This idea came to me when I was working in the loading dock at Wal-Mart. When you work in the back room you run into all sorts of different people coming from different backgrounds, and having different stories to tell. A big question on a lot of their minds was why their lives seemed so bad, and other people's lives seemed so great. As I was struggling to find an answer this came into my mind. I can't say it's entirely mine, because I think some elements of it came from some of the sources I was reading at the time.
Just as there are weather patterns produced by air currents, temperatures, moisture, etc. So also there are a kind of "weatherpatterns" of Karma. Here I take Karma to mean not only the actions one takes, but also implying the consequences which result from those actions taken. On Earth there exists several different kinds of weather patterns depending on where you live in the world. In some parts of the world it happens to be sunny skies and temperate conditions most of the year, such as Southern California. In other parts of the world it happens to rain most of the year, in such places as Papua New Guinea, or the Amazon. In some places the weather is always hot and dry, in others it is nearly always wet and miserable. All of these things depend on the currents of air pressure, moisture, ocean temperatures, and how they gather and move across the surface of the Earth so that weather in such a far away place as Australia may have a direct impact on farmers in Canada whether that seems possible or not. In some places theweather patterns become so violent that hurricanes, and tornadoes form ripping through anything which stands in their way.
Every action taken by a human being has real effects and consequences not just for that human being, but also for every other human being who may or may not come into contact, direct or indirect, with the one who acted. When you have X number of actions taken by Y number of people not only alive today but also throughout history what you get is a kind of Karmic weather system of chain reactions and "currents" which impact different people in different ways. Around some people these currents coalesce into a stable, pleasant environment where everything seems to just go right for that person. Around others, it creates storm systems and even hurricanes in which the person must hold on for dear life. For some, they receive an even mix of fair and foul weather, for others it's heavily weighted in one direction or the other. Now, the first thing which must be noted is that these currents may be affected by the person's own actions, and most certainly will be, but they are not necessarily caused by that person's own actions. For example, the average Palestinian child had nothing to do with the Nazi Holocaust, but they must live with the direct consequences of that horror, which they did not perpetrate, by either living as refuges in foreign lands, or living in what to them is an occupied homeland beseiged by terrible violence because of the recreation of the State of Israel as a direct response to the Nazi Holocaust.
I think the way I think and live the way I live largely because of the different influences and interactions in my life from my parents, grandparents, teachers, world events, textbooks, friends, enemies, wife, children, and a host of other people whom I have had direct and indirect contact with over the course of my life, and of course last but under no circumstances least God Himself. Who I am is largely made up of the consequences of the actions taken and choices made by other people, including even my physical body which is the direct result of the choices my parents made as to who their sexual partner was to be. This holds true for my grandparents, great-grandparents and every ancestor I know of or don't know of. And not only this, but this holds true for not only myself but all of these people as well, save God alone. The consequences even of the actions of kings or beggars thousands of years ago still continue to swirl around us and impact who we are today.
We have the option to react one way or the other to these karmic weather patterns. And the choices we make will send new currents and chain reactions out to other people as well as ourselves. This is why it is so important to choose compassion and not selfishness. To give and not take. It is not only us who reap what we sow, but everyone else has to harvest it too.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
A Ramble About Religious Life
The Christian life is, first and foremost, a religious life. That is, it is a life which is lived by a religious rule.
"No, it's a relationship with God! How can you say that it's a religion? A religion is all about rules, laws, "do"s and "don't"s and the traditions which human beings have made up. That's not my faith. I know God and He knows me. He doesn't make me follow any rules to be saved. How dare you even suggest that!"
The Christian life is the life of a disciple. It is the life of someone who has committed themselves to learning, living, and mastering the Path of Jesus Christ. It is the life of someone who has answered His call to leave everything behind, one way or another, and follow Him. It is the life of rigorous self-discipline as we strive to crucify the self with its passions and desires.
"Wait a second, I professed faith in Jesus, I was even baptized; are you saying that I'm not a Christian because I don't try to follow everything Jesus or the Apostles said? Are you saying I'm not saved?"
Our relationship with God begins the moment Grace breaks through our spiritual disorder, and we profess faith in Christ. It is legitimized and sealed with baptism as we are joined to Christ in His death so that we might be joined to Him in His resurrection. But a relationship with God through Christ does not count as discipleship any more than being born counts as a four year college degree. You must submit to sixteen or seventeen years of schooling, or the equivalent thereof, to obtain the degree. Even so, you must submit to the religious rule of Christian discipleship if you hope to attain the high callng of God in Christ Jesus, which is deification. Typically, parents send their kids to college in the hopes of them attaining that for year degree, and pay large sums of money to see that goal realized. God the Father paid for us to have the privilege of discipleship to attain that high calling with the torture, humiliation, and gruesome murder of God the Son incarnated as a human being by ruthless men.He expects all those born into His family to study hard and achieve the goal, not waste His investment on frat parties, failed classes, and attempts at cheating to just squeak by. No parent expects that.
So, the Christian life is the life of a disciple, and it is a life lived by religious rule.
What is a "religious rule?" Put simply, a religious rule is the set of rules imposed on a religious community by their founder. The most common of such rules are poverty, obedience, and celibacy. Other rules may include the wearing of certain clothes, a prohibition against speaking, required service in the community, or a mandatory mission trip depending on the religious community in question. If someone wants to be a Franciscan, they must follow the religious rule of the Franciscan order. If they want to be a Carmelite, they must follow the religious rule of the Carmelite order. It is their choice if they want to join these orders or not. No one forces them to do it. You cannot join the order and then just do whatever you want. You will be expelled from the order after a short period of time. It is assumed that you know what you are getting into when you join and enter your novitiate.
The Church is, fundamentally, a religious community. This should be an obvious fact, but the trend in churches today is to ridicule or object to anything which uses the word "religious" in it. There were rules laid down for this community to follow as a means to further the single objective of deificiation by both our Founder, and those He chose as His immediate successors. Those rules are not pleasurable. They are not easy. And, ultimately, they will cost you everything you thought you held dear as you pursue the one single goal of the Christian life, union with God.
If you refuse to follow those rules, please don't delude yourself into thinking you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. You may be a baptized member of the Church, but you are not a disciple, and are not living the Christian life. You are a small child who is refusing to go to school and learn anything, and you will do a tremendous amount of damage to yourself and others because of your willful ignorance if someone who is learned and responsible doesn't babysit you and watch you constantly.
You must have someone teach you, and you must be willing to be instructed in order to drive a car. You must be willing to take the time to learn how it works and what the rules of the road are. If you don't, you may only damage your transmission and make the car undriveable at best, at worst you may kill yourself and many other people. The Christian life is the same way. You cannot make up your own rules and expect everyone else on the road to get out of your way and drive by the rules you think are fair.
The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down in the first three centuries by Christ Himself, His Apostles, and their successors. There is only one goal in mind, and that religious rule is geared to help you achieve that goal. The only reason why someone would refuse to follow that religious rule is if they have some other goal or agenda, and not the goal of deification. Union with God through Jesus Christ was the only goal of those who laid down that religious rule. Everything which interfered with that was expected to be stripped away.
Achieving the obedience to these rules perfectly is not the goal. The religious rule is a tool to assist you in your discipleship, but it is the means, not the end. If it becomes the end in and of itself then you are still not a disciple of Jesus Christ, but of your own self-importance and ambition with your own self-esteem as your goal and not the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's as though you only care about what your classmates think of you; whether or not you're the most popular, and not whether or not you understand the material your supposed to be studying and move on to graduation.
God loves us deeply ad richly and that will never change. Evey parent that loves their child will want them to have the best chance of success in life possible. God is no different.
You may live in the dorm. You may wear the college sweater. You may ever show up for classes. But if you don't buckle down and apply yourself and really work hard to graduate, you're not really a student are you?
Stop making excuses. Stop expecting to be able to remain an infant for the rest of your life. There are a few people in this world who do stop growing before they reach a year old. These people have a serious growth disorder and will never be able to care for themselves, much less anyone else. This is a person to be pitied, not emulated.
Are you afraid of failing? Why? The only person really afraid of failing is the person who cares more about what other people think of him than about learning and mastering the material. Any sincere student knows that they will fail again and again until they grasp the concept, and once they do, those failures only serve to teach them what not to do. You will fail. You will struggle. But in the process of failing and struggling, you will learn, and you will come to understand what it is you are trying to learn.
Stop being afraid to live up to your commitment to Him which you made when you were baptized. Stop being afraid to really see the darkest part of yourself and learn to accept it for what it is. Stop being afraid to have a real relationship with God, and not the illusion of a relationship that you can control and feel "safe" with. Stop being afraid to face Jesus Christ naked, humiliated, and weak and realize that this is the only way to honestly face Him. The illusion you imagine, the fantasy you control in your head, won't cut it.
Stop being afraid t engage God as He is and realize that this is the best thing you could ever possibly do. Everything else is the illusion, the fantasy. God alone is the Reality and the best thing you can do is to cooperate with Him as He strips away your illusions until only He remains. The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down to foster and encourage this. The only reason why you wouldn't want to follow it is if you want to remain blind, ignorant, and separated from Him. Think about it long and hard and choose very carefully whether or not you want to be "religious."
"No, it's a relationship with God! How can you say that it's a religion? A religion is all about rules, laws, "do"s and "don't"s and the traditions which human beings have made up. That's not my faith. I know God and He knows me. He doesn't make me follow any rules to be saved. How dare you even suggest that!"
The Christian life is the life of a disciple. It is the life of someone who has committed themselves to learning, living, and mastering the Path of Jesus Christ. It is the life of someone who has answered His call to leave everything behind, one way or another, and follow Him. It is the life of rigorous self-discipline as we strive to crucify the self with its passions and desires.
"Wait a second, I professed faith in Jesus, I was even baptized; are you saying that I'm not a Christian because I don't try to follow everything Jesus or the Apostles said? Are you saying I'm not saved?"
Our relationship with God begins the moment Grace breaks through our spiritual disorder, and we profess faith in Christ. It is legitimized and sealed with baptism as we are joined to Christ in His death so that we might be joined to Him in His resurrection. But a relationship with God through Christ does not count as discipleship any more than being born counts as a four year college degree. You must submit to sixteen or seventeen years of schooling, or the equivalent thereof, to obtain the degree. Even so, you must submit to the religious rule of Christian discipleship if you hope to attain the high callng of God in Christ Jesus, which is deification. Typically, parents send their kids to college in the hopes of them attaining that for year degree, and pay large sums of money to see that goal realized. God the Father paid for us to have the privilege of discipleship to attain that high calling with the torture, humiliation, and gruesome murder of God the Son incarnated as a human being by ruthless men.He expects all those born into His family to study hard and achieve the goal, not waste His investment on frat parties, failed classes, and attempts at cheating to just squeak by. No parent expects that.
So, the Christian life is the life of a disciple, and it is a life lived by religious rule.
What is a "religious rule?" Put simply, a religious rule is the set of rules imposed on a religious community by their founder. The most common of such rules are poverty, obedience, and celibacy. Other rules may include the wearing of certain clothes, a prohibition against speaking, required service in the community, or a mandatory mission trip depending on the religious community in question. If someone wants to be a Franciscan, they must follow the religious rule of the Franciscan order. If they want to be a Carmelite, they must follow the religious rule of the Carmelite order. It is their choice if they want to join these orders or not. No one forces them to do it. You cannot join the order and then just do whatever you want. You will be expelled from the order after a short period of time. It is assumed that you know what you are getting into when you join and enter your novitiate.
The Church is, fundamentally, a religious community. This should be an obvious fact, but the trend in churches today is to ridicule or object to anything which uses the word "religious" in it. There were rules laid down for this community to follow as a means to further the single objective of deificiation by both our Founder, and those He chose as His immediate successors. Those rules are not pleasurable. They are not easy. And, ultimately, they will cost you everything you thought you held dear as you pursue the one single goal of the Christian life, union with God.
If you refuse to follow those rules, please don't delude yourself into thinking you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. You may be a baptized member of the Church, but you are not a disciple, and are not living the Christian life. You are a small child who is refusing to go to school and learn anything, and you will do a tremendous amount of damage to yourself and others because of your willful ignorance if someone who is learned and responsible doesn't babysit you and watch you constantly.
You must have someone teach you, and you must be willing to be instructed in order to drive a car. You must be willing to take the time to learn how it works and what the rules of the road are. If you don't, you may only damage your transmission and make the car undriveable at best, at worst you may kill yourself and many other people. The Christian life is the same way. You cannot make up your own rules and expect everyone else on the road to get out of your way and drive by the rules you think are fair.
The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down in the first three centuries by Christ Himself, His Apostles, and their successors. There is only one goal in mind, and that religious rule is geared to help you achieve that goal. The only reason why someone would refuse to follow that religious rule is if they have some other goal or agenda, and not the goal of deification. Union with God through Jesus Christ was the only goal of those who laid down that religious rule. Everything which interfered with that was expected to be stripped away.
Achieving the obedience to these rules perfectly is not the goal. The religious rule is a tool to assist you in your discipleship, but it is the means, not the end. If it becomes the end in and of itself then you are still not a disciple of Jesus Christ, but of your own self-importance and ambition with your own self-esteem as your goal and not the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's as though you only care about what your classmates think of you; whether or not you're the most popular, and not whether or not you understand the material your supposed to be studying and move on to graduation.
God loves us deeply ad richly and that will never change. Evey parent that loves their child will want them to have the best chance of success in life possible. God is no different.
You may live in the dorm. You may wear the college sweater. You may ever show up for classes. But if you don't buckle down and apply yourself and really work hard to graduate, you're not really a student are you?
Stop making excuses. Stop expecting to be able to remain an infant for the rest of your life. There are a few people in this world who do stop growing before they reach a year old. These people have a serious growth disorder and will never be able to care for themselves, much less anyone else. This is a person to be pitied, not emulated.
Are you afraid of failing? Why? The only person really afraid of failing is the person who cares more about what other people think of him than about learning and mastering the material. Any sincere student knows that they will fail again and again until they grasp the concept, and once they do, those failures only serve to teach them what not to do. You will fail. You will struggle. But in the process of failing and struggling, you will learn, and you will come to understand what it is you are trying to learn.
Stop being afraid to live up to your commitment to Him which you made when you were baptized. Stop being afraid to really see the darkest part of yourself and learn to accept it for what it is. Stop being afraid to have a real relationship with God, and not the illusion of a relationship that you can control and feel "safe" with. Stop being afraid to face Jesus Christ naked, humiliated, and weak and realize that this is the only way to honestly face Him. The illusion you imagine, the fantasy you control in your head, won't cut it.
Stop being afraid t engage God as He is and realize that this is the best thing you could ever possibly do. Everything else is the illusion, the fantasy. God alone is the Reality and the best thing you can do is to cooperate with Him as He strips away your illusions until only He remains. The religious rule of the Christian life was laid down to foster and encourage this. The only reason why you wouldn't want to follow it is if you want to remain blind, ignorant, and separated from Him. Think about it long and hard and choose very carefully whether or not you want to be "religious."
Sunday, December 18, 2011
A Ramble About Holiday Saints
During the holidays, we often lose sight of where the holiday came from, or why we remember it. St. Valentine's day is a day of giving cards and romantic gifts to people, and is often degraded into little more than an excuse for sex. St. Patrick's day is a day of wearing Green, seeing leprechauns, celebrating everything Irish, and also degrades into little more than an excuse for getting roaring drunk with one's friends.Christmastime is a celebration of Santa Claus, all things warm and fuzzy, and again degrades into a frenzy of "I have to have this!" to the general shouts of glee from store owners looking to making up their losses from the rest of the year.
There are three saints which virtually everyone is familiar with, and no one really seems to understand who they were, who are associated with these holidays. They are St. Valentine, St. Patrick, and St. Nicholas. These men are recognized and venerated by every branch of the Church, east and west, and as such are a part of our collective heritage.
St. Valentine was a priest in Rome in the mid to late third century under the reign of Claudius the second, and at a time when it was illegal to preach Christ or even give aid to Christians. He was caught and arrested while performing a marriage ceremony for a Christian couple and brought before the emperor. The emperor took a liking to him at first. St. Valentine tried to bring the emperor to Christ, and the emperor executed him for it. He died around 275 A.D.
St. Patrick was taken as a slave from the coast of wales to Ireland where he served as a slave until he escaped, by the help of God, and made his way home to Britain. He was called by God to return to Ireland as a missionary and entered the priesthood to study, but was often held back because of the time he lost in his studies as a slave. Eventually he was consecrated as a Bishop with the express purpose of returning to Ireland to preach Christ and establish the Church there. He worked tirelessly at it, and could be seen as one of the first tribal missionaries among a fierce and proud warrior people. Often his greatest enemies were the other clergy back in Britain who were more concerned about tithes and income from the Irish people than the Irish people themselves, and he rejected clergy sent to "help" him in this regard and sent them packing. Through his humility, self-sacrifice, and tireless efforts the Gospel of Jesus Christ was firmly established among the Irish people by the time he passed away around 480 A.D. Because of his work, Ireland became a missionary Church that sent out clergy and missionaries to other parts of Europe as well.
St. Nicholas (Nikolaos) was the Bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey between 270 and 343 A.D. He is remembered for his generosity and anonymous gift giving. In one narrative, a man was so poor he could provide no dowry for his daughters to marry and was considering selling them into prostitution. Secretly, St. Nikolaos snuck up to their window at night and tossed a bag of gold through the window. He did it again for the next two nights. His actions spared the girls their otherwise cruel fate. There is no record of whether or not this man was a Christian or not. Another narrative tells of Nikolaos asking for wheat from sailors during a famine to help feed some people in a village who were starving. The wheat was bound for the emperor in Constantinople and the sailors were charged with making sure every grain was delivered. He assumed responsibility for the wheat and they let him have some. When the sailors reached Constantinople they discovered they had exactly as much wheat as before they met Nikolaos. The villagers found they not only had enough wheat to make bread but also enough to sow, and it lasted them for two years until the famine was over.
These were and are godly brothers in Jesus Christ who lived Jesus Christ for people and gave their lives and everything else they had in His service. They are examples left for us to follow. As we pass their feast days and the holidays associated with them throughout the year, let's remember the men themselves and what they really stood for.
There are three saints which virtually everyone is familiar with, and no one really seems to understand who they were, who are associated with these holidays. They are St. Valentine, St. Patrick, and St. Nicholas. These men are recognized and venerated by every branch of the Church, east and west, and as such are a part of our collective heritage.
St. Valentine was a priest in Rome in the mid to late third century under the reign of Claudius the second, and at a time when it was illegal to preach Christ or even give aid to Christians. He was caught and arrested while performing a marriage ceremony for a Christian couple and brought before the emperor. The emperor took a liking to him at first. St. Valentine tried to bring the emperor to Christ, and the emperor executed him for it. He died around 275 A.D.
St. Patrick was taken as a slave from the coast of wales to Ireland where he served as a slave until he escaped, by the help of God, and made his way home to Britain. He was called by God to return to Ireland as a missionary and entered the priesthood to study, but was often held back because of the time he lost in his studies as a slave. Eventually he was consecrated as a Bishop with the express purpose of returning to Ireland to preach Christ and establish the Church there. He worked tirelessly at it, and could be seen as one of the first tribal missionaries among a fierce and proud warrior people. Often his greatest enemies were the other clergy back in Britain who were more concerned about tithes and income from the Irish people than the Irish people themselves, and he rejected clergy sent to "help" him in this regard and sent them packing. Through his humility, self-sacrifice, and tireless efforts the Gospel of Jesus Christ was firmly established among the Irish people by the time he passed away around 480 A.D. Because of his work, Ireland became a missionary Church that sent out clergy and missionaries to other parts of Europe as well.
St. Nicholas (Nikolaos) was the Bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey between 270 and 343 A.D. He is remembered for his generosity and anonymous gift giving. In one narrative, a man was so poor he could provide no dowry for his daughters to marry and was considering selling them into prostitution. Secretly, St. Nikolaos snuck up to their window at night and tossed a bag of gold through the window. He did it again for the next two nights. His actions spared the girls their otherwise cruel fate. There is no record of whether or not this man was a Christian or not. Another narrative tells of Nikolaos asking for wheat from sailors during a famine to help feed some people in a village who were starving. The wheat was bound for the emperor in Constantinople and the sailors were charged with making sure every grain was delivered. He assumed responsibility for the wheat and they let him have some. When the sailors reached Constantinople they discovered they had exactly as much wheat as before they met Nikolaos. The villagers found they not only had enough wheat to make bread but also enough to sow, and it lasted them for two years until the famine was over.
These were and are godly brothers in Jesus Christ who lived Jesus Christ for people and gave their lives and everything else they had in His service. They are examples left for us to follow. As we pass their feast days and the holidays associated with them throughout the year, let's remember the men themselves and what they really stood for.
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