What must I do to inherit eternal life?

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

- Mark 10:17-31

Lessons on detachment come in this passage of today's daily reading. First of all we start off with the discussion of goodness, of what constitutes goodness. The young man approaches Jesus: ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus responds beginning with an understanding of what constitutes goodness and whence it comes: whatever goodness Jesus possesses is from the Father, from what it is that is shared between Father and Son. It is an important statement, to begin with, of where goodness comes from and the Source of every good gift, because it begins the discussion of what it is and what it means to enter into the kingdom.

Then Jesus teaches the young man that he knows already the commandments, which the young man has assiduously followed. Jesus, we are told, responds with love. He tells the young man that he lacks one thing: 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ This shocks the young man, and he goes away grieving. This is a message about detachment, and priorities. Clearly the message here is that we must be willing to give up our lives and all we hold dear for the pursuit of this kingdom. It is not the first nor the last time Jesus' teachings will convey this understanding.

Then he goes on to talk with his disciples about this subject: 'How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ In Jesus' classic way of speaking, to give us vivid pictures so that we understand his concepts, he utters the famous saying about the camel going through the eye of the needle, in order to illustrate the difficulties of detachment - particularly for those of us who grow greatly attached to possessions. Now, because what we own is so deeply connected to issues of survival, it's not at all an easy saying for any of us. And the disciples respond with that understanding: we are told, "They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’" Jesus replies with the understanding that for any person, this is virtually an impossible saying: ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Every good thing comes from the Source of all good, 'for God all things are possible.' It is within that quest for union, in worship and in prayer, that we find the impossible to be possible, we find the detachment to place the kingdom first in our hearts, beyond and above even our need for possessions.

Peter replies, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus then tells them: 'Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ' This cuts, I believe, to the heart of the matter. It is not a call for poverty, although vows of poverty have come within the spiritual life for many who have become saints and monastics throughout the centuries. It is rather about a placing of values, of priorities, on the things we have and own, and on our greatest possession - our soul, and what we choose to worship. Idolatry comes in many forms. I believe that we are creatures designed for worship. It is in the choice of what we are to worship, to love, to place first that the call for detachment comes here. We place emphasis on the priority of that prime commandment, in that all things in our lives become of service to the spiritual life. Once we give up all these things, Jesus seems to say, they are returned to us with the right priority, adjusted to this primary placement of the quest for a good spiritual life. All things, then, can become of service to that life, to that goal in our lives, that primary quality or possession of the quest for what is spiritually best for us, and for entry to and participation in that kingdom.

To enter into that kingdom takes above all the type of detachment that comes with humility, so we are once again continuing on the subject of "he who would be great" and the various forms and guises in which the quest for greatness among us comes. Jesus says, 'But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ This again is a statement of the radical equality of the kingdom and its logic of service to all as the duty of those who would ask for its greatness. And we also must remember that the return of all these good things, these possessions, Jesus says, comes with persecution. Whatever we possess, we carry with us also that cross. Regardless of who we are and what we own, the kingdom must still come first, and we bear our duty to it regardless of what comes as a result of that faith. Humility is the key to our capacity for detachment: in worship we place one thing first, and this sets into place what else we have in our lives, into proper relationship, righteousness or "right-relatedness." This is what he asks of us.

We take with us the knowledge that the Source of all that is Good is with us. When we worship, we seek not just to practice this humility of understanding the primary place of that which we seek, but also that which gives us our capacity for participation in that kingdom. In that understanding is also the knowledge that we worship and are in turn loved and received by that Source of "every good gift," of Goodness itself.

The two shall become one

He left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them.

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

- Mark 10:1-16

In this passage, Jesus has returned from Gentile territories and is teaching in Judea. So, the Pharisees are testing him, given the great crowds that are interested in listening to Jesus. They ask him about marriage - what is legal and not legal, and this of course is from the perspective of Jewish law. At that time, a man could very simply divorce a wife, through a mere certificate that he was dissatisfied. It is interesting to note that Jesus also addresses the question of a woman divorcing her husband in this passage, because this would not have been possible for a Jewish woman, so was a teaching that would only have applied to Gentiles.

It is my belief that this passage, taken as a whole, is a teaching about love. Most especially it is a teaching about commitment. I first asked myself why the church would include (as a daily reading) the teaching about children with this question on divorce. As Jesus' perspective clearly indicates a clear emphasis on union between two people, I don't think the discussion of marriage and divorce focuses on the children at all. Rather, to me, it focuses on the commitment and the notion of commitment within the bonds of love. So, to pair the discussion of the receipt of the kingdom as a child receives it, and a discussion on marriage and commitment, is - to me - a clear discussion on the nature of love, the bonds of love and commitment.

I'm very fortunate in that I am married to someone who has a great deal of love, and patience, to give that he brings to all of our difficulties and persistence in maintaining a marriage. I'm blessed in this respect. Others, I know, are not. What I would like to focus on, however, is the notion first of the easy way in which divorce could be obtained. To write a certificate of dismissal, in a sense, seems to me as a way of practicing a kind of ownership - to dispossess someone. I have always felt that Jesus was protesting the difficult conditions for women under such circumstance. But there is also more to this: to sustain commitment is not easy nor simple. It takes great effort on the part of both individuals to "cling to one another." Jesus also says here that both parties leave father or mother to create a union: so the pull of family or other ties becomes secondary to the marriage. It is the marriage itself, he says here, that must be the primary bond. In this respect, the commitment to another person is similar to the commitment to God. Both take great work and reaching on the part of both parties, both take a commitment of love that is inclusive of the part of us that remains as receptive as a child. There is more to love than an intellectual commitment, or a weighing of advantages, a calculation of what works and what doesn't. There will always be difficulties to face.

I may be parsing words here, but I also note that Jesus speaks of one party divorcing the other. As nothing in these gospels is flippantly worded, I find it significant that he doesn't mention the case where the desire for divorce is mutual. I also think it's important to understand the social circumstances about marriage he's referring to. But above all, I believe he's speaking about the difficulties of a commitment of love, and our willingness to adapt to one another to maintain that bond. And so we come also to the child - and the way in which we are to receive this kingdom.

Jesus' show of his great love for children is exemplary in the sense of responding to love. The openness with which children receive what is good, what is loving, is a characteristic of all of us when our hearts are open. To receive the kingdom is also to form a bond, a union of the heart. It is often said that marriage as a sacrament is the layperson's way to union: it is a process in which we participate whereby our identities adjust through love and union, notions of the self become malleable and flexible, peace becomes a question of an open heart, discernment, patience and a willingness to negotiate and communicate. Neither the commitment to God nor the commitment to marriage - in the best of circumstances - is simple or easy. But the basis for both is the love that is characterized by receiving as a child receives, on the part of both parties.

I'm saying nothing in my own commentary about reasons for divorce which would include hardship of so many kinds, abuse, etc. but I personally do not feel that a loving Father would welcome any union which endangers our mental, emotional, physical and particularly spiritual health. After all, the purpose of union is love; ultimately a grounding for spiritual growth which is rooted in love in all of its aspects and a deepening of our understanding of that love. May you be blessed with that kind of growth, which is available to everyone through that which is Love Itself.

Everyone will be salted with fire

‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’

- Mark 9:42-50

Lessons on humility and relatedness continue from Saturday's reading. In the previous passage, Mark the evangelist recounts for us Jesus' pronouncement about the little child. Jesus also taught about notions of service and leadership, when he found that the disciples were disputing among themselves about who was greatest. So he continues the same dialogue here.

Jesus first links the little child to the "little ones" - meaning those believers within the church who are followers, or "the least of them," who do not strive to be great. Jesus issues his stern warning to his disciples - one of the sternest he will give - about how they are to comport themselves because of these "little ones." My study bible says this is a true lesson in humility - stumbling blocks come because of striving to be great. They are to be servants to all. So, this is a lesson above all about detachment.

The least in this kingdom is clearly as important as those who would be greatest. Jesus' great caution to his disciples is about their treatment of those in the church who are the least among them. If, in their striving for greatness and personal power of any kind, they cause the little ones to stumble, the negative reflection back to them will also be great. Those who seek position must consider the great responsibility they have toward the most humble of the flock. Causing spiritual harm happens, he seems to indicate, through the desire for power, for greatness - and the consequences are dire for those through whom this harm comes. The least among them is blessed with the love of God, so that harm to the littlest ones is a serious offence, a great responsibility. This is a lesson not simply on the responsibility of the disciples but also on the great equality of this kingdom; the value God places on the least of them renders hurt to the little ones - causing them to go astray - the most deeply serious spiritual offense.

Strange sayings: 'If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell' What could it mean that Jesus talks about hands, feet, eyes in this way? Certainly it is a lesson on detachment. Whatever we possess as part of ourselves that could in some way cause offense to the little ones we are to detach from ourselves. What are some of the character traits associated with striving for greatness? Arrogance, self-centered egotism, selfishness, showiness or braggadocio, high-handedness, harsh treatment of others, a competitive spirit that is negative or devious in its expression, slander, gossip, unkindness, haughtiness, narcissism, exploitation, etc?? These are some of the qualities, then, which correlate to the hand, eye or foot that causes us to stumble. Whatever it is, no matter how cherished or precious it may seem, it's better to detach oneself from the personal passions that may harm the little ones or cause them to stumble.

What is this fire with which we are salted? I believe that in so many instances in the bible, fire is equated with the Holy Spirit. It is our great testing and proving ground, and also the giver of gifts. Like the salt and the fire, this two-edged sword of truth has its negative and positive side: the fire of Spirit is that same fire in the image of hell - its absolute energy of love at once purifies us and burns away that which is not of itself, like the negative qualities that go with pride, including triumphalism and sectarianism, that Jesus has warned about in the past two passages. Most of all, we remember his warning about the least - the most humble among us. We are salted with a fire that will teach us who we are, who we must be, what we need to develop and what we need to discard and detach ourselves from. In that fire is the greatest statement of equality: be at peace with one another. How hard it is - continues to be to this day - to live up to these words!

Whoever is not against us is for us

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.'

- Mark 9:30-41

This passage says to me that Christ wishes to teach us all more about our inter-relatedness to him, and how that manifests through discipleship in various ways. First of all, he wishes to teach them in private, because he is revealing what will happen to him - more on the message of suffering. But they fail to understand him. My doctor has explained to me that he sees something similar happening repeatedly with his patients receiving a catastrophic diagnosis: people simply do not take in bad news. Perhaps this is what is happening with the disciples. My study bible suggests it is also possible that they don't ask him questions because they are afraid of his rebukes. Certainly this idea must be the furthest thing away from what they expect - given the tremendous power so far revealed through Christ and now through the disciples, to heal, to perform exorcisms, etc.

They reach Capernaum, and Jesus is aware that they have been disputing among themselves. Again, they're embarrassed to reveal what they're thinking to Jesus, but he knows what they have been about. Perhaps because of the deeds of power and teaching that they have recently been experiencing for themselves, perhaps because of Jesus' pronouncement about his second coming in glory, they have been arguing about who is the greatest. So Jesus instructs them on the relatedness of this kingdom: 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.' And there is more to this message: ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ In our relatedness to Christ we are at once responsible for this service, and at the same time, the least among us also bears his name. What is done therefore to or for the least among them, is also done to him. This is a crucial lesson for discipleship. Not only will they share in his suffering, they also share in his role as servant, and the least among them bear his face. Jesus even goes one step further: '...whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.' The least among them, a child, who bears that name and that face is linked not only to Christ but to the Father. ’These are words we must continue to remember today. They are also words relevant to notions of Judgment.

Finally, the disciples bring up another issue of relatedness: they have seen someone else casting out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus replies that they are not to stop such people, because ‘... no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.' He then makes the statement: 'Whoever is not against us is for us.' Again, a question of relatedness, and the mercy inherent in that system of relation. The link to Christ is so central to Judgment that upon it pivots all: whoever is not against us is for us. 'For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.' Those who show mercy to one such related will also have mercy shown to them. This is an extension of relatedness that - it seems to me - includes all those who show mercy and how they respond to the kingdom that lives in those who bear it.

If we think about our daily lives, we can see quite clearly how we go about our day doing one thing and another. We encounter all sorts of people, and small mercies and great ones. Sometimes we encounter harshness or cruelty. But if even a cup of water makes this great difference in our relatedness to one another, then how significant is it that we practice common kindness? I contrast this with institutional acts of charity, which Jesus is not addressing here. How important that we at least remember that each of us are human beings? The smallest act then becomes one of sacrament in this sense, a recognition of the face which we are all capable to bear and a remembrance of his words here.

I believe; help my unbelief!

When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, ‘What are you arguing about with them?’ Someone from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.’ He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’

- Mark 9:14-29

I find it interesting that, shortly after the passage about suffering in the world and the cost of discipleship, we encounter the disciples in difficulty. They apparently cannot perform a healing - an exorcism. As Jesus comes upon this scene the scribes are disputing with his disciples. Jesus asks the scribes: ‘What are you arguing about with them?’ A note in my study bible tells me that Jesus, in his way, shows loyalty to his own - so in its way this question reflects his connectedness to his disciples.

I read also that the words "you faithless generation" are directed toward everyone. I quite like to read about this feisty Jesus who was not afraid to say what was on his mind. It always reminds me of his fully human and deeply vivid character. '...how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? ' But again, the issue of faith is reflected on from the perspective of discipleship upon which the gospel has been expanding in its recent passages. The disciples' ability to do or not to do something reflects on Christ himself.

The father's cry: 'I believe; help my unbelief!' is a reflection of the difficulties for all of us. My study bible has a note that the presence of doubt does not imply the absence of faith. It says, "Christ honors whatever faith we have and will increase faith when we sincerely desire Him." All things are possible because of the power that is released through faith. I think it's important to understand that this boy is a victim of this vicious spirit: it is trying to destroy him. Jesus specifically refers to ailments not mentioned by the father, as he commands the spirit to come out in front of the crowds: ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ Once again we have a referral to eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear: as spiritual metaphor, these are spiritual ailments that can be healed through faith. Once the child is healed, we are told that he is like a corpse. But Jesus lifts him - an allusion to the restoration of life itself, and resurrection. Healing from the spiritual perspective is the restoration to us of the abundance of life itself.

Finally, we have the great key to this passage: his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’ In other translations, this is written, "only through prayer and fasting," although in many ancient manuscripts, "fasting" is not included. Nevertheless, the point is clear - there are necessary things that accompany the development of faith in discipleship. Prayer is the number one method for this development. Just as in yesterday's passage, we are to go to our "high mountain apart," so to speak, and build the relationship to Creator through prayer that "helps our unbelief." It's necessary to take steps to shore up this relationship or relatedness within us. We all suffer from doubt. I know that I do; it is quite often that I experience a kind of personal doubt that is linked to lack of perspective on a problem. I find that when I am most negative, and suffering from depressive feelings, it's like an attack of a spiritual nature. I too, cannot "see nor hear" and truly, in that particular time, my perspective is unreasonable, even though on the surface I am supposedly looking at life with a kind of ruthless rationality. What I find correlated to my own personal doubt is a sort of extreme negativity, a perspective that is in fact not clear and not reasonable given my great blessings in my life, and I suffer, unnecessarily, emotionally when I am feeling this way. So, in this sense, I correlate this episode with this child so afflicted and tormented with my own experience of unbelief. In another sense, the heartbreak of the father who can do nothing to help his child, and his cry for help with his own unbelief, is a mirror to all of us who suffer with our friends and loved ones who are afflicted in some way or another, and we cannot see a way to help them. "Help my unbelief" becomes a cry for a way forward, a way to ask for insight on a problem - be it our own or heartbreakingly that of someone we care about. This passage gives me insight as to my own way forward, not simply through my periods of self-inflicted doubts and fears and depression, but also when I search for ways I can help others with problems I feel I am helpless to solve. Prayer is the way. In that I do have faith. My experience at this stage has repeatedly shown me it is so.

Transfiguration

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ He said to them, ‘Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.’

- Mark 9:2-13

Six days after Jesus' discussion about discipleship, suffering, and "coming in glory" (see yesterday's passage), Jesus takes his closest disciples up to the mountain where they have this experience. So, a taste of this glory is revealed to them, up a "high mountain apart." What that tells me, then, is that discipleship, suffering (taking up one's cross), and glory are inextricably linked.

I can't help but think these days, with my focus on contemplative prayer, of how different approaches to the suffering of the world must be part of the key to what we could call "enlightenment" - befitting today's bible passage. As I understand it, the Buddhist concept of releasing passions in order to cope with the suffering of the world is a key concept to enlightenment and spiritual practice within that discipline. And here Jesus presents to his disciples the suffering he will endure, and their own future in which they too will suffer through adversity to their message - resulting in "enlightenment" as well: the glory of transfiguration. I can't help but feel this deep connectedness within these teachings about the afflictions of the world and their redemption. As Christians, we too are taught that to detach ourselves from our passions and desires is part of our practice. Our spiritual freedom depends upon our capacity to give our desires to God, to Christ. This is to set ourselves right in the eyes of Creator, to shape our lives in this conscious understanding that it is this truth that makes us free. In that respect, it is similar to the idea that we are not to be slaves to our passions that one finds in Buddhist thought. Beyond that, serving this message of redemption, of transformation and even transfiguration in metanoia - repentance or "change of mind" - becomes a way of healing the world. We are to endure in this discipleship through the adversity - the suffering, the evil of the world. One word for evil in the gospels is poneros from the word ponos ("pain"). This is the word translated as "evil" in Mark 7:23 (see The human heart). Evil and suffering are connected; it is how we go through them that determines the redemption of the world. As Christians, we understand this light of transfiguration to be shared with us through worship, prayer and relatedness, helping us to becomes carriers of that energy and grace that transfigures the world.

In Transfiguration, as we see in this passage, Jesus' nature is revealed. Those disciples closest to him get a taste of the glory to which Jesus referred in yesterday's reading. We are allowed to see it for ourselves through the reading of this gospel. Jesus refers to Elijah having come in the person of John the Baptist. The figures of Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets. The Cloud, of course, has already been seen in the Old Testament as that which gives Moses the Law, the voice of the Father familiar from Jesus' baptism by John (Elijah) in the Jordan. So, this glory - as imaged for us in the dazzling white - is linked through all, and it is the Father Who glorifies Jesus and declares his revealed identity to the disciples. This "enlightenment" is for us the revelation of true nature, true identity, we could say Jesus' true name. And as Christians we also share in this transfiguring light and its process of grace at work in us.

Transfiguration is shared with us here so that we may understand also what we share in this worship. That dazzling white is an image of glory, of the grace of God, which is also shared with us. When we enter into worship, we then ask that this energy of glory, of grace be something in which we too, participate. We ask to walk through the suffering of the world as participants in this grace, thereby helping - as disciples - to share in its redemption and transfiguration ourselves. I feel that this central event is crucial to our understanding of the spiritual nature of transfiguration and redemption of the world; we share in worship because we wish to participate in that same energy of grace, and to allow it to shape us, to shape our true identity and reveal it to us. There is a Buddhist koan about one's "original face." The Christian understanding of 'face,' of prosopon in the Greek, is crucial to our concept of image or icon - identity. We share in grace to discover our true image, our true face. Through worship, through that union with the energy of our source, we go through this transfigurative, transforming process that teaches us who we truly are. But it all depends upon what we choose to worship, and therein lies the choice for us all and the reason why we need to practice discernment, to learn awareness of who we are and what we choose within ourselves (see again The human heart).

Jesus' suffering then becomes the great mystery: why must our Savior endure the evil? Why rejection? Indeed, why must we? Why did John the Baptist/Elijah, as referenced in this passage? The will of the Father seems to be that the world be transfigured, through discipleship and service - and endurance of its ills is part of that Way as revealed to us through these passages. It's how we go through them that seems to be the key. But it all depends on what we choose to worship so that we too may become transfigured, changed, and share that with the world ourselves. We go to our "high mountain apart" for prayer and communion, and ask to share in that grace in order to practice discipleship in all its forms; to find our "true face."

Take up your cross

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’

- Mark 8:34-9:1

What does it mean to "take up our cross?" I think this is an important question, because it goes to the heart of Christianity and its enduring symbol. To take up the cross might mean many things to many people. For me, it means taking up a life of prayer, of seeking communion with the Creator, and accepting that this will change us.

To understand prayer and connectedness in spiritual terms is next to impossible a subject to talk about, because it is so intimate and because what happens in this process of development of spiritual life and this spiritual connectness is also very mysterious. It can be attributed to "facts" such as our own psyches at work deep inside of us, social pressures we somehow absorb unconsciously, ideas we've picked up without being aware of it. But the deep spiritual transformation that happens through a life of prayer, such as times we suddenly find forgiveness inside of us for old hurts that we hadn't consciously thought of to begin with, or a great understanding that comes without conscious pondering of a question, are things that develop through and by this prayer life.

The process of taking up the cross, thereby, becomes a way of giving up one's life in the sense that who we think we are becomes something malleable, subject to change and transformation. In our relationship to Creator we become a person who is given gifts that denote identity: a kind of discovery of the self, or "true self," happens through this "giving up." When Jesus speaks of giving up one's life in order to save it, I believe he's talking about the relatedness that teaches us about ourselves, allows us to separate ourselves from sin, from desire, from - according to my study bible - "all that the world holds dear," and choose for ourselves with a spiritual freedom that comes from relationship to something that is much greater than all of that. There are times, in discipleship of this sort, when we have to choose what's more important: a relationship to God, or a goal, ambition, prized value, that stands in the way of that relatedness making itself deeper within us. The cross becomes that great symbol not only, of course, because of Jesus' crucifixion and his willingness to go to the end of his life itself in order to serve that relationship himself, but also because for each of us this road can be painful. It's hard to give up things you held dear, ideas you cherish; it's hard to grow! It's hard to separate oneself from what one held dear as a treasure: a goal, an ambition, an idea or image of oneself. But this is the cost of maturity, of the spiritual freedom that comes from clinging to this particular truth.

When we "take up our cross" then, we are thinking of relatedness to something much greater than ourselves - and therefore to something that allows us to go beyond ourselves, to separate ourselves from whatever it is that we have so far in our lives continued to think of as precious or dear to our idea of identity. Am I limited by my ethnic background? Am I a slave to what I learned as a child in my parents' home? Does even my gender tell me what I must be? There is a relatedness that takes us beyond even that, every factor in our lives, every "should" and "must" - and that is this most basic relationship to Creator. Jesus gave us the example. It is not very popular, I fear, to talk this way now. So much of what passes for Christian is about fulfillment in the here and now, a great synthesis of life in the world and life in the Spirit. But I believe that for our own sake we really should not forget these words or the spirit of them. Narcissism is the great heart of what ails us so often as modern affliction of all kinds. Our humanity really depends upon a clearer picture of ourselves than our desires so often offer to us. We need something, Someone, outside of ourselves to help us to spiritual, mental, emotional and even physical health. We draw upon our resources and all that is available to us, of course, but we do not forget to call upon the Source of all that is good, of every good gift.

Finally, Jesus' words touch upon Judgment. The relatedness to this Person that will come in glory becomes a question of what survives us when we leave this life - and ultimately in that place of understanding we find true freedom, that we are more than our possessions, that a person is more than his or her image in the world. What beauty we find in the world, then, becomes more than what we can possess or own, it becomes a reflection of its Source, which can shine in us.