The Will to Choose our Actions

"By their actions (they) have been turned into animals."     In my online contemplative community, we are reading through Cynthia Bourgeault's book, The Wisdom Jesus. The above comment referenced the crowd's sadistic cruelty against Jesus

in the mob scene on the road to Calvary. It is true that our actions lead us (and others).  I'm fairly certain we have all had the experience of joining in some kind of activity with others that carried us further than we intended to go.  What struck me with this phrase was a memory from Gerald May's Will and Spirit which we studied long ago in an earlier version of this community. Before the actions, we always have the choice of will to take such actions, or having taking action, we can exercise the will to stop such.   The power of our actions - both from our strengths and weaknesses - are mighty signs to others. This is where our praxis such as the Jesus Prayer, Guard of the Heart, or Divine Mercy chaplet can come to our aid in forming/containing/correcting our will to be that of God's.  So aligned, our actions will keep us like little lambs.... like the Lamb of God.   We know all too well the brutal bestiality of the Prince of Darkness who reigns across many lands and peoples in our world today as well as the past.  May we all hold strong to our inner responsibility. I read only this morning in St. Faustina's Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, of Jesus asking her to save a certain dying sinner by saying the chaplet He taught her.  She "saw the man dying in the midst of terrible torment and struggle.  His Guardian Angel was defending him, but he was, as it were, powerless against the enormity of the soul's misery. A multitude of devils was waiting for the soul.  But while I was saying the chaplet, I saw Jesus just as He is depicted in the image. The rays which issued from Jesus' Heart enveloped the sick man, and the powers of darkness fled in panic.  The sick man peacefully breathed his last.   When I came to myself, I understood how vey important the chaplet was for the dying. "

Time to Stop Being a Drip.

Drip.

We image God as if we created Him instead of vice versa.  We look for ways He is like us as parents look for signs of themselves in their children.  He tolerates all this.  He waits for us to shift our focus from ourselves to others, and ultimately to Him.

Drip.

We are afraid of love because it is so big.  We close ourselves off from it like a faucet on a sink.  When we get brave or curious, we turn the handle on our heart a tiny twist to open enough for a small drip into the world.

Drip. 

Drips can be annoying after a while. Drip.  Drip. Drip.  That's all most of us do.  Drip on one another.  You can't wash your face very well with a few drips of water nor soothe a parched soul or heart thirsting for love.

We need to collectively open our faucets and let the love within us - which God endlessly supplies - pour out upon the parched earth and all who live upon it.  We need a flood of love that will sweep evil off its feet with a current fast and strong to prevent it from being able to pull itself out.  The flood is coming. This time, it is water of life, not of death.  Be not afraid.  Open your faucets!  Open your heart! 

The land and its people are parched.  You can bring them refreshment.  Open and let the water of life pour over you and into the world.  The water and Word do the work.  You simply open your heart... and stop being a drip.

The Inner Glaze

To keep us from the sin of pride - Satan's sin - God, the Potter, often prevents us from seeing our own beauty with an inner glaze that becomes more and more beautiful as He applies the heat.

Nothing to gain? Hardly.

Cynthia Bourgeault The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind—a New Perspective on Christ and His Message, Boston: Shambhala, 2008, pg. 92

"I remember being struck many years ago by an insight from the contemporary mystic Bernadette Roberts that crucifixion wasn’t really the hard thing for Jesus; the hard thing was incarnation. Crucifixion and what followed from it—his death and resurrection—were simply the pathway along which infinite consciousness could return to its natural state. What was really hard for infinite consciousness was to come into the finite world in the first place. With nothing to gain from the human adventure—nothing to prove, nothing to achieve, and a dangerously unboundaried heart that left him defenseless against the hard edges of this world—Jesus came anyway: that, claims Bernadette Roberts, was the real crucifixion!"

I differ with Cynthia's statement that there was nothing to gain from the human adventure of Jesus'
 incarnating.  Perhaps she's viewing it as nothing to gain in human terms.  As any parent with difficult children, God tried many methods, prophets, and approaches to establish a warm and loving relationship with His people.  The incarnation of Jesus had much to gain:  Love expressing Love to itself (Son to Father, Father to Son to mankind); courtship of a relationship beyond casual dating with each of us, or getting noticed at all by some of us; and of course, salvation for all mankind for all time.

Used

I am most grateful for answered prayer.

Years ago, I prayed that God would use me in any way He saw fit.  After molding and shaping me, the Potter finally had a vessel He could fill and pour out.  I'm still pretty leaky, but I am learning to tip myself over and pour myself out like the Little Teapot when the Holy Spirit gives me a nudge to do so.

One recent morning as I was reading my morning devotional, (Diary of St. Faustina: Divine Mercy In My Soul), I had the distinct impression that the passage I just completed should be shared with a particular friend.  I did not have this friend on my mind.  Her name was simply pressed upon my consciousness in reference to the last passage.  I tried to move ahead, yet this pressing of her name and that passage continued.

Since the Potter takes His time shaping his works, I knew from past experience this pressing upon my consciousness was His touch.  I therefore wrote her name in the book at that passage to mark it, and finished my reading.  I moved to the next book I needed to read that morning. A deadline within the hour was fast approaching to initiate my weekly Book Club discussion.  As I began the reading assignment, I was aware that I had not acted on the Spirit's urging to share that one passage with my friend.  I found no solace in rationalizing that I didn't have the time at the moment.  So in my usual reluctant obedience, I placed the call.  Thankfully, she did not answer and I was able to complete my reading in time.

When she returned the call later that day, I read her the passage.  In tears, she acknowledged she'd been shut down to God, to the Church, even questioning her conversion, and that I was the only one at the moment she was letting "in."

"See how God is responding to you?" I reassured her.  How very special she must be to Him and how easily He knew how to reach her through the vessel He crafted with His own hands for that very purpose.

Sometimes, it is very lovely being used.

Tornadoes and Matthew 24

3-3-12   Journal entry:
Tornadoes are touching down all around us today.  Sixty people have died in the past 24 hours from multiple tornadoes across six states.  It seems to me, as I view media images of homes that are destroyed next to homes taht were untouched, that we are witnessing a precursor to Matthew 24... Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ...

Hidden Greatness

From Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society. Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message: What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician. Still, real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. We must have strong self-confidence combined with deep humility. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.