THE PRICE OF FEAR

Some may find my thought in this blog disturbing. Please remember these posts are intended to promote reflection and discussion. They are not intended as dogmatic statements of belief.

We took our grandson to see the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) in early August. He brought a model of the ship that he and and his mom made out of plastic soda bottles and duct tape, with thread for the rigging, wooden dowels for the masts and plastic for the sails. It was quite impressive. As we walked among crowds of tourists from all over the world, parents pointed out the wonderful model to their children. Some asked to take pictures. One little boy told us that he and his dad were going to make a model of Old Ironsides when he got older. 

Tragically, that same weekend in Dayton Ohio and El Paso Texas, armed gunmen killed 31 people and wounded more than 50 in mass shootings. If those shooters had chosen the site of Old Ironsides, we could have been among those killed or wounded.

What is wrong with our nation? In one place people of all ages and races gather peacefully. Elsewhere, armed men kill and maim those who are not like themselves? 

After the shootings, James Comey (director of the FBI from 2013-2017) spoke prophetically in an open letter to President Trump.ⁱMr. Comey used the metaphor of a nuclear reactor.

In part his letter read: 

“America has long had a radioactive racist soup in the center of our national life. Donald Trump thinks he is stirring it for political benefit. He’s actually doing something more dangerous. For much of our history, the soup was deadly and uncontained, spewing radiation that led to the enslavement, terrorization, murder and oppression of African-Americans.”

“Yet something good happened over the last 50 years. We erected a containment building made up of laws; we passed statutes making the abuse and mistreatment of people by virtue of their race a crime. More important, we began enforcing the laws we already had.” 

“But the containment building of law was only part of the solution. Radioactivity lasts for centuries and it can still blow the lid off the building; true safety lies in control rods, pushed down into the soup to calm it, to cool it. Those control rods in America were cultural.”

“Today, the control rods are being lifted. With each racist assault — on a judge, an athlete, a country, a member of Congress, or a city ... our president allows the stew to boil and radiate more dangerously. Only fools believe they can ride the gamma rays of hate.”

James Comey's remarks have broad implications. They apply, not only to Donald Trump, but to all of us. Anyone - conservative, liberal, right, left, religious or none – anyone who uses fear and hatred to promote their cause is subject to Mr. Comey's criticism. If we sow hatred and violence we will reap the consequences in tragedies like the shootings in early August. 

There is a deeper pattern in humanity that gives rise to this “radioactive soup.” It is related to the primitive fight-or flight response buried deep in the brain of all vertebrates. 

We all have experienced it. I remember when a driver passed and cut in front of me on the freeway. In a burst of animal frenzy, I floored the accelerator in an attempt to race past him. Soon after, I was ashamed. Something other than my conscious self had dominated my reaction. 

The fight-or-flight responseoccurs when we perceive a harmful event, attack, or threat to our survival.”ⁱⁱIt is activated by the amygdala at the base of the brain stem. This triggers thesympathetic nervous system, that acts largely unconsciously and releases adrenaline into the blood stream. If the perceived threat persists, cortisol, a more potent stimulant is released. Chronic activation of the stress response can give rise to hyper-stimulation which is triggered more easily and often. This causes many body symptoms when triggered.ⁱⁱⁱIt is like driving your car with the engine always revving. Eventually, the engine wears out.

When the threat is passed, the parasympathetic nervous systemactivates the "rest and digest" response and returns the body to equilibrium. This was when I “returned to my senses.” I felt remorse and embarrassment for my actions on the highway.

Early humanoids operated in small family units or tribes. Those who survived, learned that fear, triggering the fight-or-flight response, was a necessary adaptation. Like other animals,^ivour ancient ancestors learned fear from personal experience, observing others and from tribal elders. They also learned to distrust members of other tribes. 

This evolutionary advantage of distrusting other tribes has a down side. We humans have an innate distrust of those who are different from us. The fear response, at it's core, is learned from tribe mates. It is uninformed, illogical and can turn violent because tribal stories and ideologies do not engage the rational and empathetic abilities of our brains.^v

One of the earliest civilizations with historical records, arose (2000-1600 BCE) among Sumerian and Babylonian tribes in Mesopotamia (the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers). Here, collective stories about how to survive danger took on mythic proportions in the story of Tiamat and Marduk which Walter Wink called the Myth of Redemptive Violence.^viAccording to this myth, the god, Marduk killed his mother, the goddess Tiamat who represented chaos. He then created the world out of her bloody body.. 

Walter Wink claimed that this ancient myth, not Judaism, Christianity or Islam. is still the dominant myth or religion in our modern world.This myth is largely invisible because domination and killing seem to be “what works.” According to this myth, humankind didn't originate evil. Evil is a given in our world. 

Wink continues: 

“Our origins are divine, to be sure, since we are made from a god, but from the blood of an assassinated god. We are the outcome of deicide.... the Myth of Redemptive Violence is the story of the victory of order over chaos by means of violence. It is the ideology of conquest, the original religion of the status quo. The gods favour those who conquer... The common people exist to perpetuate the advantage that the gods have conferred upon the king, the aristocracy, and the priesthood. Religion exists to legitimate power and privilege. Life is combat.... Peace through war, security through strength: these are the core convictions that arise from this ancient historical religion, and they form the solid bedrock on which the Domination System is founded in every society.^vii

Wink goes on to warn that we are programming our children through social media.Any story with “good guys” defeating “bad guys” promotes this myth. Eventually, redemptive violence becomes addictive. Violence is no longer a means to the higher good. It is the end.^viii

This is what lies beneath the “radioactive racist soup in the center of our national life.” Donald Trump, as well as both political parties, are fueling fear and hate as a means of maintaining political control. These promote regressive trends through which each of us is governed, not by empathy and logic, but by the attitudes of our tribe which are uninformed, illogical and tend toward violence.Any religious belief system, political ideology, or personal ethic that demonizes the “other” is complicit in this process.

We fear and hate people who are different. We trust those like us. Our nation is incapacitated by divisions among its people which divert us from larger issues: depletion of plant and animal species; global warming and gross disparities among peoples of the world. 

Happily, there is more to the story. The evolution of human consciousness took a giant step forward during the Axial Age (800 - 200 BCE).^ixDuring this time, the world religions came into being. People began to turn away from merely appeasing tribal or civic deities. toward speculation about “The Good” and how human beings can be “good.” They contemplated the cosmos and the way it works rather than taking for granted that it works. 

The primitive, fear driven Myth of Redemptive Violence was no longer the only force affecting human actions. It was directly challenged by the Biblical myth of Genesis.^xThis myth depicted a good God who creates a good creation. Chaos does not resist order. Evil enters the picture later through the disobedience of Adam and Eve who are tempted by the serpent.^xi

Humans were challenged to make moral decisions about good and evil. As part of this evolution, religious communities formed who were less fear driven, more motivated by empathy. For centuries the affects of the Axial Age established moral principles for humanity.

The affects of Christianity in Greece and Italy were obvious when Jean and I had the privilege of traveling to these countries. We were awed by the magnificent cathedrals filled with art like that of Michaelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I was intrigued by little altars along the roads in Greece honoring people who had died. 

Humanity benefitted from the advances in consciousness of the Axial Age (AAI) for nearly two millenia. 

Beginning in the mid-18^thcentury, traditionally Christian societies became more secularized. Secularization was influenced by the Renaissance, the Reformation, religious wars, geographic explorations, the development of natural sciences and rationalistic philosophy.^xii

The vision of a person's role in the world changed.^xiiiIn addition to preparing for the afterlife, people actively participated in organizing and shaping the social order based on the rational, objective, demystified ‘natural laws’ of the Universe. This transition was escalated after WWI when people questioned whether or not history had any direction and purpose. 

Today, the affects of the original Axial Age continue to wane. The Christian Church as a major influence in stabilizing the moral standards of the western world is in decline, particularly among the young.^xivThere is now no consistent ethical base for our societal norms. 

Politicians, corporate leaders, and other powerful people are no longer limited by social attitudes that promote fair play, justice and compassion. They play on our fears and invent their own rules to enhance their wealth and power. The situation is further destabilized by the technology explosion that is leaving people feeling isolated, alone and fearful.^xvAll the while, humankind is menaced by the triple threats of climate change, decimation of plant and animal species and global economic inequities.^xvi

This coming epoch may indeed require a spiritual maturity and consciousness well beyond that of our present species. I am hopeful that the transition we are experiencing is a second-axial-awakening. The new axis for this awakening may well be “the human being-in-the-world.” 

I catch glimpses of this possibility in friends who are no longer gripped by the Truths of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Still their hearts glow with a love for other human beings, and their lives are energized by a passion for justice.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who left the safety of America to return to Nazi Germany. He led the Confessing Church in opposition to the evils of the Third Reich. He was captured, imprisoned and eventually martyred. He presaged our coming age when he wrote about religionless Christianity in his “Letters and Papers From Prison.” I will close with three quotes from his writings.

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” 

“The same God who is with us is the God who forsakes us (Mark 15:34- “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”). The same God who makes us to live in the world without the working hypothesis of God is the God before whom we stand continually. Before God, and with God, we live without God.” 

“The world come of age is more god-less and perhaps, just because of that, closer to God than the world not yet come of age.”

We must carry on in these confusing times. We do make a difference.

ihttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/opinion/james-comey-trump-racism.html

iihttps://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety/stress-response.shtml

iiihttps://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety/hyperstimulation.shtml

ivhttps://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-neuroscientist-explains-how-politicians-and-the-media-use-fear-to-make-us-hate-without-thinking-2019-07-18

vHttps://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-neuroscientist-explains-how-politicians-and-the-media-use-fear-to-make-us-hate-without-thinking-2019-07-18?siteid=rss&rss=1

vihttp://www2.goshen.edu/~joannab/women/wink99.pdf

viiIbid.

viiiIbid.

ixThe Axial Age/ 5 Fast Facts | Britannica.com

xThere may be parallels in other great religious/spiritual/moral traditions. But I don't feel qualified to comment on these. Furthermore I am speaking primarily about changes in the Western world.

xihttp://www2.goshen.edu/~joannab/women/wink99.pdf

xiiDmitri M. Bondarenkohttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/220032889_The_Second_Axial_Age_and_Metamorphoses_of_Religious_Consciousness_in_the_Christian_World

xiiiIbid.

xivhttps://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-sharply-past-two-decades.aspx

xvhttps://www.pewinternet.org/2018/04/17/concerns-about-the-future-of-peoples-well-being/

xvihttp://theconversation.com/the-hypodermic-effect-how-propaganda-manipulates-our-emotions-94966

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

We sped down a darkened highway on a moonlit night - two preteen children, a mom and a dad. Stars sparkled in the clear night sky against the pale smudge of the Milky Way.

“Just imagine,” I exclaimed. “We are looking at stars in billions of galaxies in a cosmos that has been expanding for nearly fourteen billion years. Our planet is less than a dust mote in a sunbeam when compared to all of this.”

We rode on in silence interrupted only by our daughter's sobbing in the back seat. Then it struck me. She was overwhelmed and frightened by the immensity of it all – by our seeming insignificance in the midst of this limitless expanse of space and time.

The memory haunts me still.

When I consider the things that consume our attention, the personal and global issues, I wonder, “What difference do these things make on a cosmic scale?”

Is there a positive direction to the evolution of the cosmos? Maybe. It's also possible that the grandeur I observed that night, is only a moment in an expanse of time and space; moving toward a point when all the stars burn out, leaving nothing but cold, dead darkness.

If this is the case, why not join the game played on our global stage: “Get what you can when you can. Whoever dies with the most toys wins?”

There is no way to know, in any objective sense, whether or not our lives have meaning. Sometimes it all seems fruitless. The things we value are overwhelmed by institutions, systems and powers beyond our control.

I yearn for the comfort afforded me by the God of my younger years. I wish I could continue to experience a benevolent being “up there” who loves, nurtures and protects me. I envy those for whom this is still a fact.

Then I remember that young girl sobbing in the back seat of our car so many years ago. I think of my little grandson now, so open and full of hope. I am aware of the little child who continues to live in me and in all the adults around me. He is part of my unconscious yearning for love and acceptance. We are all affected by these inner yearnings. We are like children on a play ground vying for attention and approval.

In spite of the unknowns and uncertainties of our times, I choose not to succumb to pessimism and cynicism. I continue on for the little ones, past, present, inner and outer. Yet, it is more than that.

I continue on because I experience a deep attachment, an unconditioned love, that goes beyond mere emotion. I may not feel the comfort of a father or mother “out there” as I did in the past, but I do experience a kind of knowing that is outside the box of my customary understanding. Through this knowing, I experience an existence filled with unexpected opportunities just waiting to be actualized.

I remember when I was the director of Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM). There were times I wanted to engage someone of influence in the community. I knew I could come, hat in hand, to meet that person. Initially s/he would not listen to me. When I waited with expectancy, circumstances would often develop; and I could meet him/her on much sounder footing. The task was waiting, looking and expecting the opportunity to materialize.

I experience this when I am dealing with dilemmas in my life. If I wait and listen with expectancy, I often have a dream, hear a remark, or read something that reframes the issue in a new way. Because I am open and receptive, I notice these things when others may not.

Although my relationship with the mystery isn't as personal as in my youth, something is promoting wholeness.

We are part of a cosmos that was created in the big bang - stars, planets, black holes, dark matter, life and other mysteries beyond our present comprehension. Our growing awareness of ourselves, our consciousness, is part of a growing consciousness in the whole of the cosmos.

I am increasingly aware that this knowing that is deeper than emotion, this unconditioned love, connects me to all that is. It's as if I and the rest of the cosmos are part of a single organism.

The greater my awareness of this mystery, the more it beckons to me.

The stars in their galaxies continue their billion year transit through space and time. Our little planet continues to orbit a star on the outer edge of one small galaxy among billions of others. We are just a dust mote in a sunbeam when compared to this vastness..

Yet I am one with it all. I am connected to everything. This makes all the difference.

A JOURNEY TOWARD JERUSALEM

Have you ever been so committed to something or someone that you were willing to risk your life?

My wife and daughter were involved in a highway accident several years ago. Their car flipped end to end and rolled over. EMT's removed them from the vehicle and placed them on the grassy median with my unconscious daughter in my wife's arms. My wife prayed to God, “If one of us is to die, let it be me.”

There are moments when we are willing to risk our lives, out of love.

There are also times when people commit to premeditated risky or painful actions. I have a pastor friend whose son was suffering from kidney failure. Out of love, he underwent surgery to remove one of his organs to save his son.

Some folk commit their entire lives to challenging unjust societal structures for the sake of the wholeness and health of people. Many are these are celebrated publicly: Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Billy Graham, César Chávez, Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara, Gertrud Baer, Joan Baez, Helen Caldicott, Jimmy Carter, James Gareth Endicott, Leymah Gbowee, Kirthi Jayakumar, Wangari Maathai,  Elizabeth McAlister, Rigoberta Menchú, Óscar Romero, Pete Seeger, Nancy Shelley OAM, Ivan Supek, Evelyn Underhill, George Willoughby and Howard Zinn.ⁱ Millions of others are virtually unknown.

This is the season of Lent in the Christian calender. Lent commemorates the period of time in Jesus' life when he journeyed to Jerusalem to confront the Jewish leaders. He planned to warn them that their collusion with Rome would end in the destruction of Israel. He wanted them to experience the coming reign of God based on unconditional love. Jesus believed that this emerging reality had more staying power than the domination and violence of the Roman Empire.

Jesus knew that challenging the power structure of Israel and Rome would likely result in his execution. Yet he was so committed to his calling that he proceeded in spite of the risk. The Gospel of Luke puts it starkly in these words: “... he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”ⁱⁱ

Many Christians commemorate the beginning of the Lenten season (Ash Wednesday) by having ashes placed on their foreheads. This is symbolic of the ancient Jewish practice of repenting by dressing in sack cloth and sitting in ashes. Many Christians also give up something pleasurable (smoking, eating candy, eating red meat etc.) to remind themselves to focus on their shortcomings when compared to Jesus' life and teaching. This is indeed a helpful way to alter patterns of living that are destructive to a person's life and faith.

I recently had a conversation with a friend that broadened my understanding of Lent. When Jesus was alive, he didn't say, “If any want to become my followers, WORSHIP me.” He said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and FOLLOW me..”ⁱⁱⁱ This advice is relevant for all of us. Whether you are religious in any sense or a non, it is insufficient just to glorify or worship those whom you admire. You need to follow them in the actions of your life.

It is in this spirit that I offer you a duel practice during this Lenten season. Spend time during the next few weeks repenting and reflecting on your short comings. This will help you get honest with yourself.

At the same time, consider the person who inspires you – if Jesus, then Jesus; if someone else, then someone else. Study how this person, like Jesus, “ steadfastly set their face to go to their Jerusalem.” In what ways were they so committed to their calling that they were willing to face danger to be true to this calling? Then ask, “How might I emulate this person's values and practices in my twenty-first century environment?” “In what ways am I being called to “steadfastly set my face toward my Jerusalem?”

As I asked myself this question, I recalled a memory of my son. My wife and I were traveling with him on a subway that was filled to capacity. As we moved to the back of the car, a couple of people offered us their seats. We said, “It's OK. We can stand.” Timothy said, “Take the seats mom and dad. You're old.”

That struck me. “I'm old.” I have been a leader, struggling for compassion and justice most of my life. As I steadfastly set my face to my Jerusalem, I need to acknowledge the fact that my generation needs to pass the torch to a younger generation. I have seen too many leaders hang on too long. This letting go of my role as leader and assuming the role of supporter, sage and consultant is as difficult for me as sacrificing myself in the struggle.

I still feel the calling and passion of my youth. I still have much to offer. Yet I must discern how I can best follow my calling at this time in my life. There is a dying in this as I move forward in my Lenten journey. This is my way of incarnating the unconditional love that flows through the cosmos.

We Christians, in particular, are quick to theologize about the incarnation of God through Jesus. This allows us to worship Jesus without recognizing that incarnation is an ongoing process. It's not a once-and-for-all thing. Jesus said that the Reign of God was present as well as becoming. This “becoming” applies to more than life after death. It is a present, evolving and cosmic process that involves all people. In a real sense, this is the message of all major religions and spiritual traditions.

This is where I place my hope. Even in the midst of the alienation and turmoil of our age, I have hope because “Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It's not 'I love you' for this or that reason, not 'I love you if you love me.' It's love for no reason, love without an object.” (Ram Dass quote)

My hope is based on the fact that millions of people, known and unknown, are “steadfastly setting faces toward their Jerusalems.” You and I are privileged to be a part of this movement.

ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_peace_activists

iiLuke 9:51b (King James Version)

iiiLuke 9:23

THE MANY FACES OF LOVE

We recently celebrated Valentine's day, the day we give flowers, candy hearts, stuffed animals and beautiful cards to one another. We delight in love stories where the characters live happily ever after. We cherish joyful times with our family and friends. Our hearts melt in the presence of little children.

Yet love, real love, also causes pain. To love is to be vulnerable. When we love, we are no longer in control. We suffer loss.

I was reminded of this several days ago. I woke to find that Jean was not in bed. This is not unusual, as she rises before me and heads to a local pond where she sits in front of “Timothy's Tree” to read, think and take photos. Timothy, our son, died four years ago. We love him dearly.

This morning was different. As I climbed onto my exercise bike, I noticed that the house was dark. Jean usually turns on a kitchen light when she leaves. I called to her, but no response. Immediately fear kicked in. Maybe she had a medical emergency and was collapsed on the floor.

I hurried downstairs calling her name. Then I spotted the note she leaves for me when she departs. I heaved a sigh of relief and climbed back upstairs to continue my exercise.

I remember another time when I panicked like this. We were graduate students, living in St. Louis. Jean went grocery shopping one night and was delayed. This was before we had cell phones. I literally paced the apartment until she returned.

I love my wife, but I'm not good at telling her. I realize my love mainly at times when I'm afraid that I might lose her. This is certainly true with our son, Timothy. We realize how much we love him, now that he is gone.

Death is not the only loss we suffer in love. We suffer the pain of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. There is the agony of betrayal – being betrayed and betraying. We anguish over missed opportunities that are forever gone. There are the decisions made that one wishes one had made differently. We experience unforeseen events, the accidents that forever change things. There are the ruptures in relationships where love turns to hatred, anger and frustration over what might have been and can never be.

We love animals as well as well as people. Two little dogs filled our lives with joy. We had to euthanize each of them as they grew old and infirm. It was torture holding them as the poison was injected, and their little bodies went limp.

Some of us are pained by the loss of any kind of life. I remember biking one spring in Madison, when I approached an intersection with a stop sign. A baby robin was perched near the rear wheel of a car at that intersection. I raced toward the car waving my hand. The car moved forward crushing the little bird.

Another time, while driving on a local street, I saw a seagull flopping in the road. I jammed on my breaks, blocking traffic, and raced to pick up the injured bird. As I carried it from the road, it's struggling ceased. I placed it gently under some shrubs, its final resting place.

I grieve when I see trees dying near highways, killed by the excess salt spread in the winter. I grieve for forests destroyed by clear cutting and corn fields covered over by asphalt for shopping malls. I grieve for animals who are butchered under inhumane conditions by giant food conglomerates. I grieve for all plants and animals that suffer due to human carelessness and callousness.

Love connects us in many ways. I am connected to people who irritate me when I pray for my enemies. I have few warm feelings toward these people. I don't love them like I love family members and friends. I won't send them bouquets of hearts and flowers. Yet prayer alters my attitude toward them. They are no longer objects of hate or ridicule. I realize that we are similar in many respects. We are connected in our common humanity.

Most of us have been conditioned to experience love as personal, romantic and spiritual. There is nothing wrong with this. It's beautiful and important. But it is only part of the picture. There is a deeper dimension of love. It's not emotional. It's something more. Ram Dass described it this way, “Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It's not 'I love you' for this or that reason, not 'I love you if you love me.' It's love for no reason, love without an object.” For me, this love involves a realization that I am part of the whole cosmos, and this cosmos is part of me. In this love, there is no more “we and they.” We are all one.

We need this dimension of love today as we are confronted with human tragedies on a massive scale. Ten countries face humanitarian catastrophe in 2019, due to armed conflicts, economic collapse and climate related events. These result in internal or external displacement (refugees). These countries include Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Central African Republic, Syria, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Around 40 million people have been displaced across the world, with the top 10 countries accounting for over half - or nearly 22 million - of those displacements. These 10 countries also account for at least 13 million refugees, 65 percent of the global total, plus an additional three million people who have fled Venezuela. According to the United Nations, nearly 132 million people in 42 countries around the world will need humanitarian assistance, including protection, in 2019.ⁱ

This is not all. Humankind faces the possibility of extinction due to two other crises. The first is climate change due to global warming. The second is the loss of biodiversity due to climate change and population increase. A major report produced by theWorld Wildlife Fund finds that the vast and growing consumption of food and resources by the global population is destroying the web of life. This web was billions of years in the making. It is the web upon which human society ultimately depends for clean air, water and everything else. Many scientists believe the world has begun a sixth mass extinction, the first to be caused by a species – Homo sapiens. Other recent analyses have revealed that humankind has destroyed 83% of all mammals and 50% of plants since the dawn of civilization. Even if the destruction were to end now, it would take 5-7 million years for the natural world to recover.^{ii iii}

When faced with statistics such as these, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the issues. Even when we see graphic photos that grip us emotionally, we soon suffer from compassion fatigue because the pain of such horrendous suffering is too great to bear.

Our global cultures are awash in patterns of distrust, division, domination and violence. Life on our planet is threatened by global warming, overpopulation and diminishing biodiversity. Yet I still have hope. I have hope because everyday people are moved by unconditional love which is part of our deep inner being, love for no reason and love without an object.^iv This is the love that motivated Jesus as he spoke about the Kingdom or Reign of God.^v Founders of other religious/spiritual traditions stated this truth in similar ways.

We can observe this unconditional love in action if we just look for it. It was evident when Rep. Elijah Cummings recently concluded the House Oversight Committee's questioning of Michael Cohen with an impassioned plea for preservation of that which makes our democracy great.^vi

We observed it in June 2018 when Liz Theoharis and William Barber II reignited, the Poor People’s Campaign initiated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.^vii

It was apparent in 2012 when Malala Yousafzai, age 15, was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan. The assassination attempt was a response to her stand for the right of girls to gain an education after the Taliban had banned them from attending school. In 2014 she became the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Motivated by love, she leads pioneering change in attitudes towards women, children, inequality and education in Asian countries.^viii I am certain you can name others who behave in this way from your personal experience.

This is why I have hope. Everyday people are responding in unconditional love. Let us each heed this call that is part of our deep inner being. Rabindranath Tagore put it this way: “Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation.”

The Patience of Ordinary Things^ix

by Pat Schneider

It is a kind of love, is it not?

How the cup holds the tea,

How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,

How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes

Or toes. How soles of feet know

Where they’re supposed to be.

I’ve been thinking about the patience

Of ordinary things, how clothes

Wait respectfully in closets

And soap dries quietly in the dish,

And towels drink the wet

From the skin of the back.

And the lovely repetition of stairs.

And what is more generous than a window?

Another River: New and Selected Poems (Amherst Writers and Artists Press, 2005).

ihttps://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/top-10-countries-risk-humanitarian-disaster-2019-181213184843061.html

iihttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/humanity-wiped-out-animals-since-1970-major-report-finds

iiihttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un

ivSee Ram Dass quote above.

vFor further discussion of this see Richard Rohr's new book, “The Universal Christ” at <https://store.cac.org/products/companion-guide-for-groups-the-universal-christvariant=21757908516948&_ga=2.220433560.1487970427.1551823633-1167299654.1551823633>

vihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72gy-LZ4UN0

viihttps://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org

viiihttps://charterforcompassion.org/women-justice-and-compassion/23-inspiring-women-fighting-for-women

ixThank you Bill Rettig for sharing this poem at the end of this reflection.

GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man (sic) has gone before!

When I hear or see this intro to Star Trek, it still sends shivers up and down my spine. “To go where no human being has ever gone before.”

What a thrilling prospect!

To be the first person to lay eyes on the bones of a prehistoric ancestor;

To make a scientific discovery that breaks new ground;

To engage in a relationship that opens new vistas in your life;

To see the world for the first time when you were blind from birth;

To discover unimagined potentials in yourself.

This is the allure of vacation trips to exotic places. We imagine ourselves sitting on a sunlit beach by the ocean in Hawaii or skiing down mountain trails in the Alps. Each offers the opportunity to leave the sometimes drab regularity of our day-to-day lives and to experience something new. Most of us can't afford to spice up our lives regularly with these extravagances. For many of us, even a single “trip of a life-time” is out of the question.

I sometimes fantasize about taking such a trip to relieve the boredom in my life. Even in my fantasies, I know that the physical experience alone is not sufficient. It's the imagining, the anticipation, and the remembering that makes it special. It's the emotional, psychological, spiritual dimensions of the trip that count.

I remember when we adopted our 5 week old son, Timothy. I was a grad student, tired and pushing. It was three days after the first moon landing. We arrived at the adoption agency and were ushered into a small room with a crib. Jean looked down at the baby and said, “Hi Timothy.” Timothy smiled. Our hearts melted. My life lit up. 

The same was true when are daughter, Rebecca, was born to us a year later. I was present at her birth. Once again my life lit up. 

I am a now a grandfather, living near my daughter and grandson. As with years ago, my life lights up when I am with them. 

It isn't “a once in a life-time excursion” that lifts me out of the mundane. It is the inner anticipation, excitement, yearning and emotion that make these experiences worthwhile. Even when I am sitting in a room with my grandson, I am “exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life, and boldly going where no one has gone before.”

I realize that my experiment in praying for my enemies was also a journey into the unknown. I started out saying, “Bless A; Bless B; etc. Soon the act was more than a mechanical recitation. It was suffused with a powerful yearning that my enemies and I could be part of something greater than our own set of desires and fears. 

I was no longer troubled by questions like;

                             To Whom or What am I praying?

                             What should I pray for?

                             Should I have an agenda as I pray for my enemies?

My process of “prayer” morphed into engaging something mysterious that is deep in me and also “out there.” It is almost as if I am in touch with a deep yearning of the cosmos. It's not something I can control. It's more like something of which I become a part.

Now when I pray, I am gripped less often by the sense that I am seeking power or insights to help me deal with specific problems. I feel strangely comfortable that I will be able to discern how I can most effectively contribute. It's no longer “me against the world.” Nor is it “me against my enemies.” I am engaged in something greater. 

My experience is similar to that described in “The Cloud of Unknowing” written by an early mystic.ⁱ  The author asserts: "We can not think our way to God. He can be loved but not thought. So, we dwell in a not-knowing (or claiming to know more than we possibly can) of God.” 

This is not a purely emotional experience. My thinking self is still engaged. It's just that ideas and concepts no longer dominate my engagement. As with my experience of adopting of our son, the birth of our daughter and time with my grandson, I am part of something akin to love. Just as the ancient mystic used the word “God” to allude to something he experienced as a “cloud of unknowing,” I am using “energy of the cosmos” to allude to what I am experiencing.

This takes me back to the beginning of this reflection. Physical experiences alone can't free us from the mundane. It's what's on the inside that gives meaning. When we are in touch with this dimension of life, even everyday experiences can be adventures of discovery.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture that focuses primarily on the external. This has dulled our consciousness. We have become automatons conditioned by cultural expectations. We are bombarded with ads that urge us to purchase goods and services intended to enhance our creature comfort. We are told we will have more control of our life if we hire certain consultants or use specific products. Politicians incite fear of certain individuals or groups to promote their programs.

I, like you, am influenced by these societal pressures: I exercise every morning, partly to enhance my health and partly because I envy younger people who are in good physical shape. I read voraciously, partly because it feeds my curiosity and partly because I want to compete with people who are better informed. I push myself, partly because I want to live a full, healthy life and partly to keep up with the competition. I even catch myself watching the clock during meditation rather than flowing with the experience.

We all have a tremendous need to grow our interior lives; our consciousness. Only in this way will we appreciate life, in all of its mundane aspects, as truly enlivening. In this way, we can we live proactively, inspired by goals that transcend the negativity of our complex and dangerous times. 

The writer of “The Cloud of Unknowing” gives this advice to engage the cosmic mystery, to grow in greater consciousness. 

For He (God or the cosmic mystery) can well be loved, but he cannot be thought. By love he can be grasped and held, but by thought, neither grasped nor held. And therefore, though it may be good at times to think specifically of the kindness and excellence of God, and though this may be a light and a part of contemplation, all the same, in the work of contemplation itself, it must be cast down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And you must step above it stoutly but deftly, with a devout and delightful stirring of love, and struggle to pierce that darkness above you; and beat on that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love, and do not give up, whatever happens."[6]ⁱⁱ

It doesn't require a Herculean act of will power to grow in consciousness through the power of love. Quite the opposite. One needs to follow the deep yearning to love and to be loved - a yearning that is common to us all. This feels risky in our externalized and goal oriented culture.  So it is difficult to follow this yearning. 

I experienced this when we adopted our son and when our daughter was born.  My life lit up, but I couldn't appreciate the gift in this. I was so consumed by the pressures of my studies that I repressed the yearnings of my heart. It is only now, through my daughter and grandson, that I finally appreciate this gift in me. 

It's not that I was totally unappreciative earlier in my life. It's just that engaging the cosmic mystery in the “Cloud of Unknowing” is a gradual process. It involves a metamorphosis, a transformation of the way we view the world. When guided by a deeper consciousness, we begin to realize that this is a major reorientation, “it's more WE then ME.” 

I discovered, but wasn't truly appreciative of this, when I was director of Madison-Area Urban Ministry. We engaged community conflicts looking for win-win rather win-lose options. We were often able to promote “out of the box” strategies that reduced injustices while also changing people's perceptions of one another. I now realize that Dr. MLK was right when he reiterated the advice given by the writer of the “Cloud of Unknowing. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.” 

I would add, “Love is the only force capable of transforming our consciousness of what it means to be authentically human.” We have the potential, individually and collectively, to move to a deeper level of conscious. This will allow us to experience our daily lives in a new light. We are part of a cosmic flow that gives us the potential to become more than we ever imagined.

We, like the women and men of the starship Enterprise, are on a mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!

Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting over and over announcing your place in the family of things. -Mary Oliver, Dream Work (Atlantic Monthly Press)

i  https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/reading-spiritual-classic-cloud-unknowing

ii https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing