I want to return to two things that I referred to in a previous posting. The lovely pilgrim prayer which I printed in an earlier post refers to the Exodus. It is good to remember that the Exodus was a resounding failure! It went on for 40 years because the people would not get the message of God. By the end almost all of those who left Egypt were dead. Even Moses died before the journey ended. Perhaps the most succinct summary of the experience is found in the final lines of Psalm 94 where the words are put on God's lips:Then I took an oath in my anger. These people do not know my ways. Never shall they enter my rest. "
Knowing God's ways is our challenge here on earth. A problem we have in English is that the verb 'know' is usually seen as an intellectual assent. In other languages there is a second word for knowing which connotes intimacy. That is the way that we are called to know God. The idea of entering God's rest is a wonderful symbol for heaven. The alternative is an eternity of toil. The choice is ours.
I also want to return to the Eliot quote which I misquoted!
What I wrote was: Not less of love but expanding of love beyond desire and thus liberation from the past as well as the future.
In fact Eliot has a different progression:
Not less of love but expanding of love beyond desire and liberation from the future as well as the past.
On this pilgrimage it is clear to me that we can only be liberated from the future if we have been liberated from the past. In the steadiness and the routine of the walk much liberation takes place.
Knowing God's ways is our challenge here on earth. A problem we have in English is that the verb 'know' is usually seen as an intellectual assent. In other languages there is a second word for knowing which connotes intimacy. That is the way that we are called to know God. The idea of entering God's rest is a wonderful symbol for heaven. The alternative is an eternity of toil. The choice is ours.
I also want to return to the Eliot quote which I misquoted!
What I wrote was: Not less of love but expanding of love beyond desire and thus liberation from the past as well as the future.
In fact Eliot has a different progression:
Not less of love but expanding of love beyond desire and liberation from the future as well as the past.
On this pilgrimage it is clear to me that we can only be liberated from the future if we have been liberated from the past. In the steadiness and the routine of the walk much liberation takes place.
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