What is great and true and beautiful is not far away. It is already here in everything. In the flowers, the plants, the trees, the birds, even here in me. The great force of nature is all here together, even in the rocks and stones and in the air and the sky, and all of it is a single note, a song that spans the galaxy and says, I am.
I am the Lord, it sings. And I say in response, hear my prayer — help me to become open to dwell in this new emptiness of being so that your goodness flows into me and your truth is known again in this new attention within me.
Lee van Laer
From “Attend and Remember – Lord Have Mercy,”
The Morning Five, 11/9/2024.
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Mark 12: 38-44 (Lamsa translation)
And in his teaching [Jesus] said to them, Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes and love to be saluted in the streets, and take the front seats in the synagogues and the head places at banquets; those who embezzle the property of widows, under pretense of making long prayers.They shall receive greater judgment.
And when Jesus sat in front of the treasury, he watched how the people cast their alms into the treasury; and many rich men were casting in a great deal. And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two coins, which are a few pennies.
And Jesus called his disciples and said to them, Truly I say to you that this poor widow has cast into the treasury more than all the men who are casting; for all of them cast in of their abundance; but she of her poverty cast everything she had, even all of her possessions.
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Giving all that we have.
It seems like this could be one of the take-home messages of the Gospel text in the lectionary today. And certainly, there is a point here about giving. But as I sat with this text and Lee van Laer’s podcast this morning, a deeper meaning began to emerge.
As many of you know by now – over the past few months, I have been following the call of teaching and offering spiritual companionship to fellow seekers – particularly those who are drawn to the inner path of Christianity. And while this has been a time of incredible freedom and creativity, in all honesty, there’s also a part of following this call that feels financially risky.
As I sense my way into what is emerging – what wants to emerge, fear and anxiety can also emerge. A temptation to hedge my bets by finding outside employment to quell the doubts and fears arises. The question of, can I trust that there will be enough comes up.
Nevertheless, I have become convinced that the one thing that could really derail me is fear – worry and anxiety because the low-level vibration of these emotions could make it much harder to hear, to sense, feel, and be aware of how Spirit is working.
When we are full, it is much harder to attend to what wants to flow in us and through us. It would be like trying to see the stars when our vision is full of the sun’s light.
The inner path is one of surrender – complete and total surrender – “all that we have, all that we are.” And in this surrender, goodness can flow – in this emptiness, divine love can flow.
What is ours to let go of? What is our to allow to flow into us, through us, and back into the world – in love and service?
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