Some Spiritual Guideposts
Mosts of the posts I’ve written lately deal with the political lives we lead. But for a change of pace, here’s an offering that helps us reflect and dig deeper into the spiritual reflections we often overlook in our busy lives!
A Bible Passage from Isaiah…
The grass withers & the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.
Isaiah 40:8
Looking for joy in temporary things or events means that eventually, we feel a ‘let down.’ I’m sure many of us have felt after holidays and family gatherings and fun vacations a sense of feeling deflated. Ho-hum, now it’s back to work and reality and everyday living.
The joy in our lives seems temporal and not enduring. That is where a deep spiritual connection can kick in and save you from feeling that way. You can have a ‘pick-me-up’ every day when you converse with the Lord!
On Conversing with the Lord
There is a very sacrilegious (seemingly) recording or rock song that Jim Morrison of “The Doors’ fame recorded many years ago. He had this booming voice, and seemed to be coming to us from an altar with this very disruptive and disturbing message in a song from “The Soft Parade’ Album.
Morrison first spoke, and then screamed!….”You cannot petition the Lord with Prayer!”…And that seemed to be very disturbing if you are a religious person who is comfortable with prayers and speaking with the Lord on a regular basis. But on deeper reflection, it seemed that this messaging was really meant for a particular audience that was looking for a very disruptive messenger such as Morrison. He was the person for the crowd and the time.
We are reminded by theologians that Jesus’ messages, and the scripture in the Bible were often intended for a very particular audience. Jesus’ followers were an enslaved people, the Jews, and they were struggling to survive against brutal Roman Oppression. And so goes that it’s perhaps not a sacrilege when we understand that certain words are intended for a specific audience!
The idea that you would isolate a particular word- “Petition,’ means that there are plenty of ways to get in touch with the Lord God. After all, we can speak quietly with the Lord as Jesus intended. And we can set up a running dialogue and resolve to take strength from our prayers to God.
But Jesus also pointed out there were those who would go to church and then they wanted everyone to know what they were doing and how ‘holy’ they were. They were hypocrites. Therefore, “Petitioning the Lord’ just sounded as if the message Morrison wanted to convey to young people was that he knew there were a lot of phonies out there….And there are!
A Zen Koan to contemplate…
Inner Culture…..Learning to use deeds-not words!
One Zen Master says, “Brothers, it is better to dig inwardly one foot than to spread Dharma outwardly ten feet. Your Inner Culture of one inch is better than your preaching of ten inches’
The other Master said, “I preach what I can not practice, & I practice what I can not preach’
Meaning?
One good deed is better than one Hundred beautiful words! There is much in the Bible about the meaning of Acts over words that can be misunderstood & are often misused by hypocrites. The Zen Masters emphasized the importance of doing over talking. Both Masters are telling everyone: Look within!
The meaning of Zen is only understood by searching within yourself. It is there that understanding can reveal enlightenment.
