Showing posts with label spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirit. Show all posts

August 3, 2016

Love and the Fall

Those who love me, I also love, and those who seek me, find me. --Proverbs 8:17
I'm In You
by Peter Frampton
LISTEN HERE

I don't care where I go
 When I'm with you
 When I cry, you don't laugh
 'Cause you know me
 I'm in you, you're in me
 I'm in you, you're in me
 'Cause you gave me the love
 Love that I never had
 Yes, you gave me the love
 Love that I never had...

In today's English language, the pronouns he and she have been nearly stripped away. They are avoided, dis-used. Left in their place is a socio-political idea that rejects this very principle of universal oneness. There are labels and divisions, parsing the world into diverse units.
To the ancient mind, this is akin to tragedy. What could take the place of the Chinese idea of the yin and yang? Or the Hindu wedding ceremony in which bride and groom pronounce one to the other, "I am heaven, you are earth;" to which the bride responds, "I am earth, you are heaven."

Many modern minds, especially in the West, will find these ideas unintelligible, in part, thanks to science. Our rational mind does not allow us to go there. It is all myth, we say. Science, in its aims to reduce things to quantifiable matter fails, it cannot see cosmic love.

Rather, science ignores the "final cause" of creation. It cannot rationalize what something or someone was made for, its purpose, its goal, its end. This reason is the most important to creation. The Tenakh tells us that in both the historical and in the ultimate dimension, G-d is the final cause, creation the ultimate end; it is the alpha and the omega, both the beginning and end.

In this ultimate dimension, we are freed "of the dirty little dungeon of a universe that the Enlightenment thinkers" of past centuries have placed us into wholesale. Enlightenment thought, thought in which rationality and science are the reigning sovereigns, gives to modern minds "a universe in which love and beauty, praise and value are mere subjective fictions," invented by the self spinning aloneness of a human mind.

And yet science through all its triumphs has not been able to extinguish an ancient, almost primordial instinct from the deepest places in our soul, to realize love as the highest wisdom and meaning in a life. So then the Judeo-Christian Bible, or Tanakh, in its entirety is to be read with imagination, with myth and analogy as a divine love story, says Peter Kreeft.

In both the Jewish and Christian telling of the story, the Word contained in the book is a covenant, an agreement between G-d, the Lover and his beloved; the persons he created, the Jews and all who come to him in the Spirit of the Oneness (adonai echad).

The word of G-d here is the Christ, the unity of G-d, the Creator. And to the Christian mind, among other names we may call this oneness, the Christ, love incarnate. Christ has proved G-d's love for his creation by the example of the Cross. He has come because of, and for love, alone. He comes out of love.

Other manifestations of love are found in the connection between the "fall" from the garden of Eden. The connection here is found between the fall and freedom. Love does not enslave; love makes free. Because you are the Beloved, you are free. We are not the Creator's pets; we are meant to be G-d's lover.

In the redemption, love manifests. G-d's love is powerful and in full display as soon as Adam falls. He makes a mistake, he falls away from the covenant that he made in free will with G-d to obey.

As covenantal people, Jews traditionally see the "law" of the Torah as an expression of G-d's will. It is their joy to learn, to know this will. Thus they see their holy book as a love making manual, if you will.
In the ten commandments, the Decalog,  the principal covenants presented to creation by G-d, the Creator, are laid out. In essence, they form the whole of the "covenant-contract." G-d is to have this agreement with his people, who in free will grow to abide by this contract, or rule. In following the way of G-d in divine law, more love is made. Human-kind is "fruitful and multiplies."

Caring for the garden, the world of Creation, is so that human persons may learn to be more like Creators. G-d wishes to teach love through loving the world and the soil it comprises, to raise a crop to the benefit of all of creation. This is stewardship in its most wholistic sense.
The Creator starts small and then moves through the world until his love reaches the ears of his perhaps, most complex creation, mankind. As a lover, G-d is not jealous. Sharing in oneness is the essence of all.

"And the forbidden fruit of Adam and Eve is to teach the Beloved the reality of pure, 'blind,' love."
If they had been told that the reason (a rational idea) was that the fruit was poison, would not Adam and Eve have obeyed; not from a trusting, free love, but from a selfish fear?
Yet G-d did command them, and asked for their love in return for no other reason than love itself. This is covenant. When we "fall," we lick our wounds, we gain a sense of the real, we dust ourselves off and remain in the moment, rather than a self-serving, spinning mind.
Thus we again realize the fall as a direction back to the source, back to the Creator and we, are his Beloved. 
This love is not sentimental, it is not cheap, easy or compromising. This is love in totality. You are the deepest secret of G-d's heart. --Peter Kreeft


May 26, 2016

Belief versus Faith

"Do not fear, only believe." --Gospel of Mark 5:36

Suzanne
by Roberta Flack
Listen Here
... Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
He spent a long time
Watching from a lonely wooden tower

And when He knew for certain
That only drowning men could see Him
He said, "All men shall be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"

But He Himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
He was forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

But you wanna travel with Him
And you wanna travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust Him
For He's touched your perfect body with His mind

Suzanne takes you down
To the place by the river
She's wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army's counters

And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbor
And she shows you where to look
Amid the garbage and the flowers...

Be not afraid; come follow me; do not fear, only believe--
these are the central philosophies of the Christ. Jesus, we learn in the Bible, makes them among his central points. Fear must be overcome with faith firmly planted in its place. While fear may be a valuable response as part of a self-preservation instinct, it can also be destructive, paralyzing, controlling us, preventing our living life as the Spirit might direct, unresponsive to free will. The mature person seeks to learn what is in his and others best interest, and endeavors towards those aims. He or she avoids what is contrary and stands against those ills as they may be able.

Frequently the Bible stories serve as imperatives;
they prod, define and refine the mind of the reader, so that we may become believers. In this particular story, Jesus recounts his journey to the foreign community of the Gerasenes, who were not Israelites. While there he heals the mind of a deeply troubled man (Mark 5:19-20). He then implores his followers to overlook those peoples' faults and shortcomings, and urges them to bring the message of hope and belief to them.
Continue with the story. Read Mark chapter 5 verses 21-43.

While many will doubt the words they read of a long ago account, faith asks us to "have ears" as the ancient Israelite did, and to hear the message within the story because it is a parable. Today the emotional state of anxiety and fearfulness seem ever more prevalent.
Many of us seek treatment for anxiety and stress in a doctors office with pills and other medication; while these preparations often do effectively tamp down or mask our sensory impulses towards anxiety and fearfulness, the calm of our own mind though the peace the Christ seeks to impart upon us, is not part of the medical equation. Thus we are less free and more under the influence of the drug or other medication.

While some may require medication and rightly so, there is a degree of calm, a direction for all which may be the fruit of the Spirit descended into our lives. It is the nature of the Spirit to come calling upon all, but not by any force or coercion; Spirit knocks. We either answer or we don't and if not, the Spirit is free and it flies. It will not force its way upon anyone.The Christ brings a message of the possibility of freedom from fear: "Do not be afraid, I am with you always."

What is belief, what is faith? We hear the phrase, 'just have faith!' So what is it? Most of us take for granted that religion is a set or system of beliefs; it is to many strictly concerned with beliefs and the adherence to those beliefs. This however is a rather narrow view; the Spirit comes to free us, not entangle us upon a set of dictum.
Many of the world's religions are not characterized primarily by beliefs at all, but by practice, about appropriate behaviors. So it happens that faith is about relationships, and belief is about ways of doing and being.

One of the most unfortunate aspects of religion,
all religion, no religion in particular, is that as a facet of life, it instills a set of beliefs very successfully in many without ever bringing a person to faith. Many are familiar with the story, "I attended as a child, but fell away..."
Since both belief and faith formation are important in the spiritual life, one without the other does not often succeed. As persons of faith, we engage and refine our beliefs within relationships, within communities. So the teaching, "love one another," becomes real; it becomes the imperative in faith.





April 21, 2015

Mankind Waits For You

Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh Adonai Tz'vaot / Melo Kol Haaretz Kevodo.--Hebrew Kaddush
Humming bird
performed by Seals & Croft
Listen here


Mankind was waiting for you to come along...
Lend us your wings
let us soar in the atmosphere Lift us to the Heaven of holiness

Oh, source of our being, hummingbird...

Have you noticed the days are getting longer
somehow keep getting longer?
The spirit son is stronger
And a new day is dawning for us all...

The ancient prayer the Kaddush comes to the Christian believer from ancient roots of the father, Judaism. It remains essentially unchanged for thousands and thousands of years. The words are from the Bible, Isaiah 6:3. In current use this same prayer also called by its Latin name the Sanctus, is a cornerstone of devotional prayer. It becomes one into trance, into mystery into prayer. 

Its theme is the simple chant of Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts... The Bible refers to it a number of times; in Corinthians, in the Apocalypse of John, in Matthew 21, in Isaiah. A prayer of hope of open hearts, the Sanctus calls to the holy one to descend upon the faithful with Spirit and grace.

The theme of a bird in the lyrics above bring this prayer to mind. While the dove is the more usual bird, why not another, like the Humming bird? It 's a beautiful and inspiring creature widely present in the temperate regions of north America and elsewhere.


July 8, 2014

In View of Naturism

"Clothe yourselves in the Holy Spirit." --Bible, Romans Chapter 8

SECRET 
by Madonna
LISTEN HERE


Things haven't been the same
Since you came into my life
You found a way to touch my soul
And I'm never, ever, ever gonna let it go
Happiness lies in your own hand
It took me much too long to understand
How it could be
Until you shared your secret with me
Mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over, mmm mmm
Something's comin' over me
My baby's got a secret
You gave me back the paradise
That I thought I lost for good
You helped me find the reasons why
It took me by surprise that you understood
You knew all along
What I never wanted to say
Until I learned to love myself
I was never ever lovin' anybody else...
Mmm mmm, my baby's got a secret
Mmm mmm, my baby's got a secret
Mmm mmm, my baby's got a secret for me
Recently the Simple Mind came across an interesting series of articles in the Chicago Tribune, a major daily American newspaper. Its subject was curiously selling real estate to those who wish to pursue an active, natural (read naked here) lifestyle, in a residential development with those who also  wish to live within the society of other Naturalists, at least on a part time basis. The article follows a local real estate agent who sells properties to those who have this specific interest.

The reporter relayed an interesting conversation about a couple, man and woman who are involved in this community. One comment they made was rather striking. The woman stated that Naturism has helped her with her body image, made her more self confident. Huh... Well, that's interesting that one is confident sans habits and not confident with clothing on. They comment that when the 'clothing is stripped away... all pretenses all worrying how you look...'

It sets one to thinking: Is the physical, what you see, all that you get...? Is it the only truth that the reality of ones' being is merely physical, or is there truth in (invisible, seen with the heart's eye) a spiritual dimension? After all spirits need no clothing; it is of no concern to them. So are these persons really spirits or are they both body and spirit? Does their clothing make any sense in context?
We learn in the same article about 'manners.' It is for example, rude to look below the chin or even to giggle when in such company. 'Clothes free' does not actually make these prejudices insolvent, then, does it? So what might be going on here?

In a spiritual sense we are all naked creation, born naked, without the benefit of any psychological jargon like 'body image.' If the Holy Spirit is naked then what does it matter if any spirit is clothed or naked? Angels for that matter are one, parted not from their respective bodies. They, like the rest, impart both body and spirit, we learn. So maybe we are in our true state when we are most transparent, the most open, the most receptive to loving our self as we love our neighbor.

March 21, 2014

Want a Friend? Get a Dog.

"Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise."   -- 1Corinthians 13



Back Stabbers
Performed by Seal
LISTEN HERE

...Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist
 Aimin' straight at your back
 And I don't think they'll miss
 --What they do! --
 --They smile in your face--
 All the time they want to take your place
 The back stabbers --back stabbers--

...What can I do to get on the right track
 I wish they'd take some of these knives off my back
 --They smile in your face--
 All the time they want to take your place
 The back stabbers --back stabbers--
 Low down... dirty...
--What they do! --

 ...--They smile in your face--
 Smiling faces... smiling faces sometimes tell lies--Back stabbers
 --They smile in your face--
 I don't need... low down, dirty bastards--Back stabbers

In the everydayness of our modern world there are many things tugging, pulling at us for our attention. There are our own wants and desires and those same desires of others around us. Many times these issues are satisfied in healthy, productive ways; they respect ourselves and they entertain the respect of others, in equal measure. We may then be both confident and calm in the knowledge that we can manage our lives well.
At times we may find that some of our wants, or desires turn to fascination; we are then vulnerable to impulse, to suggestion, particularly the suggestions of others.

Day to day we come into contact with other personalities some of whom are compatible with our own, some less so. As sociable beings, humans both want and need a variety of interactions with others. Positive relationships are not without occasional discord; what they are about is both the 'give and the take,' uniquely sharing with one another those things that matter, that make each one of us real, alive.
 Both giving and taking in equal measure, we find our satisfactions. In a great wheel of life, there are turns and counter-turns. Some spiritual traditions refer to this as "cause and effect." For other traditions, this is a simple indication of the opportunity for evil-doing in the world, an indication of  'free' choices.
And others who may find the same through interactions with us. Then there are the personalities who suggest, goad and initiate activities which at first provide (and answer) an outlet to our social desires, at least at first, but over time capture ones' soul in a web hard to untangle. They prey uniquely upon the weaknesses of others.
In warning, classic writers as diverse as Shakespeare, Dante, Machiavelli, Goethe, Hesse, Nietzsche,  the Biblical writers and even the childrens' fable, Pinocchio, tell a tale about the downfall of the prideful, the angry, the greedy and those lacking clear understanding about their own and others' deepest motives, often evil motives. Is it right or just, that a person, vulnerable by his or her own human weakness should be preyed upon?
When over-washed by strong emotion or unbridled desires, many become uniquely vulnerable to the manipulations of others, who simply seek to gain advantage; The Bible implores us to master our own emotions, lest we become slave to the very same.
Romans 6:16-18    And many of us do become slaves for this very reason.

Ultimately this slavery does not lead to our satisfaction, nor to the peace or the joy we seek for our hearts. It does, however, often lead to trickery and treachery.
It must have been this very experience that lead someone to write song lyrics so poignant and title them, "Back Stabbers," a spiritual awakening for sure.

February 25, 2011

Crazy, Some Would Say

Ordinary Day
by Duran Duran
Listen Here

Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
thought I heard you talking softly

I turned on the lights, the TV and the radio
still I can't escape the ghost of you

What has happened to it all? Crazy, some would say
Where is the life that I recognize? gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world I will learn to survive
 
Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say

Pride will tear us both apart Well now pride's gone out the window
cross the rooftops run away left me in the vacuum of my heart

What is happening to me? Crazy, some would say
Where is my friend when I need you most? Gone away...

Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
here today, forgot tomorrow

ooh, here besides the news of holy war and holy need
ours is just a little sorrowed talk...

And I don't cry... and as I try to make my way
to the ordinary world I will learn to survive

every one is my world,
I will learn to survive

any one is my world,
I will learn to survive

every one is my world

The lyrics about 'Ordinary Life' caught my attention since I first heard them in early January. Over and over they played in my head, went through my brain; I had not heard the song in years, and suddenly, there it was, causing me to meditate upon the meaning of lyrics like, "pride will tear us both apart."
Well, aren't we to love our self...as others?
What's wrong with a measure of pride? What is it anyway? Why would anyone write a song lyric like that? "I will learn to survive in the ordinary world... Crazy, some would say... Where's my friend when I need you most?" Is it about illness, about survival? There seems to be something there, something that the music in its art wishes to convey.
It asks several questions such as, are we bodies, or just spirits--ghosts? When we live 'in the ordinary world,' do we aspire to separate from our body, this 'bio-container'? It talks of passion, suffering, greed and holy war; it's some pretty intense stuff. It concludes with the final refrain that 'everyone is in my world.' As I ponder this tune for the past month or so, I came upon the prophet Amos. Surprisingly he says some of the same or similar things:
"You would put off the evil day, yet you hasten the reign of violence!"Amos 6. 
Because people do not have what they most desire and need; they are restless, even violent, like the modern people of the Middle East this moment, they revolt with violence.They want to do something, to be something.


You notables of the leading nation
 On whom the House of Israel pin their hopes...
They lie on ivory beds,

Lolling on their couches,

Feasting on lambs from the flock
And on calves from the stalls.
They hum snatches of song to the tune of the lute--
They account themselves musicians like David.   Amos Chapter 6:
 
 Pride is unlike the injunction to 'love your neighbor as yourself' for one very simple and important reason: pride is unconcerned with others; it excludes recognition of neighbor. In Amos, the overindulgence, the self centeredness that is pride, typifies the materialists, of whom the prophet Amos decries.So then the rich man in the story, or oracle of Lazarus suffers not only because of his greed, but his intense pride. Amos takes direct aim at those who while materially rich, are in spiritual poverty or destitution. They are starving.

Pride said Saint Thomas Aquinas, indicates a contempt for the Creator, the Lord, God of Hosts. In fact every transgression may boil down to just this one thing, pride. Pride being self absorbed is self limiting; it consumes itself until nothing is left. And yet we also learn paradoxically in the Beatitudes that the blessed 'are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom heaven is theirs.'