Brian’s Reflection: Saturday, December 1, 2007
Understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what
part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake
and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must
be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
- From the version of the Good News called “Matthew”
The “Unexpected hour” is not in the time-space continuum - if I may sound a little star-trekkie. Matthew’s Jesus does not say these words so that we spend our lives furtively looking around in anxiety and fear for what might spring unexpectedly upon us. Matthew’s Jesus says these words for one reason only: so that we actively live every moment understanding that we are in the presence of the Source of Life we call “God”.
The “coming of the Son of Man” is not a straight line. It is a continuous loop. This is what we are proclaiming in the Eucharistic Liturgy when we say, “Christ has died, Christ is risen; Christ will come again”. We are saying, God, keep pouring out your life for us; God, keep lifting us out of death into life; God, keep us living in the eternal present of your Presence. Past, present, future collapse into One Reality. Now. The Moment.
For Christians, Advent is the Season of moment by moment expectation that Life has captured us. That we are in the swirl of Compassion, Justice, Joy, Peace, Generosity of Self, Graciousness of being blessed.
“Do not be anxious”. The “hour” is now - calling us to be our true, our divine, Selves.
Brian+
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Brian’s Reflection: Friday, November 30, 2007
[ Sorry; pictures not available ]
St. Andrew the Apostle, by El Greco (left); traditional icon, right
“ O good cross, made beautiful by the body of my Lord! so long desired,
so anxiously loved, so unceasingly sought after, and now at last ready
for my soul to enjoy! take me from amidst men, and restore me to my
Master; that by thee He may receive me, Who by thee redeemed me.”
Well, I can’t resist. Being a Scot - at least on my father’s side. (My mother’s “side” is English, alas hated by the autonomous Scots!). But, you know what? Though the McHugh’s were “vera Scots” (one of my great uncles, Edward the Gospel Singer, changed his name to MacHugh, lest anyone think he was ….. Irish, horrors!), my paternal great-grandparents were ….. Irish!
Legend says that, in the middle of the 10th century, Andrew (brother of Peter, and called in the Greek Protocletos, “first called”) became the patron Saint of Scotland. And so it is that many years on St. Andrew’s Day, I have donned my kilt (the Orrock tartan, for my paternal grandmother Elspeth Orrock) and celebrated!!
I’m a Scot. I’m a Canadian. I’m also an “American”. All this is inconsequential to me. I don’t live on this lovely Earth to take ethnic or cultural sides! I live here as a free citizen of the World. Oh, if only I could have a United Nations passport! I think of myself as everything! I I am neither “Jew nor Greek”; neither “male nor female”. I am essentially - I choose to be - a citizen of God’s Kingdom - where there are no distinctions. I consider myself to be in the same family as all people.
Friends, give up tribalism. Give up zenophobia. Be a brother or a sister of every other human being. You will be giddy with the sense of relationship. This is what it means to be “one with Christ”. This does not mean “Christian”. It means “A lover of All People”.
Brian+
[ Sorry; pictures not available ]
St. Andrew the Apostle, by El Greco (left); traditional icon, right
“ O good cross, made beautiful by the body of my Lord! so long desired,
so anxiously loved, so unceasingly sought after, and now at last ready
for my soul to enjoy! take me from amidst men, and restore me to my
Master; that by thee He may receive me, Who by thee redeemed me.”
Well, I can’t resist. Being a Scot - at least on my father’s side. (My mother’s “side” is English, alas hated by the autonomous Scots!). But, you know what? Though the McHugh’s were “vera Scots” (one of my great uncles, Edward the Gospel Singer, changed his name to MacHugh, lest anyone think he was ….. Irish, horrors!), my paternal great-grandparents were ….. Irish!
Legend says that, in the middle of the 10th century, Andrew (brother of Peter, and called in the Greek Protocletos, “first called”) became the patron Saint of Scotland. And so it is that many years on St. Andrew’s Day, I have donned my kilt (the Orrock tartan, for my paternal grandmother Elspeth Orrock) and celebrated!!
I’m a Scot. I’m a Canadian. I’m also an “American”. All this is inconsequential to me. I don’t live on this lovely Earth to take ethnic or cultural sides! I live here as a free citizen of the World. Oh, if only I could have a United Nations passport! I think of myself as everything! I I am neither “Jew nor Greek”; neither “male nor female”. I am essentially - I choose to be - a citizen of God’s Kingdom - where there are no distinctions. I consider myself to be in the same family as all people.
Friends, give up tribalism. Give up zenophobia. Be a brother or a sister of every other human being. You will be giddy with the sense of relationship. This is what it means to be “one with Christ”. This does not mean “Christian”. It means “A lover of All People”.
Brian+
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, November 29, 2007
He whose only concern had been to announce the unconditional love of God
had only one question to ask, "Do you love me?"......."Do you know the incarnate
God?" In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men
and women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that
reaches out and wants to heal. In that heart there is no suspicion, no vindictiveness,
no resentment, and not a tinge of hatred. It is a heart that only wants to give love
and receive love in response. It is a heart that suffers immensely because it sees the
magnitude of human pain and the great resistance to trusting the heart of God who
wants to offer consolation and hope.
- Henri Nouwen,
Well, I have work to do. I want to be the kind of person that Henri Nouwen describes. An “announcer of the unconditional Love of God” ….. who “forgives, cares, reaches out, wants to heal”. But ….. I have to confess that there is much suspicion, vindictiveness, resentment, hatred in my heart at times. And I am further concerned that those things are shading my life and my living while I am unaware.
Perhaps I am too fortunate, that I don’t see ….. no, I see it, but rather don’t feel ….. the magnitude of human pain, especially of those I see as “enemies”.
Here is the role of “true religion”. To help me see the vision, to feel the suffering, to understand the resistance to trusting ….. to be free to offer hope and consolation to all. When I can feel this way about George Bush, I will be home free - and believe me, only Grace will get me there!
Pray for me.
Brian+
He whose only concern had been to announce the unconditional love of God
had only one question to ask, "Do you love me?"......."Do you know the incarnate
God?" In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men
and women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that
reaches out and wants to heal. In that heart there is no suspicion, no vindictiveness,
no resentment, and not a tinge of hatred. It is a heart that only wants to give love
and receive love in response. It is a heart that suffers immensely because it sees the
magnitude of human pain and the great resistance to trusting the heart of God who
wants to offer consolation and hope.
- Henri Nouwen,
Well, I have work to do. I want to be the kind of person that Henri Nouwen describes. An “announcer of the unconditional Love of God” ….. who “forgives, cares, reaches out, wants to heal”. But ….. I have to confess that there is much suspicion, vindictiveness, resentment, hatred in my heart at times. And I am further concerned that those things are shading my life and my living while I am unaware.
Perhaps I am too fortunate, that I don’t see ….. no, I see it, but rather don’t feel ….. the magnitude of human pain, especially of those I see as “enemies”.
Here is the role of “true religion”. To help me see the vision, to feel the suffering, to understand the resistance to trusting ….. to be free to offer hope and consolation to all. When I can feel this way about George Bush, I will be home free - and believe me, only Grace will get me there!
Pray for me.
Brian+
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, November 28, 2007
That the Jews assumed a right exclusively
to the benefits of God will be a lasting
witness against them and the same will
it be against Christians.
- William Blake, poet, born on this
day, 1757
I am certain that I would have liked William Blake and his wife. (Which I can say, not knowing much about them intimately.) They were once discovered naked in their garden, playing the parts of Adam and Eve as they read Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. As the young would say, “Cool!”
When I was a callow youth, and a young man “into” being an avid Anglo-Catholic, I thought that surely Christianity was the top of the heap of religions. Judaism? Certainly superseded by “the New Israel”.
It did not take me long to realize how pompous and arrogant my thinking was. And it didn’t take me long because I was lucky enough to meet people who had come to know God. And these people, mostly Christians, taught me how my God was too small. And besides, who was I to think that I knew the mind of God - when Jesus Himself said, “No one knows the Father but the Son”. Why would I be one to whom God revealed Her reality???
But She did! And I learned not to think that I controlled God. I learned that God “works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform”. That God was not above using every possible path to make the wonder of divine Love known.
Jews and Christians are just two of God’s “children”.
We claim “the true God” as “ours”. But God lavishes Love and the knowledge of God on all. Without exception.
Brian+
That the Jews assumed a right exclusively
to the benefits of God will be a lasting
witness against them and the same will
it be against Christians.
- William Blake, poet, born on this
day, 1757
I am certain that I would have liked William Blake and his wife. (Which I can say, not knowing much about them intimately.) They were once discovered naked in their garden, playing the parts of Adam and Eve as they read Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. As the young would say, “Cool!”
When I was a callow youth, and a young man “into” being an avid Anglo-Catholic, I thought that surely Christianity was the top of the heap of religions. Judaism? Certainly superseded by “the New Israel”.
It did not take me long to realize how pompous and arrogant my thinking was. And it didn’t take me long because I was lucky enough to meet people who had come to know God. And these people, mostly Christians, taught me how my God was too small. And besides, who was I to think that I knew the mind of God - when Jesus Himself said, “No one knows the Father but the Son”. Why would I be one to whom God revealed Her reality???
But She did! And I learned not to think that I controlled God. I learned that God “works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform”. That God was not above using every possible path to make the wonder of divine Love known.
Jews and Christians are just two of God’s “children”.
We claim “the true God” as “ours”. But God lavishes Love and the knowledge of God on all. Without exception.
Brian+
Monday, November 26, 2007
Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Kiss the Earth
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Bring the Earth your love and happiness.
The Earth will be safewhen we feel safe in ourselves.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, poet, Buddhist
A lovely human being he is. At least I think so ….. at least in his public persona. He exhibits character that I find winning and true. I have heard Thich Nhat Hanh speak in the vast space of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, and I have heard him in a garden in California. He has that so attractive quality of ….. serenity. He sees Life as the Big Picture. Where everything is part of everything else. I admire that kind of vision. And I admire and respect his understanding that, while we may be on different paths, all paths call us to find what it is to be authentically human.
I have always felt a part of the Earth. I was lucky enough to spend my childhood summers in the lakes and mountains of the Laurentians. Lying on sun-warmed rocks, or on the still warm grass at night, or floating in the warm-cool waters of our lake, I had then and still have the sense of being one with It.
The Earth, our Mother, is in danger. It is sick and dying in many places. Is it because we do not feel safe in ourselves? I hadn’t thought of that until I read Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem.
It is hard to feel safe in ourselves when so many human beings are threatening others, over religion, or power, or greed, or fear.
Unless we learn to make Life safe for all, Mother Earth will die, and we with Her.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Brian+
Kiss the Earth
Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Bring the Earth your love and happiness.
The Earth will be safewhen we feel safe in ourselves.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, poet, Buddhist
A lovely human being he is. At least I think so ….. at least in his public persona. He exhibits character that I find winning and true. I have heard Thich Nhat Hanh speak in the vast space of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, and I have heard him in a garden in California. He has that so attractive quality of ….. serenity. He sees Life as the Big Picture. Where everything is part of everything else. I admire that kind of vision. And I admire and respect his understanding that, while we may be on different paths, all paths call us to find what it is to be authentically human.
I have always felt a part of the Earth. I was lucky enough to spend my childhood summers in the lakes and mountains of the Laurentians. Lying on sun-warmed rocks, or on the still warm grass at night, or floating in the warm-cool waters of our lake, I had then and still have the sense of being one with It.
The Earth, our Mother, is in danger. It is sick and dying in many places. Is it because we do not feel safe in ourselves? I hadn’t thought of that until I read Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem.
It is hard to feel safe in ourselves when so many human beings are threatening others, over religion, or power, or greed, or fear.
Unless we learn to make Life safe for all, Mother Earth will die, and we with Her.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Brian+
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Brian’s Reflection: Monday, November 26, 2007
I'm not wise, but the beginning of wisdom is there;
it's like relaxing into - and an acceptance of - things.
You take your problems to a god, but what you really
need is for the god to take you to the inside of you.
- Tina Turner, singer, born on this day, 1939
What energy! Have you seen Tina Turner on stage? Incredible! Well I remember the first time I ever saw her. I was awed!
And oh, I would say that Tina is indeed wise! It’s a cliché now, to say “Go with the flow”. But the “flow” is the Journey of Life, and going with it is understanding who we human beings are. It’s knowing that we are an integral part of The Flow, not “above” or “outside” or “in control” of It. It is the Tao. It is our milieu, our natural context. It is to be connected with the god/goddess. We need to be in that river, accepting our part and participation in the Mystery. In the Flow, we begin to understand.
And Tina is right on the money about taking your problems “to a god”. Most of us who are so inclined do this - and drop it. We think that God is “out there” and that the God Out There will solve our problems. But the God is not Out There. God is always “inside of you”. And if we have problems to solve, we must let the God take us inside. The answer is always there, inside ourself. Once we learn this, we have at least begun to be wise.
Good old Tina! Wise indeed.
Brian+
I'm not wise, but the beginning of wisdom is there;
it's like relaxing into - and an acceptance of - things.
You take your problems to a god, but what you really
need is for the god to take you to the inside of you.
- Tina Turner, singer, born on this day, 1939
What energy! Have you seen Tina Turner on stage? Incredible! Well I remember the first time I ever saw her. I was awed!
And oh, I would say that Tina is indeed wise! It’s a cliché now, to say “Go with the flow”. But the “flow” is the Journey of Life, and going with it is understanding who we human beings are. It’s knowing that we are an integral part of The Flow, not “above” or “outside” or “in control” of It. It is the Tao. It is our milieu, our natural context. It is to be connected with the god/goddess. We need to be in that river, accepting our part and participation in the Mystery. In the Flow, we begin to understand.
And Tina is right on the money about taking your problems “to a god”. Most of us who are so inclined do this - and drop it. We think that God is “out there” and that the God Out There will solve our problems. But the God is not Out There. God is always “inside of you”. And if we have problems to solve, we must let the God take us inside. The answer is always there, inside ourself. Once we learn this, we have at least begun to be wise.
Good old Tina! Wise indeed.
Brian+
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Brian’s Reflection: Sunday, November 25, 2007
Love must Act, as Light must Shine, and Fire must Burn.
- James O. S. Huntington, OHC, founder,
The Order of the Holy Cross, who died on
this day, 1935
Well, I got “lazy” over Thanksgiving ………. So here’s the "guilty" Sunday Reflection.
Fr. Huntington is acknowledged as the Founder of the Order that I was a member of for 15 years. The Religious Life established itself in the Episcopal Church in the mid-19th century, an outgrowth of the re-flourishing of the Catholic tradition in the United States and other Anglican churches. Still many Episcopalians don’t know that there are monks and nuns in the Episcopal Church. It’s s fascinating part of the story.
Fr. Huntington wrote these words in the Rule of the Order. And I have remembered them all these 40 years. To me, they are a perfect, simple, and poetic stating of a profound human truth. Jesus emphasized it in a powerful way when He said, “There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for a friend”.
Talk is cheap. And God knows there is a lot of cheap talk in American (and other) life about Love. Especially in nauseous music - though I have to admit in my old age that Bing Crosby or Cole Porter being nauseous about it sounds a whole lot better to me than rappers.
Love must act ………. or it isn’t. Like dark light or dead flame.
What Life requires is us to be Act-ors in the great game of Love. Let’s be creative!
Brian+
Love must Act, as Light must Shine, and Fire must Burn.
- James O. S. Huntington, OHC, founder,
The Order of the Holy Cross, who died on
this day, 1935
Well, I got “lazy” over Thanksgiving ………. So here’s the "guilty" Sunday Reflection.
Fr. Huntington is acknowledged as the Founder of the Order that I was a member of for 15 years. The Religious Life established itself in the Episcopal Church in the mid-19th century, an outgrowth of the re-flourishing of the Catholic tradition in the United States and other Anglican churches. Still many Episcopalians don’t know that there are monks and nuns in the Episcopal Church. It’s s fascinating part of the story.
Fr. Huntington wrote these words in the Rule of the Order. And I have remembered them all these 40 years. To me, they are a perfect, simple, and poetic stating of a profound human truth. Jesus emphasized it in a powerful way when He said, “There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for a friend”.
Talk is cheap. And God knows there is a lot of cheap talk in American (and other) life about Love. Especially in nauseous music - though I have to admit in my old age that Bing Crosby or Cole Porter being nauseous about it sounds a whole lot better to me than rappers.
Love must act ………. or it isn’t. Like dark light or dead flame.
What Life requires is us to be Act-ors in the great game of Love. Let’s be creative!
Brian+
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