"Who's the greatest?"

Artist: Edgar Degas

Image from Wikimedia Commons

In today's gospel reading, the disciples are arguing about which one among them is to be the greatest. I simply want to offer you the following:

Leonard Bernstein, when asked what the most difficult instrument was, answered "2nd fiddle". "Plenty of people want to play 1st violin but to get someone to play second violin or second flute, etc...that's a problem. Yet, without them there is no harmony."

Some of you know that before I entered the religious life, I was a musician by trade. And for most of my career I played first oboe -- I guess because that's what I was ususally hired to do and because it fit my "musical personality" (or so I was told). But toward the end of my career I started being offered some very nice second oboe jobs and I accepted them (with my long-term teacher's enthusiastic encouragement because he contended that playing second was considerably harder than playing first). What a wonderful adventure! Playing second (and doing it well) requires much more artistic maturity, much more attention to subtlety and nuance. There is a different kind of satisfaction involved and it's truly very lovely.

Think about it.

~~~

Forgiveness as defiance

Artist: Rembrandt

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Forgiveness as defiance. Now there's a concept, isn't it? Take a look:

Forgiveness is an embrace, across all barriers, against all odds, in defiance of all that is mean and petty and vindictive and cruel in this life.

— Kent Nerburn in Calm Surrender

Worth pondering. With sincere thoughtfulness.

Journey to Reality

Surat Al-Ikhlas - Maghribi script, 18th Century, North Africa

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I ventured over to the Spirituality and Practice website today and was stunned (in a positive way!) to find a review of a book entitled It's Really All About God (subtitled "Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian".) I definitely want to read this. The author, Samir Selmanovic, is "the co-leader of Faith House Manhattan, an interfaith 'community of communities' that brings together forward-looking Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists and others who seek to thrive interdependently."

Selmanovic is a convert to Christianity who has experienced distress over the self-serving attitudes and practices of organized religion. Here is something he said that just knocks my socks off:

We can either stay within the Christianity we have mastered with the Jesus we have domesticated, or we can leave Christianity as a destination, embrace Christianity as a way of life, and then journey to reality, where God is present and living in every person, every human community, and all creation.

This reminds me of the part of the baptimal covenent in which we promise to "seek and serve Christ in all persons". We don't have to bring Christ to the person; Christ is already there. Rather, we seek Christ in the person. Big, big difference.

How to find Paradise

"Glimpse of Paradise"

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Here are two wonderful quotations about how to find Paradise on earth:

We believe that it is difficult to let go, but in truth, it is much more difficult and painful to hold and protect. Reflect upon anything in your life that you grasp hold of--an opinion, a historical resentment, an ambition, or an unfulfilled fantasy. Sense the tightness, fear, and defensiveness that surrounds the grasping. It is a painful, anxious experience of unhappiness. We do not let go in order to make ourselves impoverished or bereft. We let go in order to discover happiness and peace.

-- Christina Feldman

I like what Feldman says about letting go not being a matter of deprivation at all but rather a way toward happiness.

And here's another obvservation that says much the same thing:

The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.

-- C.S. Lewis

Tightly grasping to what we cannot have or to what we are sure to lose is the most direct way to suffering and unhappiness known to humanity.

Something about struggle

"The Quest"

Artist: Seema Kohli

Image from Wikimedia Commons

If, by chance, you are struggling at the time of your reading this, take heart from these words of one of our great preachers:

You may look through the streets of heaven, asking each how they came to be there, and you will look in vain everywhere for a person who is morally and spiritually strong, whose strength did not come to him in struggle. There is no exception anywhere. Every true strength is gained in struggle.

-- Phillips Brooks

Holy Cross Day

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Rowan Williams was still Archbishop of Wales when he said this:

All I want to say about the image of the Holy Cross this morning is that the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is where we wake up. 'Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you life.' Our sin is like sleep, like a bad dream. We are locked in ourselves. The serious tangled insides of the human mind, the human heart, human speech trap us more and more. Here the reality of God stands against the reality of our minds and hearts.

-- Rowan Williams

I found it in a reflection by John Pridmore on Holy Cross Day in the Church Times. I urge you to click through and read the whole thing if you have time. It's all good.

God's excellence

Lady Wisdom (Library of Congress)

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I love today's readings. All of them. But especially the optional reading from The Wisdom of Solomon and the gospel reading (from Mark) about losing your life in order to save it.

Just in case you are not familiar with the passage from Wisdom, here it is:

For Wisdom is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in
herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
She is more beautiful than the sun,
and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
for it is succeeded by the night,
but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she orders all things well.

The sentence from Mark's gospel to which I refer, of course, is this one:

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

I've long believed that this saying of Jesus is the quintessential Christian koan. A koan is a paradox, a conundrm, used by Zen masters to help their meditation students learn to let go. "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" is a famous koan that most people know. Using the koan as a support for meditation is meant to exhaust, if you will, the rational intellect so that it gives up and with it, the person's ego. At that point the person reliquishes his or her obsession with attachment or control and becomes truly accepting. Seems to me that is what Jesus was on about with his teaching on losing one's life.

God's love

Margret Hofheinz-Döring/Galerie Brigitte Mauch Göppingen

Image from Wikimedia Commons

God is not only fatherly,
God is also mother
who lifts her loved child
from the ground to her knee.
The Trinity is like a mother's cloak
wherein the child finds a home
and lays its head on the maternal breast.

-- Mechtild of Magdeburg

Mechtild of Magdeburg lived in the high Middle Ages and was a member of the Beguines, a loosely organized group of women who usually lived alone and were devoted to prayer and good works.

The call to be truly oneself

Moses and the Burning Bush
Image from Wikimedia Commons

I have loved the saying quoted below for a long, long time.

Here's my question: Why is it so common in the church today that its members are put under pressure to conform to someone else's conventional idealization of the kind of people they should be?

Rabbi Zusya said that on the Day of Judgment, God would ask him, not why he had not been Moses, but why he had not been Zusya.

~Walter Kaufmann

We need to be genuinely ourselves according to our true nature. The most damaging aspect of the authoritarianism currently present in the church as an institution is the insidious devaluing of many people's gifts while highlighting their faults. No wonder people get discouraged and leave never to return.

It's not right, folks. It's just not right.

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Artist: Pietro Cavallini
Image from Wikimedia Commons

What a pity this feast day does not appear on the calendar of the American Church. It does, however, in the Church of Ireland and that gave me much pleasure when I lived over on the Emerald Isle.

Why does it matter? Well, let me ask you this. Have you ever taken note of the fact that, in the Bible itself, every time people are happy about the birth of a baby, the baby in question is always a boy? What do you think that does (consciously or unconsciously) to little girls growing up in the church?

Just think about it. Think about it hard.

Today we get to rejoice that unto us a child is born, unto us a daughter is given. And she will be the God-bearer for us and she will be our own true Mother for all eternity.

Ave. Ave. Ave Maria!

Labor Day, 2009

Saint Joseph the Worker

Here's a prayer offered by the National Farm Worker Ministry:

Bless the hands of the people of the earth,
The hands that plant the seed,
The hands that bind the harvest,
The hands that carry the burden of life.
Soften the hands of the oppressor and
Strengthen the hands of the oppressed.
Bless the hands of the workers,
Bless the hands of those in power above them
That the measure they deal will be tempered
With justice and compassion. Amen.

I found it on a little essay about Labor Day by Cathleen Falsani over on Sojourners. I recommend the article.

The Canaanite woman

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Here's part of a reflection on the first story from this morning's gospel reading:

Surely Jesus of all people should know that God's goodness is bounteous, that there is more than enough food for everyone.

And this is essentially what the Gentile woman points out to Jesus. There's plenty of food for everyone; even once all of those recognized as people, as insiders, are fed, there's still food left over for those who aren't even considered human, the outsiders. And they're all eating the same food; admittedly, some of it is crumbs from the original serving, but it's the same substance. Whether they are at the table or under it, they are all finding nourishment.

And Jesus, apparently moved by her words -- or reminded by her of his own previous miracle -- essentially says, "Good point. You get the same food as all of God's other children anyway, so why not have a seat at the table?" He promptly heals her child, and never again in Mark does he refuse to heal anyone or question anyone's worthiness to be healed.
...
Jesus understands our initial antipathies to strangers -- after all, he had them himself -- but ultimately there is no one we shouldn't invite to the feast. There is plenty of bread for everyone, even those who have traditionally been relegated to eating crumbs under the table, so we will not go hungry but rather will dine abundantly when we follow Jesus' example and welcome all comers to the table.

-- Karen A. Keely

Welcome all comers. I love those words. There really is no need for us humans to police God's table. Really.

Some thoughts about trust

"The Flying"

Artist: Anchise Picchi

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I can only fly freely
when I know there is a catcher to catch me.
If we are to take risks,
to be free,
in the air,
in life,
we have to know
that when we come down from it all,
we're going to be caught,
we're going to be safe.
The great hero is the least visible.
Trust the catcher.

— Henri Nouwen

The gift of Russian spiritual practice

Photo from the Library of Congress

I just had to show you a sample of some amazing 100 year old color photos the story of which is truly fascinating. Here's a description of the church pictured above:

Russian churches featured exterior and interior decoration in the forms of mosaics, frescoes, and carvings, often in brilliant colors. The Church of the Resurrection in Kostroma in the northern part of European Russia was built in the 1650s and demonstrates the exuberant decoration of the exterior characteristic of its period. However, in spite of the dramatic exterior, the church is noted primarily for its interior wall paintings.

Amazingly enough, this picture was taken in 1910.

You can see the entire exhibit right here.

Now let me share with you something for your contemplation that comes from the Russian Orthodox tradition:

The Jesus Prayer is also called the Prayer of the Heart. In Orthodoxy, the mind and heart are to be used as one. St Theophan tells us to keep our "mind in the heart" at all times. Heart means the physical muscle pumping blood, and emotions/feelings, and the innermost core of the person, the spirit. Heart is associated with the physical organ, but not identical with it. Heart means our innermost chamber, our secret dwelling place where God lives.
...
Someone said the heart is a dimension of interior consciousness, awareness, where we come in touch with an inner space, a space of no dimensions. This consciousness is timeless, the place where tears reside and deep contact with the present moment abide, and from which restful movement comes. Acting out of our heart means to act lightly, with vigor and enthusiasm. When not in that inner awareness, we are restless, agitated and self-concerned.

There is within us a space, a field of the heart, in which we find a Divine Reality, and from which we are called to live. The mind, then, is to descend into that inner sanctuary, by means of the Jesus Prayer or wordless contemplation, and to stay there throughout our active day, and evening. We descend with our mind into our heart, and we live there.

The excerpt above is from an article entitled "Saying the Jesus Prayer" by Albert S Rossi.

There are several forms of the Jesus Prayer. The one I typically use is this: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."

Three by Desmond

Tibetan mandala (Commons)

These so utterly represent the way he thinks!

I give great thanks to God that he has created a Dalai Lama. Do you really think, as some have argued, that God will be saying: 'You know, that guy, the Dalai Lama, is not bad. What a pity he's not a Christian'? I don't think that is the case - because, you see, God is not a Christian.
...
We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.
...
So people actually, if they want to know, "What is God like?" they would have to look at you and me and see us as being compassionate, because God is compassionate, as being loving, because God is loving.

-- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

A way of looking at art

Artist: Margret Hofheinz-Döring

Image from Wikimedia Commons

I rather like this:

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.

- Andre Glide

Saint Aidan's Day

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Aidan's prayer:

Leave me alone with God as much as may be.

As the tide draws the waters close in upon the shore,

Make me an island, set apart,

alone with you, God, holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide

prepare me to carry your presence to the busy world beyond,

the world that rushes in on me

till the waters come again and fold me back to you.

I found it here.

What really defiles us

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

In this morning's gospel reading, Jesus declares that we are not defiled by what goes into our mouths but rather by what comes out. Here's a story that illustrates how seriously we need to concern ourselves with that teaching:

- A woman once went to St. Francis of Assisi and asked what she had to do to be forgiven for her gossiping. St. Francis told her to take feathers and place one at the doorstep of everyone she had spoken ill of in the town. She did so and returned to the wise saint. Francis told her to then go and retrieve all the feathers. When she attempted to do so, they were all gone. By that time the feathers were scattered all around town. Once again, she returned to St. Francis and told him about the feathers. He said to her, "You wish to repent and be forgiven of your sin. Good. But the damage of your words is done and can not be taken back."

I found the story right here.

You know, I'm trying to remember a time the Church tore itself apart because of (rather - objecting to) the gossips within our midst. I'm not having much success here.

Words of great consolation

Artist: Brunhilde Mayer

Image from Wikimedia Commons

For however devoted you are to God, you may be sure that God is immeasurably more devoted to you.

- Meister Eckhart

The theological question facing us

Artist: Victor Dubreuil

Image from Wikimedia Commons

For a long time now I have believed that Walter Brueggemann is one of the most important theologians/biblical scholars writing today. I had the enormous privilege of meeting him and hearing him speak here in Tulsa a few years ago. What he says below is really important, I think. Even urgent:

Though many of us are well intentioned, we have invested our lives in consumerism. We have a love affair with ‘more’—and we will never have enough. Consumerism is not simply a marketing strategy. It has become a demonic spiritual force among us, and the theological question facing us is whether the Gospel has the power to help us withstand it.

-- Walter Brueggemann