Spiritual Things Matter

The Anchoress is having a retreat. There will be no talks of politics for an entire week. She says this:

…..the purpose of this retreat is pretty much the same purpose as any other retreat – it is the mindful and voluntary creation of time and space, into which one steps, as through a portal. Like a portal, it is meant to take you somewhere outside of the ordinary, day-to-day worries, concerns, duties, obsessions, have-to’s and compulsions. It is a reclamation of the “self” we tend to expend in too-great measure every day. In “giving up” as much of “the world” as one can reasonably do, for a limited time, we may re-order our priorities, re-discover what is really important in our real lives. Often our daily routine tends to corrupt our view, so that we begin to believe we need some things to survive – that we need to check in on the news 5 times a day, we need to answer some snarky remark in an internet forum. During this retreat time, I would urge you to resist the urge to follow your ordinary blog-reading/news-reading patterns, to step away from the computer as much as possible and consider that the time you would normally spend online might be better spent snoozing in the hammock, taking a walk, visiting a neighbor or picking up an old, discarded hobby.

Elizabeth Scalia, also known as The Anchoress, is the author of “Caring for the Dying” as well as many other articles that you can find on the internet. She is a gifted writer who is able to provoke one to really think about important issues. The Anchoress is a very passionate as well as compassionate person and her writings so very often reflect just that. If she disagrees with someone, she is able to write about it with dignity and respect and without lowering herself to the use of written vulgarities. Please do go visit her site this week as there will be many schools of thought and appreciation for those things that we deem precious and valuable in our lives. It is the spiritual path which we choose for ourselves.

Beauty is truth, truth is beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. ~John Keats (1819)

What is truth? Where is truth to be found? How do we go about finding truth? What is beauty? Who can make the assumption to label something “beautiful”? These are questions that will haunt an individual that desires to understands the meaning of “truth” to its fullest.

Truth is fact and yet the truest and purest form of truth is something that cannot be measured. It is beyond our knowing and beyond our understanding. Time and again we see that something has been discovered or invented, only to find out a short while later that it has become obsolete because even greater truths have been found and better inventions have been made.

The search for truth is a continual cycle of growth – expanding far beyond what it started out to be. One of the most dangerous things a human being can do is to become arrogantly certain of their “knowledge”… no matter what field they are in. In one blink of a moment that knowledge can prove to be false, incomplete and vastly limited. The greatness of a human being is not in what he knows but in who he becomes. The human mind is astonishing and yet most of us only use such a minute part of it, never understanding its full capacity. Feel free to watch this amazing clip, as well as this short clip.

One of the silliest things we can do, in my opinion, is to make sweeping and unequivocal statements about who God is, what one should believe and how one should worship. Some religions and denominations have damaged so many people because of their harshness, condemnations and their insistence on strict adherence to man-made rules and regulations and ideologies. In many instances, love plays little or no part in the “business of church,” and “religion”. Yet, it stands firm and true that love still remains and always will remain the most powerful force to effectively and permanently change the heart of a human being.

God is beauty and truth in absolute perfection. As a kaleidoscope, each tiny twist reveals yet new dimensions, new profundity of expressions and new shapes and colors of beauty and truth. So it is with Deity. No matter how one desires to do so, God cannot and will never be able to be explained. The closer that one comes to the light of truth, the more it is realized, it is of a certainty that He/She/It, is nothing at all like what one had previously thought. His multi-faceted and multi-dimensional being is beyond our human comprehension and it is in that realization where absolute truth and beauty are found.

Each person can find beauty in their own, very intimate and personal journey.

One might find beauty in the wings of a butterfly or the fluttering of a hummingbird. Another might find it in the strokes of a great painter or the form of an exquisite sculpture. One might find their beauty in the absolute harmony of musical notes orchestrated to perfection and the graceful dance of a ballerina, while another finds it in the dimensions of architecture or the words and lyrics of poetry and songs. Then there are those who embrace beauty in the simplicity of nature with its array of colors in landscapes, flowers, mountains, and the seas. Certain personalities will even embrace a new culture which is different from his own. He admires their simpler way of life and strives to understand it…as well as himself.

However one meets beauty matters only when it is certain that the encounter of beauty has enriched their reality of truth. Embracing that which deeply speaks to us will often pierce through this linear world of ours and touch the world of the unknown. It grabs ahold of our hearts and with certainty we can know that life is still fuller, still greater than ourselves and our, so very limited, views.

When a human being truly encounters beauty and truth, it will prove to be a mystical and deeply spiritual experience for them, far removed from what so many call “religion.”

Only a life lived for others is worth living. ~ Albert Einstein

As a new book, “Come, be my light,” has been published on Mother Teresa, and some of the letters she wrote have been made known to the public about her own feelings of despondency and spiritual depression, there have been those that have criticized her intensely. I have given Mother Teresa a great bit of thought and I remain one who can only bow in honor to her for the commitment and the work that she has done. She has been a remarkable light and a true example of faith.

Dear lady of Calcutta, you have clothed yourself in humility to serve the lowliest of the low. You have understood that in doing so, you would align yourself with the very work that Jesus came on this earth to do. There was not one that was too low for Him, not one that could not be touched, not one that could not be healed, and not one that could not be forgiven.

It was in your intense desire to please the One who had called you that you were willing to abandon yourself completely, throwing yourself upon the heart of the One with whom you had deeply fallen in love. Your convictions were strong, your vision was fixed, and there was nothing that could stand in your way.

It was in comforting the lonely that you brought love’s hope. It was in clothing those that were naked, that you gave dignity untold. It was in kissing the lepers that you took away so much shame. It was in loving the orphans, that new possibilities paved the way. And, it was in your deep humility that the least of them were made great.

Most men fear the ugly, the unwanted, the ones that are the “burdens” of this world, but you, beloved lady of Calcutta, were willing to look darkness in the eyes. Your courage brought insurmountable love and comfort to those who have never felt the warmth of kindness and peace. Many were born and re-born, for the first time, hearing and feeling God’s tender and merciful love.

Dear lady of Calcutta, no one knew how much pain you carried with you. The darkest night of the soul is painful beyond words. As you cried out in agony and wondered where the One you loved so deeply, had gone, no answers where there. No signs of comfort, no warmth of love. Every ounce of strength remaining went to the poor, without any blame at all. You simply kept smiling and kissing, you kept touching and giving.

Oh, dear lady of Calcutta, around the world you have left a legacy and a powerful and tender display of humility. You are loved and cherished in men’s hearts. Your work has not been in vain, not been in vain at all. It carries on – bringing hope to those that are poor in spirit, bringing love to those who feel so unloved.

Through your faith and faithfulness, you have transcended into greater love – God’s divine love. Your vision was truly a reality!

Thank you, beloved lady of Calcutta, for the gift that you have left behind.

Is forgiveness needed – as we find our path?
Is the pain imagined?
No, I can’t applaud!
Yes, indeed, all is illusion
but we do live in this world, you see.
Our pain is real to each of us
till we grow beyond that veneer.
Each step we take is experienced
as yet another stage in life.
As we expand our thinking
our hearts will then arrive.

Yes, forgiveness is needed for ourselves,
since we only see in part.
Forgiveness is needed – for others
to bind our hearts.
Forgiveness is needed
to learn of Love in greater depth.
Forgiveness is needed
as humanity does cry for it.

No greater example -
as the Christ who lived on this earth.
As he hung suspended
between heaven, earth and sin,
He cried out – with what strength remained:
“Oh God, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Oh God, forgive them,
their blindness and ignorance let’s undo!
Oh God, forgive them,
I Love them, oh, so very much!
Oh God, forgive them,”
then He took His very last gasp.

The earth was dark in silence
as righteous shame was felt.
Our Holy God – just – Gave His Son
To forgive us, yet He still descended – to greater depths.

ALL is forgiven – nothing ever changes that!
ALL is forgiven.
His work is done.

We now can rest!

Viola Jaynes
2007