Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, May 9, 2012

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere,

and many of us will have to pass through the

valley of the shadow of death again and again

before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

Nelson Mandela; after over two decades

in prison, he was on this date elected

President of South Africa, 1994

Nelson Mandela. An icon of our own souls.

How long we can struggle! How long we, as a person, can be imprisoned by our own issues and by the fears and the ignorance of others!  -  held back from the “mountaintop of our desires”.

Can someone not teach us how not to have to do this …. to have to “pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again”? Or, is this dying dying dying a human necessity?

Do we ever reach the “mountaintop of our desires” … especially that of being a fully human, evolved, actualized human being? Jesus seemed to say No … on the Mount of Transfiguration. “You can’t stay here”, he said to Peter, James, and John. “No booths are to be built. We must descend again to the plain.”

The Path seems to be one of constant ascent and descent … letting go, small bit by small bit, of what is false and training ourselves to recall the moments of “ascent” … what was for the disciples Jesus’ “raiment white and glistering”, for Moses his veiled shining face reflecting the blazing light of Yahweh.

Humanity has tackled dehumanizing issues … all the “isms” and phobias … but we haven’t “solved” them, any of them, by any means. North Carolina is but the latest example. I guess I’ve decided  -  seen?  -  that they will never get “solved” here on this Earth.

I guess we must be content with glimpses. And find ways to remember the Light. And not be discouraged.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, May 8, 2012

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree

There will be an answer, let it be

For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see

There will be an answer, let it be

And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me

Shine until tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

The Beatles. This album, “Let It Be”, was released

on this date, 1970, written by Paul McCartney

Imagine! Forty-two years ago! I was 24 years old … and it seems so vivid to me! I was a monk at the time, and was about to enter seminary, just 6 months after this song hit the charts. I loved the song then … and I still do. There was a brother who played the guitar and sang well, and he would sing this in a very moving way. Paul McCartney said that his mother had been the “inspiration” for the Mother Mary lyric. His mother died when Paul was 14. He had a dream about her, and late reported that she had said to him in the dream, “It will be all right; just let it be”.

Here is the song, sung by Beat Less: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoVc5zqwQNQ

So, Sir Paul’s mother visited him in a dream. To use a modern term, Paul’s mother was channeling. All mothers are icons … and there have been countless icons of “Mother Mary” throughout the ages. Here is a Hopi “Mother Mary” by John B Giuliani:

So. Who is Mother Mary?

Countless answers, of course. Here’s mine … at this moment and place:

She is God the Mother. She has been ruthlessly excluded from the Mystery of the Divine … especially by Judaism and by Christianity. But without The Mother, there would be no human race. Patriarchy has tried their best to eliminate The Mother, but they can’t. Not from the human race. And not from the Psyche. Not from the Universal Unconscious. Every single woman it an icon of Her. She will speak Her life-giving message of wisdom, of Life, no matter how furious the opposition. She speaks through every female. She speaks through the Feminine in every male. She speaks in the dream-world. She is always in front of us. She speaks in the Darkness. She speaks in the broken heart. She speaks in our parted-ness.

Men/males try to repress Her … especially in our World today. Popes, and Imams, and frightened men try to silence Her. But Mother Mary cannot be silenced. Even from behind the slit of the burka, She speaks.

Mother Mary gives Life. As Wisdom, She binds flesh and spirit. She gives birth to sisters and brothers of the eternal Word of God.

Hail Mother Mary! Hail all who have born Her image.

In our hour of darkness, come to us.

Brian+

Here is a gift for us today. Wise advice. And beautiful. You may not have time to watch it this morning if you're dashing to work, etc. But leave it on your email list, and relax and watch it when you get home.

Blessings!

Brian+

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ&vq=m

Brian’s Reflection: Sunday, May 6, 2012

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear;

for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears

has not reached perfection in love. We love because he

first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their

brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a

brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God

whom they have not seen.

I John 4 ~ epistle for the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide [Year B, RCL]

[ The full texts of the Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide can be found at: http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Easter/BEaster5_RCL.html ]

The central image of the Gospel this Sunday is of God as the “Vinedresser/Vine Planter”, Jesus as the Vine, and those who follow Jesus as the similar Branches. As always, the Gospel is about Life. God is Life; Jesus  -  called in the Collect [“gathering prayer”] the Way, Truth, and Life  -  is a powerful mythical reminder that “Divinity” and “Humanity” are a bonded unity … and please remember that so many of the great spiritual paths in human history have, in their own mythologies, expressed this insight. Jesus, in our Christian mythology, lived this Path … of Compassion, Respect, Kindness, of willingness to die to self in order to expand the one life of All … all aimed at calling every human being to become fully human by following the Path  -  Way, Truth, Life  -  that leads to Life.

I am grateful that the developers of the Lectionary choose I John for this Easter season. I John delves into the heart of Love … because Love lies at the heart of the Path … of Way, Truth, Life. Jesus says clearly that God is Love, and He encapsulates all of His teaching in the one “commandment”:  “Love one another as I have loved you”. As I have often said, this “commandment” of Jesus defines for us our Life’s journey, i.e., to explore the meaning of Love.

The “Vine” … represented by Jesus, grows in the soil of the hearts, minds, and spirits of every human being … tended lovingly by the Source of all Life, that great Mystery we call God. Indeed, the Vine cannot grow lest it be in the soil of our soul … and our “soul” is a unitive fusion of our mortal flesh and our eternal spirit. The “Soul” is tended, just like any plant of Mother Nature, for fruitfulness and sweetness and nourishment. Every human life is pruned by Life’s experience. “Pruning” is a description of the awakening of the Heart, of the cleansing of the heart, of the freeing of the heart to bloom and erupt in beauty.

When we can “love God” with abandon, then we have reached the stage of union with Life. The simple test of our stage on this Path is, Are we unafraid? Can we not hate our brothers and sisters? "

To love God and hate your neighbour is to hate your own very Self.

Then we can only desperately seek healing.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, May 4, 2012

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others;

for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness;

and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you

are never alone.

Audrey Hepburn, actress, artist;

she was born on this date, 1929

 Many people, especially poor children,  in many parts of the world saw in Ms. Hepburn’s beautiful eyes and kind loving words the truth of her wisdom. She worked for many years representing America to children and people in need throughout the world. She was a true hero in my eyes.

I’ll try to remember today to look for the good in others … a real challenge these days , and to speak only words of kindness. I’ll try to remember to be grateful for the reality I’ve come to understand about “never being alone”. I especially have my loving partner, and many wonderful long-time friends … and many many delightful characters I know! … to symbolize it  -  but I think I am most grateful to have come to sense and to know my connection to all Life.

I’ve gone through a process in recent years of letting go of a Small God, diminishing, diminishing, diminishing, determinedly eliminating the limitations imposed by my mind … until, like the Big Bang, the tiny dot that was left exploded to reveal an ever expanding vastness. Like the Universe (at least this one!) my concept of “God” will reach a vast darkness … and that will be the moment when the deep wisdom of the Psalmist becomes known: that the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to You are both alike.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, May 3, 2012

Life is an opportunity given

to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul.

Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan

Bowl of Saki

Just think about it. A mere “three score years and ten” to achieve the full possibilities of being human. To learn how to love. To discover how “transcending the Ego” is a giddy freedom that brings utter joy. To befriend. To see yourself in every other person. To discover the peace of Silence. To learn to appreciate Simplicity in all things … including the simplicity of the human “soul”, and the Universe … and what we call “God”. To trust. To have Compassion for all things. To die well and unafraid. To laugh. To be delighted.

And to think that we wonder what we should teach children!

And to think that … if we leave it till late, as most of us do in this crazy, frantic World … we worry what we’ll do when we’re older!

The Psalmist says, “My soul longeth, yea fainteth, for the courts of the Lord”. She and Kahn touch over the centuries.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, May 2, 2012

In our country today, very few children

are raised to believe that their principal destiny

is to serve their family, their country, or God.

Dr. Benjamin Spock, teacher on raising children;

he was born on this date, 1903

This is where the rubber hits the road when it comes to American culture and the Gospel. They are, in my estimation, in profound contradiction. “American culture”, as portrayed by the present political climate,  does not understand nor believe in “service”. Except in one thing:  service in the military. We even call it “being in the service” … as if there were no other form of service in which we would find heroes.

But this popular misconception of “service” simply points up the huge gulf between American culture and the Gospel. A great deal of America has appropriated the Gospel (and God) to mean that the Gospel and American “manifest destiny” are one. In my opinion, utter nonsense. The contradiction is vividly apparent every time someone says, “Our military fight to protect and preserve our Freedom”. Not in my view:  militarism exists primarily to perpetuate our enslavement … because it supports a way of life that imprisons us, a way of life that alienates us from the God of Compassion and from the Kingdom of Peace - and from most of our fellow human beings. This is especially true now that militarism has become one of the prime bases of a functioning economy.

Think what it would mean if our children were raised to believe that their “principle destiny” is to serve their family, their country, or God. “Family” has come to mean abandonment and hurt and abuse for so many children. “Country” has come to mean a mean-spirited place that does not care for its people:  the poor, the excluded, the children, the elderly, the sick. “God” has come to be a weapon wielded by the righteous “haves” against the “have nots” … and statistics prove that more and more Americans are rejecting such a “God” and the institutional religion that supports this God.

Sad. How can we change this?

Brian+