Brian’s Reflection: Friday, December 21, 2007


God is not attained by a process of addition to
anything in the soul, but by a process of subtraction.

- Meister Eckhart, Christian mystic

True, true. Of course, an argument can be made for any statement as well as its opposite. As I see it, our goal in Life should be to die to this earthly life with utter simplicity of soul. Die with everything that has piled on to us through the voyage of our Life burned away, as it were by the “fuller’s fire”, or the dross removed, leaving only the refined gold.

Are we born encumbered? I think so, by the very nature of human life. Perhaps this is what is meant by “original sin”. We have this journey to make. On it, we gather to ourselves great lots of baggage, much of which we believe we must have in order to live, to succeed, to be happy. But I think that if we have had good teachers, we begin to learn as we age and mature, that Life and success and happiness are more readily found in Simplicity. Life itself has a way of being such a Teacher. Finally, we must learn that we can do without our body. All that will be left is pure energy, the “fire of God” at the heart.

It’s exactly the opposite of the bumper sticker theology that says, “(S)He who dies with the most toys wins.” And the question is, “Wins what?” And “Was it worth it?”

I don’t really think that we can avoid the contest. It’s kind of a given, the growing process we all have to work through. But, as the parable says, whenever or however we get there, “those who labored in the field only a short time were paid the same as those who labored through the heat of the day”. If it was “easy” for us and “hard” for some, we can’t grumble. Each of us has our own journey, and we are happy for all who manage it.

We are not alone. Known or not, God stays close. When needed, God is there, providing the gear we need at the critical moments. In the times of trail, look within. What we need is present. And from there will come the wisdom.

Brian+