Some of RJ's Rantings, Writings and Reflections ...



Thursday Meditation 16/03/2006

Thursday 7:30 am service: RJ meditation on "Comparative Wisdom"

You might notice that my hair is rather shorter than it was last time I was here. In the barber's chair last week at Kingston, I noticed a fly buzzing around, and enquired of my Vietnamese-Buddhist hairdresser "Do you sanction the use of chemical warfare against this little creature enjoying its day in your shop?"

"Certainly not" he replied, "I ask it leave, and it goes back into the corridor!" He went on to explain how the fly's body was the container for a re-incarnated soul which may have been a human being, or some other sentient creature. We had talked about such matters before, in conversations necessarily limited to 15-minute intervals, and I had found that I learned better by listening than by preaching on the subject.

Than related how this fundamental respect for life guided his own journey, emphasising the importance of nurturing and maintaining the body by means of Yoga, meditation, diet and exercise, even though "it's going to return to dust" in due course! At least we agreed on that one.

Our spiritual existence, though (he explained), will endure one way or the other, for ever. Is it not therefore even more important to nurture and prepare it for the next stage in an eternal journey?

Although he didn't mention "God", I was struck by the concordance of most of his message with that of Jesus, whom he acknowledges as a great visionary and historic leader. His outlook certainly commands respect as an ernest quest for what we variously conceive as "wisdom" or "truth".

Our own Christopher, along with Chris Lancaster and others, is travelling in India, experiencing more Oriental mystery and magic than most of us could conceive. Chris has a high tolerance for intense personal interaction and sensory overload, but has reported that the dreadful Bollywood wailings in Calcutta's cultural performances have almost driven him mad.

He's has written and is producing his own dramatical music and multi-media show called "Beyond Truth". I cannot guess what it's like, but he has some pretty creative and high-energy resources to work with, and I guess we'll learn more in due course.

< Two paras from CJ letter > *** I have asked his thoughts on the ancient troubling dilemma of on one hand maintaining a passionate concern for the sufferings of others (which he currently witnesses in abundance),

and on the other hand, of enjoying the exuberance and well-being of God's gifts available in our own life to the fullest. I feel this dilemma acutely in this Thursday morning gathering, where we share many experiences of suffering and loss in our own community.

I expect that Chris's answer to this question will be in the form of a journey rather than a destination, and that's OK.

From my little collection called "Opening Doors Within", we have the following:

"Your work is to create the new heaven and the new Earth. Therefore, do not dwell on the troubles and tribulations, on the disease and suffering, on the wars and strife in the world. Do not allow yourself to become involved in it, for if you do, you become part of the disease and not the cure!

As you raise your consciousness, you become immunised against the trouble in the world, and you can live and work with it all about you and yet it will not be able to touch or affect you in any way. A doctor or nurse has to be immunised in order to be able to work freely with infectious diseases, and there must be no fear in them. Let there be no fear in you as you watch the situation in the world become worse. Never dispair, Simply hold in in faith, let your mind be stayed on Me, and know that all is very, very well."

***

On Sunday we'll hear more on this theme from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Ch 1 verses 18-25:

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

***

Paul says that the rhetoric and theological reflection of his day failed because it could not bring people to know God. Both God's wisdom and power are located in Christ. While this may be designated as a foolish and weak way by men, God is wiser and stronger than they are.

How much of our own conventional wisdom, I wonder, will be designated by future generations as "foolish"? How much of it is relative to our current standards, and not based on a "true" reading of God's word?

***

Let's pray:

Lord, we thank you for the abundance of recorded history that we can learn from, as well as the experiences of our own lives. Help us, we pray, to appreciate and understand approaches to truth and wisdom that may seem foreign or incomprehensible from our own limited perspective.

Help us to live each day a new experience of seeking your true meaning and purpose in our lives.

Amen.






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