A-K R: 6.23.21

Astro-Kinetic Reflection: 

Temporally Conditioned Reverberative Thoughts 

Resulting from Astro-Kinetic Contemplation 

Today’s reflection mostly concerns Mercury, which has recently been left alone in the House of Gemini.  The celestial body of communication standing strong in the house of mutual regard is an excellent stimulus for considering friendship and filial bonds. We have three examples of this from our source readings today.

The first is Abraham and his friendship with God in the First Reading of the Liturgy of the Word.  The reading shows the covenant between God and Abraham and their mutual regard.  All of Humanity has turned away from God.  God has once nearly obliterated humanity in response, but this time he takes a new tact.  He chooses one person and seeks to repair the damage from this man and his lineage.  Abraham offers sacrifice, giving over possessions that he may be tempted to hold as more valuable than God.  God for his part walks through the divided animals.  According to the ritual of the time, both members would walk through to seal the pact, but instead, only God passes through the carcasses, showing that he will be faithful to his promises even if Abraham and his descendants are not.  This ritual makes their relationship a binding friendship for all time.

The second example is a continuation of the narrative of David and Jonathan in the Office of Readings.  In this passage, Jonathan is seeking to save David’s life from his father, King Saul.  Saul has gone mad with jealousy and is seeking to kill David.  When David and Jonathan make plans to save David’s life Jonathan says to him, “Come, let us go out into the fields.”  This is the exact thing that Cain says to Abel when his envy drives him to kill his brother.  But in this case, the opposite plays out.  As Saint Aelred, in the second reading of the Office, notes that Jonathan has nothing to gain and everything to lose in this situation.  He is the heir to the throne, but David is God’s chosen successor.  “Who would not have been moved to jealousy by these words? Whose love would not have been corrupted, grace diminished, friendship wiped out? But this most loving youth held fast to the oaths of friendship he had sworn, stood up to the threats, endured the insults, and disdained the kingdom for the sake of friendship, careless of the glory he would miss but mindful of the integrity he would keep. You will be king, he said, and I will be next below you in rank.” Jonathan was willing to give up favor in order to maintain proper loving relationships.

The last example is our two saints, Zeno and Zenas of Philadelphia.  Zeno was a wealthy noble and soldier in the imperial Roman army. Seeing other Christians being martyred, he was led to become open with his own faith. He freed his slaves, gave away his wealth and possessions, and proclaimed himself a Christian before the governor. Zenas was one of his slaves. After being freed, he stayed with Zeno as a servant and became public about his Christianity. Together they were imprisoned and tortured. Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian. Here we have another situation where the structures of power fail to destroy friendship, even if their lives are lost.  Saint Zeno takes Saint Paul’s Advice to Philemon and recalibrates the relationship of master-slave to one of true friendship.

With these examples, we can take time to look at the relationships that we have in our lives and gaze upon Mercury in Gemini over the next few weeks.  With this inspirant we called to look at our existing relationships and assess whether they can be created anew.  Can we change a relationship of just and penitent, lord and vassal,  master and slave, or any relationship to a relationship of loving friendship?    

   

--For more Astro-Kinetic Reflections see the Astro-Kinetic Reflections: Date Log