More from Thomas Merton in the chapter "Things in Their Identity."
No two created beings are exactly alike. And their individuality is no imperfection. On the contrary, the perfection of each created thing is not merely in its conformity to an abstract type but in its own individual identity with itself. This particular tree will give glory to God by spreading out its roots in the earth and raising its branches into the air and the light in a way that no other tree before or after it ever will do.
The gift of one's identity is quite sacred. I may be a part of a certain "group" of people because of my race, ethnicity, nation of origin, etc., and yet I am the only one of me. That is the beauty of God's claim on each of us in baptism. We are each the beloved one....all beloved. And yet, there is such a diversity of texture and appearance and gifts that comes within each one of us. Like this image of the tree that is like no other before or after it, each of us must fill our own shoes - no other shoes. Each one of us sends down our roots and blows with the wind quite differently. Part of that is because we are all different and unique. Part of that is that the wind/spirit blows on each of us differently because we are all in different places. The Spirit takes what is so individual and it is able to create from this blessing of our uniqueness - a body that is one.
Connection: Today there will be no one like you to add to the beauty of this day.
Come, Creating God and let your power for life sustain us as we find our way through this life. Be our strength as our gifts unfold and our unique personalities help to shape the communities in which we live. Amen.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday 30 May 2008
The week ends with a movement away from talking of plants and things...to talking about us
Tuesday 27 May 2008
Today we move into a chapter in "New Seeds of Contemplation" call "Things in Their Identity" - by Thomas Merton.
A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying God. It "consents," so to speak, to God's creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.
The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like God. If it tried to be like something else which it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give God less glory.
For all of us it would be good to be able to honor the intended being of that which is other. I would think that we would then be more aware of what each part of creation has to bring to the whole. Llike the different trees in our front yard, they are so different from one another and yet that is what they are intended to be...and because of that, they each are a greater gift to the yard and those who notice them. I suppose we need to expand this notion to our humanity. No one is asked to be something other than human. To try to be more would cause us to miss who we are as individuals. WE are not even asked to be like other humans. We are to be the one God creates in us. I know that brings many folks problems as we try to look and compare and grade and evaluate one another. Then again, there is meant to be peace in knowing that each of us is a beloved one of God and we are invited to be that gift of life that is me...and you. When we are open to the wonder of our being, we are open to the beauty that becomes a vital part to the wider community of God's creation.
Connection: Yes, we are each different. Yes, that doesn't always please us. Yes, we can resist being who we are...but then, everyone will miss out on the gift of creation each of us is.
Lord of Creation, we often attempt to be more than the life we have been given. When we resist being ourselves, we often spin off center and lose track of the gift of life you created in each of us. We then become anxious and unable to live like the lilies of the field and the birds of the air - free and beloved. Amen.
A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying God. It "consents," so to speak, to God's creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.
The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like God. If it tried to be like something else which it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give God less glory.
For all of us it would be good to be able to honor the intended being of that which is other. I would think that we would then be more aware of what each part of creation has to bring to the whole. Llike the different trees in our front yard, they are so different from one another and yet that is what they are intended to be...and because of that, they each are a greater gift to the yard and those who notice them. I suppose we need to expand this notion to our humanity. No one is asked to be something other than human. To try to be more would cause us to miss who we are as individuals. WE are not even asked to be like other humans. We are to be the one God creates in us. I know that brings many folks problems as we try to look and compare and grade and evaluate one another. Then again, there is meant to be peace in knowing that each of us is a beloved one of God and we are invited to be that gift of life that is me...and you. When we are open to the wonder of our being, we are open to the beauty that becomes a vital part to the wider community of God's creation.
Connection: Yes, we are each different. Yes, that doesn't always please us. Yes, we can resist being who we are...but then, everyone will miss out on the gift of creation each of us is.
Lord of Creation, we often attempt to be more than the life we have been given. When we resist being ourselves, we often spin off center and lose track of the gift of life you created in each of us. We then become anxious and unable to live like the lilies of the field and the birds of the air - free and beloved. Amen.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Friday 23 May 2008
I think this is a good piece to bring us to the end of this week. Again from Merton and again about saints.
The eyes of the saint make all beauty holy and the hands of the saint consecrate everything they touch to the glory of God, and the saint is never offended by anything and judges no person's sin because the saint does not know sin. The saint knows the mercy of God. The saint knows that her/his mission on earth is to bring that mercy to all people.
Why doesn't the saint judge or become offended at that which others do or what happens around them... "because the saint does not know sin." Really!?! But it goes on and makes even a more creative statement that simply sets me back on my heels. "The saint knows the mercy of God." That is our agenda...that is our knowledge...that is what leads us...that is what shapes our vision and the path set out before us...that is simply powerful! And what are we to do in our lives? Some are always wondering or asking what God's will is to be in their life. Well, to bring the mercy of God to all people seems like it is all that needs to be said. What a life that would be! What a way to shape this day - to bring God's mercy to all people. I dog-eared that page so that I will stumble on it again and her that wonderful call to life.
Connection: Well...bring on the mercy....bring it on to all!
Blessed are you, O God Most High, for your mercy carries us into this day and invites us to live within your image as we move through the day and meet and greet those who will be a part of the life we are shaping in your presence. Praise to you, O God. Amen.
The eyes of the saint make all beauty holy and the hands of the saint consecrate everything they touch to the glory of God, and the saint is never offended by anything and judges no person's sin because the saint does not know sin. The saint knows the mercy of God. The saint knows that her/his mission on earth is to bring that mercy to all people.
Why doesn't the saint judge or become offended at that which others do or what happens around them... "because the saint does not know sin." Really!?! But it goes on and makes even a more creative statement that simply sets me back on my heels. "The saint knows the mercy of God." That is our agenda...that is our knowledge...that is what leads us...that is what shapes our vision and the path set out before us...that is simply powerful! And what are we to do in our lives? Some are always wondering or asking what God's will is to be in their life. Well, to bring the mercy of God to all people seems like it is all that needs to be said. What a life that would be! What a way to shape this day - to bring God's mercy to all people. I dog-eared that page so that I will stumble on it again and her that wonderful call to life.
Connection: Well...bring on the mercy....bring it on to all!
Blessed are you, O God Most High, for your mercy carries us into this day and invites us to live within your image as we move through the day and meet and greet those who will be a part of the life we are shaping in your presence. Praise to you, O God. Amen.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday 22 May 2008
The words about saints continues - by Thomas Merton.
The saint knows that the world and everything made by God is good, while those who are not saints either think that created things are unholy, or else they don't bother about the question one way or another because they are only interested in themselves.
I have to remember that "saint" to me is not someone who does good things. Rather the saint is one who lives within the reality that s/he is claimed by God as is all of creation. Therefore, we are, as saints, apart of the whole goodness of the creation. In that sense, there is no me over and against the rest of creation...no priority given to me....no segregation that dictates that some things are holy and others unholy. As I say this, it is also important to not that in Lutheran circles we say that all the baptized are saints...and sinners. Therefore, we are all people who can easily be "only interested in themselves" (turned-in-on-self). It is so important to see things through the lens of our sainthood. For as we look out at everything God has made, we are not stuck on ourselves but rather see the fullness of God's delight.
Connection: The first hymn (that was called a hymn) I learned as a young Roman Catholic boy was at my confirmation in fourth grade -- "Holy, Holy, Holy." It is worth tripping through this day with those words and images in our hearts.
Holy are you, O God, and holy is all that you create. When all things are holy we are free to engage the world as resident saints who find joy and delight in all things and are ready to serve as will be needed this day. Amen.
The saint knows that the world and everything made by God is good, while those who are not saints either think that created things are unholy, or else they don't bother about the question one way or another because they are only interested in themselves.
I have to remember that "saint" to me is not someone who does good things. Rather the saint is one who lives within the reality that s/he is claimed by God as is all of creation. Therefore, we are, as saints, apart of the whole goodness of the creation. In that sense, there is no me over and against the rest of creation...no priority given to me....no segregation that dictates that some things are holy and others unholy. As I say this, it is also important to not that in Lutheran circles we say that all the baptized are saints...and sinners. Therefore, we are all people who can easily be "only interested in themselves" (turned-in-on-self). It is so important to see things through the lens of our sainthood. For as we look out at everything God has made, we are not stuck on ourselves but rather see the fullness of God's delight.
Connection: The first hymn (that was called a hymn) I learned as a young Roman Catholic boy was at my confirmation in fourth grade -- "Holy, Holy, Holy." It is worth tripping through this day with those words and images in our hearts.
Holy are you, O God, and holy is all that you create. When all things are holy we are free to engage the world as resident saints who find joy and delight in all things and are ready to serve as will be needed this day. Amen.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Today is a continuation of Thomas Merton on the holy...specifically the saint.
A saint is capable of loving created things and enjoying the use of them and dealing with them in a perfectly simple, natural manner, making no formal references to God, drawing no attention to his/her own piety, and acting without any artificial rigidity at all. His/her gentleness and sweetness are not pressed through his/her pores by the crushing restraint of a spiritual strait-jacket. They come from her/his direct docility to the light of truth and to the will of God. Hence a saint is capable of talking about the world without any explicit reference to God, in such a way that her/his statement gives greater glory to God and arouses a greater love of God than the observations of someone less holy, who has to strain her/himself to make an arbitrary connection between creatures and God through the medium of hackneyed analogies and metaphors that are so feeble that they make you think there is something the matter with religion.
Witnessing without making any explicit reference to God...some would say that cannot be done. And yet, I find this to be refreshing and quite truthful. Too often, I think religious people can be like those who like to tag buildings with their initials or their "sign." Religious folk can be so into labeling things with God language that we are often left with no ability to imagine the greatness of God because of all the "tagging" going on. When we talk about the world around us with eyes that are open to the graciousness of God, we speak about a bold world that brings life out into the open and brings people together and creates moments of dialogue and exploration that can bring people to a simple and silent "amen." There is no pressure to make it fit. There is no expectation that certain words must be used in certain ways that will bring about certain situations. Rather, the day is left wide open and we, as saints, explore and share and question and become surprised at the utter joy that comes within God's Reign even as we let go our our language slip aside while we take on the day.
Connection: Rather than tag things with our religious words and boxes, it would do us well to let go and take the world as it is and spend some time listening and seeing its wonder.
Come, Lord of the New Day, and stir us up as you promise. When we attempt to put your Reign into a box, liberate us to see the glory of your Reign that keeps breaking into our lives and new ways and times unexpected. Amen.
A saint is capable of loving created things and enjoying the use of them and dealing with them in a perfectly simple, natural manner, making no formal references to God, drawing no attention to his/her own piety, and acting without any artificial rigidity at all. His/her gentleness and sweetness are not pressed through his/her pores by the crushing restraint of a spiritual strait-jacket. They come from her/his direct docility to the light of truth and to the will of God. Hence a saint is capable of talking about the world without any explicit reference to God, in such a way that her/his statement gives greater glory to God and arouses a greater love of God than the observations of someone less holy, who has to strain her/himself to make an arbitrary connection between creatures and God through the medium of hackneyed analogies and metaphors that are so feeble that they make you think there is something the matter with religion.
Witnessing without making any explicit reference to God...some would say that cannot be done. And yet, I find this to be refreshing and quite truthful. Too often, I think religious people can be like those who like to tag buildings with their initials or their "sign." Religious folk can be so into labeling things with God language that we are often left with no ability to imagine the greatness of God because of all the "tagging" going on. When we talk about the world around us with eyes that are open to the graciousness of God, we speak about a bold world that brings life out into the open and brings people together and creates moments of dialogue and exploration that can bring people to a simple and silent "amen." There is no pressure to make it fit. There is no expectation that certain words must be used in certain ways that will bring about certain situations. Rather, the day is left wide open and we, as saints, explore and share and question and become surprised at the utter joy that comes within God's Reign even as we let go our our language slip aside while we take on the day.
Connection: Rather than tag things with our religious words and boxes, it would do us well to let go and take the world as it is and spend some time listening and seeing its wonder.
Come, Lord of the New Day, and stir us up as you promise. When we attempt to put your Reign into a box, liberate us to see the glory of your Reign that keeps breaking into our lives and new ways and times unexpected. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)