Still Free

[E]verything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ~Viktor Frankl, who lived to write about their experiences in concentration camps

The worst that could happen to us is that we have to die, and since that is already our unalterable fate, we are free. ~Carlos Castaneda

What an image to end the old year and start the new one: we are free by design and fate, and we can do nothing to negate this most essential fact and most precious gift of our humanness. Even our rejection of the fact and gift of our freedom does not change the fact or gift. Freedom still is, unalterable from the beginning – and always new. ~jpc

At the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, you and I are still free, and always will be. Namaste.

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/O. Krause (Steward Observatory) image, 2005; we keep on discovering our universe

Power Is at Hand

[Gandhi movie, toward the end, during the Calcutta fast]

Hindu man: “I’m going to Hell! I killed a child! I smashed his head against a wall.”
Gandhi: “Why?”
Hindu man: “They killed my son! The Muslims killed my son!” [indicates boy's height]
Gandhi: “I know a way out of Hell. Find a small child [indicates same height], a little boy whose parents have been killed, and raise him as your own . . . only be sure that he is a Muslim, and that you raise him as one.”

Awe stops the Hindu man’s world. Wild-eyed, he finally nods yes and his life is transformed. All this is occasioned by the mysterious power through a frail little man lying on a cot, near death. Was it a miracle? Depends on how you look at it. The source of that power is universal, always there. Most times the power of spirit comes to us as the possibility to decide . . . but sometimes it does erupt through us into spontaneous compassion. ~jpc

Either way, miraculous power is at hand. Namaste.

Peace Method

Gandhi’s message during his fast in Calcutta, on behalf of all of India and Pakistan: over my dead body will this cultural and religious violence continue. He was a dead man, having decided what he would live and die for. He used awesome power to defy the violence of the masses and made his part of the world stand still, literally.

What is the difference between Gandhi’s power during his fasts and that of the terrorists today who blow themselves up, along with the innocents around them, as many as 3,000 at a time? What is their message? Gandhi abhorred terrorist and military methods. His meaning of “pro-life” dwarfs the word’s usage today. ~jpc

Let us love life enough to bring peace on Earth. Namaste.

Photos: (top) actual Calcutta fast, surrounded by colleagues pleading with him to stop; (right) his "Namaste."

The Covenant of the Universe

[F]inally, a reversal has begun, and the reality and value of the interior subjective numinous aspect of the entire cosmic order is being appreciated.... All our human affairs... have their meaning precisely insofar as they enhance this... subjective intercommunion within the total range of reality. ~Thomas Berry

What will create the new era for our earth community is not so much what technology and science [and academia] will do, but what authentic intercommunion does. Thomas says intercommunion, “the ontological covenant of the universe,” is the new spirit mode indicated for all constituent parts [everything] within our universe.

~jpc, Motivation for the Great Work: Forty Meaty Meditations for the Secular-Religious

Intercommuning with good creation is the natural way. Namaste.

Photo: Thomas at his hermitage, 2002

Be Home

And I believe that you will find, if your practice matures, that Spirit will reach down and bless your every word and deed, and you will be taken quite beyond yourself, and the Divine will blaze with the light of a thousand suns, and glories upon glories will be given unto you, and you will in every way be home. ~Ken Wilber

“If your practice matures” does not finally mean that the blessing of spirit is dependent upon our practice, but it does mean we can shut down in our self-conscious reception of spirit’s power – say “no” unintentionally or intentionally to spirit. Then “the Divine” is not as likely to blaze its glories unto us. But, even then, spirit’s coming is hardly beyond hope. Spirit is always coming, which is the meaning of “the second coming,” else it makes no sense. Spirit is always “comin’ for to carry me home.” In a profound sense, spirit is the “homing device” of creation. ~jpc

Come, holy spirit, and make us at home, here and now, forevermore. Namaste.

Must Not Go Away

These mythical, mystical characters and stories have formed the foundations for empires, kingdoms and wars. They have ignited the passion of lovers and stirred wonder into children’s dreams. They have given hope to the despairing, distraction to the anxious, and have put many a baby to sleep. For the past several hundred years, Western Civ has tried to dismiss myths and mystics as superfluous. . . . But myths and the mystics have not gone away. ~Howard Hanger

What about the movie Big Fish? Even the rational, skeptical son finally gets into it and is saved from his righteous unbelief. The son (who ends up writing the story) says, “In telling the story of my father's life, it's impossible to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth.” His father (Albert Finney) says, “The story of my life” is “unbelievable” and therefore “interesting.” Interesting, like Santa Claus is for little kids. We adults can’t live without myths either, the ones that inspire. ~jpc

We give thanks for the transformative power of myth. Namaste.

We Pray in Jesus' Name

We celebrate the birth of Jesus
with that first community of faith,
made up of diverse worshippers --
wise men, shepherds, and animals --
who journeyed toward a star.

We celebrate the Jesus word
with the followers of Jesus in history,
who have embodied new life,
demonstrated new community,
and have championed grace and peace.

We give thanks the word's in history
and has come to and belongs to all,
because the word rises out of the way life is:
meaning, all is good, the past is approved,
each is accepted, and the future is open.

We celebrate the word's
pronouncement that all creation
is new and going somewhere,
not old and going out of being.
The word fills us with hope.

So, on this holy day,
in this holy place,
with these holy ones,
we give heartfelt thanks
. . . especially in Jesus’ name.

Amen and Namaste.

~jpc, Christmas 2005

Photo: taken at the grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where, many believe, the church was built over the traditional site of the manger of Jesus' birth

Be Born In Us Today

When we let the word in, it makes all the difference in the way we see, feel, and act. It makes all the difference in how we respond to and touch creation, be it the poor, the lonely, the marginalized, the victimized, the dying. . . . If we have done it unto “one of the least of these,” we have lived the word: Christ has entered history and become flesh again, even incarnate in us. . . . What a difference for creation – and us – when we become the birthplace of the word. ~jpc, 1999 Christmas letter

“Be born in us today.” Namaste.

Carving by Jacques Bourgault. Collection: Saint Jean Port Joli parish corporation, Quebec, Canada. Photograph: Musée de la civilisation, Quebec City, Pierre Soulard

New Creation

In Christ . . . the new creation is here (2 Cor.5:17). The message of Christ-mas is that all creation is new as created, like in the beginning. The new is always at hand. New vision and story are birthing: a new understanding of what is, who we are, and what is possible. ~jpc, 1996 Christmas letter

Our global human civilization seems to be tyrannized by the old. We tell ourselves real reality is only what is. Especially through the media that helps broadcast the "bad" story, we say most everything is getting worse. Such a story is the anti-Christmas message, that the new is a mirage, and, even if new possibility appears, it will soon be the slain victim of the Lord of Impossibility. ~jpc

May this life-sucking, sinful story be transformed in us today. Namaste.

"A New Earth Alive"

Tune: “Feelings”

Hidden, hidden yet appearing
Earth is risen into view
Come of age.

Changing, transformed life remaining,
This world’s vision born anew
Now in its time.

See it, oh, oh, believe it, oh, oh, oh, be it,
A new earth alive. . . .

~The Singing of Those Who Care (1980-81)

We would be the new Earth that is and is always coming to be. Namaste.

Earth image: Space Studies Institute

New "JPC" Up Closer

He looks a bit like Ed (Albert Finney) in movie Big Fish. Pretty sure he will have just as awesome an imagination that drives him to just as unbelievable creativity. ~doting grandpa jpc


Joseph Preston, 12/08/05


Namaste, Preston.

Word of the Season: "New"

[I]n the midst of the old creation there is a New Creation, and ... this New Creation is manifest in Jesus who is called the Christ....

Reconciliation, reunion, resurrection – this is the New Creation, the New Being, the New state of things.... The message of Christianity is not Christianity, but a New Reality ... [that] has appeared, it still appears; it is hidden and visible, it is there and it is here. Accept it, enter into it, let it grasp you. ~Tillich (italics added)

“For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Galatians 6:15). The letter of the law is not the new creation: neither a literal nor a liberal interpretation of the scripture counts for anything; neither Christianity nor some other religion counts for anything re to bringing the new creation. The new creation is not under the control of us humans. It is absolutely gracious, which the law, interpretations, religions, and humans are not. ~jpc

We give thanks for new life. What a gospel has been birthed. Namaste.

Christmas Reflections

*smells (turkey)
*sounds (bells)
*cultural trappings (Santa Claus)
*early memories (Christmas morn, asking, “Can I get up now?”)
*youth memories (caroling all over town)
*memories as parent (Jero and his flying angel)
*memories as grandparent (first grandchild's first Christmas)
*pieces of seasonal poetry (“Twas the night…”)
*lines of a carol (“Silent Night, Holy Night…”)
*secular song (“I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”
*what do you look forward to most?
*when do you start getting the spirit?
*what is so awesome about the season?
*why so full of emotion?
*why so full of meaning?
*in a phrase, what is the message of Christmas for you this year?

~jpc, 1996 Christmas letter

Namaste.

Christmas, a Metaphoric Celebration

The structure of the unconscious . . . is that of metaphor . . . the part of language which carries the represen-tation of the relationships and processes which determine the quality of our lives. . . . [T]he typical production of the unconscious is metaphoric: dreams, poems, dances, songs and stories. ~John Grinder

Christmastide seems basically metaphoric, and that may be why it’s so meaningful, so deep. We allow ourselves to indulge in dreams, poems, dances, songs, and stories. ~jpc

We give thanks for our metaphoric celebrations. Namaste.

Photo: Nativity Play at Saint Joseph's Convent of Mercy Primary School, Ireland

What a Snap!

Tell our friends . . . , if you would, that after feeding as many as 4000 meals a day in our BatonRouge shelter (as well as sending out more than 30,000 meals a day to several dozen satellite centers via truck), I came back to Portsmouth [OH] and cooked Thanksgiving Day dinner for a mere 500 community members -- what a snap! ~R.L. Mohl via Judy Lindblad

The Gift Love Brings

Mysterious power gives life,
takes it away, and
loves us in between.

Especially at Christmas it heals
our broken lives with
what we’re longing for.

Acceptance is the gift love brings,
creating a new heart
through its grace event:

In a moment . . . the great aha . . .
I'm transformed, newborn,
snow-pure. Love divine.

~jpc, 1993 Christmas letter

Seems obvious why we give at Christmas. Namaste.

Bow To That Power

The meaning of the Incarnation is not only God’s coming into our realm, but also God’s coming into our hearts. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas, the fact that the power of God dwells with us, that the power of Christ awakens us, that the power of the Spirit comes into our hearts one way or another eternally [giving us more freedom than we will ever want]. ~jpc, The Transparent Event

As we bow to that power we would freely say, “Welcome! Come in!” Namaste.

Photo: Holy Trinity Church, Knaresborough, UK (symbols within symbols -- powerful)

Earth's Crammed with Heaven

. . . Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware. . . . *

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, vii

Christ's birth symbolizes earth’s crammed with heaven, revealing this is the way it is all the time. But most of us don’t see it and therefore don’t take off our shoes and bow down. We would be reminded that divinity is incarnate in the universe, the earth, and even us humans; that history is good because the eternal is born every now.

Verily, we would again be made aware of this good place, this right time, this gracious bounty, so that we pluck and daub and live the good life of celebration. ~jpc

Eat, drink, and be merry, for today we live. Namaste.

*original punctuation altered

There Comes a Yes

After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends.
No was the night. Yes is this present sun. . . .

~Wallace Stevens

This is the season of the yes on which “the future world depends.” Within the dark night emerges the yes of possibility. The truth be known, the yes radiates from the center of the no, and the no can never put it out. ~jpc

There comes the yes, eternally. Namaste.

Photo: "Candle Shadows" by Pamela Auer Roth, compliments of CreatingOnline.com

"Yes"

It could happen anytime, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could, you know. That's why we wake
and look out – no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.

~William Stafford, The Way It Is

Our “yes” is thankful response to creation’s awesome power. Namaste.

Contemporary with Christ at Christmas

We can be contemporary with the Christ only in the way described by the apostle Paul, that is, insofar as the Christ is the Spirit, for the Spirit is present within and beyond the intervening centuries. ~Tillich

Kierkegaard's Training In Christianity, 2004 edition

When I say the "Spirit of the Christ" – or the Christ event, or the spirit event – changed my life, I mean what Kierkegaard meant by being "contemporary with Christ." Spirit is key to any religion or spirituality, for it is transforming power – contemporary and universal – everywhere, now. ~jpc

"O Lord Jesus Christ, would that we also might be contemporary with Thee, see Thee in Thy true form . . . not in the form in which an empty and meaningless tradition . . . has deformed Thee." ~Kierkegaard (above)

We bow to that transforming power that changes creation. Namaste.

Practice Loving

If you were to chart the changing foci of your attention during the course of the day, what would a graph look like? And if, to paraphrase Jesus, “where your attention is, there will your heart be also,” what would your pattern of attention say about you? What priority would love have in the hierarchy of your days? ~Sam Keen, To Love and Be Loved

Ben Hogan hit millions of balls to perfect his golf swing, hundreds daily. What do we do even a few times each day to practice loving, knowing that most of us are not that good at it? What would it take for you and me to keep loving centermost in our daily lives – oh, and during this season? ~jpc

Practice loving this day. Namaste.

How Do We Begin to Love . . .

How do we begin to love in such a way that births peace? 1) Tell someone in your family you love them, someone who would be shocked to hear it. 2) Call or write someone you dislike or despise and ask for their forgiveness, even if you think he or she is to blame. 3) Practice tonglen meditation regularly, breathing in the pain of particular persons, organizations, cities, nations, species, the planet, and then breathing out to them peace, acceptance, strength, and love. 4) Adopt a "leper," someone who at least figuratively has pieces of his or her spirit rotting away.

Christmas is the reality and possibility of love, which births peace.

~jpc, 1994 Christmas letter [drawing: Francis kissing the leper; Holy Cross Sisters]

Namaste.

Joseph Preston Cock (12/8/05) and Family

Son John and grandson Preston (the third "jpc" in the family now); daughter Kelley and grand-daughter Lyndon -- all a credit to the species.For unto us a child is born, another little blessed one. ~jpc

A Christmas Prayer (song)

I pray humanity
would rise and join with me.
And together we'll sing . . .

Joy to the world,
peace for every boy and girl,
hope when life is hard,
light when everything seems dark. . . .

~Nicholas Jonas (and his father) via Betty Pesek, last year

Click to listen to this 12-year-old:
"Joy to the World" (free from BuzzPlant)

Namaste.

Running Out of Time

We are running out of time. From the perspective of the ego, that’s bad news and will give rise to fear. From a higher perspective, the running out of time is exactly what is needed for the new consciousness to come into this world. ~Eckhart Tolle

An authentic understanding of “crisis,” of “emerge-ncy,” of “possibility”: new consciousness grows out of an event that calls us to attention to what’s really happening; then calls for a new response from us; and in the process unites us with the power at the heart of consciousness. This is one way to talk about the new-life event – enlightenment event – that Christmas symbolizes. ~jpc

New consciousness is forever coming into the world. Namaste.

Holy Humor

Transcendence restores humor. Spirit restores humor. Suddenly, smiling returns. Too many representatives of too many movements – even many very good movements, such as feminism, environmentalism, meditation, spiritual studies – seem to lack humor altogether. In other words, they lack lightness, they lack a distance from themselves. ~Ken Wilber

Consider the “birds of the air, lilies of the field” speech by Jesus, ending with “seek ye first the Kingdom.” Knowing I cannot force “the kingdom” helps me to transcend my own limited efforts and those of any movement. I can lean back on the universe in all its wisdom, learned over 14 billion years. I can trust spirit at the heart of evolving creation. Just like a little baby, I can laugh a lot as I experience the mercy of all. ~jpc
The Dalai Lama

We would be at one with the kingdom as we enjoy and serve it. Namaste.

From "Fly Away, Fly Away, Fly Away Home"

Can you see within the darkness
the wonder beyond heaven,
or are you still too body-bound
to look beneath the surface for the light?

~David Dunn, as Terry Wright lay dying


www.raptorview.org

Getting the Energy Back

[T]he word sloth is a narrow translation of acedia, and what acedia meant in medieval understanding according to Thomas Aquinas was a lack of energy to begin new things. It would include cynicism, despair, depression, couch-potatoitis, and so forth.

Zeal, he said, is the opposite of that. Zeal comes from an intense experience of the beauty of things. Rediscovering the beauty of existence, and of our planet, and of our own species – I think this is where we get the energy back. ~Matthew Fox

Behold the beauty to be beheld. Namaste.

Beholds Nothing

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there
and the nothing that is.

~Wallace Stevens, from “The Snow Man,” via Suzanne Morrison

Photo by Brother Stephen Kappes, Marist College

New Ideas

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. ~John Cage

A Mobile Army of Metaphors

What then is truth? A mobile army of metaphors . . . -- in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

When we start warring over whose metaphors are almightiest, we’ve gotten carried away. An authentic metaphor – as opposed to what Nietzsche says later, a metaphor of “illusion” and “lie” – points to truth; for example, Tillich's phrase: "the God who transcends the God of the religions." Nobody has the market on the God. Hopefully, the God of the religions is pointing to the God (bold italics added). ~jpc

May we be open and hang loose. Namaste.

Metaphors: Profoundly True

[M]etaphors can be profoundly true, even though they are not literally true. Metaphor is poetry plus, not factuality minus. That is, metaphor is not less than fact, but more. ~Marcus J. Borg via Karen Bueno

Is spirit a fact, a metaphor, or the truth? What about all three? ~jpc

Namaste.

Note: photo by Shelley James, "Hiding," a winner in 2005 Visions of Science contest (MRI brain scan combined with photographs of hands, face, and front door of house)

Orthodox

You may be as orthodox as the devil and as wicked. ~attributed to John Wesley

More Essential To Life Than Fact

There’s something about us two-legged’s that is deeply attracted to myths and mystics. . . . There’s a big honkin’ hunk of our (supposedly) finite consciousness which yearns for things not bound by time or space. . . . There’s a vital part of our Hoohah which realizes that truth is more essential to life than fact. ~Howard Hanger, Jubilee Community, Asheville, NC

Then we give thanks for our “hoohah.” Namaste.

Which One? Both? Other?

In Harold Bloom's account, Jesus, with his deep connection to the uncanny Yahweh, can seem like the last real Jew, rather than the first Christian.

~Jonathan Rosen, book review of Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine, Harold Bloom, Oct 2005

Theology of the Leap

There is no escape from the sickness unto death; therefore, something must happen. . . . You cannot derive it [actualization] from anything in you; it must be given to you. Here the doctrine of the “leap” appears in Kierkegaard. . . . Anxiety brings man before a decision, for or against actualizing himself. This decision is a leap. [Following, Tillich uses several phrases for the leap, a la Kierkegaard: “leap of faith,” “leap of God,” “leap into the reality of the Christ.”] ~Paul Tillich

For the Old Testament, New Testament, Kierkegaard, and much of 20th century theology, the power for one’s leap of faith comes from outside oneself, therefore, an I-Thou experience. Those from the Eastern traditions talk about the power coming more from inside oneself, an I-I experience, e.g., Wilber. ~jpc

Any way it comes, let it, especially if it fundamentally alters consciousness for compassion. Namaste.

Birthday of Kaz

It's the birthday of Nikos Kazantzakis, born on Crete (1885). He wrote Zorba the Greek (1946), and The Report to Greco (1961), in which he describes himself as a young man arriving at a monastery in the Sinai Desert, and asking the abbot if he can make a retreat in this holy place, where he will be sure to hear the voice of God. The abbot tells him, "All voices can be heard here in the desert. And especially two which are difficult to tell apart: God's and the devil's." ~"The Writer's Almanac" via Diann McCabe

Consciousness, Even More Fundamental

I believe we will never be able to explain consciousness – not within the current superparadigm at least. Eventually science will be forced to adopt a completely different model of reality; one in which consciousness is as fundamental as space, time, and matter – perhaps even more fundamental. ~Peter Russell

Russell is prophesying the paradigm shift of our time, in league with others: Kierkegaard, Teilhard de Chardin, and Wilber, etc. Consciousness is our window onto spirit. ~jpc

We give thanks for the universal gift of consciousness. Namaste.

The Radical Wesley

I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all, that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation. ~John Wesley, Journal, 11 June, 1739

Indeed radical, especially if one means the parish is our earth community. ~jpc

Universal Ethics 101

The fundamental fact of human awareness is this: “I am life that wants to live in the midst of other life that wants to live.” A thinking man feels compelled to approach all life with the same reverence he has for his own. Thus, all life becomes part of his own experience. From such a point of view, “good” means to maintain life, to further life, to bring developing life to its highest value. “Evil” means to destroy life, to hurt life, to keep life from developing. This, then, is the rational, universal, and basic principle of ethics. ~Albert Schweitzer

I am life that wants to live in the midst of other life that wants to live. Namaste.