The Human Spark

I like to think sometimes
When all my thoughts are focused
Where all your thoughts might be
How you envision clouds and sun
And all the places where you run

There is a truth that speaks to me
When I'm still and serene
Like a teacher in red apple dress and sweet color green
Instructing me in enveloping embrace
Not to worry, no, not to worry

We are traveling separately, yet we are together
I on my path and you on yours
Sometimes we see each other through fences
Catching movements with heightened senses

Alike and different in myriad forms
A sound spins like a whirling funnel
And all creatures that hear the sound are afraid
But we surrender to it
And the dust falls where it longs to sit

So here on the open ground, we rise to greet each other
Knowing the plan will unfold as it will
We walk toward the same destination
Sparked by the fire of human inspiration

12/28/03

The Colors of Faith

From the moment we are born we are presented with a lush landscape that expands before us as we age and with it grows a sense of wonder of all that appears and disappears to and from our senses. We marvel at the sight of our hands and our ability to grab hold of and release objects or our inability to do so. We are bombarded with sense gratification as our mothers and fathers nurture us and become perplexed when those same sensual needs are not met when we think they should be. As we grow older what once seemed miraculous becomes mundane and our emotions slowly moderate as we learn that happiness and fulfillment are not always at our beck and call. Still older, in our teens and twenties, there is a sense of having lots of time to do whatever our whims dictate and in that perceived freedom we learn the effects of one action as opposed to another. The sum total of our experience then, takes on a psychological shape of relative permanence as we learn to approach each new moment in the context of the moments that preceded it. For example, some folks when they are quite young know instinctively what they want and go on to their desired goals more or less on target with fewer detours than do others. Some indeed have few or no goals at all, other than to find some type of satisfaction in whatever day they happen to be in. Each trail an individual embarks on has its good and bad stretches and with any luck, we end up turning out well, having good jobs and good families with our bank accounts and investments heading in a positive direction. Some of us, though, whether it's due to choice or fortune do not end up quite as well off as some others who are more goal directed. Their orientation maybe toward the wind, the smell of the sea, the lay of the land or the sounds of insects and the flight of birds so they don't think as much about practical things like making a good living or getting their name written down in history for future generations to marvel at. I guess I'm of the latter variety and so I confess that my view of utility has always seemed to lack a degree of inspiration since I've always tended to prefer dreaming to that of concentrating on the business at hand. Be that as it may, we are all so very different within though our bodies appear similar in form. We need both realists and dreamers since they are complementary as are the two wings of a bird. Likewise spiritually, we may seem cosmetically very different from one another in ritual and practice but when we get down to the bone, we are really all believers in the same eternal truths since they are common to all religions.

The great teachers have always desired to guide humanity back to a proper course heading for our little ship called Earth and those that dwell within its decks and though everyone is on the same ship, each claims that his or her course is best, given their master navigator's instructions on which one is best to be followed. Thus the ship goes this way and that and heads into great storms needlessly because of the sincere but heated arguments that take place on board. In the same way, people I think tend to think they own their teachers and have a lock on the truths which were entrusted to them, not realizing that their shipmates also have the same truths, though they may appear superficially different. They argue about small insignificant details of the rigging while all the elements that make the whole ship work together as one to accomplish the task of traversing of the sea to arrive at their desired destination. So it seems that people of one faith tend to have the greatest enmity not toward those who are atheists but to those who strongly adhere to different ones than their own. They denigrate their brothers and sisters because the colors of their faith are not quite the same shade as their own and so they crusade to win them over or to change them by force. When we look at a stationary color wheel we see the gradual gradation from one end of the visible light spectrum to the other end but when we spin the wheel there appears to be no particular shade of color in the wheel at all. The only visible color is white! Sunlight, after it leaves a prism becomes a rainbow, but in its unprocessed state it is a glowing yellow-white and so we need to understand that things aren't always as we might initially interpret them to be. In the same way, all diverse thought on the nature of God eventually merges into one and all faiths are in essence emanating from the same brilliant single Source. Change and variety are what makes life what it is and nothing is ever static due to the effects of time and space in its interaction with matter and energy. What we think we know is therefore suspect when examined from a source other than the human mind and that source I believe is Deity, of which we are of in substance. So it seems better and healthier to allow for differences of belief and welcome diversity since it ultimately leads to a greater understanding of the One out of which everything came into existence. So it may be of help not just to look at only one's own vision of truth, for there are many. Each has its own distinct color signature, helping to enrich our understanding of what makes us who we are both in and out of the physical state. God is the Whole, the One. God is also the Many, since nothing can exist that is not part of the infinite. If we consciously make an effort to ignore ideological and theological difference and look to where our ideas of God intersect, I think we could come to a greater understanding of who and where we are in the great tapestry of life and learn to react more positively by exploring the commonalities between faiths instead of highlighting the differences.

Art by Peter Eglington 'Rainbow Tribe' http://www.art-poster-online.com/paintings.htm

A Possible Shia/Western Alliance?

Look out King Abdullah of Saudiland, Emir Al-Sabah of Kuwait and the UAE! Iran and the U.S. may be on a path to co-align against Wahhabi Islam which has promoted the radical ideology that undergirds the asymmetrical tactics used by Sunni insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Shia/Western alliance would not only defuse the tensions between Iran/Hezbollah and U.S./Israel but would help to improve our relations with Russia and China, as well. There would be one hell of a power and resource sharing coup if such an alliance developed. The Iraq war would essentially end and those nasty Taliban would be driven back to where they belong, in Waziristan and the Palestinians might then finally find peace a viable alternative to the internal and external conflicts ravaging their people. This may sound crazy on the surface but alliances in the region have tended to come and go like desert sandstorms and politics often turns on a dime. Such a power-sharing arrangement would get most of our military the hell out of the Middle East and keep the world's oil flowing and may even force the Sunnis to sue for peace so they too could get a piece of the action. Now that the neocon agenda is in complete disrepute everywhere it is possible that a minority of level-headed legislators in Congress would be able to move the national agenda from one of extending empire to a more reasonable, peaceful one that would be more inclusive and tolerant of others, one that would persue diplomacy instead of constant war, which we no longer can afford to wage in an overseas sinkhole of lost lives and treasure. Congress, on the other hand, which is largely in the pockets of multinational corporations and the military industrial complex, generally follows in lock-step with them in advocating for and implementing regime change in countries which are considered threats to their patrons' interests and very few legislators have awakened to the vastness of the corporate war propaganda machine. These few include people in all levels of government as well as individuals and groups that have the guts to provide an alternative view to the one parotted my the mass media. The official agenda is that we live in a bi-polar world with Judeao-Christianity on one side and monolithic Islam on the other. It is one in one which westerners are on God's side, saving the world from an insidious Muslim world takeover whose agenda by nature seeks to eliminate all values which we hold near and dear to our hearts. Islamic thinking though, is far from monolithic and is evidenced by an extremely bloody four year Sunni insurgency which has ethnic cleansing and the elimination of ideologies contrary to its own as its goal. In this sense, America and even Israel pose a far less threatening problem for Iran than does the worldwide maniacal aspirations of Al-Qaeda and other likeminded terrror groups.

There are Shia outside of Iraq such as in Pakistan that are also under tremendous pressure from Wahhabism's policy of eliminating heresies through unrelenting suicide bombings and other forms of terror, many of which we rarely hear about, so to attack Iran for the purpose of eliminating their much harped nuclear threat could have the undesired effect of driving these natural enemies together into a temporary coalition to flush us out from Iraq and the larger oil-rich Middle East. Now we all know the Shias are no saints and may even envision the coming Mahdi at some future time wiping out the West but many of them in power in Iran are also practical and have the ability to sense a good business deal if it perchance came their way. We westerners are no angels either and have a long history of provocateuring conflicts so let’s not have any illusions about ourselves. Most of us are able to smell the stinking elite rat filth that enabled 9/11, the Waco horror and the destruction of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. What I'm referring to if you haven't guessed is the shadow government and it's secret-agent psy-op machine that rallies people to go vigilante against imaginary Orwellian enemies.

The Iranian Shia know they can't defeat us westerners either ideologically or militarily but they do know who really wants to defeat them and wants them dead, who seek to wipe out the Shia religion to the very last man and woman. We could choose to use intrigue to set them against one another which would be contrary to our national interests or we could make the wiser choice and pluck peace from the edge of annihilation and finally tame the beast of war for at least a short while. The future is waiting for us to make decisions that will calm national tensions and improve the lives of future generations and I believe the time for making them is now. How many people worth their salt would really want a third world war anyway? Not many people I know. Let's make it a done deal and finally make peace with Iran. Middle East peace is far from being an impossible dream!

The Power of Stories

The power of stories has built our world. They are told to mature audiences by comedians, in front of students by teachers, to campers on summer break by campfires, in song by musicians, to children by their parents just before bed, and even in the womb when the child in his or her watery bubble hears sounds from the outside world for the first time. They go back a long way to the time when humans were first able to take their imagination to places not yet conceived from the raw material of their daily lives. Nations and their cities were built on them and though the tales may have been woven from a just a little truth and a lot of embellishment, they've had the power to inspire their hearers in turn to create their own legends and civilizations and so we have as our inheritance a very large historical quilt that tells us a lot about who we are in the good we have done as well as in the bad.

One of the best and most influential of them is found in the story of Jesus and in the later books of the New Testament that went on to flesh out the original salvation theme. The Gospels themselves grew out from the volumes of Hebrew writings and took much of their inspiration from them as their writers made them relevant to the first century setting in which they lived. They were made meaningful not just to the nucleus of Jewry which had known many lesser saviors in the past and the promises of greater ones to come but also to other tribes and peoples with different but no less inspiring icons of their own. These were woven into the original story by their tellers and were gathered together into what we might refer to as more or less fixed orthodox belief. Many of their truths however were not only based on ideas that came from the older Sumerian, Indian, Egyptian and Babylonian stories. They also reflected some of the character of the companion religions that paralleled first century Christianity. I've always felt that if something of quality is created, it has the power to endure the changes that occur even after its time has long passed. That's the reason why I believe many bits and pieces in the Gospel story are also found in the stories of Osiris, Mithras, Hercules, Dionysus, Krishna, etc. The older ones live on in the newer and so it is that although the former ones becomes a bit tattered and worn after a time, their essence remains, though slightly changed to inspire the next generation. Conflicts develop though when the established order is threatened by the desire of some to modify it and the latter is born painfully from the former like a mother that regrets her pregnancy in the hours just preceding the moment of the delivery. Death accompanies change as the old order in its desire to dominate resorts to violent authoritarianism through fear in order to stay in power and though it may in the short term find success in repressing the newer idea, it eventually and inevitably must yield to it. Unfortunately, many die in that repression.

We humans are not always enthusiastic about change because we often like what we've become accustomed to and whether it's from want, suffering or just plain boredom we brace ourselves for it and derive courage to face it from the great stories we create and the heroes that live and breath within them. Although we have always been more or less the same in our wants, desires and values throughout time, we've had the need to continually change the legends and myths which reflect them just to give a little new life to the old and to revitalize our long-cherished ideals. Change being the nature of existence, we are as much actors as audience in watching and experiencing the passage of time. Our stories tie us to our past as well as to the unknowns of the future and we feel a multidimensional connection to others in their continued telling. We throw away our fear and cast our lots to whatever may happen because we know that we are part of the greatest story ever which is ourselves.

artwork by Sir John Everett Millais 'Boyhood of Raleigh'

Living with Angels and Demons

We all know that humans have the capacity to act in ways somewhere between the extremes of good and evil and even the non-believers among us recognize that at best we get only mixed reviews for the way we conduct ourselves in the social domain. Even the steadiest of believers if they are at all honest will tell you that they have to fight King Demon day in and day out in between the periodic showers of blessings so that they often feel both forces pulling their frail corporeal frames apart in the battle. Their tired faces are everywhere, in doctors' offices, at work, on the war-front, and in the grips of cruelty and poverty. We acknowledge their existence and ask, why? And growing out from this disconsolation are the businesses that tap into huge markets of folks ready for the pickin' by enterprising individuals touting their latest natural or pharmaceutical remedies or the latest religious twist on how to get and keep blessings coming fast and strong. People wallow in their inability to earn a decent income, to lose weight, to gain weight, (haven't heard much from this camp) to get healthier or feel less stressed through their days which is something like catching a butterfly or a sunbeam that frustratingly becomes more and more tiring and elusive. We remind ourselves of our blessings and give thanks for what we have but we also feel the fear of losing them. As we age we tend to contemplate death more and either try to avoid the subject or try to face it head on as we watch ourselves and those we care for slowly getting a bit less physically able to do the things which used to be done without having as much as a pinch of pain. Passion begins to slip a little further from our awareness and the reality of life's impermanence moves a little further forward.

If the Angels and Demons couldn't traverse through our mind's eye we just might be in a sorry state indeed. They remind us that beyond the physical world there is also another, more subtle reality than consciousness assumes and we learn to trust that which is hidden and not easily observable. We learn to ignore the Demons that rage in our heads and put up shields to counter what they whisper in our ears and then overly rely on our Angels to get us through but it is acceptance that is the great lesson for our lives and we strive to attain the peace it offers because the alternative is blatant despair. It is a state we grow into when we become less hard on others and on ourselves, more tolerant of our neighbors' foibles and more patient in finding some inner balance and peace with all the conflicting traits that make us who we are. When we are young we struggle with things like our identities, how we measure up as potential friends and mates and how we rank within the social and economic order, our parents and our bosses' expectations, and sometimes, just how we are going to make it to survive the next day and after all that we start with the guilt trips about how others have it so much worse than we do and that we have no right being such complainers.

Now that I'm a bit older and roughly halfway through my semi-psychotic journey through this earthly plane I find I have no real solid answers for myself concerning the vagaries of life let alone having them for others who might happen to ask me. A few people and their words have had more of a positive impression on me than others but maybe that's just because I haven't run into a situation yet which would have brought them to mind. I have felt neither great love or great hate for anything or anybody and have tried to be open-minded to the ideas and idiosyncrasies of others and seek neither to curse or bless the Demons or the Angels because they seem to have come along with the package when we came into this world. If it gets too hot in the kitchen, I figure it's just better to leave it due to my usually non-confrontational temperament and that mindset seems to have served me well.

So follow your own road, take some time along the way to gather your strength and breath and keep a moderate distance between both the Angels and the Demons. They're there to make us human, just don't let either one of them take over and run your life because life will be complicated either with or without them. You'll probably have enough on your plate trying to take care of yourself and your own anyway without having to worry about taking care of either of them.

We Want Peace, But...

There are two competing philosophies that stand out in my mind that seem to affect the course of civilization, one that allows for unrestricted use of force to gain its objectives and one that constrains us in the use of that force. In relation to these concepts we develop fixed ideas that color all that we do whether for good or ill. Within the span of these core belief systems are the innumerable actions we take as individuals or groups that range from extreme pacifism to uncontrolled aggression. If those who are cautious and wise gain more influence in the marketplace of ideas than those who are reckless and authoritarian, I believe we as a race are in a much better position to nurture peace and implement just political and social policies.

Religion, I think is a force for great good or great evil. It is a two-edged sword that great prophetic voices through the ages have made very clear. While religion can be used to do great harm against those who are deemed to be servants of evil, it can also be an incredibly positive force to do good since all scriptures have passages within them that are universal in the ability to redirect our energies toward making the planet a better place to live. Of course, it is tempting to think that God doesn't care about humankind because people everywhere have always suffered as a result of natural catastrophic events. Destruction is part of physical existence. We can't escape it while in our bodies or while dwelling in homeworld Earth. The galaxies live and die in cycles of unending creation and destruction as do those who live here on this small blue dot in space. If we in our struggle to survive, can't transcend to a higher thought plane other than the "grab what you can and to hell with the others" mindset because of the constant precariousness of life, I think we're in big, big trouble.

Using God to justify violence is absurd because no one can prove that their ideas of God are one hundred percent true as claimed and giving lip-service to peace while hiding under its cloak does not bring it about but does just the opposite. Using it as cover is manipulative in that it deceives people, skewing their ideas and poisoning their spirits. As members of the human family we have much in common yet our leaders repeatedly vilify other nations and cultures and teach us to do the same. When are we going to rise as a human family and finally force our leaders to abolish war and ignore those who preach hate? Do we have that much of a global death wish? We have the tools to make peace. They are in our minds and hearts because we have all learned them from childhood and though we sometimes forget the ways of peace, if we are doggedly committed to their pursuit, we have a good chance of propagating it and limiting unneeded suffering in our individual and collective lives.

Some Thoughts on 'The Secret'

I just watched 'The Secret' DVD and wanted to write about it without thinking about it too much so forgive me for loose associating here. My first reaction after watching it for a few minutes was that I was watching some kind of new-age infomercial and I wondered what type of big-dollar spin-offs it would generate. I guess the beginning also reminded me of the 'prosperity gospel' emphasized by many ministries like Rev. Schuller's and by Norman Vincent Peale's 'possibility thinking' books which promised an easy, sure-fire route to wealth and prosperity if one would only reach out and grab it. "Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7) No doubt faith is the foundation for any type of successful undertaking but there are also times when you can't always get what you want. A toddler in the grocery store, for example, sees a toy that attracts him or her and all the child can think about is how wonderful it would be to have that toy. It becomes so built up in that child's mind that by the end of mommy's shopping trip it erupts into, "I'm gonna make mommy get me that toy if I have to scream it out of her!" The kid screams but it doesn't work, and mommy ends up with baby tears showered all over the groceries. A half-hour later the toy is miraculously out of mind, and the toddler finds something new and just as fascinating to think about or do. Now as adults we have or should have some understanding of the concept of delayed gratification. The physical world has its ups and downs and good and bad things can and do happen to us just by chance. Also, good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good ones. "I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil" (Psalms 37:35) The Psalmist then says "but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found." There is also the biblical imperative which sums up our purpose here in this world, "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8) In the Gospels Jesus expands upon these ideas but he puts more of an eternal emphasis upon them, something left relatively under-discussed in the previous revelation.

So "The Secret" at about midway drops the "I wanna have this car or house so I'll pin a picture of it up on the ceiling so I can see it every time I wake up" and goes into the more mystical concepts behind the idea, that all of us are energy and that we have the infinite at our disposal if we only recognize it by thinking and feeling in a way which resonates with it. This part I really like. In my own experience, negativity brings on more of the same while hope and faith increases to the extent that it is employed in my moment by moment walk through the day. It is normal though and very human to have dark periods. We need to have bad times too because it helps us understand others when they are facing trials so that we are better able to offer them help and comfort. Like so many others, I've had major bouts with depression. Many times negative mental states are biochemical in nature and people sometimes just can't come out of the clouds by practicing positive thinking and may need to rely on appropriate medications to help them feel better. But beyond the physical limitations of the human body, it is very true that the mind has within itself the power to conceive a higher state than it finds itself in at any given moment. This can be gained through audio-guided relaxation methods for the non-God-believers among us, or through whatever spiritual practice one feels most comfortable with.

There is no guaranteed fast track system to gain success and happiness. It's not something that comes easy for most folks, anyway, and there is really no secret to 'The Secret,’ in my humble opinion. The road to understanding is often blocked by obstacles that must be moved out of the way each time they are encountered. Knowing ‘The Secret’ comes by learning from one's own and other’s successes and failures. There are times when we must claw through the dirt to get where we want to go and times when we have to fight for what we believe is right and true. It also involves finding a spiritual path that's compatible with one's particular temperament. Different problems often require different solutions and sometimes a whole arsenal of tools are needed to fix the things that go wrong in our lives and in our world. I do believe we are truly infinite, and part and parcel of God. We are also our brothers, sisters, friends, lovers and nature herself. Recognizing the ultimate inner goodness within us and in the universe is a matter of letting the Infinite do its work in us, always holding on to its activators: faith, hope and love. Words that reflect the Infinite must always be ready on our lips, their thoughts in our minds and hearts so that we learn to natually dwell upon them, always having the eyes of our souls fixated on that which is of the light so that goodness may continuously and plentifully enter into and reflect out from each of us. From this the world is helped to heal.