email: whitpresby@charterinternet.com
Spiritual readings "Greetings from Whittier Presbyterian Church"
January/February 2007
Circle of Time from “Anam Cara” 12 Days of Christmas Humor and spiritual depth Ed Viesturs on contemplative mountain climbing. Alexander Shaia, “Beyond the biography of Jesus” Parapsychology and spirituality Alexander Shaia, “Beyond the biography of Jesus”
part 2. Wonder & Gratitude Ed Viesturs on contemplative mountain climbing. Brian Swimme: “Coming
Home to the Cosmos” No emails from Jan 8 to 30. Correction to last Friday’s email. The lines sung by Gordon Bock were actually written by Howard
Thurman (http://www.howardthurmanbooks.org/
among several websites). Thanks to
one of the attentive readers out there. Today is the second day in a new year.
It is also the 8th day of Christmas, the day of maids
a-milking. I expect there are other
ways of counting the day as well. Here
is a patched together reflection on time taken from “Anam Cara; A Book of
Celtic Wisdom” by John O’Donohue, Perennial/Harper Collins, 1998/2004. “The year is a circle…The circle of time is never
broken…Because we live in time, the life of each person is also a circle.
We come out of the unknown. We
appear on the earth, live here, feed off the earth, and eventually return back
into the unknown again.” As we note the turning of the circle of time and the impact
of time’s passing on our life, how do we reflect upon our life and our faith?
Will the new year bring deeper faith for us?
A big part of our answer depends upon how much work we want to put into
living our faith. Here is a helpful
phrase from the prayer for January 1, from the Book of Common Prayer:
“Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of
the world, our Lord Jesus Christ;…” Grace & peace Geoff No emails from Jan 8 to 30. Correction to last Friday’s email: I thought Tuesday was the eighth day of Christmas, but it
turns out it was the ninth day of Christmas, the day of nine ladies dancing.
The nine ladies refers to the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit as listed in
Galatians 5:22. Today is the 12th
day of Christmas, the day of twelve drummers drumming.
The twelve drummers can refer to the twelve points of the Apostle’s
Creed. This evening is Twelfth
Night, as in the play by that name by Shakespeare.
It is the day in some traditions when there is feasting along with
removing the Christmas decorations. Seems
like the holidays cannot do much without some feasting accompanying it! All of this fascinating information and associations with
the twelve days of Christmas can be found at http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html.
There are several other sources when you Google “12 Days of
Christmas”, but I found the material from these two days mentioned here to be
helpful. As this Christmas season comes to a close, may you carry
some of the blessings that came your way into the new year with you. Grace & peace Geoff In one of our gatherings last week, as the Diploma in
the Art of Spiritual Direction program wound up, someone made the comment about
the relationship between humor and deeper spirituality. I thought about that on my way home last Saturday.
I was reminded of a couple of previous emails here, from April
15, 2005 and Oct.
13, 2000. My classmate
indicated that just after a moment of humor comes an opportunity to go deeper in
one’s spiritual life. It is
almost a cultural axiom for us that humor is helpful and necessary in life.
But these insights help us to see the way humor may open the doors of our
spiritual perception. May you find humor and God’s grace in your life this day. Grace & peace Geoff I just finished reading a great adventure book, “No
Shortcuts to the Top, Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks,” by Ed Viesturs,
with David Roberts, Broadway Books/Random House, 2006.
It was quite an adventure story, but I found some sections of the book
that approached a contemplative stance. Here’s
one: “Yet until the very last minute, the decision to
climb teetered in the balance. Veikka
and I could have gone either way. If
conditions didn’t feel right for a safe attempt, we would pack up and go home.
I wrestled with this demon for days, as clouds boiled over the mountain
and fog enshrouded base camp. We
were packed and ready to go up, but each evening we decided to wait another day.
I’ve always believed that you need to listen to the mountain and watch
for the signs it’s giving you. If
you understand what the mountain is telling you, it will let you know what to
do. The Italians, who also knew how
to listen and watch, were waiting as well.
Finally it seemed right.” Wow, makes me want to keep reading!
Have you ever listened to a mountain?
Talk about a contemplative stance! I
so appreciate Viesturs’ attitude towards mountain climbing.
It strikes me as much more earth-friendly, unlike some of the adventurers
and adventure promoters around. Next
time you get a chance, try listening to a mountain!
Or maybe a tree or….wherever you might find inspiration in nature. May God grace you with a deeper appreciation of nature. Grace & peace Geoff Alexander J. Shaia is the speaker at the Companions on the
Inner Way retreat later this month. He
is the discoverer of the QUADRATOS program of spiritual practice.
Here is part of what he says about it.
He is speaking about the stories that were gathered to form Mark’s
gospel. “When the stories were read aloud—or prayed as
practice, which was their usual use in those early times—people listening
could discern patterns and then understand that Jesus the Christ was not simply
an historical figure, but an ongoing experience within each person, a doorway to
the meaning and compassion and strength they needed to maintain their faith.” That’s the way the Bible has functioned for people
throughout the centuries. Dr. Shaia
has come up with a system that links this experience of the Bible with modern
psychological insights. I look
forward to hearing him at the Companions retreat.
Think about joining us! May you find deeper meaning, compassion and strength in you
life. Grace & peace Geoff Have you ever had unusual, extra-sensory or paranormal
experiences in your life, particularly your spiritual life?
These might be experiences we call déjà vu, clairvoyance,
pre-cognition, psycho kinesis, and the like.
These can be grouped under the category of “psi,” meaning psychic
experiences. I’ve found they
happen quite often, the more I pray and the more I pay attention to my dreams.
Here’s some insight on such experiences from the book “Body, Mind,
Spirit; Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality” edited by Charles T.
Tart, Hampton Roads Publishing, 1997. These
are Tart’s words, making reference to the work of W. G. Braud, another
psychologist and parapsychologist. “Parapsychological findings can be useful to those on a
spiritual path as they can provide a certain degree of confidence and trust that
at least some of the processes and concepts encountered are ‘real’ in a more
traditional sense and are not delusions, projections, or misinterpretations.
They also can serve to remind us that we are not alone in having
exceptional experiences; such experiences are normal, natural, and remarkably
widespread.” He is concerned not
just with the scientific aspects of psi, though, but with the growth aspects. “But these scientific reassurances, though of value, are
only partial. A great deal of what
is encountered along the spiritual path is quite beyond the reach of current
science. Here, one must be armed
with trust, faith, hope, love, discernment, and a tolerance for ambiguity and
for contraries, rather than with the feelings of safety, certainty, familiarity,
and understanding that science can provide.” I’m reminded of the words in C. S. Lewis’ “The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe” where it is said of the lion Aslan, the
allegorical representation of Christ, “Oh, he is not a tame lion!”
Though God may sometimes surprise us or upset our self-managed world, our
faith, hope and love help us to continue to make sense of life, or at least to
ask the right questions. May you find the paranormal experiences in your life to be
reinforcements of your faith. Grace & peace Geoff Now that I’ve finished my dissertation, “Dream Groups
in the Church,” I will begin adding some things here, as time allows.
For starts, try snooping around the IASD website and the others listed
here and see what interests you. I’d
welcome questions or inquiries about this new part of my work. http://www.dreamswork.us/introduction.htm Why pay attention to our dreams? Here’s one explanation by Robert A. Johnson, from his book
“Inner Work; Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth,”
Harper & Row, 1986. “The
disaster that has overtaken the modern world is the complete splitting off of
the conscious mind from its roots in the unconscious.
All the forms of interaction with the unconscious that nourished our
ancestors—dream, vision, ritual, and religious experience—are largely lost
to us, dismissed by the modern mind as primitive or superstitious.
Thus, in our pride and hubris, our faith in our unassailable reason, we
cut ourselves off from our origins in the unconscious and from the deepest parts
of ourselves.” Here’s another tidbit from Alexander Shaia’s “Beyond
the Biography of Jesus: The Journey of Quadratos” Cold Tree Press, 2006. “Today, in much of Christian conversation, the underlying
assumption seems to be that Jesus was born, lived, died, was resurrected and
then somehow died again. The
overwhelming emphasis on the crucifixion and “Jesus died for our sins,”
found in much of Christianity, misses the point that the Christ lives!
Early Christians did not make this mistake.
They avoided it because they always used the full sacred name of JESUS
THE CHRIST, and they lived the truth of this name in their spiritual
practices.” You can find out more about Dr. Shaia below, in the
“Companions on the Inner Way” section, by clicking on the link to his web
page. I would also encourage you to
consider attending Companions, if you are interested in Dr. Shaia’s thought. Where is Jesus in your faith? Dead, or alive? May you find God’s living presence in your daily living. Grace & peace Geoff I found a statement of wonder and gratitude that I want to
share with you. It’s a third-hand
reference, but powerful nonetheless. It
comes form a review of the book “God Laughs and Plays” by David James
Duncan, Triad Books, 2006. The
review is in Christian Century magazine, the Feb. 6, 2007 issue, by Brian Doyle.
Here’s the quote that so impressed me. “I believe—based on phallic clouds giving birth to
stars, spring storm clouds to snow, summer snowbanks to rivers, and orange orbs
to trout; I believe based on punctiform dots melting into vastest spheres,
spheres dividing their way back into dots, lives collapsing into ashes and dust,
and dust bursting back to life; I believe based on spheric shapes singing,
dividing, creating cells, plants, creatures, creating my children, sunflowers,
sun, self, universe, by constantly sacrificing all that they are in order to be
reconfigured and reborn forever and ever—that when we feel Love’s density,
see its colors, feel its pulse, its time to quit reasoning and cry:
MY GOD! THANKS!” Wonder and gratitude go together in our faith.
The wonder of creation can inspire scientific inquiry, a desire to posses
and market the source of wonder, or, as in this quote, inspire a sense of deep
gratitude. May you sense the wonder of creation today, and respond
with gratitude to God. Grace & peace Geoff Now that I’ve finished my dissertation, “Dream Groups
in the Church,” I will begin adding some things here, as time allows.
For starts, try snooping around the IASD website and the others listed
here and see what interests you. I’d
welcome questions or inquiries about this new part of my work. http://www.dreamswork.us/introduction.htm Some words about dreams from Kelly Bulkeley, whose web site
is listed above. This from his
“Visions of the Night,” SUNY
Press, 1999. Dreams are relevant to waking life
concerns. Dreams can be understood without
specialized knowledge. Dreams have the potential to
reveal profoundly transformational truths and insights. These are some of the elements of dreams and dreaming that
are appealing. Here’s another brief quote from the great adventure
book, “No Shortcuts to the Top, Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks,” by
Ed Viesturs, with David Roberts, Broadway Books/Random House, 2006.
Viesturs was the first American to achieve this goal and I was impressed
with the attitude toward nature that he portrayed through the book.
Here are some words that explain part of his personal philosophy.
He is clearly not a Christian, but he seems to know the story. “Although I remain uncertain about God or any
particular religion, I believe in karma. What
goes around, comes around. How you
live your life, the respect what you give others and the mountain, and how you
treat people in general will come back to you in kindred fashion.
I like to talk about what I call the Karma National Bank.
If you give up the summit to help rescue someone who’s in trouble,
you’ve but a deposit in that bank. And
sometime down the road, you may need to make a big withdrawal. People sometimes describe me as a “nice guy.”
While that’s flattering in a sense, I think it slightly misses the
point. What drives my life is not
the desire to get along with other people or make friends so much as a moral
obligation to give back as much as—no, more than—I take.
That’s karma. It’s really not so far from the Golden Rule:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Though not the faith terminology, nor relationship
with Jesus Christ I prefer, I find Viesturs’ words and life inspiring.
May you find inspiration in the world around you. Grace & peace Geoff No emails next week, I’ll be at Companions.
See below. Brian Swimme is a cosmologist, which is defined as “…a
person who wonders over the birth and development of the universe and the role
that the human plays in it—the vast question of what’s the meaning of the
universe, and how do we really fit in here.”
In a recent interview, Swimme had this to say. It comes from the March 2007 issue of “Presence: An
International Journal of Spiritual Direction.” “The most significant spiritual challenge of our time is
coming home to the cosmos. We
Western people have lived in a form of consciousness that has cut itself off
from the cosmos and cut itself off from nature.
Our way forward is actually going to depend upon coming home to the
cosmos….Sometime since Newton, a quest began with the assumption that we were
going to learn about matter “out there.”
All scientists thought that matter “out there” was inert, just there.
Then we realized that the matter we were studying actually had given
birth to the minds we were using to study it.
It’s the sense of the profound interrelationship between the universe
as a whole and the deepest reaches of the human subjectivity that I find so
thrilling. The culture of our time is the first to grasp this in an
empirical sense.” I’ve been fascinated with Swimme’s thought for some
time. See my emails of May 2, 2000
and July 7, 2000 for more references to him.
Or go here http://www.brianswimme.org/ This is mysticism of the deepest order.
The sense that I am indeed more closely related to the universe than I
have realized, or admitted, brings me closer to God.
It gives me a deeper sense of some Bible texts like John 1:1-5.
May you find some deeper sense of connection to God’s creation, as you
seek to be faithful. Grace & peace Geoff
Dreamers
Dreamers
