Rest

A wise man asks the Lord if
he can remain where he is,
or if he should appreciate
and move on. Remain where
He bids you rest.

Rituals for their own sake are meaningless. No one is getting into heaven simply because they performed a mechanical motion. The meaning comes from living a relationship with God, with all your heart and soul, without rest. What rest you receive will come from God who captures us like a little child, until we sit in His lap and simply fall asleep.

It is meaningful that the only rest we receive is from God. If we are too frantic in our quest to please Him, He calms us down, stills the momentum, and overcomes our energy with the exertion of His own which is what we call sleep.

In that sleep is where we pray. We may live physically in a stone hut on an Italian mountainside, but where we sleep is immaterial. He covers us and keeps us warm and speaks of meaningful things in the silence, which is a surrender of our material existence to the ineffable bliss of His presence.

By the same token, the appearance of God after we performed a ritual does not indicate the necessity of a similar motion for a visitation of the Lord to take place.

Insecure people seek to be secure by exacting from God some sign that He will not do something painful to us, or confront us in our sins and selfishness, so as to receive assurances that we will do better in the future.

Many believe this is the "end time", and we don't know if that is where we are at all. All the greater the temptation to spin prayer wheels to pray. We cannot get off that easily. A motion of the heart, an e-motion must take place to predicate that we have prayed. 

He will reveal the beauty of true prayer, and invite us to rest with Him in His own silence and solitude, because in it, we are truly with Him, and He is truly with us, and no matter the frantic pace of the world outside us, we remain at peace in Him until He wishes to stir us up, like a man who shuffles the burning logs in his fireplace to "help" the fire.

Prayer is like a fire lit to burn all night which burns steadily until the fuel is gone. In order to maintain the fire, we must add fuel and the air must flow through so that the reaction is steady, and if it is, then the whole house is warm and we sleep undisturbed.

Just like a fire, we may burn out and have to light the fire again, removing ash and putting in new wood and applying a spark to make it burn. Then the fire sustains itself and we can rest and enjoy its warmth.

He made us strong, to endure privations and the power of His love, which is hardly trivial. He ensures the power of His love in us, and if we continue, it is because He is satisfied but glad that we are not taking Him for granted. It might almost be said, that we are better off in the desolation of privations and despair.

Many people are selling all they have and plopping down in some wilderness fortress where they can be unseen and unknown, unvisited by any others, to sit and enjoy our view and the silence. But that silence is not the silence of God, though it is greatly similar. He has no need to examine Himself like us, to ensure it is as we have decided to be. Neither does it matter if we are in a forest depth, or the darkness of a cave, or the cliffs beside an ocean that never rests.

God is our destination, our rest in which we do not stir in response to our mind's thoughts.  He will stir us up if we become complacent or take Him for granted, and we may never know rest again, if He decides that is necessary to His act of revelation to us.

It is like a hunter who goes into the forest to live, and survives off what grows there, whether berries or bears. Sooner or later, he needs to move to another place that has never seen our shadow and where the game is abundant, fish or bird or deer. For us, the animals and the forest itself is a provisioning to maintain the physical body we are, but we are also a spirit which is like God and from whom we receive sustenance and it is a great moment when we finally see the wholeness of existence and our place in it.

That is a great act of divine love in our life, to see with His own fullness, all that is.

The moment of defeat is coming for evil, and sensing that, it is more restless than usual. Our lack of rest in circumstances is meant to stir  our minds and hearts to become stronger than evil so we may survive, because His rest is assembled in our hearts by Him in ways we do not know.

It fascinates people with its raving restlessness and the savagery of what comes out of its mouth, seeking to accomplish something of his intended doom while we are fascinated by his actions, but are seen eventually as meaningless.  Beware of the stupid things people do, and the importance they place on it being done. Evil is concerned with rituals too, to distract us from seeing. We need truth like we need air, and if a man cannot live without lies, he is already doomed and marked as one we should avoid, especially in our imitation of things.

Beware of mistaking ritual for gestures of love. Love flows and is beautiful and full of warmth and light and never comes to us empty-handed lest it lose our interest and cool in the gloom of the forest. If God can be said to have a vulnerability, it is that He is love, and wishes our love forever in a tranquil stream of earnestness. That is why a prayer wheel or a little bell is empty to the Lord; He made us to be warm and rest with Him, and to subdue ourselves in His power to see and be at rest as it works within us manifesting its energy in silent dark.

Sometimes we call Him, and sometimes He calls us, but He is forever calling people to be with Him, and they are to be detached with their cauterized hearts firmly attached to His love.

The fact we have been called does not assume that we are set aside to do what we want to do or think we have been called to. That invites power and power subdues love because it is outside of control. He forever calls us, judges what we do to find out if we love, or think it is a quantity we can increase like cash. Avoid both and realize that life flows from God outside our control and He will mold us to be what He wishes without our bothering Him.

Remember the silence, so in the din of life you can hear it still, for then it will resonate in us wherever we are, like the warmth we recalled, of the fire.

Rest

A wise man asks the Lord if
he can remain where he is,
or if he should appreciate
and move on. Remain where
He bids you rest.

Rituals for their own sake are meaningless. No one is getting into heaven simply because they performed a mechanical motion. The meaning comes from living a relationship with God, with all your heart and soul, without rest. What rest you receive will come from God who captures us like a little child, until we sit in His lap and simply fall asleep.

It is meaningful that the only rest we receive is from God. If we are too frantic in our quest to please Him, He calms us down, stills the momentum, and overcomes our energy with the exertion of His own which is what we call sleep.

In that sleep is where we pray. We may live physically in a stone hut on an Italian mountainside, but where we sleep is immaterial. He covers us and keeps us warm and speaks of meaningful things in the silence, which is a surrender of our material existence to the ineffable bliss of His presence.

By the same token, the appearance of God after we performed a ritual does not indicate the necessity of a similar motion for a visitation of the Lord to take place.

Insecure people seek to be secure by exacting from God some sign that He will not do something painful to us, or confront us in our sins and selfishness, so as to receive assurances that we will do better in the future.

Many believe this is the "end time", and we don't know if that is where we are at all. All the greater the temptation to spin prayer wheels to pray. We cannot get off that easily. A motion of the heart, an e-motion must take place to predicate that we have prayed. 

He will reveal the beauty of true prayer, and invite us to rest with Him in His own silence and solitude, because in it, we are truly with Him, and He is truly with us, and no matter the frantic pace of the world outside us, we remain at peace in Him until He wishes to stir us up, like a man who shuffles the burning logs in his fireplace to "help" the fire.

Prayer is like a fire lit to burn all night which burns steadily until the fuel is gone. In order to maintain the fire, we must add fuel and the air must flow through so that the reaction is steady, and if it is, then the whole house is warm and we sleep undisturbed.

Just like a fire, we may burn out and have to light the fire again, removing ash and putting in new wood and applying a spark to make it burn. Then the fire sustains itself and we can rest and enjoy its warmth.

He made us strong, to endure privations and the power of His love, which is hardly trivial. He ensures the power of His love in us, and if we continue, it is because He is satisfied but glad that we are not taking Him for granted. It might almost be said, that we are better off in the desolation of privations and despair.

Many people are selling all they have and plopping down in some wilderness fortress where they can be unseen and unknown, unvisited by any others, to sit and enjoy our view and the silence. But that silence is not the silence of God, though it is greatly similar. He has no need to examine Himself like us, to ensure it is as we have decided to be. Neither does it matter if we are in a forest depth, or the darkness of a cave, or the cliffs beside an ocean that never rests.

God is our destination, our rest in which we do not stir in response to our mind's thoughts.  He will stir us up if we become complacent or take Him for granted, and we may never know rest again, if He decides that is necessary to His act of revelation to us.

It is like a hunter who goes into the forest to live, and survives off what grows there, whether berries or bears. Sooner or later, he needs to move to another place that has never seen our shadow and where the game is abundant, fish or bird or deer. For us, the animals and the forest itself is a provisioning to maintain the physical body we are, but we are also a spirit which is like God and from whom we receive sustenance and it is a great moment when we finally see the wholeness of existence and our place in it.

That is a great act of divine love in our life, to see with His own fullness, all that is.

The moment of defeat is coming for evil, and sensing that, it is more restless than usual. Our lack of rest in circumstances is meant to stir  our minds and hearts to become stronger than evil so we may survive, because His rest is assembled in our hearts by Him in ways we do not know.

It fascinates people with its raving restlessness and the savagery of what comes out of its mouth, seeking to accomplish something of his intended doom while we are fascinated by his actions, but are seen eventually as meaningless.  Beware of the stupid things people do, and the importance they place on it being done. Evil is concerned with rituals too, to distract us from seeing. We need truth like we need air, and if a man cannot live without lies, he is already doomed and marked as one we should avoid, especially in our imitation of things.

Beware of mistaking ritual for gestures of love. Love flows and is beautiful and full of warmth and light and never comes to us empty-handed lest it lose our interest and cool in the gloom of the forest. If God can be said to have a vulnerability, it is that He is love, and wishes our love forever in a tranquil stream of earnestness. That is why a prayer wheel or a little bell is empty to the Lord; He made us to be warm and rest with Him, and to subdue ourselves in His power to see and be at rest as it works within us manifesting its energy in silent dark.

Sometimes we call Him, and sometimes He calls us, but He is forever calling people to be with Him, and they are to be detached with their cauterized hearts firmly attached to His love.

The fact we have been called does not assume that we are set aside to do what we want to do or think we have been called to. That invites power and power subdues love because it is outside of control. He forever calls us, judges what we do to find out if we love, or think it is a quantity we can increase like cash. Avoid both and realize that life flows from God outside our control and He will mold us to be what He wishes without our bothering Him.

Remember the silence, so in the din of life you can hear it still, for then it will resonate in us wherever we are, like the warmth we recalled, of the fire.

Tapestry

A life is a work in progress. In the progress of our work, people come and go like the threads of a tapestry. Each thread is indispensable, meaning, however much love they brought to the picture is all the love they can give. Each strand has its own merits, and they should be appreciated as such. Appreciate everyone, and you will be appreciated, according to the quality of your love. You could give only a certain quality to any relationship, but if it was your all, then whoever you loved received a precious gift. Don't try to rip up the tapestry, because you must turn it in to Lord at the end of Day.

Tapestry

A life is a work in progress. In the progress of our work, people come and go like the threads of a tapestry. Each thread is indispensable, meaning, however much love they brought to the picture is all the love they can give. Each strand has its own merits, and they should be appreciated as such. Appreciate everyone, and you will be appreciated, according to the quality of your love. You could give only a certain quality to any relationship, but if it was your all, then whoever you loved received a precious gift. Don't try to rip up the tapestry, because you must turn it in to Lord at the end of Day.

Together

 Feast of the Holy family, New Year's Eve

Together.

Gospel LK 2:22-40

The Lord made it possible for Zecchariah to see the infant Jesus and recognize Him. Blessed are we who may obtain such a boon from the Lord and  to recognize Him in His infancy.

The Lord makes promises to those He loves, and since He loves everyone, the covenant is with everyone, and the benefits of His love flow freely to all who love in return.

No matter what we have set our hopes on, it cannot be more important to us than the Lord is to all men. To learn holy desire, we are tried in our hopes and the affections of our hearts until we learn to discern what is good from what is evil, from that which brings health and that which is most foully diseased and pernicious.

It was sin that robbed us of our ability to see and hear the Lord; it was death that robbed us of our life, for our life was different before we sinned.

Just as He was tried in the garden of Gethsemane, so too we will be tried; rest will not descend on us and there will be no delight such as we may seek, so long as there remains any particle of us that is not given over to Him in our hearts.

He came to the garden to pray, to be lifted up and seek the words of His Father and His pleasure. He was prevented from resting and His hopes were dashed, because it was more important that we obtain redemption and are saved than that He should escape the horrors of the death decreed for Him

In the violation of His Body lay the Will which desired only His Will.

This world is destined to be changed and replaced by something wonderful and something blessed. Thus, our hearts need to be set on God who alone can institute what is new and right; something great and perfect which is fitting for the just and righteous.

He has pointed out the just and the righteous , not so they may be seen as excellent to lord over us, but to be rightly disposed in their hearts as example for us, so that the world might be fitting for the Lord and His presence can be our eternal consolation.

It is indeed a gift to be wounded, to be pierced through, and it is adaptable to the needs of the Lord for our brothers and sisters. He needs them to be happy, serving Him, praising His Name, and giving our lives over to Him.

We need everything because our sin has stripped us of our heritage.

The heritage He holds for us will be perfect and complete. Thus the inheritance is divine, the joy to come.

Will our sacrifice be any less? To be perfect it must be total and not held back or reserved by us in any way, regarding Him. Thus, a nail driven in a hand or foot is total, and the act of imparting them is total. The pain is perfect pain, for it washes sins away, the sins of brothers and sisters. And now that you know what He is asking, establish peace in your hearts. In His peace rest undisturbed, and your joy will be complete. He will give what you need to give all for Him and be at peace, resting in His Will. When they came for Him in the garden, He surrendered Himself to them and made Himself known so they would not take the wrong man, for He alone could be available for the cross and the nails were His alone, and so He had to ensure that He received what was His. He received for us what He would not impose on us, even if He had the right and the power, which He did.

Thus the world is subject to the Lord, and all will be disposed according to His pleasure, because He did not insist on His own rest and pleasure, but desired what was held in store for Him which would redeem us.

would He give us so much and not enable us to receive it and accept it without reservation? He enables us to do His Will, and has already made allowance for our weaknesses, so that His Will might be accomplished anyway.

A day is coming when the whole world will see Him, His glory and His  peace which accompanies Him everywhere. The world will be glad to see the establishment of what He held in hiddenness for us.

If we could see the invisible, it would be impossible to understand without our union with the Lord. So let us not fret about signs and wonders, but realize that peace and light accompany Him and the day of revelation gladden our hearts. Peace be yours in all things.

Together

 Feast of the Holy family, New Year's Eve

Together.

Gospel LK 2:22-40

The Lord made it possible for Zecchariah to see the infant Jesus and recognize Him. Blessed are we who may obtain such a boon from the Lord and  to recognize Him in His infancy.

The Lord makes promises to those He loves, and since He loves everyone, the covenant is with everyone, and the benefits of His love flow freely to all who love in return.

No matter what we have set our hopes on, it cannot be more important to us than the Lord is to all men. To learn holy desire, we are tried in our hopes and the affections of our hearts until we learn to discern what is good from what is evil, from that which brings health and that which is most foully diseased and pernicious.

It was sin that robbed us of our ability to see and hear the Lord; it was death that robbed us of our life, for our life was different before we sinned.

Just as He was tried in the garden of Gethsemane, so too we will be tried; rest will not descend on us and there will be no delight such as we may seek, so long as there remains any particle of us that is not given over to Him in our hearts.

He came to the garden to pray, to be lifted up and seek the words of His Father and His pleasure. He was prevented from resting and His hopes were dashed, because it was more important that we obtain redemption and are saved than that He should escape the horrors of the death decreed for Him

In the violation of His Body lay the Will which desired only His Will.

This world is destined to be changed and replaced by something wonderful and something blessed. Thus, our hearts need to be set on God who alone can institute what is new and right; something great and perfect which is fitting for the just and righteous.

He has pointed out the just and the righteous , not so they may be seen as excellent to lord over us, but to be rightly disposed in their hearts as example for us, so that the world might be fitting for the Lord and His presence can be our eternal consolation.

It is indeed a gift to be wounded, to be pierced through, and it is adaptable to the needs of the Lord for our brothers and sisters. He needs them to be happy, serving Him, praising His Name, and giving our lives over to Him.

We need everything because our sin has stripped us of our heritage.

The heritage He holds for us will be perfect and complete. Thus the inheritance is divine, the joy to come.

Will our sacrifice be any less? To be perfect it must be total and not held back or reserved by us in any way, regarding Him. Thus, a nail driven in a hand or foot is total, and the act of imparting them is total. The pain is perfect pain, for it washes sins away, the sins of brothers and sisters. And now that you know what He is asking, establish peace in your hearts. In His peace rest undisturbed, and your joy will be complete. He will give what you need to give all for Him and be at peace, resting in His Will. When they came for Him in the garden, He surrendered Himself to them and made Himself known so they would not take the wrong man, for He alone could be available for the cross and the nails were His alone, and so He had to ensure that He received what was His. He received for us what He would not impose on us, even if He had the right and the power, which He did.

Thus the world is subject to the Lord, and all will be disposed according to His pleasure, because He did not insist on His own rest and pleasure, but desired what was held in store for Him which would redeem us.

would He give us so much and not enable us to receive it and accept it without reservation? He enables us to do His Will, and has already made allowance for our weaknesses, so that His Will might be accomplished anyway.

A day is coming when the whole world will see Him, His glory and His  peace which accompanies Him everywhere. The world will be glad to see the establishment of what He held in hiddenness for us.

If we could see the invisible, it would be impossible to understand without our union with the Lord. So let us not fret about signs and wonders, but realize that peace and light accompany Him and the day of revelation gladden our hearts. Peace be yours in all things.

Reflection

It was a privilege to be in this place
when I took this photo of a creek in 
eastern washington.

In reflecting lately, and how can you avoid reflection in this season of penance and rejoicing? In certain things I have improved and gained certain victories, and in other aspects, I did not, let us say.

Of the positive outcome, I am certain. Of other aspects, I am not so sure. One thing seems to be certain, and that is things are not very clear. The obfuscation is resultant from things beyond our control.

The instinct is to preserve what is shown to be irrefutably right and good, and to reject what is obviously speculative and untried. There are dangers in both directions. Like the island of Iceland, now being torn apart by sea floor spreading, nothing is standing still. But excessive rigidity threatens our peace of mind as much as throwing away everything including the baby in the bath water. 

Beyond a certain point, parents discard the diapers and rubber pants, to try potty training their child. The delicate act of encouraging and discouraging must be full of love to work. The rewards are great. It is a lot less work and bother to have a child gain control of body functions. That is a good thing, but it was unavoidable to have a child pooping in his diapers, and necessary; just as necessary as for an adult. but the adult knows where to go and what to do when the time comes for evacuation of the bowels.

The modern times produced disposable diapers, whereas, in the past, diapers were put in a diaper pail full of bleach water and were rinsed  clean later then there was time.

We need the ability to judge our actions in the light of God. Even for someone who rejects God, a person  needs to look at where they have been and to decide where they are going, and I submit, that it is impossible to get anywhere without God. So what if He imposes restraints on us? It is better for us to be restrained than to get killed by our indiscretion. And in time, a child restrained recognizes that it was a good thing to have been restrained so as to avoid injury.

Pain has an indispensable part to play in learning, although, pleasure has a role to play as well. How much we gain from one another when we learn from one another, and to give way mutually.

What a great matter it is when we learn to do what is right and good, and choose to live that way, rather than to embrace the path of personal pleasure in everything. We gain a great deal by our abilities, especially, to learn to love others even at the cost of pain to ourselves. 

It is a great thing to refrain from displeasing God and others, even loved ones. It may seem unnecessary whilst we lack context by which to judge, a viewpoint only gained by time and distance. When we begin to love Him, He blots out all the rest with love, filling our whole horizon, as it were, in every direction, and reassurance rises from our be-ing, and God overflows into us with delight and bliss.

Regardless how infrequently that may be, the delight is so intense that it can outweigh all else. Then we must love Him even more, in order to love Him more than ourselves or even our pleasure at having tasted His bliss again. One cannot be happy otherwise.

If we only arrive at the moment of divine pleasure and stop growing or changing, we have been suffocated by ourselves, and we won't last long that way, for there is a blessing in breathing cool, clean air again.

A new year presents itself, with all the changes and variations in the theme of our living. Some of these things will undoubtedly be painful and unpleasant. Not to worry, it is all under His supervision and in His care.

We can be part of the happiness of others if we choose to do the things that will make them happy. The sounds of love don't just happen, you have to make them :) What sensation did it bring you when you saw someone troubled, smile? Surely there was pleasure in helping? Sometimes we get the chance, and we certainly can pray for opportunities. 

It had been written that Jesus, on the cross, would drink wine one last time, and it happened just before His death, so that He Himself could proclaim that it had been done, and finally all things required had been accomplished. We share in that moment too, from time to time.