Tibetan proverb; With a stout heart, a mouse can lift an elephant.
The cave that you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek. Joseph Campbell.
Welcome my wonderful brothers and sisters. Todays painting is entitled. If you cant dance stay off the floor.
I cannot dance particularly well and so take no offense when asked to stand back and give the floor to those who can. Its a joy to watch the dancers do their their thing and I can applaud for all creation!
I dedicate this blog today to the great German Christian mystic John Tauler.
John was a Dominican friar and mystic. Like Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso, who he probably met, he believed that a soul could spend its time with God even while here on earth. It took real spiritual discipline, of course, and he gave some practical suggestions for that.
First of all, he recognized that mankind is steeped in sin. It takes God`s grace to overcome it. But we can prepare our hearts for that grace. He suggested that one way of getting closer to God was to turn away from everything that is not simply and purely God. This was quite a different emphasis that the Reformation would later give, when it taught that all things are to be used and enjoyed because created them for us.
This though for me is the stumbling block for many a fat bishop, who is was seen to ignore the wailing's of hungry barefoot children living homeless in the street, by retorting, "this is Gods will, for if it wasnt so, He would not allow it to happen." The same can be said of Hindus who do not help the poor as they say its the fault of their own bad karma from a previous life.
Yet God is more often with the poor, even though he will accept the occasional invitation to dine with the rich. Jesus said that however you treat the least of my people, you treat me!
Because in the school of the Spirit man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying. Forsake that which man values, follow Jesus and get your rewards in the next life.
I have noticed that we havent got the full picture (of my painting produced yesterday!) that these were taken from. It seems that the shot wasnt taken for some reason which my conscious mind does not recall and the subconscious is keeping quiet on this one.
Moving on.
I have since 5am been looking at the Great Christian, John Tauler, his writings and understanding of the greatness of God.
The Book "Theologica Germanica" was thought by some
to have been written by Tauler,
TAULER'S WORDS
"Our Lord is still making this reproach (that of ac
cusation of being incredulous and having
hardness of
heart) every hour of the day, because of the unbeli
ef and hardheartedness of men the whole world over.
More especially, He reproaches the religious, wheth
er they are
members of canonically instituted Orders
or religious of congregations...these the Lord
reproves.”
"The Lord reproves these people for being incredulo
us and hardhearted. If only they could be brought to
the point where they would accept reproof, recognis
e their hardheartedness, then perhaps a remedy
might be found, and they might acknowledge their gu
ilt. St. James says that faith without works is dead.
"Our Lord reproves them for their hardness of heart
. Children, this is a terrible thing
that these souls
whom God has called to himself should have...lost all
taste for Divine things.
Other things they find so attractive, so easy, so
enjoyable, but towards God their hearts
are as
stone (and quoting from Jeremiah he goes on to say)
"They have forsaken me, the fountain of living
water, and have digged for themselves cisterns, bro
ken cisterns that can hold no water. The cistern
becomes putrid and foul smelling. Who are these peo
ple? They are the religious who have utterly
abandoned the living waters, so that in their soul
there is hardly a flicker of light and life, but only
external things. There they remain, held back
by their way of life, which is entirely concerned
with the senses, and with externals
...nothing springing from the depths of their own
hearing.
It is nine am and time for my second meditation and also prayers for myself and you my wonderful brothers and sisters. Spend some time, even at the very least 2minutes in stillness and silence without thought. Then you can know love in its pure form.
Blessings and love to you all.
From your brother and friend of Jesus Christ and all the saints,
Peter G Kimble
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