Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, March 31, 2011

There is no such thing as defeat in non-violence.

Cesar Chavez, union worker, disciple of Jesus;
he was born on this date, 1927, in Yuma, Arizona


I am embarrassed to say that I have a long way to go. As yet, I have never been tempted to public violence. But in my heart and my dreams, I often rage with violence, with the desire to take vengeance against those who so viciously abuse others, and especially those who wreak such violence upon Gayfolk. If there were a film made of my inner violence, you would rightly be appalled. I am, when it all emerges into my conscious reflection. But then again, I wrestle with it, and I think about my “spiritual Journey”, and I’m happy that it all doesn’t have the power to overwhelm me and to control my behaviour. Of course, I have to remember what an effect it can have on my desire to live the Compassion of God.

The power of non-violent witness against injustice and abuse to bring Life out of negativity is profound. It is, of course, at the heart of Jesus’ execution, death, burial, and of His ongoing living Presence with His disciples. Have I experienced it? Yes. I remember the non-violent protests in Providence RI and other places against the drug companies who were charging so much for new AIDS drugs, particularly AZT. And I vividly remember marching in Washington against the war in Vietnam, carrying the coffins of those eventually over 50,000 Americans who died in that war ….. but which latterly became such a monumental lesson to us (those who could “hear”) about the futility of attempting to deprive other human beings of freedom.

Cesar Chavez is an American who, through non-violence protest, taught us - in the words of the baptismal vows of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer - to “respect the dignity of every human being”. We have not learned the lesson well, alas. But Brother Cesar will always be a figure in our Life whose selflessness and compassion for underpaid and ill-treated workers reminded us of what it really means to be a true and patriotic American.

Cesar Chavez was in a sense powerless, but he could not be and was not defeated. America is the better for it. I am thankful for all those Christians and other religious folk who supported him and his union’s just cause.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, March 30, 2011

There's no reason to bring religion into it.
I think we ought to have as great a regard
for religion as we can, so as to keep it out
of as many things as possible.

Sean O’Casey, playwright; he was
born on this date, 1880, in Dublin


I am a “rabid” supporter of the separation of church and state in America. In anywhere, probably. Let me be plain: I see no place in the World today where Religion contributes anything positive to political life ….. with the possible exceptions of Burma, and the Amish folk in Pennsylvania whose witness to Forgiveness at the mass murder of their children in a school was breathtaking. (This is not to say that some religious people don’t enhance cultural life positively; some do.)

O’Casey was brought up, of course, in Catholic Ireland. Need anything else be said in relation to his comment? His feelings are perfectly understandable. And to me, the same is true about “Christianity” in America, as it is (alas) represented by the so-called Religious Right. And of course this would be true in spades for the fanatic fringes of Religion which seem to be flourishing everywhere. Why they are, I’m not sure, and I would appreciate any enlightenment on this.

The “Religion” I’m talking about are those that have been co-opted in support of principles which are entirely contrary to their Founders or Founding. And at the moment that is about them all. Most of them have morphed into willing, obsequious toadies, supporting social and political and theological demagogs bent on their own aggrandizement. What a mess it has made the World.

We need to keep Religion politically “out of as many things as possible” ….. until Religions regain their integrity and authenticity. I definitely think that America would benefit from sound moral and ethical teaching of the young, in school. But that won’t happen ~ and must not happen ~ until Religion has something Godlike (of the God of Infinite Compassion) to say. I see no sign of it yet.

“Keep it out.”

But: Pray and Work. We each could be a part of it happening!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The world is not yet redeemed.

Isaac Mayer Wise, Bohemian-
born American rabbi; he founded
Reformed congregations. He was
born on this date, 1819.


Nor, I think, will it ever be. Redemption is not an “end”; it is an ongoing process.

What is Redemption? Well, no point in going on about Christian ideas involving sin and “salvation” by the blood-sacrifice of Jesus (an odious doctrine, by the way). Mayer was a Jew. I am drawn to the idea of “redemption” in the Law, or in Commerce. Redemption is the way by which a property that has been mortgaged is liberated and taken back, upon performance of the terms or conditions on which it was conveyed. It speaks to having become alienated from one’s Home, and finally finding a way to return Home.

My thought today is this: We Human Beings are a part of this amazing thing called Life. And in many ways we know ~ unless we have had the misfortune to live completely in times or places of great darkness ~ how exquisitely beautiful and deeply satisfying it can be. Countless wise people have tried to show us the Path to living Life and, if we have mortgaged it away, how to “liberate” it and come back Home.

The forces mitigating against our Homecoming are powerful and often diabolically subtle. I think you know the List; it includes the mortgaged Self and its way of Selfishness. Compassion is the chief “cure”.

Redemption, Homecoming, is a daily process. And it requires mindfulness.

As a friend’s answering machine says, “Hi. You know what to do”.

A little message from Life.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Monday, March 28, 2011

A spiritual person tries less to be
godly than to be deeply human.

Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr.


I’ve come to see that there isn’t any difference. I think it’s clear that the Christian Gospel teaches that Jesus is the Elder Brother of all human beings, that we are all His “heirs”. To be human, mythologically speaking, is to be a Daughter or Son of God. [ I don’t need to say, to those of you who feel you know me some, that defining “God” trumps all other Questions!]

Of course this begs the Question: what does it mean to be “deeply human”? That Question, and it’s cousin “What does it mean to Love” – they define the essential work of each of us.

I think – and I say this from the experience of my Life – that most of us are lured away from this most important work. We are told in so many ways that we should be this or that. Parents and teachers and mentors try to shape us into whatever they think we should be. The rare gift and blessing in our Life is to find someone who tells us to be the unique human being we are meant to be, and supports on that Discovery. In God’s mind, there is no other appropriate Destiny. We must learn to Love in all It’s infinite aspects, and only as we were uniquely “made” to do it.

Today I am going to work at pushing aside all false pictures of me. In this season of Lent, this time of Reality, I’m going to look at who I am, “good” and “bad” and in between. To embrace, assess, let go of the Not-Me, and appreciate the Me. Then try to open to the process of being re-shaped by Love ….. by that immense and unconditional Love that is “God”.

It won’t matter how far I get today. Any minute step is cause for rejoicing in Heaven!

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: The Weekend, Sat, March 26, 2011

My food is to do the will of him who
sent me and to complete his work.

Jesus of Nazareth; in the reading from the Gospel
called “John”, chapter 4 [Lent III A RCL]


The full Reading can be found here: http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent3_RCL.html


This is Jesus’ Passion. The Passion of Jesus is not relegated to suffering. His Passion is about the core motivation of His Life. “To live the will of Him Who sent Me”.

In the Reading for this Sunday, Jesus tells His disciples that he does not need the food they offer; He tells them that He has food. “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

Jesus is speaking to us ….. to those of us who are seeking to be fully Human, to those of us who by happenstance of birth or of choice have made His Way our central path to the fullness, the completeness, of bring Human.

In His speaking to the woman of Samaria, Jesus is turning “conventional wisdom” upside down. He is witnessing to the God Who is not just the tribal god of the Israelites, but to all the human race. His disciples are shocked. Are we? I’m not. I’ve long ago heard Jesus’ radical Message ….. and I feel slight stirring of hope that in the midst of the increasing division in our World, this Message is being heard. Self-inflicted suffering is increasing, but I “see” a different path opening.

There is no god(dess) who punishes. Our future is our own responsibility. Including the character and nature of the essence of Being we create and call “God”.

“If you knew the gift of God.” Indeed; if we only “knew”!

Jesus is you and I. God is incarnate in you and in me. This is the core Mystery of the Gospel. If we would be fully Human, Jesus’ Passion must be our Passion.

Love, as I have loved.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, March 25, 2011

History is a cyclic poem written by
time upon the memories of man.

Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet; on this date, 1811
(200 years ago today) he was expelled from
Oxford University for his publication of the
pamphlet “The Necessity of Atheism”.



What we call “History” is a fiction. Which, in my view, makes History much more profound in terms of understanding Humanity. Essentially, everything that is written purporting to be a factual accounting of events is heavily shaped by human emotions, perceptions, feelings, evaluations, prejudices, survival instincts, cultural formation, etc.

History is essentially, as Shelley says, a poem. An audacious, interpretive, artistic act, without which Humanity cannot survive.

Myth, understood as “truth story” ~ an attempt to “explain” Life ~ is a poem writ large. And Myth includes all religious narrative. No Myth can remain relevant without relentless contemporary examination, or its power dies, or worse becomes self-destructive. I suspect this is why Shelley wrote his pamphlet. Without challenge, “God” becomes irrelevant. In my opinion, so do we.

I think we are at the low end of a cycle in our World today. Imagination has faltered. Vision, as it did in Israelite life from the great prophets until John the Baptist, withered. It has happened in all human societies. I suspect it always will, in the great sweep of the poetic cycle.

The great Truth Stories and their Life Energy, however, live on in human hearts and minds. And now is the time ~ as violence and division and exclusion rage ~ to place the lamp upon the lampstand so that others may see the shining beacon and take hope.

Let us not doubt ourselves. Time has written the great poem upon our memories. Let us live it.

Brian+

Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, March 24, 2011

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a
genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

William Morris, designer, craftsman & poet; he was
born on this date, 1834, in Walthamstow, London


I tried this out today. Though I have found as I get older that “the details of daily life” have become more engaging.

Anyway. Here’s a short list:

- The verbena soap, though down to the “nubbin”, still has a lovely scent.
- My shave-in-the-shower mirror really works, doesn’t fog ~ and it is a source of immense satisfaction.
- My body actually stays warm in the time it takes to pee and get back under the covers.
- The iPad backlight can be adjusted. Brilliant!
- The Alstrumeria and yellow roses that Dennis put on the dining table are ….. perfect!
- Seven clocks tick & chime throughout the night in this house. Friendly, at 3am of a wakeful night.
- The oil painting of Portofino radiates sunlight on a rainy morning. I’m there again!
- Dennis’s chili simmering fills the house, spicy. Lunch at 2pm is calm, the Malbec fruity. Ah.
- The Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, English Sparrows , and White-crowned Sparrows are very cheery.
- My right arm aches from hauling my suitcase up and down subway stairs. Ben Gay is soothing.
- My World War II Spode bathroom cup, ~“a part of the war effort” it says ~ radiates solidarity.
- Assam tea in the morning. Wonderful espresso in a Limoges deco demitasse after lunch. Charming.
- My oldest friend of 60 years, Martin, is 65 today. Friendship is a great blessing!

Even the short list was more than enough to prove William Morris right. Pleasure and Happiness abound “in the details of daily life”. Like the Biblical story of Namaan cured of leprosy, there is much to be said for the healing power of simple things.

Brian+