Aug 07, 2022

  Living in Unconditional Love (74)

“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 among people, unlike many.

08/07/2022                             This week has been better than last, and I am on the uptake. The doctor has declared the cellulitis cleared. I had lost five pounds but am starting to eat full meals. A good friend made me some home-made chicken noodle soup with real chicken and vegies, and it is wonderful. Friends are wonderful. I have had many offers of help, and my daughter-in-law came out and drove me to the doctor on Thursday. I have finally got behind the wheel and drove myself into Whitney Point to the grocery store, (about two miles) so am recovering. I even mowed the lawn after two weeks today. Mostly weeds, as it has been really dry and the few rains we have had do not seem to have been enough to get grass growing again.

I had the decks power washed and they look nice. Been about six years since that was done. I had a new pergola installed at the entrance to the terraced gardens, replacing an old one that had been there many years and was falling apart. Looks nice, much more impressive than the last one.

I truly feel blessed by God with all the beauty and wonder that are at my fingertips and fill my vision with so much.

I have a couple of new books that are proving interesting. One is a newly-published book of daily readings about Hadewijch of Antwerp (no, I had never heard of her, but she is of the same period as Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich and Mechtild of Magdeburg, author of the quote above), translated by Andrew Harvey. She was a Beguine and lived in the first half of the 13^th century, as did St. Francis. Entitled Love is Enough it is a series of love poems written from her mystical experiences over the years. She was very popular in her day until her work was squashed by the church because she dared publish without the churches’ say-so. As I understand it, the Beguines were a group of women who formed outside of any male dominant system, including the church, and were self-sufficient by working and their own wealth. It became popular in Flanders with tens of thousand adherents, until the church firmly put them down. Burning at the stake was their usual method of putting down ideas they did not like. How dare a woman be not under the control of some man.

The church was not nice during that time; despite that some of the greatest mystics, like St. Francis, came in that period, and Hadewijch joins that rank.

That book has joined my daily meditation group of readings. Each daily reading is short and often breathtaking.

The other book is by Mathew Fox. It was first published in 1983, then revised in 2000, titled Original Blessing, which speaks of Creation Spirituality as the prime message of Jesus in the Gospels. Still very interesting to read and not out of date, and my own thinking is very similar as it has evolved over the years, stemming from my childhood experiences of God. God has been writing the original bible in constant creation beginning 13.8 billion years ago and still wonderfully, explosively, today, creating visibly in the universe. Hence my interest on cosmology.

This book too was the subject of the Church’s intense chastisement, resulting in the author leaving the Dominican order by direction of Rome. He is now an episcopal priest, and still very outspoken. Wonderful book, by the way.

Meditation

Gentle One, Your blessings were clear this week in the signs and help of friends when I needed it most. I feel gratitude for all that occurred, and for the friends who responded when called upon. Indeed love drives the world, and the series of little acts of love keep things going well. I am just one of countless individuals that receive aid from friends and neighbors each day in our world, as love. indeed, makes the world go round.