To pay profound attention to reality is prayer, because to enter the depths of this moment is to encounter God. There is only now. It is the only place God can be found. (My emphasis) 

Simon Small – From the Bottom of the Pond

Thomas Merton & Chuang Tzu – The Active Life

Meister Eckhart

Meister Eckhart

Conversations with Meister Eckhart by Meister Eckhart and Conversations with Meister Eckhart  by Simon Parke

Simon Small in “From the Bottom of the Pond” 

Of course my thinking about Paul is largely based on the teaching I received as a young Evangelical Christian – a Paul who is often quoted to support the dualistic view which has, sadly, pervaded the Church.

But what if we were to read Paul from a different point of view? What if we could shed the baggage with which he has been saddled for years? I believe it is then we would find a very different Paul – ones whose teaching fits far better with that of Christ.

Thankfully there are some in the Church who are now brave enough to try.

The following is from Richard Rohr

The three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are largely about the historical Jesus who worked miracles, who taught, who promised us a new way of seeing, a new way of life in this world.

It is seldom pointed out, however, that Paul is not talking about Jesus; Paul is almost always talking about “Christ.”  Paul hardly ever quotes the historical Jesus and never knew him in the flesh.  Really rather shocking when you realize that his letters are one third of the New Testament!  The phrase “in Christ” is his most common usage—over 100 times, I’ve been told.

We take Paul as a touchstone of orthodoxy, the central, foundational teacher of Christianity—and yet he hardly quotes Jesus!  Something else is going on here, which has largely been off of the Christian radar.  Paul has largely fallen in love with “the Christ” and it was Jesus who pointed him there.  Most Christians still need to make the same movement, and to believe in both Jesus AND Christ.  They are two distinct faith affirmations.

Adapted from The Cosmic Christ (CD/MP3)

Dante’s Prayer. Loreena McKennitt 

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and the fire

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We’ll rise above these earthly cares

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me…