In Yoke

“This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.' Jeremiah 33:2 I just finished reading Karen Armstrong’s 1998 book, “The History of God”, which is actually the overview of humanity's misconceptions about the Creator and about many of the explanations of who God is, and the cosmologies behind the general existence we all experience as the reality of life on earth. From one perspective, it is really quite depressing. So many egregious and dysfunctional human behaviors have been attributed to G-d.They cannot be counted. The G-d concept has taken many forms and constructs, all of which seem flawed. My mind is drawn to many versions of the Creator, some of which have been constructed by Israelites and Arameans, some of which have emerged from neighboring cultures, such as the Arabs. And thes...

The community of the living is the carriage of the Lord.   – Hasidic proverb From Sri Easwaran: Where there is so little love that “the carriage of the Lord,” our essential unity, is torn asunder, we must love more. The less love there is around us, the more we need to love to make up the lack. A man once came to Rabbi Israel, the Ba’al Shem Tov , and said, “My son is estranged from God; what shall I do?” The rabbi replied simply, “Love him more.” Love him more. Make his happiness more important than your own. This was Easwaran’s grandmother’s approach to every problem, and he says that he knows of no more effective or artistic or satisfying way to realize the unity of life in the world today. It is an approach to life in which everything blossoms, everything comes to fruition. Where there is love, everything follows. To love is to know, is to act; all other paths to Self-realization are united in the way of love. My wife and I have been struggling with what to do about our ...

(with thanks to Cynthia Bourgeault- "The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: at the heart of Christianity" ) “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me… “ Through the ordeal of death Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene … Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved. Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene , Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph [ a ] ), and Salome. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last… Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching. Through the bright dawn of a New Day Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, ...

Watch closely. I am laying a foundation stone in Zion. A solid granite foundation, squared and true. And this is the meaning of the stone: “A TRUSTING LIFE WON’T TOPPLE.” I will make JUSTICE the measuring stick, and RIGHTEOUSNESS the plumb line for the building (that is your life). May I embody and manifest “a trusting life.” Trusting in faith, in Christ Jesus, who himself is the Cornerstone. Awaken me Lord Christ, and by your Spirit, in moans and groans I cannot even understand, pray for me, and enliven my spirit, that I might live in complete trust in your Word, in your life within me, in You, alone. For it is by your grace and only by your grace that I live move and have being. Amen. [Isaiah 28-The Message]

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...

God expects but one thing of you, and that is that you should come out of yourself insofar as you are a created being and let God be God in you.   – Meister Eckhart In those moments when we forget ourselves – not thinking, “Am I happy?” but completely oblivious to our little ego – we spend a brief but beautiful holiday in heaven. The joy we experience in these moments of self-forgetting is our true nature, our native state. To regain it, we have simply to empty ourselves of what hides this joy: that is, to stop dwelling on ourselves. To the extent that we are not full of ourselves, God can fill us. “If you go out of yourself,” says Johannes Tauler , “without doubt he shall go in, and there will be much or little of his entering in according to how much or little you go out.” ~ from Easwaran… Now, the rub is this—how to forget ourselves? How do we stop dwelling on ourselves? Is this possible? All the sages of the past say an enthusiastic yes. In the name of Christ, I can begin b...

Do not let your peace depend on the hearts of others; whatever they say about you, good or bad, you are not because of it another, for as you are, you are.    –  Thomas a Kempis From Sri Easwaran: "Even if you have ninety-nine people cheering you, there will always be a hundredth to boo. That is the nature of life, and to deal with it, we need simply to learn not to be always on the lookout for appreciation and applause. If people say, “Oh, there is nobody like you,” don’t get elated. Don’t pick up your telephone and call your friends to tell them what is being broadcast about you. That’s what most of us do, you know; that’s why telephones are so busy. It is also why so many people get dejected when fortune seems to frown. My spiritual teacher – a simple, straightforward woman who didn’t mince words – used to tell me, “You can’t shut other people’s mouths.” It took me years to understand that. This unlettered lady knew that we don’t have any control over other peo...