Simple Pure Awareness

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

July 12, 2015; 7 Pentecost, Proper 10, Year B, Track 2

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

Ephesians 1:3-14 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

Mark 6:14-29 – King Herod heard of the demons cast out and the many who were anointed and cured, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him." But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised."

For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

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You know how it is when you read something that grabs you? I want to share something today that grabbed me recently. It struck me as just right. First I want to set it in some context. Then I want to re-contextualize it in terms of today's scripture readings.

First context: I've been practicing Centering Prayer for a long time. It is like many meditation or contemplative practices, a way to detach from the ongoing narrative of our mind's thoughts and the roller coaster waves of our emotions, in order to get to a deeper place – a place where every enduring religion testifies to the experience of a greater reality. Below thoughts and feelings there is a gate to the absolute.

So, here are some words from Thomas Keating, the wonderful Trappist monk who helped re-introduce the Church's ancient practice of Centering Prayer. Thomas Keating:

Without thinking or feeling some emotion, there is just awareness. There is then no desire for bliss, enlightenment, or to teach others. Things are just as they are. In that so-called emptiness, enjoyment arises of itself. As soon as we try to enjoy, the enjoyment ceases. Somehow at the bottom of emptiness (openness, pure awareness), there is enjoyment, fullness, presence and peace.

Bring the same emptiness and freedom to each moment and its content. Then you will be happy even in the midst of suffering. Accept everything and everyone just as they are, where they are, and try to act as lovingly as possible in every situation. Be ready to be led you know not where or when. Hush the discriminating mind dividing things into good or evil for me.

Fear draws us to the center we have created, the ego self. Love expands from our real center, the true self.

One feels the pain of others and must reach out. But one is content and at peace because one does not discriminate….

Take and accept yourself just as you are, where you are. If you are aggressive, lustful, fearful, or shy and passive, notice your feelings before, during, and after each incident, without emotional reactions of blame, shame, anger or discouragement. Let God work with your faults and limitations. Just recognize them and be with them, without trying to correct them directly. As you watch them, feel them, and accept them, their force and exaggeration will gradually diminish. Keep moving to the center of your being where divine love is and be present to and welcome whatever bodily feeling or emotion that is happening. The present moment contains all we need to be happy.[i]

I like what Keating has written. But, it seems hard to be happy. Things are not right. They never have been. Today's gospel tells of the execution by decapitation of the prophet John the Baptist. At the whim of a dance, Herod orders John's head as a present. It sounds like some of the grisly things we hear of today from ISIS and elsewhere in this troubled world.

John was Jesus' cousin. John had baptized Jesus. How John's death must have grieved Jesus.

In Mark and Matthew's gospels, after hearing about John's death, Jesus takes the disciples away for a retreat by themselves. Some time and space away to grieve. But a crowd finds them and presses for Jesus' attention. The scriptures tell us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd. He healed, he taught, and then he fed a multitude in that away place.

How did he do that? How did he keep from just blowing up? Go away, everyone. Give me some space. My cousin was just killed. Horribly. Can't I get just a little time away to grieve?

Jesus already knows that his own journey is on a parallel track with John's. He knows that you can't say the things John and Jesus said and expect to escape the tyranny of tyrants like Herod and Pilate. He's already preparing for his own confrontation with evil, with his own time of trial.

How do you keep going – in peace and compassion – in the presence of evil, threat and violence?

You have to be grounded in something greater, something deeper, something enduring. In times of trouble, you need to be centered somewhere deeper than your thoughts of hopelessness and your feelings of despair.

I've taught before the practice of the "Four R's." It is a practice that comes from Centering Prayer. When in that prayer, as you simply consent to God's presence and activity within, it is inevitable that you will be bombarded with thoughts and with conflictive emotions. The prayer teaches us to be gentle, very gentle with those maddening distractions. Don't fight them, just let them go. "Resist no thought." Don't wrestle with them, just let them go. "Retain no thought." Don't get caught up in them. "React emotionally to no thought." "Return," ever so gently to the sacred word that symbolizes your intent in the prayer.

The "Four R's" is also a way to be present in the world. Whenever bad news comes or life just seems hard. As Keating says, "Accept everything and everyone just as they are, where they are, and try to act as lovingly as possible in every situation… Hush the discriminating mind dividing things into good or evil for me."

Accept reality. Resist not. Let it pass through you. Retain not. React not emotionally. Then, Return ever so gently to your center, your true self. As Keating says, "Fear draws us to the center we have created, the ego self. Love expands from our real center, the true self."

I've known a few people who are so grounded, that they approach each moment with simple open awareness. They are not pre-occupied with their own opinions and thoughts. They are simply present, not already occupied. They don't seem burdened with the attachments that create emotional reactivity. They just are. Simply present. Aware. And they let everyone else just be. Moreover, they seem happy. From Keating: Somehow at the bottom of emptiness (openness, pure awareness), there is enjoyment, fullness, presence and peace.

I think it starts with our own self-acceptance. Take and accept yourself just as you are, where you are, Keating says. Then notice your conflictive feelings before, during, and after each incident, without emotional reactions of blame, shame, anger or discouragement. Let God work with your faults and limitations. Just recognize them and be with them, without trying to correct them directly. As you watch them, feel them, and accept them, their force and exaggeration will gradually diminish. Keep moving to the center of your being where divine love is and be present to and welcome whatever bodily feeling or emotion that is happening.

Resist not. Retain not. React not emotionally. Return.

In the Epistle reading today the apostle reminds us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He reminds us that we already have redemption, forgiveness, and God's glorious grace freely bestowed on us. He reminds us that Christ is always gathering up all things, things in heaven and things on earth, things that are good and things that are horribly wrong, even beheadings and crucifixions. Christ gathers everything and returns it to the eternal love of the Father.

At the center of your being, eternal love is. Keep moving to the center of your being where divine love is…, says Thomas Keating. The present moment contains all we need to be happy. So, accept the present moment with simple, pure awareness. Resist not. Retain not. React not emotionally. Return, ever so gently to the emptiness of pure awareness, the love of God dwelling always at the center of your being.

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[i] Thomas Keating, Notes from a Deep Conversation, from Contemplative Outreach News, vol. 31, no. 2, June 2015. http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/sites/default/files/newsletter-pdf/2015-june-newsletter.pdf