Luke Harris ocso - d. 12 Dec 2012 Cistercian Pioneer in Cameroon

+ Necrology

DUNCAN BASIL, pen-name of the Cistercian Fr. Luke Harris, formerly ten years in the RAF. 

Illustration; “Joystick” in the thirty real-life incidents.

·        

Mount St Bernard

Thursday, 13 December 2012 11:53

December 12, 2012 : Father Luke Harris was born in 1918 in Birmingham (England). He entered Mount St Bernard in 1948, made his solemn profession in 1953 and was ordained priest in 1955. Father was 94 years old, had been in monastic vows for 62 years and 57 years a priest when the Lord called him. 

--    ---

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jude Tah ....
To: Nivard ...
Sent: Tuesday, 25 December 2012, 7:18
Subject: Happy Xmas 

Dear Nivard

                  It was great to hear from you.  I was just thinking of sending you one. God to know you are keeping well with Donald, the Lord is certainly good to him. At this end we are all up and about except the Abbot and the Prior are under the weather with colds.

 Were you able to show up at Luke's funeral? We had a funeral mass for here for him the say day he was laid rest at MSB and a handful of people turned up from Njindom despite the short notice on "Radio Evangelium", a radio network in the Ecclesiastical province of Bamenda, that is Buea , Bamenda, Kumbo and Mamfe.  

Have a lovely day.  

(Dom) Jude Tah ocso        

Bamenda Abbey, Cameroon

 

Archive: The Catholic Heralld

PAGE 10, 3RD JANUARY 1964

. ENGLISH MONKS PIONEER IN AFRICA

FOUR Cistercians who left

Mt. St. Bernard Abbey, Coalville, Leicester, three months ago, to start a new foundation at Mbengwi, West Cameroun, are preparing accommodation for nine more monks expected in March.

The pioneer group– Fr. Luke Harris and three Brothers – is at present living in temporary quarters at Mbengwi, where they have been given 288 acres of land for development. Fr. Harris is installing electricity and supervising the Brothers in the task of getting farmland under cultivation and starting the actual building work. It is planned to build a complete monastery. 'maintained chiefly by poultry and pig farming. The new arrivals in March will include a Brother from Uganda, a novice with three priests from Nigeria, and three English priests.

A novitiate for Africans will be opened in the summer. This is the second Cistercian foundation in the Federal Republic of Cameroun. The first was started in 1951 at Ohnut. East Cameroun.

When Fr. Luke and his pioneer band arrived at Mbengwi, they received a warm welcome from the chiefs and people. They had covered the last 300 miles of the journey "under their own steam". the three Brothers taking turns oil a farm tractor with trailer containing farm equipment. while Fr. Harris drove a Land Rover and trailer. Progress was often little more than eight miles an hour.

Fr. Luke Harris, his pen name: “Duncan Basil.

Book list published by St. Paul  

1.    Year of Mystery by Basil Duncan (Sep 1995)

2.    The Trinity at Home: A Family Likeness by Duncan Basil (11 Nov 1999)

3.    In a Nutshell by Duncan Basil and Gillian Elias (11 Nov 2000)

4.    Eyes on the Lord: View of a Contemplative by Duncan Basil (11 Nov 1994)

e-Newsletter Janauary 03, 2001 (TLIG News)  

www.tlig.org › English › News

3 Jan 2001 – In this mailing, a poem by Fr. Luke Harris OCSO is copied. Fr Luke is a Cistercian monk from a monastery here in the UK which Vassula has ...

    

The Two Hearts

03 January 2001 19:33

Prayer requests will, from now on, be copied at the end of forum mailings.

In this mailing, a poem by Fr. Luke Harris OCSO is copied. Fr Luke is a Cistercian monk from a monastery here in the UK which Vassula has visited more than once. Thanks to Catherine Keightley for forwarding this item. Catherine prefaced the item with the following: "Father Luke feels the poem might be too obsure for many but he really loves Vassula's writings, ponders them and spreads them far and wide."

I wrestle away with Vassula's books in that I love reading them....... she seems to be stressing especially the Three Persons, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts and the Holy Spirit. So maybe the title of "True Life in God" can sum it up, thus-wise.

True Life can only be the (Life-giving) Spirit, the Torrent of Living water that flows to us through the blood of the Saviour's wounds and the tears of His Mother's as from a double cascade.....

This I tried to put into a poem but although it got a bit obscure, I

include it here............. The destination of this 'Golden River' is of
course Abba - cf end of the Apoc. "Come to the Father". All of which,
if it makes sense, is compressed into the title "True Life in God".

Here is the poem:

The Two Hearts

Dark the heart's cave
Till earthblind eyes
Adjust and ear
betrays splashing
Hidden Water.
Double a Cascade
High falling, first
>From Maid's
Immaculate heart
Far down, falling, falling
To Mercy's Sacred Pool
Of cool, forgiving Love.

Through speared
Cleft outpoured;
And my heart's cave
River swept, Abba-ward
By wave
of Living Water."

Fr. Luke Harris ocso

HE AND i "Christmas - In France. "... I called the shepherds first. They were the image of My beloved priests"

Gabrielle Bossis at CHRISTMAS 1938

HE AND I, Gabrielle B. 1938

December 18 - "Humble yourself often as My mother did. "

December 23

...

Christmas -

 In France.

 "Don't be amazed that I called the shepherds first. They were the image of My beloved priests, My other selves. "

December 25 -

 Nantes. Midnight Mass.  

 I was wondering why the child Jesus didn't show himself more as God even in the manger.

 "That wasn't the moment. That is reserved for My second coming. "

(End of time).

December 27 - "I am the Son of God. Through Me, you are the daughter of God. "

Visitors adoring the Christ Child

Ora et labora

Thanks to Edith and William

The hilarious sacred share.

from Donald.                                                                                                                                               

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William Wardle <williamwardle2bp@btinternet.com>
To: Dom Donald.Nunraw <nunrawdonald@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 25 December 2012, 13:08
Subject: Ora et Labora 

Dear Father Donald,

 

Visitors adoring the Christ Child

I would just love to show you my Christmas present! Edith spied eight little 'biscuit clay' figures modelled on Orthodox monks in the window of a charity shop! I think they must have come from Mount Athos? There is a clear division between the presentation of the characters, 'ora et labora'. Amazingly the figures are exactly the right size to become 'contemporary' visitors to my crib adoring the Christ Child along with the angel, the Holy Family, one representative shepherd and the three wise men!

 

I like best the one holding an icon of Our Lord in presentation of the Christ Child. You are the Patriach, and Fr. Nivard has his lute!

 

Oh the Joy that the birth of Our Lord brings!

 

With my love in the midst of this Joy,

William

+ + + 

Christmas Day Mass Homily - Fr. Raymond

Nunraw Nativity Crib. Poinsettia gift

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Raymond J...
Sent: Tuesday, 25 December 2012, 15:33
Subject: The Two Christmases

THE TWO CHRISTMASES 2012

        If we think of Christmas as the celebration of the Incarnation; the celebration of the Word of God becoming Flesh, then it is right and fitting, of course, that the event should be celebrated publicly by the whole world.  It should be proclaimed aloud from the housetops for everyone to hear, for everyone to learn about for everyone to rejoice in.

        But, by the very intimate nature of this event, it’s also right and fitting that there should  be another celebration, a secret and hidden one, one that would acknowledge quietly the ineffable wonder of this Great Mystery; a wonder too great for words; a wonder to great  for any kind of adequate celebration.  It was a mystery too great for even God’s angels to appreciate.  And in fact there is such a celebration.  And this celebration is found  in the liturgy of the Church, and  it is also found in the liturgy of  the living events of  salvation history and  even in the liturgy of heaven itself. 

        This other hidden celebration of the Incarnation is what I would like to call, the “Other Christmas.”  This “Other Christmas.” isn’t a kind of  “Second Christmas”.  In fact, it was the first of the two Christmases.  It was that most precious moment when the Blessed Virgin Mother first conceived the Word of God in her sacred womb.  This moment was The moment of the Incarnation.  It was the very highest point in human history.  All human history that preceded it was designed by divine providence to lead up to it. And all human history that follows it is moulded and shaped by its meaning.  No matter what happened after that moment, nothing could ever equal the sublimity of it.  It was the very moment when Heaven first touched the earth in an altogether new way; the moment when the Creator bestowed his most loving kiss upon us his creatures.  So let’s compare these two very different celebrations of the Incarnation.

At the first moment,”the annunciation”, it was most intimate and private and secret.  Not only was no one else in the world present, but not even the angel Gabriel was present for this most sacred of moments.  We read first that the angel Gabriel announced: “Behold you will conceive and bear a Son” and then he assured the frightened little Maid by telling her that “nothing will be impossible to God” and then comes that most significant phrase, “and the angel left her”.  Yes not even the greatest of the angels was worthy to be present at the moment.  It was the most intimate and sacred, one to one event of all human history. How fittingly it is said then that “The angel left her”.

The second celebration, the Bethlehem Scene, is open to all the world and to heaven itself.  There are myriads of angels in the skies above singing “glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of goodwill” and the representatives of  all peoples, the shepherds the magi; the poor the rich the jews the gentiles, are all there.  And now we too join the whole of Christian society down the centuries openly proclaiming and exulting and rejoicing in Mary’s bringing forth of the Divine Babe.

This is all most fitting, of course, but, as we join with the whole world and with the angels of heaven themselves in the joy of our public celebrations on this Christmas of the year 2012 let us remember also that most silent and intimate moment of the incarnation when only two were there: God and Mary.  And let us beg her that she may share something of  the sublimity of that moment with us her children.

Abbot Mark Press Christmas Message

 

East Lothian Courier, 21 December, 2012-12-25

Christmas Messages.  

Pass on the message of friendship this Christmas.

By Fr Mark Caira, Abbot at the Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw

Advent in the early Christian tradition was a time of waiting.  The first sense of waiting was for the return of their Lord who had risen from the dead.  The first Christians expected the world to end quite soon.  As time went on they naturally began to look back to the roots of their faith.  Their reflections led them not just to the promise of the messiah contained in the Hebrew Scriptures but also to the actual physical birth and circumstances of Christ.

Even today in the prayer of Christians these two dimensions of waiting are present.  Some can be too concerned and unhappy about the final coming of the Lord.  That time will come some day but probably will be many generations away, whatever the many dangerous and volatile situations in the world today.  In this latter part of Advent, as we get so much nearer the historical birthday of Jesus we look more to his birth and the joy it gave his parents and those who were waiting for the One who was promised.

I’m sure most of us are caught up in the rush to catch the last posting dates for our Christmas mail and planning how we should prepare for things like our Christmas meal and other celebrations with family and friends, especially for the children.  That is good and right.  We ought to celebrate such a birth and use it to build up family bonds and friendships.  That, as we know, is not always easy.  Some ruptures in our relationships in the past are not easily mended.  Perhaps being civil with those we are not happy being with at Christmas can be a beginning to something better in the near future. 

Christmas is not only a remembering of a past birth or the concern of the final coming of Christ at the end of time.  Remembering a birth is a celebration of someone who has grown from a baby to something greater.  Christmas can be, and should be, an awareness of what Christ became.  For us he is now still a living person who knew how to conquer not only death but to face up to cruel powers that hounded him in his life.  He lives now to help us to live for others.  That life and that love lies at the heart of Christmas. 

Our greetings of happiness and joy to others this Christmas can be messages of friendship which hopefully will lead to better relations with all our neighbours whatever their social position or beliefs.

A Happy Christmas to everyone.  May peace and happiness fill your lives in the year that lies ahead.

Monday, 24 December 2012 Thanks from DGOcom Daily Gospel

----- Forwarded Message -----   
From: DGO <noreply@evzo.org>
To: donald ...
Sent: Monday, 24 December 2012, 5:43
Subject: Peace on earth to men of good will!

DAILY GOSPEL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

www.dailygospel.org

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68 

Dear Madam, dear Sir,

Dear Subscribers,

The whole team of Daily Gospel wishes you a very happy and holy Christmas!

On this holy night among all, let’s free our heart from the world, its restlessness, its material wealth, and let’s merely, humbly, kneel before our Savior. Let’s follow him in his impoverishment to contemplate the eternal realities: in the mystery of Christmas, God the Son comes to us and takes us into transports of delight, love and gratitude, for it is to each of us that God gives his Son. Let’s prepare our souls to receive this priceless gift and let’s sing with the angels the glory of God!

Just as God was born on earth from Mary, may He also born in each of us, in our souls, by the grace and love.

The English team of Daily Gospel

Gregor, Sr Gillian.

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Tonight: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), solemnity
Nativity of the Lord  THE SON OF GOD BECAME MAN I. WHY DID THE WORD BECOME FLESH?                    With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man."         The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins": "the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world", and "he was revealed to take away sins": Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Saviour; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state? (St. Gregory of Nyssa)           The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."           The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: "Listen to him!" Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: "Love one another as I have loved you." This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example.          The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature": "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods." II. THE INCARNATION          Taking up St. John's expression, "The Word became flesh", The Church calls "Incarnation" the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. and being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Ph 2:5-8)  The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery: Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." (He 10:5-7)          Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings "the mystery of our religion": "He was manifested in the flesh." Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 456-463 - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Advent: December 24th Christmas Eve

   http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2012-12-24 

Advent: December 24th

Christmas Eve

Old Calendar: Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord

+Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

In the General Roman Calendar, this date is the last day of Advent, Christmas Eve, and also (beginning with the vigil Mass) is the first day of Christmas time. The liturgical texts express wholehearted confidence in the imminent coming of the Redeemer. There is much joyous expectation. Most families have their own observances, customs that should be preserved from generation to generation. Today is the last day of our Christmas Novena.

Christmas Eve at ChurchThe entire liturgy of Christmas Eve is consecrated to the anticipation of the certain and sure arrival of the Savior: "Today you shall know that the Lord shall come and tomorrow you shall see His glory" (Invitatory of Matins for the Vigil of the Nativity). Throughout Advent we have seen how the preparation for Jesus' coming became more and more precise. Isaiah, John the Baptist and the Virgin Mother appeared throughout the season announcing and foretelling the coming of the King. We learn today that Christ according to His human nature is born at Bethlehem of the House of David of the Virgin Mary, and that according to His divine nature He is conceived of the Spirit of holiness, the Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity.

The certitude of His coming is made clear in two images. The first is that of the closed gate of paradise. Since our first parents were cast forth from the earthly paradise the gate has been closed and a cherubim stands guard with flaming sword. The Redeemer alone is able to open this door and enter in. On Christmas Eve we stand before the gate of paradise, and it is for this reason that Psalm 23 is the theme of the vigil:

Lift up your gates, O princes,
Open wide, eternal gates,
That the King of Glory may enter in. . . .

Christmas Eve at HomeIt must be so that the grown-ups may devote themselves with a quiet mind, unhindered by any commotion, to these great mysteries of the Holy Night, that in most Catholic countries the giving of gifts has been advanced to Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is an appropriate time for the exchange of gifts, after the Christ-Child has been placed in the manger, and the special prayers before the crib — and a round of Christmas carols — are over. If the gifts are given out before the Midnight Mass, the children can concentrate more easily on the great mystery which is celebrated, when the Greatest Gift is given to all alike, even those who have received no material expression of Christmas love. And then, too, Christmas Day with its two additional Masses can be devoted more to the contemplation of the Christmas mystery and the demands of Christmas hospitality.

The opening of the eternal gates through which the King of Glory may enter is indicated by the wreath on the door of our homes at Christmastide. The Advent wreath, which accompanied the family throughout the season of preparation may be taken down. The violet ribbons are removed, and it is gloriously decorated with white and gold. It is then placed upon the door as a symbol of the welcome of Christ into our city, our home and our hearts. On Christmas Eve the whole house should be strewn with garlands and made ready for the Light of the World. The crib is set in a special place of honor, for tonight the central figure of the Nativity scene is to arrive.

Today is Day Nine of the Christmas Novena.

St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (1828-1898)

Monday, 24 December 2012 St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (1828-1898)  Other saints of the day SAINT SHARBEL MAKHLUF Priest (1828-1898)         Joseph Zaroun  Makhluf was born in a small mountain village of Lebanon. Raised by an uncle who opposed the boy's youthful piety, he snuck away at age 23 to join the Baladite monastery of Saint Maron at Annaya where he took the name Charbel in memory of a 2nd century martyr. He was ordained in 1858.            Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he spent the last twenty-three years of his life as a hermit. Despite temptations to wealth and comfort, Sharbel lived as a model monk on the bare minimums of everything. He gained a reputation for holiness, and was much sought for counsel and blessing. He had a great personal devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and was known to levitate during his prayers. He was briefly paralyzed just before his death.         Several post-mortem miracles were attributed to him, including periods in 1927 and 1950 when a bloody "sweat" flowed from his corpse. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for Lebanese and non-Lebanese, Christian and non-Christian alike.         Sharbel taught the value of poverty, self-sacrifice, and prayer by the way he lived. He was beatified in 1965 and canonized in 9 October 1977 by Pope Paul VI.         July 24th is the feast day for St. Sharbel Makhluf on the Universal Church. The Maronite Church celebrates him on the 3rd Sunday of July and on December 24th (the day he went to heaven).

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2012

The Great O Antiphons December 23: "O Emmanuel"

CAPORALI Bartolomeo Virgin And Child With Angels Sunday, 23 December 2012 The Great O Antiphons: "O Emmanuel" Click on symbols to see the day. O EMMANUEL December 23 Symbols: Manger Come to save us, O Lord our God. O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: Come to save us, O Lord our God. O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, expectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster. The manger reminds us of the simplicity and poverty surrounding the birth of Jesus and is representative of His life of humility. Recommended Readings: Isaias 9:2-7 Catholic Culturere

The Great O Antiphons December 23: "O Emmanuel" Christ, the hope of all Nations, who await   his appearing (See Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Matthew 1:23; Haggai 2:7) O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, expectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster. O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the one awaited by the gentiles, and their Savior: come to save us, Lord our God. Fr. Z's Rather Old "O Antiphon" Page www.wdtprs.com/JTZ/o_antiphons/Share The seventh and last antiphon is sung at Vespers on 23 December. They are called the "O Antiphons" because they all begin with the letter-word "O": they .. The O Antiphons developed during the Church's very first centuries. The writer Boethius (+525) mentions them. By the 8th century they were in use in Rome. There are seven of these special antiphons, and their texts spring from the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, the Prophetic and Wisdom Books. They are found in the Liturgy of the Hours or older Roman Breviary, which clerics, religious, consecrated virgins, and others use for daily prayer. The O Antiphons are short prayers sung before and after the Magnificat, the great prayer of Mary in Luke 1:46-55 when coming visit to Elizabeth her cousin the Virgin praised God for His favor wondrous deeds. The Magnificat is sung during Vespers, evening prayer. The O Antiphons begin on 17 December, seven days before the Vigil of Christmas (24 December). The seventh and last antiphon is sung at Vespers on 23 December. They are called the "O Antiphons" because they all begin with the letter-word "O": they address Jesus by one of His Old Testament titles.  They are fervent prayers asking Our Lord to come to us.

The Great O Antiphons December 22: "O Rex Gentium"

The Great O Antiphons: O Rex Gentium

12/22/2012

Since at least the eighth century, the Great O Antiphons have been sung before and after the Magnificat at Vespers, in the Western Christian tradition, on the seven days preceding Christmas Eve (17-23 December).

Each antiphon uses a different title for the Messiah, and refers to the coming of the Messiah. If you are saying Evening Prayer at home, you may wish to add the appointed antiphon before and after reciting the Magnificat.

The antiphon appointed for today follows:

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

(Text of the antiphon is from Common Worship: Times and Seasons. London : Church House Publishing, 2006).

http://www.stlukeandtheepiphany.org/post/the_great_o_antiphons_o_rex_gentium/ 

W. Pannenberg Spirit of Life 'special bestowal of the Spirit of God'

Inscribed Text from Pannenberg following the 'divine light'

Faith and Reality Pannenberhg

III The Spirit of Life p. 22

The last phrase would seem to associate the divine Spirit with those fruitful winds which renew the vegetation in spring. Yahweh's Spirit had in fact taken over this function from Baal, who appeared in storms and bestowed fertility.

The life-giving activity of the divine Spirit is the horizon for all other functions which the Old Testament attributes to the Spirit of God. That is true especially of charismatic phenomena. Not only prophetic vision and inspiration but the work of the artist, the poet's language and the hero's deeds require a special bestowal of the Spirit of God. These charismatic effects are not however to be seen in isolation, but have to do with the same Power which inspires and animates all life. The charismatic effects are only quite outstanding instances of fulness of life. Because they display especially intensified forms of life, they must partake to an extraordinary degree of the divine Spirit.

In a similar way Paul's notion of the new life of the resurrec­tion depends on the traditional understanding of life as the product of the divine power of the Spirit. Ordinary life is not yet life in the full sense of the word, because it is transitory. Living beings in the world as it is share only to a limited extent in the power of life, because (according to Gen 6.3) God has decided that his Spirit should not be wholly effective in men; for man is only flesh, and for that reason the time of his life is limited. When he dies, 'the dust returns to the earth as it was and the Spirit returns to God who gave it', as Ecclesiastes says (9.7). That does not of course suggest any immortality of the human soul, but instead its dissolution into the divine Spirit from which it came. Paul found a reference to the limited nature of earthly life in the Genesis account of the creation of man, since it tells only of a living being or soul originating in the creative breath oflife. For Paul, that meant that the living being brought forth thus was distinct from the creative Spirit and this fact explained the transient nature of our present life. Because our life in the form ofa soul or as a living being is separated from its origin in the creative Spirit of God, it is subject to death. Hence the question of another life can arise, of a true life that is still con­nected with its origin in the Spirit. That is expressed in the Pauline idea of the resurrected life which will be one with the