4th Sunday of Lent - Theosis

Thoughts for the Week - Divinization: It’s for You!

The Greek word theosis, often used by the Eastern Fathers of the Eastern Church, is probably best translated as ‘divinization.’ Although usually taught in the more mystical and Trinitarian Eastern church, it was largely lost in the more practical, carrot-on-the-stick emphasis of the Western Church.  So let’s reintroduce this Gospel “pearl of great price” into the Western char he's and to the secular seeker.  As Simone Weil said in various ways, it is much easier to make non-Christians into Christians that to make Christians into Christians.  Cradle Christians are almost totally preconditioned to the carrot-on-the-stick-model.

Consider this quote of Pope John Paul II in 1995:  “The venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches, that is the teaching of the Cappadocia Fathers on divinization (theosis), can be summarized in the thought already expressed by St. Irenaeus at the end of the second century:  ‘God passed into people so that people might pass over to God.’”  Pope John was surely acknowledging that the Western church, both Catholic and Protestant, had largely lost its belief in divinization or had even denied its possibility.  No wonder we suffer from such universal lack of self-esteem and cultural self-loathing.

The shining and oft-quoted “proof text” here is 2 Peter 1:4b, “through this gift you are sharers in the divine nature itself.” We had through our form was merely human, but Jesus came to tell us that our actual form is human-divine, just as he is.  He was not much interested in proclaiming himself the exclusive or exclusionary son of God, but he went out of his way to communicate an inclusive sonship and daughterhood to the crowds.  Paul uses words like “adopted” (Galatians 4:5) and “coheirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) to make the same point.  

“Full and Final Participation” was learned from Jesus, who clearly believed that God was not so much inviting us into a distant heaven, but inviting us into the divine nature as coparticipants.  Remember, I am not talking about a psychological or moral wholeness in human persons, which is never the case, and why many dismiss this doctrine - or feel incapable of it.  I am talking about a divinely implanted “sharing in the divine nature,” which is called the indwelling spirit or the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16-17).  This indwelling is finding your True Self, your Soul, and you will have found an absolute reference point that is both utterly within you and utterly beyond you at the every same time.  “My deepest me is God!” St. Catherine of Genoa shouted as he ran through the streets of town, just as Colossians had already shouted to both Jews and pagans, “The mystery is Christ within you - your hope of Glory!” (1:27).  This awesome and even presumptuous message of divinization is supported by Genesis 1:27 and 5:2 where we are told that we are “created in the image and likeness of God.”    Adapted from Richard Rohr

3rd Sunday of Lent - Boredom

Thoughts for the Week - Boredom: A Gift for the Soul?

As I've traveled to foreign countries, sat for weeks in silence, pored over ancient mystical texts, I've sometimes had the impression that spirituality is something far away, esoteric, exotic and secret.  But boring spiritual practice has been much more useful.   Meditation and prayer in particular are often very boring.  Boredom has gifts, though. Here are five of them.

1. Boredom is a useful alarm bell. It lets me know that I've had enough of whatever it was I used to desire.  At some point, fascination with an object, person, sensation disappears.  It probably goes without saying that most of our lives are spent either desiring certain things or really not desiring others. These things may be material objects, or mental states, status, or love -- whatever. It's heartening, maybe even enlightening, to see that we can get bored of just about anything, no matter how great it is. Eventually, the mind's had enough.
2. Boredom is also a privilege. Its presence means your essential needs are taken care of, even your essential wants are taken care of. What percentage of people in the world even have the luxury of boredom? Let's get real and get grateful.  And of course, most privileged folks make ourselves so busy, impelled by imperatives to achieve, outshine, succeed, enrich, that boredom itself becomes a luxury. That's true for me. When I feel bored, I'm thrilled that I've had the space to feel it.
3. Boredom has a lot to teach us. Normally, when we're bored, we'll do just about anything to make the boredom stop. Our minds and our bodies fight desperately to push the boredom away, sometimes restlessly, other times angrily, and sometimes with an apathy that makes life seem barely worth living. Then again, sometimes it's just irritating.  Boredom is really restlessness. Boredom is about too much energy, not too little. Take a look next time you're bored. Is your mind too relaxed, or too tense? Maybe you can even check out your heart rate -- when I'm bored, my heart is almost always beating faster than I expected. In other words, most of us have boredom exactly backwards. Our minds are so conditioned to be always busy and interested, that when there's nothing interesting (we think), we get really irritable. Sometimes maybe even nervous. Personally, my next step is try to find something interesting to do, or watch, because who wants to be worried, bored, or irritable? So I'll put more information into my head "in order to relax." Sometimes it's not even pleasant information; I find there are times when I'd rather get stressed out about some future plan than just be bored with the present. 
4. Being with boredom can literally change your brain. According to the neuroscientists, meditation forms new neural pathways, which in experiential terms means changing the way your "gut reaction" responds to stimuli. For five years, you've been conditioned to tense up when your boss comes over. No amount of talking yourself out of it will work. But since meditation changes the structure of the brain, it can work. Boredom is a pretty moderate form of unpleasantness, so it's the perfect place to practice and build these new relationships. Use it as a training ground for later, when these skills will count a lot more. Boring spiritual practice can thus be much more helpful than interesting spiritual experiences.
5. Boredom can be a gateway to Enlightenment. Zen teacher Genpo Roshi likes to ask his students to act from their "non-seeking, non-desiring minds." Try it now. Stop seeking anything, stop desiring anything: not a snack, another web page, an interesting experience, love, victory, relaxation, or anything. It may take a little work, because you have to actually let go of any desire for this moment to be any different from what it is.  Life suddenly gets very boring. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. But remember, boredom is restlessness. It's wanting something to be different. So let that go too. What's left? Well, I'll leave it to you to enjoy - it is what it is, which is what Yahweh said back there at the burning bush, and wise people have said around foliage for thousands of years. Tibetan Buddhist texts speak of this state as "old man, basking in the sun" because it's just vast awareness, with no agenda.  And from naked awareness flows a natural loving-kindness, more genuine than anything cultivated by oughts and shoulds. Helping others, and other beings, becomes natural. It's simple: boredom plus surrender equals being present to the moment - the Kingdom of God.                                                        

Adapted from Jay Michelson

2nd Sunday of Lent - February 21, 2016

Thoughts for the Week - Lent is an Inner Pilgrimage

To become a pilgrim is to undertake a particular kind of journey, a sacred journey which involves both inner and outer dimensions.  Among the varied reasons people give for deciding to take such a step, it is often possible to discern a sort of longing – a desire for something different, for something deeper than the everyday.  Pilgrimage is often to far off holy sites, but during Lent, we can go the deepest holy site within - God within ourselves.  

Within our increasingly secular culture, many still seek spiritual sustenance as they try and negotiate the challenges of life. For some, there appears to be a crisis of hope and they look for purpose and direction in a rapidly changing scene. In the midst of busy mobile lives, taking time and space to find yourself remains an attractive proposition, which the relative anonymity of a pilgrim journey can provide.

For spiritual believers, pilgrimage is also about rediscovering how the stories of our lives fit into a wider context. It is about re-connecting with the wider Christian story, which is so deeply embedded in our history and culture. As we walk in the mystical footsteps of pilgrims from earlier times, we may find ourselves caught up in their experience and the perennial invitation to journey again with our travelling God - a God calling to us to find the Kingdom of God with.  

Hudson Smith in a forward to the book ‘Art of Pilgrimage’ states:  “The object of pilgrimage is not rest and recreation – to get away from it all. To set out on a pilgrimage is to throw down a challenge to everyday life.  Nothing matters now but this adventure.

1. As you set out on your journey through Lent, for what do you long?

2. What or who is calling you to leave the normal pattern of your days for a while and pay            

        attention to the meaning and purpose of our lives?      

3. In response, how shall you make time and space to journey again inward - the inner 

         spiritual pilgrimage?

Adapted from CTBI Lent Course

In Lent, we are invited to be on a spiritual journey - to ask spiritual questions - to explore the nature of spiritual and consciousness.  The following two videos invite us into this journey: