Appropriate music to listen in the background: True Blood Sountrack, London Calling, or the Tallis Scholars.

Appropriate accent to affect in head while reading: Generic Southern.

This, on St. Paul’s commentary to the church at Corinth, concerning whether or not to eat meat sacrificed to other gods… (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)

Once upon a time there was a Voodoo Chicken.  It was known as Voodoo Chicken because it was used in a vaudun ritual, but you know, it was also marinated afterwards in the most mouthwatering fashion.  And you know, a dinner party is a dinner party.  You can’t fault your host for their odd taste in religious piety when they serve mouthwateringly good roasted chicken.  Some of us like to say a little, unobtrusive blessing over our food, but to each their own, right?  And since we all know (in our separate religions) that ours is the only right one, there’s no harm in letting other people attempt to invoke a god that doesn’t actually exist, so live and let live. And pass the chicken.

This is all well and good when you’re surrounded by people who are firm in their faith, whatever that faith may be.  The Vauduns know that eating the Voodoo Chicken will bring them closer to fine, and the Christians know that the Vauduns really know how to roast a chicken or twelve, and that their own understanding of God requires neither chicken nor lack of chicken for Divine Union.

However, it all goes to hell in a hand basket but quick when you’ve got newbies in your midst.  Newbies get a little rabid, you know, and they’re really clear about wanting to get things Perfectly Correct and Appropriate.  It really hits the fan when your newbie is their oldie.  Then you’ve got someone looking at your enjoyment of the damn chicken (whose not actually damned, just damned inconvenient) and their knee jerk reaction is that you’re getting a little closer to fine, when it’s really just the seasonings.  Now, these newbies know it’s not Divine Union, because our God doesn’t go in for Chicken.  This is about the time that the confusion and resentment sets in.  Perhaps there’s even some serious doubt about the bigger things of life – they are newbies, remember.

So, you know. Practice discretion.  Not because there’s anything wrong with the Om Nommy goodness of the Vaudun’s chicken dinners, but because in the long run, is your gastronomical satisfaction really worth causing that much angst amongst the newbies? Give the Voodoo Chicken a pass while they’re in the room, for heaven’s sake.   You can always have some next week.

• Miso Soup
• Tofu Tempura & Broccoli Tempura
• Summer Rolls with Garlic Ginger Sauce

Sarey’s Miso Soup

You know, I have a set just like this. In storage.

serves 15, easily

• 2 1/2 gallons of water
• 5 or more cloves of garlic, pressed
• 3-4 T fresh ginger, diced
• 1/4 c or more crumbled seaweed
• 1 1/2-2 1/2 lbs extra firm tofu, diced in tiny cubes (1 cm square)
• 1 T salt
• 2 t black pepper
• 1 t crushed red pepper

Boil all of this for about a half hour.  (It can hang out longer, if you’re doing other things.)  Turn down heat to keep warm, but lower than a simmer.  Then add a generous cup of miso and stir-stir-stir, and serve!

So good. So amazing. So yummy. So many compliments. So many raw vegetables it’s crazy!

Have a cup of health!

Spiritual Direction.  Maybe you’ve heard of it.  Maybe you’re wondering if it’s a special type of cartography.  Either way, the question that might be rattling around right now, since I’ve mentioned it and all is… What the hell is Spiritual Direction?  Closely followed, perhaps, by Is Spiritual Direction right for me, right now?  And then of course, there are other questions to ask…

So if you’re curious, do read on!

What the hell is ‘Spiritual Direction’?

Where are we going?

It’s a little like Life Coaching, actually.  But let’s back up.  Spiritual Direction isn’t a couple of rather important things.  Spiritual Direction isn’t therapy.  It’s not a replacement for therapy – talk, drug, or physical.  Spiritual Direction isn’t a conversation over coffee with your friend, though every now and then we’re sometimes blessed with a friend who comes awfully close.  Spiritual Direction is not a class with a teacher.

Spiritual Direction happens between a directee, you, and a director, aperson who is slightly farther down the spiritual path that you’re on.  That person could be a minister of a religion, that person could be someone who has dedicated their lives to this spiritual path, wether through a specialized process (like ordination) or a personal dedication (that can look like a lot of different things).

Spiritual Direction is something that is a compensated and intentional service.  ’A compensated service’ means that if you get Spiritual Direction from the minister of your church, they are paid a salary by that church to do things like offer members of the congregation Spiritual Direction.  It also means that if you get Spiritual Direction from an independent individual (for your circumstances, the minister of another church, perhaps), then it is appropriate to offer them compensation.  Me, I have a sliding scale which includes barter, because barter is awesome.

Aside from this, ‘an intentional service’ means that it takes time, energy, and dedication for a Spiritual Director to take someone on.  They pray about their directee when they’re not around, and they have to spend time in prayer and preparation before and after appointments.  Taking someone on is a commitment that the director takes very seriously.  They frequently spend some time discerning (thinking & praying) to find out if they can actually be helpful.

So Spiritual Direction is, in fact, most closely related to Life Coaching.  A life coach helps you to refine and achieve your personal goals with an eye to a holistic sense of wellness and a mutually agreed upon definition of success.  A spiritual director helps you to refine and achieve your personal goals with an eye to a lasting peace, joy and sense of love that they understand to be the end result of a life transformed.  And so the goals are… shockingly similar.  Arguably, they’re the same thing, only one is put in secular terms and the other is put in religious terms.

Is Spiritual Direction For Me, Right Now?

What am I supposed to be doing?

Maybe.  A directee usually comes into Spiritual Direction with a question, a desire, or a feeling they’re experiencing that they don’t like.  One frequent question is: “Where is my life going?”  Examples of a desire could be: “I thought I was going to be happy once I got to this point, but I’m not. I want to be happy.”  ”I feel like I need more in my life, but I have no idea what it is.”  ”I want to discover my passion in life.”  Some common feelings that people experience with dissatisfied are impatience, anger, apathy, and worry.

A spiritual director does a lot of listening, will often give a directee homework to do, and will often offer challenging ideas and points of view for the directee to consider.  To what end?  The same end that most of us will admit to wanting at some point or another: to live joyful, loving, peaceful lives.

Given the craziness inside our heads, it is sometimes invaluable to have a helper who combines objectivity with compassion, and that is what a Spiritual Direction relationship offers.  If this seems like it would be a helpful service to add to your life, they yes – Spiritual Direction is for you!

Questions to Ask

FAQ!

How often should we meet?  Once every four to six weeks works for most people.  Some people are less often.  Some people are once a week.  It depends on who you are and what you need.

Is it okay to not meet in person? Absolutely.  Phone conversations, skype calls, even by letter or email works quite well.  Heck, holy men and women have been offering Spiritual Direction by letter for centuries.  If it worked for them, it can still for for us.

How does this work? I call up a spiritual director, ask if they have time, and that’s it?  Not quite.  The initial appointment, which for most spiritual directors is a free appointment, is one which can be done over the phone or by email.  Both parties get a chance to get to know the other and ask some questions.  Some times people click right away.  Some times people realize they are not going to click, and that happens right away.  Most of the time it’s in between.  A spiritual director will typically want to pray about it, never the less.  After the first appointment, a second contact in the next week usually determines if both parties are willing to go forward, how often, and what media will be used for the direction sessions.

Is this stuff confidential?  Yep.  But let’s be clear: what you discuss with your spiritual director stays with your spiritual director.  However, this is not iron clad in a court of law.  And most people who end up being spiritual directors are also Mandated Reporters, which means that if you hint or insinuate that you are going to hurt yourself or others, or if you confess to a heinous crime, a) your spiritual director is not going to let you go without being assured that you’ve been talked down off your ledge, and b) your spiritual director is required by law and common sense to tell the police, and she’ll probably try to talk you into doing it while she supports you in that.

Can I ask for credentials?  Yep.  The training varies, however.  Be okay with that, or be clear about what you want.  Incredibly wise and spiritual masters don’t always have seminary degrees, and many of them don’t have ordination certificates.  Conversely, wisdom is not bestowed upon graduation from seminary, nor when a bishop-type person lays her hands on one’s head, or even upon acceptance to an Order (like monks and nuns and things).  Perhaps the most important credential to ask for is this: “Are you, spiritual director, in spiritual direction yourself?” If the answer is no, politely end the conversation. You don’t want to work with them, trust me.

Can I ask for references? Dicey territory.  General character references, sure.  But remember that your Spiritual Direction is confidential – and so is everyone else’s.  If I were you, I’d check a spiritual director who is recommended by someone you trust.  You’re in for a total and complete win if someone you trust or look up to themselves offers Spiritual Direction and has the space to take on new directees.

How much is this going to cost me?  Well, it will cost you in a few areas.  First, you’ll be required to pay a fee per meeting, if this is a service you’re not getting from someone you’re already supporting through your donations (like your congregation’s minister).  Some people have a sliding scale, some a set fee.  Me, I have a sliding scale: $15-40 a session, and each session is about 60 minutes long.  If this happens long distance, most people use a service like Paypal for online payments, and of course a check in the mail always works.  But you know, it’s going to cost you in other areas.  Any time we get serious about changing something in our lives, the change can be uncomfortable, it can be challenging, it can be squicky before it gets to that peaceful-awesome-so-so-cool place that we’re all going toward.

Is Sare taking on spiritual directees right now?  As of the publishing of this blogpost, yes I am.  By the time you read it, it’s anyone’s guess.  Email me or leave me feedback through any of the feedback portals on this blog and and I can contact you and let you know if I’m taking on new directees.  In addition to that, my own fabulous spiritual director, Melissa Roberts, is taking on directees at the time of this post and you can find her information through her website.  (In addition to be a fabulous human being, Ms. Roberts is also the author of the Everything Guide to Stress Management.)

Taking Care of Ourselves

Solidarity with the Single Woman is the theme of the anthology I’ll be editing and digitally publishing to the Amazon store for Kindle.  It will feature all new short stories from Rachel Lynn Brody (@girl_onthego), Anne Baker (@annebakerbooks), Sandi Layne (@sandyquill), myself and others!  It will be released just in time for Valentine’s Day this year, just when so many of our sisters are hit the hardest with seemingly supernatural attacks on their self-esteem, body image, and self-worth.  No more!  Solidarity with the Single Woman!

Information will be updated as we go along, so stay tuned!

Just In: Our Anthology has a name!  Sassy Singularity

And the whale goes 'om, nom, nom'

I love Jonah!  Somedays, when I’m feeling awfully cranky, I think I am Jonah.  The fact that Jonah never actually existed is completely moot because he’s a perfect archetype for the outraged believer, a pair of shoes that can fit all of us on one day or another if we’re not ever-so-careful.  Can you hear it?  I can…

“God, I really don’t see why you should forgive (fill in the blank: person, community, nation).  They’re horrible.  They do horrible things.  And I can’t believe you made me go talk to them because I just KNEW this would happen.  They’d be all shocked and remorseful and say they’re going to change their ways and you’d just TAKE THEM BACK.  This is such bullshit.  I love that you’re loving, but could you be a little less loving please?  Just for the moment?  And what the hell just happened to my houseplant, dammit!?!”

And then God replies, “My darling child, I know you’re pissed off.  And I know you’re upset about your houseplant, which you bought for three dollars and forgot to water for two months.  Imagine how I feel about (fill in the blank: person, community, nation) who I did not forget to water, and who is in a bit of an idiot phase really, not knowing whether they’re coming or going.  Besides, there were cats.  Did you want me to condemn their warm, fuzzy adorableness?  No, I didn’t think so.  I love you, I support you, get back to work, please.”

And where does that get any of us, really?  Nowhere fast, or to be precise: just more of the same that we’ve gotten before and in hindsight perhaps been less than utterly thrilled with.  So what’s a girl to do?  Well, perhaps it’s time to do something different, after all.  Perhaps we’re not exactly ready for the kind of forgiveness that God practices regularly, and with us too, but perhaps we can take one step in the right direction.  One baby step, that is.  And what is that baby step for you?  How should I know?  But I can tell you how you’ll know what it is.  The hallmarks will be peace, joy, and love.  When you’re doing something you’ve never done before and feel strangely, wonderfully peaceful about it, when you experience slightly more joy (or slightly less suffering) with choice B versus choice A, when you can logically and rationally link back the action to a base of loving your neighbor and yourself, THAT  will be your baby step.

Tentacles are something of a theme...

What in blue blazes is this Arkham Horror thing?  You’ve heard about it on the barnraiser’s calendar, or seen it around and it evokes images of Batman and Prostitution.  Understandable, though off base.  Well, truth be told, it’s a slightly addicting board game with a lot of little pieces.  Everybody wins or loses together and dice is involved.  Reading all of the instructions involved counts as a solid check mark for your Summer Reading List, and understanding the mythos behind the game could either freak you out or qualify you for a really fab conversation with your pastor next Sunday regarding the struggle of good vs. evil in the hearts and minds of all humanity.

So, the game is based on a book and a heap of short stories that aren’t a series but certainly are all written in the same Universe/Mythos by the same author, who is H.P. Lovecraft.  (Heard of him?  Not heard of him but vaguely reminded of tentacle monsters, somehow?  Fantastic, you’re on the right track.)  Lovecraft wrote earlier in the last century all along a theme, or a basic assumption, and that assumption is this:  what if when poets and authors and musicians and actors and lovers got in touch with their inspiration, what they were actually touching on the other side of the veil produced… madness?  What if when mystics and spiritualists were able to look directly beyond the veil what they saw drove them mad?

Lovecraft, a rather depressed man (among other things), wrote as a response to what he understood to be baseless Christian Humanism, and this is possibly one of the reasons I love reading his work.  I like to get the full picture, so to speak, and my religious nay-sayers have got nothing on tentacle monsters from beyond the veil who if I’m lucky, will devour me last.  (The tentacle monsters, not the religious nay-sayers.  Just to be clear.)

And so I have fun rolling dice and killing monsters while lulling the unkillable Big Bad back to sleep, even while I think about what evil really means in the world, what grace means, what it does to a life to concentrate on peace, love, and joy rather than suffering, unhappiness, and the distance from others caused by resentment, anger and hatred.  And if you like, you can join me.  We play at 8pm on the third Wednesday of the month at Ol’ Wondermoth, 208 North St, 14201.  Beginners are welcome.

Now the calendar is as it is, but in case you’re curious, the Revised Common Lectionary is the three year cycle that a whole bunch of Christians use to read a solid chunk of the bible in church on Sunday, bit by bit over the course of three years.  Some bits of the bible get skipped and some get emphasized, but it’ll give you the gist if you show up.  Now, September 11th falls on a Sunday this year, which means that a whole lot of church-going folk are going to be present in the pews, and if they’re Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran or United Methodist here’s what they’re going to hear: Matthew 18:21-35.  And you’re saying… so??  Well, here’s what Matthew 18:21-35 says, from the New Revised Standard Version of the bible:

Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, `Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

And the moral of the story is this: No matter what, forgive.  And if you need the threat of punishment, then how about this: give as you’ve gotten or you’ll get as you’ve given.

This is what Jesus teaches.  And what’s more?  This isn’t a one off, because this is the sort of shit he’s always going on about.  Love your neighbor, forgive each other, heal each other, live in peace with one another…  It’s just one story after another with this guy, and all on a theme.  And it’s the way he lived his own life, going around preaching and teaching people a new way of life, offering them a new way of life.

…A new way of life that his students didn’t always understand, hence Peter’s question at the beginning of this little section.  And Peter was at the head of the class and he didn’t get it…

Loving our neighbor as our selves as a way of loving God was the thing that Jesus preached left, right, up, down and sideways.  It was the thing that he lived right until they killed him for it.  It was the thing that his students tried to understand, but certainly didn’t get during his lifetime.  It was the thing that he said was the cornerstone, the foundation of everything else, the thing you could use as a touchstone, a comparative analysis tool.

And forgiveness is a part of loving our neighbors as our selves as a means of loving God.  But let’s be clear here: sometimes forgiveness also means saying no, I forgive you and I won’t enable you in your bad behavior.

I mean, let’s think about this.  What is forgiveness?  There are many different definitions we could use, but what is it materially?  What’s the essence of a true, deep, solid forgiveness?  Isn’t it when you get to that point where one of two things happen and then that leads to a total release, a sense of no longer being connected to the suffering of the event even if the pain persists?  Isn’t it when you are able to see deeply into either (or both) your own reasons for being upset, and/or the other person’s reasons for offending so much so that you can have deep compassion about the incident?  And maybe this, the incident is something relatively minor like an argument with a spouse, but perhaps it’s deeper.

Perhaps the offender is an addict and no amount of forgiveness is going to keep them from abusing substances, themselves and everyone around them until they get the proper support and make the decision and the steps to stop.  In that case a person can forgive the addict without excusing the behavior.  A person can forgive the addict without staying and enabling bad behavior.  A person can forgive forever, deeply aware of why the behavior is happening even while they remove themselves from a destructive situation.  A person can achieve their own release, their own peace even while they forgive the offender from afar.

Perhaps the offender is a known or unknown terrorist or regime and no amount of forgiveness is going to change their ideology or bring a loved one back.  Perhaps the pain, the grief, the sorrow and the suffering are so mixed up and intertwined that the idea of forgiveness gets confused and murky.  Forgiveness does not mean that grief is cut short or pain evaporates.  Forgiveness does not mean that justice is averted or that sorrow is invalid.  Forgiveness means that the suffering, the thing that was eating us alive, the thing that was promoting in us the sinful but oh-so-delicious desire for revenge, retribution and death, the thing that was making monsters out of us, forgiveness puts that to rest.  Forgiveness allows us to experience the purity of our grief and pain and sorrow without giving care and feeding to the monster within who can sink to the same level as our offender.  And at this level of offense, maybe forgiveness is the wrong word, though it’s the same action.  We could also think of it as healing.  In order to live our lives as mature human beings, as mature Christians for those of us who are, we are called to the greatest and deepest healing of self and others that we are possibly capable of, and if we’re walking around with a gaping wound that we refuse to tend to…  Well, at the very least, our capacity to help heal others with similar wounds is dramatically reduced.

So what would it look like if the USA were truly a Christian nation, or at least a nation that espoused the morality that was embraced by the founder of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth?

Our federal budget would look very different, I’ll tell you that for certain.  We’d be engaged in a whole lot of healing and a lot less fighting.  What a dream!

I think I’ll dream that dream this Sunday.  Feel free to join in if you like.

[Like what you read?  Some of it came from this week's Monday Morning Exegete.]

So, I was making the morning coffee in that bleary-eyed way one does, thinking about making breakfast with one of my housemates whereupon I spied a bright green tri-fold brochure which heralded “Discordianism: The Un-Religion”.  My curiosity was piqued…

Anarchy

One of my housemates is an Anarchist.  I can tell you that his name is Henri because his name isn’t actually Henri.  We didn’t get along very well at first, Henri and I.  This, I think, is because I would periodically show up looking like a cleric, and he had a tendency to be rather loud and just as angry, which puts me off my tofu.  Well, he’s mellowed and I’ve started speaking, and we found out that we have a metric fuck-tonne in common in the basic principles on which we structure our lives.

I’m not tied to the Order Of Things, despite being part of it.  Unsurprisingly, neither is he.

He wants to live in a world where we can spontaneously respect and love each other without having that legislated, orchestrated, and enforced by people who very clearly don’t do it either.  Me, too.

We mutually agree that there is an energy at work in the world that is beneficent, and that we can tap into it whenever we please, and fail to do so at our own peril.  Futher, we agree that tapping into said energy is to be set free.  He has a name for it.  I have a name for it.  Shakespeare taught me that names don’t matter, however.  But we agree on the energy, without reservation.

I’ve taught him what walking in the footsteps of Christ means to me, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Summary of the Law.  How it pains me to see people use Christianity as a bludgeon and Jesus as an assault rifle.  How I think it’s a better use of my time to A) teach the Summary of the Law as a priest and meanwhile B) reform the church from within, rather than to strike out and be a non-denominational wandering spiritual teacher.  At least, that’s what I think at this point.  And that is my point to him:  This is what I have energy for, so this is the way I’m going to try and change my corner of the Universe for the better.

And he has taught me what true anarchy is.  It’s not rioting and vandalism.  It’s not protecting your own with a shotgun.  It’s Lennon’s song, “Imagine”.  It’s people living without sinning against one another, or repenting spontaneously when they do–that is, if you define sin the way I do, as a breaking of relationship: trust, love, friendship, understandings, contracts, handshakes, hopes, dreams and the best for each other whether anyone sees it or not.  And when we can live without sinning against one another… then yes.  We can live without governments.  But we’re not there, yet.  Metaphorically speaking, Anarchy is a college level subject with certain rather important prerequisites, and we’ve only just mastered the use of commas in elementary school.

An Ancient Interlude

“Now is the time” by Hafiz

Now is the time to know
That all you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you can finally life
With veracity
And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?

What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.

This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility

That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.

Discord, The Religion

Discordianism is an adorable religious movement that started in the seventies precisely where you’d imagine it might: the San Francisco Bay Area.  And all of the fluff and stuff aside, it has some interesting points and some startling insights.  Fluff and stuff aside, here is the text of “A Sermon on Ethics and Love”

One day, Malaclypse the Younger asked the messenger spirit Saint Gulik to approach the Goddess and request her presence for some desperate advice.  Shortly thereafter, a radio came on by itself, and an ethereal female voice said, “YES?”

“O, Eris, Blessed Mother of Man!  Queen of Chaos!  Daughter of Discord!  Concubine of Confusion!  O!  Exquisite Lady, I beseech You to live a heavy burden from my heart!”

“What bothers you Mal?  You don’t sound well.”

“I am bothered with fear and tormented with terrible visions of pain.  Everywhere people are hurting one another, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war.  O, woe.”

“What is the matter with that, if it is what you want to do?”

“But nobody wants it!  Everybody hates it!”

“Oh.  Well, then stop.”

At which point She turned Herself into an aspirin commercial and left the Polyfather stranded alone with his species.

And if that isn’t to the core of A Course in Miracles, and Eckhart Tolle’s teachings, and the revelation to Neale Donald Walsch, then I’m not sure what is.  (And all of which, since I have just quoted them, you will imagine that I agree with to some greater or lesser degree.  Usually greater, but not necessarily wholesale.)  And so, I read the lime green brochure left in my kitchen by some friend of my house and I laughed at the nonsense and nodded at the wisdom, all the while my housemate stared at me in trepidation, waiting for me to be offended.

…Clearly, I am not representing myself and my personal theologies clearly enough to my housemates.  But also, the world is about as ready for Discordianism as it is for Anarchy, or even… and this pains me… the Kingdom of Heaven.

A Nearly-Contemporary Interlude

“Imagine” by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

The Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus had a lot to say about the Kingdom of Heaven (or as it is sometimes referred to, the Kingdom of God: same thing), but most of what he had to say was in parable form.  Depending on which biblical scholar you ask, parables are either properly read as allegory, in which each element of the parable story has a one-to-one relationship with reality as we know it, or read as metaphor, in which there is a direct relationship between story and reality, but not every single element has a specific role, or as none of the above.  The None Of The Above option proposes that a parable is supposed to be a one-point story.  Everything else, aside from the single point the listener is supposed to get from it, is just window dressing, to give the story substance.

And none of this matters.  There are two big take-home points of Jesus’ parables.  Point Number One: They’re happening right now.  The Kingdom of Heaven is not something to look forward to when we die, it’s RIGHT NOW stuff.  Point Number Two: It’s the opposite of what mainstream society says is normal/good/right/obvious.  This was true two thousand years ago and it’s true now.  We don’t get it, largely, because few of us have degrees in ancient anthropology enough to say, ‘hey, that story jesus just told would have totally put his audience on their head’, but every single parable did.

So, the Kingdom of God, Jesus tells us, is RIGHT NOW, and NOT THE WAY YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE IT.

And what counter-cultural message did Jesus teach that would apply to that sense of immediacy and change?  Love God with everything you’ve got, and if you find ourself confounded or confused, go on ahead and Love Your Neighbor as you Love Yourself, and you’ll end up loving god without even realizing it.  (This, from Matthew 22:34-40, or if you like, Mark 12:28-34, and there’s fun times in Luke 10:25-28.  Don’t forget Leviticus 19:17-18, cause that’s fun, and if you have a Gospel of Thomas handy, check out Logion 25.  And if you’re still bored, look at Deuteronomy 10:12-22.  The Golden Rule can be found in Matthew 7:12, and we’ve been staunchly instructed to LOVE OUR ENEMIES in Matthew 5:43, which between God, ourselves, our neighbors and our enemies… that seems to fit everybody in, don’t you think?  Okay, enough with the bible quotes.)

And what did the first Christians do?  (Or at least some of the first christians, according to the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2, verses 43-47.)  They sold their possessions, gave the proceeds to the poor, held all their goods and remaining wealth in common, spent a lot of time together, and lived and ate with glad and generous hearts.  They loved one another as Christ loved them.  It’s amazing what we can do when we see positive behavior modeled for us.  These first Christians lived out the Kingdom of Heaven they wished for everyone else.  They practiced what they preached.  They were the change they wanted to see in the world, to paraphrase Gandhi.

And it didn’t last.  There are pockets of people here and there who do this sort of thing, or part of it.  I live in one such community, but we’re not common, we’re often mocked, belittled and held in derision.  :Shrugs:  The people who do that clearly don’t get it, and that’s okay, because the Kingdom of Heaven is a concept whose time has not yet come, ditto anarchy and discordianism.  At least, it can’t function on a really large scale.  But these concepts?  They do work on the small scale, and it is in the small scale that we will eventually hit the tipping point to be able to work with veracity and love on the large scale.  But it starts here.  It starts at home.  It starts in my home, and in yours.

So here’s the challenge:  You and me.  It’s up to us.  We can choose, and no one can require of us otherwise, to love our neighbor as ourselves.  This means we have to love ourselves.  This may take some time all on its own.  Love means respect.  We have to respect ourselves.  For some people, this require years in therapy.  For others, it requires just a few changes made after a long couple of periods of thought.  And building on the foundation of loving yourself, and watching other people loving and respecting themselves, we can start to love the people around us.  And love means respect, it means value, it means know deeply.  It means to work in the best interest, or in the mutual interest, and not just in your own self interest.  And this will change our business practices.  And it will change our buying practices.  And it will change the way we speak.  And it will change the way we think.  And it will change the way we feel and react to the world around us.  And that’s just you and me, because in the end, the only and I mean only person you can change is yourself.  And if you don’t change yourself, what right do you have to ask someone else to change?  None.  No right at all.

And so, as someone who is changing herself, and has been for some time now, I’m asking you, I’m challenging you to do the same.  You have the world to gain, and nothing at all to lose.

“Now is the time to understand that all your ideas of right and wrong were just a child’s training wheels to be laid aside when you can finally live with veracity and love.”  Hafiz had it right.  Let’s start living our own small lives with veracity and love.  You and me.  Right now.

But you know, all throughout the four canonical gospels, over and over again, his students ranged from Not Getting It to Seriously Misunderstanding with exceptionally brief intervals of seemingly divine epiphany in which they Sort Of Understood, A Little.  Pentecost notwithstanding, I don’t think much changed with their understanding of his message after the Roman Empire executed him.  What makes me say this?

Remember that easy-to-remember doctrine that epitomized the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth?  Love-Love-Love?  That so ain’t what Peter, the head of the Church in the first century and Paul, it’s chief evangelist in that same time period preached at all, at least, not according to the vast volume of extant letters from both of them to various others.  Now, it was how they seemed to live, but not what they taught or preached, which is an important difference.  According to Acts 2:42-47, the first Christians totally lived this way, radically loving one another, but it didn’t last and no wonder if their preachers and teachers were focused on something else, which they absolutely were.  They were focused on Jesus dying and rising again.  Almost exclusively, were they focused on this.

Now, I need to admit my bias – I was raised this way myself.  Realizing that there was a Summary of the Law at all was a shock to me.

And since the resurrection is only a finger pointing at the moon (and not the moon itself), it really shouldn’t be the thing we emphasize.  We should be emphasizing the moon, or if you will, the Summary of the Law.  The mystery of our faith isn’t that Jesus died, Jesus is risen, and Jesus will come again.  The mystery of our faith is loving our neighbors despite our propensity to kill them, loving ourselves despite guilt and shame, and loving God even when we cannot feel his presence.  That’s the mystery.

At some point, particularly when Peter, et. al., seemed to be directly contradicting the Summary of the Law, I had to ask myself: Whose teaching was more important to me?  Jesus’, whom I acknowledge as Messiah, Enlightened, and God-In-Sandals?  Peter’s, whom I’m acknowledge as the leader of the nacent church and a good, if often confused and misguided individual?

Jesus, please.

And so, I hold all my bible as holy, as it describes honestly and faithfully the encounters of good and well-meaning people with the Living God.  I acknowledge that their encounters were valid even as their own biases show through like neon lights.  And I acknowledge that wherever there is conflict or confusion, I will apply the Summary of the Law.  If it seems to fit, I will consider the story commentary.  If it doesn’t, redaction.  It’s all holy.  Some of it is even helpful.

As it goes, this is a rather minor level of identity theft, but it is disturbing nonetheless.  My more tech-savvy friends recognized the phishing/spam email for what it was and contacted me in a variety of ways to alert me that I’d been hacked, but my less savvy contacts totally clicked on the link.  This event has provided an interesting diving board for my thoughts, in that way.  I mean, perhaps this is a Writer thing, or perhaps it’s simply a Human thing, but I strive really hard, and really intentionally to not only be understood when I communicate, but to experience a really high level of integrity in my words, and not only my words, but in my thoughts and my actions as well.  It got me thinking, this minor case of identity theft.

I’m a religious person and all y’all know that by now.  I’m also a political person, but I’m a political person in the same way that I’m a religious person.  Namely, I’m not easily pigeon-holed, I take great pleasure in hearing multiple sides of the same question without trying to prove everyone else wrong, and I deeply respect the people who hold opinions different from my own, every bit as much as I do the people with whom I largely agree.  (Recognizing that not everyone is like this, religion and politics are still taboo dinner subjects, I know.)  All this is preamble to my point.  I’m a creature who both enjoys intelligent, reasoned, inspired and respectful conversations about both religion and politics (among other things).  My true identity is something beyond this, but of course this is part of the identifiable Me that I present to the rest of the world.  And it strikes me that there is a rampant case of identity theft going on…  And no, of course, it’s nothing new.

Here’s what I mean.  You and I, we form opinions on a variety of subjects.  If we have integrity, those opinions are going to jive with what we tell ourselves and others is important to us.  This may sound like a tautology, but human beings aren’t required to have internal consistency and that is the definition of hypocrisy with which I’m working.  So, we form these opinions and we can do that largely in three different ways.  Number 1: We can accept, unexamined, the views of our elders that we began receiving at birth.  Number 2: We can accept, unexamined, the views we encounter as an adult that already confirm our present world view and reject those that do not.  (You’ll notice that #2 plays heavily off #1, but does in fact, require an influx of new information which cannot be assumed in all cases.)  Number 3: We can respectfully examine both the views we’ve been given and all the ones we encounter in this world, choosing from the wisdom of our own experience what seems to be the ‘best practice’  in any given situation.  This last way doesn’t preclude being a member of a political party or religion, for instance, but it does acknowledge that toeing the party line is never, ever acceptable.  It’s not a rampant individualism, it’s a deepening of Understanding, it’s living out the answer to every four year old’s favorite question: Why? 

When we encourage people asking and wrestling with the why’s of the world, no one will be able to steal someone’s identity by simply informing them how they will be voting, what they will believe, what is important to them, what they must buy, how they will live their lives and what will constitute happiness form them and theirs.  Because if that isn’t identity theft, just as surely as stealing someone’s email or driver’s license and then posing as them in order to meet some end otherwise unachievable, then I’m not sure what is.