What We Didn't Know

When I was a kid, what happened in your own family was the way and the truth
We knew not it was wrong when, at the age of two, our mothers turned us loose.
We also didn't know that it was wrong to beat a disobedient wife or her children;
The fathers were expected to deliver the rod to save their families from sin.

When I had children, I had no model, of how to structure my day;
It didn't help that liberated women were prioritizing girlfriend play.
I looked to the women who seemed loving and righteous to me,
But they crumbled under the lack of societal empathy.

These were the days when society began to admit
That the old rules for our families simply didn't fit.
Women were scorned for prioritizing family and home;
Husbands and wives had begun to openly roam.

I had nobody to talk to, with whom to emotionally engage,
As in my teen years, I turned to putting feelings on a page.
There are few who read what I write; some say it's too dense.
Others simply declare that it doesn't make any sense.

There were doctors and therapists I went to see,
Who thought their bodies were the way to comfort me.
The moral boundaries, I became aware then,
With the innocent and vulnerable, often get broken.

Does this happen to all to whom we confess?
Are they eventually poisoned by the pain they ingest?
Do all those that we term societies' "people helpers"
Soon need to draw, around themselves, shelters.

Some turn away in disgust and terror when I tell them the truth
About the many ways my family has suffered authorities' abuse.
They say that I'm crazy; that I should get over my past.
But our pasts make us and stay with us until the last.

Just when I feel that I have begun a new chapter,
A loved family member's life turns to disaster.
For whatever reason, they come to me to explain
Why they continue to fall, again and again.

I am happy to share with them the lessons I've learned,
Hoping to keep them from continuing to be burned.
Is it hopeless to continue unlocking the memories?
Am I part of the solution or part of the disease?

Is this the reason I lose so many after they come to me?
Are they afraid of what I know about their histories?
I am not a priest; I didn't ask them to confess.
But as a friend, parent, and aunt I tried to do my best.

I listened with what I felt was compassion,
As has always been my sisterly fashion.
I have shared what I think, as my elders would,
Except for the parts that say people aren't good.

I have finally come to the end of my caring;
I've been scorned enough for continuing my sharing.
Let them go it alone; I'll no longer be a scapegoat,
While those that burden me continue to gloat.

Leap Frog of Life

You can't be born any older than your parent's souls;
Joining of your parents' genes is what makes you whole.
Some people are put on earth to take a step back,
The Almighty knowing they have strength to stay on track.

It can be hard for those who've worked to raise them
To accept that this is how humanity has always been.
Those who bear children anointed to be the holy ones,
Choose the less perfected to create daughters and sons.

It is very difficult to watch them take necessary steps back,
While it seems that they, parental values, seem to attack.
Parents may be long-dead before experiencing the reward
Of what The Divine Spirit has been working toward.

Freedom and Fathering

The days of knights in shining armor are long since gone;

The men who join us in partnership protect us from harm.

If we can all become grateful for the parts we all play,

Perhaps the bonds of marriage will, one day, manage to stay.

 

How wonderful it will be when our men outlive us women;

Maybe then, all of us, can be be seen as friends.

The women will stop acting as those who protect

The men, whom our society, continues to reject.

We will decide what we lack to bring up our babes;

And, by all of our society, we should be praised.

There will be no more measuring each generation

By the respective positions in parents' life's stations.

It does take baby boys longer to gain their strength;

When fathers are absent to teach them for what they're meant

While becoming men, once they are removed from mama's arms,

Where are the real men, to protect the boys from harm?

Why do we continue to have men following like dumb sheep,

Instead of making societal rules that  they are willing to keep?

We women of strength are tired of correcting bad boys,

Who see women and children as part of their own play toys.

So many men pretend that they have no responsibility,

And for babies that aren't proven as blood, they are responsibility free.

Where are the many sons and brothers of Abraham, Jacob and Jesus

Who, from the mistakes of our ancestors, were sent to free us?

I am oftentimes angry because it's courage that we lack;

Even generations who steps forward  are dragged back.

Our religions continue to crucify any woman who is strong

Contending that, from the beginning of time, we invented wrong.

If Adam had the will and the courage to say no to Eve,

Perhaps we would not be in, such cowardice, conceived.

If both partners stop acting as if they have no functioning brains 

Some fun may be lost, but mutual respect will remain.

It seems that human society swings the pendulum;

From mutual responsibility, we continue to run.

There are not "women's problems" and the problems of men;

Partnership is that on which families actually depend.

Hail, Holy Families

Why isn't Mary hailed as a hero, instead of a lovely lady in a veil?
If the family of Jesus had been earthly royalty, we'd be singing, "All hail!"
How many mothers have the strength to allow their children to succeed,
Knowing that they'll be rejected for not following the world of greed?

How many fathers can watch their wives hurt, and hold them in their grief,
Without becoming frightened and attempting to make the pain cease?
How many sons, knowing their own strength, submit to parental love,
Knowing that their destiny will, that of their parents, rise above?

How many parents have the wisdom to celebrate our children,
Even knowing the pain of separation when we finally lose them?
Did Jesus often visit his parents, once he became a man?
Did his parents find new joy in each other, as Jesus followed his plan?

What were Jesus' favorite foods when he came home for holidays?
Did Jesus find fault with them, or offer his parents praise?
Did Jesus come to scorn the simplicity of his family,
Or did he reassure them that, from his heart, they'd never be free?

I wish I knew the answers to The Holy Family's everyday lives;
How, with all the pain of parenting, their courage survived.
I know many mothers and fathers who go through similar things,
But I guess they can't bear to share all the pain it brings.

Would it be any easier if I knew my children's final fate?
Did Mary and Joseph know all along, or did they, too, have to wait?
I used to think that my joy in this life would be to see my children as parents;
As their own children become adults, I feel like to hell, I've been sent.

Spanish Carol, tr. Eleanor Walker
Title	Alepun
Language	English, with the Spanish refrain "alepun"
Date Written	Unknown
Listing	Mary rides the mountain pathway, alepun. Through the dark and mist of Judah's night, alepun. Alepun, ale-alepun, Alepun, ale-alepun, Alepun, alepun! Birds sing out in expectation, alepun. While the sparkling waters ring with laughter, alepun. Refrain Good Saint Joseph guides the donkey, alepun. While the infant sleeps 'neath Mary's heart, alepun. Refrain We are waiting with our Lady, alepun. For the dawning of our Savior's birth, alepun. Refrain (Note: each line is sung twice.) Text Copyright © Grail Singers, Loveland, Ohio, 45140.
Source	The record, Grailville Sings, by the Grail Singers, Loveland, Ohio, 45140.

Awaiting the Apocalypse

I'm not scared of the Apocalypse;
I believe we each get to choose
Between what we gain on our paths,
And that which we will each lose.

I can't even imagine my children
Choosing a path to perdition;
I have taught them that salvation
Is each of our personal decision.

It is okay to leave my body,
To rot and burn in eternal hell.
There are parts that will be saved,
Parts that, in each of them, dwells.

Perhaps the things I did that caused hurt
Will exceed those that gave them worth.
It is not for me to know the balance,
Or control what happens after I'm dirt.

Jesus and Jews

Mary's blood was spilled many years before that of her baby boy,
And yet she accepted the challenge of raising him with joy.
Her husband, Joseph, whether father in flesh or decision
Chose to protect her and her babe from society's derision.

They, with conjugal love or not (it is not important),
Supported the child to fulfill the mission for which he was sent.
The Jews had, for many years, been faithful to a mission,
Though they were constantly faced with fateful decisions.

They regularly were persecuted for being different from the norm,
Even those that were peaceful people, who meant no harm.
All they asked was to be left to their faith's disciplines,
Knowing that this would deny them some family, many friends.

Instead of embracing the wonderful family lives they shared,
Many "Christians" and others built a story to make others scared.
Why can't we accept that there are those who need rituals
To unite them in celebrating The Spirit in which they are full?

Your dance may mean nothing to me. I'm thrilled when it fulfills you.
This disparity in tastes doesn't meant there is nothing I can do.
I am fascinated by the many forms of respect and adulation
There are in the many peoples and faiths in all earth's creations.

I see them as a sign of hope than none of us feels sufficient.
We come into a society to fulfill the mission for which we are sent.
My gift may be scrubbing toilets; yours may be to heal wounds.
We have no control of the gifts that are given to us in the womb.

Pondering Panentheism

Have I finally found a religious philosophy that mirrors my own beliefs? My daughter once told me that she thought that I'm a Buddhist. Hindu, maybe? Or am I a true Catholic, in the universal sense of the word?

Panentheism (from Greek πᾶν (pân) "all"; ἐν (en) "in"; and θεός (theós) "God"; "all-in-God") is a belief system which posits that the divine exists (be it a monotheistic God, polytheistic gods, or an eternal cosmic animating force), interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it. Panentheism differentiates itself from pantheism, which holds that the divine is synonymous with the universe.^[1]

In panentheism, the universe in the first formulation is practically the whole itself. In the second formulation, the universe and the divine are not ontologically equivalent. In panentheism, God is viewed as the eternal animating force behind the universe. Some versions suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifest part of God. In some forms of panentheism, the cosmos exists within God, who in turn "pervades" or is "in" the cosmos. While pantheism asserts that 'All is God', panentheism goes further to claim that God is greater than the universe. In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within God.^[2] Much Hindu thought is highly characterized by panentheism and pantheism.^[3][4]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Panentheism” is a constructed word composed of the English equivalents of the Greek terms “pan”, meaning all, “en”, meaning in, and “theism”, meaning God. Panentheism understands God and the world to be inter-related with the world being in God and God being in the world. It offers an increasingly popular alternative to traditional theism and pantheism. Panentheism seeks to avoid both isolating God from the world as traditional theism often does and identifying God with the world as pantheism does. Traditional theistic systems emphasize the difference between God and the world while panentheism stresses God's active presence in the world. Pantheism emphasizes God's presence in the world but panentheism maintains the identity and significance of the non-divine. Anticipations of panentheistic understandings of God have occurred in both philosophical and theological writings throughout history (Hartshorne and Reese 1953; Cooper, 2006). However, a rich diversity of panentheistic understandings has developed in the past two centuries primarily in Christian traditions responding to scientific thought (Clayton and Peacocke 2004).
--Copyright © 2009 by 
John Culp <jculp@apu.edu>  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panentheism/