Brian’s Reflection: Monday, Nov 3, 2008


Yet one smile more, departing, distant sun!

ne mellow smile through the soft vapoury air,

Ere, o'er the frozen earth, the loud winds ran,

Or snows are sifted o'er the meadows bare.

One smile on the brown hills and naked trees,

And the dark rocks whose summer wreaths are cast,

And the blue Gentian flower, that, in the breeze,

Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last.

Yet a few sunny days, in which the bee

Shall murmur by the hedge that skim the way,

The cricket chirp upon the russet lea,

And man delight to linger in thy ray.

Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear

The piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air.

- William Cullen Bryant, poet, born on thus day, 1794, in MA


Well, you can tell that William Cullen Bryant did not, as we do, live on the CA Central Coast!! Piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air are definitely not a part of the Pacific coast, thank God! (Though, to be fair, it can be a teense frosty here in February, though not piercing by any means! And by noon it will probably be sunny and 60F.)

Yesterday it was All Souls Day. The bright red geraniums, the pink and red Old Roses were blooming in the front yard, the new hibiscus we planted are daily putting forth lovely red blooms, the lantana is hardy and bushing out, and even a few defiant California poppies are waving their jaunty heads. Lots of flowers. And the juniper bushes are seeding, bringing two lovely Townsend Warblers, in bright yellow and black array, to feed right outside the window. Ah, the California winter!

I understand the Eastern November as a metaphor. A somewhat “gentle” warning of the dark night of the soul, of which we all go through many on Life’s Journey. The Left Coast of CA is a softened version, and a metaphor of Hope. There will be dark and snows and bare meadows regularly in a human Life. But soft vapoury air and the blue Gentian flower remind us that this too shall pass. God has given us California (and maybe Key West and Tucson) just further to encourage us that we shall make it through those dark nights.

Oh you out there on the Right Coast, remember the Gentian flower. But if it gets too bad, hop a plane to sunny California for a little Heart’s Ease. But remember: California too is a metaphor - for Surrender to Grace and to the Healing Love at the heart of all Existence.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, October 31, 2008
Ancient Druid Feast of Samhain
All Hallows Eve


Nothing can beat the smell of dew and flowers and the odor
that comes out of the earth when the sun goes down.

- Ethel Waters, singer and actress, born on this day, 1896


Oh, I have known that smell! So different wherever I’ve been. In Montfort, the smell of evening grass and of gladiolas and toast on the wood stove. In Liberia, the smell of kerosene and of palm oil and of dark green plants. In Brasil, the smell of wood fires on the beach, and the smell of fish grilling, and the sea under a full moon. In Nicaragua, the smell of thatch, and of pineapple getting just to the edge of over-ripe, and of rotting logs. In Mississippi, the smell of charcoal and of beer. In Montreal, the smell of the river, and of Vietnamese cooking. In St. Croix, the smell of night, and flowers. So many other places!

When the sun goes down, the earth gives back the moisture it has absorbed and hoarded. And the coolness. I love it because, while being among it, I know how much I am a part of it. It makes me feel my connection with the ground, the darkness, the scents of nature. And with my own ground, my darkness, my odor of dust.

Richness is what I smell when the sun goes down. And, I smell nostalgia, and longing, and aloneness. It is like the absence of “God”, but like the waiting soil in which Life will sprout when kissed by Light and Warmth. Together, the time of waiting is redolent with urgent power, and the time of Sun-rising the time of flowering and beauty. Together, they are like Faith and Love, Soil and blossom.

We are such a Mystery. We are Sun Setting and Sun Rising - The Christ descending into our flesh, and the Divine bursting forth incarnate into each day.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, October 30, 2008


Discussing how old you are is the temple of boredom.

- Ruth Gordon, actress, born on this day, 1896


Absolutely can’t pass up Ruth Gordon! I just see her ripping down the freeway in her rag top, with that tree in the back! Remember Harold and Maude? Of course you do! I don’t care how many times you might have seen the film. Go rent it and see it again. Listen to Maude/Ruth Gordon. A wise lady. A wise human being. Colin Higgins, the screenplay writer, was a gem. The film was a box-office failure, and the critics were mixed. Reminds me of the Gospel - not too popular with the money-making crowd (except for Bible salesmen), but a cult favourite for the committed.

Ruth is right. It’s great if you reach a healthy, active old age. But too much talk about it is boring. The whole purpose of age, at whatever level, is to live it, not talk about it. By old age, we’ve learned (as Maude had) what is important and what isn’t. (Hopefully.) We can get up every day, take our meds, sort out our doctor appointments (unless we are among the near 50 million folk in rich and powerful America who have no health care), exercise some - and then get out there and befriend the Harolds of the World. Encourage, and support, and care about them.

Age is a blessing to be lived, not discussed. Age is to be honoured.

Elders of America, unite! Be a harbinger of sheer delight in this amazing - and struggling - World.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, October 29, 2008


Through faith (wo)man experiences the meaning of the world;
through action (s)he is to give to it a meaning.[brackets mine]

- Leo Baeck, "Essence of Judaism"


We probably all remember Luther saying that we are saved by Faith alone. This is true (I believe) – though I am not at all sure exactly what “saved” means. One of my favourite theologians says very strongly that Jesus did not come to “save us from our sins”, but rather essentially to usher us/invite us into the Kingdom of God. I agree with him. Anyway, if “saved” has anything to do with getting free to accept the invitation into the Kingdom of God, I agree that it is through Faith and not through works. Bottom line: Freedom and absolution from unlove only comes through Love – and Love is only Grace-based. There ain’t no earning Love.

We had an interesting discussion about an aspect of this at our weekly Vespers liturgy tonight. (4-7 of us gather to be quiet, pray, share thoughts on the reading (or whatever), and then we eat and talk together. Dennis and I are happy to drive 80 miles to be a part of it.) We wondered, What is the core of the Gospel teaching? St. Paul was saying that “we are, in Christ’s flesh, made one”. We were wondering what that meant. We were agreed that oneness, and reconciliation, were at the heart of the Gospel; but we are confronted with 2000 years of Christianity, in which there seems to be little oneness or reconciliation amongst people, all of whom are “God’s people”. So, we wondered, what are we doing wrong? What are we not getting?

Faith clearly has taught me one reality about what the core of the Gospel is: Love. I hear others say that too - and yet there is an enormous gap, an enormous gap, between how people manifest that faith through action. Some denounce killing of any sort; some can justify horrific murder and violence on the same basis. I am both amazed and deeply confused – and I confess that it makes me cynical about religious institutions.

However, Baeck is correct, I think. It is important to know clearly (with room for learning new things) what the meaning of the World is. Faith, at its best, can help us to know this, combined with human wisdom. If we come to the belief that it is Love, then we must Act in Love.

Fr. Huntington, OHC, said: Love must act, as Light must shine, and Fire must burn”. In love, Christ gave up His life to witness, by vulnerability, to God’s Love. If we have faith in Compassion and Grace and Oneness and Reconciliation and Human Dignity, I think it’s time we started “acting up” a lot more!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, October 28, 2008


It is a curious thing... that every creed promises a paradise
which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste.

- Evelyn Waugh, British author, [Vile Bodies, Brideshead Revisited],
born on this day, 1903 (died at my age, 62)


Harps? X number of virgins? Streets of Gold, with much casting about of golden crowns? Reunion with family and friends (whom we may have spent a good deal of time in the earthly life desperately avoiding)? Boredom? No sex? No hearty Burgundy, or dry vodka martinis?

No, forget it. Waugh is absolutely correct. Absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste. (And let’s just ignore for a moment snobbery, or any delusion that any of us can define civilized.

What’s paradise for you? And remember, it changes as you age. At least, that is my experience, and my wise “warning” to the younger among us. Gene Rodenberry (creator of Star Trek) understood this: he had alcohol that didn’t intoxicate, and food that didn’t fatten - but he also did away with religion and God among the human race in the 24th century!! I agree with him; good idea. I would choose A Star-Trek starship as my paradise – except for the fact that they didn’t outlaw violence and war. However, from my present perspective, religion and God (in the hands of human beings) creates often a place absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste.

Not to say that religion and God couldn’t provide a habitable place for anyone of civilized taste in this world. It’s just that we are leaving the determination of this to the experts, so-called. Like, the clergy. And a lot of the clergy have, shall we say, neuroses that disqualify them from being able to provide good guidance on this, mostly because they are minions of an institution rather than servants of the God/ess of Compassion.

So. Think today about what your Paradise would be like! If you like, send them to me (not too long please!). I will either rewrite the Book of Revelation, or I will use them in Reflections (with comment, of course), or write a book about people and their strange ideas about Paradise, or use them to inform my prayers to God for your rehabilitation!

But also: think about what Paradise really is for you. And use it to start a plan for How I Will Live Now.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Monday, October 27, 2008


You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to
tell people that life's about change.

- John Cleese, actor, born on this day, 1939


Have I said before that I change a lot??? I do. And I have, all my life. I tend to have – if you are talking to me – rather definite opinions about things and am willing to state them ….. but I also change my mind fairly easily if I hear or read something that tells me I need to change.

These days, I am changing my ideas quite a bit about church, about God, about ritual. (Politics I will leave out of this. Whew, you say!) And I have to say that I am finding it very stimulating, this rethinking things. This is “driven”, of course, by the fact that I have “retired” and have a fair amount of time to read a lot of things.

Either change or die. It’s about as stark as that. Jesus was a big instigator of change. As was the Buddha, and most other religious figures. The absolute key to transformation in the Christian path is change, otherwise known as Repentance. The word actually means “to turn around”. Divine Forgiveness and Liberation are automatic in the face of genuine Repentance. We “see” a wrong road, we change direction, we are ourselves changed, drawn deeper into the heart of Love.

Change will happen whether we cooperate or not. It will be change either for the “good” or not. One of the things that distinguishes us humans from other creatures is our consciousness. We can examine and we can make decisions about our direction. The bottom line is, we can change and live or we can reject change and die on every critical level of Life.

One of the reasons I am an Episcopalian, by choice, is because our approach is to honour and value the teachings of Jesus, and to take seriously that He will “be with us always”, and that the Holy Spirit will “guide us into all truth” as new situations and questions arise, for as long as Time exists. The Living Word is always among us. Life will change. We will be grounded in Compassion. No new reality will confuse us, for we will know what is just and loving and redemptive.

I love change. It is the only path to an authentic Life in one’s own time.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Sat/Sun, Oct 25,26, 2008


"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him,
"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a
second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

- From the Gospel of the community called Matthew (22: 36ff)
[reading for Oct 25, RCL, at the Christian Liturgy]


The Pharisees are portrayed as always trying to “trap” Jesus. Why, I can’t help but wonder? You would think that really “religious” and pious persons would want at least to listen to what a man of such wisdom and power would say! But no. At least as portrayed by the Christian Gospel writers - who were undoubtedly trying to aggrandize Jesus at the expense of the Pharisees - the Pharisees were just digging in their prejudiced heels for their own “side”, in order to retain their power at any cost. It seems to me pretty clear that the whole thing has been skewed by self-interest on the part of the Christians.

Jesus is undeterred. Love, He says. Love God. Love your neighbour. Love yourself in the same way, i.e., as God loves you, unconditionally, without reserve. This is the heart of it ALL! If you get it wrong at the start, it will all go haywire.

As it ever has been.

Nothing will change, and nothing will be accomplished by the Christian community for the bringing of the Kingdom of God to the World, until Christian persons, at every step of their life and witness, first asks the Question: How shall I authentically love God, and my neighbour as myself in every moment and at every encounter of the day?

Every hour of every day is an invitation from the God of Love and Justice and Mercy to Get It Right.

Two thousand years have gone by. The human community is in a sad and miserable mess of hate and unlove. The Christian community has failed in it’s vocation.

But. There is always the next moment to take up the call. To be faithful to the Baptismal vows we took, or were taken for us, or have renewed over and over again.

One act of love in the face of indifference.

We can start at any moment. Now is a very good time.

Brian+