April 24, 2016

This morning’s lecture on the Coptic Gospel of Thomas included the idea that, by understanding the secret sayings of Jesus in that gospel, people could avoid tasting death.

In many religions today, as in the history of religion, there is much about the existence, description, and attainment of life after death.  Yet the same Gospel of Thomas quotes Jesus as saying, “The kingdom of God is spread over the world and men do not see it.”

I don’t claim to know, let alone understand, the secret sayings of Jesus.  But I believe heaven is not a place, but an experience available in this life – the experience, however fleeting, that everything is all right just the way it is.  If that is our experience in the last moments of life, on the threshold of leaving this life, what more could we want?

April 17, 2016

By what ethical and practical principles do I live?
Am I alert to situations where those principles conflict, where they do not seem to apply, or where I am tempted simply to ignore them?
When such situations arise, do I resolve them with a commitment to truth, love, growth and forgiveness?

Fighting evil

Evil does not need to triumph.  Evil wants only to wreak what havoc it can. 
Evil is opportunistic.  Evil does not need good people to do nothing: it just needs us to do less than enough.  
Evil thrives on our fear and self-righteousness; on our failing to recognize it or its approaching shadow, particularly in its seemingly small forms; on our doing less, individually and as a society, than we could do to detect it, name it, and fight it; and on our confusion and quarrels about how to fight it and who should fight it.  
Who should fight evil?  Each of us, as our abilities permit.

March 20, 2016

What shall we do in times of grief and trouble?

Two dear friends of this Meeting have died within the past several weeks.  Others in our circle have serious health problems and other travails.  There are many daunting, complex troubles in our communities, our nation and our world, with no clear let alone swift solutions.  There are refugees by the hundreds of thousands; vast areas of poverty and hunger; and violent conflicts, including between deeply religious people, going on for decades, generations, even centuries.

My favorite Farside cartoon, by Gary Larson, depicts a man in hell, flames all around, jauntily pushing a wheelbarrow - and whistling.  One onlooking demon says to another, “We’re just not getting to that guy.”

When grace cannot be seen, what we still have is a choice: shall we keep and focus on our confidence in grace, or shall we succumb to despair in its apparent absence?

What shall we do in times of grief and trouble?

Do not give up.

Look for grace wherever it can be found.

And strive to represent grace to others.

February 28, 2016

The recorded lecture on The New Testament which we watched this morning before Meeting dealt with the wide array of Christian faiths which have evolved from centuries of efforts to ascertain the historical facts of Jesus’s birth, life, death and resurrection; to discern His purpose and teachings; and to serve that purpose and to apply those teachings to ever-changing circumstances.  These great efforts have resulted in great differences and great conviction in the correctness of one’s views and the error of others’ views.  The history of conflict among Christians, despite Jesus’s message of love, suggests that the proverbial tree of the knowledge of good and evil is better seen as the tree of the perception of the knowledge of good and evil.

February 21, 2016

When I have the presence of mind to refrain from acting out of habit, there are many questions I might ask in trying to discover “What is going on here?” and to decide “What shall I do here?”  I think those questions are in two different groups or files or, if you will, baskets. 

The first basket is full of questions arising from anxiety, fear, judgment and insufficiency.  Reaching into that basket, I get questions like, “How can I avoid discomfort?” “How can I get control?” “How can I look good here?” and “What can I get out of this?”

The second basket is full of questions flowing from compassion, curiosity, forgiveness, and growth.  In this basket I find questions like, “What is wanted or needed?” “What can I do to help?” “What can I learn here?” and “How can I wholesomely manage my yearnings?”

So the silent starting point becomes asking, “Holy Spirit, please guide me to the right basket.”

Trusting God - and God in people

If I completely trusted God to provide for, and to safeguard, those who are important to me, I would naturally experience little stress.  However, to me, trusting God means trusting God's human agents - including myself.  And the number of people who are, in one way or another, important to anyone paying compassionate attention to world affairs is huge.  So, strive as I may to perceive and fulfill my responsibilities as a father, family member, friend and citizen (let alone as an agent of the Holy Spirit) and trust as I may that others will do so - well, my confidence is not such that I am free of stress.  But it is enough to guide me to peace of mind most of the time.