Matthew under the arm 97
[Forgive me... I have been away from my blog for too long. I wish I could give the excuse that I had the seasonal bug.... but as the exxistentialists say: 'No excuses!'.... So I am wondering whether anyone is still out there!]
Oh dear! Oh dear! Very embarrassing. A woman religious appeared outside the little stone chapel this morning, just as Columba and I were going into to say together the Morning Office [So beautiful at this time of year with those wonderful psalms and readings focusing on fulfilment and hope.... Christian spirituality at this time of year always makes me want to peep around every corner as if Christ might appear in the most unlikely circumstances. Maybe he has and I haven't noticed!]. Anyway, the woman didn't (luckily) know who Columba was. She had met me two days before after a big celebration when, I must confess, I had more to eat and drink than was good for me! 'So here you are about to say your prayers with your strange friend and your life-style bears no comparison to what your lips say'. I was cross and eased up to her with clenched teeth, only to be pulled back by Columba. 'I suppose,' she added with one of those snooty smiles full of condemnation, 'You are another one who says one thing and does another'. I was just about to reveal to her who Columba was when he pulled me back. He smiled at her and simply said,' Why don't you come in and join us?' 'Join you? I will meditate in the silence of clean air! You have let Christ down'. 'You're right', said Columba,' So why don't you come and pray with us and help us be stronger before God....? We could do with your strength, perhaps.' I scowled at Columba. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.... Infuriating man!
Matthew 20:17-23….
Denial of reality is a common experience, particularly when an event may effect us deeply. This third prophecy of Jesus execution is matched by Peter’s three denials a little later. Reality is frequently too acidic for the digestion to cope with. There is also the naivety that Jesus and His Kingdom of God is some place, some utopian landscape where the followers will realise power and, frankly, what amounts to egotistical admiration. Religion is a magnificent playground for the ego, and particularly the frightened one and the one that seeks for power under the mark of spiritual righteousness or, worse still, false humility. To be fair, however, a mother naturally has hopes for her son who has followed Jesus faithfully. We are to face the reality that for all who follow Christ, the Kingdom of God is more of a process, a ‘Kingdoming’. ‘Taking up your cross’ in some form is a prerequisite to understanding the nature of God’s love which is evolving all the time. Following Jesus is about verbs, and they cost dearly.
Wait on My Light and My Truth, and be awake to their development within you
I want recognition. I want to be noticed. And so do you! Even the more content among us. Be aware of that desire and strangely it has power over you. Jesus is modelling this process by gently heightening the awareness of his forthcoming suffering, in which the disciples, all of them will share. Move back into a memory of an experience when you felt most abandoned; indeed when you have suffered most. Do not stay in those memories long. Just acknowledge them. Now remember them in detail and imagine Jesus there in the stories. Picture what he does or says. Then remain with Him and not the memory in the silence using the sentence.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Oh dear! Oh dear! Very embarrassing. A woman religious appeared outside the little stone chapel this morning, just as Columba and I were going into to say together the Morning Office [So beautiful at this time of year with those wonderful psalms and readings focusing on fulfilment and hope.... Christian spirituality at this time of year always makes me want to peep around every corner as if Christ might appear in the most unlikely circumstances. Maybe he has and I haven't noticed!]. Anyway, the woman didn't (luckily) know who Columba was. She had met me two days before after a big celebration when, I must confess, I had more to eat and drink than was good for me! 'So here you are about to say your prayers with your strange friend and your life-style bears no comparison to what your lips say'. I was cross and eased up to her with clenched teeth, only to be pulled back by Columba. 'I suppose,' she added with one of those snooty smiles full of condemnation, 'You are another one who says one thing and does another'. I was just about to reveal to her who Columba was when he pulled me back. He smiled at her and simply said,' Why don't you come in and join us?' 'Join you? I will meditate in the silence of clean air! You have let Christ down'. 'You're right', said Columba,' So why don't you come and pray with us and help us be stronger before God....? We could do with your strength, perhaps.' I scowled at Columba. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.... Infuriating man!
Matthew 20:17-23….
Denial of reality is a common experience, particularly when an event may effect us deeply. This third prophecy of Jesus execution is matched by Peter’s three denials a little later. Reality is frequently too acidic for the digestion to cope with. There is also the naivety that Jesus and His Kingdom of God is some place, some utopian landscape where the followers will realise power and, frankly, what amounts to egotistical admiration. Religion is a magnificent playground for the ego, and particularly the frightened one and the one that seeks for power under the mark of spiritual righteousness or, worse still, false humility. To be fair, however, a mother naturally has hopes for her son who has followed Jesus faithfully. We are to face the reality that for all who follow Christ, the Kingdom of God is more of a process, a ‘Kingdoming’. ‘Taking up your cross’ in some form is a prerequisite to understanding the nature of God’s love which is evolving all the time. Following Jesus is about verbs, and they cost dearly.
Wait on My Light and My Truth, and be awake to their development within you
I want recognition. I want to be noticed. And so do you! Even the more content among us. Be aware of that desire and strangely it has power over you. Jesus is modelling this process by gently heightening the awareness of his forthcoming suffering, in which the disciples, all of them will share. Move back into a memory of an experience when you felt most abandoned; indeed when you have suffered most. Do not stay in those memories long. Just acknowledge them. Now remember them in detail and imagine Jesus there in the stories. Picture what he does or says. Then remain with Him and not the memory in the silence using the sentence.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
posted by Martin at 8:14 pm
1 Comments:
The woman religious, Columba and his travelling companion must have been very religious and, like some of the disciples together with James’ and John’s mother, showed how deaf they were. The bible clearly teaches (especially 1 Thessalonians 4 v 16) that when Christ appears again everyone will see Him and no one will be able to ignore the trumpet blast announcing His return.
The trouble is they don’t listen. James’ and John’s mother didn’t listen as most people don’t listen. If she had listened she certainly would not have wished that her sons would go forward to a crucifixion death. But we have hindsight therefore we should listen more carefully. We only need to be recognised by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we should all learn some Chinese (Mandarin). The word for listen in Chinese means to use your ears, heart, eyes, undivided attention, all of you. All of this makes the one Chinese character for listen.
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