Brian’s Reflection: The Weekend, Sat, Oct 10, 2009

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing;
go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

- Jesus to the rich young man, Mark 10 [Proper 23B RCL]


It seems to me that the issue in this passage is the difference between, on the one hand, a “conventional” ethical, moral Life (which often is vapid) and, on the other hand, Transformation and the Freedom to transcend the limitations of our mortality.

Jesus is not concerned with the “things” themselves that the young man – who represents us – had. “Things” are morally neutral. Jesus is concerned with their power over us. At the top of the list of such “things of power” are Sin and Death. Being a follower of the Gospel of Jesus does not take away Sin and Death; they are part of human nature. Rather, the Gospel is a path of denying power to Sin and Death. The object is To Live Fully. We will sin (i.e., deny Love), but we can turn away (repent). We will “die to this mortal Life”, but Death is seen as a gate into deeper Life, and loses its power (fear) over us.

The “many possessions” that the young man had were a millstone around his neck. Jesus, loving him and seeing into his soul, knew this. As great teachers often do, Jesus went right to the heart of the problem. Perhaps the young man later gained power over his “things” and used them to enhance his own and others’ lives.

The question: What is keeping us from breaking free of what holds us back from Joy, from Delight, from Love? Can we deny it power?

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, October 9, 2009

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

- Napoleon Bonaparte, hapless ruler.


Whoa! Heavy! But I think that Napoleon is correct. I can see in my mind’s eye the contemptuous twist of the lip! Religion has most often been on the side of Power. Pope Pius XII, whose death date is today in 1958, supported hideous anti-Christian policies of Hitler; he is a good example of a religious leader (dubious designation!) who seems to have abandoned Christ for the institution of the Church – the “poor” (the powerless) for the “rich” (the powerful). I would love to see where Dante would have put Pius XII in the rings of Hell!

If we go by Jesus, Religion was meant to “side” with the poor, the oppressed, the deprived, on all levels. Perhaps “pure Christianity” does. But the Institution is so easily co-opted! There is a simple “local” example of this in my church. I have always believed that “God” was against War. War is not justifiable in any way by the Gospel message, and attempts to make War justifiable theologically are, to me, utter apostasy. And yet we constantly have people praying for our “soldiers” – often hideously described as “heroes” - and their protection, at the Prayers. This, from people, often Christian, who have chosen a military path. I certainly don’t want anyone to be killed. Yet seldom does anyone pray for the Peacemakers! No one prays for the conversion to Love for those who espouse War. No one prays for our “enemies” – a direct affront to Jesus’ direction.

For me, it is a corollary that any authentic Religion must champion the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the lied-about, and those who oppose War.

When “Religion” supports the “rich”, i.e., a metaphor for those who disregard those who are deprived of God’s blessings and even collude in or instigate it, then “religion” must be prepared to suffer the inevitable consequences. Like being relegated to Irrelevance.

Or maybe even “murder” – metaphorically, being dismissed as irrelevant or contemptuously hypocritical or undermining of the safety of our World.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, October 8, 2009

Of course God is endlessly multi-dimensional so every religion
that exists on earth represents some face, some side of God.

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. On this date, 1970, he was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Literature


Tuesday, at 7:30am, I was headed out on the airport bus from Grand Central in Manhattan to LaGuardia. As we emerged from the Midtown Tunnel, there was a huge billboard that said simply “2012”, and a website address. This 2012 thing – destruction or transformation – looks like it’s going to be a huge scam off of which some people will make lots of money off of the gullibility or the fears or the ignorance of people. Discouraging.

I’m not going to get caught up in 2012. Except that, as it raises its head, I am going to focus unwaveringly on the side of Transformation (as I think I said before).

To wit: Solzhenitsyn is, I believe, correct. “God” is the product of every culture or tribe that every thought up a “religion”. And of course they all bear the marks of that origin. There is no one religion that has “all the Truth” – though I am sorry to say that there are many intelligent persons I know who think this. Bottom line: we are all, we human beings, like moles burrowing around in the dark, looking for The Truth, for the Meaning of It All. Why it is that we think we want an exclusive claim on The Truth I don’t know. But I do know, at my age, that I now think this to be a dangerously immature position.

It would be much better, much better, if we humbly acknowledged the truth of Solzhenitsyn’s insight, and began to work with each other. We might even learn that it’s more pleasant for us all to tackle this Mystery together.

Think we can pull it together in just over three years?

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, October 7, 1946

I forgave the DAR many years ago. You
lose a lot of time hating people.

Prayer begins where human capacity ends.

- Marian Anderson. On this day, 1954, she
became the first African-American person
hired by the Metropolitan Opera


Oh how I wish that Marian Anderson could have been my “guardian angel”, whispering in my ear over the past four decades! I can’t say that I have spent the last four decades “hating” homophobic, ignorant people. But it comes close. And it has deeply affected my life. How people, institutions, churches, politicians, etc felt about Gayfolk has been the standard by which I have judged their value as persons. It has filled me with anger all these years. What is interesting, of course, is that despite my vocation as a Christian priest, I never “overcame” it. Not even yet. It has shaped my Life. And my view of Humanity. There have been positive and very negative dimensions to this. I have learned how prejudice and condemnation wither a person.

So: I guess I really have to get working on this, yes? It would be bad to die to this World in this condition!

As to Prayer. I disagree with Ms. Anderson. I do not believe in a “God” to whom we pray when our human capabilities and capacities end. That is magic, not prayer. “God” is not what intervenes with supernatural meddling to supercede human nature. At least that is what I think. Prayer is a relationship with the energy we intuit that will reveal to us the power of being Human and “guide” us in discerning the Path Ahead. So, we don’t start praying when we are at our “wits end”. Prayer is a life-long connection to the mysterious forces that aid us in living fully mature human lives. When we pray, we are not asking some Diety to “take over”. We are tapping into the unknown depths of our human capacities. We human beings are amazing!

Ms. Anderson encourages us to let go of hate or anything that impedes our functioning as the person we are. And to remember to “pray always”, as St. Paul said – stay in touch with the amazing resources we have to “take hold of Life” !!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to
look things in the face and know them for what they are.

- Marcus Aurelius


Easier said than done, of course. I wonder why it is that the best “advice” about Living – like the Golden Rule or this quote from M. Aurelius or Jesus [Love One Another] – are so “simple” and yet so frustratingly difficult to sustain? It must be some similar version of Murphy’s Law?

I don’t think it’s possible to “keep an untroubled spirit” in this World unless one accepts, at a deep level, essential lack of control, various dimensions of distress, mortality, connection to others and interdependence, mystery, and wonder. This is I think, paradoxically, more difficult for those who are “privileged” in this World than for those who aren’t. Privilege breeds high expectations which are often basically fantasy, all of which limit our freedom to respond to what Life brings. As an illustration, I just learned that I no longer have any health insurance [long story]. My spirit is relatively “untroubled” - I’ve accepted the fact that if anything serious happens in the next little while, I’ll be blissfully destitute!

As to looking “things in the face and know them for what they are”, Denial is built in to help us cope – but we often tend to refuse to move out of denial when we naturally should. “Truth” is a complex issue. Pontius Pilate’s [John 18:38] comment should always be humbly remembered! I think that human beings make their own Truth – of which faith, philosophy, etc are tools. I accept the “truth” that it is always best to “look things in the face and know them for what they are” on their own basis, not on our manipulation of them. At least this is the best place to start!

I wish you a day of Untroubled Spirit and Refreshing “Are-ness” !!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: The Weekend, Sat, October 3, 2009

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray,
and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of
your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving
us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits
and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

- The Collect for Sunday, October 4


What interests me is this: We human beings have had the sense to imagine a God who is helpful, supportive, generous, caring, just, compassionate, “always more ready to hear that we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve” (I’m a little prickly about that last part about “deserve”; I think we human beings “deserve” all we can get in order for our lives to blossom in the best possible way!) - and then we shoot ourselves in the foot by ignoring this God! Do we have some kind of self-hate complex, that we believe one thing and act contrary to it?

The point is: we know what we need! Basically, Unconditional Love. In Jesus, we have a Friend, who mirrors in human form the loveliness of this Unconditional Love we have imagined – but we then so easily begin to think that God is against us, that God is looking for opportunities to demean and diminish us. This is just silly. It is a projection of the deep sense of unworthiness that lurks in our “conscience”.

Hold fast to the original image of the God of Unconditional Love, and to the image of our humanity as deserving and beautiful and utterly capable of Goodness!

You will be content, and the World will slowly be reshaped and healed.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, October 1, 2009

I hate to see complacency prevail in our lives when
it's so directly contrary to the teaching of Christ.

- President Jimmy Carter, born on this date, 1924 [85 today!]


Well, I think that we can be complacent about certain things. Like “I have enough stuff and I don’t need anymore”. Unless we find that we think we are fine about “no more stuff” but actually we aren’t – like the last set of beautiful crystal wine glasses that Dennis and I hauled all the way from Wisconsin (it was really my fault) when we already have lovely wine glasses!)

So I guess Mr. Carter is right. Most things we can’t be complacent about. Control. Love. Justness. Kindness. Compassion. You know: stuff like that.

There we have it: a little concise prompt for the day!! Be Not Complacent!!

Brian+