~ continued from yesterday (since this is written as a conversation, you may want to hit “previous” and read the last paragraph or two)

When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us.
~ John O’Donohue

Authentic faith leads us to treat others with unconditional seriousness and to a loving reverence for the mystery of the human personality.
~ Brennan Manning

(Brother Weeps is speaking) “But there is also an expression of reverence that is carried out in common, everyday encounters with regular persons and is rooted in a sense of the preciousness of all persons regardless of merit. This, as I’ve explained to you before, is an aspect of a contemplative way of seeing and being in the world. As the late Carmelite William McNamara describes it (and many people mistakenly credit the Jesuit Walter Burghardt with saying this): contemplation is “a long loving look at the real.” Not a real long look at what is lovely. A long loving look at the real. Of reverence, which this contemplative seeing supports, Rabbi Abraham Heschel says, “It is a salute of the soul, an awareness of value without enjoyment of that value or seeking any personal advantage from it.” It’s holding whatever or whomever we see in a conscious, particular way, recognizing an inherent,  inner value that is measureless by the world’s standards. That salute is what I mean by the look of love.”

Someone starts to hum Burt Bacharach’s “The Look of Love.” “Yeah, that’s it,” says Brother Weeps,” and everyone laughs.

“This contemplative way and fundamental reverential orientation is extended by many spiritual adherents, for example, to water, wind, birds, animals, whales, trees, crops, other-than-human life forms, even to objects and goods. St. Benedict, for example, gives expression to both of these ways of revering in his Rule, right? Do you know what I’m referring to? In Chapter 53:1 he counsels community members that “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ.” All guests. And in Chapter 31:10 he instructs “(The cellarer) will regard all utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar.” So, the way of reverence informs how we open and shut doors, eat a bowl of soup, do the dishes. How we treat a book, our dog, our tools. Reverence here is grounded in the idea that everything, each thing, can be traced to the One from whom all life and blessings flow and therefore, by extension, is to be treated as if they are sacred.

A variation of this form is expressed in the inversion of reverence found in many religious traditions. We see it, for example, in the Hebrew bible when, in opposition to the top-down, pecking order that exists in all dominant cultures, it is the most vulnerable, helpless, and defenseless — symbolized in particular, by the widow, orphan, and stranger — who are extended special reverence and care since God is viewed as being especially concerned with the disenfranchised and the least protected (“The Bottoms” or Anawim).

Similarly, in Christianity, as we saw in St. Benedict’s suggestion about the treatment of guests to the monastery, there is a long history of understanding the Christ as hidden in “the least of these” — the leper, the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned — and therefore, they especially are to be revered, guarded, and cared for. Their greatness lies in how greatly and dearly they are loved by God. The reason we are to pay special care, beginning with reverence, toward the anawim is because throughout history it is they (“the Bottoms”) who most often have been the recipients of all the brutal, demeaning expressions of irreverence.”

“What about someone in a position of power, who you don’t even respect, let alone revere? What do you do then?” asked a young woman.

“Or someone who’s terrible, whose done horrible things. Is it even possible?” asked a tall woman standing, leaning against the back wall.

Dorothy Day said, “We only love God as much as we love the person we love least,” said Brother Weeps.

“Whoa!” someone said. Everyone chuckled.

“Yes, Whoa is right,” said Brother Weeps. “This is the most difficult situation when it comes to reverence – when we are talking about someone — whether in a position of power, authority, leadership, or none at all — whose way of life and treatment of others is a contradiction of every human quality that would make one worthy of being revered. How do we express reverence toward those persons who do not deserve it: the brute, the genuinely despicable, the life-wrecker, the arrogant, huh? The spirit-killer, the inhumane, the nonchalantly callous, the enduringly selfish, the casually cruel?

It raises the question, right? Is it reasonable, possible, and required of us that we act reverently toward those whose actions not only are not indicative of greatness but, in fact, represent moral behavior that lies far below even the lowest standard of human decency? Here’s the rub, yeah? Here, pass me that bible.

A young man reaches across a table, grabs a bible, and passes it to Brother Weeps who opens it, and thumbs through it until he finds what he is looking for.

“This is from Luke, Chapter 6 verse 32 and following:

‘For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for [God] is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’”

Brother Weeps pauses and let’s the words drop down and settle into the silence.

“The challenge, not just the ideal, but what we are commanded if we claim to align ourselves with Christ and are called to Christ-consciousness, is to be reverent toward even the person who drives us nuts or has a knack for raising our blood pressure or the brother next to you in choir who sings off key (brief laughter). Or who we find repulsive and reprehensible – whether it is someone we know personally, or someone like a public figure we know of at a distance. Since reverence is an integral aspect of love, and since Christians, in particular, are commanded to love their enemies, we are expected to conduct ourselves with integrity and dignity, that is, unlike those who are undeserving of our respect, let alone our reverence.”

to be continued . . .

Goodpeople, please consider passing on THE ALMOND TREE to others, then do so. I appreciate it. ~ Dan

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