The Human Jesus

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acceptance, Brother Curtis Almquist, developmental issues, gratitude, growth, human, humanity, imagination, Jesus, limitations, Messiah, mission, reflection, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, visualizing

Like many people, I receive a few “thought for the day” quotes in my e-mail each morning. Most often I delete them without too much reflection but occasionally there is something that makes me sit up and take notice. Perhaps because of the Wednesday and Friday gospels this week that focused on the miraculous feeding and healing powers of Jesus, I was led to reflect on his humanity today by Brother Curtis Almquist of the Episcopal Society of St. John the Evangelist in a short post entitled Growth. Here’s what he wrote.

I don’t think Jesus asked to be the Messiah any more than any of us asked for the deck of cards that was handed to us in our birth. But Jesus grew into the acceptance of his humanity, his gifts, his limitations, his mission, and his unfinished business, facing the same developmental issues that we all do in growing up.

Even though in theory I totally buy into Paul’s declaration to the Philippians that Jesus “emptied himself of godliness” and “became like us in all things but sin,” it’s rather stunning to think of Jesus having limitations, let alone “developmental issues.” I must admit, however, to a tiny sensation of relief and gratitude somewhere inside me as I begin to conjecture just what that might mean. I think it will take some time because there are no words that will clarify the sensation. It will take imagination, visualizing Jesus in life situations – in his youth, as a young adult and during his ministry – asking him questions about what he is experiencing in the situations in which he finds himself and then listening for answers.

Trusting that this process is not just a “flight of fancy” but rather a journey into the “imaginal” world may lead to a deepening of understanding and appreciation of Jesus as “fully human.” Why not give it a try?

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Inner and Outer Light

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believe, conscious living, fan the flames, gratitude, imagination, inner fire, light, light worker, meditation, possibility, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center

Sometimes I “talk big” and really mean what I say but find at the end of the day that I haven’t come close to accomplishing what I had decided at the beginning I would be able to achieve. Such was the interim between this moment and what I wrote on Friday about diving in with vigor and making a new start. Events intervene and change the pattern of our days sometimes so all we can do is our best – sometimes starting over the next day. The key is not to get either discouraged or lazy so that nothing ever gets done. This morning I’m ready to try again. Here’s why.

1. Yesterday morning six of us sat around a blazing fire in the living room of the Sophia House considering three themes for reflection in this new year. Our wonderfully creative tech person at Sophia, Mary Pat, walked with us on a non-stressful – peaceful even – path, stopping at directional points of inner and outer light, conscious living and gratitude. Our sharing was simple and then grew as did the fire’s warmth so that, in the end, we had a sense of that fire as an ongoing potential for this year’s journey.
2. Last evening my three Sisters and I sat in our own living room and had what turned into a long, lively exchange of ideas about moving forward with the fulfillment of certain of our proposed projects at the Spiritual Center. It was another experience of how the inner fire in each of us was caught in the circle because of all of us together.
3. This morning lying in my bed after waking I began to consider my day and to wonder what might be accomplished. Suddenly a wave of light seemed to burst within me – not a tidal wave but a flicker of determination that seemed to say, “Fan the flame. Go within to catch the spirit of those light workers who can help you in this realm and beyond. Use your imagination. Get up! Believe in possibility!” Needless to say I did not go back to sleep.
4. As I sat with my coffee to relate these events and their effect on me, a strong wind began to blow through the tallest of the trees outside my window, cheering me on. It’s still waving at me – so I need to move to my meditation mat to solidify purpose and begin the day. Blessings abound!

A More Perfect Union

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brain, engines of change, female, Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path, imagination, Jan Phillips, joining, male, negative, positive, speaking, spiritual path, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, them, thought, thought pattern, union, universe, us, we

Quotes from Pendle Hill: Today’s quote comes from Jan Phillips in her book Finding the On-Ramp on Your Spiritual Path.

Just as a battery is charged by the union of positive and negative forces, just as a child is conceived by the union of a male sperm and a female ovum, just as a thought issues forth from the union of right and left brain, so does our authentic spirituality emerge from the practice of joining “us” and “them” into a “we.” Our imaginations are the most potent engines of change in the universe, and when we change our thought pattern and become conscious of our speaking, we will make a quantum leap forward on our spiritual path.

The Rider of the Heavens

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Ancient Songs Sung Anew, Earth, God, God's chariot, heaven, imagination, joy, praise, prayer, psalm 68, psalmist, sky, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There were only two of us at “Lunch with the Psalms” yesterday and the psalm of the day (Ps. 68) was long. Although only part of it showed up in the lectionary, we read and reflected on the entire content – not exhaustively, of course, but meaningfully nevertheless. We looked at the New International Version (NIV) because our first read was the poetic variation in Ancient Songs Sung Anew and it was so lyrical and modern-sounding that we wondered how similar the two would be. We found them to be more alike than expected and were quite taken by the vivid images used by the psalmist to create such a strong and hopeful vision of both the earthly realm and the heavenly kingdom – especially in the title which one of us saw as God’s chariot speeding across the sky and the other imaged as a white steed with God astride, garments and hair flowing behind and light illuminating everything. It was a great moment of touching into the imaginal world to bring God’s presence and power close to us.

I was reminded of all this when I saw that the latter part of Psalm 68 was the response to today’s first lectionary reading – not a repetition but an addition to yesterday – so I invite you to join us for the beginning and the end of God’s trek across the heavens. Both ends of the psalm are written as a call to this awesome God in praise and supplication from those who yearn for the peaceable kingdom. See if you can catch  the Spirit!

Rise up within our midst, O God, then everything but you will vanish, our enemies disappearing from sight. Like smoke on wind, like wax before a burning blaze, evil itself will cease before the white light of your gaze. For everyone in right relationship to you is filled with overflowing joy, and music fills the space where you abide, and singing rises to your nameless name, O Holy One who rides the heavens. For you inhabit your high holiness as if it were a dwelling place, yet parent orphans and defend all those alone in life…(vs. 1-5)

Let everything be offered up in praise and prayer from East and West and North and South their voices raised. O Rider of the powers of heaven and earth, send forth a voice, a mighty voice. Awaken us to majesty beyond all time. Restore us to our ancient strength again, so we may say, how great your deeds, O God, O Holy One who rides the heavens. (vs. 33-36)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Greatest and the Least

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become childlike, children, creativity, humility, imagination, Jesus, Matthew, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, turn

It seems as if the disciples of Jesus were overly concerned about status because the text of this morning’s gospel (MT 18:1-5) harks back to the conversation that we spoke about on Monday of this week. Then they were talking about who was greatest among their company; today, Matthew recounts their concern about who will be greatest not just here on earth but in heaven! Once again, Jesus speaks of humility by calling to himself a child as an example. Matthew actually give us three pieces of advice in this short response of Jesus. 1.) Jesus says, “unless you turn and become like little children…” Turning in a different direction always gives us a different perspective; it is what needs to happen when we pray for conversion, and Jesus says this morning that unless we do it we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 2.) The second follows the first. “Whoever humbles him/herself like this child will be greatest in heaven.” So it’s not a race to the finish. Everyone who learns how to let go of status or privilege or anything that sets us apart will, it seems, be equal then and nobody will be striving for anything. 3.) It isn’t enough for us to become like children, we have to befriend them. “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me,” Jesus says. For any of us who have had opportunities to “hang out” with small children, it’s impossible not to learn from their incredible energy, their imagination/creativity and their honesty/simplicity. I guess that could be the purpose of the words of Jesus to us today. If people like that will be our companions in heaven, we ought to get about our preparation for membership in that crowd!

Use Your Imagination!

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English, French, grammar, imagination, justice, kindness, kiss, kiss and make up, message, Peace, personification of virtues, psalm 85, rules, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, words

Although English was one of my favorite subjects in school I was never very enamored of grammar until I began teaching French. Now as I try every morning to write sentences that attend to case and tense while trying to avoid dangling participles, etc. I’m grateful for all the rules that have become (almost) second nature to me. This morning I was struck by Psalm 85 where the fanciful personification of virtues got me thinking.

Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth and justice shall look down from heaven.

What does Kindness look like, I wonder. A bespectacled grandmother, maybe, who stands tall when Truth enters the room because she knows the importance of engaging him at every turn. The partnering of Justice and Peace is essential for any success on the world stage and a peaceful kiss certainly goes a long way toward settling issues of justice between siblings. “Kiss and make up” has been advice for as long as I can remember. What would they look like at a world conference, these two hoped for conclusions? What colors would they wear? How would they style their hair?

Silly? Perhaps, but it seems that these words need amplification if the underlying virtues are to help us at all these days. What is true justice and how do we achieve it? It seems that we need to keep it close to peace in our hearts even to approach an understanding. What about the infusion of kindness into our truth-telling? It certainly would help when the message is a difficult one to swallow. Sometimes imagination is more useful than concrete, serious thinking. Maybe today is one of those times.