As a consequence of my being,
"a spiritual being, immersed in the human experience," there are
zillions of questions seeking answers. Why does it we seem to never get a
satisfactory, complete answer? All the answers I seem to get just lead to
another new question, which leads to another new answer, which leads to another
new question. Duh!!! I get tired, and very frustrated. I want it to stop. That
"I," who wants this to stop, is my ego, my false self, not my true
self. My true self is always seeking and searching for who it is, in the
unconditioned, unlimited, unrestricted love of A Prodigal-father-God. What the "I," the false self is, is
an end to that endless moment to moment battle, fought in the depths of our
souls. It is a battle which the false
self cannot win, but goes down fighting every inch of the way. Joe has to
become reconciled with that endless searching, seeking, and ever deepening
journey into the "beyond" of everything, and everyone. I have come to
the realization that as it is, in the sacrament of the now moment, so it was,
and ever shall be, a journey into the ever mysterious, Beyond. This Beyond
exists outside time and space, and outside the ability of words to communicate
such a Reality. Thomas Aquinas reminds us "whereas we can come a knowledge
of the existence of God, we will never come to a knowledge of the essence of
God."
So many of us are drawn to the ocean,
and its many looks, voices, and moods. Our journey into the mystery of God, is
like a person entering an ever receding sea. The endless, mysterious ocean, is
a common metaphor used by the spiritual writers. Even at this stage on my
life's journey the ocean still stirs within me something in which I fail
miserably in my efforts to communicate. There is a certain reality which is
deep, deep within, and aching to be expressed. The desire is there but, for
some reason the vehicle, the language to express such
reality, I am sad to find out, has been lost. In the past, the ability
to communicate at such deep levels was present within humankind, what a gift we
have been deprived of and why? So we settle for conversation about the
accidentals of life, and never wonder why we are not satisfied. The
restlessness we all experience will be with us until we hear those words of
welcome to our eternal home," Come you who are the blessed of my Father
inherit this eternal kingdom..." We will then find eternal rest, and peace
in that place, from which in reality, is our place, of origin. What a
mysterious circle we are called travel.
"You are never too old and it
is not too late to dive into your increasing depths where life calmly gives out
it's secret... (so) Deeply I go into myself. My God is Dark, and like a webbing
made of roots that drink in silence." So Rilke writes. He also writes that
we: "Believe in the love that is being stored up for you like an
inheritance, and have Faith that in this love there is a strength and a
blessing so LARGE that you can travel as far as you wish without stepping
outside of it...the only journey is
within." Despite what my ego wants, to stop all this journeying into
uncertainty, the true self will be restless until it rests in its, True Home.
This true Home we are given just an introduction to, on this part of the journey.
We get a taste of what is awaiting us, so as to encourage us to continue 'our
trudge," through this "vale of tears." We call these moments, our moments on The
Mount of Transfiguration.
Remember how the prophet Jesus,
before His "passing over," revealed to The Big Three, Peter, James,
and John, His inner light, on The Mount of Transfiguration where His divinity
shone through His humanity. Was this to show off? Of course not. It was done so
that they would have an inner, deeper, understanding to strengthen them so they
would be able to face the coming apparent disaster. Jesus wanted to reveal to
them that He was so much more than what they thought, saw, or understood. It
was through a long, pain-full process before those Apostles came to understand Who
this Prophet, Rabbi Jesus really was. They had to move beyond their
relationship and understanding of the historical Jesus, The One who was
"WITH THEM" daily as a fellow human being. What an authentic human
being that Jesus was. WE do not place enough importance on the humanity of
Jesus, through which Our Gracious, Mercy-full, God is revealed to us. Jesus is
God in human form. They too, had to
endure a death and resurrection so that they could grow into a new enlightening,
and enlivening relationship with the Risen Christ. What agony those early
disciples, our ancestors in faith had to endure so that their understanding of
the historical Jesus, Who was with them, could give way to the birthing of The
Christ, "WITHIN THEM." I wonder how often did the Big Three return in
memory to those sacramental moments on their Mount of Transfiguration? I wonder
what part that played when question and doubt invaded their hearts, soul and
minds?
The Big Three had only one visit to the Mount, of which we know. We, on
the other hand, have many, many visits to that sacramental place, and space.
But are we aware of that which is happening to us? Yes, we are privileged to
journey again, and again to the place of transfiguration. Jesus "took with
Him, Peter, James, and John" up the mountain. The spirit of that same Jesus, who became the
Christ, is with us as we enter our moments of encounter with
transfiguration. These are the
sacramental moments when the hidden Presence, breaks through, and we are not
able to say anything, but, WOW!!! We, like Peter are tongue tied. We have no real words to express that depth
of feeling welling up from deep inside. We are in those "wow" moments
caught up in the wonder, the mystery, The Presence of that which is beyond,
thought, feeling, and emotion, it is The Beyond. Is it not very sad when
people, places, events, actions, enter into the realm of the familiar? There is
no sense of the sacred, the holy. Then we see that person, place, etc. as
something we take for granted. We are then well on our way to our own private
hell. We are condemning ourselves to dwell in that heartless, soul destructive,
life destroying, awe-less, place we call, The Land of the Ordinary, and the
Familiar. These two lands do not exist in God's creation. They are illusions we
ourselves create, or are forced by the circumstances of poverty, and violence
to inhabit. Unless we break free we will just exist, not live. We will die,
without ever having lived. How sad is that?
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