The Humility of Christ Podcast, Dr. Jim Rigby for Small Things podcast, see http://ashtoraspeaks.wordpress.com
Gifted and beloved, Reverend Dr. James Rigby has pastored the Wells Branch Community’s congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX for more than twenty-five years.
The Humility of Christ Podcast–unlike lessons heard from any other pulpit, let alone those of Rick Warren, Joel Olsteen or from any other “mega church” pulpit; and quite frankly, unlike any mainstream theologian, Dr. Rigby works to establish the truth that Real Love is Being Your Authentic Self!
These are my notes from the Reverend Dr. James Rigby’s most recent podcast.~~Ashtora
Confessing that our own Christian texts can be hard to hear~~we’ve heard them in such bad ways, they may sound like Jesus is “King” and we can never find worth, Dr. Rigby refutes this interpretation, saying instead that Christ in his humility revealed our own humanity to us…that by being willing not to be a King; that by being willing to be naked, and to be abused and not having his own worth effected by that, that he took us to our own worth as human beings…this sacred message has been heard all over the world. Listen to the sacred text from Taoism.
From Taoism, a Nature Religion, the Sage speaks:
Joyful are the masses as though feasting after a great sacrifice of oxen…motionless am I…how dejected as though having nowhere to return…I alone am bereft…I alone seem confused…I alone am vague and uncertain…how nebulous as the ocean…the masses all have a purpose, I alone am stubborn and uncouth. I desire to be uniquely different from others by honoring the Parent who nourishes.
What is the biggest problem you now face in life? Mystics through the ages tell us the biggest problem we all share is our ego which is somehow related to a wound that’s hard to deal with. Dr. Rigby defines ego as a problem we all have… a constricted notion of ourself that clutches on to our own being…we’re so afraid of losing ourselves that essentially we choke ourselves into numbness.
When you began this journey, he says, there was a tenderness in your heart….Much of the religious journey is getting back to your heart, simply making it where you can feel again. This may not sound religious, but what else has meaning in the world, if your own heart is numb? he asks.
Reverend Rigby speaks of disowned humanity. Human beings will sometimes appear muddled, stupid and confused in the eyes of other people and we have to be willing to suffer being scoffed, if we’re going to be authentic.
Though nobody wants to be an orphan, and nobody wants to be rejected, the loving person risking authenticity is willing to be rejected…can’t quench your thirst with a mirage…can’t find self-esteem in the eyes of another person. Every little afront will rip your heart out when you don’t know your own value. When we try to live in images, it’s incredibly easy to be upstaged.
Red symbolizes the one human blood. We may not know anything else in the world, but we know we’re all human.
We know that we’re all human…humility brings us to a basic sanity.
Secondly, We can Lose our true self when we think our worth increases when we pile up stuff.
Jim reveals his own ego lies in accumulating books. He’s a literary addict. Nothing jazzes him like books. Cannot leave a bookstore without buying a book.
Piling up stuff can trick us into not realizing our real worth…into thinking if we have “that”, then people will know how valuable we are.
We can counter that trickery with this mantra: I have nothing. I am nothing.
Quote from Johnny Cash, right before he died, “You can have it all, my empire of dirt”…talking about how worthless everything is if you don’t realize what your heart is worth.
The Life in You is the Most Valuable Thing You Have! What would you trade it for?
Green- symbolizes Life. Value your life over any object.
Scripture doesn’t really give us miracle stories but rather stories celebrating the basic irresistability of life itself~~i.e., stories of miracles~~Water into Wine.
Trade away our true selves by wanting to be higher up in the hierarchy…happens in families, churches, jobs…we think we’re worth more by obtaining elevated status. Whoever wins the rat race is still the biggest rat. Can we have the self-love to get off that track?
Brown symbolizes we’re made out of clay. We come from the soil. If that makes you feel worthless or worth less, you’re suffering from an essential disorientation. Your link into the earth is where the gravity comes from.
Buddah bent over and touched the earth when asked where his authority came from–that’s where truth is.
Have you ever been so enraptured by someone that when asked who you were, you couldn’t answer for just a second? I hope you’ve been that close to somebody before. When you have, you’ve been in touch with a much more important place.
Whatever we identify as our “biggest problem” is really just a symbol for what we’ve replaced our true worth for. Leave the foam of all our problems and settle into the broth of reality. I have nothing. I am nothing. I’m everything.
Red, the one common blood of our humanity; Green, the Life; Brown of the Earth.
The Humility of Christ Podcast, Dr. Jim Rigby
It’s a Wonderful Life! Dr. Rigby and you are loved for your authentic self, your authentic love…not for your books.~~Ash
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