Meditating to Heal

I promise to love you; that is my promise to you, and that is the God of Hope’s promise to us. God fills us with peace and joy by the presence of the Holy Spirit which dwells within us. Jesus taught us that God is Love and love removes all the fear and doubt in our lives. God uses us as positive influences in the lives of all we meet; there is nothing in us that is wasted by God. We are good.

When we listen to God, the truth of Advent, the truth of our existence, is found in God’s voice coming from the victims of society. Through these voices we know that God cares for them and cares for us. God loves us; by sharing this love with those in need, the promise of our eternal lives is revealed. We reject society’s patterns in this world and are transformed by the promise of God’s presence in our lives.

© Russell Kendall Carter

I do not know

what the future will bring.

I cannot worry

of what comes next.

No need to fret

about these insignificant worries.

No need to substitute

knowledge for wisdom.                                         

T’is my big mistake for

there is no substitute.

My benefit of true wisdom,

only comes from me

and my relations with God.

My spiritual life grows

only in the times

when I am silent, praying,

listening for the wisdom to come

from the words of God. Listening

and learning about my spiritual life.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a period that the United States society steps back to reflect on the goodness of the year. It is a time of thankfulness and welcoming the stranger who has so little in life. Unfortunately, we have gone too far astray in our society. In a recent column, Fr. Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation wrote: “We are finding it is nearly impossible to heal isolated individuals inside of a culture as unhealthy and unhealed as the USA, and inside any version of Christianity that supports exclusion and superiority.”

When I first read this, I was shocked that someone would think of our great society in these words. But then I reflected on how far we have strayed from the path that God wants us to follow; you know, the one Jesus lit for us in his brief time on Earth. If we accept that God lives within us, and we accept the teachings of Jesus, we are in great sin for allowing so many in our society to suffer from homelessness and poverty.

I quote from Matthew 22: ³⁴ When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. ³⁵ One of them, a legal expert, tested him. ³⁶ “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being,^[c] and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.^[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

We have not done this; our self-proclaimed Christian society has failed on all accounts. We are not following the teachings of the Savior we profess to love so much. How can we love Jesus when we disregard His greatest commandments?

© Russell Kendall Carter

Teresa of Avila writes, “Beg our Lord to grant you perfect love for your neighbor and leave the rest to Him.” When God creates us, we receive the bond of togetherness. We draw strength only when we are together. In chapter eleven, Matthew writes of those of us who are heavily laden; “we find rest in the comfort of God and when we join together for strength.” When we trust and accept God’s comfort, we open the door to be welcomed and comforted by our peers. Our welcoming friends allow us to see ourselves for what we are, and what we are is perfection in God’s omnipotence, love, and truth. Ecclesiastes 4 reminds us that two are better than one and receives rewards for the togetherness.

To be honest with ourselves, radically honest, we recognize that nothing exists alone, and if we meditate, we use this time to discover our need to do something for others. In our times of meditation, God speaks to us, usually in the words we would normally use for us to understand God’s message for us. We learn that we cannot hold God close enough to us and close enough to others. We are insignificant when we are alone; however, when we belong to another or belong to a group, we are safer, stronger, and spiritually healthier.

This is God’s plan.

© Russell Kendall Carter

In the third Psalm, David cries, “Lord, I have so many enemies!” I have often felt the same way. Then I remember my absolute amazement of all the wonderful things that God does in and for my life. As YHWH saved the early Israelites from Egypt, I am comforted through my trials by God’s presence within me. Through prayer God gives me the strength to face these trials and promises that my very being is safeguarded.

There is nothing we can do to be more worthy of God’s Love. My faith is an assurance of the good in life. As the early Christians did, I use the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount to recognize the of all people, especially those shunned by man’s society. The Bible reminds us that the more we die to ourselves and our unnecessarily obsolete and strict rules, the more we will live in God’s TRUE light. As we receive God’s Love, we have love within ourselves to share with other members of God’s entire creation.

God gives us free will for a reason, allowing us to welcome the stranger and the forgotten sufferer. I worry not about doing what is politically correct; I by God’s Holy Commandments. AS I offer love to others, I receive their heartfelt blessings for God wants us to both give and receive from each other in the Holy name of Jesus.

I am firm in my faith because I know that the One whom I seek is also seeking me. I join God in knowing who I am and whom God knows me to be.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Patience

My mother always told me that I never had patience when it came to things I wanted. That was many decades ago; I have learned patience now. I no longer feel powerless when I see things that are wrong in God’s world, at least what I perceive to be wrong. I have learned to manage my emotions, seeking freedom from human feelings such as envy or anger. With God’s help, I try to manage my emotions into positive words and actions.

Sorry, I digressed; much of my learned patience has to do with others. I begin by saying something good about all whom I meet; I invalidate other voices that condemn a person because of color or gender. But I do realize that what the other person feels is important to them and therefore to God and then it must be to me. My patience allows those I disagree with to voice their opinions. Hopefully, discussion will then follow.

I recently was in a group discussion on blessed and good communities in church settings. I spoke against the genderization of God. God is not human, and we must teach our ministers to eliminate the masculine use of He when referring to God; I also stated that men could be upset with the term She. I emphasized that there are so many praises and biblical names we use for God that we can eliminate all genderization.

I have gained patience from my ever-present closeness to God. I am blessed by God’s patience with me; I pray that I share that patience when dealing with my brothers and sisters who share God’s blessings. God sent Jesus into this world to lead us to perfection. We are not as strong as Jesus, but we can embody His patience within us as we offer our patience to others.

© Russell Kendall Carter

How is God speaking to you today? Is He asking what you are doing with the gifts He has so freely given? There are so many people in this world and so many ways that we who realize God’s mission and our place in His grand scheme help others who are lost to be found. Open God’s door for others to come in.

Since joining to St. George’s church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I have grown so much spiritually that my one sincere desire is to share my gifts, given by our loving God, to enrich the lives of others. Our church leaders have shown me how my deeds can help me be a better steward of God’s Love.

Proverbs says, “The wise share with others the choice food and wine, but fools gulp theirs down in depravity.” What does that mean to those of us who follow God’s will? To me, God is telling me to use the gifts he has bestowed on me to serve others, as faithful servants of His Grace and Love. The gifts you have are not like mine; in many ways they are better . . . when shared with others. I ask that you look at time you have each week; find a few minutes or an hour that you can ask, “God, what can I do with this time to help those in need of Your Grace?”

God is inviting us to serve; this is one of the greatest messages we learn from the life of Jesus. Follow in His footsteps; invite others to follow him. Perhaps your talents are in sharing his food, instructing his children, building a ramp for a wheelchair-bound brother or sister. Or maybe your talents are in financial planning for the good of the congregation or writing a grant to chare God’s bounty with our brothers and sisters suffering in poverty in Haiti. Look inside your soul; there is a yearning for you to complete your life by serving others in His name.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Bewildered

We are bewildered by those who don’t believe!!

I use a double exclamation because I cannot understand how a person cannot recognize what I find so evident. I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and two children. They are all loving, caring, and giving people. But they do not share the depth of accepting God’s presence in their lives. They believe, but I know they question. God loves them; I love them. They attend church and share their bounty with those in need. They are good people to whom I do not preach.

My life has had many difficulties; as I look back on how I overcame the trials, I see that there was an unseen force that opened doors for me to cross. I say to my wife that I have loved her long before I was placed in my mother’s womb. We share a love that is eternal. And if it is truly eternal, it was present before we met. This is God acting in our lives.

I think of John’s opening: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God is within us before we met and will be with us long after we shed these mortal bodies. How am I to react to people who doubt? Is it my place to try to convert them? I think not. I write a spiritual prayer blog daily. In my writing, I reach out to people trying to comfort them with the word of God.

I was once criticized by one of my fellow church members for giving money to the beggar. She said that all he would do is buy more drugs or liquor. My rector commended me for this kindness reminding me that God wants me to share what I have. What the recipient does with my gift is between him and God. It is not my place to judge him. Only God is worthy to judge us.

Saying this, I meet nonbelievers every day’ I share love with them. I do not try to convert them; I do pray for them. God loves them as God loves me. In God’s eyes, we are equal and equally worthy.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Our work for spreading love is not over; in fact, it has just begun. We are daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers; therefore, we are all one family. We may have our disagreements; we may all have different directions in which we go. Living in love is God’s will for all of our lives, not just a select few. Relating to people with the spirit of love in our hearts is the living heartbeat of our lives, the very warmth of our spirits.

We love each other; we are devoted to each other, with honor for all and live with goodness in our lives, The peace, the love of God. Our love is sincere and opens our hearts just a little wider spread God’s goodness with each person we recognize as a person of love. We walk in the light of Christ’s path; we give thanks and praise for interpersonal meeting, for this is the will of God.

When we love, we welcome all of our and brothers and sisters. As Jesus did many times, we bring them to our table and feed them both with food and with love. Our love is sincere; our love is good. At this table we give thanks for the presence of God and for the presence of our friend. We find the evidence of God when we practice love toward our neighbor, our new friend, our new brother. We both open our hearts to God’s Love and Truth. We are His children. Our work for love and good is never over; it renews its need every morning we rise in God’s true light.

© Russell Kendall Carter

Western civilization is in a state of emergency. As we see what is occurring around us, this puts us into a state of spiritual uncertainty, spiritual emergency. In the present condition of our country and the world’s society, injustices are growing. People of color are deprived of basic human needs. Our lower classes are considered to be expendable just as the poor were expendable in the beginnings of the industrial societies in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. We are returning to a time of those with assets using those without as if they were machines to be discarded after they have served any useful purpose.

There are those who want to quiet any opinion or public outlook that does not agree with their own. We are entering a time that seems to parallel the society in A Clockwork Orange, where the government and thought police abuse everyone except themselves. This is not what God wants from us.

Jesus speaks of the destruction of human society where nations fight against nations; in this case the fight is between the haves and the have-nots. Unless we change our outlook, there will not be a day when we can speak our minds publicly. Before this goes deeper into our culture, we must speak against these neo-thought police until what God wants returns to the norm. God promises that God will never abandon us; He will be with us through all our times of trial. He assures us that we will never be alone as we stand for His word against those who corrupt or misinterpret. God loves us; we must trust His love and His compassion to restore His kingdom to all people, not just the rich, the haves.

Now, a simple prayer: Gracious Father, we face uncertain times as we try to walk the path shown to us by Jesus. Be with us; give us the strength to persevere; allow us to overcome the hate speech that is tearing our society apart. We place our future, our destiny, in Your Hands. Allow us not to fear what other hardships others may threaten us. Your presence is our strength.

 © Russell Kendall Carter