Be like men waiting .
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
Water does not move in waves.
Only the energy within carries on.
Like them our lives break on distant shores.
Our vibrant energy does not die, it carries on.
The death of a wave is inevitable.
So too body soon will be cold not warm.
But all energy is retrievable .
It just takes a different form.
When our life reached the final shore.
Only then do we return to our real core.
……
Water stays in waves
Only the energy lasts
It’s the same with us
….
See Jeremiah 31
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.
Our body is a bundle of sticks.
Our soul is the fire which consumes.
The wood burns leaving only faith in the crucifix.
The soul is the fire that elsewhere resumes.
Where does this soul go.
None of us have any idea.
We just assume everything will be just so so.
And we put faith in the divine gift, the thea.
I read these words of resurrection.
And for just that moment I feel direction.
…….
We have this promise
We will have eternal life
But we still doubt it
……..
See John 11:19-27
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
We have the spirit of faith mentioned in scripture.
I believed and therefore I spoke.
Hoping always to see the greater picture.
Striving to free ourselves from life’s yoke.
The more grace is multiplied among people.
The more thanksgiving there will be to God’s glory.
Even if our own faith is feeble.
This is too our story.
We are this treasure’s earthenware jars.
So for all time we can look to the stars.
………
We are not corned
The Chapel at Oscott is glorious.
I sat at the back to view it better.
And heard little of the sermon however sonorous.
Thus a better view was a fetter.
I am the true vine.
I gaze on you in the sanctuary.
To see your strength and your glory.
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.
I am reading Chuang Tzu’s poetry .
And the subtle art of Tao.
We shouldn’t be about notice me.
Can we not just be and not to wonder how .
To realise the futility of striving.
The danger of trying to save everything.
It is enough to contemplate our breathing.
And realise all comes round and round in a ring.
He warned them not to make him known.
The way to happiness is to explore the unknown.
You have held back my life from the pit of doom.
Exult all you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a radiant dew.
We only have to choose where to put our trust.
And surely life is our due.
We Labour and are overburdened.
We simply seek rest .
We pray we may be pardoned.
And recover some of our zest.
We seek a yoke that is easy.
And a burden which is light.
Perhaps we should be a little less fussy.
And find a way we can keep in sight.
We search for a different country.
And hope thereby to find our entry.
…….
A yoke that eases
A burden that remains light
That is what we seek
……
See Isaiah 26 and Matthew 11: 28-30