Post election inspiration

After months and months of spin, lies and ad buys, here's a little detox for you.

The earth is the creation of God.  To feel it, experience it in a visceral and primal way is one of the deeper ways of connecting with the Divine.

Feel it turn.

Reading of the Day

Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says, 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?' (Acts 7:48-50)

In his defense before the high priest, Stephen (in the book of Acts) quotes the prophet Isaiah (Is. 66:1).

When I was a boy, I attended a great (as in large) church with a huge sanctuary.  In it, we always spoke in hushed tones and a joke I make about that is that this is God's house and we need to be quiet because He is sleeping (being very old and all, you know).  Amusing as that may be, it highlights an error.  Oh, sure, God lives in that sanctuary, but She lives in my house, too.  And yours.  And in the fields and forests and ocean depths, too.

As I have wandered down this path, there have certainly been times when I have felt the presence of the Divine in the service, in the building of church.  Much more frequently, however, I have discerned the Divine in a basilica of beech trees and a cathedral of pines.   Like so much of this exploration journey I am on, things which I know to be true by my own experience are later revealed as having been commented on long ago.

"Believe me, you will find more lessons in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you what you cannot learn from masters." - St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Subtle

I should say at the first that I am a rather meticulous person when it comes to handling money.  From the cash in the collection (presidents front and upright, stacked in ascending denomination) to my own personal funds, things are ALWAYS handled in a very specific, organized and accountable manner.  With that as a backdrop....

I went out last night to do some personal counseling and work with a young man who is in some straits and figured I would get petrol on my way there to him.  Lo and behold, I had left my wallet in my other pants (no, really), so I gave a ring to a buddy who lent me $10.

After picking up the young man, we swung by my place to retrieve my wallet, partly for legal reasons but mostly because he's flat broke and I offered to pick up dinner.  Over the course of the evening, it became obvious that this fellow is trying to make it and, given proper support and help, very well may succeed.. On the way back to his place, we were talking about the use of subtlety and implied vs.explicit in social situations. when I stopped by another petrol station to top off the tank and get the $10 to pay back my buddy.

Coming back to the car, I shoved my hands in my pockets only to find a $20 bill, folded neat as you please into a small square.  You know...how I NEVER handle money.  I just looked up and thought, 'Really, Dad?' because this sort of thing is seeming to happen with increased frequency.

So, of course, I got in the car and handed him the little square.  "Here, Coyote said this is yours."
Subtle, you old Dog.

Synergy and Harmony and Wisdom will come....

So, I am in the middle of writing a response to a comment when it happened again.  That point when all the parts fit into place and, for an instant, things make sense.  So, lets see if I can capture entlightenment in a bottle, ya?

Taking the following as premises:

1. That we all carry within us the spark of the Divine, created in Her image and His likeness, who created all that was and is and shall be.

2. We all have the capability to discern the presence and workings of the Divine in Creation.

3.As children of the Divine, we have the capability to affect creation (both mundanely and esoterically) and, more importantly, to work with the Divine to manifest in Creation that which we put as intention.

This co-creation is an expansion of the theological Synergism I talked about some time ago, though at that point I had no idea of the formal concept. Springboarding off of that idea, I wish to explicitly state that we, as humans, cannot do this without working with the Divine.  It is through the interplay of Creator and created that creation is manifested.

Here is the rub, though.  Our understanding of the Universe and the Divine is limited and the more constrained it is by pre-conceptions, misperceptions and internal traps, the less capable we are of engaging in that interplay.  Further, those who have spent the most time studying, writing, lecturing and explaining matters of religion and spirituality are, generally speaking, the most constrained by the aforementioned conceptions.  That is the basis of Taoist tzu-jan, (self-such).  By losing inculcated 'explanations' and returning to direct experience, one gains wisdom and understanding.

The more we put down the books and walk in the brook, the more we understand that creation, created and Creator are braided strands, the more we see the Christ within, the Christ in all...the more we know that we, each and every one of us, has the power to change the world if we dare to imagine large enough and trust deeply enough in God.

all together now

Over the course of the past two weeks, there have been a number of discussions which my partner and I have had that consistently underline that the 'real world' (in comparison to the theoretical world as written in books and taught in schools) is far more complex and organically diversified in operation.

It isn't just a matter of a rainbow vs. black/white...but that the rainbow itself doesn't have a set of a half-dozen or so discrete colours.  To expand a phrase I have used for years, "Nature doesn't read textbooks, so it does things which the textbooks say it can't."

We, as humans, are part of nature.  Whether it is discussions of relationships, sexuality, or even as basic as how we perceive the universe around us, no two people are identical and divisions created to group folks are arbitrary.  Indeed, all of the divisions we make about nearly everything are imaginary and arbitrary.

We are all connected, all together, all one.  That which separates us is not without but within.  It is our misperceptions, misconceptions and lack of understanding that keeps us apart.

Once you see it, you will sh....

Everyone is home now. My son is safe and recuperating nicely.  I'm back at work and everything is just like it always is.

....except it's not.

It's not at all.

I keep looking around in shocked disbelief, as if I'm in some surreal world where nobody sees what is obvious to me.  The Divine working around us all, in us all.  Being connected to that Divine, feeling it coursing through everything and the affects of that Divinity....healing in days what takes weeks, months or never.

Day after day, I want to stand on a soap-box or at the top of a peak and shout "Behold what She has wrought!"  The more I am aware, the more frequently I see them, which makes me more aware yet. Every day this spiral continues and I am more grateful, thankful and astounded.

And yet...the people in this world muddle along, apparently oblivious to the awesome and incredible things which are going on right under their noses. That miracles happen around us is ignored.  That they happen with frequency and are unseen borders on willful blindness.

But once you see it, you cannot unsee it.  Once you know, you cannot turn back to how you used to be.

Thank you, Dad....for her, for him, for all of this.  

Thanks be to God

So much...so quickly.  Some clouds seem dark while others are swirling with light and silver linings mix with rays of Divine light to the point that I see naught but the beauty that is the Creator reflected in the creation.

I don't even have words to describe how things have changed since the last post other than to say "Thank you, Dad"

....and thank you, son.

Listening to the Voice...

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2)


Recently, there has been a lot of talk and thought about what is church, what it should look like, what defines being 'catholic' and other such matters. I have pondered and thought and discussed and prayed at length over such things.  I finally quieted myself and then heard what had been said all the time.

"Those are external constructs, matters of mind made material and artificial divisions which come from society.

The form of the thing is not the thing.

The form is temporal and shall be transformed, it's essence inviolate and eternal."

I see this now.  I hear you, Dad.
Thank you.

Bookend to Lent

I started this season of Lent talking about how it is about the turning of the seasons when the cold, fallow grounds from Winter warm under the lengthening days and bring forth the new growth.

Did I mention that Dad reads my blog?  Did I mention She has a sense of humour?

Yah...

Spring is a time of growth, of renewal and change.  Sometimes that change is the gentle rain and warming sun, but as often it is through wind storms that sweep away the old, dead detritus of the past in gusts which rattle the shingles and make the dog bark at invisible invaders.

Either way, it appears that new, green shoots are popping up and flowers are trumpeting the Spring.  And yes, they're happening outside of my head, heart and soul...too.  I'd love to say more about this whole thing, but to do so would imply I have a bloody clue what's going on or what Dad's got planned.  Which is to say, I'd be lying like a cheap rug.  If things become more apparent, I'll keep y'all informed.  Until then, stop and smell the flowers.

I'm just sayin

There is a great comfort in being able to talk directly with the Divine.  The problem with talking with my dear Coyote is that She listens.

I love you too, Dad, and I AM laughing with you....now.

complexity

Things used to be so much simpler.  I could just float on through life, obese, obtuse and oblivious.

Now I see it.  I see the good and the bad and the ugly everywhere I turn.  I see what can be done, could be done, should be done and yet what so very little is being done.

In my office, I have an image from the BBC that I've printed out.  A lone Burmese monk stands, back to camera,  facing a crowd of 'security forces', bedecked in riot gear, shields and the ilk. It reminds me that Edmund Burke was right, "One man with conviction makes a majority".  There is a danger in that, though.

Once you know the truth...that the world can be changed, that we can make a difference...you are dangerous to the powers that be, to yourself and to others.  Whether you are tired woman who won't sit in the back, a handful of bois refusing to 'go along quietly' or one man who stops on his way home from market to halt a column of tanks, getting up and saying 'this shall not stand' is frightening indeed and once you open your eyes to that possibility, you cannot unsee it.

It means that every day, you see what needs doing while everyone else bumps along, oblivious, obese and obtuse.  Every day you know what CAN be done when everyone else says that it can't.

"Let your conscience be your guide".  Thanks Dad.  *grumbles*

He does this on purpose

Quote of the Day:
"We cannot -- we will not -- comply with this unjust law."
            - Cardinal George, speaking about the HHS directive

Reading for the day:
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." (Romans 13:1-3)

I think She really does this on purpose. *looks up* You DO do this on purpose, don't you?!

An update on leaping

An update on this.

Trust me, He says...a leap of faith, She says.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”
 - Martin Luther King Jr.

“When you have come to the edge Of all light that you know And are about to drop off into the darkness Of the unknown, Faith is knowing One of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or You will be taught to fly” - Patrick Overton

Thanks be to She who lives forever for the lessons in soaring.

Reflections on Yule vespers

Last night concluded our advent vesper series and it was marvelous and so very different.  As it was Yule, the theme was about darkness and light. The only light in the sanctuary was provided by the candles which covered the altar and environs (including the advent wreath). It truly was beautiful and the service, simple and unadorned, was very fulfilling.  The light/dark imagery really started to make me think about darkness, the night and other related things.

It is in the light that we believe that see clearly, where things are well known and we are comfortable.  During the day, we are consumed with the business of our lives, our jobs and all of the other 'stuff' which 'demand' our attention.  When darkness falls...real darkness falls.  That's when things change.

"In dark silence, comes whisperings of new beginnings."

It is at night when must we admit (if only to ourselves) we don't see things well, that even the most familiar seems alien and our confidences are shaken.  The rational, logical world of the day turns into some alternate realm where your non-rational mind shows itself.  It is in the darkness that your most basic fig-leaf, belief in your own senses, is ripped away and you are left with the painful discomfort of knowing that you don't know and that, in a very real sense, you can NEVER know.

"In dark silence, comes whisperings of new beginnings."

The Celts believed that nighttime is when the veil that separates this world and the next is thinner and I see that it is in the still of the night that one perceives things and ideas which the day blinded us to. Being shaken out of the rote of the Light allows for change and perceiving things differently affords the opportunity for growth.  If one can sit in that darkness and still the internal mutterings, there is much to learn, to see and to hear in that place which is What is needed to enable that growth and change is to be still, listen and wait.

"In dark silence, comes whisperings of new beginnings."

National Geographic reported some time ago about how our obsession with electric lighting is all but extinguishing the night.  It is becoming enough of an issue in parts of the world that 'dark-sky oases' are being established in first-world nations.  As people who have neither day nor night, we live by arbitrary, artificial, external schedules instead of the clock of the world (or even our own internal body clock). 

To really understand, to truly comprehend, we must go beyond and outside.  Sit in the dark silence and listen to the snow fall.  Accustom your eyes (both inside and out) to the darkness and hear the whispers of new beginnings.

pebbles

There is an analogy used in Taoism (and Buddhism too, as I recall) that if your mind is clear and calm, it will be like the surface of a still pond.  Contrawise, if your mind is muddled or disturbed, then it is like a choppy lake, full of waves.

When a thought, an idea or some insight is given to you, it is a pebble dropped into the pond.  If you are still, the ripples echo out, affecting much more than the initial pebble. There is this wonderful and sneaky person in my life who wanders past every so often and, when I least expect it, she pitches a pebble and sits back with a gentle smile.

" It (the mystical) is a marvelous journey."  *plunk*

A lot of my personal angst? issue? trouble?....that's a good word....a lot of my personal trouble has been circling around the mystical and esoteric nature of my spiritual development.  The theology and religious stuff...that's written down and easy to understand.  It's reasonable, logical and rational.  But a lot of what's going on right now is flying blind on a moonless night.  There are no maps, no books and no flight plan that YOU can see.  It's you and Him and a whole lot of ignoring everything that's going on between your ears. Can you turn back?

"You can always say no, but you know this is gonna be AWESOME.  Trust me."  Thanks Dad.  :P

Faith is not belief without proof...it is trust without limits. 

With a comment, my friend tosses in another pebble and I recognize her as an agent of Her just as I can hear His chuckle in her laughter.

Blessings upon my dear sister-in-Christ, my crone.

Thanks to her and thanks be to God.

not todays reading, what I was told to say.

The word of YWHW came to me, saying:

“Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen,

‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.’

If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done.

And if I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right— if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.

Yet your countrymen say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. Yet, O house of Israel, you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his own ways.”(Ezekiel 33:1,12-20)

The word of YHWH.

The Synchratic method

I have discussed at some points in the past about synchronicity and how it seems to be a part of things in my life.  I finally understand (at least to an extremely limited part) why.  Socrates used a dialectic method of teaching.  Some Buddhists use koans.  For my beloved Coyote, it is the Synchratic method.   As I have said a thousand times "once is chance, twice is coincidence, thrice denotes a pattern."  So, this is how it works in practice.

"Hey Tim.  Here's something you probably want to see."

"Ya Dad, whatever. Kinda busy here with this unimportant thing"

"Here it is again.  It's kinda cool."

"huh....yah, right."

"Remember this?  you may wanna look at it."

"OHH, Hey there. Look at that!  Wow, that's a brilliant idea.  Thanks!"

"Such a smart kid." *chuckles*

It's new years? crap.

This is the vigil of All Saint's Day, commonly known as Halloween (all hallow's eve).  It is also known as Samhain, the Celtic Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur.  This is the night when the veil between worlds is thinnest and when one make peace with what has happened in the last year.

I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for that yet.  I realise how much I need it.  The dead need burying, lest they walk amongst us for another year.  The echoes of the past need to be put to rest, else they shall haunt us.  I so wish to hold on to what was, what I wish would be....but it IS dead and I DO need to bury it.  Begone then, foul spectre, and plague me no further.

Direct pointing in scripture

Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church addresses the UN

I was watching a video for the RC church presented by my friend Thom as an example of social media done right.  During the video, they flashed several decontextualized verses, but one stood out like a beacon, as if to say "DUUUDE!  Read the rest of this!"  I've been through this before and I know when to listen.  Here's the whole thing in context.

Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power. Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. (Eph. 6:10-13)

Note that the emphasis isn't mine, but it was put into my head. So, the question is why?

Oh ineffable Divine, Hagia Sophia, Coyote...what are you trying to say to an open-minded and questioning scholar, a gay man who was made by You this way and a 21st century progressive who believes in equality, justice and transparency?

Really now, Dad, could you spell it out more clearly?  Pillars of fire and booming voices are pretty classic, from what I've read.

Wu Wei and standing in the stream

Talking with my mother (who had four years of theology in college back when college work was rigorous) this weekend brought to light a trouble I am wrestling with and, in its own way, reflects on the gent to the left here.

You see, back in the day, my si-hing told me that books about Tai-Chi were useless because if you knew the form, they couldn't show you anything you didn't already know and if you didn't know the form, they couldn't teach your anything.  In short, one must experience Tai Chi for yourself.

As I look towards formal formation processes, I seem to run the demand to know the '-ologies' and '-icies'. Read this person, not that person...study this school of thought, not that school of thought.  Other than a cereberal interest, though, I recognize that it is reading about Tai Chi, not practicing Tai Chi, and no amount of study about God will supplant the experience of being WITH God.

So, I'm kind of stuck.  I see the value of study (for there is some value in study), but it is the palest shadow compared to the experience of the Divine and the transformative spiritual power which can from a single moment in Her presence.  I'm not sure if this is a subtle way of Coyote saying that I should consider other paths or what is going on.  Right now, most of what I hear is "You're a smart lad, you'll figure it out."  Thanks, Dad.

I recall when, by being mindful of the stream of life, the Tao, one can feel the currents of the Universe.  By being mindful of these things, one can act without acting (Wu Wei) and accomplish everything without effort.  

Obey the nature of things (the Tao), and you will walk freely and undisturbed.
When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden, for everything is murky and unclear and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness.
What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separations?   (Seng-ts'an, Hsin Hsin Ming)

Guess I need to listen more.