HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's One Too ! Discussion of verses 11 and 12, and verse six

Since I get such a kick out of blathering on about this stuff, I'm continuing the discussion of the animation HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's One Too!

Verses 11 & 12

11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiaha and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon .
12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

a 11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12.

Verse 6

6 In the deserted came Irene, united without union .

Verse 6 Discussion NIV Bible text verses 11 & 12

It is often said that we all have our own desert experiences. This may occur even in the midst of abundance. It can be a spiritual dry spell, or a period of isolation, or a long period of inactivity. In the book entitled Acedia : Marriage, Monks and a Writer's Life the author, Kathleen Norris, I believe, talks about how the desert monks dealt with the noonday demon, acedia, which strikes the person with exceeding apathy. The monks dealt with it in many ways, of which one was to make many baskets, filling their day in that industry, and then burn all the baskets that they had spent so much time and effort in making, as they had no need of so many baskets. The idea was to be industrious for the sake of being industrious, rather than apathetic. As well, if the superior found one of the monks suffering from acedia or apathy, he would send him to his cell, or room, and tell him specifically to do nothing, neither praying, reading or writing, until the acedia passed.

In my life, not counting Andrea and Glenda, who helped me out administratively, but did not advance my marriage longing, there was a long time of nothing after Maisie. This was my desert. I kept a garden and attended events and programs, but I accomplished little other than accept the passing of time. I did not suffer from acedia, but there was little to focus my efforts on and although I frequently received assurances from the authorities in my life, that I was doing well, I failed to see any progress.

The exile of the Hebrews to Babylon, is described as a lost time, to the best of my understanding. They longed for Zion, and the temple in Jerusalem. This is expressed in psalm 137, that was made into a hit in the eighties by Boney -M - you know it - “ By the rivers of Babylon, where we sat down, there we wept, when we remembered Zion”. It may have seemed little good was coming from their defeat and exile. This story is told perhaps in the book of Daniel, but perhaps I am showing my lack of knowledge of the Bible.

But life goes on, with or without us, and all around us. My circle of people circulated. Times and circumstances changed, little by little, and I am sure my attitude changed as well, without my being aware of it.

Into my life came a woman who was committed to marriage. My beard and smoking did not deter her. She may have come across as inappropriate at times, but I would not dismiss her commitment. Our marriage advanced both our interests, for a good ten years, before other priorities drew us apart. I would never have left her, although I was holding onto our marriage with a death grip. Something had to give.

There was a limit to our relationship, that could be discussed over and over, without end. Suffice it to say we are pursuing a Roman Catholic Annulment, which basically means we were never married, in the eyes of the church, which I believe. There was a limit each of us placed on our marriage, which to be real, must instead be infinite, and it was this way from the beginning. We witnessed before the celebrant at our wedding, that a marriage relationship existed, but we were mistaken. Thus we may obtain an annulment, after a good deal of discussion and inquiry by the Marriage Tribunal.

So there is not any sure way of knowing whether one is in a marriage, a balance of whole and part, that can be had. This bumps the whole deal up to a spiritual exercise, rather than an intellectual or legal engagement. One can only choose how one will proceed, regardless of what everyone around one is doing or telling one to do.

On the pilgrimage, last week, last Saturday morning, at St. Ignace II, where St. Jean de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were martyred in 1649, the story of the attack of the Iroquois was told to us by an archaeologist. When it was known that 1000 Iroquois warriors were outside the incomplete palisade protecting 80 christian Ouendat (Huron), Brebeuf walked out to them, unarmed, for whatever reason. The Iroquois took his approach as a trick, and failed to attack immediately, allowing almost all Ouendat (Huron) to escape to St. Louis, which we walked by that morning on our way to St. Marie. This is a man who acted regardless of what others were doing or pressing him to do. He died a martyrs death, preaching so much as they tortured him, that they cut out his tongue. They did not even feel he was worthy to be taken back to Iroquois territory as a war trophy and tortured there, so he died in the territory of his ministry.

Spirituality is not just how one is inclined, it predestines everything. Our mind is informed by the Spirit, and we may or may not resolve our spirituality intellectually. Marriage is testified to by myself and the Spirit. Listen. One day I will die, as I have many times, but by the grace of God, it will not be for the lack of pursuing marriage. If God grants me marriage in my life, it will have the highest honor, as Jesus points to the Father, and Mary points to Jesus, and the Spirit has pointed to marriage.

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Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

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