What I want to Be

The greatest advantage of being a citizen in a democracy is that I can enjoy freedom, not only of religion, but also freedom from religion. Even though there are many religions that purport to have a monopoly on the eternal, ultimate truth, this is not really the nature of the life on earth. To stop evolving in real life is to be dead.

It is simply easier to control and invent memories of what already happened than to control what may happen next. Is this why so many religions focus on the suffering of death rather than the stress and uncertainty of continuing to grow? Fear of the future is not life-giving; it simply promotes stagnation. Stagnation always leads to untimely death.

I have never trusted strict adherence to ritual or tradition because the amount of grief that the collective is to share whenever anything happens to disrupt the status quo seems out of place in a growth-oriented society. It seems to me that any who live only to maintain that with which they are already comfortable might as well be wax figures of themselves. If we don't want to evolve, what good is it continuing to soak up the energy of life?

A partner once told me that it is easy to be perfect if we never do anything. That seems to be the way to salvation for many people; they would rather not do anything than risk making a few honest mistakes. I have always figured that life was a balancing act; it is better to mess up some things than to never attempt to be part of any solutions to existing problems.

I have made many mistakes in my efforts to make everyone I meet feel welcome at my table. I have also lost many tables in my seeking to include everyone, but I must continue to seek and celebrate any good that I see. To do otherwise is killing me.

It has never been in my nature to be afraid because I always had the ability to obtain guidance from those who could assist me with their knowledge and wisdom. I have been misguided more than I like to admit by those who pretended to have answers that they did not possess. I have survived all the charlatans, liars, and hypocrites, so far, and will surely survive many more before I die. This is the price I pay for my never-ending quest for enlightenment. I have gained more than I have had taken from me, so I choose to continue in my quest.

I don't seek to control any outcomes with my acquired information; I simply seek to share it with those who want a wise and willing person with whom to brainstorm. I am a minister, but I don't seek to be a priest for the administering of ritual, a prophet for predicting future events, or a guru to guide those who have trouble finding their own paths. I simply want to be available to those who need a way station to gather themselves on their journeys through life and faith.

Appearances Are Everything

I gave birth to my children in the infancy of women’s and other civil rights enforcement.  Strange as it may sound to Millenials, when my children left home there was no way to track them or intervene if they were in trouble. (There were no personal computers or cell phones back then.) My children were at the mercy of strangers, which was one of my greatest fears. Too many strangers prey on the vulnerable, especially the children. It was difficult keeping them safe from predators, and I may never know if I was wholly successful, but here are the things I learned, in my 62 years about staying safe:

We like to say that people should not "judge a book by its cover" but that is exactly how our animal instincts decide what we want to give our attention to. What else do we know about anything when we first encounter it than how it appears to us, and whether the appearance is included in our worldview of shoulds. We cover our scents with all manner of decoy aromas, so we even handicap what is a basic bonding ingredient in other animals.

In small communities, shoulds are based on what is available within the community. As we have become more global in our access to others, the boundaries have become increasingly blurred. This seems to have made people more, not less, nervous about each other. "Declare your clan," groups all seem to be saying, but declaring your clan can seriously limit your opportunities to expand your experience. People will automatically assume many stereotypical things about you.

It is interesting and enlightening (sometimes even dangerous) to enter unfamiliar communities without a guide to run interference for you. In small towns the tribal lines seem to be drawn around family, school, and church affiliations. In any given city, there are many tribal lines that one doesn't want to cross without an interpreter, and possibly a posse, for protection. The higher the profile of the visitor, the less likely that the visitor will be viewed favorably. 

High profile indicates to the animals instincts of others that we are in competition with the reigning leaders. This may be why famous people are always seen with a group of seeming acolytes. The Jesus story is a prime example of this phenomenon. He was simply not willing to act the way a Jewish man of his group and generation should. In a backlash against feminism, many men are increasing their efforts to behave as their most animal instincts dictate.  High profile women, especially, must take proper precautions.

It is easy to get discouraged when attempting to bond with others when most of the others look at you as if you have three heads. Often, you have to simply put on the costume of the community and hope that nobody notices that we are only pretending to know their songs. This really doesn't work well for high profile “foreigners,” so it is always best to walk with others who have your back.

What's a wanderer to do? 

Dress like the "natives." Whoever was on the turf first, "owns" the turf, even if only for that minute. It is up to the one entering the area to put the "owner" at ease. It is important to ease your way into new situations by allowing people to relax upon first encountering you. 

Animals in the wild often have camouflage for just this reason. What you wear is not who you are. It is of utmost importance that we understand that in order to not create fear in those we encounter. No matter how sophisticated human society gets, we are all animals underneath our human camouflage. Fear creates anger, and anger creates violence. Once people get to know you, you can appear any way you like.

Make sure you live only with those who have your back and will advocate for (protect) you. Put on your emotional body armor before you leave the house, no matter for how short a time you'll be away. Do this by insisting on daily affirmations from those with whom you live, even if your only housemates have four legs. Take a talisman that represents your safe place, pets, or people with you to hold when you feel afraid. Stay in communication distance with someone you can count on when in trouble. 

Hikers and boaters file plans for their trips with people who can come rescue them if they don't arrive when they say they will. It is always good to have others know where you plan to be and when to expect your return. Paying for a service, such as AAA, is a valid measure for self-protection. Social media is great for staying in constant communication with allies when on the move. 

In order to make a difference, we must stay alive. Keep yourselves safe.

Embrace the Awe

There seem to be two kinds of people in the world, those who admit that know very little and those who lie about how much they know. Even the most brilliant thinkers can't excel in every avenue of collection and assimilation of information. In today's technological world, people are becoming very specialized in their own areas of knowledge, yet we still insist on following those who speak with the most commanding voices. We 

very seldom need tribal chiefs to lead us in battle.Why do we hide behind those who bully us with instilling fear so that we will then see them as our saviors?

Those that convince others that they have inside knowledge of the great mysteries of life continue to be honored by us as if they were themselves gods. We seek their guidance on many things about which they actually know nothing, rather face our own fears of the unknown. The issue seems to me that we've been taught to fear rather than embrace our own unknowns. Every unknown is an opportunity to seek out another to enlighten one in a particular area of expertise. To know everything would diminish the reasons to reach out to others.

Why do we want to have all the world's knowledge? What would we do with it, if we had it? There are only so many hours in any given life, and each of us is tasked with developing only so many talents. Yet, we are pushed to feel that we never know enough, never do enough, never share enough of ourselves. Why don't we simply push back?

People seem to look for ways to upset themselves, rather than simply embracing what is right in front of them. We seek out gurus to teach us how to regain what we were born with, wonder and mystery at everything around us, beginning with our own bodies and their functions. We are then carefully taught that we should stop simply enjoying and start fearing ourselves and everything we encounter until someone "in control" can "help" us understand ourselves and the rest of our experiences.

Babies are delighted when they fill their diapers until we tell them how much we dislike what came out of them. How much better it would be if we could congratulate them for turning their food into themselves and into new life as fertilizer! Instead we want to sanitize everything to standards that have been developed by those who fear the natural cycles of life and death and have institutionalized fear of ourselves and all around us. Nothing is good unless "they" say it is good.

We are born with awe, wonder, and delight. We have been taught to turn these feelings into fear. The "fear of God" is simply foolishness. The wonder at the great mysteries that we call life is worth living for. People often wonder how a group can get together and celebrate during a hurricane. Theses are people embracing awe.

How Humorous

How humorous that we women thought that if we modeled behavior for our men
That we would eventually lead them away from their definitions of sin.
We had no idea that, with our attempts to impact their behavior,
We were insuring that they would continue rejecting our personal savior.

Each male human wants to be the only alpha male in his tribe or pride.
By accepting the example of another male, each felt denied.
We must go back to the more basic in animal behaviors,
So that our mates will feel they are our physical families' saviors.

When will we get past the notion the that there are queens and kings
That will present us with all our most precious childhood imaginings?
The glory of adulthood is in seeing clearly our own talents and mission
We can finally make plans to accomplish our goals with precision.

There is no family, no religion, no sacred ceremony or ritual
That can take the place of of you living a life that is truly full
Most of us have a sacred place in community, when accepted;
It is sad that so many talents are, by the time of birth rejected.

The saddest of all stories is in the children born with dead souls,
Created by people who were themselves not spiritually whole.
They go on to produce animals that walk upright like we do,
But the ability to have free will is possessed by only their few.

We have many who proclaim their undying devotion to them,
The reality being they fail as responsibly compassionate friends.
manna doesn't fall from the sky; nether do diaper changers;
When these are needed, most "Christians" are complete strangers.

I do not say that they should abandon their own families,
But they accept that "God" punishes sins with disease.
The men go about their business of throwing money at them
The women are dying as they lose all of their "Christian" friends.

Even the story of Jesus as he suffered and died
Had the men he loved the most hiding as the cried.
Who needs a religion that is based on male cowardice?
Women have now seen the hypocrisy that men resist.

Call us when you have a theology built on long gestation,
Not one built on an immediate, painless view of creation.
Nothing worthwhile happens in the blink of a god's eye
No matter how diligently the celibate clergy has tried.

We are recently, as mothers, beginning to insist
That our mates participate in consequences they resist.
Sacred science has given mothers ways to prove paternity
No longer will males be held, from responsibility, free.

My hope is that males will now hold each other to rules;
The laws of religion and law are simply useful tools.
My body will long be dead before injustices cease
I hope that how I've lived my life will, justice, increase.

Do You Know What You'd Have Done?

It is so easy calling oneself "Christian," assuming we all are tempted the same way,
But when faced with the weaknesses that we don't share, we have too much to say.
"How could he or she do such an immoral thing," is a popular way to judge others,
As if we are all born identical to our physical, earthly sisters and brothers.

The Christo-pagan belief that Jesus was a god while he walked the earth
Diminishes the possibilities with which each human is given birth.
We are all made to be messiahs to others, in our own small ways,
But this is not how the story of Genesis has been rephrased.

All the generations of obedience to the highest abilities in humans
Have been made, by those who sought power, into a shame-filled sham.
They presented themselves as the only arbiters of salvation's story,
Refusing to admit to all of humanity's special crowning glory.

How is it that generation after generation seeks charlatans;
As if this level of slavery is what human salvation demands?
We continue to look outside of all that we experience in the universe
Because we believe those that tell us all creation has been cursed.

Look around you without listening to those who see the negative;
We've all been given different choices in how we're meant to live.
Not one of us needs an intermediary between ourselves and divinity;
The image and likeness of The Holy Spirit is in the universe we see.

I am simply thrilled that I have a small part in this cosmic miracle;
I accept that my understanding of this infinity will never, in my life, be full.
In fact, a great part of the joy in the life and times given to me
Is in continuing to know that I'll never reach the end of this mystery.

Do any of us truly know, given another's body and temptations
What we would have done in another's given, individual situations?
I choose to believe that each positive input that I give to another
Will help to guide the universe in making us all sisters and brothers.

I spend little time wondering who is better and who is worse;
I believe we each only physically manifest the divinity of the universe.
I believe all this energy will eventually come together as one,
As it was in eternity, before the universe we see was begun.

Promise of Pentecost

I believe that humanity has been taught that we can't be fully human with accepting the dogma of others about what defines religion or a deity to be believed. I simply don't believe that anyone on earth, at any time in human history, has been able to grasp the entirety of the awesome that encompasses the universe. I do believe that there is evidence of a mystery, inconceivable to the minds of humans, in everyday manifestations of the physical universe.

Scientists and spiritualists are two sides of the same coin; they both attempt to put words and easily assimilated visions of what is wondrous into words around which we can wrap our finite minds. We will never find the end of the loop because there is no beginning or end. They are both the same, as in a Möbius strip. Inside and outside never end; they only continue in the paths of each other.

I choose not to limit my manifestations of The Sacred Spirit by what others tell me it looks (looked) like to them in their worldviews. I refuse to believe that The Sacred Spirit was only revealed to males. I refuse to believe that The Sacred Spirit stopped "speaking" almost two thousand years ago.

I believe in the Promise of Pentecost. All who want to be sacred can grab themselves some of The Sacred Spirit, either directly or through contact with those who glow with this grace and are willing to be touched by others in need.

Pentecost and Pondering

The day that counts the most in my spirituality
Is the day that The Sacred Spirit, was finally set free.
For centuries the Breath of the Universe was captured
By those who, by only what they saw, were enraptured.

To people of the Pentecost who continue to wait
For The Second coming, I simply can't relate.
The message of this great day is very clear to me;
The Sacred Spirit has always manifested in eternity.

Generation, by generation, tribe by tribe,
Each species awakened to reasons we're alive.
Why do we continue to insist that the way is back?
When Pentecost played out, there was nothing that we lacked.

We must stop listening to those who promote fear;
That they are also afraid, should be most clear.
We don't need to follow those who are, themselves, afraid
When the path that Jesus walked was so carefully laid.

Each human has the capacity to join the family of faith
In the great capacity of community in the human race.
Those who set us against each other are to be scorned,
Stripped of the status with which they've been adorned.

The ways of The Sacred are that we feel most alive
When with those who only wish for The Spirit to thrive.
We must shield ourselves from naysayers until we are strong;
They, and their fearful followers, are the ones in the wrong.

The ways of the fearful boast, ridicule, and bully others;
I don't understand how they attract sisters and brothers.
Those who walk the path of joy and, in others, belief
Seem to be the one's in life who are most subject to grief.

I cannot, any longer, be made to feel afraid
Now that my children's adult paths have been laid.
It was only for them that I held my wrath back;
The bullies will always, the most vulnerable, attack.

My words have been honed and carefully sharpened;
They are the weapons on which I most depend.
Nobody has the answer to the great mysteries of life;
What we experience in our totality will have to suffice.

I will not stay silent when a child is ridiculed
Because he or she sees "God" in a rippling pool.
I'll not be party to those saying babies are born in sin;
This only allows the fearful charlatans to come in.

There is no space in The Sacred Spirit's life for fear;
There is only awe for all that we naturally hold most dear.
We must stop expecting that we'll ever fully understand;
That, to me, is the beauty of being simply human.

To each person is given a small piece to the whole puzzle;
Without all the pieces, the picture won't be full.
It matters not in what generation all the answers are given;
The cooperation in the puzzle is how we create earthly heaven.

Perhaps, when we complete the puzzle, the world will end;
Meanwhile, I hope to make many more eternal friends.
Have you ever done a puzzle where all pieces are black or white?
This is the world vision that we continue to fight.

All the pieces fit in some version of the puzzle's whole.
All the religions of the earth have parts of truth told.
Just like a map of the earth and maps of the universe,
The shapes only give us points on which to converse.

We're meant to attempts at common language, to be sure;
Though all the universe can only be described in metaphor.
Awe is only possible when we don't fully understand.
Pondering mystery is the greatest gift of being human.