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.

A thousand "reasons I should not spend my time with you"

Only When I Lose Myself

by Depeche Mode

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It's Only When I Lose Myself in someone else
Then I find myself
I find myself

It's Only When I Lose Myself in someone else
Then I find myself
I find myself
Something beautiful is happening inside for me
Something sensual, it's full of fire and mystery
I feel hypnotized, I feel paralyzed
I have found heaven

There's a thousand reasons
Why I should not spent my time with you
For every reason not to be here I can think of two
Keep me hanging on
Feeling nothing's wrong
Inside your heaven

It's Only When I Lose Myself in someone else
Then I find myself
I find myself
It's Only When I Lose Myself in someone else
Then I find myself
I find myself

I can feel the emptiness inside me fade & disappear
There's a feeling of content that now you are here
I feel satisfied
I belong inside
Your velvet heaven

Did I need to sell my soul
For pleasure like this
Did I have to lose control
To treasure your kiss

Did I need to place my heart
In the palm of your hand
Before I could even start
To understand

It's Only When I Lose Myself in someone else
Then I find myself
I find myself...

There's a thousand "reasons I should not spend my time with you" is among the lyrics to this meditation. The song succinctly describes the experience of many in this life.
The feeling of being, captured by love. A love that surprises, that overwhelms, lowering the normally defensive ego to allow the brilliance of a sun-filled day into our heart.
"Do I need to sell my soul for pleasure like this?"
 No, love is not bought or sold; it's given freely. We learn none of these fears are justified; if it is God who is the great creator of all, then it is god, who casts light among the beloveds.
All of creation is free in his reign. Love requires faith; it requires that we act though we cannot see; that the "evidence" lies only in a heart.
"Something beautiful is happening inside for me, Something sensual, it's full of fire and mystery I feel hypnotized, I feel paralyzed, I have found heaven..."

There is something to it: For those demanding a sign, Saint Matthew tells us in Chapter 16 that

"When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples,“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied,“Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

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? "

 Bible, St. Matthew 16:13-20; 24-26

Art and Love, Existentialists in a World of Change

"Art is love." Somerset Maugham

Waiting on the World to Change

by John Mayer

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me and all my friends, we're all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and there's no way we ever could.
now we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it.
we just feel
like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it
so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change.
we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change

it's hard to beat the system when we're standing
at a distance so we keep waiting. waiting on the world to change
now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door and when
you trust your television what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information, oh
they can bend it all they want that's why we're waiting
waiting on the world to change.

we keep on waiting.
waiting on the world to change
it's not that we don't care, we just
know that the fight ain't fair.
so we keep on waiting waiting on the
world to change and we're still waiting,
waiting on the world to change.
we keep on waiting waiting on the world to change

Author and poet, Somerset Maugham a prominent, early-mid twentieth century writer and poet most famous for the 1915 novel, Of Human Bondage, tells a tale of a young man, Philip Carey, orphaned and raised by an aunt and uncle. He grows in their home and leaves to find his way in the world. He has many experiences. The book is set in England and quite lengthy, coming in at about 600 pages. By about page 200, we find its young subject deep into the quest for meaning, purpose and love. Philip sets himself to learn the purpose of his life, what love is to him. After struggles and some failed attempts to start a career, Paris calls out like a Siren to him. He feels the pull of Art.

Not long after he arrives, Philip finds himself drinking it all in; the Left Bank, the people, the French culture, the free spirit of the Parisian capital is in stark contrast to London; the reader follows him through his  adventures there. He meets many persons, some odd, some bold. Many set him to thinking. One tells him, 'art is love.' He considers this in light of the more familiar, 'god is love.' The reader learns that this novel is actually something of Maugham's autobiography. 

Philip recounts his own early experiments in life, and what he discovers is what Maugham called, 'the artistic temperament.' Emotionally the young man comes to see not a desire to be invisible; he more wishes to risk for freedom in both the emotional and physical planes to engage in his art. Art, he finds, also requires courage and honesty in the pursuit of beauty, the thing he craves. The book is also an exploration of 1915 Europe in which society was for many, personally constricting.

This novel is striking in the Simple mind; it was written by someone who lived a century before and still, today, many of the themes examined are current and intently debated by artists. There is a strong spiritual theme throughout the book with the linking of love and art. It brings to mind the vast Vatican collection, a trove of art so large.
'Let us love one another; for in love, there is god. God is love.'