A Love That Transforms

On Christmas we celebrate the birth of a baby that would grow up to be an extraordinary man. A man that would come to show us the ways of love and reconciliation. Through his life Jesus would reveal to us the transforming nature of Divine love. A love we can all experience and extend outwards to others-the very spark of God filtering its light in our darkened world allowing peace to blossom. A love that transforms.

Martin Luther King, Jr. in a Christmas message he preached at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1967 where he served as co-pastor put it this way. :

Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say that it is the love of God operating in the human heart. When you rise to love on this level, you love all men not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loves them. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "Love your enemies." And I'm happy that he didn't say, "Like your enemies," because there are some people that I find it pretty difficult to like. Liking is an affectionate emotion, and I can't like anybody who would bomb my home. I can't like anybody who would exploit me. I can't like anybody who would trample over me with injustices. I can't like them. I can't like anybody who threatens to kill me day in and day out. But Jesus reminds us that love is greater than liking. Love is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all men.

Despite the violence, suffering, injustices and cruelty in this world Jesus gave us the hope that love will always prevail. By digging deep through prayer and meditation we can discover that love buried within us, that "original goodness", as Eknath Easwaran  puts it, that is of God and has the power to bring peace to the moments in our lives.

I'd like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas! Below is a song from one of my favorite Christmas albums by the artist Jewel. It is a great reminder that no matter how seemingly small we feel in this world we can all have an impact towards making it a brighter place by being actively involved, as Jesus was, in spreading God's peace and love.

 "Hands"

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all OK
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear
My hands are small, I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after
We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing
My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
I am never broken
In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
We are never broken
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's mind
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's eyes
We are God's hands
We are God's hands

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Celtic Christianity: A Sacred Awareness

I'm reading a great book that a friend sent me recently. The title is The Eye of the Eagle. In this thought provoking and spiritually insightful book, author David Adams meditates and reflects on the verses of the Hymn "Be Thou My Vision". This ancient hymn was written in Ireland from anywhere between the eighth and tenth century and has been sung and meditated on for more than a thousand years. Adams writes about the deep spirituality that was central to the Christianity of ancient Ireland, which he refers to many times throughout the book as Celtic Christianity. I will probably write a couple of posts regarding this book, as I am still early on in it and it's already making me nod in agreement, stop and take notes and pause, to reflect and savor the truths it draws out.

I have written much on the concept of mindfulness and how it has really transformed my heart spiritually, drawing me deeper into the arms of God and opening my heart to the reality of greater dimensions of love as I experience more and more His infinite mercy, grace, love and compassion. What an awesome God we have! My experiences are not unique. Of course we are all unique individuals and hence experience things from slightly different angles, but when it comes to experiencing the Presence and love of God and the awareness of His eternal reality made manifest within and around us, anyone that opens their hearts in submission, leaving their egos at the door and reaching with thirsty hearts towards God, can experience such things. One just needs to stay centered in the moment, open and receptive to the reality and love God reveals. God welcomes seekers and is always at the door, ready for us to knock, and eager to open and welcome us Home.

Adams writes beautifully about awareness, which is a term I feel is synonymous to mindfulness. He writes about becoming aware of God's glory through Creation and using the five senses to draw deeper and deeper into this awareness. I'd like to share some brief excerpts and would love your thoughts on them :)

One of our greatest difficulties is that we are always wanting to take things apart, to analyse. To dissect living things is fatal! The Celtic Christians tended to seek to discover the underlying unity in things rather than their separation, to align things rather than to divide them. Instead of looking at secondary causes of secondary causes they were concerned with the Prime Mover who united all. There was a consciousness of the integral wholeness in nature, an almost tender awareness of the unseen strands that unite all things and that vibrate with the Presence....

There is something which the Celtic Church seemed to do a lot more easily than we do today- 'to see in the visible things those things which are invisible'. I do not believe that they saw God in all his glory any more than we do, but they certainly saw signs of His Presence. They were aware of creation pointing towards its Creator, and because creation has a Creator we are offered a relationship through it to Him. For them, creation was a way of communing with God. Created things spoke to them of the goodness and love of the Creator who was involved in and with His creation...Creation was the means of communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything spoke of a Presence, vibrated with His love. They saw a universe ablaze with His glory, suffused with  a Presence that calls, nods and beckons - a creation personally united with its Creator in every atom and fibre....

The Celt says we must take time to play the 'five-stringed harp', that is, use all our five senses. Each of our senses can learn to respond to a wider range, and the very center of our being to be allowed to vibrate to the call of Him who is....The road to the glory of God is through a reverence for and awareness of the glory that is all about us.    

Through our ordinary-God given-senses the Divine, the Holy Three, seeks out our heart and soul. If our senses are not aware of this they need re-training until we are aware that we are part of the mystery of Creation. For many this will be like a homecoming. We shall discover like the prodigal son we have been in a far country and living off poor fare- if not suffering from famine-when in our Father's house there are riches indeed.

~ David Adams, The Eye of An Eagle,p. 7-9

     I will conclude this post with my favorite version of "Be Thou My Vision", I hope you enjoy it! If you have a favorite version of this hymn, please leave the link in the comments section and/or with your thoughts on this post. Thank you!

                       

The Inward Journey

"The seeds of this sublime life are planted in every Christian soul at Baptism. But seeds must grow and develop before you reap the harvest. There are thousands of Christians walking about the face of the earth bearing in their bodies the infinite God of Whom they know practically nothing. They are themselves sons of God and are not aware of their identity...

The seeds of contemplation and sanctity, planted in those souls, merely lie dormant. They do not germinate. They do not grow. In other words, sanctifying grace occupies the substance of their souls, but never flows out to inflame and irrigate and take possession of their faculties, their intellect and will. The presence of God never becomes an intimate reality. God does not manifest Himself to these souls because they do not seek Him with any real desire...

They are men divided between God and the world. They are at home only in their exterior self. They never seek what is deeper within them. They allow God to maintain His rights over the substance of their souls, but their thoughts and desires do not belong to him. They belong to illusion, to passion, and to external things.

~ Thomas Merton, The Inner Experience, p. 48

Earlier this morning I read from the book of Matthew chapter 7 and when I read this passage from Merton, in his exceptional book, The Inner Experience, I was reminded of these verses:

Matthew 7:7-8

(7) Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be open.

I don't necessarily agree with all of Merton's theology in the above passage but I do agree with the fact that God dwells within us and so many of us live our lives missing out on the opportunity of experiencing the presence of God. I have to confess that I have lived the majority of my Christian life accepting God's truths yet failing to experience His actual presence within. I think that the contemplative experience is something that just isn't discussed much, at least in the Christian circles that I have found myself in. That's really unfortunate. To experience the presence of God  is to be transformed in His love.

We have a wonderful opportunity in this life to get to know the God that will always be with us, even when our physical bodies are no more. He is with us now...not as an abstract concept or as some far and distant God that resides in the heavens, but He, through the form of the Holy Spirit, resides within our soul's temples. Let's not be the kind of christians Merton describes above. Let's seek the divine light that is in each one of us. As the verses in Matthew reveal, God never turns down the seeker. He is there waiting to open the door, it is just up to us to knock. Let's take the transformative journey inwards and into the arms of God.

A book that has really helped me with my journey inwards is The Practice of the Presence of God  by Brother Lawrence. You can find some of my favorite quotes from the book here: http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/p/brother-lawrence-quotes.html  I hope you enjoy them!

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you for sending your only son down here to teach us how to love, how to give and ultimately to die for our sins. Forgive us our sins and the many times we fall short and help us to forgive others. Our hearts long to bring you glory. Help us open our hearts to your presence. We want to know you intimately and not just know of you. Guide us in our journey inwards and help transform our hearts as by your grace,  your light floods them with your love and peace.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

The Labyrinth: A Sacred Path to the Center

The labyrinth holds an ancient meaning as a prompt for prayer.
The winding path leads to the center; this serves as a mirror to reflect the movement of the Spirit in our lives.
It is a path of symbolism leading from earth to God.
There are no tricks, no dead ends. It is a walk with a heart and mind open to Christ, open to the spiritual journey of our lives.

Early Christian labyrinths date back to a basilica in Algeria during the 4th century. The most famous is the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth, France (1220 AD). They were used to symbolically represent the pilgrimage to the Holy Land during the Middle Ages. A more recent example can be found at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. 

The basic shape of the labyrinth is Cruciform. This significant Christian symbol of the cross is readily visible in the four arms of the design.

The four corners around the cross represent the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; as well as the four seasons and stages of the life.

To create eleven paths or circuits requires twelve circles for the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve disciples, serving as a reminder of our communal need to care for one another.

The labyrinth journey has three phases.

Purgation

Letting go – the path inward.

IlluminationClarity, insight, and openness to receive – the journey center.

UnionIntegration of what is learned from the prayer experience into action in the world – the path outward.

The labyrinth represents the path of grace of our sacred Christian journey. Historically it has been used as a pilgrimage for soul searching. Today, labyrinths are being used for meditation, reflection, problem solving, comfort and prayer.

People have different experiences walking the labyrinth. As with all practices of prayer or meditation, the experience will grow and deepen the more it is done.

                                                                    

                                                                               ~ http://www.sacredheartparish.com/labyrinth/

I have never walked a Labyrinth before but I have to say the notion intrigues me. I practice contemplative prayer and have experienced how entering into God's presence during the present moment can be amazingly transforming. I like the concept of labyrinths. Not only the symbolism and great care and thought in their construction, but the idea of opening my heart to God, each step being a prayer in motion, lifted up towards our Creator.

Something beautiful happens when we surrender our hearts and time to God. When we rid ourselves of our false egos and instead find our identity in Christ, having him seated on our heart's throne filling us with his love and compassion. With expectation I enter those times, knowing God delivers unto my soul beautiful moments gilded with grace where my heart, though often hard and callous opens up, is penetrated by His light and healing warmth and is flooded with insights, truths, peace and a sense of His mercy. It is then that I often sit still in wondrous awe of the glory of God. What an amazing God we have.

So...labyrinths intrigue me. I look forward to walking at some point. From all accounts they seem to be a profound experience for prayer as well as meditation.

So my question to you is: Have you ever walked a labyrinth? If you have please share your experience! If you haven't...would you consider walking one? Why or why not?

Love's Madness

The madness of love

is a blessed fate;

and if we understood this

we would seek no other:

it brings into unity

what was divided,

and this is the truth:

bitterness it makes sweet,

it makes the stranger a neighbor,

and what was lowly it raises on high.

   ~ Hadewijch of Antwerp, 13th century mystic and poet

Love is amazing and has a way of turning everything upside down at times. The weak become the strong, the broken become whole, courage is given to the meek  and boundaries shatter as love unites those who were once divided. Instead of seeing the worldly differences in others we start to recognize Christ in the eyes of strangers who are just brothers and sisters we have not formally met yet. When God's love permeates our souls, reaching to their furthest corners, stereotypes, bitterness and labels no longer have room in them and what is left is compassion and peace.

Our God's love is amazing!

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your infinite and pure love. For teaching our hearts compassion and empathy.  Help our illusions and attachments fade into obscurity as we no longer cling to them but focus exclusively on your love. Help us to spread love and light to those around us. Help us bring love and laughter, joy and truth into our homes, into our conversations with those who we meet, both old acquaintances and new. May we never cease to bring you glory. May we seek your Love above all others and may it transform us more and more into the likeness of Christ.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Amen.

Hearts Wide Open

" However late, then, it may seem, let us rouse ourselves from lethargy. That is what scripture urges on us when it says: the time has come for us to rouse ourselves from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that can change us into the likeness of God. Let our ears be alert to the stirring call of his voice crying to us every day: today, if you should hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

                           ~ Benedict of Nursia

I loved reading this passage from Benedict of Nursia because one could so easily turn his words expressing the need to awaken our spirit's to the light of God's, into a prayer.  At the end it made me just want to surrender everything to God with a heart wide open to Him. One attuned to His presence and the whisperings of His Spirit.

It is my hope that his words might encourage you as well :)

Heavenly Father,

Like a flower opening up to the dawn of a new day may our hearts open up to you. May your light reach the farthest corners of our souls, permeating them with your Love, renewing and healing them with your touch of mercy and grace. Awaken within us a desire  and an ability to be attuned the whispers of your Spirit and move our hearts and hands to obey the will you have for us. Help our hearts turn from ones of stone, hardened by the world,  into ones flesh that conform ever more and more into the likeness of your Son.

We thank you for your steadfast faithfulness. May our hearts open up to your light and reflect it outwards, towards those in our lives that need hope and compassion, that need to know your infinite love. May we never cease to bring you glory.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

 

A Love That's Better than Life

Psalm 63:1-8 (ESV)

¹O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
³Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you.
⁴So I will bless you as long as I live;
   in your name I will lift up my hands.

 ⁵My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
   and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
⁶when I remember you upon my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
⁸My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

I once felt troubled by the verses "your love is better than life". These verses are in a song that we sing at church too. Whenever I heard it, I couldn't help thinking, "What could be better than life?". I couldn't help but think that sometimes it seems like a lot of Christians focus more on the afterlife than life here on earth, and that's the filter I looked through when I heard these verses. That it was minimizing in some way the beauty and gift of our life here on earth.

I was going through a difficult time spiritually. Some of you might be able to sympathize or relate, or perhaps you are going through such a time right now. When questions about God, about the Bible, about one's faith, seem to infinitely outnumber any of the answers that we might have. When the coldness and darkness of the world and our personal experiences in it has penetrated our thoughts so much that arising within us easily is cynisism and doubt and pushed down, far beneath the layers of our souls, is the simple childlike trust and faith that God calls us to have.

It was only after I sought God, with all my strength and heart and received the outpouring of His Spirit, and felt the peace that only He can provide-the peace that surpasses all understanding, that I began to understand those verses. God's love is His reality and it is infinite. God is outside of time and His love will continue on forever. His love for us is deep and intimate, for He has the love for us that a father has for a child, yet it's deeper because he doesn't carry with Him the emotional baggage our earthly fathers do that inhibits their perspective, experience and expressions of love.

When one opens themselves up to God's love and feels it thaw the most distant and hidden corners of one's soul, bringing with it hope and joy and peace, than these verses come alive. When the power and glory of God manifests itself in one's life then one truly knows what it's like to have one's soul be "satisfied as with fat and rich food."

 God's love is transforming. And if one opens oneself up to the reality of God's love one can be continually transformed in the light and power of the Spirit. It enriches our lives and becomes our lives. God's love illuminates areas in our lives that need to be changed while giving us the strength to change them. God's love gives us the strength to face adversity and the endurance to pass through it unhindered. God's love gives us the courage to break the chains of the world that binds us to misery, grief and guilt. God's love is infinite and amazing...God's love is here with us during our earthly lives and with us forever throughout eternity. God's love is truly better than life!

No person could have convinced me of that truth. That was a matter I had to seek God on. I can't convince you of anything...but God can reveal this and many other truths to you if you've not yet experienced His peace and His love. Let's be seekers. Seekers of God's truth, of God's presence...let's ascend the hills to Mt. Zion, enter His holy sanctuary and lift up our hands and hearts in praise and bless His holy name. Let's bring glory to God!

Let's give thanks to God, during this special time of year of Advent, for the ultimate love He showed us-through giving this world His only son which they scorned and beat and ultimately hung on a cross. His only son, who became the means in which we could enter into God's love unhindered through the glorious grace of our Father.

~Many Blessings

Advent Quote of the Day: Dorothy Day

"Advent is a time of waiting, of expectation, of silence. Waiting for our Lord to be born. A pregnant woman is so happy, so content. She lives in such a garment of silence, and it is as though she were listening to hear the stir of life within her. One always hears that stirring compared to the rustling of a bird in the hand. But the intentness which which one awaits such stirring is like nothing so much as a blanket of silence."  ~ Dorothy Day

How are you preparing for the coming day, Christmas, in which we celebrate the birth of God's incarnate son? Sometimes it seems so hard to keep focused on the true meaning of this time of year amidst the distractions of consumerism and busy schedules packed with family get togethers and activities.  All kinds of things during this season compete for our attention.

I suppose I should confess something. Up until this year, even though I've been a Christian for over a decade, I kind of let Advent pass by unnoticed. I, of course, celebrated Christmas, and recognized the miracle it aknowledges, but I didn't pay much attention to the days before. I always felt like Christmas came too quickly and that when it was upon me, it was nearly over already, and the true meaning almost lost among the hectic nature of the day. I always read the passages in the New Testament on Christmas eve talking about Christ's birth-that has especially been a custom since my daughter was born. But the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve really had no spiritual depth or meaning. This past year I've experienced a lot of spiritual changes and growth and have changed my perspective towards observing Advent, fully embracing the concept of preparing my heart for Christmas. If any reading this have gone about the Christmas season like I have, I'd urge you to reconsider. I feel this time of year can be a time of great growth spiritually and one can experience a deep connection with God during this time if one opens oneself up to such an experience.

Let's try to find moments each day to quiet our souls and let the truth and wonder of the miracle God provided for us, the miracle and gift of redemption by means of His son, to penetrate the deep places within. Let's open ourselves to the light, the truth, the saving Grace of God and find ourselves transformed and renewed during this time. With this renewel God will undoubtedly bless us with refreshed souls, filling us with a peace surpassing all understanding and providing us with a new sense of direction in which we can serve Him, bringing Him much glory, honor and praise.

Let's not fall prey to all the things that would distract us and take our eyes off our Savior. I know that's easier said than done sometimes. Especially for us parents that have to deal with the "santa" thing. But through prayer God can help redirect our heart's priorities and help guide us.  Let's keep focused on Jesus this season!

Do you have a way that you have found prepares your heart for Christmas? That melts away the distractions and opens your heart up to Christ, to His presence, and to the real meaning of the season?...Please share if you do! :)  


~many blessings.