Spiritual Intimacy
It has been a long time in the writing, slashing, and re-writing... a time in which "my book" began as a collection of Chinatown and Soup Kitchen stories, evolved into a rumination on the "why" of thirty years working with and loving the homeless... only to discover that I could not ruminate on "why" without wrestling with the mystery of a living-dying-rebirthing of "spiritual intimacy" with the Divine Beloved...
Any sort of mystic re-birthing comes with a price tag: the path of ego annihilation: not a laughing matter! John of the Cross called this process "Dark Night of the Soul". He wrote a poem about it, and then tried to explain what he meant in his book so as not to get thrown into the dungeon again. He didn't finish that particular book, but he did write more poetry (which also required more explanations)... Already well into that "dying" process, my working title for the book was "The Burn of Love's Hand"... As I continued my rumination, I realized that I also had to delve into the life of the "Ragged-Man", St. Francis of Assisi, and he of course, that then required that I join him in wrestling with living in "spiritual intimacy" with the Divine Beloved...
But more! For nearly thirty years my greatest joy was found in my conversations with the many High School and College youth who came on "Immersion Experiences" to work with us. These evening conversations were a steady challenge to faith and the choice to exercise that faith in compassion and justice. Not a little thing! So my book also became a "Field Guide for the Student Mystic-Activist"... and so I wrote / slashed / and re-wrote... Eventually it grew to around 336 pages on my laptop... then I cut it down to 85 pages, and essentially started over... By this time the working title had changed to become "The Ragged-Man's Gospel". I liked it. I thought that I had finished...
I began, then, to write my introduction, and true to form, all hell just had to break loose! I had not gone deep enough! I had not dared my lack of faith! I had not clearly articulated the love affair that is essential to the life of the mystic-activist! Without this love -- without a consciousness that dares to expand beyond its limits -- it's simply silly to think there is a reason for "faith", let alone for the struggles that go hand-in-hand with a House of Hospitality, Soup Kitchen, community organizing, peace and justice work, and the foundational practices of contemplative prayer... Re-writing and trying to get closer, and closer still, to the heart of it all... And then I had a dream... I woke up befuddled but knowing that I had been quite clearly "told" that the title of my book was supposed to be "Resplendent In Rags"...
Finally, finally!, I went back to the beginning and remembered my joy in conversations with young people. And "Resplendent In Rags" was completed with the addition of numerous "conversation" points throughout the text... But here's the point of this rambling about my book: don't buy this book! Don't buy this book if you are content with the way things are with your heart and mind! Leave it alone! Don't buy this book if Jesus is your buddy! Turn and run the other way! Don't buy this book if you don't give a rat's ass about this Planet, if you are troubled by Black Lives Matter, if you sort of like the separation of families on the border, and if you think women are not equal to men (hell, if you have not yet recognized that women are superior to men)! Burn this book!
On the other hand, if your heart hungers for intimacy with the Divine Beloved, this book was written for you! If you dream of a life with deep meaning and purpose beyond buying and selling, this book was written for you! If you find yourself yearning for companionship in your life and mystic-awakening, this book was written for you! If the Jesus of big-shot religion is increasingly felt to be fake or shallow to you, this book was written for you! This is the Way it is: with every breath, we breathe in the Sacred Breath, the Radical Wind of the Divine Consciousness: Life is meant to be lived as a continual re-birthing of the Divine Beloved in us and through us: we are everyday invited to practice a conscious cultivation of spiritual intimacy -- this is the Way that Jesus (Yeshua bar Alaha) lived and taught: this is the charism gifted us through the Ragged-Man, Francis of Assisi, through Clare of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Rumi, Hafiz, Lal Ded, Mirabai, Black Elk, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Paramahansa Yogananda, Thomas Merton, and, of course, countless others...
What are the core elements of "how" one practices the "Conscious Cultivation of Spiritual Intimacy"? 1) Contemplative Adoration; 2) Activated Compassion; 3) Social and Environmental Justice; 4) Gender Equality; and, 5) Happy Harmlessness... Exploring these core elements, along with more "remembrances" of the Chinatown streets, mind-bending midrash, and poetry is already finding its way from head, through heart, and onto paper (or laptop) in Book Two of Resplendent In Rags (a few pages of which are previewed in Book One)... Call 1-715-531-3515 to order!
Any sort of mystic re-birthing comes with a price tag: the path of ego annihilation: not a laughing matter! John of the Cross called this process "Dark Night of the Soul". He wrote a poem about it, and then tried to explain what he meant in his book so as not to get thrown into the dungeon again. He didn't finish that particular book, but he did write more poetry (which also required more explanations)... Already well into that "dying" process, my working title for the book was "The Burn of Love's Hand"... As I continued my rumination, I realized that I also had to delve into the life of the "Ragged-Man", St. Francis of Assisi, and he of course, that then required that I join him in wrestling with living in "spiritual intimacy" with the Divine Beloved...
But more! For nearly thirty years my greatest joy was found in my conversations with the many High School and College youth who came on "Immersion Experiences" to work with us. These evening conversations were a steady challenge to faith and the choice to exercise that faith in compassion and justice. Not a little thing! So my book also became a "Field Guide for the Student Mystic-Activist"... and so I wrote / slashed / and re-wrote... Eventually it grew to around 336 pages on my laptop... then I cut it down to 85 pages, and essentially started over... By this time the working title had changed to become "The Ragged-Man's Gospel". I liked it. I thought that I had finished...
I began, then, to write my introduction, and true to form, all hell just had to break loose! I had not gone deep enough! I had not dared my lack of faith! I had not clearly articulated the love affair that is essential to the life of the mystic-activist! Without this love -- without a consciousness that dares to expand beyond its limits -- it's simply silly to think there is a reason for "faith", let alone for the struggles that go hand-in-hand with a House of Hospitality, Soup Kitchen, community organizing, peace and justice work, and the foundational practices of contemplative prayer... Re-writing and trying to get closer, and closer still, to the heart of it all... And then I had a dream... I woke up befuddled but knowing that I had been quite clearly "told" that the title of my book was supposed to be "Resplendent In Rags"...
Finally, finally!, I went back to the beginning and remembered my joy in conversations with young people. And "Resplendent In Rags" was completed with the addition of numerous "conversation" points throughout the text... But here's the point of this rambling about my book: don't buy this book! Don't buy this book if you are content with the way things are with your heart and mind! Leave it alone! Don't buy this book if Jesus is your buddy! Turn and run the other way! Don't buy this book if you don't give a rat's ass about this Planet, if you are troubled by Black Lives Matter, if you sort of like the separation of families on the border, and if you think women are not equal to men (hell, if you have not yet recognized that women are superior to men)! Burn this book!
On the other hand, if your heart hungers for intimacy with the Divine Beloved, this book was written for you! If you dream of a life with deep meaning and purpose beyond buying and selling, this book was written for you! If you find yourself yearning for companionship in your life and mystic-awakening, this book was written for you! If the Jesus of big-shot religion is increasingly felt to be fake or shallow to you, this book was written for you! This is the Way it is: with every breath, we breathe in the Sacred Breath, the Radical Wind of the Divine Consciousness: Life is meant to be lived as a continual re-birthing of the Divine Beloved in us and through us: we are everyday invited to practice a conscious cultivation of spiritual intimacy -- this is the Way that Jesus (Yeshua bar Alaha) lived and taught: this is the charism gifted us through the Ragged-Man, Francis of Assisi, through Clare of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Rumi, Hafiz, Lal Ded, Mirabai, Black Elk, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Paramahansa Yogananda, Thomas Merton, and, of course, countless others...
What are the core elements of "how" one practices the "Conscious Cultivation of Spiritual Intimacy"? 1) Contemplative Adoration; 2) Activated Compassion; 3) Social and Environmental Justice; 4) Gender Equality; and, 5) Happy Harmlessness... Exploring these core elements, along with more "remembrances" of the Chinatown streets, mind-bending midrash, and poetry is already finding its way from head, through heart, and onto paper (or laptop) in Book Two of Resplendent In Rags (a few pages of which are previewed in Book One)... Call 1-715-531-3515 to order!