Contemplations
A new ability is awakening: the advent of perception
The Banyan Fig Tree in the Botanic Garden in Durban
by Rev. Michaël Merle
It may seem strange that our Advent Gospel reading is from Luke 21 (a passage often referred to as “The little apocalypse”: the little revelation). We may be accustomed to readings from Luke’s first chapter which brings us the picture of the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah, and then announcing the birth of Jesus to his mother Mary. This first chapter also includes the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist. But what does Luke 21 offer us in this season of preparation for what is coming?
The Gospel reading makes clear that our preparation today (in our case in 2021) is not simply for a remembrance of the birth at Christmas of the baby Jesus in the manager in Bethlehem, but rather for an encounter with The Son of Man. We are called to read the signs of the time and to be vigilant in our lives so as to stand upright and face the future; a future described as not just including The Son of Man but rather as being filled with the content of The Son of Man. “See the fig tree and all the trees. When they begin to bud and come out in leaf, you see it and know that summer is near. You can read the signs.”
This prescient passage offers us a picture appropriate to our time: “On earth, confusion and tension between the nations will increase as people are overwhelmed by fear at the premonition of what is happening to the earth and humanity.” From climate change to the global pandemic response, from corruption and ‘fake news’ and ‘big lies’ in politics to seismic surveys off our coast, from border disputes and rising tensions between neighbouring countries to inflation and exchange rate fluctuations, it seems that these words sum up the situation of our world this December. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. It seems that we have much to be concerned about and that there is much to fear.
But all is not ‘doom and gloom’ in this passage from Luke. We hear: “At the same time a new ability is awakening in humanity to perceive The Son of Man and his transforming powers of life – as he rises up the powerful and radiant release from debilitating life patterns and outdated thought forms.” Are we conscious of the thinking that is required for us to see how to view society and its spheres of activity? Are we able to identify what is debilitating in our current patterns of life? Are we preparing ourselves to be transformed by The Son of Man’s powerful life forces?
At this time (2021) of Advent, are we ready for the birth of new ideas, new views and new ways that lead us to living in the reality of the appearance of Christ in the forces of life? This theme of the appearance of Christ in the Etheric will guide us into our new year and towards our Community’s centennial celebrations.
It may seem strange that our Advent Gospel reading is from Luke 21 (a passage often referred to as “The little apocalypse”: the little revelation). We may be accustomed to readings from Luke’s first chapter which brings us the picture of the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zechariah, and then announcing the birth of Jesus to his mother Mary. This first chapter also includes the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist. But what does Luke 21 offer us in this season of preparation for what is coming?
The Gospel reading makes clear that our preparation today (in our case in 2021) is not simply for a remembrance of the birth at Christmas of the baby Jesus in the manager in Bethlehem, but rather for an encounter with The Son of Man. We are called to read the signs of the time and to be vigilant in our lives so as to stand upright and face the future; a future described as not just including The Son of Man but rather as being filled with the content of The Son of Man. “See the fig tree and all the trees. When they begin to bud and come out in leaf, you see it and know that summer is near. You can read the signs.”
This prescient passage offers us a picture appropriate to our time: “On earth, confusion and tension between the nations will increase as people are overwhelmed by fear at the premonition of what is happening to the earth and humanity.” From climate change to the global pandemic response, from corruption and ‘fake news’ and ‘big lies’ in politics to seismic surveys off our coast, from border disputes and rising tensions between neighbouring countries to inflation and exchange rate fluctuations, it seems that these words sum up the situation of our world this December. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. It seems that we have much to be concerned about and that there is much to fear.
But all is not ‘doom and gloom’ in this passage from Luke. We hear: “At the same time a new ability is awakening in humanity to perceive The Son of Man and his transforming powers of life – as he rises up the powerful and radiant release from debilitating life patterns and outdated thought forms.” Are we conscious of the thinking that is required for us to see how to view society and its spheres of activity? Are we able to identify what is debilitating in our current patterns of life? Are we preparing ourselves to be transformed by The Son of Man’s powerful life forces?
At this time (2021) of Advent, are we ready for the birth of new ideas, new views and new ways that lead us to living in the reality of the appearance of Christ in the forces of life? This theme of the appearance of Christ in the Etheric will guide us into our new year and towards our Community’s centennial celebrations.
Remembering, Membership and Being Connected
Infinity a sculpture by Plamen Yordanov at the University of Minnesota – It is a double mobius strip emphasising connection
by Rev. Michaël Merle
November is the month in which we are reminded that we stay connected to those who have died by the act of remembrance. In remembering those who have crossed the threshold, we develop a consciousness for what ‘membering’ is truly all about. To remember is to be able to bring to mind an awareness of someone or something from the past, as well as the act of doing that which one has undertaken to do or that is necessary to be done. ‘Remembering’ means to call to mind, and ‘membering’ is simply mindfulness. In November we call to mind those who have come before and feel ourselves connected to them: members of the same community. And so, we feel ourselves belonging in the community in which we are connected to each other and not separated into an isolated individuality.
What does it mean to be a member of a group? How do we understand membership? It is possible that we consider it simply as officially belonging to a set (identified) group. What does membership usually entail? Membership is often based on the requirement that fees are paid to maintain the connection. In The Christian Community we speak of membership, but what does that mean? It is completely possible to be a part of the Community and active in Community life without connecting as a member. So, what changes when one becomes a member? Is it that one gains certain advantages that belong to the ‘in group’? No. As it turns out, Membership of the Community does not carry any outer advantage, nor does it require any additional fee or payment. It refers only to that inner part of ourselves that recognises that we are not an onlooker nor an active participant but rather that we, in freedom of soul, belong to this movement that calls us to an inner connection to the life of Christ. As Louise Madsen puts it: “the aim of membership is to participate in creating communities in and through which Christ can work.” Membership in The Christian Community, Movement for Religious Renewal is the recognition of the connection we have to the activity of Christ in the renewal of religious life, to the identity we know about ourselves as committed to Christ and his Body in this particular path and congregation that reflects the movement and development of our time.
Being connected is not based on outer signs nor on marks that identify us as ‘in’ or ‘out’, but rather on our inner feeling of outer connectedness. This personal and individual sense which we may choose to confirm for ourselves, with the accompaniment of a priest, changes our inner disposition and places us in a new connectedness of being. It is the confirmation that we are, after all, one in the great and graced community of the Christ. The month of November allows us, once more, to broaden our view so that we know in our mindfulness that the community is comprised of all those who belong: a true community of the living and the dead
November is the month in which we are reminded that we stay connected to those who have died by the act of remembrance. In remembering those who have crossed the threshold, we develop a consciousness for what ‘membering’ is truly all about. To remember is to be able to bring to mind an awareness of someone or something from the past, as well as the act of doing that which one has undertaken to do or that is necessary to be done. ‘Remembering’ means to call to mind, and ‘membering’ is simply mindfulness. In November we call to mind those who have come before and feel ourselves connected to them: members of the same community. And so, we feel ourselves belonging in the community in which we are connected to each other and not separated into an isolated individuality.
What does it mean to be a member of a group? How do we understand membership? It is possible that we consider it simply as officially belonging to a set (identified) group. What does membership usually entail? Membership is often based on the requirement that fees are paid to maintain the connection. In The Christian Community we speak of membership, but what does that mean? It is completely possible to be a part of the Community and active in Community life without connecting as a member. So, what changes when one becomes a member? Is it that one gains certain advantages that belong to the ‘in group’? No. As it turns out, Membership of the Community does not carry any outer advantage, nor does it require any additional fee or payment. It refers only to that inner part of ourselves that recognises that we are not an onlooker nor an active participant but rather that we, in freedom of soul, belong to this movement that calls us to an inner connection to the life of Christ. As Louise Madsen puts it: “the aim of membership is to participate in creating communities in and through which Christ can work.” Membership in The Christian Community, Movement for Religious Renewal is the recognition of the connection we have to the activity of Christ in the renewal of religious life, to the identity we know about ourselves as committed to Christ and his Body in this particular path and congregation that reflects the movement and development of our time.
Being connected is not based on outer signs nor on marks that identify us as ‘in’ or ‘out’, but rather on our inner feeling of outer connectedness. This personal and individual sense which we may choose to confirm for ourselves, with the accompaniment of a priest, changes our inner disposition and places us in a new connectedness of being. It is the confirmation that we are, after all, one in the great and graced community of the Christ. The month of November allows us, once more, to broaden our view so that we know in our mindfulness that the community is comprised of all those who belong: a true community of the living and the dead
Beckoning: A Michaelic Gesture
'You blew me away 8' by British artist Penny Hardy
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
‘For Christ our Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of Christ is, there is freedom.
And we all…reflect the revealing light of Christ in us. In beholding, we are being changed into his likeness. And so we become transformed into the image which we behold, from one level of outpouring godly presence to another: wholly, just as it emanates from the Lord as Spirit.’ (2. Corinthians 3:17-18)
The world we live in is an intelligent world. We drive cars, walk around in buildings, use tools…these are all ideas, all around us we experience human ideas condensed and frozen into visible form and substance. Once those ideas were created and alive in a human spirit. Thinking which leads to insight and meaning is intelligence.
When we pick a flower, we are holding a manifested living idea in our hands, but this time stemming from a different source of intelligence than a human mind. When we observe the precision of a cycle of manifestation of a caterpillar through the pupa stage until the unfolding beauty of the butterfly to the point where it lays it eggs and then dies, we can see with our eyes an intelligence at work, which is much more sophisticated and powerful than ours. This is an intelligence which creates life, and leads it into death, and can create new life.
So let us look carefully, without preconceptions at exactly what is in front of us, already knowing it is an idea wanting to be seen and acknowledged. Yes, it needs time, attention, concentration. Revisiting, often.
An idea has a source. Looking ‘through’ its physical manifestation until we can see its source in a living conceptual wholeness ignites a spark of recognition in our heart, spreads a warmth of understanding through our body. We begin to be able to hold within our own soul a complex living, pulsating idea. In beholding, it keeps expanding, growing, creating. We are in the presence of a greater, powerful heart and mind connecting intelligence. It is the eyes of our souls which behold—and as a result, we are inspired and highly motivated.
It is okay to give this kind of intelligence the name God.
There is a source to the Idea of Human Being. We have the tools to behold this idea, and to become awake and present to its Presence. Some of those who have gone this path before us have given the intelligence which holds and manifests this Idea a name. It is our freedom to give it a name, or not. It is our choice to seek out the processes which can lead us to experience its power.
‘Let us become knowing and end sleep. Let us become seeing in the presence of God.
For now is the time. …Let us be victors over the tempters of this earth. …
Build a place for God. In our innermost being, build a place for him to be close.
And the closeness of Jesus Christ, our Lord, be to us living protection: creating, forming, sculpting within us, – with us –, The Human Being of the future.’ (Romans 13)
‘For Christ our Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of Christ is, there is freedom.
And we all…reflect the revealing light of Christ in us. In beholding, we are being changed into his likeness. And so we become transformed into the image which we behold, from one level of outpouring godly presence to another: wholly, just as it emanates from the Lord as Spirit.’ (2. Corinthians 3:17-18)
The world we live in is an intelligent world. We drive cars, walk around in buildings, use tools…these are all ideas, all around us we experience human ideas condensed and frozen into visible form and substance. Once those ideas were created and alive in a human spirit. Thinking which leads to insight and meaning is intelligence.
When we pick a flower, we are holding a manifested living idea in our hands, but this time stemming from a different source of intelligence than a human mind. When we observe the precision of a cycle of manifestation of a caterpillar through the pupa stage until the unfolding beauty of the butterfly to the point where it lays it eggs and then dies, we can see with our eyes an intelligence at work, which is much more sophisticated and powerful than ours. This is an intelligence which creates life, and leads it into death, and can create new life.
So let us look carefully, without preconceptions at exactly what is in front of us, already knowing it is an idea wanting to be seen and acknowledged. Yes, it needs time, attention, concentration. Revisiting, often.
An idea has a source. Looking ‘through’ its physical manifestation until we can see its source in a living conceptual wholeness ignites a spark of recognition in our heart, spreads a warmth of understanding through our body. We begin to be able to hold within our own soul a complex living, pulsating idea. In beholding, it keeps expanding, growing, creating. We are in the presence of a greater, powerful heart and mind connecting intelligence. It is the eyes of our souls which behold—and as a result, we are inspired and highly motivated.
It is okay to give this kind of intelligence the name God.
There is a source to the Idea of Human Being. We have the tools to behold this idea, and to become awake and present to its Presence. Some of those who have gone this path before us have given the intelligence which holds and manifests this Idea a name. It is our freedom to give it a name, or not. It is our choice to seek out the processes which can lead us to experience its power.
‘Let us become knowing and end sleep. Let us become seeing in the presence of God.
For now is the time. …Let us be victors over the tempters of this earth. …
Build a place for God. In our innermost being, build a place for him to be close.
And the closeness of Jesus Christ, our Lord, be to us living protection: creating, forming, sculpting within us, – with us –, The Human Being of the future.’ (Romans 13)
From St John’s to Michaelmas
Mountain sunrise
by Rev. Michaël Merle
It was wonderful recently to restart the Gospel Study after a short winter break. As the restart coincided with the 10 weeks between the four-week season of St John’s and the four-week season of Michaelmas, it seemed quite appropriate to focus on the pericopes for this time of Trinity III. These gospel passages take the words and message of St John’s into the life of the Gospels and then lead us in another octave, so to say, into the preparation for Michaelmas.
In the middle of this time, week 5 and 6, we encounter two different healings that are linked through their similar impairments: a blind man and a deaf (partially mute) man. The first thing to note that although both men are truly impaired it is possible to consider them as not fully blind nor fully deaf, but rather impaired of vision and hard of hearing. This introduces us to the deeper significance that the men are suffering perhaps less from a physical condition and more from a soul ailment. When asked what he would will (θέλεις: theleis from theló, “to will”) the Christ could do for him, the man of impaired vision asks for a restoration of his higher sight (ἀναβλέψω: anablepsō from anablepó, literally “to look up” or “up sight”). This request for a higher spiritual vision draws us into the picture. We are in this incarnation blind to the fullness of the Spirit. We do not possess the clairvoyance that we had as human beings thousands of years ago. Our open receptivity to the wonders of the spiritual pictures has been rightly lost in our evolving consciousness. Now, we seek the spirit in our thinking, in our coming to terms with the reality of the Spirit in our considered, mindful efforts to see what it is that we are looking at. The message of St John to change our vision and our thinking and feeling so as to be able to grasp the nearness of the Kingdom is realised in this healing of the higher sight.
The deaf man (or man of impaired hearing), who speaks with difficulty, is healed with the powerful Aramaic expression: Ephphata: be opened fully! Now the man is able to hear (spiritually) and thereby the bond of his tongue is loosened, and he is able not only to speak, but to proclaim. He is now capable of taking the vision or the auditory picture of the revelation of the Spirit and announce it, to take it into the course of daily life, to bring it out into the conversation and the interaction with others. The Michaelmas path calls us to active engagement with the world. And so, we are called to take our newly acquired faculties of spiritual sight and hearing, and give voice to the significance of it in our words and in the everyday action of our lives.
It was wonderful recently to restart the Gospel Study after a short winter break. As the restart coincided with the 10 weeks between the four-week season of St John’s and the four-week season of Michaelmas, it seemed quite appropriate to focus on the pericopes for this time of Trinity III. These gospel passages take the words and message of St John’s into the life of the Gospels and then lead us in another octave, so to say, into the preparation for Michaelmas.
In the middle of this time, week 5 and 6, we encounter two different healings that are linked through their similar impairments: a blind man and a deaf (partially mute) man. The first thing to note that although both men are truly impaired it is possible to consider them as not fully blind nor fully deaf, but rather impaired of vision and hard of hearing. This introduces us to the deeper significance that the men are suffering perhaps less from a physical condition and more from a soul ailment. When asked what he would will (θέλεις: theleis from theló, “to will”) the Christ could do for him, the man of impaired vision asks for a restoration of his higher sight (ἀναβλέψω: anablepsō from anablepó, literally “to look up” or “up sight”). This request for a higher spiritual vision draws us into the picture. We are in this incarnation blind to the fullness of the Spirit. We do not possess the clairvoyance that we had as human beings thousands of years ago. Our open receptivity to the wonders of the spiritual pictures has been rightly lost in our evolving consciousness. Now, we seek the spirit in our thinking, in our coming to terms with the reality of the Spirit in our considered, mindful efforts to see what it is that we are looking at. The message of St John to change our vision and our thinking and feeling so as to be able to grasp the nearness of the Kingdom is realised in this healing of the higher sight.
The deaf man (or man of impaired hearing), who speaks with difficulty, is healed with the powerful Aramaic expression: Ephphata: be opened fully! Now the man is able to hear (spiritually) and thereby the bond of his tongue is loosened, and he is able not only to speak, but to proclaim. He is now capable of taking the vision or the auditory picture of the revelation of the Spirit and announce it, to take it into the course of daily life, to bring it out into the conversation and the interaction with others. The Michaelmas path calls us to active engagement with the world. And so, we are called to take our newly acquired faculties of spiritual sight and hearing, and give voice to the significance of it in our words and in the everyday action of our lives.
Show me your Centre
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
If asked to indicate one’s centre on the body, most people will put the hand on their chest where the heart beat can be felt, heart-beat and breath and moments of stillness between the movement: a subtle experience of centring and expansion and centring again.
The centre of a circle is determined by its circumference. Also in life, it is from the periphery toward a centre that form, colour, action flows to be received into the still, open, vulnerability of the centre…to pause…and stream outward again changed, cleansed, renewed.
What do we call ‘my home’? A place of centring focus to which we return from all the expansive activity of the day to a place of rest and stillness, of coming back in-touch with oneself, to then emerge reenergised with renewed motivation and direction again; ideally a place where we experience having been met and seen for whom we truly are striving to be.
A Christian community is also defined by its periphery, by souls whose daily expanded life activity has a clear relationship to a centre, no matter where they are. The altar, – which comes alive when everyone gathers together, bringing what has lived in them as offering –, is the place of pausing into stillness, listening, exchange-receiving…being present, in vulnerable awakeness…feeling into, walking with the unfolding ritual process…to emerge a-new, seen not by human eyes alone,…whole. Why? Because in the centre lives an objective power of being, of life energy, of being seen and touched by Presence. What seems to be nothing can be the wellspring.
Every true centre has a quality of power like the sun demonstrates:
when it shines where we are, we see further, more clearly, feel more deeply, experience more intensely. Because of an anchor in this centre we can expand to grow our reach into the circumference of our earthly home, permeating ever more with light, compassion, meaning. And then, we come home into our true self again – to the wellspring.
If asked to indicate one’s centre on the body, most people will put the hand on their chest where the heart beat can be felt, heart-beat and breath and moments of stillness between the movement: a subtle experience of centring and expansion and centring again.
The centre of a circle is determined by its circumference. Also in life, it is from the periphery toward a centre that form, colour, action flows to be received into the still, open, vulnerability of the centre…to pause…and stream outward again changed, cleansed, renewed.
What do we call ‘my home’? A place of centring focus to which we return from all the expansive activity of the day to a place of rest and stillness, of coming back in-touch with oneself, to then emerge reenergised with renewed motivation and direction again; ideally a place where we experience having been met and seen for whom we truly are striving to be.
A Christian community is also defined by its periphery, by souls whose daily expanded life activity has a clear relationship to a centre, no matter where they are. The altar, – which comes alive when everyone gathers together, bringing what has lived in them as offering –, is the place of pausing into stillness, listening, exchange-receiving…being present, in vulnerable awakeness…feeling into, walking with the unfolding ritual process…to emerge a-new, seen not by human eyes alone,…whole. Why? Because in the centre lives an objective power of being, of life energy, of being seen and touched by Presence. What seems to be nothing can be the wellspring.
Every true centre has a quality of power like the sun demonstrates:
when it shines where we are, we see further, more clearly, feel more deeply, experience more intensely. Because of an anchor in this centre we can expand to grow our reach into the circumference of our earthly home, permeating ever more with light, compassion, meaning. And then, we come home into our true self again – to the wellspring.
Planet movement image of Earth-Jupiter in a rhythm of 2days from the viewpoint of the sun (heliocentric) over the time period 8 June 2004 to 19 April 2016
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Planet movement image of Sun-Jupiter in a rhythm of 2 days from the viewpoint from the earth (geocentric) during 8 June 2004 to 19 April 2016
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St John's Tide in 2021
Dove by Sophia Montefiore
by Rev. Michaël Merle
“I baptise you with water – giving you insights into the mysteries connected with the origin of the formative forces of humankind.
He will baptise you with the fire of the Holy Spirit – sharing with you the mysteries of the I AM in the future fulfilment of time.” (Mark 1: 8)
The renewal of our formative forces brought to us in the baptism of John in the Jordan, through the water, opens for us our ability to hear the message at the heart of St John’s mission: the complete renewal of heart and mind in the thinking, feeling and willing of the soul. How will we now take hold of the mystery of the I AM, of the fire of the I-organisation, of the fullness of the Spirit in us?
The step we undertook in the Garden of Eden won for us an independence from the Beings of Form. We took our development into our own hands, so to say. This significant step in our development came earlier than what the Beings of Form had intended, and it came in a way that brought us into a new relationship with those Spiritual Beings tasked with our formation as earthly human beings. It also came with a blessing that we needed to work through and wrestle with, in order for us to progress spiritually. This blessing appears to us as a curse: it is the blessing of suffering, illness and death. This blessing of the Beings of Form inculcated into the human being the necessary counterweight to the freedom we had taken for ourselves. The sickness of sin has indeed been healed by the Christ but the reality of living our lives on earth with illness and death remains. We face it as part of the loving way in which our lives are to unfold on earth and continue once we cross the threshold of death. Death is no longer an end, but it remains a reality for us to experience.
With the I AM a reality in us, with Christ in us (as St Paul put it, “Not I, but the Christ in me”), we are able to face illness in a new way. Today we face what has been called a global pandemic, and some may find some solace in the medical breakthroughs that offer a resistance for the physical body, but we still have to face the question of how we strengthen our whole constitution (body, soul and spirit) so as to build the true resilience we need to withstand all that would dehumanise us. We need to face the illnesses at hand without fear, and in the reassurance of the power of Christ in us. Many people are gravely ill at present, and we are reminded daily of the number who have died. Health authorities are doing their best to prevent further deaths and to alleviate the worst of the symptoms. Ultimately, our task is to work on those inner forces that are renewed in their response to all aspects of life, regardless of the circumstances. The following words may be a good guide for the way we may take up our Christ-filled path in life, today and every day:
“Whatever may happen, whatever the next hour, the next day may bring me, if it is quite unknown to me, I cannot change it by anxiety. I shall expect it with complete inner calm, with perfect peace of mind. Through fear and anxiety our development is hindered. By our waves of fear we resist what wants to enter our soul from the future. To surrender to that which one calls divine wisdom in the events, to be certain that what will happen has to be, and that in some way it will also have its beneficial effects, to call forth this mood in words, in feelings and in ideas, that is the mood of the prayer of surrender. It belongs to that which we have to learn in our time: to live out of pure faith, without any outer security, trusting in the ever-present help of the spiritual beings. . Truly it cannot be done otherwise. So let us take our will into strong discipline, and let us seek the awakening from within every morning and every night.”
In the words of St Paul: “May God himself, the source of all peace, hallow your whole being. May your complete and undivided being: your spirit, your soul, and your body remain pure, at the coming in Spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord” (1 Thessalonians 5: 23).
“I baptise you with water – giving you insights into the mysteries connected with the origin of the formative forces of humankind.
He will baptise you with the fire of the Holy Spirit – sharing with you the mysteries of the I AM in the future fulfilment of time.” (Mark 1: 8)
The renewal of our formative forces brought to us in the baptism of John in the Jordan, through the water, opens for us our ability to hear the message at the heart of St John’s mission: the complete renewal of heart and mind in the thinking, feeling and willing of the soul. How will we now take hold of the mystery of the I AM, of the fire of the I-organisation, of the fullness of the Spirit in us?
The step we undertook in the Garden of Eden won for us an independence from the Beings of Form. We took our development into our own hands, so to say. This significant step in our development came earlier than what the Beings of Form had intended, and it came in a way that brought us into a new relationship with those Spiritual Beings tasked with our formation as earthly human beings. It also came with a blessing that we needed to work through and wrestle with, in order for us to progress spiritually. This blessing appears to us as a curse: it is the blessing of suffering, illness and death. This blessing of the Beings of Form inculcated into the human being the necessary counterweight to the freedom we had taken for ourselves. The sickness of sin has indeed been healed by the Christ but the reality of living our lives on earth with illness and death remains. We face it as part of the loving way in which our lives are to unfold on earth and continue once we cross the threshold of death. Death is no longer an end, but it remains a reality for us to experience.
With the I AM a reality in us, with Christ in us (as St Paul put it, “Not I, but the Christ in me”), we are able to face illness in a new way. Today we face what has been called a global pandemic, and some may find some solace in the medical breakthroughs that offer a resistance for the physical body, but we still have to face the question of how we strengthen our whole constitution (body, soul and spirit) so as to build the true resilience we need to withstand all that would dehumanise us. We need to face the illnesses at hand without fear, and in the reassurance of the power of Christ in us. Many people are gravely ill at present, and we are reminded daily of the number who have died. Health authorities are doing their best to prevent further deaths and to alleviate the worst of the symptoms. Ultimately, our task is to work on those inner forces that are renewed in their response to all aspects of life, regardless of the circumstances. The following words may be a good guide for the way we may take up our Christ-filled path in life, today and every day:
“Whatever may happen, whatever the next hour, the next day may bring me, if it is quite unknown to me, I cannot change it by anxiety. I shall expect it with complete inner calm, with perfect peace of mind. Through fear and anxiety our development is hindered. By our waves of fear we resist what wants to enter our soul from the future. To surrender to that which one calls divine wisdom in the events, to be certain that what will happen has to be, and that in some way it will also have its beneficial effects, to call forth this mood in words, in feelings and in ideas, that is the mood of the prayer of surrender. It belongs to that which we have to learn in our time: to live out of pure faith, without any outer security, trusting in the ever-present help of the spiritual beings. . Truly it cannot be done otherwise. So let us take our will into strong discipline, and let us seek the awakening from within every morning and every night.”
In the words of St Paul: “May God himself, the source of all peace, hallow your whole being. May your complete and undivided being: your spirit, your soul, and your body remain pure, at the coming in Spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord” (1 Thessalonians 5: 23).
Preparing for St John’s: The time in-between Whitsun and St John’s Tide
by Rev. Michaël Merle
The first movement of growth in the plant is germination. The seed in the good earth absorbs moisture, strengthens its own inner force and bursts the seed coat. It makes room for itself with a force so great that in certain cases it pushes aside the surrounding soil. This pressing outwards so that the essence can emerge sets the plant on a course of unfolding that expresses the design and intention of the plant just as the Spirit would have it. The environmental factors: moisture, sunlight, clean air, nutrient rich soil, and so forth will have their influences but the essential nature will express itself. This is the working of the formative forces in the plant. This picture is true of our physical development but it is not the case with our spiritual unfolding. Here we have to be active in our engagement with the Spirit. Our co-operation in freedom with the grace of the Spirit means that our spiritual growth is dependent on our ability to respond (responsibility) in freedom to the grace of the Spirit in us and the power of Christ in us.
Whitsun brings to consciousness the arrival of the Holy Spirit in us. The flames of fire on the heads of each apostle was absorbed by the apostle, so that the fire of the Spirit could now ray forth from the human heart. Our spiritual development is at once the working of the Spirit and the work of our engaged inner will. It may seem strange to us that after Whitsun we prepare for the festival of St John. The St John’s season reminds us of the work we have to do to co-operate with the action of the Spirit. St John’s essential message of a change of heart and mind, reminds us of our part in the development of our spiritual life. No grace is able to work without the heart being open. If we are closed off to the Spirit, hard-hearted, so to say, then the grace is only able to surround the heart and, we could imagine, lie in attendance, to be invited into the very essence of our being. The source of our force to allow the Spirit to take hold of us springs from freedom, which provides us with the possibility to hear what was introduced by St John:
“… a complete renewal of mind and heart in the thinking, feeling and willing of humankind.”
It is a very needed time that we now have between Whitsun and St John’s to contemplate and prepare for the fuller realisation of the great new Mystery of the Spirit:
“I baptise you with water – giving you insights into the mysteries of the formative forces of humankind. He (the Christ) will baptise you with the fire of the Holy Spirit – sharing with you the mysteries of the I AM in the future fulfilment of time.”
The first movement of growth in the plant is germination. The seed in the good earth absorbs moisture, strengthens its own inner force and bursts the seed coat. It makes room for itself with a force so great that in certain cases it pushes aside the surrounding soil. This pressing outwards so that the essence can emerge sets the plant on a course of unfolding that expresses the design and intention of the plant just as the Spirit would have it. The environmental factors: moisture, sunlight, clean air, nutrient rich soil, and so forth will have their influences but the essential nature will express itself. This is the working of the formative forces in the plant. This picture is true of our physical development but it is not the case with our spiritual unfolding. Here we have to be active in our engagement with the Spirit. Our co-operation in freedom with the grace of the Spirit means that our spiritual growth is dependent on our ability to respond (responsibility) in freedom to the grace of the Spirit in us and the power of Christ in us.
Whitsun brings to consciousness the arrival of the Holy Spirit in us. The flames of fire on the heads of each apostle was absorbed by the apostle, so that the fire of the Spirit could now ray forth from the human heart. Our spiritual development is at once the working of the Spirit and the work of our engaged inner will. It may seem strange to us that after Whitsun we prepare for the festival of St John. The St John’s season reminds us of the work we have to do to co-operate with the action of the Spirit. St John’s essential message of a change of heart and mind, reminds us of our part in the development of our spiritual life. No grace is able to work without the heart being open. If we are closed off to the Spirit, hard-hearted, so to say, then the grace is only able to surround the heart and, we could imagine, lie in attendance, to be invited into the very essence of our being. The source of our force to allow the Spirit to take hold of us springs from freedom, which provides us with the possibility to hear what was introduced by St John:
“… a complete renewal of mind and heart in the thinking, feeling and willing of humankind.”
It is a very needed time that we now have between Whitsun and St John’s to contemplate and prepare for the fuller realisation of the great new Mystery of the Spirit:
“I baptise you with water – giving you insights into the mysteries of the formative forces of humankind. He (the Christ) will baptise you with the fire of the Holy Spirit – sharing with you the mysteries of the I AM in the future fulfilment of time.”
The Transmutation from Death into New Life
The Apostle Thomas
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
It was Thomas who stepped forward with clear intent: ‘Let us go and die with him’. The other disciples were fearful and anxious about following Jesus when he announced he was going to Jerusalem to Lazarus, who had died. Thomas witnessed the mighty realisation rise up in Jesus Christ as he was moved to speak it out: I Am the Resurrection and the Life! Then came the command, calling forth Lazarus from the tomb and into a life after a death experience. Lazarus was a deeply changed man after that. What had he experienced? Thomas will have been alert, watching, listening, even questioning. What was dying about? Was it possible to comprehend it? Moreover, Lazarus’ discipleship had led him into this place … is this what following Christ meant?
And then: Let us go and die with him had suddenly taken on an unimaginable reality and scope. The piercing finality of seeing, even feeling, the nailing to the cross, was too much for Thomas. The stark reality of the material world where the end result of everything was death, dissolving, separation, falling apart into nothingness, for Thomas the world crashed into a spiral of unconnected contradictory elements. Where was God? Where had the power gone which held everything together in meaningful relationship and cohesion? Senseless confusion. No hold. Everything estranged.
Then numb emptiness. Descending darkness. Touching the void.
‘The grave is empty. We have seen Him! He lives!’ – not possible! A dead body cannot pull itself together and live again. But what I do know is that he was vulnerable, like all of us, hurt and suffered, bled and died. He was human like me, and the scars of wounds from this earthly life must show. They will be part of his identity.
Now, Thomas allowed himself to feel his body, his aching heart, his vulnerability. I am still here, breathing. But no willpower.
Then the stillness. Staying in that place. Wrestling. Accepting.
Tempted to just let go. Give up. Let myself fall…a-part.
The grave is empty? My soul is empty. Memories arise, fulfilling and joyous, words of comfort. Painful memories, and shame. Welcoming them all. Allowing.
A gentle light enters the darkness with them. A new power, ever so subtle. Very real.
Who was this, who was I? Now, Essential Beingness becomes tangible. It holds itself in itself.
Yet it cannot be held onto. Alive and in motion, in wholeness, allows moments of in-sight.
‘Give your finger, see my hands, … Become trusting!’ Decide to step into motion, into the movement you initiate. Move towards me, then I can come towards you. Just begin. Then life begins, and becoming.
‘God of my Self! Lord of my I!’ You are the power that connects to the Father, the source who holds All in wholeness. You are the might that ignites my inner Self. You are the deepest power, the foundation upon which human nature and the universe builds anew, inside-out.
It was Thomas who stepped forward with clear intent: ‘Let us go and die with him’. The other disciples were fearful and anxious about following Jesus when he announced he was going to Jerusalem to Lazarus, who had died. Thomas witnessed the mighty realisation rise up in Jesus Christ as he was moved to speak it out: I Am the Resurrection and the Life! Then came the command, calling forth Lazarus from the tomb and into a life after a death experience. Lazarus was a deeply changed man after that. What had he experienced? Thomas will have been alert, watching, listening, even questioning. What was dying about? Was it possible to comprehend it? Moreover, Lazarus’ discipleship had led him into this place … is this what following Christ meant?
And then: Let us go and die with him had suddenly taken on an unimaginable reality and scope. The piercing finality of seeing, even feeling, the nailing to the cross, was too much for Thomas. The stark reality of the material world where the end result of everything was death, dissolving, separation, falling apart into nothingness, for Thomas the world crashed into a spiral of unconnected contradictory elements. Where was God? Where had the power gone which held everything together in meaningful relationship and cohesion? Senseless confusion. No hold. Everything estranged.
Then numb emptiness. Descending darkness. Touching the void.
‘The grave is empty. We have seen Him! He lives!’ – not possible! A dead body cannot pull itself together and live again. But what I do know is that he was vulnerable, like all of us, hurt and suffered, bled and died. He was human like me, and the scars of wounds from this earthly life must show. They will be part of his identity.
Now, Thomas allowed himself to feel his body, his aching heart, his vulnerability. I am still here, breathing. But no willpower.
Then the stillness. Staying in that place. Wrestling. Accepting.
Tempted to just let go. Give up. Let myself fall…a-part.
The grave is empty? My soul is empty. Memories arise, fulfilling and joyous, words of comfort. Painful memories, and shame. Welcoming them all. Allowing.
A gentle light enters the darkness with them. A new power, ever so subtle. Very real.
Who was this, who was I? Now, Essential Beingness becomes tangible. It holds itself in itself.
Yet it cannot be held onto. Alive and in motion, in wholeness, allows moments of in-sight.
‘Give your finger, see my hands, … Become trusting!’ Decide to step into motion, into the movement you initiate. Move towards me, then I can come towards you. Just begin. Then life begins, and becoming.
‘God of my Self! Lord of my I!’ You are the power that connects to the Father, the source who holds All in wholeness. You are the might that ignites my inner Self. You are the deepest power, the foundation upon which human nature and the universe builds anew, inside-out.
The Grave Is Empty!
Norbert Szabo
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
The women, who stood from afar witnessing the crucifixion belong to the few followers of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Gospels, who did not flee in fear from the scene on Good Friday. Then early on the day after the Sabbath, in the very early hours of the barely dawning Sunday morning (Mk 16), they make their way to the grave.
What motivated and gave them the courage to venture out unaccompanied so early, despite the trembling of earthquakes and Roman soldiers guarding the tomb, overcoming their fear and anxiety, with no idea how they would gain access to the tomb hewn into the rock of a hill and sealed with a huge human-height round stone? What else could have given them strength for this daring venture if not love? Love, which overcomes any personal obstacles. Love for this extraordinary human being who had given their life meaning and depth, and love for their rituals supporting the right way of accompanying the process of death?
What they encounter is the totally unimaginable: the grave is empty!
Not a trace of the body, or of any kind of physical remains. Not a speck. Instead, they have a spiritual encounter, experience living spirit beings, receive a clear message and a task.
The heaviness is lifted from their souls, the trembling is now in their hearts as ‘both fear and joy’ (Mt. 28) and they have a ‘sending’ and a new focus. As they hastily retrace their steps back the way they had come, they have another overwhelming experience: the Risen One is coming toward them! “And see, Jesus meets them, saying with joy: I greet you! And they approached him and held his feet, and worshipped him. And he continues: Fear not! Go to my brothers and announce to them that they will see me in Galilee, in the source of ever renewing life.”
Christianity would not have come into the world and continued to spread and continued to develop if it had not been for the experience of the Christ presence. The first message was conveyed through such experiences of the living rejuvenating Christ being near, yes, as close as their own heart. And then the knowing: He is there, is alive, works in me, through me. That was what ignited a confession which carried the martyrs through death with indomitable faith in this death-overcoming power.
And yet: the essential question of Christ’s Deed has hardly been understood to this day. It is our question to wrestle with: How can an actually deceased human being come alive again?
This riddle was the question of one of the disciples, which will be addressed in another contemplation.
The women, who stood from afar witnessing the crucifixion belong to the few followers of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Gospels, who did not flee in fear from the scene on Good Friday. Then early on the day after the Sabbath, in the very early hours of the barely dawning Sunday morning (Mk 16), they make their way to the grave.
What motivated and gave them the courage to venture out unaccompanied so early, despite the trembling of earthquakes and Roman soldiers guarding the tomb, overcoming their fear and anxiety, with no idea how they would gain access to the tomb hewn into the rock of a hill and sealed with a huge human-height round stone? What else could have given them strength for this daring venture if not love? Love, which overcomes any personal obstacles. Love for this extraordinary human being who had given their life meaning and depth, and love for their rituals supporting the right way of accompanying the process of death?
What they encounter is the totally unimaginable: the grave is empty!
Not a trace of the body, or of any kind of physical remains. Not a speck. Instead, they have a spiritual encounter, experience living spirit beings, receive a clear message and a task.
The heaviness is lifted from their souls, the trembling is now in their hearts as ‘both fear and joy’ (Mt. 28) and they have a ‘sending’ and a new focus. As they hastily retrace their steps back the way they had come, they have another overwhelming experience: the Risen One is coming toward them! “And see, Jesus meets them, saying with joy: I greet you! And they approached him and held his feet, and worshipped him. And he continues: Fear not! Go to my brothers and announce to them that they will see me in Galilee, in the source of ever renewing life.”
Christianity would not have come into the world and continued to spread and continued to develop if it had not been for the experience of the Christ presence. The first message was conveyed through such experiences of the living rejuvenating Christ being near, yes, as close as their own heart. And then the knowing: He is there, is alive, works in me, through me. That was what ignited a confession which carried the martyrs through death with indomitable faith in this death-overcoming power.
And yet: the essential question of Christ’s Deed has hardly been understood to this day. It is our question to wrestle with: How can an actually deceased human being come alive again?
This riddle was the question of one of the disciples, which will be addressed in another contemplation.
Passiontide
by Rev. Michaël Merle
In the early 1700s missionaries in a part of South America (the part that became the country of Brazil today) used a certain flower as a metaphor in the teaching of Christianity. They used the flower as an educational aid to describe the events and experiences of Good Friday: the five wounds of Christ and other emblems of his “passion” (which expressed in Portuguese the Latin passio, which means suffering). The flower known as flor das cinco chagas or "flower of the five wounds" gave the essence of its name to the fruit the flower produced, which we know today as passion fruit (or as it is also known in South Africa: granadilla).
Passion originally meant suffering, although now it is also associated with intense outbursts of strong emotion, ardent desire, and the arousal of great enthusiasm. The term was used for centuries to refer to the week of suffering prior to the glory of Easter Resurrection. What we now call Holy Week was then known, and may still be considered as, Passion Week.
The question may arise as to why we do not celebrate Lent, but rather focus on Passiontide? What is the difference? Why do we have four weeks of Passiontide and not simply one week (Holy Week) within the Lenten season? What is new in our approach that seems to extend this week-long intense time into a longer (four week) tide? In the traditional liturgical year of some Christian denominations, Passion Sunday is the fifth Sunday of Lent, marking the beginning of a two week period called Passiontide (the week before Holy Week and Holy Week). In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed this two-week Passiontide from the liturgical year, but the day remains observed on the fifth Sunday of Lent in some Christian denominations such as the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church. This adds another dimension to our questions: If Passiontide was traditionally a two-week period within Lent, and continues to be so for some, then how did it become a four-week season in the renewed liturgical year within The Christian Community?
Lent (Latin: Quadragesima, 'Fortieth', English: Lent, shortened form of the Old English word lencten, meaning ‘spring season’) is a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar of traditional denominations that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, the night before Easter Sunday, or in other traditions on Maundy Thursday evening with the start of the three days: Easter Tridium. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter. The traditional 40 days of Lent are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbours); these are known as the three pillars of Lent. Self-reflection, simplicity and sincerity (honesty) are emphasised during the Lenten season. In a renewed movement of Christianity, would such emphasis: the justice towards God, self and neighbour (in appropriate form) and a simple and sincere self-reflection not be a year-long reality? Lent is a response to the frivolity and excessiveness of an un-reflected life. The celebrations of Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, marked by using up the butter and sugar in the house in the making of pancakes and the carnival (literally “putting away meat”) and Mardi Gras (literally “Fat Tuesday”) festivities speak to an old licentious living. As such Lent was a stark reminder, as it echoed the forty day fast in the desert when Christ entered the human experience, that we have to let go of the old ways of unrestrained expression and enter into a new way of self-management. May it be that now we should know this to be the case at all times? Emil Bock well explains the significance of Passiontide (which in its four-week structure reminds us of the preparation that Advent is for Christmas):
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“In the four weeks preceding Easter, a metamorphosis of the once outward fasting must take place which benefits the present state of human nature. In so doing, the properly comprehended term ‘asceticism’ will quite definitely remain valid. The Greek word askesis was never a negative concept that implied, for example, that one should not eat or drink certain foods. Aestheticism in the positive sense signifies ‘training’, and this originally referred to the training for the Olympic Games in which the best-trained person won the crown of victory.”
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Our discipline of preparation is now focused in Passiontide in the sacramental words. The human ‘I’ which in Easter resurrected joy learns to stand upright and ready to receive the Spirit at Whitsun, now is spoken of as prostrate and lamenting. We prepare in a modern way for Easter in the four weeks of Passiontide which also takes us through an ever-deepening sense of our full preparation: physical, etheric, astral and ego. As Emil Bock describes:
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“Here, an important step leads from the first three Passion weeks to Holy Week (the fourth and ultimate week of Passiontide). First, the words of the Act of Consecration cause human beings to sense their inner poverty: empty is the space of the human heart. But then, out of the awareness of the spirit-loss that has led to the inner emptiness, the longing must grow that is kindled like a sacrificial fire in the heart of man: there burns the space of the human heart. Thus, something of the mystery of the ‘dying with Christ’ is woven into the weeks before Easter, so that, Easter the mystery of being ‘resurrected with Christ’ can touch and fill the soul.”
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Follow Your Star
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
Looking around at the abundance of blossoms this summer in our church garden the lilac Morning Glory which opens and closes with the rising and setting sun caught my eye. Soon after this I watched in amazement, also in our church garden, a large white flower slowly unfurl after sunset as the day darkened and stars twinkled. It was the white Moon Flower, a night bloomer. In both these blossoms a striking five-pointed star appears. Indeed, stars are not just above us, but all around us, clearly inscribed in many flowers. With the flower the secret of stars is also revealed: that hidden in their core is the potential of a new future unfolding, still invisible, but very real in what will gradually mature into the seed.
Looking around at the abundance of blossoms this summer in our church garden the lilac Morning Glory which opens and closes with the rising and setting sun caught my eye. Soon after this I watched in amazement, also in our church garden, a large white flower slowly unfurl after sunset as the day darkened and stars twinkled. It was the white Moon Flower, a night bloomer. In both these blossoms a striking five-pointed star appears. Indeed, stars are not just above us, but all around us, clearly inscribed in many flowers. With the flower the secret of stars is also revealed: that hidden in their core is the potential of a new future unfolding, still invisible, but very real in what will gradually mature into the seed.
Lilac morning glory
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Unfurling and open moon flower
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The Christian festivals of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany have a relationship to the night, to twilight and dawning and stars. Divining comes from twilight – the Christ child birth is celebrated at mid-night when invisibly the setting sun becomes a rising sun – the appearance of the guiding Star of Grace is the epiphany moment which motivated the kings.
All through the 12 Holy Nights of Christmastide the proclamation resounded:
Know this, the Christ has appeared in the realm of earth.
This is how our new year has been ushered in: From the realm of the night, where stars have their home, to where we lift up our soul to recuperate, heal and renew. In its core night also holds a secret, a blossoming epiphany moment to be found only by ‘journeying’ there as the kings did.
Let the kings be our guides through this year. What did they take along on the journey? Focused intention, perseverance, an open heart; open to learning from ever changing circumstances. They never wavered in holding their focus on the star, even when it disappeared from sight, so to say, even when they faced invasive darkness, inhuman and destructive. Even in this ‘Herod’ place they upheld their precious gifts of human integrity and never failed to keep seeking, questioning, and focusing on ‘their star’. Every step of the journey was a learning, a maturing in discernment and comprehension.
Following the example of the kings into every day of this year, we too can and will experience an epiphany moment. Not just one but many, as many as there are stars in heaven. For like they, on earth we now find stars, the Star of Grace as it lights up and shines from human eyes, hands, words and hearts and blossoms in deeds of human integrity. Always moments only of perceiving the source of hope and faith in future new becoming, warming the heart with deep and reverent joy.
We know the journey on earth is through darkness and that we will also meet evil.
We know there are many companions on the way with us, all following the star.
We know Christ has appeared in the realm of earth.
So we know we can and will find our Star of Grace.
All through the 12 Holy Nights of Christmastide the proclamation resounded:
Know this, the Christ has appeared in the realm of earth.
This is how our new year has been ushered in: From the realm of the night, where stars have their home, to where we lift up our soul to recuperate, heal and renew. In its core night also holds a secret, a blossoming epiphany moment to be found only by ‘journeying’ there as the kings did.
Let the kings be our guides through this year. What did they take along on the journey? Focused intention, perseverance, an open heart; open to learning from ever changing circumstances. They never wavered in holding their focus on the star, even when it disappeared from sight, so to say, even when they faced invasive darkness, inhuman and destructive. Even in this ‘Herod’ place they upheld their precious gifts of human integrity and never failed to keep seeking, questioning, and focusing on ‘their star’. Every step of the journey was a learning, a maturing in discernment and comprehension.
Following the example of the kings into every day of this year, we too can and will experience an epiphany moment. Not just one but many, as many as there are stars in heaven. For like they, on earth we now find stars, the Star of Grace as it lights up and shines from human eyes, hands, words and hearts and blossoms in deeds of human integrity. Always moments only of perceiving the source of hope and faith in future new becoming, warming the heart with deep and reverent joy.
We know the journey on earth is through darkness and that we will also meet evil.
We know there are many companions on the way with us, all following the star.
We know Christ has appeared in the realm of earth.
So we know we can and will find our Star of Grace.
The Star of Epiphany
by Rev. Michaël Merle
On the night of 21 December 2020, a co-incidence of Saturn and Jupiter on their orbital paths as seen from our earthly perspective engaged many of us in an evening of star gazing. The planets (or mobile - moving- stars as they were first identified) and the fixed stars that hold their position in the constellations of the zodiac that appear to pass over our night skies in the course of the year have held our fascination for eons and eons. They have provided and continue to provide a picture of the unfolding of the cosmos. They are the sign (signature) of the working of the heavenly beings that move and shine for all who seek to see. Many were excited at seeing this Solstice occurrence in our mid-summer of 2020. Certain articles and news broadcasts dubbed it the “Star of Bethlehem”. But can we truly say that this occurrence of the crossing of these two planets, or a similar co-incidence of planetary movement or a comet is the physical manifestation spoken of in Matthew’s Gospel as the star that announces the birth of the child to the magi and guides them to the place where he resides with his mother? Could the wonder of our mid-summer night last month be better called a “Solstice Star”? It did occur on 21 December after all. The date of Christmas (three nights after the solstice) is not disconnected from the reality of the sun experienced as shining over the Tropic of Capricorn (so named for the Zodiacal constellation of this time of year when the sun appears to shine directly above it). There are truly signs in sun, moon and stars, and we can learn to read these in the same way that we can observe seasonal changes in nature. Yet, Christmas carries a significance beyond all time and represents the birth of him who would bear the Christ.
So, what could we make of the Christmas Star? It would be more correct to speak of the Epiphany Star. This celestial light announced a birth that was long awaited by the magi. Magi were priests of the Zarathustran religion. They anticipated the re-birth of their great and wise founder: Zarathustra, whose name means “star-bearer”. It is the light of wisdom (of the Spirit of Zarathustra) combined with the shining presence of Christ in the descent through the heavenly spheres coming to earth and shining down upon the child into which the Christ would incarnate at the Baptism in the Jordan, that the magi perceive with their initiated spiritual vision. Could it be that those not initiated (like Herod) could not see the star and only the truly wise of the world (the magi) could see this heavenly light in the “star” that announces and guides them? This light of the star is pure grace and may be perceived in our illumined thinking and feeling. We need not try to find a physical astronomic event to understand the true reality of this Star of Grace. It is in our renewed imagination and our inspired thinking that we are able to intuit the reality of this cosmic event. The magi in their wisdom saw what truly was. May we in our strivings find in our thinking and feeling souls that same wisdom and hold in our minds eye the light of that Star. For what the star announces is the manifestation of the Christ coming to earth. It is the herald of salvation, the long-awaited turning point of time. May the Star of Grace illumine our thinking and open our spiritual perceptions for the presence of the Etheric Christ, for our current and future turning point. The Coming of Christ today is the coming of Christ in our life sphere and it calls us now to a change of habits and to a renewed thinking. As the Advent pericope foretells:
“The evolution of creation continues. Consciousness is evolving. There will be signs in the cosmos indicating the change: Sun, moon and stars will reveal themselves in new ways …
At the same time a new ability is awakening in humanity to perceive the Son of Man and his transforming powers of life – as he rises up the powerful and radiant release from debilitating life patterns and thought forms.” (Luke 21: 25, 27)
On the night of 21 December 2020, a co-incidence of Saturn and Jupiter on their orbital paths as seen from our earthly perspective engaged many of us in an evening of star gazing. The planets (or mobile - moving- stars as they were first identified) and the fixed stars that hold their position in the constellations of the zodiac that appear to pass over our night skies in the course of the year have held our fascination for eons and eons. They have provided and continue to provide a picture of the unfolding of the cosmos. They are the sign (signature) of the working of the heavenly beings that move and shine for all who seek to see. Many were excited at seeing this Solstice occurrence in our mid-summer of 2020. Certain articles and news broadcasts dubbed it the “Star of Bethlehem”. But can we truly say that this occurrence of the crossing of these two planets, or a similar co-incidence of planetary movement or a comet is the physical manifestation spoken of in Matthew’s Gospel as the star that announces the birth of the child to the magi and guides them to the place where he resides with his mother? Could the wonder of our mid-summer night last month be better called a “Solstice Star”? It did occur on 21 December after all. The date of Christmas (three nights after the solstice) is not disconnected from the reality of the sun experienced as shining over the Tropic of Capricorn (so named for the Zodiacal constellation of this time of year when the sun appears to shine directly above it). There are truly signs in sun, moon and stars, and we can learn to read these in the same way that we can observe seasonal changes in nature. Yet, Christmas carries a significance beyond all time and represents the birth of him who would bear the Christ.
So, what could we make of the Christmas Star? It would be more correct to speak of the Epiphany Star. This celestial light announced a birth that was long awaited by the magi. Magi were priests of the Zarathustran religion. They anticipated the re-birth of their great and wise founder: Zarathustra, whose name means “star-bearer”. It is the light of wisdom (of the Spirit of Zarathustra) combined with the shining presence of Christ in the descent through the heavenly spheres coming to earth and shining down upon the child into which the Christ would incarnate at the Baptism in the Jordan, that the magi perceive with their initiated spiritual vision. Could it be that those not initiated (like Herod) could not see the star and only the truly wise of the world (the magi) could see this heavenly light in the “star” that announces and guides them? This light of the star is pure grace and may be perceived in our illumined thinking and feeling. We need not try to find a physical astronomic event to understand the true reality of this Star of Grace. It is in our renewed imagination and our inspired thinking that we are able to intuit the reality of this cosmic event. The magi in their wisdom saw what truly was. May we in our strivings find in our thinking and feeling souls that same wisdom and hold in our minds eye the light of that Star. For what the star announces is the manifestation of the Christ coming to earth. It is the herald of salvation, the long-awaited turning point of time. May the Star of Grace illumine our thinking and open our spiritual perceptions for the presence of the Etheric Christ, for our current and future turning point. The Coming of Christ today is the coming of Christ in our life sphere and it calls us now to a change of habits and to a renewed thinking. As the Advent pericope foretells:
“The evolution of creation continues. Consciousness is evolving. There will be signs in the cosmos indicating the change: Sun, moon and stars will reveal themselves in new ways …
At the same time a new ability is awakening in humanity to perceive the Son of Man and his transforming powers of life – as he rises up the powerful and radiant release from debilitating life patterns and thought forms.” (Luke 21: 25, 27)