In Yoke

  “My people are hell-bent on leaving me.    They expect their false gods to help. but they don’t lift a finger to help them. But how can I give up on you?    How can I turn you loose? How can I leave you to be ruined?    devastated like the luckless pagans all around you? I can't bear to even think such thoughts.    My insides churn in protest. And so I'm not going to act on my anger.    I'm not going to destroy you. And why? Because I am the eternal Creator and not a human.    I'm The Holy One and I'm here —in your very midst.”                                          ~Hosea 11:7-9, amended. from The Message Although the prophet Hosea is an Old Testament prophet—he seemed to “get” the concept and reality of the Holy S...

When life is heavy and hard to take,    go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:    Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.    The "worst" is never the worst.                                                       ~Lamentations 3:28-30-The Message Lately, the most consistent and overriding message I have received in my meditation time is the simple word : “Wait”. When I want things to change immediately, when I want to take matters in my own hands and “make something happen”, the Master quietly sits me down in my chair and says—“wait.” … those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They ...

Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to His good pleasure, and rest in Him.   – Saint John of the Cross I was drawn to this vignette from Sri (teacher) Easwaran, Fulbright scholar, 1958, of Kerala, India, was Professor of Meditation and  Transformational Spirituality, Cal Berkeley, 1959-to the late 80’s. “We have many stories from the Hindu scriptures about gambling, some about kings who lost entire kingdoms gambling at dice. There is the moving story of King Yudhishthira, who lost his kingdom and went into exile, and yet came back, after a terrible battle, to regain everything through the grace of Sri Krishna. Many people are tempted to gamble, to take risks, when the stakes are high. The mystics would ask us, “Why don’t you bet on goodness? Try to be kind to someone who is unkind to you, and look upon it as a gamble.” Of course we are not sure how the other person is going to respond – that is the thrill of i...

“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]