The temps drop the winds blow and the space heater is
working well in this spot. Armstrong’s
book might feel dangerous but she explains the scholars and ‘holy’ men
early in the church spent time in silence reading and studying the new
scriptures and experienced the dogma, the unexplainable explained and their
conclusions, to paraphrase lightly, was enlightenment. The mysteries of divinity require we detach
from the things of life to find the hidden meanings of God.
Sounds true for other faiths you have to admit. Meditation, deep and open to Shekinah
glory. Who wouldn’t want to experience
Shekinah glory? I’m not gonna find it in
a relationship, am I? You should find ecstasy
there but I don’t think that’s the same, perhaps it is. Song of Solomon, Rumi mix the allegories
better than anyone don’t they.
ash Wednesday is remembered.
2.11.16
Thursday morning is cold and bright. My space heater ran out, my third cup of
green tea is cold. City power has come to the house so my geyser is heating up
for tomorrow’s shower, the timing is good. I have one class this afternoon and that is
it. There are a number of
things I need to take care of, what do I need to do to complete these academic exercises
when my office is in my bedroom and right now my bed has sun rays on it, maybe
we should read in the sun.
What exactly is a jinx?
If I talk about what I am planning to do am I somehow jeopardizing the
plan?
Georgia’s most trusted institution is the Church.
Can anyone else say that today?
It’s also the most influential institution in the
country.
"you know these little churches in the mountains built
1100 years ago are still holy. The Eucharist
was present at one time. The sheepskin shi-kine-a
glory may not be there but the presence of holiness once here is still
here."
What? ha
ha. And how the hell do you know that,
turn up the space heater a little more, go get a refill of tea.
Lent has begun.
I haven’t given up anything in a very life-time while. And what could I give up now that I don’t
give up every day already? Ok, I’ll stop
drinking, wait, I stopped a month ago.
Forty days is a long time without a reminder. My St. Anastasia calendar hangs on the
wardrobe door and I look at it every day and thankfully here’s a measurement of
something that isn’t making time slow down, at least I don’t think so.
I admire a few who give up social media for lent and
I’d do that to if I had a social life.
The early mystics who ventured into the Sinai didn’t have much social
life either but they didn’t need it. Are
you implying simply because of an event that happened seven years ago makes you
a mystic? Well, dammit I don’t like
people calling me a ‘god’ that kind of leaves me feeling pretentious and
uncomfortable.
I am no mystic.
I want a sofa and a reading lamp and a beer and a television sometimes
and a forest or a mountain or the ocean nearby.
A monastery would be ok for a while but the question of love always
interferes with my ability to settle down like them monks do. The monastery in Western New York State
admitted men up to the age of 50 to become monks and I wanted to talk to
someone but they have this code of silence and a group of deaf students just
arrived and I took that as a sign of uh, not yet.
Would it be sacrilegious to observe lent with the aid
of Buddha? I know there is a term used
to describe this kind of syncretism, but if your experiences transcend faiths,
what the hell is one to do? Two men both
searching for silence in order to hear God-Om.
And I am in the desert. The
desert, I’m always coming back to the desert.
What does THAT say?
40 days in the desert. The day God and Satan have it out. Is Jesus supposed to be Job?
No. Job didn’t know God and Satan
placed their wagers on his bald head.
8:05pm—The litmus test for
interpreting scripture, according to Ms. Armstrong, is the meaning from which
you draw must always lead to charity.
Compassion above all things I think everyone agrees.
And it’s pretty difficult to have compassion for
someone if you’re not right with them and you can’t find it in yourself to
reconcile this un-right-eous. I have
compassion for you, old friend, and for your family. I never wish ill will against you for any
reason whatsoever. I may be unable to
articulate well when I don’t understand why paradigms happen but they do
nevertheless it is wrong for me to not be able to return from whence we
came. I can ask for your forgiveness and
if you’d forgive me and if my heart changes, which like I’ve told
you, I don’t understand rightly but it is how it is, then that’ll be a good
thing.
rearrange the letters in the spirit of compassion through the mystical experience of getting lost in the Eucharist. lectio divina
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