would like to have one more helping, we get up and walk away. ~Easwa...
Read more