Today’s Readings: Psalm 50; Leviticus 16:20-34; Luke 20:19-26; Philippians 3:1-7; Psalm 31
Like many folks in their twenties, I went through a stage where I had totally had it with organized religion. This was at the height of the constant scandals involving televangelists and at the rise of the denominational rancor over homosexuality and abortion. I decided it was time to explore other ways of being outside of Western Christianity so a friend turned me on to the writings of an Eastern philosopher by the name of J. Krishnamurti. There were many things that Krishnamurti said that have stayed with me over the years, but one of the most influential things was his saying about the role choice plays in our lives. Krishnamurti said that choice is basically an illusion. If you are truly living a centered life, a person doesn’t have to stop and ponder what to do in a situation; a spiritually grounded person will simply know what to do. Because of that clarify, choice becomes an illusion. Moving toward such a spiritual state of enlightenment has long since been my goal. I thought of my exploration of Krishnamurti’s words when I read today’s Gospel passage from Luke. In that passage, the religious authorities try to publically embarrass Jesus by asking him to make a difficult choice: do we pay taxes to the government or not. They knew that if Jesus was like others who lacked clarity, he would be stumped by their question. Would he say “No” and risk offending the government officials who might have heard about his treasonous response, or would he saw “Yes” and lose his credibility among those religious folks disgruntled with the government who were present? Jesus was so centered that he was able to immediately see through the apparent “choices” the religious authorities presented and arrive at a centered answer. So where do you find yourself most days? Do you find yourself constantly agonizing over choices that appear in your life – wondering what to do; or do you find yourself frequently centered and able to move through the challenges (and choices) that appear before you? If you’re anything like me, it probably depends on the day and the circumstance(s) you are facing. My hope and prayer for us is that each of us will grow in our ability to spiritually center so the longer we live, the easier our apparent choices become. Til next time…
Like many folks in their twenties, I went through a stage where I had totally had it with organized religion. This was at the height of the constant scandals involving televangelists and at the rise of the denominational rancor over homosexuality and abortion. I decided it was time to explore other ways of being outside of Western Christianity so a friend turned me on to the writings of an Eastern philosopher by the name of J. Krishnamurti. There were many things that Krishnamurti said that have stayed with me over the years, but one of the most influential things was his saying about the role choice plays in our lives. Krishnamurti said that choice is basically an illusion. If you are truly living a centered life, a person doesn’t have to stop and ponder what to do in a situation; a spiritually grounded person will simply know what to do. Because of that clarify, choice becomes an illusion. Moving toward such a spiritual state of enlightenment has long since been my goal. I thought of my exploration of Krishnamurti’s words when I read today’s Gospel passage from Luke. In that passage, the religious authorities try to publically embarrass Jesus by asking him to make a difficult choice: do we pay taxes to the government or not. They knew that if Jesus was like others who lacked clarity, he would be stumped by their question. Would he say “No” and risk offending the government officials who might have heard about his treasonous response, or would he saw “Yes” and lose his credibility among those religious folks disgruntled with the government who were present? Jesus was so centered that he was able to immediately see through the apparent “choices” the religious authorities presented and arrive at a centered answer. So where do you find yourself most days? Do you find yourself constantly agonizing over choices that appear in your life – wondering what to do; or do you find yourself frequently centered and able to move through the challenges (and choices) that appear before you? If you’re anything like me, it probably depends on the day and the circumstance(s) you are facing. My hope and prayer for us is that each of us will grow in our ability to spiritually center so the longer we live, the easier our apparent choices become. Til next time…
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