Pushing heaven

1.  PRAYER

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

2.  Meditation 

https://youtu.be/LLeqY9ingRY?si=W9fbFsIaG7cmiei5

3.  SONG

https://youtu.be/H9_0jiO5ZRM?si=XWXX_pEhNH_ePGXX

4. NARRATIVE

A Change in Consciousness
Sunday, September 6, 2015

Rather than making dogmatic statements about how to get to heaven, Jesus modeled and taught how to live on earth in a loving way, and he said that this was indeed heaven! But Christians have all too often pushed heaven into the future. We’ve made Jesus’ death and resurrection into a reward/punishment system for the next world, which creates tremendously self-absorbed and self-preoccupied people. It doesn’t transform anyone into compassionate, loving individuals. Instead it leads to a kind of morbid self-analysis in which people feel guilty, inferior, and inadequate or superior and self-righteous.

This dualistic approach has corrupted the true meaning of the Gospel. I would go so far as to say that by sending Christians on a path of well disguised but delayed self-interest, we prostituted the entire spiritual journey from the very start. You cannot easily get to love when you begin with threats and appeals to fear. The driving energy is completely wrong. Rather, you come to love by attraction. Change must begin with positive energy or the final result is never positive.

Maybe the Buddha didn’t talk about God because he didn’t want his teaching to be interpreted as a method of earning or losing God’s love. He emphasized awareness and experience more than winning a prize. Words, which are by nature dualistic, tend to get in the way of actual experience. Thomas Merton said, “Buddhist meditation, but above all that of Zen, seeks not to explain but to pay attention, to become aware, to be mindful, in other words to develop a certain kind of consciousness that is above and beyond deception by verbal formulas—or by emotional excitement.” [1]

Both the Buddha and Jesus were constantly telling people to be compassionate, to let go, to detach. The difference is that Buddhists were taught that they could not do any of these things with a dualistic consciousness. If you were raised Christian, on the other hand, you were given the impression that you could be a forgiving person with a dualistic mind. You can’t! In effect, Christians were given commandments about mercy, compassion, loving enemies, and forgiveness without being taught the nondual consciousness necessary for living most of those commandments.

Because the Church usually did not enable any actual change of consciousness, most people had to split. In effect, we became hypocrites (the word first meant “actors”); we had no other choice. We have to pretend that we love our enemies, because Jesus said we should. We have to pretend to be nonviolent, when in reality Americans are all part of a highly militaristic culture. But the real teaching of Jesus is ignored, is innocuous, and is boring to us, because frankly, with the dualistic mind, most of it is unlivable and impossible. You can give people all the pious Christian teaching you want, but without a transformation of consciousness, they don’t have the energy or the capacity to carry it out.

Thankfully, we are now in an age where we can be open to learning from other world religions like Buddhism, which have long been teaching the non-dual consciousness that Christianity stopped teaching in a systematic way for the last five hundred years. [2]

Gateway to Silence:
“The suchness of each moment is the infinite mercy of God.”  —Paul Knitter

References:
[1] Thomas Merton, Zen and the Birds of Appetite (New Directions: 1968), 38.
[2] Richard Rohr, Jesus and Buddha: Paths to Awakening (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2008), disc 4 (CD, DVD, MP3 download).

The Dualistic Mind
Sunday, January 29, 2017

If we are trying to rebuild Christianity from the bottom up, we need to try to understand Jesus, the one who began it all (even though he probably never intended to start a new religion). I am convinced that Jesus was the first nondual religious teacher of the West, and one reason we have failed to understand so much of his teaching, much less follow it, is because we tried to understand it with dualistic minds. In his life and ministry, Jesus modeled and exemplifiednonduality more than giving us any systematic teaching on it. Our inability to fully understand him and seriously follow him may be partly because we have not been taught how to see nondually ourselves. We thought highly of the “mind of Christ” but there was little practical knowledge of how to get there. This week I will try to shed some light on the meaning of dualistic and nondual thinking, because until you put on wide-lens nondual glasses you cannot see in any genuinely new way. You will just process any new ideas with your old operating system.

Dualistic thinking, or the “egoic operating system,” as my friend and colleague Cynthia Bourgeault calls it, is our way of reading reality from the position of our private and small self. “What’s in it for me?” “How will I look if I do this?” This is the ego’s preferred way of seeing reality. It is the ordinary “hardware” of almost all Western people, even those who think of themselves as Christians. The church has neglected its central work of teaching prayer and contemplation, allowing the language of institutional religion itself to remain dualistic and largely argumentative. We ended up confusing information with enlightenment, mind with soul, and thinking with experiencing—yet these are very different paths.

The dualistic mind is essentially binary, either/or thinking. It knows by comparison, opposition, and differentiation. It uses descriptive words like good/evil, pretty/ugly, smart/stupid, not realizing there may be a hundred degrees between the two ends of each spectrum. Dualistic thinking works well for the sake of simplification and conversation, but not for the sake of truth or the immense subtlety of actual personal experience. Most of us settle for quick and easy answers instead of any deep perception, which we leave to poets, philosophers, and prophets. Yet depth and breadth of perception should be the primary arena for all authentic religion. How else could we possibly search for God?

We do need the dualistic mind to function in practical life, however, and to do our work as a teacher, a nurse, a scientist, or an engineer. It’s helpful and fully necessary as far as it goes, but it just doesn’t go far enough. The dualistic mind cannot process things like infinity, mystery, God, grace, suffering, sexuality, death, or love; this is exactly why most people stumble over these very issues. The dualistic mind pulls everything down into some kind of tit-for-tat system of false choices and too-simple contraries, which is largely what “fast food religion” teaches, usually without even knowing it. Without the contemplative and converted mind—honest and humble perception—much religion is frankly dangerous.

Gateway to Silence:
We are oned in love.

References:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations (CAC Publishing: 2016), 98-99;
Yes, And . . . : Daily Meditations (Franciscan Media: 2013), 406; and
The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2009), 34-35.

5.  Meditation 

https://youtu.be/emaQgCZGl1s?si=G6REcnn1Z0RGlJiG

6. SHARING

7.  PRAYER AND INTENTIONS

New International Version

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

 8.  SONG

https://youtu.be/EuL0lgVP_Ew?si=A4oacIB5w-KWG2aT

Sweet goodbyes

One could not predict at times how one would react to situations.  My reaction to certain life moments has surprised me.  One instance is moving on or saying goodbyes.  One such time is leaving a job I loved at IUP where I taught for 12 and half years.  I knew it was time and the right one came when I felt I had to attend a grand reunion with high school classmates in the Philippines and do it without hurry like I did in previous years.  My classmates were getting on in years with several of us passing in greater percentage than other batches.  I was swamped with doing last-minute things in the retirement process to feel anything,  But one memory came up lately when I had to say goodbye to a volunteer job I have grown to love also, namely teaching CCD or faith formation to young children at my parish. 

My memory went back to one beautiful day in December 2014.  I was walking through the tree-lined campus to turn in or get the results of an online quiz at the testing center.  I was soaking in the beauty of the campus in the warmer-than-usual December day amidst the bustle of the students walking for their change of classes. I had mixed feelings knowing I only had a few more days till I retired. I was very touched by the sadness on people’s faces at the center when they learned that I was retiring. After all the center was one place I frequented in the past few years when I switched to online quizzes.  It did surprise me that this walk was what I found the sweetest of this segment of my saying goodbye to IUP. 

Memories of December 2014 came back in March.  I just decided it was time to say goodbye to teaching CCD.  I have found a very capable person to take my place and he agreed willingly.  I was happy and relieved.  When I went home I was surprised I sobbed when it dawned on me I just have a few more weeks of CCD teaching. I did not expect it.  After all no more teaching evenings when I could barely stay awake.  I should be celebrating not sobbing.  Everything turned sweeter, not frustrating. I saw things more rosily and gratefully.  Students could read at last. Still rambunctious  They all became endearing in their own way. Brandon got all the answers surprisingly especially since he struggled with his shyness at the beginning of the school year. Brian was so innocent and deliberate in his answers that came slowly but with much depth. Philosophical Bianca who comes up always with the deepest insight said Jesus is present in our hearts when we talked about his presence everywhere. Ceci was so reliable and smart. Aiden Mr enthusiasm. Wanted to please. And then the others who I will get to know better at the end of the semester.  

Some moments are hard to forget and that is because of how they make you feel.  These two days are up there.  Sadness and sweetness blended. And the surprise they carried.

Grief

 1. PRAYER

A Prayer for Those in Mourning 

Dear Lord, In the depths of our hearts, we carry the weight of sadness and the ache of mourning. We acknowledge these emotions for they are a testament to the love we held for those we have lost and the pain of their absence in our lives.

Help us, dear God, to embrace our sadness without guilt or shame. Grant us the wisdom to understand that grief is a natural and necessary part of the human experience. In our mourning, may we find strength in our memories, solace in our tears, and comfort in the support of those who walk this journey with us.

Lord, we also pray for the promise of joy in the morning. We trust in your unfailing love and the hope of new beginnings. Help us recognize the small glimmers of light amid the darkness, the moments of peace amidst the pain. Guide us on the path to healing so that as the dawn breaks, we may find joy once more. May our hearts be open to the beauty of life, even as we remember those who are no longer with us. In the name of your boundless love and grace, we pray. Amen.

2. MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/v-l0Tj0PdfM?si=Bkk-la3osu9bQ0J9

3. SONG

https://youtu.be/Gl2sqdfD2Q0?si=MPEK6erjc_pOfxtJ

4.  NARRATIVE

The Devastation of Grief

Monday, August 2, 2021

The Devastation of Grief
Monday, August 2, 2021

In the Hebrew Scriptures, we find Job moving through Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s well-known stages of grief and dying: denial, anger, bargaining, resignation, and acceptance. The first seven days of Job’s time on the “dung heap” of pain are spent in silence, the immediate response matching the first stage—denial. Then he reaches the anger stage, verses in the Bible in which Job shouts and curses at God. He says, in effect, “This so-called life I have is not really life, God, it’s death. So why should I be happy?”

Perhaps some of us have been there—so hurt and betrayed, so devastated by our losses that we echo Job’s cry about the day he was born, “May that day be darkness. May God on high have no thought for it, may no light shine on it. May murk and deep shadow claim it for their own” (Job 3:4–5). It’s beautiful, poetic imagery. He’s saying: “Uncreate the day. Make it not a day of light, but darkness. Let clouds hang over it, eclipse swoop down on it.” Where God in Genesis speaks “Let there be light,” Job insists “Let there be darkness.” The day of uncreation, of anti-creation. We probably have to have experienced true depression or betrayal to understand such a feeling.

W. H. Auden expressed his grief in much the same way in his poem “Funeral Blues,” which ends with these lines:

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good. [1]

There’s a part of each of us that feels and speaks that sadness. Not every day, thank goodness. But if we’re willing to feel and participate in the pain of the world, part of us will suffer that kind of despair. If we want to walk with Job, with Jesus, and in solidarity with much of the world, we must allow grace to lead us there as the events of life show themselves. I believe this is exactly what we mean by conformity to Christ.

We must go through the stages of feeling, not only the last death but all the earlier little (and not-so-little) deaths. If we bypass these emotional stages by easy answers, all they do is take a deeper form of disguise and come out in another way. Many people learn the hard way—by getting ulcers, by all kinds of internal diseases, depression, addictions, irritability, and misdirected anger—because they refuse to let their emotions run their course or to find some appropriate place to share them.

I am convinced that people who do not feel deeply finally do not know deeply either. It is only because Job is willing to feel his emotions that he is able to come to grips with the mystery in his head and heart and gut. He understands holistically and therefore his experience of grief becomes both whole and holy.

References:
[1] W. H. Auden, “Funeral Blues,” Another Time (Faber and Faber: 1940), 91.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Job and the Mystery of Suffering: Spiritual Reflections (Crossroad: 1996), 53–55.

5.  MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/9LSJ4d5kubI?si=Ms0xcTcwdXXoF8bQ

6.  SHARING

7.  PRAYERS AND INTENTIONS

A Prayer for Comfort in Grief

Dear God, in this time of sorrow and loss, I turn to you for strength and comfort. Please wrap your loving arms around me and grant me the peace that surpasses all understanding. Help me find solace in the memories of my loved one, and guide me through this difficult journey of grief. Amen.

8.  SONG

https://youtu.be/hj_0pvIGkks?si=2q8tbtF_2Jg5v4J1

Happy birthday 

https://youtu.be/_z-1fTlSDF0

Love

1.  PRAYER

Gracious God, from love we are made and to love we shall return. May our love for one another kindle flames of joy and hope. May the light and warmth of your grace inspire us to follow the Way of Jesus Christ, and serve you in your Kingdom, now and forever.

2.  MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/D1ESe4rJNt4?si=FPBlyidQqw-RZIpx

2.  SONG

https://youtu.be/Dy-_z107XRo?si=Z1bLV5vsPhUuUkCO

4,  NARRATIVE

https://wmpaulyoung.com/love-is-who-you-are/#:~:text=Love%20is%20a%20place%20that,peace%20of%20the%20True%20Self.

Love is not really an action that you do. Love is what and who you are, in your deepest essence.

Love is a place that already exists inside of you, but is also greater than you. That’s the paradox. It’s within you and yet beyond you. This creates a sense of abundance and more-than-enoughness, which is precisely the satisfaction and deep peace of the True Self. You know you’ve found a well that will never go dry, as Jesus says (see John 4:13-14). Your True Self, God’s Love in you, cannot be exhausted.

Material gifts decrease when you give them away. Spiritual gifts, by contrast, increase the more you use them. Yes! You get more love by letting it flow through you, just as modeled by the Trinity. If you love, you will become more loving. If you practice patience, you will become more patient. If you stop the Divine Flow, you will be stopped up (“sin”).

Love is not something you can bargain for, nor is it something you can attain or work up to—because love is your very structural and essential identity—created in the image of the Trinity. When you are living in conscious connection with this Loving Inner Presence, you are in your True Self. God is forever united to this love within you; it is your soul, the part of you that always says yes to God. God always sees God in you—and “cannot disown God’s own self” (2 Timothy 2:13).

Many Christians live with a terrible sense of being rejected, because their religion is basically a worthiness game where no one really wins. That’s precisely not the Good News. It’s bad news.

The Gospel will always be misinterpreted by the false self in terms of some kind of climbing or achieving. Since the false self can’t even understand the command to love one’s enemies, it has to disregard the message as naive, which is exactly what most of Christian history has done.

Jesus’ rather clear teaching on love of enemies has been consistently ignored by all the mainline churches. Christians have been fighting one war after another, and excluding, torturing, and killing enemies right and left because the false self can never understand the Gospel. Yet we have been baptizing, confirming, giving communion to, and even ordaining false selves throughout our history. It is probably unavoidable, and God surely must be patient.

Once, after I gave an anti-war sermon, a businessman came up to me and said, “Well, Father, maybe in an ideal world. . . .” I know he meant well, but that’s what we’ve done with most of the teaching of Jesus. We interpret his meaning for some ideal world. Of course, the ideal world is never going to come so we can just ignore 99% of the actual teaching of Jesus, as the institutional church (and I too!) have usually done. We concentrate instead on things that Jesus never once talked about, like birth control, homosexuality, and abortion—bodily “sins” because the body can most easily carry shame. We shouldn’t disregard bodily shame or addictions, but they are not the core problem.

Jesus focused on issues of power, prestige, and possession—which all of us have largely ignored. I don’t think the church has had intentional bad will. It has simply tried to get the false self to live the Gospel, and that will never work. In other words, we’ve tried to have a church without fundamental transformation. Thus, we whittle down the whole Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus’ direct teaching that “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword” (Matthew 26:52); and we look for absolutes in ever new secular places—like the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution which allows us to carry weapons. And this is done by a vast majority of Bible-quoting Christians.

*These thoughts were originally shared as one of Richard’s Daily Meditations. Sign up for them here

5.  MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/AzvcCXvcsZE?si=gTo56IaCMq_8BVdK

6.  SHARING

7.  PRAYER AND INTENTIONS

Your Love

Bless us with Love, O Merciful God; 
That we may Love as you Love!
That we may show patience, tolerance,
Kindness, caring and love to all!
Give me knowledge; O giver of Knowledge,
That I may be one with my Universe and Mother Earth!
O Compassionate One, grant compassion unto us;
That we may help all fellow souls in need!
Bless us with your Love O God.
Bless us with your Love.

- Author Unknown

8.  SONG

https://youtu.be/AdTEz3zwQJk?si=zNBBDdjxB0ZsAHOO

https://youtu.be/bpXwOSHTwsY?si=_1IXlBZD7HtKJwWd