Sunday, October 19, 2014
The World We Build
The attitudes we hold, the values we support, our prevailing outlook on life; these constitue the DNA of the world we build. We have come to overvalue the objective and undervalue the subjective dimension of reality--love, justice, hope, faith, meaning, purpose . . . these are the subjectives that shape the living.
This morning as I sat watching the news I was swept with a feeling that can't be put into words. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks--all the news was so crushingly bleak: the ebola plague; Islamic State terrorists advancing and brutally seizing territory; refugees by the thousands having fled their homes without provisions or possessions needing help to survive; weather anomalies ravaging communities confirming the reality of climate change. The suffering 'have-nots' demanding more assistance while the 'haves', wanting to protect themselves from the financial burdens and health risks, calling for border closings and flight bans . . . We want to put on blinders to protect ourselves and hide from the threats--we can't! We have yet to realize we are one world.
There is wide spread loss of faith in all our institutions from government to health care to education to religion. Those institutions which past ages have brought forth to organize living in complex societies are under siege--yet it is the nature of civilization to require institutions to manage an orderly society. When serious problems arise and institutions fail to yield a neat quick-fix we rebel against them and scape-goat whoever happens to occupy the leadership role--sometimes it is the leader who needs replacing but more likely it is the institution that has fallen into disarray and needs restructuring. That monumental task requires support and cooperation on all sides.
At present we are in a global crisis and there is fear, anger and condemnation loose in the world with demonstrations and demands for answers--as if such were possible--like answers pre-exist and the right person could pluck one out! But the problems arise from a multitude of subjective choices made over time--the solutions must be arduously created by our collective choices. Only when our politicians move away from polarization and name-calling to engage in working cooperatively will there be an attitude shift throughout society that enables us to shape our world for betterment with conscious choices.
I quote two great minds of the 20th Century who could foresee danger on the horizon:
Einstein is credited with saying: "We must learn to think in a new way"
Teilhard de Cardin has written: "The Age of Nations is past. The task before us now, if we would not parish, is to build the earth.
This morning as I sat watching the news I was swept with a feeling that can't be put into words. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks--all the news was so crushingly bleak: the ebola plague; Islamic State terrorists advancing and brutally seizing territory; refugees by the thousands having fled their homes without provisions or possessions needing help to survive; weather anomalies ravaging communities confirming the reality of climate change. The suffering 'have-nots' demanding more assistance while the 'haves', wanting to protect themselves from the financial burdens and health risks, calling for border closings and flight bans . . . We want to put on blinders to protect ourselves and hide from the threats--we can't! We have yet to realize we are one world.
There is wide spread loss of faith in all our institutions from government to health care to education to religion. Those institutions which past ages have brought forth to organize living in complex societies are under siege--yet it is the nature of civilization to require institutions to manage an orderly society. When serious problems arise and institutions fail to yield a neat quick-fix we rebel against them and scape-goat whoever happens to occupy the leadership role--sometimes it is the leader who needs replacing but more likely it is the institution that has fallen into disarray and needs restructuring. That monumental task requires support and cooperation on all sides.
At present we are in a global crisis and there is fear, anger and condemnation loose in the world with demonstrations and demands for answers--as if such were possible--like answers pre-exist and the right person could pluck one out! But the problems arise from a multitude of subjective choices made over time--the solutions must be arduously created by our collective choices. Only when our politicians move away from polarization and name-calling to engage in working cooperatively will there be an attitude shift throughout society that enables us to shape our world for betterment with conscious choices.
I quote two great minds of the 20th Century who could foresee danger on the horizon:
Einstein is credited with saying: "We must learn to think in a new way"
Teilhard de Cardin has written: "The Age of Nations is past. The task before us now, if we would not parish, is to build the earth.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Awakening Consciousness
"If I have seen further it is by standing
on the shoulders of giants"
Isaac Newton
Slowly, over eons, we evolve.
Darwin was the first to recognize the process of evolution--simple life structures progress to more complex forms. His discovery was monumental, it opened a whole new way of understanding the mystery of life. As a naturalist his focus was on the mechanisms that gave rise to the variety of physical forms. It was not his task to ask ontological questions. It is tragic that the magnitude of his brilliant insight has been overshadowed by an either/or clash about whether or not we humans evolved from apes.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a scientist, theologian and mystic, was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century. He did ask ontological questions and saw wonder, beauty and truth in evolution and through it the wonder of God offering to share His being with humankind. Teilhard authored more than 20 books. (Google him)
Evolution is more than a theory about how new species appeared on the planet--it is the central governing principle of the universe . . . beginning with energy coalescing to matter, matter to simple life forms, life forms increasing in complexity and consciousness until thought was born--therein evolution took a turn inward. Into the hands of the human came the means to shape the world. All else in the universe is acted upon--by forces of nature, circumstances of time and place, random happenstance--but with consciousness the human gained the power to create, still effected by forces of nature and unchosen circumstances, yet possessing the ability to change what is given into what can be imagined.
A long look at history shows a changing reality, a barbaric world slowly advancing toward civilizing itself, over eons we can discern consciousness gradually awakening as choices shape social order: rather than club one's neighbor and take his possessions by force, establish laws to live by; . . . stop invading and plundering those 'not us' and define national boundaries; . . . work to acquire knowledge and skill with which to educate people because education is a 'good' of life; . . . recognize that owning people - slavery - is wrong and should not be supported by a nation even though it presents economic advantages; . . . awaken to the plight of suffering people who lack life's necessities and reach out with help; . . . realize the corrupting effect of discrimination and oppression and seek peaceful means to bring justice.
Thus has civilization advanced--yet still the primitive selfishness that results in violence taints the world we build--and threatens to destroy it. We have yet to realize all life is interconnected and is shaped by our choices . . . but slowly, over eons, we evolve . . . consciousness is only slowly awakening.
on the shoulders of giants"
Isaac Newton
Slowly, over eons, we evolve.
Darwin was the first to recognize the process of evolution--simple life structures progress to more complex forms. His discovery was monumental, it opened a whole new way of understanding the mystery of life. As a naturalist his focus was on the mechanisms that gave rise to the variety of physical forms. It was not his task to ask ontological questions. It is tragic that the magnitude of his brilliant insight has been overshadowed by an either/or clash about whether or not we humans evolved from apes.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a scientist, theologian and mystic, was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century. He did ask ontological questions and saw wonder, beauty and truth in evolution and through it the wonder of God offering to share His being with humankind. Teilhard authored more than 20 books. (Google him)
Evolution is more than a theory about how new species appeared on the planet--it is the central governing principle of the universe . . . beginning with energy coalescing to matter, matter to simple life forms, life forms increasing in complexity and consciousness until thought was born--therein evolution took a turn inward. Into the hands of the human came the means to shape the world. All else in the universe is acted upon--by forces of nature, circumstances of time and place, random happenstance--but with consciousness the human gained the power to create, still effected by forces of nature and unchosen circumstances, yet possessing the ability to change what is given into what can be imagined.
A long look at history shows a changing reality, a barbaric world slowly advancing toward civilizing itself, over eons we can discern consciousness gradually awakening as choices shape social order: rather than club one's neighbor and take his possessions by force, establish laws to live by; . . . stop invading and plundering those 'not us' and define national boundaries; . . . work to acquire knowledge and skill with which to educate people because education is a 'good' of life; . . . recognize that owning people - slavery - is wrong and should not be supported by a nation even though it presents economic advantages; . . . awaken to the plight of suffering people who lack life's necessities and reach out with help; . . . realize the corrupting effect of discrimination and oppression and seek peaceful means to bring justice.
Thus has civilization advanced--yet still the primitive selfishness that results in violence taints the world we build--and threatens to destroy it. We have yet to realize all life is interconnected and is shaped by our choices . . . but slowly, over eons, we evolve . . . consciousness is only slowly awakening.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Malhuman
Wars have been fought for many reasons: religion, politics, territory, resources, riches . . . most of them are not morally justified. St. Augustine originaated the phrase 'just war'; later St. Thomas Aquinas laid out the conditions for which a war is deemed morally justified.
Today politicians argue the pros and cons of our country becoming entangled in yet another military conflict on foreign soil. This nation is war-weary; our involvement in conflicts far away has cost American lives and brought about a finincial debt which future generations will still be paying in years to come.
What we are faced with now is not just 'another war'. With the rise of terrorism we are face to face with evil. Evil that knows no limits or boundaries, evil that will stop at nothing to achieve its objective to control by whatever means and impose its will on all within its sphere. This scourge is the antithesis of love, justice, and compassion -- while defiant of all rule of law and scornful of human rights. We've seen suicide bomber enter crowds of strangers with explosives strapped to their bodies to blow themselves up in order to kill as many unknown people as possible; we've seen them march scores of prisoner stripped naked, beaten, then laid face down in the sand and executed; we've seen them attack children on a school bus while proclaiming it wrong to seek an education then later kidnap scores of girls from their school to emphasize the point; we hear of these men amputating body parts for minor offences and stoning women to death for 'bringing shame' upon their families for their having been raped. We refused to broadcast the video tapes the jihadists arrogantly sent of them beheading American journalists; and as a nation we wept at the hijacked planes crashing into the twin towers filled with thousands of ordinary people just going to work on a lovely sunny day.
When speaking of the terrorists we search for words with which to describe them and their deeds--all of our strongest words seem inadequate; they have transgressed the boundaries of what is considered human behavior, yet to call it beastly or inhuman is inaccurate-- beasts kill, but don't commit these horrors; they can't rightly be called inhuman (lacking human qualities) or unhuman (not resembling or having the qualities of human beings) for these are indeed heinous actions consciously chosen by members of the human species, choices arising out of pure evil--they are malhuman acts (the prefix mal- from French and Latin meaning evil, wrong, bad). This so called Islamic state is malhuman and to fight them constitutes not only a 'just war', but also a necessary one to preserve the dignity of mankind.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Nicaragua Trip
Three weeks ago twenty-one volunteers set out on a 'St. Francis Build' under the sponsorship of 'Seeds Of Learning'; I was among them. We were to add our labor to the construction of a library addition to the learning center in Casas Viejar, Nicaragua. I knew only two others, the Franciscan priest and my daughter, and had been unable to attend the pre-travel meetings. In the weeks leading up to the trip I had fallen into a very dark space, disappointment and grief filled my thoughts and I could not get myself to focus on preparation; rather then think and plan I just randomly gathered clothes and essentials. Despite the pall which hung over me, I had anticipated that the novel experience would overpower the negativity I was caught in --but as we assembled in the airport in Managua I felt an almost physical closing off; an overpowering alienation unlike anything I'd ever experienced before--apart and unconnected. I was grateful for the long ride to our site giving me time to 'get a grip'. The intensity lessened but there remained a feeling of remoteness that continued to make it difficult for me to relate to others.
Whatever was happening to me it was not culture shock for I've often traveled abroad--this was a spiritual rather than cultural 'something'.
The work--physical labor--was good; demanding, hot and hard but within my abilities and it was good to have a way to direct my energy beyond the pain of my emotional state. I could not make it out of the dark space to engage with people and I recinded my before-arriving-offer to do any of the journal writing, prayers or reflections. I felt embarassed by my withdrawel but helpless to break free of the depression/alienation that held me captive.
So went the week, then it was time to create a celebration for our host group. I was not 'up' for half-day-long social interaction but knew it was unavoidable. I listened to the planning group, they decided to sing a couple songs (We Are Marching in 3 languages) . . . I can't sing and I surely can't sing in Spanish! They then decided to do a demonstration square dance as an example of American culture, followed by the Hokey-Pokey with which to pull everyone in. In silence I judged it all a bad plan--stupid and not 'right' without real square dance music and a caller--and of course the Hokey-Pokey is beyond ridiculous!
The following afternoon as we gathered for our cultural demonstration I so wanted to escape but couldn't without being unacceptably obvious. With everything inside me pulling further away, the group began singing; I mouthed the words (or a near approximation), but as I did, I listened . . . and realized it sounded good; even more, it sounded beautiful! I found myself tearing up and put on my sun glasses to hide behind them when I couldn't stop the tears. Nothing 'outside' had changed, but within, I was being transformed. As they did the square dance (one person called) to my eyes and ears it seemed like a group that did it every Saturday night, it was great--it went smoothly, was lively, fun for everyone and somehow sounded 'right' in spite of the 'wrong music'. As they ended with the bridge part and began to pull in the children I was flooded with emotion, tears fell, a thought flashed, "This is pure joy!" and I realized I wasn't just watching it, I was IN it; I was experiencing profound joy! --an emotion so foreign to this 'too serious' me. I was glad for the noise and commotion and just kept swallowing to try to regain composure. Then the Hokey-Pokey was next and I got pulled in--everyone was laughing and having fun; happiness filled the room, lifting me with it.
At the beginning of the trip we were told to stay alert for moments of a 'God encounter' during the week --I recognized that the feeling of pure joy was mine; from that moment the darkness lifted, something inside shifted and my whole demeanor changed, I laughed and danced the Hoey-Pokey and after it I was able to relax and engage when we visited the other out-lieing center.
Abraham Maslow coined the phrase 'peak experiences'.
In life there are occasional transcendent moments, this was one.
Whatever was happening to me it was not culture shock for I've often traveled abroad--this was a spiritual rather than cultural 'something'.
The work--physical labor--was good; demanding, hot and hard but within my abilities and it was good to have a way to direct my energy beyond the pain of my emotional state. I could not make it out of the dark space to engage with people and I recinded my before-arriving-offer to do any of the journal writing, prayers or reflections. I felt embarassed by my withdrawel but helpless to break free of the depression/alienation that held me captive.
So went the week, then it was time to create a celebration for our host group. I was not 'up' for half-day-long social interaction but knew it was unavoidable. I listened to the planning group, they decided to sing a couple songs (We Are Marching in 3 languages) . . . I can't sing and I surely can't sing in Spanish! They then decided to do a demonstration square dance as an example of American culture, followed by the Hokey-Pokey with which to pull everyone in. In silence I judged it all a bad plan--stupid and not 'right' without real square dance music and a caller--and of course the Hokey-Pokey is beyond ridiculous!
The following afternoon as we gathered for our cultural demonstration I so wanted to escape but couldn't without being unacceptably obvious. With everything inside me pulling further away, the group began singing; I mouthed the words (or a near approximation), but as I did, I listened . . . and realized it sounded good; even more, it sounded beautiful! I found myself tearing up and put on my sun glasses to hide behind them when I couldn't stop the tears. Nothing 'outside' had changed, but within, I was being transformed. As they did the square dance (one person called) to my eyes and ears it seemed like a group that did it every Saturday night, it was great--it went smoothly, was lively, fun for everyone and somehow sounded 'right' in spite of the 'wrong music'. As they ended with the bridge part and began to pull in the children I was flooded with emotion, tears fell, a thought flashed, "This is pure joy!" and I realized I wasn't just watching it, I was IN it; I was experiencing profound joy! --an emotion so foreign to this 'too serious' me. I was glad for the noise and commotion and just kept swallowing to try to regain composure. Then the Hokey-Pokey was next and I got pulled in--everyone was laughing and having fun; happiness filled the room, lifting me with it.
At the beginning of the trip we were told to stay alert for moments of a 'God encounter' during the week --I recognized that the feeling of pure joy was mine; from that moment the darkness lifted, something inside shifted and my whole demeanor changed, I laughed and danced the Hoey-Pokey and after it I was able to relax and engage when we visited the other out-lieing center.
Abraham Maslow coined the phrase 'peak experiences'.
In life there are occasional transcendent moments, this was one.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Glaring Injustice
It may be politically incorrect to criticize an ally, but political correctness concerns itself only with appearances while truth lies deeper.
In the current Middle East conflict it is not surprising that the Palestinians fight back with whatever means they have. The imbalance of power is startling. The world watches as the Israeli army with its advanced weaponry, air power and protective 'iron shield' pummels the boxed in enclave of Gaza. After several days of fighting the numbers tell the story: on July 16, 2014, one Israeli casualty; more than 200 Palestinians dead--mostly women and children.
For days now I have struggled to find a way to express the conflicting feelings I have as I watch the crisis raging. In a global world this problem is not regional, it is universal. To try and understand the roots of the conflict I watched the Youtube documentary of the 1967 war: 'Six Days in June'. (I recommend it). The issues are complex and there is enough blame on all sides to go around--but continuation of the conflict is heinous as it poses a world threat. Two things seem clear to me: 1) the state of Israel has the right to exist but its present governance imposes unjust military oppression to those occupied and 2) Palestinians have an equal right to self-rule with freedom from the 'iron fist' that crushes them but they must move beyond the barbarism of terrorism.
The state of Israel was founded at the end of WWII because of the Holocaust. Over the years as I learned of the horrors of that dark period of history when governments' treatment of the Jewish people over time led to that 'final solution' I was appalled that so called civilized and educated people failed to see the glaring injustice of the choices made--people driven from their homes and forced into ghettoes, often walled-in and denied freedom of movement under military occupation, without ability to find work and feed their families, denied basic rights and effectively cut off from the rest of the world--thus treated until that choice was made to exterminate them!
In retrospect one sees an escalation over time of cruelty that led to that 'final solution'. The horror of it is almost beyond belief--yet it happened. For years my compassion for and support of the Jewish people had been unflinching--until I visited the Holy Land five years ago and saw the ugly walls built by Israel to isolate the Palestinians; witnessed Palestinian homes demolished and their roads destroyed to prevent easy passage; I saw the massive sprawling settlements Isralies built on undeclared lands despite the prohibitions. I personally witnessed a support rally at Bethlehem University for a young woman due to graduate who had been arrested for no apparent reason and deported back to Gaza with the claim she was there illegally. I saw Christian Palestinians evicted from their homes living in tents under trees in their yards, forbidden to enter their homes on trumped up charges for minor infractions (the aim being to drive them from their homes to 'cleanse' Jeresulem of all non-Jews).
In this I saw once more a government's cruel treatment of a segment of people under their rule.
A five hour 'Humanitarian Pause' is not enough!
In counseling we learn that the abused often becomes the abuser.
Oh Israel, you dishonor your God of Love and Justice!
In the current Middle East conflict it is not surprising that the Palestinians fight back with whatever means they have. The imbalance of power is startling. The world watches as the Israeli army with its advanced weaponry, air power and protective 'iron shield' pummels the boxed in enclave of Gaza. After several days of fighting the numbers tell the story: on July 16, 2014, one Israeli casualty; more than 200 Palestinians dead--mostly women and children.
For days now I have struggled to find a way to express the conflicting feelings I have as I watch the crisis raging. In a global world this problem is not regional, it is universal. To try and understand the roots of the conflict I watched the Youtube documentary of the 1967 war: 'Six Days in June'. (I recommend it). The issues are complex and there is enough blame on all sides to go around--but continuation of the conflict is heinous as it poses a world threat. Two things seem clear to me: 1) the state of Israel has the right to exist but its present governance imposes unjust military oppression to those occupied and 2) Palestinians have an equal right to self-rule with freedom from the 'iron fist' that crushes them but they must move beyond the barbarism of terrorism.
The state of Israel was founded at the end of WWII because of the Holocaust. Over the years as I learned of the horrors of that dark period of history when governments' treatment of the Jewish people over time led to that 'final solution' I was appalled that so called civilized and educated people failed to see the glaring injustice of the choices made--people driven from their homes and forced into ghettoes, often walled-in and denied freedom of movement under military occupation, without ability to find work and feed their families, denied basic rights and effectively cut off from the rest of the world--thus treated until that choice was made to exterminate them!
In retrospect one sees an escalation over time of cruelty that led to that 'final solution'. The horror of it is almost beyond belief--yet it happened. For years my compassion for and support of the Jewish people had been unflinching--until I visited the Holy Land five years ago and saw the ugly walls built by Israel to isolate the Palestinians; witnessed Palestinian homes demolished and their roads destroyed to prevent easy passage; I saw the massive sprawling settlements Isralies built on undeclared lands despite the prohibitions. I personally witnessed a support rally at Bethlehem University for a young woman due to graduate who had been arrested for no apparent reason and deported back to Gaza with the claim she was there illegally. I saw Christian Palestinians evicted from their homes living in tents under trees in their yards, forbidden to enter their homes on trumped up charges for minor infractions (the aim being to drive them from their homes to 'cleanse' Jeresulem of all non-Jews).
In this I saw once more a government's cruel treatment of a segment of people under their rule.
A five hour 'Humanitarian Pause' is not enough!
In counseling we learn that the abused often becomes the abuser.
Oh Israel, you dishonor your God of Love and Justice!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Our Greatest Gift
"Our greatest gift is our heaviest burden"--I don't recall when or where I first heard that but it has stayed with me over the years. With consciousness we were given freedom; by it we can create or destroy. Each human choice, to a small or large degree, shapes the life that follows.
All life is a creative process, it unfolds in a progression from simple to complex be it seed to plant, embryo to adult, or primordial energy to expanding universe. The process is determined while only the human has the gift of choice to shape the emerging expression--we create the world that is.
The hope and prayer is that when we fully realize the power we hold the choices will reflect wisdom.
- - -
My blog entry of 10/14/13, 'Potential', echoes this thought.
All life is a creative process, it unfolds in a progression from simple to complex be it seed to plant, embryo to adult, or primordial energy to expanding universe. The process is determined while only the human has the gift of choice to shape the emerging expression--we create the world that is.
The hope and prayer is that when we fully realize the power we hold the choices will reflect wisdom.
- - -
My blog entry of 10/14/13, 'Potential', echoes this thought.
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