Author: rkcdlitt

My relationship with God is based on my desire to be on an eternal relationship with Him. God is the one entity that can fulfill my deepest longing, which is a life of true love for all humanity and all of creation. God is always in my life restoring what our cruel anti-God society tries to influence in me. I return to one basic theme; my prayers do not ask for anything; my prayers are open to listen to the words of God that lead me on His way lighted path.

My trust in God brings me to my dedication of service for others. With God’s assistance, I am bolder on this quest. Although I sometimes question whether my actions are good, I feel the Holy Spirit within me, guiding me, keeping me on the true path. During this time of Advent, the spiritual rebirth of Jesus within me helps me to project a life of God’s love and of God’s peace that dawns with each new day. God is my fortress; God is everyone’s fortress.

I recall John the Baptizer’s exhortation to all in response to their questions of what shall we do to please God; his response basically was the old axiom do unto others. . . etc.  Whenever the people of Israel strayed from YHWH, they were exiled. But then they were rescued when they returned to the lighted path. As finite creatures we are not perfect, and we cannot truly see God. But we can feel and see His great Love. We can rejoice as being His children. When our world experiences senseless violence, we turn to God we look for the antidote, the serum to reverse the poisonous path of destruction we are on.

Simply, we must seek only one thing, the Love of God, and the path of grace in our lives.

© Russell Kendall Carter

God is not an angry despot sitting on a throne demanding our praise. He is an open presence of fullness that fills all things with Love and Compassion. For those who see God as the presence of salvation, there is unwavering trust, unfailing strength, and a complete absence of fear and want. In our prayers, we sing the praise we feel to God; we seek His eternal presence. When I share my trust and love with others, we both feel complete without loneliness. The community we build brings a better, more patient life.

It does not matter where we live; we can live a solitary live on a mountain or in a desert, or we can live in a crowded city. When we share God’s Love, we are awake to the true holiness of all of His creation.

In this troubled world, we are in position of accepting the immigrants escaping oppression and tyranny. I welcome these brothers and sisters as children of God, as I am. I see their fear; I see their uncertainty. I help them as I can; I assure them they are welcome for this is God’s will. I offer them a place of safety and comfort. Together, we celebrate God’s compassion and love.

I live a finite mortal life; sometime in the future, my physical body will cease to exist, but my spiritual soul will continue through eternity. In my future spiritual life, I will meet the spiritual lives of those I assisted while we both walked on earth. Together we will go forth in an eternal life of compassion and love.

© Russell Kendall Carter

We live in a very upsetting world of today. Those doing violence or condoning violence do not seem to care about people, society, or even humanity. What has gone wrong? These people wand to be outrageous and are supported by like-minded people and even certain media outlets. Suddenly it is all right to molestation; suddenly it is all right to murder. There are no consequences anymore.

It seems that Satan is in control. Temporary rewards are sacrosanct. Pain is pleasure and deception is truth.  I was taught that as I walk through life, the lighted path of God is best, the past that leads to service and aid to others. This gives me a full life; this gives me a strong life. This is the life that God gives me. I learn through my Bible reading that the commandments of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. Giving joy to my heart. I am human and finite and cannot survive in false expectation or in continual anticipation of things to come, even Advent. My spiritual awareness is too strong to rely on these false promises. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are within me; I need no anticipation or expectation. My anxieties wane in the presence of this Trinity. I awaken each morning to a new life God-give awareness.

 © Russell Kendall Carter

In our modern world, unless we enter a monastery, it is difficult to go into the desert for a lifetime. At least physically! I truly believe that when I enter my periods of meditation, I am spiritually entering the desert to pray, meditate, and enrich my life with the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding me. Although I live with my wife, we are in a crowded community of elderly people, all loving and kind people.

Even though we are surrounded by others, I am in solitude when in the presence of God. My thoughts may be crowded, but I do clear my mind for prayer. Spiritual separation is not possible until I can experience internal separation. Internal separation is only possible when giving myself solely to God in prayer. There is no other way. . . at least for me.

I was born in a big city in New Jersey in the 1940s. I lived the first twelve years of my life in the hustle and bustle of city life. My family then moved to suburban Summit, New Jersey. In this suburban town, I was immersed in the societal drive to financial success. It did not happen. I am not un-happy about this fact. After chasing the brass ring, I turned to a life of teaching and did this for the last twenty-four years of my work life. This was a blessing from God, and it was what my life was supposed to be.

As a teacher, my life did not slow down; I devoted my life to my students, whether I taught in high school or college. My prayer time was limited to Sunday mornings and blessings before meals. . . or so I thought! When I did finally settle down to prayer and meditation, wrapping myself in the Love of God, I realized that my life of teaching was indeed a life of prayer. God led me into teaching and blessed me with the patience to nurture each as an individual.

Amma Syncletica, desert amma (mother) from the third century allows those of us not living in the seclusion of the desert to be authentic solitaries. God has blessed me to be a solitary because my life of meditation brings me into a closer relationship with God and the Love I am invited to share.

 © Russell Kendall Carter

During Advent, we are bombarded by adds for gift giving. Let us stop shopping for trinkets and baubles that end up in drawers or closets, only to be forgotten well before the next Christmas season. We are radiant; we are His Glory; we are His splendor.

It is the time to emulate those kings bringing gifts to the newborn king. We have gifts of our own to bring. We leave instant gratification behind and bring the glory of our love of God as a gift. And that gift? It is ourselves.

We are His frankincense; His symbol of deity; we are so because we are filled with God’s presence within us. We are also His myrrh; we apply ourselves to His very being to protect Him from harm and preparing Him for His resurrection in five months. Finally, we are His gold. Our love for each other gives Him kingship in our lives. There is nothing we are not when it comes to the rebirth of Jesus in our souls.

© Russell Kendall Carter

We are all messengers of God. At times, this can be very challenging, especially when confronted with something or someone that really rubs us the wrong way. This is when we must turn to Christ, not only to show us the way, but to travel with us, leading us onto a simpler path that leads to doing God’s will.

To simplify our lives and walk on the path of peace, we share God’s blessings with all whom we meet. As Lucille Clifton writes, “You might as well answer the door, my child, the truth is furiously knocking.” The Truth, God, is knocking on His door, waiting for us to open it and step through, clarifying and making permanent our mission as messengers for our fellow man and woman.

Remember that Jesus walked, ate, and invited all of the forgotten members of society to share His path. When speaking of the rich, He reminds us that their reward is on earth, ours will be in God’s Kingdom. I like that idea. As we become messengers of God, we experience an all-encompassing feeling of Love. Let this Love become the message we share with all.

© Russell Kendall Carter

At this time of year, many charitable organizations, and churches, are asking for financial support. I don’t think this is what is meant by offering when we think of Advent. As we spiritually approach Bethlehem, we need transformation from this convoluted world of greed and want. Advent gives us time to reflect on our most hidden emotions and cries for God. 

I am partially disabled and cannot do much physically, but I can offer much to many things. I am fortunate to be able to help organize and put into motion efforts to support the homeless, the forgotten, and the immigrant. My offering to God is service and love. Service where it is needed and love. . . always. God has blessed me with the ability and willingness to talk with anyone.

As I meet with strangers, I treat them as family members with all the love I can. We become instant friends and many times hug as we leave. Yes, even in this time of social distancing.

We offer each other prayers and praise to God; we can also offer the same to those we meet every day. Bless you in your offerings.

© Russell Kendall Carter

As I honestly look at our lives on earth, I know that they are not forever. I also know that all of God’s creation is holy and will continue long after we no longer walk the earth. We, however, are the fruits of His creation; we are able to grow spiritually by His Grace. We are patient for we know that God always acts on our behalf, not in our time but in His.

As I grow in wonder of the spiritual rebirth of Jesus, I travel with Mary and Joseph towards Bethlehem, being transformed into wide-eyed, anxious children. What I await is never under a Christmas tree; what I await is the rebirth within us of the Glory of God’s Love, which is everlasting.

I read about John the baptizer giving hope to those lost in their searches for comfort and love. He promises that another will come to baptize them in the Holy Spirit.

As I meditate, awaiting my own transformation, I know my journey will be blessed. I know that my soul is everlasting in God’s Holy Creation.

 © Russell Kendall Carter

Flight, silence, and peace. This is what Jesus preached when he said to go into your quiet space and pray. When we pray, when we meditate, we must stop the interior dialogue that oppresses our minds. We are bombarded each morning with constant noise, constant voices giving us information, telling us of the murders in our cities. We have to get away from this static and bury ourselves in the mind of God that dwell within us. True peace, as with true hope, lies within us. It is a gift of our loving God.

We are surrounded by images of suffering all around the world. We are bombarded by the misfortunes and tragedies of the peoples in third-world countries that society has left behind. As troublesome and disturbing as these images and reminders of Humanity’s disregard of God’s word. As sinful as these are, when we pray, we must flee, be silent, and be at peace when we open our hearts to God’s words. Our silence is our source of strength in prayer.

Gracious, Loving God, as we enter our quiet spaces this morning and lift up our prayers and praise to You. We open our hearts listening for Your words, feel Your compassion, and follow Your invitations to heal others.

© Russell Kendall Carter

“You gotta have heart! All ya really need is heart!”

I remember those lyrics from the song “Heart” in the 1958 production of Damn Yankees. It was a pop-tune back then, and I sang it often, but how true it was then and how true it is now.

Every morning in my wake-up prayers, I pray that we can strengthen our hearts to do God’s will on earth. In this season of Advent, we pray for transformation; we pray for the enlightenment of our leaders to offer a kinder, caring world. If we keep our hearts open, we hear God’s voice inviting us to opportunities to serve, to heal, to comfort, those in need.

We are blessed by this invitation.

© Russell Kendall Carter