The Axe is Laid to the Root of the TreesGospel Reading: Matthew 3:1-17 Dear Community of Christians, The abundance of summer growth has reached a peak. We are witnessing greening and fruition all over the country. We can feed and refresh our sense of sight with the many shades of green. Our soul also participates and even swims in this summer abundance. But, there is also a danger of getting lost in this. At this time, we can encounter John the Baptist standing before our inner eye saying: "Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruits is felled and thrown into the fire.” The nature integrated in the fullness of cosmic being gives its unconditional abundance. Of course, human souls are no longer integrated into this cosmic fullness, and that is the tragedy of humanity. From the very beginning of creation, the Gods have given humanity this task of developing as free divine beings. Truly, made in the image of God. But people can only become free when they free themselves from the guidance of the heavenly gods. We have achieved that freedom today. But now we are in danger of missing the human mission. Now we are making ourselves into earthly gods. A few of us even make themselves into our overlords. They determine our health, how we live, how we should shape our social life. Yes, they determine what is good for us. But we must learn to be responsible for ourselves, to rule every part of our lives as divine creative beings. --- One day, every single human being will be faced with stark reality after death. Have we been able to produce such fruits that help us to fulfil our task, or does the axe need to be laid to our roots? Were we able to develop the spiritual capacity for becoming perfectly human? For example, losing the self-importance of our personal view, of our personal desires, towards spreading compassion and love towards our fellow human being. That is the burning task in our time – to be conscientious when we could easily get lost during this peak of summer. Rev. Ute Koenig
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John Bears WitnessGospel Reading: John 5: 31-37 Dear Community of Christians, We have the potential to be witnesses through events of our daily lives, though usually we are not aware of this. Although we see when the sun rises on the horizon and sinks below it, every morning and every evening, do we really consciously witness it? We could witness an incredible event of the cosmic world in the suns rising and setting, but we are not always truly present and aware. This experience is a gift and a reason to send a daily prayer of thanks to heaven. We could extend this perception to many other experiences, where something happens in nature, as a gift of beauty from the father’s world. This includes all growing, becoming and passing away. When all this happens, we are passive witnesses. This does not yet comprehensively cover the matter of being a conscious witness. The world of the son asks for our specific activity when we become true witnesses. For example, the request could come from a couple to be a witness when they get married. We could also be asked by the courts to be a witness of what we have seen of an accident, or to speak as a witness to a crime. It asks for our whole awareness, our willingness to bear witness openly, in public. As a witness, we are then put to the test. It is about the truthfulness of our statements. It is about the truthfulness of our relationship and accompaniment of a couple. All our senses should have perceived purely and objectively. We know very well that we often fall short of this power of objective witnessing. In our time it is the world of spirit which challenges us to train ourselves in witnessing what happens. The danger of becoming trapped in illusion is so real, and so present. The Act of Consecration of Man is a perfect field for learning observation. Actually, it stays much the same, with very few changes. We can become witnesses of the gestures, the curling, ascending form of the smoke, the flickering of the candles. We must open and train ourselves to be truly aware and awake to the weaving of a living world, imbued with spirit. In our time we are called to witness all these sense impressions, and bring them to live in and for ourselves. Rev. Ute Koenig
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Blog: Sermons, Event Reports and Updates from The Christian Community in Ireland
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