"Casting the beam..."

"If there's a shortcut
I'd have found it.
But there's no easy way around it.
Light of the world shine in me,
Love is the answer.
Shine from us all
set us free.
Love is the answer."

I have to tell you now, I loved the 1970's soft-rock sound of England Dan (Seals) & John Ford Coley. Their classic, "Light of the World," is still a "go to" song for jumpstarting my day.

And not so long ago, there was a day when it meant more to me than ever. At the beginning of summer I'd committed to participating in TMCYouth's Radical Acts project. As a spiritual community we took 18 of Jesus' most radical "acts" and vowed to actively live them.

Each day I'd choose an act or two to focus on. That morning I'd chosen "Cast the beam out of your own eye..."  A brief visit to a local coffeehouse was the perfect launch. Standing in line waiting to order I got my first opportunity to put it into action.

A young woman, just in front of me, had opened the bakery case and was rooting around in the shelves of scones and cookies.  I couldn't help but notice she was touching every item on her way to making her selection.  I was ready to say something, when I realized "This is it.  This is a perfect opportunity to practice what you've committed to."

So, I closed my eyes and thought of all the ways I could be more respectful of others. I committed to being more self-aware and less focused on the missteps of others.  That set me free to trust her to God's loving correction.

Throughout the morning I had more than enough opportunities to cast beam-sized splinters out of my own eyes.  And as grateful as I was for this self-awareness, it left me feeling sore and tired. I hadn't realized how active I'd become in assessing the correctness of other people's behaviors. This realization didn't leave me very happy or peaceful inside.  I didn't like what I was seeing in myself.

I decided to find a place that was virtually human-free, and take time to ponder what I was discovering about myself through this radical act. I drove to a wide section of the river that runs through our high-country valley, and made my way to a large boulder at its bank.

I closed my eyes against the searing light of late morning, leaned back against an larger adjoining boulder, and asked God, "what do you want me to see here?"

The thought immediately came, "open your eyes." So I did. Scanning the broad stretch of river I noticed a fly fisherman not 20 yards from where I was sitting. And as I watched him, I realized, he was "casting." Over and over again he carefully sent his fishing line out into the water.

The peace, joy, focus, and contentment on his face was unchanged by an empty hook. He was enjoying the beauty of the day, the dance of the line along the surface of the water, the hope that the fly he'd chosen was perfectly suited for the fish living in that stretch of the river. There was fluidity, precision, and alertness. It was a perfectly balanced and choreographed act of intention.

Then I thought about the word "beam." And as I stared into the middle distance over the river I saw it -- the beam of light that broke through the first bank of late morning clouds rolling in from over the mountains to the west.

The stanza from Mary Baker Eddy's poem, "Christmas Morn," which reads:

"Thou gentle beam
of living Love,
and deathless Life!
Truth infinite,
so far above all mortal strife
or cruel creed,
or earth-born taint:
Fill us today
with all Thou art..."

came alive for me.  As the fisherman's line, or filament, caught the sunlight and danced along the top of the water, so the light of love dances, without the need for reciprocity, on the changing waters of our day.  It is unmoved by how it is received.  It lights on the water for the pure joy of casting light.  

Jesus spoke to his disciples -- some of whom were fishermen -- in a language that would be meaningful to them.  Casting was a fishing term.  Elsewhere he is reported as having suggested to them that they "cast their nets on the right side..."  He wasn't asking them to throw their nets away.  He wasn't suggesting that they get as far away from their nets as possible.  He was reminding them that casting was a purposeful and rewarding activity. 

Casting the beam out of my own eyes wasn't just an act of self-awareness, self-correction, and fraught with self-disappointment. It was, in fact, an act of generosity based on my nature as the reflection of the one true light, God -- the light of living Love.  The light that is my life.

Instead of using my eyes to take in a false picture, apply spiritual truths to it, and spit back out a better sense of things...hoping that others would "get it."  I could see out from the heart of truth.

I could be the light of vision. Vision is different from sight.  Vision looks out from the universal Truth of things. It doesn't try to manipulate a false picture, it radiates -- it casts light, illuminating the beauty of what is true. It calls attention to what might not be obvious, but is very much there.

And this light, is heart-light. It shines from the depth of Love. It refuses to call attention to anything but the beautiful, good, and true.

Casting the beam out of one's own eye can be the most empowering and transformative thing you do today. I'm loving this last chorus from England Dan & John Ford Coley:

"And when you feel afraid
Love one another
When you've lost your way
Love one another
And when you're all alone
Love one another
And when you're far from home
Love one another
And when you're down and out
Love one another
And when your hopes run out
Love one another
And when you need a friend
Love one another
And when you're near the end
Love,
We've got to love,
We've got to love one another

Light of the world,
Shine from me, 
Love is the answer..."

It is the answer. A radical answer. 

offered with Love,

Kate

"The widow's mite - more than enough..."

“You satisfy me
with your Love.
And all I have in You,
is more than enough...”

I know I've written about this subject before in a previous post, but I've been thinking about Chris Tomlin's "Enough," again, in light of Mary Baker Eddy's statement:

“The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty,
and glory of infinite Love fill all space.
That is enough!”.”

and a story that was recently shared on TMCYouth's Radical Acts comment thread for "Sell all you have, and give to the poor." The contributor, Nina, shared:

A friend told me a beautiful story yesterday about $20 being enough.

This was back in the ’40s in a rural African-American community. My friend was doing odd jobs, looking for work. An elderly woman asked him to do major repairs on her house. When he finished, she gave him $20. It was a small amount for all that work, but it was all she had. If he’d accept it, she said, God would make sure he’d never lack for a day in his life.

He graciously accepted it, never doubting. Two days later he was invited to begin construction work at a military facility. He ended up running a large crew, earned enough to raise his seven daughters, and gained the respect of the whole community. He retired with a generous pension 37 years, 4 months, and 13 days later.

“Sell all you have and give to the poor” can’t have a rigid meaning. What’s all? Who’s poor? Only GIVING seems to matter — giving something that’s not trivial to you.

So, today I've been thinking about this concept of infinite Love being "enough," in conjunction with another loved spiritual insight I've written about, "the law of appreciation" (when we appreciate something -- acknowledge, and are grateful for it's value, it appreciates -- grows in value) and how our concepts of "time" would measure, limit, and undermine our ability to see the timeless nature of Love's expanding care for us.

Here is my comment in response to Nina's:

I love this Nina…

When we give from the deep heart of Love…impelled by Love, resourced by Love, full of Love…it is always enough.

Since reading your post I have been thinking about the “time” element in this story. We might be tricked into thinking, “ah yes, it was in the 40s and $20 went further…” But if time is not a factor (but only as Mrs. Eddy said: “a mortal measurement”)
then whatever has value can’t have (as you have suggested) a rigid value. Value is a spiritual concept and must be as expansive as Sprit itself. So, instead of something that represents “value” ever shrinking, it must grow, expand, appreciate. And when we appreciate something (see recognize it’s value and are grateful) it appreciates (grows in value).

This is a spiritual concept, “the law of appreciation,” that I have been exploring for a couple of decades now, but your story about this woman’s promise that “if he accepted it (her widow’s mite…which had GREAT value to her) he would never lack for a day in his life” seems to have given me another piece of the puzzle. Appreciation doesn’t know time…it only knows it’s own nature…it’s own operation of spiritual law…gratitude and growth, gratitude and growth. Always expanding, never confined to the rigidity of “time” (mortal measurements).

This is leading me deeper...

I don't know where this thought-thread is going to take me today, but I know it's of value, it has substance, and I am not going to be distracted from appreciating it...and watching it appreciate in my heart.

Here is a link to the "Sell all that you have, and give to the poor," thread on Radical Acts if you would like to see all the comments in context.

always with Love,

Kate
so, I was sitting by the river, "thinking on these things" and here are some follow-up thoughts that have set my heart on fire:

one more thought…if time is not a factor in Spirit, every single act of generosity (without any regard for mortal measurements…) when appreciated continues to appreciate FOREVER!! It is always growing in value in our lives, always expanding, always appreciating…each time we appreciate what we have received from the great heart of Love (widow’s mite, or millionaire’s charity…it doesn’t matter in Spirit, they are both just expressions of illimitable, infinite Love) we are “watering” our field of vision so that we can SEE what expansive good is already in front of us.

So, perhaps it’s both about the giving, and the “accepting” (to use the woman’s term) how we accept the Love-inspired gift (with gratitude, wonder, appreciation) engages us more fully in this law of appreciation that is timeless, unstoppable, ever-expansive….

more to noodle on…whewww…I LOVE Radical Acts…full engagement!!!

again with Love, Kate