Practice What You Preach...

I found the following Zen Koan this morning..on a Yahoo group called the Now2...where I am a member....mainly a lurker. 

"The priest Sung-yan said, 'Why does the enlightened man not stand on his feet and explain himself?' And he said, 'It is not with the tongue that you speak."

Which reminded me of a quote I have saved on my computer

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

And another quote by Emerson....thrown in as a bonus (found via google, of course)

When the eyes say one thing and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first.

And another...also by Emerson...

Go put your creed into your deed.

And while we attribute the "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary" to St. Francis of Assisi...he did not actually say it...but did say something very similar....

"Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds."

and to wrap up this rabbit trail post...St. Jerome said it very concisely:

 'Why do you not practice what you preach?'

More about vain imaginations....

In the comments section Jack tied together our "vain imaginations" with the cherubim who guard the tree of life. Coincidentally, the small Wednesday night Bible Study I am a part of is studying Genesis...and that is the chapter we read last week.  I have some thoughts rattling around in my head...but no time to actually put them into a post this morning.  I have been doing a bit of web surfing...or research as I sometimes call it...at some of the major Bible Study sites on the internet.  Blueletter Bible, Studylight, Bible Gateway...and a few others. 

Since I am running late, I am simply going to copy/paste some verses here that I've been pondering.  Several are more renderings of 2 Corinthians 10:5 in other translations.  A few are from other places in the Bible.  Comments welcome...and encouraged. 

2 Corinthians 10:5

 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)AMP

These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts' desire is obedience to Christ.  (TLB)

For we overthrow arrogant 'reckonings,' and every stronghold that towers high in defiance of the knowledge of God, and we carry off every thought as if into slavery--into subjection to Christ; WEY

And a few other verses from other places in Scripture....

Romans 1:21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Acts 4:25-26, “Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.”

Jeremiah 7:24, “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.”

Hebrews 4:12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the R7 breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

Comments welcome on these verses too....

It Comes From a Different Place....

The following quote...which loosely ties in with the quote from yesterday...is from the Starcke interview.

Nowadays when I say to people that "my guidance" tells me something, they ask what I mean by that. I say it's like any other thought, but it comes from a different place inside of me.

The intuition is infallible, and learning to pay attention to it has changed my life.

I like this line...It's not a thought I think; it's a thought I hear. I've heard those thoughts too. The still, small voice?  Sometimes when I am fuming at someone...totally pissed....out of the blue, I am aware of at least some aspect of their point of view.  I've even said...aloud....to God, "I don't care.  I'm still mad!!!" 

I've got to be careful "listening" to the voice...because I have to discern whether it is the voice of God within...or the voices of my vain imaginations that seem to be a part of my genetic makeup.  I come from a long line of worriers, fretters and stewers.  I am the Princess of the Worst Case Scenario (my mom is the Queen) and the "what if" questions often flood my brain.  About my kids, about finances, about everyday situations, about global strife, the economy, the year 2012, my health. 

I have a routine medical test coming up.  Well, it should be routine.  I put it off until there were a few issues that prompted me to make arrangements right away.  I think, perhaps, in the past, I might have let my imagination get the better of me.  Strangely, I am not really freaking out or anything.  Dreading it yes...but not imagining every nuance of a worst case scenario outcome. 

A few years ago, I had a pap test that came back abnormal.  I had been having other problems for quite a while so my doctor ordered a D and C...under general anesthesia.  I fretted.  I was scared to death.  Keith reminded me of the verse that talks about casting down vain imaginations and taking every thought captive.  He gave it a different spin as in the vain imaginations just might be those "gloom, despair and agony on me" thoughts that were running rampant in my head.  He also sent me a really great prayer at work...via email. It helped a lot. 

The verse that talks about vain imaginations is 2 Corinthians 10:5.  Following are a few renderings from several different translations. 

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;  (KJV)

Putting an end to reasonings, and every high thing which is lifted up against the knowledge of God, and causing every thought to come under the authority of Christ; (BBE)

When we pull down, calculations, and every height that uplifteth itself against the knowledge of God, and when we bring into captivity every thought unto the obedience of the Christ, (Emph)

And with its characteristic "tell it like it is" translation style, The Message says the following...

We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. (MSG)

This post (surprise, surprise) kind of meandered off topic.  More on this tomorrow...

 

Answers From Your I AM Self...

The following quote is from the daily devotional section on

William Starcke's web site:

September 1 SEE YOURSELF AS I SEE YOU

Pray for yourself as though you were praying for someone else. Stand aside and see yourself and your problems as though your human-self is someone who has called you for help. Ask yourself questions and then listen to the answers that your I AM self gives you. See your Christ self observing your prayers in the same way a parent would observe a child’s prayers. When you can stand aside and see your human-self through the eyes of your own higher consciousness, you will see that humanly you have nothing to fear. Greater love hath no man than that he can see his humanity through the eyes of his divinity.

So what do you think? 

One thing that piqued my interest was:

Ask yourself questions and then listen to the answers that your I AM self gives you.

It reminded me of an experience Frank Laubach talks about in Letters By A Modern Day Mystic.  He was walking up to the mountain....where he went every day to meditate and pray...and suddenly, God was talking to Frank...using his own mouth, his own voice.  Frank's lips were moving...but God was SPEAKING.  Not all of this quote resonated...but it is an interesting quote.  It gave me something to ponder.....

Practical Mysticism—Humanity’s Next Step

I think it was on EU where someone recently posted an interview with Walter Starcke entitled Practical Mysticism—Humanity’s Next Step

Truthfully, I've never heard of Walter Starcke before.  I was vaguely aware of some of the books he's written...simply from seeing them over the years in bookstores etc.  He is the author of Joel Goldsmith and I, It’s All God, The Third Appearance, The Double Thread, The Ultimate Revolution, The Gospel of Relativity, and Homesick for Heaven.  You can read his rather amazing bio HERE. 

What drew me to this interview is the practical mysticism theme that has captured my attention of late...the in the world but not of the world kind of thing.  There are several intriguing quotes in this interview that I will probably elaborate on (more views from the peanut gallery) Also, on his web site, he has a year's worth of daily devotionals.  They are short and to the point....about a paragraph each.  As I "leafed through" the daily selections for September, some resonated...some did not but they all piqued a thought, a question or an opinion.  I will probably comment on a few of those over the next few posts as well. 

Right now, however, I have some everyday of the world household chores to do, errands to run and if I can really motivate myself...make it to the gym (for a change) 

More on this....upcoming....in my usual sporadic, here, there and everywhere fashion.  :)

Focusing Our Hearts and Minds

annie posted the following quote...written by Henri Nouwen on EU a while back...
Focusing Our Minds and Hearts
How can we stay in solitude when we feel that deep urge to be distracted by people and events? The most simple way is to focus our minds and hearts on a word or picture that reminds us of God. By repeating quietly: "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want," or by gazing lovingly at an icon of Jesus, we can bring our restless minds to some rest and experience a gentle divine presence. This doesn't happen overnight. It asks a faithful practice. But when we spend a few moments every day just being with God, our endless distractions will gradually disappear.

What I took note of was the mention of "gazing lovingly at an icon of Jesus." This is so similar to the excerpts I posted from Frank Laubach's,"The Game of Minutes" ...where he makes similar suggestions. Frank talks about using icons of Jesus....pictures...imagining him walking beside us...."including him" in our conversations. 

I wrote quite a bit about Frank Laubach a month or so ago.  Although "The Game" seems to be a frivolous title, this man very much walked the path of the mystics....but was never so metaphysical that he was (as annie says) of no earthly use.  He was a Christian missionary to the Philippines and founded (through adversity) a reading system called "Each One Teach One" and worked for worldwide literacy his entire life.  He has several books and one (available on line) is called "Letters By a Modern Day Mystic" which chronicles his year in the Philippines.  He was alone because his wife and one remaining son, Robert, were in the States while Robert regained his health.  He and his wife lost three of their children to malaria.

During this time, he tried to devote his every waking moment to communion with God....while continuing to work his butt off doing his missionary duties.  The results amazed even him.  It seemed almost hokey when I first read it...almost the antithesis of the "spiritual path".....more akin to something you might hear on the 700 Club....yet here is Henri Nouwen saying the same thing!!

This also reminds me of an artist I came across a few years ago.  I don't think I've posted anything about him here on this blog but I was immediately drawn to his work. His name is Nathan Greene. His art depicts every day scenes with everyday people in every day situations....with one exception....Jesus is visible in the pictures.  Sort of a visual of Laubach's suggestion of imagining Jesus walking beside us...imagining him sitting in on our conversations with others, etc. etc. Check out his website....which has many, many inspirational pictures under headings such as

Family

Scripture

Professional

Kingdom

This post is intended as an (re)introduction to a series of posts on every day mysticism. I wrote quite a bit about mystics but then got distracted and wrote about other assorted, varied and diverse topics. I have a few posts planned...actually written down on an outline of sorts.  That is something new since I usually fly by the seat of my pants as far as what I write about.  I doubt if the "but I digress" posts will stop popping up here and there...but I think God just might plant those out of nowhere ideas for impromptu posts in my head for my edification and my education.  Perhaps I pass a bit of that along as I write. I learn so much in my internet "research."

Well, today is a busy day..and as much as I would like to sit here on the couch, laptop perched on my lap...surfing endlessly...writing and reading and pondering...real life calls me.  Have a great Saturday!!!

Home To My Own Backyard

Well, in this post, I'm going to finally get back to...and wrap up....the series on Christian Buddhism.  I think I may have written about this topic prior to this series, but this particular time debra posted an article on EU entitled Buddhism strengthens ties to church and that captured my attention again.  It began with a post about the article...and then meandered into a discussion of Merton and his view of Christian Buddhism...then to a few posts about an interview with Thomas Keating.  These ponderments and musings can be found here. 

The following excerpt from the article expresses one of the main themes I wanted to get across...

Search can lead back home

People are hungry for a deeper spiritual experience — meditation, mindfulness, personal transformation, deep insight, union with God or the universe.

Habito, who calls himself a Zen Catholic, is one of the experts who say the search is a little like Dorothy and her ruby slippers. The quest for meaning ultimately leads some, like Dorothy, to their own backyards.

And that is where it leads me every time. There is certainly a thrill when I hear his voice in other sacred writings/practices/beliefs because it gives me a little bigger glimpse of his vastness, his hugeness, his everywhereness.  There is no where that he is not!!  But, the profound thing for me is that when I hear his voice...when I find him....in other faith traditions, verses from the B-I-B-L-E immediately come to mind!!  For me the Bible contains the deepest revelation of God. 

Following are two quotes by John Hicks..a guy who started out as a Christian Universalist and then went on to embrace a much more inclusive pluralistic view of religion

But there is something else important to be said before I finish. There is a valid sense in which, for those of us who are Christians, Christianity is the only true religion, the only one for us. For we have been formed by it. It has created us in its own image, so that it fits us and we fit it as no other religion can. And so for most of us who are Christians it is the right religion, and we should stick with it and live it out to the full. But we should also be aware that exactly the same is true for people formed by the other world religions. They also should stick with the religion that has formed them and live it out, though in each case gradually filtering out its ingrained claim to unique superiority.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So the bottom line, I am suggesting, is this: we should live wholeheartedly within our own faith, so long as we find it to be sustaining and a sphere of spiritual growth, but we should freely recognize the equal validity of the other great world faiths for their adherents, and we can also be enriched by some of their insights and spiritual practices. We should not see the other religions as rivals or enemies, or look down upon them as inferior, but simply as different human responses to the divine reality, formed in the past within different strands of human history and culture. And we should seek a friendship with people of other faiths which will do something to defuse the very dangerous religious absolutism that is being exploited in almost all the conflicts going on in the world today. To support religious absolutism is to be part of the problem which afflicts humanity. But we can be part of the solution by setting an example of transcending that absolutism.

Perhaps more on this tomorrow.....