Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, June 14, 2011

What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are
not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?
This is the most important of all voyages of discovery.

Thomas Merton


I think about the World, and all of the divisiveness and separation, and all of the time and energy and resources that are used up in sustaining that separation and division, using religion and culture and a myriad of other tools.

And I think: it is all a metaphor for this inner abyss from ourselves of which Merton speaks. The division and separation we feel within ourselves and from ourselves lies at the root.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the Truth will set you free.”

I pray for this knowledge of this Truth for us all.

Brian+

p.s. Today would have been my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary. It is good to think of them.

Brian’s Reflection: Monday, June 13, 2011

There are few things worse than people using religion and the
Bible as an excuse to denounce, curse or hurt another person.
Speaking and acting in this way shows a complete misunderstanding
of the purpose of religion, God and the Bible. .. the purpose of religion
as we know it is to enable an individual’s transformation from selfishness
& ego to a new nature of sharing & compassion. That’s it. The Bible and
all its teachings are only a means to assist this transformation.

Michael Berg



Dennis and I had a wonderful time in Umbria. A quiet farm just outside of Assisi with a lovely apartment (including a little fireplace) to rest and cook in. A unique little Fiat “Cinquecentro” (which, and we should learn from this, shuts off the engine when you stop, and automatically starts when you put your foot on the gas!) to drive the charming back roads of Umbria through little villages, finding little ristoranti for lovely lunches. San Damiano was a quiet place to sit and meditate, as was the garden at home. A perfect relaxing time! I lit more candles for lots of folk before more glass-encased saints – my favourite being San Ubaldo (Bishop of Gubbio) way on the top of a mountain that was reached by a ski-life device with little cages two people could stand in – and of course there was the ubiquitous “bar” at the top with good food and wine!

I have said it before and will say again: the principle thing that divides Christians denominations is how to understand and “interpret” the nature of the Bible. How is it “God’s Word”, how was it composed, how is it to be “used” by us. I am with Michael Berg. It is blasphemous to use it to “denounce, curse, or hurt other people”. To do so is, I believe, to deny and reject the spirit of the Christ and His Gospel.

God calls us from “selfishness and ego to a new nature of sharing and compassion”.

This is, I believe, Godly Life ….. and truly human life.

Thanks to all (47 of you) who asked me to light a candle and pray for you and your concerns. It was my privilege.

Brian+

Monday, May 23, 2011: THe Rapture

Well: Come and Gone. The Rapture, I mean. Lots of people apparently gave up everything, jobs, etc - and now what? Here in Assisi, as far as I can tell, the impending "Rapture" or the "Second Coming", was ignored. The busses and the pilgrims came to the lovely Basilica, looked at the wonderful paintings, lit candles, and went on their way.

A friend of mine says that our "approach" to those who took the whole business seriously should ..... kindness. I agree.

But I have this to say. Jesus is reporteds to have wisely said that of many things about Life, "No one knows but the Father". One of the main implications of this is, "Get on with Life." There is no easy fix, like denial or avoidance or escape. Life is to be lived ..... and thinking that if it gets too hard or demanding we can just ask or expect God to absolve us of all responsibility is just plain Wishful Thinking.

"Rapture" is a given of a Life fully engaged in.

Give it a try!

Blessings!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Brian’s Reflection: Monday, May 16, 2011

Life's like a movie, write your own ending.
Keep believing, keep pretending.

Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets.
He died on this day, 1990, age 53,
of streptococcus pneumonia, a bacterial infection.



I’d change only one word: pretending.

What I think Jim meant by “pretending” comes from Big Bird and Bert and Kermit and the Cookie Monster and Miss Piggy and the rest of the Muppets. All those “pretend” characters. What I hear is Jim saying, “Don’t get stuck in yourself. There are always other dimensions of Yourself you can blossom into.”

The older I get, and the more I think and ponder, the more I know what amazing creatures we human beings are. How amazing the human brain is. How wondrous Life is! But, one of the great realities of Life is (my apologies if anyone is sensitive) Shit Happens. Just like Bliss Happens. If I were a teacher of young people, one of the primary things I would teach them is, “Write your own ending.”

Getting to the point where you have the freedom and the guts and the wisdom to write your own ending is, of course, one of the core challenges of Life. Shit is always going to happen. Teachers of all sorts, including preachers, should focus on equipping people with shoveling it.

I would tell kids: Believe in yourself. Think. Be one of those people about whom my father used to say, “If he fell into a barrel of shit he’d come out wearing a new suit.”

Don’t choose to be a victim. “Keep pretending” really means “You have the power to write your own Story, and rewrite it as many times as you need to.”

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: The Weekend, Sat, May 14, 2011

The sheep follow him [ the Good Shepherd] because they know
his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from
him because they do not know the voice of strangers.

Jesus, in the Gospel called John, chapter 10 (Easter IV A RCL)


[ The full text is found here: http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearA_RCL/Easter/AEaster4_RCL.html ]


I am sure that you realize that one can justify/rationalize ANYTHING from anybody’s “Holy Scriptures”.

Let’s take something that Jesus is recorded to have said: (a) “Peace I give unto you” (b) I did not come to bring Peace but a Sword”. The Gospels are full of such inconsistencies ….. or should we call them “inconsistent interpretations” ….. by the various communities that grew up around the phenomenon of Jesus? Anyway, it should be crystal clear that any group can use the Scriptures of any religion to justify their positions.

Which points to the point: IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF US HUMAN BEINGS TO CHOOSE THOSE CRITERIA BY WHICH WE DEFINE THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN LIFE AND THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH WE SHALL LIVE.

So: just think of the issues that arise! Are we essentially Good or Bad? Does God punish? Is there a physical Hell or Heaven? You can go on extrapolating forever.

The Question that the Readings for Easter IV A RCL raise is: What IS the authentic voice of Jesus?? of “the Good Shepherd”? “The Family” (Google them) thinks that it is the voice of power and privilege to the powerful and the rich. To many of us, it is the Voice of the Compassionate Jesus who associated with the underprivileged. The List could go on forever.

But let’s not forget one thing: Jesus made His final statement about what it was all about to His followers at the Passover meal before He was killed” ~ “Love one another as I have loved you”.

As far as I am concerned: the “Voice of the Good Shepherd” is about Unconditional Love ~ Love without Judgment based on personal prejudices, fears, or delusions.

That is the voice that I follow. That of the Good Shepherd.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, May 13, 2011

"Sometimes it’s a sort of indulgence to think
the worst of ourselves. We say, ‘Now I have
reached the bottom of the pit, now I can fall
no further,’ and it is almost a pleasure to wallow
in the darkness. The trouble is, it’s not true.
There is no end to the evil in ourselves, just as
there is no end to the good. It’s a matter of choice.
We struggle to climb, or we struggle to fall. The
thing is to discover which way we’re going."

Dame Daphne du Maurier; author; she
was born on this date, 1907, in London


So. Is not the question: Who, or What, is going to teach us how to “discover which way we are going”?

Dame du Maurier is wise, I think. “There is no end to the evil in ourselves, just as there is no end to the good.” After many decades, and much reading of the “history” (a dubious concept!) of the human race, I agree with her. We think we have reached the bottom of Evil ….. then Stalin or Pol Pot appears (I shall refrain from naming an American candidate). We think we have reached the height of Good ….. and then Warren Buffet gives multi-billions in hopes that it will help the human race advance. (May Bill and Melinda do a good job!)

I believe in the archetype that all human beings have a choice, that Choice is a “given” of being Human ~ despite the fact that many of us seem, by Life’s circumstances, to be deprived of the exercise of that freedom. But, if we are “lucky”, we learn and are taught that “We struggle to climb, or we struggle to fall”. And that we are responsible for the choice. Responsible to each other, and responsible to ourselves. No Human Being can “raise itself”. We are helpless when we are born. We depend on others to get us to the point when we can understand the choices and how to make them.

In my view, the essential point of Education is to get us to this place: to understand the choices, and to lead us to the knowledge of how wisely to make those choices. Only after that should we go on to learn skills or develop talents. I think we are failing abysmally ….. and (karma being karma) the consequences will become more and more evident ~ as I think the World presently manifests.

Children should first be taught by Mystics ….. of all types. Imagine Rumi and Julian of Norwich and Maimonides and Sai Baba and Amma the Hugging Saint all in one kindergarten room interacting with our kids!! Oh God, how I wish that we could get to the place where all faiths could accept each other’s Wisdom and work together to teach us all how to be Human!

Our main “learning” must be to “discover which way we are going”. This is what every school and every religion should be committed to teaching. No one has the Truth. We have it together.

Brian+