 Dreams... What was your dream... Before life got in the way?
Pondering this opening question for myself, I go back in time to when I was about twelve years old... I loved baseball (I still do). I loved the LA Dodgers (I still do). And I loved Sandy Koufax, the great Dodger pitcher. But I did not want to be a pitcher: I was going to play centerfield for the Dodgers! For hours on end, when I had no one to play with, you'd find me just swinging a bat (usually in the garage): I'd bat right then switch to batting left. Man, I could do it all! And then, a few years later and still intending to play centerfield for the Dodgers, I began to imagine my life after baseball... Sure enough, I was going to be elected President of the United States! And why not? It made perfect sense to me. It was more than a dream: it was my plan. But, of course, something else happened. Something called life: my DNA, or whatever. I had a smidgen of what ailed my Mom: an overwhelming, life-controlling, shyness. So, I stood watching my friends try out for the High School baseball team. I couldn't move. I just stood still and watched. And walked away... carrying my ball glove, but also dropping the Presidency... Life happened: as it always does for everyone. I got a job and gave "being normal" my best shot. One of my work-mates, one day, brought a copy of The Catholic Worker to work and gave it to me, saying, "I thought you might like to read this. My Mom always throws it out as communist propaganda." I still have that first issue that I read: right there, I mean right there! articles on nonviolence, simple living, social justice and on and on... Suddenly, the lost dream of both centerfield and the Presidency, were re-created into a Soup Kitchen, shelter for the homeless, and the cultivation of a net of mercy for as many folks as possible... I thought, "What if?" And then, "Why not?" And working my ass off, I did it! But here's the point: so what? You see, our dreams are but a step in the building of our lives, and each dream gives birth to another, and this process of life envisioning is integral to our humanity. But more, it is something which is denied or effectively limited for many among us. Equality is not equal if it is not inclusive of everyone. There is no Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. There is no end in sight to Big Money Dominating our lives, politics, and culture. Gerrymandering is still in control of too many state governments. Race decides: gender decides: class decides: and luck and whim lift up or toss aside... Meanwhile, thousands of species are driven into extinction every year and climate change continues its relentless countdown to a complete upheaval of what we, way too generously, call civilization. Now! Now, scroll back up to the picture. If you are familiar with images of the Mother Mary and Child Jesus, the alternative I have posted might startle. But that's okay. So what's the point? Without the initial dreams of folks like Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, Jr. there would have been no Civil Rights Movement... Without the dreams of the suffragette movement, there would never have been feminism or feminist theologies. These are just two examples from among the many that could be given: but the point is that we have a responsibility to our dreams! We are responsible for the use of our imaginations! If we can imagine a Black Madonna and Child, then we assume the power to build equality for every race. A Black Madonna and Child is the annunciation of alternatives to privilege-profits-power: the Unholy Trinity of the Dominator Paradigm. A Black Madonna and Child is the Equal Rights Amendment personified: an alternative economic system that prioritizes real people living capably in harmony, eco-regeneration, and nonviolent social structures... And the best thing about all of this? There would be so much more, and building it would be fun! The challenges we are facing with the coronavirus are very real. And yet, those same challenges are also an opportunity for us to consider if, when the day comes, if we might summon the courage and the will to not just get back to the business of making money: but to dream once again as children of the Living Spirit: what might we be capable of doing with our precious, precious, life? What new frontiers of imagination might a revolution of mind and heart lead to? Invoking the Black Madonna and Child, let us commit ourselves to joining with others to build the new society within the shell of the old!!
1 Comment
 A Trick of Grace... Making it Sacred
Of course, this is all a tad bit silly, this making it sacred line... But, on the other hand, isn't it also true that our thoughts and attitudes -- at least those that we consciously cultivate -- do tend to have a significant influence over and during our days? If you have been reading this blog and other pages in theburninghand.com for awhile, then you've already concluded that this is a favorite topic of mine. With all of my teachers, like Ellen Grace O'Brian, Ram Dass, and Matthew Fox, I believe that we are all called to our daily lives as mystics: that we don't give this essential call the spiritual attention that it deserves, is precisely why our world is spinning off its rails (greed, climate change, and a continuing sexism / racism as examples)... Digging a little bit deeper and we find a common core to our personal and social problems... Isn't that common core the lust for domination? Seriously. Minus the lust for domination, would there even be an economic system of predatory capitalism? Minus the lust for domination, how many women would still be getting raped? Minus the lust for domination, would we be confronting the likely catastrophe of climate change? Bringing these ponderings back and into the realm of personal relationships, doesn't the lust for domination color so much of our interpersonal dynamics? Eee-gadz, but this was certainly way too evident in life on the Chinatown Streets and in our old Soup Kitchen! Intentional Community was rife with this dynamic and with its flip-side resistance might be futile, but it will liven my day! And then there is the biggie: partnerships and marriage! Okay, so the reality in which virtually all of us have been habituated to is the dominate or be dominated motif... but is it necessarily a perpetual condemnation? Here is a hint of an answer: there is a trick of grace that just might work... In the American Heritage Dictionary (yes, I did look up the word) surrender is first of all defined as 1. To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion... It is right here, precisely here, that both a spiritual life begins and psychological health is restored: surrender the lust for domination... to relinquish even the idea that one has a right to the possession of another human being, or the right to control because of demand or compulsion... Surrender -- I call it a trick of grace because it is not obvious -- is key to making it sacred... Surrender is the intentional cultivation of the Christ Consciousness... Surrender is the dynamic verb of the Tao, the deep flow of the mystic river that is both the Source and the Goal of a Fully Awakened Human Being... Of course, a blog is not an essay, so I must come to a quick conclusion: there are ways of cultivating surrender and making it sacred, among them are 1) Breath Prayer, 2) Nature communion, 3) Sacred reading and conversation, 4) Practicing the Presence of God, and 5) Cause no harm (and because that is a virtual impossibility, cause as little harm as possible in every aspect of your life). If you would like an "email conversation" on any of this, you are welcome to contact me!  Henry David Thoreau, American writer and Transcendentalist mystic, has for the greater portion of my life served as a heroic "reference point" for both my life and spirituality. His "retreat" to Walden Pond became, of course, his most famous book, but more, it has inspired succeeding generations in looking to nature and in listening to their "inner voice" in the crafting of their lives.
Could he not be a guiding light for us today as we grapple with a pandemic and the collapse of our normal, daily, lives into something very alien to us? As social distancing is taking an uncomfortable charge of our lives, perhaps the Rebel Sage of Concord can lend us a word or two and so help us cope with these scary changes... I don't need to actually pull my Thoreau books off the bookshelf to know what he'd likely say: Simplify! Simplify! Simplify! That this single word, repeated three times, is the heart and soul of Thoreau is known by all of his devotees -- even by the many who outright reject him as a crank, as a relic of a time that never really was... But, on the other hand, this idea of "simplify" is the hallmark of both sanity and the sage... And, it has more to do with our minds than it does with the objects of either our work or our pleasure. To be certain, Thoreau held in disdain the rising of an industrial society built upon the necessity of slavery (and he was briefly jailed for his rebellious mind and acts of resistance). Thoreau's "simplify" was a simplification that would allow us to see clearly and to choose to live for those things of genuine value... A mind that chooses to begin to walk the path of simplify, is a mind that gives little account to the advertiser as to what the good life is: the advertiser is about the cultivation of endless wants: wants to put big money in pockets other than yours! A mind that chooses to begin to walk the path of simplify, is a mind that puts no man (politician, banker, CEO, and other so-called leaders) above her new ability to think! A mind that chooses to begin to walk the path of simplify, is a mind that puts neighbor and relationships above other supposed goods. Conviviality is not a real possibility in the midst of social distancing: but this absence only proves the point... Henry Thoreau would object to me carrying on too much about his advice of simplify, because at this point in time, we should all be understanding that the core of our lives is in the simple pleasures that we take for granted -- too often! I once wrote a poem that I gave to a young man heading off to join a Buddhist monastery, and two lines from that poem perfectly describe our current "pandemic oppression" and Thoreau's philosophy: we are as rich as our next breath, and as poor as our last... Thoreau's example of simple living at Walden Pond always included long walks to greet neighbors, to see the going-ons in town, and most importantly, to have supper with his Mom before sauntering off to his cabin once again... In our own different ways, we need to reach out to neighbors with our version of how 'ya doing? And call Mom, and everyone else whom you love -- perhaps even those you dislike -- and let them know that they are not forgotten... and that you care... for it is precisely in caring that we add true wealth to our inevitable last breath...  Have you read any of the online prayers proposed to assist us in our varying degrees of self and community isolation? Most of the ones I have read are quite beautiful and very traditional (from a Christian belief perspective). They tend to appeal to a Heavenly Father and to the Wonder-Grace of the Magic Man: Jesus, the Poet of Nazareth... I suppose that this is all well enough, if not actually "good"...
Still, I can't help myself. I see few things through eyes which can be considered "normal". For example, I write poetry. For thirty years I worked in a Soup Kitchen. I believe in an Abiding Love-Spirit (which does not have the slightest interest in coercing a "right belief" from us: only that we increasingly desire and seek surrender)... From this perspective, it is our longing which matters. It is the passion which we summon from within our daily lives that matters... so, prayer is, first and foremost, a turning of our minds towards unknowing and emptiness: this turn into a contemplative powerlessness is the mystic model of prayer, pandemic motivated or otherwise... We begin with an in-our-face-awareness that to live is to suffer. There is only so much time... there are only so many things that can be done to preserve and protect our lives: everything beyond that is a crap-shoot, isn't it? Sooner or later... for each one of us. Is there a path tending towards a cessation of suffering? Likely as not, any practice that eventually compels a movement towards a surrender into adoration and a surrender into loving, is a blessing: it could be Christian, as it could also (and equally) be Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, of a Goddess-orientation, or even Pagan... The point is simply that we are all called to become contemplatives. And contemplative prayer is of an entirely different order than that of "petition" to a "God Up and Out There"... Contemplative prayer is the prayer of don't know... While theological treatises abound on every possible angle on prayer, "correct" mind, and a plethora of "do's and don'ts", one must actually dig a bit in order to find genuine nuggets and wisdom born of a rugged practice. Any proposal that comes from a book (or a blog, even this one) should be suspect! However, every crisis brings with it an opportunity for directing attention to those things that really matter... What matters? There are simple, yet perfect, contemplative prayers and practices that are suitable for every occasion. Here are a few: 1) Wish yourself well! Repeat after me: Be well my Darling! This prayer covers a lot of ground... 2) Accept (if not realize) that there are no others -- not even one! Repeat after me: May you be well! May you be happy! May you be loved! This prayer has the power to unleash your heart-mind: let it go! 3) Hunker down into the root of the root of the root: a Loving-Spirit Is! Repeat after me: I love You! I thank you! 4) These three foundational steps create the possibility within you of Step 4: Rest in the gentle knowing of the Hug of the Lord of Love, hugging you from the inside out: this embrace, as taught by Saints such as Hildegard, Francis, and Rumi, is a shift into the still-waters of adoration... And, 5) Begin to align yourself with the Always Holy Present: your life stretches out before you with teeny-tiny moments of now: if you only have one more now, say thank you... if you have, so far as you can see, quite a few yet in front of you, still say thank you... Contemplative Pandemic Prayer is an everyday prayer for everyone: what a wonder it is to breathe! To love! To serve! To build justice! To show mercy! It is right here, in these very precious attitudes, intentions, and actions, that we truly become human beings -- which is the very precise holiness that we have been designed for...  With the Icon of St. Hildegard watching over us...
The great Jewish / Christian mystic, Simone Weil, wrote "We have been created by Love, for Love, to become Love." Isn't this profoundest of sentences worthy of replacing every single Creed written and developed by man? "All creation is gifted with the ecstasy of God's light." -- St. Hildegard "Only the mystics bring what is creative to religion itself." -- Carl Jung "When you lack the verdancy of justice, your soul is dry, totally without tender goodness, totally without illuminating virtue." -- St. Hildegard "The spirit / likes to dress up like this / ten fingers / ten toes..." -- Mary Oliver As the World Mystics teach, "we have been created by Love, for Love, to become Love"... Isn't this profoundest of sentences worthy of serving as the new guidepost for the transformation of political parties and the global economic system? Doesn't this profoundest of sentences require of us a truly radical renewal of our primary and fundamental relationships? We, of course, must begin with our own mind-heart: this is the only genuine path towards the healing and cleansing we need. How many times and in how many ways have we been hurt? How many times and in how many ways have we hurt others? Everything -- including the possibility of transformation-- hinges upon the essential nature of this foundational point. "We have been created by Love, for Love, to become Love"... Is there any more needful thing in the spiritual life (political life) than that of this "turning away" from every notion and practice of separation? Reflect seriously upon the words and actions of every candidate for any and every political office: does he or she cultivate the attitudes and actions of one who would unite or as one who would profit from division? If, in fact, "we have been created by Love, for Love, to become Love", then isn't it of great importance that we cultivate loving as our way and rule of life? If we are proposing to live as if this is true, then don't the words of Thomas Berry indicate the height, breadth, and depth of loving as our way and rule of life: "The small self of the individual reaches its completion in the Great Self of the universe..." In other words, we have within us infinite fields of possibilities! So, in conclusion, a Twenty-first Century Renewal of Spiritual Life begins with a transformative mind-shift: we activate our capacity for loving through cultivating compassion, empathy, and the power of forgiveness. Secondly, and in unison with the first, we activate our will for an awakening into the power of connections: nothing is separate from anything else: as we are, so too, is every other: including every eco-system and the entire Planet. And finally, as our wrap-around theology, we intentionally cultivate the practice of human and eco-justice; we intentionally cultivate communities of nonviolence, beauty, and kindness; and we welcome every opportunity for awe, wonder, home-making, and the delight of simple human pleasure... for it is true that we have been created by Love, for Love, to become Love... [If any of this has the appearance of somehow excluding Jesus, Allah, Krishna, the Buddha, the Mother, the Tao, the Torah, or any Path that any of us might follow and believe in with our whole mind and heart... well, sorry, but you just haven't thought deeply enough about these words... please continue!] |
AuthorRobert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time Companion of the Way still dreaming... Archives
May 2022
|
RSS Feed