Do You Hate Me?

"I'm with you until the end of time."  Matthew 28:20

     
The Flame

by Cheap Trick
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Sometimes the things we mean to communicate and what we actually do are not the same. Our interactions with others may be muddied by our own personal feelings and by prior experiences with any given individual. Then there is the issue of relational 'history,' or the old habits making changes or deviations seem difficult if not impossible. So when we talk to our friends and loved ones, misunderstandings and disappointments are inevitable. Resentments may boil and we often feel sudden flashes of
intense emotion, hatred even.

A good hypothesis here may be that the one feeling the hatred towards another is  projecting his or her feelings or attributes onto that other person, maybe some guilt or over- aggressiveness; however the deepest truth here may be that the hurt and twisted   angry feelings are small when viewed from the lens of self hatred now being projected onto our partners, loved one or friend.

Our impulse, like that of a child who has just been criticized about a small misdeed by a parent, is to become emotional, upset, angry, to take the superior position. So then we don't have to feel the regard of another, to 'protect' ourselves from feeling anything at all.

 The truth is, you may not be as horrid as you think; maybe someone did do something upsetting--do you now hate me? I already feel awful disappointing you; rather than getting mad and criticizing me, can you tell me in a more positive way?

Matthew 28:20

Timeliness

For the most part we are, in this western world, well practiced at the art of "telling time." We observe time on a clock, days on a calendar; we make appointments with others and we expect others to respect our "time."
It seems we are a culture who prefers the completed to the process of completion, control over products not the process, and that affects each of us in various ways. We make to-do lists; we say our day was "productive". While there are those writers, poets and artists who come along to remind us about the timelessness of the world, they are the minority.

We buy gadgets to "save" time and electronic devices to communicate "better or faster." Ironically today, more and more, those very same gadgets for some people do indeed speed their time along. They are now responsible for the deaths of more and more persons. What time did we think we were to "save"? How sophisticated is that-- death by texting? Heart attacks, panic attacks from stress?

In contrast our ancient wisdom is not clock driven at all. The author(s) of the book of Ecclesiastes tells us that "God has placed timelessness in our hearts."  There is time for planting, for reaping; time for joy, for mourning; time for laughter and for weeping, the author reminds us. Interestingly, the pairs of experiences given are lists not easily "scheduled" or controlled; their duration may be unknown.
For how long do we love or mourn? When is our joy and laughter to stop? By experience we learn that these things have their own process, their own time.
There is no appointment calendar to contain such experiences. And yet these are the very things that bind us together as a human family. They are immediately recognizable the world over. Living them teaches us compassion, what it is to be human. From birth to death we learn what is most precious to us; in silence, we learn to listen.
Let us now attend to the timelessness of our hearts.

What Tomorrow Brings

You're No Good

performed by Linda Ronstadt

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It's been nearly a year since the Grammy award winner American singer, Linda Ronstadt let it be known that she can no longer sing, due to illness. Such a vital and enthusiastic voice from a woman who struggled in her early years and achieved fame for her God-given gift of a powerful and beautiful voice. Nowadays she accepts, as she must, her change in circumstances.

Each of us, at times in our lives, experience change; some as dramatic as Ms. Ronstadt. For some it is normal aging, for others it is illness or financial reverses. Sometimes we are in spiritual quandries; our love runs dry, we are alone, we may have even feel the loss of our rudder. For others it's depression or other losses. Every type of situation that we may face presents to us a challenge, to either move forward or to simply wither, fruits left to dry on the vine.

Either we make something of our challenges or they may come to make us. With a prayer of hope each one of us may find the courage to face our selves, and our lives in just this moment and reckon with the consequences. It's truly the journey and not the journeys' end that makes meaning in our life.

Radical Grace

Radical Grace

Bent, banged, broken

radical grace

entered upon me in my darkness

my violent grief

A stone too large 

to carry

rocky beginning

stony ends

radical grace 

entered upon me in my confusion

Wretched, cold, wicked
a race to the lowest
heavy, despair
radical grace 

entered upon me my fears released

Divine

All rights reserved 2011 

Forgiveness and grace go hand in hand, it seems. When at first we understand that grace, while possibly as mysterious as love, is a free gift given, and also a gift received. And when we are keenly aware of our failing, our meanness and infliction of vile upon others and think that no one will forgive us this time, a light enters. It fills our heart with the pure, clean vision of a love that clears the way forward, and a hope fills the air. No, not this time.
How many times must we forgive? "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22
In her recording, Come to My Window, singer Melissa Etheridge touches upon this. She sings perhaps intuitively, "I stand inside my hell, hold the hand of death, what do they know about this love, anyway... Come into my window, come by the light of the moon; I'll be coming home."

Wishing For What Is True

The Policy of Truth

By Depeche Mode

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You had something to hide
Should have hidden it, shouldn't you?
Now you're not satisfied
With what you're being put through

It's just time to pay the price
For not listening to advice
And deciding in your youth
On the policy of truth

Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you'd only lied

It's too late to change events
It's time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth

Never again
Is what you swore
The time before...

Now you're standing there tongue tied
You better learn your lesson well
Hide what you have to hide
And tell what you have to tell

You'll see your problems multiplied
If you continually decide
To faithfully pursue
The policy of truth

Never again
Is what you swore
The time before...

In today's world many are jaded; so it seems that even in the face of a measure of truth, some still resist. Are they listening or thinking? Why resist what must be? A thing in itself is still itself as the philosophers say. Should we 'have hidden it?'
Should the policy of truth be the guide to human relationships? Hide what you have to hide/tell what you have to tell... sounds somewhat prudent, even wise. But then the fall comes. And the truth is critical to it all. In every life there are unintended consequences to our behaviors and actions. We simply do not control any of the other actors in life and that's annoying, to say the least.

Events take place that we could not possibly have anticipated, or even imagined, so far from our normal understanding they are. So what then? It seems that finally, we just have to deal, as the expression goes.
 Deal with what comes from others, deal with our consequences, even if what we contributed bore unintended and negative results. Just deal with it. The Bible has many things to say about the truth of anything, a truth which admits to change:

They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the
way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are
not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status.

 Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the
    census tax to Caesar or not?"
    Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you
    hypocrites?
      Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him
    the Roman coin.
    He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
    They replied, "Caesar's."  At that he said to them, "Then repay to
    Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
    "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
    He said to him,  "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your
    heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
    This is the greatest and the first commandment.
    The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Bible Matthew 23:16-21; 36-39

Truth telling after reading the Christian disciple Matthew, and carefully considering the meaning takes on another dimension. Here it 's not the childish "I cannot tell a lie," but the skillfulness of discernment. One can and must know what is true, or not hang his hat there.
Even if one did not like the Emperor Caesar, one was still obliged to pay him homage; if one did not agree with the Roman policies, one still was obliged to pay heed to them, and if one was to love his neighbor as himself, then one is to tell truth as needs to be told to enact the love of self and neighbor. To do otherwise, in the Christian view, is to delude the self with deceits that one then deals others.

The Chicken and the Pig

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,take up his cross, and follow me...What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?"

I Can Fly

by R. Kelly

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I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meaning of true love
I'm leaning on the everlasting arms

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day

Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breaking down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me, oh

If I can see it, then I can be it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it...

The chicken and the pig may be a way to illustrate this teaching, a paradox like so many of the Christ's teachings. This little saying of the chicken and the pig goes like this: In the course of preparing a typical bacon, egg and toast breakfast there is some distinction to be made. For while the chicken gives an egg to the breakfast, the pig makes the total sacrifice. And the Christ challenges us likewise with his passion and death on the Cross. He exhorts one to make a commitment, to pick up ones' cross and follow as disciples.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.  Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”   St. Matthew 24-28
This is the prime condition of a disciple. And a chief mystery of faith is that we may first believe and then see. Belief has not a lot to do with facts or intellect. It is the gift of simple knowing. One just knows or senses deeply within the rightness of a feeling, a person or a relationship with others.

Social Work in the Absence of Faith

"the value of observation over judgment was lost upon her, lost as she thought that her life was really somewhere else, somewhere not in this and every moment."

 Discerning rather than judging is hard; often it's really hard. We are reminded in most all the spiritual traditions east or west, about the practice of openness, of emptiness and the great gifts it brings when we are empty to receive in the here and now. Our life is filled moment to moment with the world and ourselves, filled to the top.
The militancy of  persons engaged in 'social initiatives,' 'community action' or the like is unnecessary in Jesus' world. Often it arises in moments of fearfulness, places where 'voids in faith' prosper.
The Christ's strength came from within himself to be shared with all he came into contact with. His peace became their peace, and his love their own.

Jesus, the Christ, reminds us of this when we read the gospels which tell of his decided indifference to the character and style of an individual life. Tax collectors, despots, harlots and others, he was willing to treat them, to attend to the great commandment of love for one's neighbor.

Who is your neighbor? The gospel of Luke 10:30-37 gives some clues:
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers, who also stripped him and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead.  And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by.  
But a certain Samaritan, being on his journey, came near him: and seeing him, was moved with compassion: And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine over his wounds, and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  
And the next day he took out two pence and gave to the host and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever you shall spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay you.  Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?  He said: He that showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do in like manner.

 It is not necessary to go far to meet one which you and your gifts may help. Neighbors are everywhere. If we are living in the "now moment," the present moment with its most pressing meaning, before long, we will come to understand our self first and our neighbor more clearly who is very human, like our self.
 It becomes clear that a thinking mind may observe and notice without casting stones or passing judgements. 

Questions, after all, are about listening. And they start conversations that may close gaps, increase confidence and strengthen community. Discernment and compassion in place of quick judgement is a valuable way to understand, and to love.

"If only we could be white as snow." 
-- sung by U2

How to Grow Vegetables

"Honor the face of the old man; stand up in respect for the old..." Leviticus 19:32

We are well into the spring time here in the northern hemisphere. With the possiblity of a mild end to winter, many thoughts turn to the growing of things. It may be the green spaces alive in your town square, it may be the return of the farmer's market and the lovely spring abundance it brings for you and your table.

For most all of us in terms food, our choices are actually limited: we must buy food from one source or another. We are indeed absolutely dependent upon those sources for our very lives. Who grows our foodstuffs? Why not us? Why do we think it fine to pay others to do the manual labor of bringing fresh, healthy food to us for the table? Have we really ever thought about it at all, thought about the lifestyle that necessarily results from tolerating, accepting, even encouraging this practice of others raising our food? One thing leads to another, like a slippery slope.

In these days of rising concern of stewardship for the air, the land and the water, do we suppose that we have relinquished all that to the approximately two percent of the population who (feeding more than 98 percent of Americans and a vast percentage world-wide) are indeed the oligarchs? Are we okay with that, or should we react? How we react depends a lot on us, and our current lifestyle.

Some while never thinking about it, work like vassals to a "state of consumption" in which they participate. Yes, we are called consumers, but aren't we more than that? And what if the farmers rebelled, went on strike and demanded their homage? To a serious threat like that, then what are we? While in a civil society something in just that form may not occur, many other potentially damaging disruptions may well be affecting our daily lives in myriad, subtle ways.

Take for example, the price of sugar, oil, wheat and corn. These commodities have been greatly on the rise the past few years. Why? Agricultural economists explain it in several ways: weather, market "forces," export demands, domestic consumption and yes, things like ethanol driving up prices. Farmers as a group are notorious for growing crops which bring the highest return. Who can blame them?
And when they all do, an overabundance may result, actually depressing prices. Then producers are on to the next "big thing," and lately that has been corn. Remember there is only so much land for all crops produced. A balance of supply and need produces price stability; overproduction in one crop results in shortages in others. You pay the difference.

Corn may be used to produce many, many foodstuffs and meats. Most recently it is used to produce not just grain alcohols such as whiskey but also a product they call "ethanol," a less efficient, grain alcohol used to fuel gasoline powered engines. The result is that millions more acres are now being taken to produce this product and not grain to feed you or produce meats or oils for your table. Did you ask for that? Did you clearly know that certain demands for a better environment would be answered by big business in this way? Did they ask any of us? Well, yes and no. Regardless, we all now pay ever increasing prices to those who grow for us. This topic is ongoing. It's another chapter in the politics of food.

So back to you and me and the springtime garden. Yes, we can grow some, or most of our own food! It's not hard, doesn't require a lot of money or equipment and just may be the best tomato, potato or peach we've even eaten! There is a time investment however; also a time and fuel savings too. It takes time to garden, but the time you'll spend at the store shopping, driving or commuting to places where you obtain food can be used in your own garden. If you have land, own a house, you have space and can garden. Others may take advantage of community garden space, or start a community garden in their neighborhood. Grow some tomatoes, herbs or miniature fruit trees on your apartment balcony or grounds.

Nature has a lot invested in the success of your garden. For example, seeds are adapted to your environment. Choose the ones for your area. Plant them according to the package directions, water and they will grow! Weed your garden and provide nutrients. Grass clippings, compost made with the waste produced in your kitchen, leaves chopped or composted in the fall will all provide food for your plants and mulch to conserve water as well.

Choose vegetables you like, those that are your favorites will be best. You will not be pleased with an abundance of vegetables you prefer on occasion. Plan your garden space accordingly. It is not necessary to have a large garden. For many families a space of eight feet by ten feet will be sufficient. Many vegetables may be grown both spring and again in fall, leaving the hotter summer open for others like tomatoes, melons and eggplant.
Don't forget fruit trees.They are pretty with flowers in the spring and luscious with fruit afterward. They also produce at different times. For example, cherries in May and June, apples as early as late July, peaches and pears in August and September. From them you will have fresh fruit, pies, jams, or anything your appetite inspires.
For a family of four, two "dwarf" to medium sized trees each of any type of fruit is plenty, and may be too much some years. Don't forget small fruits like strawberry, raspberries or grapes!

Many locales now permit small numbers of chickens, ducks or rabbits; some allow goats; if yours does, you may be able to almost entirely feed your household like many of our great grandparents did. Enjoy the satisfaction of your own home grown table. Enjoy the calm of the garden, the reduction of time spent as a consumer shopping, driving, and always be confident about your food. After all, you grew it and you know how! Goodness is in the garden.

Ways of Sincerity, More Than One

   UPSTREAM COLOR --2013

Author and theologian Thomas Merton wrote about a facet of human nature which he calls fears of the truth. And there are several. In particular, he addresses the meaning of sincerity in every day life.
While much in our lives is motivated by our fears, Merton notes that "sincerity is a simplicity of spirit which is preserved by the will to be true. It implies an obligation to manifest the truth and to defend it... Sincerity in the fullest sense is a divine gift."
He notes that it takes more "courage than we imagine to be perfectly simple with other men... False sincerity has much to say because it is afraid. Yet true candor cannot be silent. It does not need to face an impending attack. Anything... may be defended with perfect simplicity."

In the end, by Merton's reckoning, sincerity is really an issue of love. The sincere one is one who seeks the truth and embodies it. Truth then is not just an abstraction. It is real, living flesh, like yours and mine.
Many in today's world fear that they are not really lovable, not lovable to the extent they think they deserve. And others fear that a lack of real, meaningful love in our lives indicates that "since we are not lovable as we are, we must be lovable under false pretenses, making ourself appear to be different that we are."

In the conclusion to his essay, No Man Is An Island, Merton writes that so few believe in God because they do not believe that even a god can love them. The man who will admit that what he sees may be wrong with him, and recognizes that he may be, still, the object of God's love precisely because of his shortcomings can make a start to become sincere. His love is based then upon confidence rather than the falseness of illusion.

The film Upstream Color examines the lives of two deeply imperfect, and in some ways, flawed individuals. While much is remarked upon the film's abstraction, the central characters meet, develop and share an intense love for one another that becomes based in sincerity.
She suffers from a serious mental illness and he, from a professional shortcoming that results in the loss of the licensing required to carry out his profession. Initially she offers up certain details of her illness, while he initially withholds facts about his own situation.

The resulting social stigma he bears from past indiscretions and the stigma of her illness, combine to create a powerful portrait of two people picking their way through the world, salvaging and in a measure, redeeming themselves, and each other through sincere love.
The simplicity of the film is provided by the many scenes of nature and the interactions with that nature. The film maker leaves us with a certain ambiguity in those scenes, to believe or not. The effect is both spiritually powerful and insightful.

Praying the 'Our Father'

There are times in a life when we feel our problems and pressures take over our days at the expense of our hopes and our faith; sometimes we feel that the issues we face are unique, that we must face them now alone. It is frightening to feel out on a limb, alone without the support of the community. Yet for many, their day to day existence is just that.
Author, theologian and Priest Alfred McBride O,Praem., writes a fine story that many will find useful as a springboard for their spiritual growth. His topic: the ever present prayer. He includes in his book, the Our Father (Pater Nostre). Prayed by millions for centuries the prayer is both simple for a child to recite and an adult to ponder. He calls his book, How to Pray Like Jesus and the Saints.

His book is composed of 10 chapters; each explores the spirituality of mystics, poets and Doctors of the Church, those from whom she has derived much wisdom over the centuries. The 'Our Father' prayer he writes, is "crisp and short." Each of its seven parts invites interpretation and consideration. The antiquity of this prayer, has invited many commentaries, some as ancient as those of Saint Cyprian of Carthage.
It is written in the plural, so that when one prays it, he or she prays not for them self alone but in the plural, we/our. It directs one to think of 'Our Father' rather than simply 'my father.'

This sets the universal tone which follows through the other six verses. It distinguishes God the Father, God the Creator, from the unique, personal father, our earthly father which each one of us may know. It encourages that we identify with this One, universal Father, that we may be community for one another, the Body of the Christ.

'Hallowed be thy Name' the next verse reflects the holy, divine nature of the Creator. The one who prays, prays for the gift of holiness of the Creator personally for all mankind.
'Thy Kingdom Come,' the third verse of the prayer asks that we accept God's will. It acknowledges that the kingdom has already arrived, that mankind might cooperate with the agency of Creation, so as to know their own spark of divinity. This unceasing prayer is for a "kingdom of love, justice, holiness, salvation [from evil]… and the grace of divine life." It lends its sanctity to the whole of human activity within every heart.
'Thy Will Be Done' is perhaps the most spiritually challenging directive of the seven verses. It seeks more than acceptance of the Kingdom, the created world that all can see and touch, but more abstractly, the will of the Creator itself a thing which cannot be easily perceived with the eyes; rather it is more of the heart.
'Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread' which in one sense is the literal daily food we eat to survive, but also it's about the spiritual side of our lives, that which sustains and enlivens us and our faith.
'Forgive Us Our Trespasses as We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us,' the spiritual and emotional pains of daily life are nearly unavoidable.
Spiritually everyone who suffers at times needs to be able to release their pains to return to the spiritual state of the child who is loving, without resentment and the essence of forgiveness, hopeful and forward looking.
'Lead Us Not Into Temptation' the Creator makes his creations free, without hold; this is his loving desire that is imparted upon all. While the freedom to choose to love is the ultimate spiritual desire, God recognizes that humanity may be tempted and drawn away from the common good; how many times we are tempted to choose what is our detriment! This verse strengthens our resolve to turn from evil, to walk in the light.
And finally, the seventh verse directly prays that we may be 'But Deliver(ed) Us From Evil.' author McBride recalls C.S. Lewis' book, The Screwtape Letters, a satire in which there is much tempting of mankind by a devil called, Screwtape who lures people to tolerate and perpetuate wrong doing.

In participating in acts of evil, ones' conscience is dampened over time; the harm which may result becomes more obscure to the perpetrator and establishes a new norm-- that they them self are at the center of their own universe. Sadly it more often leads to a slavery of the spiritual self, an attraction of evil for evil, deceit for deceit and a coldness of heart. Screwtape, we learn, is foiled by an encounter with love and the mercy of the Christ which brings Creation back into the community of the Creator.
Pray this prayer often; let it touch you deeply.

Two Rivers, the Mystic Union

"There are two rivers that encircle the whole of life; the two touch and renew each other, without ever co-mingling or confusing..." D.H. Lawrence, A Propos of Lady Chatterley's Lover

When Will I See You Again

by Babyface

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When can my heart beat again

When does the pain ever end

When do the tears stop from running over

When does you'll get over it begin

I hear what you're saying

But I swear that it's not making sense

So when can I see you

When can I see you again

When can my heart beat again

When can I see you again

When can I breathe once again

The great 20th century English wordsmith and thinker,   
D.H. Lawrence, had many things to bring forth to his readers. Some conveniently have reduced him to the word, sex. However the writer, in his own words, shows that he is more thoughtful and more searching than any facile pre-determination borne by others.

In his little book, an essay of 63 pages, Lawrence writes in 1931, two years after his Lady Chatterley's Lover was published in Europe, at a time when bootleg copies began to appear elsewhere, that he was aware there was a storm prompted by its appearance; many places banned the story as obscene.
Here the Author, Lawrence checks in:
"As David was mad for Bathsheba [in the Bible]... But when a woman's sex has lost its dynamic call, and in a sense is dead or static, then the woman wants to attract men... she exposes her flesh more and more... men are repelled by her, but socially thrilled... a chic declaration of independence, it is modern, free, popular because it is strictly a-sexual or anti-sexual... They want the counterfeit, mental substitution... The very men who encourage women to be the most daring, complain most bitterly of the sexlessness of women... Man is often willing to be deceived-- for a time-- even by nothingness...
The point is when women are alive, quivering, helplessly attractive, they will cover themselves, drape themselves with clothes gracefully... While sex is a power in itself, women try all disguises and men flaunt... 
The Catholic Church, especially in the south [southern Europe], is neither anti-sexual, like the northern churches, nor a-sexual like Mr. Bernard Shaw and such social thinkers. The Catholic Church recognizes sex, and makes it marriage, a sacrament based on the sexual communion... The man is a potential creator, law-giver, father and husband... lives full and satisfied...
The Catholic Church does not spend its time reminding people that there is no marrying nor giving in heaven. So that sexual lure is not deadly to the Church. Much more deadly is the flippancy, "freedom," cynicism, irreverence... in the dangerous, vulgar form of atheism. Naturally the Church is against it. The Chief Priest of Europe knows more about sex... because he knows more about the essential nature of the human being..."
-- A Propos of Lady Chatterley's Lover

The Song of Ascent

My Joy

by Depeche Mode

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My joy, the air that I breathe

My joy, in God I believe

You move me

My joy, the blood in my veins

My joy, flows in your name

You move me

I'm not a mountain, no

You move me

My joy, heavenly bliss

My joy, the pleasure I miss

You move me

I'm not a mountain, no

You move me

To your Joy (Depeche Mode), I am Rapture (Anita Baker); to your queen (Alicia Keys), you, love, are King (Sade). Together these few modern song examples form a coherent theme. Song for many is prayer; it's magic. It raises us up, outward, beyond our everyday selves. It inspires and lends insight. In the biblical Songs of Ascent there are the Psalms 120-125 of the Tanakh informing and encouraging: to be faithful, patient and true to our Lord, the one who makes, who creates with us, protects his creation, gives sight to the wise and sound to the prayerful. He is merciful and forgiving. Peace and justice are his ways; this is the way of the faithful Christian as much as the faithful Jew.

Thus the Psalm was born. Out of a deep desire for wisdom and prayer, psalms are to be chanted or sung, The following Songs of Ascent can be summarized by two great sixth century mystics, saying:

"My beloved children, I embrace you in the Lord, imploring him to keep you from all evil and to give you endurance like Job, grace like Joseph, meekness like Moses and courage in combats like Joshua, the son of Nun, mastery of your thoughts like the Judges, the subjection of enemies as to kings David and Solomon, fruitfulness of the earth as to the Israelites. May he grant you the remission of your sins with healing of the body like the paralytic. May he rescue you from the waves like Peter, and snatch you from tribulation like Paul and the other apostles. May he keep you from all evil, as his true children and grant you, in his name, what your heart requests, for the benefit of the soul and body. Amen"
--Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, Epistles

A part of the Song of Ascents follows here. For the complete Songs of Ascent, see the Psalms 120-134.

Prayer of a Returned Exile Psalm 120
A song of ascents

The LORD answered me
when I called in my distress:
LORD, deliver me from lying lips,
from treacherous tongues.

What will the Lord inflict on you,
O treacherous tongue,
and what more besides?
A warrior's sharpened arrows
and fiery coals of brush wood!

Alas, I was an alien in Meshech,
I lived near the tents of Kedar!
Too long did I live
among those who hated peace.
When I spoke of peace,
they were for war.

Love and the Fall

Those who love me, I also love, and those who seek me, find me. --Proverbs 8:17

I'm In You

by Peter Frampton

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I don't care where I go
 When I'm with you
 When I cry, you don't laugh
 'Cause you know me

 I'm in you, you're in me
 I'm in you, you're in me
 'Cause you gave me the love
 Love that I never had
 Yes, you gave me the love
 Love that I never had...

In today's English language, the pronouns he and she have been nearly stripped away. They are avoided, dis-used. Left in their place is a socio-political idea that rejects this very principle of universal oneness. There are labels and divisions, parsing the world into diverse units.
To the ancient mind, this is akin to tragedy. What could take the place of the Chinese idea of the yin and yang? Or the Hindu wedding ceremony in which bride and groom pronounce one to the other, "I am heaven, you are earth;" to which the bride responds, "I am earth, you are heaven."

Many modern minds, especially in the West, will find these ideas unintelligible, in part, thanks to science. Our rational mind does not allow us to go there. It is all myth, we say. Science, in its aims to reduce things to quantifiable matter fails, it cannot see cosmic love.

Rather, science ignores the "final cause" of creation. It cannot rationalize what something or someone was made for, its purpose, its goal, its end. This reason is the most important to creation. The Tenakh tells us that in both the historical and in the ultimate dimension, G-d is the final cause, creation the ultimate end; it is the alpha and the omega, both the beginning and end.

In this ultimate dimension, we are freed "of the dirty little dungeon of a universe that the Enlightenment thinkers" of past centuries have placed us into wholesale. Enlightenment thought, thought in which rationality and science are the reigning sovereigns, gives to modern minds "a universe in which love and beauty, praise and value are mere subjective fictions," invented by the self spinning aloneness of a human mind.

And yet science through all its triumphs has not been able to extinguish an ancient, almost primordial instinct from the deepest places in our soul, to realize love as the highest wisdom and meaning in a life. So then the Judeo-Christian Bible, or Tanakh, in its entirety is to be read with imagination, with myth and analogy as a divine love story, says Peter Kreeft.

In both the Jewish and Christian telling of the story, the Word contained in the book is a covenant, an agreement between G-d, the Lover and his beloved; the persons he created, the Jews and all who come to him in the Spirit of the Oneness (adonai echad).

The word of G-d here is the Christ, the unity of G-d, the Creator. And to the Christian mind, among other names we may call this oneness, the Christ, love incarnate. Christ has proved G-d's love for his creation by the example of the Cross. He has come because of, and for love, alone. He comes out of love.

Other manifestations of love are found in the connection between the "fall" from the garden of Eden. The connection here is found between the fall and freedom. Love does not enslave; love makes free. Because you are the Beloved, you are free. We are not the Creator's pets; we are meant to be G-d's lover.

In the redemption, love manifests. G-d's love is powerful and in full display as soon as Adam falls. He makes a mistake, he falls away from the covenant that he made in free will with G-d to obey.

As covenantal people, Jews traditionally see the "law" of the Torah as an expression of G-d's will. It is their joy to learn, to know this will. Thus they see their holy book as a love making manual, if you will.
In the ten commandments, the Decalog,  the principal covenants presented to creation by G-d, the Creator, are laid out. In essence, they form the whole of the "covenant-contract." G-d is to have this agreement with his people, who in free will grow to abide by this contract, or rule. In following the way of G-d in divine law, more love is made. Human-kind is "fruitful and multiplies."

Caring for the garden, the world of Creation, is so that human persons may learn to be more like Creators. G-d wishes to teach love through loving the world and the soil it comprises, to raise a crop to the benefit of all of creation. This is stewardship in its most wholistic sense.
The Creator starts small and then moves through the world until his love reaches the ears of his perhaps, most complex creation, mankind. As a lover, G-d is not jealous. Sharing in oneness is the essence of all.

"And the forbidden fruit of Adam and Eve is to teach the Beloved the reality of pure, 'blind,' love."
If they had been told that the reason (a rational idea) was that the fruit was poison, would not Adam and Eve have obeyed; not from a trusting, free love, but from a selfish fear?
Yet G-d did command them, and asked for their love in return for no other reason than love itself. This is covenant. When we "fall," we lick our wounds, we gain a sense of the real, we dust ourselves off and remain in the moment, rather than a self-serving, spinning mind.
Thus we again realize the fall as a direction back to the source, back to the Creator and we, are his Beloved. 
This love is not sentimental, it is not cheap, easy or compromising. This is love in totality. You are the deepest secret of G-d's heart. --Peter Kreeft

Gender Identities

And he made each one in his own likeness.  --Genesis 1:25-26

Daisy Jane

by America

LISTEN HERE

Flyin' me back to Memphis
Gotta find my Daisy Jane
Well the summer's gone
And I hope she's feelin' the same

Well, I just left her to roam the city

Thinkin' it would ease the pain
I'm a crazy man
And I'm playin' my crazy game
Does she really love me?
I think she does
Like the stars above me, I know because
When the sky is bright
Everything's alright

Flyin' me back to Memphis
Honey keep the oven warm
All the clouds are clearin'
And I think we're over the storm

Well I've been pickin' it up around me
Daisy I think I'm sane
Well I'm awful glad
And I guess you're really to blame, blame

Do you really love me?
I hope you do
Like the stars above me, how I love you
When it's cold at night
Everything's all right

Does she really love me?
I think she does
Like the stars above me, I know because
When the sky is bright
Everything's alright

Today's media is all ablaze with reports of which public restrooms are one to use; who will put what signage where? There is an increased perception that humans, made in the image of the Divine Creator are, maybe, not so divine after all. Maybe they're off kilter, mixed-up; it's become quite political. What ever spiritual base it may have is unclear to many these days. Is an individual life, a struggle, confusion towards what is and what is not? Is it like Daisy Jane?

Ms. Schick, American author, Christian writer, speaker and the daughter of a man whom she describes as suffering from Gender Identity Disorder, the result being that he viewed himself not as the Divine did create, but rather as female. For the writer and her family, they came under a great deal of challenge and discord. She writes now of it in several of her books; most recently, Understanding Gender Confusion.

She writes largely from personal experience, from what she has learned and from a primary view of catholic, Christian faith. Regardless of what side of the fence one resides, her experiences are validly her own.
As Christians we are called to love our neighbors as our self, and to give expression to the dignity of all Creation. The prime concern she writes, is to address the pain and confusion of these souls, saying there is in each case, a primary disconnect, "a psychological separation from one's true existence."

She writes also that God the Creator is indeed "very interested in all aspects of our lives."

Matthew 12:10; Luke 6:20 

The Worker

"Hell is not to love anyone, anymore"  --author George Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest

It's a lifetime job. When we think we just can't do it another day, always something intervenes, and we go on; we find the light, the way beyond to the challenge to love once more, one more day.
Love, they say, is a gift; a gift from God. Its origins are mysterious, its source an eternal well springing forth cool waters, peace for our soul. Yet it 's the one, single thing that makes work easier because of  this love we bear for each other, even in unexpected moments. 
The Work, tasks undertaken for others, becomes incrementally more and more difficult to the degree in which conflict  (read: conflict as the ego-who-is-I) enters; quarreling, dissension, hearts full with a Spirit of Criticism, or Competition; those drain the purpose for our being, the reasons for which we live every day. This makes many sad in their day and feeling life without good purpose.

An important distinction to make is the difference between shining a light upon oneself and a light shone upon others. We are Workers, here to bear the faults of others patiently, with grace and the prayerful hope that living in any given moment, we may share that grace with others.

Be humble in the Work, engage with mutual charity; see all and yet remain simple minded. Although some will surely say that you are blind, that you do not see the faults and crimes of others. Be still, because you do. 
The difficulty is not seeing the faults, for they are very often so obvious to onlookers, but  have the courage to look past them to the grace and the beauty that surely is there. To see others virtues, positive aspects and skills, and encourage their development, is a crucial activity of the Christian Worker.

The community which is composed of lay people, those lacking formal, religious training from say a monastery or a convent, may initially find it difficult to regulate themselves as a group working within the frame of Christ's charity; Saint Paul knew this well. 
The Bible records many a letter from Paul to the early Christian communities exhorting them to practice and follow the ways, the teachings of the Christ. Thus the temptation to criticize is strong, the will to patience may be weak.
 
Yet we must always recall that each and everyone has come to community of his or her own free will; the Spirit has moved them there. Sometimes within a community the most overtly passionate, the most open and strong willed among us, those who speech is aggressive, whose passion flows towards a state of "activism," who are quick to call out others-- those ones will indeed find division. Without good leadership such persons may undo the work of service that the Christian community is called to. This antithesis of the Catholic Worker movement is decidedly detrimental to the growth of the faithful. 

With division fully operational, it is not hard to imagine why things are not running smoothly, why the spirit of peace and justice do not materialize. Leaders, true christian leaders are hard to find. The very best are as the Beatitudes preach: humble, kindhearted, steadfast, filled with the love of the Holy Spirit. It is sometimes these very virtues that make it hard for the humble to assume leadership. Yet like Saint Paul, they must.

The Christian Worker movement is one in which each member may, through his or her daily work, find peace and the love of the Christ, returned to them thru those whom they serve and in return, quite possibly, discover on their own, personal reasons  what is important in life, and what they will do in that lifetime.

 Responding to this challenge of the work of a lifetime is found in our beating hearts, alongside the love each brings, the love they bear. In doing the Work, love, we learn, is not the least weak; it's strong, patient, kind, forbearing, slow to seek revenge, sooner to seek peace through forgiveness. 
This love is not a brittle, fickle affection; rather a hard won, passionate love as the Christ on the Cross who endures. Those following in His steps are the Workers, the Jesus people.
Corinthians 13

The Christ Way

I (still) Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

by U2

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I have climbed the highest mountains 

I have run through the fields 

Only to be with you Only to be with you 

I have run, I have crawled 

I have scaled these city walls These city walls 

Only to be with you 

But I still haven't found What I'm looking for 

But I still haven't found What I'm looking for 

I have kissed honey lips 

Felt the healing in her finger tips 

It burned like fire (I was) Burning inside her 

 I have spoke with the tongue of angels 

I have held the hand of a devil 

It was warm in the night I was cold as a stone 

But I still haven't found What I'm looking for 

But I still haven't found What I'm looking for 

I believe in the Kingdom Come 

Then all the colors will bleed into one Bleed into one 

But, yes, I'm still running 

You broke the bonds And you loosed the chains 

Carried the cross of my shame Oh, my shame, 

you know I believe it 

But I still haven't found What I'm looking for 

But I still haven't found What I'm looking for...

What are we looking for? Why even look? Soon enough, it'll all be over, some say.
The Bible makes many interesting claims. For example in Galatians chapter 6 it discusses the new way of the Christ and the life of his followers. In a phrase, "For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deluding himself." 
Here a life of delusion is mentioned. But what is the context? Perhaps it's a caution about comparing oneself to others, since each is a reflection of the divine Creator, and as such possesses his or her own unique talents and gifts. If this is true, then what are we looking for--and why would we look outside our own selves? Yet in the chapter, Galatians makes it clear that the community is important, that the community matters as a development of faith.

Is not love of one's neighbor an action that means to encourage and support each in their unique goodness and well-being? Galatians chapter 5 affirms this thought: "For you were called to freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love"
This is the Christ way.

The Challenge

'No one comes to the Father except though me'--John 14:6

Come To the Water

by John Foley, S.J.

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Let all who thirst,

let them come to the water.

And let all who have nothing,

let them come to the Lord...

And let all who seek,

let them come to the water.

And let all who have nothing,

let them come to the Lord...

And let all who toil,

let them come to the water.

And let all who are weary,

let them come to the Lord...

And let all the poor,

let them come to the water,

Bring the ones who are laden,

bring them all to the Lord:

bring the children without might.

Easy the load and light:

come to the Lord.

While initially the bible verse, 'no one comes to the Father except though me' John 14:6; John 35-37 may be perplexing, daunting or even received with open doubt-- it may be also regarded as a stop sign for some; recalling the general commandment of the Lord God 'to love your neighbor as yourself,' then its significance becomes more clear.

The Christ wishes to make it known that the commandment to love isn't talk, it isn't a pretty phrase; instead it is the teaching to all growing in faith; faith is given in measures by the One Lord, by God the Creator of all. The Christ is saying that if you earnestly follow the teachings, follow the commandments, then you too will like me, ascend to paradise.

Even so many with rational, scientific minds will question, will doubt or reject this saying out of hand. Is this the only way? No. Is it the Christian way? Yes.
May the peace and grace of God's love for mankind be with you and yours. Always. Amen.

What's Your Relationship?

You're My Best Friend

Lyrics sung by Mercury, Queen

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Ooh you make me live

Whatever this world can

give to me It's you

you're all I see

Ooo you make me live now honey

Ooo you make me live Ooh you're the best

friend that I ever had

I've been with you such

a long time You're my sunshine and

I want you to know

That my feelings are true

I really love you

Oh you're my best friend

Ooo you make me live

Ooh I've been wandering round

But I still come back to you

In rain or shine You've stood by me girl

I'm happy at home You're my best friend

Ooo you make me live

Whenever this world is cruel to me

I got you to help me forgive

Ooo you make me live now honey

Ooo you make me live

You're the first one

When things turn out bad

You know I'll never be lonely

You're my only one

And I love the things

I really love the things that you do

You're my best friend

Ooo you make me live I'm happy at home

You're my best friend

Oh you're my best friend

Ooo you make me live

You you're my best friend

While we often hear this song, we think of someone else rather than the artist-singer. However a bit of delving into Freddie Mercury's life reveals that late in his life, he was preoccupied with a concern for love-in-life, and the absence of the love-experience in his own life. 
His thoughts turned increasingly to spiritual matters. His lyrics explore the role of human love in those spiritual yearnings. He may have died young, but he was hopeful as his lyrics. Did he find the love he looked for?

However often we may think about others, when I heard this song recently, I thought about the question of the relationship I have with myself. Yes, that One--me, myself and I. What does that feel like, who is that, where am I in my life, can I forgive myself? 
Sometimes, I'm just stupid, sometimes I really screw up. True, I'm not perfect. But isn't good enough, good enough? Must we be more? Sure, the Bible tells us there is no sin too great for the forgiveness of God, but what about me--me forgiving me? If I let go and fall, will I land on my feet? Can I confront what I so dislike and still live with myself?
How do I get to there? It seems to me at least, that the love we reflect to others is the love we see for ourselves. So how is that relationship going these days? And so often we struggle with our self. It can be hard to understand why we are as we are, why we do as we do. 
The lyrics here give a clue; we can't go it alone. It seems we are social creatures; with the help or simple presence of others in our lives, they our friends can "help me to forgive." From the sense of these lyrics, I think Mercury must have found a real love. I wonder if he knew it.

Deeply Resented and the Beatitudes

"ask and you will receive; knock and the door will open to you; see so that you may believe."

There are phrases that the people of the West have heard so often until they're trite. They have become  caricatures, without specific meaning.
Yet the Bible tells us the Christ did say them, did instruct by them, and the Christ Way consists of them and others. For Jesus, the Christ, they were the new thinking, the way to lead from God, the Father.
So today, instead of sentences, the Simple Mind writes here mostly in phrases, ideas actually. These are some of the most essential of all the Christ's teachings, thoughts for all true disciples to strive towards.

First of all, the Good News tells us that we must ask; we are required to ask. Asking is part of listening and listening is a critical part of the voluntaries often called 'free will.' So we must ask--ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you; see so that you may believe.
The reluctance to heed these commandments for those persons who do not, gives an indication that they may well be some one who wishes to be seen as taking either the socially superior or inferior position.
Thus the person who for example, insists on always giving but not receiving, refusing even, is at the same time someone who will not allow the balance to be restored or maintained by reciprocity. They refuse to balance between giver and receiver.

Only when there are both givers and receivers, often one in the same, can a community be established; without this balance, deep resentment often arises between giver and receiver. The Christ recognizes this; he refuses to be caught on this point. Instead, he commands his disciples to think and to behave in the way of love for one another; so feed the hungry; give them drink; clothe the naked; be kind to the stranger; visit the sick or those in prison; bury the dead. Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful.

And there is the ongoing spiritual work that the Christ calls his disciples to-- correcting those in error; educating the ignorant; counseling those in doubt or confusion; comfort for those in sorrow; bearing wrongs patiently; forgiving the wrongs done by others; pray for the living and the dead, unceasingly.

And again, numerous times the Christ reminds aspiring disciples, of just this-- if you love me, you will keep my commandments; love one another as I have loved you; the greatest commandment is love.