Of Co-Creation

In my book The Stations,* an artist is commissioned to create the Fourteen Stations of the Cross.  Each station carries a message for the contemporary world.  The 14^th Station is ‘Jesus Laid in the Tomb’; here the artist expresses the theme of co-creation.  From the book: “Here is the meeting place between time and eternity.  God has delivered the message; Jesus’ work is complete.  The human race must take it from here.  Jesus lived love and unity and demonstrated the desirable side of human potential—what we are capable of—entrusting humanity to carry out the world’s further development.  . . . when we do we become co-creators.”

*The Stations by B. Sabonis-Chafee: available at Amazon

on the same theme:

       THE CHILD IS FATHER OF THE MAN

From parent comes child

Who is destined himself to become parent.

From God comes man

Himself to become as God—

One to other

United in understanding

Through shared creation.

Each still is

But they share a being

Impossible without the evolutionary development.

But that is the completion—

The becoming is painful.

To grow under protective care:

            To have one to give answers,

            To have one to run to for comfort,

            To have one to define limits’

            To have one to forgive mistakes,

            To have one to answer needs

            To have one to see in us value . . . . . .

                                    Childhood and Innocence.

Then to be alone:

            To search out answers,

            To endure without comfort,

            To draw our own limits,

            To be responsible for mistakes,

            To find the means to answer needs,

            To create our own value by our actions . . . .

                                    Maturity and Responsibility.

The aloneness feels like abandonment;

But necessary for becoming.

It is weakness, cowardice, and death

To run back to the protectiveness outgrown.

It is strength, courage and life

To face the challenge alone.

The challenges to be met?

One cannot foretell.

For some they are few;

For others, many.

But the greater the challenges met and overcome,

The greater the one overcoming.

Refuse the challenge

       Deny the worth of the struggle.

              Give no example to those who follow,

                     Destruction . . . . . . .

                           And worse yet,

                                  Responsibility for that destruction!

Refusal, denial, and the killing of hope

Will not eliminate the responsibility inherent in maturation.

There is no choice but to go forward and build,

To find within the self

The ability to become as the One who gave being.

God is not dead

His infinite wisdom sees the necessity

Of Man’s accepting the responsibility

Of his own destiny.

The pain?

            The suffering?

                        The aloneness?

                                    To be endured!

Instead of receiving,

It is now ours to give---

The child must now become the father.

Trinity Thoughts

Throughout this Easter season I have thought much about the Trinity.  I find it does not present to me the great incomprehensible mystery theologians speak of – Why?

This is how my mind addresses it.

I am Barbara, one singular limited human being.  During my lifetime others have known me as different persons.  I can and have manifested myself in these ways:  I am parent—“Mom”; teacher—“Ms. S-C”; and writer—“B. Sabonis-Chafee”.  Because I am limited by my material reality and exist in time and space, those manifestations happen sequentially.  Although most people can and do experience me mainly as one or the other (and can even be unaware that I’m manifested differently to others at other times) I am always the same Barbara.

For God, there is not a limit.  The Eternal God exists beyond the limits of time and space.  God’s Being has been manifested to humanity in three ways: as Creator, Savior, and Spirit.  Christianity has chosen to identify those manifestations as: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Theologians have also chosen to label God’s different ways-of-being as ‘3 Persons’. The choice of terminology has effected our perception of and our ultimate understanding of God.

Consider the word ‘person’.   Unconsciously we bring our common understanding to it, which refers to a separate individual or ‘unit’ of being.   We know of a person as one who comes into life by way of two individuals joining in sexual union to produce a baby—or new unit of being—which is first dependent upon parents but develops (over time) into the new singular unit, independent of the source of their existence.

The vastness of God is beyond our ability to comprehend but we use what we do know to try to reach a degree of understanding.  During the two thousand years of development, the Jewish people became monotheists—believers in One God—and awaiting a Messiah.  The life and message of Jesus brought people to the belief that he was the promised Messiah, the Christ.  He preached love and peace, was crucified, died and arose—conquering death.  The Messiah, thus God’s presence had been manifested to the world.  Some of the Jews, then non-Jews became Christians, believers with the conviction that Jesus=God.  Then, experiencing another manifestation of God’s presence with Pentecost, accepted that Holy Spirit =God.  It took centuries to establish the tenets of Christianity.  One great problem (still considered the greatest Mystery) was how to reconcile monotheism with a Triune God of three different persons.  The world’s experience of God had been in three different ways as: creator, savior and spirit; these encounters were different experiences so, in thought, they were separated and given the labels of ‘Father’, ‘Son’ and ‘Holy Spirit’, calling them different ‘persons’ of God, creating the confusion of One God, but three ‘persons’.

God is beyond our knowing and those awarenesses that do come to our understanding are clouded by explanations we have invented.  When reason advances our understanding (consciousness?) it requires that we change our perceptions and relinquish the long-favored errors present in the explanation.  Faced with a change in perception it is imperative not to deny the essential experience or main point but realize the error was in the way it was explained. 

Regarding the Trinity, I suggest relinquishing the use of ‘persons’ to describe the differing manifestations—the ‘Person’ of God is God (I Am) One God.  God was manifested in an earthly sojourn as the human person, Jesus.  The Christian belief is that God did enter human form for a specific duration to share the experience of being human and demonstrate how we as humans can share in ‘godness’.  We can’t fully understand it, but history and scripture affirm that it happened.  God did not ‘leave’ eternity to become Jesus (making eternity absent of God).  Eternity holds all expressions of reality within itself, so God continues eternally while entering time’s temporality. 

How many ways can God manifest the God-self?  We can’t know that, so lets confine the issue to the ways in which humanity has recognized them.  God’s Being is manifested to our human world: 1) as Creator (we see and experience life and the world in which we exist); 2) as the Savior in the person Jesus, also identified as The Christ (saving us from limited being); and 3) as the Holy Spirit, (The Divine Milieu) present throughout all of creation, guiding our evolution.

My prayer:    God of the Universe, you are one God in three manifestations;

                          --as Creator you give us life and the world;

--as Savior you clothed yourself in human flesh and entered time to show us how we are to live

--as Holy Spirit you are everpresent, enveloping us in your love and giving guidance to those who seek your council.

            Thank you—for all that is

            Amen—Thy will, not mine be done
            Trust—I believe, Lord, help my unbelief

Easter Week 2016

There was a Holy man that lived two thousand years ago, his message—his whole message—was to love and forgive.  At first, people were attracted to him, they followed him and sought his blessing (mainly to cure their infirmities not realizing it was their humanity to which he ministered) . . . but when earthly powers turned on him those followers chose to abandon him and support those in power, “We have no king but Caesar” . . . it was safer that way.  We remember him in Holy Week because we are still hoping to learn the lessons he taught.  Our very survival depends on it.  My thoughts bounce between what Holy Week means and what the world displays to us—it says civilization is under threat.

Tracing the gradual refinement of how rulers treated their subjects can point to civilization’s evolution.  In ancient times the Romans established special rights for those who were Roman citizens.  In 1215 The Magna Carter asserted individual rights.  The Americaan Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.  And in 1948 the newly formed United Nations established the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’.   Its’ preamble asserts: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.”  As civilization advances, there is a notable improvement in the treatment of individuals within social order.

The Quran contains much wisdom, as do all Holy Books of all peoples (while each also contains some questionable statements).  At this point in time radical groups of Islamic fundamentalists have usurped all good in the Quran to be overshadowed by the ‘Satanic Verses’ that call for jihad, which they interpret as the slaughter of any and all who do not adhere to their rigid laws.  They are drunk on the heady powers of violence and destruction.  Because this is done in the name of Islam, all Islamists have come under suspicion. 

Many now state we are at war; but this is not a war like other wars we have known—those of territorial acquisition and material wealth—the primary objective of Jihadists is to enslave all and demand adherence to their perverted ideology thus destroying civilization as it now exists.  They trade on fear and shock, they are not just fighting an armed and uniformed ‘enemy’ but are sneaking into any place where innocent people gather to celebrate or conduct business or simply to go about their daily lives, and with suicide bombers blow up—MURDER—as many as possible.  The numbers dead and maimed measure their victory.  They capture young girls and sell them into sex-slavery, they shoot children wanting to learn to read and write, they torture and behead those whom they perceive as wrongdoers.  

We in America have the privilege of living in a free democratic country and tend to ignore ‘far-away’ problems.  We must wake up and take note of how different this scourge is, how insidious and threatening it is to civilization as a whole.  It is not the problem of a nation or region or continent, it is an attack upon universal human values.  Civilization is in the cross-hairs of the jihadists!  Look at the historical artifacts, cities and countries they have utterly destroyed causing millions to flee seeking safety, only to be met with hostility and closed borders.  Good people turn against the helpless and destitute because there are too many, and thus do the jihadists chalk up another victory against civilization.  Yes, they are a new kind of enemy. 

A new strategy is needed for the new enemy; guns and bombs aren’t enough.  I don’t have answers but believe a piece of that strategy needs to be the kind of total focus that WWII brought out; every person, young to old was ready and willing to do whatever they could.   Where are the rallying calls that bring people to awareness of what the world is facing?  Where are the musicians with ‘We Are The World’ concerts to raise money to help care for the refugees?  Where are the Internet appeals for ‘adopting’ individual groups of fighters or refugees to supply their needs?  Where are collection trucks in parking lots to gather blankets, dry goods and necessities for the millions stranded beside fenced and gated borders?  Yes, it takes planning but when the will is resolute it can happen. 

It may seem like subways and airports and 110 story buildings are the target, but make no mistake, the soul of freedom is the real target and that is of universal concern.  This threat challenges us all to finally work together to defend human rights.  Whether you are a Christian participating in the Holy Week rituals or a Jew celebrating Passover, or an eco-humanist appreciating the renewal that is Spring or a non-believer who lives by the laws that respect human rights, you recognize that there are ways of being that support and sustain life—we call that civilization.  Then there are ways of being that are deadly and destructive to all that we value—that is the enemy we must face together.

Like it or not, we are one world, one tiny blue ball in the vast expansive universe and our future is threatened—we, us, all life on this planet depends on the choices we make.  It is in our hands.  May the hope that Spring, Easter, and Passover holds translate to shared concern for the one home we all share.

Look in the Mirror

As I sit awaiting the outcome of this Super Tuesday Presidential race I worry about this country’s political future.  How did we get to this level of anti-civility and why does the public support it?  My last posting was of America’s love of violence and its refusal to acknowledge that it is a problem.   The Republican primaries highlight my point, it has been months of insulting in-fighting among candidates, vitriolic attack ads, physical violence erupting at speeches . . . what other than attraction to violence explains the hemorrhage of attention given to a foul-mouthed, egotistical, bigot running for president of our country? 

I’m a registered Independent and have given my vote to candidates in both parties, choosing not party but the character of the candidate.  I don’t always agree with our presidents, but I respect the office of president.  There is nothing about Trump’s candidacy that calls for respect, his tactics and demeanor are that of a dictator: ‘I’m great!  Obey me or be crushed!’

If we move a bit from the Trump haranguing we can return to a measure of civility despite differences.  The Democratic debates stick to issues and candidates disagree without resorting to personal insults.  Among Republicans, only Kasich has conducted an admirable campaign.

I can only hope and pray the general public awakens to listen to “their better angels” before leading the country blindly into disaster.

Addiction to Violence

There is a sickness in the American culture—we are in love with violence.  It is not just a casual indulgence it is an obsession.  We love violence in any form (be it in the pursuit of the bad or the good).  We love it in our movies, TVs, video games and even in our music—most notably in rap.  We can see it in our love of sports—the more violent the better and football tops all.  A subtler lure to violence is an increasing interest in extreme sports that thrive on the desire to ‘push the envelope’ ever farther.

 Among so many Americans there is an open love affair with guns and any attempt to set reasonable controls meets with angry resistance.  Mass shootings have become so commonplace as to be part of today’s norm. 

The political process of our nation has become a circus of verbal violence with shouts and insults and foul language and bold lies.  It goes on because the public responds not with criticism of it but with eager attention to it.  It is an embarrassment before the world that the highest office in our land is negotiated in such a manner.

I seem to be saying, “the grass is green”—yes, everyone knows of these things, but do we treat the love of violence as a serious problem that needs attention?  It doesn’t ‘just happen’ we choose it!  We respond eagerly at its display whether it is in the films we watch or the sports events upon which we spend billions of dollars.  As a nation we refuse to face the gun issue in a rational way.  As a society we refuse to look in the mirror at ourselves and see the self-damage we inflict . . . like the drug addict and alcoholic we maintain there is no problem—refusing to acknowledge the evidence.

If we are striving to be leaders of the free world, we have an obligation to set a precedence of choosing attitudes and behaviors that enhance rather than diminish, to do that we must face our addiction to violence.