an opportunity to participate

Life is not about that which is commonly sought after but is an opportunity to participate in a unique yet universally available experience. Here we are with the innate yet generally ignored ability to sense the presence of the divine within ourselves and the whole creation and instead we chase after fame, fortune and power. We busily pursue the offerings of a man made world thereby losing the sense of mystery and awe which makes it possible for us to commune with the creator and the creation. Instead, we wind up worshipping the “reality” we make and thinking it is life.

We fall into a man made trap, the vanity of God made in our image. We fall into a pit dug by our arrogance, our conceit that the creation, the universe exists for our domination. The simple truth of our being born into a world over which we have little control and in which we could not survive except for the graciousness and self giving love of countless generations of ancestors is quickly forgotten if acknowledged at all.

Perhaps if we could envision the process wherein the one without ancestors poured self into the creation dividing and differentiating into everything that is, while remaining whole and present in every part of it, we could appreciate the magnitude of the gift we have by virtue of being alive, awake and aware.

And being aware of the gift of life and the presence of the one who is self giving love in ourselves and in each and every other being, we could relate to the divine mystery in each with clarity and wisdom born of the knowledge of our interdependent existence. Perhaps this is an awakening from the illusion of power over that upon which we are utterly dependent. Perhaps this is the humility which would allow us to relate to each other in terms of mutuality, common good and the welfare of all life. Perhaps this would quicken the light of love and compassion in everything known and unknown which is capable of such feeling and emotion. Perhaps we could learn to dwell here and from here.

Wishing each other a Thanksgiving

People are wishing each other a happy Thanksgiving and expressing their gratitude for life. The images of thanksgiving make some of us sad even though we are grateful for life. We think of the indigenous people of all lands and what the dominator cultures and societies did and do to them and we are sorrowed. At Thanksgiving some of us are sorrowful for those who are oppressed and exploited by the dominator predator model of thinking that operates in the world. We feel great connection to the people, the imprisoned, the wounded and abused, the left out, the meek of the Earth, the chosen, the faithful ones of the Great Spirit for the powerful of the world grind us to dust.

We remain grateful for life for it is a gift from the Creator no matter how damaged or distorted by our unconscious acts. We are grateful for the opportunity to enter into relationship with God through the creation. We are grateful and give thanks for the consciousness we have and the light we are given to nurture. We are grateful the Earth feeds our bodies and spirit with hers and that we journey as part of her in the universe.

We are grateful for the Spirit of life which teaches us to laugh as well as weep. We are grateful and give thanks for the Beloved and all the forms the Beloved takes. We give thanks for our bodies, minds and spirits and for those of the others to whom we relate. We give thanks for feelings and that within each of us which feels its way to the wisdom that surpasses understanding.

We give thanks for the truth though we may not yet know it fully. We are thankful that it exists and is the source of all life and makes itself known, here and there, now and then. We are grateful and give thanks that none can possess the truth but that we may be lifted by it.

Finally, we are grateful for the light that breaks into our darkness leads us on the way that is life eternal. We give thanks for friends and family, the stranger and the other. We ask you, Beloved Spirit of life, to create in us a holy place where we may drink from the spring of love and wisdom that flows from your presence in the creation.

The Thunder Dreamer

Dreams tell me the way of violence is coming to an end.
We are left with a crippled home to care for as though it is ours
though we may not be of the world that made it thus.

We are the aliens, the outsiders, the strangers, the dirt people.
We are the poor and the oppressed. We are the raped and wounded.
We the maimed and broken have nothing but God’s promise.

We are the beloved of Mother Earth yearning for justice.
We are the creation becoming conscious on the way.
We are the awakening and the turning.

Dreams tell us it is happening even as we sleep.
The empires of man are falling beneath the weight
of their shadowy arrogance and they are afraid.

The dreams tell us to come out of their clutches, beloved.
Let them die in peace. Ease their going for they fall prey
to a disease of mind and soul. A heart rot leaves them empty.

The dreams say it is time to set right what we can,
time to tend our relations. The Creator is in the creation.
The fall wind strips dead leaves and limbs from trees.

Winter draws us tight to each other and spring waits on us.
This man’s world comes to an end and heaven and earth
are one. That is what the dreams say.

Entering through the narrow gate the cosmos stretches before like a meadow fringed with forest. This is the land unmade by human hand glowing naked and natural while raising sounds of joy to the light. The Creator hears the creation and makes and unmakes so we might flourish in its love and be conscious within it. Coming through the narrowest gate can we now discern intent and desire and read the spirit of all things? We are cut free from the anchor of self to find the way and follow it. It is our choosing that makes it thus and thus and thus. The Great Sprit remains though all things come and go hoping what hope there is for the sake of the living light taking form as the instrument of love.

And though love is sweet between lovers it is sweeter still when it is the embrace of all living things and sweetest when we feel its fullness is the presence of the only one who frees us to be that love in the creation.

But early along this dream filled passage the world lays claim to each believing mind and enthralls each body to a communal making of empires and wonders. The idols to which we kowtow and bow, swear fealty and faithfulness, salute and pledge allegiance are the gods we choose to replace the one who makes our coming and our going.

Yet we are never abandoned though we stray far from the truth and the nature of the Beloved. The signs are signed for us to see and ponder. The word made flesh for eyes to see and ears to hear over and over again. An endless stream of God inspired people respond and choose the way that is the creative peace of the Creator’s love in this human made world.

Who are we then beloved of the Creator? To whom shall we give ourselves? Who shall we consciously accept into our bodies and souls? No one can choose for us when it comes time for choosing. Here is the gift of choice which is the life of the spirit and the promise of Beloved’s love fulfilled.

To those who inherit the future

These words are written for all the generations that are yet to be. I write to all who will inherit the future which human beings now make. There are no excuses for we who live now and I will make none. We are responsible. We know what we are doing and we do it anyway.

The Great Spirit shall heal the damage we do and evolve a creation and consciousness that fully appreciates and holds holy the presence of the Beloved in the creation. But this confidence does not relieve humanity of its responsibility to the cosmos. Our hearts know this. It is not our humility which destroys life but our arrogance.

Many we entrust with power are unready to serve the God of life or surrender their will to the Great Spirit. Many of us choose to trust and follow those who affirm our egos and self righteousness and lead us where we “think” we want to go. We prefer to be right than to follow the truth. Many of us do not want to believe the prophets, martyrs, saints, holy ones, enlightened ones, signs, miracles or the way. But ultimately, as you know, beloved yet to be, the Great Spirit breaks through into our consciousness and transforms us from what we think we are into what and who we are called to be by the love that creates us.

Somewhere along the way, each of us is awakened from the dream of the world to dwell in the presence of the way, the truth and the light. And even if it is only for a moment, that moment has profound influence on the evolution of all forms and of the whole. There is a voice within which speaks and clears the way in that awakened consciousness. It is a voice of compassion, peace and forgiveness and though the world conspires against it and tries to kill it and deny its existence, it lives.

But you know this already, beloved yet to be. You see what is and travel the way. You choose the truth and bless the community of all living beings. You heal the breach between humans and the living God. You restore Mother Earth to all her fecundity and encourage life in its diversity. You teach the powers of this world the way and cause them to serve life. You allow yourself to be transformed by the Spirit of God. Ho.