Fire on the Earth

"I came to cast fire upon the earth; 

and would that it were already kindled!"

Luke 12:49

I don't actually recall this scripture; it's perhaps one of many that I instinctively 

avoid because it sounds so violent, so punitive, so un-God-like.

Nevertheless, it was supposedly spoken by Jesus, so what shall we do with it?

DeMello suggests:

If you want to know what it means to be happy, look at a flower, 

a bird, a child; they are perfect images of the kingdom.

For they live from moment to moment 

in the eternal now with no past and no future.

So they are spared the guilt and the anxiety that so torment human beings

 and they are full of the sheer joy of living, 

taking delight not so much in persons or things as in life itself.

Pure and simple...

As long as your happiness is caused or sustained by something or someone 

outside of you, you are still in the land of the dead.

where my happiness depends on what's out there

The day you are happy for no reason whatever, 

the day you find yourself taking delight in everything and in nothing, 

you will know that you have found the land of unending joy called the kingdom.

It's not contingent on the world out there.

To find the kingdom is the easiest thing in the world 

but also the most difficult. 

Easy because it is all around you and within you, 

and all you have to do is reach out and take possession of it. 

just allow life as it is

Difficult because if you wish to possess the kingdom 

you may possess nothing else. 

nothing else but life as it is...as it comes to us

That is, you must drop all inward leaning on any person or thing, 

withdrawing from them forever the power to thrill you, or excite you, 

or to give you a feeling of security or well-being.

Even my little boys...yikes!

Have I given the little boys the power to thrill and excite me, 

or am I just enjoying the moments with them?

I think what this is saying is that the minute I think anyone or anything 
can thrill or excite me 

or give me a sense of security or well-being, 
I've given them a job description and created "rules" about how life has to go 
for me to be content and happy. 

Rather than allowing life to show up as it is, 

I am expecting and requiring it and those in it to be a certain way...
the way I think I need it to be.
It's a trap for all of us.

For this you first need to see with unflinching clarity 

this simple and shattering truth: 

Contrary to what your culture and religion have taught you, 

nothing, but absolutely nothing 

can make you happy.

The moment you see that, you will stop moving from one job to another, 

one friend to another, one place, one spiritual technique, one guru to another. 

None of these things can give you a single minute of happiness. 

just a series of thrills and moments of perceived security/contentment

They can only offer you a temporary thrill, 

a pleasure that initially grows in intensity, 

then turns into pain if you lose them 

and into boredom if you keep them.

The thrill is gone.

Can I think of anything with which this is not true?

If you search within your heart you will find something there 

that will make it possible for you to understand: 

a spark of disenchantment and discontent,

Have I often mistaken that spark of disenchantment and discontent in the past 
as the natural, normal desire for my next interest, opportunity, hobby, or adventure? 

Is it possible to "manage" this by balancing separateness and togetherness?

Or is this disenchantment and discontent 

the ultimate and inevitable result of any seeking outside myself?

which if fanned into flame will become a raging forest fire 

that will burn up the whole of the illusory world you are living in, 

The one where I think I can manage my thrills!!

thereby unveiling to your wondering eyes 

the kingdom 

that you have always lived in unsuspectingly. 

Where it is through my eyes only that I see!

Have you ever felt disgusted with life, sick at heart of constantly 

running away from fears and anxieties, weary of your begging rounds, 

exhausted from being dragged about helplessly 

by your attachments and addictions? 

What will they think? Am I earning my keep? Am I valued? Do I matter? 

Have you ever felt the utter meaninglessness of working for a degree, 

then finding a job, then settling down to a life of boredom; 

or, if you are an achiever, settling down to a life of emotional turmoil 

caused by the things that you are chasing after? 

admiration, appreciation and recognition 

(Am I working an AA program here?)

If you have, 

and is there a single human being who hasn't, 

the divine flame of discontent 
has arisen with your heart. 

And that's a very good thing! 
So don't ignore it, discount it, or damn it.

Instead, feed it with your plans for thousands of future fixes, 
each of which is bound to keep the thrills and brief moments of perceived security coming, 
each of which will require your undivided attention and participation 
to maintain the ongoing illusion of happiness.
Tired yet? 

Now is the time to feed it 
(the discontent)
before it gets stamped out by the routine chores of life. 

With every mundane activity 
we stamp down the flame of discontent 
so that the heat is no longer even noticeable, 
until it rises again as it always does.
NOW

is the 

Holy Season 

when you simply 

must find the time to get 

away and look at your life, 

allowing the flame to grow and 

grow as you look, refusing to let 

anything distract you from this task.

Sounds like Advent!

To be continued tomorrow...