Matthew under the arm 126
[I am aware that the pilgrimage with St Matthew's Gospel is drawing to a conclusion (if ever pilgrimage end!). In this posting I refer to St Martin... Having his name is a wonderful honour, particularly as you will see, as the great Bishop of Tours, he influenced so much of early Christianity in Northern Europe and Britain.]
I couldn't wait any longer. yesterday evening, I asked Columba about where the pilgrimage would end. 'For me, it will be another dying!' What did he mean? 'Just remember the great Saint Martin of Tours and the cross that calls us....' Again, I had no idea what Columba meant. I then added: 'But you are so much stronger now. What is it with you... 'dying'? You are too important to be near death.' Columba drew five circles on the soil at the side of the path. Two circles he drew clockwise and three anti-clockwise. He then winked at me as he said 'Our Father...', holding up five fingers of his right hand and then silently pointing at the sun. 'Soon', he said. That evening in the inn as I downed a long and gorgeous drink, I turned to a fellow-pilgrim and waxed eloquent that I was being taught spiritual secrets by Columba... But he overheard... 'Dying? is that much of a secret... Pay attention!'
Matthew 26:30-35….
The writer of the Gospel was immersed in the Psalms and the Prophets. He would see the echoes of Jesus’ story going back to ringing and yet disturbing passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. As we pray with this passage, we are wrapped in the experience of the early church perception of Christ both wounded and risen which lies at the source of every part of the Gospel; Christ who is to be identified with the most alienated and apparently least likely to be associated with the Glory of God, and yet, they are the very ones through whom we experience the mystery of the Resurrection. Peter who was to become the founding apostle of the Church is in the dark as to the significance of this mystery. All his securities are collapsing around him. Therefore he responds out of fear. Peter falls into that obvious trap of ingratiating the one he admires. Oh! A much repeated habit
That in the alienated, I may affirm the work of Thy Rising.
The psychology of trying to please may arise from a natural admiration of someone’s skills or personality. The motivation is often that I may be included in the admired person’s life and that I may receive some reflected affirmation. It may also be that I want to escape the lack of self-worth or of my weaknesses being exposed. In this exercise imagine someone you have come to know and admire. Notice even the slightest inclination in you to ingratiate. This is not an exercise in self-accusation. Simply be aware. Then read the passage again. Identify with Peter, hearing Jesus speaking to you – understanding the depths of you. Jesus is not a hero or celebrity to be ingratiated. He is too deeply within you, for fantasies about his remote otherness to have any meaning.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
I couldn't wait any longer. yesterday evening, I asked Columba about where the pilgrimage would end. 'For me, it will be another dying!' What did he mean? 'Just remember the great Saint Martin of Tours and the cross that calls us....' Again, I had no idea what Columba meant. I then added: 'But you are so much stronger now. What is it with you... 'dying'? You are too important to be near death.' Columba drew five circles on the soil at the side of the path. Two circles he drew clockwise and three anti-clockwise. He then winked at me as he said 'Our Father...', holding up five fingers of his right hand and then silently pointing at the sun. 'Soon', he said. That evening in the inn as I downed a long and gorgeous drink, I turned to a fellow-pilgrim and waxed eloquent that I was being taught spiritual secrets by Columba... But he overheard... 'Dying? is that much of a secret... Pay attention!'
Matthew 26:30-35….
The writer of the Gospel was immersed in the Psalms and the Prophets. He would see the echoes of Jesus’ story going back to ringing and yet disturbing passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. As we pray with this passage, we are wrapped in the experience of the early church perception of Christ both wounded and risen which lies at the source of every part of the Gospel; Christ who is to be identified with the most alienated and apparently least likely to be associated with the Glory of God, and yet, they are the very ones through whom we experience the mystery of the Resurrection. Peter who was to become the founding apostle of the Church is in the dark as to the significance of this mystery. All his securities are collapsing around him. Therefore he responds out of fear. Peter falls into that obvious trap of ingratiating the one he admires. Oh! A much repeated habit
That in the alienated, I may affirm the work of Thy Rising.
The psychology of trying to please may arise from a natural admiration of someone’s skills or personality. The motivation is often that I may be included in the admired person’s life and that I may receive some reflected affirmation. It may also be that I want to escape the lack of self-worth or of my weaknesses being exposed. In this exercise imagine someone you have come to know and admire. Notice even the slightest inclination in you to ingratiate. This is not an exercise in self-accusation. Simply be aware. Then read the passage again. Identify with Peter, hearing Jesus speaking to you – understanding the depths of you. Jesus is not a hero or celebrity to be ingratiated. He is too deeply within you, for fantasies about his remote otherness to have any meaning.
+Martin
Argyll and The Isles
Labels: Ingratiation and honesty
posted by Martin at 5:03 pm
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