fear and wonder

it is said that we are fearfully and wonderfully made…

what is there to make us wonder about ourselves?

what is there that needs to be feared?

clearly, it is apparrent…

exceedingly more than the eye can see or the hand can grasp

wonder provokes us to reach into the unknown

fear leaves us frightened of that same act

no wonder we build such sturdy, immovable castles

and/or or not

we watched and studied others like flies on a wall … and not having a life of our own we found directionlessness in the vicarious apparition before us and this we celebrated as reality … it’s not that the indecision was emphatic, it was more that the next steps were backwards… so, not satisfied with an unlimited imagination we ventured headlong into the game of deceptive charades

 

and/or or not

 

so, not satisfied with an unlimited imagination we ventured headlong into the game of deceptive charades … it’s not that the indecision was emphatic, it was more that the next steps were backwards… so we watched and studied others like flies on a wall … and not having a life of our own we found directionlessness in the vicarious apparition before us and this we celebrated as reality

how sane is our sanity?

While watching a program on the Soviet mass murderer Andrei Chicatilo it was mentioned in the commentary that an internationally embraced definition of insanity is centered around whether the individual knows the difference between good and evil.

In the Genesis account of the garden of Eden it is said that there were two trees in the centre of the garden. One was the tree of life and the other, positioned in the centre of the garden right next to it, was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – a tree that seemingly bore fruit that if eaten would achieve in the devourer of the fruit the apparently fatal ability to distinguish between good and evil.

The story declares that mankind desired the fruit of this forbidden tree and after having partaken of it something seemed to be opened up in their understanding that wasn’t there before. It was as if a Pandora’s box was opened and this act of rebellion facilitated the spiritual death and degradation of all creation.

In this day of superior knowledge and self proclaimed sophistication we now seem to celebrate as a virtue of sanity the same attributes and ability that the account of the garden of Eden presented as death inducing.

Perhaps we need to ask the question, “how sane is our sanity?”

just how many times can one die?

could it be that the biggest deception we have been caught up in is the focus on a single point of conversion?

 

we faithfully remember the exact day, time, and event when we first believed… and we carry this as a banner of our dignity and rite of passage into eternal security and present and future salvation

 

but strangely there is no account of Jesus ever taking any individual behind the Wailing Wall, handing him a “4 Spiritual Laws” booklet and telling him to, “repeat after me….”

yes, Jesus spoke of being ‘born again’ but that was once in a specific confrontation with a religious ruler named Nicodemus… and in the epistles Paul writes conceptually of being ‘born again’ to a living hope…

 

but both Jesus Christ and Paul the apostle spoke of dying daily, not only once… and communion (proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus) is not done only once as a lasting and final eternal event, but as something extremely important to be done as often as we eat together…

 

… and this “dying daily” idea was spoken of by both in graphic detail

 

the metaphor of life and death points to a seed which is planted inside soil and grows…. like a natural seed the seed of the spirit may indeed seem to have a measurable chronological beginning but that seed like the natural seed faces life and death every second of its life from that point on

from the very beginning it is involved in a perpetual struggle for life and this struggle is what brings the strength of character and establishes the longevity and fruitfulness of the life

 

just the same as a seed that dies, falls to the ground and germinates does not immediately become or remain a fully formed mature life form could the same be said of the spiritual seed?

 

perhaps the biggest problem could be that one single eternal and immutable event can so easily result in an ushering in a of a rite of privilege… and there are no “rites” and privileges other than loving, serving and dying to ones self… at least this is what Jesus and Paul seem to be suggesting to my mind

and if this attitude of rite, rights and privilege is established could this be a root contribution to the apparent shallowness of true spirituality in our lives?

 

so many Christians (and followers of other belief systems for that matter) claim to believe yet so few seem to read let alone study the scriptural texts and even fewer seem to understand it

 

and it seems very apparent that most feel fully content to be told from a pulpit what to and what not to do

 

… and maybe the spiritual leaders really like it this way?

 

personal rite and privilege conveniently instills an attitude of superiority and elitism and tends to leave one feeling totally qualified, guaranteed recipients of absolute benefits with no responsibility nor personal application required

 

… perhaps much like the Apartheid system injected into the “White” minority in recent South African history and that which is being injected into the “Black” majority in the present

 

what could it mean to “die daily?”

 

in our modern world of instant gratification and self actualization, individual rights, demands and democratic freedom how would this all work itself out?

 

and with all the feel good sentiment abounding from our TV’s and pulpits (religious and political) does this not seem like a huge negative, … a heavy bring-down?

 

or maybe these passages need to be erased from our scriptures…?

 

…. or maybe these emo-depressive meme-spinner Jesus and Paul characters need to be fully exposed and defrocked for the negative killjoys they clearly are?

 

…. or could it be that by thinking and believing we died once and that is enough we now are really well and truly dead?

 

 

 

 

sometimes laughter says it best

the story goes that one of the city’s top cardiac specialists died

at his funeral his coffin was placed in front of a huge replica of a heart made of red roses

when the minister finished the sermon and everyone had mourned appropriately and said their formal goodbyes, the large heart opened up, the coffin rolled inside, and the heart closed again

it was indeed a majestic tribute to the much loved cardiologist

suddenly, just as the coffin disappeared from public view one of the mourners burst into fits of stifled laughter, convulsing uncontrollably, barely able to keep from crying out raucously

… as if on behalf of all the mourners in attendance, and clearly irritated by the laughing man’s insensitivity, the mourner standing next to him asked,

“why are you laughing, what could possibly be so funny?”

“… and how could you be so insensitive?”

I was just thinking about my own funeral,” the now almost hysterical man replied…

“I’m a gynaecologist …….”

_________________

 

for with nothing we enter this world … and with nothing we shall leave

and after all… what is life and death but a portal?

within or without

a powerful understanding amongst many is that of there being a “heaven” waiting for the faithful and obedient …

a glorious realm out there where a personified God dwells in all power, perfection, peace and presence

… a place that is reserved for those who are the faithful and obedient down here on earth…

however, as with all things there is always more than one angle to it all and in this instance a powerful statement is also made, …

“people will not say, ‘here it is,’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you”

it seems reasonable that this heaven is not somewhere else but actually inside us … not “out there” somewhere but “in here” somewhere… very close indeed

and perhaps not necessarily a physical place, but more a perception, … a tangible concept… a consuming state of awareness … a reality that stems from within … which flows up and outwards … perhaps like rivers of living waters?

an equally powerful understanding amongst many is that of there being a “hell” waiting for the unfaithful and disobedient …

some realm of eternal torment out there where personified evil dwells in all vulgar violation, violence and degradation

… a place reserved for those who are the unfaithful and disobedient down here on earth

… and perhaps not necessarily a physical place, but more a perception, … a tangible concept…

and as with all things there is always more than one angle to it all…

 

so it appears that there are these two opposites, heaven and hell

…two different places?

or perhaps two different ends of the same string?

 

… could it not be equally true that the kingdom of hell is within us…?

sticks and stones

when I was very, very young I had this crazy idea that “outer space” was so big and kept getting bigger and bigger because our words, thoughts and ideas never died and never stopped, they just got bumped around and spread out and mixed with all the other people’s words, thoughts and ideas…
… that it was all like a huge balloon that keeps on filling up with more and more air as we all breath out the breath of our lives…

towards the choir of silience

converse

conversation

to talk informally with another

or others

to listen and hear

to exchange views and opinions

agreement and disagreement

movement

towards and away from

to advance and to reverse

a dance of harmony and dissonance

conversion

to turn around

to repent

or endorse

towards the choir of silence

even a vacuum is not empty

it is almost impossible to get a person to hate and murder another if that person has no experience of being hated nor any real understanding of or reason to hate and murder another…

the same can be said of love and life…

embracing with daggers unsheathed

living in a world

where science is shrouded by faith

and faith is clouded by science

one assuming the limitations of linear logic

to be universally all encompassing

the other attempting to justify a sacred intuition

with linear empiricism
the day might come

where faith is substantiated

and where empirical science removes the blinkers of self-determinism

 

but until then we continue to embrace each other with daggers unsheathed

 

one grasping at self ascendency

assuming be placed high amongst the stars

 

the other dragging the heavens down

to be strapped to the loins of mortal man