and reflect on the beauty of,
the holiest thoughts.
And, again, how easy it is
to forget them.
We must learn to realize the moment;
the gravity of a suggestion; the importance
of some seemingly random thought or word;
inspired by God and almost unsuspected.
You go a little deeper. There's just a cry, and a question. A reproach, and the call that keeps repeating; for silence. "My child, where have you been from yourself? Return, and hear news!" Gravity in your guts, like a fetus; impending responsibility; the weight of the newborn world; the soul, when you sanctify it, and you've got to follow thru. Where is attention? Wandering, exploring like a child, unaware that it is lost. By and by, remembering Christ, the center, and the magnificence of Being. And, with Christ, remembering the masses, in need of consolation; starving infants, and crowds too ignorant, frightened, paralyzed, preoccupied, amused, indoctrinated, to care.
Chissel and chip,
sand and polish, my heart, Lord;
and I will bear it in patience.
This world is not my home.
This self is not my Lord.
Oppose what is excessive,
and affirm what is deficient;
there are no higher absolutes;
every truth lives for a season.
If not for Christ, I might have been
a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh; but
my heart was stolen by the thorn-crowned
thief on the cross.
Christ is:
To love unreservedly; drunkenly;
sober to all things, save Love.
Christ is:
Love in action; vitalized;
made perfect, and made flesh.
Christ is: Salvation; The Creation, created; suffering, and surrendering in prayer; the eternal crucifiction unto life; joy in the accomplishment of immaculate intent; our solace, virtue.
Jesus, good genius, enlighten us! Devoted rebel, liberate us from the fallen world; -- not the natural world, but the world as governed by man; culture; tradition; heresay; speech.
Every individual inhabits a world of her own, with laws entirely unique to itself, only ostensibly resembling the laws of other worlds.
If you seek it, you have it.
If you are not open to receive the message,
the message is not for you.
Having embraced my brother,
I go to my God.
Charity is the highest sacrament,
and the only ritual worth keeping.
Your comfort? Or your Lord?
What is the essence of Paul's interpretation of the doctrine of Salvation By Faith according to The Law of Grace? It is this: Inwardly, I am allied to Christ in the purity of my ultimate intention, but outwardly, I obey the law of my fleshly members, against my higher will. Recognizing, by faith, this perfect "inward man", I am absolved of responsibility for my sins. Absolved of responsibility, I serve the Lord by choice, without obligation, and for the sake of the greater glory of God; not my own.
God is good! His righteousness upon us! All praises to the Lord God!, who heals the sick and lifts the sinner up from out the pit. He chaperones the upright, who are privy to His presence, and works wonders in the depths of earth and soul. Lord God, who is within us and without, hidden and revealed, present and, yet, still drawing near, be praised! Be honored according to Thy goodness, which is endless and eternal. Thou Love, be blessed.
We bless God, as God blesses us.
We bless God, and magnify His light.
If the world were not a masterpiece, the choice for God would have no meaning. Who would cling to a deplorable miscellany of superficial phenomena, when there is God? And, yet, however magnificent the world may be, it is as nothing before the Lord. What makes our choice for God momentus, is equally the wonders, or temptations, of the world, and our ignorance of the greater majesty of God, -- the awareness of which can only be received on faith and by grace; the latter meaning grace proper, which is the ascending impulse, and not the more general grace, which is the descending power, permission, or given Word, that animates the whole of Creation.
The error of atheism:
You cannot prove that something cannot be proven.
Shallow meditations on deep themes:
what generally passes for deep.
As actions may be a form of communication, so, words may also be a form of action; thus it is that the one whose actions do not confirm her words, or whose words do not confirm her actions, speaks from two sides of her mouth.
Only one of the disciples, when asked, "Who do you say I am?", replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God", and, yet, the other eleven were still counted disciples. Yes, even Judas. But, how can this be so? It is so, because the Lord is salvation, not for the few who know him by name and recognize His ascendancy, but, for all. As the sun shines on us all, and as gravity holds us all to the earth, just so, the Lord is Lord of us all. Only by love and self-renunciation, may we enter into communion with God.
The Lord made His will known for us in the person of Jesus Christ, and we crucified him! How, then, shall I say to my Lord, "Lord, make Thy will known to me,"; for, if He makes known His divine will, what shall I do? Follow Christ, and be crucified? Or crucify our Lord, consciously and deliberately, in full awareness of my transgression?
Lord, humble me; be my only strength!
Even the words of the saints
may distract you from the still voice
of your own inner truth.
Sing a new song. If God wanted you to say
only what has already been said, He would
have made everyone identical.
If we are not edified by the silence of God, we will not be edified by His Word, -- and if we are not edified by the Word of God, we will not be edified by His silence. In spite of this truth, the Incarnation of the Word has profound significance as a testament to the greater glory of God. As it is written, "John forbade him, saying, 'I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?' And Jesus answering said unto him, 'Suffer it to be so now: for it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.'" Without silence, the Word could not sound, and without the Word, silence would not be silence; for the Lord is neither silence nor sound, but both of these are equally expressions of His Will.
God the Father has driven all things together out of chaos; suns and worlds to encircle them, and saints to inhabit the worlds. The name of the Lord is Order, but chaos is of the devil. Everywhere, we see the tension of these opposites; how we are constantly tempted to abandon the straight and narrow path to God, the summit, and, instead, to wander by our own imperfect lights in wayward paths down below. So well-ordered are the lives of saints and monks, the devil can find no way in. The personal will has been drawn within the gates of the spiritual life, lain at the foot of God, and exchanged for holy obedience.
We desire nothing for ourselves, nor even for the sake of others, -- nor even that we may reflect the grace of Our Lord, if it be not according to His will.
The soul can cling to a pin, as easily as to a treasure; the rich man will cling to his castle, and the poor man to his pot. For this reason, the true saints have abandoned everything for the sake of God. True poverty, such as was practiced by the Desert Fathers and Mothers, is to abandon all things, even God, for the sake of God. It is the Lord's will, that we cling to nothing, not even to His Word, in order that we may partake of the true and perfect freedom which is His.
If someone slanders me,
I should call myself blessed;
and if I judge any person,
I should judge myself cursed.
Have I been free, even for a moment?
Or always the slave of some impulse,
appetite, energy, or irritation?
Lord, show me a free man!
Not the cross, but the flesh, is burdensome.
Truth is always and everywhere the same, but the paths by which men seek to justify the mitigating of truth are various, and unique to them. It is believed that the ideal, though irreproachable, is beyond approach, and that, in order for perfect truth to be brought down to earth, it must pass through successive stages of compromise on the way to manifestation. Limits must be imposed, for that is the nature of manifestation. With this last part I am in agreement. But the ideal is not the thing which must be subjected to limitations, so that we may give license to the flesh; rather, it is the flesh which must submit. The greatness of Jesus Christ abides in this: That he chose rather to submit his own will to limitations than the will of God. And to justify the Lord's command, -- that it is indeed workable and just, -- and not to seek arguments in support of the flesh.
Silence, and abstinence from evil, shall prepare the ground wherein the higher virtues may be cultivated. We must cease to do evil, in order that we may do good without ceasing. Not indulging in, and thereby accustoming ourselves to, dissipating luxuries. Not partaking of substances or activities whose twin purpose is to stupefy the conscience and muffle the symptoms of dis-ease. Not giving way to idleness, or to preoccupation with idle concerns. Not giving expression to anger, whose only true consolation lies in peace and freedom from discord. Not frequenting those places and people liable to tempt us beyond our strength. But, hearkening to those things whereby our souls may receive true healing and edification. Seeking our joy in those simple pleasures which readily present themselves; sunrises and sunsets, and not costly representations of these. Accustoming ourselves to the fruits of the earth; unadulterated, uncontaminated, and uncomplicated by the greed of corporate men. And to the clear words of wise teachers, undistorted by the justifications of the fallen. Keeping ourselves active, that we may establish and fortify habits of activity in the service of God and man. Speaking words of love, understanding, sympathy, encouragement, and reconciliation, whereby we and our brethren are edified and purged of sinful affections. Visiting holy places and holy people, whereby the loftiest and most charitable impulses within us may be awakened and roused to action. This is how goodness is achieved.
What we discover, as we progress in the spiritual life, is that certain sins, or unhealthy and unprofitable behaviors, are prohibited, not because they are inherently wrong (although this is surely the case), but, because when a person is fully committed in devotion to God and His Word, there is not time left for sin! Who, giving proper attention to the purification of her own soul, and surrendering her personal will to this end, has the time or liberty to judge the spiritual condition of another?
Spiritual truth is easy to grasp, but hard to hold. Not the intellect, but the will, is confounded by the precepts of the wise; for it is easy to apprehend the highest truths, but difficult to practice them.
How strange it is, to regard the gifts we have received by the grace of God, and not the cross to which we are called. "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Indeed, the man who is first shall be last, if he squanders the most precious gifts of the Lord; and the last shall be first, if he only makes good use of what little has been given him. Our gifts do not mark us out as spiritually progressed, so much as the use we make of them.
Responding at once and without delay to "the call of nature", as it has been delicately named, is just one way to train ourselves to respond to the promptings of the Word of God. We must be prepared to sacrifice our will, and to leave unfinished whatever work we have taken in hand, in order to take up the cross, and follow the Christ.
We punish ourselves for our lack of virtue because we expect ourselves to be virtuous without making any great effort to be so; we have not understood that great effort is necessary; also, time, patience, perseverance, and pain. Saints are not born saints.
Consider yourself a ghost, observing the activities of the living, without power to intercede or give censure. Imagine that the world and those who inhabit it have lost all relevance for you. Pass by without attachment.
Bear humbly the insults of others and regard this as their proper use; as the business of a wheel is to roll, or a chair is to be sat upon, so, the business of insults is to be endured.
Be angry with no one, but always reflect that sin is a sickness, and endeavor to feel compassion for all who suffer from it; the more offensive their sin, the more progressed their disease, and the more dire their condition.
The empty room is still, but the one who enters it then fills it with the agitation of a restless soul. Humble yourself to the stillness of the room before you enter therein.
Whosoever understands, has already forgiven,
but whosoever loves, has already understood;
love is the end and summary of all that is good.
We are forgiven when we confess,
not because we ever deserved to be judged,
but, because it is then that we affirm, or reaffirm,
our submission to the tutelage of God;
and the very first lesson He would have us learn,
is the lesson of forgiveness.
Mercy is God's justice;
for whosoever is unfit to receive
(and so reflect) God's love will,
secretly or openly, desire His judgement,
and weep to find himself forgiven.
Where God cannot lead you,
the devil can whip you.
Led by God, or forced by Satan,
we all make the same journey.
All strive.
But only those who strive
for what is holy, succeed.
Strive as to succeed.
Whatever is not a revelation of God's love,
is a distraction from it.
Peace is not the absence,
but the fruit, of struggle.
All year long we curse this tree,
only to bless it when the harvest comes.
As difficult as it is to be disciplined by another,
it is a thousand times harder to discipline oneself.
Who does not regret the lightest transgression,
cannot truly repent of even the heaviest sin.
We would never forget to put on our clothes, but somehow we forget to "put on" the armor of Christ, and we go into the world spiritually naked; subject to the chill of every temptation, and vulnerable to spiritual disease. We spend time every day trying to appear beautiful or handsome to others, but we don't prepare our souls to reflect the true comeliness of God. Who would deny that we are fallen?
Goodness is (also) a feeling.
"It is not I", said the saint,
"but only the company I've kept,
and the books I've read, which
have brought me any grace."
The zeal of the convert:
Only those who have been outside a nation,
may know what it is to enter into it;
only those who have been without a thing,
may make the decision to have it;
and only those who have not been told,
may learn, for themselves, to believe.
Humility is one with Grace. In humility, we move gently, deliberately, imposing ourselves as little as possible upon the sanctity of silence. In this way, our eyes are openned to the quiet meaningfulness of our surroundings. Every object, especially every religious object and every work of Nature, is imbued with a subtle, yet potent, spiritual force. Only in humbling ourselves, may we come to witness the exalted state of others, of Nature, and of God.
Free Will: In abandoning Christ, we also exile Him from our hearts, forcing Him to abandon us as we have abandoned Him. Like a simple reflection, the one coincides with the other to the degree that they are not really two, but one. As we embrace Christ, faithfully keeping His statutes, so do we let down our guard, allowing Christ to embrace us, as we have embraced Him. We are always loved by Christ, but it is only when we love that we may open to receive His love for us.
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