Remain

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connection, flowering, fruit, Jesus, John, remain, steadfast, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vine, wine

In my neighborhood we’re just beginning to see the flowering of trees that we hope will later produce much fruit. In the southwestern part of our state vintners are hoping for just the right mix of sun and rain that will assure an abundance of grapes this year. Driving in wine country is a breathtaking experience of seeing acres and acres first of the perfectly pruned “naked” vines secured in row after row and later those same vines in full leaf. It’s then time to walk the fields in order to see the fruit hidden among the leaves and experience the fragrance of the ripening grapes. (Oh yes, and then there is the wine tasting…)

From observing nature in this and many other ways, we come to better understand the frequent references of Jesus to life and growth in the Spirit. Often, for me, there is a word (usually a verb) that deepens the meaning of the message. Today that word is “remain.” In what scholars have come to call the “final discourse” of Jesus in John’s gospel (ch. 14-17), there are many beautiful sentiments, none more vivid or familiar, perhaps, than “the vine and the branches.” Jesus says, Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. As I read those two sentences, the verb remain, repeated four times, reverberates in me as a clear call to fidelity. The essential truth is that if the connection of the branch to the vine is severed, life is irrevocably cut off. But the responsibility for connection is not all on us! The effort of remaining steadfast in all of life’s circumstances is made worthy of any struggle because of the promise that Christ also remains in us. Knowing this, I am willing for the pruning as much as for the ripening and trust that all will come to fruition in the fullness of time.

 

 

True Freedom

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abide, Abraham, christians, consistency of Jesus, free, freedom, go deeper within, hold on, integrity of spirit, Jesus, John, Lenten journey, loving word, remain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

A very long time ago I had a poster taped to the inside of my bedroom door. The image on it was of a rag doll type of figure that looked rather flat, as if it had been run over by a steamroller. Beside the figure was an old-fashioned washing machine and the text on the poster read, “The truth will set you free but it will put you through the ringer first.” Although it was a rather irreverent use of this morning’s gospel passage from John about the truth setting one free (JN 8:31-32), it did make a point about freedom. Jesus was talking to Jewish people who had already come to believe in him and they were confused, asking why Jesus would talk about them becoming free since they were descendants of Abraham who had “never been enslaved to anyone.”

Throughout history there have been many examples of people who have lived in the most dreadful conditions, have been treated badly by governments or dictators or those who claim to represent God, and still retain a spirit that is totally unfettered. How does one remain free is such circumstances? Jesus gives a hint to Christians in the aforementioned text from John which in its entirety says, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Verbs like remain and abide hold great power for those who understand the need to “hold on” no matter what external circumstances cause in one’s life. It is our interior freedom, freedom of spirit that comes from knowing and living in the truth that cannot be taken away. How does one achieve such freedom? Sometimes it seems to come easily in life if one is lucky enough to live in a country like the USA whose founding documents boast “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” especially if that creed is replicated in a family that nurtures not only those principles but also a faith in God and a religious tradition. Even for those that start life with those advantages, however, there comes a moment – or a series of moments – when recognition of injustices extant in the culture or in personal relationships cause one to go deeper into the underlying truths of life. It is at those points of challenge that we need to assess what we have been taught and come to a personal integrity of spirit that can never be taken away. It may be shaken in times of danger or our own weakness but if we remain awake to the truth that we carry deep within us, we will know the freedom of which Jesus speaks this morning. As we live into the last ten days of Lent, let us listen to the consistency of Jesus in his speaking, in his acting and in his loving word that carries him through his death to resurrection. And let the word that is the truth of his life reverberate in us as we remain in him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O Lord, Hear My Prayer

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anguish, answer, broken-hearted, common humanity, compassion, cries, destiny, endure, faith, hear, hear my prayer, human, Jesus, Lord, mercies, psalm 102, remain, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The psalm refrain for today from Psalm 102 is so direct and familiar. The psalmist begs: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you! This morning I heard it as a call from Jesus as he moved toward Jerusalem. He must have had days when he wondered about God’s purpose for his life – those days when everything he had done seemed futile because the crowds were so slow to recognize the deep meaning of what he was teaching. Psalm 102 rocks back and forth between deep anguish and steadfast faith, not just about his own destiny but that of all God’s people. Thinking this way does not make Jesus less strong in my eyes, but more human and accessible on the days when today’s world seems on the brink of disaster. There is a beautiful translation of the middle verses of the psalm – one might say “the heart” of it all – where I believe Jesus called up the strength to stand steadfast in all that was to come. May we join him in the prayer.

But you, O you remain, my God; your name endures from age to age. For from eternity and into time your mercies rise, each moment your compassion appears in full. And even in these ruins of the heart it moves, and we your servants, Lord, are stirred to love and care for even dust. The peoples of the world shall come at last to speak your name with awe. The rulers of the heart shall see your beauty and finally comprehend. For you, O Lord, will take the ruined places of our world and lovingly will raise them back again, for you have heard the cries of all the broken-hearted ones, and answering, you give them each a place to be and stand. Let this be written now so in generations yet to come, our children will hear and learn to praise. For from a vantage point beyond this world you view us all and understand. (vs. 13-20)

Diving Deep

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article of faith, Christianity, Ephesians, Eucharist, Jesus, John, one, Paul, Proverbs, psalm 34, remain, Taste and See, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the will of God, wisdom, wisdom of knowing

Having just seen the ocean from a distance and longing to dive right in – one of my favorite metaphors for going deeper into mystery – I was drawn by the first line of the first reading to the topic of Wisdom this morning. Staying on the surface, taking things literally, does not allow us to understand the depths of things, perhaps especially when we are speaking of faith.

When Proverbs (9:1-6) tells us that Wisdom has built herself a house, we know that it would be impossible for a concept, an abstract characteristic, to accomplish such an architectural feat. So the author reminds us to forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding, and in this case that is easily done. Not so easy with the psalm refrain that sings (for the second time recently): Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. (PS 34) Paul is right there with advice about how to deal with that one as he says to the Ephesians (5:15-20) Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise…Do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of God.

All of that is preamble to the crux of the message in this morning’s Scripture readings. It is John’s gospel that contains more of the “hard sayings” than the others, and the hardest of all is perhaps what we hear this morning (JN 6:51-58). Jesus says that whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them. Theologians have wrestled with this “article of faith” throughout the history of Christianity and belief in interpretation varies, but I’m thinking this morning of how shocking it must have been for those crowds of people who were listening to those words spoken for the first time by Jesus – probably most of them having no concept of metaphor or any way to understand what is obviously a deeper truth than the surface meaning.

It is the word remain that is the touchstone for me as I participate in Eucharistic liturgies and trust that something of Christ’s life remains in my spirit as the Eucharistic species are assimilated into my body. The more conscious I become about that truth, the more I will understand what Jesus was talking about on that shocking, long ago day. Then, and only then, will I be transformed, forsaking the foolishness that says I am separated from others and coming to trust the wisdom of knowing that we are all one, as Jesus knew and lived, and lives still in us.