Encontrar lo sobrenatural en nuestro interior

Armodoxy para hoy: Lo sobrenatural en nuestro interior

Today we will build on yesterday’s message about our prejudices regarding the supernatural. (Carlos Santana’s story) If we put away our prejudices, and keep the ego in check, we find it easier to see the supernatural in daily occurrences, whether in the pollination of a flower, the amazing structure a duckling’s tail feather, or the supernatural occurrence healing of the physical.

When we look at the metaphor of the Vine and the branches which Jesus articulates, “I am the vine and you are the branches… you cannot bear fruit without being connected to the vine,” we find a natural progression of events. A branch cannot bear fruit if it is not connected to the vine! Yes, obviously. It’s so natural that it is a given. It is an axiom, not even necessary to mention. But our senses have become so dull, we are conditioned to the point that we doubt the obvious, and so we must repeat it for clarity. Jesus should not have had to give this lesson in agricultural and botany to a group of people who cultivated the land for their livelihood, but he did. Now imagine how much more we need to, and must, reiterate matters with which we are not familiar.

In my first parish I had a young lady who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The diagnosis was devastating enough, without learning of the many horrible and frightening treatments she would endure to fight this disease and with no certainty of winning that battle. Within our parish community the word spread quickly, and we were all in various degrees of anguish. She was a mother of a beautiful daughter who was too young to realize what lurked ahead for mom. Her husband, stoic at the news, was ever so supportive and determined to overcome the cancer. We braced for the worst with members of our church even discussing how to take care of the little child in her mother’s absence.

That Sunday, as all Sundays, we celebrated the Divine Liturgy and distributed the Holy Eucharist. After church services she approached me. She told me – not asked me – “I received Holy Communion today. It is the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ.” I nodded my head, yes, you did. She continued, “Well, if Jesus Christ is within me, what cancer can survive inside of me? There is no place for that cancer in my body!”

Dijo esto con tanta convicción y fuerza. Hasta el día de hoy imagino su rostro diciéndome esto y mis ojos se llenan de lágrimas mientras me embarga la emoción al pensarlo. Si Jesucristo está dentro de mí, ¿qué hace el cáncer dentro de mí? ¡Sí! Eso es exactamente lo que dijo.

The lady of great faith went on to live. She and her husband brought two more beautiful daughters to this world and through the years, we stay in touch, even if only for a Christmas card, with pictures of the family growing and flowering. Even more, she is forever connected to me through the “Vine” that connects us all. Her story has helped me through some of my worst days, and I share it with others, not only to offer hope, but to change our perception of the supernatural to natural.

Lo que llamamos sobrenatural es natural, normal, para aquellos que existen en un plano de comprensión diferente. Ese plano no está tan lejos. No es diferente de percibir el cielo aquí en la tierra. El ejercicio de perder el ego y abandonar los prejuicios que albergamos contra los milagros de la vida nos acerca a esa realidad.

Hoy rezamos la oración de las horas de la tarde de San Nerses Shnorhali: "Señor misericordioso, encomiéndame a un buen ángel, que guíe mi alma en paz y la lleve sin perturbaciones a través de la maldad del mal hacia los lugares celestiales. Amén".

Portada: Cataratas de Jermuk, 2019 P. Vazken