Given by Inspiration of God

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 

“Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”  Genesis 2:7

The breath of God gives life to human beings.  Through God’s respiration, as it were, humans become living beings; so, through God’s inspiration, human words become divine message.  A book is more than a book, Scripture is more than scripture.  What would otherwise have been merely earthly is also holy, of the Divine, by the breath of God.  Lines and curves, shapes and densities, grammar and biology are all but dust without the breath of God to give them meaning, to give them true life.  For, that which is given by inspiration of God becomes truly and fully alive, worthy of righteousness, of the ways of perfection and all that is good.

 

Christina Chase

 

Sit Down on the Grass

Matthew 14:19-21

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Sit down on the grass, all you weary of body, sit down on the grass and repose your soul.

The earth will hold you upon a living bed of green, the waning sun alight upon your skin,

soft breezes to cool and refresh your flesh.  And I…

I, with my sight upon the infinite reaches of heaven and my beating heart within your own, I will gaze deeply into your eyes, into that heart, into the core of your being, and I will give you all that you need, all for which you hunger and thirst, and you will be filled with the food of my love.

See, the food of the earth fractures within my hands that are eager to give life;

the earth spreads open at my word to yield forth its sweet verdancy and receive you;

and the life that I give comes from me to you, and through you

to your brother and sister, who receive and share onward the food of my love.

You would willingly hazard long journeys and rough passage for the food of the earth,

the earth whose very stones would cry out my name if you should deign to speak it not – but what of the food of my love?  The food that does not perish with the perishing of the earth, the food that feeds not the mortal and so never satisfies, but the food that feeds the immortal, that feeds your heart beating with mine, that feeds you fully and eternally, satisfying your ever-living soul –

For this food, you need only to sit down on the grass and receive all that I give to you.  You need only to listen to my voice, to hear my word, to let my heart into your heart, and to do as I call you to do, so that you may be who I created you to be.

The food that I give you to eat is the food of heaven, is the food of my love, is my very life, my body and blood that pulses and flows and fractures the earth to give you life, abundant life, in the fullness of reality, in the fullness of who you are: You, pulsing in your blood for the goodness of Creation, you, through whose body flows the divine action, you, who break apart the clods of earth for the perishing beauty and bounty of the seed – You hear my voice and crave my word, you long for the Goodness, Divinity and Unperishing Beauty and Bounty of my heart, so listen and receive… be fed perpetually… Sit down on the grass, eat and be filled with the food of my love… now and forever.

Christina Chase

Selah

Psalms 4:4

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

(I don't know what this burst means - I don't even claim that it means anything.  Like selah, I guess...  Rambling mind...)

 

In the light of day we may do many things that are brash and bold and make us feel strong, right and good.  But, when the night comes, and we lie in dark silence, alone in our beds, we might not feel so sure.

 

Am I my own strength?  Do I call upon my intellect and wit, my distrusting eye and sharp tongue, to get me through the day?  Do I defend myself against those around me and put them in their place?  Do I stand out among the others as the one who is right, as the one who is justified, as the one who is more capable and sure, while I shake my head in pity, wag my finger with superior knowledge, and stiffen my spine with indignity when others don’t follow my way?  I am right, I am beautiful, I am unique, I am not to be hurt or mistreated, I am better than you think and if you don’t know it, then it’s your loss.

 

And what about when I take to my bed?  The lights and sights and sounds of the day fade into the night and I’m alone in silence and stillness, preparing for sleep.  In my self-righteousness, perhaps I tune out the silence by tuning into more noise: talk radio, music, or the company of someone in bed with me, or the thousand thoughts of the day.  Or, perhaps, the still silence is truly silent and I allow myself to truly be still….  I am but a creature preparing for sleep.  I fluff the material around me and snuggle in for warmth.  I breathe in and out with delicate layers of tissue, needing the air as I need to sleep, in order for the current and pulsing of my body to continue and survive.  Am I my own strength?  Am I my own master?  What thoughts will come unbidden to me at night… Thoughts of loneliness and pain… thoughts of weakness and of dying… thoughts of remorse and sorrow… thoughts of wanting so much more… wanting and pining and longing… me, in my bed alone.

 

It is always at night that sorrow is more sorrowful and loneliness is more lonely and weakness is weaker.  For there is nothing to distract me from the truth of who I am: a mere creature of flesh and blood in a vast, dark and silent world, no better, no different, than any other creature.  Dependent am I.  Small and flawed.  Insignificant in the ultimate stillness of the cosmos.  What use to rage against others’ incompetencies and pump up myself as the right one who has been wronged?  If I have been wronged, then we all have been wronged, by being deluded into thinking that what we say or do makes any difference at all, is important in any kind of way.  I lie in my bed alone and know that I am useless, know that I am worthless, know that I am helpless, and become bitter tears… sorrowful tears of all that is not.

 

The saving light is not the rising of the Sun over the Horizon that makes mere things bright and shiny and illusory again.  The saving light is the rising of the Son over the depths of Hell that redeems mere things to true radiance and the fullness of reality.  I am a creature of flesh and blood, no better, no different, than any other creature… except… I am a creature of spirit and soul, no better, no different, than any other human being… except… My flaws are unique, my difficulties and challenges my own.  How my creator and master redeems me is as different and singular as infinity.  The song is His song, the breath and the hands are His, as is the very crafting of me… But, if I do not acknowledge my flaws, if I do not humbly bow before my incompetencies, then my creator and master cannot use them in His masterpiece.  It is the humble and contrite confession of my heart that opens the stops and lets the song sing through.  It is my tender touch upon others’ wounds that sounds the rhythm and flow.  My confession, my compassion, and, yet, not solely my own, but my gift from Him who made me.  The righteous words of the brash day, the wagging finger, the shaking head, the stiffened spine, all are useless, helpless – the whisper of my heart in deeply quiet repentance into the listening organ of the night, into the ear of the universe, this sigh, this silent plea for love and forgiveness is the most powerful and worthy act of all my life.  Without it I cannot love.  And it is only with love that I am worthy… worthy of peace in my bed, day and night.  Worthy only because He loved me first and gave me life, and redeemed me unto life ever new, in union with His infinite love.

Of The Water

Matthew 3:16-17

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 

 

 

When our lives first begin, the instant that two physical cells merge and the spark of life ignites the soul, we are submerged.  We are surrounded, cocooned, enshrouded, in the liquid darkness of the womb.  We remain under this water in order for our bodies to form – heart, brain, kidneys, bones, eyes, mouth – for unless we remain submerged for our forming the pulse of life will not be held bodily.  When this fragile, early formation is complete, all the work that must be done in the sanctuary of sacred waters, we are born forth out of the waters and into the world.  We are taken up into the arms of another upon whose care we are dependent.  And here we live the lives of creatures that are visible, named, fed, taught, and hopefully loved.

 

But, there are other sacred waters.  Though we have been formed and born forth bodily, the business of our bodies may cause us to forget the pulse of our souls.  For what caused the cells of our bodies to first multiply and beat together was the animating principle of life.  As human beings, we begin to be by the breath of God.  And this divine breathing in us is what we need in order to fully be ourselves, fully and truly alive.  The care of the soul is different than the care of the body – but, for both, we need to be submerged in order for formation to begin.  Water sustains the body; Living Water makes healthy the soul.  In baptism, through water and the Holy Spirit, we are born anew, we are born from above.  Enshrouded in sacred waters once more, to touch the abyss, the touchstone of Creation, to be given the gift, the spark of new life in Christ, we are lifted up as the Spirit of God descends upon us, and we emerge as splendid and radiant creatures, God’s Word engraved upon our hearts, to be fed and taught the way of Divine Grace in the world redeemed by God’s love.

 

And, so, too, we will experience another submersion when our physical bodies, limited and imperfect, are no longer able to hold our souls.  We will descend again into sacred waters, there to touch the abyss, the touchstone of Creation, and then to come up by the grace of God, into the Almighty, Ever-Living, Ever-Loving Presence of God, infinitely and eternally.

I'm very sorry that I missed this past week.  Starting a STEP course on the Eucharist this week, I don't think I will have the physical energy to keep both commitments.  But, I will resume my bible bursting at the end of May.  Thank you for reading!

The Scorner

Proverbs 22:10

Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

It is easy to sit in judgment of others.  We know not the trials and tribulations of their hearts, nor the inner workings of their minds, we only see and hear what is external and use this as our knowledge about our fellow human beings.

If we did this with all of life, would we ever know the sweetness of a pineapple?  Would we ever venture to discover the tender meat of a lobster?  How often have we dismissed someone as inferior because of the way he or she dresses or the place where he or she lives?  So then we deprive ourselves of knowing perhaps the kindest person we’ll ever meet, or the funniest, or the most wise.  Even a bellowing bigot could be a lamb in wolf’s clothing.

Often, people who come off as the most loudly confident can actually be the least self-assured.  They feel themselves surrounded by superiority and bark like an anxious dog.  Some who wish to feel better about themselves will take great effort to knock other people down, their criticisms and contempt laying the other people low so that they, in comparison, may feel themselves lofty and high.  But, it is all just violence and fear.

If we had true peace within ourselves, if we could rest assured upon the knowledge of our own unique value and worth, then we wouldn’t be arrogant.  We would know that we are wonderfully made for good and beautiful purposes and we would not sneer in scorn at others.  We would be able to recognize our own faults and failings, understand our own weaknesses, and this wouldn’t make us afraid or hopeless or full of self-loathing.  Yes, we all need improvement.  And yet, each and every one of us is sacred in the eyes of God, is beloved by Him who made us, who became one of us and died for us – for each and every one of us so that we may fully be our true selves.

Perhaps, we know someone who we think is overly critical and unkind toward others.  Perhaps, we see this person as arrogant and scornful.  We may want to cast this person out of our lives so that we may not have rancor and meanness anymore.  But… are we sure that we are not the arrogant ones?  Are we sure that we are not quick to judge and dismiss others?  Would it not be better to cast arrogance and scorn out of our own hearts first?  To err is human, to forgive divine[i] and shouldn’t it be our goal to be more like God?  That doesn’t mean more like God in looking down in judgment and wrathful punishment – no!  This is a human projection upon God, this is what we see in the Hebrew Testament for an infant people just learning about who God is.  In maturity, the Chosen People come to understand that God is loving and good.  In our own lives, our parents may seem to be bigger and stronger and even, sometimes, a bit scary – but everything that they do for us, ideally, they do out of love.  Can we say that we act in love when we turn up our noses at someone that we judge to be inferior?  Can we say that we act in love when we turn up our noses at someone that we judge to be arrogant?

If we truly know love and there is true love within us, then there is recognition of sanctity in every human being; there is patience, forgiveness, and forbearance in our hearts.  This doesn’t mean that we simply put up with the bad behavior of the scornful, patronizingly tolerant of their negativity.  We should be able to face them as they are and help them to see who they are – not by becoming critical and scornful ourselves, but by being respectful and gentle, kindly seeking the source of their inner rancor.  There will be those who do not want to be helped, but this will not dissuade us from faith in their inner goodness.  Those who want to be left alone, shall be left alone with their own rancor if they don’t try to change.  But they will receive no scorn and no contention from us.  Humble and loving, our reproach will only be the call to recognize their own sanctity and to not be afraid.  Such is the call that we all must answer if we want to truly and fully live.

---

[i] Alexander Pope

Bring Forth

Luke 6:43

For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 

The bas-relief carving is of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus – an artist’s rendering of the classic image of Madonna and Child.  The stone has a lovely, ancient hue, with a slightly rough surface from age and, yet, the age and stone texture take nothing from the fineness of the carving, it’s lines, shape, proportion and detail.  The artist was obviously a master craftsman who could transform the dead, cold flesh of stone into warmly living, human personality.  Woman and child are not only realistically rendered in technique, but also seemingly real in life and breath.  Their faces tell their whole life story.  And, yet…

 

Is this the Holy Mother and the Divine Infant?  Her expression is that of a weary mother, succumbed to putting up with an insolent child – and he is that insolent child, uncaring of how exhausted his willful ways make anyone.  The way they hold their heads, the way their mouths are set, the look about their eyes says it all: this is not a happy family, not the ideal of what anyone should be.  Why would the artist render these expressions upon mother and son?  Why would he choose to evoke such depressing and petty emotions from the personalities of the Holy Virgin and the Christ Child?

 

Why, indeed, unless he didn’t know.  If the artist had never known true love and joy, nor even the deep yearning for true love and joy, how could he evoke this state of being?  If he only understood power as willfulness and patience as weakness, how could he understand the divinity of the infant Jesus or the tender care of his holy mother?  For an artist, as for every human being, there is what the hand executes – and then there is what is executed by the heart.  We may go about our lives doing things with great technique, but if we have not love, and no true understanding of the depth and impact of what we do on our lives and on life as a whole, then we do mere things.  We are empty.  We do not fully live.  We miss the point.  We miss the mark.  We are like trees infected by a hidden blight that can never bear forth rich and wholesome fruit.  We are barren of the true and eternal beauty of life.

 

(Inspired by the random piece of Scripture and by the carving I saw yesterday at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.)

Christina Chase