12/6/14

The last couple of weeks have flown by. Thanksgiving seems like yesterday. I wanted to write something about Wednesday's B- group, and here it is already Saturday. I've forgotten half the things that were on my mind. I remember some of it had to do with the discussion about Advent, the time to celebrate the Incarnation, the uniting of heaven and earth.

Fr. Michael pointed out that, in the story of Jesus, God became flesh, uniting heaven and earth. The Incarnation is about God wanting to commune with creation, with us. In that context, Fr. Michael touched upon the role of prayer in opening us up to the presence of God all around us. We think mystical experiences are beyond us, that we're not capable of them, and yet we're naturally drawn towards them, like a deer to a stream of water.

But unlike the deer of the Psalms, our stream is within. Fr. Michael said that numerous passages ask us to turn within and to look for God there, as well as in our interactions with others. The kingdom of God is among us and within us. We are temples of God in which the spirit of God dwells. It's good to set aside some time each day for quiet and solitude, for meditation and prayer, for listening to God.

In contrast to that, the next day I went to the Holiday Ale Fest, and as I started walking home I ran straight into a march protesting the decision not to indict the officer involved in the murder of Eric Garner, as well as the decision not to indict the officer involved in the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown. I found myself in the front as the group marched from Pioneer Square to the Moda Center, chanting along the way various slogans such as, "No justice, no peace," "Who's lives matter? Black lives matter," etc.

It felt good, right; and being near the front, I started chanting at the top of my lungs, raising my fist and raging against the system with all my being. All that was going through my mind was, "This has to stop, and I have to be on the front line against racism, sexism, and every other kind of discriminatory 'ism' there is. Enough is enough!" Fighting injustice is also a spiritual pursuit, in my opinion.

I also decided to read the New Testament all the way through on Advent Sunday, it being the beginning of a new liturgical year and all. I'm finding a lot of parallels between the teachings of Jesus and those of the Buddha recorded in the Pali Canon. I'll try to take Fr. Michael's advice about using my imagination to make it real and see how it relates to me.