Tag Archive | Jesus

“Father Forgive Them”

Jan25

Today’s blog revisits the topic of forgiveness and offers tools when even the desire to forgive feels outside of our grasp.

 

 

Revisiting Grief

This weekend, grief decided to make a reappearance.  The grief that paid me a visit is the grief of loss as is related to perceived betrayal.  On the highest and most profound level, I know that betrayal is not really possible.  Another person does not have the power to betray me, hurt me or deprive me of love.  But, since I have not yet achieved the fullness of enlightenment, Buddhahood, or Christhood, it often feels as if they do.  So when I was reminded of what I might perceive as betrayal or harm to me at the hands of another, I found myself wrapped in the cloak of my inner victim, seething with hurt, rage, even hatred.  I wanted to lash out in revenge.  Scream my rage.  “Make them pay.”  Fortunately I think I know better…..maybe.

Setting Aside Old Behaviors

In the past, if I felt hurt or betrayed by another, I simply wrapped a cloak of resentment and hatred around me so that I would not have to feel the pain of loss.  My first inclination when grief decided to pay me a visit this weekend was to indulge this impulse.  But now after 20+ years of inner work, I have come to understand how unproductive and potentially hurtful these defense mechanisms of hatred and resentment have been to me and to my ability to be open to healthy intimate relationships.  I knew I needed to set aside my defense mechanisms of hatred and resentment, be present to the pain, grieve the loss and be open to another layer of forgiveness.  Ha….my defense mechanisms had other plans it seems.

Calling in Reinforcements

I tried, I really did.  I tried to be understanding.  I tried to be hospitable.  I tried to stand in compassion.  I tried to allow myself to grieve.  I tried to be forgiving and let go.  But when Tuesday came around and I was still being chased by my demons of resentment and hatred I knew I needed to call in some reinforcements.  So while being attentive to my yoga practice Tuesday night, seething in anger, I prayed.  First I tried a mantra.  Then I tried to engage the practice of Tonglen.  Then I tried breathing.  Then I tried visualization.  I tried everything in my arsenal of spiritual practices, but instead of relief, all I felt was more rage.  Then somewhere between the in and out breath, in the middle of Sun Salutation A, I heard a tiny voice in my head that said, “Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing.”  I immediately recognized this as Jesus’ words on the cross.  While Jesus was hanging on the cross, being spit at, harassed, tortured, these were his words for his tormentors.  Did Jesus feel betrayed, angry, hurt, disappointed, despairing….YOU BET…..and in the face of this, when he was perhaps incapable of offering forgiveness himself, he asked it of God.  I heard these words and realized the powerful healing balm inherent in these words.  I immediately embraced these words as my mantra and in doing so, I felt an enormous amount of relief.  My hatred and anger subsided and I began to find peace.

Outside our Reach

What I realized is that sometimes (ok, maybe often), forgiveness is totally out of our reach.  I wanted to be compassionate, loving, forgiving….but found I could not.  I guess I’m still human.  And, when forgiveness is outside of my reach, there is a source that I can turn to that can accomplish the forgiveness for me.  And, in turning that which needs forgiveness over to this loving Source that I call “God” and Jesus called “Abwoon”, there is relief.  So today, I continue to offer these words in regards to the perceived betrayal,  “Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing,” and enjoy the relief of knowing that God is taking care of it.

What hurts, losses, betrayals are you still grieving?

Where are you struggling to forgive these losses?

How might Jesus’ words help you to surrender this forgiveness to God, inviting God to help you through that pain?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Baptizing Reiki

Jan16

Dear Readers,

I just received my first independent and professional review of my latest book, Christouch – A Christ-centered approach to energy medicine through hands-on healing.  The book was reviewed by Patrick Killough (http://www.patrickkillough.com).  Patrick’s website bio has this to say about him:

THOMAS PATRICK KILLOUGH (“Patrick” or “Pat”) is a writer, lecturer, consultant and teacher. His interests include citizen inputs into foreign policy, education, religion in public life and the history of the League of Nations and the United Nations.

I am grateful for Patrick thorough and comprehensive review of the Christouch book.  Here is just a sample of what he has to say:

“As a pioneering effort to Christianize Eastern Reiki and related hand healing alternative healing techniques, Lauri Ann Lumby’s CHRISTOUCH treads a path gone along before her by Saint Augustine when he integrated the Gospel with the thinking of pagans Aristotle, Plato and Plotinus or when Saint Thomas Aquinas unearthed and baptized the core of Aristotle in the writings of Muslim Avicenna and Averroes. Whatever its flaws (if any) in terms of Roman Catholic orthodoxy, CHRISTOUCH is a bold original attempt at cross-cultural, religions-spanning framing of Reiki and her energy healing sisters — which boast  plenty of anecdotal evidence that they work. If it is any consolation to the author, even Saint Thomas Aquinas, if memory serves, was once excommunicated by an Archbishop of Paris.”

I invite you to read the review in its entirety through this link, http://www.patrickkillough.com/books/lumby_christouch.html and then feel free to share it with others!

Thank you Patrick and readers!

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Direct and To The Point

Jan11

Today’s blog says it all…..there is not much else we need to know about the Jesus message than this!

 

 Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:

“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

Mark 1: 15

Pretty much says it all.  The time of fulfillment is NOW!!!!!   The kingdom of God is NOW….right here in our midst, and it might even exist within us (not in some heaven light years away or in some galaxy far, far away, and only to be attained after we die.).  Return your focus (repent) on the Divine as the center of who you are and the center of your life.  And BELIEVE!

Where do you recognize the kingdom of God in your very midst, right here, right now?

How are you being invited to re-focus your gaze, your intention and your attention on the Divine Source that lives within, among and all around us?

What are the obstacles to you believing that the kingdom of God is NOW, and that it might even be housed WITHIN you?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Feed My Sheep

Jan6

Today’s blog explores the topic of “Divine Call.”  How do we know what we are called to do in this life and how do we respond?

Ok, So Maybe I’m Weird!

For as long as I can remember, I have had a profound sense of purpose.  I felt like I was supposed to be doing something – specifically something that would help other people and have some sort of positive impact on the world.  Perhaps I felt his sense of purpose because of the time in which I was born – 1965 to be exact.  I was born too late to be a hippie, but that didn’t keep me from wanting to be a part of “The Revolution.”  Maybe it was because the first song I ever remember hearing was “The Age of Aquarius” which continues to be my all-time favorite song and the song that has been the guiding principle of my life :  Harmony and Understanding, Sympathy and Trust Abounding… Then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars.  Really, who doesn’t want that?  Maybe it is because I was raised Catholic and encouraged to believe in the magical, mystical, mysterious and impossible (you know, like turning bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ).  Or maybe I’m just plain weird and a little delusional.  At any rate, I have always believed I was put here to facilitate change and to work toward bringing more peace, love and harmony to our planet.  This belief, I have learned, was the beginning of what I would now call a “Divine Call.”  I have also learned, that this “Divine Call” is not unique to me, in fact, each and every human being on this planet is here to do the work of the Divine…..if we would only take the time to be quiet enough to hear what that call might be and courageous enough to break through the obstacles that might otherwise prevent us from living that out.

Bricks Can Fly Baby!

For me, the revelation of Divine call began with impatience, frustration and restlessness.   I found that I could never be satisfied in corporate America and went from job to job to job trying to find fulfillment and satisfaction.  Needless to say, I got nothin.  So, one day, in a fit of frustration I poured my anger out to God.  “What the heck am I supposed to do?  I went to college for four years for this?  I’m not making any money.  I hate my job.  Please tell me what the heck I’m supposed to be doing.”  The answer came in the form of a red brick that flew through the air and hit me square between the eyes.  Not literally, but it sure felt like it.  I can still hear Fr. Jeff’s voice ringing in my head, “If there is something you’ve always wanted to do and you haven’t done it….get off your ass and do it now!”  (PS  He really did say “ass”….he is a really cool priest!)  That brick led me into seven years of advanced education and formation in theology, pastoral ministry, adult faith formation and spiritual direction, and empowered me to enter active ministry within the Catholic Church where I worked for nearly 10 years.

Feed My Sheep

As my ministry work continued to grow and expand, I found that the Catholic Institution was too small to hold the expansive sense of the Divine that I had come to understand and that had been revealed to me in my prayer, meditation, contemplation and life experiences.  I found that as I tried to live out this sense of an expansive God within the Institution I kept hitting the wall created by doctrine and Canon Law.  So, apparently it was time to go.  So, I left, but I did not leave my faith or my relationship with Jesus behind.  In fact, in another moment of “Divine Revelation,” while sitting in quiet contemplation Jesus himself took me by the hand and led me down a long hallway.  At the end of the hallway was a door which he opened and invited me to enter.  I stepped through the doorway and before us stood a multitude of people….too many to count.  As I looked out on this sea of people, Jesus gestured toward them and said to me, “Feed my Sheep.”  I fell to my knees in humble awe over this invitation.  It is this encounter with Jesus and his words of invitation “Feed my Sheep” that has guided my ministry for the past seven or so years.  And it is this invitation that I respond to as we launch the Authentic Freedom Ministries’ Sunday Service this coming weekend.  I don’t know where it will all lead, or even what exactly it will look like, but I know that it will be about nourishment – giving those who attend the tools through which they can find the spiritual nourishment they crave while empowering them to come to know the Divine that lives within their own hearts, to know themselves more fully and to begin to explore what their own Divine Call might be.

Where are you feeling restless, bored, impatient, unfulfilled? 

How might that be the beginning glimpses of Divine Call?

How are you remembering love and living that out in your life in service to humankind?

 

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Resolutions, Intentions and Vows

Jan5

As a rule, I do not make New Year’s resolutions.  Resolutions can be broken and are too easily bargained away.  I do, however set intentions and goals for the coming year and this year, in addition to my intentions and goals, I felt called to make a Spiritual Vow.  A vow, is a promise that we make to ourselves and to that which is beyond us, what I call “God.”  A vow is like an intention, but in my mind, is more binding, more permanent, has more bang for the buck.  Through our Spiritual Vow, we enter into a covenant relationship in regards to our life’s vocation which is related to the unique way we are called to reveal Love in the world, to be a source of healing and comfort for others and to be of service to the world for the betterment of humankind.  This is my vow for 2012 (and beyond):

Under the blessing and guidance of my teachers,

Jesus, called Christ and Miriam, called Magdalene,

I, Lauri Ann Lumby, allow myself through my own

unique giftedness to freely, humbly and generously

be a vessel through which Divine Love (Agape’)

is known in this world.  

What spiritual vow are you feeling called to make for the coming year?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Reflections on Christmas

Dec25

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2: 1-14

On this holy day of Christmas, we celebrate the day that God’s love was birthed into our world.  Jesus of Nazareth came to know that his natural state was love and lived out that love fully, freely and generously, thereby acting as a catalyst through which others could come to recognize the Divine love that resided within themselves.  Through Jesus’ presence, his teachings and his healing touch, people were healed, transformed and empowered to live that love fully.  On this holy day, you are invited to ask yourself:

How am I being called to remember the love that I am and live that out in the world?

Merry Christmas!

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Questions About Forgiveness

Dec16

Today’s blog focuses on the question posed by a reader:  “I understand the concept of forgiveness but have a hard time practicing it.  Any suggestions?” 

Seven Times Seventy Times

Being a firmly entrenched and committed Irish grudge-holder, I certainly have no idea how to answer the question about the practice of forgiveness.  The good news is that my guru and teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, had something to say about it.  When asked how often we should forgive, Jesus replied, “Seven times Seventy times.”  I don’t believe that this was offered as a commandment but simply as an observation as to how difficult and challenging the whole journey to forgiveness really is for us pea-brained humans.  In my own journey, I have found this to be true.  The journey toward forgiveness is hard work, challenging, requires sincere intention and discipline.  If we really want to forgive and to be freed from the hurts we perceive ourselves to have received from another, we have to want it.  In my own practice (and that is exactly what it is….practice, practice, practice) with forgiveness, there are a few tools that I have found to be helpful:

1) Grieve the loss – Allow yourself to FEEL the pain of the loss, the hurt, the betrayal.  Be present to all the faces of grief that might show up – sadness, depression, anger, denial, bargaining.  Feel it and be present to it.  Give yourself permission to wallow in your victimhood…to be the martyr, to be the scorned lover or forgotten friend.  But….DON’T STAY THERE!

2) What unhealed fears of your own were triggered in the hurt?  Take time to identify the unhealed fears in yourself that were triggered in the loss, hurt or betrayal:  The fear that there is not enough, that you have nothing to contribute to the world, that you cannot be your most authentic self, that you are not loved, that you are not free to express your truth, that your needs will not be met, that you do not know your truth or your path, that you are alone.

3) Take time to be present to allowing the unhealed fears/wounds within yourself to be healed….. Seek support through a Spiritual Director, Counselor, bring these unhealed wounds into your meditation and prayer, ask for Divine assistance.

4) Place yourself in the shoes of “the other.”  This is the hard part:  explore what unhealed fears/wounds in “the other” might have caused them to act in a way that you perceived as being hurtful.  Once you think you have identified the unhealed wound or fear, pray for their healing, hold them in loving kindness, circle them with the idea of love.

5) NOW WAIT Another challenging stage…..because this is the stage that reminds us that we ARE NOT in control.  The moment in which true forgiveness takes place is God’s alone.  It is not something that we can make happen.  It is a moment of pure and unmerited GRACE.  This is the place where miracles happen, where we suddenly realize we are free of the burden of resentment, grudge-holding, hurt, etc.  It is in this place where we can move forward in our journey, freed of the past wounds that would otherwise hold us back or simply repeat the same patterns.

Two Supportive Spiritual Practices for Forgiveness

All that being said, there are two additional tools that I have found to be incredibly helpful in being open to and moving through the practice of forgiveness.  One from the Buddhist tradition and the other from the Aramaic Jesus.

1) Tonglen – is a spiritual practice that comes out of Tibetan Buddhism.  I have adapted this practice and applied it to the spiritual practice of forgiveness and experienced miraculous results.  (for more on this practice, see The Wheel of Initiation by Julie Tallard Johnson pgs 248-250)  In regards to forgiveness, we acknowledge the negative feeling we hold against “the other”‘ (anger, hurt, anxiety, resentment) and we breathe that feeling into our heart.  Then, we breathe out love toward the person we perceive to have caused us harm.  Breathe in pain, breathe out love.  It is as simple as that.

2) The Aramaic Lord’s Prayer  In the English translation of the Lord’s Prayer, we have a phrase about forgiveness, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  This incomplete translation implies our need for Divine forgiveness. In the Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, this phrase takes on whole new meaning.  It reminds us that the need to be freed of our trespasses is ours alone and that God can help us find that inner freedom.  From this perspective, it is no longer about sin and retribution, but about our human need for harmony within our intimate relationships and our inherent limitations to achieving this on our own.  The phrase in Aramaic is:

Washboqlan khaubayn(wakhtahayn) aykanna daph khnan shbwoqan l’khayyabayn

And can be understood to mean:

I invite the Divine to loose the cords of mistakes binding me, as I release the strands I hold of others’ guilt.

When I really get caught in the journey of forgiveness, I invoke the Aramaic words of this phrase as a mantra and let God do the rest.

One Final Thought:

And one final thought as it applies to forgiveness (my apologies because I cannot remember the source of this quote), a definition that I have found to be helpful:

Forgiveness is releasing our judgment of another’s actions. 

Humbling to be sure, as this whole process of forgiveness.  In the end, my advice to all of us…..just keep practicing!

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Faith

Dec2

Today’s blog asks more questions than offers answers……so, let’s talk about faith baby! 

Scary Gospels

Jesus says something really scary in today’s gospel reading.  (Matthew 9: 27-31).  When approached by two blind men who asked for Jesus’ healing, he asks them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They respond, “Yes.”  Then here were Jesus’ scary words, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”  Oh oh.  My first thought was, “What if their faith is imperfect?  What if they waver for just a moment?  Does that mean they will only receive a partial healing?”  YUK!  I sure wouldn’t want to be the poor guy who doubted for just a second and only partly got my sight back.  Again, YUK!

Scarier Pop-Culture “laws”

If you have seen any of the materials out there on the so-called “law of attraction” or “the secret” or have read books or attended seminars by certain authors, this is their very position.  We only receive that which we have 100% belief in.  In other words, what we have in life is 100% reflective of how we think and believe and if we don’t have “what we want” it is because we didn’t have enough belief or because we thought the wrong thoughts.  I totally agree that our thoughts, our beliefs, our perceptions and perspectives are somehow reflective of our lives.  However, even as a recoverying perfectionist who likes to carry the blame for everything good or bad in my life, it feels like an enormous burden to have to carry ALL the responsibility for our life circumstances.  I consider myself to be a woman of significant faith and yet, I do not have the $1million house on the lake neither do I have the red Volvo station wagon (or 1963 split window hardtop Corvette) of my dreams, and I’m certainly not pulling in six figures.  And if I look back on all the things I’ve had “faith” about and seen them fall short of my desires and had no one to blame but myself for these “failures,” I just might end up suicidal!

The Loophole

I certainly don’t know everything…but I can’t believe that God is really that cruel.  If in that last moment before Jesus laid his hand on him, the blind man had just a flicker of doubt (because he is human for God’s sake!), I can’t imagine that God would deprive him of the complete healing that he desired and believed that Jesus could accomplish.  There has to be some sort of allowance for our humanness….because let’s face it, we are a doubtful people.  So here is what I think….that God’s intention and God’s knowledge of what is in our highest good overrides “the law of attraction,” “The secret,” and our wavering faith.

Our Job

So, our job then is to strive to have faith, and to recognize that in our humanness, we are imperfect and our faith will waver from time to time.  And it is here that we can pray for God to increase our faith as we offer these words, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”  AND…..”Let it be done to me according to your word.”  Because at the end of the day, God knows best and God does best and sometimes it is not in our highest good to have the $million house on the lake and it might be in our highest good to be completely cured of our blindness…regardless of our imperfect faith.

What role does faith play in your own life?

Where do you struggle with faith?

How can you invite God to help you with your faith?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Requesting Your Prayerful Support

Nov28

Birthing God in the World

Yesterday we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent.  This is the time in the Christian calendar when we prepare for the birth of recollection of Jesus’ birth.  It is also a time in each of our lives when we are invited to ask, “How is God calling me to birth Christ/Love/Peace/Justice/Joy in the world?  How am I being called to contribute to the building up of God’s kingdom of love in the world?”  For me, the answer has been made very clear as God has revealed a clear and precise plan for what I am called to birth on Sunday, January 8, 2012 (on the Feast of Epiphany and on the eve of the Full Moon.).  As I continue to ponder this call and the team that has been assembled toward this effort, all I can say is, “Lord, I am not worthy….but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

A Time of Reflection and Preparation

Traditionally, Advent is set aside as a time of prayerful reflection and preparation.  We are invited to meditate on scripture, reflect, pray, in essence, prepare our hearts to receive the fullness of God’s love (for Christians, Jesus is the representation of this love).  This weekend as I wrestled with my own demons of doubt and fear (around life in general, a sparce December professional calendar, and specific to this call), I suddenly remembered to bring these fears to God in prayer and this is what God said to me:

Lauri,

This has been a year of substantial loss, change and transformation and I am asking you to birth something new into the world in the coming year.  I am giving you this month to pray and to prepare.  Use this time to be in my Presence.  Use this time to create.  Use this time to make necessary preparations for that which I am calling you to bring forth into the world.  And know that in this time of sacred pause, all your needs will be met and your family well cared for.  Surrender to this time I am giving you. Trust in what I have shown you and know that all will be well.

Love,

God

So, apparently God is inviting me into my own Advent – a time of sacred pause.  While the financial ramifications of this “sacred pause” cause me a bit of trepidation, I know trusting in Divine guidance and surrendering to what God is giving me is the only path to my highest good and to the good of my family and to those to whom I minister.  So to God’s invitation, I say, “yes!”

Inviting Prayerful Support

I also know that in this time of sacred pause, I am not alone.  As such, I am taking the advice of some wonderful authors who recently fell into my lap: “Don’t forget to ask for people’s prayerful support when you are in need.”  So…..this is what I am asking of you.  I am inviting your prayerful support as I surrender to this time of sacred pause.  I am inviting your patience and understanding as I may be cutting back on blogging a bit.  And most importantly, I am asking for your prayers that I am able to surrender my fears and trust all that God has shown me and trust the promises that God has made to me during this time of prayerful Presence and preparation and that I remain rooted in humility as I respond to God, “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

Your Own Advent

I would also invite you to take time to be open to how God may be calling you to enter into your own Advent during this holiday season.  How is God calling you to birth God in the world?  How are you being called to be made ready for this call?  How are you being invited to create a sacred pause in your own life?  And know that as you hold these questions within your own heart, that I too hold you in prayerful support.

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Religious Arrogance and the New Roman Missal

Nov27

Warning:  If you are offended by challenges or questions aimed at religious authority, you might want to skip today’s blog.  Also, if you are attached to living your Catholicism to the letter of the law and consider questioning that law to be heresy, again, you might want to skip today’s blog.  Remember- I love my Catholic faith and it makes me sad when the Church does things that seem non-loving to me.

Shhhhhh….they think they are the only ones here.

There’s a really funny and potentially blasphemous story about a man who dies and is met at the gates of heaven by St. Peter.  St. Peter gives the man a tour of heaven so that he can decide where he wants to live out eternity.  The man, having never been brought up with any specific religious affiliation is amazed and intrigued by what he sees….individual rooms of people of differing beliefs, all living out their practices and beliefs.  In each room, the man finds something that appeals to him….meditation in the Buddhist room, rituals in the Hindu room, conversations in the Quaker room, prayer in the Muslim room, etc.  Then they come to the Catholic room and in the Catholic room are all the Catholics participating in the mass and saying the rosary.  The man inquires of St. Peter, “This room looks like it would be fun.  Who are these folks?”  Peter responds, “Shhhhhh…..these are the Catholics, they think they are the only ones here.”

Religious Arrogance

Now, I know I’m picking on the Catholic church in the telling of this story, because in truth, this story could be told with any specific religion as the punchline.  Religion, by its very nature tends to be about separation, pride, arrogance.  Just about every religious denomination can be accused of creating God in their own image and painting themselves into a corner of “We are better than you because…..”  (and just for the record…..I know that in even writing this blog today, I too could be accused of said arrogance.  I’m just owning that right now!)  And you know what, at the end of the day, I’m not sure if it really matters except when we use our religious arrogance to judge, condemn, harm or wage war against another in the so-called “name of our God.”  If we want to embrace differing beliefs, images, perceptions of the Divine based on our cultural and tribal customs….then so be it.  It is only when we choose to bludgeon another or make another less than ourselves that these chosen differences become problematic.

Allowing God to reveal God’s Self

One of the ways around the temptation to religious arrogance, is to allow God to reveal God’s self to us, instead of having God imposed upon us by an outside authority….or at the very least, to allow God to reveal God’s self to us and to weigh that against what might come to us through our religious affiliations and beliefs.  This is what Jesus learned and experienced in his own journey.  Jesus was raised and lived his life within the institution of Judaism.  God was defined and systemized by the religious authorities of the day, law was dictated and practices mandatory.  The God that was known was the God of Israel, the God of the chosen people.  Their God was the only God, the only right God and no one else found favor with God.  Jesus learned otherwise.  Through his prayer and his life experiences, Jesus discovered a God of compassion and a God that existed for the sake of the all.  In tomorrow’s gospel (Matthew 8: 5-11) we see Jesus live this out in his healing of the centurian’s servant.  The centurian, a Roman and an “enemy” of the Hebrew people comes to Jesus and asks Jesus to heal his slave.  Jesus is happy to oblige and offers to come to the Roman’s house to facilitate the healing.  The centurian responds, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and my servant shall be healed.”  And it is done.  Jesus is astounded by the centurian’s faith and reminds us that, “many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  In other words, “We aren’t the only ones there!”

The New Roman Missal and Lauri getting in trouble

Now, here’s where I’m going to get in trouble.  I find it ironic that this reading is featured during the very week that the Roman Church rolls out the new mass – a mass featuring the newly translated Roman Missal.  And, here I promise to keep my pontificating brief.  I have one primary issue with the new translation – The Roman Curia drawing the line in the sand and making it pretty clear through their words that they think they are the only ones in heaven.  Places where it used to say Jesus came for “all” have been changed to “many.”  Or in the Gloria where peace is only prayed for “people of good will.”  What about the rest of humanity?  I am tempted to shake my finger in self-righteousness over these potentially hurtful words….but instead I just want to cry.  The Vatican II Council tried to undo 1900 years of religious arrogance and profound abuse at the hands of the Roman Church by including all of humanity in the plan of God’s salvation and communicating that through the mass.  But even beyond what the Catholic Church may or may not do toward embracing unity, I am saddened by anything that images God as non-loving.  And perhaps this is me making God in my own image – a God that is all-loving, all-compassionate, all-embracing of all people of all beliefs and practices.  I believe in ONE GOD…..by whatever name we call it, and that God is LOVE….period.  And if I’m being arrogant in wanting to believe in a God that is love, then I guess, so be it.  Anything else would just make me sad and would be inauthentic to the God that has revealed itself in my heart.  So when I go to mass, I will hear the words of the new missal and cringe a little, while praying that the Institution of the Church will one day come to know the fullness of God’s infinite, unconditional, unifying love and that they will see that they are not the only ones there.

Where have you witnessed religious arrogance?

How has God revealed God’s self in your own heart and how does that differ from what your religion may have told you?

How can you be open to God revealing the fullness of Divine love to you?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth