 When did absolute certainty become "normal"?
Some 'certainties' are wholly obvious: day turns into night, the sun will rise tomorrow, and, given all of our druthers, we all would like to be happy as much as is humanely possible. Right? Of course, there are others... like, we all need food, water, and air... and companionship... And, of course again, there are still others... But, I am not thinking about these wholly obvious certainties, rather, I'm pondering the seeming necessity of claiming 'absolute certainties'... Like, the absolute certainty of a "God"... which is, of course, most often connected to a certain understanding of, or dogma about, said "God". In spite of the assertions of mystics of every tradition who state with humility that there is Only One, Holy Consciousness: whom we call "God", the mass of "believers" and communities of faith might admit the possibility of this mystic insight, but they don't: "God" is the Lord; "God" is Allah; "God" is the Blessed Trinity; "God" is Jesus Christ; "God" is Radha-Krishna... and so on... even on into books... The Torah; the Bible; the New Testament; the Bhagavad Gita; the Tao Te Ching; the Quran; each book (and there are others) command legions of absolutely certain believers... Then, once again, there are the mystics (what a looney little crowd they are) affirming the value and insights of each Holy Book: in fact, each of these books are likely to be found, and well-used, on their book shelves... Has it always been "normal" to believe in only "one way"? Well, not for the Hindus! They have a god for everything and everyone! Still, they tend to dislike Muslims and don't really trust Christians... Nevertheless, they will admit to the possibility that their insights might benefit from the inclusion of even more "gods and prophets"... Sort of like the ancient Greeks... say, didn't they have a sculpture honoring "An Unknown God"? Which gets me to pondering politics... Isn't the ability to honor "An Unknown God" the secret ingredient of a thriving democracy?Isn't the ability to admit that there is always more that one can learn fundamental to good citizenship? And, doesn't "uncertainty" make for a more pleasant environment in which to live and raise one's children? I mean, if one can admit to the possibility of being "wrong" then the likelihood of parading around with assault rifles would be seen to be exactly what it is: plainly silly. If one could admit to the possibility that someone else might be closer to the truth than I am at this moment in time, wouldn't that decrease the likelihood of bad citizenship (name calling, lying, manipulating, distorting, etc.)? Perhaps, real religion and a genuine democracy both need, more than anything else, believers and citizens who can relax and have a good laugh -- at no one's expense... And perhaps, a richly cultivated "uncertainty" is precisely the certainty that we all need... After all, didn't Jesus say that unless one became like a child, she could not enter heaven? Depending upon how far we choose to go back into the life of a child, but certainly if we go back to the suckling age, "becoming like a child" would mean to put all of one's energy into reaching for Momma's leaking breast, with a relaxed hunger and adoration... When "certainty" is relaxed and humble, everything returns to its natural order and gratitude becomes one's watchword. The natural order and gratitude is the certainty of grace enough to fill the day. It isn't at all about "right belief" or acquiring either salvation or profit, but all about extending the eye, hand, and heart of reverence towards everyone, but most especially, to those for whom to live means to suffer. A child's kindness, acceptance, faith, and gratitude is the Primordial Tao and the Gentle Revolution of Jesus... Living with uncertainty, and truly living a forward life, is wisdom indeed...
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 The Celtic spirit-heart is, once again, at loose in the world... and perhaps, not too late to help us into a very needful future... One of the most important and articulate interpreters and practitioners of the Celtic spirit-heart is J. Philip Newell, author of The Rebirthing of God and Listening For the Heartbeat of God. He wrote in Celtic Benediction, "Celtic spirituality is marked by the belief that what is deepest in us is the image of God... The second major characteristic of the Celtic tradition is a belief in the essential goodness of creation. Not only is creation viewed as a blessing, it is regarded in essence as an expression of God..." Of course, these thoughts are just hints towards something deep, engaging, and enlightening... Study and practice will get you just so far... as with every spiritual practice, a certain point is reached in which there are only two remaining options: turn back, or leap into an empty darkness, unsure as to whether or not, there will be any sort of "safe" landing-site... but, leap, you must... Newell writes of theophanies or 'showings' of God... Listening intently for the heartbeats of the Divine Beloved and resting upon the breast of the Beloved, opens doors of both mind and heart that you were not even aware of... Emptying all the "furniture" of each of those "rooms of the mind" is a stripping and a dying... a stripping and a dying of the sort that is as a woman in the midst of labor: loving into the emptying... leaning into the pain is the only Way through... The multitude of believers were of one heart and soul, and none of them called any of his possessions his own, everything was held in common... (Acts 4). If everything is a theophany, or 'showing' of the Divine Beloved, how could we have turned away from theophany and into paths of violence, destruction of the earth, oppression of women, and the predatory economics that is shredding the future which we will be giving to our children? How could our forefathers / mothers have jettisoned the wisdom words of the Magic Man for an institution now nearly foreign to Mystery? Okay. Perhaps that last sentence was not a needful stretch, but then again, how are the institutions of religion actually cultivating transformation into the Likeness of the Beloved? All that really needs to be said about religion has been in the recent news: children still in cages in the "christian" United States, Rumi the best selling poet in Iran even as they export terrorism, Israel becoming an apartheid state, Buddhist monks killing Muslims in Myanmar, Gandhi excised from the oppressive Hindu nationalism of India, eee-gadz, the mere fact that I could continue with this listing is appalling... and yet, and yet... Isn't it also true, though, that a Way is still evident! The Poet of Nazareth, yes, that Magic Man, is still alive and calling: bend your ear to the ground, listen to Mother Earth! Eee-gadz again! The Celtic spirit-heart is way that embraces -- even seeming opposites -- like the way of Lao-Tzu, the smile of the Buddha, the opened hand of brothers Jew-Muslim: when the way is understood to be a path to be walked, instead of a creed to affirm and soon abort, everything changes... Those persons consumed by the lust for children, privilege, profits, domination, and power, will always glad-hand one another: they will likewise seduce crowds into the acceptance of violence, injustice, racism, sexism, and hate as a means to divide the many for their advantage... and they will call it religion... But it is not yet too late! What is one to do? Question everything. Insist upon personal experience. Question your own mind. Insist upon personal integrity. Practice opening your heart. Stretch the limits to your sacred imagination. Consider alternatives. Build intentional community. Practice opening your hands in nonviolence, building justice, and gender equality. Realize it isn't about you: it is all of us together: or it is for none of us. Re-vitalizing soil, water, and air is real religion. Safety, food, health, shelter, and opportunities for an expanding happiness is the right of every human, everywhere: this, too, is real religion. All of this is Way... so, get your feet to moving, dance along the path, pull others along with you, walking into this truth will gift everyone with life... "Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead." -- St. John Chrysostom "God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else." -- St. Hildegard "Jesus himself came close and walked with them..." -- St. Luke   A Theology of "BOO!"
Let's start with this: "Angel Dust" is slang for phencyclidine, or PCP. It is an illegal psychedelic drug that induces hallucinations and produces a feeling of detachment from oneself and one's surroundings. It is also addictive and oftentimes a source of very significant harmful side effects... But, did you know that there is another kind of angel dust? Having had worked on the streets for thirty years, I am well aware (sadly so, though) of drugs and the harm that they cause (although, to be completely honest, drugs are not the real problem: rather, it is the harm that we inflict upon our children... broken hearts oftentimes lead to broken lives...). But here's the thing, and you can take it to the bank as absolute truth: when Jesus said whatsoever that you do to the least among you, you do to me: he was telling us -- each one of us -- the most unimaginable truth possible: we can't go to church, temple, or mosque on one particular day, and then cause harm the next day. Period. You can't worship on Sunday and vote to reduce food stamps on Tuesday. You can't claim the Holy at any one moment, and then screw over every person who has less privilege or power than you in another... Now, the real angel dust is the miracle of "BOO!" ... This is the Way of the Divine Beloved. And why shouldn't it be? Here are a few examples from my life... oh, wait, there are a few things that do come first... Like, if you want to kiss a girl, there has to be a girl wanting your kiss. It's the same way with the Divine Beloved: lips are ready and waiting, but you've got to be hungry for those lips! Hunger shows itself by action: you've got to make an effort to genuinely want those lips: effort shows itself by daily practice: increasing your availability through an activated compassion, through contemplation and prayer, through works of mercy, through sacred conversation and reading, through lifestyle changes: living simply, cultivating soil, keeping a journal, writing poetry, sending letters to friends and roses to lovers, and perhaps most importantly, longing for the Beloved in your own heart... Making your day sacred is like sending an invitation to the Divine to touch you and to radicalize your life... Okay. So now some "BOO!" examples from my own story... I suppose I should start with my first reception of "BOO!" For a few years I had been reading The Catholic Worker and I desperately wanted to join a CW Community, but I couldn't because of my very painful shyness... My mother was dying of cancer. She was home, in her bed, and in a coma. My father and sisters would come and go out of her room. I just sat. Really, just stunned to be with someone in the near-process of dying. Then, a tear escaped one of her eyes. I touched it. I scooped it up and blessed myself with her loving holy water. A few minutes later, she died. And there was that "BOO!" My shyness didn't just evaporate (I still lug it around), but suddenly courage showed up: I didn't join a Catholic Worker, I started one! right there in the Chinatown of my home town. But here's the thing about BOO! Theology, you can only want it by not wanting it. In other words, every BOO! is a radical gift: our job is simply to ready ourselves by becoming available... Here's another one: by the time of this BOO!, I had become "we": we had run out of money. We had no food in our refrigerator. I was sorely depressed. I was no one who expected anything, but I was available: the first volunteer of the day showed up. Someone asked if we could say a prayer. We gathered in a small circle. Five of us. Kevin read that crazy story of Jesus taking five loaves of bread and two fish. You know, the one in which that Magic Man supposedly fed thousands of people, right? Loaves and Fishes, what a load of hoo-ey... After the reading, we simply held hands and together said the prayer that Jesus taught his friends. That was it and that was all. About ten minutes after concluding our availability prayer, there was a knock at our door. We answered, a guy pointed to the semi-truck now parked in front of our house: would we like some bread? Holy shit! We were told that we would have to unload it ourselves, but we could take however much that we wanted... so we did. Bread was stuffed everywhere in our house! As we finished with unloading the truck, I walked from the front door into our kitchen. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, the phone rang... I turned to Bob, the volunteer who was seated next to our stove, and said, God I hope that isn't a donation of more bread! It wasn't. It was a call from a fisherman in Moss Landing wanting to know if we would like four hundred pounds of fish on ice? BOO! How was that possible? I say it was angel dust at work, creating the space for BOO! So, here's the thing. There is oh so much more to life, the universe, and everything than what our "logical" or "conditioned" brains and hearts have the courage to imagine! Here's another thing: I've got more! If you think that story was bizarre and most likely a complete fabrication you would be wrong! The real radical truth is this: there is a Divine Reality that is, as it were, pregnant within the very fabric of the Universe. How is this possible? Does it matter as to how? It is. We are. We forget. We remember. (the core Kriya teaching of Rev. Ellen Grace O'Brian)... It seems to me that our one task in life is to live in such a way that we increasingly become available... availability leads to longing... and longing leads to the proximity of BOO!  "The Kingdom of God is a dwelling place for men. What else can it signify but a condition in which human existence is not only tolerable but joyful -- because it is open to infinity..." -- Morris West (from The Clowns of God)
A "Facebook Friend" recently had a post in which he pointed out (what I call an evident weirdness) that the ancient Christian Creeds (specifically, the Apostles and the Nicene) are each statements of belief in Jesus. All of the "core stuff" is there: his unity with the Father, his incarnation, the Holy Spirit, his death and resurrection. But, as my friend pointed out, the creeds completely skip over his teachings. In my words, the Creeds are an affirmation of belief in Jesus, minus anything that would give credence to anything of which he spoke... It is as if the early Church leaders had deliberately rejected his rEvolutionary ideas... In other words, Christianity became a religion: complete with a system of domination dependent upon observant followers who would be taught to focus on their sinfulness and thereby be easy to manipulate: promising an afterlife of either heaven or hell only confirmed the necessity of belief in Jesus... The of part became a thing exclusive to saints: something only meant to edify and inspire us, very seldom to emulate (usually only by other saints), and virtually never to advocate as a Way of Life, let alone as a means for social transformation and organization... Isn't this the great failure of Christianity? [And parenthetically, I must add, isn't this similarly true for every religion?] Nowadays, it is frequently observed that conservative Christians want the Ten Commandments prominently displayed in their homes, offices, and in public spaces -- I guess to counteract the influence of secular culture. But even though I "religiously" pour over a variety of news sources, I can't seem to recall any story of a conservative Christian wanting the Beatitudes of Jesus displayed in any public square -- and how many homes have them in a frame on a wall? Conservatives are all about right belief and faith in Jesus... Being in love with Jesus -- and saved by him -- is the ticket... Is your ticket stamped? On the other hand, there are the words of Jesus. Perhaps one could look about the world and justly conclude that it is a pretty wild place, perhaps even a wilderness of sorts, in which case the Kingdom (Queendom) of God could be described as a Garden-in-the-Midst-of-the-Wild... The words of Jesus clearly indicate his fascination with the idea of this Kingdom of God, like a Garden, already in our midst. And all of his words indicate the means for cultivating the soil of this Garden that it might feed all of us: that it might become our loving home: and that it might seduce the wild into coming inside... Think about it: love your neighbor as yourself, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, live simply that others might simply live, be merciful, be poor in spirit (certainly not rich), be just in all your dealings, be extravagant with sharing, renounce violence, pass no judgment, and acknowledge that prostitutes and sinners are always welcomed into the Garden! This is being "of" Jesus! It is not the flag on the lapel or the Cross on the wall that matters: rather, it is by opening our hearts and our hands to everyone, to everything, and out into infinity that the "soil of the Garden" is renewed, and that the Christ will join us for supper... After all, as Morris West points out, human existence is not meant to be merely, or at best, tolerable. It is meant, exactly, for joy...  I remember reading somewhere in one of Thomas Merton's essays of how he thought it plainly silly to talk of a "spiritual life"... I also seem to recall him further writing that all of life itself is spiritual, so to proclaim something / anything as "spiritual" would be an implication that other things were not "spiritual"... Now, of course, Merton was not referring to obvious idiocies as habitual lying or deliberate deceit, nor to the even more obvious systems of violence, greed, racism, oppression, sexism, and injustice that pervades nearly every aspect of every world culture... Rather, I think that he was referencing, in his own sardonic style, the ease with which we tend to disassemble our lives into parts and differences... like "this for God" and "this for me"!
This penchant for disassembling, along with the establishment of hierarchies of values and the relative importance of "this" or of "that", creates the illusion of the spiritual life. And this disassembling leaks out into every aspect of our lives: hasn't someone, at least once, asked you, "How's your sex life?" Or, "What do you do for a living?" Or, "What are your career goals?" And the father-in-law-to-be wondering if you'll shave your beard or cut your hair before the wedding? And then, of course (supremely), there is the Question of God! It's at about this point that the wisdom of atheism begins to appear truly wise. I mean, we are expected to funnel an unlimited amount of "bullshit" down our throats in order to simply cope with the details of our meaningless lives! And here we are also expected to know the inner life of an invisible "God" and take on the burden of refusing to doubt when we can look around and see a dying planet, starving kids, greedy bastards, and wanna-be Kings acting as if they are the "Gods"... If it is finally clear that "they" want you to be stupid, isn't it then time for the great refusal: there is no God, there is no meaning, just as there is no purpose... On the other hand, wisdom is the intentional cultivation of both gratitude and wonder. To have become, relatively speaking, a living, breathing, conscious being in a nearly 14 billion year old Universe is a pretty remarkable thing: doesn't this "remarkable thing" call forth the gall of wonder? And, if even for just the briefest of moments, to have been touched (perhaps even loved) by another human being is also remarkable: and doesn't this "remarkable thing" call forth the gall of gratitude? The bold wow! of wonder and gratitude are the reason why song and poetry were invented: why the kiss is so foundational to culture and civilization: why the ancient shaman danced: why the stunning fact of fertility was worshipped: and why the mystery of seeds rooted the ancient (and still current) need for most humans to pause in the very midst of living? Delving deeper, a philosophical practice of "Not This, Not That" can begin to illuminate the vast field of metaphysics and human consciousness. Ancient sages of India used this core insight as means to develop the cosmic philosophy of their later writings collected in what came to be known as The Upanishads: writings that were once talked about in forest "academies", much like the academies of Socrates or of Pythagorus in ancient Greece. What is life about? What does death mean? What is a human being? Is there a Cosmic Consciousness? How do I live my life? And this is what I want to propose to you: that you take up, sort of like a meditation mantra (holy word), two specific words, related to "Not This, Not That", and they are Not Two... Your life is "Not Two": spiritual and ordinary. Every moment of life is always "Only One": or as Rumi the poet wrote, "How you make love is how God will be with you.!" The easy divisions of the politicians are a flimflam upon which to build a life: so is that of any religionist who dabbles in a "spiritual life": for religion, or spirituality, is every moment, everything that you do. There is no "this and that". Seriously, your bed is as much an altar as anything in a temple: your kitchen, dining gathering, garden, work, recreation, tattoo, hair, hands, everything is your spiritual life... which is the only life that you have: pausing in the midst of living, is the sabbath of the heart, and then moving forward with the conviction of "Only One" and the opportunity of loving...  "You've given us everything except tomorrow!"
The Beats were not the first and the Hippies were not the second, but certainly it is increasingly common for young people (being young is not confined to age), to experience the uncomfortable, and too often tragic, sense of the proclamation "You've given us everything except tomorrow!" For whatever reason, probably associated with the coronavirus and a worldwide collapsing of the economy, I pulled an old book off the shelf entitled The Clowns of God by Morris West. "Everything except tomorrow" is on page forty-two, exclaimed by a young woman who has a lover but dreads the potential of social catastrophe to destroy her life and dreams, really only as it has begun... Isn't this the angry / sad declaration that a very many people (young and old alike) feel today? We have leaders incapable of leading. And we have many forms of global catastrophe lurking just over our shoulders... While I have never been a prophet of doom, and more so not of gloom, I do have a great fear for my children and all the children whom I know: leaders incapable of leading is certainly our most pressing challenge! Between "leaders" who spin yarns of fabricated truths and imagined glories, to "leaders" whose primary interest is in the never-ending pursuit of privilege and profit, what is the citizen of any country to do? How do we cultivate possibilities in the midst of this utterly vapid mindlessness? Not a few rush head-long into a fundamentalism of one sort or another and willingly surrender their thinking minds to a system of belief simply to get out of their heads and out of the head-lights of the vehicle of tomorrow crashing towards them: salvation becomes their only hope (and a most useful weapon to demonize any / every convenient other who presents a challenge to their now politicized sensibilities and cult)... Lonely crowds of others will dull their minds with drugs, fantasy, fringe-haters (like Neo-Nazis), or a willful and cultivated ignorance... and violence, racism, sexism, and hate become an international sport... On the other hand, there are still others like those who gathered around the Buddha or the Mystic-Poet of Nazareth, Jesus... like the American Transcendentalists (Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau from among others)... like the Suffragette Movement, like the Revolution of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Dorothy Day, Daniel Berrigan, the Hippies, the Green Movement, Vandana Shiva, feminist theologians, radical partnership thinkers, Findhorn, Creation Spirituality groups, the Catholic Worker Movement, and, of course, many more who have proven, and still prove, that resistance is not futile! Needing to bring this blog page to a rapid close, I need to move into the point of it all: the fundamental way in which all social change occurs... When we were preparing to open our "Dorothy Day House of Peace" for homeless women, men, and family units, we identified our core human needs / desires as: Safety, Health, Happiness, and Being Wanted. So, as an exercise, get a piece of paper and draw a large circle; write these Four Core Needs as the four directions; then, identify for yourself those things that would / do / or potentially will satisfy your ability for accessing the Core Need... Next, dedicate some time to reflecting about what you have written down. Likely as not, you will write down what, years and years ago, would have been identified as your tribe... or as intentional community... more recently, as the partnership model of human relations... As it was for the Poet of Nazareth (read the Beatitudes and recognize the connections they propose), so it could be in the tomorrow we have not been promised... Finally, and most importantly, it is essential to remember the necessity of self-transformation through a mystic surrender in the spiritual insight of St. Hildegard: God hugs you from the inside-out... or that of Simone Weil, "We were created by Love, for Love, to become Love"... which is the mystical way of reminding us of the sacrament of our daily moments: it is precisely by loving that we may learn and become Love... We are meant to do more than to survive... |
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
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