Orthopraxy

"Humans tend to live themselves into new ways of thinking rather than think themselves into new ways of living. " - Richard Rohr, Eager to Love

This may just sound like a saying like any other saying which may or may not impact our lives significantly.  But for me, it's literally the story of how I can trace my spiritual journey. While I grew up in the church, I could not fathom why someone would choose to live as a religious person.  It seemed strange and irrelevant to practical life. I wanted to understand it, but knew I wouldn't be able to understand it truly by just studying about saints and church doctrine. It's not what I needed at that point in my life. So I was blessed with the opportunity to have genuine spiritual growth experiences, which I accepted with open arms. I have cherished this special time of my life ever since then. From it, I learned the true meaning of humility in the way of St. Francis. Which is as beautiful a spiritual practice if there ever was any.  Following this path opened me up to more and more experiences which tested my patience.  But working day in and day out to keep this humility alive eventually opens you up to new spiritual truths, if you are open to hearing the gentle voice of the spirit in your life. So while 15 years ago I thought religion was quirky to put it kindly, today I have a much deeper understanding of its meaning, from personal experience and contemplation, to a deeper spiritual understanding and consciousness.  I am so grateful for all of the life experiences I've had that have kept me open to new ways of thinking and accepting of deep spiritual truths. I pray I will continue to be blessed with the openness to hearing God's voice in my life.

And what are the experiences that lead to a deeper understanding of Franciscan humility?   We can start with any experience that puts us closer to the suffering of society's most marginalized. From that experience we can follow the path of the lowly, putting ourselves in their shoes so as to better understand the experiences they've lived through. This is the path Jesus called us to, this is the path St. Francis followed. And because of this, innumerable people have gotten a chance to experience what it means to live in Christ, the way Jesus taught us.

Silence, and the Word made incarnate

When peaceful silence lay over all, and when night had run half way her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all-powerful Word. –Book of Wisdom 18:14-15

Silence.  This was the focus of Father Richard Rohr's Christmas Day daily meditation, and the focus of many of his messages. In the silence is when we allow Christ's message into our very beings, let it infuse itself into our lives in such a way that is possible by no other means.  The path to silence, that is if I ever make it to a state of meditation where my mind is silent as well as my voice, is for me the opportunity to use what Fr. Richard Rohr calls the non-dualistic mind.  This is when we can contemplate on the facts of life and hold all of the seeming contradictions together at the same time.

These, for me, are the daily occurrences which don't get talked about, but which form our understanding of the world and even affect our emotions at times.  Like yesterday, as we celebrated the Feast of the Incarnation, known to much of the world as Christmas Day.  While many people in this country were focusing on the pomp and circumstance around the mostly secularized holiday, Pope Francis was giving a call to action to bring peace to the world, to address the suffering of refugees, hostages, and victims of violence, infection, and indifference.  While it may be the indifference and ignorance of some people wrapped up in the culture of consumerism that is contributing to violence, poverty, and disease, we understand that both of these scenes - the consumeristic Christmas culture and the Papal Christmas message - are in their own right, each recognized by society as celebrations of the same holiday.  Where lies the message of the birth of the baby Jesus, the incarnation on earth of the divine Word?  Why is it so often pushed to the side, by nominal Christians and those who just don't believe in Jesus as the Son of God?  Why don't more people see the deeper meaning behind the incarnation that Jesus came to earth to teach us, and recognize this as true Christianity that the holiday of Christmas is supposed to celebrate?

Center with silence.

I've learned a great deal about the culture of non-Catholic Christians. There are those that prescribe to the root teachings of Jesus and are in effect Franciscan-hearted even if they don't identify as such, and those who have the tendency to wash down the messages of Jesus with a culture of Protestant evangelization that does not seem to keep true to Christian spirituality.  There are Catholics who understand and live for Catholic social justice teaching. Then, there are Catholics who don't seem to understand the root spiritual principles of the faith and religious tradition - perhaps because they weren't exposed to the proper formative experiences, and/or perhaps because they never took the time to let the spirit move them - some of them have left the church altogether, while some of them continue going to church but don't let their faith transform them.  Neither is healthy. We need an evangelization of the Church which proclaims the messages that Jesus shared with the world, and provides an open space - perhaps through the taught practice of silence and meditation - for the recognition of these messages as communication of the manifestation of the divine in the physical. And if this evangelization communicated our interconnectedness and the uniqueness of Franciscan theology in being able to make peace between the seeming contradictions of the unity of the spiritual and the physical, all the stronger the Church would be for it.

There is a special bond and commitment to family that seems nearly universal within Catholic families, made all the more visual after watching "A Fitzgerald Family Christmas."  While I cannot speak much to the bonds between members of Protestant families, the bonds within the Catholic families I know seem quite sacred. Of course, no family is perfect, and there is much we can do to seek reconciliation within our families. But at the same time, why does it so often seem that the bonds of kinship within families feel so distanced from bonds of kinship with our universal family?   This, again is a question we will need to look at with the eyes and heart of the non-dualistic mind, to allow us to see the gaps between the privileged and the poverty-stricken.

May we find the peace and the silence within to allow the answers to these questions into our heart in as non-judgmental, most universal and Christ-loving way as possible.

Maleficient

Maleficient.  The perfect example of both good and evil existing together as one.  The good and evil manifest themselves in the context of the physical (land of humans) and spiritual (land of the Moors) not being united.  The disconnect between the physical and spiritual worlds comes about because true love is not fulfilled.  But when true love reigns - when Maleficient kisses Aurora on the head - the curse is lifted, and the two worlds can unite.

When we allow God's agape love to rule our lives, we can unite the spiritual and the physical, and live as one with the universe. It takes a lot of courage, though. As we saw when Stefan left Maleficient, failure to love and/or have that love returned can turn hearts cold. Yet if we are open to the spirit, we can allow God's grace and mercy to warm our hearts.

If we find and name our inner Maleficient, we can identify what we should seek to warm our hearts.  Having a one-track mind for a very long time, keeping blinders on to other parts of life, can form dark spots in our line of vision. But once we realize we aren't getting the whole picture, we can begin to let light shine on the dark spots.

Shutting myself off from the culture and media that was prevalent in my life growing up, while allowing for new experiences, also created dark spots in my view and interpretation of the world.  The way I was introduced to the Franciscans was only a partial introduction to the Franciscan family. Much was left in the blind spots. My ideas about how to learn about culture only provided a segment of the various ways to understand tradition. And my education and experience working in nutrition, public health, and social justice is only one component of JPIC work. We can never get the whole picture at the same time, but we must always seek to illuminate the blind spots.

If we continually integrate and synthesize our growing awareness of and understanding of St. Francis, culture, and public health / JPIC work in with our outer and our inner reality, we can grow in faith and spirituality, awake the Sleeping Beauty inside each of us, and live in paradise... or in heaven on earth.

From Franciscan charismatic revival to animating peace, the OFS way

We are fully three dimensional beings. I know this better than I know myself. I may have the attention of a rabbit, but that is only because I know the possibilities and potential in life are endless. We are one with the universe, which recreates itself every day. It's fascinating to think about.

I learned the divine spirit that's present in relationships through my experiences at CYFM, 10-15 years ago. Fr. Jim who Leah Kozak introduced me to the other day reminded me that my experience there was part of the charismatic revival of the Capuchins.  I knew there was something distinct about the unique way I was introduced to my faith as a teen, and I have cherished these moments inside ever since then. I've consciously and unconsciously let the Franciscan charism become part of my DNA, my way of operating in the world and interacting with others.

I've learned in life the sciences of nutrition, of food justice, of public health and social justice. I am aware of the interactions and connections between these disciplines, and that all are necessary in the elimination of health disparities. Necessary, but not sufficient. There are other sciences which I have not yet mastered but which I'm sure are equally as important - such as the disciplines of nonviolent communication and peacemaking...and the discipline of spirituality. The last one should be the simplest...yet if simple was easy more people would live that way. The discipline of spirituality may be one of the hardest things humans were ever asked to do, but we must remember nothing worthwhile ever came easily.

I have always ever pursued something new because it made sense in the context of where I had been and where I wanted to go at the time. I am at the point where I feel the limitations in my contributions to effectively contribute to the disciplines I've been exposed to so far...partially because I already know much about them and how they work, partially because I know there is so much else out there that is important that I haven't yet mastered, but largely also because I know much that these disciplines seek to accomplish won't be fulfilled until more people infuse spirituality into their work and pursue faith-rooted organizing. 

It therefore brought me peace when I came across Carolyn Townes OFS's blog, "Animate Peace," yesterday, and I saw all various ways she is working to infuse Catholic Social Teaching and Franciscan spirituality in with JPIC (Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation) work.  I can only wonder how profound it would be to introduce social workers and public health professionals to the concept of Franciscan JPIC work. The more we can move people from a place of spirituality, the more effective our work will be, and we will transform hearts in the process. I also feel it's my obligation to bring these spiritual efforts into the secular world of work, because I have spent just as much if not more of my life nurturing my secular professional work as I have nurturing my spiritual life. The two cannot live separately any longer. They must become one, as we are one with the universe. 

May I learn to simplify so much so that I can be one who animates peace.

Pace e bene.

Spiritual lessons from The Polar Express

Faith is the evidence of things unseen

People tell me that You're just a dream

But they don't know You the way that I do

You're the one I live to pursue

-dc Talk

I watched The Polar Express last night – the boy hesitated to board the train at the beginning, but eventually jumped on. The conductor was all the moreso welcoming, he did not scold him for not getting on the first time before the train started moving.  The conductor was even more forgiving when he found out the boy pulled the emergency break for Billy who also hesitated to get onto the train, so that he would be able to board. When God sees our willingness to follow His will, He will go to all lengths to welcome us with open arms, the same way the father in the biblical story of the Prodigal son welcomed his son home after a long absence.

The young African American girl sees something special in the boy and befriends him. She watches his back, and he watches hers.  They both care for Billy who is sitting in a separate car all by himself.  The girl is more compassionate and makes Billy feel loved.  The boy stands by, understanding her compassion and wishing he had more himself.  The entire time he is always seeking answers, always looking for the truth.  When he loses the girl’s ticket, it comes back to him, because he never gives up looking for it.  God is forgiving like that. And when I say God is forgiving – I understand this to mean that the higher powers which keep the world alive and perfectly balanced within the universe will always bring the universe back to equilibrium whenever possible. We only have to be willing to acknowledge this and submit to this will.  Jesus gave us ways of relating to this all-powerful divine presence through the Word. He told us how to pray.  He told us to pray like this:

Our Father, Who art in heaven

Hallowed be Thy Name;

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. Amen.

When we do so and we have faith, everything will be okay. We must BELIEVE.  In the same way the lesson learned by the boy in The Polar Express was that he must BELIEVE, we must have faith. We must have faith that God knows us better than we know ourselves and will show us what we need to see in due time if we seek to follow His will and accept His grace along the way.  If we keep seeking the truth, the truth will come to us.  Namaste. 

Partners

Finally. Theology that makes sense for today's world.
I don't know the origin of this yet (got it from a Secular Franciscan in Long Island), but it's definitely worth reading.

Partners

Before there was anything, there was God, a few angels, and a huge swirling glob of rocks and water with no place to go. The angels asked God, "Why don't you clean up this mess?"
So God collected rocks from the huge swirling glob and put them together in clumps and said, "Some of these clumps of rocks will be planets, and some will be stars, and some of these rocks will be...just rocks."
Then God collected water from the huge swirling glob and put it together in pools of water and said, "Some of these pools of water will be oceans, and some will become clouds, and some of this water will be...just water."
Then the angels said, "Well God, it's neater now, but is it finished?" And God answered...
"NOPE!"
On some of the rocks God placed growing things, and creeping things, and things that only God knows what they are, and when God had done all this, the angels asked God, "Is the world finished now?" And God answered:
"NOPE!"
God made a man and a woman from some of the water and dust and said to them, "I am tired now. Please finish up the world for me...really it's almost done." But the man and woman said, "We can't finish the world alone!  You have the plans and we are too little."  God answered them,
You are big enough.  But I agree to this. If you keep trying to finish the world, I will be your partner."
The man and the woman asked, "What's a partner?" and God answered, "A partner is someone you work with on a big ting that neither of you can do alone. If  you have a partner, it means that you can never give up, because your partner is depending on you. On the days you think I am not doing enough and on the days I think you are not doing enough, even on those days we are still partners and we must not stop trying to finish the world.  That's the deal." And they all agreed to that deal.
Then the angels asked God, "Is the world finished yet?" and God answered, "I don't know. Go ask my partners."

The Whole Point

I've discovered Franciscan spirituality over the last few months and it has changed my world upside down. This spirituality completely validates all previous thoughts I have ever had about religion.  See this excerpt from a Richard Rohr meditation:

Christ is the code word for all of creation, all of humanity, what God has “anointed” (Christened) with love. The New Testament says that we are the “firstfruits” or “adopted” sons and daughters of the one who first fully carried this awesome truth. Jesus is the symbolic firstborn Son (who fully accepts and believes what his Jewish scriptures told him), and we all share in his same inheritance. That is the whole point! To use the language of the Pauline school in the letter to the Ephesians: “Before the world began, we were chosen in Christ to live through love in his presence” (1:4-6).

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Daily-Meditations--The-Whole-Point----Ecumenism----June-30--2013.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=dYvXpnCSppA

Faith-shaping life experiences

My faith is pulled from a number of sources that have defined my life experiences and spiritual beliefs.  The Capuchin Franciscans helped me develop an appreciation for Jesus and for following the environmental stewardship practiced by St. Francis.  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship helped me better identify with the wider Christian community than just Catholics.  Shane Claiborne's teachings helped me conceptualize what it means to follow Jesus in today's world.  NY Faith & Justice, Sojourners, and Red-Letter Christians helped bring further contextualization to faith-rooted social justice. Trinity Grace Church has given me an opportunity to feel unified under not having to identify with a particular denomination of Christianity. I can also identify pretty easily with the views expressed by Unitarian Universalist Christians.

New perspectives

I went on the "College & Young Adult" retreat at CYFM this past weekend and came away with more than I could have imagined. Spending a weekend with college student & young adult Catholics and being provided with an open space to dialogue, listen and learn about the struggles with the church and our faith that Catholics of this age face, has sparked a glimmer of hope in me. I'll never forget the excitement on Ananda's face when I proposed my question for the "Open Space" discussion, about the church's role in seeking social justice vs. just providing charity. It's so inspiring to see others who care about the same issues I care about, from the same perspective of having being molded through the CYFM, Franciscan tradition.

This weekend helped me discern my identity a little bit more in a lot of ways. For one, it's strengthened my belief that I am first and foremost a lay Franciscan Catholic, if you will. This weekend has taught me that Catholics have plenty to teach the world about social justice, and that I shouldn't abandon the task of continuing to learn and share with the world about Catholic social justice teachings. And just because I can comfortably identify with the Capuchin, Christian community way of life, doesn't mean I can't also feel like I belong to a non-denominational church. Trinity Grace Church is the coming together of people of all walks of Christianity. And to me, it represents unity in the church. Which serves to satisfy my yearning for church unity until we can bring more unity to the larger church as a whole.

Liberation theology and horcruxes - a Church, divided

I cried today in church. It takes a lot to bring me to tears; normally I am very good about handing things over to God so they do not stress me out. But what do you do when worship itself is what concerns you? When the very church which introduced you to Jesus Christ - the Roman Catholic church, the pinnacle of Christian liturgy and worship - does not practice fellowship and radical love and the act of bringing Heaven to Earth that is the very essence of the one whose life we are saying we should model ours after? "Jesus answered, 'Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again'" (John 2:19). Jesus is not interested in architectural beauties and gold and shrines. He is much more interested in seeing his people - human temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) - bring God's kingdom to Earth. The way to honor Jesus and the Father is to love our neighbors and ourselves. To be apostles, and call disciples by name.

There are approximately one billion Catholics in the world, and that's not to say anything about all of the non-Catholic Christians. If all of these Christians - or even just the ones that attend church on a regular basis - practiced the radical lifestyle which Jesus showed us, surely our world would be in a better place. True, Jesus understands that we are prone to sin and in fact died for our sins, but He did so in order that we could more fully live in Him. And to live in Christ means we must die to self. "Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). And how are we to "die to sin and live for righteousness"?

"He said to them all, 'If you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, take up your cross every day, and follow me'" (Luke 9:23).

This implies a necessary deliberate denial of worldly desires on our part. It begs that we have what Gary Haugen in his book Good News About Injustice calls "compassion permanence: a courageous and generous capacity to remember the needs of an unjust world even when they are out of immediate sight." Jesus regards justice as one of the "really important teachings of the Law" (Matthew 23:23) and calls us to be his hands and feet on Earth, seeking justice in his name. In answer to the question of how God seeks justice for the oppressed when local officials are corrupt, Haugen comments, "Unless the work of seeking justice is a category of endeavor that is completely different from every other activity on earth that is important to God, the answer to the question has something to do with what God's people do or don't do. If you think about it, two truths apply to everything that God wants accomplished on Earth: (1) he could accomplish it on his own through supernatural power, but instead, (2) he chooses for the most part to limit himself to accomplishing that which he can achieve through the obedience of his people."

In order to follow Jesus, we must not live for ourselves but for God. We must choose to be his servants here on Earth. And in so doing we are making a conscious decision to let the Spirit guide us.

"I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again" (John 3:5-7). Those who decide to take up the cross and follow Jesus do not regret their decision, for the Christian life is a very fulfilling one.

The term "liberation theology" has been coming up over and over again in my life recently, so I decided to look it up. And lo and behold, it seems to answer some of my questions about why seeking justice does not always go hand in hand with Christianity. Liberation theology is a grassroots movement which originated in Latin America in the 1950's-60's and helped bring Christianity to rural and marginalized sectors of society through the formation of "Christian base communities." It helped the poor (who are rich in Spirit) make sense of a world in which they were subjected to economic, political, and social injustices.

Then-Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) and the Vatican rejected the "Marxist-based" idea that class struggle is fundamental to history and ridiculed the liberation theology movement for focusing too much on the political dimension of social justice and seemingly disregarding other aspects of scripture. [He said, "to interpret the "poor" in the sense of the marxist dialectic of history, and 'taking sides with them' in the sense of the class struggle, is a wanton attempt to portray as identical things that are contrary." (What?)] Given the Catholic interpretation of original sin, Jesus's "preferential option for the poor," and the reality of economic, health, and other social disparities that have always existed in the world, it seems odd that the Vatican would reject the idea that class struggle is fundamental to history. Why else would we be called to follow in Jesus's footsteps in the present day, other than to continuously work to correct these injustices? And I find it surprising that "Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stated that liberation theology has a major flaw in that it attempts to apply Christ's teaching on the sermon on the mount regarding the poor to present social situations" (Wikipedia).

If we aren't called to make Christ's teachings applicable to our current life situations, what good is scripture? Derek Murphy makes this point crystal clear in the first chapter of his book Jesus Potter, Harry Christ: "The task of each generation is to read the Bible through the fresh filter of its own experience."

As a public health and social justice activist living and working in the South Bronx, I am keenly aware of the injustices faced by "the least of these." And after a Faith-Rooted Organizing training held by NY Faith & Justice and having the good fortune of working for an organization that truly understands the importance of community-based participatory research (Bronx Health REACH), I also know that the poor are rich in spirit and that human capital is vastly underestimated. To not give credence to grassroots community mobilization - be it the Pope's incomplete embrace of liberation theology or the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's failure to invest in community solutions to public health by not supporting another generation of REACH - is to shortchange society's potential and cause more harm than good. Power to the people!

So, as a born 'n raised Catholic, now social justice activist who has familiarized myself with Franciscan and non-Catholic Christian sermons and worship styles, sitting in a predominantly Latino Catholic church in the South Bronx makes me keenly aware of all that the promise of Catholicism and Christianity has not done for God's people. And now that I know a little about the history of liberation theology, I cannot ignore this bit of historic turmoil within the Catholic church. Having experienced true Christian fellowship with both Franciscan Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, I can't imagine how one could walk with Jesus and not live in a "Christian base community," characteristic of the early church.

Which reminds me of my earliest thought in church this morning, and one that constantly burdens my heart - the divide of Christianity into denominations (or "seven churches" as described in Revelation). I admire Protestant/non-denominational sermons as much as I respect Catholic liturgy. There are gems of wisdom in each but it's still a divided body - as divided as Voldemort's soul which is split into seven horcruxes in the Harry Potter epic. Infinitely different than if unified. It's hard to figure out where I belong. Jesus Potter, Harry Christ indeed.

Gnostic Christianity YouTube Series

chew on this

A Christian is a person in whom and through whom Christ lives.

Pallottines

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And last weekend when I went to the celebration of my pastor's 50 years of being a priest, I met the wonderful Pallottine, Sister Carmel Therese. I always knew there were a group of Pallottine sisters that lived down the road from me. But it wasn't until I just googled "Pallottine" that I had a better understanding of these followers. I related really well to Sister Carmel Therese, yet now realize it may be more than just her - I agree with the Society's aims in general. Please do read this page! And "Pallottine Spirituality" (under the Charism tab as well).

Thanks to God for introducing me to Sister Carmel Therese and the Pallottines :)

Faith-based health initiatives

I am cross-posting this from my other blog. Fascinating.

Theologies of Sickness, Equality

I can't say that this isn't the way I already think, I just am not really into reinventing the wheel. Read this stuff, it's great.

God, help us reconcile your Church

Just call me a Franciscan

Reader beware….else I might offend you. But I write with conviction regarding my experiences with the church and the people I’ve met so far in life.

I don’t have the 10 commandments memorized. Or know the life stories of the different people mentioned in the Bible. Or know who is who in the different statues and stained glass window paintings in church, or know the different saints. Or even know the order of the mass, really. But I’ve been going to church since childhood, and my faith is pretty strong. What sense does this make, you ask?

Going to church isn’t what made me follow the path of Jesus. It helped get me started – true. But that’s about it. I realize that God said, “Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth….Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God.”¹ Then how does the Catholic church account for all of the statues and paintings and so on and so forth? When God spoke to St. Francis of Assisi and told him to destroy the church and that He would rebuild it in three days – to mean a Church not made of stone – why does the Christian religion insist on the importance of going to those buildings? Why did I learn how to put a dollar in the collection basket every week, but never learn to actually go out and give money to the poor firsthand? Why are there so many divisions in Christianity if division is precisely what Jesus didn’t want?

I spent an Easter weekend hearing my grandmother start an argument over politics, waking up Easter morning to hearing my cousins bicker over an ipod charger, participating in an Easter mass filled with lots of form prayer that deadens the soul, and having to wait for my uncle because he doesn’t attend church so showed up to brunch by himself later than the rest of us (okay, it wasn't that bad - it was still a good weekend. Those are just subtle things I noticed). I’m tired of this “Christianity” taught to us through religious education classes and monotonously similar weekly church services where a grand total of 15 seconds are allotted to interacting with your “neighbors.” I believe in community. Jesus never told us, “go and repeat this last meal I’m having with you on a weekly basis for all of eternity, until I come back (does anyone really expect Jesus to show up on their doorstep again some day…honestly?). Go and worship me in a building with lots of gold on the alter every week.” No, he never said that. As a matter of fact, he never preached anything like that, as far as I know (but then again, I don't have the Bible memorized. Hit me with your best shot). He came to teach us how to live, and showed us by example. He wanted us to live in loving community with one another. That’s all. Why the big ornate churches and highly scripted masses?

I really like CYFM. It’s where I first learned the meaning of community, and to follow in the way of St. Francis. (And FYI…Franciscans don’t quite follow with the ornate churches typical of Catholicism.) The Prayer of St. Francis has always held a special place in my heart, because it’s based on the Beatitudes², and the Beatitudes (or, as Dave Andrews calls them, the Be-Attitudes) hold a special place in my heart. The Prayer of St Francis goes like this:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Dave Andrews relates the Be-Attitudes to the well-known maxim coined by Gandhi, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Someday, I’d like to live in community in the ways described by Shane Claiborne and Dave Andrews. In an "intentional community," such as The Simply Way or the life lived by Dave Andrews, members not only interact with community, but are a part of the community; this is what makes Jesus come alive every day. These communities value loving those who need it most, coming to decisions as a group after everyone’s had a say, and living in a non-materialistic society where everyone appreciates the Earth that God’s given us and sees being a steward of the Earth as his or her responsibility. They value people’s health and know that food comes from the ground. And everyone watches out for others and thinks of ways to improve the lives of others. Then, these positive messages are taught to the children.

I find it unfortunate that most of us did not grow up with this mindset, but instead must really work at it if we really want to live the way Jesus called us to. Instead, our society cedes to the whims of corporations interested making money and therefore dowsing our food in chemicals and then packaging it up in stuff that taints our food with yet more chemicals and then winds up in landfills and oceans, whereby it kills lots of plants and animals. Instead, we send our children to schools that have contracted with these companies to sell junk (not food) from vending machines (and lunch lines, for that matter), and that don’t give kids enough time for physical education and recess.

Instead, we’ve done precisely what Jesus didn’t want us to do – leave God in a structure which we call the church. Divide this church up into little pieces which we call denominations and orders. Get into arguments about which sect is the right one to be a part of, or fight about which religion is the better one to follow. Accept religion as the way to follow God, without even thinking that religion might just as well as be a culture, and not a way to follow God at all.

With that said, while I’m still living at home I’ll continue to go to the Catholic church I’ve grown up in since moving to this town 10 years ago, because deciding not to go to church would divide me from my family (not to mention many others who I’ve met through churches and are dear to my heart). But I’ve pretty much stopped going to regular mass with my parents. Instead, I’ve been going to the Spanish mass at my church, where the choir is my family and the congregation is my community, and where I’m united with them through the love of Christ, not commonality of ethnicity or fluency of language [I may know Spanish, but I never claimed to be as fluent as natives]. And in the Spanish mass, the pastor actually speaks with the native Mexican people during the homily (not at them), and the mass as a whole just feels more right. Community should come first, and then praising God in a service – whether it be through rituals or some other method. If community doesn’t come first, God’s message is lost anyway.

References (sorry…the academic mindset is forever ingrained in me)

1. Exodus 20:4-5

2. Matthew 5:3-12

Books that came to mind when writing this that I’ve read:

1 Corinthians 11:24-31

The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy

Books that came to mind when writing this that I haven’t actually read yet but would like to:

God’s Politics by Jim Wallis

The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church by Gregory Boyd

Plan Be by Dave Andrews

Christi-Anarchy by Dave Andrews

Not Religion, but Love – Practicing a Radical Spirituality of Compassion by Dave Andrews

God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World by John Micklethwait

Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola

The Gospel of Inclusion by Carlton Pearson

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller

Secrets from the Lost Bible by Kenneth Hanson

The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer

The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty by Peter Singer

Books that I've read since writing this:

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne

Evangelical ≠ Republican…or Democrat by Lisa Sharon Harper

The Radical Disciple by John Stott

http://www.mellen-thomas.com/stories.htm

By far, the best description of life/death/the universe.

http://www.mellen-thomas.com/stories.htm

Couldn't have said it better myself.

gnosis.org

"The Gnostic Church is a Christian church and considers itself as a part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Ecclesia founded by the Logos and His apostles."
-http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/lectionintro.htm

Just putting it out there.

"I want the truth." "You can't handle the truth!"

It seems as though I was not far off the mark last January when I wrote the post about jivanmukti. Jivanmukti, it seems, is the same as the Gnostic initation with fire of the Inner Mysteries. What is this, you ask? Feb. 1, 2007, I came to the realization that Gnosticism describes my ideas on God. And this was before even reading The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. Freke and Gandy say that if you believe in gnosticism, you intrinsically will have respect for all other religions, which I can see very plainly now after having read a little about Gnosticism and the Pagan Mysteries.

I cannot do justice to this thoroughly-researched text in this blog, but I will try to summarize:
There were once upon a time the Pagan Mysteries. Each culture had their unique names for their characters (Osiris, Dionysus, Attis, Mithras) and a few different traditional beliefs, but they were all essentially the same. The Jews were not excluded - the "Gnostics" had a name for this mythical figure; they called him Jesus. All of these cultures taught the Outer Mysteries and the Inner Mysteries. Because of obliteration of many Pagan and Gnostic works (including by way of many forged documents that appear as part of the canonical New Testament today), the eradication of Gnosticism by the Roman Empire around the 4th century C.E., and the fact that the Gnostic gospels at Nag Hammadi were not found until a few decades ago - only the Outer Mysteries survived time and have become Literalist Christianity - what the world today considers Chrisitanity. People today consider the works in the New Testament to refer to a real man named Jesus, but Freke and Gandy's research reveals that the gospel writers wrote several different gospels - for people at different stages of initiation into the Mysteries. The gospels that got published by the Church were meant to be for beginners who had not been initiated yet; other gospels (such as The Secret Gospel of Mark found at Nag Hammadi) were meant for those who had passed the first stage of initiation. The Inner Mysteries reveal that the story of Jesus is a myth and that the Truths that "Jesus teaches" are that humans are made of 2 parts: the eidolon (the Lower Self) and the Daemon (the Higher Self). There are 3 baptisms associated with the initiation: (1) by water, which represents the change from identifying solely with the body to with the personality or psyche; (2) by air, which represents identifying with the Higher Self; and (3) by fire, which represents true Gnosis, or learning of "their true identity as the Universal Daemon, the Logos, the Christ within, the 'Light-power'." (see Matthew 3:11 where John the Baptist says "But He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.") Those who do not reach true Gnosis will be reborn again and live another life (after "drinking the cup of forgetfulness"), but the souls who reach true Gnosis will be freed from the "tomb" of the body.

As you can see, this fits well with many different religions - The Jesus Mysteries makes references to Hinduism and Buddhism - for, after all, "Buddha" means "Knower" - the same as "Gnosis." Also there are many "motifs" that overlap between the different religions: the fact that there is only one God, even though sometimes His different facets may be misinterpreted as polytheism (the Trinity in Christianity & the Greek "gods"); in Hinduism, that the Higher Self (Atman) is the same as the Supreme Spirit (Brahman); reincarnation; and the concept of "The Way" (Christ: "I am the way, the truth and the Life", and Buddhism); - and I'm sure there are many more similarities. Not to mention that virtually all of the Mediterranean cultures accepted the "Osiris-Dionysus" myth.

And what of the ancient Greek sages? Pythagoras coined the term "philosophy" - literally, love of Sophia, with Sophia representing the "Holy Spirit" (the "lost goddess") - the one whom Mary Magdalene represents. Along with Pythagoras, there were Socrates and Plato and many others. They were all extremely gifted, and is it a coincidence that they were all Greek sages, initiates into the Mysteries who had many followers? I think not. Rather, it was because they had achieved the Gnosis that they themselves were part God and therefore had the ability to do anything. ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13) - sound familiar?)

Then there is also the fact that I came to many of these conclusions myself without even knowing they came from the Pagan Mysteries. What should I make of that? Perhaps that I was an initiate of some degree in a previous life and somehow was in touch with my Higher Self? That must be what makes me intelligent and willing to use that intelligence for the Greater Good - something I have in common with Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato. And, if Jesus did exist in the same way as He's described in the Bible (even though it is unclear if the evidence supports it), this must have been the case for him too - he would have been an initiate of the Pagan Mysteries in a previous life and came back to teach the Divine Wisdom he had learned.

Do you have a better explanation? If you do I'd love to hear it.

Prayer

Amy's priest last week told us a story about a little girl with leukemia he went to visit in the hospital. "Do you pray?", he asked her. "Sometimes I pray. Sometimes I just say my prayers."

This is a really powerful statement and my biggest pet peeve about the Catholic church. We focus so much on form prayer and it leaves little room for actually praying and thinking about what the gospels and readings are saying.

Why to admire Haleola

- Good quotes/exerpts from "Moloka'i" -

1. (p. 71)

"My husband is very sick."

"I know," Damien acknowledged. "Would he...like to receive the sacraments?"

"We are not Christian."

"It's never too late to come to God. I can baptize him now, before..."

"No, thank you," Haleola said coldly.

The priest took a step inside. His tone grew more emboldened. "For your husband's sake, consider. Would you deprive him of the joys of heaven?"

Haleola ignored him. Damien's tone became harsher. "Would you condemn him to everlasting perdition?" he asked. "A moment in hell contains a thousand tortures. Is that what you want for your husband - eternal torment? Because make no mistake," and here his voice fairly boomed, "that is precisely what awaits him if he dies a sinner!"

Something cold and angry broke loose inside Haleola.

"My husband is a good man!" she cried, as vehemently as Damien. "An honest, loving, decent man! He gave me three beautiful sons - sheltered us with his tenderness - never let us go hungry or homeless! And now you tell me he's a 'sinner,' that he's going to burn in some fiery place forever, you dare to tell me that?

"If that is your God, Father Kamiano, your Jehovah, who would condemn a kind and tender man to hell for the sin of not believing in him - then I shall follow my Keo to hell, as I followed him to this one, and together we spit on your God and his heaven!"

She spat enthusiastically at his feet, and for once in his clerical life Damien was speechless.

(I hope you will agree with me when I say this is what not to do as a Christian....or Catholic, at that.)

2. (p. 180)

"Auntie? Do you...still believe in the old gods? Are they still real to you?"

Haleola seemed surprised, even amused, by the question. "Aouli," she said, "is a daughter 'born from the brain' of her mother any less believable than a virgin who gives birth to the Son of God?"

"That wasn't what I asked."

"I know." Haleola stood, a bit shakily, and signed. "I wish that I had been born fifty years before I was," she said. "Before the kapus were overthrown. When things were more certain. All my life I've lived in two worlds - the world my mother raised me to believe in, and the world around me. As a healer I was taught that sickness came from the soul, from a person's past actions and state of mind. Yet I've seen with my own eyes the tiny creatures that live in our blood, the 'microbes' that supposedly make us sick. Which do I believe? Maybe both."