WEIRD ENERGY: PART 2

My eighty-day practice of praying for my enemies was interrupted at the end of 2018. While in Minnesota visiting relatives, I landed in the hospital suffering from congestive heart failure. This incident reminded me that, even when I am committed to a course of action, I may not be able to follow through. I am not in control of my life. 

The simple fact, that we can't control our circumstances, no matter how hard we try, is key to engaging the weird energy that I began exploring in my last post.ⁱ

Although I know I won't live forever, I have not really faced the fact of my dying.

I am going to die.

You are going to die.

Even the richest most powerful people in the world are going to die.

My children are going to die.

Your children are going to die.

All of the descendants of all of the people on earth are going to die.

There is something deep in our psyches that resists death. This elemental urge is a necessary condition for the survival of all living things. Without this drive, life would not have emerged and sustained itself on our planet. This elemental urge serves us well in the moment. When we are attacked, we fight or flee from the danger.

With the rise of consciousness, there are complications. We humans are now able to imagine an existence in the future. We are able to envision future dangers We are able to develop strategies in the present to eliminate these anticipated threats.

Unfortunately, humankind is still tribal at its core. The US develops strategies to prevent Russia or China from surpassing us in technology, weapons production and economic growth. At a more parochial level, we develop strategies to prevent immigrants from residing in our country. More parochial still, members of the dominant culture develop policies to maintain their dominance over less dominant groups. These groups are often defined by race, religion, country of origin, or sexual orientation. They are labeled as undesirable and a threat to the society. In addition to the obvious moral shortcomings of such strategies, the threats they identify are transient and short term. 

When envisioning the future we need to examine evolving threats on a much broader scale and over much longer timelines. Even now, we seem unable to address long term threats to our existence. These threats include global warming, extinction of animal and plant species and deterioration of religious/moral structures, to name a few.

This tendency to view only our short term future is further exacerbated by people who manipulate our fears of domination and violence for their own ends. These tactics transform our primitive fight or flight response into a collective belief that violence and domination are the only means to preserve ourselves and our tribe.

This worldview is insidious at a deeper level. It tempts us to frame our existence exclusively in terms of physical survival. Corporations and universities are rewarded when they focus their efforts on narrowly defined goals. This stifles endeavors, like space exploration, since such endeavors are motivated purely by curiosity without any obvious benefits. 

This worldview also demeans the arts which somehow feed the human spirit without any material benefits.

Bret Stephens wrote an opinion piece in a recent New York Times, titled “Useless Knowledge Begets New Horizons.”ⁱⁱIn it he expresses concern about current strategies that sacrifice creativity for expedience. He fears that this focus will limit the freedom to create, which will diminish the creative genius of democracy. He writes: 

“.. freedom is the license the roving mind requires to go down any path it chooses and go as far as the paths may lead. This is how fundamental discoveries a.k.a., “useless knowledge” — are usually made: not so much by hunting for something specific, but by wandering with an interested eye amid the unknown. It’s also how countries attract and cultivate genius — by protecting a space of unlimited intellectual permission, regardless of outcome.”

Stephens credits Abraham Flexner for having this insight decades ago, writing, “In October 1939, as Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were plunging the world into war, an American educational reformer named Abraham Flexner published an essay in Harper’s magazine under the marvelous title, “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge.”ⁱⁱⁱHe then quotes Flexner who wrote: 

“From a practical point of view, intellectual and spiritual life is, on the surface, a useless form of activity, in which men (sic) indulge because they procure for themselves greater satisfactions than are otherwise obtainable. In this paper I shall concern myself with the question of the extent to which the pursuit of these useless satisfactions proves unexpectedly the source from which un-dreamed-of utility is derived........ I sometimes wonderwhether our conception of what is useful may not have become too narrow to be adequate to the roaming and capricious possibilities of the human spirit.” 

Here's where my brush with mortality is important. I was confronted by the fact that life, all life, has an end point. All people, including my enemies, are dealing with this reality. 

We can “eat, drink and make merry” as a way of living. But just like Mr. Scrooge in the “Christmas Carol,” the specter of death haunts us in the depths of our psyches. As with Mr. Scrooge, our instinct to protect ourselves and our tribe, carries with it a powerful desire to be in relation with other members of our tribe. 

When dealing with the real possibility of dying, we realize that money and power are not the highest priority. This is why people are willing to spend a fortune to delay death. When the prospect of death is imminent, we realize that the love and support of friends is of highest value. Unfortunately, many of us arrive at the moment without having engaged this reality adequately.

This is where my experiment in praying for enemies is so helpful. It allows me to engage these people in all their complexity.At their core, most of my enemies are no different from myself. The major difference is that they wield power. The old statement that power corrupts is very apt in this context. Most of us, if placed in positions of power, would be tempted to behave in a similar way. On a smaller scale, we often behave this way in our relations with others. 

What is true of us personally is equally true of humankind.For the first time in recorded history, our species has the technological capability of affecting the basic dynamics of our global environment. 

Our species is a bit like a precocious teenager who has exceptional scientific knowledge and skill but little wisdom. S/he can use her/his resources to dominate and control others, or s/he can teach others so they too will possess this knowledge and skill. We, like the hypothetical teenager, must choose how we will proceed which road we will travel. 

The first road is wide and easy. This is the road of domination and violence. It is conditioned by our primitive flight or flight response and is generally assumed to be the only effective way to proceed. This road offers some short term benefits but, ultimately leads to destruction. It is destructive within families; particularly in times of distress, like divorce or death of a parent. One only has to look at our national political environment to see how destructive this dynamic is within nations. On a global scale, this dynamic is degrading the ecosystem of our planet. This road also degrades characteristics we value as humans – curiosity, creativity, humor, artistic sensitivity and compassion.

The second road is narrow and difficult. Few travel this road as it runs counter to the generally accepted wisdom of our culture. It runs counter to our primitive fight or flight response. It feels risky and vulnerable. This is the road ofdeveloping compassion for all sentient beings – friends, enemies, plants and animals. This is the road of expanded consciousness. 

The motivation to follow this road may begin with the rational knowledge that the old ways aren't working. This knowledge will not sustain the journey. My eighty days of praying for my enemies put me in touch with a weird energy that engages something deeper than my survival instincts. It put me in touch with a powerful yearning for wholeness. This yearning reaches toward the future with hope rather than fearfully reacting to enemies and dangers of the past.

I continue to participate in a supportive faith community. I do so, not because of the moral mandates of my religious tradition. I participate because this community helps me engage a deep yearning to become my authentic self, less conditioned by what others think of me. As I proceed on this journey toward authentic selfhood, I am increasingly aware that I am intimately connected to all other human beings. This allows me to 

grow in the ability to love others, including my enemies. I feel less isolated and alone, less controlled by my fears and anxieties. This road helps me realize that I am an integral part of the ever expanding flow of the cosmos.

I need to reiterate here what I said in my last reflection.^ivThe love of enemies to which I am referring is a tough love. I continue to hold my adversaries accountable for their actions even while recognizing that we are part of a larger cosmic flow. This tough love ironically gives rise to a kind of objectivity that is free of the desire to seek revenge. This is a love that serves a higher purpose than my own immediate wants and needs. This is what was meant when civil rights leaders in the 1960's urged non-violent protestors to “keep their eyes on the prize.”

I don't know how you resist the primitive urge to control and dominate others, but I do know that resistance alone is not enough. It is necessary for each of us to grow in consciousness of our authentic humanity.

I urge you to pursue “useless knowledge.”Let your curiosity lead you into new ways of experiencing life. Take time for silence. Listen to beautiful music. Immerse yourself in beauty of all kinds. Share stories with others of your past, your hopes and your dreams. Listen to children. Pray for your enemies. Participate in communities that fill you with hope and joy.

Each of us is much more than we think we are. We just need to open ourselves to the cosmic invitation to fulfill our potential.

“To love another human in all of her splendor and imperfect perfection, 

it is a magnificent task…tremendous and foolish and human.” 

-Louise Erdrich, The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

ihttps://drchuckpfeifer.blogspot.com/2018/12/weird-energy.html

iihttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/opinion/new-horizons-ultima-thule-mission.html

iiihttps://library.ias.edu/files/UsefulnessHarpers.pdf

ivSee reference (i) above.

WEIRD ENERGY

It's the Christmas season. The air is filled with joyful music. Stores overflow with gift displays. In the midst of all this merry making, I feel like the Grinch.

I don't have warm feelings toward everyone in this Holiday Season. Some people push my buttons. Every time I think of them, my blood boils. They have caused pain to me and my loved ones, 

I shared these feelings with a friend recently. He listened patiently. Then he responded. “Twelve step programs recommend that you pray for each of these people, every day for eighty days.”

“Ugh.” I almost turned my back on him. His response echoed admonitions from my earlier days. “Don't get angry.” “JustTurn the other cheek.” “Jesus said we should love everyone, even our enemies. We are supposed to pray for them, not hate them.”ⁱ

Why would I show affection for a person who hurts someone I love? Why would I pray for them. This just enables evil and unjust behavior. It makes no sense.

Having said all of that, I did take my friend's advice. I made a list of ten people I couldn't stand. Some of them I knew personally. Others I knew only through news reports and social media. I've been praying for them for about a month now. I'm not trying to change them. I'm just blessing them. At first, this was a mechanical recitation. “Bless A. Bless B. Bless C. etc.” I did it honoring my friend's suggestion. 

As I continue this practice, something is shifting. I'm not as consumed by blind rage and a desire for revenge. I'm noticing things that were not obvious earlier. My thinking is more nuanced, less black and white. 

Even though their past and present actions are still wounding, I'm beginning to acknowledge that the persons who wronged me are not pure evil. That said, I'm still not able to forgive many of them. I am still wounded. I continue to insist that there be consequences for their actions. These emotions and demands come from a more grounded place, rather than the raging blood thirsty aspect of the wounded me.

There is a sense of detachment. In a strange sense, it is a humanizing place. I continue to insist on consequences for the hurtful actions of my enemies. I also appreciate the fact that they, like me, are complex individuals. They have many of the same wounds, deficits and potentials as I. In this realization lies the potential for some kind of reconciliation, even though I may never feel close to any of them.

I gained another insight in this practice. As I prayed for one of my enemies, I realized that he hadn't wronged me in any specific way. I just couldn't stand him. He was self aggrandizing and self promoting. Then the obvious dawned on me. He mirrored, my own unacknowledged negative characteristics. 

I had a further insight. I am jealous of him. He is successful and well known in the community. I envy him. I don't feel I measure up to him. I am the one who has issues. I am putting myself down. I need to be more accepting of myself, weaknesses and all.

A month into this eighty day experiment of loving my enemies and praying for those who persecute me, I am discovering something else. My dominant feeling toward these people has shifted from red hot anger to sadness. My enemies are no longer one dimensional. They are more like me than I care to acknowledge. We are all caught in dynamics of uncertainty, anger and recrimination.

I'm beginning to appreciate a Buddhist teaching that emphasizes the importance developing compassion for all sentient beings. Compassion alone is not enough. Buddhism teaches that to be a truly balanced and complete individual, one must develop both wisdom and compassion. A quote from Buddanet states, “If you are compassionate or loving and have no wisdom, you end up being a good-hearted fool, a very kind person but with little or no understanding. Other systems of thought, like science, believe that wisdom can best be developed when all emotions, including compassion, are kept out of the way. The outcome of this is that science has tended to become preoccupied with results and has forgotten that science is to serve man(sic) not to control and dominate him. And because Buddhism is not dogmatic but based on experience, it has nothing to fear from science.” ⁱⁱ

Jesus taught a similar lesson when he said,  “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” ⁱⁱⁱ

Up to this point I have described my experiment in praying for enemies I know. I am also praying for people in the news whom I despise but don't know personally. Because I only know these people indirectly through internet searches, social media and news reports, it is even easier to stereotype them than those whom I know personally. 

Given all of this, I am finding that my shift in attitude

 toward them is the same as for people I know personally. This insight has profound implications for me as a social change advocate.

I have been taught to develop social change strategies as one would in a chess game. The goal is to out flank and disable the enemy to obtain my goals. Often my enemy is defined in terms of a single issue. My enemy becomes a one dimensional caricature. My response to this caricature is often an angry outburst. This profoundly limits my options, even when I discuss them in a rational manner. 

This is what is happening with the political divisions in our country. One side proposes an action. The other side strips the proposal of all nuances and presents it in the most extreme, one dimensional terms. The first side responds in kind: We are off and running, reinforcing stereotypes and division. The difficult task of sorting through the many dimensions of the situation is short circuited. This dynamic is always destructive.

If you have every been involved in or observed a divorce proceeding, you have seen this dynamic laid bare. Both sides are trying to win. The lawyers for each side stretch and manipulate the truth. They site laws and legal precedents that will help them win the case. Issues of justice, compassion and wisdom are sacrificed in the process, much to the disadvantage of everyone, particularly the children. 

Is it any wonder there is so much injustice, hatred and violence in our world? Disputes between countries and cultures are millions of times more complex than a disagreement between intimates. In these cases, there are no personal shared relationships or mutual stories. Stereotyping and scapegoating are the name of the game. Furthermore, there are no rules of law that are agreed to by the combatants. Violence and domination are the tools with which these differences are addressed.

During this holiday season, I urge each of you to accept the challenge my friend offered me. “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” ^iv

Make a list of those folks you can't stand. Some of them you will know personally, and others you will know only through news reports and social media. Pledge to pray for each of these people for the next eighty days. Do this as an experiment. Note what happens to you personally and in your relations with your enemies.

I wonder what difference it would make if each of our faith communities, social action groups, and governmental agencies adopted this practice. 

Perhaps the wisdom of our moral/spiritual leaders is more trustworthy than we had imagined. Perhaps there is a weird energy more powerful than that of domination and violence. 

iMatthew 5:38-48 

iihttps://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda07.htm

iiiMatthew 10:16

ivMatthew 5:38-48full

WHEN THINGS ARE TOUGH

You better watch out. You better not cry. Better not pout. I'm telling you why. 

Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list And checking it twice; He's gonna find out Who's naughty and nice. 

Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. 

He knows if you've been bad or good.
So be good for goodness sake! Ohh! You better watch out! You better not cry. Better not pout. 

I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town. Santa Claus is coming to town...

When we were kids, the lyrics of this song motivated us to be good as Christmas approached. We wanted Santa to approve of our behavior so that we would receive lots of presents.

We assume that is true today. “What goes around, comes around.” If we behave morally, our lives will be better. If we behave badly our lives will go badly. Unfortunately life doesn't seem to work this way. Look at what's going on in our world.

Fourteen million people in Yemen are on the brink of famine as a result of a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.¹  While news of the migrant caravan and US border policies dominate our news,²  the unprecedented global crisis of 68 million displaced people fleeing from death and destruction, hardly enters our consciousness.³  A typhoon and tsunami in Indonesia killed more than1500 people, injured thousands and displaced more than 71,000.

These statistics grip us because we know this pain intimately, through our own suffering and through the suffering of those we love. Each of us has stories of unwarranted suffering in our personal lives and in the lives of those we love. 

Whether we place our trust in Santa Claus, God, or our higher power, it is true that terrible things continue to happen to good people and that bad people are often rewarded. 

The question, “Why is there unwarranted suffering in the world?” has troubled humans since earliest times. Ancient Babylonian and Sumerian poems (2000-1700 BCE) raise this question as does the book of Job, the oldest book in the Hebrew Testament ( 600-400 BCE).⁴

The story of Job begins with a gathering of God's council, which includes Satan. Satan, in this ancient story isn't the red demon with the long tail, horns and a pitchfork. Satan is the member of God's council who is “the accuser” or “the prosecutor.” He wanders the earth and brings charges against people who are corrupt or disloyal to God. 

Satan argues that Job, a wealthy man, is faithful because he has not suffered. God then allows Satan to visit all sorts of tragedies on Job. His crops and flocks are destroyed. His children and servants die. His body is covered with sores.

As Job sits on an ash heap, scratching himselfwith a broken pottery shard, his wife and friends come to him. They advise him to confess sins that he hasn't committed so God will stop punishing him. They urge him to stop being a righteous man because God is not rewarding him for his goodness. Job refuses on both counts. 

Job then questions God about his unwarranted suffering. God responds that Job has no idea what he is talking about because he didn't create the earth and everything that lives on it. Job acknowledges the fact that he can't understand the Transcendent. The story ends with God praising Job because, unlike his friends, Job speaks his truth to God. 

Like it or not, we must engage Job's dilemma. Why should we live moral lives? Why should we continue to work for compassion and justice in a world where suffering seems random and capricious? It's possible that we live in a cosmos, governed only by chance, where human greed and avarice are the norm. It's possible that our efforts to promote justice and compassion in the world are futile. This begs the question, “Is the God we worship sufficient to the task?” 

I'm not talking here about the God of your childhood. I'm talking about the present reality in your life, the reality upon which you depend, when you are experiencing tough times. This reality may be God, Yahweh, or Allah of the monotheistic religious traditions. It may be Jesus or the Holy Spirit of the Christian tradition. It may be your inner Buddha nature. It may be some other Higher Power. I believe we all have something that we depend on to guide our thoughts and actions, even if we don't name it.

It takes courage to “hang in there” as Job did in this ancient story. It takes courage to be true to yourself when times are tough. Job did this when his friends told him to give up. He continued to live according to God's commands in spite of his suffering. In doing this, Job was transformed. He was able to engage his God in ways he before experienced. He was able to move beyond the traditional understanding of God, held by his wife and friends. He was able to say to his God, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;⁵

Job was faced with three choices in his suffering. He could continue to suffer, blaming himself for his suffering. He could reject his commitment to live a moral life because he was not being rewarded for his behavior. He could stay true himself and consciously question the source to which he was committed. 

He chose the third way; the way of transformation. These are choices facing each of us as we deal with the unfairness of the cosmos, both personally and societally. This problem cannot be solved rationally. It is something we must engage personally, through story. I will share the story ofmy personal Job experience. While I do this, allow yourself to remember a Job experience in your life.

My Job experience occurred in my mid-twenties when I was a graduate student in St. Louis. Jean and I had been married a year. We were isolated from our family and friends in Minnesota. I remember lying in bed one day; deeply depressed and unsure if I wanted to live. I hadn't passed the qualifying examination that would allow me to continue in grad school. I had given my all in the effort, but it wasn't enough. Jean was homesick, and our young marriage was on rocky ground. I felt abandoned by God and everyone else. It seemed that God was punishing me, demanding more than I could achieve.

This was the beginning of multi-year struggle with God. I retook the qualifying exam, complete my degree and took a research fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. Three years later, I changed careers and became the first director of Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM). I served MUM for 25 years, still following the call of a demanding God. I suffered a second injustice, when I burned out with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Once again, I had given my all. Again, it was not enough. This time, I was so tired, I didn't even have the energy to argue with God.

I spent nearly two years isolated and on disability. Like a wounded animal, I crawled into my personal cave to heal or die. Then something amazing happened. My demanding God morphed into a friend. I imagined us sitting by a campfire just talking. God morphed again into a mysterious presence that I experience but can't define. This strange presence is still with me and is somehow a part of me. 

As you remember your Job experience, how is this affecting your experience of God? (Remember, the God I am referring to is that guiding source in your life.) What new challenges does it present? How is it affecting the way you live? Is your present source of guidance adequate? Is there a deeper source of guidance available.

This is one of the amazing things about the stories and traditions surrounding religious/spiritual leaders. Often, their lives were profoundly affected by situations of injustice and suffering. 

Siddhartha Gautama,⁶  a wealthy prince, was so moved by suffering in the world around him that he left his family and position of privilege. He wandered the country as a penniless ascetic, nearly starving himself as he renounced the world to seek release from the human fear of death and suffering. While sitting in meditation, Siddhartha finally saw the answer to the questions of suffering that he had been seeking for so many years. In that moment of enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama became Buddha ("he who is awake"). For the remainder of his 80 years, Buddha traveled the country preaching the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) in an effort to lead others along the path of enlightenment.

Christian tradition describes Jesus as the son of a carpenter who was raised as an observant Jew. He yearned for a Messiah or Liberator who would free his people from (Roman) domination as King David had freed his people in the past. He went to John the Baptist who preached that God would defeat the Roman dominators. At his baptism, Jesus experienced an epiphany. He, like Buddha, went off by himself into the wilderness seeking enlightenment regarding his role in the liberation of Israel. ⁷He emerged preaching a reign of God based on love and compassion rather that of violence preached by the zealots who fought to overthrow Roman Rule. Throughout his life, Jesus continued to engage Yahweh, his heavenly parent, as he faced increasing opposition from Roman and Jewish authorities. Eventually, Jesus realized that he was going to be executed as an enemy of the state. The night of his arrest he contended with God, fearful that his life's work would be in vain. ⁸Even as he was crucified, he cried out to God in the first verse of the lament of Psalm 22,⁹“My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me.”¹⁰  Like Job, he refused to abandon his commitment to God even in his suffering and dying. 

Mother Teresa relinquished a position of wealth and privilege to join the Loreto Sisters as a teacher in Calcutta. On her way to an annual retreat she reported that Christ spoke to her. He called her to abandon teaching and to work instead in "the slums" of the city; dealing directly with "the poorest of the poor"--the sick, the dying, beggars and street children.  She followed this call. Shortly after she began her ministry,Jesus took himself away. Teresa lamented, “Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me? The Child of your Love.” Years later, describing the joy in Jesus experienced by some of her nuns, she observed dryly, "I just have the joy of having nothing--not even the reality of the Presence of God [in the Eucharist]." She described her soul as like an "ice block." Yet she wrote, "I accept not in my feelings--but with my will, the Will of God--I accept His will."¹¹  Like Job, Mother Teresa remained faithful even though God seemed absent. 

Rev. William Barber and Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-director of the Kairos Center, at Union Theological Seminary, are revitalizing the Poor Peoples Campaign begun by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Reverand Barber has ankylosing spondylitis, an arthritic condition that causes him chronic pain, and forces him to lean forward when he stands. When asked how he copes with his condition, he recounted that once, when he was visiting an encampment of homeless people, a woman offered him her chair, one of her few possessions.  He then recalled how Harriet Tubman suffered from epilepsy, and that Franklin Roosevelt commanded the country for thirteen years, through the Depression and global war, despite having been stricken with polio, that all the heroes of the Bible had some physical or mental challenge.¹²

It's difficult to remain faithful to our inner guidance in a world where unwarranted suffering, greed and violence seem to be the norm. It's difficult to live a moral life when all around us immoral behavior seems to have the upper hand.

Yet, this is the message of Job. This story was written in ancient times with an outmoded world view. Even so, the message is there. Job remains true to God even through his unwarranted suffering. Job speaks his truth to God and engages God at a deeper level than those around him.

It is time for us to ponder the meaning of this story for us. Why should we live moral, compassionate and loving lives when such living will not save us from unwarranted suffering and injustice? Why live this way when the odds are stacked against us? What's at stake in terms of our deep humanity? 

I cannot answer these questions for you. I can only speak personally. Something changed in me through my Job experience. It makes no rational sense. Yet for me it is compelling. I feel overwhelmed by the seeming randomness of suffering and injustice in the world. I will still try to live in ways that promote justice in ways that are loving and compassionate. I don't believe this kind of living will earn me rewards. I simply feel more whole when I try to live this way. 

There is a deep mystery in all of this, a deep unknowing. Something in us yearns to be more than we are; reaching for something beyond ourselves. Surely it is worthwhile to keep on reaching.

1https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/10/23/world/middleeast/23reuters-yemen-security-famine-un.html?module=inline

2https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45951782

3https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/worlds-5-biggest-refugee-crises

4https://www.ancient.eu/article/226/the-ludlul-bel-nimeqi---not-merely-a-babylonian-jo/

5Job 42:5

6https://www.biography.com/people/buddha-9230587

7Mark 1:4-12; Matthew 4:1-11

8Matthew 26:36-46

9Psalm 22:1-3 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

10Matthew 27:32-50

11http://time.com/4126238/mother-teresas-crisis-of-faith/

12https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/william-barber-takes-on-poverty-and-race-in-the-age-of-trump

RIPPLES

Last week, I had a wonderful experience at my local coffee shop. I sat near some friends who were involved in an animated conversation about morality and values. I realized that each of them was sharing insights that I had discussed with them earlier. I left elated. Our actions, like a pebble dropped in a pond, do produce ripples that affect others. This experience was important because I am a product of my age. I want proof that my life makes a difference in a world where powers beyond our control dominate everything. 

Even as a youth I remember asking questions and being told by adults, “You need to have faith.” I understood them as saying, “You just have to believe that life works this way.” I couldn't do this. I trusted my experiences in the physical world because they made sense. But I wasn't sure about issues of values and morality. Some were easy to embrace, like “Don't Steal” and Don't Kill.” Others were less clear. How was I to relate to friends who disagreed with one another? How should I behave when I couldn't accept the dominant attitudes and teachings of my community? How would I make decisions about my future? The proclamations of my religious tradition and those of the elders of my community were not helpful in dealing with many of these issues.

In this way I identify with today's “nones” who define themselves as spiritual but not religious.ⁱAs one raised in a Christian tradition, I am still greatly moved by the life and teachings of Jesus. But traditional Christian theology leaves me cold. It's images are drawn from an outmoded cosmology that makes no sense to my twenty-first century mind. I am constantly having to translate. 

I am not particularly interested in arguments about different religious and doctrinal proclamations. I am drawn more to people who walk their talk as they work for compassion and justice in a world that lacks both. I continue to pray and meditate as a means of engaging the energy that sustains and focusses me, even though I have difficulty defining this motivating force. I participate in my faith community because it sustains and inspires me. 

This leaves me in a terrible quandary. I remember when my sister died. The service was alive with affirmations that her suffering was over and that she was now in heaven with loved ones who had passed on. I yearned to be one with those for whom this was still a vital and empowering reality. 

I, like many who are steeped in the age of rationalism and individualism, am cut loose from moral certainties and the supportive communities of the past. We seek meaning in our jobs, families, friendship groups, athletics, politics and social networks. Some of us even participate in religious organizations.ⁱⁱOur values, however, are often relative and conditioned by cultural norms. 

Unlike earlier times, we now have technological capabilities unimaginable in the history of humankind. It is clear that we need new or reformed institutions to provide moral/spiritual grounding in our global culture. Without this, I fear for our shared humanity. We are tempted to succumb to the primitive drives of violence and domination. Meanwhile, the destructive capacities of our technologies outstrip our moral ability to control them.

We, who are confronted by these fears and uncertainties, have two choices. We can live in the present, providing, as best we can, for ourselves, our families and our friends; or we can engage our inner yearnings for something more. We can live for the future even though this future seems bleak. This requires trust. We have no cosmology that guarantees the outcome, yet we can live as if our lives do make a difference, as if the “yes” of the evolving cosmos is stronger than its “no.” 

In a strange twist of our evolutionary history, we are now discovering that the science which formed the bedrock of our search for certainty is also uncertain at its core. At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists believed that classical physics, with Newton's equations, completely described the cosmos. Our world was solid and well determined. 

Then entered Einstein, Bohr, Planck, Heisenberg, Schroedinger and others. The discovery of relativity and quantum mechanics completely altered our understanding of the cosmos. Trees, cars, animals and humans were no longer solid entities. They were made up of atoms and molecules, which consisted of protons, electrons and neutrons. These, in turn, were made up of quarks and leptons.ⁱⁱⁱ  Particles were no longer just particles. They were simultaneously particles and waves.^iv

According to present theories, time and space are no longer fixed and independent. They comprise a single entity called space-time that is stretched and warped by gravity.^v  At unbelievably small dimensions, space-time is no longer continuous. It is a boiling mass of virtual particles and antiparticles that constantly blink in and out of existence like the bubbles in the foam on a glass of root beer.^vi  There is a basic uncertainty even in the world of physics.

In spite of this uncertainty, I am awed by the cosmos and the wondrous complexity of my humanity. I am drawn by something that an anonymous 14thcentury mystic termed “The Cloud of Unknowing.” His book ^vii was aspiritual guide for contemplative prayer. The underlying message of his work suggests that there is a mystical way to know God. This way is to abandon consideration of God's particular activities and attributes. He urged practitioners to have the courage to surrender their minds and egos to the realm of "unknowing,” at which point they may begin to glimpse the nature of God.

I believe that Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientific minds of the twentieth century, was a mystic in this sense. Even on his death bed, he continued to scribble equations trying to find a unified field theory that explained both gravity and quantum mechanics. Walter Isaacson described Einstein in this way:^viii

“On one level it is fair to say that his (Einstein's) search was futile, that all his grit and determination amounted to naught. And if it turns out a century from now that there is indeed no unified theory to be found, the quest will also look misconceived. But Einstein never regretted his dedication to it. When a colleague asked him one day why he was spending -- perhaps squandering -- his time in this lonely endeavor, he replied that even if the chance of finding a unified theory was small, the attempt was worthy.”

Einstein's quest was driven by his belief that mathematical simplicity was a feature of nature's handiwork. Every now and then, when a particularly elegant formulation cropped up, he would exult to Straus, "This is so simple God could not have passed it up." And so he continued his quest. Even if he failed to find a unified theory, he felt that the effort would be meaningful. "It is open to every man to choose the direction of his striving," he explained, "and every man may take comfort from the fine saying that the search for truth is more precious than its possession."

He (Einstein) had long been plagued by an aneurism in his abdominal aorta, and it had started to rupture. He was taken to the Princeton hospital, where one of his final requests was for some notepaper and pencils so he could continue to work on his elusive unified field theory. He died shortly after one a.m. on April 18, 1955. By his bed were twelve pages of tightly written equations, littered with cross-outs and corrections. To the very end, he struggled to read the mind of the creator of the cosmos. And the final thing he wrote, before he went to sleep for the last time, was one more line of symbols and numbers that he hoped might get him, and the rest of us, just a little step closer to the spirit manifest in the laws of the universe.

Today, we humans are lost in a cloud of unknowing. Unlike the situation in the 14thcentury, our cloud of unknowing comes with no instructions for engagement. As a result, many are slipping back into the regressive patterns of domination and destruction. This is not the total picture. There are those of us who, like Einstein, are gripped by a powerful drive toward authenticity. We are committing our lives to the betterment of humankind.

An increasing number of “nones” are living in this alien land. We don't need to be converted back to old theologies and traditions. We, like Einstein, are exploring new worlds. The description of the crew of the Starship Enterprise puts it well, “We are going where no man (sic) has gone before.”

The advice from the writer of “The Cloud of Unknowing,” updated for twenty-first century “nones” could be restated as follows: “Abandon consideration of the theologies based on a first century worldview and be courageous enough to surrender your minds and egos to the realm of "unknowing," at which point you may begin to glimpse the deeper nature of the cosmos and humankind.”

Those who continue to be moved and motivated by traditional faith proclamations and practices have a vital role in this age of transition. Your role may be more difficult than that of the “nones.” As in the dark ages, you are the “keepers of the faith.” The advice from the writer of “The Cloud of Unknowing,” updated for twenty-first century “religious folk” could be restated as follows: “Abandon considerations of the particular activities and attributes of your religious traditions. Have the courage to surrender your minds and egos to the realm of “unknowing,” at which point you may begin to glimpse the evolving nature of the transcendent.”

If we all could follow the advice of this writer in our twenty-first century situations, we might be able to come together in a vital co-creative dynamic that would benefit ourselves and all of humankind. This coming together would entail a radical inclusiveness through which we listen carefully to one another without labels, realizing that we are doing this for the sake of something deeper and more real than our narrow understandings of the cosmos.

This brings me back to the beginning of this reflection. I continue to be inspired by meaningful coincidences like the one at the coffee shop. They provide glimpses into the nature of the cosmos and our humanity. I am beginning to realize that I know longer stand apart from the cosmos. I am part of this wondrous evolving process. I am intimately connected to all that lives and is, both in suffering and in joy.

In particular, this realization has deepened my appreciation of my immediate family. I have long been aware that our children, Rebecca and Timothy (when he was alive) shared our concern for justice. Their sensitivity to others is informed by my wife, Jean's, empathetic engagement with people. Their rationality and their ability to repair and build things is due in part to my abilities. Beyond these personal ways we have influenced their lives, I am now conscious of a profound union with them that is palpable.

This is even more true with Jean. We have been married fifty-four years. During that time, we have affected one another; sometimes for good and sometimes for ill. One morning last week I “slept in.” As I snuggled in the blankets, I had the strangest sense that I was holding Jean in my arms. It was a joining that was more than physical. In a real sense, I experienced the fact that “We two had become one.” 

I may be a “none” in that my spirituality is not traditional. In a real sense, I identify with mystics throughout the ages. I am engaging something beyond my comprehension and imagination. I am at one with the cosmos and all humanity. I don't know where this engagement is leading me. I feel a deep authenticity and trust in the journey.

In closing, I leave you with the following insights:

1. Our attitudes and actions affect others like ripples in a pond, sometimes for good and sometimes for ill.
2. We are part and parcel of the mystery of the cosmos as it creates and evolves.
3. We can choose to engage this mystery, or we can put in our time without really living.

My wish for you is that you will join me in this journey into the unknown. 

iDuring the period from 2012 to 2017 the percentage of Americans who consider themselves spiritual but notreligious has risen from 19% to 27%. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who consider themselves spiritual andreligious has dropped from 59% to 48%.

ii17% of “nones” attend religious services at least weekly and 32% attend monthly/yearly. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/

iiihttps://www.ducksters.com/science/physics/elementary_particles_quarks.php

ivGo to You Tube and search for a 4 min 44 sec video “ What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? - Chad Orzel

vGo to You Tube and search for a 3 min sec video “affect of gravity on the space-time continuum with Brian Greene”

viGo to You Tube and search for a 1 min 34 sec video “What is Quantum Foam with Brian Greene”

viihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing

viiihttps://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/einstein-s-final-quest.html

MOTIVATED BY COMPASSION

Last night was rough. I was scared and couldn't sleep. I thought I was suffering a recurrence of what had happened on Memorial Day. At that time I was planning to watch the playoff game between the Celtics and the Cavaliers. Instead I ended up in the emergency room suffering from Congestive Heart Failure. 

Looking back, I can see how it developed. I had gained weight and was short of breath when I bent down to tie my shoes. I had trouble sustaining notes in choir practice. Eventually I said to Jean, “I'm having trouble breathing.” She replied, “If I told you this, what would you say?” Sheepishly, I replied, “Go to the hospital.” 

In one short week, my world was shaken. I returned from the hospital with the following the instructions: 

Drastically reduce your salt intake. Limit your liquid intake. Check your blood pressure and weight daily. If you start gaining weight or have other symptoms, call your doctor.

I slept poorly last night because fears from my childhood flooded over me. I was once again that little boy overwhelmed by circumstances beyond his control. Lying there as an adult, I envied and resented healthy people. I wanted to strike out. Reasoning with myself didn't help.

Many folks experience such irrational fears. This is because emotions from past experiences, particularly those from childhood, populate our inner world and unconsciously affect our behavior. When we are stressed they arise.

Psychologist, Carl Jung, realized that similar dynamics affect us collectively.ⁱIt's as if we, as a species, have a Collective Unconscious or inner world that is populated by the emotions of our ancient ancestors. These people had few rational cognitions. Their world was filled with mysterious forces. They developed mythical stories to explain the unexplainable. Our ancestors relied on family or tribal relationships for survival. Many referred to their tribe as “The people.” Other tribes were threatening. These folks were “The Other.” Everyone was affected by the gods and goddesses that operated in the background. 

As a youth living in rural Minnesota, I was aware of these tribal identifications. Our extended family, the Bergs, was a unit. In school there were the city kids and the country kids. People were identified as Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians and Episcopalians. If your parents and grandparents lived in our town, you were the “real residents.” Others who arrived later were “newcomers.” I thought nothing of these distinctions at the time. This was just the way things were.

I now view these tribal identifications with alarm as they play out on a global stage. I still remember the Viet Nam war where North Vietnamese were identified as “gooks” and their deaths registered as “body counts.” Present day wars are fueled by centuries old tribal animosities - Sunni Moslems verses Shia Moslems, Catholics verses Irish, Tutsi verses Hutu. Even though we are twenty-first century, technically savvy people, we have multiple tribal affinities. We define “The Other” by distinguishing characteristics such as skin color, religion, national identity, sexual orientation, etc. 

Today people with influence manipulate these collective fears to gain power. In so doing, they unleash unconscious emotional forces with devastating implications. Ancient societies described these forces as demons or gods. We no longer believe in such gods and demons, but the unconscious fear of “The Other” continues to operate. Millions of innocent men, women and children are sacrificed in power struggles around the world. We hear reports daily of death and destruction in the Middle East. Russian officials poison their own citizens who dissent from the policies set by Vladimir Putin.ⁱⁱYemen is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster as both rebels and Saudi-led forces block the flow of food, fuel, and other supplies to starving citizens.ⁱⁱⁱPresident Trump ordered children separated from their parents as a pragmatic solution for discouraging immigration. He stated, “The United States will not be a “migrant camp.”^ivHe furtherreferred to immigrants as “animals^vand countries like Haiti as “Shit Holes.”^vi

This dehumanization dynamic is horrifying. When coupled with the destructive technologies available to the nations of our world, the threat to life on our planet through war and environmental degradation is real.

In my last post, I issued a plea for compassion. (See: Plea for Compassion In a Veil of Tears)^viiI believe that those of us who develop compassion for others can be a powerful force in addressing the global culture of fear, domination and violence. 

In light of what I shared above, I am now convinced that we cannot have compassion for others until we engage the inner dynamics that cause us to fear and distrust those different from ourselves.

There is an ancient teaching that casts light on this psychological phenomenon. According to the text,^viiiJesus was asked by a Jewish scholar, “Which is most important of all the commandments?”In essence he was asking Jesus, “According to your understanding, what must guide you so you can live into your God-given potential?”

Jesus turns the question back on the scholar asking, “What is written in the law (Jewish Scriptures)? The man responds by quoting verses from Leviticus and Deuteronomy, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (the seat of the will), with all your soul (the inner, animating element of your life), with all your strength (commitment and abilities) and with all your mind (mental processes); and (love) your neighbor as yourself.” 

Jesus then clarified his definition of “neighbor” by telling a story.^ixA man travels alone on the dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A gang of bandits attack and rob him. They leave him injured and dying by the side of the road. He is bypassed by a priest and a Levite, men who were the esteemed political/religious leaders of Israel. He is finally helped by a traveling Samaritan; a man whose tribe and religion were despised by the Jews of Jesus' time.^xJesus then asks the scholar, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”  He answers, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus responds, “Go and do likewise.” This understanding of neighbor has nothing to do with race, nationality, religion, political/religious position or physical location. In fact, Jesus' specifically describes the neighbor as a member of one of the most despised classes in his society. The neighbor is more than a member of your tribe. The neighbor is the one who shows mercy.

Jesus was coming from a place of personal health and authenticity when he responded to the scholar. He was saying, “Commit yourself totally to that in your life which enables you to be your deepest authentic self. From this place you will proceed with wisdom, courage and compassion for others, because your own defensive isolating voices will be stilled.”

To those of you for whom established faith traditions are no longer helpful, this wisdom still applies. Engage with all your being that which calls forth your authentic instincts. Unless you are one of those exceptional people who are able to travel this journey alone, join with others in this endeavor.

I find Joseph Campbell's words helpful in this regard:^xi

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” 

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.”

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

For those of you who are still involved in traditional faith groups, don't just worship the God of your tradition; act on it's precepts. Give your all to promote justice. Practice compassion with and for all people. 

Writer Walter Brueggemann has these insights for you: (Although he is writing for Christians, his words apply more generally.)

“I think a case can be made that the heart of the gospel (the core teaching of your tradition) is “do not fear.” This formula is the quintessential world-changing assurance in the Bible (your sacred scripture). Fear is the great pathology of our society. It is the task of the church (your sacred community) to say “do not fear,” but that assurance must be grounded in a God who is trusted to be present in effective ways. And God is not present apart from the imagination of the poets. Thus the church, in its poetic vocation with grounding in the holy assurance of God, is entrusted with an antidote to the pathology of our time and place. It is not an easy assurance, but it is one that opens space for different actions and different social relationships, and so for different futures. This is an amazing trust to the church, and one about which the church is most often too timid.” 

For each of us there is a deep place that rings true in our inmost self. From this place we can accept ourselves as we truly are, with all our positive and negative attributes. We no longer need to try to be more than we are or to envision ourselves as less than we are. We can then have compassion for ourselves enabling our compassion for others. In so doing, we will participate in the cosmic flow that promotes life and wholeness in the face of the dark forces of fear, domination and violence.

Thomas Merton put it this way: (Make appropriate substitutions for the masculine language.)

“What is the relation of [contemplation] to action? Simply this. He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas. There is nothing more tragic in the modern world than the misuse of power and action. . . .”

Pema Chodron^xiiputs it this way:

“As we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others — what and whom we can work (and be in community) with, and how — becomes wider.”

This is our challenge. Engage that higher power that fills you with energy and life. Live from this source in everything you are and do. Be part of the healing of our world.

ihttps://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html

iihttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/06/the-long-terrifying-history-of-russian-dissidents-being-poisoned-abroad/?utm_term=.94e06e551ace

iiihttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-22/yemen-houthis-and-saudi-forces-hold-up-food-aid-fuel/9897684

ivhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/18/donald-trump-us-migrant-camp-border-separation

vSome say the president was referring only to the MS-13 gang. Others claim he was referring to all immigrants.

vihttps://variety.com/2018/tv/news/anderson-cooper-defends-haiti-chokes-up-donald-trump-1202662627/

viihttps://drchuckpfeifer.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-plea-for-compassion-in-veil-of-tears.html

viiiLuke 10:25-28 (The scholar quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4,5 and Leviticus 19:18)

ixLuke 10:29-37

xhttp://www.stephanielandsem.com/2013/04/jews-vs-samaritans-the-origin-of-conflict/

xihttps://www.brainyquote.com/authors/joseph_campbell

xiiPema Chodron (2000). “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times”, p.110, Shambhala Publications