Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, May 9, 2012





There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere,
and many of us will have to pass through the
valley of the shadow of death again and again
before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

Nelson Mandela; after over two decades
in prison, he was on this date elected
President of South Africa, 1994


Nelson Mandela. An icon of our own souls.

How long we can struggle! How long we, as a person, can be imprisoned by our own issues and by the fears and the ignorance of others!  -  held back from the “mountaintop of our desires”.

Can someone not teach us how not to have to do this …. to have to “pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again”? Or, is this dying dying dying a human necessity?

Do we ever reach the “mountaintop of our desires” … especially that of being a fully human, evolved, actualized human being? Jesus seemed to say No … on the Mount of Transfiguration. “You can’t stay here”, he said to Peter, James, and John. “No booths are to be built. We must descend again to the plain.”

The Path seems to be one of constant ascent and descent … letting go, small bit by small bit, of what is false and training ourselves to recall the moments of “ascent” … what was for the disciples Jesus’ “raiment white and glistering”, for Moses his veiled shining face reflecting the blazing light of Yahweh.

Humanity has tackled dehumanizing issues … all the “isms” and phobias … but we haven’t “solved” them, any of them, by any means. North Carolina is but the latest example. I guess I’ve decided  -  seen?  -  that they will never get “solved” here on this Earth.

I guess we must be content with glimpses. And find ways to remember the Light. And not be discouraged.

Brian+


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