Matthew under the arm 106
[The numbering of the postings have gone slightly awry. Apologies. There were two 104s! Will this Pilgrimage end by Easter? Mmmmm?]
At the bottom of my bag, I have a treasure. It is a little book. Oh yes! I do carry a little copy of St Matthew's Gospel 'under the arm', as it were. But this little book is a hand-written collection of beautiful poetry. Unfortunately, after a solid day's rain, my bag and its content were soaked through. However, my little book was wrapped in several layers of paper to protect. Columba noticed, as I was putting the contents of my bag out to dry by the fire in our lodgings, that I was lovingly clutching to my chest the little book. 'I haven't seen that before.' Proudly, I showed him the book and its poetry. He asked to look at it for a while. In fact he took it to his bunk with him. The following day, I had forgotten about the little book. The rain continued. As we stopped in the ruins of an old dwelling to shelter from the continuing rain, I asked for my little book. Columba reached into his bag and, of course, it was soaked through. I was furious. 'Don't worry', said Columba 'I know all the poems by heart. I will write out a new one for you.' He must have spent all night learning them 'by heart'... But the book is precious....
Matthew 21:33-45….
The pull towards owning is deeply sunk into the human psyche. This comes about because we have identified with it. The most dangerous aspect of this phenomenon is in religious groups. We say: ‘My Church, ‘My Belief’, ‘My beliefs’ or we say ‘Our…’. Not suprisingly, it is also an acid that eats away at the inside of Christendom, to such an extent that groups stake out their territory, which then must be defended. Christ stands outside those boundaries and weeps. Once the possessive pronoun is used it immediately sets us off against ‘your…’ ‘their….’ Etc. Fear of our own demise or alienation – worse still- being forgotten leads to a hunt for significance that might placate our fear. Christ is the one who offers freedom from the possessive pronoun, but we get rid of him because we have no intention of being free – really free.
That your heart may be still and aware of My Freedom
There is a helpful exercise known as ‘Disidentification’. Begin with silence as usual and use the sentence for a good stretch of time. Then look at the things, issues and people to which you feel attached. They are not yours. They are not anybody’s. They may be vitally important parts of you. Use the parable to deepen your imagination. Remember that it points to the simplicity of cooperating with all around you to enrich it for its own sake, not for yours. Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus taught about poverty of spirit. It may be clearer now what it means. Letting go of your feelings of possessiveness is hard, for some, very hard. Renunciation is not the demand here. It is freedom. Strangely, you will find that you enjoy what thing and people you are given to care for but are not yours.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
At the bottom of my bag, I have a treasure. It is a little book. Oh yes! I do carry a little copy of St Matthew's Gospel 'under the arm', as it were. But this little book is a hand-written collection of beautiful poetry. Unfortunately, after a solid day's rain, my bag and its content were soaked through. However, my little book was wrapped in several layers of paper to protect. Columba noticed, as I was putting the contents of my bag out to dry by the fire in our lodgings, that I was lovingly clutching to my chest the little book. 'I haven't seen that before.' Proudly, I showed him the book and its poetry. He asked to look at it for a while. In fact he took it to his bunk with him. The following day, I had forgotten about the little book. The rain continued. As we stopped in the ruins of an old dwelling to shelter from the continuing rain, I asked for my little book. Columba reached into his bag and, of course, it was soaked through. I was furious. 'Don't worry', said Columba 'I know all the poems by heart. I will write out a new one for you.' He must have spent all night learning them 'by heart'... But the book is precious....
Matthew 21:33-45….
The pull towards owning is deeply sunk into the human psyche. This comes about because we have identified with it. The most dangerous aspect of this phenomenon is in religious groups. We say: ‘My Church, ‘My Belief’, ‘My beliefs’ or we say ‘Our…’. Not suprisingly, it is also an acid that eats away at the inside of Christendom, to such an extent that groups stake out their territory, which then must be defended. Christ stands outside those boundaries and weeps. Once the possessive pronoun is used it immediately sets us off against ‘your…’ ‘their….’ Etc. Fear of our own demise or alienation – worse still- being forgotten leads to a hunt for significance that might placate our fear. Christ is the one who offers freedom from the possessive pronoun, but we get rid of him because we have no intention of being free – really free.
That your heart may be still and aware of My Freedom
There is a helpful exercise known as ‘Disidentification’. Begin with silence as usual and use the sentence for a good stretch of time. Then look at the things, issues and people to which you feel attached. They are not yours. They are not anybody’s. They may be vitally important parts of you. Use the parable to deepen your imagination. Remember that it points to the simplicity of cooperating with all around you to enrich it for its own sake, not for yours. Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus taught about poverty of spirit. It may be clearer now what it means. Letting go of your feelings of possessiveness is hard, for some, very hard. Renunciation is not the demand here. It is freedom. Strangely, you will find that you enjoy what thing and people you are given to care for but are not yours.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Labels: The Acid of Possessiveness
posted by Martin at 8:19 am
2 Comments:
I have not heard of this "process of ‘Disidentification’" I looked it up. It seems a little synchrotistic to me to use it as a Christian means of meditation. I wonder if you could point me in the right direction via a well known Christian theologian whose books I could access in order to aquaint myself with it because it is certainly not in any books in my own library?
What is 'synchrotistic'?
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