Trust

July 31, 2013, St.Ignatius of Loyola, 30th Day of Fast for Non-Violence, 22nd of Ramadam

 

A young man commented to me last night–you do not try to convert us–you treat us all equally–well I do.  You see, I believe we are on the same journey–and Jesus is but one of many manifestations of God.  For St. Ignatius tells us to “trust as if everything depends upon it,” and it does.\

Like Will Tuttle I see life as:

Metaphorically, we are all part of the movie of life on earth, and while we may appear to be the images on the screen, at a deeper level we share a common heritage—we are all also the light that makes the movie possible.

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Prayer/Mercy/Fasting

July 30, 2013, Peter Chrysologus, 30th Day of Fasting for Non-Violience/21st. Day of Ramadam

Mt. 13:36-43

 

“Prayer, Mercy, Fasting. These three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is thed soul of prayer, mercy is the life blood of fasting. Let no try to separate them, they can not be separated.” Peter Chryologus.  These past days I have found this saints words to be true. By fasting I see the pain of hunger, I see people and the pain in their lives more clearly, and life becomes a prayer as I go through the day, and from this comes my call to share of what I have.  I am writing all the Gitmo detainees, not expecting a reply, but as a reminder of our own connectedness to all, and our need to give mercy to all. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Little by Little

Ex. 32:15-24, 30-34, Mt. 13:31-35 Martha, 28th Day of Fast for Non-Violence; 20th Day of Ramadam

 

I see the way i do ministry as planting mustard seeds–little by little–building relationships–and they grow.  Moses and Aaron planted mustard seeds that blossomed into Israel.  Will Tuttle has a quote which I like:

 

We are interconnected with all other manifestations of consciousness, and at a deep level we are all united because we share the same source. This source is the infinite intelligence and consciousness that permeates and manifests as phenomenal reality

 

We share the same Source–we should see each other and all creation as brothers, sisters, as connected, and in doing so little by little we change our society, beginning with each of  us. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Nailed to the Cross

Twenty Eighth Day of Fast for Non-Violence; 19th Day of Ramadam

Colossians 2:12-14. . . .”He set this aside nailing it to the cross.”

A photographer gave me some pictures last night of me-compare them to the pictures on my website from 12 years ago and I look worn, a lot older. I used to look much younger then my age, but the years here have worn me, like the velvateen rabbit I am torn with holes. I listened last night to one young man talk of the “demons” in the park; another share of being stabbed, and for me there was no right nor wrong, black or white in any of them–just broken human beings for Jesus nailed it all to the cross, erased it, as with me in my life–I have grown through the years because Jesus nails it all to the cross and I can move on learning.  Being a vegan as been a spiritual process for me, slowly, but it is a symbol of my whole life–of growing, and becoming worn and torn, Will Campbell describes what the process of life is:

When we are drawn toward a plant-based way of eating, it is in no way a limitation on us; rather it is the harmonious fulfillment of our own inner seeing. At first we think it’s an option we can choose, but with time we realize that it’s not a choice at all but the free expression of the truth that we are.

It is not an ethic that we have to police from outside, but our own radiant love spontaneously expressing, both for ourselves and for our world. Caring is born on this earth and lives through us, as us, and it’s not anything for which we can personally take credit. It is nothing to be proud of.

Feeding The Good

Mt. 13:24-30  The 27th Day of the Fast for Non-Violence, The 18th Day of Ramandam

I spent most of my life struggling with putting on a front, and gradually I have realized there are two sides of me–the wheat and the weeds.  I see this in my guys on the street–always trying to be black and white, good and bad–there is a  story a Native American grandfather told to his grand kids: ” There is a fight that goes on inside of us between two wolves. One wolf is bad and evi–creates anger, fear, envy, despair, greed, arrogance, guilt lies, false pride, resentment, competition. The other is the good and noble wolf–generates, love, peace, hope, joy, hope, humility, kindness, friendship, generosity, truthfulness and compassion to me.  And the children asked, “Which one will win?” And he said, “The one you feed.”

 

If we feed violence, hatred, pettiness, our greed–we feed the weeds in our life. We become the way we live our lives, we become what we put into our minds and bodies. It is our choice. Will Tuttle has a sumary I like:

 

To awaken from the cultural trance of omnivorism we need only remember who we are. We have neither the psychology nor the physiology for predation and killing, but due to the culturally indoctrinated mentality required by our daily meals, we eat like predators.

We become desensitized, exclusivist and materialistic, forgetting that we are essentially consciousness manifesting in time and space. As consciousness, we are eternal, free, and benevolent.

Faith

Matthew 13:18-23

 

People often asked me about my faith, and I think of this parable where I imagined the sece that Jesus presents, picturing growth, identifying threats–which for me the greatest threat is not doing-trusting, and keeping on inspite of my doubts is what I am called to do: this quote describes faith:

 

Faith is an experience of trusting belief or believing trust. Any act of trust involves the belief that what is trusted is indeed trustworthy; and any act of believing must express a basic trust or confidence in what is believed in, come what may. One without the other would not be itself. Therefore faith is not to be discounted as merely emotional, just as it cannot be said to consist in arguments or propositions at the purely rational level. It is as absurd to speak of unbelieving trust as of trusting unbelief. – Roger Hazelton, Grateful Courage

 

(On a scale from 1 – 10, how would you rate your level of trust in God? What makes it difficult for you to trust God? What helps you consider God to be trustworthy?)

Follow Me

Mt. 20:20-28  St. James. 25th Day of Non-Violent Fast; 16th Day of Ramadam

 

A former human services provider commented to me that “everyone is racist”; There is some truth in that, but in reading the Gospel for today, we read of two brothers who grew beyond their narrow conceptions of discipleship to James giving his life for Jesus. We all grow, if we are willing to open up. In the parable of the sower Jesus did not bear instant results but went about simply stting and listening–and we are called to do the same–connecting our stories–seeing there is not much difference between us and being transformed into a broader, deeper consciousness–a path to a new being. The African concept of Ubun to sums it up: “I am only a person in the context of other people. I am only human because you are human and your humanity is mine–with out that there is no wholeness.”

Feast of Mary Magdalene

July 22, Feast of mary Magdalene, 13th Day of Ramadam; 21st. Day of Fast for Non-Violence

 

Today is the Feast of Mary Magdalene. Jesus called her by name, “Mary”, and she heard her name and was called to vocation–Jesus calls us by name and the tone of his voice is unmistable. It is one of love. Last night I talked with an eighteen year old boy who  who had beaten up another young man and he said to me “No difference in beating up somoene then an animal, I have done that since I was five.”

 

It was hard to hear, and reminds me of when I stepped on a ktten accidentally at 7 years old, and how I still feel lousy when I think of it, it made me sick then and still does, and for him to hurt another human is nothing.  I have come to believe that when we do violence-in killing animals, in the way we treat people, in the death penalty, in being violent to another we are engaging in an insenstivity that harms us, as much as it does others, and destroys our evironment of living. 

 

Will Tuttle sums it up:

By refusing to dominate animals, we make the essential connections and open inner doorways to understanding and deconstructing the abuse of privilege in our own lives.

Justice, equality, veganism, freedom, spiritual evolution, and universal compassion are inextricably connected.

Angels Unknowingly

Gen. 18: 1-10 12th Day of Ramadam, 21st Day of Fast for Non-Violence

 

The early Christians would draw strength from this story, remembering how Abraham, had unknowingly entertained angels: Heb. 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  Tonight I “entertained dozens of angels– without knowing it–and that is why we should practice non-violence in our lives for we entertain angels unknowingly.  They come in many disguises, sometimes not very pretty ones–dirty, angry, mean–but they are angels. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

Privileged

Matthew 12:14-21; St. Apollinarius, 20th Day of Fast for Non-Violence; Eleventh Day of Ramadam

 

Jesus responds to opposition without fan fare–he just moves to another place. He does not see himself as “privileged”.  Privilege is a false idea we build up to make ourselves superior–ordained in a church with the “proper apostolic succession”; wearing the proper clothes, going to the proper events–all to flaunt ourselves with prettier feathers, and self importance–which leads to violence against different nationalities, genders, races, sexes. Dr. Will Tuttle sums it up in this way talking about meals and our relationship to animals,and we can translate that into all of our relationships:

The message ritually injected into us by our culturally mandated meals is, at a fundamental level, the message of privilege.

As humans, we see ourselves as superior to animals, whom we view as objects to be enslaved and killed for our use and pleasure, and with this herder mentality of our special and privileged position over animals, we inevitably create other categories of privilege.