Journal of Sacred Work

Days 288-292 – A Picture of God?

  Thumbnail   Do you feel guilty when you miss church? It is a guilt trip for me. I  often think of church as an obligation not a celebration. And Jesus cannot find his way into a heart locked in duty rather than opened by love.  

   A friend recommended a sage named Mooji. He asks, "How can you meet the lord of the heart without imagination?" You cannot "see" Love (in church or elsewhere) anymore than you can see God in the white photograph.

   Or can you? If people can imagine Jesus in a cloud maybe they can imagine him on a blank page. 

   What is it that, bypassing the mind, "requires no effort to be?" What kind of imagination does it take to encounter this "lord of the heart," this Jesus whose radical loving presence changed the world?

   On our brief life journey there are few questions more important & few that are harder to stick with. Jesus was & is Love's embodiment. Our mind cannot easily capture such answers so most of us default to other's ideas never finding our own.  

   What about the white space between these letters? I never notice because "nothing" is there. Blank white is dismissed in favor of what "fills the page." Is the white space nothing or everything? 

   "As long as we conceive of ourselves as a person then there will be things to be done and undone," Mooji says, "something to reach for, something to leave, something to fix, something to change, something to become." What about the white space where there is nothing to be done? Must we always fill it? Who are we outside our personhood?

   It is so hard to escape flooding our lives with frenetic activity. The invitation to listen for the spaces between notes seems impossible if not ridiculous.

   Life turns on relationships with others & with our environment. In drawing close, lovers of all kinds also experience isolation born from the skin's spiritual boundaries. "All of us suffer from our own mind, our own projections, our own identities," Mooji suggests. "it is this that gives us the sense of separation…" 

   What happens when we consider Jesus' invitation to pray for our enemies & to give unselfishly to others? Fear extends its tentacles:What if I give too many of my things away? Will I have enough left to live as I want? What if I commit my heart to another? Will it (like flesh) be wounded beyond healing? 

   We load up on things, guard our hearts & thus experience a deeper poverty. Jesus says give love & you will be replenished. Mostly we do not believe that. Jesus says, pray for your enemies. I know few "Christians" who do that. Yet, loving caregivers feel God's presence. 

   My favorite line in Mooji's talk is one of his last. "What keeps you you and me me? Who made this law? Who said it is true?"

   Are we really so separate?

-Reverend Erie Chapman    

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8 responses to “Days 288-292 – A Picture of God?”

  1. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    The white space between…a pause that lends us a chance to really experience rather than to keep spinning and miss the moment. My personal prayer is to awaken. The more I notice, I recognize the stories I tell myself and how my thoughts color how I see the world. Letting go of the old patterns and a persona, is death to the ego’s small self. The process can cause grief especially if we are attached to some of our ingrained perceptions. Yet for the Self, which is beyond the confines of our body, there is no death.
    It is funny how the people who can rub us the wrong way keep showing up in our lives. We think that person is the problem until we discover the lesson to be learned is ours. When we judge people we shut down, instead we need to accept what is and keep our hearts open. At least these are the connections I am making to my own experience, as I read your reflection, Erie.
    “Are we really so separate?” No I think not, rather inexplicably connected.Love how you brought us along on this walk with you; like a stroll through the garden of your thoughts and heart.
    “All doubt, despair and fear become insignificant once the intention of life becomes love.” -Rumi

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  2. JVD Avatar
    JVD

    So…what is the real question here? A preponderance of propounders to ponder doth I pondered a pondering state. Is Erie questioning his obligation to his faith or is he wishing more of a celebration? Are these as opposites like black and white? Are they opposites, indeed? Then a stopped to listen to Mooji and a chakra ride to the heart.
    I have read and reread Erie’s contemplation many times today because there is no answer n the english language to the questions posed. It is just too limited. But I still have space left on the page….
    There is always something there and in between. Science keeps on observing this. Hindus say science never discovers anything, it just uncovers what was already there. We just have to be ready to see. When one is ready to meditate it is said to find a focal point, perhaps in a picture of a person, a cloud, a scene from nature. Or perhaps a framed picture of white to help lessen the distractions. If God finds you (or you find God) while praying upon the clouds, then a picture of any technicolor will do.
    For me, Mooji is a distraction in this piece. The real words that jumped out at me were these, “The invitation to listen for the spaces between notes seems impossible if not ridiculous.” I was dumbfounded by this statement. When I was in college taking a music class I could never get my mind around that the timing of a music piece was at the direction of the conductor. 4/4 time should all be the same. Time should never vary. But 4/4 time can be slowed down or speeded up just on a whim. With no direction, one can slow down to listen to the vibrato, the sound of space between the notes evaporating into the distance. Or speeded up to a cacophony. Now I can understand the timing as long as I can be the conductor of my life.
    But I digress…
    A caregiver listens to the timing, the sounds, the melodies of a life and gives Love and receives in kind.
    We have a new priest at church and his energy brings forth the celebration of sacrament. His energy brings us in and we find there is no obligation in attendance. But that was not always the case. But just as a marriage vow, your promise is you. So what keeps you? Maybe it is the promise you made to be yourself and Love.
    We must approach our enemies with Love in our hearts, but for the Grace of God go I.

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  3. JVD Avatar
    JVD

    So I went to a scripture class tonight and we talked about the unification of the spiritual me and the worldly me. We also talked about acceptance, method and grace. I think that is what Erie’s reflection is about. Mooji comes from and talks from the Hindu teachings. He especially revolves around the chakra of the heart, the Spirit of Love. Erie is conflicted (in my reading of his words) about missing church as an obligation and being there to have a celebration of Christ. The spiritual me longs to be with God, the worldly me is late for meetings and falling behind in all the tasks I set forth for the day. We love life and there is nothing wrong in that. Our mind limits us in this life. To find god in the tasks we do all day will bring us closer and less separated. When we wish to embrace God’s grace and share it with others, the walls of separation/division unbuild themselves. A unification of love for the chakra of your heart.
    The previous post by myself was supposed to have a rhetorical sarcasm to parts of it, but I think I failed in the delivery…mea culpa!

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  4. sbeng@att.net Avatar
    sbeng@att.net

    Erie: I like your challenging question “what kind of imagination does it take to encounter this “lord of the heart” this Jesus whose radical loving presence changed the world”. This has been been my practical experiences. In the earlier part of my life I had lost my father when I was a teenager. I missed my tangible father whom I could see and communicate in this physical world for my needs and as a counselor in my life. In school every morning we assemble together and collectively we say the Lord’s Prayer, the “Our Father”…though we see Him not yet we felt His Dear Presence. The Lord has mentioned in His Word “where two or three are gathered in My name there will I be in their midst”. My Heavenly Father though I see Him not has been my guide, provision and sustenance all these years. As a caregiver we experience God’s Presence when we impart God’s love to whom we are entrusted in our care and we receive the joy when we see healing taking place -spirit, soul or body.

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  5. erie Avatar
    erie

    Thank you for always beautiful comments, Liz. The Rumi quote is life changing – “…once the intention of life becomes love.”

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  6. erie Avatar
    erie

    “A caregiver listens to the timing, the sounds, the melodies of a life and gives Love and receives in kind.” Thank you, JVD. I appreciate your candor and insights.

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  7. erie Avatar
    erie

    Thank you, JVD.

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  8. erie Avatar
    erie

    Thank you, Suan. You bring such a lovely heart to the Journal.

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