PAGE: 1
DATE: 10/19/2018
TIME OF RUN: 2:16 PM
TITLE: “Let Go and Let God”
SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 33:14-16 & Luke 21:25-36
WHEN I HEAR THE WORDS OF THE BPROPHET JEREMIAH SAYING THAT “JUDAH WILL BE SAVED AND JERUSALEM WILL LIVE IN SAFETY” I CAN’T HELP BUT TO THINK OF THE CONTEMPORARY AND CONSTANT BATTLE BEING FOUGHT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE.
I CAN’T HELP BUT TO THINK THAT THINGS HAVEN’T CHANGED MUCH OVER THE YEARS.
YOU SEE, JEREMIAH SPOKE ALMOST 3000 YEARS AGO, WHICH MAKES ME WONDER, WILL THERE EVER BE A TIME WHEN JERUSALEM LIVES IN SAFETY?
CAN WE EVEN DARE TO HOPE FOR JUDAH (READ ISRAEL AND PALESTINE) TO BE SAVED FROM CONSTANT DEATH AND DESTRUCTION?
AND AS I ASK MYSELF THESE QUESTIONS I BECOME PAINFULLY AWARE THAT IN MY LIFETIME THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A SUSTAINED PERIOD OF PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ESTABLISHED A RULE OF JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE THE PROPHET PROMISED.
IT SEEMS THIS IS JUST ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF THE WISDOM OF FRIEDRICH HEGEL THAT THE ONLY THING WE LEARN FROM HISTORY IS THAT WE DON’T LEARN FROM HISTORY!
WHAT EXISTS IN THE LAND WHERE OUR CHRIST WAS BORN IS CHAOS.
THERE IS CHAOS NOW AND THERE WAS CHAOS THEN.
THE MESSIAH WAS AND IS BORN INTO CHAOS.
THE MESSIAH IS BORN INTO THE CHAOS IN MUCH THE SAME WAY THE SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERED OVER THE WATERY CHAOS AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND CREATED A UNIVERSAL ORDER.
ACTUALLY – TRUTH BE TOLD – THE MESSIAH IS BORN FOR THE CHAOS, AS A WORD OF WISDOM THAT HOVERS OVER THE FRIGHTENING UPHEAVAL SEEKING TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT.
BUT WE HUMAN BEINGS ARE SO TERRIBLY BAD ABOUT LISTENING TO THE PROPHECY AND ACCEPTING THE GIFT OF THE MESSIAH.
WE LIKE THE CHAOS.
IT’S COMFORTABLE TO US.
WE ARE SO RESISTANT TO ORDER AND DISCIPLINE AND GROWING UP.
WE WANT TO FOREVER STAY CHILDREN WHO GET WHAT WE WANT WHEN WE WANT IT.
WE GET OURSELVES STUCK IN THIS WIN/LOSE MINDSETOF YOUTH, AND END UP MISSING THE POINT OF THE MESSIAH ALL TOGETHER.
THE MESSIAH IS OUR HOPE BECAUSE HE TEACHES US HOW TO GROW UP AND LIVE TOGETHER IN PEACE AND IN LOVE AND IN HARMONY.
THE MESSIAH TEACHES US, EVEN IF THE CHURCH DOES NOT, THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT PERFECT AND WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE PERFECT.
WHAT WE ARE, IS RELATIONAL AND ON A JOURNEY OF GROWTH.
WE MAKE MISTAKES, BUT BEING IMPERFECT MEANS WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES.
AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT WE NEED ONE ANOTHER AND WE NEED THE LOVE OF GOD.
NOW, IN THE PROCESS OF LEARNING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY I LEARNED THAT WHAT A PERSON FOCUSSES ON BECOMES OUR REALITY.
AND WHAT I DISCOVERED IN REAL LIFE IS THAT THIS IS, INDEED, VERY TRUE.
IF I LOOK AT A SITUATION AS IF THE GLASS IS HALF EMPTY, INVARIABLY I FEEL NOTHING BUT HOPELESSNESS.
THE PROBLEM IS TOO BIG –THE PAIN IS TOO GREAT – THE CONFLICT TOO DEEP AND THAT FRUSTRATION BECOMES MY REALITY.
BUT IF I LOOK AT THAT SAME SITUATION AS IF THE GLASS IF HALF FULL THEN I CAN FEEL THE PRESENCE OF GOODNESS AND OF GOD AND MY SENSE OF HOPEFULNESS INCREASES A HUNDREDFOLD.
ANY PROBLEM CAN BE SOLVED – HEALING IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE – WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY TO SMOOTH OUT ALL THE ROUGH EDGES OF A DISAGREEMENT AND THEN THIS PLACE OF PEACEFULNESS BECOMES MY REALITY.
AND MY FEELINGS ABOUT THE CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE A HUGE CASE IN POINT!
WHEN THINKING ABOUT THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL WE CAN BOTH READ THE NEWSPAPERS AND LISTEN TO THE RADIO BROADCASTERS, OR WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THE NUMEROUS PLACES WHERE PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE WORKING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.
BUT EACH OF THESE SOURCES SPEAKS A VERY DIFFERENT REALITY.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE AS MY OWN REALITY?
ON NOVEMBER 21ST OF THIS YEAR DAVID KIRKPATRICK AND JODI RUDOREN WROTE AN ARTICLEFOR THE NEW YORK TIMES ABOUT THE CURRENT CEASE FIRE BETWEEN HAMAS AND ISRAEL.
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT WAS IN THEIR ARTICLE:
“NEITHER SIDE RETREATED FROM THREATS TO RESUME THE CONFLICT IF THE DEAL FELL THROUGH, AND BOTH SAID THEY HAD ONLY RELUCTANTLY AGREED UNDER INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE.
IN A TELEVISED NEWS CONFERENCE, PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU OF ISRAEL DECLARED THAT SOME ISRAELIS STILL EXPECTED ‘A MUCH HARSHER MILITARY OPERATION AND IT IS VERY POSSIBLE WE WILL BE COMPELLED TO EMBARK ON ONE.’”
THIS QUOTE FOCUSSES ON THE CONFLICT – NOT THE RESOLUTION.
THEY SEE THE GLASS AS HALF EMPTY.
AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE READ THIS AND BELIEVE IT AND FEEL TOTAL HOPELESSNESS ABOUT THAT ONGOING CONFLICT.
TO THEM IT SEEMS JERUSALEM WILL NEVER LIVE IN SAFETY – JUDAH WILL NOT BE SAVED.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE I KNOW.
HER NAME IS ANN BRADNEY.
SHE IS AN EXTREMELY GIFTED CORE ENERGETICS PRACTITIONER AND THE DIRECTOR OF A CORE ENERGETICS GROUP IN CALIFORNIA CALLED RADICAL ALIVENESS.
SHE IS THE FOUNDER AND DEVELOPER OF THE RADICAL ALIVENESS APPROACH IN WHICH SHE CREATES A SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO GO DEEPLY INTO ALL OUR TRUE FEELINGS – NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE – THUS BECOMING MORE RADICALLY ALIVE TO OURSELVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US.
I’VE STUDIED WITH ANN AND SEEN LIVES TRANSFORMED BECAUSE OF HER COURAGE IN CREATING SAFE SPACE FOR THE TRUTH TO BE SEEN AND HELD AS A HEALING AGENT.
WHEN I FOUND OUT ANN WAS GOING TO BE DOING WORK WITH PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST I REALLY SAT UP AND PAID ATTENTION.
I WANTED TO HEAR WHAT A “GLASS HALF FULL” VIEW OF THE MIDDLE EAST WOULD SOUND LIKE.
ON ANN’S BLOG FROM MARCH OF 2011 SHE WRITES ABOUT BEING THE GUEST OF AN ORGANIZATION CALLED “BEYOND WORDS” AS SHE TRAVELS THROUGHOUT ISRAEL AND PALESTINE HELPING MOSTLY WOMEN TO BECOME RADICALLY ALIVE AND LOVINGLY OPEN TO ONE ANOTHER.
ON HER BLOG SHE SAYS, “MOSTLY THE THING THAT'S AMAZING ABOUT COLLABORATING WITH BEYOND WORDS IS SEEING PEOPLE COMING FROM SUCH DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW--REALLY WANTING TO BE TOGETHER, LOVING EACH OTHER, BEARING WITNESS TO OTHERS' DEEP WORK.”
AND THEN LATER SHE SAID THIS: “AFTER WORKING WITH FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS IN A ROOM AND FEELING THEIR FEAR, PAIN, AND EXALTATION, THEY REALLY CAN'T LOOK AT SO-CALLED ENEMIES IN THE SAME WAY.
THIS IS A BIG PART OF THE “BEYOND WORDS” MISSION: TO GET THESE WOMEN IN CONNECTION WITH EACH OTHER, TO REALLY GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND TO MOVE BEYOND DIFFERENCES OF CULTURE, RELIGION, AND POLITICS.
ONLY THEN CAN WE FIND THE PLACE OF COMMONALITY, WHERE WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS.”
IN ANN’S WORDS I HEAR THE HOPE.
JERUSALEM WILL LIVE IN SAFETY – JUDAH WILL BE SAVED – THE MESSIAH IS BEING BORN IN THE CHAOS.
WITHOUT BEING AN OVERTLY CHRISTIAN PERSON ANN BRINGS ME TO THE HOPE THAT GOD LONGED TO GIVE BIRTH TO IN THIS WORLD THROUGH JESUS THE MESSIAH.
THIS IS MY REALITY.
IT’S THERE, BUT WE HAVE TO WORK TO FIND IT.
AND I BELIEVE IN MY HEART OF HEARTS THAT WE HAVE TO WORK TO FIND IT BECAUSE OF A SERIOUS MISREADING OF THE BIBLE.
WHEN WE READ OR LISTEN TO THE PASSAGE I JUST READ FROM THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, FAR TOO OFTEN WE LISTEN WITH EARS THAT CAN ONLY HEAR CONCRETE DETAILS RATHER THAN THE DEPTH OF A MYSTERIOUS AND MYTHICAL METAPHOR OF REALITY.
JESUS WAS NOT SAYING THAT THERE WILL BE A PHYSICAL CHANGE IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE SUN AND THE MOON AND THE STARS AND THE ROARING OF THE SEA.
JESUS SAID WHAT HE SAID BECAUSE HE WANTED US TO FEEL THE CHAOS THAT IS ALWAYS WITH US.
HE WANTED US TO KNOW ON A VERY RUDIMENTARY LEVEL THAT WE DO NOT HAVE CONTROL.
WE WILL NEVER BE FREE OF THIS SENSE THAT WE WANT CONTROL OF THE OUTCOME OF ANY GIVEN SITUATION.
AND THIS IS CRAZY THINKING ON OUR PART.
THIS IS CHAOS.
WE DO NOT HAVE CONTROL.
ONLY GOD HAS CONTROL.
SO IF WE REALLY STOP TO THINK ABOUT IT, ALL OF THE CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST – BOTTOM LINE – HAS TO DO WITH A FEARFUL GRASPING FOR POWER AND LAND.
IT IS ALL ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS TRYING TO BE IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING WHEN ONLY THE POWER OF GOD AND GOD’S LOVE CAN EVER BE IN TOTAL CONTROL.
WE CREATE THE CHAOS BY NOT TRUSTING IN GOD’S LOVE.
AND LIVING IN THE MIDST OF THIS CHAOS PROBABLY FEELS LIKE THE VERY SUN, MOON, AND STARS ARE SHIFTING BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMONIUM.
IT MUST FEEL LIKE THE POWER OF HEAVEN HAS BEEN SHAKEN.
AND IF WE FOCUS ON THE CHAOTIC NEED TO CONTROL IT DOES, INDEED, BECOME OUR REALITY.
BUT IN ORDER TO DO JUSTICE TO WHAT JESUS IS SAYING HERE WE MUST GO ON TO THE NEXT METAPHOR.
THE NEXT THING JESUS TALKS ABOUT IS THE LEAVES SPROUTING FROM THE FIG TREE.
THIS IS THE HOPE.
THIS IS THE GENTLE, SLOW, METHODICAL MOVEMENT OF THE SPIRIT THAT CAUSES US TO GROW OUT OF THE CHAOS OF CONTROL AND INTO THE CALM OF GOD’S GRACIOUS EMBRACE.
THIS IS A FEELING OF PATIENCE AND HOPE THAT IS NOT OVERWHELMINGLY EXCITING, BUT RATHER DEEP AND SOLID – THE WORD STEADFAST COMES TO MIND.
JESUS SAYS, “HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS WILL NOT PASS AWAY.”
THE CONSTANT SPROUTING OF TRUTHFUL AND LOVING RELATIONSHIPS THAT JESUS TAUGHT US HOW TO HAVE IS ALWAYS THERE.
WHEN WE LOVE AND TRUST DEEPLY ENOUGH TO ALLOW GOD TO BE IN CONTROL RATHER THAN US AND OUR NARCISSISTIC NEEDS THEN THE FIG TREE WILL GROW AND BLOSSOM INTO THE REALM OF GOD.
AND THE CHAOS WILL BE GONE.
AND THE END OF TIME AS WE KNOW IT WILL BECOME REALITY.
IF ANN BRADNEY’S BLOG WERE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES RATHER THAN THE INFLAMMATORY REPORTS OF COMPETING JOURNALISTS THIS WOULD BE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD TO LIVE IN.
IF WE WERE BARRAGED BY THE MESSAGE OFLET GO AND LET GOD IN THE SAME WAY WE ARE BARRAGED BY THE ONGOING MESSAGE OF VIOLENCE ALL AROUND THE WORLD, I CAN GUARANTEE WE WOULD CHANGE OUR FOCUS AS A PEOPLE, THEREBY EMBRACING A WHOLE NEW DIVINE REALITY.
AND IF YOU THINK I AM TALKING INNOCENT BABY TALK, JUST TRY IT SOMETIME.
TRY TO TRANSFORM YOUR REALITY BY SEEING OUR WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF GOD’S DESIRES RATHER THAN YOUR OWN NEEDS.
TRY TO LOVE THAT RELATIVE WHO IS A RADICAL REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT AND INSISTS UPON FORCING HIS/HER OPINION ONTO YOU.
TRY TO SEE THE GRACE IN THAT PERSON WHO DOES NOTHING BUT CRITICIZE YOUR EVERY ACTION.
TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH OF FEAR ON THE PART OF THE POOR AND UNDER-EDUCATED PEOPLE OF OUR WORLD.
AND THEN TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE HEIGHT OF ANXIETY ON THE PART OF THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN OUR WORLD WHO HAVE CLAWED AND SCRATCHED THEIR WAY TO THE TOP.
TRY TO WALK A DAY IN THE SHOES OF ANOTHER PERSON – ESPECIALLY A PERSON YOU DISAGREE WITH VEHEMENTLY.
THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL YOU BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH MORE COURAGE IT TAKES TO RELATE TO A PERSON EYEBALL TO EYEBALL THAN IT IS TO PRESS A BUTTON THAT RELEASES A BOMB OF DEATH ONTO PEOPLE WE KNOW ONLY AS “ENEMY.”
THE MOST DIFFICULT WORK OF THIS LIFE IS THE WORK OF LOVING RATHER THAN HATING.
I KNOW, BECAUSE IT IS A DAILY STRUGGLE FOR ME.
LIKE MOST OF YOU I WAS RAISED TO THINK IN TERMS OF WHO’S RIGHT AND WHO’S WRONG…
WHO’S IN AND WHO’S OUT….
WHO’S GOOD AND WHO’S BAD…
BUT THE CALL OF JEREMIAH TO LOOK TOWARDS A TIME OF JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT THAT CLEAR – NOT THAT BLACK AND WHITE – NOT THAT EASY.
GROWING BEYOND HOW I WAS RAISED TO BE HAS MEANT OPENING MYSELF TO THE WILL OF GOD AND THE SPROUTING OF NEW LIFE THAT HAPPENS THERE.
GROWING BEYOND HOW I WAS RAISED TO BE NOW MEANSBEING OPEN TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND BEING COURAGEOUS AND HONEST ABOUT KNOWING EXACTLY WHO I AM AND WHAT GOD CALLS ME TO.
GROWING BEYOND HOW I WAS RAISED TO BE MEANS PATIENTLY AND HOPEFULLY FOCUSING ON THOSE TINY LITTLE PLACES WHERE GOD IS BRINGING JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS INTO THE CHAOS OF THIS WORLD – AND GOING THERE TO BE WITH GOD!
YOU SEE, THERE IS ALREADY HOPE IN THIS WORLD IF WE CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON IT.
GOD IS ALREADY WORKING IN AMAZING WAYS IF WE CHOOSE TO JOIN GOD.
COURAGEOUS AND WONDERFUL PEOPLE LIKE ANN BRADNEY EXIST ALL OVER THE PLACE IF WE ONLY SCREW UP OUR COURAGE TO GO OUT THERE AND MEET THEM AND JOIN THEM IN THESE ESCHATOLOGICAL TIMES.
THEN, AND ONLY THEN, WILL THE METAPHORICAL JUDAH BE SAVED AND THE UNIVERSAL JERUSALEM LIVE IN SAFETY.
ONLY WHEN WE MAKE THAT MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM WHERE WE LET GO AND LET GOD…
ONLY WHEN WE ALLOW THE CHRIST CHILD TO BE BORN IN US…
ONLY WHEN WE CHOOSE LOVE OVER HATE….
THEN, AND ONLY THEN, DOES OUR REALITY COINCIDE WITH GOD’S REALITY.
MAY IT BE SO FOR YOU AND FOR ME.
AMEN!