Contemplations
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Contemplation archives |
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
Love and innocence have been the decisive expressions for identifying ‘Christian’ qualities, according to Jean Paul, the French mystic and philosopher. These two noble qualities appear most clearly particularly at the beginning of life, in childhood. These are also the same magical qualities which are connected with the Christmas experience. Through nothing and no one can they be eradicated from the world, regardless of the attack they are exposed to. Every year, despite the manifold resistances, Christmas does happen.
What weaves into these days and nights between heaven and earth calls up a longing in many. It is often deeply unconscious and felt as a sense of loss and unfulfilled hopes. Maybe that is one of the deeper reasons why the loud and restless is sought out to override this deeper stirring.
Yet likewise there is the unknown night realm in every soul, where, no matter what the ‘story of life’ is, an indestructible moral stem-cell, so to say, has been preserved where one is innocent. It is always possible to connect with it, for future forward living. What a homeopathic substance must have been infused into the beingness of humans in order to create that, and when and how did that happen?
In the whole wide world the most validated picture of Christmas and the deepest expression of love and innocence has been the Madonna with the child in her arm. This most painted picture of the Gospels brings with it another power: it is the beauty which gives these pictures the aura of the mysterious. The content of this mystery no one knows, not even those at home in the realms of the heavens, because its resolution lies in the future and is connected with that which can only become reality through human beings out of freedom and ‘good will’. It is the beautiful mystery of every child, which brings unconditional love and the promise of unknown future realisation. It is the mystery of the innocent purity of the soul, manifest in both male and female human beings, which has the ability to receive, be creative and productive.
These images, the innocent and pure mother and the sleeping child born into the earthly world, are exposed to the darkness and evil of this world. Yet they too are woven into and are facts at work in the drama of our world. They are images of spiritual reality in this world and every year anew, if in pictures, in words or in moments of human encounter, they awaken around the world longing, the mysterious Christmas longing and expectation – and hope. (adapted from MOW)
Love and innocence have been the decisive expressions for identifying ‘Christian’ qualities, according to Jean Paul, the French mystic and philosopher. These two noble qualities appear most clearly particularly at the beginning of life, in childhood. These are also the same magical qualities which are connected with the Christmas experience. Through nothing and no one can they be eradicated from the world, regardless of the attack they are exposed to. Every year, despite the manifold resistances, Christmas does happen.
What weaves into these days and nights between heaven and earth calls up a longing in many. It is often deeply unconscious and felt as a sense of loss and unfulfilled hopes. Maybe that is one of the deeper reasons why the loud and restless is sought out to override this deeper stirring.
Yet likewise there is the unknown night realm in every soul, where, no matter what the ‘story of life’ is, an indestructible moral stem-cell, so to say, has been preserved where one is innocent. It is always possible to connect with it, for future forward living. What a homeopathic substance must have been infused into the beingness of humans in order to create that, and when and how did that happen?
In the whole wide world the most validated picture of Christmas and the deepest expression of love and innocence has been the Madonna with the child in her arm. This most painted picture of the Gospels brings with it another power: it is the beauty which gives these pictures the aura of the mysterious. The content of this mystery no one knows, not even those at home in the realms of the heavens, because its resolution lies in the future and is connected with that which can only become reality through human beings out of freedom and ‘good will’. It is the beautiful mystery of every child, which brings unconditional love and the promise of unknown future realisation. It is the mystery of the innocent purity of the soul, manifest in both male and female human beings, which has the ability to receive, be creative and productive.
These images, the innocent and pure mother and the sleeping child born into the earthly world, are exposed to the darkness and evil of this world. Yet they too are woven into and are facts at work in the drama of our world. They are images of spiritual reality in this world and every year anew, if in pictures, in words or in moments of human encounter, they awaken around the world longing, the mysterious Christmas longing and expectation – and hope. (adapted from MOW)
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
From the deck of the ship, observing the sea as wave upon wave flows forth: essentially this great body of water itself does not move other than up and down, but the wave – it moves through the water.
From the shore of a flowing river: there within the current a wave seems to stand still while the water flows through it.
Moving wave—while the water remains in place.
Standing wave—while the water flows through it.
The human form seems to be so stable. The adult only shows relatively small changes over time, and yet there is a constant exchanging of substance so that after seven years most of it has been replaced.
The human being goes through life continuously absorbing substances and releasing them, e.g. in breathing. In the activity of the soul it is the same, in that we see, hear, feel, observe and think we are taking in as all the while with our attention something is also flowing out from us. Life is this continual exchanging. Only seemingly are we and stay. What truly remains is transformation, even transubstantiation
Time becomes a revealing medium of change which unfolds in rhythms, in polarities, in death processes and new birthings.
Eternity can become an experience of being held as by solid ground or as in ‘the lap of God’ in the ups and downs of life.
Every day time seems be a wave sweeping us away, keeping us moving with all the errands, worries, deadlines, needs. What, throughout it all, remains in place, what is the reliable constant through which this daily ‘time wave’ flows?
To include in our awareness this constant underlying presence, which in its calm never stands still, is quietly unerringly flowing with purpose, from week to month to year upon year, strong and timeless. What, in this eternal current, might create the wave through which can flow – strengthening, nourishing, renewing?
As time and eternity become a reciprocal activity in the soul, we grasp what truly remains between heaven and earth, and humans and God.
From the deck of the ship, observing the sea as wave upon wave flows forth: essentially this great body of water itself does not move other than up and down, but the wave – it moves through the water.
From the shore of a flowing river: there within the current a wave seems to stand still while the water flows through it.
Moving wave—while the water remains in place.
Standing wave—while the water flows through it.
The human form seems to be so stable. The adult only shows relatively small changes over time, and yet there is a constant exchanging of substance so that after seven years most of it has been replaced.
The human being goes through life continuously absorbing substances and releasing them, e.g. in breathing. In the activity of the soul it is the same, in that we see, hear, feel, observe and think we are taking in as all the while with our attention something is also flowing out from us. Life is this continual exchanging. Only seemingly are we and stay. What truly remains is transformation, even transubstantiation
Time becomes a revealing medium of change which unfolds in rhythms, in polarities, in death processes and new birthings.
Eternity can become an experience of being held as by solid ground or as in ‘the lap of God’ in the ups and downs of life.
Every day time seems be a wave sweeping us away, keeping us moving with all the errands, worries, deadlines, needs. What, throughout it all, remains in place, what is the reliable constant through which this daily ‘time wave’ flows?
To include in our awareness this constant underlying presence, which in its calm never stands still, is quietly unerringly flowing with purpose, from week to month to year upon year, strong and timeless. What, in this eternal current, might create the wave through which can flow – strengthening, nourishing, renewing?
As time and eternity become a reciprocal activity in the soul, we grasp what truly remains between heaven and earth, and humans and God.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
When one is underway, then anything can happen. After preparing and planning, the journey itself is already an essential part of
being underway. Arriving at the destination is not an end so much as the beginning of a whole new chapter. Christianity is about being underway, knowing about an evolving path of spiritual development, with a goal in mind.
The festivals we celebrate in the second half of the year are all about being on a path. John the Baptist opens up the spectrum of preparation and planning in the different areas we are engaged in simultaneously and working to bring into balance, so that they serve us in the best possible manner for the journey. These are: our own biography, what has come from the own family generations, the historical and present events of the country one is living in. We need to look back in order to move forward so we can gauge what we are taking with us.
Then the Gospel-readings during the ten weeks that follow are the indicators of what happens archetypally underway during the transition from the historical, already known, toward the unknown ‘new’. There are questions that will be asked, decisions needed, consequences to deal with, disappointments and exciting discoveries.
Luke 7, the raising of the dead young man, and Matthew 22, the invitation to the wedding feast, form the two ‘threshold’ Gospels to Michaelmas. At some point nearly every striving person will encounter a ‘dead end’, where everything comes to a full stop and doesn’t want to move forward. From a human perspective there seems to be no solution but to give up. The Luke Gospel indicates a dramatic change of inner direction: give ‘up’. Forward and up. It brings an expansion of viewpoint and being mindful to what exactly is in front of one.
(In the Gospel of John 11 this situation is expanded on in more detail.) Matthew 22 approaches from a spiritual heavenly point of view: being underway is the first important decision. Arriving in such a condition that one knows how one got there is just as important, namely awake and responsive (response-able).
Now the journey can continue where it is not the path that leads us, but where the individual human being becomes a creator of the path and finds companionship with those, who have gone before us: ‘I, John, your brother and your companion in all trials and also in the inner kingship and in the power of endurance which we possess through our one-ness with Jesus Christ…’ Rev.1:9.
When one is underway, then anything can happen. After preparing and planning, the journey itself is already an essential part of
being underway. Arriving at the destination is not an end so much as the beginning of a whole new chapter. Christianity is about being underway, knowing about an evolving path of spiritual development, with a goal in mind.
The festivals we celebrate in the second half of the year are all about being on a path. John the Baptist opens up the spectrum of preparation and planning in the different areas we are engaged in simultaneously and working to bring into balance, so that they serve us in the best possible manner for the journey. These are: our own biography, what has come from the own family generations, the historical and present events of the country one is living in. We need to look back in order to move forward so we can gauge what we are taking with us.
Then the Gospel-readings during the ten weeks that follow are the indicators of what happens archetypally underway during the transition from the historical, already known, toward the unknown ‘new’. There are questions that will be asked, decisions needed, consequences to deal with, disappointments and exciting discoveries.
Luke 7, the raising of the dead young man, and Matthew 22, the invitation to the wedding feast, form the two ‘threshold’ Gospels to Michaelmas. At some point nearly every striving person will encounter a ‘dead end’, where everything comes to a full stop and doesn’t want to move forward. From a human perspective there seems to be no solution but to give up. The Luke Gospel indicates a dramatic change of inner direction: give ‘up’. Forward and up. It brings an expansion of viewpoint and being mindful to what exactly is in front of one.
(In the Gospel of John 11 this situation is expanded on in more detail.) Matthew 22 approaches from a spiritual heavenly point of view: being underway is the first important decision. Arriving in such a condition that one knows how one got there is just as important, namely awake and responsive (response-able).
Now the journey can continue where it is not the path that leads us, but where the individual human being becomes a creator of the path and finds companionship with those, who have gone before us: ‘I, John, your brother and your companion in all trials and also in the inner kingship and in the power of endurance which we possess through our one-ness with Jesus Christ…’ Rev.1:9.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
We speak many words during a day. Each one of us. We hear words from many others during a day. Then, at the end of a day, how many of these can we remember? Yet, every time we speak, we are giving of ourselves, ex-pressing our unique personality, revealing an inwardness otherwise hidden and which we alone are able to reveal. All these many, many words gathered up together in a day, a year, a life-time all have the same origin – our Self – and serve the same purpose: to reveal who ‘I am’. We can imagine how all these many different words merge together as One. Each individual human being becoming One unique expressive Word. Each one of us is a Word! A Word full of life, imbued with comprehension, a spiritual expression of an ‘I am’ in the flesh.
The Prologue of the gospel of John states: ‘In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.’
We, each human being on this earth, are a Word. Words are spoken-out inwardness of the hitherto unrevealed. Who speaks this Word, which becomes human ‘flesh’? Who knows and carries the unrevealed content of its wholeness, of our truth?
‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. We have beheld His revelation, the revelation of the only Son of the Father.’ John 1,14.
We can contemplate:
In the beginning every human soul is with God, held in the heart of the Father. Then the Father God ‘speaks out’ the Word, the Son. He it is, who expresses the Father’s love, reveals His innermost being, the One who can say ‘I AM’ in truth.
The Son becomes flesh, revealing the love of the Father, carrying it into death and through death into resurrected Life and Form. The Son knows the Father, knows also the human being, individually and personally. The Son has acquired the authority and power to ‘speak out’ what lives in the heart of the Father.
The Son speaks many Words, as many as there are human beings.
We, each human being, are the content and revelation of His Word in the flesh. Every human being is an ex-pressed Word of God.
Every human has the same source, the same goal.
Therefore we, too, can learn to express His love, to reveal His light in word and deed, even into death and through death into new life.
We speak many words during a day. Each one of us. We hear words from many others during a day. Then, at the end of a day, how many of these can we remember? Yet, every time we speak, we are giving of ourselves, ex-pressing our unique personality, revealing an inwardness otherwise hidden and which we alone are able to reveal. All these many, many words gathered up together in a day, a year, a life-time all have the same origin – our Self – and serve the same purpose: to reveal who ‘I am’. We can imagine how all these many different words merge together as One. Each individual human being becoming One unique expressive Word. Each one of us is a Word! A Word full of life, imbued with comprehension, a spiritual expression of an ‘I am’ in the flesh.
The Prologue of the gospel of John states: ‘In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.’
We, each human being on this earth, are a Word. Words are spoken-out inwardness of the hitherto unrevealed. Who speaks this Word, which becomes human ‘flesh’? Who knows and carries the unrevealed content of its wholeness, of our truth?
‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. We have beheld His revelation, the revelation of the only Son of the Father.’ John 1,14.
We can contemplate:
In the beginning every human soul is with God, held in the heart of the Father. Then the Father God ‘speaks out’ the Word, the Son. He it is, who expresses the Father’s love, reveals His innermost being, the One who can say ‘I AM’ in truth.
The Son becomes flesh, revealing the love of the Father, carrying it into death and through death into resurrected Life and Form. The Son knows the Father, knows also the human being, individually and personally. The Son has acquired the authority and power to ‘speak out’ what lives in the heart of the Father.
The Son speaks many Words, as many as there are human beings.
We, each human being, are the content and revelation of His Word in the flesh. Every human being is an ex-pressed Word of God.
Every human has the same source, the same goal.
Therefore we, too, can learn to express His love, to reveal His light in word and deed, even into death and through death into new life.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
At the recent annual Regional Council meeting minds were also turned toward how a Christian Community centenary could be approached in a spiritually meaningful way. Maybe this thought of C.S. Lewis can inspire us to take another look at the potential our Founding in 1922 endowed us with. To take a deeper look at what our unique contribution is into the stream of Christianity would surely be a worthy undertaking. Anthroposophy has opened up new possibilities to think for ourselves things we have traditionally been taught to ‘just believe’.
The Christian Community is a ‘Movement for Religious Renewal’ and celebrates ‘renewed' Sacraments.
What exactly does that mean, what is renewed and how, with what potential impact? Could topics that are at the forefront of our daily modern lives and influence our quality of life in many different levels, light up in new ways through ‘renewed' undogmatic religious thinking’?
Surely it is an investigation worth embarking on to see what, together, in community, we can ‘hatch’ of our potential? We have four years to incubate this project.
The Christian Community is a ‘Movement for Religious Renewal’ and celebrates ‘renewed' Sacraments.
What exactly does that mean, what is renewed and how, with what potential impact? Could topics that are at the forefront of our daily modern lives and influence our quality of life in many different levels, light up in new ways through ‘renewed' undogmatic religious thinking’?
Surely it is an investigation worth embarking on to see what, together, in community, we can ‘hatch’ of our potential? We have four years to incubate this project.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
John the Baptist was the first witness of the coming new Light and the representative of mankind’s conscience.
It was through his moral power, his discourses and deeds that he encouraged and strengthened the germinating powers of ‘I am’. He awakened impulses of conscience in human souls. This is the deep motive in John’s soul in all instances of his appearing (e.g. in Luke 3). Conscience is a new light awakening from within and a new organ of perception developing in the human soul for its ‘heavenly Spirit-being’. The mighty clarion call of John the Baptist stems from the core of his being, rooted in this awakening new organ of perception.
It is this clarity of inner knowing and objective perception, which has since moved individuals to make quiet decisions in solitude and then begin to consequentially act accordingly. When we look back over the past centuries, these souls stand out, like John the Baptist, touching the chord of conscience in others through their ‘being-ness’ and creating deep shifts in how we think and live today.
The year 2018 reminds us in certain instances how profound the influence of an individual can be when it aligns itself with this organ of higher knowing we call conscience. As we celebrate the centenary of Nelson Mandela (1918-2018) on the 18th July 2018, one can immediately see him in the triad of peace-and-freedom fighters of the 20th century alongside Martin Luther King and Gandhi. A whole generation was named after the year 1968, which rose up out of an ignited conscience saying, “not like this; we must turn this around and change direction”. Yet conscience must still awaken more deeply than just as a feeling. The light of knowing gives it the force of transformation it needs to be effective. This happened for John at the baptism in the Jordan. It lit the flame of cognisance in him for the source and purpose of conscience and so he became the first Christian. His ‘Word of Flame’ can be a question: am I, too, an awakened Christian?
John the Baptist was the first witness of the coming new Light and the representative of mankind’s conscience.
It was through his moral power, his discourses and deeds that he encouraged and strengthened the germinating powers of ‘I am’. He awakened impulses of conscience in human souls. This is the deep motive in John’s soul in all instances of his appearing (e.g. in Luke 3). Conscience is a new light awakening from within and a new organ of perception developing in the human soul for its ‘heavenly Spirit-being’. The mighty clarion call of John the Baptist stems from the core of his being, rooted in this awakening new organ of perception.
It is this clarity of inner knowing and objective perception, which has since moved individuals to make quiet decisions in solitude and then begin to consequentially act accordingly. When we look back over the past centuries, these souls stand out, like John the Baptist, touching the chord of conscience in others through their ‘being-ness’ and creating deep shifts in how we think and live today.
The year 2018 reminds us in certain instances how profound the influence of an individual can be when it aligns itself with this organ of higher knowing we call conscience. As we celebrate the centenary of Nelson Mandela (1918-2018) on the 18th July 2018, one can immediately see him in the triad of peace-and-freedom fighters of the 20th century alongside Martin Luther King and Gandhi. A whole generation was named after the year 1968, which rose up out of an ignited conscience saying, “not like this; we must turn this around and change direction”. Yet conscience must still awaken more deeply than just as a feeling. The light of knowing gives it the force of transformation it needs to be effective. This happened for John at the baptism in the Jordan. It lit the flame of cognisance in him for the source and purpose of conscience and so he became the first Christian. His ‘Word of Flame’ can be a question: am I, too, an awakened Christian?
Detail from an oil painting by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
by Rev. Peter Holman
When we want to establish a vegetable patch or a flower garden, we need to invest a good deal of time, effort and patience. There is digging to be done, preparation, compost, sowing, watering, tending to the young shoots and weeding. Loving thoughts also help. Now we can hope for good fruit. We know, the seeds we sow can only produce fruits of their own kind: a carrot seed can only give rise to carrots, the seed of a marigold to marigolds. Then growth, even transformation, occurs.
At the beginning the Godhead invested a great deal into humanity. Spiritual substance was poured into this new creation. “Our substance is His substance.” The Divine Ground of the world formed out of the members of His being the seed of humankind as spirit reality. The Father-God and the angels have great hopes that their investment will bear fruit.
The younger son in the parable of the prodigal son asked for his share of the invested “substance” and set off on a long journey to a far land. He had his experiences, made mistakes and learned much. He lived lavishly and fully. Then all was spent and gone. The turning-point was when “he went into himself”.
This is a parable for our human journey, the long path humankind is on. We walk paths of earth, straying, wasting, experiencing life to the full and learning along the way. The individual human being can “come into himself” and find a turning. We can feel a deep yearning to turn again to the Father God. We begin to direct our willing with purpose and intent to inner growth and transformation.
The father in Luke 15 had been lovingly and patiently watching and waiting, hoping for the return of his son. He fell on his neck and welcomed him home. He called for the stole (Greek: stole, στολη). It was the symbol of kingly and priestly garments with which he was “invested”, the “investiture” was carried out. What was then brought? Quite possibly a fatted calf, but the Greek for moschos, μοσχος, can also be a “tender young shoot” that was offered into the occasion. The Old Testament story of the first Israelite priest, Aaron, whose rod blossomed forth as a sign of his true priesthood also points us in a certain direction.
The priestly state is a life of committed service and stewardship, serving the Divine on earth and working for transformation of the earthly into a new enlightened heavenly state. Like tending a garden, it can only happen in freedom. Yet the hope of the angelic world is that a priestly state awaits the human being at the end. That the investiture can be carried out on his Being, having grown and become Spirit-Man, as indeed the Book of Revelation indicates.
Now, we celebrate the festival of St. John, hearing the call of ‘metanoete’, to change, re-think, re-assess, re-commit, to ‘go into ourself’.
The turning-point is our relationship with Christ. He planted the seed of a new humanity at Easter; it can grow in our souls and lead to the emerging of something quite new in the cosmos that can bear fruit for a future when the human soul becomes a garden for the angels.
When we want to establish a vegetable patch or a flower garden, we need to invest a good deal of time, effort and patience. There is digging to be done, preparation, compost, sowing, watering, tending to the young shoots and weeding. Loving thoughts also help. Now we can hope for good fruit. We know, the seeds we sow can only produce fruits of their own kind: a carrot seed can only give rise to carrots, the seed of a marigold to marigolds. Then growth, even transformation, occurs.
At the beginning the Godhead invested a great deal into humanity. Spiritual substance was poured into this new creation. “Our substance is His substance.” The Divine Ground of the world formed out of the members of His being the seed of humankind as spirit reality. The Father-God and the angels have great hopes that their investment will bear fruit.
The younger son in the parable of the prodigal son asked for his share of the invested “substance” and set off on a long journey to a far land. He had his experiences, made mistakes and learned much. He lived lavishly and fully. Then all was spent and gone. The turning-point was when “he went into himself”.
This is a parable for our human journey, the long path humankind is on. We walk paths of earth, straying, wasting, experiencing life to the full and learning along the way. The individual human being can “come into himself” and find a turning. We can feel a deep yearning to turn again to the Father God. We begin to direct our willing with purpose and intent to inner growth and transformation.
The father in Luke 15 had been lovingly and patiently watching and waiting, hoping for the return of his son. He fell on his neck and welcomed him home. He called for the stole (Greek: stole, στολη). It was the symbol of kingly and priestly garments with which he was “invested”, the “investiture” was carried out. What was then brought? Quite possibly a fatted calf, but the Greek for moschos, μοσχος, can also be a “tender young shoot” that was offered into the occasion. The Old Testament story of the first Israelite priest, Aaron, whose rod blossomed forth as a sign of his true priesthood also points us in a certain direction.
The priestly state is a life of committed service and stewardship, serving the Divine on earth and working for transformation of the earthly into a new enlightened heavenly state. Like tending a garden, it can only happen in freedom. Yet the hope of the angelic world is that a priestly state awaits the human being at the end. That the investiture can be carried out on his Being, having grown and become Spirit-Man, as indeed the Book of Revelation indicates.
Now, we celebrate the festival of St. John, hearing the call of ‘metanoete’, to change, re-think, re-assess, re-commit, to ‘go into ourself’.
The turning-point is our relationship with Christ. He planted the seed of a new humanity at Easter; it can grow in our souls and lead to the emerging of something quite new in the cosmos that can bear fruit for a future when the human soul becomes a garden for the angels.
by Rev. Peter Holman
There is a beautiful image of the difference between the butterfly and the petal, or blossom. The butterfly is a blossom released by the cosmos; the blossom is a butterfly held by the earth. The butterfly, fluttering in airy, sunlit realms, may wonder why the blossoms do not join her in her joyful dance. Rooted in the earth, the flowers know no other existence.
The Christ, in leaving the cosmic realms of the sun, gave up much of His power and infinitely expanded light-being, and entered into earthly incarnation. His was a long journey from ages past. At the Baptism He took on flesh; He entered an earthly body. The Gospels tell us that He repeatedly “set His face towards Jerusalem”, towards the event of the Deed of Golgotha.
There is a beautiful image of the difference between the butterfly and the petal, or blossom. The butterfly is a blossom released by the cosmos; the blossom is a butterfly held by the earth. The butterfly, fluttering in airy, sunlit realms, may wonder why the blossoms do not join her in her joyful dance. Rooted in the earth, the flowers know no other existence.
The Christ, in leaving the cosmic realms of the sun, gave up much of His power and infinitely expanded light-being, and entered into earthly incarnation. His was a long journey from ages past. At the Baptism He took on flesh; He entered an earthly body. The Gospels tell us that He repeatedly “set His face towards Jerusalem”, towards the event of the Deed of Golgotha.
And with the Transfiguration Christ again committed to His purpose of entering into full earthly incarnation. Three of the disciples witnessed His sun-like countenance and cosmic being. In Raphael`s well-known painting, with its blue and white, light-filled upper part and the dark earth-valley of human suffering below, there is a real point of decision. The skill of the painter depicts a moment when it is open as to whether the hovering Christ is ascending from the earth or descending onto it. It is a Buddha moment. The Christ could have said He had achieved enlightenment; there was no necessity or compulsion for Him to dwell further on the earth. But at this decisive moment He re-committed to full earthly incarnation. And in doing so, He was looking beyond Easter to the time of Ascension, when He would “transfigure earthly being with heavenly being”.
This time of Ascension is twofold: it was the culmination two millennia ago of Christ`s process of connecting deeply with the earth: His deed 40 days after Easter was to forever root the centre of His working in the earth, while at the same time expanding once again in the fullness of His being into the wide, sunlit realms of the cosmos. And, secondly, each year at Asceniontide we look to the sphere of His immanence, His presence-with-us, the sphere of Revelation, of His revealing Himself ever more to us from where He now dwells. He is, and we are, spiritual beings who are rooted in the earth for our working. It is our place to “be, grow and become”.
If we consider again the Transfiguration on the mountain, we see how Christ performs the truly Christian gesture of embracing the suffering and pain of the earth, of setting His face to transform it, out of freedom and in love. He touched His disciples to awaken them, and together they descended to the plane of earth, the place of turmoil and darkness. He brought healing and balance to what was being pulled apart.
We have all stepped into incarnation on this earth. It requires courage, especially nowadays. Rudolf Steiner spoke of how the existence of butterflies on earth can inspire courage in human souls as they journey down. It requires something quite extraordinary to step from cosmic widths and heights into being rooted on earth.
We often face challenging thresholds and dark abysses, pain and great need. Often the way through is to recognise that when we leave something behind, sacrifice it, give it up, as Christ did, we have new possibilities to step into a new place, to go though transformation to new wholeness.
We can do this through the power and with the help of the Christ in us: the One who carries us up to places of inspiration, spiritual enlightenment and nourishment, who touches us to bring consciousness and who walks with us down into the valley of suffering in this world to bring about healing through courage and love. This is possible because Christ “dwells with us, in that He dwells with” the Father. He holds us in this grace-filled balance of being rooted in the earth, and yet living in, and nourished by, the sunlit realms of cosmic weaving. (Matthew 17)
This time of Ascension is twofold: it was the culmination two millennia ago of Christ`s process of connecting deeply with the earth: His deed 40 days after Easter was to forever root the centre of His working in the earth, while at the same time expanding once again in the fullness of His being into the wide, sunlit realms of the cosmos. And, secondly, each year at Asceniontide we look to the sphere of His immanence, His presence-with-us, the sphere of Revelation, of His revealing Himself ever more to us from where He now dwells. He is, and we are, spiritual beings who are rooted in the earth for our working. It is our place to “be, grow and become”.
If we consider again the Transfiguration on the mountain, we see how Christ performs the truly Christian gesture of embracing the suffering and pain of the earth, of setting His face to transform it, out of freedom and in love. He touched His disciples to awaken them, and together they descended to the plane of earth, the place of turmoil and darkness. He brought healing and balance to what was being pulled apart.
We have all stepped into incarnation on this earth. It requires courage, especially nowadays. Rudolf Steiner spoke of how the existence of butterflies on earth can inspire courage in human souls as they journey down. It requires something quite extraordinary to step from cosmic widths and heights into being rooted on earth.
We often face challenging thresholds and dark abysses, pain and great need. Often the way through is to recognise that when we leave something behind, sacrifice it, give it up, as Christ did, we have new possibilities to step into a new place, to go though transformation to new wholeness.
We can do this through the power and with the help of the Christ in us: the One who carries us up to places of inspiration, spiritual enlightenment and nourishment, who touches us to bring consciousness and who walks with us down into the valley of suffering in this world to bring about healing through courage and love. This is possible because Christ “dwells with us, in that He dwells with” the Father. He holds us in this grace-filled balance of being rooted in the earth, and yet living in, and nourished by, the sunlit realms of cosmic weaving. (Matthew 17)
by Rev. Michael Kientzler
As physical human beings we feel very independent and separate from the earth. This, though, is an illusion, because we need food to exist. We need nourishment from plants and animals. We need water. Even if someone would not need this, they would need air. We owe the oxygen to the plants. So we cannot deny that we are connected with the earth, as with an umbilical cord to a mother.
In space flights earthly substances have to be provided, the lack of gravity causes our bones to lose calcium. We even need the gravity of the earth for our physical wellbeing.
As soul-spiritual beings we also need nourishment. Although we ourselves might often hardly notice if we are undernourished here, others may notice it more easily. Nourishment for our soul can happen through our senses: observing the sky, a landscape, flowers, the beauty of a gazelle, looking at art in all its forms, through social interaction and, of course, love. In this area of ‘soul-nourishment’ we can easily notice something else. Contrary to the physical realm, we can experience how giving can be more nourishing than receiving. If we work with the earth, create a garden, look at nature with a deeper understanding of her beings, create a work of art, give love: In each case of giving, something seems to stream back to the giver and creator, unintentionally. It is both giving and receiving which sustains our soul life. Religious life is a prime nourisher of soul and spirit. Nourishment has to do with understanding the world around us, as well as our own destiny and that as humanity as a whole.
We hear the Trinity Epistle repeatedly throughout the year:
‘…our existing is His creating. Our life is His creating life. He creates through us in all the soul’s creating.’
Do we really hear and take in its meaning? Because then it would mean that we couldn’t even exist as living beings without Him! As physical beings we would perish without being connected with the earth. As soul-spiritual beings we would starve, wither away without being connected with Him. He is the Bread of Life. He is the ultimate sustenance of humanity. Can we bear to take this in literally? One might argue that since the Mystery of Golgotha this connection with Him exists anyway, because it is a Deed done for all human beings on earth, so we don’t have to worry about it. Yet, as human beings we are the only beings on earth which are aware and conscious of themselves, of their humanity, so to say. It is only due to our cognisance and understanding of a spiritual fact, which creates the full reality.
In the Act of Consecration of Man the two representatives of earth substances, which have both been transformed by human activity (bread more than wine), are physically and spiritually elevated so that He can permeate them and connect with them in the same way as we are connected with our own flesh and blood.
The Creator Word of the Beginning connects with us through earthly substance, which He permeates and transubstantiates as Spirit of the Earth since Ascension. Through this we unite physically-spiritually with that which preserves our life as soul-spiritual beings, who are ‘destined for eternity’.
Easter is the Gift He gives to all humankind. Our part is to make this a full reality by receiving it with more and more awareness. Creating this awareness is the meaning of The Act of Consecration of Man.
As physical human beings we feel very independent and separate from the earth. This, though, is an illusion, because we need food to exist. We need nourishment from plants and animals. We need water. Even if someone would not need this, they would need air. We owe the oxygen to the plants. So we cannot deny that we are connected with the earth, as with an umbilical cord to a mother.
In space flights earthly substances have to be provided, the lack of gravity causes our bones to lose calcium. We even need the gravity of the earth for our physical wellbeing.
As soul-spiritual beings we also need nourishment. Although we ourselves might often hardly notice if we are undernourished here, others may notice it more easily. Nourishment for our soul can happen through our senses: observing the sky, a landscape, flowers, the beauty of a gazelle, looking at art in all its forms, through social interaction and, of course, love. In this area of ‘soul-nourishment’ we can easily notice something else. Contrary to the physical realm, we can experience how giving can be more nourishing than receiving. If we work with the earth, create a garden, look at nature with a deeper understanding of her beings, create a work of art, give love: In each case of giving, something seems to stream back to the giver and creator, unintentionally. It is both giving and receiving which sustains our soul life. Religious life is a prime nourisher of soul and spirit. Nourishment has to do with understanding the world around us, as well as our own destiny and that as humanity as a whole.
We hear the Trinity Epistle repeatedly throughout the year:
‘…our existing is His creating. Our life is His creating life. He creates through us in all the soul’s creating.’
Do we really hear and take in its meaning? Because then it would mean that we couldn’t even exist as living beings without Him! As physical beings we would perish without being connected with the earth. As soul-spiritual beings we would starve, wither away without being connected with Him. He is the Bread of Life. He is the ultimate sustenance of humanity. Can we bear to take this in literally? One might argue that since the Mystery of Golgotha this connection with Him exists anyway, because it is a Deed done for all human beings on earth, so we don’t have to worry about it. Yet, as human beings we are the only beings on earth which are aware and conscious of themselves, of their humanity, so to say. It is only due to our cognisance and understanding of a spiritual fact, which creates the full reality.
In the Act of Consecration of Man the two representatives of earth substances, which have both been transformed by human activity (bread more than wine), are physically and spiritually elevated so that He can permeate them and connect with them in the same way as we are connected with our own flesh and blood.
The Creator Word of the Beginning connects with us through earthly substance, which He permeates and transubstantiates as Spirit of the Earth since Ascension. Through this we unite physically-spiritually with that which preserves our life as soul-spiritual beings, who are ‘destined for eternity’.
Easter is the Gift He gives to all humankind. Our part is to make this a full reality by receiving it with more and more awareness. Creating this awareness is the meaning of The Act of Consecration of Man.
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
A tall, clear vase full of water. A drop of coloured ink falls into it. The colour falls, slowly, swirling, spreading, twisting, gently spreading in the large vessel of water. Soon the whole body of water has a homogeneous coloured hue. It is now completely permeated and changed by a single drop. “...and when he rose up out of the water, see, the heavens opened and the Spirit, like a dove, descended and entered into him.”
Spirit immersed itself deep into its creation.
Baptism: to immerse in, submerge, cleanse, purify; related to: deep, deepen.
In that moment the Deed began which has the force to change all, humanity and the earth, slowly ... like that one drop.
“In Jesus the Christ entered as Man into the earthly world”. A human being could begin to grasp himself as Spirit, comprehend the ‘I’ as spiritual while remaining within a physical body.
This realisation takes time to manifest and to permeate all aspects of life. Jesus is the first to experience this Christ-power in him and leads the way. It is the ‘Way to Golgotha’, the Way that says “yes” to the earth as a Being which also belongs to a spiritual world, like we do, the Way of ‘in-deepening’. Christ says to those who follow him on this Way: “I have a baptism to be baptised with and I yearn for it to be accomplished” (Luke 12, 50).
How is this accomplished? This theme will lead us through Passiontide and Holy Week this year.
A tall, clear vase full of water. A drop of coloured ink falls into it. The colour falls, slowly, swirling, spreading, twisting, gently spreading in the large vessel of water. Soon the whole body of water has a homogeneous coloured hue. It is now completely permeated and changed by a single drop. “...and when he rose up out of the water, see, the heavens opened and the Spirit, like a dove, descended and entered into him.”
Spirit immersed itself deep into its creation.
Baptism: to immerse in, submerge, cleanse, purify; related to: deep, deepen.
In that moment the Deed began which has the force to change all, humanity and the earth, slowly ... like that one drop.
“In Jesus the Christ entered as Man into the earthly world”. A human being could begin to grasp himself as Spirit, comprehend the ‘I’ as spiritual while remaining within a physical body.
This realisation takes time to manifest and to permeate all aspects of life. Jesus is the first to experience this Christ-power in him and leads the way. It is the ‘Way to Golgotha’, the Way that says “yes” to the earth as a Being which also belongs to a spiritual world, like we do, the Way of ‘in-deepening’. Christ says to those who follow him on this Way: “I have a baptism to be baptised with and I yearn for it to be accomplished” (Luke 12, 50).
How is this accomplished? This theme will lead us through Passiontide and Holy Week this year.
by Rev. Paul Corman
“Thanks” is one of those strange words that we use all the time, but think very little about its true meaning, origin and aura. There is much to be thankful for, of course, but one fundamental element often remains outside our thankful consciousness. The hard, fast Earth beneath our feet gives us confidence to stand in the world, to be in it to meet here the challenges of our destiny, to take these challenges on and work with them in a creative, transforming way. This has also been part of the background of the Christmas course in the community during these past holy days: the many nuanced qualities of Earth stone substance in the form of the 12 stones of the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem. They serve as substance and encouragement to recognise Christ’s ultimate goal for each of us, for humanity and for the Earth. The same motif is echoed in the prayer to the hierarchies at Christmas during the Act of Consecration of Man: that we may know the divine through what is seen and so kindle our love for the unseen. This, of course, is not a process, an activity, a need that arises just at Christmas. It is an intimate part of what becoming Christian is about. When we look at any and everything earthly, and maybe especially at that which is not to our liking, part of becoming a follower of Christ is being able to try and perceive beyond what we grasp with our physical senses; for if we only see the earthly, emotional part of our lives, we are caught in our Earth-bound nature. Looking at the foundation stones in the way that was done at Christmas, has led us from concentrating on the Earthly body and spirit made flesh in the birth of Jesus to the next step we are to take in our Christian becoming: seeking and finding the heavenly, divine body, the flesh spiritualised.
We take this step in the festive season of Epiphany in which the Epistle speaks so often of Grace: of that spiritual stream in which we are immersed and live, but which can only make itself manifest if we recognise it, take it up and perceive its presence in the same way we perceive the stone and the Earth’s presence. So now after looking down to the Earth to find our bearings, we now must also learn to turn our gaze to the spirit that lives and works in all, through the upward glance of the soul, to find our bearings. Both ways of looking must accompany each other, if we are to fulfil our Christ-given task to be co-healers of Earth existence. Not just looking down, but also looking up. Seeing Earth reality, yes, but also perceiving the Spirit reality that accompanies and works in it. There is no other way to fulfil Christ’s commandments to love one another, to learn, to forgive, to grow and become co-operators, co-workers, co-healers with Him as dwellers in Earth stone substance and dwellers in heaven’s substance of grace.
“Grace” is another of those strange words, whose origins and deeper meanings we rarely consider. We use it to describe harmonious, fluid, pleasing gestures, also as the quality of persons, animals, plants, and in the realm of art. We use it to describe the benevolence of a king or other ruler or of a judge in their dealings with persons who appear before them. But grace is also a deeply religious concept, especially in Christianity, namely to give expression to the constant and continuous stream of spiritual substance that flows from the Divine to the Earth. It should then not surprise us that the Epiphany epistle and inserted prayer together mention the word “grace” 7 times. It is as if after a time of becoming aware of the need to be thankful, we must also become aware of grace. It is not so readily apparent in English that there is a relationship between the two concepts, but in Spanish it cannot be overlooked, for Grace is “gracia” in singular and thanks is “gracias” in plural. The relationship between grace and gratitude has a special nuance in German, where Grace is “Gnade” and thanks is “Danke”. If we remove the “e” at the end of each word that just indicates that both are nouns, and if we realise that the sound “k” and the sound “g” are of the same family, then we have GNAD-DANK as a mirror image one of the other. Both being concepts that depend on each other for their effectiveness in human lives. I think that it is an act of grace that one can witness the strength at work in this Community and for that we all can be truly thankful. It is by no means insignificant that what has happened and what happens here in the Community and in the political-social sphere has had and has its effect and consequences for the rest of humanity. The same is also true for the Community in Johannesburg in relation to the rest of the world-wide Christian Community.
“Thanks” is one of those strange words that we use all the time, but think very little about its true meaning, origin and aura. There is much to be thankful for, of course, but one fundamental element often remains outside our thankful consciousness. The hard, fast Earth beneath our feet gives us confidence to stand in the world, to be in it to meet here the challenges of our destiny, to take these challenges on and work with them in a creative, transforming way. This has also been part of the background of the Christmas course in the community during these past holy days: the many nuanced qualities of Earth stone substance in the form of the 12 stones of the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem. They serve as substance and encouragement to recognise Christ’s ultimate goal for each of us, for humanity and for the Earth. The same motif is echoed in the prayer to the hierarchies at Christmas during the Act of Consecration of Man: that we may know the divine through what is seen and so kindle our love for the unseen. This, of course, is not a process, an activity, a need that arises just at Christmas. It is an intimate part of what becoming Christian is about. When we look at any and everything earthly, and maybe especially at that which is not to our liking, part of becoming a follower of Christ is being able to try and perceive beyond what we grasp with our physical senses; for if we only see the earthly, emotional part of our lives, we are caught in our Earth-bound nature. Looking at the foundation stones in the way that was done at Christmas, has led us from concentrating on the Earthly body and spirit made flesh in the birth of Jesus to the next step we are to take in our Christian becoming: seeking and finding the heavenly, divine body, the flesh spiritualised.
We take this step in the festive season of Epiphany in which the Epistle speaks so often of Grace: of that spiritual stream in which we are immersed and live, but which can only make itself manifest if we recognise it, take it up and perceive its presence in the same way we perceive the stone and the Earth’s presence. So now after looking down to the Earth to find our bearings, we now must also learn to turn our gaze to the spirit that lives and works in all, through the upward glance of the soul, to find our bearings. Both ways of looking must accompany each other, if we are to fulfil our Christ-given task to be co-healers of Earth existence. Not just looking down, but also looking up. Seeing Earth reality, yes, but also perceiving the Spirit reality that accompanies and works in it. There is no other way to fulfil Christ’s commandments to love one another, to learn, to forgive, to grow and become co-operators, co-workers, co-healers with Him as dwellers in Earth stone substance and dwellers in heaven’s substance of grace.
“Grace” is another of those strange words, whose origins and deeper meanings we rarely consider. We use it to describe harmonious, fluid, pleasing gestures, also as the quality of persons, animals, plants, and in the realm of art. We use it to describe the benevolence of a king or other ruler or of a judge in their dealings with persons who appear before them. But grace is also a deeply religious concept, especially in Christianity, namely to give expression to the constant and continuous stream of spiritual substance that flows from the Divine to the Earth. It should then not surprise us that the Epiphany epistle and inserted prayer together mention the word “grace” 7 times. It is as if after a time of becoming aware of the need to be thankful, we must also become aware of grace. It is not so readily apparent in English that there is a relationship between the two concepts, but in Spanish it cannot be overlooked, for Grace is “gracia” in singular and thanks is “gracias” in plural. The relationship between grace and gratitude has a special nuance in German, where Grace is “Gnade” and thanks is “Danke”. If we remove the “e” at the end of each word that just indicates that both are nouns, and if we realise that the sound “k” and the sound “g” are of the same family, then we have GNAD-DANK as a mirror image one of the other. Both being concepts that depend on each other for their effectiveness in human lives. I think that it is an act of grace that one can witness the strength at work in this Community and for that we all can be truly thankful. It is by no means insignificant that what has happened and what happens here in the Community and in the political-social sphere has had and has its effect and consequences for the rest of humanity. The same is also true for the Community in Johannesburg in relation to the rest of the world-wide Christian Community.
It is now customary to make resolutions for change in the new year. Quite often these are met with wry smiles and bets for how long they will last. Jokes aside, resolving something new, something different that speaks with promise for a better life, a healthy lifestyle, a more integrated life path has significant value. The resolutions many take from January first may not last as long as intended but for some it heralds a step, a move in a new and much desired direction. These new year resolutions often focus on physical or spiritual health – a renewed sense of wellbeing.
Of course the church year begins several weeks before the first of January, with the First Sunday of Advent. A prominent Advent figure is John-the-Baptist, often described as a forerunner of the Christ. John’s great message, captured in a word – metanoia, speaks to a change of mind and heart. It speaks to the change in our soul, with its faculties of thinking, feeling and willing, that orientates us to a newly perceived reality. For John-the-Baptist this reality was clear – the Kingdom of the Heavens was close at hand. Zelymans von Emmichoven wrote: ‘…the reality in which we live is the Christ.’ How do we make our resolutions, how do we resolve our lives in light of this reality – living in the truth of the Kingdom of the Heavens, of the Christ?
The word resolution carries more than one meaning. Firstly, it means to settle or find a solution (usually to a problem, riddle or area of concern). Then it also means to decide firmly on a course of action (the meaning most closely associated with our new year resolutions). Among its meanings is the little thought of meaning of something seen at a distance turning into a different form when seen more clearly. An example of this meaning could be expressed in a sentence such as: ‘The orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns’ or ‘The Hubble Telescope was able to resolve six variable stars in M31’. This idea of being able to separately distinguish is an important component of a resolution.
Hence, we might say that a resolution requires us to come close to the true reality of things, to be able to distinguish what is of true importance and then be able to decide firmly to act in accordance with such a vision. In this way we find a solution to the question of meaning in our lives – an activity that belongs not only to the beginning of a year but rather more importantly the beginning of each day.
Of course the church year begins several weeks before the first of January, with the First Sunday of Advent. A prominent Advent figure is John-the-Baptist, often described as a forerunner of the Christ. John’s great message, captured in a word – metanoia, speaks to a change of mind and heart. It speaks to the change in our soul, with its faculties of thinking, feeling and willing, that orientates us to a newly perceived reality. For John-the-Baptist this reality was clear – the Kingdom of the Heavens was close at hand. Zelymans von Emmichoven wrote: ‘…the reality in which we live is the Christ.’ How do we make our resolutions, how do we resolve our lives in light of this reality – living in the truth of the Kingdom of the Heavens, of the Christ?
The word resolution carries more than one meaning. Firstly, it means to settle or find a solution (usually to a problem, riddle or area of concern). Then it also means to decide firmly on a course of action (the meaning most closely associated with our new year resolutions). Among its meanings is the little thought of meaning of something seen at a distance turning into a different form when seen more clearly. An example of this meaning could be expressed in a sentence such as: ‘The orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns’ or ‘The Hubble Telescope was able to resolve six variable stars in M31’. This idea of being able to separately distinguish is an important component of a resolution.
Hence, we might say that a resolution requires us to come close to the true reality of things, to be able to distinguish what is of true importance and then be able to decide firmly to act in accordance with such a vision. In this way we find a solution to the question of meaning in our lives – an activity that belongs not only to the beginning of a year but rather more importantly the beginning of each day.