Mr joseph vempeny Posted on : 28/01/2008 04:43:39

Life in the spirit

Spiritual life can be a life of joy and peace; a life of love and beauty; a life of fun and laughter. The guidelines for this life of tranquility are some 2000 years old - from the words of Jesus in the Gospels. But we must not take those words in a historical context as spoken 2000 years ago to some fishermen of Galilee. We must take them as words that Jesus is speaking to us just now, as we read them.

The Helper

During a long discourse with his disciples at the last super Jesus says something that could be understood like his: “You guys, I know you have not understood any of the stuff I had been trying to teach you. But not to worry. When I reach home I shall you send you the spirit of truth who shall explain everything to you.” When we read this passage we may be thinking and saying something like this: “It is because those fishermen were so illiterate that they could not understand anything. We could understand all these things so clearly.” But let me tell you something. That is not the case. You may have a doctorate in theology but if the Holy Spirit does not help you, you cannot understand the meaning behind many of the words of Jesus. Some scripture scholars even say that Jesus made a big blunder when he said that the kingdom of heaven is within reach. It hasn’t come even after 2000 years, they say. Some people are still waiting for the Kingdom. If they had the help from the Spirit of Truth they would have understood what Jesus meant by kingdom of God. Books may help you to know about God but to know God, you need the help from the spirit.

One question used to bother me. Did Jesus realize that he did not succeed in putting his message across to these guys and decided to send the Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit better at teaching? It is nothing like that, now I know. It is something like this. Though Son of God, Jesus had the limitation as a human being when he was on earth. His words, his message would come to the disciples from the outside through the physical senses of ears and eyes up to the brain and the mind. When the spirit came, the meaning of those words, those messages, came from deep within them and reached into their very hearts and souls. We might also say that much of what Jesus wanted to convey to his disciple were things that could not be described in words. The Holy Spirit imparted these into the disciples as an experience beyond words. The same thing is happening today with us. When we read the words of Jesus from the Gospels they reach our mind and brain and we give our own interpretations and have our own questions and doubts. We say ‘this is outdated or a blunder’. The Spirit has to give us the gift of understanding and let the message enter our heart and soul from inside. Then it shall come back to our minds in the clarified way.

Now, how will the spirit come to us? Let us see what happened in the case of the disciples. They were lost without Jesus; wanted so much to be with him. They had faith in Jesus who promised the spirit. They went inside the room and closed the doors. Mother Mary was with them and they prayed. We also must do the same. Believe in the promise of Jesus; enter the room and close the doors. Pray in the company of Mother Mary and the saints. Be humble and aware of our limitations. This is only one way. There are other ways as well and often Jesus shall suggest whatever is suitable to us. We must be with Jesus all the time, in our mind.

Born Again

Now we come to the words of Jesus that will be our guide-line for the life in the spirit. We begin with what Jesus told Nicodemus as we read in Jn. 3: 1 – 6. Here Jesus is telling us, “To see the kingdom of God, to enter the kingdom of God, you have to be born again, be born of water and spirit.” A lot can be said to explain what we understand by being born again. In simple language it means giving up the present form of life and starting a new life with new goals and priorities. I can cite one instance where I started a new life but in the worldly sense. That was when I got married. Till the wedding we are boys and girls, sort of free, leading a life without much responsibilities. Marriage changes all that. Now you are a husband or a wife, responsible for anther person in a special way, more responsibilities and a very intimate relationship as never before. There is a difference in our life. It is a new life alright. But the difference when we are born again is something like that and much more than that. Here is a new life in which you have a very intimate relationship with God, with Jesus.

Basically it is an awareness, an awareness that I am not one of the animals, not a monkey, but a spiritual being, created in the image and likeness of God. What is like God is not this body but our soul, the spirit. That is what I am, my true self. The body is something that I possess. Once we have this awareness we will stop worrying about what to eat, what to drink or what to wear. Our concern will shift from accumulation of wealth to accretion of happiness and the spreading of peace and joy. We shall be more interested in the nourishment of the soul and the fulfilling of our spiritual needs. We will be more interested the welfare of others.

Conversion

Earlier I referred to this life in the spirit as a life of fun. It is more than that. It is heaven; heaven on earth; the kingdom of God promised by Jesus. According to Mathew and Mark, Jesus begins his public life by proclaiming the kingdom of heaven. The prescription here is ‘repent and believe in the good news’. The good news is that kingdom of heaven is within reach for those who want. The word ‘repent’ is a poor translation of the original Greek word which could also be translated as ‘be converted’ or ‘turn back’. In the Malayalam translation the word used in place of this is maanasaantharam which literally means ‘change of mind’ and is commonly used as the equivalent of conversion. Some of us may not like the word ‘conversion’ in this context. “I am a Christian, a Catholic, a member of Jesus Youth. Why and how could I be converted? I am supposed to convert others”; some may think. Conversion is not a change of label – from one religion to another or from one to church to another. It simply means turning back to God, a change of heart a change of attitude to life, starting a new life, being born again. Here we see that the prescription for entry to the kingdom of God in John and the synoptic gospels are not different. Turning back to God or being born again, means the same thing, starting a new life in the spirit. It means entering the kingdom of God or making heaven on earth. Next we see how this goal can be achieved.

Be Like Little Children

In Mathew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18 we read a simple recipe to make heaven on earth. “Let the little children come to me. Do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” We have to be like little children. Sounds very much like being born again. But here is something else. It is the ingredient of relationship, trust and joy. Our relationship to God must be like that of a toddler, a two-year-old to his father or mother; not like that of an adult to his/her parent. We are children of God, not sons or daughters. Jesus is the only Son of God. We all know the joy of a small child being in the lap of its father or mother. We must feel that way. We are always in the heart of God. He won’t go to work leaving you at play school. But you should not run away from him. Hold on to him firmly. Like a little child we can and must put absolute trust in Him and stop worrying about the needs of the body. We do not even have to pray for our material needs. Kahlil Gibran the mystic tells us that God knows all our needs before they arise. All He wants is for us to be with him and love him. Do not run away from him. Is it not heaven, being with Him all the time? Is this not the life in the spirit? The new life? The secret is ‘never grow up, never take up responsibilities on your shoulder’. Leave everything in His hands and enjoy the peace and joy, the love and beauty of His presence. Jesus has warned us strongly against worrying. Often we make our present life very miserable in an attempt to make a perfect future. It is good to remember that the future is not in our hands. I believe that present perfect is the way to future perfect.

Jesus said, “Strive for the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you.”

January 1996 – three challenges faced me; in the running of a private school, in the building of a parish hall for our church and in the activities of the Indian association where we were facing a great threat. I opened the first staff meeting of the New Horizon School that year with the words, “The Lord is my Sheppard. There is nothing I lack.” And throughout that year I worked at these three fronts with that confidence, taking many unconventional decisions and executing them just by the Lord’s help. By the end of that year the school was on sound financial footing, the work of the hall was completed satisfactorily, and the department of education in an out of court settlement employed all the contract teachers as permanent employees. “We have a Father in heaven. Trust in him and we shall experience miracles”.

I usually make detailed plans for my future. But these plans rarely work out because He has other plans. It is alright with me because His plans are always better than mine. According to my plans I was supposed to be in Johannesburg right now. But He decided that I must be in Sydney. This happens all the time. Still I continue to make plans and go around as if I am still in charge.

Next we see a secret password for entry to the life in the spirit, for admission to heaven.

The Pass Word

In the first letter of John there is a statement that we hear from childhood. “God is love.” When you live in love you live in God and God in you. This is heaven – being with God, in God. Is it as simple as that? Yes it is. But here love means universal love, love that extends to every human, all children of God, all your brothers and sisters – love without borders. Is it easy? Not quite. There may be an element of hatred towards some one. And I assure you even a little bit of hatred can make hell. But how can I love those people who have hurt me or mine in such an inhuman way, we might ask. My dears, the key, the password, is forgiveness. The password to life in the spirit, for life in God, for making heaven on earth, is forgiveness. This is the pre-requisite for unconditional love. If some one hurt you forgive it and forget it. Then you pray for that person. If possible let that person know somehow that you hold no grudge and that you love him/her. One of these new teachers of life coaching for success in life had this to say, “Refusing to forgive some one is like drinking poison with the belief that it will kill the other person.” By forgiving some one you yourself are being healed. By refusing to forgive, you poison yourself, you make hell for yourself. We should be able to live ‘with malice towards none and charity for all’.

Next to forgiveness comes gratitude. Look at the positive side of anything and thank God for those. Thank God for all those blessings that brought you to where you are now, to what you are now. We must also be grateful to others. We usually tend to look at the good that we have done to others and the bad that others have done. The accounts are not properly balanced. Let us start thinking of the good in others and the bad in us. Think of the good that they have done us and any evil that has come from us. We shall find much that we have to thank others for.

Serving God

For God to live in us and for us to live in God – to be always with God – there is one important condition. Our God is jealous God. He wants us to love him, serve him and worship him and him only. He cannot stand idolatry. Jesus says we must not have two masters. We cannot worship God and mammon. Who is mammon? I think it means money or wealth. We can make money to live but we should not live to make money. We can make wealth to serve us; we should not let wealth make us its slaves.

How do we serve God? We can do it by sharing the word of God. That is evangelization for us. But evangelization always does not mean preaching. The word of God is not just for preaching; it is more for practicing. There are many people among us who would be longing for a good relationship, for love and understanding, a shoulder to cry on. There people want someone who will listen to them or their problems. The best form of counseling is listening, not advising. Whatever service we render to the needy is service rendered to the Lord. He will reward these on the day of judgment. “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.” Mother Theresa had gone one step further. “God will not just ask you what you did to help the needy. He will ask how much love you put into what you did” she says. We come across beggars in India. Ever given alms with a smile?

Reality and Illusion

Life in the spirit is a life where Jesus is with us in a physical plane, in our mind while God the Father and the Holy Spirit is in a different plane in heaven which is far deep inside our soul another dimension that is not accessible to the mind or the body but only the soul. According to a mystic this is not an illusion; it is the reality, the truth. It is this material world around us that is an illusion. Once I used to think of this world of the spirit as another dimension of our existence, another dimension of our cosmos. But not any more. Now I see this all pervading presence, this presence of beauty and love as the immense ocean in which all the dimensions of our universe, of mater, space and time exist. It is the infinite presence, it is God. Life in spirit is life in the beauty and love of this presence filed with joy and peace.

So what do we do for a life in the spirit, for making heaven on earth?

• Be born again or turn back to God and start anew life.

• Like a little child put absolute trust in the Lord’s providence.

• Be ready to forgive any wrongs to you and live in universal love.

• Be eager to serve God by serving others in whatever way possible.

• Instead of just saying or thinking that I live in the presence of God try to make this beautiful state of omnipresence, this state of love and joy a tangible reality.

• Read the gospel feeling that Jesus who is with you now is talking personally to you and ask the Holy Spirit to explain the meaning of those words.

Let us try to live with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.