Happy Mysterious Easter to you all. Yes, the Season of Easter is still with us. Time gifted to you and I so we can grow in our understanding of all that is "perfectly hidden and revealed " in the life beyond the life we say or think is, life. We are challenged not to take life as we see it but to look at life through the lens of a lively faith. An adventurous faith that is always seeking the unseen, so the sen life becomes more of a mystery to us with each passing moment. The time we life in is ever and always Kairos time. Time through which The Gracious Spirit is revealing our origin and our destiny. We have come from the Womb of Infinite Love, and that is our first memory, Infinite Love. We will be, to quote St.Augustine, "be restless' until we find the time and place where The Infinite is encountered in our croons time, watch time, calendar time. Which will control us unless we take steps to look beyond and seek beyond the so called realities of life. Realities which when given the power will control us and our lives and we will lives of unreality. Then we will ask " "Where is God,The Divine, The Gracious Spirit, The Power of love, etc." ?
It is very difficult to gaze on the cross and come to terms with this stark reality, THIS IS THE FULLNESS OF THE REVELATION OF OUR CREATOR, AND CREATING FORCE OF LOVE. That Human Being, a being, that has been stripped naked, His ravaged body, racked with pain, is further dehumanized and exposed to the "vulgar gaze of the crude, rude, and mocking crowd". A crowd that He wished to be transformed and transfigured so the Infinite Within then may be exposed, and then there where will be the revelation of "new heavens and new earths". It did not happen during His lifetime, so t now rests with you and I to assume the challenge and do what is possible for us. Not the impossible, but the possible, we are called to do our best, not the best. Then The Paschal-Easter Mysteries reveal that through our great failure, our heart wrenching losses, we are Brough to a wisdom which all the richnesses of the world cannot impart on us. We again go deep to seek out and search out our unique understanding and we with all the events of daily lives write a contemporary gospel. A gospel that MAY be written, but not necessarily so." Wherever you go preach the Gospel, and when necessary use words." St Francis.
I love the definition of love Scott Peck gifts us with," Love, is the willingness to extend oneself for the spiritual growth of oneself, or, another human being". In the economy of today we are challenged to add, "the cosmos, all of creation." In His second appearance in, the room, The Risen One extends Himself so that rejecting Thomas may be brought to faith. Christ's attitude, o'k "Thomas, so you do you not to believe, that is going to be your loss. Look around you at those who do believe why cannot you believe these you friends that I Am Risen. No that is not the attitude of the Risen Christ. He shows Thomas His wounds, hands and side. He further invites Thomas to place his hand, fingers into His wounds. Thomas comes to believe that Resurrection and new way of existing is possible. That was then, how about now ? On my hike to day I was privileged to have, not a meeting but an encounter with another trail person and what I am to share was crystallized in those minutes of encounter. Strange events occur on desert trails. I pray you have the transforming experience.
His vocation, is to journey with those who choose the created over the uncreated. The apparent good, is chosen not, The Good. The challenge of all recovery is to face the reality that recovery is grounded in the acceptance of, 'Of the powerlessness of power and the power of powerlessness." That must be revealed, communicated by someone who has walked the road that lead to "absolute powerlessness". In that hell of failure, rejection and complete nakedness a little light broke through the darkness. That little light came in the form of wound sharing. "The room"of the gospel is recreated in that place, and the encounter between Christ and Thomas is recreated, ever anew. The suffering, desperate addict must hear the hope filled good news, there is a way out. The recovering addict share with the sufferer, his/her's "experience, strength and hope' that has come from the acceptance of "absolute powerlessness" over their addiction. I each and every " 12 step" it is in the telling of the slog from where they were at, to the freedom experienced in a new way of acting and a new way of seeing. In each "room' where the twelve step journey is radically shared wounds are again shared. In that honest sharing something very mysterious happens. In the simple telling, retelling, The Mysterious Power of Grace, uses those word as a channel of hope leading to another metaman, metahuman, being touched and the process of restoration has begun. Recovery is a process, not an event. Those who "walk the walk, not talk the talk' continue their slog. A slog that is NEVER taken alone. There is not the confidence in a new Higher Power, and embraces our powerlessness and leads us to new horizons. There are no boundaries in the spiritual journey, only horizons to be travelled to, by a path "we do not know". Faith journeys are not about certainties but the hope-filled acceptance of this fact, the step I am taking right now is the pinnacle of my life. I am as safe as as I can be right here right now. We do not know where this "strength and hope comes from". It is none of our business. Our Gracious Spirit, Higher Power, Great Spirit ...... knows, and in that knowing we are known. THAT IS ENOUGH. ( I am dealing here with Absolute Mystery. Some word may have to be reread, and reread. When this has happened please rejoice, celebrate, in what slowly bubbles up from your innermost depths. This well awaits your visit, and revisitation is encouraged. The refreshing Water of Life always tastes sweet.
My sister Virginia has reached the end of her encounter with The Paschal Mystery. She has drunk fully of the chalice of suffering, resulting in her being the source of transforming strength for, others. May her transition to The Resurrected life be one of peace and joy. Her special needs son, Gearoid, will also be in need of encounters with today's Simon and Veronica. A journey into new awarenesses of powerlessness, and loneliness awaits. We all need your prayers, and, hope-filled thoughts. Great Grandpa Joe.
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