Something weird happened last month....


I've been working my day job and several other jobs for basic ends meeting purposes. Had some down time due to illness and lost a friend to domestic violence. Sharing ideas has been something I couldn't lift my gaze towards.  For some reason though, this blog had over 900 hits last month.  Perhaps it's just artificial intelligence reading itself via automatic trolling programs.  I've been averaging between 3 and 4 hundred/month for a good long time.  Wish somebody would leave a comment.... 

such as:

 'I got here looking for porn not spirituality but hey it's cute.' 

or "This would be better with music."

 or "I read that book."

I think about writing all the time.  At some point enjoyment will outweigh weariness and I will write despite the fact that my axle is dragging and my settings are stuck on stagger.

p.s. I love Pope Francis.

kids today!

http://www.upworthy.com/this-is-why-your-lover-thinks-you-re-gorgeous-in-a-holey-t-shirt-and-sweatpants-2?c=ufb1


I came home from running errands to find my daughter watching this.  It's pretty great.

The Leadership of Pope Francis

The Leadership of Pope Francis  (Link to Interview text)

I haven't had the opportunity to read this yet.  I've been working lots and lots of hours which is also part of why I haven't posted too much lately.  But I am overjoyed that a Catholic Pope has the attention of the world and that he is choosing to say that judgement is not our mission as followers of Christ. Judgement in the hands of 'man' usurps God's role in the lives of individual souls.  There is so much potential for good in any organization which seeks to broadcast the Word.  The word can never be denigrating or pejorative.  A worldview based  on 'the hardness of the world' has already excluded God.  Newsflash, God didn't create 'the hardness of the world'.  There is nothing in the New Testament telling us to adapt to the hardness of the world or else.

Four Themes of Reform of Pope Francis

There is nothing for me in a Democracy based on Dominion by mid -level management types or shipping and receiving stars.  Exploiting and manipulating the mineral resources of the planet does not make anyone my master.  Somehow that's the message I always hear from the far right.   There is nothing for me in a church which mouths the cant of Ayn Rand.  There is everything for me in a church which assists me in honoring the presence of Christ in my life as well as honoring the freedom and inherent worth of all my brothers.  I excel at Caritas.  I have zero interest in judgement.

I feel excited to hear more from Pope Francis and grateful for what he has already done.

We all know a little about Francis of Assisi.  It's a good time to learn more about Saint Ignatius Loyola.

The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by Father James Martin on Amazon

sudden spike in page views after midnight

I'm up late folding laundry and watching "Secrets of the Jesus Prayer" on WHUT (Howard University Television).  Earlier I checked in on my 'stats' and definitely saw zero views today.  Now however there have been 13.  Possibly because I have so many 'hits' from China and the Ukraine? ?  Interesting.

I have read the Philokalia *    and The Way of A Pilgrim (The Way of a Pilgrim several times).  It's a good read.  My favorite part of this program for television was the speech of a blind monastic guy named Theophile (lover of God).  I will paraphrase for now:  The Jesus prayer links the mind and the heart.  The linking of the mind and the heart is the work of God.  I like this particularly because, in my effort to understand the way my own mind works I have come to realize that for me the progress is always from affect to cognition.  I love/respond first and then I understand.  Sometimes much, much later.

* (I read something I thought was the Philokalia but when I just looked it up on Amazon to create the link it's like 1600 pages and that I did not read.)

A Homily from The Christian Community Movement for Religious Renewal

A Homily from The Christian Community Movement for Religious Renewal

I decided to copy and paste the whole thing even though the beauty of blogs is that you are directed by hyperlink to read elsewhere and then come back for thoughts on the subject.   The link goes to the original site.

Regarding St. Johnstide:

St. Johnstide John 1: 19-28, 29-34, 35-39 This is the testimony of John, when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" Freely and openly he made confession. He confessed, "I am not the Christ [the Anointed]." Then they asked him, "Who are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "No, I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said, "Who are you? What answer are we to give to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said in the words of the prophet Isaiah, "I am the voice of one crying in the loneliness: Prepare the way for the Lord [so that the Lord may enter into the inmost soul [self]." And those who had been sent by the Pharisees asked him, "Why do you baptize if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. But someone is standing in your midst whom you do not know, who comes after me although he was before me. I am not worthy even to untie the strap of his sandals." This took place in Bethany near the mouth of the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day he [John] sees Jesus coming to him, and says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the burden of the sin of the world. He it is of whom I said: 'After me comes one who was before me, for he is ahead of me [for he is greater than I].' [After me comes one who was (generated) before me, for he is the prototype.] Even I did not know him; but for this I have come, and have baptized with water, so that human souls in Israel might become able to experience the revelation of his being." And John testified: "I saw how the Spirit descended upon him as a dove from the heavens and remained united with him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend, so that it remains united with him, he it is who baptizes with the [breath of the] Holy [Healing] Spirit [and with fire].' And I saw this, and so I testify that this is God's Son." The next day John was again standing there, and two of his disciples were with him. And as he saw Jesus walking past, he said, "Behold, the [sacrificial] Lamb of God [through whom humanity's sense of self will be purified.]" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you seeking?" They answered, "Rabbi [Teacher], where are you staying [where do you live] [where do you take refuge]?" He said, "Come and you will see!" And they came and saw where he stayed [lived], and stayed [remained] with him all that day. It was about the tenth hour [four o'clock].

Homily: 2nd St. Johnstide July 7, 2013 John 1: 19 - 39 Each of us, at the core of our being, has an eternal self. This eternal Self clothes itself in different personalities, with its own particular time and destiny. Our self-awareness is usually limited to our current incarnation. The eternal core self is hard to find, hard to recognize. When John the Baptist is asked who he is, he answers from an awareness of his temporal self. 'I am not Elijah, not the Christ, not the prophet.' At the same time he is clear about his personal destiny - that he came to baptize. He is also clear about Jesus' identity. He sees past Jesus' earthly personality to His eternal core as the Lamb of God, upon whom the Spirit of God descended and remained. And he is aware that his own destiny is to serve Christ Jesus. Awareness of one's own eternal core Self is a gift of grace. Perhaps it is more important to develop an awareness of the eternal selves of others than it is to look for our own eternal core. Perhaps it is more important for us to stand as witnesses for each other - to recognize, as John did, the eternal self of the other, to accompany their destiny. Perhaps this is part of the change of heart and mind that John advocates: that we turn away from self-involvement, toward a humble support of others. As someone said: Attention is not concentration.  Attention is interest.  If you're interested in something, then you're attentive.  And if you're attentive, you discover many things.[1] [1] Anonymous. My Response: Steiner said somewhere that each human is his own species.  I associate that thought with the words spoken to Moses via burning bush ; I am the I am.  The I am is a font of consciousness, the source of all self awareness identified almost as if 'It' were an element with properties.  It constantly puzzles us to think about because it's two mutually exclusive ideas declaring their oneness... the principal of individuation with no parturition.  How does that work? coeur volant  - Duchamp Not too long ago I watched the Wishes Fulfilled program by Wayne Dyer on NPR.  I struggle with his suggestion that we go around saying 'I am God'. (He talks about Moses conversation with the Bush too.)  I feel that it's important to go through the realization that we are God together.  In the movie Before Sunrise the Julie Delpy character says that God is the space between us when we are in communication (not exact words at all). I feel very happy with that way of articulating how "human souls in Israel might become able to experience the revelation of his being."   I love the story of John still in Elizabeth's womb leaping with joy in recognition of the presence of Christ, also yet to be delivered.