[Propertalk] 7 Easter c 2016 - 2

Fri May 6 19:19:12 EDT 2016


	 It isn’t easy being One with other human beings. It admits a
relationship which we have to cultivate. It presupposes trust that
will develop. I infers that there will be a common ministry among
everyone, and, not incidentally, with God.

	 Then there were a few who were counseled, who were healed, who were
enlightened and were invited to draw closer to Jesus, to become One
with Him and the friends around Him. Some of them drew back. Becoming
One – not having the inclination, the desire, the courage to become
One with whatever Jesus’ mission might be, proved to be just too
much. Becoming One with Jesus DOES make assumptions. It implies that
each of us is willing to put our talents, our energy, our resources at
the disposal of someone else. It sometimes asks that we take a back
seat, if the need arises, so that other, possibly weaker individuals
or groups can be closer to the warmth, or energy, or nourishment for a
while.

	 As the psychologist put it, it takes courage to face down our dark
side. It involves certain sacrifices. It CAN and DOES ask a lot of us.
But deliberately seeking Unity, One-ness, opens us up to the amazing
power of God to act as Jesus in the world. THIS is what Jesus prayed
that we would discover. It’s out of being at One with Him and with
our sisters and brothers that God’s reign is exemplified and built
up, and we can begin to bathe in the fullness of the glory which Jesus
lived.

	 Curtis Almquist, one of the Brothers of the Society of St. John the
Evangelist, wrote this week, “Glory, or to be glorified, is to teem
with God’s light and life and love. It’s to draw from the deepest
waters of life, how the psalmist prays: ‘For you are the well of
life, and in your light we see light.’ The Gospel writers speak of
glory as if someone were simply luminous, irradiated with God’s
light and life and love.” 2  THAT is what Jesus longs will happen to
us and be experienced by us.

	 “In recent weeks, the idea of destitute children just more than 20
miles from the cliffs of Dover has struck a nerve in Britain. Among
those expressing concern have been opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and
actor Jude Law.

	 “But the reports and the images from France have carried a
particular significance for survivors of the ‘Kindertransports,’
the convoys that brought nearly 10,000 predominately Jewish children
to Britain from Nazi-occupied Europe in 1939 and 1940.

	 “One survivor, Alf Dubs, a Labour member of the House of Lords,
proposed [1] an amendment [2] to the Immigration Bill to welcome 3,000
unaccompanied refugee children from across Europe. On Monday, the
amendment passed in the House of Lords by a 306-to-204 vote. It
follows a September letter [3] signed by more than 100 British rabbis
that urged Prime Minister David Cameron to admit at least 10,000
children over a six-month period.” 3

	 THIS is Glory beginning to shine.

	 “As the rabbis wrote: ‘Let the Kindertransport be our
inspiration.’

	 “In a recent interview, Dubs, 83, cited his own experience — he
was one of the 669 Czech-born children saved by the stockbroker and
humanitarian Nicholas Winton — as motivation for the bill.

	 Born in Prague in 1932 to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother,
Dubs was counted as Jewish under the Nazis’ racial laws. He arrived
at London’s Liverpool Street train station at age 6 and has lived in
Britain ever since.

	 “’I owe it to Britain — and to the children — to do as much
as I can to get this provision into the law,’ he said. ‘Children
are the most vulnerable, the most likely to be trafficked.’”

	 “Winton, who died in July at 106, has become something of a
British national hero, and the Kindertransports are remembered as part
of what Winston Churchill famously called Britain’s ‘finest
hour.’

	 “’I call it a light in the deepest, darkest night of
humanity,’ said Jonathan Sacks, Britain’s former chief rabbi.
‘The act of rescue of 10,000 children created 10,000 stories of
hope.’”

	 Jesus called it “Being One” – with Him, with our Father, with
each other.

	 “There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he
won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter
interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew
it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with
his neighbors. ‘How can you afford to share your best seed corn with
your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours
each year?’ the reporter asked.

	 “‘Why sir,’ said the farmer, ‘Didn’t you know? The wind
picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to
field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will
steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I
must help my neighbors grow good corn.’

	 “So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and
well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is
measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy
must help others find happiness, for

	 the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all...” 4

	 THIS is “being One”, and Jesus is still praying for it, for us,
for everyone. It DOES take courage. But that’s why Jesus is sending
us The Advocate.

	 We are One. Oh let us be One, as You, Jesus, are One with Your
Father and ours. Let us be One!

	NOTES:

	[1]  _“It Takes Courage To Face Down Your Dark Side” by Leslie
Becker-Phelps in “Psychology Today [4]”_ posted February 2, 2011 
[5]https://www.psychologytoday.com/.../it-takes-courage [6]..

	2 Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE from Brother, Give Us a Word re: Glory
6th May, 2016 sje.org/word/

	3 “They were rescued as kids in WWII. Now they want to help
today’s refugee children.” By James McAuley [7] March 27
https://www.washingtonpost.com/...rescued...kids...no... [8]

	4 Author unknown see, et al., Growing good corn - A Gift of
Inspiration [9] 
www.agiftofinspiration.com.au/.../personalgrowth/Growing%20Good%2
[10]...

Links:
------
[1]
http://labourlist.org/2016/03/britain-must-take-3000-child-refugees-alf-dubs-inspirational-lords-speech/
[2] http://www.yvettecooper.com/refugee_task_force_petition
[3]
http://media.wix.com/ugd/79c59a_6be1dd50262a4290a93eb241da6d7dc5.pdf
[4]
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/making-change/201102/it-takes-courage-face-down-your-dark-side
[5] https://www.psychologytoday.com/.../it-takes-courage
[6] https://www.psychologytoday.com/.../it-takes-courage
[7] http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/james-mcauley
[8] https://www.washingtonpost.com/...rescued...kids...no...
[9]
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjCj-DhwcbMAhVEnZQKHRGiCWkQFggoMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.agiftofinspiration.com.au%2Fstories%2Fpersonalgrowth%2FGrowing%2520Good%2520Corn.shtml&usg=AFQjCNG1v0dJxeMo7ZbGtVlnVrcJm66zfg
[10]
http://www.agiftofinspiration.com.au/.../personalgrowth/Growing%20Good%252

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