The dualities of existence can be confusing, debilitating,....and also liberating. Consider this poetic offering:
Monday, March 2, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
A Positive Resolution
New Year’s resolutions are too often a list of don’ts: Don’t swear. Don’t drink. Don’t scratch. Don’t stick carrots up your nose.
Even the positives like “I will lose twenty pounds” carry a negative: “I will not eat candy, doughnuts, or anything good.”
All night long after the celebratory fireworks across the street, I looked for items to add to my ever-growing list. Like most people, I realized how daunting a task this self-perfection was going to be and turned over, thinking “Maybe next year.”
At which point I woke up with my favorite Bible passage whapping me upside the head: “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
In other words, a resolution list needs only one item: Love.
Not to make it sound simple or anything, but it’s that simple!
Because here’s a startling reality: Love is a forward motion.
Unlike any other resolution you make, with love you never go backward. You never lose ground by trying and failing. Attempting to love always causes you to love more than you ever did before. You never go back to zero.
Instead, you gain patience and perseverance. You gain perspective. You gain ground on the ultimate goals of peace, joy, and harmony that you never could with any other resolution.
Seeing people through the eyes of love rather than of judgement reveals every individual’s worth, uniting the world through mankind's qualities rather than dividing it by human failings.
I can hear the voices now. That is totally whacked. Talk about pie-in-the-sky! Get a clue, ya hippie!
I know. The thought is idealistic, beyond the grasp of reality, but here’s a plan for the naysayers: Hush!
Rather than limiting the scope of love, let it be as illogical, unreasonable, and impractical as possible.
Replace I can’t with we can.
Love the unlovable.
Seek beauty in chaos.
Seek wonder and awe.
Embrace joy.
Hope.
Laugh!
Let us be the incredibly loving human beings we were always meant to, and when someone tells us it's impossible, do it anyway.
Jesus did.
Happy 2015.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
The Dangerous Descent into Doctrine: Step Away, not Down
Please note: Today’s worldly strife is NOT of God! Yes, much of the fighting deals with religion, but God is not religion.
Many justify the destructive hatred and violence as God-ordained, God-directed, and God-orchestrated. They are wrong.
The Judeo-Christian creation story never mentions divine wrath or annihilation. No revisions. No rebuilds. The whole universe in its original condition earned God's pronouncement, “It is good.”
And when God created humanity in His own image, He reveled in his handiwork, bestowing nothing but blessings.
Life. Water. Food. Everything "that was pleasing to look at and good for food." (Genesis 2:7-9)
Most significantly, God provided companionship, relationships based on love. While he labeled the rest of the cosmos good, the tie between God and humanity was supreme.
Then came sin, humanity's betrayal. Despite the pain, did God sever the relationship in a flurry of flogging, disembowelment and death by chigger bites?
No.
Was there punishment?
Yes. But not not abandonment. Not destruction. Not divine hatred and retribution.
Instead of schmucking Adam and Eve with a brick as He could, God gave them a new set of clothes, exchanging their fruity patches of fig leafs for more durable garments of skin.
Violence and the destruction of life eventually came, but not at God’s hand. As human jealousy and anger grew, God tried to head off the inevitable.
He exhorted Cain, "Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It is desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it." (Genesis 4:6-7)
Still, Cain murdered his brother Abel. But even when he did, God did not break relationship with him.
No capital punishment. No corporal punishment. Not even future condemnation to hell. In fact, God protected Cain from the violence of others.
In fact, the first mention of vengeance in Genesis is not of God’s, but rather Lamech killing an unnamed man for some unknown crime.
And the descent into doctrine began.
Like Lamech, people abandoned their relationship with a loving God and depended on recrimination rather than repentance.
Instead of accepting responsibility for sin, people justified themselves without consulting God, punishing others with a ferocity God never even visualized. Rather than turning to God for direction, they relied on doctrine and revenge.
And so mankind began a four-step descent of doctrine that led to the type of destruction we see today, beginning with the initial step of
Description.
Humanity's first creation chronicles succinctly and joyously pronounced God’s action and proclaimed our importance to Him. No detailed explanation of how and why. Just that it was and that it was good.
As sin became more prevalent and pervasive, however, humans recognized the need to control the unruly. Authority needed to be asserted, people thought, and if God wasn’t going to do it…. That altered description of God's nature––a human-tempered avenger––led to perverted human justice.
Still, to lend credence to their savagery, mankind invoked God’s name and moved to step two of the descent into doctrine:
Distortion.
Rather than highlighting God’s forgiving and protective reaction to the Fall, humans further disguised and warped His image, portraying Him as what modern skeptics call a savage, hate-filled "invisible sky wizard.”
In God's wrathful name, humans eagerly unearthed the depravity in others and willingly ignored their personal perversion while slaughtering the heathens.
Unfortunately for them, God’s voice kept speaking annoyingly in their defiant ears, which necessitated step 3:
Denial.
Easing––or rather, ignoring––mankind’s collective conscience required a speck of mental gymnastics and a whole mountain of denial.
First, they had to disavow any involvement in the disintegration of society. This meant that they must embrace hypocrisy by selectively utilizing and ignoring the truths of history, science, and reality.
Secondly, they must deny the very composition of God, rejecting what they knew from the moment of their creation, that God is love.
Finally, to assert their singularity, mankind had to deny God's supremacy, by denying His very existence and relying on their own "wisdom and strength."
All of which has led the world to the final step in doctrine's descent,
Destruction.
To some, the outbreak of war and violence today causes little concern. The incidence is limited in scope, they argue, and sure to end soon.
But despite this wishful thinking, human behavior is as subject to the Laws of Nature as a feather in a windstorm.
When Sir Isaac Newton postulated his Third Law of Motion (“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”), he did not simply clarify the physical universe; he exposed the human instinct to meet violence with further violence.
Unfortunately, the endless echo of retribution from competing doctrines, with the attendant devastation and death, can only truly end in one way––the permanent annihilation of the combatants.
Alternative plans
Which leads us to the good news. If mankind prefers to exist––and most people do–– particular remedies can be taken.
First, reject violence as a solution to anything. Just stop. Violence has never ended violence in the past; it never will.
Second, reject any doctrine that embraces or even allows anger, hatred, and violence. However, most descend to this level and are better exchanged for the third and only real solution to the problem.
Accept the reality that GOD IS LOVE! And created us to be. Seek the relationship He always wanted to have with us…and for us to have with each other.
In other words, step away from the dangerous descent into doctrine and up to the rewards of relationship.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Grandpa's Notecard
Life gets hectic.
Time is short.
We need to go here. We need to go there.
We need more STUFF!
When the mind fumbles and jumbles with desires and inconsequentials, the wisdom of the past reminds us that the most significant contribution to our sanity is not the amount or monetary value of our possessions. It is a simple thing. Like an old, stained, and worn 3x5 notecard.
Let me explain.
My late paternal grandfather was the most even-tempered man I ever met. He witnessed much in his 90+ years: Two presidential assassinations (McKinley and Kennedy), the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the development of air and space travel, the transformation of the Industrial Age to the Information Age...
The 20th Century with all its change and turmoil, both good and bad, had to be be mind-boggling and threatening The opportunities and pressures had to tear at at even the strongest psyche. (And we of the 21st Century have difficulty deciding between Netflix or Hulu.)
Grandpa was noted for his quiet patience, his integrity, his perseverance, and his willingness to take on a challenge. His talents and efficiency cast in many crucial roles at work and in his community. The secretary at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (CA), after examining the church archives, told me, "Your grandfather held every office in this congregation except president of the Ladies Aid."
Berkeley? You mean...?
Yes, that Berkeley. Berkeley, California. Home of the Hippie. The only city I have ever seen with an officially-designated "Drug-Free Zone." I always wondered how Grandpa maintained his calm demeanor and positive outlook on humanity living amongst the social upheaval and day-to-day struggles of existence in that Pacific Pandemonium.
Last night, I discovered one way.
In preparation of the upcoming Mega-Purge of 2014, my wife and I spent the evening digging through old family papers and pictures to cull the precious from the "What-were-we-thinking-when-we-kept-that?" Among the legal documents, the pile of canceled checks, and innumerable travel slides my grandfather had accumulated, we found a peculiar stack of 3x5 index cards. We understood that the other material explained his terrestrial lifestyle. We discovered that this collection of notecards exposed the foundation of his spiritual survival.
Each item in the stack included handwritten a maxim, Bible verse, prayer, or self-disciplinary exercise which Grandpa used for inspiration and direction. The most important thoughts, the ones to which he referred repeatedly, he wrote in ink. Others, the ones that corrected wording or expressed his immediate reaction, he quickly scrawled in pencil.
The once bright-white cards had discolored unevenly, some to dark gray, some to a brownish yellow. The hard edges of the cards curled limply, worn soft from shuffling. On some the script itself had faded, smudged by intrigued fingers rubbing across the most important words, the ones read and considered, read and contemplated, read and memorized .
One card stood out among the rest.
Ink and tea stained, this was the only one with a heading: "Tranquility––Serenity." Two simple words written large, taking up two of the now-barely-visible printed blue lines. One long curving streak of dark ink underlining them emphatically.
Beneath the heading read this simple passage in carefully formed letters: "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes away except God. God alone is sufficient."
Unlike the other cards, the handwriting here was larger, more legible. The only missing element was enough room to fully cite the source. This was not only uncharacteristic of the other cards, it was highly unusual for a man who meticulously labeled every book, every piece of furniture, every travel slide in his house before he died. Since the words were obviously most important, Grandpa obviously thought the speaker need only be known as a "16th Century mystic."
What Grandpa needed when he wrote this card was daily direction, plain words to reinforce his mental well-being, the assurance that "God alone is sufficient." That this promise was originally spoken by a Spanish nun (Sr. Teresa of Avila) was secondary. (For a complete modern translation, see the photo below.)
As indicated earlier, this notecard expressed the foundation of my grandfather's spiritual survival. Instead of accumulating fortune and stuff, instead of nurturing status and acclaim, he built on the card's assurance, cultivating relationships and exploring the vast beauty and mystery of God's world. Through the tragedies and triumphs of nearly a century of constant cultural chaos, four simple words comforted him, inspired him, molded him. Those four words ensured and enrich his legacy.
I always knew words had power. I just didn't realize how much power could fit on a single 3x5 notecard.
Time is short.
We need to go here. We need to go there.
We need more STUFF!
When the mind fumbles and jumbles with desires and inconsequentials, the wisdom of the past reminds us that the most significant contribution to our sanity is not the amount or monetary value of our possessions. It is a simple thing. Like an old, stained, and worn 3x5 notecard.
Let me explain.
My late paternal grandfather was the most even-tempered man I ever met. He witnessed much in his 90+ years: Two presidential assassinations (McKinley and Kennedy), the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the development of air and space travel, the transformation of the Industrial Age to the Information Age...
The 20th Century with all its change and turmoil, both good and bad, had to be be mind-boggling and threatening The opportunities and pressures had to tear at at even the strongest psyche. (And we of the 21st Century have difficulty deciding between Netflix or Hulu.)
Grandpa was noted for his quiet patience, his integrity, his perseverance, and his willingness to take on a challenge. His talents and efficiency cast in many crucial roles at work and in his community. The secretary at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (CA), after examining the church archives, told me, "Your grandfather held every office in this congregation except president of the Ladies Aid."
Berkeley? You mean...?
Yes, that Berkeley. Berkeley, California. Home of the Hippie. The only city I have ever seen with an officially-designated "Drug-Free Zone." I always wondered how Grandpa maintained his calm demeanor and positive outlook on humanity living amongst the social upheaval and day-to-day struggles of existence in that Pacific Pandemonium.
Last night, I discovered one way.
In preparation of the upcoming Mega-Purge of 2014, my wife and I spent the evening digging through old family papers and pictures to cull the precious from the "What-were-we-thinking-when-we-kept-that?" Among the legal documents, the pile of canceled checks, and innumerable travel slides my grandfather had accumulated, we found a peculiar stack of 3x5 index cards. We understood that the other material explained his terrestrial lifestyle. We discovered that this collection of notecards exposed the foundation of his spiritual survival.
Each item in the stack included handwritten a maxim, Bible verse, prayer, or self-disciplinary exercise which Grandpa used for inspiration and direction. The most important thoughts, the ones to which he referred repeatedly, he wrote in ink. Others, the ones that corrected wording or expressed his immediate reaction, he quickly scrawled in pencil.
The once bright-white cards had discolored unevenly, some to dark gray, some to a brownish yellow. The hard edges of the cards curled limply, worn soft from shuffling. On some the script itself had faded, smudged by intrigued fingers rubbing across the most important words, the ones read and considered, read and contemplated, read and memorized .
One card stood out among the rest.
Ink and tea stained, this was the only one with a heading: "Tranquility––Serenity." Two simple words written large, taking up two of the now-barely-visible printed blue lines. One long curving streak of dark ink underlining them emphatically.
Beneath the heading read this simple passage in carefully formed letters: "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes away except God. God alone is sufficient."
Unlike the other cards, the handwriting here was larger, more legible. The only missing element was enough room to fully cite the source. This was not only uncharacteristic of the other cards, it was highly unusual for a man who meticulously labeled every book, every piece of furniture, every travel slide in his house before he died. Since the words were obviously most important, Grandpa obviously thought the speaker need only be known as a "16th Century mystic."
What Grandpa needed when he wrote this card was daily direction, plain words to reinforce his mental well-being, the assurance that "God alone is sufficient." That this promise was originally spoken by a Spanish nun (Sr. Teresa of Avila) was secondary. (For a complete modern translation, see the photo below.)
As indicated earlier, this notecard expressed the foundation of my grandfather's spiritual survival. Instead of accumulating fortune and stuff, instead of nurturing status and acclaim, he built on the card's assurance, cultivating relationships and exploring the vast beauty and mystery of God's world. Through the tragedies and triumphs of nearly a century of constant cultural chaos, four simple words comforted him, inspired him, molded him. Those four words ensured and enrich his legacy.
I always knew words had power. I just didn't realize how much power could fit on a single 3x5 notecard.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
613 vs. 1: God's Transformed Law (Fundamentally Speaking) From Nuts to Soup
I've heard a lot of talk lately about getting back to basics of Scripture, living according to the fundamentals of God's Law, and avoiding God's fiery wrath and devastating judgement:
"Sin is death!"
"A blazing arrow is pointed at your heart!"
"No soup for you!"
...Oh, wait a minute. That's something else.
God's will, we're told, is spelled out in the Old Testament, yet when reading the violent imagery of a vengeful Deity out to destroy all vestiges of sin, it's easy to become terrified, not just of God, but the demoralizing task of obedience. Especially when we're also told that a single transgression is sufficient to incur mayhem and fury.
For angelic spirits, observance may not be daunting, but for us puny, flesh-inflicted, finite human beings, the problem of the commandments is simple, yet profound: There are just too many of them! Enough to drive a person nuts.
According to Talmudic tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments.
613 fundamental laws to be strictly enforced.
613!
I can't remember how many wheels are on a tricycle!
Some rabbis insist that the actual number is not that high since history has prevented the observance of all 613, especially since the destruction of the Second Temple and a number of Israel-specific rules. However, even eliminating those few, there are still A LOT of commandments for "fundamentalists" to remember, let alone adhere to.
And if only one sin is enough to condemn a person, there really will be "no soup for us."
What to do? What to do?
Thank goodness for the New Testament where the teachings and life of Jesus supplies a perfect remedy: Take those 613 laws and smoosh them down into one.
Not one sentence.
ONE WORD!
Here's how it happened.
The legal scholars/rulers/doo-doo heads of Jesus's time decided to test his knowledge one day by asking a loaded question: "What is the greatest commandment?"
Surprisingly by today's standard, he did not refer to any of the prohibitions about sexual conduct, cloth composition, or the consumption of shellfish. Instead, he replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
So why did I just say one word when Jesus said there are two commandments? Note that his two commandments have one common directive, the directive he preaches throughout the whole of his ministry: love.
Love God.
Love our neighbors.
Love ourselves.
Earlier in his teaching, he even said, "Love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44)
So basically...fundamentally...everything we need to know, everything we need to do, the only law we're called to obey, the one upon which all law is built, comes down to that one word: love.
Thus, when we love, we follow God's Law. God's happy. We're happy. Life is wonderful.
When we don't, no soup for us.
That simplicity saves a lot of wear and tear on the cranium. Rather than struggling to remember each and every one of the 613 laws, before acting, we need only ask, "Is this love?"
Simple.
Basic.
Fundamental.
I'm all for it. Being a true fundamentalist is a good thing.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The Great Light Bulb: Seven Reflections of Easter
This weekend, I discovered the answer to wandering aimlessly through the darkness of Life: TURN ON THE LIGHT!
For too long, I’ve been observing Easter weekend the same manner: guilty and depressed on Good Friday, numb to the world on Saturday, and on Sunday all dressed up in spring colors with a smile plastered prominently on my face. I expressed and felt just what I was supposed to.
Following the same routine. Going through all the motions.
But this year, I found the light switch. Truth transformed tradition.
In the light of Good Friday services, the events of the Crucifixion and Resurrection shined for what they really are, not historical religious events, but glorious manifestations of God’s grace and love.
Before you cringe at my choice of nouns in that last statement, I realize that grace and love sound like Christian-ese. At any other time, I would agree with that characterization. However, I understand now understand why those words are so prominent in the Christian tradition. Easter morning only reinforced their appropriateness and intensified the awe and wonder of Friday night.
Since this weekend, seven impressions that originally formed while feeling my way through the darkness of a finite human brain solidified into shining reality:
1. First, the glory of the cross is not Jesus's death; it's His self-sacrificial love. For the first time, I understood––not with head-knowledge, but with heart-knowledge––WHY the Crucifixion took place. I always knew Christ died for me, but I thought He did it out of duty or compulsion. Instead, I now understood that His reason was to show the earth how much He loves us. No literary description or cinematic rendition can come close to capturing the horror Jesus experienced...OR the love that motivated Him to endure it.
2. The cross does not represent our guilt; it represents our freedom. As stated above, I've always been good at Good Friday, but looking beyond the gore and misery of the Crucifixion to marvel of Christ’s love revealed that besides sin being erased, so too was the guilt that accompanies it. Because of the cross, there is no longer any need to dwell on the wrongs of the past; rather, the opportunities of the now abound.
3. Jesus did not come to condemn; He came to rescue. For too long, the "righteous" have harangued "the sinners" with the specious claim "Because God hates what you do, He will destroy you and your evil." The speakers ignore the question, "Why then did Jesus die?" God's judgement and anger could have eradicated sinful mankind in the blink of an eye. Instead, He became a vulnerable human. On Good Friday, He bore our sins and suffered death for all of us. No hint of condemnation or vengeance. Just mercy. Mercy that rescues us from ourselves.
4. Jesus did not come to institute a new religion; He came to renew a relationship. These first three reflections have fortified my belief that religion separates us from God more than it brings us closer to Him. Rules and ritual disguise the truth that Jesus stated when He encapsulated the whole of Jewish law into two simple commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength....Love your neighbor as yourself." His crucifixion and resurrection meant to reestablish the affinity between God and man that existed before the Fall. Which brings us to the most essential truth of his ministry.
5. Jesus did not come to change our behavior; he came to change our hearts. As stated above, Jesus did not bring more ritual, liturgy, and commandments. He reduced our relationship with Him to one thing: loving. No ceremonies. No ritual sacrifices. No enticement of reward. No threat of punishment. Just unending, matchless love.
6. For every Good Friday (suffering), there is an Easter (resurrection). On Easter Sunday, our pastor reminded us of this Resurrection Principle: Life will bring trials and pain, try as we may to avoid them. But like Jesus, God will raise us above them. He does not impose anguish on us, but He can and will lift us out of the ashes, recreating us stronger, victorious, perfected.
7. Jesus’s resurrection was not magical. It was mighty. It was transformational. It was God being God. Those who doubt the existence of God often point to the Resurrection story as magical thinking and evidence of the gullibility of Christians. However, the power that can create a universe can also overcome any limitations of that universe. Yes, there is Natural Law, but the very existence of Natural Law is unnatural. It only exists at the discretion of the originating power which created it.
As life-altering as reflection can be, the previous ideas do not form the entirety of a new belief system, but they do provide light, light to step confidently and deeper into a relationship with the Creator. When one can see, there is so much more to explore and learn.
You just have to flip the switch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)