Month: February 2013

Harry, The Lord Gives and the Lord Takes Away and The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

On By MaryIn compassion, laughter, social justice, vision and perspective2 Comments

For the most part, I focus on posting stories in this blog that point to paths towards respect for all human beings and the increase of justice in the world.  As I type the words “point to paths” I am reminded of the Buddhist injunction to not mistake the teacher’s finger for the moon. Of course we need to pay attention to the pointing, but we need to keep our focus on the goal. Our eyes should be on the moon. (Which is not to say that we should be mooning over justice and human rights, but then, this may be that kind of free associating blog? So stay awake. Watch out for slippery slopes!)

 So, here is a story for you. A bit of an old chestnut (well worn story) I think.

 Once upon a time in middle America there was a god fearing farmer named Harry. Harry was a devout member of his church, a well respected and generous member of his community, married with a son and daughter. He and his wife, Matilda, were deeply in love. They worked together tending the farm that had been in Harry’s family for untold generations. From the farming, some crafts they sold, they managed a comfortable living. They worked hard, but by and large life was sweet.

 And then Harry’s wife was taken ill. They used up all of their medical benefits, and still the doctors could not diagnose her illness. She just kept wasting away. Harry prayed. All the members of the church and community prayed. But Matilda’s illness persisted. Harry consulted with the local pharmacist to see if Kohlberg might be right, but the pharmacist had no remedy to suggest, not for any price. And all too soon, Matilda passed gently into the light at the end of the dark night.  Harry was bereft. And then his faith carried him, he dried his eyes, looked up to the moon, and with a heavy heart said to his children, “the good lord gives and the good lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the lord.” And life on the farm went on.

 And as time went on, Harry Junior was walking down the road to school when a drunk driver struck the boy and killed him. Harry Junior’s death was instantaneous. Harry Senior was inconsolable for a time. And then, he heaved a sigh, looked up to the moon, and said to his daughter, “the good lord gives and the good lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the lord.” And life on the farm went on.

 And life went on for a while. And then the draught came. And Harry had to take out a mortgage on the farm. And he and his daughter worked even harder to make ends meet. And then the daughter got wanderlust, enlisted in the army, was sent to Afghanistan and was killed when her truck drove over an IED.  Harry was devastated. He wept – an act that was unheard of for a middle American farmer, but he wept. And then, sighing deeply, he looked up to the moon, and said to no one in particular, “the good lord gives and the good lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the lord.” And his life on the farm went on.

 And then a draught came, Harry had to take out a mortgage on the farm to pay the bills. His heart was breaking. One day he was out in the middle of the fields working the land that he loved. The land that he had grown up with. The land that had nurtured him body and soul. The land that was now so dry he could barely coax subsistence from it.  And the winds began to pick up. Soon the winds were howling.  As Harry looked up from the field where he was working, he saw a tornado the size of a New York skyscraper thundering right towards him. Before Harry could think to react, the tornado was on him. It lifted Harry and the tractor like they were bits of wheat, tossed them about like a child playing with her first baseball, and then dropped them like a hot potato – with the tractor landing squarely on top of Harry squishing him like a pancake. Harry died, walked toward the light, and found himself at the Pearly Gates where indeed he met his maker. Harry looked up, took a deep breath, and said, “Dear god, why? Didn’t I honor you? Didn’t I follow all your commandments? Didn’t I …”

 And at that point, god grimaced, and said, “Harry, I don’t know, there’s just something about you that pissed me off.”

 Now, that was a too long story. And what does it have to do with respect for human dignity, what does it have to do with human rights and social justice? Not much – except that sometimes we just can’t know. Sometimes you do all the right things and everything goes wrong. Sometimes there is no knowing why. But all the time, you just have to dust yourself off and keep going. Because even as we gaze at the moon, even at the time of the waning moon, we can always know that the sun will come out tomorrow!

 Be of stout heart and good cheer … the sun will come out tomorrow. And then together we can sing our songs of hope and peace.

Gifts: to accept or not to accept that is a question; and The Gift of Insults

On By MaryIn compassion, forgiveness, growth into humanity, spiritual growthLeave a comment

The sagas and myths associated with Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido are legend. I’m not sure that this particular one is attributed to him in particular, but it is a bit of a classic Zen story that could be about him. Or it could be about you …

Once upon a time, there lived a great warrior. Even when the warrior was quite elderly, no one was able to best the fighter, every challenger was defeated.  The reputation of this great sensei extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study in the dojo.

One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the dojo. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, the stranger had a unique ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would watch and wait for his opponent to make the first move. In that first move, weaknesses were revealed, and the stranger would then strike mercilessly with both speed and force. He would dance like a butterfly and sting like a scorpion.  He would poke and jab and taunt and test. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.

When the stranger challenged the great master, the old master gladly and graciously accepted, much to the concern of the students in the dojo. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in the face of the master. For hours he verbally assaulted the sensei with every curse and insult known to humanity. But the sensei stood calmly, motionless waiting. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. He recognized and acknowledged his defeat and left feeling shamed.

Somewhat disappointed that no blows were exchanged with the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and asked “How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?”

“If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it,” the master replied, “to whom does the gift belong?”

Hmm …  everyone is a teacher. Everything offer to us, everything hurled at us is a gift. It is always and everywhere our choice as to whether and how we will accept the gift.

 

I am god; You are god; All is godness – or Material Reality, Transcendence and the difficulty of maintaining a both/and awareness

On By MaryIn growth into humanity, laughter, transcendence, vision and perspective2 Comments

I recently finished re-reading Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land.” I first read the book when I was in college, (it was quite the cult favorite back in the 60’s and 70’s). The memory that most resonated for me from when I first read the book was the word “grok” which means to drink deeply in the sense of deeply understanding or loving and becoming one with whoever or whatever is groked. As I read the book this time around the phrase that resonated equally for me was “thou art god” as an expression of the responsibility of each of us for the ongoing creation of our world, our universe, and also our oneness with all that is. Ah, I thought, if only we all really got that, we really could celebrate the unity and diversity – the diversity and the unity of all that is! And then, we really could deeply respect the dignity of all that is, and live lives of compassion and justice. If only!

And then I came across a story in Joseph Campbell’s “myths to live by” that reminded me of the difficulty of keeping all of this in our awareness. Here is my ever so slightly tweaked version of the story:

Mara, a young spiritual aspirant whose teacher had just brought home to her the realization of herself as identical in essence with the power that supports the universe and which in theological thinking we personify as “god.” In english, Mara just ‘got’ on every level the meaning of “thou art god.” Mara, profoundly moved, basked in the euphoria of being one with the Lord and Being of the Universe, virtually levitated away in a state of profound absorption. Still caught up in the ecstasy of the realization, she walked though the village and came upon a great elephant bearing a load on its back and with the driver, riding – as they do – high on its neck, above its head. And our young candidate for sainthood, meditating on the proposition “I am god; all things are god,” noticed that mighty elephant coming toward her, she added the obvious corollary, “The elephant also is God.” The animal, with its bells jingling to the majestic rhythm of its stately approach, was steadily coming on, and the driver sitting on the elephant’s head began shouting, “Clear the way! Clear the way, you idiot! Clear the way!” The young saint to be, in her rapture, was thinking still, “I am God; that elephant is god.” And, hearing the shouts of the driver, she added, “Should god be afraid of god? Should god get out of the way of god?” The elephant and driver came steadily on, with the driver at its head still shouting, and Mara, in undistracted meditation, held both to her place on the road and to her transcendental insight until the moment of truth arrived and the elephant, simply wrapping its great trunk around our somewhat lunatic Mara, tossed her aside, off the road.

Physically shocked, spiritually stunned, Mara landed all in a heap, not greatly bruised but altogether undone; and rising, not even adjusting her clothes, she returned, disordered, to her guru, to require an explanation. “You told me,” she said, when she had explained herself, “you told me that I was god.” “Yes, said the guru, “all things are god.” “That elephant, then was god?” “So it was. That elephant was god.” “So why did that elephant not recognize me as god as well?” Mara retorted. And the guru smiled and asked, “Why did you not listen to the voice of god, shouting from the elephant’s head, to get out of the way?”

Joseph Campbell credits this Indian fable to Ramakrishna. Both use the story to illustrate the difficulty of holding simultaneously in the mind the two planes of consciousness, the plane of material reality and the plane of the transcendent. So, there is a project to work on – fully groking the material world and the transcendent world even while we work to bring dignity, compassion and justice more fully into it all!

Poetry, Power and Suheir Hammad’s talisman

On By MaryIn alchemy, poetry, vision and perspectiveLeave a comment

There is a child’s nursery rhyme that is often quoted: sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.  But, there is another version of that rhyme that says: sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will kill my soul.  … naming is powerful. Words are powerful. Poetry is powerful.

Thomas Merton wrote, “art [poetry] enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” When I read poetry, when I hear it, when I feel its resonance in my heart, in the depth of my being it touches, it changes, it evokes the best in me. Poetry embodies the alchemy of transmogrification to ways of being that celebrate human dignity, that create social structures that embody justice. 

Suheir Hammad writes poems of war, peace, women, power – she claims human dignity and a just world. Her writing is a talisman for me. She wrote a poem that titled talisman … feel its power …

talisman
it is written
the act of writing is
holy words are
sacred and your breath
brings out the
god in them
i write these words
quickly repeat them
softly to myself
this talisman for you
fold this prayer
around your neck fortify
your back with these
whispers
may you walk ever
loved and in love
know the sun
for warmth the moon
for direction
may these words always
remind you your breath
is sacred words
bring out the god
in you

Give a listen to her TED Talk. (If you have not explored the TED web page, really go surf over there. TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design – ideas worth spreading. And it really is a great collection of ideas worth exploring). So, here is the link to Suheir Hammad reading a couple of her poems http://www.ted.com/talks/suheir_hammad_poems_of_war_peace_women_power.html

may you walk ever loved and in love!

may we all know days of warmth

and peace

and love