Letting the Light Within Shine Forth

Children have within them the light of grace and purity.  That is why evil/Satan aims to claim their souls before they are strong---to introduce fear, or scars, or horror---all of which prevent their inner radiance from transforming the world around them.

If we could only remove the debris blocking our own inner radiance, we too would transform the world around us.  Transparency before God allows us to reflect His beauty, as a crystal reflects the light of the sun, no matter which way it turns.  There must be within us no shadow or darkness that the Son/sun cannot penetrate or overcome with His radiance and penetrating love.

The Son/sun must find our core, our essence, set the wick aflame, and put us on a lampstand to give light to all in the house.  Jesus told the disciples, "You are already clean because of the Word spoken in you."  And Peter later was to write, "He has cleansed us by the washing with water of the Word."

Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living and active, separating the soul from the spirit....and discerning the thoughts of the mind and the heart."  It is the Word of God going through us that divides the thoughts of our minds from what the Spirit would teach us, that purifies us at the core.  But the Word cannot simply be "read;" it must be "muttered."

Psalm 1 reads this way:

Blessed is the man who does not follow the counsel of the wicked,

nor go the way of sinners,

nor sit in the company of scoffers.

Rather the law of the Lord is his delight;

He meditates on the law of the Lord day and night.

He is like a tree planted near streams of water,

that yields its fruit in due season;

its leaves never wither;

whatever he does prospers.

Now, to the Jews, the phrase "the law of the Lord" refers to the instruction, or teaching, or "Word" of the Lord, not simply to "law," as we understand it.  And the word translated "meditates" really means "mutters" in Hebrew.  Since "mutter" has a slightly unbalanced implication in English, most translaters will go with "meditate," which sounds more "holy." 

But it is the "muttering" of Scripture that will transform us, get rid of the debris, and allow the radiance of God to penetrate the darkness of our minds and hearts.  We don't always say what we believe, but we always believe what we say---

so we need to allow the word of God to wash us, cleanse us, heal us from fear, darkness, terror---whatever has blocked the radiance of our "child's soul" from shining into the world.  We need to mutter the word of God until it divides the thoughts of our minds from our spirits, until it becomes for us a powerful, two-edged sword. 

I almost always wear a bracelet with the inscription:  God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress (Ps. 46:1).  Wearing the bracelet helps me to say the Scripture over and over until it penetrates my heart, overcoming the thoughts and fears of my mind, until I truly believe and rely upon that Word to transform me in all circumstances.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never overcome it (John 1:5).  If we could only allow that Light to penetrate through the layers of fear, evil, and scum that have tried to cover it since our birth!!!!

God is He Who Acts in our lives

If we are still in the morning and open our lives to the influence of God, we will begin to find that He gently re-orders our priorities and tasks for the day ahead.  Chaos ensues when we let the external demands of our lives rule us.  But God is not subject to events or to domineering and controlling personalities or events.  He has His own agenda and timetable.

When we place our tasks before Him and become silent, we open ourselves to His peace, His agenda, His timetable and let go of the demands that other people and our passions want to impose upon us. 

Assurance comes from inner, not outer, direction.  God wants to write His thoughts as a permanent record on our hearts; His is a living word written on living hearts.  Until that happpens, the Bible remains to us a closed book, inpenetrable, nonsense. 

God has written many stories of His action into all of our lives---as we allow these living stories to transform us, we become a living word written in Spirit and Truth.  The process requires a letting go of what we "think," and an entering into an unknown, but gradually revealed path, as did Abraham when he left his father's house and culture and embarked on a journey to a "land I will show you."

Can we trust God to act in our own lives----or do we feel we have to be in control?  Prayer, openness, letting go---or constantly responding to pressure?
Jesus said that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains.  Faith is the firm knowledge that God will act if He allow Him to do so.

Silence

True silence is relying on God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves--"my help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth."

So much of the noise in our heads comes from a lack of trust in God.  In Sr. Faustina's Diary, she says over and over to herself, "Silence."  What she is saying is, "Let it go;" "Rest;" "Trust;" "Do not defend yourself, even in your own thoughts, but hand it over to God."

Do not be afraid;

Do not worry;

Do not seek revenge---

All ways of saying "Peace," "Be Still," "Be silent"---

and let Him be God (on your behalf).

So even singing, thanksgiving, and praise can be forms of "silence," in that they are replacing our worry-thoughts, our fears, our anxieties with a resting and trusting heart.



Thanksgiving

We often read that our founding fathers were "Deists," meaning that they believed in God but that they did not believe that God "meddled" in the affairs of mankind.  However, when we read the words of the 1777 proclamation by the Continental Congress, which established our first Thanksgiving Day, we get a different picture altogether of what they believed.  Every line of this original document proclaims faith in a God who is immediately and directly involved in man's activity:

....that it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole:  To inspire our Commanders, both by land and sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE:

That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase:

To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue, and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost."

Reading this document has made me think that we need to have school children read the original words of our founding fathers, rather than the opinions of text-book writers who tell us what the founders believed.  Then we could form our own opinions.  I wonder how many of our present leaders would subscribe to the words of this document and ask God to "prosper the means of Religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consists in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

If anyone thirst.....

Realizing the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a force or an energy, is the first step in welcoming Him into our lives.  Just like the rest of us, He will not come where He is not welcome, but once we make it clear that we want Him, He is eager to enter.  I once heard someone say that he had taken the Holy Spirit as the Senior Partner in the enterprise of his life and that he consulted the Spirit each morning on the day's activities.  What a wonderful concept!!! 

Paul says that if we are born of the Spirit, we should be led by the Spirit.  Here is the spiritual life in its simplest terms---to receive the Gift of God each morning to the point of overflowing strength, to let it spill over into the people you meet each day, to be hungry for more of the infinite Person who gives, and yet to be eternally satisfied with what He gives.

If God "so loved the world that He gave....," should not that same love enter us on a daily basis?  Knowing that we have the same spring of water in us helps us in our weakness:  we do not have to give of our own meager resources, but only from what we receive from the Spirit of God dwelling within us. One of the earliest Scripture passages I remember learning was this one, although I can no longer find the reference:

With joy, you will draw water from the well of salvation.

Many years ago, a dear friend prayed that God would give me joy.  How He has answered her prayer in the Gift of the Holy Spirit!  At first, I worried that somehow I would lose interest in the Gift and move on the other interests in my life, thus losing the energy, the peace, the joy that comes with knowing the Presence of God.  However, my doctor, who first prayed for me to receive the Spirit, told me this:  You don't have the Holy Spirit; He now has you, and He will not let go, even if you walk away from Him.

Now, 30 years later, I can testify to the total accuracy of that statement---the Holy Spirit has remained faithful to me even when I did not remain faithful to Him: He has never let me go or given up on me.  Jesus told the woman at the well, "If you knew the Gift of God, and the One speaking with you, you would ask of Him, and He would give you water springing up to eternal life."

Let none of us hesitate to ask for that living water that He promised to give....the Gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Maturing

Maturing is the process of getting to know our inner self, the core of who we really are.  When we find our true selves, our very center, we find God.  Sometimes, it is a process of wandering away from our center, of making mistakes, and then of discovering what effect the mistakes have on us.  If we do not defend the wrong choice, but admit that it was wrong, we can find our way back to "true north," or to our central truth.

In a recent speech, the Pope said that those who meditate cleanse themselves of sin---how true!  To meditate is to spend time with ourselves, to allow all the things we have stuffed down deep in ourselves to emerge for observation.  We give God permission to bring to the surface the things we might have been reluctant to face about ourselves---but when He brings those things to the surface, it is not to condemn, but to heal, us.  Jesus told Peter that if he (Peter) did not allow Jesus to wash his feet, he (Peter) would have nothing to do with Jesus.  Peter's reply, "Well, then, Lord, not only my feet, but my head, hands, whole body."  You gotta love Peter! 

God allowed Peter to face the truth that he was the greatest sinner of all time---he betrayed the love and friendship and trust of Jesus Himself.  But now, having faced the truth about himself, Peter was ready to hold out his hand to every other sinner, knowing that no one else would ever match Peter's own weakness in time of temptation and trial.  Now he was eminently qualified to lead the church, knowing that Christ, not Peter, was its head.

Sometimes our greatest wrong choices lead us to the greatest strengths.

The Gift of Love

All the years I was working, I kept the following poem tacked to the bulletin board above my desk.  I don't recall the book I was reading when I stumbled across the poem, nor the source of the quotation, but here it is:

The Gift of Love

And what is it to work with love?

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your own heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.

Work is love made visible.

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

We read in Genesis that on the seventh day, "God rested from the work He had done."  It is clear from observation that God worked with love to construct the universe, even as His very own Son was to dwell therein.  John tells us that everything was made in Him and for Him, and nothing that has been made was made without Him.    The world and all that is in it was made for God's beloved, and that is what we are---His beloved. 

Should we not see everything around us as a work of love?



Have no anxiety....

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.  Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, ...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Phil.4:6-8).

Wouldn't it be lovely, to quote Eliza Doolittle, if our time of prayer consisted entirely of the substance above?  Even better, what if the substance of our lives consisted in referring all things to God, with thanksgiving.....in dwelling on those things that are honorable, just, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise?

I can see how this simple practice would produce peace in our hearts and minds.  If we are not concerned with what our neighbors are thinking and doing; if we are not consumed with worry about things we cannot control; if we are not striving to look good in the eyes of the world around us---we are free to rejoice, to play, to pray.

Jesus said, "Do not worry, little flock; it has pleased the Father to give you the kingdom."  And Paul:  "...if He has given us His very own Son, will He not give us all else besides?"

I wonder if we have the courage to believe, to live, these words.

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant!

Most of us imagine, if we think about it at all, that God somehow plomped us down here on earth and stands back watching to see what we will do with the time and talents He gave us.  If we do well, then we will have our reward in heaven; if we do not use our time and talents well, there is another "reward" awaiting us.

That is not the way I see it.  I think God created magnificent instruments of His love, creativity, and talent, and rather than "watching" to see how we perform, He is waiting to make use of His instruments---with our permission and cooperation.  A musical instrument is nothing without the musician; it simply lies in a corner or in a case awaiting the Master's hand.  An axe, a sewing machine, a paintbrush---all useless without the mind and strength of man. 

Even though we live and breathe and walk "on our own," so to speak, none of us have the slightest idea of what direction we need to walk in, or who we need to talk to, or what we should be doing without the guidance of God.  He has a magnificent plan for us, and He made us to fulfill that plan---but not without the breath of His Spirit in us. 

Let the instruments of God make themselves daily available to His creative action through them; let His will be done in their lives----it is a good, holy, and perfect will----and they will find themselves doing the most wonderful and unexpected deeds!  Our "reward" is our present life; we need not await another.

Ubi Caritas, Deus Est

Where there is love, there is God

What is love, in the sense above?  It is not affection, or storge in the Greek.  Neither is it philia, brotherly or familial love.  And it is not eros, or sexual love.  All of these loves make our lives rich and joyful when they are present.  And, indeed, God does inhabit all of these loves to bind us closer together with one another.  But taken alone, without agape, God's own love, the first three are not enough to hold us together in the face of storms and conflicts. 

When the Christ was born, the angels sang, "Peace on the earth, good will to man."  An alternate reading is "Peace on the earth to men of good will."  Either reading emphasizes the nature of agape---good will.

Although "good will" sounds to our ears to be somewhat weaker than affection, brotherly love, and eros, in fact, "good will," or agape is the strongest of all loves.  It does not depend on being attracted to someone, or being comfortable and familiar with another person, or on being one of the other person's "posse" or "tribe" or family.  Good will toward another is not affected by the other person's behavior; it is more like the scent of violets or mint:  when stepped upon and crushed, violets and mint release the most wonderful scents.  In the same way, those who have in them agape, or God's love, continue to have good will towards those who injure them.  That is, they do not wish harm to the other person, but continue to hope that God will favor and bless the person who did them harm.

Even while hurting from the blows of another, agape is patient and long-suffering; it blesses and does not curse; it still hopes for the best, and believes that conversion is possible for the other person.  It prays for those who persecute it and sincerely hopes that God will hear. 

Forgiveness does not mean not hurting; it means to put no obstacle to God's blessing on the other person.  Surely that is what Jesus meant by the seed falling into the ground and dying, and bearing much fruit.  Even while I feel like I am being stabbed to death by another, I continue to bless: possible only by the Presence of the Christ within us.

Centering Prayer

So many things we encounter each day pull us away from our center; we gradually dis-integrate as we attempt to respond to the magnetic pull of work, other people, entertainment, etc.  Soon, it is hard to know "where we are" any more; we seem to be in so many pieces, so fragmented.

Finding a way to pray is a process of re-connecting with our true center.  Prayer re-integrates and pulls together all in us that is scattered and pulling apart from our center.  We can emerge from our times of prayer with a response to the world that comes from a place of peace, joy, energy, goodness, wholeness, and truth---in short, from God.

In the Bible, Satan is called "The Accuser," and that is what he is indeed.  If we do pray, we feel we have not prayed long enough, or well enough, or consistently enough.  In short, we feel that we have "failed" at prayer.  But the person who momentarily looks up at the sky and marvels does not feel that he/she has failed to marvel well enough, or long enough, or consistently enough.  That one moment has refreshed his mind, body, and spirit, and he goes on his way rejoicing that he was graced in that moment with a new sense of peace, joy, energy, goodness, wholeness, and truth.

Prayer is defined as "lifting the mind and heart to God."  How long does it take to do that?  And how "ready" do we have to be to do that?  If we but glance at the sky one time during the day, we have our immediate reward.  Looking at the face of God is all the prayer we need, and it can be done in the midst of a meeting, on our drive home from work, or even while trying to solve a problem.  And then.....

Born from Above

When the Spirit of God enters our lives, He brings with Him great gifts---gifts which transform us from children of the earth to those born from above.

If we are born of the Spirit, we walk not in darkness but in the light of truth;

If we are born of the Spirit, we walk not in hatred of others but in the love God bears for each of His own children.

If we are born of the Spirit, we are not deceived by what the world promises us, but know the riches of God's love.

Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3) that unless we were born of the Spirit, we would not even be able to see the kingdom of God.  When the Spirit comes, our eyes are opened and we begin to see the kingdom all around us, everywhere.  Suddenly, like someone who is falling in love, we see the world God made, as well as the one He is still making.  We can say with Louie Armstrong, "What a wonderful world!" and the negativity all around us falls away before the power of God.  What have we to fear if we know the protection of God in our lives?  Nothing can hurt us, except for His purposes.

I have often thought that when Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, He was not "expounding" some abstract principle, but actually explaining to Nicodemus what was happening to him at the moment.  I believe that Nicodemus was being "born again" even as he spoke with Jesus, Who was telling him that he could not tell where the wind/spirit was coming from or where it was going, but could know it only by its effects. 

Would that all of us could experience what Nicodemus must have been feeling at that moment---the rush of the spirit moving in our hearts and minds and bodies!

Home is where God is

There is in each life an infinite hunger that nothing can satisfy but God Himself.  We hardly know what makes us restless, what it is we are searching for---until it finds us:  the love of God given to us in Christ Jesus.

When He finds us and fills us, the aura around us invites others in.  Until He finds us and fills us, the aura around us is filled with our hunger and sends others away.

To Those I Teach

What is it I want for you?  Why do I teach?

I want you to develop a personal relationship with God that will always get better and never end.

I want you to experience His love and what it means in your own life.

I want you to grow in all the ways that will make you more like God, that will make you a fit instrument for good in this world.

I want you to walk with God's strength/spirit/energy in you so that you can push back and overcome the darkness of this world.

I want you to be whole in mind, body, and soul.  I want your life to be a blessing on this earth.

As John the Evangelist said in his first letter, "I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth."

The Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth....

The devil himself "believes in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth," so what does it mean when we say the Credo?

Do we believe that this God, this Father, this Creator is our God, our Father, our Creator?  Do we believe---and trust---in our relationship with Him, in His action in our lives, in His power and creativity on our behalf? 

The Old Testament, and even the Gospels, are primarily stories of God Who acts in history on the behalf of saints and of sinners.  The primary and irreducible assumption of Biblical theology is that history is the revelation of God (taken from God Who Acts, by G. Ernest Wright (p. 50).  Much of the Old Testament, and St. Paul's letters in the New, are reflection and interpretation of what God did, of the way He intervened in the affairs of mankind. 

We have the story of the Exodus, where God frees the Israelites from a life of slavery and oppression.  Why?  Not because they were "special," because the leaders and prophets constantly pointed to their faithlessness and rebellion, but because God had a plan and a purpose for the weakest of all nations. 

In the New Testament, we have the story of God's intervention in history once again, in the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth.  The Gospels tell us the story; John and Paul give us the theology---the reflection on what the story means.

In our own lives, there are many stories of God's action on our behalf---drawing us out of darkness, of sin, of slavery to things stronger than we are.  There are stories of redemption, of protection, of enlightenment.  But we don't remember and recall our stories with a sense of profound gratitude; we chalk them up to "the past," not to the God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth acting on our behalf.  What does it mean that we were saved out of some of the situations that threatened our lives, our safety, our sanity?  This is "theological reflection" and prayer.  Remembering what God has done for us is the basis of our hope for the future---as David said when facing Goliath:  The same God who delivered me from the lion's mouth will deliver me from this Philistine.

Our faith rests on our rememberance of what God has already done for us.  Our stories are important, but rarely shared.  When we fail to tell our stories, our history, we risk forgetting what God has done for us and our faith falters. 

Psalm 109 is a graphic picture of what happens when we forget what God has done for us; Ps. 136 is a hymn of praise recalling all the times and events where God was at work in human history:  I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth---because He has done great things for me!

And God saw that it was good.....

The Genesis account of Creation is so interesting because it is gradual and unfolding.  Presumably, the Biblical writer could have had the Almighty speak the entire universe into existence at one moment in time.  Science now gives us a glimpse into one "big-Bang" moment, with a gradual unfolding of life in successive stages, very much as Genesis reveals.

God's creation of each one of us is continuous and unfolding, not all-at-once.  While we are still sleeping and unaware of what He is about, He is quietly sending light into our souls, light which still alternates with periods of darkness.  He is slowly fashioning the world within us into a place of order, harmony, and beauty, a place wherein He Himself plans to stroll in the cool of the evening, when our work is done and we are receptive to His presence in us. 

We cannot imagine the world God is creating within us, even while we are busy "tending the gardens" of this earth.  Much less could we fashion that world for ourselves.  But the result of each step along the way is, "And God saw that it was good."  Looking back from whence we came, we also marvel at what He has done in us and see that it is good.

on Greek icons and truth

In the age before almost universal literacy, most people had to read images rather than books. Thus, we get stained glass windows and Greek icons to illustrate spiritual truths.  While stained glass windows reveal the mysteries of faith, Greek icons in our culture are a bit harder to read.  One of the classic icons portrays the Christ holding a closed---or in some cases, an open----book.  The message behind both icons is the same:  only Jesus can open the book to us. 

The Bible remains a closed book, even to Christians, until the Holy Spirit opens it to us.  We may try to read it, and may even find sections that we think are inspirational or beautiful, but the book itself does not become a "living" word until it becomes, as Peter says, "God-breathed."  Now "breath," or "breeze," or "wind" are all permissable translations of the Hebrew ruah, the word also translated as "spirit" or "Spirit." 

In the beginning, the ruah of God hovered over the abyss, the unformed chaos that was to become the universe at the Word of God.  In the opening scene of Genesis, we find the Creator of Heaven and Earth and the hovering ruah, or Spirit.  When the Word goes forth, there is Light, and the Light pushes back the darkness.

That same eternal movement continues to this day:  the Spirit/ Breath of God hovers over the darkness of our minds, and the Creator sends forth His Living Word---LIGHT, BE!  And the Light of the World enters into our own darkness. 

Jesus said over and over, "I am the Light of the World."  He promised to us His own Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Revelation.  That is the Spirit that enlightened Paul on his way to Damascus to persecute the early Christians; that is the Spirit of Truth that illumined the scriptures Paul had known from childhood.  Later, he was to write that "until this day, a veil covers their eyes when the scriptures are read because only in Christ Jesus is the veil removed" (2 Cor. 3:14) and "Now, the natural person does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it" (I Cor. 2:14).

Buddha taught "enlightenment" as the goal of life, but the enlightenment he sought came only through denial and self-discipline, shutting out all the senses and going deep within oneself.  Unlike the Buddha, Jesus does not ask us to go deep within ourselves, an inaccessible path to most of us, but instead He promised to send us the Holy Spirit, a universal offer to those who trust Him.  He Himself will send the Spirit; He Himself will open to us the scriptures.  He told the Pharisees, "You search the scriptures because you think you have eternal life through them, and they testify to me.  But you do not want to come to Me to have life" (John 5:39).

The Greek icon is clear to those who can "read" it; we must come to Christ to understand Scripture.  Just as the disciples came to Jesus after He told a parable to the crowds, just as they asked Him to explain the parable, so we too must come to Jesus with the scriptures, asking for illumination.  When He begins to enlighten and teach us, the darkness is pushed back, the book is opened, and our minds and spirits are enlightened. 

Jesus promised the Gift of the Breath/ ruah of God to all who would ask---see Luke 11 and Matthew 7.  I wonder sometimes why it takes us so long to ask for this wonderful Gift:  Send forth your spirit, and we shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. 

The next time we pick up the Bible, let us ask the Spirit of the living Christ to "hover" over us, to teach us, to enlighten us.  Then, let us follow His lead as we open the Scriptures.  The adventure will lead us to secrets we can hardly guess at.

What is "Freedom?"

Of all the things Thomas Jefferson accomplished, he was most proud of establishing the University of Virginia, for he maintained that democracy--his baby, so to speak--could not survive without an educated people.  Freedom without education, and without conscience, is chaos.  As Scripture says, "every man does what is right in his own eyes"   --- but without "do unto others what you would have them do unto you," our society cannot survive. 

One of the gifts that education brings is contact with many other ways of seeing and thinking; it brings tolerance and understanding and conversation.  In the more radical sects of Islam, we see an attempt to control society by restricting education so that people cannot expand their understanding, but can only obey repression and control.  In democracy, we have more freedom, but less order, as everyone tries to outshout the other and gain control.

In any society, it is necessary that men be governed by some rule, not by forced control and imposition of harsh punishment, but by recognition of God, by freedom of worship, and by conscience.  A "free" society that disregards God will destroy itself, as Sodom and Gomorrah shows.  No one is safe when bullies are allowed to prey on the innocent and control society.  The alternative is not radical Islam with its enforced order, but prayer and education so that people are free in mind, body, and spirit.

Poustinikki

In her book Poustinia, Catherine de Hueck Dougherty says that in Russia, a "poustinik" is one who takes up residence in a small house at the edge of the village.  His door is latched against the wind, but never locked.  He is there for the village, for whatever they might need.  If someone needs a cup of tea and some prayer, the door is open; if one needs bread, the poustinik shares whatever he has; if the local farmer needs his crops gathered in before the rains come, the poustinik goes into the fields until the work is done. 

What a wonderful concept; I believe in some ways, that is also the tradition of country life in America.  All the neighbors are "there" for the others.  They share the same life, the same joys, the same troubles.  In our urban areas, the workplace has become the center of life for most of us, who barely know our neighbors.  But now and then.....

When my beloved dog Ginger died the year before Katrina, one of my neighbors left a beautiful bouquet of Astrolmeria on my doorstep, with a note of condolence.  What a thoughtful thing to do!  She was aware of my grief, and shared in it.  When I had surgery recently, friends came from far away to prepare dozens of meals to freeze for future weeks, and friends from church came from nearby with hot casseroles, soup, and complete dinners. 

Though it is hard for families with young children to do more than survive from day to day, our country now has millions of "baby boomers" who are retiring.  What a wonderful concept it would be if all of us in that category saw the opportunity to "sit at the edge of the village" to be of service to our neighbors. 

Listening

Journaling is a way of listening to our inner selves---the place where God dwells.  To listen to what we are saying in our deepest part is to discover God.  When I first began to learn to pray, there came a moment when I said, "My 'me' is You!"  At my very core, I found the presence of God.

It is hard for most of us to be still enough long enough to find God within.  That's why Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way recommends what she calls "morning pages"---three pages a day of free - writing whatever is on one's mind, whether it makes sense or nonsense.  By peeling off the top layers of our spirits, we find what is lying beneath, and there we find the creativity that is God's Spirit within us expressing beauty through us.

The Spirit of God holds all things in balance and harmony, distilling eternal truth to all who will reach for it, guiding us into the way of peace.  But until we are ready to listen, we cannot get there.  In the 8th chapter of Romans, Paul says, "The Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we ourselves do not even know how to pray, but the Spirit pleads for us with unutterable groanings."  Sometimes, we catch a glimpse of the groanings within us through writing.

The Gift of Eternal Life

Nowhere in the Old Testament can we find a reference to "eternal life," but the New Testament is brimming with the phrase.  Three of the Gospels tell of a man who comes to Jesus and says, "Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 

At what point did the phrase come into use?  Had Jesus already spoken of "eternal life," or had the Jews come to a concept of eternal life on their own?  In the first three Gospels, Jesus tells the rich young man, who had kept the commandments all his life, that one thing more was necessary---to sell what he had, give to the poor, and come follow Him.  Obviously, the man had not found "life" in his possessions, or he would not have been asking about 'eternal life.'

In the Gospel of John (Chapter 17), Jesus says, "Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ."  And He said that He would give eternal life to all who the Father gave to Him.  Here, He does not speak about selling everything and giving to the poor, but only about receiving the gift He gave.  Later in Chapter 17, the night before He died, Jesus said, "I have given them Your Name, the Name that was with me from the beginning."  To know God's name is to know Him, and thus to have eternal life.

If only we knew that it is not religion but relationship that is the key to eternal life.  That God would want us to know Him is amazing.  That He would reveal to us His inmost thoughts, that He would teach us to love what He loves is miraculous.

God will reveal Himself to all who seek Him.  To cry out to Him, to ask to know Him, is to begin receiving eternal life.  He is more eager to know us, to have fellowship with us, than we are with Him.  And even in this life, we begin to taste eternal life, life that nothing can destroy.  And that life comes to us in His Son, who reveals to us His Father's Name:  ABBA!

The Power of God

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power (I Cor. 4:20)

Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you (Acts 1:8).

When the New Testament refers to "power," it uses the Greek word dunomis, the root of our English "dynamite."  Unlike the "power" of those who lord it over others, this power is the power to overcome ourselves---power to overcome the darkness that surrounds us; power to demolish strongholds that have taken root in our lives; power to understand the things of God; power to tear down and to plant. 

No wonder that Paul says that a servant ought to prove trustworthy; God cannot entrust His power to those He cannot trust to represent His values.  When God annoints us for the ministry of truth and justice, He pours out on us this power to understand the secrets of God's heart.  Paul found that he could not explain the secret things of God to the Greeks despite his best efforts.  So from then on, he resolved to know nothing but the power of Christ crucified. 

Who could understand the helplessness of a crucified savior who said, "Unless the grain of wheat fall into the ground...."?  Peter, Paul, all the apostles except John, who was exiled---all died for the sake of the Gospel, but the dunomis--the power of God did not die with them; it was released into the world through them. 

St. Vincent dePaul said, "It is not enough to love God if our neighbor does not love God."  If our neighbor does not love God, we too must become the grain of wheat, giving our lives as the seed that ultimately bears fruit.  Our "power" must be the power to serve---and indeed it is "power," because as long as we are locked into the prisons of our own darkness, we cannot be aware of our neighbor's needs.

This is the power of God:  the power of humble service, the power to trust God in all things, the power to realize that we ourselves can do nothing, the power to lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel.  None of this is possible to ourselves, but is given only by the Spirit of Jesus in us.