Jesus invites us to withdraw our allegiance from a world of bigness, clarity, immediacy, looking good, and security and to see life instead as smallness, patience, humility, inner wisdom, and risk-taking.
—Richard Rohr, Jesus’ Alternative Plan 

Father Richard considers how Jesus’ parables reveal the realm of God: 

Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel contains seven parables on the kingdom of heaven or “realm of God.” In the first, Jesus says the word of God is like a seed which is sown in the hearts of many, but only those who let it grow within them belong to God’s realm (Matthew 13:4–9). [1] In the parable of the weeds and the wheat, Jesus seems to say that this world is a mixture of different things. God allows both good and bad to grow in the same field together. Then, at the end of time, God will decide what is wheat and what is a weed. In a certain way, the parable is saying it’s none of our business to fully figure it out (13:24–30). [2]  

This divine realm is also not to be found in just one person; it spreads and grows from person to person, influencing groups and societies. In the third and fourth parables, Jesus compares the kingdom to a tree that spreads its branches and to yeast that filters through dough, always pervading, organically forming and transforming structures (13:31–33). The realm of God is something that touches, inspires, and enlivens all things from their very center outward—and changes them.   

The next parables are the shortest, but they are two of my favorites. They show that people can recognize the kingdom when they find it, and if they are willing to give up a great deal to become part of it:   

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he keeps it safe, goes off happy, sells everything he owns, and buys the field. (13:44)  

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it (13:45–46).   

I can think of many contemporary examples of how people have risked security to share lives and seek God’s realm: prayer groups, peace and justice ministries, social agencies and shelters, communities of contemplation and action. Living in this sacred dimension may be spiritual, but it’s also very real, and it’s very attractive when we discover it.    

In the seventh parable, Jesus reiterates the idea that the realm of God has little to do with the ego-based expectations of our culture or religion (13:47–50). No church, community, or individual is perfect. We humans are always turning away from the realm of God and then undergoing a new conversion to return. To turn toward the kingdom, we must turn away from our smaller selves. To say, “Thy kingdom come,” we must say in the next breath, “My kingdom go.”

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Jesus Calling Sarah Young

Walk peacefully with Me through this day. You are wondering how you will cope with all that is expected of you. You must traverse this day like any other; one step at a time. Instead of mentally rehearsing how you will do this or that, keep your mind on My Presence and on taking the next step. The more demanding your day, the more help you can expect from Me. This is a training opportunity, since I designed you for deep dependence on your Shepherd-King. Challenging times wake you up and amplify your awareness of needing My help.
     When you don’t know what to do, wait while I open the way before you. Trust that I know what I’m doing, and be ready to follow My lead.  I will give strength to you, and I will bless you with Peace.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Exodus 33:14 (NIV)
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Deuteronomy 33:29 (NIV)
29 Blessed are you, Israel!
    Who is like you,
    a people saved by the Lord?
He is your shield and helper
    and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
    and you will tread on their heights.”

Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)
Benediction and Final Greetings
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 29:11 (NIV)
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
    the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Great Mystery,  

I am humbled that I will never know everything about you, but I am grateful that through the lives of the other I can know more of you. While I thank you for those who are like me, I especially thank you for those who are different than me. I thank you for those who are younger than me and those older than me; for those who have less than me and those who have more than me; for those more physically able than me and those less physically able than me; for those whose skin is of a lighter hue than me and those of a darker hue than me; for those of a different gender than me and those of the same gender as me; for those of a different worldview than me and those with a similar worldview to mine. May we together discover a new story for our country where everyone has an equal voice—even those with whom we disagree and even with those who have no voice. 

I am thankful for Turtle Island [1], that it can become a place where freedom can take hold and become a place where one day we will all be equal under the law, both under the prevailing social structures, and in our own minds. And for the land itself; may you work through us to restore it to your most beautiful intentions. May all of your creatures, the four-legged, the swimmers, the flying things, the crawling things, and the two-legged creatures all be able to have a home on your land. May we make the water sacred once again, the first medicine that provides life to all your creation. May it not be commodified so as to keep it out of the reaches of any of your creatures, and may it be kept in a way that shows the respect for it that you gave it when you made the water such an important part of this earth. 

As I look around this circle we call Mother Earth, I am thankful to you that it is a sacred circle and in the circle no one is more, nor less, than the other. As I look around the sacred circle, I see that I am related to all your creation and that each one in the circle is as sacred as me. You have given us all stories to tell but in all our stories we find you. It is the you in the other that I most value Great Mystery. Please teach me about myself in this sacred circle so I may know you and reflect you more on this good earth, the whole community of creation, including humans. Thank you! 

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Jesus Calling: November 23

As you sit quietly in My Presence, let me fill your heart and mind with thankfulness. This is the most direct way to achieve a thankful stance. If your mind needs a focal point, gaze at My Love poured out to you on the cross. Remember that nothing in heaven or on earth can separate you from that Love. This remembrance builds a foundation of gratitude in you, a foundation that circumstances cannot shake.
     As you go through this day, look for tiny treasures strategically placed along the way. I lovingly go before you and plant little pleasures to brighten your day. Look carefully for them, and pluck them one by one. When you reach the end of the day, you will have gathered a lovely bouquet. Offer it up to Me with a grateful heart. Receive My Peace as you lie down to sleep, with thankful thoughts playing a lullaby in your mind.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Additional insight regarding Romans 8:38-39: Powers are unforeseen forces of evil in the universe, forces such as Satan and his demons (see Ephesians 6:12). As believers who have Jesus’ power available to us, we will experience great victory both now and for eternity (Romans 8:37). Hold these two verses deeply in your heart and mind. Claim them for yourself so you’ll never double God’s love and care for you, especially when you are facing great adversity.

Psalm 4:7-8 (NIV)
7 Fill my heart with joy
    when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
    for you alone, Lord,
    make me dwell in safety.

Additional insight regarding Psalm 4:7: Two kinds of joy are contrasted here – joy that comes from knowing and trusting God, and joy that comes as a result of pleasant circumstances. Both are good, but the joy that comes from a deep relationship is strong and steady and can’t be shaken. There is nothing wrong with being happy about pleasant circumstances (for example, a family gathered around a table with plenty of good food). But pleasant circumstances are unpredictable; they come and go. And when they go, can you still be happy? Can you still have that strong and steady joy that defeats discouragement? Make sure you have the kind of joy in the Lord that is lasting, and then you can be happy no matter what circumstances come your way.

Theologian Allen Dwight Callahan considers Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan:  

The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)—perhaps Jesus’ most famous parable—offers us compelling signposts of compassion on the Jericho road of life. [1] 

The first signpost of compassion along the Jericho road of life in the parable of the Good Samaritan is the sign of anonymity. Jesus has refused to disclose the identity of people in this parable…. The story of the fallen traveler and the compassionate Samaritan is a story of love that transcends identity…. It is a love that does not check references. It is love that does not demand a positive form of identification. 

The second signpost of compassion along the Jericho road of life … is the signpost of altruism. The traditional title of Jesus’ parable refers to … this nameless, faceless traveler on the Jericho road of life as “the Good Samaritan.” But nowhere in the story is the Samaritan called “good.” The language of the good is wholly absent from this text. The God of the Bible makes many demands of us…. God has demanded through the mouths of the prophets that we be holy, just, merciful, humble, even perfect. But not good. There is little evidence that God wants us to be good. This is a truly liberating doctrine, one that must be good news to some of us….  

With the signposts of anonymity and altruism there is a third signpost of compassion that marks the road to love, what we may call the signpost of alterity. It is the sign of difference … [used] when we talk about “those people.”…

The Judeans and the Samaritans shared the same ancient traditions. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the ancient ancestors of both. Both peoples belonged to the same Mosaic covenant. The land of promise had been promised to both. The history that divided them was the same history that united them.… 

In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus reminds us that it is because we are so close to each other that our differences are so vexing. But the differences are never as great as we fancy them to be. The Samaritan and the man at his mercy were enemies because of all they had in common. They shared Abraham and Palestine, Moses and Sinai, and, most important, they shared the divine commandments to love God and to love one’s neighbor. 

The anonymity, altruism, and alterity of the Samaritan are the signposts that point to just such a love. His actions have shown us for his time, for our time, and for all time the meaning of love. He looked upon a fallen fellow human being with the eyes of compassion. He treated his wounds with the costly unguents of mercy. He provided for him in the spirit of the law of a God who has commanded us to love the neighbor we encounter on the Jericho road of life. Let us go and do likewise. 

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The Idol of Family: Counting the Costs

As a teen, I was very skeptical of faith and frequently argued with friends who attended church regularly or who parroted warm sentimentalities they picked up from listening to Christian music. I recall attending a city-wide Christian youth rally in downtown Chicago one evening where the speaker ended with an altar call. With eyes closed and heads bowed, he urged us to make a decision for Jesus. “It’s the most important decision you will ever make,” he said with conviction and urgency. That’s the part that gnawed at me in the church van as we drove back to the suburbs after the rally.“If it’s really the most important decision I’ll ever make,” I said to my friends in the rear benches of the van, “Then shouldn’t I really think about it for a while? I mean, picking a wife is a pretty important decision, and none of us would do that without thinking it through. If following Jesus is even more important, why do I have to walk the aisle right now?” I’m glad the youth pastor was driving and couldn’t hear me de-converting half the kids in the back of his van.Even as a teen, I found the evangelist’s message contradictory. Either following Jesus is the most important decision and therefore should be entered into with thoughtful intent and careful deliberation, or it’s not that important and can be decided with no more forethought than ordering at the drive-thru. But it cannot be both. Once home, I found a Bible to see for myself what Jesus said on the matter. I eventually stumbled upon Luke 14 where Jesus challenged the crowds to “sit down and count the cost” of being his disciple. He warned them not to start down the path of following him if they could not finish the course.  Ah ha! I thought. Here’s proof from Jesus himself that the evangelist’s call was wrong. Jesus didn’t tell people to make an impulsive decision to follow him. He told them to slow down, think it over, and be sure they understood the cost involved.My smugness over being right, however, soon shifted into surprise as I kept reading.“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26–27). Good grief, I thought, the evangelist didn’t say anything like this at the rally. And I quickly understood why. If he’d told 2,000 teenagers that following Jesus required them to renounce their parents, give up their suburban American dreams, and deny their consumer desires, I’m not sure any would have walked the aisle. I found the evangelist’s message to be problematic, but Jesus’ call was much, much worse. It was downright offensive. Did the other kids in the church van have any idea what they had gotten themselves into?It turns out my unease with Jesus’ message was exactly his point. As C.S. Lewis noted, this teaching of Jesus is “profitable only to those who read it with horror.” And, “The man who finds it easy enough to hate his father, the woman whose life is a long struggle not to hate her mother, had probably best keep clear of it.” In other words, Jesus meant to shock his potential followers with this call, and it was a recurring theme of his preaching.Earlier, in Luke 9, wannabe disciples asked to say goodbye to their families before following him. Jesus would have none of it. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Even as a suburban American teenager far removed from Jesus’ original context, I was getting the message. You either think Jesus is the most valuable thing in all the world or you don’t. Either he’s more important than even your family or he isn’t. Either you’re ready to give up everything to follow him or you’re not. There is no middle ground. DAILY SCRIPTURE LUKE 9:57–62 LUKE 14:25–33 WEEKLY PRAYER. Columbanus (543–615) O Lord God, destroy and root out whatever the adversary plants in me, that with my sins destroyed you may sow understanding and good work in my mouth and heart; so that in act and in truth I may serve only you and know how to fulfill the commandments of Christ and to seek yourself. Give me memory, give me love, give me chastity, give me faith, give me all things which you know belong to the profit of my soul. O Lord, work good in me, and provide me with what you know that I need. Amen.

Father Richard teaches on parables of things that are lost and found:  

Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel gives us three memorable parables of God’s mercy: Jesus tells of the shepherd who rejoices at finding a lost sheep, of the woman who rejoices at finding her lost coin (note the feminine image of God), of the father who rejoices at the return of his prodigal son. These are all images of a loving God being true to God’s nature. They are all images of God’s justice.  

As we can see from these examples, God’s justice requires God to go beyond Godself and extend love to others. The shepherd doesn’t just wait until the lost sheep wanders back. The woman doesn’t just forget about the coin until it shows up. The father doesn’t just go about his business; he watches the road every day until his son returns so he can go out to welcome him home. God’s love is relentlessly just: God never gives up on those who have forgotten God’s love. [1]  

Author Debie Thomas reflects on what these “lost and found” parables reveal about God:   

We get lost. We get so miserably lost that the shepherd has to wander through the craggy wilderness to find us. We get so wholly lost that the housewife has to light her lamp, pick up her broom, and sweep out every nook and cranny of her house to discover what’s become of us.  

For the record, these versions of lostness aren’t trivial. Notice that the searching in these parables is not a show…. What’s lost is really, truly lost—even though the seeker is God.  

Can we pause for a moment and take in how astonishing this is? God faces genuine stakes when it comes to our lostness. God experiences authentic, real-time loss. God searches, persists, lingers, and plods. God wanders over hills and valleys looking for lost lambs. God turns her house upside down looking for her lost coin…. 

Maybe the most scandalous aspect of these lost-and-found parables is not that I still get lost. Maybe what’s most scandalous is what they reveal about the nature of God…

If Jesus’s parables are true, then God isn’t in the fold with the ninety-nine insiders. God isn’t curled up on her couch polishing the nine coins she’s already sure of. God is where the lost things are. God is in the wilderness, God is in the remotest corners of the house, God is where the search is at its fiercest. If I want to find God, I have to seek the lost. I have to get lost. I have to leave the safety of the inside and venture out. I have to recognize my own lostness and consent to be found…. 

God looks for us when our lostness is so convoluted and so profound, we can’t even pretend to look for God. But even in such bleak and hopeless places, God finds us. This is amazing grace. And it is ours. [2] 

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John Chaffee Learning from the Mystics: John of the Cross

Quote of the Week:“Souls begin to enter this dark night when God, gradually drawing them out of the state of beginners (those who practice meditation on the spiritual road), begins to place them in the state of proficients (those who are already contemplatives), so that by passing through this state they might reach that of the perfect, which is the divine union of the soul with God.” – The Dark Night of the Soul, Book One, Chapter 1, Section 1Reflection: Beginner.  Proficient.  Perfect.   These are the three stages of faith that St. John of the Cross identifies for himself and for his readers. There is the beginner on the path of faith, there is the proficient, and there is one who is perfect.  The Dark Night of the Soul is the process by which God takes the person of faith from beginner into proficient, from stage 1 into stage 2. Why is this important to recognize, to notice?  Because the Dark Night of the Soul, if misunderstood, is considered the loss of faith rather than the maturation of it. The Dark Night of the Soul is actually a process by which God systematically takes away every single idol a person might have.  According to St. John of the Cross, during the Dark Night of the Soul God takes away the idols of…how moral you think you are,how addicted you are to the emotional or experiential “sweetness” of prayer/church services/worship/community,how proud you might be of your theology or dogmatic precision,and even putting faith in how much faith you think you have.For St. John of the Cross, to do any of these things shows that one is still just a beginner on the spiritual journey. Many well-intentioned churches, not knowing the wisdom of the Dark Night of the Soul, inadvertently encourage their congregants to esteem themselves higher than others for being “more moral” than others, they will validate people that are deeply passionate during prayer/church/services/worship/community, they will approve people that are certain about their theology or dogmatism in “the right way,” and celebrate those who profess the strength of their faith rather than their weakness.  Many well-intentioned churches will actually try to insulate and protect people from entering their own Dark Night of the Soul and by doing so, keep people in “beginner” faith! Again, for St. John of the Cross, these are all the symptoms of a person that is still in “kindergarten” Christianity.  They have not even progressed into being “proficients.”All this goes to say, idolatry can be sneaky.  Idolatry, even of things that sound good or even pious, is still idolatry.  To put faith in anything less than the Intimate and Infinite God will always be frustrated and pursuing something that will never be adequate.To seek anything less than infinite union with the infinite God is a finite idol. Prayer:  Heavenly Father, clear our hearts and minds of the idols we cling to.  We recognize that to put faith in any finite thing or experience, no matter how good or pious it is, is still idolatry.  Grant us courage to walk into our Dark Night of the Soul when it happens and to seek out teachers and guides that can walk us through that season of faith.  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen and amen.

Life Overview of St. John of the Cross:  Who Were They: Juan de Yepes y Alvarez, later known as Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross) Where: Born in Fontiveros, Spain.  Died in Ubeda, Spain. When: June 24, 1542-December 14, 1591 Why He is Important: Understood as a prime example of scholasticism and spirituality. What Was Their Main Contribution: John of the Cross is most known for his commentary on his own poetry, of which the Dark Night of the Soul is one of a few main texts.  He was jailed and beaten by his religious superiors and escaped to only then write some of his most enduring work.

Jesus Speaks in Parables

Jesus said, “I will speak to you in parables and reveal to you things hidden since the foundation of the world.” —Matthew 13:35, quoting Psalm 78:2  

Father Richard Rohr describes how Jesus uses parables to challenge our ways of thinking: 

A parable is a unique form of literature that’s always trying to subvert business as usual, much like a Zen koan or a Confucian riddle, which both use paradox to undo our reliance on what we think is logic. Yet we typically do not let parables do that for us. Our dominant consciousness is so in control that we try to figure them out inside of our existing consciousness—or, more commonly, we just ignore them or consider them out of date. Parables aim to subvert our old consciousness and offer us a way through by utterly reframing our worldview. 

Often, the biblical text isn’t transformative and doesn’t bring about a “new creation” because we pull it inside of our own security systems and what we call “common sense.” At that point, no divine breakthrough is possible. Frankly speaking, this makes much of Scripture become largely harmless and forgettable. [1]  

Father Richard uses Jesus’ parable about workers in a vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16) to illustrate how God’s logic is not our own:  

We often think that justice means getting what we deserve, but the Gospels point out that God’s justice always gives us more than we deserve. In fact, “worthiness” is not even the issue! In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a landowner who hires laborers in the morning, at noon, and in the afternoon to work in his fields. In the evening when he pays them all a day’s wages, the ones who worked all day complain that they deserve more than the ones who worked only a few hours. But the landowner turns to them and asks, “Why are you looking so resentful just because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15). God’s justice is really magnanimity, being more than fair to everybody because God is being true to God’s nature. As Matthew says elsewhere, God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike (5:45). In other words, God provides all everyone needs in order to grow.  

We have a hard time with that kind of justice. We’re capitalists, even in the spiritual life. If we work more, we expect more and we don’t know what to do with a God who breaks that rule. Yet God’s justice is just another way of thinking about God’s unconditional love. All through the Gospels, people receive what they don’t deserve. Relentless generosity is hard for us to comprehend, much less practice. That kind of unconditional justice is beyond our human power. Yet the Gospel is showing that it’s possible for Jesus to be fully human and divinely just, because he lived in the power of the Spirit. Likewise, it is possible for all those who, like Jesus, open themselves to receive the Spirit.

The Wedding Banquets

Father Richard describes how several of Jesus’ parables use the image of a wedding banquet:  

In the New Testament, and particularly for Jesus, the most common image for what God is offering us is a banquet. It’s not a trophy, not a prize, not a reward reserved for later, but a participative and joyous party now. A banquet has everything to do with invitation and acceptance; it is never a command performance.  

Matthew’s Gospel contains the parable of the wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1–14). A king sends out his servants to let the guests know that the banquet has been prepared. “But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business” (22:5). These are not bad things, but just “busyness with many things” that keep them from “the one important thing” (Luke 10:41–42), which is the banquet of conscious divine union. At the end of the parable, the king instructs the servants, “Go out and invite everyone you can find to the wedding feast.” The servants returned with “the good and the bad alike” (22:9–10). That phrase has been shocking to most Christians, because we have been taught to believe that Jesus’ message is primarily a moral matter in which “bad” people would clearly not belong. Once we know it is primarily a mystical matter, a realization of union, it reframes the entire journey. Almost by accident, we find ourselves becoming “moral,” but morality did not earn us a ticket to the banquet.  

In Luke 14, we find three different banquet parables. People are either avoiding them, trying to create hierarchies at them, or simply refusing to come. Just as in Matthew 22, the host almost has to force people to come, and Jesus even offers a bit of nonsensical advice: “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t ask your friends, brothers, relations, or rich neighbors” (Luke 14:12). He lists the people that we’d logically invite and says, “Don’t invite them … for fear they might repay you in return.” (Remember, all rewards for Jesus are inherent, not about expecting something later.) But his message is also a warning against ego systems of reciprocity, and an invitation to pure gratuity.  

Jesus is always undercutting what we think is common sense. This passage calls us to nondual thinking and to change our entire form of consciousness. “When you have a party, invite those who are poor, crippled, maimed, or blind, because the fact that they cannot pay you back will mean you are fortunate” (14:13)—because now you are inside of a different mind that will allow you to read all your life from a worldview of abundance instead of a worldview of scarcity. God is clearly into abundance and excess, and God’s genuine followers share in that largesse: first in receiving it and resting in it, then in allowing it to flow through them toward the world.  

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Grace and Peace, Friends! This past week, the Eastern University community heard the news that Tony Campolo, 89, had passed away at his home in Bryn Mawr, PA. Tony was a charismatic teacher and preacher who proudly described Eastern as one of the best Christian colleges. He will be most remembered for emphasizing social justice, the poor and vulnerable, and the importance of engaging in politics. As an Eastern University and Palmer Seminary graduate, I had my fair share of run-ins and meet-ups with Tony Campolo.  He was a Baptist minister and sociology professor who helped to found Red Letter Christians.  I first played basketball with Tony in the university gym without knowing who he was, only to see him preach at chapel the next day.  He gave a stellar sermon and showed me what a “Pentecostal preacher” truly was.  We had several good conversations, had the chance to interview him for a youth ministry podcast, rode the train in Philly with him, and even went to a prayer demonstration in front of the White House called Reclaiming Jesus.  Tony’s enthusiasm for Jesus and justice influenced me and many of my peers.  Seeing so many of my former classmates post kind words about how he impacted their lives has been encouraging. A 7-minute video is later in this week’s newsletter. I hope you watch it because it is classic Tony.  Onto this week’s five quotes!

1.”Modern man can’t see God because he does not look low enough.”- Carl Jung, Swiss Psychologist I love the idea that God is not only in the highest heights but in the deepest depths.  We are prone to focus on the Transcendent so that we forget God is also Immanent.  God is infinitely beyond our limitations but also infinitely present within them.  We don’t need to look beyond humanity to see God; we can find God already present in our depths.  2.”I want to help you grow as beautiful as God meant you to be when he thought of you first.”- George MacDonald, Scottish Preacher George MacDonald is an endless fount of good quotes and insights.  In his lifetime, he was removed from his preaching pulpit because of what he would say in his sermons.  However, I wonder if it wasn’t because he was an iconoclast and challenged the status quo of his day.  Whenever I read MacDonald, I get the sense that he stumbled into the same kind of speech/rhetoric/wisdom as the early church desert monastics. 3.”The Church is the Church only when it exists for others… not dominating, but helping and serving.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, WWII-Era Lutheran Pastor Bonhoeffer’s legacy is a touchy subject right now.  In our era of American political anxiety, some people are taking Bonhoeffer and reinterpreting his life in such a way that he would be in favor of Christian nationalism.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  As a theologian and ethicist, he was always suspicious of Christianity becoming too aligned with the rich and powerful.  As soon as Christianity associates itself with the pharaohs and the caesars of the current arrangement, then it has lost its legitimacy. The Ekklesia exists to be an eclectic gathering of people who give witness to their own lives and faith before and alongside the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. 4.”Life is not a matter of reaching a stagnant end point, but is rather an ongoing process in which one, hopefully and with grace, grows ever more deeply in love.”- Gerald May, American Psychologist and Theologian This fall, I have been doing more spiritual direction sessions with people.  It has been a slow build, but every one of them has been enormously rich and encouraging.  It truly is a privilege to talk with so many of you. A common theme or experience we discuss is the Dark Night of the Soul.  It is a normal experience that people go through, yet so few people know how to talk about it.  Merton often cautioned against talking with people about your Dark Night of the Soul if the other person has not also gone through it themselves. Merton said this partly because, for some, life is a matter of achieving a “perfect state” of ease, comfort, or stability.  However, life is more about constant evolution, growth, and becoming.  Gerald May, whose work I have not encountered before, highlights this growth mindset.  I have two of his books in my Amazon cart now. 5.”How gently and lovinglyyou wake in my heart,where in secret you dwell alone;and in your sweet breathing,filled with good and glory,how tenderly you swell my heart with love.”- The Living Flame of Love by St. John of the Cross This is the last stanza of St. John of the Cross’s poem, The Living Flame of Love.  In some ways, it is a follow-up poem to The Dark Night of the Soul.  It highlights the love of God, which wounds as it heals. If you need something that can help describe how elusive and extraordinary the love of God is, this poem is a beautiful place to start.

From Tony Campolo: A Story of Throwing a Birthday Party for Prostitutes at 3:30am in Honolulu Take seven minutes out of your day and watch this sermon excerpt.  I guarantee it is worth your time.

Friday, November 22, 2024

In her book Race and the Cosmos, Dr. Barbara Holmes expands the quest for justice and liberation to a cosmic level.  

The languages of physics and cosmology offer powerful analogies that reveal our cosmic and spiritual identities and empower our collective creativity. One thing is certain: Although we cannot reason our way out of this quandary, we can allow the universe to reveal its secrets through us. We can contemplate and consider together. We can expand our spiritual and cosmic vocabulary and allow the mysteries of life to permeate every cell. We have waited long enough. It’s time to take the transcendent leap forward in hopes of personal and communal healing as well as a shared cosmic future. [1] 

Holmes continues: 

Any community that we construct on Earth will be only a small model of a universe whose community includes billions of stars and planetary systems. Are we alone? We don’t know, but if we don’t know how to become a community with our own species, how shall we find harmony with other life forms in the cosmos? Our ideas of community begin with fragmentation, difference, and disparity seeking wholeness. 

Our beloved community is an attempt to hot-glue disparate cultures, language, and ethnic origins into one mutually committed whole. The universe tells a completely different story—that everything is enfolded into everything….  

Even though the languages of the new physics and cosmology discard mechanistic understandings of the universe in favor of potential, we love order. We see it where it doesn’t exist and impose it through our narratives. Everything that we do conceals the unity that seems to be intrinsic to our life space. We take pictures of objects that seem to be outside of self, we demarcate national boundaries, we align with friends and break with enemies, we give and receive in what seem to be neat sequential packets of life and experience….  

Perhaps in ways that we don’t yet understand, the struggle for justice on many fronts is an enfolding image of the whole—the embodiment of a holistic and unfragmented community. This community … would not be the logical outcome of progressive movements toward an ascertainable external goal, but would be the sum of past, present, and future expectations and disappointments. Then the community-called-beloved becomes all that we can and cannot conceive, all that lies beyond the horizon of apprehension but is available to us as part of the matrix of wholeness….  

We are one, and our wars and racial divisions cannot defeat the wholeness that lies just below the horizon of human awareness…. Diversity may not be a function of human effort or justice. It may just be the sea in which we swim. To enact a just order in human communities is to reclaim a sense of unity with divine and cosmological aspects of the life space. As Hebrew Scripture scholar Terence Fretheim suggests, the “Let us” discourse in Genesis [1:26] is a statement of the community of God. God is creating and ordering the universe, but does not do it alone. [2] 

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Sarah Young; Jesus Calling: November 22

A thankful attitude opens the windows of heaven. Spiritual blessings fall freely onto you through those openings into eternity. Moreover, as you look up with a grateful heart, you get glimpses of Glory through those windows. You cannot yet live in heaven, but you can experience foretastes of your ultimate home. Such samples of heavenly fare revive your hope. Thankfulness opens you up to these experiences, which then provide further reasons to be grateful. Thus, your path becomes an upward spiral: ever increasing in gladness.
     Thankfulness is not some sort of magic formula; it is the language of Love, which enables you to communicate intimately with Me. A thankful mindset does not entail a denial of reality with its plethora of problems. Instead, it rejoices in Me, your Savior, in the midst of trials and tribulations. I am your refuge and strength, an ever-present and well-proved help in trouble.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Additional insight from Habukkuk 3:17-19: Crop failure and the death of animals would devastate Judah. But Habakkuk affirmed that even in times of starvation and loss, he would still rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk’s feelings were not dominated by the events around him but by faith in God’s ability to give him strength. When nothing makes sense and when your troubles seem to be more than you can bear, remember that God gives you strength. Take your eyes off your difficulties and look to him.

Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

Additional insight from Psalm 46:1-48:14: Psalms 46 through 48 are hymns of praise, celebrating deliverance from some great foe. Psalm 46 may have been written when the Assyrian army invaded the land and surrounded Jerusalem during Hezekiah’s reign (2nd Kings 18:13-19:37).

Thursday, November 21, 2024

At the center of every crisis 
is an inner space 
so deep, so beckoning, 
so suddenly and daringly vast, 
that it feels like a universe, 
feels like God. 

When the unthinkable happens, 
and does not relent, 
we fall through our hubris 
toward an inner flow, 
an abiding and rebirthing darkness 
that feels like home. 
   —Barbara Holmes, “What Is Crisis Contemplation?” 

Dr. Barbara Holmes explains the essential conditions that give rise to crisis contemplation: 

The crisis begins without warning, shatters our assumptions about the way the world works, and changes our story and the stories of our neighbors. The reality that was so familiar to us is gone suddenly, and we don’t know what is happening….  

If life, as we experience it, is a fragile crystal orb that holds our daily routines and dreams of order and stability, then sudden and catastrophic crises shatter this illusion of normalcy. The crises … are usually precipitated by circumstances beyond the ordinary. I am referring to oppression, violence, pandemics, abuses of power, or natural disasters and planetary disturbances. 

Until the moment that the crisis begins, you feel relatively safe and situated. Suddenly, everything changes. You are stolen from your village, placed in chains, and loaded onto ships headed to the Americas to be sold as slaves. Or, you are rounded up, placed on trains headed for a German death camp: Auschwitz, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen, or Dachau. Or, upon the orders of the US government, you and members of your tribe are rounded up to begin a forced march from native lands in North Carolina to Oklahoma. Or, without warning, they send you and other Asian neighbors to internment camps. In each circumstance, some of you will survive the experience, but many of you will not. [1]  

Holmes reflects on the distinct nature of crisis contemplation:  

When the ordinary isn’t ordinary anymore and the crisis is upon us, the self can center in this refuge that I am calling “crisis contemplation,” a space that is neither the result of spiritual seeking nor the voluntary entry into meditative spaces. It is a cracking open, the rupture and shattering of self, community, expectations, and presumptions about how the world works. It is the result of trauma, freefall, and wounding…. 

Contemplation after or during crisis is a stillness in the aftermath of a primal scream, the abyss of unknowing, and the necessity of surviving the trauma together. Perhaps our definitions of “contemplation” need adjustment to reflect our unique social locations and inward journeys. .

+bodies as engaged as our minds, but we must relinquish control and seek grounding within the mystical depths of inner spaces. [2]  

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Sarah Young; Jesus Calling: November 21

Thank Me throughout this day for My Presence and My Peace. These are gifts of supernatural proportions. Ever since the resurrection, I have comforted My followers with these messages: Peace be with you, and I will with you always. Listen as I offer you My Peace and Presence in full measure. The best way to receive these glorious gifts is to thank Me for them.
     It is impossible to spend too much time thanking and praising Me. I created you first and foremost to glorify Me. Thanksgiving and praise put you in proper relationship with Me, opening the way for My riches to flow into you. As you thank Me for My Presence and Peace, you appropriate My richest parts.

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Luke 24:36 (NIV)
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Additional insight regarding Luke 24:36-43: Jesus’ body wasn’t a figment of the imagination or the appearance of a ghost – the disciples touched him, and he ate food. On the other hand, his body wasn’t a restored human body like Lazarus’ (John 11) – Jesus was able to appear and disappear. Jesus’ resurrected body was immortal. We will receive this kind of body at the resurrection of the dead (see 1st Corinthians 15:42-50). 

Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Additional insight regarding Matthew 28:20: How is Jesus with us? Jesus was with the disciples physically until he ascended into heaven and then spiritually through the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:4). The Holy Spirit would be Jesus’ presence that would never leave them (see John 14:26), Jesus continues to be with us today through his Spirit.

Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

The authentic mystic can never flee from the world. He or she must resonate with the suffering and the agony that is the common legacy of humankind.… And active mystics who live in the hurly-burly enter into the same inner silence as those who live in the desert. 
—William Johnston, Mystical Theology: The Science of Love 

Dr. Barbara Holmes describes the contemplative foundations of the civil rights movement:    

The world is the cloister of the contemplative. There is no escape. Always the quest for justice draws one deeply into the heart of God. In this sacred interiority, contemplation becomes the language of prayer and the impetus for prophetic proclamation and action. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were classic contemplatives, deeply committed to silent witness, embodied and performative justice. The type of contemplative practices that emerged during the Civil Rights Movement became dramas that enacted a deep discontentment with things as they were. For years, the black church nurtured its members in the truth of their humanity and the potential for moral flourishing.   

The civil rights marches of the 1960s were contemplative—sometimes silent, sometimes drenched with song, but always contemplative. This may mean within the context of a desperate quest for justice that while weary feet traversed well-worn streets, hearts leaped into the lap of God. While children were escorted into schools by national guardsmen, the song “Jesus Loves Me” became an anthem of faith in the face of contradictory evidence. You cannot face German Shepherds and fire hoses with your own resources; there must be God and stillness at the very center of your being…. What saves you is the blessed merger of intuitive knowing with rationality, pain, and resolve.  

Like a spiritual earthquake, the resolve of the marchers affirmed the faith of foremothers and forefathers. Each step was a reclamation of the hope unborn. Each marcher embodied the communal affirmation of already/not yet sacred spaces…. The sacred act of walking together toward justice was usually preceded by a pre-march meeting that began with a prayer service, where preaching, singing, and exhortation prepared the people to move toward the hope they all held. This hope was carefully explicated by the leadership as a fulfillment of God’s promises. As a consequence, the movement that spilled from the churches to the streets was a ritual enactment of a communal faith journey toward the basileia [realm] of God…. 

The end result was that a purportedly Christian nation was forced to view its black citizens as a prototype of the suffering God, absorbing violence into their own bodies without retaliation. By contrast, stalwart defenders of the old order found themselves before God and their own reflective interiority with fire hoses, whips, and ropes in their hands. The crisis created by contemplative justice seeking guaranteed the eventual end of overt practices of domination, for domination could not withstand the steady gaze of the inner eye of thousands of awakened people.  

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The Idol of Knowledge: Puff Up vs. Build Up

I had a professor once tell me, “When you think you know everything they give you a bachelor’s degree. When you realize you don’t know anything they give you a master’s degree. When you realize you don’t know anything and neither does anyone else, they award you a doctorate degree.” His point was memorable. A little learning can make you arrogant, but the outcome of much learning should be humility.The Apostle Paul said something similar to the arrogant, divisive Christians in Corinth. The Corinthians were focused on status and hierarchy, and in the Greek culture where knowledge was highly valued, possessing more knowledge than others was a badge of honor—a sure way to climb the social ladder. But Paul, who was probably more educated than anyone in the Corinthian church, reminded them, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”Paul was not saying knowledge itself is a bad thing. Sadly, some Christians have used the Apostle’s words as an excuse for shunning education and learning, or for dismissing the advice of experts. There are Christian traditions that even shun theological training for their pastors and teachers, and that refer to seminaries as cemeteries because they believe higher education will kill genuine faith. Anti-intellectualism is not what Paul intended with his words to the Corinthians. Embracing ignorance is not how we avoid the idolatry of knowledge, and stupidity is not a mark of deep spirituality. Rather, Paul’s intent was to warn about the danger of valuing knowledge that is uncoupled from love.By itself, knowledge can make us arrogant and sinfully cause us to elevate ourselves above those who do not share our education. Using our knowledge for self-advancement, or to diminish the worth of others, is the opposite of what Paul did with his expansive knowledge. Instead, we are to couple our knowledge with a love that always seeks what is good for others. That means using our knowledge to build up others, and never to pull them down. It also means being careful not to exalt a leader simply because he or she possesses a brilliant mind. We ought to look for evidence of a deeper wisdom that resides beyond mere knowledge; a wisdom that reveals itself in a character of self-sacrifice and humility like Christ’s. DAILY SCRIPTURE 1 CORINTHIANS 8:1–3. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1–13 WEEKLY PRAYER King Alfred the Great of Wessex (849 – 899) We pray to you, O Lord, who are the supreme Truth, and all truth is from you. We beseech you, O Lord, who are the highest Wisdom, and all the wise depend on you for their wisdom. You are the supreme Joy, and all who are happy owe it to you. You are the highest Good, and all goodness comes from you. You are the Light of minds, and all receive their understanding from you. We love you—indeed we love you above all things. We seek you, and are prepared to serve you. We desire to dwell under your power, for you are the King of all. Amen.

Dr. Barbara Holmes’ book Joy Unspeakable explores contemplative practices in the Black church. She shows us how contemplation can be practiced through community, music, and movement. 

The soloist moves toward the center of the podium. The congregation of about 1,500 breathes with her as she moans, “Oh … oh … oh, Jesus.” Those are the only words to the song. Unless you are sitting within the sound of her voice, it is difficult to imagine how a song of two words can be a cry of anguish, balm, and celebration. In each soaring note, we participate in the unutterable spectrum of human striving. In this world, you will have trouble, but “oh, oh, oh, Jesus.” The shouts of exaltation give no indication of what is happening. Although it appears to be the usual charismatic congregational fare, in fact we are riding the stanzas through time to the hush arbors and swamp meetings, over the dangerous waters to safety. In this ordinary Sunday service, something has happened and we are changed. The worldly resistance to transcendence that we wore into the sanctuary has cracked open, and the contemplative moment carries us toward the very source of our being. 

Moments like this occur regularly in the black church, yet if you ask congregants about their “contemplative practices,” they would be confounded…. Despite numerous exceptions, black church worship is known for its heartfelt, rhythmic, and charismatic character. This depiction has become such an accepted view that contemplative practices remain a subliminal and unexamined aspect of black religious life. As a consequence, the practices are not nurtured, encouraged, or passed on to future generations. Yet, when contemplative moments occur, worship experiences seem to deepen…. 

In the midst of worship, an imperceptible shift occurred that moved the worshipping community from intentional liturgical action to transcendent indwelling. There is no way to describe this shift other than to say that “something happened.” During this sacred time, the perpetual restlessness of the human heart was stilled and transformed into abiding presence. Time shimmered and paused, slowing its relentless pace, and the order of worship no longer took precedence for those enthralled by a joy unspeakable. [1] 

Holmes considers the transcendent nature of “ecstatic singing”:  

It is anointed singing from consecrated singers … that allows access to the holy, but more specifically it is the repetition of verses that shifts perception … [and] allows individuals to fill in their own story, silently or through the cries of recognition and affirmation. This is the contemplative moment, the recognition that each and every member of the congregation shares the same angst over the troubles of the world and the need for reunion…. The “ohs” are repeated over and over again until every person remembers a time when they cried out for God’s intervention. A deep listening abides between every note and stanza. Those who listen know that the Holy Spirit is in control. [2] 

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Quote of the Week: from Learning from the Mystics…. John Chaffee

“To reach satisfaction in all
desire satisfaction in nothing.
To come to possess all
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all
desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all
desire the knowledge of nothing.

To come to enjoy what you have not
you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not
you must go by a way in which you are not.”
– The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book One, Chapter 13

Reflection:

Todos y nadas.  This is understood as the summation of St. John of the Cross’ teachings.  You may know him through The Dark Night of the Soul, but even that falls under the umbrella of his primary thought: todos y nadas (or, “everything and nothing”).

Looking at the quote, you may see the words “everything” and “nothing” are repeated both in vocabulary as well as theme.  One could say that St. John of the Cross had a healthy and holy understanding of “all or nothing” thinking!

For St. John of the Cross, the architecture or motivations of our lives have become inverted or distorted and it has become our ruin.

By seeking everything, we become nothing.  By seeking satisfaction, desire, being whole, and knowing we make ourselves dissatisfied, empty, fractured, and ignorant.  By seeking to enjoy, know, and possess all things, we end up not enjoying, knowing, or possessing anything.  This is such a brilliant analysis of the disordered loves of the heart and soul that it still rings true in our society today.

Everything and nothing.  Todos y nadas.

Do not look for satisfaction in anything, do not look to possess anything, do not look to be anything, do not look to learn everything.  Go the difficult way, find the path you did not know about, the one you do not already own as familiar territory, and go in a direction you are not already.

For St. John of the Cross, to seek nothing is to gain everything.

And, if we are being honest, that is rather close to the teaching of Christ…  “If you lose your life you will save it.  If you try to save your life you will lose it.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, grant us the courage to follow the way that you have laid our for us.  Reorder the loves of our hearts so that we might be able to walk in the way that is everlasting.  Enable us to give up our pursuits of everything, that we might settle into our nothingness, and find that by your grace we are given everything.  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen and amen.

Dr. Barbara Holmes: An Everyday Mystic

Our Daily Meditations this week honor the wisdom, teachings, and legacy of Dr. Barbara Holmes (1943–2024), a beloved CAC teacher. After her university career, “Dr. B,” as she was known to many CAC students and colleagues, enjoyed offering her perspective as an “everyday mystic.” 

Every person has had some mystical experience. Maybe the seas have not parted, and maybe they haven’t walked on water, but there have nevertheless been amazing miracles in our lives. We just haven’t shared them in community, so we don’t feel comfortable sharing them as individuals. I will tell you the basis of my personal mysticism so that you will consider yours….  

I’m an ordinary, everyday mystic. I’m not claiming special powers, just a life steeped in mystery. My family was comfortable with mysticism, spiritual discernment, and the use of spiritual gifts such as healing and words of knowledge. My Aunt Lee, a Gullah shaman Catholic, was my biggest influence. She saw dead people and mediated mystery for our family. She could tell you who was coming and going and how they were when they got to the other side!… She relayed messages from ancestors on the other side back to us….   

It seems that at least in her understanding, you could choose your age in the life after life. So when you saw people in dreams, you would see them embodied as the age that best reflected their spiritual joy. My dad chose his 50s, and when I see him in dreams, that’s what he looks like. My mom chose her late 30s. I’m not familiar with that look for my mom, so I always hesitate, because at this point on the spiritual side, she’s younger than I am. There were all kinds of rules about dreams and encounters. My aunt’s messages always included what they called “verification.” She would seal the deal with the information that no one would know except the loved ones who had gone on. She’d tell you where a piece of lost jewelry could be found, or the content of a few last words spoken in private….   

The weird part is that all of this seemed normal to me. Despite the fact that schooling and further education tried to invalidate my experience, I knew that everyday mysticism was real. I could not be persuaded or taught otherwise. I’m describing mysticism as a natural part of everyday life and all of the things that I’m describing happened in ordinary time. There was no weird music, sweeping cloaks, or spooky incantations … just a deep understanding of the sacred and a willingness to allow the gifts to lead. [1]  

CAC Dean of Faculty Brian McLaren encourages us to honor Dr. B’s life with our own lives:  

In honoring Dr. B, may we continue the struggle she so passionately embraced—the struggle for justice, the healing of the human spirit, and the call to radical creativity. May her “intelligence on fire” continue to burn within us as we move forward in love, action, and contemplation. [2] 

Encouraging Everyday Mysticism

Dr. Barbara Holmes continues to share her experiences as an ordinary, everyday mystic: 

What was it like growing up as an ordinary mystic? Dreams and visions were shared, discussed, and interpreted. Ancestors and elders communicated with us from the life after life. They issued warnings, blessings, and updates. It took a while for me to realize that what I considered normal was considered weird by everybody else.   

Despite this history and my acquaintance with biblical mystery, I tried to subdue the mysticism in me as I entered the academic world. I remember creating the longest, most boring PowerPoint ever on the subject of mysticism when I first started teaching. I used words like “noetic” and “ineffable.” Of course, my students went into an academic stupor, and I wondered why they didn’t get it. Instead, I should have wondered why I was hiding in plain sight. The students already knew that something was different about my process and background, and they sought me out to tell me their stories.… 

I know about everyday mystics because they were in my house, in my family, at the corner store, and hugging me at church.… They mediated the realms of life and the life after life. They were amazing, and they were a little bit scary, too.   

The everyday mystics I grew up with had knapsacks full of spiritual gifts. They could conjure in the kitchen, offer blessed assurance, and braid hair. An aunt or a grandma could shake the dirt from a bunch of beets and transform it into a dish that took you to heaven, even when you don’t like beets. The elders knew how to cure you of your ailments…. The mystics I knew could get a prayer through. They could birth babies and they could bring you messages from the other side.  

Holmes invites us to recognize divine presence and mystery in all of life:   

I hear mystery in drumming, in singing bowls, rattles, and in basic hymns, but that’s not the only place mysticism is found. Sacred texts of all faiths contain stories of wondrous happenings. In the Christian tradition we have virgin births, burning bushes not consumed, waters parting, healing, and prophetic leadership. Yet some Christians are nervous as to whether miracles are tied to faith! Miracles and mysteries can be extraordinary. They can be experienced by the entire community or as a vision or a dream for an individual. Today, we are not looking for colossal mysteries like the parting of the seas. We just want to tap into, or at least recognize, everyday mysticism. Our ancestors hosted this type of mysticism for ages, and we didn’t lose our connection to those many sources of wisdom until more recent generations when we decided that scientific verification and proof would be the only criteria by which we decide between reality and delusion. But we can make better decisions now. We can acknowledge the continued value of science as we explore our worlds and while we continue our dance with the mysteries of life.   

God Contains All Pasts and Futures

MARK LONGHURST NOV 17

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says God to John of Patmos (Revelation 1:8).

Alpha is the first, the beginning. Omega is the last, the end. Alpha and Omega are on the literal level simply the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

But what does it mean to call God—or rather, to hear God say through John through sacred text—that “I am the Alpha and the Omega”? People who are fed up with patriarchal religion, like myself and so many others, don’t need another Alpha God before whom all others submit. But that’s just what we turned God and Jesus into: the one before whom all will bow. And as I’ve been exploring in this Revelation series, we turned “the end” into something to be afraid of rather than a narrative arc of hopefulness.

Readers of the Gospel of John may be familiar with statements that begin with “I Am.” It’s a mysterious phrase, hearkening back to a desert encounter between Moses and God. Moses wishes to know just who this voice is speaking a life call to him from a burning bush. “Liberate my people,” God says, and Moses understandably replies: “Who are you? Why should I believe you? Can I trust my experience?” To which God replies, “I Am Who I Am.” I am—in different words—existence, aliveness, being itself and mystery. This mystery-presence identifies in John’s Gospel as “Bread of Life,” “Resurrection and Life,” “Way, Truth, and Life,” and more. Whatever this is, it is beginning and end.

To read John of Patmos telling of his own encounter with I Am, like the disciples telling of their time with Jesus, like the storytellers writing about Moses, is to be drawn into relationship with that same mystery-presence.

One way I’ve been thinking about “Alpha and Omega” is that God contains my past and my future, along with the past and future.

I think of my family heritage, much of which still remains unknown to me—grandparents settling outside of Albany, NY; other grandparents rooting down in rural, Southern Illinois. My mom, dad, sister and I living first in small-town Michigan, then Geneva, Switzerland, and so on. I think of the gifts my grandparents gave: the simple life of George and “Peg,” baking bread, tending their expansive vegetable and flower gardens, beginning each day with prayer. Or the kindness and life-affirming nature of my other grandma, Phyllis, who never missed an opportunity to get dressed up and go out for cocktails at The Elks. The past unveils the shadow side, of course, too, of rigid control in one grandfather and alcoholism and deceit in the other. God contains my past, the parts I know about and don’t, the family story that unfolded to this present moment and to me.

God contains my future—the opportunities, delights, transformations, joys, struggles, and tragedies—that I do not know about. Including my own end, the great personal mystery of my own eventual death. Each of our bodies has an end, after all; my thinking is it’s better to develop a relationship with that unknown moment now rather than wait until the last minute!

My past and future matter to me, of course, but in cosmic scope they are hardly important. God’s Alpha is the gestating presence at the very beginning, in the first expansion-explosion of the Big Bang. God’s Omega is not a fearful punishing end, but a hopeful point towards which that same universe itself, including us, is expanding.

Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash

We are in the realm of science, but more importantly, the realm of mystics who seek to uncover the meaning behind and within beginnings and ends. Take the French Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, banned for years by the Catholic Church but making a comeback today. He wrote of Christ as the “Omega point,” Christ as the center of the evolutionary process itself, and also the direction towards which everything is converging. This Christ is far more than a human Jesus, but a personal, cosmic dynamism. Here’s Teilhardian scholar Ilia Delio on the “Omega point”:

Through his penetrating view of the universe, Teilhard found Christ present in the entire cosmos, from the least particle of matter to the convergent human community. Christ invests himself organically with all of creation, immersing himself in things, in the heart of matter, and thus unifying the world. 

My alpha and omega find themselves in the universe’s alpha and omega, which finds itself in God as Alpha and Omega. This brings me great hope in a time in which so many human lives are deemed “unworthy.” My life matters profoundly, and yours does, too, but not in the sense that we are ourselves very important. Instead, we participate in the loving presence of God and reality. We find ourselves in a much larger story.