Get it here . This is tonght's sunset from the deck-- pretty interesting light here in the high desert. We're about a mile up, and nothing but Juniper trees for miles in every direction.This is my part of our latest newsletter.
The other day I discovered that there are a few biblical quotes all falling within the same passage which have had an influence on me. An old movie by Frank Capra called "You Can't Take it With You." Contains the quote "Consider the Lillies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin. . ." later on, there's the well known "Oh ye of little faith." I use that one on Sheryl from time to time, usually when she's criticizing my driving, because if you drive with me, really, you better pray.
Eventually the passage comes around to "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." After college when I was looking for a place to land, I was decidedly pointed towards a tiny little canadian province, Newfoundland and Labrador: Quaerite primum regnum dei (Latin, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God"). I took note of the motto, and didn't head straight for Newfoundland, though I hear the seal flipper pie is to die for.
Context: what do all those tiny quotes mean out of context, and why would it come up lately. What it means for me is that, like it or not there is a further re-ordering of priorities going on. We've all got our material lives, but of course there is the transcendant as well; all those highger ideals which we cherish, which make us human, really. The kingdom is within. Take care of that, and the rest will work itself out. The passage seems to promise that your earthly needs will be taken care of if you just get right with God, but if you read it in context it goes much further than that, you might even say that it's self contradictory. You can 't really expect any spiritual text to place the material above the spiritual-- ain't gonna happen. Who and what you are in the moment, matters. If you lose all your stuff, what still matters is who and what you are. It often takes hard times for people to get spiritual. losing your stuff, or being disappointed, not getting what you want when you want it, it can get your attention and attention, our consciousness is the only thing we do own unfolding moment by moment. It's also a great opportunity to appreciate other people, who they are and what they do and to be grateful for that. Why ? Is that an order ? Do you have to be grateful ? No, it's just a suggestion because being ungrateful feels like crap. That's the thing, no matter how spiritual books may seem to emphasize the spiritual over the material, it's all very practical in the context of the human beings reading this stuff: we're made of spirit, and the material world obeys the edicts of the collective soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment