Accepting the Gift

Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
"Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and I will follow you." (1 Kings 19:19-20)

If a prophet came up and threw his cloak around me, thereby demonstrating to all that i am the next prophet, a chosen one, an ear and tongue to God, would i say 'yes'? Would i burn my bridges, sell all, and walk away from my old life? Elisha does just that.

If the Christ came up and invited me to walk with him, to be his disciple, to share his bread and wisdom, would i say 'yes'? Peter, John and James did: “We have left all things and followed you” (Mk 10:28), says St. Peter. We know of these apostles and another nine (ten), but there were thousands who listened and acted, who let the Christ change their lives.

And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. (Lk 9:61-62)

What is holding me back? What part of my life is so perfect now that i cling to it like a sinking ship? What glitters and shines so bright on Earth that i cannot see the real light of compassion and wisdom shining from His outstretched hand? What distraction or comfort am i still chasing? Which fear still keeps me down, backed into the illusionary safety of a corner?

Let go.

Arise.

See the world with new eyes in a new light.

Let it all go.

And in emptiness i am filled. The new yolk is light, Jesus promises.

I desired to know 'why'? Here is my answer: accept the gift of faith and experience the world as it truly is.

Deo gratias.

On The Law and Freedom: Marriage For All?

I found a post in the Canadian Globe and Mail by rabbi John Moscowitz. The mass reading from the last few days tell of Jesus warning the Jews of an overly strict adherence to the Law, a more outward adherence for show of devotion than the inward adherence in come closer to the Father. With hundreds of laws and even more reflections on these laws, another rabbi once said that when he started the day he could better decide which laws he would break as opposed to the laws that he would abide. I have always thought that God's Law was a guidebook for those wishing to tread the dangerous yet alluring paths through material life to become more than just a man, but rather a child of God here and now for all the world. Basically, to be that light Jesus mentions, up on high, in the window for all to see.

We have choice. How many religions and regimes have tried to take our freedom away? How many schools of thought decided that men are like children and need to be lead by the hand and beaten if necessary? Freedom has been earned, and yes, it does not always produce great fruits. I agree with rabbi Moscowitz's view on freedom and thus post it:

I believe deeply that freedom is an absolute necessity for all human beings. I believe in freedom’s redemptive and liberating capabilities for the individual. I believe that freedom is a religious value and right. Freedom is at the very core of our humanity and our dignity, our goodness and our God-ness.
You can’t have freedom in the abstract if you don’t have freedom in reality. You can’t have freedom for one or some without freedom for all. You can’t have one set of rules to recognise love and marriage for heterosexuals and another for homosexuals.
I believe that rabbis, Jewish tradition at our backs, should sanctify the love of Jewish gays and lesbians no less than that of any other two Jews. When any two Jews wish to formalise their love through the rites of kiddushin, the Jewish wedding ceremony, our place is under the chuppah, not at the gates.
So, let me say it clearly and loudly: I believe rabbis should officiate at gay and lesbian marriages and that such a marriage is no less holy than that of a Jewish man and a Jewish woman. No caveats, no exceptions, no footnotes.
I’ve not employed any Torah as a proof text to rationalise rabbinic standing at same-sex weddings.
The reason is straightforward. You, as easily as I, can find texts to buttress one side or the other. I believe that in the liberal milieu, it’s intellectually problematic to do so in this kind of context: One text is as good as another. Which doesn’t mean the tradition has nothing to say, at least with regard to how a mind changes and decides. (theglobeandmail.com)

Funny enough, i agree all should have the right to choose, but that not all choices are helpful to that individual. Is forcing all churches to accept same-sex marriage helpful to all? Me thinks not. But again, that is a choice. At the end of the day, what's in a word? Is a rose by any other name still a rose? Does it change the sacrament? Or are we still busy with infighting, exclusion and separation from our brothers and sisters and missing the point of the Christ altogether? The beast prowling in the darkness of our fears is not to be taken lightly. His distractions are real, as real as the pain and suffering we cause. I pray that we might all do the right thing, with God's guidance and love and grace, through him and with him and in him.

Deo gratias.

Thank You St. Anthony

Went to mass today, but St. Antony wasn't mentioned (a big St. Mary church). Bless him and all who are inspired by his path to Christ; Franciscan simple, Dominican eloquent, may those who have lost themselves find themselves by his guiding light of love and liberation.

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:17-19)

More confusion on my part. Are the two laws 'Love God and love neighbour' lost in the forest of ancient Jewish letters and iotas of law? Breaking the least of them? How about the big ones like anger, divorce and usury? I took a look at the British Catholic Herald and came upon a news article dwelling on the formal Catholic teaching on sexuality. 'Here we go again', me thinks. Yes, doom and gloom and sin and calling one another disordered, sinful and other sundry exclusionary terms. And the Comment section was just as fruitless. Here at the bottom of the hierarchy, i know it's the top's job to maintain formal dogma through the ages, but can't they do a better job marketing Jesus' message? Sure we need to examine our intentions, our motives, they way we live and the way we interact with our neighbours, but ... [sigh]. I prefer the stance of ones 'sins' being 'unhelpful' in the progress along the Way. I have to choose voluntarily: yes, as a creature of the 20th century and western individualism i am stubborn and ego-centric, but is that not why i have been drawn to the message of love, peace, sharing, caring, salt of the earth and light in the darkness? Should i be a self-deciding Protestant? More fragmentation and separation. Why would my neighbour drive me away from the sacraments ... ever?! This speaks more of abolishment than fulfilment, me thinks. Blessed cardinals of the Curia, even weeds have beautiful flowers that feed butterflies and are essential to the ecological balance of Earth: the human mind has created the lable 'weed'. Am i to be least in the Kingdom of heaven? I'll let God judge me on that, if you please.

Let St. Anthony and all the saints smile on us with grace and confidence, with encouragement and consolation. Let us not be discouraged and turn a deaf ear to our fellow men who in their passion and self-righteousness might grow too high and too brittle to weather the winds being human. Nothing lasts for ever, my friends, except that which is the alpha and the omega, the all, the one, the beginning and the end and the beginning of existence. May that we know this Truth in this lifetime so that we might share it with others as St. Anthony, to make this world shine in glory as it always has, always is and always shall be.

Deo gratias.

Is There a Middle Road in Christianity?

Is there a middle road in Christianity, i ask myself?

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot (Mt 5:13)

As salt of the earth, can we be only a wee bit salty? Can we use a part of our ability to season a meal and withhold the rest, thus running the risk that we are taken up, swept away and trampled underfoot by worldliness, pleasures linked to our senses and fears born in our minds?

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father (Mt 5:14-16)

As lights of the world, can Christians only shine a bit? Can we turn it on and off? Can we choose who will see our light and who shall be left in the dark? All or nothing, me thinks. Overwhelming, indeed! I am the rich man who agrees with the principles and motives for seasoning a man's meal and giving him the light by which he can share in the Love of God, but give up my wealth? Jesus asks me to take that extra step. Give all and i shall reap all. Let go and find solid ground upon which to stand firmly, a city on a mountain. To be Christian is to love God and neighbour, to be the seasoning to the food of life that improves flavour for all and to be that brilliant light shining out for all.

I shrink from the demand.

It wouldn't be the first time that my ego whispers 'give up, it's not attainable, it's neither realistic nor personally desirable'. It wouldn't be the first time that i am keen to save myself and the world from the darkness of Selfishness, of fear and hate and isolation, yet when presented with a simple path to that very end that i choose the familiar, the safe and the long and winding road.

I shrink from the gift.

There is however, strength in numbers. A church, a community, can stand together, yet it seems that the group, like the herd, chooses the lowest common denominator. Choose more. Choose goodness. Choose eternal life, we are asked as individuals. Choose to be salt and light for humanity. How to begin? How to commit? Yet how do i stay the same and safe in my choices? I know this can't be done, however, because if i commit there is no same and there is no guarantee of safety and security: that is not what life is about, though we pretend it is our only goal. Let go and choose to be more, Jesus says, choose to be the beings we are created for being! We no longer settle for second rate spices, because tasteless salt is useless. We no longer settle for a dim existence in the shadows or groping about in darkness when we ourselves hold the light if only we choose to ignite it and shine for all the world to see.

There are times when i stumble. God grant me the faith and courage to get back up and try again, try with wisdom and compassion and to be fully committed to being the person i am meant to be, the person that the Christ knows i am and can be ... if i humble my ego and let Him guide me.

Is there a middle road?

Deo gratias.