The Bowl of Saki Commentary
Commentary for:
The priest gives a benediction from the church; the branches of the tree give blessing from God.
Commentary from Hazrat Murshid SAM (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, Samuel L. Lewis):
The Bowl of Saki Commentary, copyright © 1981, 2012 Sufi Ruhaniat International. All rights reserved.
What is the church? It is not wrong to go to church or worship in church. Church is right where it unites us in prayer and worship and so promotes unity and kinship; it is wrong when it excommunicates or antagonizes people and so divides humanity. Such division is human, not divine. God does not condemn on any human basis; God is not bound by any decisions of human councils or human institutions.
Priest speaking in the name of self or in the name of church with thought of self cannot give the divine blessing. Tree, having no thought of self, rapt in love for God, can give the highest blessing and many people, believers and unbelievers alike, feel it.