I heard this quote today on a documentary. It resonated
deeply within me, and has been a fruitful meditation. Perhaps it will be for
you also.
“The great truths of philosophy and religion are to most men
like the rays of the sun shining on the arctic snow; they glitter and reflect,
but they do not penetrate and warm.”
When Jesus says “I am in you…” (John 14:20), does it glitter and reflect, or penetrate and warm?
Only those who suffer can Love. Suffering teaches us the importance
of the work Love invites us to do to alleviate that suffering, enabling us to
experience the Joy that arises in that process. The transcendence of our suffering
is a great gift to the world.
We cannot define a human because a human extends---beyond
any words that could be spoken---outward, toward, and perhaps already at one
with infinity. Anything that happens to that human happens within the context
of this infinity; this eternity. And once we get beyond our fear of it ever
ending, we can get on with the important work of Love. As we accept deeply that
this journey was not meant to be easy, we relax into it peacefully, becoming
much better students of the lessons our sufferings teach. We realize that we
are being transformed by these blessed lessons into everything that we truly want
to be. Every death, every betrayal,
every rejection, every abuse has within it a precious diamond, ruby, emerald or
pearl of wisdom, enlightenment and strength. And we become true warriors. We do
not often look like warriors. As Goliath mocked and scorned David, the world
mocks and scorns. We do not have the power that they covet, so they don’t
respect us. But we are not seeking the respect of man---we are working for his
healing. We know that he does not know---as Christ proclaimed from the Cross,
praying for their forgiveness (our forgiveness). But we are indeed warriors because
we have the fire of Christ’s Divine Love burning within us; and it will never
be quenched. And we see the desperate need of the world for it. But we are not
desperate. Because we have been to the mountaintop, we are peaceful. We know
now, as Moses knew, as MLK Jr. knew that the dream will be fulfilled. And it IS
being fulfilled, one generation to the next. We recreate the same sequences,
but we learn something new (and ancient) each time. Something new and farther
along gets wired into our DNA and passed down to the next generation. They
start farther along than we did. We get collectively wiser. And we progress in
Loving each other, which is the fruit of wisdom.
Our human evolution may appear, at some angles, as a repeating
circle. We do repeat some history. But it is actually an upward
spiral---something that is starkly evident in the material world. But the final
frontier---that which will get us to the top of the mountain and somehow redeem
all these messes we have made---that frontier is Love. The primary challenge
that humans face---the primary question we must answer by the way we live our
lives---is can we love each other? All other endeavors are secondary and
meaningless without that one, because we are facing global, not just tribal or
national challenges. And we must not fear them. As we become unified in Love, those problems
will cease to exist---at least those that we create, which is most of them. And
the others---those we did not create—will be handled compassionately and
effectively without ego entanglements. The Love that will unify and liberate us
can only be pure, which means free from the desire to impress people or to
control them. Many people already know this (thank God!) and many are awakening
to it. We seek to peacefully facilitate this awakening. This might be called “evangelism”,
but the word has taken a bad rap. There’s really no need to label it. We just
want people to be free in this Love—which is the only true freedom. Our lives
become a wonderful process of allowing this Light to shine through us. We
become who we truly are. And we experience inwardly, palpably, the blessings
that Jesus promised: Peace, Joy, Abundant and Eternal Life.
We only become as
loud as is necessary to expose evil and to protect the powerless and (to the
world) unattractive. The rest of the time we live peacefully and quietly in our
tribes, like macrophages prepared to attack the bacteria and viruses that invade
and destroy life.
Whatever we encounter within ourselves when we “Be still…”
and open ourselves to the inner world, and bring into the Spirit, becomes
something beautiful and useful for the Kingdom.
It could be a deep sadness (and He will place His loving hand underneath
it—underneath your heart—and sustain you through it into a brighter Light than
you have ever seen.) It could be feeling alone and unloved, hurt, guilt, fear, anger,
frustration, feelings of failure, having been betrayed, or to have betrayed. Only
those who are willing to go to the top of the Mountain will face those demons
within themselves. Jesus will cast out every one of them. Without fail. And He
will replace that place in your soul where they resided with Divine Love. This
is the top of the Mountain.
