Welcome

Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Saturday, April 30, 2022

Fuel up

How many folk, low on self-love take to social media to post and say horrible things?  Are they making decisions about budgets and policies, policing cities and towns, while running empty on self-love?  Are they mean, selfish, or violent because there is a hole in their souls where more love could be?

          Jacqui Lewis

__________________________

 

Love God

Love yourself

Love others

 

funny how the love of self is at the center

 

not love of self as selfishness, self-absorption, or conceit

not love of self as toxic individualism or even narcissism

 

because that is not really love

that is fear and desperation

that is a hungry soul seeking to be filled

with spiritual junk food

 

but love of self that involves

a healthy delight in who one is

in all the peculiarities that make one

a unique and beautiful and sacred child

 

love of self comes from God (or should)

but it also allows us to be open to God

it keeps us from grabbing hold of a version of God

that is rigid, controlling, coercive, and cruel

 

but is instead nurturing, compassionate, and kind

 

love of self sets us free

free to love God as a child loves a parent

as a chick loves the mother hen and nestles under her wings

 

love of self also allows us to be open to others

to be compassionate

curious

patient

generous

and loving

 

think of all those across the globe, Putin for example

think of all those in our country, Trump, Greene, Hawley, the QAnons

think of all those in our own peculiar lives

 

who are running empty on self-love

who have holes in their soul

who are occupied by the hungry ghosts of fear

and hate, and greed

 

no wonder they lust for power

and wealth

 

no wonder the abuse of power

and hoard

 

they are starving

poor souls

 

this is why the rich are never rich enough

the powerful never have enough power (and cannot let it go)

the hateful can never let go of their hate

 

this is why people start wars

suppress the vote

drive big trucks (and then complain of gas prices)

carry guns

call people names

abuse their spouses and children

 

they are starving

they are eroding

they are being eaten up from the inside out

 

the answer is simple and yet elusive

connect with all that is sacred

let yourself be loved

accept that you are loved

believe that you are loveable

 

let the warmth of sacred compassion

light the fire of compassion within you

compassion first for yourself

and then

 

for those around you

 

you are immensely valuable and special

a unique and beautiful and sacred child

in whom God delights

 

so is that person in front of you

 

how sad it is that so many of us do not know that

and may not live that

 

this is a time to fuel up

to allow ourselves to be filled with Sacred

to allow love, compassion, and forgiveness

to rock and roll in our souls

 

for hurt people hurt people

empty people feed on other people

but loved people

love people

 

and God knows

we need more love in this world

 

Thursday, April 28, 2022

reduced to trust

I am slowly

day by day, night by night

being reduced to trust

 

I dream of peace, but there is no peace

Instead we live in the shadow of war

as across the sea, in a land where my ancestors

once raised wheat and baked bread

 

babies die

at the whim of a man who has been consumed by his humanity

and rejected his divinity

imago Deo lost

 

I dream of freedom

not a false and toxic freedom

that disregards the common good,

 

but that true freedom that comes

from hearts set free

that freedom that creates possibility,

that gives each person the opportunity to reach their full potential

as a child God

 

but we live in the shadow of authoritarianism

in land where an ideology and theology of dominance

is slowly eroding freedom

 

where a powerful minority

seeks to control everything and everyone

robbing some people of the right to vote

taking power away from women

marginalizing people who are LGBTQI+

 

slowly moving us toward a society of coercion and retribution

where might is the only right

where the values of Jesus are flaunted and ignored

 

I dream of equity

of a world where resources (the planet) are protected

and shared

where people work for the common good

 

but instead the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

and the earth is ravaged

and workers are exploited

 

and so I am reduced to trust

that whatever it is that is “beyond” logic

beyond my comprehension

 

that whatever it is,

whomever it is that I (for lack of a better term)

call God

 

is love

and is power

 

and, as power clothed with love

will somehow

redeem

restore

reconcile

re-create

 

and make all things new

 

I am reduced to trusting that

when God (Eternal Love) says

 

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43)

 

God means it!

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

small spaces, large spaces

this is a time that tries our souls

 

this is the via negativa

the dark and frozen time

this is winter

 

where we have been squeezed

(as friend lovingly put it)

into small spaces

 

by disease and hate

 

we linger

as bulbs nestled in black earth

waiting for the sun

to touch and warm us

 

bringing us to new life

resurrection

 

tentatively we seek the light

lifting up our hearts with our hands

to the heavens (Lamentations 5)

 

to a God faintly visible

through the smoke of war

barely heard through the cacophony of hate

 

this is a time when theology is not enough

when ideology will not do

 

this is a time when only an experience

of divine

will lift us up

 

all spirituality is born out of experience

out of our being

touched by sacred warmth and joy

 

by our experience of God’s love

 

we will not burst out of our tombs

we will not break through the frozen earth

into the sunlight

like the crocus in the spring

 

until we know without a doubt

that God is love

and until we believe in our hearts

that we are God’s beloved children

 

until we can say

each of us in our own hearts

I am loved

this I not only know

but feel

 

it is not that our time in the darkness

is all bad

this time of grief and reflection

this time of silence and letting go

 

for we learn things in the darkness

in the darkness, the light shines fiercely

and out of the womb of struggle

joy and hope are born

 

“...new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”  (Barbara Brown Taylor)

 

so come God of love

touch us with your warmth

bring us to life

help us lift our heads

and stretch toward the sun and bloom

 

for these are living and loving to be done

and a world that needs to see

the beauty of your love

 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

A free and friendly space

… transitional space, a space for our development as a species [and individuals].  If the space is good enough, the likelihood of this happening for each human being increases.  If the space is filled with violence, danger, unfulfilled, needs, poverty, oppression, bias, racism, sexism, homophobia – that‘s not a good enough space for any of us to fully learn to love ourselves [or others].

                     Jacqui Lewis

________________________

 

we all need a safe place

a free and friendly space

where we can discoverer who we are

 

we all need a space in which we can become

fully human

imago Dei

 

Donald Winnicott (bless his soul)

calls the space in which we develop our true self

(versus the false self we present to the world)

a transitional space

a becoming space

 

the world can be a transitional space

so can a nation

a state

a community

a family

 

perhaps the most powerful space is our family of origin

where we learn that we are loved

and learn to love ourselves

 

or not

 

that space where affection, praise,

shame, fear, joy, peace, and violence

can all happen

 

but States too

and countries

 

they can be places where we learn

what is “me” and what is “not”

what I can accomplish and what I cannot

who I am and who I am not

 

out of these spaces we emerge

carrying with us, both good and ill

lessons learned

 

but mostly what emerges are people able to love

themselves and others

and people unable to love

themselves and others

 

my heart hurts over the transitional spaces

so many experience

those dysfunctional homes, yes

but more

those dysfunctional states (Texas, and others)

which are teaching hate, and racism

which are teaching people the way of domination and oppression

 

those leaders (Putin, Trump, Hawley, et. al)

who are teaching violence and brutality

greed and consumption

hate and bias

 

where does this path go?

what comes out of those spaces filled with

voter suppression

radical nationalism

racism

a theology of domination and aggression

a disrespect for women’s rights

guns

bombs

war

death and destruction?

 

what kind of people emerge?

 

I think Sacred looks at all that is happening

and weeps

 

weeps for the damage being done

to the planet

and to people

to precious souls

 

and I think that Sacred

like a mother hen

wants to gather us all under her wings

and give us a space

 

a free and friendly space

where we can be loved

accept love

and learn to love

 

that should be what the church is all about

not about ideologies and creeds

not about what we believe

but about how we live

 

about how we are loved

and love

 

Kyrie Eleison

Christe Eleison

 

let us nestle

but only for a while

then let us go forth

and change the world

Monday, April 25, 2022

Nothing but the Truth

Truth

Jesus said I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life

meaning not so much that he was a gatekeeper but an example

 

a person who spoke truth

and lived truth

 

who moved in a straight line from the Love of God

to what he said and did

 

that is part of what made Jesus so beautiful

he was true to God

true to himself

and he shared the truth with those he met

 

sometimes that truth was comforting

sometimes that truth was disturbing

but it was always the truth

 

whatever happened to truth?

when did we decided it was OK to lie?

when did we decided it was OK to live a lie?

 

in other words, when did it become OK to lie about ourselves

(to ourselves and others)

and OK to lie about others?

 

and when did it become OK to lie about God?

 

we all lie, to one degree or another

it is perhaps impossible to be totally true

 

sometimes it is a matter of understanding

 

we don’t see ourselves clearly, and so

we believe and say things about ourselves that are not true

we don’t really understand God clearly

and so we believe and say things about God that are not true

 

sometimes it is a matter of fear

“If people see me as I really am they will not value or love me!”

 

but something else is going on

something darker and more damaging

 

the lies of Trump, and Carlson,

the lies of those assailing Ketanji Brown Jackson on the floor of the Senate

 

those people who are walking, talking, pontificating falsehoods

false to themselves

false to God

 

using lies and misrepresentations

using incongruence and hypocrisy

as a way to power

 

using lies manipulatively to harm another

and help themselves

 

this kind of lying is a violation of love

 

and it destroys

good

 

it destroys the possibility of

healing

and reconciliation

and progress

 

lies trap us

personally

lies trap us as a society and a nation

 

the lie of American exceptionalism

traps us

the lie that might makes right

traps us

 

the lies we tell to ourselves and to others

trap us

in a dark and loveless place

 

“telling the truth is an act of love”  (Jacqui Lewis)

and it is the truth that sets us free

 

sets us free to love ourselves

sets us free to love others

 

there can be no love without truth

there can be no healing without truth

 

lies may have power

but that fleeting twisted power is nothing

compared to the power of truth

and love

 

the light shines in the darkness

and the darkness cannot overcome it

 

Talk away Senator Cruz, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Graham, Ms Blackburn

and all the rest

talk away

lie if you must

 

but truth will ultimately win

+++++++++++++++++

 

 Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

The battle outside ragin'

Will soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'

                               Bob Dylan

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Lament on the path of praise

"Walk your walk of lament on a path of praise."

          Rainer Maria Rilke

 

"we live with a wondrous mixture of well and woe"

          Julian of Norwich

_____________________________

 

it seems surreal at times

how this world is such a much

of beauty and ugliness

kindness and cruelty

well and woe

 

at home, I sit nestled in the snow-covered mountains

far from the maddening crowd

protected

 

on this day I sit among palms

in a place where fantasy is celebrated

in vacation mode

 

and yet somewhere war is happening

tanks rolls

aggressors attack

a country is threatened

 

somewhere dark children starve

winds blow

fires rage

 

even under the surface

of our skins

this struggle exists

joy and pain intermingle

in our hearts, our souls

our minds are conflicted

 

and yet despite the struggle

we walk through each day

left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe

 

do we feel guilty about our safety

it is wrong that we simply go through the motions

each day?

 

we are asked to walk our lament

on the path of praise

 

to have lament

to be aware

not closed off to the pain of the world,

 

but also not unaware of blessing

not closed to joy

 

for our ability to lament

and act

to work for change

to stand and speak

 

must come out of praise

must come out of a profound connection with Sacred

and a fierce belief in Love

and a willingness to live love fiercely

 

most every day

mirth and mourning go together

 

this day I will enjoy the beauty around me

and I will all my heart to hurt at the war in Ukraine

 

this day I will celebrate my children’s and grandchildren’s safety

and mourn the threats to those children

caught in the midst of war

struggling in a world of drought and famine

trapped in abusive homes

 

I cannot close my eyes

but neither can I allow myself to

be overwhelmed by the grief

for grief and mourning by themselves

defeat us

we need to hear the promise

“you will not be overcome”

 

and know that we can trust Love

in well and woe

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Little vision, tiny hearts

In our zeal to become the landlords of our own being, we cling to each achievement as a kind of verification of our self-proclaimed reality. We become the center and God somehow recedes to an invisible fringe. Others become real to the extent they become significant others to the designs of our own ego. And in this process the ALL of God dies in us and the sterile nothingness of our desires becomes our God. . . .

          James Finley

_____________________________

 

if I can’t see past my own nose

if everything begins and ends with me

my world is very small

 

and I become very small

with little vision

a tiny heart

and a soul thirsting for living water

 

no matter how big I am

how important

no matter what I accomplish

no matter how much power I can wield

 

if someone looks into my eyes

they will know

that something is missing

 

we see it in the eyes of Putin

sitting in splendid isolation at the end of his

VERY BIG TABLE

master of his universe

able to send a caravan of mass destruction against

a vulnerable nation

 

we see it in the eyes of Boebert and Greene

as they attempt to demean and dehumanize

but end up only demeaning and dehumanizing themselves

 

I too am tempted

to make myself everything

to get caught up in the trappings of ego

my body image,

job,

education,

clothes,

money,

house, car,

on and on it goes

 

and soon I am blind to others

to the world

and soon I have pushed not only others

but God

to the fringe

almost out of my life altogether

 

and my ego and its desire

become my center

I become addicted to self

 

but my body ages

retirement comes

there is always more to learn

and this self-focus

this individualism becomes toxic

 

to those around me

and to myself

 

it is contagious, and illness

that permeates

and destroys

 

but there is a true self

a self that is connected to and centered on

Sacred

a self that is fed by bread and wine

a self whose thirst is quenched

by springs of living waters

 

a self that can see

as if from the top of a mountain

forever

 

can see the Sacred

see others

and see where it is to go

and who it is called to be

Thursday, April 21, 2022

The first spiritual power

the first spiritual power is faith

faith in that which is beyond us

faith in that which is within us

 

call it God

call it Spirit

call it Love

 

but have faith, that there is something

someone

some power

 

that we can trust

that will make us better (not bitter)

that will guide and empower

transform and heal

 

faith is what gives us hope

hope because we are loved

because there is “ever-present help in time of need” (Psalm 46)

because we are not doing life on our own

because we are forgiven

because we are, as we are, accepted and loved

 

faith is what gives us hope so that we do not need

to seek and demand

to hug all to ourselves

to “win”

to make ourselves the center of our universe

to stumble into the swamp of individualism

into the fires of dominion

 

faith and hope are what keep us from

hate and violence

from posturing

and lies

 

faith leads to hope

and hope leads to love

 

when we have faith and hope

we are transformed

we can breathe easier

and strive less

 

we can open our hearts and our minds

we can open our hands

 

we can see others

and listen well

we can seek understanding

and understanding

act with compassion, generosity, and kindness

 

we see, all too clearly what happens when people

do not have faith, true faith, in something beyond themselves

we see it in the desperation of Putin

in the endless grasping for attention and power of Trump

in the fearful hoarding of the very rich

in the empty gestures of those who must carry a gun, everywhere

in the bombastic, hateful, and dehumanizing words of those

who have nothing else to offer

 

the first spiritual power is faith

faith creates hope

and hope creates the capacity to love

 

Faith, hope, and love

And the greatest of these is love  (I Corinthians 13)

 

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

be yourself

People think that the true, the beautiful and the good exist somewhere else, in someone else.  They don’t know that they are true, beautiful, and good at their core…  Don’t go looking outside yourself anymore, because the thing you are looking for is already there within you… Don’t try to be someone else… To be beautiful means to be yourself…  If you crave acceptance and recognition and try to change yourself to fit what other people to be, you will suffer all your life.

                     Thich Nhat Hanh (The Art of Power)

____________________

 

I don’t know where it comes from,

the thought so many people have that they are “not enough”

 

but talk about a Pandemic!

so many in the people walk around convinced that they are deficit

 

perhaps the “church” has done its thing

with its grotesque theory of original sin

and its insistence that we are all broken

 

perhaps well-meaning parents

have laid a burden of inadequacy on us as children

wanting us to flourish

but motivating in a dysfunctional way

 

perhaps it was classmates

or the profoundly beautiful ones on the TV

telling us what we need to be seen as

beautiful

successful

of value

 

but the truth is

we are image-bearers

we carry the Sacred

it is woven into the fabric of how we are

 

we are things of beauty

all of us

 

it may be true that the image is blurred at times

but we are Sacred children

 

Jesus, more than anyone

knew that the secret lay within

it didn’t hurt that as he stood dripping in the Jordan

the message came

 

this is my child, and I am pleased

(how many of us need that message from both Sacred parent and Fleshly parents)

 

He was awake to

the love

the beauty

the goodness within him

 

and he touched the world powerfully

with healing, peace, hope, and love

 

I don’t know that demons plague Putin, or Trump

or all the rest of those people

who seem to need to prove themselves

but they suffer

and they make everyone around them suffer

 

hear the good news dear ones!

you are God’s beloved child

you don’t have to prove yourself

you simply have to accept yourself

a be yourself

and walk intimately with the One who loves you as you are

 

and you will find peace

and you will offer peace

in a world that so desperately needs

peace 

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

The Seeds of Peace

“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ

________________________________

 

the seeds of war are within us

planted deeply in our souls

in that fertile earth that is our hearts

 

they lie there and wait to bloom

the anger, the greed

the lust for power

the hunger for wealth

 

the fear that must be satisfied

the fear of being less

of losing

of not having enough

of being irrelevant

 

the hate

camouflaged as envy

prejudice

ideology

 

water the seeds and they bloom

sending roots deep in our soul

sending tendrils like morning glory

twining through our being

 

water the seeds with

nationalism

religion

and the toxic ideology of dominion

 

and soon the fruits ripen

into guns

and jets and bombs

 

into oppression

and injustice

and death

 

and more seeds are planted

into the hearts of men and women

into the hearts of children

whose lives are torn and shredded

by war

 

and so it goes

on and on and on and on

war after war after war

millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear…

passed on for generations to come

 

millions of damaged people

in whom war has been planted

 

we must uproot war from our hearts

that need to win, to control

to have more

to feed those toxic hungers that lead to war

 

it is no easy task in a world filled with people like

Putin

Trump

Tucker Carlson

 

those who think they flourish on the food of hate and enmity

those who use the abuse of power to satisfy their hungry ghosts

much as addicts use drugs

 

what do we do in a world where power and war are a drug of choice?

 

we must nourish the seeds of peace

the seeds of peace within each one of us

we must nourish compassion and understanding

kindness, and forgiveness

 

yes, it seems weak

and yet,

was Jesus weak?

Gandhi?

Martin Luther King Jr.?

Nelson Mandela

Desmond Tutu?

 

those people who refused to water the seeds of hate

but instead watered

through meditation and prayer

the seeds of love?

 

on the cross Jesus looked hate and violence in the face

and said “this stops here”

we are called to do the same

 

we are to let Love so control our hearts

our souls

our minds

that who we are is not seen in guns and jets

but in baskets of food and vials of medicine

 

Tay once noted that “Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see.

 

Every breath we take, every step we take, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it”

 

this day, as bombs fall and

tyrants posture and lie

and wounded souls rally around the God of War

 

may we walk for peace

may we breathe in love

may we breathe out peace

may we empty our hearts of hate

and fill them with understanding and compassion

 

and then may we stand

as are the students in Tbilisi and St. Peterburg

then may we kneel

as are the people of Ukraine

and strive for peace

 

and then may we love

Jesus said “love your enemies”

Love has redemptive power

 

so just keep loving

love accumulates, it builds up

perhaps, at first, it engenders more hate, even more violence

but we have to keep loving

until the power of love transforms

and wins

 

we have no other choice

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Finale

(the finale)

 

the bad things, don’t do them

the good things, try to do them

try to purify, to subdue your own mind…

          the Buddha (via Thich Nhat Hanh)

___________________________________________

 

the bad things

don’t do them

don’t do things that create suffering

to yourself, to others, to the planet

 

war is a bad thing

there is no other way to put it

 

war, what is it good for?

absolutely nothing, say it again!

 

war equals suffering

 

to the good things

do them

try to walk the way of peace

(which is very difficult when a demented narcissist, egged on

 by another demented narcissist is bombing your country)

 

there is an old story that comes from the desert fathers

It seems as if two old men had lived together for many years and they had never fought with one another. The first said to the other, “Let us fight like other men.” The other replied, “I do not know how to fight.” The first said to him, “Look, I will put a brick between us and I will say: it is mine; and you will reply: no, it is mine; and so the fight will begin.” So they put a brick between them and the first said, “This brick is mine,” and the other said, “No, it is mine.” And the first replied, “If it is yours, take it and go.” So they gave it up without being able to find a cause for argument.

 

I don’t claim to know what goes on in the mind of Vladimir Putin

or the mind of Donald Trump

half the time I am not sure what is going on in mine

that causes me to do the things I do

 

but I do know that it is important to

try to purify, to subdue our minds…

 

the Buddha said it, Paul said it too

“Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Romans 12)

 

violence, hate,

injustice,

inequity,

voter suppression, and

toxic selfishness are not good, acceptable, and perfect

 

following, even worship

people who lie, manipulate, intimidate and punish

in order to have power

is not good acceptable and perfect

 

but here we are

with bombs falling on Kyiv

with violence creeping toward the farmlands

where once my great-great-grandparents farmed

and my great-grandparents were born

 

how do we purify our minds

so that we are not caught up in the whirlwind of hate and violence

 

our minds it seems are susceptible

to the poisons of craving, hate, and delusion (Thich Nhat Hanh)

 

when we crave power and domination, our mind is poisoned

when we hate people of other countries, creeds, colors, our mind is poisoned

when we are confused and do not see things clearly, but only see things

in the light of our individual self

our mind is poisoned

that poison makes us, and the world, ill

 

when our mind is not pure even if we want to refrain from bad things

and want to do good things we cannot

 

but when our minds are poisoned the sad truth is

we don’t want to refrain from the bad things

and the good things seem weak and powerless

 

and so, in our delusion, we call evil good and good evil

 

we can only purify our minds

when we have singleness of mind

when we mindfully look for and focus on

that which is sacred

that which is love

 

whatever our mind is full of

that is what manifests in our lives

when Sacred is manifest our lives are sacred

when love is manifest, we live love

 

it takes work

to walk the earth this way

ground and rooted in love

it is inconvenient

dangerous

and it feels as if it won’t work

 

it won’t work we if don’t try

it is not that the way of Love (Christianity)

has been tried and found wanting

it has rarely if ever been tried

 

it begins with a breath

God’s breathing into us

our breathing out the good air of Sacred Presence

 

it continues as

our minds renewed

we walk the earth mindfully

focused on Love

 

peace

 

 

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Bad things redux

(Continued)

 

the bad things, don’t do them

the good things, try to do them

try to purify, to subdue your own mind…

          the Buddha (via Thich Nhat Hanh)

___________________________________________

 

do no harm

primum non nocere

is not exactly found in the original Hippocratic oath (425 AD)

 

but the principle is there

"I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm".

 

and such care is important

 

we do a lot of harm

as we stumble through life

 

we have all seen the damage done by those

soaked in the ideology of power and dominance

those who must win at every cost

those who want to control and enforce

and whose only response to those they don’t like or agree with

are intimidation and retribution

 

we have seen what happens when that kind of leader

supported by angry and wounded souls

is given power

 

but simply avoiding harm is not enough

we cannot simply tiptoe through life

hoping to avoid doing harm

hope to avoid being harmed

 

for there are real problems to be solved

real wounds that need to be healed

injustice and inequity don’t just go away on their own

being bored and apathetic is no way to go through life

 

we must be people who do good

who practice love

forgiveness

compassion

 

we must not just do good

we must persist in doing good

persist when it doesn’t seem to matter

persist when it doesn’t seem to work

persist when it seems hopeless

and we feel helpless

 

do not weary of doing good

Paul admonished

for we will reap at harvest time

 

which may be another way of saying

that love wins

in the end

 

if we persist

 

this day I will have many choices

so will you

life will happen

 

and we can choose how we respond

to that person full of anger and enmity

to that person whose head has been filled with lies

to those situations which seem hopeless

 

this day let us choose to ask

what does it mean to do good

right here, right now?

what is loving

what is kind

what is (above all) redemptive?

 

we may not always succeed

in doing good

but

we

can

try

 

(to be continued)

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

The bad things

the bad things, don’t do them

the good things, try to do them

try to purify, to subdue your own mind…

          the Buddha (via Thich Nhat Hanh)

_________________________

 

the bad things, don’t do them

what makes for a bad thing?

 

what society deems as wrong?

what a holy scripture tells us not to do?

what cultural norms dictate?

 

perhaps it is really quite simple

a bad thing is something that creates suffering

for you

for other human creatures

for all other living creatures

for the planet

 

if it causes suffering

not inconvenience

not the measly little “suffering” of wearing a mask

or paying taxes

 

but true suffering

a ripping of the soul

and wounding of the heart

 

an insult

an act of dehumanization

predatory sex

exclusion

lies

the support of racism, or injustice

unresolved anger

all can be bad things

 

don’t do them!

As Paul admonishes

“Put away from you all bitterness

and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander,

together with all malice,

and be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31,32)

 

not doing bad things

put another way

is an of compassion

it is refusing to contribute to the suffering of another

 

and although it may be inconvenient for one’s own self

who wants to wear a mask?

who wants to give up their AR-15?

who wants to include people in their church who are “different”?

that cost is overwhelmed by the joy of helping another

 

we need more compassion in this world

compassion is seeing the other

compassion is understanding the battles and struggles they face

compassion is feeling with them

compassion is hurting with them

compassion is wanting the best for them

compassion is trying to avoid being part of the problem

 

compassion is being people for others

and by being people for others also caring for and loving ourselves

and also

oh yes

serving Love (God)

 

so this day, as you walk this world

which is messy

the bad things, don’t do them

 

(to be continued)

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Being and Doing

Your action, what you do, depends on who you are…

If you don’t succeed at being, you can’t succeed at doing.

          Thich Nhat Hanh (The Art of Power)

______________________________________

 

who am I?

who am I, really?

who am I when one moves beyond the form

and moves into those deep murky regions of the soul?

 

sure

I am male

I am white

I am cis

I am educated

I am (reasonably) successful

I am comfortable economically

I have nice things and live in a beautiful place

 

sure

I am gifted, with a plethora of talents

(which I have only partially cultivated)

 

I am of average height

and average in my comeliness

 

I am aging

with wrinkles, folds, and white hair

 

sure

I am a good person (most of the time)

and a horrible person (some of the time)

 

sure

I have done things I am proud of

and things that bring me shame

that pop-up in my mind at weird moments and ruin

a perfectly lovely day

 

but who am I?

once you get beyond the form?

 

I am

I am a human being

I am a creature in whom the sacred dwells

I am a temple

I am a Sacred child

I am inspired

 

in spirare

in spiritus

I am one into which life has been blown

I am one (hopefully)

in which the breath of the divine blows

influencing, moving, guiding, impelling

 

and so even though I cannot escape

my body or my history

all those stories, those narratives that so profoundly shape me

 

I am still, at my core

a person defined by love

by sacred, fiery, fierce, love

that is like “fuel in the tank” of my soul  (Jacqui Lewis)

 

when I am inspired,

then love comes to me

shapes me

and flows from me

 

that same love embodied in Jesus

 

that love is available 24 hours a day

365 days of the year

that love creates the Kingdom (which is within)

 

that love, when I remember it

when I believe it

when I receive it

when I allow it to permeate my soul

when I share it

 

allows me to be

at least for brief moments

a person who divulges the divine image

 

who reveals

(for lack of a better way of saying it)

the Christ in me

who becomes fleetingly

the hands, feet, voice, face, smile

of Jesus

 

that is who I am

when I cultivate the Presence within

_______________________

 

this day may I take the time to cultivate the Presence

may I find the Kingdom which is there in my heart

may I touch the wonder of Sacred love

and find, in that wonder,

peace, compassion, and understanding

 

may I be my best self

this day

Thursday, April 7, 2022

On Craving (the wrong things)

I want what I want, how I want it when I want it

 

whether we admit it or not,

this is how many of us function

 

we have our desires

our cravings

our motivations

 

volition

is powerful

 

what we desire, what we crave, matters

a good motivation can bring us wellbeing

and can bring peace and joy to others

 

a bad motivation can bring suffering

not just to ourselves

but to all those around us

 

the Buddha suggested there are four deadly cravings

wealth, power, sex, and fame

(not necessarily in that order)

 

if we look at the teachings of Jesus

we see much the same message

sell all that you have and give

the first shall be last

the great shall serve

don’t covet

 

it is not that these things are inherently bad

it is just that if they are our motivation

if they are why we do what we do

if they are the values toward which we live

 

they make us bad

 

the Buddha likened our volition

to two strong men dragging one to a fire

a fire that will consume and destroy

 

There is, it seems, one motivation

that does not lead toward suffering

 

the desire to help others

the desire to heal

to liberate

to comfort

to bring understanding and awakening

to bring joy

 

this motivation comes from only one play

our connection with the Sacred

our connection to what some call God

our connection to that power that wants

to heal

to liberate

to comfort

to bring understanding and awakening

 

that wants to bring joy to us

 

Love God with all your heart soul mind and strength

And love those around you, all those around you

As yourself

 

Love God, let God love you

take that love in

then pass it on!

 

we have seen

how destructive it is when wealth, power, sex, and fame

drive our lives

 

we have seen how beautiful it can be

when the desire to serve

is the energy that motivates

 

the fact is simple

there is only one way to get

what we really want

to love God

love ourselves (in a healthy way)

and then love others

 

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

justice for all

… we are each impacted by the circumstances that impact those around us.  What hurts you hurts me.  What heals you heals me.  What cause you joy causes me to rejoice, and what makes you sad also causes me to weep.        

          Jacqui Lewis

_______________________

 

we are getting it wrong

conservatives and liberals

Democrats and Republicans

Christians and Jews, and Muslims, and everyone else too

 

we are getting it wrong

because quite simply, we have stopped seeing each other

 

Jacqui Lewis, in her book fierce love talks about the Zulu tribe in Africa

 

“When they greet each other” she writes, “they offer this greeting.  Sawubona, which means ‘I see you.’  And the response is Sikhona, which means ‘I exist.’

 

But we don’t see each other

We don’t see the person in front of us

We deny, in a real way that they,

With their thoughts and feelings

With their joy and pain

Exist

 

In the New York Times this week an article explored why,

in liberal strongholds, liberal candidates are doing poorly

 

to distill the article down to its heart

the problem is that liberals are focused on ideological purity

and, to quote the article “on projecting symbols of virtuousness while ignoring the needs of families. “

 

As one person, a woman who put together a recall of school board members in San Francisco noted, “Covid was akin to an earthquake that forced people to move into tents on the sidewalk… “Finally, your elected leaders show up and you’re like, ‘Thank God, here’s some help,’”…“And they say, ‘We are here to help. We’re going to change the street signs for you.’”

 

I get the fierce desire for justice, especially racial justice

that burns in the heart of the left,

 

as much, even more, than I understand the fear of change on the right.

 

but what seems like a truth

is that our ideology, perhaps sometimes our theology

blinds us

 

to people

 

to the point that we stumble along

left and right

doing ideologically driven things that hurt and harm, in some cases

or simply fail to help, in others

 

So on one end of the spectrum we see voter suppression, where the

Need of people to have a voice is ignored,

 

And on the other end we see schools renamed

while the pain of children and parents

are casually dismissed

 

we are all, in one way or another

ignoring the basic needs of people who are hurting

 

I am conflicted about all of this

Because I know symbols such as school names and statues are

in fact important

 

but I also know we have to hear and see and feel the pain

of ALL people

 

how do we do justice to the pain of all while

needing to do justice to the pain of some?

 

that is the question

 

and I have no answer

except to say

that as I hold, fiercely my beliefs

about God, and justice, and equity

 

I need to see those around me

all those around me

even those I might disagree with, fiercely

 

I need to see them so clearly that what hurts them hurts me. 

What heals them heals me. 

what makes them sad also causes me to weep

 

but do so in a way that does not cause me to

abandon my fight for justice

 

fierce love

is not for the faint of heart