In Yoke

As the end of 2009 approaches, causing me to reflect on the past ten years of experience and eventual emergence from a ‘die before you die’ death experience which began in 1997 and culminated in 2001, I am resonant with the insightful thoughts of Teresa of Avila , when she was considering the twenty plus years she journeyed in order to “become established” in God…    “On the one hand I felt the call of God; on the other, I continued to follow the world. All the things of God gave me great pleasure, but I was held captive by those of the world. I might have been said to be trying to reconcile these two extremes, to bring contraries together: the spiritual life on the one hand and worldly satisfactions, pleasures, and pastimes on the other.” This little Spanish girl evolved into a remarkably spiritual woman.  As a girl she could say passionately, "I want something that will last forever!" She became one of the world's greatest mystics. In order to progress and...

  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed  thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” The apparent point of Jesus little story about the prayer postures of two individuals is cast against a cultural context whereby the Pharisees were the group that were the respected ‘church’ people, approved by all their peers, as those who took the Law seriously and sought to follow God with sincerity, and the tax collectors , who...

“Knowledge of ourselves teaches us whence we come, where we are and whither we are going. We come from God and we are in exile; and it is because our potency of affection tends towards God that we are aware of this state of exile.”  -Jan van Ruysbroeck Like the story of the prodigal son in the Bible, Easwaran tells of a legend--*a story of a prince who is kidnapped by robbers when he is very young. He forgets all about the palace, even about his father and mother. He just grows up as a bandit, learning to master the bow and arrow, ambush passersby, and disappear without getting caught. Then one day the king's spiritual teacher happens by. Many years have passed; the little child is a grown man, rough and cocksure. But the teacher recognizes him, and with great love embraces him, and calls him "your royal highness." The young man, outraged, pushes him away. But the teacher's faith is unshaken. He begins to tell the young man stories about his childhood, h...

“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”                                                              ~Paul of Tarsus One of the most repeated phrases in scripture in both the old and the new testaments is that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble . A key aspect of that humility that is a prerequisite for the receiving of grace from God is to realize—each day, as best I can—each moment, that my life is a pure gift. All I have and all I “am” is wrapped up in the Creator’s creation of ‘me’ as a human being. It is an imperative for my life as a disciple ...

“Each of us sees the Unseen in proportion to the clarity of our heart, and that depends upon how much we have polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more Unseen forms become manifest.” -Jalaluddin Rumi Easwaran muses: *As your practice of meditation deepens, and the practice of utilizing your impartial observer within is more a known utility, there will still be occasions when you get upset, but you will be able to watch what goes on in the lab of your mind. It's like getting into a glass-bottomed boat, where you venture out onto the ocean and watch all the deep-sea creatures lurking beneath the surface: resentment sharks, stingrays of greed, scurrying schools of fear. You slowly gain a certain amount of detachment from your mind, so you can observe what is going on, collect data, and then set things right. Some of the chronic problems that millions of people suffer from today might be solved by gaining a little detachment from their minds and emotions, so t...

Theology. This is something that folks who live and work in seminary setting - focus on more than the general population. Indeed, it is the study of God, and things concerning God. Abba Evagrius Ponticus said: ‘If you are a theologian, you will pray truly, and if you pray truly, you are a theologian. ’ This statement has largely been ignored. Many people in my home church are employed by the university nearby, which includes a seminary. I have been involved in several conversations recently about what we believe as a body of believers, or church, which seems to devolve into a focus on dogma, or doctrine. The focus on the minds and in the words of many of my church brethren seem to revolve around what we believe ‘about’ Christianity, membership in the church, baptism standards, church polity, by-laws, and how we do things. These discussions  tend to become positioning about principles, or Baptist/Christian distinctives. This “head knowledge”/ theological focus of many wit...

“A time is coming when people will go mad, and when they meet someone who is not mad, they will turn to him and say, “You are out of your mind”, just because he is not like them.” ~Abba Anthony In our churches and in our little mini cosmos that is Central Texas, this insight seems to be ever true. It is quite profound how what appears in the “world’s” eyes to be madness is actually eternal truth. The prophet Jeremiah states: "For my people are foolish ;they know me not;they are stupid children;they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not." May I be anchored in the truth of the Good News, and be ever migrating towards the One who holds all truth and all life in his power.