In Yoke

One of my favorite quotes of Fr. Richard Rohr, the Franciscan catholic prophet can be disturbing to the semi fundamentalist ears of Baptists: The way of the cross looks like a way of failure. In fact, you could say that Christianity is about how to lose and win, how to let go creatively, how the only real ascent is a true descent. We need to be concerned with following Jesus, which he told us to do seventeen times, and less with worshipping Jesus--which he never told us once to do. What? Do what he says as the way to worship, not just simply to worship? Yes. The essence of being "in yoke" implies simple trust in his path, his way. Is it easier to place Jesus up on a pedestal-on the front of the sanctuary and worship his doings, his sacrifice, his example as an object worthy of our worship... rather than seeking to obey and follow him with all our heart and soul, as the way to worship the Father? But, then again, the way of descent, is never choosing the easy way, is it? My ...

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. -Psalms You and I are trustees. Nothing belongs to us personally. The resources we have been given have been entrusted to every one of us individually and together. Like good bank trustees, we are expected not to squander these resources but to invest them wisely for our beneficiaries: the rest of life, especially the generations to come. This is especially true when it comes to our local church community. The trust includes not only the lives and natural resources of the planet, but our inner spiritual resources as well. This has practical implications. We can lessen our potentially exhausting impact on the earth by simplifying our desires and demands. Simplicity is the key to trusteeship. I find that simply writing a check to tithe(10% and up) the earnings I receive and send that check to my church is a simple way to insure that I am investing those entrusted, God given spiritual and financ...

To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same. -Bhagavad Gita This from Sri Easwaran: ****Gold is not valuable in itself. It is valuable because there is so little of it. If sand were found only in small quantities, people would treasure it in their safe-deposit boxes; they would buy sand certificates, on important occasions they would exchange a little sand, and they would have the expression "as good as sand." Things cannot give us status . We give status to things. When Tom gets into his BMW, he is giving status to the car. The car is not giving him status. The car says, "I feel good because Tom is at the wheel." What really gives value to anything is its usefulness in serving others. Our body draws its value from its usefulness in serving others, and our life draws its value, not from the money we make, or the prizes we win, or the power we wield over others, but from the service we give every day to add a little bit more to the h...

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde I will be 56 years old this year. I am not as young as I once was. There are some good things about growing older. Older people have much to contribute when they are able to draw on the wisdom gained from direct knowledge of life. It takes considerable experience of life to understand the fleeting nature of physical satisfactions and personal profit. I had a conversation with an old friend today who recently retired after coaching high school football for 27 years. We concluded together what he is now learning: that there is indeed wisdom in the discovery of the separation of "who you are" from "what you do for a living". This is a gift, especially for ego driven, success oriented males. In the first half of life, we all have a wide margin for error, and youth often is a time of experimentation. Certainly this was true for me. I was an experimenter for much too long. It is usually in the second ha...

23 This is what the L ord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. 24 But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the L ord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the L ord , have spoken! Perhaps one of the reasons that folks from the 3 rd century on have had issue with the book of James, is that James as Yeshua’s brother, had the audacity to tell Christians how they ought to be living. Clearly, pastor James is meddling. The other clear issue to me is that James, of all New Testament works, is a wisdom treatise. There is no contradiction between what James wrote and what Jesus taught. In fact all the spiritual direction given by James is reflective on the core teachings of Yeshua, James’ enigmatic and unique b...

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger~ Proverbs 15:1 In the past few years there was a movie with Jack Nicholson as a therapist who helped folks with their anger issues by provoking them to be more angry, and then using that as an object lesson. Actually, in real life--not the life portrayed by movies, our inner life is the "controller" of our own anger issues. When you feel angry towards someone and want to say something unkind(or for me--the response is usually sarcastic ), that is all the more reason to speak kindly. If someone provokes you and you respond with anger, you are reinforcing anger as a part of your personality. Through much life experience, I know this to be true, always. Our best response to angry behavior is to relaize that by controlling our anger, we are benefitting ourselves. So returning kindness for unkindness is not simply being kind to that particular person. You're being kinder to yourself, because you are undoing a co...

As iron put into the fire loseth its rust and becometh clearly red-hot, so one who wholly turneth unto God puts off all slothfulness, and is transformed. -Thomas a Kempis We are made in the image of God. The image is there, but we need to put in the work to reveal it. Whenever I hear someone say, "This is just the way I am; I've got to learn to live with it," I want to plead, "Don't ever say that!" The miracle of human existence is that we can change . Simply by virtue of being human, we have the capacity to change ourselves completely. All of us carry a cleansing fire hidden inside. It may be banked with ashes, cold to the touch, but a spark of the divine is there nonetheless, ready to leap into life. It is nothing less than love of God. Latent in every one of us, it wants only encouragement before it flares to vibrant life, burning up everything selfish and impure. Once ignited and coaxed with the fuel of love for others, it sheds light and warmth all arou...