Living a Script?

 I had a vivid vision. I was standing before a wall of bookshelves. They were arranged from left to right, easy to difficult, to very difficult.  I took down one in the very difficult section. The cover said "Job." I told my guide, "I will take this one."

That would certainly explain the strange events of my life. My general life script is like Job's. What was I thinking?

This morning, not wanting to get up yet, I was musing, and I was asking what I am to learn and what am I to do with the rest of my life? 

I saw the Bible as a cast of characters that outline all of our lives. I saw that it tells not only of God, but also of the human condition and the lessons we come to earth to learn. 

I thought of Shakespeare's all the world's a stage. Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth to this and to my vision.

Think on these things...

The Spirit Who Raised Jesus

 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.--- Romans 8:11, 14-17

 I was reading Richard Rohr again this morning. The section I was reading suggested reading Romans 7. I did and kept on reading chapter 8. Now, I have read the New Testament hundreds of times, and this time I read Romans 8, I was struck with the above verses. This is what I've been saying, and yet somehow I missed that Paul made the same point. Or maybe subconsciously I remembered and joined it with my life experience to know and teach our seeking and yearning for the Spirit of God.

It is the Spirit of God we seek, the same Spirit that worked through Jesus. Jesus showed us what that kind of life would look like, would be. When we become aware of the Union. the Unity, the Oneness, our lives shift into something wholly different from the life seemingly separate from God. The Spirit of God is everywhere, but we have spiritual blinders on until we awaken. It seems we are separate, but we are not. Only in our belief are we separate. Magnificent Oneness is there, knocking on our inner door all the time. We are not orphans, adrift on earth. We are children of God, co-heirs with Christ.

You Belong

 If the veil parts once and you know life is radically okay, then you are — to use the normal Christian language — a child of God. You are in union. There is nothing to prove. Nothing to attain. Everything is already there. It is simply a matter of recognizing and honoring and trusting. --- Richard Rohr, "Everything Belongs"

The veil can part in meditation, in prayer, in nature, in some moment in life that has sudden change,or seemingly random moments. You can't make it happen. You can make yourself ready by your spiritual practices, make your inner ground receptive.

However it happens, it is a profound life change. It may happen multiple times. It changes us more and more. The more surely we know of Divine Union, of Unconditional Love, of what's really going on, the more aware, awake, and at peace we are.

We know from experience that God exists, that God is with us, that life's lessons have purpose, that everything is part of the Whole. We know and know that we know. It's not intellectual, or hopeful, or hearsay.  You belong. You are okay ---  a magnificent one of a kind masterpiece of God, and so is everyone else. 

Arise

 Arise, shine for the light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.           - Isaiah 60:1

I opened my Bible randomly this morning, and opened to the above verse. As my husband walks better and better with a walker and is overcoming the stroke, this seemed like it was personally meaning-laden for us.

And, for all of us in process of overcoming various things, arise. I remember someone long ago saying People say I'm doing okay under the circumstances, what on earth are you doing under circumstances? 

Arise! Life happens. Life and its challenges/lessons happen for us all. We have to face them, overcome them, learn from them, hold out a hand to others also trying to overcome and move on. 

We cannot avoid life's lessons. As the Borg said "resistance is futile." In fact, resistance, complaint, weeping and wailing, only prolong it. 

We can avoid some of the challenges, however, by being present in the present moment and making better, wiser choices. As I have often said, "after most of our valleys we can say I knew I shouldn't have done that." It seems to me that we receive guidance that we ignore.

So let us listen more carefully, choose more wisely, be fully present, and when we find ourselves in a dark place, Arise!

Life Turns On a Dime

And suddenly all is different.

My husband and I were rejoicing that on Saturday it's our 37 the wedding anniversary.

BUT Tuesday he had a stroke. His legs no longer work. He's dizzy, throwing up. He's in the hospital.

Our future is not what we thought it would be.

Time to pray and regroup. There are new things to do, things we never expected or prepared for. What can I do? St. Francis' thought speaks to me.

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” —St. Francis of Assisi

So I'm about to help my husband do the impossible. Pray for us please.

A Fascinating New Old Book

 I am reading a book written over 100 years ago that is new and exciting to me. Abraham Rihbany wrote The Syrian Christ, Son of the East. He was born and raised near where Jesus was born and raised. He says to understand the Bible, one must understand the life and ways of a culture far different Western culture. It is difficult to understand deeply for those not part of a culture. Most only know a surface snapshot. He goes on to say: 

The combination of our commercial activities and the never-ceasing whirl of the wheels of our industries close up our senses to the intimate whisperings of the divine spirit. We see, but with the outward eye. We hear, but with the outward ear. Our inward senses are in grave danger of dying altogether from lack of exercise.

 I find this sadly true, maybe even more so with all of the developments since he wrote. We are bombarded with the trivial, we are kept busy with things that we have no control over, we are upset and distracted. We often fill our days with the meaningless.

For some people there seems to be no time to be still, to contemplate, to listen, to go inward and upward. Therefore, spiritual senses are dulled, shut down and out of the lives of many people. As he said, "for lack of exercise," spiritual senses may die in us. There then is no richness, no depth, no poetry, no understanding or even awareness of the Mystery. We wander in the dry desert, in the wilderness devoid of greatness of soul.

I urge you to carve out quiet time every day, to be aware when you are busy with the meaningless, to exercise your spiritual senses. Go inward and upward every day.

How Do I Become Anything?

First of all,decide on it and practice, practice, practice. If you want to be a philosopher and wise Epictetus said:

We ought to learn that there is a God and that he provides for all things: also that it is not possible to conceal from him our acts, or even our intentions and thoughts... (We) must with all our power try to be like him. If the divine is faithful, man also must be faithful: if it is free, man also must be free; if beneficent, man also must be beneficent; if magnanimous, man also must be magnanimous; as being then an imitator of God, he must do and say everything consistently with this fact.

 Whatever we wish to be, we must learn the skills of that thing, whether it be music or art or coding and be consistent in our learning and application. 

In addition, it seems to me, we would also do well to seek wisdom and a relationship with God.  There are many writings and teachings about this, of course. Epictetus writes succinctly. His words can add to what we know or seek to know. 

To me, if I say I am something or other, but do not do best  practices of that thing, I am not really what I say I am.. I am a phony, sloppy, an imposter. 

I think that is one of the reasons people have fallen away from religious groups, are disgusted with politics, and don't know what to do or how to find a genuine, congruent teacher. So few practice what they preach, often even do the opposite. 

If we want to turn the world around, we need to embody the qualities that we desire in our leaders, practice them, get more and more consistent, and then, only then, teach others, lead others. As is often said, be the change you want to see happen.

You can do it. God has led you here to these words, in this moment of time. Hear them in your heart and begin.