Meditating to Heal

Wandering in the Desert

We wander through our lives, looking, looking, waiting, waiting. For What? Humanity shares a closely-hidden, protected secret; we pretend, we put on a minstrel’s face, hiding the fact that in our society, humanity suffers with the sickness of the human spirit. We care little for those on the bottom rungs of society, as long as we are safe. We ignore the language of the poor which is entreaty. We hide behind our castles, protected by our artificial strongholds against anything that may challenge us, or harm us.

Our lives are like the desert; we wander aimlessly looking for something to soothe our tender frailties. We pretend we know; we pretend we are saved because we are upright members of our local churches. But the strongholds we build are only facades in our minds. We are not protected by these artificial castles. We will never find water in these arid deserts we roam.

We neglect the second greatest commandment given to us by Jesus; “Love thy neighbor as we love ourselves.” Every day I stop my car and give a few dollars to the poor man pleading for help; I wish I could give more; sometimes I do not see them and wonder where they have gone. This is the man, this is the family, that our humanity must open its ears to, hearing the pleading for assistance.

Governments are too greedy to lift these people from poverty. Big business is too interested in giving massive bonuses to the already superrich. And the churches can only give minor assistance; they too have to count pennies to remain alive. Humanity must clothe the poor, feed them, house them, to relieve their suffering. I can afford to give a few dollars each day to the poor man pleading for assistance. Imagine what it would be like if all of us stopped to give these poor people a few dollars from our material wealth. Three hundred and fifty million people giving a few dollars a day to help those in need. That is almost two and a half billion dollars . . . a day.

Imagine what good that could be doing. Imagine what our society would look like if we respected the poor, treating them with dignity, not demonizing them.

Let us stop wandering in our personal deserts.

Abundant Simplicity

We have forgotten our roots in Christianity; Jesus walked the earth preaching goodness, love, and simplicity. His only worldly possessions were the clothes on His back. Yet, He lacked for nothing. His relationships lack material possessiveness; and He invited us into the abundance of God’s presence.

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he writes, Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. But we have not done this. We are hypocrites throughout. We pay more to Amazon than we do to God. our quest for riches has turned us into a brood of vipers.

We consume our own flesh. Our government gives enormous riches to the already super rich, and in doing so, robs what little the poor have, taking away housing, well-paying jobs, and basic human rights, such as quality education and quality health care.

If I were an Old Testament prophet, I might write that God will strike down our kingdom and spread us far and wide for not following His way. He has sent a plague upon the land, taking our loved ones from us, separating us from family and friends. And nevermore shall our land rule the earth.

But I am not an Old Testament prophet; I am a retired mentor of youth, genuinely concerned about the world they are inheriting. Are there leaders among our youth who will bring us back to a more reasonable path that we can follow, which will emphasize abundant simplicity and not abundant material wealth? I can only pray that there are.

In, not On

When we say the prayer that Jesus taught, there is a difference in an exceedingly small word that makes a noticeably big difference. I am referring to Matthew 6:10. The King James Version is this: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

Newer translations read: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I have no objection to substituting Your for Thy; this is just old English vs. new English. Notice the small difference in the prepositions. Newer translations, even the New King James Version substitutes the word on for the word in. tis makes a tremendous difference in interpretation. The question arises whether God’s kingdom is on or in earth. God’s kingdom is within us, not on us. It stands to reason that God’s kingdom is in earth not on earth.

God put us on earth to be stewards of His creation. He did not put us in the earth; that is His realm. By our changing the wording, we are placing God next to us on earth, almost as a co-equal entity, which we are not. I fear that humankind’s super-inflated ego is raising the importance of man to a level we do not belong.

I know this seems trivial, but if you think about this for a while, it may bring all things into clarity, as it has for me. If we are equal to God, then it is God’s wish that we destroy His creation, an di do not think this could possibly be true. Man, with his inflated ego believes that whatever is good for man is allowable, as long as we are comfortable and makes lots of money from it. Jesus said that we cannot love two masters; I think we may have chosen the wrong master.

Living in God’s Lighted Path

Etty Hillesum, a tragic victim of Nazi Germany in the Westerbork transit camp wrote the following: “There is a really deep well inside of me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes, I am there, too . . . And that is all we can manage these days and also all that really matters: that we safeguard the little piece of you, God, in ourselves.”  

If anything, this reminds me, or better yet, teaches me, that God alone rests my soul as I live through this pandemic and political upheaval we are experiencing. I am like a small puff of wind in eternity. This reminds me that I live in God’s grace and my entire life is filled with the breath of God. I am not delusional enough to think that I am an important person to others. But I do know that I am an important person to God. After all, He created me in my mother’s womb. I could not be created without the love of my mother, my father, and God. I live at His pleasure, and I will no longer be on this earth when He calls me; but I will continue to live and to love. This is the message of Jesus and the will of God.

According to John the Elder as he writes in Revelation: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more…And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” I believe that in my faith, I am a part of this new heaven and earth. My faith in God is strong. My belief in God is so strong because I follow the teachings of Jesus. I live in service of others, allowing them to also share in God’s love and grace.

The Kingdom of God

Jesus invites us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven as a child. Does He mean innocence or the wonder and awe that children have of the beautiful? Jesus also invites us to realize and recognize that the Kingdom of God is within us. This creates and enigma for the intelligent mind. If we are to have the innocence and wonder of a child, are we able to recognize God’s Kingdom dwelling within us?

I do not know the answers, but I do meditate on thoughts such as these. My meditations are meant to discover who I really am in God’s domain. I try to understand what God means to me and what I mean to God.

I am honored to have one of the highest academic degrees that colleges have to offer, but I am in awe of God’s Kingdom every moment of every day. Through my meditations, I have welcomed the invitation to recognize that the Kingdom of God is part of me, but I am also part of the Kingdom of God. We cannot be separated . . . ever.

If I am so blessed to understand this, I also am blessed to understand that all of God’s creatures, all of humanity, all of the animal, aquatic, and insect kingdoms, and all of the matter that comprises our planet Earth also enjoys that His Kingdom is within, and also a part of His Kingdom. This extends out to all of the universe and whatever life forms are hiding within distant galaxies.

We are all part of God’s creation, and all of God’s creation dwells within us. I think that this is what Jesus says to us daily, as we read our Bibles and meditate on His words. “And God saw everything He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31

it is like none other

never to be repeated

it is unique

never to come again

what to do today

work dawn to dusk

complain about nothing

a wasted day forever

stop and smell the roses

see the birds flitting

branch to branch

a honeybee on the flower

see the butt floating

down the gutter water

the torn canape

blowing in the breeze

can you its beauty

or does it pass you by

make today special

it will never come again

Truth

Throughout our lifetimes, we search for truth; but it is always elusive to our studies. As a man of letters, I sometimes think that I have discovered what life is about, but then something untoward happens and my thinking crumbles, and with it my ego becomes the remnant of Humpty-Dumpty. Ego, a manly thinking of superiority that makes God laugh.

I then remember that to gain true knowledge, one must practice humility – first; intellect has little to do with truth. The real truth is God’s Truth with a capital T. This truth is infallible and is only realized when one humbles oneself before God. Man’s ego prevents this, yet we pray to Jesus Christ, who was the epitome of humility, God’s humility, giving us an example to follow.

The immensely powerful Joseph fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept at the coming reunion of his family. And Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The unnamed woman humbled herself before Jesus, before God, when saying that even the dogs eat of the crumbles fallen from the table. The humility of God is all around, but only when we take the time to see it.

We cannot meditate on God, for He is too immense for our imaginations to comprehend. We must humble ourselves before God, dropping intellect, and allow our soul to open to God’s love, for only our soul can speak to God, because our soul are of God. Only our soul can comprehend His magnitude, because it is our soul that holds the existence of God within us, as Jesus reminds us.

These are the lessons we must learn to discover what truth is – truly.

Irrevocable

“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Matthew 15:11

In this time of political and social upheaval, many fear to leave their homes, due to the coronavirus that has spread across the world. We suffer from loneliness, despair, and a barrage of bad news, regardless of which political side we follow. We must accept that we are weak, we suffer in poverty, our limitations are challenged daily, and we have no idea how to turn things around.

What we forget is that in this time of moral and spiritual decline, God is always present to boost us and comfort us. The gift from God shine upon us whenever and wherever we are; He asks us to come  closer to Him; He gifts us with Love and courage to live through any trials that might face us. We don’t need to be a knight riding a steed against a forbidding foe; no, we must step back into our faith, keeping God at the center of our beings.

The question arises whether people’s stories of visions of Jesus and visions of God are real, or simply an overexcited imagination. Imaginations are vital for the survival of humanity, so we cannot discount this human feature, without which we would have no art or literature.

But visions of God are entirely different. Our true images of God are recognized only by our inner vision. We are made in His image, meaning that when we look in a mirror image, we are seeing a mirror image of the mirror image of God. when we do have visions of God, we remember these moments as bringing us joy, comfort, and supreme ease in our deepest beings. Our limited human brains cannot comprehend the full magnitude of God, His image, or the mystery of His presence in all our lives. God is too vast, to unlimited for us to comprehend.

Our visions of God make us certain of His eternal presence in our lives. His presence mean that when we take the time to listen, we hear His voice in our hearts and souls; it is usually a mere whisper, but it is a powerful whisper that cannot be ignored. We hear His voice with our souls and when we vision God, understand the vastness of His entirety in our lives.

Personally, my great Love for God and His presence within me has allowed me to be comfortable in my existence on planet Earth. Following the lighted path, shown to us by Jesus, has allowed me to survive innumerable examples of human frailty. For years, I have suffered physical issues that have not only changed my life, but in ways has made my life much more improved and much more open to the suffering of others.

I have had a God vision three times in my life; all of those have followed traumatic physical issues in my life. I refer to these visions as angels surrounding me, bringing me to life, and comforting me in my most terrifying times. The latest involved a burst blood vessel, a great loss of blood, and a return to life after this unexpected trauma. My recovery and subsequent hospital stay was eased by the presence of ethereal figures staying visible to me, surrounding me, comforting me, and assuring me that I can return to life without loss.

Three times, I awoke with the feeling of an angel, sitting on the edge of my bed, holding my hand, comforting me in my trepidation. Three times, I have envisioned the vastness of God’s love in my life. The certainty of God’s presence in my life, reveals the vastness of God’s eternal love in its entirety. This is the greatest gift I have received in my lifetime.

Rejoicing

“And I looked, and behold, a white horse!

And its rider had a bow, and a crown was

given to him, and he came out conquering,

and to conquer.” Revelation 6:2

A rider on a white horse

upraises me –

saving me from corruption.

I follow His commandments –

am blessed by the True Word

of Love and Life.

I hear loud voices singing –

there is a great multitude

before me.

They dress me in fine clothing,

Giving me a book –

of the spirit of the prophets.

I join the voices of

great multitudes –

singing hallelujah –

we are all lifted

in the salvation

of God’s Love