The Desires of Andvari The Norse myth about the dwarf Andvari tells of craving, lust, foolishness, and death. As retold by Liz Greene and Juliet Sharman-Burke, [1] Andvari is walking along the river one day when he sees the reflection of gold among the rocky riverbed and falls in love with the glittering metal. But the gold is guarded by the daughters of the river god, Father Rhein. Like the Sirens of Greek mythology, these young nymphs lure men with their unattainable beauty. Seeing them, Andvari longs for them with a deep and relentless longing. He calls to them desperately, rushing toward them with open arms. Laughing, the maidens drift…
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Resistance Revisited
Nonviolent Resistance Nonviolent resistance has been around since Jesus stood up to the Pharisees in Jerusalem, and probably before. Today, books are written about it and workshops designed to teach it. Some scholars insist that nonviolent resistance is more effective than violent resistance; others refute this. I doubt nonviolent resistance is as magical as we like to think, yet I know of no better way to orchestrate change without betraying our own values and becoming as angry, bitter, and oppressive as the regimes we stand against. Yet how do we refrain from lashing out with weapons? Cutting Ourselves Off from Our Emotions One way is to hide our emotions and…
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Finding Our Way to Holy Relationships
Everything Is God According to A Course in Miracles, what we see and believe about the world is an illusion. Our egos inform us that bodies and minds, concrete objects and forms, are all that exists, and that each existence is a separate self. Caught up in this illusion of a vast ocean of separateness, we feel lonely, anxious, and incomplete. Therefore, we seek out something that will fulfill us, complete us, ease our anxiety, make us whole. Born into these bodies, we have forgotten that everything is of God, that everything is God. In this state of forgetfulness, we look to someone or something outside ourselves to make things…
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Mystery, Metaphor, and the Story of the Flood
When Good Turns Evil There is, within the Hebrew Bible, a tendency for that which starts out as good to become bad. God creates the world and sees it is good, but it doesn’t stay that way. He creates humans in His likeness, so can how can we be other than good, if God is good? Yet, somehow we learn to sin. There was the trickery of a serpent, the jealousy of a brother. Over and over, we humans made mistakes. As time passed and generations were born, things just got worse. The wickedness and violence of humans increased until “every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only…
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Love and Our Neighbor
Loving Our Neighbor We humans are relational creatures. In the normal course of things, we develop bonds of caring and support that, when they grow strong enough, we call love. This love can be reflected in action, such as when we tend to wounds, offer gifts, hug and hold, when we visit another, smile at him, cook and clean for her, read to him, give her money or clothes, smile, or pray. We can also show love by sacrificing ourselves for our beloved. It is said we know how much God loves us because he gave his first born son to save us. To be like Jesus, then, must we…
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Human Rights and Peace
A Sunday of Peace According to a Presbyterian colleague of mine, the theme for this second Sunday of Advent is peace. By this, we might mean the absence of war or conflict. But a deeper exploration of peace would include a companionable silence, a comfortable camaraderie, a feeling of safety, a happy stillness in one’s heart. Peace is equanimity, tranquility, a sense of well-being. In Christian terms, peace is that absolute trust and rightness that comes from an abiding relationship with God. According to the Gospel of Luke, Zechariah, eight days after his son John the Baptist was born, prophesied about Jesus. He said, “By the tender mercy of God,…
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Advent, A Season of Hope
Why Celebrate Advent? This Sunday is the first of four Advent Sundays, culminating in a month-long Christian preparation for the celebration of Jesus’s birth. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and among those who do, not everyone celebrates this time of Advent, of anticipation and waiting and hope. In his article “Seven Reasons to Celebrate Advent,” Ryan Shelton highlights spiritual gifts we can gain when we honor this time of preparation. [1] For instance, he tells us, according to Scripture, God’s plan for Christ’s life and death began at least thousands of years before Mary ever gave birth to him, and God’s plan is still coming to fruition today. We know this because…
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Life Out of Death
The Cycle of Life In the children’s book, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, Julie Rawlinson tells the story of Fletcher, a young fox living through his first autumn. When the leaves of his favorite tree start to lose their green sheen, Fletcher thinks the tree is sick and tries watering and feeding it. Still the leaves wither and turn brown. When they drop, Fletcher tries to reattach them to their stems. Nothing works. Finally, all the branches are bare. Despondently, Fletcher goes home. At his young age, he doesn’t understand the cycle of life and death and life. All he can see is that his beloved tree is dying, and he…
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Gratitude and the Three Buddhist Personality Types
Buddhist Personality Types While reading Jack Kornfield’s book, The Wise Heart, I was reminded of the three Buddhist personality types: greedy, aversive, and deluded. [1] Thinking about this week’s theme of gratitude, I wondered if one of those types is more naturally grateful than the others. If so, I suspected it might be the greedy type. This one takes in the beauty of the world, appreciates sights and smells, lingers over coffee, loves his friend’s remodeled kitchen, and sometimes covets his neighbor’s new coat or car. Taken to an extreme, this type can end up stealing, seeking power, or getting lost in pride or addiction. I figured the aversive type, on the…
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Resilience and Spirituality
Resilience in the Face of Hardship and Trauma As a chaplain and spiritual counselor, I work daily with people whose resilience impresses me. Homeless, struggling to let go of one addiction after another, or grieving the loss of loved ones or marriages or jobs, many of them chronically ill or in pain, these people nonetheless find a way to keep on going, to survive another day. They long to feel better; they want to heal. Not that they never experience despair or curse their hunger or the cold. They do. Some days, they want to give up. Some days I want to give up, and my life’s easy compared to…