I found a few notes from Father Richard Rohr in which he talks about fear as the enemy of faith. Not doubt. He says we could feed all the starving people in this world if we were not so afraid that we spend a fortune on arms and on war. It is something to think about, isn’t it? So much of what humans do all over the world is controlled by fears, petty and large. And yet we hear Jesus saying ‘Do not be afraid.” And the foundation of the call to be truly human is there in the first beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. And yet the economic life of our country is run by people who want to get very rich. Why? Because they are afraid. Even that petty fear that if they are not rich they will be unimportant. Yet God looks upon every single human with Love. Yes, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because like everywhere on earth people were doing unloving things. But nothing prevents our God of love from loving each and every human on earth. Wasn’t it love that causes Jesus to weep then?
It is well to ponder that first beatitude which is the foundation for the other 7 beatitudes. The poor in spirit. One way to this is going to the Holy place within ourselves where God dwells. When we meditate, we open our hearts and our minds to the Light of Christ. We let Light shine within. We do not need to tell God what we need, we just come before God and pray in great simplicity.
When we do this dally, little by little it becomes easier also to maintain a walking prayer so that prayer undergirds all that we do each day. And fear drops away little by little. Of course, we may experience fears but we can get so we recognize them as such and name them and this is a big step toward losing fear. A fear can be as simple as my fear of falling which hs come upon me in my 80’s. Because I have fallen. So I take a practical step. I carry a cane. Or I take someone’s hand. There are practical steps to take. (When my brothers and cousins were jumping from a hill onto a new flat garage roof. My younger brother Joe and I were afraid and did not jump. My even younger cousin Roger jumped and broke both arms)
So we know that when Jesus says Do not be afraid, He is not asking us to do foolish things. Just asking us to rely on God in great faith. And that faith grows when we persist in daily prayer. Pondering Scripture, Christian Meditation, the walking prayer. Giving our attention to the depth of Sunday Liturgy.
When we meditate, we offer ourselves utterly and joyfully to the Love which God has for us. Infinite love indeed. Let fear go. Walk in faith. Let us meditate twice daily for 20 minutes.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
“Knowledge is power.”
Father John Main tells about going to the school of Oriental and African Studies in London and seeing in large letters: knowledge is power and being horrified by this sign.
The other night on the Lehrer report there was a section on giving children money rewards for passing to let them know that getting money and more of it wil be the fruit of doing well in school. And we we believe that the movers and shakers of this world are those with knowledge. Well, I certainly wanted to be able to earn a living and that was why I wanted to go into nurses’ training. And it is true that good education usually bears fruit in the power of a good job. But we also have to ask ourselves whether that is the main goal of human life.
In the Baltimore Catechism I learned as a child that the goal of life was to know love and serve God in this life and be happy with Him forever in heaven. And then we hear St.Paul telling us: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:
And Jesus saying: Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for you souls.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. The Divine Energy or power that God wills for us has nothing to do with power over, or control of others or of situations. it has to do with the power to love. It has to do with loving relationships. It has nothing to do with getting even, retaliating. And yet so prevalent is the belief that knowledge is power that we have trouble discerning what is unchristian or worldly from the way of the Lord.
For me that is a good reason to meditate. We let God decide what to do for us. We entrust our lives to God We come before him without an agenda except to be with him as attentively as we are able. We choose a prayer word (maranatha or other), we make an act of faith in the reality of God with us and we gently repeat that word for 20 minutes, coming back to it whenever we realize we have other thoughts or even when we realize silence. In this way, we let God empty us of our false self, our ego that needs the power to control others or situations. We let God free us to love.
The other night on the Lehrer report there was a section on giving children money rewards for passing to let them know that getting money and more of it wil be the fruit of doing well in school. And we we believe that the movers and shakers of this world are those with knowledge. Well, I certainly wanted to be able to earn a living and that was why I wanted to go into nurses’ training. And it is true that good education usually bears fruit in the power of a good job. But we also have to ask ourselves whether that is the main goal of human life.
In the Baltimore Catechism I learned as a child that the goal of life was to know love and serve God in this life and be happy with Him forever in heaven. And then we hear St.Paul telling us: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:
And Jesus saying: Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for you souls.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. The Divine Energy or power that God wills for us has nothing to do with power over, or control of others or of situations. it has to do with the power to love. It has to do with loving relationships. It has nothing to do with getting even, retaliating. And yet so prevalent is the belief that knowledge is power that we have trouble discerning what is unchristian or worldly from the way of the Lord.
For me that is a good reason to meditate. We let God decide what to do for us. We entrust our lives to God We come before him without an agenda except to be with him as attentively as we are able. We choose a prayer word (maranatha or other), we make an act of faith in the reality of God with us and we gently repeat that word for 20 minutes, coming back to it whenever we realize we have other thoughts or even when we realize silence. In this way, we let God empty us of our false self, our ego that needs the power to control others or situations. We let God free us to love.
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