"In this world you will have trouble."
Today, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president of the United States for a second time after a pregnant four-year pause. He has successfully, despite robust counter-initiatives from opposition, returned to power. And this time, he reportedly brings into his cabinet an unprecedented thirteen billionaires with a net worth of over $20 billion. If you add in Elon Musk, who doesn't require Senate confirmation, the cabinet's worth jumps past $450 billion. The oligarchy does not try to hide anymore.
What comes next, none of us can know.
What I do know is the Spirit which "breathes life into" (inspirare) has been vitalizing its creation for billions of years with more efficaciousness than can ever be accrued—much less fathomed—by any human. Elites are consolidating power and will likely further streamline parasitical systems that prey on the working class and line their pockets with more wealth, when such wealth could be equitably distributed to create a more beautiful world for all.
But the beauty of this world is not dependent on the rich-and-powerful's stewardship of it. There's a vitality that endures. That domain belongs to God. For we mere humans who choose to empty ourselves and become "pure in heart and poor in spirit," anything is possible, regardless of circumstances that could prove to ensnare us.
The invisible Power which has unfolded all into being, will yet be, long after we are gone.
The work that remains for us—as important now as it's ever been— is to become One, even as God is One, wholly integrated with everything. "There is a spirit in the soul, untouched by time and flesh…. It is free of all names and void of all forms. It is one and simple, as God is one and simple, and no man can in any wise behold it" (Meister Eckhart). You might regard God as a person or persons. I believe God is also beyond persons. God is Is-ness. Not a being, but Being itself. The mystics suggest God appeared in human form(s) to relate to us, so that we could understand him. But God's truest nature is beyond personality. Mysterium tremendum. The incomprehensible mystery at the heart of everything.
The blessed invitation of a lifetime then is to receive this Is-ness, and live, as it were, from the great ground of God. To treat each person with indifferent compassion. To detach from material possessions and fleeting desires, which can stand in the way of what most wants to happen here. To remain an empty vessel for the universe to pour into. Allowing it to cleanse your filter, so you can take in more. Letting it rinse your eyes, that you may see as with eyes that have never before seen; tuning your ears, that you may hear as with ears that have never before heard.
Upon awakening to our senses, we observe that everything is in flux, becoming new all the time.
Life, death, decay, and renewal—this is the way.
We all take part in a chaotic, boundless, emergent, creative destruction and regeneration. Most cells in our bodies are replaced. The tree's seed falls into the ground, springs up into radiant, enchanting bloom; dies again. The printing press disrupted the written word. Digital media eclipsed the printing press. The Renaissance supplanted Medieval art. The automobile replaced the horse. Relativity redefined Newtonian physics. Sons and daughters become fathers and mothers. Wars are fought. Land is repossessed. A dream becomes a Constitution, then fades into memory. A democracy rises and falls.
Forces dismantle the old to make way for the new. Chaos and loss are a womb for creation.
Do not, in your comforts, count yourself immune to the laws of entropy.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven."
God does not fear change. God is the renewable energy that constitutes life itself. I AM THAT I AM, the Tao, Brahman, Al Haqq, the Great Spirit. "Do not be afraid," Jesus said, on more than a few occasions.
And now each of us has an occasion to say, "I AM," in the midst of whatever sorry state of affairs we might live to see.
We are chosen for this time. The universe has seen fit. We have everything we need to flourish, and bring a cup of healing water from the eternal fountain of life to each person we encounter.
So let it be.
Today, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president of the United States for a second time after a pregnant four-year pause. He has successfully, despite robust counter-initiatives from opposition, returned to power. And this time, he reportedly brings into his cabinet an unprecedented thirteen billionaires with a net worth of over $20 billion. If you add in Elon Musk, who doesn't require Senate confirmation, the cabinet's worth jumps past $450 billion. The oligarchy does not try to hide anymore.
What comes next, none of us can know.
What I do know is the Spirit which "breathes life into" (inspirare) has been vitalizing its creation for billions of years with more efficaciousness than can ever be accrued—much less fathomed—by any human. Elites are consolidating power and will likely further streamline parasitical systems that prey on the working class and line their pockets with more wealth, when such wealth could be equitably distributed to create a more beautiful world for all.
But the beauty of this world is not dependent on the rich-and-powerful's stewardship of it. There's a vitality that endures. That domain belongs to God. For we mere humans who choose to empty ourselves and become "pure in heart and poor in spirit," anything is possible, regardless of circumstances that could prove to ensnare us.
The invisible Power which has unfolded all into being, will yet be, long after we are gone.
The work that remains for us—as important now as it's ever been— is to become One, even as God is One, wholly integrated with everything. "There is a spirit in the soul, untouched by time and flesh…. It is free of all names and void of all forms. It is one and simple, as God is one and simple, and no man can in any wise behold it" (Meister Eckhart). You might regard God as a person or persons. I believe God is also beyond persons. God is Is-ness. Not a being, but Being itself. The mystics suggest God appeared in human form(s) to relate to us, so that we could understand him. But God's truest nature is beyond personality. Mysterium tremendum. The incomprehensible mystery at the heart of everything.
The blessed invitation of a lifetime then is to receive this Is-ness, and live, as it were, from the great ground of God. To treat each person with indifferent compassion. To detach from material possessions and fleeting desires, which can stand in the way of what most wants to happen here. To remain an empty vessel for the universe to pour into. Allowing it to cleanse your filter, so you can take in more. Letting it rinse your eyes, that you may see as with eyes that have never before seen; tuning your ears, that you may hear as with ears that have never before heard.
Upon awakening to our senses, we observe that everything is in flux, becoming new all the time.
Life, death, decay, and renewal—this is the way.
We all take part in a chaotic, boundless, emergent, creative destruction and regeneration. Most cells in our bodies are replaced. The tree's seed falls into the ground, springs up into radiant, enchanting bloom; dies again. The printing press disrupted the written word. Digital media eclipsed the printing press. The Renaissance supplanted Medieval art. The automobile replaced the horse. Relativity redefined Newtonian physics. Sons and daughters become fathers and mothers. Wars are fought. Land is repossessed. A dream becomes a Constitution, then fades into memory. A democracy rises and falls.
Forces dismantle the old to make way for the new. Chaos and loss are a womb for creation.
Do not, in your comforts, count yourself immune to the laws of entropy.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven."
God does not fear change. God is the renewable energy that constitutes life itself. I AM THAT I AM, the Tao, Brahman, Al Haqq, the Great Spirit. "Do not be afraid," Jesus said, on more than a few occasions.
And now each of us has an occasion to say, "I AM," in the midst of whatever sorry state of affairs we might live to see.
We are chosen for this time. The universe has seen fit. We have everything we need to flourish, and bring a cup of healing water from the eternal fountain of life to each person we encounter.
So let it be.
When goodness grows weak,
When evil increases,
I make myself a body.
In every age I come back
To deliver the holy,
To destroy the sin of the sinner,
To establish righteousness.
He who knows the nature
Of my task and my holy birth
Is not reborn
When he leaves this body;
He comes to Me.
Flying from fear,
From lust and anger,
He hides in Me,
His refuge and safety.
Burnt clean in the blaze of my being,
In Me many find home.
Bhagavad Gita
