Will We Leave Positive Power?

I wonder how much of Alzheimer's disease is an attempt to forget
The many monstrously horrible events that, in our lives, we met.
Do we somehow, passively, choose to return to being babies,
Forgiven all our actions because we're victims of a disease?

It seems to me that disease has replaced the concept of evil;
There are no longer any humans, for our actions, responsible.
Hitler had a bad childhood which led him to hate and kill others;
All evil actions of humanity are now blamed on fathers and mothers.

What a mess we've made of attempting to create "Christianity."
The acceptance of evil was something from which Jesus was free.
He forgave all those who came to him, with a direct command,
"Go in peace; I forgive you; stop hurting my family of humans."

We seem to have missed the part that commands us to confess,
Not to a priest, but to those against whom we've transgressed.
We were told not to take our problems to the secular courts,
But this is the first avenue of justice to which we resort.

"Christianity" has been a mockery of Jesus since Constantine,
The time when the Roman Catholic Church pope became a king.
All the religions clinging to the pope, while protesting his words,
Interpreted the true teachings of Jesus in a manner that's absurd.

The Sacred Spirit that is the earth and all physical manifestations
Has been diminished in all human-centered stories of creation.
The only way I can begin to be in awe of what is mysterious,
Is by not accepting human limits of the sacred as serious.

I don't believe in gods because they are simply greedy beings;
This is not the nature of The Sacred Spirit that I'm seeing.
That which I experience as sacred, in my pre-conscious time,
Cannot be described, because the eternal aura is so sublime.

Awe often feels like fear, so many feel, this Spirit, they should adore;
I understand those who accept Spirit manifestations as metaphor.
What I will not do is accept that there are those with special power
Who are emissaries of The Sacred, in whose presence I should cower.

Those who teach that babies are born wrapped in ancestral sin
Are seeking to control the minds and hearts of the family human.
They destroy the sense of parental partnership responsibility,
Pretending parents' homes can be replaced by religious community.

Family is the core of all community relationships in history;
Parents as partners is how humanity comes to be.
Pretending that virgin births are superior to bloody humanity,
We've created a world that is, from human hope, free.

There is no life born bearing an ancient ancestral curse;
We are all born perfect in the vastness of the universe.
All physical life is simply manifestations of energy,
In an ever-changing universe that is, from death, free.

Energy flows in many forms, eternally dividing and uniting;
This is the mystery of life that we should find most exciting.
Each human can choose whether to guide our energy to life,
Or to guide our energy toward life-destroying sacrifice.

I choose to believe in the restorative power of celebration;
This seems to conflict with the "Christian" notion of salvation.
I believe we create heaven or hell while here on our earth;
We choose to leave positive or negative balance in the universe.

Real, Not Roman, Catholics

It has been amazing to me that, throughout my life, no matter where I live, the women with whom I've had the closest friendships with have turned out to be Roman Catholicism-based. Very few of them have been "practicing" Catholics, but their missions to always seek to do good in their communities seemed to come from the marrow of their bones. I can only attribute this to their Roman Catholic educations.

I lived in the Bible belt, more than once, in order to escape the seething spirituality and accompanying misogeny of New Orleans. This didn't work for me, as it only led to different religious rituals, all incorporating varying degrees of female falsehoods. I'm back home in Louisiana, with all the women who could have been burned as witches a couple of centuries ago. Maybe the reason I can stay is that, instead of burning New Orleans' most famous voo-doo priestess, the bishop in New Orleans allowed her to recreate her rituals in the cathedral courtyard. This seems consistent with most of the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" flavor of the area.

For the last two days I have basked in the women who have most greatly impacted who I am. I have had lively arguments with some and great guffaws with others, but they have all been spirited, both online and in person. Women who grow up believing in other women giving birth to "gods" don't tend to be wimpy women. They do, however, often take their own and shared strength for granted and forget that without the "gods," they wouldn't be looked upon with such worship.

I had sworn off most women several years ago because they all seemed to be either bullies or whiners, even though they were often sneaky about both. Encouraged by a young woman named Laura of Women of Spirit and Faith, whom I had never met, I attended a conference of women sharing their different paths to, and personally experienced manifestations of, The Sacred Spirit. I made friends and enemies there, and I feel fine about both. I no longer feel the need to have everyone like or even accept me.

Because of this group of women, I decided to come home and create my own interfaith group. I put out invitations to many, but the ones who responded and attended are all cradle Roman Catholic women, none of them "practicing." What seems to bind all of us is an effort to define our places in the arena of worldwide social justice. As good little catholic kids, we had been taught that "catholic" means universal; I guess we are taking this literally.

Damned by My Memories?

It is no wonder that religion is so easy for those who accept that "God" is a male
Males aren't the parent with infinite patience and persistence in morality tales.
Males simply allow their darlings to climb into their laps for a quick laugh,
And send the children off to be tended by the mother and domestic staff.

How often do fathers ground their children without a second thought?
It's not their own imprisonment, with the child, that the sentence brought.
It is easy for lord and master gods to proclaim their "just" punishments,
Leaving the anger toward their authority to, on the "help," be spent.

How I have learned to fear and hate the "God" of Abraham?
This "God" has no relationship to my visions of the eternal I AM.
How did humans come from believing we're manifestations of divinity,
To believe the best of humans was born to appease this father's jealousy?

If this is the vision I must embrace of the father of our universe,
I accept the religious notion that my eternal future is cursed.
What my children are, and what they pass on to their progeny,
I have made every attempt to be separated from my eternal destiny.

My great hope is that I will leave this earth a more positive place,
Though I have not been able, through my offspring, to pass grace.
There are others that I have encountered that I did not threaten
With being eternally influenced by my intrinsic occasions of sin.

My vision of eternal life is balance between gestation and action;
This vision doesn't give competitive individuals much satisfaction.
In order for them to feel they've succeeded, some have to lose;
When will the majority of humanity, of this notion be disabused?

I do not believe in gods, though I do believe in eternal spirits.
I believe those that I once loved whisper, so only I can hear it.
Does this mean that they, and I, are in heaven or in hell?
I don't believe it is for anyone on earth to be able to tell.

Every faint spark of positive energy left with me by them,
Is, by their often tortured spirits, left for me to defend.
Let priests, prophets, shamans and witches lead with fear;
I will not condemn those memories that I hold most dear.

Salaam, Shalom, and Peace Be Upon Us All

Full Definition of RELIGION

1

a :  the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year ofreligion>

b (1) :  the service and worship of God or the supernatural(2) :  commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

2

:  a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

The only definition that loosely applies to me is the second one, not in the personal, but in the community, sense. I don't have any use for "gods" and their capricious, jealous, vengeful ways. I do, however, have much respect for communities, built over many generations, of shared attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Maybe this makes me an atheist. Whatever...

As I believe Jesus exemplified, I think the best way to spread responsible compassion is to invite all to a feast where everyone contributes something. Nobody will ever convince me that pot-luck isn't the way Jesus fed the multitudes who came to hear his stories. He obviously got this hint from his Jewish mother, "Feed them and they will listen to you, but don't think you can satisfy all their special needs. Make it pot-luck, and don't charge admission. Those who don't feed us can clean up the mess."

I blame Paul for ignoring the roots of Jesus's religion, and I blame the Roman Catholic church for putting the marketing of Paul above the patient persistent of the Jews and joyful, Jewish Jesus. I also blame Abraham for allowing Hagar and Abraham's son to be sent into the desert to die, and for attempting to kill his own son Isaac, and for denying the birthright of his first-born, Ishmael. We continue to fight these ancient battles of our ancestors. We should get a life.

Once again, we humans must to dial back the clock of true humanity to another era in order to understand what to do to survive. Can we consider simply dialing it back to Pentecost, when Jesus released his spiritual essence to all who want to embrace it? 

I am not willing to kill anyone and/or his/her children because my (perhaps drunk) father/mother pissed another off several generations ago. Are you?

Salaam, Shalom, and peace be upon us all.

Why Women Are Our Enemies and We Love Them Anyway

I have met many women who were jealous of all others;
This may be where the concept of "a jealous God" began.
Their ferocious "mother tiger" selves strike out at anyone
Who gets between mother and her children, or her man.

It seems to matter not to these ferocious mother tigers,
Whether their protected ones are babies or grown men.
If they perceive presence stronger than their "babies,"
They will strike out, with full force, again and again.

In the knight in shining armor saviors, we like to believe;
It is a myth about the king protecting the princess.
Females coming from families, whether or not royalty,
Are treated as unpaid prostitutes, if not less.

The only way mothers can hand power on to daughters
Is registered financial security, in a mothers name,
This protects daughters as their brothers are protected by fathers.
To prevent all, and anyone, from denying a daughter's claim.

Longing to Be Let Go

You put a curse on your people, then are the hero who takes it away;
I regret that I carry the curse you put on me, even to this very day.
I struggle to be free of you, but you infected the marrow of my bones,
And with your sweet siren songs, you continue to beckon me "home".

How inspiring the great artworks that express the artists' souls;
The music and scriptures proclaim the greatest stories ever told;
The passion of my spiritual family for seeking earthly justice;
It is all of this bedrock of my spiritual journey that I miss.

It was within your walls that I first felt The Sacred Spirit,
Whispering so softly, I was the only one to hear it.
You also gave me what I needed to enable me to think;
I strain against your chains on me, but cannot break the link.

The Sacred Spirits of my siblings have died a million deaths;
Our only chance for healing was that, to us, you'd confess.
It has been far preferable to you to ruin our family name,
By denying your culpability in driving us all insane.

You demand belief in conflicting, simultaneous opinions;
Training, from birth, your "sacred" society's minions,
Demanding that we bow and kneel in front of you,
Though this was not something Jesus would ever do.

Your parish priests are prostitutes collecting a tax,
Spreading fear of hell if faithful communicants relax.
In your fancy temples, you sell the holy sacraments.
When do you intend to do your own penance?

I'd be at peace now if you had killed my physical body;
That you raped my Sacred Spirit was so much worse for me.
You've condemned your victims in your continued hubris;
I am telling you only because I was commanded to do this.

I have no hope of open dialog and reconciliation,
For you will not step down from your elevated station.
Release my soul from the vows I was forced to take,
So that I may honorably, the curse from you, forsake.

Annul your false sacraments so that I may embrace Pentecost,
And reclaim The Sacred Spirit that, in your care, I lost.
Let me go so My Sacred Spirit won't scare others away
Because they are held hostage by what your church would say.

Fathers Are Our Future

 

Every time you dishonor the parent, you also harm the parent's child,
So much more while the child depends on the parent for continued life.
Before a child can walk and bring food to her or his own lips,
Every threat to the sustaining parents makes the child fearful of death.

How is it that what we call humans are still walking upon this earth,
While acting as scavenging animals in their behaviors toward others?
Walking upright and the power of speech is not all that humanity requires.
Even monkeys swinging from trees protect their young better than do we.

Love is what we have for all when we are born; it is only with fear that this is destroyed.
The universe does not play favorites with different tribes and different species.
Even the ancient, unruly gods had to cooperate for humans to thrive.
When will we realize that we have the choice to work or to perish together?

Why do we continue to feed each other into the fires of an earthly hell?
STOP, people! THINK! We are not only animals. We are each a bit of The Sacred.
Look past the skin into the soul, where you will find a perfect baby, like yourself.
Seek out a soul that can see your own and wallow in wonder with this child.

Fathers, hold the mothers as they hold your sons and daughters.
Let your children and their mother breath in your sheltering strength.
Be a full partner in the act of procreation, only begun when you planted your seed.
Your ribs form the foundation for the tent of skin surrounding your sacred family.