Meditations on Lent- #12
One of the podcasts to which I regularly listen is The Moth Radio Hour on which individual tell stories in front of a live audience – stories which relay a slice of life of one individual which are the stories of all of us. Only the stage set changes. Some of these stories are also available in the soon to be released book Occasional Magic. One of those stories is told by Anna Del Castillo. a writer, speaker, life coach, actress and singer. The slice of life she shares and which the reader can listen to is about her emotional death following the murder of her father and brother. Although the murder was tragic, the greater tragedy was prior to their death she was angry and did not let them know she loved them. Eventually she comes to realize that “when you do not give love it rots inside of you.” I immediately thought this one sentence perfectly encapsulates the Easter message; the perfect directions for Christians to prepare for Lent; the perfect direction for Buddhists to get ready to meet the Buddha; the perfect way for anyone to meet or draw close to the God of one’s understanding.
When I think of love I think of connections; of open doors and windows; of new life; of what we know of the universe(s); of what we know about the seeming paradoxes of the laws of physics; of what we know of the power of music to draw forth the depth of pain, joy, despair and ecstasy; of what we know of the price for not allowing love to enter or leave our being.
Fear builds walls of anger, hate and resentment. These walls destroy from the inside out filling all the space one inhabits with the stench of decay. Often one hears people say that they can smell, taste, touch fear or cut it with a knife. Fear hides the details of our secrets. People in the 12-step program often state that one is only as sick as one’s secrets. Secrets breed shame and insist on walls on which to deposit one’s shame; walls that keep one separate and without the breath of life. Shame tells one that one cannot trust another with one’s love; that one stands in the path of danger; that one must protect oneself from the truth of rejection by first rejecting; that one must destroy the other before the other hammers the final nail.
The message of Easter; the example of Jesus; the words of the Buddha; the march of civil rights workers who are threatened with walls of violence; the voice of those caring for the immigrants fleeing violence; the cry of those calling for the end of the death penalty; the voice of reparative justice shouts:
Let go of hate. Let go of resentment. Let go of fear. Let go of judgment. Let go of all the walls which keep love rotting from the inside out. Let love escape one’s heart and one’s lips.
A necessary step towards reconnection with oneself and others is to repent; to open to the regret, remorse or contrition.
Oxford Dictionary states that the word repent is “from the Old French repentir, from re- (expressing intensive force) + pentir (based on Latin paenitere cause to repent’ “
When I envision or conjure up a sense of regret I think of a heart open to the possibility of a relationship to the whole of creation; to the possibility that to be fully human means to honor this connection. The choices are then a rejection of one’s humanity or a rejection of the humanity of the other. In the end one cannot do one without the other. This is what one usually means when one uses the word humility – to surrender to the reality of one’s humanness which encompasses all of humanity – all of creation.
“When we do not give love, it rots inside you.” When we withhold love we rot; all of creation rots. This is the crucifixion of the spirit. If God is pure spirit this is the crucifixion of God.
Written March 18, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
One of the podcasts to which I regularly listen is The Moth Radio Hour on which individual tell stories in front of a live audience – stories which relay a slice of life of one individual which are the stories of all of us. Only the stage set changes. Some of these stories are also available in the soon to be released book Occasional Magic. One of those stories is told by Anna Del Castillo. a writer, speaker, life coach, actress and singer. The slice of life she shares and which the reader can listen to is about her emotional death following the murder of her father and brother. Although the murder was tragic, the greater tragedy was prior to their death she was angry and did not let them know she loved them. Eventually she comes to realize that “when you do not give love it rots inside of you.” I immediately thought this one sentence perfectly encapsulates the Easter message; the perfect directions for Christians to prepare for Lent; the perfect direction for Buddhists to get ready to meet the Buddha; the perfect way for anyone to meet or draw close to the God of one’s understanding.
When I think of love I think of connections; of open doors and windows; of new life; of what we know of the universe(s); of what we know about the seeming paradoxes of the laws of physics; of what we know of the power of music to draw forth the depth of pain, joy, despair and ecstasy; of what we know of the price for not allowing love to enter or leave our being.
Fear builds walls of anger, hate and resentment. These walls destroy from the inside out filling all the space one inhabits with the stench of decay. Often one hears people say that they can smell, taste, touch fear or cut it with a knife. Fear hides the details of our secrets. People in the 12-step program often state that one is only as sick as one’s secrets. Secrets breed shame and insist on walls on which to deposit one’s shame; walls that keep one separate and without the breath of life. Shame tells one that one cannot trust another with one’s love; that one stands in the path of danger; that one must protect oneself from the truth of rejection by first rejecting; that one must destroy the other before the other hammers the final nail.
The message of Easter; the example of Jesus; the words of the Buddha; the march of civil rights workers who are threatened with walls of violence; the voice of those caring for the immigrants fleeing violence; the cry of those calling for the end of the death penalty; the voice of reparative justice shouts:
Let go of hate. Let go of resentment. Let go of fear. Let go of judgment. Let go of all the walls which keep love rotting from the inside out. Let love escape one’s heart and one’s lips.
A necessary step towards reconnection with oneself and others is to repent; to open to the regret, remorse or contrition.
Oxford Dictionary states that the word repent is “from the Old French repentir, from re- (expressing intensive force) + pentir (based on Latin paenitere cause to repent’ “
When I envision or conjure up a sense of regret I think of a heart open to the possibility of a relationship to the whole of creation; to the possibility that to be fully human means to honor this connection. The choices are then a rejection of one’s humanity or a rejection of the humanity of the other. In the end one cannot do one without the other. This is what one usually means when one uses the word humility – to surrender to the reality of one’s humanness which encompasses all of humanity – all of creation.
“When we do not give love, it rots inside you.” When we withhold love we rot; all of creation rots. This is the crucifixion of the spirit. If God is pure spirit this is the crucifixion of God.
Written March 18, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
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