The Temple

They accused him of wanting to destroy the temple, but he really didn't.  Maybe instead they destroyed it by putting him to death.  He was what had held it up, what made it a temple rather than an empty place, but they did not understand.

Idealist

He prayed not to become disillusioned, thinking nothing had been worthwhile.  He asked God to remain a dreamer, a searcher after his own soul and the Lord's.  It was a prayer, an expression of hope tinged too with desperation.  I hope it was heard, and more that it was answered.

Freedom is a gift we give ourselves

No Denying Death

At different times, death has seemed to dominate, to want to intrude.  Unlike with Willy's death and Doug's, I feel no need to deny it, though I wish I could.

God's People

These are people who know the reality of what they feel.  They have no need to hide in aloofness and reserve, and know the myth of strength is no more than that.  They believe what is felt is to be openly expressed for all to see and hear.  Tears are as real as laughter, and all that is good.  They live their lives out in the open and permit all a chance to be brothers.  They have faults which complete their humanity, but more than anyone else, I think they are God's people.  They have his heart.

Why God Came

Lord, had you just wanted to know better the pain of human life you would have chosen to live instead with loneliness beyond the death of those you loved.  But experience of pain is not why you came.  You were here for life, and death was - as it should be - the least part of it.

Nodding Gravely

Having considered the morality of the issue, and its dire ramifications, everyone nodded gravely before going on with what they were doing.  Moral suasion and mere principle were no match for self-interest and economics.

Take It Mountain By Mountain

Expecting to move every mountain leads to frustration when just one will not budge.  Better perhaps to take it mountain by mountain, and even then stone by stone is not a bad idea.  It may also be helpful to consider the why of the project, as well as where we intend to put it.  Keeping too many mountains in the air is not all that easy, or helpful, and shifting them so one just replaces another seems no more than impressive.

The Gift of Self

Unless people take responsibility for their lives, unless given an opportunity to do what has consequences, their lives are not entirely their own.  They belong, instead, to whoever made the decisions and whether the someone else is the Welfare office, the Church, or the job makes no difference.  It is a very expensive, very precious gift, this gift of self.  It is not one to be given lightly, no matter what is given in return.

Weeds and Wheat

Without the weeds, would the wheat have been able to be itself?  Could it grow alone into what it wanted to be?  The weeds had to grow, too.  They had to be encouraged and nurtured, just as did the wheat.  Each had a meaning and value, and something to share with the other.

Justifying Justifications

Any number of things can be justified.  The question is whether they should be.

Well Being

It is called well being, not well doing.  Should we say well done, or should we maybe say well been.

Revisiting Memories

Memories are best shared with those for whom they have meaning, by people who helped create them.  But sometimes there is no one who can see their meaning, who can relive what was shared.  It is then all right to visit them alone.  It is a place that has to be seen and held even though in making them real the aloneness may make them sad.

Doubting Halley's Comet

Though I don't doubt it is there, I haven't seen Halley's Comet and am inclined to doubt those who say they have, especially when they describe it in detail.  Is God like that?  Is his reality so hard to see?  I hope, after his build up, he proves less a disappointment than has the comet.

Reason Not To

Even though he has reason to feel sorry for himself, it would be all right not to.

Definition of Therapy

If you really want to call this therapy, then someone should be getting better.  And not just the therapist.

Silence That Speaks

God speaks in silence, but not a silence that says nothing.

Hearts and Minds

They need, it seems, to think we are merely rational, but in essence people are emotional.  It is the ability to feel and respond to the feelings of others that makes us different.  Without his heart, a person's mind would mean far less.

Getting On With It

It's already way past time for thinking and planning.  Stop getting ready and get on with it.

Lessons from Doug

Doug is dead.  He died Friday and already we are beyond asking why.  It seems so unimportant now, because we can almost see what his life tried to mean.  He was a good and searching man.  He wanted to know about himself and about what surrounded him.  He asked and shared.  He tried to grow, to understand and to be holy.  It was not always easy.

At the funeral, Bishop More said Church could be many things, that it could try and fail since it was human and divine together, and at times it might be very wrong.  But it could never be without holiness and love, since these are what make it Church.  It is what makes it God.

That's some of what Doug was.  It's what he tried to give and share and bring to life.  It's what he looked for in other people.  I'll miss him, but hopefully I will have learned.

Goodness, Sadness, Awareness

Sometimes when good things happen, the goodness heightens awareness of what may be lost, and so there is sadness as well.

Being Told We're Gods

Jesus told them they were gods, and they picked up rocks to stone him.  If they wouldn't believe it of themselves, is it surprising they couldn't believe it of him?

Old Testament People

The Old Testament people thought they had heard it all.  They felt in possession of a fullness of what God has to say.  Then along came Jesus.  He came saying some old things and some new.  He had new revelations, and came being God's son.  Is this the end, or is there maybe a newer revelation, yet to come?  Are we thinking the fullness has arrived, that we possess it?  Maybe a time is coming when we will be the Old Testament people giving way to something more?

Worrying With Enthusiasm

We have, I fear been worrying with such enthusiasm, but about all the wrong things.

The Limitations of Faith

It was no longer a question of faith.  That he had in abundance.  All of a sudden he had run out of hope, and without hope there is no assurance that believed things can someday be.  He had somehow lost the "this world" expectation, and had no way of realizing what was believed in; so while he continued with the "beyond" aspects of what ought to have been, he was unable to go on, and so he didn't.  He could not keep saying tomorrow.  He wanted, and needed, today.  He wasn't really sad, just a bit more realistic; but maybe that is sadness in itself.

Rage Without Resolution

We wrap our pain in rage that has so many objects, but no resolution.

Acceptance of Conditions

Conditions are often not chosen but become what we must accept.  It is the best available accommodation, but it is not free of anxiety as long as there is awareness of its incompleteness.

What Laughter Sometimes Hides

Their humor is a cruel and mirthless thing aimed at the frailty of someone else, and behind the laugher lurks a fear of it turning against them.

Motivations Behind Miracles

While miracles may be superfluous, if Jesus did cure it was not to prove he was God, but rather to prove God was alive in the person cured.  It was his way of recognizing and calling out divinity.

The Selfishness of Giving

We get so used to giving that we are unable to receive, forgetting that sharing is a mutuality in which both have a right to give of themselves and of what they have.  A relationship that is one-sided cannot last.  It is too dependent on need.

The Right to Be Scandalized

So afraid were they of scandalizing people that they withheld from them what they had every right to know.  Whether they would be scandalized was a choice unavailable.