What Are You Good For?
"... Every single human soul has more meaning and value than the whole of history with its empires, its wars and revolutions, its blossoming and fading civilizations." -- Nicholas Berdyaev
"I've traded my soul for the universe. Don't speak. The jeweler who thought he was buying gold to work with now owns the mine!" -- Rumi
Out on the cross-roads of my life, I've had the pleasure of many beautiful conversations with folks... with the homeless, with addicts, with servers and the many being served, with students (yeah students!), and with "Immersion Group" leaders (yeah Roger Hassett!) from among many great others... And then, too, I've received much enjoyment from ruminating with timeless characters like the Ragged-Man of Assisi, Thomas Merton, Lalla, Hafiz, and Rumi, again from among many others... Each one of my heart-companions have journeyed with me through the "thick and thin" of both life and service... Even now that I'm living in the "bluff country" of Iowa, they all keep on "bluffing" their way into my mind, partners as it were, in my very breath...
With them all in mind, I was remembering years ago being challenged to define what I had proposed as the "motto" of our intentional community: Imagine Paradise, Practice Beauty. It came to me then that the foundational principle of our community was a short series of questions -- with very specific "correct" answers: "Who is special?" With the correct answer being, "I am special!" This answer is the root beginning of all of our possibilities, both human and divine... this is where dreams ripen and imagination flourishes...
Like water released from a dam, the next three foundational principles then became obvious: "Who does the Holy One love?" "Me!" "Who do you love?" "Me!" "And who else do you love?" "You!" The deep interior realization of each of these principles is all the revolution this precious blue Planet needs! Do you see? Everyone and everything is connected: not one of us can rise without lifting others... and by the same token, none of us falls (or is oppressed by others) without everyone else falling as well... for a Christian, this is the radical truth of the Mystical Body of Christ: Yeshua the Beloved dies, and rises from the dead, in each of us individually -- but also in all of us collectively as: "I was hungry, and you fed me... Love your enemies... Blessed are the poor... Whatsoever you do to the very least of my brethren you do to me"... We are forever intimately connected in the Heart of the Beloved! This mystic connection is the reason for organizing for Justice, for building Peace, standing for Equality, and for Practicing Beauty and Kindness (everywhere and always)!
Where, then, are these foundational questions and answers leading us? By way of getting to that particular answer, I wonder if you've ever heard someone say, "That good-for-nothing so-and-so"? Has this ever been said of you? (I know that it has been said of me many times!) Sometimes life itself has a way of convincing us that we are worthless, that we are ugly, that we are better off forgotten, or worse, dead. We are then prime candidates for suicide, for abuse or abusing, for all sorts of addictions, for gangs and violence, and for all of the other ways, both legal and illegal, that we use to numb or destroy our lives and one another.
So, how might you answer, "What are you good for?" Do we define ourselves by our capacities for "success", by our work, by our relationships, by our family histories, by our "connections", or by our dreams yet unfulfilled" Seriously, "What are you good for?" Do you want to know the only correct answer? With absolute certainty, I can say this is true: We are all, each and every one of us, good for Love! "We were created by Love, for Love, to become Love." (Simone Weil) This is it! This is where all of the conversations, ruminations, and journeys of my life have been leading: My life has been lived, with all of its blessings and pains, to be able to write to you right now: You are good for Love!
Now if you can take this principle and make it the core value of your life, of your religion, of your vocation and career, of your economics, of your politics and of your passions, all of our lives will be fulfilled in an expanding circle of radiance! Every human being, and this entire precious blue Planet, exists for radiance! And we, WE, are either the agents of this gospel rEvolution: or NOT. No other choice you will ever make is more important than this one... this is the hinge-point of history: what do you say? Where will you stand?
"... Every single human soul has more meaning and value than the whole of history with its empires, its wars and revolutions, its blossoming and fading civilizations." -- Nicholas Berdyaev
"I've traded my soul for the universe. Don't speak. The jeweler who thought he was buying gold to work with now owns the mine!" -- Rumi
Out on the cross-roads of my life, I've had the pleasure of many beautiful conversations with folks... with the homeless, with addicts, with servers and the many being served, with students (yeah students!), and with "Immersion Group" leaders (yeah Roger Hassett!) from among many great others... And then, too, I've received much enjoyment from ruminating with timeless characters like the Ragged-Man of Assisi, Thomas Merton, Lalla, Hafiz, and Rumi, again from among many others... Each one of my heart-companions have journeyed with me through the "thick and thin" of both life and service... Even now that I'm living in the "bluff country" of Iowa, they all keep on "bluffing" their way into my mind, partners as it were, in my very breath...
With them all in mind, I was remembering years ago being challenged to define what I had proposed as the "motto" of our intentional community: Imagine Paradise, Practice Beauty. It came to me then that the foundational principle of our community was a short series of questions -- with very specific "correct" answers: "Who is special?" With the correct answer being, "I am special!" This answer is the root beginning of all of our possibilities, both human and divine... this is where dreams ripen and imagination flourishes...
Like water released from a dam, the next three foundational principles then became obvious: "Who does the Holy One love?" "Me!" "Who do you love?" "Me!" "And who else do you love?" "You!" The deep interior realization of each of these principles is all the revolution this precious blue Planet needs! Do you see? Everyone and everything is connected: not one of us can rise without lifting others... and by the same token, none of us falls (or is oppressed by others) without everyone else falling as well... for a Christian, this is the radical truth of the Mystical Body of Christ: Yeshua the Beloved dies, and rises from the dead, in each of us individually -- but also in all of us collectively as: "I was hungry, and you fed me... Love your enemies... Blessed are the poor... Whatsoever you do to the very least of my brethren you do to me"... We are forever intimately connected in the Heart of the Beloved! This mystic connection is the reason for organizing for Justice, for building Peace, standing for Equality, and for Practicing Beauty and Kindness (everywhere and always)!
Where, then, are these foundational questions and answers leading us? By way of getting to that particular answer, I wonder if you've ever heard someone say, "That good-for-nothing so-and-so"? Has this ever been said of you? (I know that it has been said of me many times!) Sometimes life itself has a way of convincing us that we are worthless, that we are ugly, that we are better off forgotten, or worse, dead. We are then prime candidates for suicide, for abuse or abusing, for all sorts of addictions, for gangs and violence, and for all of the other ways, both legal and illegal, that we use to numb or destroy our lives and one another.
So, how might you answer, "What are you good for?" Do we define ourselves by our capacities for "success", by our work, by our relationships, by our family histories, by our "connections", or by our dreams yet unfulfilled" Seriously, "What are you good for?" Do you want to know the only correct answer? With absolute certainty, I can say this is true: We are all, each and every one of us, good for Love! "We were created by Love, for Love, to become Love." (Simone Weil) This is it! This is where all of the conversations, ruminations, and journeys of my life have been leading: My life has been lived, with all of its blessings and pains, to be able to write to you right now: You are good for Love!
Now if you can take this principle and make it the core value of your life, of your religion, of your vocation and career, of your economics, of your politics and of your passions, all of our lives will be fulfilled in an expanding circle of radiance! Every human being, and this entire precious blue Planet, exists for radiance! And we, WE, are either the agents of this gospel rEvolution: or NOT. No other choice you will ever make is more important than this one... this is the hinge-point of history: what do you say? Where will you stand?