Love

The vision of Love at work in the universe both humbles and exalts us.

In speaking of Love, we are reminded of Teresa of Àvila (and all the mystics) who knew that God's primary attribute is Love. In Entering the Castle, An Inner Path to God and Your Soul, Caroline Myss speaks of our partnership with God:

As you pursue your sacred other, remind yourself that this journey does not

require you to toss out your belongings and walk from the world you know

and all the people you love. Rather, your goal is to transcend the controlling influence that the false gods of the outside world–like stress, money, and

peer pressure–have on you and your relationship to God.

This Divine Love seeks union, it is invitational, not exclusive.  Divine Love seeks the restoration of the universe. We discover that we need to be in communion with God in order to participate in the mending of Creation. In the language of Teresa of Àvila the beloved enters the Castle:

By entering your Castle, you no longer leave the world, but empower yourself within the world. You are learning to love heaven and Earth, God and self, to be one with the soul of humanity.

Quotes:

Entering the Castle, An Inner Path to God and Your Soul, Caroline Myss, Free Press, N.Y., 2007, pages 104 and 292, respectively.

The Breastplate of St Patrick

Today a friend needs to feel protected and so I am posting these words which remind us that we are never alone ... I place this here with prayers for anyone who feels threatened or oppressed ...

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation,
His baptism in the Jordan River,
His cross of death for my salvation,
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, his might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need,
The wisdom of my god to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
Salvation is of Christ the Lord!

~ attributed to St. Patrick

Reflection / Action / Reflection / Action / Reflection / Action

Our spiritual reflection leads us to action. Our actions call us to reflect spiritually upon the things we have done ...

We've forgotten that a rich life consists fundamentally of serving others, trying to leave the world a little better than you found it. We need the courage to question the powers that be, the courage to be impatient with evil and patient with people, the courage to fight for social justice. In many instances we will be stepping out on nothing, and just hoping to land on something. But that's the struggle. To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word.

- Cornel West, from The Impossible Will Take a Little While

Theodicy

Theodicy - Greek theos "god" + dike "justice" - is an attempt to answer the question of why God permits the manifestation of evil.

When people who are innocent of wrong-doing suffer, or when those who commit atrocities escape justice, humans doubt God's justice.  

Our God-talk, our theologies are incomplete because we generally stop listening when God is talking to us. We are busy working out what we want to say.  Let's revisit two moments of God's self-revelation, we only have to consider the human response. Moses sees the impossible, a burning bush that is not consumed by fire - and still worries that he will not be able to speak; the disciples encounter a crucified and risen Lord, who as he prepares to leave them, promises his Spirit will return to guide them, and they are concerned only with the restoration of Israel as an autonomous state.

We listen but do not hear. How often do we have an answer prepared before the other person has a chance to finish speaking? We don't even realize that we don't know all that they have said, because we have been lost in our own thoughts.

So acknowledging our unknowing is an important starting place.  

Mystics across the many faith traditions invite us to move from the head to the heart, they urge us to start in a place of compassion and love. 

In her essay The Love of God and Affliction from Waiting for God, Simone Weil writes:

God created through love and for love. God did not create anything except love itself and the means to love. God created love in all its forms. God created beings capable of love from all possible distances.

Because no one else could do it, God … went to the greatest possible distance, the infinite distance. This infinite distance between God and God, this supreme tearing apart, this agony beyond all others, this marvel of love, is the crucifixion. Nothing can be further from God that which is accursed.

 

This tearing apart, over which supreme love places the bond of the supreme union, echoes perpetually across the universe in the midst of the silence, like two notes, separate yet melting into one, like pure and heart-rending harmony. This is the Word of God. The whole creation is nothing but it's vibration.

 

This image of the God who goes the infinite distance (this image of the Lover who risks profound pain) and the notion that all of creation is this Word's continuing vibration, invite me into a new understanding of suffering and pain ...

This new understanding invites to me to imagine a tree where the goodness and the pain (aka evil)* of creating the universe is held in equilibrium.  It's reality is there, contained, until the fruit is plucked, and then evil and goodness are loosed throughout the world.  

Perhaps there are no surprises for the Creator - only the enduring intention to be lovingly present with the Creature. 

Our experiences of evil are more painful when we endure them alone, believing them to be unjust or thinking that they are a punishment - but if we believe that our suffering is held, has always been held by the One who created us, it can become sacramental -- that is, it can teach us something of the character of our Creator, it can draw us into closer relationship with our God. 

What happens to our experiences of suffering if we come to understand that each one of us embodies some aspect of God's own creative suffering? 

* I would suggest that unhealed / unaddressed suffering can degenerate into evil.  But please note the Biblical use of the word "evil" for disastrous events -- evil and suffering were used interchangeably at times. I would suggest we need to reexamine how these words have been used ...

pluck the fruit from this rock

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:2-5

You thought

you could trust that power
when you plucked the fruit;
now it becomes a riddle again,
and you again a stranger. ~ Rilke, Dich wundert nicht des Sturmes Wucht translated by Anita Barrows

“The tempter came to Jesus and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'” Matthew 4:3

it was the same voice

it spoke and its tone,

almost friendly,

was the same invitation:

pluck the fruit

from this rock

it will be bread for you

aren't you hungry?

you have the power,

you have an obligation

to feed yourself;

pluck the fruit from these rocks

to feed the world ...

it was the same voice

casual, yet persuasive:

throw yourself down;

you won't die

it was the same voice:

all this can be yours

– and you – a god,

if you hearken to me

it was the same lie

A puzzling, almost paradoxical statement

In a recent conversation a friend said:

“Guilt is a temporary grace.”

I found this sentence intriguing so I have been pondering it and sharing it with others ...

“Guilt is a temporary grace.”

It presents us with three peculiar concepts: guilt, temporary, grace.

It seems to me that the central word, temporary, is significant. It locates us in time, a fleeting or transitory moment in time.

It invites the question: Which state is meant to be temporary – guilt or grace – or both?

And what about guilt? How often do we consider the purpose of guilt? Isn't it a sensation that could be associated with “oops”? As in “Oops, I took a wrong turn.” or “Oops, that wasn't a loving action.”

But how many of us allow guilt to stay on and on as an uninvited guest? What happens when guilt becomes a constant presence?

... And that elusive word, grace ...

If grace is understood as the freely given gift of divine love and mercy, are there ever-changing expressions of that grace? Does the moment determine the manifestation (the particular form) of the grace received?

Divine loving mercy equips us with specific gifts so we might undergo healing and transformation ...

Guilt, then, is grace's gentle nudge.  “Start fresh ... now ... I'll help you do it.” 

"Seeds of love and healing"

Love - and the paradoxical action that brings healing.

 

"Love can only be experienced in the present. Our preoccupations with past and future tend to diminish our capacity to give and receive love in the present, and our hopes and fears tend to interfere with its expression. Yet the deeper we go in our own suffering and sorrow, the more we discover the seeds of love and healing lie under the pain. When love is revealed, even when a person is close to death, suffering can turn to joy. This is one way that love redeems suffering and forgives even the illusions that prevent us from recognizing it."

May you find the seeds of love and healing that have been planted in your life. 

This quote is from Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing through Spiritual Illusions, 

by  Frances Vaughan, iUniverse.com, Inc, 1995.  The italics are mine. 

 

What is Spiritual Accompaniment?

A compassionate listening companion helps us gain perspective.

Writers have "first readers" who respond to what they understand of the text, helping the writer achieve clarity.

Composers have musicians and sound engineers who record and play back their music so that the composer can test imagination with reality.

A Spiritual Accompanist does these things as well. 

I listen and respond, inviting the speaker to practice compassionate awareness - both of the self, and of others.  For many people this also involves deepening an awareness of their individual understandings of the Divine. 

Nurturing or attending to our spiritual selves empowers us to act with greater energy, develop self-confidence, and cultivate unconditional love.