Light
We now know that matter is trapped light: slow-moving light; or "frozen" light as physicist David Bohm puts it. Yet, because for every particle of matter in the universe there are one billion particles of light, we are amazed to learn how special matter is, how rare matter is, what a rare gift it is to be flesh or matter, that is, slow-moving light. Matter is light. It is very special light
- Matthew Fox
Yahweh, how great you are!
Clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in a robe of light!
- The Psalms
The word "glory" ("doxa" in Greek) bespeaks light, radiance, and splendor. Nature is filled with the glory of God, who is king of glory and has poured out the divine radiance into Creation. We hear that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.
- Matthew Fox, commenting on the passage from the Psalms
The human body is a wick, and a light is kindled above. . . . The light on one's head needs oil, the oil of good deeds!
- The Zohor, a Jewish mystical text
I am the light of the world;
anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark;
he will have the light of life.
As long as I am in the world
I am the light of the world.
- Jesus, John's Gospel, New Testament
The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
All that came to be had life in him
and that life was the light of people,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.
The Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us,
and we saw his glory [doxa],
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
- John's Gospel
God is light; and one who approaches this light is illuminated.
God puts into creatures, along with a kind of "sheen," a reflection of God's own luminous "ray," which is the fountain of all light . . . Shining reflections of the divine radiance must be understood as the sharing of God's likeness and constitute those "beautifying" reflections that make beauty in things. The being of things is itself their light and the measure of the being of a thing is the measure of its light.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
There is no Creation that does not have a radiance. Be it greenness or seed, blossom or beauty. It could not be creation without it. All Creation is gifted with the ecstasy of God's light.
- Hildegard of Bingen
I like the theme of light (why else would I put it up here?!) - it reminds me of my high school years. . .
I started seriously re-attending Mass in High School as a freshman - I started playing trumpet with our choir, which is the way I believe the Spirit led me back home. I also started reading the Bible as a freshman, after a Senior that I knew challenged me to explore my Christianity more fully.
After this, I started attending a prayer group in a neighboring parish. Shortly thereafter, I clearly remember one night not being able to sleep. I was staring up at the bottom of the bunk bed (my younger brother slept on top), and I just could not sleep. So I started praying - talking to God. I started by telling him how I was doing, what was going on with my life. I then started praying for different things in my life, which led to praying for the people in my life. The more I talked, the more people it seemed I had to pray for - prayers of thanks, prayers of petition, prayers of wonder and awe. I talked with God that night for about three hours straight, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, all the time marveling at the conversation.
When I woke up the next morning, I felt like some of the people in the gospels - like a veil had been removed from my sight . . . like a haziness had been blown away . . . like the dawn was over and the true light of the sun had finally flooded in.
I felt like a new life had started in me - like I had been flooded with the Spirit of fire & light and that it had transformed me just as Jesus had transformed at his transfiguration.
So I like the image of light. Quite a bit. :-)
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
6.15.2004
One River, Many Wells - Chapter 2
Creation- All Our Relations
The ultimate end of the divine will is the divine goodness, and the nearest thing to that among created things is the good of the whole universe. . . . Thus, among created things, what God cares for most is the order of the universe.
The whole universe together participates in the divine goodness more perfectly, and represents it better, than any single creature whatever.
Every creature participates in some way in the likeness of the divine essence. All things love God. All things are united according to friendship to each other and to God.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Creation is allowed in intimate love
to speak to the Creator as if to a lover.
- Hildegard of Bingen
Creation is the extension of God.
Creation is God encountered in space and time.
Creation is the infinite in the garb of the finite.
To attend to Creation is to attend to God.
- Ancient Rabbinic teaching
We all possess a little fragment of the first bit of life on earth. Consequently, everything that's alive is related - and a microscopic part of us all is three and a half billion years old.
- David Brower, scientist
When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. In fact, the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements; it has no independent, individual existence.
One thing is made up of all other things. One thing contains the whole cosmos. . . . A piece of bread contains sunshine. . . . Without a cloud, the wheat cannot grow. So when you eat a piece of bread, you eat the cloud, you eat the sunshine, you eat the minerals, time, space, everything.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Every hydrogen atom in our bodies has been in existence for fourteen billion years - imagine how many stories they have to tell us alone. What a pity when culture distracts us from this deep self-awareness by its titillating bon-bons.
- Matthew Fox, commenting on Thich Nhat Hanh's quote
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of the sun,
Radiance of the moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
- St. Patrick
One of the Natural laws is that you've got to keep things pure. Especially the water. Keeping the water pure is one of the first laws of life. If you destroy the water, you destroy life. All life on Mother Earth depends on pure water, yet we spill every kind of dirt and filth and poison into it.
Another of the Natural laws is that all life is equal. That's our philosophy. You have to respect life - all life, not just your own. The key word is "respect." Unless you respect the earth, you destroy it. Unless you respect all life as much as your own, you become a destroyer, a murderer. Man sometimes thinks he's been elevated to be the controller, the ruler. But he's not. He's only a part of the whole. Man's job is not to exploit but to oversee, to be a steward. Man has responsibility, not power.
- Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation
I like the sacramental worldview espoused by my Catholic Christian faith - that all of creation can become a vehicle for God's grace, God's presence in our lives. Viewing the cosmos (all of creation) as a vehicle for God's continued self-revelation should, in theory, awaken us to the destruction we're scaring our home with. It should help us remember that we are stewards, not kings - workers, not the boss. Unfortunately (to paraphrase from the Fellowship of the Ring), we crave power, and one of the best ways to get power in our time is through wealth - and if that means destroying the planet, well - so what? We're only around a couple of years - the future generation can deal with it, right?
We are destroying God's life as surely as we are destroying our own, and in the process we are making it harder for our children and our children's children to live healthy, joyous lives.
May God grant us wisdom and humility to know better and, even more importantly, to act on that knowledge.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
The ultimate end of the divine will is the divine goodness, and the nearest thing to that among created things is the good of the whole universe. . . . Thus, among created things, what God cares for most is the order of the universe.
The whole universe together participates in the divine goodness more perfectly, and represents it better, than any single creature whatever.
Every creature participates in some way in the likeness of the divine essence. All things love God. All things are united according to friendship to each other and to God.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Creation is allowed in intimate love
to speak to the Creator as if to a lover.
- Hildegard of Bingen
Creation is the extension of God.
Creation is God encountered in space and time.
Creation is the infinite in the garb of the finite.
To attend to Creation is to attend to God.
- Ancient Rabbinic teaching
We all possess a little fragment of the first bit of life on earth. Consequently, everything that's alive is related - and a microscopic part of us all is three and a half billion years old.
- David Brower, scientist
When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. In fact, the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements; it has no independent, individual existence.
One thing is made up of all other things. One thing contains the whole cosmos. . . . A piece of bread contains sunshine. . . . Without a cloud, the wheat cannot grow. So when you eat a piece of bread, you eat the cloud, you eat the sunshine, you eat the minerals, time, space, everything.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Every hydrogen atom in our bodies has been in existence for fourteen billion years - imagine how many stories they have to tell us alone. What a pity when culture distracts us from this deep self-awareness by its titillating bon-bons.
- Matthew Fox, commenting on Thich Nhat Hanh's quote
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of the sun,
Radiance of the moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
- St. Patrick
One of the Natural laws is that you've got to keep things pure. Especially the water. Keeping the water pure is one of the first laws of life. If you destroy the water, you destroy life. All life on Mother Earth depends on pure water, yet we spill every kind of dirt and filth and poison into it.
Another of the Natural laws is that all life is equal. That's our philosophy. You have to respect life - all life, not just your own. The key word is "respect." Unless you respect the earth, you destroy it. Unless you respect all life as much as your own, you become a destroyer, a murderer. Man sometimes thinks he's been elevated to be the controller, the ruler. But he's not. He's only a part of the whole. Man's job is not to exploit but to oversee, to be a steward. Man has responsibility, not power.
- Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation
I like the sacramental worldview espoused by my Catholic Christian faith - that all of creation can become a vehicle for God's grace, God's presence in our lives. Viewing the cosmos (all of creation) as a vehicle for God's continued self-revelation should, in theory, awaken us to the destruction we're scaring our home with. It should help us remember that we are stewards, not kings - workers, not the boss. Unfortunately (to paraphrase from the Fellowship of the Ring), we crave power, and one of the best ways to get power in our time is through wealth - and if that means destroying the planet, well - so what? We're only around a couple of years - the future generation can deal with it, right?
We are destroying God's life as surely as we are destroying our own, and in the process we are making it harder for our children and our children's children to live healthy, joyous lives.
May God grant us wisdom and humility to know better and, even more importantly, to act on that knowledge.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
6.14.2004
Interlude
Found another quote I liked, from a book I'm planning on buying called Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore.
Here it is:
Every human life is made up of the light and the dark, the happy and the sad, the vital and the deadening. How you think about this rhythm of moods makes all the difference. Are you going to hide out in self-delusion and distracting entertainments? Are you going to become cynical and depressed? Or are you going to open your heart to a mystery that is as natural as the sun and the moon, day and night, summer and winter.
Enjoy! :-)
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
Here it is:
Every human life is made up of the light and the dark, the happy and the sad, the vital and the deadening. How you think about this rhythm of moods makes all the difference. Are you going to hide out in self-delusion and distracting entertainments? Are you going to become cynical and depressed? Or are you going to open your heart to a mystery that is as natural as the sun and the moon, day and night, summer and winter.
Enjoy! :-)
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
One River, Many Wells - Chapter 1
More quotes :-)
Deep Ecumenism and the Universality of Experience
The truly wise person kneels at the feet of all creatures.
- Mechtild of Magdeburg
The great religions of the world are not competitive but complementary. One religion is not the enemy of the other, but all religions are faced by common enemies: skepticism, atheism, and perhaps worst of all, severe indifference. Only if the religions of the world stand together will they preserve themselves [and] help to bring about a new manifestation of the world spirit.
- Nikhilananda, Hindu scholar
The worship of the different religions,
which are like so many small streams,
move together to meet God, who is like the ocean.
- Rajjab, Hindu mystic
All religions,
all this singing,
is one song.
The differences are just
illusion and vanity.
The sun's light looks a little different
on this wall than it does on that wall . . .
but it's still one light.
- Rumi, Sufi poet & mystic
Through the practice of deep looking and deep listening, we become free, able to see the beauty and values in our own and others' tradition. Yet, to get to the point of seeing the beauty and value in others' traditions, one must look and listen deeply into one's own. One must practice some path along the journey that leads to depth. One must enter the well of mystical experience.
- Matthew Fox, quoting and expanding on Buddhist practitioner Thich Nhat Hanh
When you touch someone who authentically represents a tradition, you not only touch his or her tradition, you also touch your own.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
It is my belief that in the Presence of God there is neither male nor female, white nor black, Gentile nor Jew, Protestant nor Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, nor Moslem, but a human spirit stripped to the literal substance of itself before God.
- Howard Thurman, spiritual mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every truth without exception - and whoever may utter it - is from the Holy Spirit. The old pagan virtues were from God. Revelation has been made to many pagans.
- St. Thomas Aquinas, 13th-century theologian & Doctor of the Church
As a practicing Roman Catholic, I especially like the last quote from Aquinas - it reminds me that even in my own faith tradition there have been those individuals who have so deeply touched the heart of God that they no longer have to fear other religious traditions - they can affirm God's own Spirit blowing where it will and speaking to all people of authentic good will.
Enjoy - more quotes forthcoming!
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
Deep Ecumenism and the Universality of Experience
The truly wise person kneels at the feet of all creatures.
- Mechtild of Magdeburg
The great religions of the world are not competitive but complementary. One religion is not the enemy of the other, but all religions are faced by common enemies: skepticism, atheism, and perhaps worst of all, severe indifference. Only if the religions of the world stand together will they preserve themselves [and] help to bring about a new manifestation of the world spirit.
- Nikhilananda, Hindu scholar
The worship of the different religions,
which are like so many small streams,
move together to meet God, who is like the ocean.
- Rajjab, Hindu mystic
All religions,
all this singing,
is one song.
The differences are just
illusion and vanity.
The sun's light looks a little different
on this wall than it does on that wall . . .
but it's still one light.
- Rumi, Sufi poet & mystic
Through the practice of deep looking and deep listening, we become free, able to see the beauty and values in our own and others' tradition. Yet, to get to the point of seeing the beauty and value in others' traditions, one must look and listen deeply into one's own. One must practice some path along the journey that leads to depth. One must enter the well of mystical experience.
- Matthew Fox, quoting and expanding on Buddhist practitioner Thich Nhat Hanh
When you touch someone who authentically represents a tradition, you not only touch his or her tradition, you also touch your own.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
It is my belief that in the Presence of God there is neither male nor female, white nor black, Gentile nor Jew, Protestant nor Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, nor Moslem, but a human spirit stripped to the literal substance of itself before God.
- Howard Thurman, spiritual mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every truth without exception - and whoever may utter it - is from the Holy Spirit. The old pagan virtues were from God. Revelation has been made to many pagans.
- St. Thomas Aquinas, 13th-century theologian & Doctor of the Church
As a practicing Roman Catholic, I especially like the last quote from Aquinas - it reminds me that even in my own faith tradition there have been those individuals who have so deeply touched the heart of God that they no longer have to fear other religious traditions - they can affirm God's own Spirit blowing where it will and speaking to all people of authentic good will.
Enjoy - more quotes forthcoming!
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
One River, Many Wells - Introduction
I'm re-reading a book I got about a year ago called One River, Many Wells by Matthew Fox. I really like some of the quotes from the book, so I'll post here for the edification of those that read! :-)
From the Introduction
Humanity will find that it is not a diversity of creeds, but the very same creed which is everywhere proposed . . . . Even though you are designated in terms of different religions, yet you presuppose in all this diversity one religion which you call wisdom.
- Nicholas of Cusa, 15th-century theologian, scientist, mystic and Cardinal
If one starts with doctrines, the arguments are endless . . . . But when one comes to the level of interior experience, that is where the meeting takes place. That is the challenge.
- Fr. Bede Griffith, Benedictine monk, speaking of sharing our faith with others of different faiths
Divinity is an Underground river that no one can stop and no one can dam up.
- Meister Eckhart, Catholic mystic
There is one underground river - but there are many wells into that river: an African well, a Taoist well, a Buddhist well, a Jewish well, a Muslim well, a goddess well, a Christian well, and aboriginal wells. Many wells but one river. To go down a well is to practice a tradition, but we would make a grave mistake (an idolatrous one) if we confused the well itself with the flowing waters of the underground river.
- Matthew Fox, commenting on the quote above by Meister Eckhart
The biggest obstacle to interfaith sharing is people's unhealthy relationships to their own faith.
- The Dalai Lama
All paths lead to God, for God is on them all equally for the person who knows.
- Meister Eckhart
The book is divided into 4 sections (Relating to Creation, Relating to Divinity, Relating to Ourselves, and Relating to the Future), with 18 total chapters subdivided into those 4 categories.
Matthew Fox aims to provide source quotations from all of the worlds spiritual/religions traditions in order for the reader to start to see how the 18 themes he proposes cut across religious boundaries and make up a human longing for the divine, for God.
For this introduction, I would only add a caution, one which is touched on in the quotations I gave but which I would to like make explicit: In order, I think, to fully appreciate the beauty and wonder that each and every world religion can give us, we need to be fully rooted in our own faith. For example, I cannot share the beauty and richness of my Catholic Christian tradition if I do not know it well. I cannot give to others what I do not have. I can make connections with other faiths to the degree that I have already connected with my own faith. If I never go deeply into my well (to extend Meister Eckhart's metaphor from above), I will never by able to share deeply with others. We can only share our experience and grasp of our own faith. If we sample too many wells but never delve deeply into one of them, our spirituality, like our well-delving, will be shallow - easily uprooted and blown away with any obstacle that comes before us.
So take time to get to know your spiritual/religious tradition - what you learned as a child growing up in your household. For some reason - your to find or create - God put you into that household, that faith - see if you look through the eyes of Divinity and find the wonder, the richness, the Spirit-filled exuberance that all religions have to offer. Then and only then will you be ready to learn from other faiths, and to share what you yourself know as well.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
From the Introduction
Humanity will find that it is not a diversity of creeds, but the very same creed which is everywhere proposed . . . . Even though you are designated in terms of different religions, yet you presuppose in all this diversity one religion which you call wisdom.
- Nicholas of Cusa, 15th-century theologian, scientist, mystic and Cardinal
If one starts with doctrines, the arguments are endless . . . . But when one comes to the level of interior experience, that is where the meeting takes place. That is the challenge.
- Fr. Bede Griffith, Benedictine monk, speaking of sharing our faith with others of different faiths
Divinity is an Underground river that no one can stop and no one can dam up.
- Meister Eckhart, Catholic mystic
There is one underground river - but there are many wells into that river: an African well, a Taoist well, a Buddhist well, a Jewish well, a Muslim well, a goddess well, a Christian well, and aboriginal wells. Many wells but one river. To go down a well is to practice a tradition, but we would make a grave mistake (an idolatrous one) if we confused the well itself with the flowing waters of the underground river.
- Matthew Fox, commenting on the quote above by Meister Eckhart
The biggest obstacle to interfaith sharing is people's unhealthy relationships to their own faith.
- The Dalai Lama
All paths lead to God, for God is on them all equally for the person who knows.
- Meister Eckhart
The book is divided into 4 sections (Relating to Creation, Relating to Divinity, Relating to Ourselves, and Relating to the Future), with 18 total chapters subdivided into those 4 categories.
Matthew Fox aims to provide source quotations from all of the worlds spiritual/religions traditions in order for the reader to start to see how the 18 themes he proposes cut across religious boundaries and make up a human longing for the divine, for God.
For this introduction, I would only add a caution, one which is touched on in the quotations I gave but which I would to like make explicit: In order, I think, to fully appreciate the beauty and wonder that each and every world religion can give us, we need to be fully rooted in our own faith. For example, I cannot share the beauty and richness of my Catholic Christian tradition if I do not know it well. I cannot give to others what I do not have. I can make connections with other faiths to the degree that I have already connected with my own faith. If I never go deeply into my well (to extend Meister Eckhart's metaphor from above), I will never by able to share deeply with others. We can only share our experience and grasp of our own faith. If we sample too many wells but never delve deeply into one of them, our spirituality, like our well-delving, will be shallow - easily uprooted and blown away with any obstacle that comes before us.
So take time to get to know your spiritual/religious tradition - what you learned as a child growing up in your household. For some reason - your to find or create - God put you into that household, that faith - see if you look through the eyes of Divinity and find the wonder, the richness, the Spirit-filled exuberance that all religions have to offer. Then and only then will you be ready to learn from other faiths, and to share what you yourself know as well.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
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