You know the expression: beauty is in the eye of the beholder? This immediately raises the question, how clear is my vision? The gospel lesson begins with the phrase: “The lamp of the body is the eye.” A lamp throws light so that we can see. Our eye allows us to see. So, when we open our eyes we let a flood of light into our consciousness. We need light to see, and not just external light but also internal light, that light which is our perception of reality or how we understand what we see. The gospel goes on to say “if that interior light is darkened, what darkness that will be!” That darkness could be cynicism, fatalism, defeatism, fear, depression, disillusionment, or despair, whereas, the light could be joy, beauty, appreciation, expectation, enthusiasm, peacefulness, optimism, encouragement, and hope. The gospel phrase is a poetic way of talking about how we see the world. And how we see the world has an enormous impact on how we live our lives.

In today’s gospel, we are being asked to see the world with God’s eyes rather than our own.

God, the creator of the universe and all it contains including all aspects of the human condition.

God, who through the holy spirit is “everywhere present and fills all things.”

God, who loves all and forgives all and gives all as a free gift. It is that perspective that we are called to adopt.

This does not mean that we should put on a pair of rose colored glasses and imagine that everything is great even as the house is burning down! Its does not mean that we live in denial when we get the news that we have a terminal disease. Rather, it means that as we pass through this life, we are able to meet whatever comes our way without panicking because we have faith that God will provide what we need. None of us will complete the journey of this life without running over many bumps in the road. We will also experience great joys and satisfactions.

The gospel then goes on to say if the eye is sound your whole body will be filled with light. Sometimes it translates “sound” as “singular”, which can mean singularly focused on the light, which is God. If we are one with God’s light then we begin to see with God’s eyes. And we are always free to let that light in or to pull down the shades. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What do we let in and what do we filter out?

A few months ago a neighbor lost their small prefab home in a fire. Recently that home was replaced with what appears to be a prefab building that is much larger than the one that burned down. As it turned out, their insurance covered the cost of the replacement and the replacement was secured via an auction at a reduced price. So, the bad economic times, actually benefited this elderly couple. I do not know how they approached this disaster-turned-boon, but it shows that good can come from what appears to be bad. In the face of problems we can throw up our hands in despair or we can search for alternative possibilities.

Searching for possibilities implies work on our part. Sometimes this gospel can be interpreted as telling us that God provides so we don’t need to do anything. After all, it seems to say the birds do nothing and the flowers do nothing yet God provides for them. This is not really a true understanding of that passage. The birds, for example, have to do a lot to care for themselves and their young. They do what they do naturally, according to the gifts God has given them. We as humans need to do the same.

In this gospel the evil is not work but anxiety. And at the root of anxiety is a lack of faith and trust. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, anxiety is all about control. Whose in control of our life anyway? If we think we can rely on no one, especially not God, then we will be forever worrying about “what am I to drink or what am I to wear.” If we have faith, then the urge to worry dissipates. We know that God will help us through whatever crisis we are facing. St. Peter also exhorts us to have no fear in the face of persecution, remembering that our hope is in Jesus Christ. And Isaiah calls for “shouts of joy … since the Lord has consoled his people” and in the midst of destruction God speaks of rebuilding. This is the beauty God beholds.

This gospel always reminds me of Mad Magazine and Alfred E. Newman’s famous line: “What, me worry?!” Christ says: “Oh you who have so little faith, do not worry.” We have been listening to a series of talks on Radical Self-acceptance by Tara Brach and in passing she told the old Jewish Mother joke in which the mother writes to her son: “Start worrying: details to follow.” How we see the world affects how with live our lives. If we begin with the premise that things are bad and can only get worse, then we will live in a way that fulfils that expectation. On the other hand, if we approach every moment in life as pregnant with possibilities, if we choose to see beauty around us and not just decay and litter then we will begin to see the world as God created it to be.

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Beatitudes Is 43:1-7, Ac 5:27-42, Mt 5: 1-12 June 13 09

Thoughts of a Nun

To be human is to listen to the rest of the world with a tender heart, and to learn to live with our arms open and our souls seared with a sense of responsibility for everything that is. Any human who does this is surely a saint. How do we become this kind of human as we celebrate all the saints today?

Most scripture scholars agree that the sermon on the Mount containing the beatitudes is a collection of the teachings of Jesus done over a much longer time than one sitting down and opening of his mouth. This sermon is the concentrated memory of many hours of heart to heart communion between the disciples and their master. Delving into the meanings of these blessings from today’s gospel would certainly cause us to be fully human if we could understand them the way Jesus meant them.

How much of this concentrated teaching of Jesus do we understand? How do we understand it?

For instance, the poor in spirit are not those who are destitute. Material poverty is not a good thing. Jesus would never have called living in slums or on the streets and not having enough to eat a blessed condition to be in. One aim of Christianity, even of just humanity, is to eliminate that kind of poverty. The poor are blessed because having realized their own helplessness, have put their whole trust in God to lead them. They are living in the Kingdom of God, wanting to do what God wants of them. The Evangelist Matthew wanted to make sure his listeners did not think being poor financially meant an automatic ticket to the kingdom of God.

In the next Blessed, the Greek term for Mourning means the greatest of grieves one might have. Such as for a very dear one who has died. Another way of saying this is: Blessed are those who are intensely sorry for the sorrow and the suffering in this world. Undoubtedly it also means blessed are they who are sorry for their own sins and failings. The joy of forgiving and of being forgiven is the greatest of comforts. The essential kindness of our fellow human beings reaching out also shows us the comfort and compassion of God.

Aristotle defined meekness as the middle between excessive anger and excessive angerlessness. It is the happy medium between too much and too little anger.
A rule of thumb for this type of meekness could be to not get angry over insult and injury done to oneself but be only right to be angry at injuries done to others. Another understanding, perhaps a better one, of meekness is lofty –heartedness meaning a true humility which banishes all pride. Without this humility a person cannot learn, for the first step to learning is the realization of our own ignorance. This humility or awareness of our own ignorance allows for a certain kind of gentleness in our approach to life.

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness, in other words, goodness. In the time of Jesus there were those who would literally die because of no food or water. Even today there are places where this is so. It is not our condition or state but if it were, do we value goodness as much as we would value food or drink if we were starving or dying of thirst? Most of us have an instinctive desire for goodness. Are we prepared though to make the effort and sacrifices real goodness requires? Think what the world might be like if we desired goodness more than anything else.

The Lord’s prayer; “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” and “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy” seem almost synonymous and are pretty clear in meaning. In looking up some of the words in the Greek though, the meaning of mercy (Chesedh) means the ability to get right inside the other person’s skin so that we see, think and feel as that person does. We are able to experience what the other is experiencing. Think how much easier it would be to understand, to sympathize, even forgive and be kind in a helpful way if we were experiencing what the other was experiencing. In a sense, did not God do just that? In Jesus God became human, being able to see things, feel things and think things as a human.

To be human is to listen to the rest of the world with a tender heart, and to learn to live with our arms open and our souls seared with a sense of responsibility for everything that is. That is what Jesus does. He has shown us the way. We don’t have to go to other countries or nations. Be this kind of human to the person next to us. Let us continue pondering these teachings and learn how to live them as the saints did, each of us in our own way.

Christ is in our midst!

Mt6:22-34;1Pt 3:13-22;Is49:13-19 [28June09]

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