Ultimate Life Task

Our consciousness depends on this world, as our world depends on our consciousness. To become aware of this relationship and to help bring forth the world to the benefit of all beings is the ultimate life task of humanity. ~Michiel Doorn, The Ecozoic Reader, Vol. 4, No. 3, p. 46

I certainly agree with Michael and would add . . . “our consciousness” as attuned to the depth dimension of “this world” rather than silly-shallow images and communication afloat all around us. ~jpc

Let profound interdependence intensify. Namaste.

image: David Angel's photo "Forever Young" http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidsangle/

Secular-Spiritual Journey

[At a class at UNC:Asheville] I asked the question Can a person be religious and secular? Not an either or, but a both and. The response from several classmates, all retirees, was unanimously NO! . . . I am here to witness not only is it possible to be secular-religious, but it is the only way for Christians and any other formal spiritual path today in the post-modern world. ~Harry Wainwright, from EarthRise reflection, 10/13/07

We are born secular and die secular and have profound experiences in between that could be called religious or spiritual. I agree that our journey is secular-spiritual. ~jpc

Whatever we call it, let us journey profoundly. Namaste.

image http://itsjustablogblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/matt-maguire-photography-2005-2007.html

My Chosen Life

. . . Sit down tonight

And write him about the life you can talk about
With a claim to authority, the life you’ve witnessed,
Which for all you know is the life you’ve chosen.

~Carl Dennis, “The God Who Loves You,” Practical Gods, writersalmanac.publicradio.org, 10/10/07

Big question: Is the life I’m living the life I’ve chosen? ~jpc

O to be living. Namaste.

image: the Sutong Bridge over the Yangtze River, 5/29/07 (REUTERS/China Daily)

Sunday Dialogue LXXVI

Journer: Do all suffer?

Nez: My student* said, “We suffer if we don’t get what we want and we suffer if we get what we want.”

Journer: So, how do we deal with suffering?

Nez: Some suffering you eradicate. For deep suffering you meditate . . . till you can give thanks.

______
* Socrates (Nick Nolte) in “Peaceful Warrior”

image www.parami.org/.../four_noble_truths.htm

Interior Explosion

By the end of the weekend [seminar in the ghetto], I was experiencing the truth of Paul Tillich’s teaching, that each of us is fully “accepted” just as we are. We don’t have to seek another life, another situation, or another condition; our life is perfect just as it is. Before the weekend, I had always felt shy and alienated; I now felt an interior explosion of healing and goodness and perfection. ~Robertson Work, “A Love Story,” Life Lessons for Loving the Way You Live, by Jennifer Read Hawthrone (“Chicken Soup for the Soul” series)

Rob shares the experience of most of us as he describes the transforming power of a grace event on the journey. ~jpc

Fully accepted just as we are. Namaste.

image: new book, October 15, 2007

Voice of Mainstream Islam

A total of 138 of the world’s top Muslim leaders, clerics and academics have written an open letter to the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other leaders of the Christian world. . . . [Professor Aref Ali Nayed] said: “Christians and Muslims make up more than half the world’s population . . . and when you look at [our potential power for good] . . . and the violence of terrorism, it’s easy to see how dangerous it is for there to be so little understanding.” ~Robert Pigott, “Emerging Voice of Mainstream Islam,” via George Holcombe http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7040774.stm

Holcombe says, “This may be the most important piece of news of the year.” Thank goodness those who better understand Islam’s teachings on “one God” and “love your neighbor as yourself” are finding their voice. ~jpc

“Neighbor” includes all humans and the earth community. Namaste.

image: "Mainstream-Islam.com" now http://www.acommonword.com/

Evolutionary Vortexes

If you are really dedicated to creating a more evolved world, the future is no longer some far-off fantasy realm, but is something you forge in and through your relationships . . . right now. . . . There is a constant vibration that is inherently creative in the we-space between committed human beings who share a passion to create the future in the present moment. Together, you become a vortex through which evolution occurs. ~Andrew Cohen, from Quote of the Week, 10/9/07

New vortexes of the spirit movement are forever coming into being. ~jpc

As long as spirit reigns. Namaste.

image http://www.ica-international.org/broadcast-email/07-10-12/index.html

Abuse and Atheism

Waves of atheism have swept the West before. One was in the mid-18th century, when the devastating Lisbon earthquake, killing some 60,000 people, shook the belief of many in the benevolence of God. Another was in the mid-19th century, when advances in geology destroyed the traditional chronology of the Old Testament, proving that Earth was much older than the 6,000-odd years the Bible allowed. A third spasm followed the First World War, when the combination of Freud’s writings and Einstein’s theories of relativity upset established views of the human psyche and the universe. ~Paul Johnson, “Militant Atheism and God,” 10/08/07 www.forbes.com/currentevents via Priscilla Wilson

Don’t forget the Black Death of the 14th century, a pandemic when c. 75 million humans were wiped out. The fourth I would add is our abuse of the earth. If all is sacred, why damn “God’s” creation with our economic greed and human-centered priorities. ~jpc

It is ungodly to commit geocide.* Namaste.

* "geocide": destroy the earth (Thomas Berry)

image http://asilahplaya.blogspot.com/2007/04/exteriores-ajardinados-con-zona-privada.html

For the Vocated Ones

[W]e have a lot to add [to contemporary gurus of transformation] that is not fully appreciated or understood: things like contradictional thinking (the gift of life is in the situation and nowhere else); maneuvers (bringing Spirit into all action); . . . transparency (means of revealing the other world in the midst of this world); profound humanness (life-giving presence. . .). There are dozens more we [need to transmit and demonstrate]. . . . [N]urturing the vocated ones of this earth is one hell of a mission. ~Jack Gilles, Springboard e-mail

O for more strategic ways to share our gifts. Namaste.

image: Mission Australia www.mission.com.au/cm//p.aspx?n=ZSCVJ-EYJQE-W...

Goldmines of Opportunities

The documentary “Kilowatt Ours”* is great in that it provides practical vision for action, represented by a phrase that simply states “most homes are goldmines of energy-saving opportunities.” I started looking at my home differently. I saw it filled with possibilities to save energy. I even see my neighborhood and my neighbors filled with possibility. ~Pamela Bergdall, EarthRise reflection, 10/2/07

On and on . . . we see that creation is filled with possibility. ~jpc

O to mine the opportunities. Namaste.

* Jeff Barie, "Kilowatt Ours" (2005)

image www.hallwalls.org/media-arts_04.html

Sunday Dialogue LXXV

Journer: What is the truth?

Nez: My student* said, “Every moment is the opportunity for transformation.”

Journer: Is that all?

Nez: That’s all you need to know.

______
* Joe Slicker, via Nancy Trask

image: "Evening in Fonta," Tracy Longacre

Two Systems

[T]he two systems in question are irreconcilable. . . . One says in effect: “Get, get, get now; all you can, as fast as you can, for yourself, and so insure security for yourself. If all will do this, then everyone will be safe.” And it depends on things, primarily.

The other said: “Give, give, give to others. Let gifts flow freely out and they will flow freely back to you again. In the universal and endless stream of giving this is bound to be so.” ~Ella Cara Deloria, Speaking of Indians, pp.119-20, via Pat Druckenmiller’s EarthRise reflection, 10/3/07

Keep and it shall be taken from you. Give and it shall be given unto you. Namaste.

image: Aboriginal dance sequence (Amy Sancetta/AP) www.time.com/.../special/photo/olympic/9.html

Christian Nation?

Andrew Jackson resisted bids in the 1820s to form a “Christian party in politics.” Abraham Lincoln buried a proposed “Christian amendment” to the Constitution to declare the nation’s fealty to Jesus. ~Jon Meacham, “A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation,” nytimes.com, 10/7/07

The fact that “Christian nation” is not in the Constitution, and certainly not in the Bible, makes the USA a much greater nation. ~jpc

Let us continue to be a beacon of “liberty and justice for all.” Namaste.

image: rally of immigrants (we all immigrated from somewhere, even American Indians) www.viewimages.com/Search.aspx?mid=57503007...

There Is Hope

“New generations have been entrusted with the future of the planet. . . . Before it is too late, courageous decisions must be made to enable us to restore the strong bond between humankind and earth. . . . A decisive ‘yes’ is needed,” said Pope Benedict . . . as he celebrated mass with 500,000 youth in Loreto, Italy, 9/2/07. ~http://tinyurl.com/36xspx via Randy Williams

When the leader of one of the largest global institutions begins to talk like that, there is hope. ~jpc

Some of the last shall be first. Namaste.

image: Pope Benedict at World Youth Day (Photo, AFP)

All Night

The queue was long [to see the Black Madonna]. Very long. I looked down that long line of people and I wondered. “What was it they wanted to experience? Why had they all come?” . . . [F]inally I stood before her. She held a large ball in her hand and I touched it, looked into her compassionate face, and together we prayed for our earth. She was dark and earthy, so I knew she’d be praying with me. Then reluctantly I moved on. “Not fair!” I thought. St. Ignatius had all night and I, just a few minutes. ~Phyllis Hockley, EarthRise reflection, 10/1/07

“On Earth, now!” said St. Ignatius. Namaste.

image: "Save Earth Now" www.whocollection.com/hapshash_&_osiris_poste...

Mentor's Presence

One of my mentors has been dead thirty years, today.* I wrote this about him at the end of my memoir**:

Joseph Wesley Mathews (1911-1977)

He called me
He pushed me
He trained me
He priested me
He assigned me
He mystified me
He motivated me
He challenged me
He emboldened me
He communes in me

Kaz*** says, “Enlighten the dark blood of your ancestors, shape their cries into speech, purify their will. . . .” They cry out, “Finish our work!” Namaste.

______
* October 16th says Brother Joe / **Called To Be, p. 299 / *** Kazantzakis, The Saviors of God, pp. 71-2

Met in All of Life

[W]e can experience this Final Reality in both life and death, security and insecurity, fulfillment and frustration, joy and tragedy, love and solitude, knowledge and ignorance, success and failure, merit and guilt. The biblical God is not met in half of life, but in all of life. ~Gene Marshall, “God and Progressive Christianity” http://tinyurl.com/2yglzn via Houston Markley

There is no escape from the way life is. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s “The force is with us!” is the absolute truth. ~jpc

O to say “yes” to final reality. Namaste.

image: "the way life is" from Profound Journey Dialog, Denver, 9/28/07

Sunday Dialogue LXXIV

Journer: Are you religious?

Nez: My student* said, “Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.”

Journer: I don’t think I want to be religious, then.

Nez: It’s almost impossible not to be.

______
* Paul Tillich, “Invocation: The Lost Dimension of Religion,” The Saturday Evening Post, 6/14/58, p. 29

image: drawing by John Montgomery’s son Matt http://www.mattmontgomery.net/

What to Do Now with the Gift of Life

Yes, you and I are among the privileged few who receive good treatment. When I was in Mexico following the end of my chemo I was very aware that had I been born Mexican, I would be dead. It makes you think twice about what it is you are called to do now that you’ve been given the gift of life. ~e-mail from colleague to LLC, 9/16/07

Life is strange that way: escape death and you’re left with the vocational question, what do I do now with the gift of my life? ~jpc

When you think about it, that’s our situation, moment-to-moment. Namaste.

image: cover photo by Harry Langdon of book Turning Heads :Portraits of Grace, Inspiration, and Possibilities, by Jackson S. Hunsicker www.authorviews.com/authors/hunsicker/excerpt.php

Mother Teresa Encounter

We were walking to the plane in Denver recently and ran into a young “Mother Teresa” from the Philippines, 20ish, a divine sparkle in her eye, munching on some chips, and in that garb – a symbol of profound care. She was moving from the Bronx to Detroit, working in inner-cities. Asked about the new book, she rose an inch off the floor: “It inspires me so to know that Mother had to decide with raw courage to serve, every day, for all those years.” Lynda cried for a while after that encounter. ~jpc

Presence is awesome. Namaste.

image www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040511/election.htm

Not and Totally Am

This event [the Profound Journey Dialog, Denver] reminded me that while at one level I’m NOT in charge, at all the other levels I’m totally in charge . . . of my decisions and my choice where I expend this one good life and why. ~Sunny Walker

This comment, of not being in charge and being totally in charge, describes the profound journey we’re all on. ~jpc

O to be blown by the “fine, fine wind . . . / Like a fine, an exquisite chisel, a wedge-blade inserted; / . . . we shall come at the wonder. . . .” Namaste.

image www.shadowrockucc.org/about_wedgeblade.php

Really Changes Us

I said, “So how has the Serenity Prayer changed who you are?” And he gave me this kind of blank look. He said, “Well it means a lot to me.” I said, “Talk is cheap, how has it changed you?” Because all spiritual practice is about is taking something from religion and working with it in a way that changes us, really alters who we are. Not just changes our attitude, but actually our DNA. That’s the promise of every religion: we’re supposed to change. Spiritual practice really changes us in a very cellular way. ~Bo Lazoff, “Going Deeper,” sermon 3/11/07, Human Kindness Fdn.’s A Little Good News, Fall 2007, via LLC

Has my heart morphed today? Why not? What seems to be holding me back? ~jpc

O to be changing daily, right down at the heart of me. Namaste.

image www.avisionforyou.com/mugs1.html

Hearts that Beat as One

We are Americans by accident of our births, or voluntary immigration and naturalization. You are Jewish because of your births, or voluntary conversion. I am agnostic because of choice. Muslims are Muslims because of birth or choice. Christians are Christians by birth or conversion. We can identify ourselves by so many ways: mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter; Christian, Jew, Muslim, nothing; straight, gay; American, Iraqi, Israeli, Palestinian, etc.; young, old, black, brown, yellow, or white; but there is one thing that we all are. We are all human and we all, whether we like it or not, have hearts that beat as one. . . . ~Cindy Sheehan, “Day of Atonement,” Tikkun magazine, via Jim Rippey and Jim Slotta

The heart of the universe beats within us all. Namaste.

image http://yvonnelund.blogspot.com/2007/06/stills.html

Rethink our Mission Statement

The long term goal for people and organizations is not to keep them/us alive for as long as possible, but to keep them effective relative to their stated mission for as long as they are alive. If their mission is too reduced, or otherwise less than viable, organizations will likely die sooner rather than later. ~Randy Williams, e-mail 10/1/07

What if the stated mission of an organization is to catalyze deep-spirited groups on missions of care? ~jpc

O to rethink our mission statements. Namaste.

image: ceremony in a Maasai village (photo by Miriam Patterson)

Sunday Dialogue LXXIII

Journer: What makes a group profound?

Nez: My student* said, “The most durable groups are those that put in place deep principles. For instance, care for the earth versus care for the environment or global warming, or even less deep, “Let’s all recycle.”

Journer: How do they come up with “deep principles”?

Nez: Consider the need and the big context.

______
* George Walters, Springboard e-mail, 9/30/07

image: Herman Greene, Nelson Stover, Thomas Berry, jpc: we and many others have received deep principles and the big context from Thomas.

The Big View

So what do we do? Romanticize the past as though it were without flaw? Cry over the present as though it were too flawed? Narrow our efforts to what we can easily and comfortably do? Worry about our grandkids’ college funds instead of the world they will inherit? Consider ourselves “retired” when we reach eighty? What is the answer and who can supply the comprehensive, intentional and futuric view we are no longer able to provide for ourselves? ~Nancy Grow, EarthRise reflection, 9/27/07

We all are looking for who can supply the comprehensive, intentional, futuric, and sustaining view for living. ~jpc

A community that offers these qualities of life awaits creation or re-creation. Namaste.

image http://finland-expat.blogspot.com/2007/09/viva-estonia.html

Dependent Upon a Presence

Watching several hundred organizations rise and crumble over the years, . . . I still believe all things pass away and must either be reborn or replaced. The structure may be there but it becomes a lifeless and meatless skeleton and no matter how much you rattle it around, it no longer lives. It was . . . dependent upon a “presence,” and when the presence is gone the organization is dead. ~George Walters, Springboard e-mail, 9/30/07

What would the presence look like in an organization I want to help create or recreate? ~jpc

Being the presence is our birthright. Namaste.

image http://ameliahunter.blogspot.com/2007/08/spring-flowers.html

Indebted, I'd Say

Am I bound with all other, out to the most universal? Yes. To myself? Yes. To the ground of being? Yes. Do I experience that union daily? Yes. Has that union overwhelmed me at times? Yes. Will it again? Yes. Is that union a fact? Yes. Will it be with me to the end? Yes. Does that union seem more powerful than separation? Yes, as it happens to me and in the memory of those happenings. Does it make a difference? All the difference. ~jpc, e-mail to a friend who was suggesting grace is more of an emotion

“O to grace how great a debtor.” Namaste.

image: "Double Rainbow at Elam Bend," February 2006; photo credit: Dan Bush, McFall, MO www.mo.gov/mo/moweather7.htm

No Problem

I remember clearly the contextual statement during . . . [a] seminar that “prayer is a problem.” Indeed it was (and is) in a worldview rooted in cause-effect, Newtonian physics, and that statement resonated inside me in a profound way. Things are different these days. The science of physics is not so sure of itself. ~Larry Loeppke, EarthRise reflection, 9/7/07

Pray-ers may have a problem, but not prayer. It continues to hum as the deep conversation of our universe. ~jpc

Prayer accentuates our relatedness to all that is. Namaste.

image: Indonesian women attend a Ramadan night prayer, marking the beginning of the Muslims' holy fasting month in Jakarta, 9/12/07, Indonesia (REUTERS/Beawiharta)

Who Is More Righteous?

We support and extend the ministry of the Church to those persons who conscientiously oppose all war, or any particular war, and who therefore refuse to serve in the armed forces or to cooperate with systems of military conscription. We also support and extend the Church’s ministry to those persons who conscientiously choose to serve in the armed forces or to accept alternative service. As Christians we are aware that neither the way of military action, nor the way of inaction, is always righteous before God. ~The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church – 2004, via Jerome Hunter

I’m sure there are millions of the some 8 million UMC members in the USA on both sides. Likewise, separated yet bound are the some 300 millions of our fellow Americans. ~jpc

Righteousness is ambiguous. Namaste.

image: Yin Yang www.oxymoronical.com/view/249

Something

Something operates us, but what? Is it not the free flow of brilliant and ancient information, an involuntary and endemic intelligence freely exchanged on the cellular and intracellular level? . . . If this enlightening, enlivening pulse is God, then may we get on our knees and give thanks night and day. If it is Allah, may we face the east five times between sunup and sundown and humble ourselves. If it is Yahweh, may we touch the Holy Wall and shed tears of gratitude. If it is biology, may science touch the sacred. I believe it is all of these, but whatever it may be to each person, and however we name it, it is not knowable. ~Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest, p. 177, via Randy Williams

The unknowable in the midst of the “something” that operates us – and allows us to operate – is what I call spirit. Namaste.

image: intracellular marker nave.em.mpg.de/proteolipid/