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screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv4186329972 #yiv4186329972templateBody .yiv4186329972mcnTextContent, #yiv4186329972 #yiv4186329972templateBody .yiv4186329972mcnTextContent p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv4186329972 #yiv4186329972templateFooter .yiv4186329972mcnTextContent, #yiv4186329972 #yiv4186329972templateFooter .yiv4186329972mcnTextContent p{font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;}} | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Christ Heart: Awakening As Holy Mystery - Part 3 | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. September 22, 2022Living with Holy Mystery is the spiritual schooling of the soul. The method of the schooling is the spiritual practices that teach us how to become embodiments of the Source: meditation; spiritual exploration; breath, body, and movement; and liturgy. These are the practices that begin to reground and recenter our life in Holy Mystery: they invite and enable consciousness to be transformed. These practices, however, are not conventional behaviors. To describe them as practices is a bit misleading. They are not acts the conventional self engages in to obtain a desired object. These practices are really non-practices. When taken up as a part of the spiritual journey, they are non-doings. They are ancient wisdom non-practices that reorient the self away from the acquisition of an object. For example, in concentration meditation, the mind is learning to let go of conventional objects as we intentionally focus awareness on the breath, suffering, and goodness. In non-concentration meditation, we simply sit as Reality arises and falls away. These are non-practices because they involve no goal, reorient awareness, and teach how to rest receptively in the moment. The predominant effect that often characterizes the discovery of and living with Holy Mystery is longing. We initially long to discover that object that will bring us hoped for peace, rest, and value. But what we discover is that the Beloved is not the kind of object we presumed it would be. We awaken to the presence of Holy Mystery as the Beloved who dwells in our heart. The spiritual practices are the art of becoming the lover of the Beloved. They intentionally refocus our awareness on Holy Mystery as the Source of our life each moment. The practices are the expression of intimacy itself. Each moment of practice is love actualizing.
From the beginning, the experience of longing fuels our soul’s continual search and unfoldment. However, as practice continues and love deepens, what arises is an awareness that the longing is for more than the heart of my heart, or center of my center. We simply long for more – or less – than a living with Holy Mystery. Augustine is right to say that our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee. But there is more – or less – than that. What we can begin to sense is that we’ve become habituated to our sense of longing. We long to long; that’s how we know we are on the journey. And yet the longing itself is exhausting. The more we long the less peace we know.
So long as Holy Mystery remains a pursued object – even as the Beloved of the heart – the soul experiences a gap which the feeling of longing intimates can be closed. And so, the heart comes to spiritual practice with the hope of having a spiritual experience, indicated by the feeling of longing itself, that might temporarily close the gap and relieve the longing. In Awakening as Holy Mystery, we are realizing that the belief in an object is less and less compelling and the feeling of longing is less and less satisfying. To our surprise, we become aware that Holy Mystery is neither some thing out there nor in here. Holy Mystery is the Reality of our being. Holy Mystery is the land of our soul. We are the land of promise in our very being. The prior journey of learning to live with Holy Mystery is transformed into the journey of living as Holy Mystery. The peace that passes all (conventional) understanding, as scripture says, arises as our way of life. In this awakening, the soul is at rest because there is no place to go and no thing to obtain – thus, no need to long. The heart is a spacious and still place even when expressing as erotic creativity. The awakening is the realization that there is no gap, no object, and no ordinary self. The true self is simply a human being that is Holy Mystery arising here in this moment. This is awakening as Christ Heart. We awaken to the gracious truth that the Source – Holy Mystery – is our own true nature. Reality is Holy Mystery graciously arising, or manifesting, each moment as the being or essence of everything that is. I say graciously because Reality, as it is, is a gift. There is nothing to earn or merit or deserve. We learn to receive what is always already present. Buddhism speaks of expending all effort to get to the longed-for far shore where we will know enlightenment. We will find ourself upon a shore completely unlike the one from which we first departed. When we finally do arrive on that distant shore after investing blood, sweat, and tears, however, we discover we are on the original shore. But our consciousness of what the shore is has been completely transformed. In biblical language, we’ve crossed over – after years of searching in the desert – into the promised land. And the promised land is the very land of our soul. In awakening, we are discovering that our true nature has always been Holy Mystery. But our conventional self did not know this. We were convinced of our inherent deficiency or weighed down by a mistaken sense of guilt and shame or immobilized by the feeling of inadequacy. Conventional religion distorts the spiritual journey into a struggle for salvation from damnation and a rescue into a heaven. The real spiritual journey is our discovery that the truth of our nature is graceful beauty. We are each a pearl beyond price. Our life is the task of discovering that truth by seeing through false beliefs about what we are and knowing directly for ourself the gracious truth of our nature. In Awakening as Holy Mystery, we realize the true nature of Reality. Our curiosity continues but our exploration is no longer driven by a sense of fear and deficiency. We are lovers being drawn ever deeper into intimacy with the Source. Reality is a Mystery because the intimacy is infinite. Love forever deepens. Because the Mystery is Boundless Love, Reality is Holy. Our hearts are in awe of the innate goodness and inherent beauty of Reality. We are now awake to the truth that love is the fluid fabric of Being. The ordinary self only awakens through spiritual practices that enable it to gradually understand in the heart and body its own inherent beauty. Each practice, engaged with sincerity and skill, slowly dissolves the layers of crust constituted by habitual defenses, avoidances, and passions. The spiritual path is not about getting to some place but awakening to the truth that our very being is the place where Holy Mystery is graciously arising now. And the same is true for every other being that exists. We – all beings – are the body of Christ, which is the body of Holy Mystery that is Reality.~ Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Read online here About the Author Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. is an Episcopal priest, a student of the Diamond Approach for over a decade, as well as a certified teacher of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition. He is the founder of the Healing Arts Center of in Marquette, Michigan, and the author of five books, including I Have Called You Friends, Holding Beauty in My Soul’s Arms, and My Heart is a Raging Volcano of Love for You and Beyond my Wants, Beyond my Fears: The Soul’s Journey into the Heartland. Visit Kevin’s Blog: Essential Living: For The Soul’s Journey. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By A Reader In your experience, what is most important when being in community with marginalized folks as a white person? A: By Rev. Deshna Shine Dear Reader,This one is easy. Listen. Listen. Ask questions and then be quiet and listen. Really hear them. Absorb what they are sharing with you. Believe them. Trust them.Be quiet and listen. Do not tone police. Do not defend yourself. Do not try to talk them out of their experience. Do not get your feelings hurt.This isn’t about you. And if it is, great! Here is the next most important step — learn. If someone shares with you that they have been hurt by you, or something connected to you like your community, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn something new, to grow, and to expand your awareness.So hear them share their pain and their experience. And listen. Listen with an open mind and heart and a desire to learn and grow.Believe what they share with you. Validate their experience. Apologize and say you will do better.Then go educate yourself on what came up. Do not ask marginalized folks to educate you. That is what the library is for, and yes… google. Google it and go down the rabbit hole.Read everything you can by marginalized folks, and listen to every podcast by them. Listen with a desire to see something in a new way. Practice empathy. Release your guilt, your shame, your fear of being wrong. And next time do better. It's fun to level up!But most importantly, just listen.~ Rev. Deshna Shine Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Deshna Shine is Project Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org’s Children’s Curriculum. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister, author, international speaker, and visionary. She grew up in a thriving progressive Christian church and has worked in the field for over 13 years. She graduated from UCSB with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Global Peace and Security. She was Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org, Executive Producer of Embrace Festival and has co-authored the novel, Missing Mothers. Deshna is passionate about sacred community, nourishing children spiritually and transforming Christianity through a radically inclusive lens. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As a non-profit ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit rely heavily on the good will of our donors to help us continue to bring individuals and churches the messages of progressive Christians, Weekly Newsletters, along with the many other resources we provide. For years, the majority of our fundraising came at the end of the year. Looking at various ways to create a more reasonable amount of cash flow we decided rather than having a BIG ask at the end of each year, our more frequent asks give folks a chance to contribute when their funds are more flexible. We think that's a win for everyone. We also want to highlight the opportunity to become a sustaining supporter. If you are looking for the best way to help us continue to provide progressive Christian resources, become a sustaining supporter by choosing Recurring Donation. Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org online and going strong - click here to donate today! * Another way to support us is to leave a bequest in your Will and/or Trust designating us a beneficiary. | | | | | | | | | | | Don't miss the next Episode of PC.org's Executive Directors Mark and Caleb on: The Moonshine Jesus Show - every Monday at 4:30pm Eastern Time – watch live on Facebook,, YouTube, Twitter, Podbean | | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Birth of Jesus, Part VIII The Fourth Woman in Matthew’s genealogy: The Wife of Uriah Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong January 17, 2013The fourth and final woman included in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus with which he opens his gospel and simultaneously introduces into the Christian tradition the story of the virgin birth, is the best known of them all. Matthew in this genealogy, however, does not ever call her by her name. He refers to her rather as “the wife of Uriah,” but those who are familiar with the Jewish scriptures, as Matthew’s audience would surely have been, know from the story in the 11th chapter of II Samuel that her name is Bathsheba and you and I can read her fascinating story any time we want simply by turning to that chapter of the Bible. For those who might not be familiar with this narrative these are the details.“In the spring of the year,” is the way the author of this book of Samuel begins his story. The spring of the year is the time when “the sap rises,” romance is in the air and, this author observes, it was also the time “when kings go forth to battle.” King David, however, did not follow the familiar script for this year so he remained in Jerusalem while dispatching his army into battle under the command of his trusted military chief, a man named Joab. Joab’s assigned task, said the author of II Samuel, was to “ravage” King David’s enemy, the Ammonites. Not only was he to conquer the land of Ammon, but his army was to accomplish this by besieging and then destroying the capital city of Rabbah, while the king remained safe and secure in the comfort of his palace.Thus the stage was set in which this particular episode would transpire. It would be while the king was at home far from the battlefield, that he would have the adventure that would determine not just the history of the Jewish people, but also through them, the history of the world. Great changes do attach themselves sometimes to seemingly unimportant details.It was in the late afternoon one day when King David, perhaps bored, decided to stroll out onto the rooftop of the royal palace to enjoy the warm spring breezes. Because his palace was the tallest building in the city, he could look down on all the roof tops of the other homes below. On this day, to the delight of his lecherous eyes, his gaze fell upon a young woman, who was bathing herself in what she believed was the privacy of her own roof top. David was immediately smitten by this woman’s charms and, as heads of state are prone to do, he assumed that his desires should be fulfilled. So David, after inquiring as to her identity, sent a messenger to this woman’s house, bearing his personal invitation for her to come to the palace and to have a “tryst” with the king. She came. Whether or not she had a choice, we do not know. The rights of women were very circumscribed in that patriarchal society. Bathsheba’s roof top bath was described in this text as necessary for “purifying herself from her uncleanness,” which was a euphemistic way the Bible described the fact that she had just completed her menstrual cycle. This detail is essential to the developing plot of this story, since it demonstrated conclusively that she was not pregnant at that moment. When she arrived at the palace David greeted her and then “took her and lay with her,” the text informs us. The act complete, this woman, having served her defined purpose, returned to her own house. In all probability David thought little more about the incident. It was probably not the first time, nor would it be the last, that this kind of activity had happened in his life. It was, however, destined to be a life-changing experience in Bathsheba’s life.In a few weeks Bathsheba, noticing some unusual, but revealing circumstances, sent a message to the palace marked “for the king’s eyes only.” In this message she informed King David that she was pregnant with his child. David, seeking to create some room in which to maneuver, asked her how she could be sure that this baby was his child. “You are a married woman,” he reminded her. Why do you assume that this is not your husband’s child? It was then that Bathsheba informed him that though she was indeed married, her husband, Uriah, was a professional soldier and that he had been away for months serving in the king’s army under Captain Joab in the war against the Ammonites. “There is no way O King,” she concluded, “that you are not the father of this baby.” David felt the noose tightening around his neck. He was not, however, ready to take responsibility for this fact and so he opted for plan B. He would dispatch a messenger to his army chief Joab, ordering him to grant a furlough to Uriah the Hittite. His cover was that he wanted to receive a first-hand report from someone in the field of battle and he had chosen Uriah for this “signal honor.” While on this special leave, David reasoned, Uriah would stay in his home, lie with his wife and when the baby was born, they could claim that this infant had just come early. It would not be the first time in that pre-DNA world that such an explanation had been conceived of and successfully employed.So a very surprised Uriah received orders to return to Jerusalem in order to provide a personal and private update for the king on the course of the battle. Uriah, however, did not choose to return to his own house. He, rather, slept quite ostentatiously in the street at the gate of the king’s palace. David’s plans were foiled again. He had not counted on Uriah being the ultimate “boy scout.” Uriah told the king that it would simply not be fitting for him to enjoy the pleasures of his home, his wife and his bed while all his comrades were still camping out in the fields, eating K-rations and risking their lives in the siege of Rabbah. “I could not think of doing such a thing,” he concluded. David must have thought to himself, “What a turkey!” Now he was forced to resort to plan C.The king next took out the royal quill and on a piece of royal parchment, he wrote out new orders to be carried to Joab, his military captain. He sent these new orders to Captain Joab via the hand of Uriah, who was returning to his duty on the battlefield. The king’s orders directed Joab to charge the gates of the city of Rabbah with a “V” shaped flying wedge. These orders also directed Joab to place Uriah the Hittite at the point of the “V” thus giving him the “honor” of leading the charge. It was a position in which few survived. It was done as the king commanded and Uriah was struck down and killed immediately. Joab then sent the king a message to inform him that his problems were over and that Uriah was dead. In turn, David sent for Bathsheba and she came to his palace to be one of his wives and thus a member of his harem. Bathsheba turned out to be a wife who exercised considerable power. After the child of her adulterous liaison with the king died in infancy, Bathsheba’s second son by King David, whose name was Solomon, was destined to succeed King David at his death, though he was not close to being the first-born son and thus the presumed heir to the throne. With the assistance of a priest named Zadok, a military leader named Benaiah and a prophet named Nathan, Bathsheba maneuvered to secure the throne for her son. King Solomon in turn secured the power of the royal family that was destined to rule the people of Judah for over 400 years. That is Bathsheba’s story as found in the Bible.In his genealogy, Matthew traces the royal line from Solomon through the kings of Judah until the royal family was destroyed by the Babylonians in the period of history that is called the Exile. Then he picks up the genealogy and traces it from the Exile to a man named Joseph, The conclusion of his genealogy says “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus is born, who is called Christ.” Thus the genealogy with which Matthew opened his gospel and which served to introduce the story of Jesus’ “supernatural” or “virgin” birth is brought to a conclusion.Now as we come to the end of this opening genealogy ask yourself, what was Matthew’s purpose in beginning his gospel in this way and why did he deem it necessary and appropriate to say that the line that produced Jesus of Nazareth began with Abraham and traveled through the royal family, then into the exile and finally it arrives at the life on which the whole story is to focus? Finally, what is he trying to communicate when he places into the background of Jesus, four well known women in Jewish history, all of whom by the standards of that day were sexually compromised women? He is informing his readers at the very opening of his story that the line that produced Jesus of Nazareth flowed through the incest of Tamar (Gen. 38), the prostitution of Rahab (Joshua 2, 6), the seduction of Ruth (Ruth 3) and the adultery of Bathsheba (II Samuel 11). That appears to be what the text of Matthew’s gospel reveals. Perhaps that accounts (at least in part) for the fact that throughout most of Christian history, the first 17 verses of Matthew’s first chapter were skipped and ignored. They were called “the most boring verses in the Bible,” the “who begat whoms,” and no one was encouraged to look at them or take them seriously. Perhaps this strange introduction reveals that there is far more to the story of the virgin birth than we have imagined in the past.We will continue to look at Matthew’s birth narrative in subsequent weeks. Then we will turn to Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth. Studying the Bible can be quite exciting once one removes the blinders of literalism and begins to look at the texts for what they are. So stay tuned. We will move next to Matthew’s proof text found in Isaiah 7:14 and then to the wise men and their familiar gifts. It is a fascinating study. I hope that you are finding it so.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements All Are Invited: Jewish High Holiday Service with Rabbi Brian A digital age, adult service (and conversation) about forgiveness, atonement, re-centering, remembrance, and celebration. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |