Lenten Reflections: Pilate

"Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” - John 18:37 

We offer cheap and ineffective defenses when we are threatened. Like scared little children, we defend our tiny little kingdoms and preserve what little control we have. The irony is that we are usually not threatened at all. The external factors that we consider threats, usually have nothing to do with us. The truth is, most of the world that revolves outside of our fortified cities doesn't really care about us and what we've built for ourselves. That's just reality. 
 
We are arrogant creatures at heart.

We defend what we don't have.

We protect what doesn't need protecting. 

What we defend is really not threatened.

Christ was no threat to Pilate, yet he chose to defend what needed no defense. Fueled by lies, deception and half truths, he chose to believe the propaganda that his kingdom might be destined for destruction. 

Pilate stockpiled pride.

He horded arrogance.

He was prepared for the future. 

In many ways, we're no different from Pilate. We believe the false threats and choose to put our faith in ourselves. We look our for #1. But what we fail to realize, is that while we build trust in ourselves, we diminish trust in our Christ nature. Our true selves. Because.....

"I've got this, God. You just keep the world spinning and me and my little world will be just fine!"    

The world says THREAT. We defend.

The world says FEAR. We react.

The world says PREPARE. We stockpile and hoard. 

The world reveals the ENEMY. We shout CRUCIFY!  CRUCIFY! CRUCIFY! 

And wash our hands of the enemies blood. 

God, with our faith and trust rooted in you, we know that we have nothing to fear. No threat to our kingdoms. No reason to defend. No reason to protect. Help us to break down the cheap defenses that have been constructed. Yes, the world is a fearful place, God. It's easy to yield to the pressure. It's easy to believe the lies. Help us to be attune to you truth and only and truth; the divine living within us all, as we make our way through this journey of faith. Amen   

Lenten Reflections: Pride

"For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, PRIDE, and foolishness."
Mark 7:21-22

Look within. See our ashen hearts. What lies just below the surface? Allow me to introduce you to my favorite sin.

Pride creeps forward, ever hidden from the conscious mind, ashamed of what it demands. Pride spits forth every evil intention, not the least of which it's very own nature. The Green Monster lurks within, devouring the "selves" of others, in order to feed the "self". 

Ravenous. 

From which all other sins are conceived, Pride gives birth to sin. Sin's origin fights for first place. And when Pride crosses the finish line, it accepts the medal, while the entire family of sin is waiting to celebrate it's victory. 

"There's Lust, waiting with a smile!"

"Oh look!", Pride thinks to itself, "Greed is here too, pushing himself to the front of the crowd!"

"Murder's here as well! But where is Sexual Immorality? Oh yeah!  Hiding behind that tree, as usual!"

"Victory is mine!"      

Pride puts "ME" above "EVERYONE ELSE". Me first. You last. I win. You loose. I'm great. You suck.

Pride climbs the ladder of success, makes as much money as it can, in order to buy more than anyone else. Pride hordes what it produces and justifies it as "The American Dream". 

Pride sends us across the globe, to "minister" to the poor, while we kick them out of our communities at home. Then pride calls us "Missionaries". Makes us feel better, doesn't it?

"Not in my backyard!", Pride screams out. "But downtown? That's fine. I'll drive down there Saturday night and help, before the sun goes down."  

Pride hurts. Not just the others that it devours, but our own hearts as well. Because Pride reveals what we hate to see.

"You know, you think that ol' pride's gonna choke you going down, but I tell you what.. Ain't a night goes by I don't thank the boss up there for giving me a big enough throat.... Think about it Bud, pride's one of those seven deadlies, you know what I mean?" - Uncle Bob

Pride made Bud flip off Sissy from his Ford Pickup. 

"Even those tears; I. Me. Mine. I Me Mine. I. Me. Mine." - George Harrison

Don't try and console me! I'll suffer alone!

"They cannot take your PRIDE." - Bono

Oh, how I wish they would.  

God, we look around and see that pride is strangling our world, killing our families, destroying our society. Starve our ravenous pride so that we may hunger instead for truth love, unity, community, selflessness and our spirits. Starve us for humility. Amen     

Lenten Reflections: Here

 "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20

"I'll be with you. I'll be HERE." 

Promises.

"I'll be right HERE."

"I promise to never leave you."

"I promise to stay HERE until it's over."

"I promise to get you through this."

"I promise to be HERE when you get back." 

"I'm HERE."
HERE
 
We make a lot of promises in our lives. We keep some and others we break. We promise to be HERE.

I Promise.

Promising to be HERE for one another is one of the most difficult of all promises, because the ego often gets in the way. We begin with the best of intentions, but life, and the false self, have the tendency to pull us in different directions; away from HERE. 

Selfishness takes control and before we know it, we're not HERE any longer. We end up THERE; alone, isolated and consumed by guilt for leaving the one to whom the promise was made. Even if we physically stay connected, we can leave emotionally or spiritually. We're here, but not HERE. 

The promise that Jesus made in Matthew 28:20 is the only promise to be HERE that has ever been kept.

He's HERE.  

The Christ nature dwelling within us all.  

There is a duality of Lent. Through our journey, we rest in knowing that God is HERE. He has been, he is and he will be. But we lament that we are not always HERE for one another. As we face the isolation of a global pandemic, being HERE for one another has become that much more difficult and complex. But perhaps this illuminates the truths of Lent with even more clarity. While Christ no longer dwells the earth in physical form, he still remains HERE. Within the spiritual realms. Within each one of us. Does that not reveal a much deeper dimension of being HERE?

In this time of isolation and solitude, let us be reminded that being HERE does not always manifest itself in the physical, but the spiritual. In fact, as with the presence of Christ, our spiritual connections can be much deeper. We're on this journey together; physically, emotionally and spiritually. However we connect with one another, let us commit to be HERE for one another.

I'll do my best. You'll do yours. 

But let's face it: You'll leave from time to time, and I will as well. 

Occasionally you won't be HERE. 

From time to time, I won't be HERE.  I'll leave. I'll let you down.

I promise.

Lord, we do our best to be HERE for one another, but selfishness often gets in the way. Life gets in the way. Help us to be as committed to one another as You have been to us. Amen  

Lenten Meditations: Heartsick

 
"The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?"

Jeremiah 17:9 

Look within. 

We don't chose to admit it. It's not a pleasant realization. We don't talk about it in social settings. But each of us, deep within the recesses of our souls, have the capacity for evil. We are all prone to mistreat others and ourselves in the most unthinkable ways, and yet always seem to find ways of justifying or excusing what comes from the heart. 

Look within. 

"I would never do something like that!" That's what he said before he had an affair and divorced his wife.

"At least I'm not like those scumbags!" You are. You just think about it. They do it.      

"What a sick freak!" You or her?  

Look within.

Darkness.

It lies just below the surface, waiting for just the right time. A moment of weakness. A temptation that is just too strong to avoid. The next little incremental step in progression.

 

Baby steps.   

"How did I get here?"   

Give evil an inch, it takes a mile. 

Out hearts are dark. Sickness undiagnosed. There's no sugar coating it. We just have plenty of band-aides and antibiotics to keep the inflection at bay. 

The water within is dark and contaminated. We just have a good filter to purify what comes out. CHANGE FILTER AFTER 6 MONTHS

Admitting how messed up we are, and what we are capable of is essential. It builds our defenses. We become alert. More aware. We avoid being caught off guard, because we know what could be. We keep evil in remission. Three months evil free. 

Look within. Embrace what's within.

"The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works." - St. Augustine    

As we begin this second week of Lent, let us keep in mind that it is only through the divine nature of Christ and Spirit that transformation is possible. Our dark hearts can become hearts of light. The sick tissue can become healthy. Our hearts of stone can become loving hearts that beat within us and give hope to the world around us.

Look within. Embrace within. Embrace without.  

God, we know that we have the capacity of evil. We admit this and come to grips with it this morning. But as we trust in you, the divine source of light, help us to open ourselves up to your love, in order for our hearts to be transformed. Work in us so that your Kingdom can be realized in this dark, chaotic and uncertain world. Amen.   
  

Advent Reflections: Christmas Eve

Love

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 

Reflection

 
Take a few seconds and enjoy the silence of this moment. Our journey through Advent has finally come to an end. We've reached our destination. Along the road, we've visited hope, stopped along the way to visit with peace, spent some time with joy, and spent a few evenings with love. These themes of Advent have illuminated our path and guided us as we've made our way to this day. Now is the time to rest. Now is the time to reflect. Now is the time of the realization of our true Christ nature, and allow it to shine as the Star of Bethlehem.  

Take a deep breath and meditate on the spiritual truth from these words from the Book of Revelation. Imagine the essential meaning and implications of this verse. Although this verse refers to the second coming of Christ, I’m amazed that the essential truths apply to his birth as well.  Through our Christ nature, our tears are wiped away. Through Christ, there is no more death, for we all posses eternal life as spiritual beings. Through that spirit, our mourning, tears and pain subside, as we trust in Christ with every heartache and burden. “the old order of things has passed away.” Jesus has come into the world. In the flash of an instant, in a single moment of time, God broke through our earthly realm and became man. He became one of us and in a short 33 years, he dwelt among us. Our burdens have. Emmanuel, God with us. He was with us. He is with us. He will be with us. He has come. Advent.

 I've always felt that Christmas Eve seems to have a magical feel to it. Almost a “real time” sense, as if the events that transpired are about to happen for the first time; and in a sense perhaps they are. Through Christ and our divine nature, all things are made new each day, as well as each year. The reality of Christmas is just as true today as it was over 2000 years ago. And as our journey and time together comes to a close, let us carry that with us beyond the Christmas Season. As we reflect over the last month of Advent, let us not think of Christmas Eve as the end of the journey, but the beginning. Hope. Peace. Joy. Love. All things new. Beginnings.

Prayer

Most Gracious and Loving God, today we celebrate the birth Christ. As we come to the end of our Advent journey, we do so with hearts filled with hope, peace, joy and love. To you we give you all praise and thanks. Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen

May hope, love, joy and Peace be with us all!

Haribol