Unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies.

I will betroth you to myself for ever.
Betroth you with integrity and justice.
We need never say to the sublime, never.
The world cries out against injustice.

Do we always have to engage in selfless action.
Cannot we not occasionally be selfish.
Can we not start with the latter before reaction.
Do we have to be caught selflessly like fish.

We don’t have to be good all the time.
And be miserable at it.
We can taste this lime .
And occasionally not eat  it .

Better to be serene and happy .
Than judgemental and snappy.

……

Selfless action
Is great for the very good
But it’s not easy

……

See Hosea 2

Above the vault over their heads.
Was something that looked like a sapphire.
How do we draw together life’s threads.
What do we most admire.

I was reading that children only bring work.
Yes but such great abounding joy .
Happiness that you cannot shirk.
Pure gold alloy.

And grandchildren are even better.
Love without responsibility .
We are the debtor.
In all humility .

It is work that is no mere duty.
But something of great beauty.

……..

Where are the children
They are in all our great love
And for evermore

……

See Ezekiel 1

 
Be like men waiting .

It is not those who lack energy or refrain from action.
But those who work without expectation of reward.
Who attain the goal of meditation.
This is the way of the  Gita and the Lord.

Our duty is to uphold the dharma through Karma .
Selfless action is the way.
Renunciation and selfless service are the same Yoga.
It is our choice to follow our own way.

Those who cannot renounce attachment.
To the results of their work are far from the path.
Attain spiritual awareness by Selfless detachment.
The path to yoga is stillness and peace and no wrath.

Free yourself from attachment of work and its effects.
And from the enjoyment of sense objects.

……..
Reject work’s results
To the unitive state
You will  then ascend

…….

As he prayed  face changed
His clothing became brilliant
As lightning ,they saw

….

See Luke 9: 28 – 36 and The Bhagavad Gita 6

 
Celebrate your feasts.
At Nahum’s tomb I read his words, carry out your vows.
But don’t always listen to the priests.
They too have their highs and lows.

It was the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe.
We were watching Some Like It Hot.
A wonderful comedy , taking you in a farcical tow.
Challenging , intellectual it is not.

Maybe we do take everything too seriously.
And religious people can be very dull.
Let’s enjoy life laughably.
Occasionally we need a comic lull.

And Curtis , Lemmon and Monroe.
Can certainly lead us out of any low.

…….

Why not laugh at life
Don’t be serious always
Life is just too short.

…….

See Nahum 2

Deep within them I will plant my law.
Writing it on their hearts.
We can never renounce every flaw.
We are made of two many conflicting parts.

I am reading the Bhagavad Gita anew.
Those who are selfishly attached to the results of their work .
Are bound in everything they do.
This truth we cannot shirk.

Those who renounce attachment in all their deeds.
Live content in the city of nine gates, the body, as its master.
Renunciation has many seeds.
No way is intrinsically worse or better.

Judgement is clouded when wisdom is obscured by ignorance.
But knowledge of the self within destroys ignorance.

…….

Without self knowledge
A life of work cannot be
Fulfilling to souls

…….

See Jeremiah 31:31-34

He went toward them, walking on the lake.
When the disciples saw him they were terrified.
What will we ever do for his sake.
How will we make him glorified.

There are three prayers here invoking.
Jesus’ prayer of quiet meditating .
St Peter’s prayer of desperation sinking.
The Disciples prayer of thanksgiving.

So too we have three ways of praying.
Contemplating.
Asking.
Thanking.

But how often do we do so.
Except of course when we’re low.

…….

Walking on water
Requires faith we do not have
And a lot more too

…….

See Matthew 14: 22-36

Keep me from the way of error.
And teach me you law.
Everything we do is held to us as in a mirror.
They will say of us, he did not believe though he saw.

I had been away from the Cathedral for some time.
What a delight to be back in it’s comforting embrace.
Cool after outside in this summertime.
An experience more than a place.

I can sit here after mass peacefully.
Before returning to the real world outside.
I leave it’s cooling shadows regretfully.
In this place there is no demanding side.

The traffic roared , people jostled , thoughts jumbled.
I wish I had longer tarried.

…….

We sit in a church
For a moment we are still
Then our life invades

……

See Psalm 118

 
This very night the demand will be made for your soul.

Save me me from the waters of the deep.

 
As the clay is in the potter’s hand.

You have born me to be a man of strife.
And of dissension .
When will I spread peace in this life.
Can I not relieve rather than increase tension.

When your words came I devoured them.
Your word was my delight.
I thought my time had come.
Now I seem deprived of foresight.

I never took pleasure in scoffers company.
With your hand I held myself aloof.
Now I just proceed grumpily.
But then I ask if you can enter under my roof.

Now at last I have you in sight.
And with the dawn comes new light.

…….

I am not worthy
You enter under my roof
Only say the word

…….

See Jeremiah 15: 10, 16-21

Tears flood my eyes.
Night and day unceasingly.
There are many lows , all too few highs.
However hard we try to act sincerely.

If I go into the city.
I see people sick with hunger.
Where is profound pity.
Why is there so much anger.

You struck us down without hope of cure.
We were hoping for peace, no good came of it.
We feel everything is just a sore.
Where we ask is your holy writ.

Remember us.
Do not break your covenant with us.

……

Please keep us in mind
We are just doing our best
Is it not enough

…..

See Jeremiah 14: 17-22

I am the true vine.

You followed me through the wilderness.
Through a land unsown.
Free us from all bitterness.
Realising that everything is only on loan.

They look without seeing.
And listen without hearing.
We, no different are always fleeing.
Worried about the future and fearing.

You will listen and not understand.
See and see again but not perceive.
And so our life runs into the sand.
And for this there is no reprieve.

Many holy men longed to see what you see.
Happy are your eyes because you see.

……..

Can we look and see
Can we listen too and hear
Or are senses closed

…….

See Jeremiah 2 and Matthew 13: 10-17

Who is my mother.
Who are my brothers.
How a larger sense will we recover.
And think of all the unknown others.

Here he is proclaiming love for all.
Unbound by immediate family.
We will never wear his universal shawl.
But we can proceed in his shadow thankfully.

They were standing outside.
And we’re anxious to have a word with him.
Like them he is our guide.
Anxious to have a word with him.

We may not yet be ready and want  to wait.
But it is never too late.

…….

We are all outside
Waiting to have words with him
And one day we will

……

See Matthew 12: 46-50

You worry and fret about so many things.