Today is Wednesday. In some ares it is called "hump day",to show my respect for the sacredness of all time I am going to call this "Hump Day". the day between The Solemnity Of Christ The King,and The First Sunday in Advent. What a seriously mysterious day this is. It can also be confusing ? When we reflect backwards we have Christ presented a King, and Lord of all. Looking we are preparing to encounter Him as the Little Child of Bethlehem. A Child born in a stable, because there was no room for them where other travelers dwelt. A great paradox ???
We have on the one hand we have The Enthroned King, richly dressed. While on the other hand we have The Son of a poor young couple wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a cold stone manger. The only heath would come from the stabled animals. Of course a certain oder came from those creatures as they were privileged to keep company with their Creator. The revelation in human flesh of Him "Who keeps all things in being" Nothing can subsist except through His creative and creating power. Before we acknowledge The Child as The King again, there are many many roads to be discover and trod, as we journey with the gift of blind faith into the mystery of Kairos time. Divine centered time, which is hidden and revealed in croons time, watch and clock time. So time is not either or one of these two realities, it is both.
The spiritual journey is not then about the either?or, it is always about the both/and. I was lucky to be introduced to the reality of paradox when my mother taught me, "There is much good in the worst of us, and as much bad in the best of us. I am as good as you are, as bad as I am". I was well into my 50's, before I was able to reflect on and accept that great spiritual reality. Since then I have been confronted with the great paradoxes of life, and they have become such a blessings. They do not appear as the source of blessings, in the beginning, but through the mysterious workings of grace wonder-full truths surface from the depths. Theses truths are the source of great strength and encouragement.
Paradox always forces us to stretch. I am not a fan of stretching, never have been, never will. There is so much pain when one stretches. My old body tells me it is not happy to be treated in such an inhospitable way. Our egos are the same way. Our egos want the easier softer very comfortable apparent way. Forget those hidden messages. What I see before me is good enough for me.What will all those mysterious insights add to the bottle line ?. Nare a thing. Rather it may result in the bottom line shrinking as the paradoxical truths bear fruit and a the challenges presented to us are responded to. The true self will be so at peace, while the false self will wage war with it's, "what if" and "if only". That war will beg fought to our dying breath. We must always be thank-full we are blessed with the gift of The New Advocate,The Holy Spirit, to be our faith-full guide, and enlightening Presence. I will, in their company, journey through dark and perilous valleys, on my way to exhilarating transformative mountain tops. It has been and will continue to be a challenging , mysterious journey. Always faced with the both/and not the either/or. Hold on to your hats we are in for the ride of our lives, or we are in for the ride into life.
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