Meditating to Heal

Mine eyes are weak,

as frail as my aging

human body;

but God gives me strength

every morning I rise

to see His Sun

and to experience His Son.

 

Mine eyes are strong,

for our Lord promises

me great wonders

as I live with my world-wide

siblings and

bask in His brilliance and Love.

 

Mine eyes have seen

the wonders of God’s

Holy Creation,

blossoming daily as a

fresh Spring morning

with the Cherry Trees

on the Washington Mall.

 

Mine eyes have seen

the coming of the greatness

that is bestowed on humanity

as I see helping hands

lifting those in need from

poverty’s unholy grip.

 

Yes, mine eyes have seen the

coming of the Lord.

Mine eyes have seen the

works of God.

“Mine Eyes Have Seen the

Glory of the Coming of

The Lord.”

 

In 1861, Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic;” the first line is, “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of The Lord.”

©Russell Kendall Carter

One of the greatest wrongs done by humanity is the subjugation of women. I know there are many but let us speak of the woman. Much wrong has been done to keep women under the rule of men. Timothy writes, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. (1 Timothy 2:12)” we must remember that in the Judea of old, women were as the status of slaves. They were subjugated by the laws of man, not the laws of God.

Reading the Old Testament, or what I call the Jewish Bible of Salvation, God lifts many women to the role of leadership and the role of the prophet. It can be nothing other than the rule and influence of Wisdom, God’s feminine creation; She also is Holy. And in the New Testament, or the Christian Bible of God’s Truth and Healing, God also raises women to unimaginable heights. It is a woman who brings the world the news that Christ has risen. There can be nothing more important than this, other than the actual resurrection. Without the two Mary’s, the story, glory, and magnificent Holiness of Jesus would be lost.

Yes, women are holy and should not be silenced. They bear the holy but heavy burden of Wisdom.

Read Revelation by John, God’s celestial woman is clad in both the sun, the moon, and the stars; together, these three manifestations light the world both day and night. Woman – the light of the world.

Because we are temporal beings, all mankind is tied to the flesh; and all flesh is born of a woman. God blessed women with the gift of life! With Life comes Love; Jesus teaches that in God’s world, Love is truly most important. Our first love comes from mother, a woman. Only love defines our relationships with each other. God gives our first love through mother.

When we look back two thousand years, we see that women struggle with understanding the Divine; they are lonely in a life of subjugation, but with the knowledge that we must look inside ourselves to seek God, knowledge they shared with man. Woman brings Man closer to the healed heart. Deeply hidden within all is the search for Wisdom, the hidden feminine in society, hidden due to man’s inadequacy.

I met a woman today, a true child of God, a recovering alcoholic. She was grateful for God’s help. We Hugged! We talked of God; we talked of healing; we talked of Love. We shared our Love of in God’s domain; we cried together; she cried openly; I cried within – due to my stubborn male ego.

Our bodies are temples to God; when we treat our bodies with the same love that we love God, then we are rewarded with peace and Holy Grace. When we treat women with the divine Love of God, we raise humanity to where She wants us. As Paul writes, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams,” All flesh, not just male flesh. We are born of women; we are born of God’s women. Thank you, Lord for your Wisdom and greatness, in our lives. We are blessed with Woman!

 © Russell Kendall Carter

I know not where!

I know not why!

I am always running,

running from myself.

 

Knowing not that escape is naught

I fear Truth, for I am mortal;

I fear my mortal death for

I am running, running!

 

Not to, but from. . .

I fear opening the eyes of my soul,

for my training has been singular;

I am taught to succeed,

to attain wealth, not Truth!

 

Dear God, let me open my eyes

to the reality of Your Truth;

Your Life is real;

I need not fear;

no need not run. . .

when I walk to God.

 

© Russell Kendall Carter

We have a tool that empowers us, the ordinary people in the world, to perform wonders. God promises extraordinary substance to our actions that are filled with Divine Love. We live in a society that lacks promise, lacks depth, and lacks humanity; society is overflowing with individualism, superficiality, and greed.

And what is this empowering tool? PRAYER! God listens; all we must do is listen to and for God’s voice. His response may be hidden unless we open the eyes of our hearts to see. From very personal experience, I know that God opens doors of Hope for us, for all. God hears our anguish, whether spoken or silent. God hears our concerns for others, spoken or not.

I am reminded of what the Scribe writes in Leviticus, “And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God (KJV 19:33-34).”

Are we doing enough for the stranger that knocks on our car window, pleading for assistance? Are we doing enough for our brothers and sisters living under the bridges in our town? We try! Many communities have programs for those in need, but I think we are not doing enough. We look upon these people as “the other,” when in fact they are our family members who have been kicked out of society.

The answer lies in good, clean, affordable housing, jobs paying enough for each to live without assistance, and proper health care. It’s that simple! So, we must act! We must act to welcome these unrealized family members, whether they are in our communities or somewhere else across the world. We cannot do it alone; we need prayer to bring this to fruition. We need prayers for others to act in our efforts to lift these people form poverty and need.

 

Heavenly Father, Gracious God, open the eyes of our hearts to welcome and care for those of us suffering in poverty, oppression, and invisibility. Help us to ignore our fear of want to bring these forgotten people back into our midst as welcome family.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Are you hiding in camouflage; I know I do sometimes. I occasionally fear the insight I possess in my life; the Wisdom God shares. Rather than being proud of the Wisdom I have been blessed with, I sometimes fear its strength. I remind myself that it is not my Wisdom, but God’s; the All Mighty, all-powerful Spirit that possesses me, comforts me in my times of trial.

I surrender my ego to open myself to God’s world, and I pray that I can see the world as God does. Humankind is in a state of war; a war that at any moment could prove deadly to all living creatures; we must remember that this is not God’s world; God’s world transcends all horror, pain and death. God’s first and last word is Love; if we walk the path of Jesus, we need not fear.

We have moved from a two-year confinement in our homes to the realization that humanity is in danger of possible extinction; our stygian past is not our loving future, for God always brings comfort to those of us rejecting the status quo and turning to the power of Love. We do not hate; we do not condemn; we do not criticize, for God’s eternal Love is for all. We follow God’s plan, not man’s.

I see many people every day. As many as I see, I recognize the facial differences; this is humanity. However, I see each with an aura surrounding them, the aura of the Holy Spirit within each of us, glowing like the morning Sun, proclaiming “Here I am; I am a perfect child of God, created by His Love.”

The might, the power, the glory and the spirit are part of all. When we accept and recognize that, we are blessed to be part of God’s Holy Creation of Love. We do not fear! As we grow into God’s perfection, we are truly in God’s Heaven, which is all around us.

© Russell Kendall Carter

 

I’ll say it right now; our forever gift is Love!

 

Our most precious gift is Love; it begins with God, flows through our parents to us, then from us to others. Love is nothing unless shared. The more we give, the more we have. !!!What a Wonderful system!!!

Our most important relationships are those of love. Love keeps giving; Love brings us closer to God. God is always present, especially in times of trial. We are challenged not to love. Some people tell us we are foolish to love our enemies; and yet, if we do not love our enemies, if we do not ray for them, we are not doing God’s work on Earth. Prayer brings us to Love, prayer brings us to God.

Jesus teaches us that He comes to fulfill, not destroy (Matt 5:17). When we accept this truth, we also accept that intelligence and life are not of matter; they both are of spirit. The Spirit! This forever gift overcomes of our failures and troubles, including error, sickness, even death. Our bodies may die, but Jesus promises that our spirit lives through eternity. And is it not this that matters? As we reach for and learn God’s Wisdom, we learn the Divine Principle, we are of God, always.

For many of us we find this difficult to accept, but God makes it easy. We have two great resources to assist us on our path. The words in the Bible contain truth, but not always Truth! But it is a good beginning. We also have a great group to help us as we help them. This group is called our friends, and for many of us these friends are found in church.

Now, I have many reservations about church but only due to missteps in helping the average working man and woman. But when churches get this right, when churches direct their efforts to serving those that society has left behind, it is a most beautiful sight; it is serving God as Jesus’s teachers. Remember, this is what Jesus came to us to do also.

Our forever gift is all around us. I am blessed to share my perfect gift with all those I meet.                                

© Russell Kendall Carter

 

We know that we have only one true father. . . God. However, we are also parents, and I don’t mean for our own children. God gives us all the ability to parent others, an extremely remarkable gift. Just as we are called to complete the work of God on Earth, we are called to celebrate the slow, tedious work to bring all of humanity to God’s door and restore goodness to humanity.

The elders of the early church, those who chose to live in the deserts of Iraq and Egypt, formed a community built on the meaning of genuine inner power, genuine Love, exploring the meaning of God’s wish for humanity, all this through the practice of prayer. Jesus, in turn, promised His presence in all we do. As an eternal companion, the Holy Spirit guides us through the difficult times, opening doors beyond human trials which bring us to God’s realm.

Kyrios brings us Love and Wisdom! We are joyful in our communal and singular praise and singing! Through His Love, we have more peace, more Love, and more gentleness than we hold. This grows as we send it to others and as we share prayer together.

God asks that we dig down deep to find the troubles that we must combat; our hands are stained by the filth we have to traverse to aid those in need most; but God does not care about our dirty hands. Each time we parent another, He cleans our hands with His Love and Grace.

I pray that we can fulfill the words of Barbara Glasson and Ale De la Torre as they write, “We are not people who protect our own safety: we are people who protect our neighbors’ safety.” Convert that to parenting and prayer, and we have what God asks.

© Russell Kendall Carter

John 11:35 “Jesus Wept.”

I believe that God loves us forever; but I also believe that God is very sad about how we serve and care for each other. What happened in our humanity to coopt the beautiful message for humankind that Jesus teaches us every day? Too many people are simply turned off by the lack of human kindness for each other. There seems to be too much boredom with false promises.

Our very breath is an invitation from God to share His Love. My meditations  

Center on my breath; I sit in silence and breathe. I listen! I sit in God’s presence, loving mankind. At times I am bored by the messages our political and spiritual leaders expound, but then I realize that they are constrained by us, the people. If they raise their voices too loud, they are cast aside like yesterday’s news.

Fortunately, most of us are disciplined enough to work through the tedium of our leaders’ empty rhetoric and return to what God truly wants. That is Love and peace. Many of our leaders remind us that God’s lovingkindness surrounds us, comforting us as the world seems to deteriorate around us. We endure because we love, and care, and serve.

We are of the world because we are mortal; but we also have eternal life when the roots of our very beings are firmly implanted on God’s lighted path the kindness, righteousness, and love.

Dear God, Savior of all there is, allow the breath of my body to keep the eyes of my heart open to injustice and cruelty. Give me the courage to speak out. Give me the strength to stand up, taking over a position of leadership when others fall, working with our leaders. We are all your children, Lord, we know You are our strength; we know You are our future as You have always been in our past and present days.

© Russell Kendall Carter

We are missing something very important in our lives today, this may very possibly be each other. Our world is at war; you may say it is only in Ukraine, but you are wrong. Our world is at war against cruelty, inhumanity, and Love. I pray for God to come into the madness we call civilization.

God brought us community; several times over the course of recorded history, God has tried to join us together in Love and mutual care. But of course, we ignored Him. Thousands of years ago, humanity created the idea and the institution of church and called it many names. The idea being that in church we pray together and follow the leadership of God. And as often as this was tried, it failed; the result – always war. Our churches are not relevant enough because they are not doing the job necessary to maintain peace.

To quote Ilia Delio, “For centuries the Church has operated like a well-oiled machine, but the oil is running low, and the machine is running down.” St. Francis really did not want ordained priests. I don’t know all of his reasons, but I think the tendency to follow whatever liturgy the church demands is a good guess. Not that the liturgy is bad; it is just outdated. Church is supposed to bring us together; but a church that ignores the horror and the trials or of people’s lives is irrelevant to most reasonable people. We cannot ignore the terror of people subjected to the horrors of the world.

Churches are not bad; the drive they have to assist refugees are God’s work. But he community doing this is tiny compared to what can occur should the church speak out against the terrors of war. There is little protest heard from the pulpit, and face it, once the sermon is over, people leave the church to go on with their lives. I don’t know why clergy is reluctant to condemn war openly; I don’t know why they will not put aside the message of the Bible proscribed for a particular day to relate God’s message to people about the wrongness of war and the wrongness of sin in our everyday lives.

I only know that we need each other, particularly in times of war. This is God’s wish. Our community of Love should raise us to the stars we see in the sky; the joy of heaven is realized when we listen to the needs of others and respond accordingly. My neighbor’s story and suffering is my story and suffering.

What is church all about? I’ve always believed that church is community with shared struggles and blessing; these come from our shared stories and our shared Love. It is these that which bind us together. It is these that when working together and following the path of God bring us eternal blessings.

Dear Father of all, You have brought us into community sharing Your Love in a beautiful way; when our world is full of unrest, misery, and war, come to us as our savior and protector and lead us out of our self-made trials.

© Russell Kendall Carter

How can we carry the light of the world to our fellow man? As we walk in the darkness of our world, we are the lanterns that can bring God’s Truth to our fellow human beings. We are the holders and spreaders of Mother Wisdom’s illumination. We hold Her lantern in our hands.

Mother Wisdom was the first creation of God; She is also the creator God, the feminine side we often reject. She is our nurturer.

Mother Wisdom (Chochma in Hebrew, Sophia in Greek) is ignored or forgotten in male dominant societies; She is not accepted as authority. Those who demand that God is only male are reducing God to an authoritative, selfish God who only cares for man, woman being a servant. Without recognizing the feminine Chochma, we allow Her to slip into eternity and we ignore God’s Truth.

Wisdom orders God’s true creation; She combines all points of our Earth, uniting us in Holy order. As Solomon writes, “She embraces one end of the earth to the other, and She orders all things well (8:1).” She changes nothing but gives us a system of order to organize our lives for Truth. She is God’s light for the world.

When I attended a small church in northern New Jersey, we experienced a wonderful growth event at Easter. Our Holy Saturday service was held in total darkness symbolizing the darkness left with the crucifixion of Jesus. At the conclusion of the service the ushers would pass our small candles and light them as we left the church. Mother Wisdom was walking with us as we brought God’s Truth and Light out of the darkness. Our small candles brought the light of Jesus into Creation.

Presently we are suffering with impending doom in the world. I pray that Mother Wisdom enlightens those who are creating this trial and relocate the light and wisdom so freely given by God.

© Russell Kendall Carter