[Propertalk] Pentecost b Part 2

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

	 Yet fire can have other effects. It can purify, can remove dross
from a mineral ore, for instance. It can clear out over-bearing
undergrowth and allow vegetation to regenerate. And, as in the imagery
from the Book of Acts, echoing the burning bush before which Moses
stood, it can bring us into a relationship of intense understanding
and love with God and our brothers and sisters. It can light up the
heart and mind, it can free our imaginations, so that we become
capable of doing tremendous things which we might have thought were
beyond us. 

	 But then, one image may not be enough, especially when we’re
trying to grasp the Presence, the Power, the Loving Compassion of God.


	 Of Mechthild’s poem, a commentator wrote. “Isn’t that image
wonderful? The words themselves flow through us, like gentle music.
That opening affirmation is so lovely that it’s easy to miss (the)
importance of the next few lines: 

	 Thus we move in His world
  One in body and soul,
  Though outwardly separate in form. 

	 Ivan Granger wrote, “This statement could just as easily have come
from the Zen tradition. When we discover that total integration of
self, when every aspect of body and soul recognizes itself as a
harmonious unity, the sense of the effortful self disappears. Our
actions and movement through the world flow without friction. We
normally take it for granted, the presence of a constant resistance in
every action. What is that resistance? It is the fingerprint of the
ego as it declares through each effort, “I am here! I did this!
I!” It is a declaration of separation. But instead, when we are
overcome with love and wholeness, the ego fades, no separation is
seen, and we, in turn, flow.” 4 

	 This image, like that of fire too, I suppose, describes the way that
the Holy Spirit seems to know no boundaries but moves effortlessly
through and within us, cleansing, renewing and encouraging us. The
soaring feeling that we get when we discover an idea, for instance, or
a person, something that seems “just right” within us, something
that carries us almost giddily through the day, making us smile,
filling us with the happiness of being alive and being loved – THAT
must have infused that realtor in Hollywood. 

	 I wish I knew her or his name. I’d love to meet that person, to
see what Paulette saw, to find my batteries recharged, my soul
uplifted when there’s so much that’s debilitating, and stressful,
and unhelpful to our Christian pilgrimage. 

	 But then, what would I find in Hollywood that can’t be found here?
I suspect I hardly need to take two or three steps around me to find
the Spirit infusing someone, some creature, some inanimate object that
glows with the Presence of God. As the commentator on Mechthild’s
poem remarked, it’s when the “I” is not full of the “I”,
but, instead, full of “Jesus” and the Gift of the Spirit; THAT’S
when each of us can begin to soar, to go back to the image of
Mechthild. THIS is the sort of enthusiastic confidence, the
glorification which Jesus described and the apostles demonstrated. The
realtor, I’d bet, knew what she or he was doing, but had managed to
set aside the need to talk the loudest, or to gesticulate the most
visibly, or to draw attention to her or himself for the blessing of
the self. 

	 That’s hardly how blessing works! All blessing is an affirmation
of God’s acceptance of us, of God’s empowering us, so that we may
then point toward Jesus and find the courage to live as He lived. 

	 In an interesting Op-Ed piece in the New York Times last week
there’s discussion of new research which “suggests hope is an
essential element in escaping poverty.” 5 

	 This sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s something which talks
about lifting us up when poverty in all its shapes and forms presses
down on us. When our spiritual reserves seem to be at their lowest;
when our emotional energy has been drained by all sorts of demands;
when our economic balance has been thrown to the wind by one
misfortune after another; when we feel that poverty has sunk its teeth
into us so deeply that we can’t even lift our heads, never mind our
hearts, hope may seem such a distant feature that we don’t consider
it a possibility. 

	 This is what the flight of the bird, the song of the dove, the
searing of the fire comes to address. The Living Spirit is God’s
gift to help us address everything which can distract us and
immobilise us, which can prevent us from discovering true happiness.
The Spirit promised by Jesus enables us to be witnesses to God’s
love simply by the way we go about our daily duties – as I suggested
last week, from the breakfast table on. 

	-----------------------------------------
 Robert P Morrison
St. Alban's Episcopal Church
PO Box 1556
Albany, OR 97321

541-921-1076
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