Dharma????
In the Rule for Monks by St. Benedict writes that the first step on the ladder of humility is ... "To cherish at all times the sense of awe with which we should turn to God ..." I remember as a young monk my deep resistance to this rule as I joyfully and easily digested all of the others on how one should treat the tools of the monastery and observe silence and recite the Psalms and so on. I guess that one can only appreciate humility at the point in life I'm now arrived at ...
My first thoughts on waking up this morning were ... So what about this "God friendship stuff"? I've got to get a handle on this. The answer came like a flash of remembrance ... Do you remember the story about the blind men and the elephant. I realize that every time I had heard, read or shared that story I had always placed myself in the position of the observer, watching the blind men groping around trying to understand what an elephant is. I had never approached the entire question from the possibility that I might be closer to the beast than I imagined. What would my world and my attitude to elephants and blind men be like if I were one of them.
I saw in a flash that I've always imagined I had the whole picture ... I think most of us do. I don't want to be too hard on Pastor Warren but maybe he thinks he has the whole picture too. He knows what an elephant or God looks like. What if both of us only know a part of the picture. I think it's safe to say both of us ONLY have a part of the picture. WE know or see the part that corresponds to our need. Anais Nin said "We don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are." I guess that goes for God too. I don't see God as It is. I see God as I am. Didn't Paul write to the Corinthians. "Today I know in part, but a day will come when I will know even as I am known." Today I approach God with the limitations of my perceptions of "MY story" but one day I'll see and know the the expanded view that God Itself has of Its creation.
Back to humility. How many other people, situations, plans, interations am I seeing from my own limited (and legitimate) perspective. I think it is safe to say ALL of them. Hence AWE!!!
from the Rule for Monks ... "The Word of God teaches us us in clear and resounding terms that anyone who lays claim to a high position will be brought low and anyone who is modest is self-appraisal will be lifted up ..." Humility in the monastery now seems like a something I could have studied in depth and put into practice ... in the monastery. Out here, it feels like a pretty high stakes game. I need to think about this more.
The truth is ... And THIS is the really humbling thought. You're as close to the elephant as you choose to be. You know about as much about God as you are willing to know or discover.
Thanks Rick for today's' parting shot, I mean thought .... "What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?"
My first thoughts on waking up this morning were ... So what about this "God friendship stuff"? I've got to get a handle on this. The answer came like a flash of remembrance ... Do you remember the story about the blind men and the elephant. I realize that every time I had heard, read or shared that story I had always placed myself in the position of the observer, watching the blind men groping around trying to understand what an elephant is. I had never approached the entire question from the possibility that I might be closer to the beast than I imagined. What would my world and my attitude to elephants and blind men be like if I were one of them.
I saw in a flash that I've always imagined I had the whole picture ... I think most of us do. I don't want to be too hard on Pastor Warren but maybe he thinks he has the whole picture too. He knows what an elephant or God looks like. What if both of us only know a part of the picture. I think it's safe to say both of us ONLY have a part of the picture. WE know or see the part that corresponds to our need. Anais Nin said "We don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are." I guess that goes for God too. I don't see God as It is. I see God as I am. Didn't Paul write to the Corinthians. "Today I know in part, but a day will come when I will know even as I am known." Today I approach God with the limitations of my perceptions of "MY story" but one day I'll see and know the the expanded view that God Itself has of Its creation.
Back to humility. How many other people, situations, plans, interations am I seeing from my own limited (and legitimate) perspective. I think it is safe to say ALL of them. Hence AWE!!!
from the Rule for Monks ... "The Word of God teaches us us in clear and resounding terms that anyone who lays claim to a high position will be brought low and anyone who is modest is self-appraisal will be lifted up ..." Humility in the monastery now seems like a something I could have studied in depth and put into practice ... in the monastery. Out here, it feels like a pretty high stakes game. I need to think about this more.
The truth is ... And THIS is the really humbling thought. You're as close to the elephant as you choose to be. You know about as much about God as you are willing to know or discover.
Thanks Rick for today's' parting shot, I mean thought .... "What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?"
posted by Rev-T at 7:12 AM
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