Continuation of previous thoughts...
People cry out to Amma for her help and from their stories about her, I can tell that she gives help in very concrete ways. I translate this into the theological context that I understand and is meaningful for me. Amma is an open channel through whom the Divine flows and works, the Divine I have experienced and named as the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, the Resurrection Presence of Jesus, his gift upon us all, the connection that is never broken although is mostly covered by the veils of our ignorance. We do not even know how to access this incredible treasure right within our own spiritual tradition of Christianity, such potent potential and such ignorant avoidance of the divine gift offered.
So someone like Amma is needed to show in the flesh what we have been missing and to move us again into the expansion of faith, the openning of awareness, the Holy Spirit process of sanctification. Then we can become truly human.
Recycling Seva - Well, this really wasn't as nasty as I had feared, but it was definitely in your face. I wore my old ashram clothes and afterwards changed clothes. I seemed to note a lingering smell about them. Our job was to go through the bins brought from the recycling stations around the ashram. Even though the bins are labeled paper, plastic, bottles, and hard and soft plastic and other items, each bin contained a little of everything. We were issued big aprons and rubber gloves, and Craig, a 60-something guy from Colorado and our supervisor, helped us figure out where everything went in this initial sorting. Others would fine tune what we did. It was indeed grubby, but I found myself with a positive attitude even though this was a personally confronting situation. The smell wasn't too bad because we were out in the open on the beach under some palm and pin trees. I was the first to finish one of the barrels, so I declared myself a winner, then dove into the next with enthusiasm. I got through two and a half during my shift. By the end it was beginning to get to me, but all in all this was a significant breakthrough for me, someone who even avoided helping at rummage sales at church. Only once this morning did I come close to gaging.
Amma arrives this evening (Saturday). She is coming from Shanghai where she spoke at a UN sponsored conference, the only spiritual leader among the speakers. All around the ashram people are painting and getting the ashram looking its best for her.
Sunday, 12/2
Amma arrived right at the end of bhagan singing last night. Every once in a while her location would be flashed on the screens where the words to the bhagans were projected as her car made progress from the airport. Finally she crossed the bridge to the island the ashram is on.
Time is getting short on this turn at the computer, so I will leave this as a cliff hanger until I can get another turn.
People cry out to Amma for her help and from their stories about her, I can tell that she gives help in very concrete ways. I translate this into the theological context that I understand and is meaningful for me. Amma is an open channel through whom the Divine flows and works, the Divine I have experienced and named as the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, the Resurrection Presence of Jesus, his gift upon us all, the connection that is never broken although is mostly covered by the veils of our ignorance. We do not even know how to access this incredible treasure right within our own spiritual tradition of Christianity, such potent potential and such ignorant avoidance of the divine gift offered.
So someone like Amma is needed to show in the flesh what we have been missing and to move us again into the expansion of faith, the openning of awareness, the Holy Spirit process of sanctification. Then we can become truly human.
Recycling Seva - Well, this really wasn't as nasty as I had feared, but it was definitely in your face. I wore my old ashram clothes and afterwards changed clothes. I seemed to note a lingering smell about them. Our job was to go through the bins brought from the recycling stations around the ashram. Even though the bins are labeled paper, plastic, bottles, and hard and soft plastic and other items, each bin contained a little of everything. We were issued big aprons and rubber gloves, and Craig, a 60-something guy from Colorado and our supervisor, helped us figure out where everything went in this initial sorting. Others would fine tune what we did. It was indeed grubby, but I found myself with a positive attitude even though this was a personally confronting situation. The smell wasn't too bad because we were out in the open on the beach under some palm and pin trees. I was the first to finish one of the barrels, so I declared myself a winner, then dove into the next with enthusiasm. I got through two and a half during my shift. By the end it was beginning to get to me, but all in all this was a significant breakthrough for me, someone who even avoided helping at rummage sales at church. Only once this morning did I come close to gaging.
Amma arrives this evening (Saturday). She is coming from Shanghai where she spoke at a UN sponsored conference, the only spiritual leader among the speakers. All around the ashram people are painting and getting the ashram looking its best for her.
Sunday, 12/2
Amma arrived right at the end of bhagan singing last night. Every once in a while her location would be flashed on the screens where the words to the bhagans were projected as her car made progress from the airport. Finally she crossed the bridge to the island the ashram is on.
Time is getting short on this turn at the computer, so I will leave this as a cliff hanger until I can get another turn.
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