The Gospel Truth

I.

Sometimes, the scenario runs like this:

You have God and Jesus and the Undeserving Masses

and Satan, of course.

Then, there are the angels, the apostles, and the Holy Spirit

to complete the scene.

God is outrageously angry with the Masses

for all the wrongs they have done

(Never mind foreknowledge and omniscience

which should have tipped God off

as to the likelihood of the turn out,

and don’t waste your time wondering

what’s God got to be angry about,

knowing all along what was coming,

or why we let God get by with it

without saying he shot himself in the foot,

and brought it all on his own self–

which is what we would say about ourselves

if the shoe, so to speak, were on that foot).

But, not to worry.

Jesus is quick to thrust himself between God’s fury and the Milling Horde

just in time to prevent their everlasting destruction.

“No! Take me!” he shouts,

giving himself up for the sins of us all.

II.

And, sometimes it plays out like this:

God is dressed in a business suit,

like a high ranking government official,

maybe the head of the IRS,

wishing that things could be different,

and sorry that it has come to this,

but the Law is the Law, after all, you know,

and penalties must be imposed,

or what would people say?

But, Jesus steps forward,

in a corporate kind of way,

with a compromise proposal,

presented formally and with style,

suggesting that something might be worked out,

if the system could be satisfied

with one pure death in place

of the tarnished payment

of so many sordid lives.

III.

Then, sometimes, it goes like this:

God is anguished and torn,

the helpless victim of inner conflict,

pacing the floor,

trapped between

the mutually exclusive requirements

of Justice and Love.

Preoccupied and distraught,

God mumbles,

“My Justice Side says, ‘Kill them all!’,

and, surely, they deserve it,

but my Love Side says, ‘Don’t be like them!

You’re bigger than that!

Grant them full pardon!

Let them know who you are!’”

At the very moment God is about to collapse

beneath the weight of the un-choose-able choice,

Jesus knocks politely and enters to say,

“I have a plan that will satisfy your Justice

and express plainly your Love.”

IV.

No matter how the opening scene is depicted,

in Act II, the disciples come forward

to declare to the people

the great miracle of their deliverance

which lays dormant and un-actualized

until they hear what has been done

and believe it is so.

Believing is the activating agent

making The Deal operative

in the lives of the people,

getting them off the hook

and out of harm’s way–

and it doesn’t matter what Jesus has done

if they don’t believe he did it,

which, if you think about it,

changes absolutely nothing in the

deal God has made with the people:

The people still have to please God

by doing what it takes to be pleasing,

i.e., believing with all their heart

that Jesus is their Lord and Savior.

The burden remains on the people.

But they don’t tell it this way in Sunday Schools

or in the sermons.

The people aren’t delivered

until they believe they are,

and Satan can still win

by keeping them in the dark,

and hiding them from the truth,

sending Deceivers to distort

the disciples’ message

so that the people think the wrong things

and miss their chance.

And, the angels all stand on tip toe,

jostling for viewing portals,

holding their breath,

wringing their wings,

crossing their fingers,

shutting their eyes,

afraid to look,

while the Holy Spirit

strives to work mystic wonders

to break Satan’s spell

and save the whole show,

or the predestined portion of it

(this part is somewhat murky,

even in the ancient manuscripts),

before it’s too late and it’s all over

because time is running out,

even though there is eternity to play with

and what could the hurry possibly be?

V.

Well, that’s the gospel truth

which has been passed down from the apostles,

systematized by the theologians,

and preached by the preachers,

in one version or another

through long centuries of making things perfectly clear.

Yet, no matter how often

we hear it presented,

or see it enacted

in manger scenes

and Lenten Services,

we cannot ignore the obvious,

or avoid the inescapable conclusion,

that it has all the earmarks of an early draft

of a Rube Goldberg cartoon,

and realize that someone with all eternity to work with

could surely have come up with something better.

God

Anything goes with God.

God can get by with all of it at any time.

God has complete freedom of movement,

and is unlimited by past actions,

or future possibilities–

standing armies,

or high mountain ranges.

You never know what’s what with God,

or what to expect from God.

God is the ultimate Trickster God.

Where God is concerned it is

Now you see it,

now you don’t.

You can’t count on anything with God.

It’s all a Great Mystery with God,

an Unfathomable Mystery

that can be best described with words like:

Outlandish!

Unheard of!

Unspeakable!

Sacrilege!

Anathema!

Abhorrent!

Abomination!

Atrocity!

Outrage!

Disgrace!

Obscenity!

Wonderful!

Beautiful!

Sublime!

Majestic!

Just!

Merciful!

Indescribable!

Perfection!

Love!

Goodness!

Magnificent!

Marvelous!

Splendid!

Glorious!

That’s God for you.

You never know with God.

Things are not as they appear to be—

are not what we think they are—

with God.

Death is life.

And life is death.

God is like the wind that blows where it will—

coming and going as it pleases.

With God, the rain falls on the just and unjust alike.

God raises the dead and leaves the dead to bury the dead.

God loves his-her-our-their enemies and kills his-her-our-their own son—

after setting aside human sacrifice for all time,

from Abraham on,

and saying “Thou Shalt Not Kill!”

to Moses and the Children of Israel.

God dies for a world that cares not for God,

and forsakes those who love him most.

You never know what’s what with God—

or how it will be.

That’s how it is with God.

“Invoked or not invoked, the God will be present!”

But, for what purpose?

To serve what end?

No one knows.

Not even God.

God surprises himself-herself-ourselves-themselves.

With God, all dichotomies are false dichotomies,

all categories are inclusive categories–

convenient and inaccurate concessions

to the sphere of space and time.

God is he-she-we-they,

and is completely free to do what needs to be done

in each situation as it arises,

in the moment as it unfolds before him-her-we-them

Without reference to anything that may have happened before,

or concern for anything that may happen afterward, in response,

as an outcome, as a consequence,

however many generations removed from the event in question.

There is no figuring out a God like God—

no calculating the percentages,

computing the odds,

and coming up with what to do to best protect ourselves,

and insure a rosy future

filled with what we like

And devoid of what we don’t like.

Not even God knows what to expect from God–

beyond being appropriate to the time and place

of his-her-our-their acting.

God dwells in deep darkness—

God arises from the depths of unconsciousness—

to astound and amaze,

confound and befuddle,

disturb and dumbfound,

even God.

God stuns God with God’s brilliance and lunacy,

and unprecedented unpredictability.

There is no pleasing a God like God—

Who plants where he-she-we-they does/do not plow,

and reaps what he-she-we-they does/do not sow—

who blesses and curses

the righteous and unrighteous alike,

without regard

for race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, prospects, references or point of origin.

we cannot hope to appease or placate a God like God.

Not even God knows beforehand

what it would take to make God happy

(Only after the fact, whether that was it or not).

The only way to “go with God”

is to BE God—to BE as God is—

and, of course, we can do that because we are!

Living out of our own sense of what is happening

and what needs to be done about it

in each situation as it arises,

in each moment as it unfolds,

and doing it without regard

for God and what God may, or may not, think or prefer—

or for human standards, traditions, customs, codes, laws and mores.

We can only live with our finger on the pulse of what is called for!

Learn to know it when we see it,

and do it when and where it occurs to us!

We can only strive to take care of business

the way business needs to be taken care of,

and let God like it or not.

So, go and do according to what resonates

with your own heart and soul,

and let that be the determining factor

guiding your choices,

informing your actions,

and directing your steps along the path

you deem to be your path.

Our place is to live our life

the way we conclude our life needs to be lived,

and let all of our outcomes

instruct us in the art

of knowing what needs to be done,

here and now,

and doing it,

all our life long–

and letting that be that,

exactly the way God would do it

in our place.

Fate and Destiny

The terms “fate” and “destiny” are used interchangeably. They are not interchangeable.

Fate is the world you are born into, and the genetic makeup that comes with you from the womb. The color of your eyes, your gender including Trans, your sexual orientation, the shape of your nose, the size of your feet, the place of your birth, the physical and financial resources that welcomed you into the world, the wars that come your way, the earthquakes and tidal waves you must endure… The facts that define you and expand or limit your living are your fate.

Your destiny is what you do about it—who you become in spite of it, because of it.

We are destined to be more than we know, or have any right to expect. And, that is built into us, too, along with our proclivities and interests, and waits for us to dig it up like some lost and forgotten treasure, and align ourselves with its requirements, and serve its ends.

Our fate is the life we are living—the life that is thrust on us, expected of us, by the nature and circumstances of the time and place of our existence. Our destiny is the life that is ours to live—the life that only we can live—the life that we are built for in the sense of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ verse, “What I do is me/For that I came.”

Our work is to live the life that is ours to live within the context and restrictions of the life we are living—to serve our destiny within the confines of our fate.

To eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand, our fate provides us with exactly what we need to fulfill our destiny. Joseph Campbell said, “Love your enemies and what you hate most about your life because they are instruments of your destiny.”

We are pulled forth, often against our will, and thrust into the trials and ordeals that are necessary to produce and refine the character and qualities most needed to fulfill our destiny. Campbell said, “It took the Cyclops to bring out the hero in Ulysses.”

Lao Tzu asked, “Fame or integrity, which is more important? Money or happiness, which is more valuable? Success or failure, which is more destructive?” It is clear that it is not at all clear whether it is better to win or loose, to be right or to be wrong, to get what we want or to be saddled with what we cannot stand.

This leads Lao Tzu to ask, “Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course?” And, “Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?” And, to say, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed herself from concepts, and keeps her mind open to what is.”

Instead of railing against the way things are, we might simply have faith in the way things are, trusting that we are being led by That Which Knows along a curious and winding path straight to the heart of who we are, and into the service of what needs to be done—and, in so doing, fulfill our destiny and compete the work that is ours to do.

The Buddha, the Christ, and the Prophet

The Buddha was not a Buddhist,

The Christ was not a Christian,

The Prophet was not a Muslim.

Our work is to BE the Buddha, not a Buddhist,

To BE the Christ, not a Christian,

To BE the Prophet, not a Muslim.

The work is simple:

Grow up,

Live transparent to yourself,

See what you look at,

Do what needs to be done

In each situation as it arises

With the gifts that are yours to give.

Throw out Doctrine,

Theology,

Ideology–

Live in ways that are true to your Deep Self

And aligned with the life that only you can live,

With nothing to gain

And nothing to lose,

Completely free to do what needs to be done

As you determine that to be

after consulting emptiness, stillness and silence

and following the intuitive direction

that arises within.

This is the work of a True Human Being—

Which we are all called to be.

the spitting image

Of the Buddha, the Christ, the Prophet.

What Does Wanting Know?

That which has always been called “God” is dependent on us for bringing “God” forth and establishing “God’s” reality within the physical world. We are dependent on “God” for bringing ourselves forth and establishing our reality within the physical world. Denying our dependency, and living as though we are the Captains of Our Own Ship, the Masters of Our Destiny, disrupts the natural flow, and creates the illusion that we can do whatever we want.

Apart from “God,” we have no idea of who we are, or what we are about, and are stuck with only our wants to guide us. The Will to Good is not fueled by the desire of the moment, and without a connection with the core of Life and Being within us, we are left with being blown about by the winds of attraction and repulsion.

We know what we want and what we do not want, but what does wanting know? How resilient, determined and disciplined in the service of what needs to happen is wanting? How long before we are disenchanted by, and bored with, what we wanted—and cast it aside to take up the chase for next must-have piece of technological innovation that comes along, with its shiny plastic housing and promise of lasting satisfaction? Or the next true love? Or the next hit of whatever box of smoke is handy?

Wanting must be sat aside in favor of Eros—not understood as sexual love, but as love of life and destiny that pulls us beyond ourselves into ourselves in fidelity, filial allegiance and service to the life that is our life to live, regardless of anything that might challenge or threaten that life or our allegiance to it. This is compatible with the idea of courtly love between a medieval knight and his lady, where loyalty and piety were foundational aspects of service and work.

It is this kind of dedication to the life that is our life to live that aligns us with The Will to Good (Which has always been experienced as God), and opens us to aspects of ourselves that were secret to us and had been hidden from us as long as we were off track and lost in a world based on having what we want.

We Do Our Own Work, Part 3

A purpose beyond our purpose

Works like gravity and time

To fill the sea

Regardless of what civilizations rise and fall,

Or which country’s Conquistadors

Wreak chaos and havoc on which countries.

Through it all,

The Purpose is at work,

Calling us back to the source and ground of our life,

To the Tao of Eden,

To the Eden of Tao,

To “the face that was ours before we were born.”

To our Original Nature.

To balance and harmony.

To spirit, vitality, life.

To what purpose?

As though there could be a purpose

Beyond knowing

And being

Who we are,

doing what is called for

In the here and now of our living,

Through all contexts and circumstances,

Incarnating,

Exhibiting,

Expressing

Who we are

And what we are about

In ways appropriate to the occasion,

All our life long!

We Do Our Own Work, Part 2

Every night our dreams show us how it is in our life,

As if to say, “This is how it is–what are you going to do about it?”

Every night, the same question:

“This is how it is.

What are you going to do about it?”

We grow up

By facing up to how it is with our life,

And doing what needs to be done about it.

Every night we get a mirror:

“This is how it is in your life.”

And a question:

“What are you going to do about it?”

Every day, we get another opportunity

To look in the mirror,

And work out our answer to the question.

And we have help with the work.

Our intuition is our best secret friend,

on our side from birth

to help guide our boat on its path through the sea.

We help it help us by getting out of the way

and being sensitive to the nudges and messages

we get through the day each day.

Between the two of us,

we have all it takes

to live the life that is our life to live

from birth to death,

which is something that has rarely been done

throughout the life of the species.

We Do Our Own Work, Part 1

Everybody is dealing with something,

Bearing some burden.

Each one of us is struggling

To come to terms with the way things are,

Making our peace with the truth of our life.

This is the work of maturity,

The singular task of the spiritual journey.

We are all growing up.

The more conscious we are of the process,

And of our place in it,

The better it is for everyone.

We do our part

When we put ourselves in accord with our life,

And live it as fully as it can be lived,

Anyway,

Nevertheless,

Even so.

I don’t mean lie down

And let it run over you.

I mean do what can be done

About what needs to be done

With the gifts that are yours to use–

I mean “get in there and do your thing”–

Every day for the rest of your life,

And let that be that.

Doing the Work to Find Our Work, Our Life

Our life is uniquely designed to enable us to be who we are. You have heard that “Everything happens for a reason.” Well, the reason is to enable us to be who we are. You have also heard, “Everything is grist for the mill.” Well, we are milling ourselves. We are milling maturity. Grace. Compassion. Character. Qualities and values at the heart of life and being.

Or not.

We do not have to cooperate with our life’s invitation. We have ideas of our own about what is worth living for and how our life should be. The problem is how to get ourselves together with our life’s need of us?

The problem has different facets. There is the life that is our life to live, the life that exhibits and expresses the qualities and character, interests and abilities, aptitudes and inclinations—the combination of which is unique to us, sets us apart from everyone else, and makes us an individual who has never been, or will be. This is one aspect of how things are.

There is the life we wish were ours to live—the life of our dreams and happy fantasies, desires and ambitions, aims and goals. This is another aspect of how things are.

There is the life thrust upon us by situation and circumstance, by the nature and conditions of our living. Perhaps, we are born into poverty, or into wealth and privilege. Or, perhaps we are greeted by war, desolation, famine and suffering. Our life might be restricted in any number of ways—the expectations of our family, or the requirements of our caste, or the limitations of our available resources or physical, or mental, abilities… All of these are other aspects of how things are.

There is what we do to pay the bills, to hold body and soul together, to make it from one day to the next. There are the obligations, duties and responsibilities that come with meeting the requirements of living. These are other aspects of how things are.

All of this is how things are, and how things also are—and that is how things are.

We have to find our way through the things we have to work with to meaning and purpose, fulfillment and wellbeing. Where lies that path?

My bias is to say we have the best chance of achieving ends worthy of us if we throw in with our intuition which is in close relationship with heart and soul—with the invisible, unknown, unconscious (in the sense of our are not being conscious of it) world of spiritual reality—aligning ourselves with its sense of what needs to be done, and following its lead throughout our life.

How to do that should be the focus of church and culture. Until that happens, we have to assume the responsibility of finding our own way there. Help is available, particularly from Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, artists, poets, and others who have found the way of communing with the invisible world—including Parker Palmer, Robert Johnson, Helen Luke, Marie-Louise von Franz, Ann Weiser Cornell, Mary Caroline Richards, Charlotte Joko Beck, Rachel Naomi Remen and a world full of others.

We also know more than we know we know, and have only to make time—and find a place—for Dreamtime, walkabouts, listening to our dreams, feeling our feelings, and opening ourselves to the intuitive, instinctive guidance within. Everybody has the same access to the Invisible World. Anybody can perceive what is there for all to see, hear, know and understand. But, it takes being open to possibilities we often refuse to consider.

Developing our appreciation of, and our affinity with, emptiness, stillness and silence (One thing, not three) is a simple matter of setting aside twenty minutes a day to “drop into the silence,” and wait to see what arises, emerges, appears to meet us of its own accord, as “that thus come,” to gift us with its presence, guidance and direction.

If we need more focus than this, we can enter the silence with a photograph of some wild/natural place and the question, “How does this image relate to me?” “What connections, affinity, associations to/with this image come to mind?” And simply see where this goes.

Or, we can interview the silence with our “Questions of the Day”: What’s what? What is going on? What is called for here, now? How do I need to respond to it in ways that utilize my gifts of my original nature, my innate virtues (The things we do best and enjoy doing most), my inherent imagination and my intrinsic intuition? We do not think here in terms of what we can do that stands to benefit us in any way. We are not out for our own benefit, profit, gain, but of how we can be of help to each situation as it arises with the gifts we have to offer–for the joy of doing it and the satisfaction of having done it.

Doing the work of finding our work is the single most important thing we can do to unite ourselves with who we are and what we are about. And that is the union that transforms ourselves and turns the world around.

True Belief

We believe Jesus is going to save us from our sins

if we believe he will,

and take us to heaven when we die

where we will be happy forever.

We believe it because the Bible says so

and we believe we should believe whatever the Bible says

because it is the last word,

you know,

“the only rule for faith and practice,”

says the old book of church order,

and we believe the old books of order,

and the old confessions of faith,

the older the better,

if you ask us,

they knew a thing or two back then,

you know,

they knew how things are supposed to be,

never mind that they owned slaves,

and oppressed women,

and abused children.

Those old confession writers

knew what they were doing,

and all we have to do is believe it

and we’ll have it made,

if we are careful

to ostracize those who don’t believe it,

and maybe boycott them,

just to let them know

we’ve noticed that they don’t believe as we do,

and that we don’t like it.

We can’t be letting them think

its okay to not believe as we do,

that it doesn’t matter.

Jesus might be watching,

and might keep us out of heaven

for being slack,

and not insisting on the straight and narrow.

It turns out that getting into heaven

isn’t as easy as it seems at the start.

We have to believe that Jesus died

to save us from our sins,

and then we have to resist temptation,

and get everyone else to live like we do,

and have nothing to do with those who don’t

as a testimony against them,

and we have to oppose sin at every turn,

and pray,

and study the Bible,

and be entirely centered on doing God’s will,

and make sure that gays never marry,

because that would be the living end,

and we can bomb our enemies to oblivion

when loving them doesn’t work—

and when has loving our enemies ever worked—

and talk about WWJD?

in terms of getting prayer back into the schools,

and getting evolution out,

and getting the Ten Commandments

into all the court houses,

but not in terms of ending racism,

and poverty,

and war,

or in terms of living ecologically sound lives,

or having sustainable economies…

And, when it gets too complex,

we just get back to the Bible,

and believe in Jesus,

and look forward to going to heaven when we die,

without facing the fact

that we have been dead

to the truth of how things are,

and how things need to be,

and what is calling us to do it,

all our lives long.