Course XX - Teaching 3: Texts for Discursive Meditation
Text:
“Non est hic: Resurrexit!"
“He is not here; he is risen!”(Angel’s voice to Magdalene).
Consider oh Soul willing to follow the spiritual path how much you need a Master to guide you till the moment you are able to walk alone. But also consider how many times, blinded by the illusion you believe you are far away and quite alone. Then you weep, oh Soul of mine, as Mary Magdalene before the empty Sepulchre, and you claim: “Where are you, Master of mine?”.
The Master is never detached from you, the Master never forsakes you, though you do not see or hear him, or you feel to be entirely alone. It is your own darkness, lack of perseverance, and lukewarmness in the fulfillment of your responsibilities that make you believe that the Master is far away; in short, it is your poor human nature that many times is a prey to temptation. But the Master appears and rises in you when you are enthusiastic and fervent.
But even so, it is convenient for you to lose sight of him now and then, so that later you may appreciate him more and more, and also to know that you, oh Soul, are indissolubly united with His Soul so that the encounter may be sweeter after you believed you had lost him.
Hear the Angel’s voice: “Your Lord is not here; he is risen!” Your Master is not here in the dark of the sin, in shadows of evil. Your Ideal Master is on the Spiritual Way, in the holiness of the effort. He waits for you over there, constantly; you will find him always over there.
Oh Soul of mine, look for your Lord. If he is risen, you rise with Him in the Glory of the spiritual purification. Clear your heart from shadows, and you will find Him in the holy abode, more glorious than ever, ever-willing to follow the Path of holiness and love.
Text:
“Noli me tangere.”
“Touch me not." (The Risen Christ’s words to Magdalene.)
Consider, oh Soul, how did you reach, on the Spiritual Way, that point where you should be detached from every human aspect in order to live in the glory of Resurrection. You have found the Master again. He never dies. The body passes away, even bodies of higher beings pass away, but the spirit animating them is eternal. Once more He is before you, transformed, transfigured. His light blinds you, you cannot be near him; this would harm you. This is why he says when you try to take Him in your arms, “Touch me not, because I am risen”.
Consider, oh Soul, how you has to be like your Master as a whole, how you have to strive all days for being like Him, for being able to touch and not to stain him. How you have to make the subtle and delicate work so that we may remove the littlest defects and dregs that still are left, even almost insignificant faults that impede you to touch Him.
But, how much joy is to contemplate the Master that is risen, to see His glory and splendor, and to have Him in your life as a token of bliss and eternal happiness.
Do not quiver, Soul of mine; do not wait, do not stop; you are following for years the Master on the path of sorrow. Now you have to follow Him on the path of Resurrection, Transfiguration and Union with Him.
