2024-03-05 I Inquiry I Gateway to the Temple I Flint Sparks

Gateway to the Temple: Homage to Lahaina ~ Flint Sparks At the entry gate of every temple, a great bell waits. When struck, a deep resonant call is sent out, A powerful sound, but something closer to gravity, Invisibly pulling us across the threshold into a sacred space, Toward the promise of the perfected love we secretly long for; A divine love which is equally terrifying As it beautifully consumes and nourishes us. On that Summer day in August there was no bell. No call was sent out; No signal, no warning announcing the impending destruction. Only the savage wind, Tearing down the dry, ragged slopes Carrying one small spark Which would destroy a town. And now we gather in safety at the blackened boundary, Not able to enter, although we long to help, Not able to turn away, even though the bearing witness is awful. Instead we find ourselves at this thin place between life and death, Called by the resonant silence of those who are gone And the compassionate cry arising from our own hearts. But isn’t it always like this for us? Hesitating to enter the frightening places which could save us. Pausing, unable to move, Knowing we have to go there, to do what we have to do. Crossing the turbulent threshold where love and loss collide. Like the powerful winter swells pounding the shoreline, Impossibly rearranging mountains of sand, Over and over again. Life heaves itself into being, in all of its wild beauty, And then inexorably sweeping it all away, Only to offer it all back, again and again. Maybe this is what the temple bell is signaling: The willingness to carry on, even knowing the disturbing truth of impermanence and uncertainty; The faith to continue to care for each other, even when we’ve been emptied and discouraged; And a boundless hope which holds firm, even as everything changes without warning. The temple gate is now in ashes, The great bell is silent. Can you hear it?