OUR JOURNEY AWAY FROM SELF BEGINS, I

[The following is a reprint of my post of December 4, 2021.]

Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

Matthew 5:38, 39, 40 are my "forever" verses that I love, but oh the doing of them...there's my mare's nest.

We are told that God loves a seeker, so we can know we are loved; but, face it, God loves a non-seeker too. Wait...what's the "but" about that? God loves. We just need to accept that without any "buts."

The wonder is that it is easier to accept God's love by doing God's will, as in, resist not evil, turn the other cheek, etc., than by staying with the reasoning mind birthing our analytical mind trips.

Blinding flash of the obvious: It is our not doing that which God wills, specifically, resist not evil, turn the other cheek, etc., that keeps us from accepting (trusting!) God's love.

This acceptance is our turning point. This is where our transcendent journey, our journey away from self, begins.

Thank you.

WISDOM IS WITHIN

Father Richard teaches that to become wise, we must move into life itself, encountering people and places that challenge our ways of thinking. *** Persist at that deeper place in yourself where the both-and' is located. This is the place of the soul and the place of wisdom toward which we have to move.

I wonder if all desire for other than still more spiritual growth isn't a desire for a self-determined objective no matter how prettied-up the "other" seems to us.

I heard me say today, I wish I were in love again, and I realized that underneath what I really wish is that I knew love...I really don't have a clue. Blinding flash: I wonder if anybody truly does...know love. Well, there I go down that wrong road again...overanalyzing. 

Our lesson for today: God's will, God's way is for our benefit always and all ways...the rockier it feels, the smoother our Way...it is rough and rugged that plows our field of resistance, i.e., self-will. 

We need to recognize that, among other things, the real purpose of self is to move into life itself to encounter people and places that challenge our ways of thinking. Ah...still more spiritual growth.

Thank you.

THE GRACE OF GOD, I

[The following is a reprint of my post of February 24, 2013.]

The grace of God is a wind which is always blowing. -- Sri Ramakrishna

We cannot get the grace of God...we can only give in to the grace of God.

Thank you.

SCRUPULOSITY...WHAT A HOOT!, I

[The following is a reprint of my post of August 23, 2016.]

The literal level is one of the least fruitful levels of meaning....A heart open to the power of metaphor ("that which carries you across"), a heart open to the feminine and open to intimacy, will leap every time. A heart trapped in historical literalism, or closed to the power of poetry, will remain bored, reactive, and trapped in critique. -- Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," September 28, 2015

That, I believe, defines those of us who talk in exaggeration. We are poets, weaving fun in and out of the daily-ness of life. Which reminds me of the point made in The Cloud of Unknowing by an unknown 14th century monk to "be wary of the overly scrupulous."

The overly scrupulous use a one-inch yardstick to measure us by...and our saving grace is we let them because that's the stuff we use to weave our fun when telling of it.

God loves you and me so much...and the overly scrupulous, too.

Thank you.

BLESSED BEYOND HUMAN MEANS

The following is from CAC faculty emerita Cynthia Bourgeault and speaks to me of raised consciousness...raised without our personal thoughts or actions...raised through higher consciousness itself:

 

 ...he stayed close to the ground of wisdom: the transformation of human consciousness. He asked those timeless and deeply personal questions: What does it mean to die before you die? How do you go about losing your little life to find the bigger one? Is it possible to live on this planet with a generosity, abundance, fearlessness, and beauty that mirror Divine Being itself? These are the wisdom questions....

There it is...the ground of wisdom: the transformation of human consciousness. That is the pearl I have been seeking, chasing in fact, since I began my spiritual journey August 24, 1971. 

Gratefully, I seek still, and I expect that to be so until three days after I am dead if...no, since...I am blessed beyond human means.

Thank you.

DOUBTS AND FEARS ARE GOD'S WILL, GOD'S WAY

The following is from my journal...I believe that I need to realize this as more implicit directions, i.e., God's will, God's way:

From July 10th entry: Quoting Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz: The prophet is neither cool nor popular; the prophet is not the life of the party. The prophet is an anxious personality juggling the demands of God with the needs of humans. Constantly risking alienation or even death, the prophet is isolated and lonely. But we are not allowed to turn away. 

From my entry today, 8/3/25: What if I am the prophet? Ah, blinding flash of the obvious: I am MY prophet...I am neither cool nor popular; I am not the life of the party. I am an anxious personality juggling the demands of God with the needs of humans. Constantly risking alienation or even death, I am isolated and lonely. But I am not allowed to turn away. 

That for sure describes my upside down, inside out feelings since 3:00 AM, April 30th. Still, I move forward...forward with doubts, fears, what-ifs ringing in my head.

I take comfort in a long-ago blinding flash: I cannot know God's will, God's way before it is time for me to know, and my trust must come in living that...ah, with doubts, fears, what-ifs ringing in my head. Apparently.

Thank you.

T0 SPARK OUR CONSCIOUSNESS

The study of truth is the smallest part of our life's demonstration. Far too many students study too much. It takes a very small statement of truth to spark our consciousness into action, and it is that action that brings about the development of our spiritual consciousness. It is not what we read that does it,; it is what we do with what we read that does it. -- Joel Goldsmith, "Consciousness Is What I Am," pp 67-68

Thank you.