So what
to do? Two things, it seems to me. At least two. Use up each day. Fill it overflowing with good. Deliberately enjoy it. Two, begin now. Mend a fractured friendship, mail an overdue letter, repair a broken heart, lay aside a grievance, act on a noble impulse. As we all know, the night cometh. - Lanny Henninger (How about it?)
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Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum
June 6: 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CDT
Topic: TBA
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Acts 18:1-8; Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
Jn 16:16-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
"A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me."
So some of his disciples said to one another,
"What does this mean that he is saying to us,
'A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,'
and 'Because I am going to the Father'?"
So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he
speaks?
We do not know what he means."
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
"Are you discussing with one another what I said,
'A little while and you will
not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me'?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become
joy."
Reflection on the Scriptures
The idea of Christ's crucifixion at the hands of fearful, jealous leaders is a painful one, but the additional imagery of angry, hateful mobs cheering and joyful at his
torture and death is nothing short of heartbreaking. This is not how the world "should work"; it's not how loving and kind humans "should behave". I would prefer to see us as our better angels - that we would rather reflexively, instinctively recoil when we see images of this sort today. Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins, so I guess that in the big picture, yes, we could get away with lacking compassion, or spewing hate toward others. But Jesus Christ taught us
to love one another: to be compassionate and giving and kind. I pray that when we see instances of 'man's inhumanity toward man' that we NOT turn our faces away, nor rejoice, but rather that we, like the Disciples, weep and mourn, but then go out to do God's work in spreading the love of Christ and actively working for change. It's a big ask in a tough world, but my childlike heart still hopes that we'll try. Amen. by Kimberly Grassmeyer
Psychic Energy and Contemplation by James
Arraj From St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. J. Jung, Part III, Chapter 7. Inner Growth Books, 1986. Temptations and Contemplation St. John likens the period of sensible spirituality to the flowing of sweet spiritual water which the beginner tastes "wheresoever
and for as long as they desire"(16). However, there are essential limitations to how much water can come through the natural faculties which are conduits and pipes that bring it from afar. Contemplation, on the other hand, remedies this situation by making the water spring up in the very midst of the soul without the need of the efforts of meditation. The transition, though, can be very difficult and traumatic: "When they are going about these spiritual exercises with the greatest delight and pleasure, and when they believe that the sun of Divine favour is shining most brightly upon them, God turns all this light of theirs into darkness, and shuts
against them the door and the source of the sweet spiritual water which they were tasting in God whensoever and for as long as they desired."(17) It is as though the maximum water is being transported by the system of meditation, and when even greater demands are put upon it, it fails. If it did not fail, all
the energy and effort that is bound up with it would not be released and made available in preparing the soul for what is to come, and the beginner would not realize his radical inability in achieving contemplation. Adaptation has broken down and a creative tension arises, hopefully out of which a new balance will come. This tension marks the whole period of the night of sense which is the period of initiation into contemplation.
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