Apr 10, 2022

  Living in Unconditional Love (57)

“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 to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill, 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, and even though it is abating, I wear my mask anytime I am out, unlike many.

 

4/10/2022                            I am writing this on Friday, as Saturday is my birthday – I will be 88, and I am amazed by that number. I rarely think about my age; I just do what I feel I can do. There are many things I will not do, especially anything that could cause me harm such as climbing a ladder or go on the roof, which I did without any qualm’s years past.

I will be going out to dinner with my son Drew on my birthday. I had made reservations at my favorite restaurant, but they called on Friday saying they have a family emergency and will be closed for the weekend. So, I had to change to another good restaurant that is good but always crowded on the weekends – and usually during the week also. Even with reservations I expect to wait about 30 minutes to be seated.

I put my bonsai outside on Wednesday and it rained on Thursday – perfect. I am hoping for clouds for a week, so the tips don’t burn. They recommend putting them out for short durations for a while and expanding the time over a couple of weeks, but I have too many and many are a challenge (for me) to move; so, I will take a chance and just put them out against the house for some shade over at least half the day. it is supposed to be warm and partly cloudy for the next couple of weeks, which should help. I am having the stands rebuilt as the old stands are rotting out and need replacement.

I had an interesting question put forward by a good friend on Facebook the other day. It was “is humanity born cruel and only learns to be gentle or the other way around?” in response to the horrifying events in the Ukraine. I put in a quick response, but I am not happy with what I said, and I would like to chat a bit on this topic.

I have an advantage of having four small grandchildren four and under. I also have a strong recollection of the time when I was four and five, having just moved out to the country where I remained until leaving for college. Watching the little ones and remembering my own childhood, that age is happy and doesn’t demand much. At that age I spent hours every day I could roaming the fields in the spring, summer, and fall, usually hay fields and such, often having the grass up to my face, then stopping to see our neighbor Mrs. Walker who always managed to have a cookie or sandwich, and I suspect she would call my mother and tell her, but I am not sure about that, then wondering home for a peanut butter jelly sandwich (on homemade bread, often just out of the oven – mmm)  for lunch and out again. I felt comfortable talking to my invisible friends, often Jesus as a little boy. My mother had a large school bell mounted outside, and she would ring it for me to come home from wherever I was, and it always worked.

I watch our grandchildren generally get along and just enjoying life, laughing a lot. Much joy and fun, naturally being reasonably good.

Putting it in more theological terms, ‘God lies within us’ is a core belief of Christianity. I believe strongly I am made in the image of God (see Genesis), and this Being is the core of my being, the truth of who I really am, as Jesus put it at the Last Supper (Read his last discourse in the gospel of John). Colossians puts it “The mystery is Christ within you – your hope of glory.” (1:27). As Richard Rohr points out in Immortal Diamond (p5), our True Self is God living as our soul, while our False Self (ego) is the coating we put on ourselves due to outside influences in our life – notice the word “outside”. God speaks to each of us in our souls, and if we listen the inner spirit speaks and brings out compassion and feelings. The level of outcry to the horrifying events in the Ukraine testify to that reality. This goodness lies at our very substance level of our being and is truly our very Being,

Look at that quote for Paul again, as it paraphrases Jesus’s (who Paul never knew) Last Supper statement – “the mystery is Christ within you”. Like Jesus stating that the Kingdom of God lies within (Luke 17:21). The kingdom of God lies within each of us, not “out there” or up “up in the sky” or even more in error, “waiting for us after death” as most people seem to believe. This wisdom guides me each day to surrender myself to God, moment by moment, and live in heaven, right here and now.

Yes, many do not follow that inner wisdom and we see the results in our world, but many do, and not just a few followers of Christ, but many from the inner resources of their very being, helping those who are less fortunate; in fact, it is the poorest of the poor who often are the saviors of those in agony.

There is not much I can do physically to help these situations, but I can pray and give of my financial bounty to help those who can physically help.

Meditation

Gentle One, I weep for those in such pain caused by the treatment of fellow humans, not just in Ukraine but in so many corners of the world. I ask for the courage to speak when I can to help and to be open to opportunities that open before me to help others in their needs. I feel blessed to have had so much given to me in this life, and my gratitude is immense, and I hope I will find ways to help others in their needs.