Wangari Maathai
That this African woman, Wangari Maathai, was an environmentalist and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize likely means little to most folks -- and even less to those (like the fossil fuel industry) who prioritize "making a buck" over every other consideration... Wangari began what became known as the Green Belt Movement: an environmental cause taken up by women to plant millions of trees in Africa (and the world) as a saving grace for Planet Earth: she wrote, "The tree is just a symbol for what happens to the environment. The act of planting one is a symbol of revitalizing the community. Tree-planting is only the entry point into the wider debate about the environment. Everyone should plant a tree." Wangari's husband divorced her, and in doing so, noted that she was too hard to control!
Damn right! Too hard to control should become the clarion call of every young girl! (And the rest of us!)
Just like Wangari and just like Mother Mary! Yeah, I know, I write too often about spirituality (but then again, this is about building your sacred life, is it not?). But there is a point that I want to make: I think it a silly spirituality that would have our saints and heroes dumbed-down into caricatures of supposedly holy, human beings (complete with plastic holy cards)... Shams of Tabriz insisted that Rumi go purchase a jug of wine in the public market place for all to see: simply because the caricature of "saint" was a stumbling block to his truly becoming a saint... like Mary...
The Wild-Woman of the Magnificat no doubt (in my mind) could play guitar like Ani Difranco, had legs like Dua Lipa, (but most importantly) walked with the swagger of Aretha Franklin! Religion is for the lazy: building your sacred life takes passion, swagger, and background music that bursts at the seams of your status-quo consciousness... Too hard to control is more than a black t-shirt saying: it's the holy shit that hits the fan when the Holy One gets too rambunctious and begins to insist on justice and liberation as the Keys to your next steps... just like Wangari... and just like Mother Mary...
There is not a particle of matter in the universe, not a grain of sand, a leaf, a flower, not a single animal or human being, which has not its eternal being in that One, and which is not known in the unitive vision of the One... This quotation is from The Marriage of East and West by Fr. Bede Griffiths... Here's another quote, from the same book, by Fr. Bede: Consciousness can grow beyond the boundaries of time and space, and enter into transcendent consciousness, a consciousness transcending the limits of matter and mind, of the categories of sense and reason, and become aware of the universal consciousness which embraces the whole creation...
Wangari, Mother Mary, and Fr. Bede! They all come together with (in) our every effort to live seamlessly the sacred: home, work, play, sex, leisure, community organizing, public service, meditation, walking the dog (s), washing the dishes, etc. etc. The Trinity of the Hindu, Sat (Being), Chid (Consciousness), and Ananda (Bliss), is the Undivided Totality within our Every Moment: it's all Sacred: it's all Good: It's all an Opened Door to Wonder and Beauty... Satchidananda... Say it... And meditate: "So Hum"... I am That...
That this African woman, Wangari Maathai, was an environmentalist and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize likely means little to most folks -- and even less to those (like the fossil fuel industry) who prioritize "making a buck" over every other consideration... Wangari began what became known as the Green Belt Movement: an environmental cause taken up by women to plant millions of trees in Africa (and the world) as a saving grace for Planet Earth: she wrote, "The tree is just a symbol for what happens to the environment. The act of planting one is a symbol of revitalizing the community. Tree-planting is only the entry point into the wider debate about the environment. Everyone should plant a tree." Wangari's husband divorced her, and in doing so, noted that she was too hard to control!
Damn right! Too hard to control should become the clarion call of every young girl! (And the rest of us!)
Just like Wangari and just like Mother Mary! Yeah, I know, I write too often about spirituality (but then again, this is about building your sacred life, is it not?). But there is a point that I want to make: I think it a silly spirituality that would have our saints and heroes dumbed-down into caricatures of supposedly holy, human beings (complete with plastic holy cards)... Shams of Tabriz insisted that Rumi go purchase a jug of wine in the public market place for all to see: simply because the caricature of "saint" was a stumbling block to his truly becoming a saint... like Mary...
The Wild-Woman of the Magnificat no doubt (in my mind) could play guitar like Ani Difranco, had legs like Dua Lipa, (but most importantly) walked with the swagger of Aretha Franklin! Religion is for the lazy: building your sacred life takes passion, swagger, and background music that bursts at the seams of your status-quo consciousness... Too hard to control is more than a black t-shirt saying: it's the holy shit that hits the fan when the Holy One gets too rambunctious and begins to insist on justice and liberation as the Keys to your next steps... just like Wangari... and just like Mother Mary...
There is not a particle of matter in the universe, not a grain of sand, a leaf, a flower, not a single animal or human being, which has not its eternal being in that One, and which is not known in the unitive vision of the One... This quotation is from The Marriage of East and West by Fr. Bede Griffiths... Here's another quote, from the same book, by Fr. Bede: Consciousness can grow beyond the boundaries of time and space, and enter into transcendent consciousness, a consciousness transcending the limits of matter and mind, of the categories of sense and reason, and become aware of the universal consciousness which embraces the whole creation...
Wangari, Mother Mary, and Fr. Bede! They all come together with (in) our every effort to live seamlessly the sacred: home, work, play, sex, leisure, community organizing, public service, meditation, walking the dog (s), washing the dishes, etc. etc. The Trinity of the Hindu, Sat (Being), Chid (Consciousness), and Ananda (Bliss), is the Undivided Totality within our Every Moment: it's all Sacred: it's all Good: It's all an Opened Door to Wonder and Beauty... Satchidananda... Say it... And meditate: "So Hum"... I am That...
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