Lent Thirty Eight "Get up and Walk"

 

Itchy Gypsy by Juan Atata - Berlin 2012

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.  

George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, 1860

I like this message because it describes the 'yin' and 'yang' of relationships.  Passion works in both directions.  To feel strongly is to experience life to the full, but also to be exposed to the pain associated with fear and worry.  We read of the agony of the Creator at the desperate state of the relationship between the Creator, and the created.  

Hosea Chapter 2 

“But now I bring charges against my unfaithful wife.  Tell her to wipe off her make-up, and cover up her body.  If she continues she will be left naked in the wilderness.  I will disown our children.  They are not actually mine.  She seeks the comfort of others, but they continue to turn their backs on her.  In her despair she will think of me, and whether to return.  She forgets that everything she has came first from me.   She passed it straight on to others.  So the good times are over.  Life now becomes punishing.” 

“I cannot bear this, for my love is eternal.  I have freed her in the past from captivity.  I made her equal in partnership with me.  We can wipe away the guilt of failure, the weakness of the heart.  I honour my vow to her, to protect her from harm.  My promise is for ever.  I remain faithful.”

 

“A day will come when I will plant a new community.  We will begin again.  Instead of ‘No Longer loved’, and ‘Not my people’, they will be called ‘My People again!’  They will call me ‘Wonderful Creator’.”

 

PRAYER: Our relationship is the most important part of my life.  I apologies when I make you feel concerned that I do not value it.

Lent Thirty Seven "Get up and Walk"

 

Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Art Institute Chicargo, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art and History Museum Brussels, National Gallery of Victoria and Claude Monet's Home at Giverny, France.

Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear. 

Spinoza, Ethics, 1677

Surf where the wave is.  The greatest experiences have an edge to them. The degree of confidence exceeds the fear of failure.  I get up on the wave and the experience is amazing.  Finding the 'cutting edge' of achieving, overcoming the challenge, a risk worth taking.  This makes for an exciting life.    

Isaiah Chapter Six

It was in the year that King Uzziah died that I saw the creator,

Seated on a high throne, with billowing robes filling the chamber.

In attendance were mighty and strange figures; people with six wings.

Two wings covered their face, two their feet, and they flew with the third.

Together they sung an awesome song of praise to the creator.

“Great, Mighty, Perfect is the creator,

Every part of the earth is filled with this glory.”

As they spoke, the building shook terribly and from its foundations smoke rose up.

I cried out

“my life is over, I have seen perfection, and I am wretched and contaminated.

I am from a people who do wrong.  Surely I cannot see the creator and live?”

 

Then one of the strange beasts flew to the centre of the room to a great fire of burning coals. 

The beast took tongs and picked up a coal,

Coming over to me and gently touched the coal to my lips.

I then hear say:

“See this coal; it has touched your lips.  Now your imperfections are removed. 

You are made clean as new.”

 

The creator surveyed the whole world and asked,

“Who can I send as a messenger to these people in their need?”

 

And I stood up and said

“Here I am, Send me.”

And the creator replied,

“yes, you go, but be aware, these people will hear, but they will not understand.

They will watch, but learn nothing.

They will see with their eyes, but turn away from healing.”

Continue until all their towns are empty, their houses deserted.

The land turned to waste.

But a remnant will endure, a stump, a terebinth.

This is the hope that remains.”

PRAYER:  May I be ready to hear you and obey your call.

Lent Thirty Six "Get up and Walk"

 

The electors of Saxony by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 
Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

“A young man who wishes to remain a

 sound atheist cannot be too

 careful of his reading.”

 C.S. Lewis             

Thus speaks someone with experience.  If you want to fly, you have to release what is in your hands, and hold your arms out at your side.  Tilt your head slightly upwards, and 'lift off'.  

Ecclesiastes Chapter Twelve

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

Honour your Creator before saying ‘it’s not as good as it used to be’

Be filled with awe as you see the wonder of the universe.

 

Be filled with worship before….

your legs -‘the guards that protect your house’  - tremble.

your shoulders - ‘your bodyguards’ - stoop.

your teeth - ‘those few remaining servants’ - stop grinding.

your eyes - ‘two windows on the world’    fog up

Honour your Creator before life’s opportunities close off.

Now the birds sound sweetly; then you will strain to hear them.

 

Remember your Creator before you…

Ø  worry about falling and fear to walk in the street,

Ø  your hair turns white like the almond blossom.

Ø  you drag yourself along like a dying grasshopper,

Ø  nothing helps arouse ardour in bed,

Ø  you approach your grave, your final resting place.

 

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken.

For then it will be too late.  The water jar will be smashed and the pulley on the well broken.

Dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to its Creator.

 

Conclusion

All of existence is a conundrum, it’s a paradox, says the teacher.

 

The teacher spent much time deliberating and testing what was known.

He tried to make his words fine and uplifting.

But his words were honest, like cattle prods.

 

Let me tell you my child, be careful, you can really think too much and wear yourself out.

 

Honour your Creator, do what is right, as everyone should.

All things will be judged; nothing over looked.

 PRAYER: I thank you that nothing now can separate me from your love.

 

Lent Thirty Five "Get up and Walk"

 

'Despair' by Frank Holl - Southampton Art Gallery

The most common form of despair is not being who you are.    

 Soren Kierkegaard    

People whose early experience of life is uncertain and unsafe, even when they were not old enough to comprehend this, tend to have an insecurity hanging over them; like a floating anxiety.  To have an understand of context, history and destiny is a profound thing.  We think of animals just 'existing'.  But for us human beings, perhaps understanding these basic things frees us into existence.

Hebrews Chapter Six

It is getting rather tiring having to go over the basics time and again!

It is hardest for those who ‘know the truth’, and turn their back on it,

They know what the Creator wants. 

How can they come back when they openly reject this offer?

 

The natural processes of life mean that good things will happen. 

But there are also obstacles such as ‘rocks’, or ‘thorns’ that get in the way. 

The way to deal with these is to ‘uproot’ and ‘burn’.

I don’t mean to scare you. 

The Creator knows how long you have earnestly desire to get right with him.

 

Let us keep on loving each other and that will be the sign that we are succeeding.

 

An example of hope we all know is when our forefather Abraham was told that he would be the head of a great nation, despite being very old and having no children. 

The Creator gave him a promise that was also an oath that this would happen. 

The oath was something ‘certain’ that Abraham could hold on to.

In the same way we have been promised that we are safe in the Creator’s plan for the future.

PRAYER:  Thank you for telling me who I am, and why I live.

 

Sixth Sunday "Get up and Walk"

 

Christ at the Column by Djanira da Motta e Silva,
Private Collection, Rio de Janerio

“The hardness of God is 

kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”  

C S Lewis, Surprised By Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.

Today is the last Sunday in Lent.  The Easter story is one we have become desensitised to.  If it were altered a bit, we might be 'hit in the face' by the awfulness of the story.  It is the worst of evil at work, at an individual, social and institutional level.  

Gospel According to John Chapter Nineteen

It's a rare sight to see someone die in public.

It induces an evil, seductive fascination.

A state that can only be achieved with company. 

A 'what are they doing here?' innocence.

 

In prolonged agony Jesus called out in thirst.

Not a request, but wine was stuck in his face.

A strange action for a man who was drying up.

 

When the bodies of those men were lowered,

Jesus had been dead for some time.  

The other victims were a tangled mess,

Jesus’ body was strangely complete.  

Pierced with a blade, pied-blood flowed from his side.

 

Friends, Joseph and Nicodemus discussed what to do.

The Judge was keen to get this aberration tidied up.

"Yes please, do dispose of the body."

"I agree it should never have happened this way."

"We'll never live this one down."

 

"My family has recently purchased a tomb.

It's nearby, let's put his body there."

"I brought the embalming kit."

"Act quickly, the whole city is closing for the holiday."

PRAYER:  I can bare the horrors of this world, because you have already done so.

Lent Thirty Four "Get up and Walk"

 

Die Jagd Nach Dem Gluck (Chasing After Happiness) 

By Edmund Youngerbauer. Smithsonian Museum

If merely ‘feeling good’ could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely valid human experience.  

William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902.

It the past happiness was only the pursuit of  kings and emperors.  Now, like holidays, its for all of western society.  Perhaps happiness should be seen as a secondary gain.  I seek to love others as I care about myself, and I am given happiness, like a free gift.  I seek to honour my Creator, to care about the needs of those I live with, my neighbours, my distant neighbours in far off countries... and I receive happiness as a byproduct.  For some people this is extremely difficult, because they are feeling depressed.  Depression can turn the eye inward.  My a tiny bit of happiness is like striking a match in a dark room. Here are some of King Solomon thoughts.

Ecclesiastes Chapter Six

This is what I find so perplexing.

Some people experience great success.

They live notable lives and have many children.

But they die, and what have they achieved? 

Sometimes nothing of what they have done is noticed.

 

Others are born into poverty.

All they have to hold on to is wisdom.

 

Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get.

 

About The Future

The Creator knows already every outcome,

Like an old much loved film.

Our lives are flickering shadows.

It’s not for us to know the outcome.

PRAYER:  I seek first to live in your world, and know that everything else is taken care of.

The great motif - "Die Jagd Nach Dem Gluck"

1866 Rudolf Friedrich August Henneberg - Alte Nationalgalerie - Berlin

Postcard- For sale on oldthing.de 

German anti Bolshevik Poster - Peace Palace Gallery, The Hague.

By Theo Zasche, Political Cartoonist 1924 - (for sale on ebay)

Original Sketch - Städel Museum, Frankfurt 

1930's Film Poster

Lent Thirty Three "Get up and Walk"

 

Untitled-painting by Allen Anthony- Hansen, Ugallery

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. Alexander Pope, Letter, 1727

Born in London, Pope rather neatly moved to to Popeswood, near Bracknell, where Catholic were afforded great freedom and safety.  Pope lived in challenging times, but the question remains. What do I want?  What do I hope for?  

Haggai

I hear you saying that it is not yet time to return and restore the place of worship for the Creator. Yet you are looking after yourselves quite nicely. You know that this lifestyle does not satisfy. You work hard, but gain little profit. You eat well, but never feel full. You drink when thirsty, but it’s not quite enough. You buy rich clothes but they don’t keep you warm. And your pockets always seem to have holes in them! Put your hearts and minds into doing something for the Creator, and meaning will return to your lives. You will see that what you turn your hand to will succeed. The leaders and the people actually listened. They understood the meaning of the message. On the 21st September they began to invest in restoring places of worship. 

17th October 520 BCE  

I am wondering if you ever saw the previous buildings? It is of no consequence. The Creator’s presence is in you. You have nothing to fear. I assure you, the former greatest of this work will return. All peoples from the surrounding regions will see it and marvel at the riches and splendour. 

18th December 520 BCE 

Let’s test the leaders to see how their faith has stood up over time. If you have set aside money for the Creator, but remember something you really need as you prepare to make your gift, is ok to postpone the gift? The leaders were clear, ‘not at all - our first priority it to give back to the Creator, and trust that our needs will be met.’ What about if the money has come from unethical sources? ‘Then it is an unsuitable gift.’ You are correct, and have explained why things went so wrong in the past. You are putting things right, and blessing will come as a consequence. 

Haggai informed the leaders of future tumult; that great changes were about to happen in the nations. But they would be protected because they had restored their relationship, and remained faithfulness. 

PRAYER:  I walk with the Creator of all in me.  All things are possible.

Lent Thirty Two "Get up and Walk"

 

The Game of Chess by Sofonisba Angussissola, 
National Museum in Poznań, Poland

It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish.  Heraclitus, Fragments, 52 C 500 BCE

This painting was completed in 1555 by the twenty three (ish) year old Sofonisba.  How is came to move across Europe is interesting.  It was acquired by Lucian, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, but changed hands many times before arriving in Poznań. Sofonisba was talent-spotted by the king of Spain, who saw what an incredible artist she was.  It's worth a trip to Poznań just for this.

Heraclitus notes that sometimes we don't know what is good for us.  It reminds me of my thought that an averagely intelligent twelve year old could probably address all the problems of the world., and put them right, within thirty minutes of deliberation.  We are helpless babes, how need a saviour.

Zechariah One and Two

In a myrtle grove, in a shallow valley, I saw a man seated on a red horse. Behind him rode other riders on red, white and brown horses. I asked the messenger beside me “what does this mean?” The messenger reassured me that I was about to find out. “These are a patrol sent by the Creator to all corners of the globe.” One came over to the messenger and reported that the whole earth was at peace. The messenger looked up to the heavens and called out: “Creator of all, you have held anger against these people for seventy years. When will be the time of mercy?” I heard the reply, spoken straight away, with such kind and comforting words. Patiently the messenger explained: “Your task is to tell the people. Tell them that the Creator is loving and passionate. The Creator cares about what you have been through. Other nations are at peace despite inflecting hardship on you. The Creator now shows you mercy. You will come back to your city and rebuild its meeting places. Prosperity and order will return.” Then I noticed strange beasts with four horns. The messenger nodded and said these represent the nations that gored Israel. And following the beasts came four blacksmiths. “These people will hound the beasts and inflect revenge.” Next appeared a person carrying a measuring tape. Again I heard the explanation. “The city is to be measured and prepared for the returning people. Such a throng will gather that some will have to wait outside, but the Creator will protect them all with a wall of fire. And the Creator’s glory will fill every part of the city.” “Welcome, come back home. You are now untouchable. Shout joyfully, beautiful Jerusalem; I am coming to live amongst you. You will be joined by many from other nations. Be still, all humanity, and witness what the Creator is doing.”

PRAYER:  I trust what you are doing, and that you act with love and compassion.

Lent Thirty One "Get up and Walk"

 

Oum-El-Dounia  by Lara-Baladi, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian.

The love of life is necessary to the vigorous prosecution of any undertaking. Dr Johnson, The Rambler, 1750 - 52

The love of life.  I can imagine arriving in heaven and being asked over a first meal, "Well, what did you think?  Was it good?  Was it amazing?  What did you do?"  And how would we answer?  

Proverbs Chapter Nine

‘Wisdom’ has prepared a great banquet.

From within her splendid mansion she invites the simple and meek.

Come and join me, eat and drink.

I have only the best here.

Join me and experience life to the full.

 

Don’t bother correcting the mocker- you will get hurt.

But the wise value correction.  They have their ears open.

 

The core of wisdom is to honour your creator.

Wisdom will bless you.  That is its gift.

 

The paradox of folly is it cannot see itself.

It does not realise that its ways are lies,

And that they will all lead to dead-ends.

PRAYER:  I want to appreciate all I have been given.  Thank you for what you have given me.

Lent Thirty "Get up and Walk"

 

Debris in Aleppo by Tony Kwaman - Kwaman Gallery

I can’t tell if a straw ever saved a drowning man, but I know that a mere glance is enough to make despair pause.  For in truth, we who are creatures of impulse, are not creatures of despair.  

Joseph Conrad, Chance, 1913

Every morning the challenge is...to live... says Albert Camus. The way to truly live, is to have hope.  But hope that is based on fingers crossed, genuflect and look up to the sky, as seen every week as footballers come onto the pitch or score a goal, is not enough.  Hosea chose a challenging life.  He married the love of his life, but was warned that he would experience hardship.  When the Creator formed us, I guess the same warning was known already. 

Hosea Chapter Three

The Creator spoke again. “Stay faithful to your unfaithful wife, and show her tenderness. This will be a picture of how I also treat the people of Israel.” So I paid off my wife’s debts, and brought her back from the slums. I asked her to be faithful to me, and we would devote ourselves to reconciliation. This was also the pattern for Israel, in finding new life, a real change was necessary. Eventually the people will see how wonderful this love is, and it will make them tremble with awe.

PRAYER:  One day I will fully know what was the price you paid for me.  I praise you now for this.

Lent Twenty Nine "Get up and Walk"

 

Shame Totem by Gregory Fricker, Ugallery 

The world is shamefully managed, one hardly knows to whom to complain.  Ronald Firbank, Mrs Shamefoot in Vainglory, 1915

Do we expect things to be the perfection we see in our own mind's eye?  Kant's famous quote also comes to mind.  "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made."   And nothing seems to flow in a straight line.  But perhaps let us start with this as a given.  

Lamentation Chapter Three

I have witnessed the Creator’s anger.  I have been draw into the dark places where the flesh creeps, and bodies break.  I am walled into an impenetrable cell.  I shout and scream, but no one hears me.  The Creator waits like a bear to attack.  I am dragged off the path and torn to pieces.  I hear laughter in my ears; it is my own people mocking me.  What a bitter cup of sorrow the Creator hands to me.  I survive by chewing gravel.  All I have hoped for drains away.  I will never forget these awful times.  But yet there remains a faint memory:

The steadfast love of the Creator never fails.  The Creator’s mercy never come to an end. 

They are new every morning!

And I remember that I am promised an inheritance, and my hope again rises.

The Creator blesses those who search; who depend; who wait patiently.

There is a special blessing for those who submit to the Creator from a young age.

They have the strength to sit down in the dust, to retain their hope, to turn the other cheek to those who oppress them, to accept insults from their enemies.

For we are not abandoned forever.  From grief flows compassion.  The Creator does not enjoy pain and suffering.  The down trodden are never over-looked.  Why do we complain?  We are just humans who are players in our own afflictions. 

Let us examine our ways, and return to our Creator.  Let us lift up our hearts and hands and offer praise to our maker.  We have caused you great harm, and we are not let off.  The consequent is terrible to bare.  We find we are a long way off and our voice is weak. 

Tears pour from my eye; they never cease, until you notice.

My enemies, who I never harmed, have cast me in a pit.  The waters rises.

I call to you and say “It is finished.”

In my despair I called on you, and you heard my voice.  “Do not fear,” You say.

Save me, redeem me, plead my case.

My enemies whisper and mutter.

Protect me from my enemies!

PRAYER:  All I surely know is that you will never leave me or forsake me, and I praise you today.

Fifth Sunday "Get up and Walk"

 

Avenue at Middelharnis (1689) by  Meindert Hobbema
National Gallery, London

All religions will pass, but this will remain: simply sitting in a chair and looking in the distance.  V.V. Rozanov, Solitaria, 1912

At a time when our lives have been slowed down by isolation and immobility, there is a lot to be said for just being able to sit and stare.  I have a pair of binoculars on my table and make a mad dash for them as I see what might be a woodpecker, or gold crest, in the branches of a tree.  If all is stripped away, what are we left with?  Because this is all that is important.   

Ecclesiastes Chapter Seven

What would you prefer, expensive perfume, or a good reputation?

The day of your death is even more significant than your birth.

Funerals are more meaningful than parties.

Sorrow is more profound than laughter.

Sorrow can change your destiny.

A fool ignores death with many distractions.

 

Extortion and bribes corrupt the heart.

Finishing is more significant than starting.

Move on from the ‘good old days’.

Wisdom and wealth are a powerful combination;

But it is wisdom that saves your life.

 

Accept what the Creator has done,

Building with the crooked beams of humanity (cf Immanuel Kant)

Enjoy what you have today.  Remember that it might change.

Nothing is certain in this life

 

I have seen beautiful young people cut down, and the wicked grow old in luxury.

 

How to find a balance in life?

Just as I try to be humble, happy and wise,

These are out of my reach.

I easily find the opposite;

No problem there.

 

I believe that the Creator intended us to be perfect,

But each of us has followed our own downward path.

PRAYER: When all is taken away, I am left with only you.  You are all I need, and I bless you.

Lent Twenty Eight "Get up and Walk" incomplete

 

Cave Painting found on the Island of Sulawesi, Indonesia

Religion consists of believing that everything that happens is extraordinarily important.  It can never disappear from the world, precisely for this reason.  

Cesare Pavese, This Business of Living: Diaries 1935-50

Reading about Pavese tragic, beautiful life makes me feel that he is allowed to say what he likes.  We run the risk of take ourselves too seriously.  But Pavese found no reason to live and ended his life when he was 41.   It was when I was sixteen that I found my contemporaries became more relaxed and stopped taking themselves so seriously.  I did too.  You can be less anxious when you allow the world not to make complete sense.  

I return to my reflection that organised religion is likely to be a relative new coming on this planet.  We miss the point if we think it is religion that is the important thing.  To me it is the connection between all things, with the most important connection being to the 'vine'.  Here is a simple story of an everyday gift of food.  Food will always remain important to humans- something that can never disappear from the world.

Gospel according the John Chapter Six       

                    Feast And Fast

                All these people!  This has become a phenomenon.

                They can't get enough of him.

                Taken time off, trapesing across the country.

                Is he that good?

 

                Now he wants them all to be looked after.

                They're getting hungry.

                Isn't it obvious this was going to happen?

                And we're going without all the time.

 

                Let's do a whip round.

                Typical - nothing - totally unprepared.

                Kind kid- What would his mum say?

                Well done Andrew.

 

                Here have some, but don't be greedy.

                It's got to go round 5000.

                I should really be back at work, not party to this fiasco.

 

                He looks up to heaven, says the grace.

                "Thank you God to the lucky winner of some kid's lunch."

 

                What's this? Hand it out.  Sure. Nothing to do with me mate.

                A bit more?  Bigger lunch than I thought.

                Hey you, give us a hand, this isn't finished.

 

                Umm, quite tasty. That's a great bread 'n' fish sandwich.

                Anyone for more?  Yes, no problem. Here pass it on,

                Plenty where it came from.

                You! No need to grab.  I'll serve you last!

 

                Do you mind if I borrow your basket?

                You'll get it back for sure, with interest.

                Vegetarian?! Just fling the fish to the cats!

 

                I'm a bit uneasy about this.

                This lot are going to want more and more.

                I know what 'He' will be saying;

                'Food's one thing, but it's not enough.

                It's spiritual food you're craving.

                This stuff 'll fill you up for a day.

                You need manna that will sort you out for eternity.'

 

                I'm going to suggest next time,

                Let's be a bit harsh.

                A little nibble and a small sip.

                That's you limit.

 

PRAYER:  Thank you for the life sustaining presence.

Lent Twenty Seven "Get up and Walk"

 

Wheat Field with Cypresses Vincent Van Gogh
Metropolitan Art Gallery New York

Fortunately, in her kindness and patience, Nature has never put the fatal question as to the meaning of their lives into the mouths of most people.  And where no one asks, no one needs to answer.  

Jung, ‘The Development of Personality’, 1934

When Grace Graham, wife of the evangelist Billy Graham,  was asked about her conversion experience, she explained that she had grown up knowing the presence of God in her life from the start.  As she grew older she became more aware of this presence, and developed a relationship.  She said that it was similar to her the development of her relationship with her mother and father.  I believe that Jung's sentiment is 'tongue in cheek'.  He is saying, 'why trouble their pretty little heads?'  The person who does not consider meaning in their life is the person who focuses on the little things, and looks only in one direction.  Not a bad thing, but not exactly free.  

Gospel according to John Chapter Fourteen

Just Say Again

Jesus:  Hey, don't let yourselves be glum!  You know the creator of all things, and you trust me! Where I am going is a wonderful place. I'll make sure that there's provision for everyone. I'm not leading you on, I'm serious.  And you know exactly how to get there.

Thomas:  Ah, that's the problem we haven't a clue.  Just say again.

Jesus: It's me.  Follow me, and you will get there.  I bring you into complete truth, and life as it's designed to be lived.  If you know me, you know the creator of all.  So just think, you've now actually met your creator!

 Philip:  Yes, that's the bit we need.  Just show us the creator.

 Jesus:  Look at me Philip, Look.  How do you think I have been able to speak with such authority, and do the wonderful things you have seen happen?  I'm not some crazy magician.  It's the creator inside me.  We are one together.  What's more, we can be inside you too, and you will continue to see amazing things happen. Your lives will bring us both glory and honour.  Ask for anything in my name, we are with you, just think of 

PRAYER: I can not 'drum up' or 'imagine' your presence with me.  Like a parent with a new born child; you are never far away, and I thank you.

Lent Twenty Six "Get up and Walk"

 

Der Mönch am Meer (Monk by the Sea)
by Casper David Friedrich-Alte Nationalgaleria, Berlin

God made everything out of nothing.  But the nothingness shows through.  Paul Valéry, Mouvaisers pensées et autres, 1942

Is this a comment on God, or on us? Or on the stuff between?  There is a discomfort, a disappointment, a disconnect here.  It is as if we are born into a labyrinth.  In the dark, we bump around discovering things.  Our present time likes to think that we have learnt from the fruitless search of the past.  The false summits, and shared prejudices.  

But although the life we observe appear to be have holes and unanswerable paradoxes, there is something that will not go away.  I have a relationship with something that is beyond me; that is not me, because it does not think like me.  It is not a projection of greatness in my head.  This is the being in the nothingness, who helps me to live more than physically.  This is the one who lightens my darkness.

Letter to the Hebrews Chapter Two

  We must pay attention to this ageless message, If we take our eye off the ball, we could easily be lost. Jesus’ authority was confirmed by an astonishing outpouring of signs and wonders. The incredible thing is that the Creator has never given up on us. We have been made just less than superhumans! When Jesus came, he took on our limitations. He led from the front, prepared to sacrifice himself for all people. This restoration brings us back into the royal family. So our Creator took on the form of his creation and walked with us. As a human he was subjected to the torments of sickness and evil. Only by dying for us is the curse of being cut off from the life source restored. It was the only way, destined from the dawn of time, to remove evil and wickedness from the world. Even before the first deliberate act of hurt was committed, we were warned, “being cut off would lead to death.”

PRAYER: Lighten my darkness I plead with you Creator.