An advent benediction based on the teachings of Valentin Tomberg.

From Athens to Jerusalem: An Advent Benediction

It is December in the soul,
this deepening season of long shadows.
We had accounted for everything in Athens.
The music of the spheres was written down,
the orbits plotted in dust and ink.
We knew the architecture of heaven,
but not its Architect.

Now, the intellect turns toward stillness.

The mind knows the composition,
but fears the birth of something new.
It sharpens its logic like a sword.
We were fools to stop in the city.
We thought revelation would want credentials, 
We carried Athens on our backs across the sand.

Therefore, we pray:

When the unaccountable star beckons you,
do not consult the mind to validate the intuitive heart.
Ignore the scribes.
Trust the star over the map.

We should have heeded the silence of the desert,
and the single, inexplicable gleam that drew us on,
toward the smell of hay and animal breath.
The warmth of a blood-beat.

May grace protect those tender flowers,
glowing bravely in the mist,
as the long night of stone logic is ending.

Look to the horizon; the rose dawn is breaking.

We bless the weary journey from the head to the heart.

Amen

— William Britten

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Logion 67
Yeshua says…
If you come to know all,
and yet you yourself are lacking,
you have missed everything.

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Listen to other audio teachings

Valentin Tomberg, Meditations on the Tarot, Jeremy Tarcher, 1985

Quotations from the Gospel of Thomas are from Lynn C Bauman, Ward J Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, The Luminous Gospels (Praxis 2008)

Read the quote that inspired this benediction.

Read the Impression Introducing Meditations on the Tarot.

Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.