'tis funny how life goes and comes around in circles.
I have moved to the southern end of Canberra, where I would have liked to have lived back in '89. I am mixing with the folk I would have been involved with as well. Not my time but God's time.
There is nothing more secure than abandoning ones self to God.
or as someone else says 'the safest place in the world is found when we place our trust in God'
it's all good, even though the weather has turned into winter within 2 days of Anzac day....
some rain which is good, and snow high up the ranges...
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
TORRRCCCCCHHHHH LIGHT!!!!
A week ago steel barricades went up on Canberra streets in preparation for the Olympic Torch relay.
Very early this morning busload after busload disgorged thousands of people from Sydney.
Over the 10 mile or so route, there were interesting examples of democracy in action.
Protestors supporting human rights in Tibet and Burma were outnumbered by Chinese supporters.
Some Chinese supporters were thuggish in their behaviour surrounding protestors and kicking and screaming at them. Fortunately the police intervened several times to allow the surrounded protestors escape.
Unfortunately at the concert protestors were basically escorted away, and were not allowed to continue with their activism.
However, other Chinese, particularly students, were dignified, pleasant and amicable.
A sea of red flags diluted the presence of Free Tibet protest flags.
It was heart-warming to see some Chinese in yellow T-shirts calming Chinese who were aggresively attacking verbally protestors.
Isolated incidents of Chinese physically assaulting protestors, snatching Free Tibet flags and breaking the sticks attached to the flags occurred.
Australians ranged in behaviour from saying that sport should be separated from politics, to others saying that protestors were well within their civil rights to make their protest.
A Buddhist nun, walking slowly along a road, holding a banner for a free Tibet, and chanting quitened Chinese activists who had been abusing protestors, and other Buddhists joined in the chant, a memorable moment, that had a deep affect on all who watched it.
A huge police presence did much to maintain the peace, and it is worth noting that 8 arrests compared to 76 at the Skyfire firework celebration indicate the police were not over zealous.
At Commonwealth Park the Australian and Chinese national anthems were sung with much gusto, and the crowds enjoyed the following concert.
As dusk quickened over the national capital, the barricades were being put back on trucks and the streets returned to normal.
The Olympic Torch symbolises something that cannot really be attained in the world, but at least today in Canberra sport, politics and activism and national pride intersected.
People were exposed to differing viewpoints and memories result.
FREE TIBET!
A week ago steel barricades went up on Canberra streets in preparation for the Olympic Torch relay.
Very early this morning busload after busload disgorged thousands of people from Sydney.
Over the 10 mile or so route, there were interesting examples of democracy in action.
Protestors supporting human rights in Tibet and Burma were outnumbered by Chinese supporters.
Some Chinese supporters were thuggish in their behaviour surrounding protestors and kicking and screaming at them. Fortunately the police intervened several times to allow the surrounded protestors escape.
Unfortunately at the concert protestors were basically escorted away, and were not allowed to continue with their activism.
However, other Chinese, particularly students, were dignified, pleasant and amicable.
A sea of red flags diluted the presence of Free Tibet protest flags.
It was heart-warming to see some Chinese in yellow T-shirts calming Chinese who were aggresively attacking verbally protestors.
Isolated incidents of Chinese physically assaulting protestors, snatching Free Tibet flags and breaking the sticks attached to the flags occurred.
Australians ranged in behaviour from saying that sport should be separated from politics, to others saying that protestors were well within their civil rights to make their protest.
A Buddhist nun, walking slowly along a road, holding a banner for a free Tibet, and chanting quitened Chinese activists who had been abusing protestors, and other Buddhists joined in the chant, a memorable moment, that had a deep affect on all who watched it.
A huge police presence did much to maintain the peace, and it is worth noting that 8 arrests compared to 76 at the Skyfire firework celebration indicate the police were not over zealous.
At Commonwealth Park the Australian and Chinese national anthems were sung with much gusto, and the crowds enjoyed the following concert.
As dusk quickened over the national capital, the barricades were being put back on trucks and the streets returned to normal.
The Olympic Torch symbolises something that cannot really be attained in the world, but at least today in Canberra sport, politics and activism and national pride intersected.
People were exposed to differing viewpoints and memories result.
FREE TIBET!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
shamelessly stolen from becky of Arabia:
Quotes Part IV
From The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes it interesting
It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary
To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation
People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being – maybe that’s why they give it up so early
The boy felt jealous of the freedom of the wind, and saw that he could have the same freedom. There was nothing to hold him back except himself
Dreaming gives me something to live for
Sometimes there’s just no way to hold back the river
Never stop dreaming. Follow the omens.
And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
There is a force that wants you to realize your Personal Legend; it whets your appetite with a taste of success.
God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.
Urim – white stone – no
Thummim – black stone – yes
The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon (never forget what is true and dear to you)
Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
The desert is a capricious lady, and sometimes she drives men crazy
The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being.
Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of Life
People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want
When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the soul of the universe
All things of manifestations of one thing only
Because people become fascinated with pictures and words and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.
If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.
Don’t be impatient. Eat when it’s time to eat. And move along when it is time to move along.
He felt the urge to go out into the desert to see if its silence held the answers to his questions.
Always heed the omens
The secret is here in the present
All of us know that whoever believes in dreams also knows how to interpret them
To die tomorrow was no worse than dying on any other day.
You already know all you need to know. I am only going to point you in the direction of your treasure
Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find your treasure so that everything you have learned along the way makes sense.
Life attracts life
Are you a man of the desert knowing that you have to go away in order to return?
The omens will abandon you because you’ve stopped listening to them.
One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.
I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.
Listen to your heart
In pursuing your dreams, you might lose everything you’ve won.
The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself.
Strongest qualities – courage, enthusiasm
Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That’s where I am, and that’s where your treasure is.
The path was written in the omens and there was no way I could go wrong.
Quotes Part IV
From The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes it interesting
It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary
To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation
People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being – maybe that’s why they give it up so early
The boy felt jealous of the freedom of the wind, and saw that he could have the same freedom. There was nothing to hold him back except himself
Dreaming gives me something to live for
Sometimes there’s just no way to hold back the river
Never stop dreaming. Follow the omens.
And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
There is a force that wants you to realize your Personal Legend; it whets your appetite with a taste of success.
God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.
Urim – white stone – no
Thummim – black stone – yes
The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon (never forget what is true and dear to you)
Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
The desert is a capricious lady, and sometimes she drives men crazy
The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being.
Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of Life
People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want
When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the soul of the universe
All things of manifestations of one thing only
Because people become fascinated with pictures and words and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.
If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.
Don’t be impatient. Eat when it’s time to eat. And move along when it is time to move along.
He felt the urge to go out into the desert to see if its silence held the answers to his questions.
Always heed the omens
The secret is here in the present
All of us know that whoever believes in dreams also knows how to interpret them
To die tomorrow was no worse than dying on any other day.
You already know all you need to know. I am only going to point you in the direction of your treasure
Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find your treasure so that everything you have learned along the way makes sense.
Life attracts life
Are you a man of the desert knowing that you have to go away in order to return?
The omens will abandon you because you’ve stopped listening to them.
One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.
I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.
Listen to your heart
In pursuing your dreams, you might lose everything you’ve won.
The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself.
Strongest qualities – courage, enthusiasm
Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That’s where I am, and that’s where your treasure is.
The path was written in the omens and there was no way I could go wrong.
We are Australians!
Following on from the 2020 Summit, when the headlines are buzzing with an equal and reconciled republic, the nation's best-known performers have come together under the name of The GetUp Mob to release a new version of the Paul Kelly classic "From little things, big things grow". Already today it's splashed its way into the nation's papers. Let's make it a number one hit!
If together we top the charts, this message will rocket around the country's airwaves and TV screens on high rotation to an audience of millions and it costs you just $1.69 online to achieve that goal. Our power is in numbers, our message can inspire reconciliation. Click here now to view it (for free) and buy the world's newest history-making song:
Make this a hit
Following on from the 2020 Summit, when the headlines are buzzing with an equal and reconciled republic, the nation's best-known performers have come together under the name of The GetUp Mob to release a new version of the Paul Kelly classic "From little things, big things grow". Already today it's splashed its way into the nation's papers. Let's make it a number one hit!
If together we top the charts, this message will rocket around the country's airwaves and TV screens on high rotation to an audience of millions and it costs you just $1.69 online to achieve that goal. Our power is in numbers, our message can inspire reconciliation. Click here now to view it (for free) and buy the world's newest history-making song:
Make this a hit
Monday, April 21, 2008
An author whome I sell, has written this:
Humanity reflected in the diversity of books Brian Doyle April 21, 2008
They have faces, of course — covers for what is inside. Often the cover belies the interior, just as the bright alluring faces of people often hide the seething and confusing stories beneath them.
And they have spines of various strengths and tensile pliability like we do. Spines that sag and crack and creak, spines that are wonderfully strong and flexible for a few decades and then invisibly deteriorate and lose their glue. They have arms too, so to speak — a book opened wide very like arms flung open. And their back covers, so dense with explanation and blurb, look very like the hirsute backs of heads;.
continues here
Saturday, April 19, 2008
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you," - Nietzsche.
There is a Gary Larson cartoon that shows two old women looking out of a window at a monster. One says to the other, “Calm down, Edna. Yes, it is a giant hideous insect, but it may be a giant hideous insect in need of help!”
I'm feeling gutted and at the end of the road, once again!
Life continues to change. Time to stop being a doormat!
May I take to heart and mind and soul and deep within my guts; Robert Murray M'Cheynes' advice: It is far better to begin with God—to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another.
There is a Gary Larson cartoon that shows two old women looking out of a window at a monster. One says to the other, “Calm down, Edna. Yes, it is a giant hideous insect, but it may be a giant hideous insect in need of help!”
I'm feeling gutted and at the end of the road, once again!
Life continues to change. Time to stop being a doormat!
May I take to heart and mind and soul and deep within my guts; Robert Murray M'Cheynes' advice: It is far better to begin with God—to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
again and again Cher comes to mind:
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way I'd take back those words that hurt you and you'd stay
I don't know why I did the things I did I don't know why I said the things I said
Pride's like a knife it can cut deep inside
Words are like weapons they wound sometimes.
I didn't really mean to hurt you I didn't wanna see you go I know I made you cry, but baby
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that hurt you
And you'd stay
If I could reach the stars
I'd give them all to you
Then you'd love me, love me
Like you used to do
If I could turn back time
My world was shattered I was torn apart
Like someone took a knife and drove it deep in my heart
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way I'd take back those words that hurt you and you'd stay
I don't know why I did the things I did I don't know why I said the things I said
Pride's like a knife it can cut deep inside
Words are like weapons they wound sometimes.
I didn't really mean to hurt you I didn't wanna see you go I know I made you cry, but baby
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that hurt you
And you'd stay
If I could reach the stars
I'd give them all to you
Then you'd love me, love me
Like you used to do
If I could turn back time
My world was shattered I was torn apart
Like someone took a knife and drove it deep in my heart
Another day, drove three hours and got to Sydney,
Mary met me and drove me down to Newtown and dropped her car off at her place, with awesome views of the east side of Sydney.
Then a quick prayer to St Anne to find us a man, and a taxi man drove us to the Great Hall at the University of Sydney, where we sucked champagne and enjoyed munchies at the book launch.
Thence onto a bus back to Newtown and a visit to Graeme at work and got some $$$.
To a Mexican restaurant and more champagne and great food.
Another taxi back to the hotel and a quick blog before collapsing into bed before the drive home.
Mary is a delightful woman, wounded by love but finding her own way. More power to her!
Mary met me and drove me down to Newtown and dropped her car off at her place, with awesome views of the east side of Sydney.
Then a quick prayer to St Anne to find us a man, and a taxi man drove us to the Great Hall at the University of Sydney, where we sucked champagne and enjoyed munchies at the book launch.
Thence onto a bus back to Newtown and a visit to Graeme at work and got some $$$.
To a Mexican restaurant and more champagne and great food.
Another taxi back to the hotel and a quick blog before collapsing into bed before the drive home.
Mary is a delightful woman, wounded by love but finding her own way. More power to her!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Gentle reader, the synchronicity/serendipity stakes are raised:
Whilst continuing my informal online education which in recent weeks has involved much Jungian pyschology, shadow work and enneagram research, I stumbled upon Mr Integral Pysch again, and realised that he mentions my beloved protagonists Yuri and Lara.
Interestingly I was at a talk on forgiveness run by the Canberra School of Practical Philosophy, and dear old doc zhivago got mentioned there.
Enough coincidences: I AM going to buy the book.
Whilst continuing my informal online education which in recent weeks has involved much Jungian pyschology, shadow work and enneagram research, I stumbled upon Mr Integral Pysch again, and realised that he mentions my beloved protagonists Yuri and Lara.
Interestingly I was at a talk on forgiveness run by the Canberra School of Practical Philosophy, and dear old doc zhivago got mentioned there.
Enough coincidences: I AM going to buy the book.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
King David is an interesting example of the complexities of human nature, hattip to the sheila variations for this wonderful poem.
Tales to be told #453
Tried to lodge the divorce application at the Family Court of Australia, after spending three hours photocopying documents and getting a Justice of the Peace to witness them blah blah blah.
Went through the security to gain access to the court, a la airport, but no duty free once inside.
Joined the queue sitting on the bench, and had to endure the sad and sorry stories of other folk as they fronted up for their interviews.
Why they don't provide a sound barrier/ partition/ wall / room in courts to protect peoples privact I don't know. Apparently you can request a room ahead of time, if you are in the loop, but for most folk who rock up you are there with all the people on the bench privy to your conversation.
Finally it was my turn. The clerk started to read the application and then said sorry theres a small problem, we cannot accept your application.
Why? I enquired and she explained that it could only be lodged 12 months after the date that I considered the marriage over. Seeing I had put down 23/12/2007 that is the date. I smiled and said "that's ok". The clerk, with a very puzzled look on her face, said most people get really upset about the delay. I explained that it gave more time for the impossible miracle to happen. I made her Friday afternoon with my attitude apparently.
A smile and being nice can be so good! I walked out of the court into the lovely sunshine laughing and feeling happy.
II fait bon... faire son possible...
___________________________________________________________________________________
meanwhile on the lighter side of the rainbow, a worker in the ACT Government sent me my licence update for my change of address, I joke not, this was sent to me by the government!
Tried to lodge the divorce application at the Family Court of Australia, after spending three hours photocopying documents and getting a Justice of the Peace to witness them blah blah blah.
Went through the security to gain access to the court, a la airport, but no duty free once inside.
Joined the queue sitting on the bench, and had to endure the sad and sorry stories of other folk as they fronted up for their interviews.
Why they don't provide a sound barrier/ partition/ wall / room in courts to protect peoples privact I don't know. Apparently you can request a room ahead of time, if you are in the loop, but for most folk who rock up you are there with all the people on the bench privy to your conversation.
Finally it was my turn. The clerk started to read the application and then said sorry theres a small problem, we cannot accept your application.
Why? I enquired and she explained that it could only be lodged 12 months after the date that I considered the marriage over. Seeing I had put down 23/12/2007 that is the date. I smiled and said "that's ok". The clerk, with a very puzzled look on her face, said most people get really upset about the delay. I explained that it gave more time for the impossible miracle to happen. I made her Friday afternoon with my attitude apparently.
A smile and being nice can be so good! I walked out of the court into the lovely sunshine laughing and feeling happy.
II fait bon... faire son possible...
___________________________________________________________________________________
meanwhile on the lighter side of the rainbow, a worker in the ACT Government sent me my licence update for my change of address, I joke not, this was sent to me by the government!
Friday, April 11, 2008
don't read on gentle reader if you are squeamish:
Two nights of nightmares:
Driving along a road, realising I cannot see, that I am blind.
Working on a farm, chasing a steer with a dog nipping at it, then I have a 12 month old lamb in my arms and the farmer is killing it by slashing it with a knife. The slashes are across the top of the legs but he then moves up and slashes the belly and blood, bile and other fluids are oozing out of the cuts.
At a fuel station which is cheaper than the one next to it, the staff member working at the next one is outside wearing a wide cloth belt similar to a strait jacket restraint with a chain attached which stops him leaving the fuel station.
Dunno what's going on in my head, the unconscious or sub-conscious is hard at work.
Two nights of nightmares:
Driving along a road, realising I cannot see, that I am blind.
Working on a farm, chasing a steer with a dog nipping at it, then I have a 12 month old lamb in my arms and the farmer is killing it by slashing it with a knife. The slashes are across the top of the legs but he then moves up and slashes the belly and blood, bile and other fluids are oozing out of the cuts.
At a fuel station which is cheaper than the one next to it, the staff member working at the next one is outside wearing a wide cloth belt similar to a strait jacket restraint with a chain attached which stops him leaving the fuel station.
Dunno what's going on in my head, the unconscious or sub-conscious is hard at work.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
of mirror neurons and loving ones enemy - i have been a long time fan of James, who recently wrote a confronting letter on acceptance of homosexuals "Letter to a young gay Catholic".
However controversy aside, James is probably one of the best english speaking proponents and teachers of the theories of Rene Girard which deal with mimetic violence.
However controversy aside, James is probably one of the best english speaking proponents and teachers of the theories of Rene Girard which deal with mimetic violence.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
"The Miracle is to walk on earth" an awesome quote. See the NHUYD link to the left.
other quotes making me peaceful:
"folk spend most of the first half of their lives climbing to the top of a tall building. For many, when they reach the top, they discover it was the wrong building" possibly Joseph Campbell, but to oft quoted to get the original...???
Jacque le Clerc:
perfection is something I create for myself, holiness is given to me by god.. perfection is often humiliated.. holiness never is... is humble
Igumen Nikon:
**************************************
Somewhere the desert fathers and the sufi too iirc tell us that our gifts and talents are what destroys us.
destruction is only bad if there is no creation following. May I become a creator not a destroyer.
other quotes making me peaceful:
"folk spend most of the first half of their lives climbing to the top of a tall building. For many, when they reach the top, they discover it was the wrong building" possibly Joseph Campbell, but to oft quoted to get the original...???
Jacque le Clerc:
perfection is something I create for myself, holiness is given to me by god.. perfection is often humiliated.. holiness never is... is humble
Igumen Nikon:
we realise the sufferings are actually necessary but we can't realise this until we purify ourselvesthrough repentance as often as we plunge again, we don't lose heart on that account. If we repent and continue the battle, we can even draw profit from the plunge.. pray passionately to God, the Lord, for the greatest of all gifts: to see ones' own sins and weep over them. Whoever has this gift has everything.
**************************************
Somewhere the desert fathers and the sufi too iirc tell us that our gifts and talents are what destroys us.
destruction is only bad if there is no creation following. May I become a creator not a destroyer.
Some may find part of my blog objectionable, moi apologises.
to continue: Give me an O, give me an R, give me a C, gimmee an E.
Paperwork is almost completed, but I am not rushing. Going quietly amidst the business of each day.
For those who emailed me overnight, I am fine, just venting as the final movement of the marriage begins. Singleness here I come. Wiser and humbler, 'tis good, 'tis good.
____________________________________________________________________
I finished my blog entry yesterday morning saying I need to read Dr Zhivago again.
I went out for a dinner party last night, and as it was the turn the lights off and light candles evening, our host dragged out an old record player and some vinyl.
Top of the pile, soundtrack to the movie! I got to dance to Laras' theme, and pondered the circular notion of life once more. Other favorite music of the night Cat Stevens. Our host had invited three singles and one couple. The couple had to endure four single folk belting out the first cut is the deepest. In vino veritas :)
There is something quite comforting hearing the pop, whistles, crackles and scratches as a record plays. It affirms something to the effect that life is not perfect.
So Dr Zhivago hey! Serendipity or synchronicity, you be the judge; O gentle reader.
to continue: Give me an O, give me an R, give me a C, gimmee an E.
Paperwork is almost completed, but I am not rushing. Going quietly amidst the business of each day.
For those who emailed me overnight, I am fine, just venting as the final movement of the marriage begins. Singleness here I come. Wiser and humbler, 'tis good, 'tis good.
____________________________________________________________________
I finished my blog entry yesterday morning saying I need to read Dr Zhivago again.
I went out for a dinner party last night, and as it was the turn the lights off and light candles evening, our host dragged out an old record player and some vinyl.
Top of the pile, soundtrack to the movie! I got to dance to Laras' theme, and pondered the circular notion of life once more. Other favorite music of the night Cat Stevens. Our host had invited three singles and one couple. The couple had to endure four single folk belting out the first cut is the deepest. In vino veritas :)
There is something quite comforting hearing the pop, whistles, crackles and scratches as a record plays. It affirms something to the effect that life is not perfect.
So Dr Zhivago hey! Serendipity or synchronicity, you be the judge; O gentle reader.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
I have little 'knowledge' of the USA, my perceptions are filtered by the TV shows and media, theological texts, and online relationships.
The USA is culturally dissonant from my Australian and UK roots.
So I cannot really comment on their election processes and candidates.
However, I recognise a great speech when I read one:
enjoy
The USA is culturally dissonant from my Australian and UK roots.
So I cannot really comment on their election processes and candidates.
However, I recognise a great speech when I read one:
enjoy
MOre than just thirty seconds of fame, the worlds most popular toob download of March is interviewed here:in cyrillic
Apparently ,a rough translation indicates that she has been singing the song in her own very own imicable manner for 14 years! more power to her! and just goes to show the power of the net to interact in peoples live worldwide...
Five aussie blokes kill themselves each day
not good, not good, not good.
So the challenge is how to help! Personally I have committed myself to a small group of blokes, to meet with them and support them. Not much, but at least it's something, and who knows I may be helped more than I can help. :D
light hearted toob of the week:
KEN LEE which is even more amusing in light of the subject matter above...
not good, not good, not good.
So the challenge is how to help! Personally I have committed myself to a small group of blokes, to meet with them and support them. Not much, but at least it's something, and who knows I may be helped more than I can help. :D
light hearted toob of the week:
KEN LEE which is even more amusing in light of the subject matter above...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Rick Warren is worth remembering:
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
Monday, March 17, 2008
been cogitating a bit on projection and transference lately.
and our shadow side...
evil and unredeemed beauty resides in our shadow...
meanwhile this post gave me some cognitive reflection.
and our shadow side...
evil and unredeemed beauty resides in our shadow...
meanwhile this post gave me some cognitive reflection.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.Helen Keller
Purification comes slowly sometimes, but we start from where we are.
Easter week has begun, the Great Week, the celebration of the triduum looms, three days that mean much more than Christmas, but without Christmas they would never happen.
So it is, life begins with birth, and with no birth; no growth or change, or suffering or a thousand little deaths can occur.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Wise Advice from Mother Teresa
( because it was never between you and them )
( because it was never between you and them )
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
This poem is engraved on the wall of Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta.
===================++++++======================
LIFE IS******
Life is an opportunity—benefit from it.
Life is an opportunity—benefit from it.
Life is beauty—admire.
Life is bliss—taste it.
Life is a dream—realise it.
Life is a challenge—meet it.
Life is a duty—complete it.
Life is a game—play it.
Life is costly—care for it.
Life is wealth—keep it.
Life is love—enjoy it.
Life is a mystery—know it.
Life is a promise—fulfil it.
Life is sorrow—overcome it.
Life is a song—sing it.
Life is a struggle—accept it.
Life is a tragedy—confront it.
Life is an adventure—dare it.
Life is luck—make it.
Life is too precious—do not destroy it.
Life is life—fight for it!Mother Teresa
==+==
Time and time again I think of you . . . and smile
Jamie Delere
----+----
Its easy to look on the bright side of things, when all is going well...
when the smiles outweigh the frowns and the sunshine is streaming in the window
- But the happiest people are the ones who can say
- when all is going wrong, when the clouds get in the way,
that a little unhappiness must balance the joys,
and that a bit of sadness has its place in the world, too.
For they know, these special people, of the balace of natures ways.
They know that nothing grows where the sun always shines,
and that gray skies and rain can be an unregrettable sign of the day...
For these fortunate people, their favorite season is always the one they are in,
and they continue to look on the bright side,
knowing that the sunshine might leave for awhile,
but that it will never be gone for long!!! Jamie Delere
Helen Razer writes in response to Rudds excision of carers payments
This strange vinyl seat is neither pretty nor particularly comfortable. Nonetheless, it offers a sort of nervous intimacy. As I sit in the chair, holding a blended spoonful of something between puree and broth, I ease into its familiar slouch.
Thousands of people were sat in this chair before me in, what I imagine to be, an almost identical humour. We offer food. We cajole, "Go on. Eat something. Keep your strength up!" And we hope that the patient will just eat a little. And we hope (although we wouldn't tell you) that the patient will eat nothing at all.
It is clear that my grandmother is dying. She's just doing it very slowly.
I'm sitting on a sofa in a room that will shortly be described by real estate copy writers as a "family" area. It's far too big for my parents who are on their own for as long as the respite centre will care for my grandmother. My mother, who looks at least ten years older than her physical age, has been crying and asking the same question for an hour or two.
It is clear that my mother is dying. She's just doing it very slowly
Thursday, March 06, 2008
hattip mothy
"The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"
I've been twisting and turning in a space that's too small
I've been drawing the line and watching it fall
You've been closing me in , closing the space in my heart
Watching us fading and watching us fall apart
Well I can't explain why it's not enough
Coz I gave it all to you
And if you leave me now
Oh just leave me now
It's the better thing to do
It's time to surrender
It's been too long pretending
There's no use in trying
When the pieces don't fit anymore
Oh, don't misunderstand how I feel
Coz I've tried, yes I've tried
Still I don't know why
No I don't know why
Why I can't explain why it's not enough
Coz I gave it all to you
And if you leave me now
Oh just leave me now
It's the better thing to do
It's time to surrender
It's been too long pretending
There's no use in trying
When the pieces don't fit anymore
The pieces don't fit anymore
You pulled me under so I had to give in
Such a beautiful mess that's breaking my skin
Well I'll hide all the bruises; I'll hide all the damage that's done
But I show how I'm feeling until all the feeling has gone
Well I can't explain why it's not enough
Coz I gave it all to you
And if you leave me now
Oh just leave me now
It's the better thing to do
It's time to surrender
It's been too long pretending
There's no use in trying
When the pieces don't fit anymore
The pieces don't fit anymore
"The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"
I've been twisting and turning in a space that's too small
I've been drawing the line and watching it fall
You've been closing me in , closing the space in my heart
Watching us fading and watching us fall apart
Well I can't explain why it's not enough
Coz I gave it all to you
And if you leave me now
Oh just leave me now
It's the better thing to do
It's time to surrender
It's been too long pretending
There's no use in trying
When the pieces don't fit anymore
Oh, don't misunderstand how I feel
Coz I've tried, yes I've tried
Still I don't know why
No I don't know why
Why I can't explain why it's not enough
Coz I gave it all to you
And if you leave me now
Oh just leave me now
It's the better thing to do
It's time to surrender
It's been too long pretending
There's no use in trying
When the pieces don't fit anymore
The pieces don't fit anymore
You pulled me under so I had to give in
Such a beautiful mess that's breaking my skin
Well I'll hide all the bruises; I'll hide all the damage that's done
But I show how I'm feeling until all the feeling has gone
Well I can't explain why it's not enough
Coz I gave it all to you
And if you leave me now
Oh just leave me now
It's the better thing to do
It's time to surrender
It's been too long pretending
There's no use in trying
When the pieces don't fit anymore
The pieces don't fit anymore
Sunday, March 02, 2008
For many years now I have been a follower/supporter/promoter of Catherine Hamlins' work in Ethiopia. Her book The Hospital by the River has been a constant seller over many years. Late last year Catherine was airlifted out of Ethiopia with an acute illness, but is recovering.
She is coming to Canberra this month and speaking at Canberra Girls Grammar..
The ABC promoted her work in late 2007, and a movie has recently been released, WALK TO BEAUTIFUL.
Wiki biography.
USA readers of my blog can contribute to her work here. Thank You.
Heroes are important, Catherine is one of mine.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
many chain emails come through to me from friends around the world.
This one gives me pause as it reflects sentiments that have echoed on down the ages:
This one gives me pause as it reflects sentiments that have echoed on down the ages:
Rick Warren (REMEMBER HE WROTE "PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE")
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,
"Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor , care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
NOW . PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Friday, February 29, 2008
Another day, another song. Apparently it won some award at the Oscars? But I don't watch them, so have no idea. Great lyrics. Enjoy:
ONCE: Fallling Slowly
I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along
hattip Mothy! :)
Jess @ thecornellian writes
another version with introductory comments:
ONCE: Fallling Slowly
I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along
hattip Mothy! :)
Jess @ thecornellian writes
There are few things better in life than discovering new music that moves your soul, and when it happens, there’s cause for applause. Irish born Indie band The Swell Season, now on tour with fellow paddy Damien Rice, have recently released their self-titled debut album and are now garnering praise for the sullen and simplistic work of art. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova make up the band, switching between main vocals, guitar and piano with each track. The Swell Season is a new project (and once hobby) for Hansard, who fronts the vocals for Irish rock band “The Frames,” who have been together since 1991 and which he took time off from to explore new projects. He found one such project in The Swell Season’s much more laid-back and low key vocals and composition.
The Swell Season happened by accident for the pair of singers as they were asked by a mutual friend to record a few tracks for his Irish independent film “Once” (premiering this month at the Sundance Film Festival) and ended up recording ten songs with Irglova which moved the director so much, he insisted they release them outside of having them be the soundtrack to the film.
The songs themselves are written based on extremely personal and sometimes disturbing material taken from the performers’ own lives and people they know. One of the most powerful tracks on the album is undoubtedly “Drown Out,” a choppy and almost haunting song based on the story of someone Hansard knew who hunted ghosts in Ireland. A pair of boys, who were burned at the stake for witchcraft, somehow found the ghost hunter and, following two lights in the distance, realized they were the ghost hunter’s eyes and they could see out from the darkness and through them. The band’s web site reveals few of these details, but Hansard is quite chatty at concerts and loves to explain the relevance and story behind the songs, something fans adore about the frontman.
The most moving (and perhaps single-friendly track) on the album is the pleading and heartbroken ballad “Falling Slowly.” In the time right now when The Fray’s song “How to Save a Life” is topping the charts, “Falling Slowly” would blow it away if people would give it a listen. You can’t help but be moved as Hansard begs “Take this sinking boat / and point it home.” It’s quite a bit more moving than a song made famous for being featured in “Grey’s Anatomy.”
So with a new year, why not try some new music? Explore bands and sounds you’re not accustomed to listening to, and give change a chance. Perhaps The Swell Season is your ticket to exploring new musical landscapes. Punch it and get on board.
another version with introductory comments:
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Enjoy this picture!In the midst of my shock and turmoil two years ago I read Riding the Dragon, and then I was able to listen to it on audio book driving around...
My trip to Tintagel back in the day, and more recently to the Bay of Islands in NZ re-inforced the dragon motif for me, and whilst in NZ I came across a neat ring with dragons on it.
Whilst suffering the consequences of the great meltdown by some posters at UB's I decided to re-register as dragon_rider, and hold my head up. I googled frenetically to find an image to use as an avatar which reflected my sense of strength, oneness with the earth, the circular nature of life, and the facts that we really never know another. I came across this brilliant paintingicture.
Enjoy Chris Mathies' other works including pottery.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Excerpt: "The Third Jesus"
Redeeming the Redeemer
Jesus is in trouble. When people worship him today--or even speak his name--the object of their devotion is unlikely to be who they think he is. A mythical Jesus has grown up over time. He has served to divide peoples and nations. He has led to destructive wars in the name of religious fantasies. The legacy of love found in the New Testament has been tainted with the worst sort of intolerance and prejudice that would have appalled Jesus in life. Most troubling of all, his teachings have been hijacked by people who hate in the name of love.
"Sometimes I feel this social pressure to return to my faith," a lapsed Catholic told me recently, "but I'm too bitter. Can I love a religion that calls gays sinners but hides pedophiles in its clergy? Yesterday while I was driving to work, I heard a rock song that went, 'Jesus walked on water when he should have surfed,' and you know what? I burst out laughing. I would never have done that when I was younger. Now I feel only the smallest twinge of guilt."
No matter where you look, a cloud of confusion hangs over the message of Jesus. To cut through it we have to be specific about who we mean when we refer to Jesus. One Jesus is historical, and we know next to nothing about him. Another Jesus is the one appropriated by Christianity. He was created by the Church to fulfill its agenda. The third Jesus, the one this book is about, is as yet so unknown that even the most devout Christians don't suspect that he exists. Yet he is the Christ we cannot--and must not--ignore.
The first Jesus was a rabbi who wandered the shores of northern Galilee many centuries ago. This Jesus still feels close enough to touch. He appears in our mind's eye dressed in homespun but haloed in glory. He was kind, serene, peaceful, loving, and yet he was the keeper of deep mysteries.
This historical Jesus has been lost, however, swept away by history. He still lingers like a ghost, a projection of all the ideal qualities we wish for in ourselves but so painfully lack. Why couldn't there be one person who was perfectly loving, perfectly compassionate, and perfectly humble? There can be if we call him Jesus and remove him to a time thousands of years in the past. (If you live in the East, his name might be Buddha, but the man is equally mythical and equally a projection of our own lack.)
The first Jesus is less than consistent, as a closer reading of the gospels will show. If Jesus was perfectly peaceful, why did he declare, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword"? (Matthew 10:34) If he was perfectly loving, why did he say, "Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"? (Matthew 25:30) (Sometimes the translation is even harsher, and Jesus commands "the worthless slave" to be consigned to hell.) If Jesus was humble, why did he claim to rule the earth beyond the power of any king? At the very least, the living Jesus was a man of baffling contradictions.
And yet the more contradictions we unearth, the less mythical this Jesus becomes. The flesh-and-blood man who is lost to history must have been extraordinarily human. To be divine, one must be rich in every human quality first. As one famous Indian spiritual teacher once said, "The measure of enlightenment is how comfortable you feel with your own contradictions."
Millions of people worship another Jesus, however, who never existed, who doesn't even lay claim to the fleeting substance of the first Jesus. This is the Jesus built up over thousands of years by theologians and other scholars. He is the Holy Ghost, the Three-in-One Christ, the source of sacraments and prayers that were unknown to the rabbi Jesus when he walked the earth. He is also the Prince of Peace over whom bloody wars have been fought. This second Jesus cannot be embraced without embracing theology first. Theology shifts with the tide of human affairs. Metaphysics itself is so complex that it contradicts the simplicity of Jesus's words. Would he have argued with learned divines over the meaning of the Eucharist? Would he have espoused a doctrine declaring that babies are damned until they are baptized?
The second Jesus leads us into the wilderness without a clear path out. He became the foundation of a religion that has proliferated into some twenty thousand sects. They argue endlessly over every thread in the garments of a ghost. But can any authority, however exalted, really inform us about what Jesus would have thought? Isn't it a direct contradiction to hold that Jesus was a unique creation--the one and only incarnation of God--while at the same time claiming to be able to read his mind on current events? Yet in his name Christianity pronounces on homosexuality, birth control, and abortion.
These two versions of Jesus--the sketchy historical figure and the abstract theological creation--hold a tragic aspect for me, because I blame them for stealing something precious: the Jesus who taught his followers how to reach God-consciousness. I want to offer the possibility that Jesus was truly, as he proclaimed, a savior. Not the savior, not the one and only Son of God. Rather, Jesus embodied the highest level of enlightenment. He spent his brief adult life describing it, teaching it, and passing it on to future generations.
Jesus intended to save the world by showing others the path to God-consciousness.
Such a reading of the New Testament doesn't diminish the first two Jesuses. Rather, they are brought into sharper focus. In place of lost history and complex theology, the third Jesus offers a direct relationship that is personal and present. Our task is to delve into scripture and prove that a map to enlightenment exists there. I think it does, undeniably; indeed, it's the living aspect of the gospels. We aren't talking about faith. Conventional faith is the same as belief in the impossible (such as Jesus walking on water), but there is another faith that gives us the ability to reach into the unknown and achieve transformation.
Jesus spoke of the necessity to believe in him as the road to salvation, but those words were put into his mouth by followers writing decades later. The New Testament is an interpretation of Jesus by people who felt reborn but also left behind. In orthodox Christianity they won't be left behind forever; at the Second Coming Jesus will return to reclaim the faithful. But the Second Coming has had twenty centuries to unfold, with the devout expecting it any day, and still it lies ahead. The idea of the Second Coming has been especially destructive to Jesus's intentions, because it postpones what needs to happen now. The Third Coming--finding God-consciousness through your own efforts--happens in the present. I'm using the term as a metaphor for a shift in consciousness that makes Jesus's teachings totally real and vital.
When Jesus Comes Again
Imagine for a moment that you are one of the poor Jewish farmers, fishermen, or other heavy laborers who have heard about a wandering rabbi who promises Heaven, not to the rich and powerful, but to your kind, society's humblest. On this day--we can surmise that it was hot and dry, with the desert sun beating down from overhead--you climb a hill north of the blue inland lake known as the Sea of Galilee.
At the top of the hill Jesus sits with his closest followers, waiting to preach until enough people have gathered. You wait, too, seeking the shade of the crooked olive trees that dot the parched landscape. Jesus (known to you in Hebrew as Yeshua, a fairly common name) delivers a sermon, and you are deeply struck, to the heart, in fact. He promises that God loves you, a statement he makes directly, without asking you to follow the duties of your sect or to respect the ancient, complex laws of the prophets. Further, he says that God loves you best. In the world to come, you and your kind will get the richest rewards, everything you have been denied in this world.
The words sound idealistic to the point of lunacy--if God loved you so much, why did he saddle you with cruel Roman conquerors? Why did he allow you to be enslaved and forced to toil until the day you die? The priests in Jerusalem have explained this many times: As the son of Adam, your sins have brought you a wretched existence, full of misery and endless toil. But Jesus doesn't mention sin. He expands God's love to unbelievable lengths. Did you really hear him right?
You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before all men.
He compares you to a city set upon a hill that can't be hidden because its lights are so bright. You've never been told anything remotely like this or ever seen yourself this way.
Don't judge others, so that you may not be judged. Before you try to take a mote out of your brother's eye, first remove the log from your own.
Do to others what you would have them do to you. This one rule sums up what the law and the prophets taught.
Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will open.
How can you explain your reaction to this preacher--jumbled feelings of disbelief and hope, suspicion and an aching need to believe? You wanted to run away before he was finished, denying everything you heard. No sane man could walk the streets and judge not the thieves, pickpockets, and whores on every corner. It was absurd to claim that all you had to do, if you needed bread and clothes, was to ask God for them. And yet how beautifully Jesus wove the spell:
Consider the lilies, how they grow: They neither toil nor spin, but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Consider the crows, for they neither sow nor reap, they have no storeroom or barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!
Despite years of hard experience that made a lie of Jesus's promises, you believed them while you were listening. You kept believing them as you walked back down the hill near sunset, and for a few days afterward they haunted you. Until they faded away.
Time hasn't altered this mixture of hope and puzzlement. I had an experience that centers around one of Jesus's most baffling teachings: "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also." (Luke 6:29) These are words that our Jewish laborer could have heard that day on the hilltop, but time hasn't altered human nature enough to make this teaching any easier. If I let a bully hit me on one cheek only to turn the other, won't he beat the stuffing out of me? The same holds good, on a larger scale, for a threat like terrorism: If we allow evildoers to strike us without reprisal, won't they continue to do so, over and over?
On the surface my experience only vaguely fits this dilemma. Yet it leads to the heart of Christ's mission. I was in a crowded bookstore promoting a new book when a woman came up to me, saying, "Can I talk to you? I need three hours." She was a compact, forceful person (less politely, a pit bull), but as gently as I could I told her, pointing to the other people crowded around the table, that I didn't have three hours to spare.
A cloud passed over her face. "You have to. I came all the way from Mexico City," she said, insisting that she must have three hours alone with me. I asked if she had called my office in advance, and she had. What did they tell her? That I would be busy all day.
"But I came on my own anyway, because I've heard you say that anything is possible," she said. "If that's true, you should be able to see me."
The PR person in charge of the event was pulling at my elbow, so I told the woman that if she came back later, I might find a few minutes of personal time for her. She became enraged in front of everyone. She released a stream of invective, sparing no four-letter words, and stalked away, muttering darkly that I was a fraud. Later that night the incident wouldn't leave me in peace, so I considered an essential spiritual truth: People mirror back to us the reality of who we are. I sat down and wrote out a list of things I'd noticed about this woman. What had I disliked about her? She was angry, demanding, confrontational, and selfish. Then I called my wife and asked her if I was like that. There was a long silence at the other end of the phone. I was more than a little shaken.
I sat down to face what reality was asking me to face. I found a veneer of annoyance and irritation (after all, wasn't I the innocent victim? hadn't she embarrassed me in front of dozens of people?). Then I called a truce with the negative energies she had stirred up. Vague images of past injuries came to mind, which put me on the right trail. I moved as much of the stagnant energies of hurt as I could.
To put it bluntly, this was a Jesus moment. When he preached, "If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other also" (Luke 6:29), Jesus wasn't preaching masochism or martyrdom. He was speaking of a quality of consciousness that is known in Sanskrit as Ahimsa. The word is usually translated as "harmlessness" or "nonviolence," and in modern times it became the watchword of Gandhi's movement of peaceful resistance. Gandhi himself was often seen as Christlike, but Ahimsa has roots in India going back thousands of years.
In the Indian tradition several things are understood about nonviolence, and all of them apply to Jesus's version of turning the other cheek. First, the aim of nonviolence is ultimately to bring peace to yourself, to quell your own violence; the enemy outside serves only to mirror the enemy within. Second, your ability to be nonviolent depends on a shift in consciousness. Last, if you are successful in changing yourself, reality will mirror the change back to you.
Without these conditions, Ahimsa isn't spiritual or even effective. If someone full of desire for retaliation turns the other cheek to someone equally enraged, the only thing that will occur is more violence. Playing the part of a saint won't make a difference. But if a person in God-consciousness turns the other cheek, his enemy will be disarmed.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2008 by Deepak Chopra
Redeeming the Redeemer
Jesus is in trouble. When people worship him today--or even speak his name--the object of their devotion is unlikely to be who they think he is. A mythical Jesus has grown up over time. He has served to divide peoples and nations. He has led to destructive wars in the name of religious fantasies. The legacy of love found in the New Testament has been tainted with the worst sort of intolerance and prejudice that would have appalled Jesus in life. Most troubling of all, his teachings have been hijacked by people who hate in the name of love.
"Sometimes I feel this social pressure to return to my faith," a lapsed Catholic told me recently, "but I'm too bitter. Can I love a religion that calls gays sinners but hides pedophiles in its clergy? Yesterday while I was driving to work, I heard a rock song that went, 'Jesus walked on water when he should have surfed,' and you know what? I burst out laughing. I would never have done that when I was younger. Now I feel only the smallest twinge of guilt."
No matter where you look, a cloud of confusion hangs over the message of Jesus. To cut through it we have to be specific about who we mean when we refer to Jesus. One Jesus is historical, and we know next to nothing about him. Another Jesus is the one appropriated by Christianity. He was created by the Church to fulfill its agenda. The third Jesus, the one this book is about, is as yet so unknown that even the most devout Christians don't suspect that he exists. Yet he is the Christ we cannot--and must not--ignore.
The first Jesus was a rabbi who wandered the shores of northern Galilee many centuries ago. This Jesus still feels close enough to touch. He appears in our mind's eye dressed in homespun but haloed in glory. He was kind, serene, peaceful, loving, and yet he was the keeper of deep mysteries.
This historical Jesus has been lost, however, swept away by history. He still lingers like a ghost, a projection of all the ideal qualities we wish for in ourselves but so painfully lack. Why couldn't there be one person who was perfectly loving, perfectly compassionate, and perfectly humble? There can be if we call him Jesus and remove him to a time thousands of years in the past. (If you live in the East, his name might be Buddha, but the man is equally mythical and equally a projection of our own lack.)
The first Jesus is less than consistent, as a closer reading of the gospels will show. If Jesus was perfectly peaceful, why did he declare, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword"? (Matthew 10:34) If he was perfectly loving, why did he say, "Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"? (Matthew 25:30) (Sometimes the translation is even harsher, and Jesus commands "the worthless slave" to be consigned to hell.) If Jesus was humble, why did he claim to rule the earth beyond the power of any king? At the very least, the living Jesus was a man of baffling contradictions.
And yet the more contradictions we unearth, the less mythical this Jesus becomes. The flesh-and-blood man who is lost to history must have been extraordinarily human. To be divine, one must be rich in every human quality first. As one famous Indian spiritual teacher once said, "The measure of enlightenment is how comfortable you feel with your own contradictions."
Millions of people worship another Jesus, however, who never existed, who doesn't even lay claim to the fleeting substance of the first Jesus. This is the Jesus built up over thousands of years by theologians and other scholars. He is the Holy Ghost, the Three-in-One Christ, the source of sacraments and prayers that were unknown to the rabbi Jesus when he walked the earth. He is also the Prince of Peace over whom bloody wars have been fought. This second Jesus cannot be embraced without embracing theology first. Theology shifts with the tide of human affairs. Metaphysics itself is so complex that it contradicts the simplicity of Jesus's words. Would he have argued with learned divines over the meaning of the Eucharist? Would he have espoused a doctrine declaring that babies are damned until they are baptized?
The second Jesus leads us into the wilderness without a clear path out. He became the foundation of a religion that has proliferated into some twenty thousand sects. They argue endlessly over every thread in the garments of a ghost. But can any authority, however exalted, really inform us about what Jesus would have thought? Isn't it a direct contradiction to hold that Jesus was a unique creation--the one and only incarnation of God--while at the same time claiming to be able to read his mind on current events? Yet in his name Christianity pronounces on homosexuality, birth control, and abortion.
These two versions of Jesus--the sketchy historical figure and the abstract theological creation--hold a tragic aspect for me, because I blame them for stealing something precious: the Jesus who taught his followers how to reach God-consciousness. I want to offer the possibility that Jesus was truly, as he proclaimed, a savior. Not the savior, not the one and only Son of God. Rather, Jesus embodied the highest level of enlightenment. He spent his brief adult life describing it, teaching it, and passing it on to future generations.
Jesus intended to save the world by showing others the path to God-consciousness.
Such a reading of the New Testament doesn't diminish the first two Jesuses. Rather, they are brought into sharper focus. In place of lost history and complex theology, the third Jesus offers a direct relationship that is personal and present. Our task is to delve into scripture and prove that a map to enlightenment exists there. I think it does, undeniably; indeed, it's the living aspect of the gospels. We aren't talking about faith. Conventional faith is the same as belief in the impossible (such as Jesus walking on water), but there is another faith that gives us the ability to reach into the unknown and achieve transformation.
Jesus spoke of the necessity to believe in him as the road to salvation, but those words were put into his mouth by followers writing decades later. The New Testament is an interpretation of Jesus by people who felt reborn but also left behind. In orthodox Christianity they won't be left behind forever; at the Second Coming Jesus will return to reclaim the faithful. But the Second Coming has had twenty centuries to unfold, with the devout expecting it any day, and still it lies ahead. The idea of the Second Coming has been especially destructive to Jesus's intentions, because it postpones what needs to happen now. The Third Coming--finding God-consciousness through your own efforts--happens in the present. I'm using the term as a metaphor for a shift in consciousness that makes Jesus's teachings totally real and vital.
When Jesus Comes Again
Imagine for a moment that you are one of the poor Jewish farmers, fishermen, or other heavy laborers who have heard about a wandering rabbi who promises Heaven, not to the rich and powerful, but to your kind, society's humblest. On this day--we can surmise that it was hot and dry, with the desert sun beating down from overhead--you climb a hill north of the blue inland lake known as the Sea of Galilee.
At the top of the hill Jesus sits with his closest followers, waiting to preach until enough people have gathered. You wait, too, seeking the shade of the crooked olive trees that dot the parched landscape. Jesus (known to you in Hebrew as Yeshua, a fairly common name) delivers a sermon, and you are deeply struck, to the heart, in fact. He promises that God loves you, a statement he makes directly, without asking you to follow the duties of your sect or to respect the ancient, complex laws of the prophets. Further, he says that God loves you best. In the world to come, you and your kind will get the richest rewards, everything you have been denied in this world.
The words sound idealistic to the point of lunacy--if God loved you so much, why did he saddle you with cruel Roman conquerors? Why did he allow you to be enslaved and forced to toil until the day you die? The priests in Jerusalem have explained this many times: As the son of Adam, your sins have brought you a wretched existence, full of misery and endless toil. But Jesus doesn't mention sin. He expands God's love to unbelievable lengths. Did you really hear him right?
You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before all men.
He compares you to a city set upon a hill that can't be hidden because its lights are so bright. You've never been told anything remotely like this or ever seen yourself this way.
Don't judge others, so that you may not be judged. Before you try to take a mote out of your brother's eye, first remove the log from your own.
Do to others what you would have them do to you. This one rule sums up what the law and the prophets taught.
Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will open.
How can you explain your reaction to this preacher--jumbled feelings of disbelief and hope, suspicion and an aching need to believe? You wanted to run away before he was finished, denying everything you heard. No sane man could walk the streets and judge not the thieves, pickpockets, and whores on every corner. It was absurd to claim that all you had to do, if you needed bread and clothes, was to ask God for them. And yet how beautifully Jesus wove the spell:
Consider the lilies, how they grow: They neither toil nor spin, but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Consider the crows, for they neither sow nor reap, they have no storeroom or barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!
Despite years of hard experience that made a lie of Jesus's promises, you believed them while you were listening. You kept believing them as you walked back down the hill near sunset, and for a few days afterward they haunted you. Until they faded away.
Time hasn't altered this mixture of hope and puzzlement. I had an experience that centers around one of Jesus's most baffling teachings: "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also." (Luke 6:29) These are words that our Jewish laborer could have heard that day on the hilltop, but time hasn't altered human nature enough to make this teaching any easier. If I let a bully hit me on one cheek only to turn the other, won't he beat the stuffing out of me? The same holds good, on a larger scale, for a threat like terrorism: If we allow evildoers to strike us without reprisal, won't they continue to do so, over and over?
On the surface my experience only vaguely fits this dilemma. Yet it leads to the heart of Christ's mission. I was in a crowded bookstore promoting a new book when a woman came up to me, saying, "Can I talk to you? I need three hours." She was a compact, forceful person (less politely, a pit bull), but as gently as I could I told her, pointing to the other people crowded around the table, that I didn't have three hours to spare.
A cloud passed over her face. "You have to. I came all the way from Mexico City," she said, insisting that she must have three hours alone with me. I asked if she had called my office in advance, and she had. What did they tell her? That I would be busy all day.
"But I came on my own anyway, because I've heard you say that anything is possible," she said. "If that's true, you should be able to see me."
The PR person in charge of the event was pulling at my elbow, so I told the woman that if she came back later, I might find a few minutes of personal time for her. She became enraged in front of everyone. She released a stream of invective, sparing no four-letter words, and stalked away, muttering darkly that I was a fraud. Later that night the incident wouldn't leave me in peace, so I considered an essential spiritual truth: People mirror back to us the reality of who we are. I sat down and wrote out a list of things I'd noticed about this woman. What had I disliked about her? She was angry, demanding, confrontational, and selfish. Then I called my wife and asked her if I was like that. There was a long silence at the other end of the phone. I was more than a little shaken.
I sat down to face what reality was asking me to face. I found a veneer of annoyance and irritation (after all, wasn't I the innocent victim? hadn't she embarrassed me in front of dozens of people?). Then I called a truce with the negative energies she had stirred up. Vague images of past injuries came to mind, which put me on the right trail. I moved as much of the stagnant energies of hurt as I could.
To put it bluntly, this was a Jesus moment. When he preached, "If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other also" (Luke 6:29), Jesus wasn't preaching masochism or martyrdom. He was speaking of a quality of consciousness that is known in Sanskrit as Ahimsa. The word is usually translated as "harmlessness" or "nonviolence," and in modern times it became the watchword of Gandhi's movement of peaceful resistance. Gandhi himself was often seen as Christlike, but Ahimsa has roots in India going back thousands of years.
In the Indian tradition several things are understood about nonviolence, and all of them apply to Jesus's version of turning the other cheek. First, the aim of nonviolence is ultimately to bring peace to yourself, to quell your own violence; the enemy outside serves only to mirror the enemy within. Second, your ability to be nonviolent depends on a shift in consciousness. Last, if you are successful in changing yourself, reality will mirror the change back to you.
Without these conditions, Ahimsa isn't spiritual or even effective. If someone full of desire for retaliation turns the other cheek to someone equally enraged, the only thing that will occur is more violence. Playing the part of a saint won't make a difference. But if a person in God-consciousness turns the other cheek, his enemy will be disarmed.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2008 by Deepak Chopra
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Random blog of the day ; dated but current, and yes we are always at point A, lets forget about point B.
Meanwhile, my mate Ron Rolheiser emphasises elsewhere that we need to move beyond victim mentality and fully live the gospel, looking at what we can do for others and living more fully each day. I am managing to smile and greet strangers each day as I wander to work.
Meanwhile, my mate Ron Rolheiser emphasises elsewhere that we need to move beyond victim mentality and fully live the gospel, looking at what we can do for others and living more fully each day. I am managing to smile and greet strangers each day as I wander to work.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Lent is happening too quickly this year. Daily devotional reading and attending a study group are helping make Lent a reflective, thoughtful time for me. Long gone are my attitudes of fast, abstinence and penance. More so these days, and interestingly discussed by others in the study group; are attempts to smile and greet strangers.
I look back over the past months and think how fortunate I am that I have friends who accept me as I am, a confused, pathetic human being at times but one who still strives to stand upright and proud of my humanity. I gained new insight into the woman at the well story this week, Jesus spoke to the woman her reality, and she responded by telling others of her new found reality. Indeed just as for her, countless others down through the centuries and today there is someone who truly knows us, carries us on eagles wings and holds us in the palm of his hand. Truly, there is no need to fear, but only to accept loves embrace. Hurrah!
I have pondered the following since December. hattip LS.
The Cost of Compassion
But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had
compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke 15:20.
Recommended Reading Genesis 45:14-15
The word sacrifice is the costliest word in the biblical lexicon, especially when it comes to the price God paid--allowing His Son to be sacrificed for our sins. Sacrifice means to offer up something of one's own--to relinquish ownership, to give it up for a higher purpose or calling.
But there is another word that has a high price attached to it, one that gets less attention than sacrifice.
The cost of compassion, while perhaps not as high as sacrifice, is nonetheless high--as all compassionate people can attest. Take the father of the prodigal son in Jesus' parable, for instance (Luke 15:11-32). When the rebellious son returned home after a period of profligate living, the father welcomed him home with compassion. What price did he pay for his compassion?
How about the sleepless nights that he agonized over the fate of his son?
Or the forgiveness he extended? Or the large sum of money that the son wasted in riotous living?
Compassion's price is the loss of whatever we could be doing for ourselves instead of spending ourselves on another. Keep your compassion account balanced, ready to spend when needed.
Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation. Henry Ward Beecher
attributed to Turning Point by David Jeremiah .
I look back over the past months and think how fortunate I am that I have friends who accept me as I am, a confused, pathetic human being at times but one who still strives to stand upright and proud of my humanity. I gained new insight into the woman at the well story this week, Jesus spoke to the woman her reality, and she responded by telling others of her new found reality. Indeed just as for her, countless others down through the centuries and today there is someone who truly knows us, carries us on eagles wings and holds us in the palm of his hand. Truly, there is no need to fear, but only to accept loves embrace. Hurrah!
I have pondered the following since December. hattip LS.
The Cost of Compassion
But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had
compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke 15:20.
Recommended Reading Genesis 45:14-15
The word sacrifice is the costliest word in the biblical lexicon, especially when it comes to the price God paid--allowing His Son to be sacrificed for our sins. Sacrifice means to offer up something of one's own--to relinquish ownership, to give it up for a higher purpose or calling.
But there is another word that has a high price attached to it, one that gets less attention than sacrifice.
The cost of compassion, while perhaps not as high as sacrifice, is nonetheless high--as all compassionate people can attest. Take the father of the prodigal son in Jesus' parable, for instance (Luke 15:11-32). When the rebellious son returned home after a period of profligate living, the father welcomed him home with compassion. What price did he pay for his compassion?
How about the sleepless nights that he agonized over the fate of his son?
Or the forgiveness he extended? Or the large sum of money that the son wasted in riotous living?
Compassion's price is the loss of whatever we could be doing for ourselves instead of spending ourselves on another. Keep your compassion account balanced, ready to spend when needed.
Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation. Henry Ward Beecher
attributed to Turning Point by David Jeremiah .
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
February 13th is a real special day, after years of seeking a sorry to the stolen generations, a sorry will be issued.
Join up here
hattip Shanelle.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Haere Mai, gentle readers.
New Zealand was wonderful.
Totally different from anywhere I have been before, with a natural beauty that inspired me.
I made my sage retreat trip down a gorge at Taupo, and ended up with badly scratched legs physically. A black peg and pumice apparently now have spiritual import for me. I chanted, wept, prayed and sang and when I opened my eyes much later, a huge geyser went off about 20 meters along the gorge floor. Interestingly two days later, much further north, a Maori confirmed the spiritual significance of pumice for the Taupo region.
However NZ was not just solitary spiritual time: I enjoyed the Polynesian Spa, a flight across the great fault line in a Cessna, a day cruise on on the Bay of Islands, and saw over 120 dolphins. Visits to cultural and historical museums, and lots of wonderful meals. Visits to falls and geothermal sites also were eye openers. Made other tourists days by practicing RAOK.
Life and Death is understood well by the Maori, I appreciate now even more my own life.
New Zealand was wonderful.
Totally different from anywhere I have been before, with a natural beauty that inspired me.
I made my sage retreat trip down a gorge at Taupo, and ended up with badly scratched legs physically. A black peg and pumice apparently now have spiritual import for me. I chanted, wept, prayed and sang and when I opened my eyes much later, a huge geyser went off about 20 meters along the gorge floor. Interestingly two days later, much further north, a Maori confirmed the spiritual significance of pumice for the Taupo region.
However NZ was not just solitary spiritual time: I enjoyed the Polynesian Spa, a flight across the great fault line in a Cessna, a day cruise on on the Bay of Islands, and saw over 120 dolphins. Visits to cultural and historical museums, and lots of wonderful meals. Visits to falls and geothermal sites also were eye openers. Made other tourists days by practicing RAOK.
Life and Death is understood well by the Maori, I appreciate now even more my own life.
Friday, January 25, 2008
from the vault, a random post selected purely at random...
bizarre!
of all the posts to select, 'twas this one that I clicked on.... hmmm.... interesting... very very interesting....
ah well, bags are packed and I'm out the door again..
only a little hop this time to New Zealand.
I hope to purify myself with sage at Lake Taupo.
bizarre!
of all the posts to select, 'twas this one that I clicked on.... hmmm.... interesting... very very interesting....
ah well, bags are packed and I'm out the door again..
only a little hop this time to New Zealand.
I hope to purify myself with sage at Lake Taupo.
sad times, my fav print journal is ceasing publication
ACP announces closure of The BulletinACP Magazines Chief Executive Officer, Scott Lorson, today announced that weekly news and current affairs title The Bulletin with Newsweek would cease publication from the current issue of the magazine which went on sale on 23 January 2008.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Mr Cheng: "The Chinese save today’s spending for tomorrow, and the American’s spend tomorrow’s saving today."
Vertigo Open Thread The Agonist#comment
hattip the queen of the news :)
as C posits @ the originating site: Damn those perfidious commies. Don't they know that those who are fiscally conservative and actually save money hate our freedoms?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Gentle readers, life has dealt me another blow, I do not know if it is major or just a transient hiccup, but health woes surfaced suddenly and unexpectedly on Dec 30th.
Fortunately a wonderful guardian angel took me into her home, and assisted me with the things that needed to be done. And then, bang, zap ka-boom I developed a huge allergic reaction to the medication and my body literally 'overheated.' Almost no part of me was untouched :eek: a most unpleasant experience, that just added to the stress of my illness.
However, I have bounced back and now await the results of a medical procedure next week. If all is well another overseas dash awaits!
for LS:
___________________________________________________
from the transient to the eternal:
Over 10 years ago I was privileged to introduce many Australian readers to John O'Donohue. In his latest book Benedictus, he writes of how in any given day, some of
us humans will experience the shock of being told of the sudden death of a friend.
A dear friend of mine returned from France late last week and told me John had suddenly died in his sleep.
As Gareth Higgins writes John wanted us to be tender to the fact that the faces of strangers we meet every day all hide secrets that are both divine and tragic. We do not always know who among us is suffering some unnameable torment, nor who is rejoicing at the blessing of a lifetime.
vale John! Thanks for all the words you wrote!
A BLESSING FOR EQUILIBRIUM.BY JOHN O’DONOHUE, from ‘Benedictus – A Book of Blessings’
Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the music of laughter break through your soul.
As the wind wants to make everything dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.
Like the freedom of the monastery bell,
May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.
As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.
As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
May a sense of irony give you perspective.
As time remains free of all that it frames,
May fear or worry never put you in chains.
May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the distance the laughter of God.
Fortunately a wonderful guardian angel took me into her home, and assisted me with the things that needed to be done. And then, bang, zap ka-boom I developed a huge allergic reaction to the medication and my body literally 'overheated.' Almost no part of me was untouched :eek: a most unpleasant experience, that just added to the stress of my illness.
However, I have bounced back and now await the results of a medical procedure next week. If all is well another overseas dash awaits!
for LS:
___________________________________________________
from the transient to the eternal:
Over 10 years ago I was privileged to introduce many Australian readers to John O'Donohue. In his latest book Benedictus, he writes of how in any given day, some of
us humans will experience the shock of being told of the sudden death of a friend.
A dear friend of mine returned from France late last week and told me John had suddenly died in his sleep.
As Gareth Higgins writes John wanted us to be tender to the fact that the faces of strangers we meet every day all hide secrets that are both divine and tragic. We do not always know who among us is suffering some unnameable torment, nor who is rejoicing at the blessing of a lifetime.
vale John! Thanks for all the words you wrote!
A BLESSING FOR EQUILIBRIUM.BY JOHN O’DONOHUE, from ‘Benedictus – A Book of Blessings’
Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the music of laughter break through your soul.
As the wind wants to make everything dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.
Like the freedom of the monastery bell,
May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.
As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.
As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
May a sense of irony give you perspective.
As time remains free of all that it frames,
May fear or worry never put you in chains.
May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the distance the laughter of God.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
It's that time of the year when friends are away, and life is still, allowing pause for thought.
I re-read my journal for 2007, and realise how far I have travelled, and how I have not travelled at all. I remain me, a complex mix of humanity.
One thing I had failed to follow through with was researching this poem by Thomas Merton:
Song: If You Seek
If you seek a heavenly light
I, Solitude, am your professor!
I go before you into emptiness,
Raise strange suns for your new mornings,
Opening the windows
Of your innermost apartment.
When I, loneliness, give my special signal
Follow my silence, follow where I beckon!
Fear not, little beast, little spirit
(Thou word and animal)
I, Solitude, am angel
And have prayed in your name.
Look at the empty, wealthy night
The pilgrim moon!
I am the appointed hour,
The “now” that cuts
Time like a blade.
I am the unexpected flash
Beyond “yes,” beyond “no,”
The forerunner of the Word of God.
Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers:
For I, Solitude, am thine own self:
I, Nothingness, am thy All.
I, Silence, am thy Amen!
It's good to realise it is OK to be alone, but aware that others are so close in a myriad of ways.
Next thing I read tonight is this:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes "One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self infatuation and despair... Let him who cannot be alone beware of community"
______________________________________________________________
update: I have been reflecting on Ron Rolheiser who points out that no matter how in love we are with another, how close we get to another human being, in the end we are called to experience loneliness.
Merton, who Ron also quotes, makes the point that our love cannot be enough for another, and it is in noting that, that we rise above our own selfishness and can be there for others.
Ron goes on to say that; when we accept the absurdity that we remain alone even when united with others, we will provide a centre of peace within ourselves where things make sense; and both marriage and celibacy become both possible and beautiful. (c.f. Seeking Spirituality / Holy Longing final paragraphs, Chapter 9)
UPDATE II:
I have since found this study guide which teases out thoughts even more
I re-read my journal for 2007, and realise how far I have travelled, and how I have not travelled at all. I remain me, a complex mix of humanity.
One thing I had failed to follow through with was researching this poem by Thomas Merton:
Song: If You Seek
If you seek a heavenly light
I, Solitude, am your professor!
I go before you into emptiness,
Raise strange suns for your new mornings,
Opening the windows
Of your innermost apartment.
When I, loneliness, give my special signal
Follow my silence, follow where I beckon!
Fear not, little beast, little spirit
(Thou word and animal)
I, Solitude, am angel
And have prayed in your name.
Look at the empty, wealthy night
The pilgrim moon!
I am the appointed hour,
The “now” that cuts
Time like a blade.
I am the unexpected flash
Beyond “yes,” beyond “no,”
The forerunner of the Word of God.
Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers:
For I, Solitude, am thine own self:
I, Nothingness, am thy All.
I, Silence, am thy Amen!
It's good to realise it is OK to be alone, but aware that others are so close in a myriad of ways.
Next thing I read tonight is this:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes "One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self infatuation and despair... Let him who cannot be alone beware of community"
______________________________________________________________
update: I have been reflecting on Ron Rolheiser who points out that no matter how in love we are with another, how close we get to another human being, in the end we are called to experience loneliness.
Merton, who Ron also quotes, makes the point that our love cannot be enough for another, and it is in noting that, that we rise above our own selfishness and can be there for others.
Ron goes on to say that; when we accept the absurdity that we remain alone even when united with others, we will provide a centre of peace within ourselves where things make sense; and both marriage and celibacy become both possible and beautiful. (c.f. Seeking Spirituality / Holy Longing final paragraphs, Chapter 9)
UPDATE II:
I have since found this study guide which teases out thoughts even more
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
quickly read this:
JESUS
IS
NOWHERE now read it again.
A friend sent me this:
THE 5 FINGERS OF PRAYER
1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct, and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, priests and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all. This is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself much more effectively.
hattip LS
JESUS
IS
NOWHERE now read it again.
A friend sent me this:
THE 5 FINGERS OF PRAYER
1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct, and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, priests and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all. This is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself much more effectively.
hattip LS
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
a few emails and chats complaining about lack of posts!!!
Sorry all, life is good and busy, and computer time just isn't there! I mean who needs to blog when one can play scrabble. ;)
Tonight I went to the launch of a new book.
Not just any book but a book full of speeches delivered to THE ST. THOMAS MORE’S FORUM since its' inception in 2005. The book The St Thomas More's Forum Papers 2005 - 2007 can be purchased from Abebooks.
The book includes the talks given over twenty Forums with thirty-one speakers including:
The Hon Murray Gleeson, Chief Justice of the High Court, launched the book with reflections on the decline of Catholic Protestant animosity over the last 50 years especially in regard to the Irish community in Australia. Of particular interest was the increasing interest in virtue in the public square, also alluded to by Archbishop Coleridge who also spoke at the launch. An interesting tidbit was to learn of Hon Murray Gleeson relationship to Les Murray Australias' pre-eminent poet.
Both the Chief Justice and the Archbishop reflected on Thomas Mores multi-faceted role model status. The Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco was cited by both speakers and Erasmus and Saint Ivo of Kermartin were also discussed. Thomas More was noted as the last of the medieval men, whilst Martin Luther was seen as the first 'modern' dude!
St Ivo, the patron saint of lawyers in France, is noted for his tombstone: Sanctus Ivo erat Brito/ Advocatus et non latro/ Res miranda populo. Roughly translated, this means: "St Ives was Breton/ A lawyer and not a thief/ Marvelous thing to the people." Literally translated, it is a quip that refers to the fact that lawyers have a reputation for thievery.
Anyway yours truly got two mentions by two speakers for advice and assistance rendered ;)
and also features in the books' acknowledgments!
Sadly I could not stay for the fine Margaret River wines, and cheesy combestibles as I had to dash off to the Archdiocesan Christmas Party.
And so to sleep, to sleep perchance to dream, I grow old, I grow old, but life is fun!!!
Advent blessings and best wishes for Christmas joy and peace to all my gentle readers.
Thanks for all your support in 2007, a better year than 2006 by far. You are all remembered in my prayers, and I appreciate the wide and diverse ways I have been encouraged and supported by so many, all over the world in the past 23 months!
God bless you one and all.
Sorry all, life is good and busy, and computer time just isn't there! I mean who needs to blog when one can play scrabble. ;)
Tonight I went to the launch of a new book.
Not just any book but a book full of speeches delivered to THE ST. THOMAS MORE’S FORUM since its' inception in 2005. The book The St Thomas More's Forum Papers 2005 - 2007 can be purchased from Abebooks.
The book includes the talks given over twenty Forums with thirty-one speakers including:
- The Hon Tony Abbott, former Federal Minister of Health and Leader of the House of Representatives
- His Eminence George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
- Kevin Rudd MP, Then Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and International Security now Prime Minister of Australia.
- Mick Keelty, APM, Australian Federal Police Commissioner
- Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn
The Hon Murray Gleeson, Chief Justice of the High Court, launched the book with reflections on the decline of Catholic Protestant animosity over the last 50 years especially in regard to the Irish community in Australia. Of particular interest was the increasing interest in virtue in the public square, also alluded to by Archbishop Coleridge who also spoke at the launch. An interesting tidbit was to learn of Hon Murray Gleeson relationship to Les Murray Australias' pre-eminent poet.
Both the Chief Justice and the Archbishop reflected on Thomas Mores multi-faceted role model status. The Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco was cited by both speakers and Erasmus and Saint Ivo of Kermartin were also discussed. Thomas More was noted as the last of the medieval men, whilst Martin Luther was seen as the first 'modern' dude!
St Ivo, the patron saint of lawyers in France, is noted for his tombstone: Sanctus Ivo erat Brito/ Advocatus et non latro/ Res miranda populo. Roughly translated, this means: "St Ives was Breton/ A lawyer and not a thief/ Marvelous thing to the people." Literally translated, it is a quip that refers to the fact that lawyers have a reputation for thievery.
Anyway yours truly got two mentions by two speakers for advice and assistance rendered ;)
and also features in the books' acknowledgments!
Sadly I could not stay for the fine Margaret River wines, and cheesy combestibles as I had to dash off to the Archdiocesan Christmas Party.
And so to sleep, to sleep perchance to dream, I grow old, I grow old, but life is fun!!!
Advent blessings and best wishes for Christmas joy and peace to all my gentle readers.
Thanks for all your support in 2007, a better year than 2006 by far. You are all remembered in my prayers, and I appreciate the wide and diverse ways I have been encouraged and supported by so many, all over the world in the past 23 months!
God bless you one and all.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
AS HARD AS I TRY I CANNOT GET THIS TO SPIN ANTI-CLOCKWISE :(
listening to nature, traffic and bells in central park whilst my ukele gently weeps.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Spirituality of relationships
International author and psychiatrist Fr Jack Dominian has provided the preface to a book written by Canberra priest and counsellor Fr John Ryan. "A Spirituality of Relationships. The Power of Both/ And" which was launched at a dinner at Ainslie Village on Wednesday, 26 September.
The launch by executive director of the Australia Institute Dr Clive Hamilton benefitted the Home in Queanbeyan project, with over $4,000.00 being donated. 120 people from literally all walks of life gathered at the Ainslie Village to enjoy a wonderful meal, great wine and the guest speakers: Clive, Fr John Ryan and Fr Peter Day. The evening was MC'd by veteran political journalist Paul Bongiorno.
The book may be obtained from the Catholic Bookshop Braddon, telephone 6201 9888, or e-mail bookshop@cg.catholic.org.au Please click _HERE_ to order online.
Whereas Bishop Geoffrey Robinsons book Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church seeks to polarise and is almost heretical in places; Fr Ryans' book attempts to allow a dialogue that can accomodate the past and present into a secure future.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Some have expressed concern about lack of posts, I've been busy!!! The skyes are blue, and sand is golden.
Spring has sprung in Canberra, and the flowers and trees are blooming and blossoming. Some serious rain in late winter has produced wonderful displays of colour.
Last weekend it was time to head off to floriade. Of particualar interest was the beanie marquee, featuring over 90 beanies made from wool, cloth, barbed wire, twistie packet foil and other fibres and yarns.
Life is busy with organising a book launch that is raising money for the home in queanbeyan project. The former Governor General of Australia comments that: "the provision of long-term, supported accommodation for the chronically mentally ill who are presently unable to live with the basic dignity to which every human being is entitled is not simply a 'good idea'. It is an absolute must…."
Currently I am also proof-reading the third book manuscript authors have entrusted me with this year. I must have reached a certain age where what I know and what I don't know does not matter anymore. It is a privilege to be involved with finetuning a book before it is published. :D
Also keeping me occupied is a new blog promoting a book being released next year. See if you can find me posting as "cgo" ;)
Meanwhile, matters outside Australia give me pause. The last few days I have spent time fasting, praying and meditating for the situation in Burma. Today the Catholic News in Australia featured an article: Burma bishops call for prayer.
It seems like only yesterday I was boarding a plane for Cairns for the last school holidays; next week is another week off work, relaxing and having fun...
Spring has sprung in Canberra, and the flowers and trees are blooming and blossoming. Some serious rain in late winter has produced wonderful displays of colour.
Last weekend it was time to head off to floriade. Of particualar interest was the beanie marquee, featuring over 90 beanies made from wool, cloth, barbed wire, twistie packet foil and other fibres and yarns.
Life is busy with organising a book launch that is raising money for the home in queanbeyan project. The former Governor General of Australia comments that: "the provision of long-term, supported accommodation for the chronically mentally ill who are presently unable to live with the basic dignity to which every human being is entitled is not simply a 'good idea'. It is an absolute must…."
Currently I am also proof-reading the third book manuscript authors have entrusted me with this year. I must have reached a certain age where what I know and what I don't know does not matter anymore. It is a privilege to be involved with finetuning a book before it is published. :D
Also keeping me occupied is a new blog promoting a book being released next year. See if you can find me posting as "cgo" ;)
Meanwhile, matters outside Australia give me pause. The last few days I have spent time fasting, praying and meditating for the situation in Burma. Today the Catholic News in Australia featured an article: Burma bishops call for prayer.
It seems like only yesterday I was boarding a plane for Cairns for the last school holidays; next week is another week off work, relaxing and having fun...
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Trying to grasp the other.
Following the holocaust (world war 2) the Blake prize was established in Australia to encourage Synagogues and Churches to obtain Australian artwork, rather than European works.
Portraits of Osama bin Laden, a madonna wearing a veil a la islam, a toilet bowel representation of an Indian god are some of the recent entries.
The acclaimed winner this year however is a sand / ochre portrait of the stations of the cross by an indigenous artist, Shirley Purdie. This work is confronting, it speaks of a God that belongs to the outback, to the desert. The sand is not the paint of western artists, and has some commonality with buddhist mandalas. It reflects thus the fact that religion is universal. The sand also represents the land that is out there, past western civilizations attempt to conquer Australia.
The Jesus suffering in this art work is abrasive and represents the personal Jesus and the God of the indigenous people of the desert. It is the other, but still is a human endeavour to portray the mystery of a God who becomes personal. It is not the safe European or American art that city dwelling white Australians may have some identification with. The artist has managed to speak of her relationship with her God in this work of art. It also personalises her own history of holocaust as it reflects the massacres of her tribal ancestors 70 - 80 years ago. The 2000 year old western story of the passion of Jesus thus is incorporated into the more recent personal trauma of the last century.
The philanthropist and widow of millionaire businessman Kerry Packer yesterday declared her admiration for the Kushan dynasty second century Seated Buddha, her new $1 million-plus gift to the National Gallery of Australia's Asian art collection.
I recently viewed this statue sans fat belly ;) that has recently been purchased by the NGA. It also speaks of the other to me.
Both works of art challenge my perspective and relationship with spirituality and my attempt to reconcile myself with the created world and the world of eternity.
Both works are mysterious, created by people who are not culturally identifiable to me. Thus I share in the wider humanity and gain some idea that the world is populated by many who do not share my western consumerist ideals, that are shaped also by an attempt to identify with a global christianity. A christianity that can be interpreted in the context of an indigenous community far from mainstream Australian society far from my comfort zone.
Following the holocaust (world war 2) the Blake prize was established in Australia to encourage Synagogues and Churches to obtain Australian artwork, rather than European works.
Portraits of Osama bin Laden, a madonna wearing a veil a la islam, a toilet bowel representation of an Indian god are some of the recent entries.
The acclaimed winner this year however is a sand / ochre portrait of the stations of the cross by an indigenous artist, Shirley Purdie. This work is confronting, it speaks of a God that belongs to the outback, to the desert. The sand is not the paint of western artists, and has some commonality with buddhist mandalas. It reflects thus the fact that religion is universal. The sand also represents the land that is out there, past western civilizations attempt to conquer Australia.
The Jesus suffering in this art work is abrasive and represents the personal Jesus and the God of the indigenous people of the desert. It is the other, but still is a human endeavour to portray the mystery of a God who becomes personal. It is not the safe European or American art that city dwelling white Australians may have some identification with. The artist has managed to speak of her relationship with her God in this work of art. It also personalises her own history of holocaust as it reflects the massacres of her tribal ancestors 70 - 80 years ago. The 2000 year old western story of the passion of Jesus thus is incorporated into the more recent personal trauma of the last century.
The philanthropist and widow of millionaire businessman Kerry Packer yesterday declared her admiration for the Kushan dynasty second century Seated Buddha, her new $1 million-plus gift to the National Gallery of Australia's Asian art collection. I recently viewed this statue sans fat belly ;) that has recently been purchased by the NGA. It also speaks of the other to me.
Both works of art challenge my perspective and relationship with spirituality and my attempt to reconcile myself with the created world and the world of eternity.
Both works are mysterious, created by people who are not culturally identifiable to me. Thus I share in the wider humanity and gain some idea that the world is populated by many who do not share my western consumerist ideals, that are shaped also by an attempt to identify with a global christianity. A christianity that can be interpreted in the context of an indigenous community far from mainstream Australian society far from my comfort zone.
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