The sermon today was only partly about Mother's day. Nor was it only about Julian of Norwich (whose day it had been this week) & Christ our mother (a theme in her work). No, it was about how we are worthy because we are accepted by God & not accepted because we are worthy. God doesn't condemn us and therefore we should not condemn ourselves or others. All will be well.
A blog I read recently was about the Zen-like property of compassion. We reduce the world's suffering both by relieving our own & by reducing that of others by example. Others see us reduce our suffering and learn that there is a better way; they are encouraged. We share with them that we suffer also (I did this today) and that there is hope. It is heartening to suffer with someone & then work your (both of you) ways through it.
I am reading St John Climachus' the Ladder of Divine Descent, to which the step refers. I cannot begin to do the book justice. A few quotes will have to suffice...
"Violence & unbending pain are the lot of those who aim to ascend to heaven with the body, and this especially at the early stages of the enterprise, when our pleasure-loving disposition and our unfeeling hearts must travel through overwhelming grief toward the love of God and holiness. It is hard, truly hard."
Elsewhere he compares the process like going through surgery (back then--no anesthetic).
"When the soul betrays itself, when that initial happy warmth grows cold, the reasons for such a loss ought to be carefully sought and, once found, ought to be combated with all possible zeal, for the initial fervor has to turn back through the same gate through which it had slipped away."
There are three types of monks: spiritual athletes, those who share a life of styles with one or two others, and those who live in community. It's not for everyone. One should find circumstances & method that suit them.
Just a few things I encounters on this day. One last thing: to love your neighbor as yourself in any meaning sense, you must love yourself.
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