You are invited to a Very Big Party!

I love the way master story-tellers, like Jesus, will turn common assumptions on their heads with a few deft words. In today's story, we are told of a man who gave a big party and invited many many people.

At this time of year, during the holiday season, it may be that many of us have received invitations to big dinner parties, or perhaps we are giving such a party. Now I don't know about you, but I think it a bit surprising that Jesus linked the Kingdom of God with a big dinner party. Doesn't sound very spiritual to me. You know how, well, unspiritual those big parties can get! Why would Jesus compare the Kingdom of God to a big dinner party?

Sometimes, invitations to certain parties feel more like a social obligation than a happy opportunity to have a good time with people we enjoy, lots of delicious food, and maybe some top rate music and dancing or other entertainment. Have you ever felt that way? I know I have. I look for some good excuse not to go which will be acceptable to the person who has invited me. Sometimes I find one, and sometimes I just sigh and go because there seems no good way to get out of it.

On the other hand, if you have been one who gave a big party like the one in this story, you know what a lot of work it can be, and how you hope there will be a good turn out of people to make your work worthwhile.

It can be risky, throwing a big dinner party.

With all this in mind, here is the story as Jesus is reported to have told it in Luke 14 (The New Testament):

A certain man gave a great supper, and invited many.

When the feast was ready, he sent messengers to those who were invited saying,

"Come, for all things are now ready."

But they all began to make excuses.

The first said, "I have just purchased some land and must go and inspect it. Please have me excused."

Another said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I need to go test them out. Please have me excused."

Still another said, "I am so sorry, but I have just gotten married, so I cannot come."

The servant went back to his master and reported what the invited guests had said.

The master of the house was indignant, and said to his servant,

"Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring the poor, the maimed, the lame,

and the blind to the feast."

So the servant did so and reported, "Master, it is done as you commanded and still there is room

for more."

Then the master replied, "Go out again into the highways and hedges, and insist that those you find

there come to the feast, that my house may be filled.

As for those who were invited but made excuses, none of them shall have even a taste of the feast

I have prepared."

My prayer of response:

Gracious Host, Generous Provider of all that is good,

I confess that too often I busy myself with things that seem important at the time,

and thus miss out on opportunities you offer to simply enjoy Your presence, Your blessings,

Your goodness, and the good company of others who are doing the same.

Busyness can be a real temptation for me, and somehow, it is hard for me to feel that I can just

set aside my plans and obligations for awhile, and relax and receive nourishment and delight

from You. After hearing this story, I resolve to set aside my excuses, and respond to Your

gracious invitation to simply BE with You and others who are willing to put You first. I do believe

my busy life can wait. If not now, when? Amen

Are You Ready?

This is the season of Advent in the Christian calendar.

It is a time which was originally set aside by the Church to focus in a special way on the Second Coming of Christ.

It has become, more popularly, simply the "holiday season" in which preparations are made for the celebration of Christmas, which celebrates the first coming of Christ as Jesus of Nazareth, not the Second Coming.

The Second Coming has been the source of endless speculation for centuries. Some Christians believe the Second Coming has already happened, on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit (of Christ) was poured out on all flesh. But the majority of Christians still look forward to the Second Coming, although there is a great deal of difference of opinion on what that means, how literally to take the depictions of it in the Bible's New Testament; and when and how it will happen, whatever "it" is.

The story I chose for today's blog, from among the many Jesus told, is a story that depicts this mysterious Second Coming or The End of the Age, as the coming of a bridegroom at a great wedding feast.

Here is the story: (Matthew 25: 1-13)

The kingdom of heaven is likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered.

At midnight a cry went up: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him!"

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

The foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."

But the wise answered, "No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go rather to those who sell, and buy oil for yourselves."

And while they went to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut.

Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us."

But he answered, "Assuredly, I do not know you. "

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

My response:

To start with, I'd like to send that last sentence, in huge letters, to all those people out there who are still trying to figure out when the Last Day, the Second Coming, will be, forgetting that Jesus himself tells us no one knows, which includes no one living now. When I think of all the people who have allowed themselves to be deluded by the dubious and arrogant claims of those who claim to "know prophecy" I wish this story would be told in their ears.

To end with, I take this story to mean, for me at least, that I need to search my heart to see if I am ready for

"the Last Day" which at the very least, means the end of my life here on earth. Am I prepared to meet the Bridegroom of my soul? Is there oil in my lamp? If the lamp could be a symbol for my heart/mind/soul,

and oil the symbol of the Presence of the Spirit which makes Light possible---am I keeping my lamp filled and replenished with conscious cultivation and awareness of the Spirit of God within me? Or am I just going through the outer motions (carrying my lamp) without the inner meaning and devotion represented by the wise virgins? Or am I looking to others outside myself to supply me with spiritual oil? If so, this story tells how how foolish this is. If I am wise, I will always be ready, whether for my own death at any time, or some greater Ending of this Age.

Another way to see this story is to interpret the Bridegroom's coming as the personal experience in my soul of the sacred meeting with the Divine Beloved---the one named "Jesus, Lover of my Soul" in a favorite hymn of mine. Mystics in all the world's religions speak of this union with the Beloved, the Great Mystery, in their hearts. A wedding feast is an apt symbol for this experience of Love that can only be spoken of in poetic words and symbols that are never more than pointers at a Reality beyond all words. Their testimony is that this experience can come quite unexpectedly, and it is wise to be ready. What would that mean for you?

Are you ready?

Seed Stories from Gardens of Faith

Today I begin writing a series of seven blogs on each of seven great Wisdom Traditions: Hindu, Taoist, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Native American. The flowers I will gather this time from these Gardens of Faith will be story-flowers. A story is one of the best ways to teach a truth in a way that sticks in people's memories. In my research I have found that the founders and great teachers of the world's Wisdom Traditions are fond of telling stories. I hope to recount some of them in these blogs.

For me, stories like these are seeds planted in the soil of the heart. There, they germinate and grow at their own pace, until the truth they contain blossoms with meanings, for good stories always have more than one meaning. The meanings that most resonate with each of us are the ones that will flower in the living of our lives.

Because this is the Christmas season, it seems fitting that I start with stories from the Christian Garden of Faith. I have chosen stories told by Jesus himself, according to the various Gospel writers.

If they are familiar to you, pretend you are from some other religious tradition and have never ever heard these stories. What might they mean to you in that case?

The first story I have chosen for this first blog is the story of a man who went out into the fields to sow his seed. This is how it goes: (from Luke 8)

A sower went out to sow his seed.

As he sowed, some fell by the wayside and was trampled down, and devoured by the birds of the air.

Some seed fell on rock; at first it sprang up, but then withered away for lack of soil and moisture.

Some seed fell among thonrs, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.

But other seed fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.

When Jesus disciples asked him to explain what this little story meant, he said,

"The seed is the Word of God.

Those by the wayside are those who hear the Word, but then evil comes and takes it out of their hearts,

so that they do not believe and find salvation.

Those who are like rocky soil hear and receive the Word with joy; but it does not take root in their hearts, and when trials come, it withers away.

Those who are like thorny soil hear the Word, but then go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring to fruit to maturity.

But those who are like the good soil hear the word with a noble and good heart, and keep it, and they bear fruit with patience."

My response:

Ah, I know what it's like to be a wayside seed,

scattered, lying on the hard ground of life,

trampled by heedless people,

gobbled up by birds of desire,

the truths within me unable to crack open and grow

because of the evil in others and in me.

Is there hope for me?

And, I know what it's like to be a seed among rocks

covered by a thin layer of soil--

just enough to let me take root and sprout,

but not enough for my roots to grow deeper.

I am scattered

on the surface of things.

When things get rocky,

and the storms of life come,

I am washed away.

The truth in me gets no chance to take root and bear fruit.

As for being a seed among thorns,

I've been there too.

Haven't you?

You know how it is.

There are so many distractions, it's hard to hold on to truth.

So much to do, so much to shop for, take care of, hang on to.

So much to worry about, think about.

How to sprout when there is all this choking Life out?

Thank Goodness I also know what it is like to land

in a fertile place where I can break open,

root deep down and nourish the life and truth in me,

and sprout, grow, mature, bear fruit---

so much it seems unlikely to have come from

the tiny seed truths I started out as.

The question from my point of view?

What kind of soil are you?

Picking Bouqets from Gardens of Faith

Gardens of Faith, I call them. Filled with flowers of all kinds, representing the beauty, the truth, the wisdom of the world's great Wisdom Traditions. I have posted seventy blogs now, ten from each of seven of the most ancient and profound Gardens of Faith: Hinduism, Taoism, Native American, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. You who have followed this blog have been able, with me, to enjoy these beautiful gardens. Each is unique. Yet they all have much in common too.

In this last blog of my first series on Gardens of Faith, I want to encourage you to do more than stroll through the gardens, enjoying the flowers. Give yourself permission to pick some of the flowers, and bring them home to your heart, making a bouquet of them to delight and inspire your soul.

A way you can do that is by using the readings in the blogs as part of a personal, prayerful way to truly enrich your mind, heart, and soul. Here is a pattern you can use, if you like, either alone, or with others.

I. Begin with a simple opening ritual act.

If it is a reading from Islam, washing your hands would be fitting.

If it is a Christian reading, making the sign of the cross would be fitting.

If it is a Jewish reading, lighting a candle would be fitting.

If it is a Hindu reading, lighting incense would be fitting.

If it is a Buddhist reading, ringing a bell would be fitting.

If it is a Taoist reading, bowing would be fitting.

If it is a Native American reading, facing the four directions in turn would be fitting.

Of course, other rituals would be fine too. But some little intentional act to center yourself and prepare yourself for a prayerful period is a helpful way to enter more fully into what you are about to do.

II. Listen in a meditative way to spiritual music from the tradition on which you are focusing for this period. Music can take us straight to the heart of a faith tradition, and help us feel the love and devotion of those who are its followers.

Here are some suggestions for recordings you might choose to buy as CD's, or download from the internet.

These are all in my collection, and I can recommend them to you as "tried and true."

From the Muslim tradition: A Sufi Song of Love by Robert Gass: Wings of Song

From the Jewish tradition: Once Upon a Nigun by Mordechai Ben David

From both together: Shalom Salam Vol. I and II by Felix Maria Woschek and friends

From the Hindu Tradition: Kirtan mantras by Robert Gass: Wings of Song

From the Buddhist Tradition: Heart of Perfect Wisdom by Robert Gass: Wings of Song

From the Taoist Tradition: Chinese Taoist Music by the Taoist Music Orchestra of the

Shanghai City God Temple

From the Christian Tradition: Brother Sun, Sister Moon by the Cambridge Singers,

directed by John Rutter.

From the Hindu and Christian traditions combined: Meeting of Angels by Ustad Nishat Khan and the ensemble Gilles Binchois.

From the Native American Tradition; Medicine Wheel by Robert Gass: Wings of Song

An Anthology of Sacred World Music Vol. I by Sounds True

Awakening (also an anthology from many spiritual traditions) by Robert Gass:Wings of Song

Of course, there are many, many more which I am sure you can find by doing a little searching on Amazon.com

or other places on the internet as well as at your favorite book and music store.

III. Ponder a short reading from the wisdom tradition on which you are focusing for this session. Follow this with a period of silence to let the wisdom sink into you soul.

Choose a flower: a word or phrase you can take with you to ponder as you go about your life.

(see the blogs or choose from a book that has short readings or prayers)

Here are some books I recommend to you for your interfaith inspiration: I drew my readings for the blogs in this series from these books:

365 Days of Walking the Red Road by Terri Jean

The Portable World Bible, edited by Robert O Ballou

366 Readings from Buddhism (and other similar volumes for Taoism, Hinduism, Islam,

Christianity, and Judaism) edited by Robert Van De Weyer and sold as a set entitled

the Global Spirit Library

The Soul Would Have No Rainbow If the Eyes Had No Tears by Guy a. Zona

The Gift of Prayer: a Fellowship in Prayer Book

God Makes the Rivers To Flow by Eknath Easwaran

There are many others, of course, and again, a little searching will uncover an amazing number of anthologies of inspired readings from world religions.

IV. Close with a prayer of your own as a response from your heart.

Four easy steps: a simple ritual, meditation with music, a reading to ponder in silence, and a closing prayer of response.

If you are doing this with others, singing or chanting could be included, thus expanding the music section. Other rituals could be added. A discussion of the reading could be included.

And afterwards, there could be a time of sharing simple food together.

I hope these suggestions inspire you to try your own way of making a bouquet of flowers from the Gardens of Faith.

May your bouquet from Gardens of Faith inspire you to be a globally minded peace-maker

with your mind and heart open to all that the One Spirit has given to help human beings

live worthily and well, with love and joy.

I have created a blog book based on all seventy blogs, plus an introduction and this conclusion. If you would like to be able to order a blog book for yourself or as a gift,

please reply to this with an email giving me your okay to send your email to the Blog2Print

people so they can contact you with instructions for ordering blog books.

Once again, thank you all for your support and interest.

Next week I intend to begin a new series of seven blogs on each of the seven Wisdom Traditions mentioned above, this time focusing on wonderfully wise little stories from each tradition because stories help wisdom stick in our minds and hearts in a special way.

I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy finding and sharing them with you.

Communing with Great Mystery

In this last of my blogs on the Native American Wisdom Tradition, I have chosen to share beautiful prayers from this tradition. I have found that the prayers that come to us from the great Wisdom Traditions of the world, because they come from the heart and soul, can move us to that mysterious place where, in spite of all our differences, we are one with the One. It is a place beyond words, a depth far greater than all the more surface beliefs and practices that have too often divided people from each other. In this place of humble and profound, listening Silence, it is possible to experience that Mystery to which the words of prayers are no more than signposts. Yet, as such, they can be helpful. I hope they are for you who read these words,

whoever you are, wherever you may be.

(These prayers are taken from a book I recommend to you, entitled The Gift of Prayer: a Treasury of Personal Prayer from the World's Spiritual Traditions published by Continuum)

Grandfather,

Look at our brokenness.

We know that in all creation

Only the human family

Has strayed from the Sacred Way.

We know that we are the ones

Who are divided

And we are the ones

Who must come back together

To walk in the Sacred Way.

Grandfather,

Sacred One,

Teach us love, compassion, and honor

That we may heal the Earth

And heal each other.

(Ojibway prayer)

Today I will walk out,

today everything evil will leave me,

I will be as I was before.

I will have a coool breeze over me.

I will travel with a light body.

I will be happy, and nothing will hinder me.

I walk with beauty before me.

I walk with beauty behind me.

I walk with beauty above me.

I walk with beauty all round me.

My words too will be beautiful.

(Navaho prayer)

O our mother the earth, O our father the sky,

Your children are we, and with tired backs

We bring you gifts that you love.

Then weave for us a garment of brightness;

May the warp be the white light of morning,

May the weft be the red light of evening,

May the fringes be the falling rain,

May the border be the standing rainbow.

Weave for us this garment of brightness

That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,

O our mother the earth, O our father the sky.

(Tewa Pueblo prayer)

O Great Spirit of our Ancestors,

I raise my pipe to you.

To your messengers, the four winds,

and to Mother Earth who provides for your children.

Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other

so that they may grow with peace in mind.

Let us learn to share all the good things that you provide for us on this Earth.

(A Native American Prayer for Peace)

Condensed Wisdom

Proverbs are time honored wisdom in highly condensed form.

They express the hard won wisdom of the people and culture which have created them, and they are effective because they are based on keen observation of human nature and behavior, and the society and world which are their context. A good way to understand the soul of a people and their wisdom tradition is to become acquainted with their proverbs.

Today's words of wisdom from the Native American tradition are from a collection of proverbs contained in a lovely little book I recommend to you, entitled "The Soul Would Have No Rainbow if the Eyes Had No Tears" by Guy A. Zona. I am sure you will find them vivid, memorable, and well worth pondering, as I have.

Know that we are eager to share our gifts in the name of love. (Seneca)

Treachery breaks the chain of friendship, but truth makes it brighter than ever. (Conestoga)

Lying is a great shame. ((Sioux)

Let no one speak ill of the absent. (Hopi)

Listening to a liar is like drinking bad water. (tribe unknown)

Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins. (northern Cheyenne)

One foe is too many and a hundred friends too few. (Hopi)

Do not hate or wrong your neighbor, for it is not your neighbor you wrong, but yourself. (Pima)

If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. ((Minquass)

There is no death, only a change of worlds. (Duwamish)

All religions are but stepping stones back to God. (Pawnee)

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.

Don't walk ahead of me, I may not follow.

Walk beside me that we may be as one. (Ute)

Creation is ongoing. (Lakota)

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. (Cherokee)

If you are as wise as a serpent, you can afford to be as harmless as a dove. (Cheyenne)

The smarter you are, the more you need God to protect you from thinking you know everything.

(Pima)

Listen to the voice of nature, for it holds treasures for you. (Huron)

When you move away from nature, your heart grows hard. (Lakota)

Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it. (Arapahoe)

All dreams spin out from the same web. (Hopi)

It is no longer good enough to cry peace. We must act peace, live peace, and live in peace.

(Shenandoah)

There can never be peace between nations until it is first known that true peace is within the souls

of human beings. (Oglala Sioux)

Be satisfied with needs instead of wants. (Tenton Sioux)

Rituals must be performed with good and pure hearts. (Hopi)

We are all one child, spinning through Mother Sky. (Shawnee)

Sharing and giving are the ways of God. (Sauk)

When you have a talent of any kind, use it, take care of it, guard it. (Sauk)

There are many ways to God. (Arapahoe)

My response:

Great Mystery, Source of all wisdom, wherever it is found,

may the wisdom of these proverbs live in my mind and sink into my heart

that I may live as wisely and well as those who have passed them on to us.

Amen.

Sharing Secrets

Because most Native American tribes and cultures had an oral rather than a written spiritual tradition,

a great deal of their wisdom has been lost, and most of what has been kept is in bits and pieces, and has not been widely known. It has only fairly recently,( in the last century or so, and especially the past few decades,) been captured in writing and made available to the general public in this way.

To me, one of the great tragedies of American history (and world history, for that matter) is the lost opportunity the white race (Europeans) had when they discovered this continent to live here in harmony with the many Native American peoples already here. Instead of engaging in relationships of mutual respect and learning, the great majority of settlers were guilty of discounting, disinheriting, displacing, and destroying much of the culture and wisdom of the many tribes who lived here. Many of their children were taken away and forced into "Christian" boarding schools where they were forbidden to use their native tongue or practice their own spirituality.

It was not until the 1970's that Native Americans were given the full right to practice their religion===in this country where freedom of religion was meant to be a basic right for all who lived here.

Fortunately, fragments of Native American spiritual wisdom have somehow survived, and can now be shared with the world. Today's readings are examples of the special wisdom available to any of us who are open to it.

A long time ago the Creator came to Turtle Island and said to the Red People, "You will be the keepers of Mother Earth. Among you I will give the wisdom about Nature, about the interconnectedness of all things, about balance and about living in harmony.

You Red People will see the secrets of Nature. You will live in hardship and the blessing of this is you will stay close to the Creator. The day will come when you will need to share the secrets with other people of the earth, because they will stray from their spiritual ways.

The time to start sharing is today.

(Don Coyhis, Mohican)

Note: Turtle Island is the name many tribes gave to North America.

We were religious people from our mother's womb.

From the moment she recognized the fact of conception to the end of the second year of life,

which was the ordinary duration of lactation, the mother's spiritual influence counted for most.

Her attitude and secret meditations were such as to instill into the receptive soul of the unborn child

the love of the "Great Mystery" and a sense of kinship with all of creation.

(Ohiyesa, Santee Sioux)

We loved to worship.

From birth to death we revered our surroundings.

We considered ourselves born in the luxurious lap of Mother Earth,

and no place to us was unworthy.

(Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux)

Can things go well in a land where freedom of worship is a lie, a hollow boast?

To each nation is given the light by which it knows God,

and each finds its own way to express the longing to know and serve God.

If a nation does not do what is right according to its own understanding,

its power is worthless.

(Thunderchild, Plains Cree)

Treat the earth well.

It was not given to you by your parents,

it was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,

we borrow it from our children.

(anonymous ancient proverb)

We also have a religion which was given to our ancestors,

and has been handed down to us, their children.

It teaches us to be thankful,

to be united,

and to love one another.

We never quarrel about religion.

(Red Jacket, Seneca)

First, you are to think always of God, of Wakan Tanka.

Second, you are to use all your powers to care for your people

and especially for the poor.

(Black Moon, Hunkpapa Sioux)

Strength is not the only thing we must have in the world,

and in a person or nation, it is of little use without wisdom.

(Chacopee, Yankton Sioux)

And to close this blog---a Cherokee blessing for us all:

May the warm winds of heaven blow softly upon your house.

May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there.

May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows.

And may the rainbow always touch your shoulder.