http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Daily-Meditation--Original-Participation----Frame----April-21--2013.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=_PmS5zE8giY
An apt observation on the 175th birthday of John Muir.
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/people/historical/muir/
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Do You Believe in Mom?
Our priest told this story at church today. I was trying to recount it when it occurred to me that it must be on the internet. I found it and modified it a bit. I suffered the pretense of thinking I'd be able to word it a little better. Fortunately for me (and you) I'm a flippin' genius wordsmith. Anyway, here it is:
In
the belly of a pregnant woman, there were two babies. One of them
said to the other:
“So
you believe in life after birth, eh?”
“Of
course I do. There must be something after birth. Maybe
we're here to prepare for what'll happen later.”
“Oh,
right! There's no life after birth! What do you propose that
life would be like?”
“I
don't know. Maybe it's a place with more light. Why else would we
have eyes?”
“Don't
be ridiculous! And how would we move around in this “afterlife”
you talk about? I mean, how far could we go? The umbilical cord
only stretches so far. And we need the umbilical cord.
That's how we get our food. We'd starve to death in your afterlife.”
“Maybe
in the afterlife, we'll be able to feed ourselves.”
“Ha!
I suppose we'd put food in our mouths or something!”
“Why
not? Didn't you ever suppose that maybe our mouths were for more
than just sucking our thumbs? We may be talking about an
entirely new dimension! Who knows what life will be like out there?”
“I'll
tell you what it'll be like. Short! In two minutes we'll
dry up and die outside of this life-giving fluid we're floating
around in.”
“Maybe
we won't need the fluid. Maybe that's just a temporary situation.
Maybe we'll be able to lose the umbilical cord and walk around out
there.”
“On
our legs, I suppose. That's a good one!”
“I
happen to think they must be good for something more than
kicking these walls – satisfying as that may be.”
“It
is satisfying! When I get pissed off at the meaninglessness
of our life floating around in the darkness, that sometimes feels
like the only satisfaction I'll ever have. Don't take that away from
me!”
“Maybe
we're here for something better than just kicking walls. I believe
there's gotta be more than just this. Maybe life will be different
than what we're used to in here.”
“Look.
No one has ever returned from the afterlife. Eventually, we get
pushed out and that's it. You die and it's all over. Birth is the
end of life. And ultimately, life is nothing but a distressing
existence in the dark that leads us nowhere.”
“Well,
I don't know exactly how it'll be after birth, but surely we'll see
Mom and she'll take care of us.”
“MOM?
You believe in MOM? And where is she now?”
“She's
all around us! We're inside her and it's thanks to her that we're
alive. Without her, this whole world wouldn't exist.”
Well, I've
never seen Mom. And the reason I've never seen her is that she
doesn't exist.”
“Okay,
but sometimes, when we're silent, you can hear her or feel that she's
caressing our world, y'know? I think there's a real life out there
and that we're only just preparing for it now.”
“Okay,
smart guy. Move over. Why don't you go out there first when the
time comes? I'll take the extra couple of minutes of life, thank you
very much. That may not sound like alot, but it'll seem like forever
when you're getting forced out of this place.”
“Fine!
Get out of my way. I'm not afraid of birth!”
Friday, April 12, 2013
Reflections on a Richard Rohr Meditation (and Perhaps Going a Bit Off-Topic)
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Daily-Meditation--Jesus-Lived-in-Darkness-and-Faith--Just-As-We-Do----Foundation----April-7--2013.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=ez0dW_2X1w4
My
friend posted the above link to Facebook recently and I've read it
several times since. I knew I wanted to share it here, but wasn't
sure for some time what to say about it. The portion that struck me
with the most impact was the following:
“We
like to imagine that Jesus did not flinch, doubt or ever question
God’s love. The much greater message is that in his humanity
he did flinch,
have doubts, and ask questions—and still remained faithful.”
I
suppose it's more accurate to say that my thoughts below flowed from
this link – or were inspired by it – rather than to say that they
directly addressed it. To wit:
I
wonder if it's distinctly American to imagine Jesus as the baddest
motherfucker in the Valley of the Shadow of Death; a mashup of George
Washington, G.I. Joe and Elvis – kicking ass, taking names and
writing them on one side or the other of the Book of Heaven. I don't
doubt that that's how many Americans see him and find him worthy of
worship, but I don't know how distinctly that's unique to our
country. Not being a world traveler, I can hardly know.
But in
light of America's aggressive, acquisitive character, it seems
distinctly un-American to understand that his great power is not in
battling evil on its own jingoistic terms. Rather, it's in
understanding that evil can't possibly contend with his true power
where it lies: in vulnerability and the willingness to be exposed to
it. In the utter surrender to the cross that -- because of that
surrender -- sprouts roots and returns to its proper being as the
tree from which it was hewn.
It
seems that it's the mad proposition of Christian faith to surrender ourselves
in the same way that Jesus did and to believe that therein lies our
release from mean mortal coils. To, indeed, carry our cross -- and
all the way to the time and place where we, ourselves, will be nailed
upon it. To believe that this really is
where we'll be subsumed and freed by the power of God. To accept the
terror that claims that love is
stronger then hatred; that Good really is
more powerful than Evil. It's not enough to merely turn the other
cheek. We have to accept that it'll be struck and even still,
respond only with love.
I
have no pretensions that I'm good enough, or strong enough, to have
that in me, but so help me God, I hope to have the courage to try.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Some Republicans Propose Christianity as the State Religion in NC
My
friend, Addison Hart, posted the link below on Facebook and I could
hardly have said it better myself. I will add, however, that the morons who propose that their state can utterly defy the U.S. Constitution are likely the same sort of people who demand that we "take our Constitution back!" Never mind that pesky First Amendment and its injunction that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." I guess state legislatures get a pass on that one, eh?
There's been alot of talk about secession in this country recently. Guns, abortion, legalization of marijuana, gay marriage . . . Civil War II can't be far behind.
I wish I was joking about that. And oh, yeah; be forewarned: the assholes have the guns.
Addison Hodges Hart
I believe in the separation of church and state, mostly for the sake of the church than for the state. Further, I wouldn't trust any form of "Americanized" Christianity, whether right or left. It would be, without doubt, a civil religion. It would bless America's worst impulses towards imperialism, militarization, excessive moralism (whether leftist or rightist) with penal consequences, policing of citizens, corporation-protecting, bankster-pardoning, and war-mongering. It would remake Jesus into a flag-waving, grinning, all-American, platitude-spouting, gun-toting, war-condoning, "liberal" or "neocon" (take your pick), legislation-minded, and sports-loving cowboy type. We would drone-murder "towel-heads" "in Jesus' name", promote Capitalism and "pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps" morality "in Jesus' name", and have churches following "the corporate model" of authority "in Jesus' name". I can't think of a kitschier image than a blow-dried and stupefied "American Jesus" or a more repellent religion than an "American" civil "Christianity". God save his people from that ugliest of all possible Constantinianisms.
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