we can do this

Dear friends, in the universe a extraordinary moment of civilization seems to be overtaking us.  Through the great discoveries of science and spirituality we find ourselves in essentially a new place, a new and different place than ever before in history.  It is a time of enormous expectancy and possibility.  We are called to start, not with the old world contracts, now that we know they are all lies, but with what we know as the truth, as proved by silence and science.  So I call upon the nations to consider this as a possibility.   That we should begin a new world, with one that actually exists.  This is the moment to manifest this world, by showing loving concern for poverty, loving appreciation for the needs of the world, and opportunities for accelerated development.  We need to find ways to make these really happen.  I make this humble suggestion, that now arms making is of no significance in the world.  It hinders its progress.  This will allow and offer the world the marvelous gift of beginning, creating, of trusting each other, of forgiving each other and of showing compassion, care for the poor, and putting all our trust in the God of Heaven and Earth.  I leave this hope in your hands and hearts coming as a real inspiration from the heart of God. 

                               Thomas Keating – Last Oracle (Contemplative Network 2020

                               Transcript of YouTube Video

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put it how you will

it is an extraordinary moment in history

 

it is a time when so much seems to be dying

between Covid-19

and climate change

the rise of authoritarianism

and the seeming abandonment or morals and ethics

(especially by the so called “guardians” of morals and ethics)

 

it feels as if the world is unraveling, winding down

and in our hearts the words echo

 

“This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.’  (T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men)

 

As we wander, neck deep in the swamp of hate and corruption

As we stumble through the ruins of Christianity

Which has crumbled under the weight of its apostasy

And its allegiance with power and wealth

 

We feel soul dead

We are those hollow men and women

 

We are lost, broken souls

 

Hallelujah!

.

For as hope dies, hope is born

For as we give up, knowing we have lost our way, a way is found

As the “old world contracts” shatter, we discover they were all lies

And we are freed to embrace the truth

 

It is a profound truth

Jesus taught it.  Jesus lived it.  Jesus modeled it

We must die to the old, to be born to new

The old must pass away for the new to come

 

This is a moment of struggle and hurt and pain

This is a moment fraught with danger

This is a moment when it seems, “the center cannot hold’ (WB Yeats)

 

Hallelujah!

 

For this is our time to grab hold of God’s new thing

(can you not see it)

 

This is our time to choose service over domination

Compassion over hardness

Generosity over greedy

Honesty over lies

Community over individualism

Restoration over retribution

Love over hate

 

The old may be dying

But the new is about to be born

(don’t we affirm this every Advent, and every Easter?)

 

This is our time

We can, by the choices we make

The words we speak

The actions we take

 

“offer the world the marvelous gift of beginning, creating,

of trusting each other,

of forgiving each other

and of showing compassion, care for the poor”

 

We can do this

As we die to the contracts of the world

That do not work

put  our trust in the God of Heaven and Earth

and live accordingly