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Friday, April 25, 2014

So that's what you think -- GOD IS A KILLJOY?

(St. Teresa of Avila wrote the Interior Castle, referring to the interior life of man. The Beloved is at the heart of the Castle. Those souls who have moved into the Castle can hear His Voice. Those outside are deaf to the Beloved. It explains how two people can be arguing religion out of two totally different perceptions and states of being. The atheist, running away from the Castle, will never perceive what the Christian profoundly experiences -- unless he turns around.)

by Susan Fox

You have walled yourself inside glass
and you cannot hear Him.
You live outside the Castle
with brute beasts and tumultuous passion.
But I live within.

On the outside
you see a useless housewife,
with four degrees
waiting in pain to see a doctor.


You cannot imagine
the ambrosia within.
This Water is welling up pure and sweet
in a dry desert -- in a husk of an old housewife.
Like at Meribah and Massah,
Water gushing from the Rock.
Drink, brother, drink.
It is gift for us both!

My God, my God,
this Life is so sweet
I cannot even bear it. 


But the skeptic is deaf to thunder,
blind to lightning from the throne of God.
I wear his unhappiness like a disheveled glove
trading tweet for tweet in short Twitter speak.
The Voice is sweet and clear
If only he could hear!
I used to look for Him everywhere.
I wandered many alleys and byways,
absently rambling through English hedgerows,
happily dancing around the stranger's grave,

I played intricate jokes on my friends,
read T. S. Eliot to my mother walking backwards on the beach, 
I hitchhiked in foreign countries.

I did find Him in these pleasures,
but to my surprise, when I completely stopped walking
and stopped talking...
He was waiting within.

Dear skeptic,
will you not hear?
His voice is sweet like nectar from a flower --
such subtle flavor, exotic.
He tastes of everything I ever longed for
like manna from the desert
containing all delight.
And it is here within me --
the Water, the Bread so sweet
I cannot bear it.

Inside my heart
an ocean swells.
Its beauty is indescribable.
I live on a tranquil island in a tropical paradise.
I am never alone.

Everything you ever longed for is right here:
Food for the poor – “meat to eat you know not of;” 
Living Water shared with the woman by the well;

Justice as you have not understood it;
such thirst for justice as you cannot even describe it;
Peace in the heart
where now you ride the stormy waves of anguish.  

We were not raised together.
We are from different families,
but we are related.
I call you brother
and this disturbs you.
You call me a crazy housewife --
useless by anyone’s measure in life.

But I have a little hammer.
And I am patiently tapping those glass walls
entombing your heart.
The hammer’s name is “Prayer.” 
  The climb to Sacré CÅ“ur de Paris*
rises out of the writhing guts of the Red Light District known as “Pig Alley.”
At the top of Montmartre,  
the Beloved’s heart beats for 120 years.
Do not walk away, brother.
Let us go together to defend the Castle of the Sacred Heart!
You have more right to Him than I.
You have more right to His Mercy.

Together, we will cuddle with Jesus crowned by thorns.
We will all be mocked together.

The climb up to the Castle of the Sacred Heart
Montmartre, Paris

Paris night skyline:
Sacré CÅ“ur de Paris at the top of Montmartre
Eiffel Tower on the left. 

(*The Basilica of the Sacred Heart sits on top of the hill in Paris called Montmartre. Around the base of the hill is the famous seedy neighborhood of Pigalle, dubbed “Pig Alley” by American servicemen in World War II. Often simply called Sacré-CÅ“ur, the Basilica has constantly held the Real Presence of Jesus Christ displayed in a huge monstrance since 1885. It is amazing for this and the large number of first class relics of martyrs contained in the Church.) 
Sacré CÅ“ur de Paris by day



11 comments:

  1. Interesting history. I'm a Christian but choose not to discuss religion with others. We are all entitled to our beliefs. No one faith is more right than the other. In the end we will be judged by the lives we led. It is God's sole right - not that of humans.

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    1. A thought about Relativism:

      Remember Pontius Pilate's remark to Jesus, "What is Truth?"
      Then he turned and walked out...washed his hands, and ordered Jesus to be brutally scourged.

      Clearly all beliefs/faiths are not "equally right."

      "In the end, we will be judged by the lives we led." If we are "all equally right," there would be no need for judgement.

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  2. "No one faith is more right than the other." Really? Would you posit this notion in any other field of human endeavor? Truth in religion is not different from truth in engineering; there is a way to build bridges that works, and there are other ways that let people fall into the ocean. Aztecs believed it was necessary to torture and brutally murder thousands of human beings in order to make the sun continue to come up and the crops grow. That faith asserted lies about the nature of God, the universe, and the human person. We are obligated to respect the religious beliefs of others, even when we know them to be untrue, because we, as Christians, respect the conscience and free will of fellow human beings. But we are not obligated to accept their erroneous religious assertions, such as those in the Koran that claim it is good to conquer, enslave, and impose penalties on unbelievers. We can discover some truths about the Creator using the reason He gave us; other truths beyond the scope of human reason, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, He was kind enough to reveal to us in the only real sacred scriptures that the world possesses: the Holy Bible.
    But you are right that in the end we will all be judged by the lives we have lead, which is yet another truth found in the Bible.

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  3. Lovely, heartfelt poem . . . thank you for sharing.

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  4. God is most Deffinetly NOT a killjoy. we are all children whom he wishes to grow to holiness and fill with his life. as each child is different to their parents but have same quality of being their Child, Each human being has taken on a quality of their own which if reciprocated by that Child will Grow and Blossom. as Children, now and again it is a Neccesity of a loving Father to discipline their Child for their own Welfare. God is Most Deffinetly NOT a Killjoy. He only appears to be a Killjoy when we as Children do not acknowledge the fact we are doing what we know to be wrong and have the audacity to think we know better.

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  5. Some of my children are living in sin, and refuse to acknowledge it. How hard for a parent to live this, if you are a good Christian. As you say, only the hammer (prayer) can have any effect, I will have masses said for the conversion of sinners and souls in purgatory. I can't bear the thought of any one of my family going to hell.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous, I like your reply. The other few comments I read, --I'm not sure you understand the Poem Susan Fox Wrote.

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  6. Anonymous, that sounds like a good plan. We should all pray for your children. I'll add them to my prayer list. Here is another suggestion for dealing with people you fear are going to hell: SPIRITUAL ADOPTION: "Do You Fear that souls are Slipping into Hell? ADOPT THEM!
    http://christsfaithfulwitness.blogspot.com/2014/04/do-you-fear-that-souls-are-slipping.html#.VMGhBsb0jBI GOD BLESS YOU. Susan Fox

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  7. Beautiful poem. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  8. So wonderful, Susan. Jesus, you're all that matters!

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