Betrayed and Scourged

"Accept whatever happens to you; in periods of humiliation be patient. For in fire gold is tested' --Sirach 2:4-5

While the modern solution to betrayal might be to get a dog, as some may conclude, in the Christian way one takes time to learn during this most important season of Lent, that by taking a period of 40 days to examine ourselves and to re-examine the Gospel story, the last days of the Christ and his passion is prime.
The Easter season which is the most important event on the Christian calendar is prime for several reasons, and is interestingly determined by the earth herself. Since ancient history astronomers have observed the moon to fix the date for the start of Lent and therefore the advent of Easter which recollects the dying and the rising of the Christ.
So Easter, like Passover is intrinsically tied to the earth and the seasons;  the date for both is fixed on an annual basis by the moon. What could be more organic than that? As the moon rises and falls, the seasons come and go, so too the Easter season. It is an unending story of fail and triumph, despite treachery, despite betrayal.

Easter addresses the metaphysical questions of life purpose, of renewal, of succeeding despite adversity and withering odds. Saint John 6:51 tells us that if we believe, we will have life everlasting;

the Christ commands that we give up our worldly cares to follow him. Saint Matthew 19:21-30 .

If we meet in the middle, will we trust, trust just enough…says the song lyrics, Sister Goldenhair, by America. 

With Christ what is there to fear?  Romans 8:31

Who are we as we follow along the path, living in the Spirit?
Lent provides the time to meditate and ponder these among other questions, to answer for our self what it means to be scourged, embarrassed and humiliated, and to rise above to meet the Christ with love and acceptance, the Easter way.

People Asking Why?

Why?

  by Seal

LISTEN HERE

Why, am I changing?

Why do people, get complacent with the things they're told?

World disasters they come and go.

I'd give anything just to be back home.

Cause there are people, asking why.

There are people, who believe in...

In life, gets confusing but I don't know why.

But I've made my plans already.

Had this trouble with it all my life.

Well world disasters, they come and go.

I'd give all my strength to be back home

Cause there are people, asking why

There are people asking...

How do I get to where I've come from, now?

How will I paint this garden I've destroyed, green?

Can I get back to where I've come from?

Cause there are people, who believe in life.

Well how do we get to where we come from?

Peace and love ain't enough these days.

Evolution says time is running out,

We've been here too long..."

Cause there are people, asking why

Ohh, there are people, asking...

How do I get to where I've come from, now?

How will I paint this garden I've destroyed, green?

Can I get back to where I come from?

Cause there are people, who believe it.

How do I get to where I've come from, now?

How do I paint this garden I've destroyed, green?

Can I get back to where I've come from?

additional lyrics.....

Over the years I've hear this song many times; sometimes it has inspired me to reflect on its themes. One is the proverbial 'why.' Another is about the world and the industrial-technological complexity in which we live; it spawns a great deal of waste. Far more 'carbon' than any of us could ever hope to produce individually. We all want our gadgets, things like cell phones, cars, TV, fridges and a nice cozy home to come to, be it cool in summer or warm in winter, and we do it en masse. All of us are guilty, even the finger pointer. They may be the most guilty as 'he who accuses, accuses himself first and most.'

Then there is the most intriguing message, to me at least. It is the question that asks, "How will I paint this garden I've destroyed green?" This question easily and potently is about a person and their personal life. We all make mistakes, we all have been known to blunder at times, even in anger to seek retribution. In the process we focus on the other guy; most often we fail to see that it isn't only his garden we destroy, but our own as well. Mud flies everywhere and everyone is dirtied by it. Now, how to make green again that I've destroyed?

The Times in Our Lives

The Prayer of Saint Francis

Lyrics by Sarah Mclachlan and 

various others, especially Saint Francis of Assisi 

 Lord make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

And where there is sadness, joy.

O divine master grant that I may

not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive-

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen

There are times in our lives when we realize that a 'one size fits all,' whether we are One or not, just isn't fitting. Ultimately, despite our human communities, each of us, created with a bit of the divine spark, also receives a bit like no other, and it is to this, as well as to the divine, we pay our respects. All creatures of the earth, great and small are given a life to live as is fitting to their species; yet man is given a mind unknown in any of the others. He thinks, posits, conceives, constructs and destructs, all within his own mind. We think first to ourselves before we do to any other.


In this world, all living under a great blue sky, swirling around us, are great movements, movements of mind if you will. Some of these movements have posited that man, in particular, is to lead a sort of 'zero sum life,' taking no more at his leaving than at his entrance to the world. Persons of this thinking suppose that it is the species, man, which wrecks or destroys for all other species, thus it behooves us to engage in this zero sum prospect, sometimes referred to in terms of "carbon footprints" or "green movements". They betray little confidence in the living, breathing, earth herself.

True we, as the creatures of earth and sky, mankind, is bound to observe the earth, its natural seasons and rhythms, to engage in stewardship, care-taking of all life. Earth is sustenance; it is the air we breath and the food we eat. Our entrance and exit are without any parallel timing. It all seems so random. Leave it then to men with intellect to devise a wholly rational systemology for what may truly be an irrational world. A number which follows no rules. And then to give it our names, our descriptions of what may not be describable. In the Dharmakaya, the great intelligence-mind of the world, we learn that mental forms and rationalizations, clinging to ideas, rather than accepting what we may not be able to make different or influence, leads to grief. Impermanence, we are taught, is the normal course of this world. Pray for impermanence.

In times of grief, of illness, of disaster, of adversity, we are challenged. Our tidy mental machinations may do us no good. As the Bible tells us, we know not the time, or the season that will be ours, when the Master will call. The Master calls for each of us truly to have and take as we need, and not as we want. The demonization of real, true, individual, human needs by the postulants of human carbon, waste and destruction, rob us of what we are given, one and all under the great blue sky.

It is then perhaps more important for each one to learn what those needs are and to serve them, rather than the wants of this world, the powerful of this world, the possessing. When this is done, each person may experience the beauty and blessing of a world, in which as one element in creation, there exists a symphony of the whole. Engage in acts which do no further harm. Tend to the earth as a child. Plant a tree; plant many trees, give way to causes which are filled with the Spirit of Love; eschew the mongers, the haters and those who plan for your doom. They may be, in truth, the evils of our world.