Monday, February 20, 2017

I say again . . .

A few days ago I wrote of ‘Seeing Oneness’ in which I referred to The Women’s March 2017 as having brought to the fore the women’s voice— loud and clear.

A voice calling for peace, equality, human rights, concern for Planet Earth, unity, love and respect is not exclusive to women, but is characteristic of them.  That voice seems to have once more gotten lost in the violence, aggression, supremacy, exclusivity and nationalism being championed by men of power around the world.

It is promising to see that many men, especially of the younger generations, are listening to and supporting a kinder more compassionate voice and have joined with that voice to shout it to the world—five million strong.

As appropriate follow up to my last entry I repeat the poem I posted earlier on October 28, 2016.


                                       * * *

                                          HEAR ME

I am Woman, hear me oh Man!

You have intercourse with life from the outside,
            I from within.

You know only half of the reality that is
            --as do I.

Rigid and absolute, your aim is to impose and control;
Yielding and accommodating, mine is to accept and adapt.

You fear that I will limit your fecundity
            your self-serving pleasure pursuits

And so it is, for I seek compassion and understanding
            and protection for my vulnerability.

What you fail to know--for you know only half of reality--
            is that there is satisfaction of a different kind as well as wisdom
            in my experience of life and living.

What you have demonstrated to me--for you have been in charge--
            is that your outside knowing, adventurous to be sure,
            is empty and meaningless without my insights!

You’ve insisted upon leading--your power and logic made it seem right--
            but narcissistically you fell in love with your own reflection
            and forgot to keep my voice alive with your love...
            instead, you asked of me only that I serve and service you
            --forgetting you know only half of reality.

Learn from me, not in a subservient way, but as an equal
            and we will both be enriched.

                                         - - -

Your vital virile outside knowing has changed the face of the earth
            you’ve built and discovered and re-created...

But without the within, it is all empty, hollow, meaningless
            --and above all infinitely dangerous!

You disdainfully dismiss what I have to contribute
My accomplishments seem mundanely simple and unimportant.

I cannot do what you have done
Your achievements are in fact glorious!

You infuse, you initiate, you achieve
            --but you also rape and plunder,
            immediate gratification and conquest is your goal.

Your arrogance is your curse
            because you won’t admit what you don’t know
            or can’t do alone.
You don’t nurture and sustain the developing potential
            you don’t watch and wait and hope for the promise to come
            --that is my task.

You know only half of the reality that is!

Would that you look at me...
            but you only glance at my form
Would that you listen to me...
            but you only scoff at my awarenesses
Would that you learn from me...
            but you only yawn at my wisdom.

Look at me and see me,
Listen to me and hear me,
Understand me and learn from me,


I am Woman, hear me oh Man

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Seeing Oneness

In past entries I have written of Teilhard de Chardin and evolution, of our One World, of the Voice of women and most recently The Women’s March 2017 . . . seemingly disparate topics yet I see relationship among them.

Teilhard (1881-1955) a brilliant Scientist and Mystic saw clearly the interconnection of Science and Religion (‘the without’ and ‘the within’) as two sides of the same coin—humanity’s search for understanding and meaning.  In that pursuit we explore, dissect and analyze our world; we philosophize, hypothesize, and theologize our mortal existence.

The world we inhabit is one tiny unit in a vast universe, in its singularity providing all that is needed for its functioning as a life support source—so long as the elements stay in balance.

Throughout the eons of evolution that allowed mankind to develop from primitive, uncivilized, violent cave-men to sophisticated, articulate, rational beings, the voice of women was not permitted to influence the expanding social order (government, religion, conflict resolution . . .) Stated another way: Until recently the unique voice of half of humanity has been omitted from the planning of how we proceed with civilization.  Only within the last century have women gained the right to vote and hold office.  And in that brief 100+ years we’re coming to recognize that the silenced voice is not exclusive to women alone but is the missing piece for achieving ‘full humanity’ and it is women’s privilege and responsibility to awaken and articulate it—the voice of love, compassion and mercy.   It is the same voice that Jesus, the man, spoke with.


The Women’s March of January 12, 2017 was unprecedented—more light needs to be shone on it.  All over our world, groups of women recognized their call to make that voice heard.  Estimates say five million people—women, men and children—walked with dignity and calm, without violence, on some part of each of the seven continents of our One World.  Five million people gathered in one day in unity, calling for a voice other than that of violence, division, falsehood, and supremacy . . . a voice calling for peace, justice, equality, unity, love and respect.  Thousands of hand printed signs: “Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Human Rights”; “Build bridges not Walls”; “Save our Planet”; “Love not Hate” . . . . .

It is that voice which must be heard if we are to survive.


                                                    _ _ _


                        Conduit of Life’s Flow

I write of our One World in infinite space
A singular whole—God, nature, humanity

            This world is given
            with laws of nature
            guiding its continuance.

            That humankind is here
            is not of mortal doing,
            ‘Something’ (I call God)
            gave order to being.

            Life is the miracle
            to which we’ve been called,
            blessed with consciousness
            and the freedom to choose,
            we’re able to bring change.

Life continues its flow—now, through us!

            Only in seeing our Oneness
            and choosing to honor it
            will our world be sustained.


Friday, January 27, 2017

Women's March 2017

This past weekend I drove 200+ miles from mid-Florida to Atlanta Georgia and back again, for the privilege of taking part in the Women’s March of 2017.

The initial plan for this event was to protest the election of Donald Trump—who for many reasons is seen to be the wrong person to lead our country—it grew to become the awakened voice of women around the world calling for peace and justice.  It was a phenomenon of epic proportions: an estimated five million people from around the world took to the streets on all seven continents in peaceful demonstrations of solidarity for human rights, women’s rights and justice—such had never happened before.

For centuries the voice of women has been silenced and the world order has been held firmly in the hands of strong aggressive males—which had led us here and now to the brink of possible world annihilation.  Trump’s hyperbolic male approach that dictates winning at any cost through force and aggression, using crude and malicious insults, divisive dark threats and lies, continuous self-aggrandizement . . . women rose up to say with their presence, “wait a minute, this is wrong, Trump wants to lead the nation and world in a direction we don’t want to go”.

This was not a march just of women, not only for women, but a show of solidarity among women, men and children of all races and creeds to insist that our leaders make choices for a better, more sustainable and peaceful world for all people. 

In 2017 women found their voice on the world stage, “it is time to acknowledge we ARE One World!”


Friday, January 13, 2017

Unfair and Unjust

In a week the transfer of political power in the U.S. will have occurred and I hope to return my attention to the other serious thoughts that concern me.  This election has disquieted me at a fundamental level, not because a Republican won, but because Donald Trump won unfairly and unjustly.  From the Primary’s very beginning his major tactic was to use lies, insults, and libelous innuendoes and threats.  Because those outbursts were sensational, he got much more than a fair share of media attention.  His bombastic approach unleashed the simmering anger and discontent bubbling below the surface in some segments of our society since the financial meltdown of 2008.  (That Obama’s administration saved us from that near disaster was forgotten.)

Trump shouted that our system of government was “broken” and “rigged” and only he could “fix it”.  He made the outlandish claim that he knows more than the generals.  Toward the end of the campaigning the public learned that our information systems had been hacked by the Russians, secrets stolen and misinformation fed in to discredit Hillary and aid Trump.  Despite all that, Hillary won the popular vote by millions but the presidency went to Trump because of the Electoral College system.  When all intelligence agencies agreed that Russia was responsible for the hacking, Trump publically criticized the agencies, defaming them as unworthy of our trust . . . and thus playing into Putin’s efforts to undermine our Democracy.

The man slated to become our next president I believe to be a disastrous choice for this country, which is founded on such high principles and ideals.  With the change in power there will be a dramatic shift of the central focus: from humanitarian concerns for the health and well being of people and our planet to power, appearances, and profit.

* * *

I sometimes like to explore the Psalms and re-write contemporary versions of the thoughts they contain—on seeking something appropriate for here, my attention was drawn to Psalm 10, which I took directly without modernizing but condensed using two translations, NIV and GNB.
           
Psalm 10: 1-7, 11, 14

1          Why are you so far away, O Lord?
            Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?

2          In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak
                 who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3          He is proud of his evil desires
                  he blesses the covetous and rejects the Lord.
4          In their pride the wicked do not seek the Lord,
                  in all their thoughts there is no room for God.
5          The wicked man succeeds in everything
                  he is haughty and Your laws are far from him
                  he sneers at all his enemies.
6          He says to himself, “Nothing will shake me,
                  I will never fail or have trouble”.
7          His speech is filled with curses, lies and threats
                  he is quick to speak hateful evil words.

11       He says to himself “God doesn’t care, he has closed his eyes”.

14       But you, O God, do see—and will call him to account.

* * *

On a more hopeful note I turn to a few verses from
Psalm 27:13

13       I am still confident of this:
                  I will see the goodness of the Lord
                  in the land of the living.
14       Wait for the Lord;
                  be strong and take heart
                  and wait for the Lord.
           





Monday, January 2, 2017

Post of September 11, 2015

Teilhard Series  -  6th

I apologize for my previous posting; my error was to re-post the 5th rather than the 6th (missing from the archives) of my series on the concepts introduced by Teilhard de Chardin.  His ideas challenge us to think holistically rather than compartmentally.   Underlying his body of work is the conviction of interconnectedness of all being, with a purposeful direction inherent in the evolutionary process.

As a paleontologist Teilhard traced evolutionary development back to its most distant origins, then followed its path forward to the present.  He discovered a pattern at work that he called complexity-consciousness.

The slow development of life on earth has proceeded from simple to complex.  In our first biology class we learned that life gradually emerged from the simple one-celled ameba to the indescribably complex human form, not just by changing in size and shape, but also by the increasing complexity of interacting systems.  On the one hand this kind of progression can simply be accepted as the way it should be, but on the other hand it suggests a profound intentionality with direction and purpose.  Teilhard saw its significance—life gradually unfolding by increasing in complexity and moving toward self-awareness. 
from Google/Wikipedia: “The law of Complexity-Consciousness is the postulated tendency to become more complex over time and at the same time to become more conscious . . . The law was first formulated by Teilhard de Chardin in his 1955 work The Phenomenon of Man.”

Before we look further at complexity-consciousness it is necessary to consider another of Teilhard’s concepts—that of the ‘without’ and the ‘within’.  Life (or existence) displays two dimensions.  The ‘without’ is the stuff of the universe.  The things we can see and touch, can experience as material solid objects, the so-called ‘real’ that we know and that to which science gives attention.  The ‘within’ is the non-material, what is called the subjective dimension . . . it is that to which religion, mysticism and psychology gives attention; it includes emotions and the elusive—still not clearly defined—consciousness.

The ‘complexity part of the law is more readily understood and accepted as science has long traced that aspect of the pattern—simple organisms evolve to more complex ones.  Yet there is another aspect of this law to understand.  In complexifying, there is a flow between the lower and higher state—potential for the higher state pre-exists.  In the evolutionary process nothing can come to be in an advanced state that did not pre-exist in some rudimentary form.  The new emerges from the potential carried in the earlier state  (think of butterflies, or oak trees).  Yet the new is a different entity.
Teilhard states, “In the world, nothing could ever burst forth as final across the different thresholds successively traversed by evolution (however critical they be) which has not already existed in an obscure and primordial way.”

It is important to realize both the ‘without’ and ‘within’ are equally bound to the principle that ‘for every synthesis . . . its end is already implied in the beginning’  (T)

Since the focus of science is on the ‘without’ it is easy for scientists to be dismissive of the appearance of consciousness in the human as a ‘fluke’ or an anomaly or an epiphenomenon and simply ignore it.  Teilhard makes the point that consciousness pre-existed in a rudimentary state in even the lowest life forms and came to flower in the human and is yet continuing to evolve.  Consciousness is THE crowning phenomenon that has revolutionized the earth.  Its evolving development as it appeared in the human can be charted: from cave-men just beginning to use tools and fire, to the inventors of modern technology; from a world of landscapes without indications of human habitation, to networks of highways and bridges crisscrossing the globe; from markings on cave walls, to countless books and elaborate communication systems, etc.  The human is much more than ‘just another animal’—a random product of blind chance . . . the human, endowed with consciousness, has emerged from the long complex evolutionary process armed with reflective awareness that enables the species to make of this world whatever they would have it be.  May the consciousness in the species continue to evolve to enable it to reach the potential intended.

As we see a pattern emerging and can trace order in development, it belies creation by random chance.