Photo (by the great Bob Fitch) of Dorothy Day, Civil Disobedience with the United Farm Workers
Dorothy Day, as significantly as any other, was captured by the nonviolence of Yeshua bar Alaha (Jesus of the Beloved): from Soup Kitchen and shelter, to the fields and vineyards of California, Dorothy lived the conviction that the Gospel was an invitation to rEvolution... That the Gospel was pregnant with possibilities, was only too obvious to her: why not to us?
Why not to us is not a skip-over question... this question mirrors that of the First Thought of the Beloved: Why not? Everything that we need to do is wrapped up in these two questions!
There is that within us, as Thomas Merton wrote, a point of nothingness... a point of pure truth, a point of spark which belongs entirely to God... A Christian would call this point "soul" ... others, particularly of the Hindu faith, would identify it as atman (our interior oneness with the Divine)... in any case, the point is that which is always open, vulnerable, and available to the flow, the Breath, of the Beloved... and, I suppose, it essential to write that this flow-breath is always Now...
The Gospel story of the Angel's visit to Mary came with a rush... now is the time... are you ready? The saddest part of this story is simply that the Angel's question was not a one-and-done-thing... as we like to think. Rather, we are supposed to live the story as a question asked of each one of us: now is the time, are you ready, and will you give birth to the Beloved in your life, wherever you are, right now?
Not even breath is free! Everything comes with an accompaning cost: even grace, which is freely given, comes with an expectation... Dorothy Day accepted this as a simple and obvious fact: the ways in which she lived a radical openness, vulnerability, and availability are now the stuff of Catholic Worker legend... but again, we are supposed to be legendary in our own lives! Real love is either about personal and social transformation or it really isn't love at all...
There is a story that comes from the New York Catholic Worker... One day, a guest in the Soup Kitchen was agitated, and then increasingly so... Becoming irate at the suggestion of a volunteer Catholic Worker that he calm down, he approached, threatened, and in short order had the volunteer in a head-lock while he rained down upon him every foulness that he could think of... all the while, Dorothy was seated on a bench and calmly peeling potatoes... Finally the irate guest released the now humiliated volunteer and left the dining room... the volunteer turned to Dorothy and said, "Why didn't you do something!?" Dorothy responded with a curt, "I did. I was praying for you." And that was that -- except that the volunteer realized that he hadn't actually been hurt... only humbled...
Well, I will admit that this isn't the best of possible stories to relate, but it does illustrate how the Gospel challenges us to become no-harm-tough... which is another way of what Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault calls "Blessed are the gentled." In other words, Jesus of the Beloved invites us into his life -- his way of life -- in which we submit to the egoic transformation that is required of becoming an adult stepping towards wisdom... It is by our yearning that we will give witness to the possibilities of peace and justice that rest in the Heart of the Gospel...
The Beatitudes, which convey the heart of the Christ-Path, are at their core, an explanation of the Way in which the Universe is attuned: it is not only about the vibratory structure of the Universe, but about the vibratory connectedness that is at the Heart of Wisdom (which is at the heart of everything)... This is the Way things shake... I could write the obvious: it is all about Love and loving... but that would be too easy... and as Dostoevsky wrote "Love in reality is a harsh and dreadful thing, compared to love in dreams"... so what I will write is the word nonviolence... "Cause no harm" would be the first "rule" of nonviolence... And realizing the impossibility of that, there is a second "rule": "Cause as little harm as possible"...
Wrestle with this: be upset, be riled-up, but don't be dismissive! Remember the vibratory connectedness that is at the Heart of Wisdom (and everything)... Everything connects in the Heart... it is precisely in our wrestle-mania with no-harm-tough that transformation will be made more than possible... "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us." -- Dorothy Day, Saint of the Gutter Beautiful
Dorothy Day, as significantly as any other, was captured by the nonviolence of Yeshua bar Alaha (Jesus of the Beloved): from Soup Kitchen and shelter, to the fields and vineyards of California, Dorothy lived the conviction that the Gospel was an invitation to rEvolution... That the Gospel was pregnant with possibilities, was only too obvious to her: why not to us?
Why not to us is not a skip-over question... this question mirrors that of the First Thought of the Beloved: Why not? Everything that we need to do is wrapped up in these two questions!
There is that within us, as Thomas Merton wrote, a point of nothingness... a point of pure truth, a point of spark which belongs entirely to God... A Christian would call this point "soul" ... others, particularly of the Hindu faith, would identify it as atman (our interior oneness with the Divine)... in any case, the point is that which is always open, vulnerable, and available to the flow, the Breath, of the Beloved... and, I suppose, it essential to write that this flow-breath is always Now...
The Gospel story of the Angel's visit to Mary came with a rush... now is the time... are you ready? The saddest part of this story is simply that the Angel's question was not a one-and-done-thing... as we like to think. Rather, we are supposed to live the story as a question asked of each one of us: now is the time, are you ready, and will you give birth to the Beloved in your life, wherever you are, right now?
Not even breath is free! Everything comes with an accompaning cost: even grace, which is freely given, comes with an expectation... Dorothy Day accepted this as a simple and obvious fact: the ways in which she lived a radical openness, vulnerability, and availability are now the stuff of Catholic Worker legend... but again, we are supposed to be legendary in our own lives! Real love is either about personal and social transformation or it really isn't love at all...
There is a story that comes from the New York Catholic Worker... One day, a guest in the Soup Kitchen was agitated, and then increasingly so... Becoming irate at the suggestion of a volunteer Catholic Worker that he calm down, he approached, threatened, and in short order had the volunteer in a head-lock while he rained down upon him every foulness that he could think of... all the while, Dorothy was seated on a bench and calmly peeling potatoes... Finally the irate guest released the now humiliated volunteer and left the dining room... the volunteer turned to Dorothy and said, "Why didn't you do something!?" Dorothy responded with a curt, "I did. I was praying for you." And that was that -- except that the volunteer realized that he hadn't actually been hurt... only humbled...
Well, I will admit that this isn't the best of possible stories to relate, but it does illustrate how the Gospel challenges us to become no-harm-tough... which is another way of what Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault calls "Blessed are the gentled." In other words, Jesus of the Beloved invites us into his life -- his way of life -- in which we submit to the egoic transformation that is required of becoming an adult stepping towards wisdom... It is by our yearning that we will give witness to the possibilities of peace and justice that rest in the Heart of the Gospel...
The Beatitudes, which convey the heart of the Christ-Path, are at their core, an explanation of the Way in which the Universe is attuned: it is not only about the vibratory structure of the Universe, but about the vibratory connectedness that is at the Heart of Wisdom (which is at the heart of everything)... This is the Way things shake... I could write the obvious: it is all about Love and loving... but that would be too easy... and as Dostoevsky wrote "Love in reality is a harsh and dreadful thing, compared to love in dreams"... so what I will write is the word nonviolence... "Cause no harm" would be the first "rule" of nonviolence... And realizing the impossibility of that, there is a second "rule": "Cause as little harm as possible"...
Wrestle with this: be upset, be riled-up, but don't be dismissive! Remember the vibratory connectedness that is at the Heart of Wisdom (and everything)... Everything connects in the Heart... it is precisely in our wrestle-mania with no-harm-tough that transformation will be made more than possible... "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us." -- Dorothy Day, Saint of the Gutter Beautiful
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