Jan 07, 2024

Living in Unconditional Love (148)

 

“Love flows from God to humans without effort:

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings-

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul,

Yet separate in form.”

–Mechtild of Magdeburg

 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years after we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill (not COVID), and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down almost two years. Covid has proved to be a persistent problem, and many of the long-term effects are quite serious, and it has proven much more serious than flu.

01/07/2024                             I am writing this on the twelfth day of Christmas, the last day of the official Christmas season, but I will leave the tree and decorations up for a few more weeks, as I enjoy the lights and decorations.

We are in the beginning of our first real snow fall, with over two inches already down and they are predicting another seven. This is the heaviest snowfall we have had in over a year; I am not sure when we had this much last time. I have sufficient food to last me several weeks, so I am not concerned. (Sunday: had about 8 inches of heavy wet snow that ended around noon on Sunday.)

I hope all had a good festive season; mine was wonderful. I saw in person all my children except for Dan and Alesandra and their beautiful girls in Peru, but we facetimed a lot. Barbara was here for Christmas day, and we had dinner at Tim and Julie’s home; it was wonderful as always, including the large turkey who was the main guest. The trip to Mohonk was joyful, even though it was warm (in the 40s with light rain) and my fire in my room fireplace did not want to stay lit. The food was wonderful as always. I stayed in but most went for long walks everywhere. I spent time snuggled up to a fire in one of the lounges reading and chatting with family. It was good to not be concerned about what and when everyone is ready to eat, etc. The nice thing is everyone that stayed here washed their sheets and made their beds before leaving. (Barbara did much of the finishing and put away many of the scattered decorations before she left.) And yes, I have made the reservations for next year, and received the discount for doing so within the week.

The full meaning of Christmas to me was, as Richard Rohr often points out, that this was the moment that God revealed to humanity the reality of the Central truth: that God is present in all of creation, for in becoming human flesh it was revealed that creation, matter itself, contains the existence of the Creator/creation, indeed: as Jesus pointed out, the Kingdom of Heaven (the home of God) lies within/among us. God gave us the home of God to dwell in; this is indeed paradise, with all its’ positive vibes and negative ones. It is our task to see and respond to the gift of gifts that has been handed us: the planet, this small globe that may be unique in our galaxy or our universe. Our spoiling of this planet is our greatest fault, and the reaction of the planet to our carelessness is the reaction of God to our blindness, for God works through physical reality to point out Truth.

Yes, Christmas is real, even though the stories in the bible perhaps did not occur exactly as written, Jesus did indeed walk the earth teaching us and portraying to us the love of God. What a breathtaking fact, and it took what we would call 13.8 billion years to tell that portion of the story. What is my response to that central truth?

Meditation

 

Gentle One, I rest in You. This new year rises on the foundation of past years, with all its glories and sorrows. I plead for this poor world of ours, suffering wars, starvation, drought, floods, and yet finding joy and peace in Your love. I thank You for all the joys You have showered upon my family and I ask in the name of all of humanity that we find peace and learn to aid one another as You created us to do.