In Yoke

Isaiah asks a rhetorical question to us. "Why would you ever complain, or whine-- ' God has lost track of me.      He doesn't care what happens to me'? The prophet chides us, saying: " Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?"     "God doesn't come and go. God lasts.   He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.  He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.   And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired,    gives fresh strength to dropouts.  For even young people tire and drop out,   young folk in their prime stumble and fall.  But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.   They spread their wings and soar like eagles,  They run and don't get tired,   they walk and don't lag behind." I have been focused and working hard lately. Business is good and opportunities are all around us. I get distracted. I forget to seek the Lord's un...

It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found, not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater.   – Saint Teresa of Avila From Sri Easwaran: The widest possibilities for growth lie in the give-and-take of everyday relationships. The truth of this is brought out in a story about Saint Francis of Assisi. Three young men approached Francis and asked his blessing to become hermits and seek God, each in his own cave, deep in the mountains of Umbria. Francis smiled. He instructed them to be hermits indeed, but hermits all together in a single hut. One should take the role of father; a second should think of himself as the mother; and the third should be their child. Every few months they should exchange roles. Living in this way they were to establish among themselves perfect harmony, thinking always of the needs of one another. We can al...

“There is an underlying attitude that cripples and blinds each of us. It can be so pervasive that we do not often question it. This attitude is a perversion of the natural order created by our loneliness and insecurity, by the illusion of separateness, by ignorance. The problem, in a way, is quite simple: we think of ourselves too often and in the wrong way . The result is self importance (or its’ opposite, self hatred), and greed.” As I share the long and sometimes sordid story of my own autobiography, I do so from a “Spiritual lessons” point of view, keeping this aforementioned premise in mind. I can really relate to this…because for a great portion of my life- I have thought of myself too often and in the wrong way . I have been studying the enneagram as a way of self revelation and understanding for the purposes of transformation by the Spirit of Yahweh, through Jesus Christ(YESHUA-His Aramaic name). As an Enneagram three, who is seeking redemption from my natural b...

Acquire a firm will and the utmost patience. ~ Anandamayi Ma As I read this quote from Easwaran's work, I was moved to apply these words to my walk as a follower of Jesus, who became the Christ. Sri Easwaran continues: "We begin our journey towards the supreme goal of life from where we stand." The supreme goal of life, for me, is to continuously become transformed into the embodiment of Christ, in mind, body, will, and spirit. "Just as it is good to be patient with others, it is equally necessary to be patient with ourselves". I find this patience with myself to either be difficult, because of my natural desire to accomplish all my goals and objectives-now, or at other times I find myself apathetic and lazy and unwilling to exert any effort towards transformation. In effect, I am able to see that I am indeed a double minded man. "After all, when the desire to live for others comes to us, we can be haunted by our past mistakes, by the amount of ...