first breath to last exhale

9/1/13 message -- From off the Meetinghouse Floor

A bedrock principle of Quakerism is opposition to all war.  Does Syria's chemical weapon's attack make any difference for this peace testimony? President Obama and Kerry made great points, laid out the case for a military response.  I thought about it as I put the "War is not the Answer" sign in front of my Meetinghouse this past Sunday.  What is the answer? What is the answer when atrocities happen, when madmen have unspeakably terrible weapons?  

Just before she died, Gertrude Stein asked: “What is the answer?” No answer came. She laughed and said: “In that case, what is the question?” Then she died. So perhaps rather then thinking "what is the answer" it is better to ask "What is the question". 
One question could be about how did, do and will we live our lives from the time we take our first breath to the last exhale? to will live in that power that takes away the occasion of war? Do we live in a way that feeds exploitation, domination and violence? 

 The way of true Love is not always strewn with rose petals. 
 The way of true Love is most often not easy or comfortable. But if we travel it faithfully, if we put our trust in that which is eternal, if we hold in our heart and focus our mind on the aspect of the love that is unconditional for all side of a struggle, the perpetrator as well as the victim, a Love not based upon anything done or said good or bad, on judgements, not based even on any past or present friendships, rather a love that just is. Living in that space we can find courage, we can find compassion, we can be content. Living in this question of honestly how do we live our lives then we are in a better position to "walk cheerfully over the earth answering that go God in everyone."

…..

I, God, am in your midst.
Whoever knows me can never fall.
Not in the heights,
nor in the depths,
nor in the breadths.
For I am Love, which the vast expanses of evil can never still.

- Hildegard of Bingen

Inner peace

8/25/13   message -- From off the Meetinghouse Floor

Many of us come to realize that it isn't useful, positive or healthy for our spiritual purpose to cede control of our inner, emotional landscape to others. Knowing this and making it real in our lives though, are two different things. 

It is all too easy for someone else's distress directed at us to cause us to be angry or sad. Sometimes in the face of irrationality we beat ourselves up as of course it is all our fault not realizing that thinking we are primarily to blame is another form of egotism. Likewise, it is easy to feel happy when someone expresses love or appreciation or compliments us  instead of having joy an intrinsic part of our being. If joy in our lives is predicated on something outside ourselves, things or other people, then it is impossible to be fully in the place of gratitude for all the gifts with which God  surround and enfolds us. With conditions,  love becomes a zero sum mentality with only so much to go around and everyone in competition for theirs.  If affirmations are instead only a small decoration on an already perfect ship then our rudder can point our souls to thier true direction without being tossed by the various tempests that swirl around our lives. 

Then and only then, we have choices. We can choose to be outraged at injustice or oppression perpetrated against others rather then have it be a byproduct of our processing disrespect directed at ourselves. We can also choose to affirm others freely without the strings of an expected reciprocation.  Spirit then become more real and life takes on a more complete beauty and purpose. Inner peace becomes realized, second by second, minute by minute, until we hold this space as ourselves forever.

Divine Paradox again

8/11  message -- From off the Meetinghouse Floor

I am aware of two contradictions that none the less are true, another divine paradox. I am God's beloved, special, unique beautiful bride, the reason the world was created. I am also but dust and ashes, the refuse left over, a molecule in a grain of sand in a desert made of all the deserts of the world combined, less significant then a mosquito. Whichever I am acting out of, acting with the wisdom and strength that comes from on high,  the other side is there as well, it doesn't make sense to be anything but secure in Creator's love and at the same time, truly completely humble. 

                                            ~rch~   Love (unfired majolica plate)

Divine paradox

8/4/13 message -- From off the Meetinghouse Floor

Gods timing is perfect. Remember this when you feel inpatient, particularly in wanting a prayer answered. Things happen in the material world in sequence b follows a. In the eternal this is not so, everything simply is. There is no past, no future, beginning or end.  in this play we think of as reality however, there is a dynamic unfolding. This is the essential aspect of the paradox that everything is foretold yet we have free will. In the end there is only goodness, god-ness, goddess, go to its Source.

renewal

 7/14/13 message -- From off the Meetinghouse Floor 

Some people like to name God,  that Source of pure love, of light,  our “Creator”. Rightly so,  as probably since human beings began,  we have marveled at the intricacies of a flower,  the incredible colors of a sunset and seen a larger hand at work. That aspect of the Creator has though an opposite side. That flower eventually withers and falls,  the sunset eventually turns to darkness and that too is part of the Divine.

Just so with not only ourselves, our bodies,  but those things we build,  whether a house, a business or a spiritual community. Everything has a season;  like birds flying past a window. As human beings we like to hold on to things, hold on to beauty. We take pictures to remember that flower or sunset because we know in time even our memory will fade. But in reality in time even that photograph eventually will crumble and disappear.

Another metaphor used occasionally for the concept of God is as a potter. As a potter myself I know one of the hardest things is to determine when, after careful work and attention,  a pot needs to be destroyed.  Its a very difficult thing to do but having created that piece I know the inner flaws, the potential for bigger problems.  But it does not go to waste. That same clay is put back into its beginning state. Then it is reformed into another pot.  

While we hate it when something,  or relationship or group needs to be reformed it is as integral a part of the unfolding creation, God's plan,  as a birth. Sometime it might be small, a handle on a mug needing to be removed, sometimes something bigger. When playing spider solitaire to make it through the game requires smart organizing. But that is not enough. It also requires over and over again using the back button to return to a place where there is an opening and building again. This is also true in life.The lesson of renewal is important because while change is said to be the only thing we can be sure of,  we can also be sure of renewal. 

 There is an Eternal force that renews everything,  nothing goes to waste. So in the end all of it is for the good. Nothing lasts as it is forever,  

except Forever.

What is your Desire?

Thomas Merton in Thoughts of  Solitude said "Our desire to please God, pleases God." In a broader context, if deep in our hearts we have the desire to bring Love,  to bring Light, bring Peace into the world, if we have infused in our being only the desire to connect to that Source from which all that rises,  that desire then by its very existence,  does in fact connect us to the Divine Presence.  Regardless of the effect,  the result,  regardless of whether we think we have failed,  the connection with goodness is accomplished because of our desire. In and of itself the intention affects the higher purpose, so everything is for the good, its all okay because there is nothing else but that Source that delights in our desire to do good and be connected.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. i I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about  it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

                                                             Thomas Merton in Thoughts of  Solitude