Realistic Resolutions For A Soulful 2013

- Love What You Love And Feel What You Feel

- Give Up The Need To Be Right

- Don't Worry About What Other People Think

- Try New Things

- Get Rid Of Clutter

- Spend More Time Outside

- Avoid The People And Places That Steal Energy

- Spend More Time With The People And At The Places That Warm And Expand The Heart

- Simplify

- Say "I Love You" A Lot

- Enjoy Good Food And Drink Often

- Make Friends With And Romance The Past And The Shadow

- Gaze At The Stars Regularly

- Don't Hide From Silence

- Let Go Of Expectations

- Forgive (keeps the heart open)

- Laugh (medicine for the soul)

- Cry (keeps the heart moist)

- Travel

- Spend Time With Animals

- Take Naps, Stay Up Late, Get Up Early

- Don't Forget To Dance

* photo of my oldest daughter Sarah and my youngest grandson Luke

It's The End Of The World As We Know It (and I feel fine)

The culture has had a lot of interest in the Mayan prophecies about December 21, 2012. The talks have ranged from the total destruction of the planet to simply a spiritual transformation taking place in human consciousness. All throughout human history our ancestors have attempted to see into the future and to especially predict the end of an era and the beginning of another.

The prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures would foretell the coming of calamities as well as predict the coming of new seasons of blessing, prosperity and justice. Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. He intuitively sensed that the religious and political structures of his day were not sustainable. He stood in front of the Temple and said that not one stone would be left unturned and that some of the people standing there would not taste death before that destruction took place. We know from the historian Josephus that in 70 A.D. Jesus’ prediction came to pass. The Bible also predicts a time in the future when we will beat our swords into plowshares. A time when we will grow food rather than build weapons. A time when everything will become new and we will see new heavens and a new earth. A time when justice will prevail.

The Physiologist Carl Jung predicted the coming of the Age of Aquarius. This next age in the astrological cycle when we move out of the age of Pisces and into a new era - the Age of Aquarius. Jung believed we would experience a major shift in human consciousness associated with the dawning of Aquarius which would effect all of our institutions and structures: religion, government, industry, science, technology, education, and so on.

Currently, Environmental Scientists are predicting that unless we as a species move into a “Sustainable” way of living - and make this shift soon - the damage to mother nature will be irreversible. Progressive Economists are predicting that, unless we turn away from the “Industrial Growth Society” model which is based on continued growth in order for the system to be effective, we will see eventual economic collapse. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that a economic structure that is based on continued growth will eventually break down when applied in a world with finite and limited resources.

The Mayans were amazing scientists and astronomers. To have lived thousands of years ago their accomplishments are mind blowing. Today we can not be totally sure what events led to the end of the Mayan culture and civilization. Many believe that it was the combination of natural and cultural events that combined to change their world as they knew it. The Mayans studied the solar solar system and pin pointed its position during the sift in their culture and predicted that in the year 2012 the universe would aline its self in the same way again.

A person’s dreams were a very important tool in Dr. Jung’s Psychology. He taught that dreams would help a person get a glimpse into the deepest part of their Psyche. Human beings often dream about death and destruction - these are common recurring dreams for most people. Dr. Jung held that death dreams were not bad dreams at all. He actually taught that they were about growth, transformation, and were signs of moving from an old era into a new one.

With all the talk about December 21, 2012 and the possible end of the world - Just maybe we should consider this something to be excited about. Maybe it is time for the human species to evolve and for us to move together into a new era. What might a new era look like if we really did see a major shift and the transformation of human understanding?


- A shift away from fundamentalist religion - to spirituality

- A shift away from the destruction of the planet - to a sustainable way of sharing our Island home

- A shift away from the “Industrial Growth Society” - to a “Sustainable” economic system that is equitable to all

- A shift away from the barrenness of heart and emotion - to a revival of heart and emotion in all areas of life (work, education. cities, government, medicine, religion, art)

- A shirt away from racism, classism, partisanism, and denominationalism - to a post racial, post class, post partisan, and post denominational era

- A shift away from building weapons and prisons - to building school, hospitals, homes, and growing healthy food

- A shift away from hate - to love

- A shift from division - to unity

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.

__________________________

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,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live 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 Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

The Archetype of The Mother Mary

The holiday season turns our attention to the birth of Jesus - a historical event that occurred in the middle east approximately 2000 years ago. The story of Christ’s birth evolved to be quite mythological - the stable, a manger, the animals, shepherds, the great star, singing angles, and the wise men. All the necessary ingredients of a typical Christmas pageant or nativity.

Miester Eckhart, the German priest that lived in the middle ages said, “what good is it if Christ was born a long time ago unless we continue to give birth to him in our own day and in our own culture.” I resonate with what Eckhart said. Christmas should be a celebration of the sacred that is being born among us NOW - not just a memorial to a past historical event. While remembering and honoring the ancient birth narratives might have value - let us follow Eckhart’s lead and use the Christmas story as a prototype of giving birth to the sacred in our own day and culture.

First, the Christ was born (not built). We are surrounded by technology, capitalism, and industry. We build our “Towers of Babel” which are proud monuments to ourselves. While it is truly amazing what we have accomplished as a species - the Mother Mary Archetype reminds us that the sacred comes to us in simple and organic ways - it is birthed.

Secondly, if the sacred has to be born - then it requires a womb. A womb is a dark place. This speaks of the darkness that we wrestle with in our own souls. The darkness holds the space for the growth of the scared within ourselves. The darkness of pain and suffering - of doubt and despair - of quiet, stillness, and loneness which all becomes the rich place for the sacred to be conceived and to grow within us. Wombs are also wet. Hildegard, the Christian mystic who lived in the middle ages, said that our important spiritual work is the process of keeping our heart’s moist. The Christ cannot be born without a dark, moist womb.

Thirdly, if it takes a womb, then the presence of the feminine is required. Our society has become overly patriarchal - aggression, a survival of the fittest attitude, all the pushing and shoving of one’s way up the ladder of success. The patriarchy of big government, big business, big religion is all around us. The sacred cannot be born in the midst of all the masculine energy that permeates the culture. The sacred is born out of the softness, the nurture, the kindness, the gentleness, the love, the care, the touch, and the simplicity of the sacred feminine.

I submit that the world is in desperate need of a revival of the sacred feminine. We would do ourselves well to shift some of our religious focus from the Holy Father to the Holy Mother. She has been ignored much too long. I assure you, there is nothing weak about the Holy Mother (giving birth is not a day on the golf course). 2000 years ago there was no room for the Holy Mother at the Inn. Today, we crowd her out of the planet with patriarchy, war, hunger, greed, division, destruction of the world’s natural resources, religious and political haughtiness - God help us! Together let us hold the space - a dark and moist womb to give birth to the Christ in own day and culture.

I Just Said My Prayers to the Sacred Feminine and Apparently She's Pissed

Western culture has been controlled by men far too long. All areas of life including politics, business, and the church have been mostly controlled by men. The destruction that masculine control has caused is vast: -- climate change and the daily dying off of species as a result of our lack of care for the planet, -- billions and billions of dollars spent on weapons and war, a national debt that is over whelming to think about, -- healthcare viewed by many as something that should not be available to all, -- a growing disparity between the rich and the poor, --a Congress unwilling to compromise and so about to go over a fiscal cliff, --churches that have become more about the institution, rules, and doctrine than the care and love of people, --education that has become more about test scores than teachers organically teaching, --a lack of care for the homeless and the poor --judgement dominating rather than compassion, --division and segregation the norm rather than unity and inclusion.

I just talked to the Holy Mother and I really do think she is pissed. She has barely gotten over being upset about the Crusades. Not to mention the burning of women at the stake in medieval Europe or the Holocaust. If I'm discerning her mood correctly, we need to be aware that we have about pushed Mamma too far.

Before we make Her even more angry, can we please learn to live in a way that's more relational and organic rather than institutional? Can we be nurturing and mothering and care about each other more than we do about our structures and labels? Can we beat our swords and weapons into plowshares? Can the largest Church in the world please allow women at the Altar? Can we realize the Kingdom of God is not built, that it has to be birthed? Can we understand that the repression of the Scared Feminine has left us all wounded and that we all need healing?

Regardless if you're black, white, gay, straight, rich, poor, Christian, atheists, liberal, conservative, saint, sinner, male, or female --we are all children of the Holy Mother and she says we had better start taking care of one another and our planet or we are gonna be in lots of trouble when she gets home.

Task List

I've been very intentional over the last three years to slow down, prioritize, and to take care of my soul. I've slowed down the merry-go-round a lot. However, the last two days I have not stopped; meetings, appointments, Bishop, budgets, and responsibilities. Now it's Saturday and I confess that I do not feel ready for tomorrow. I still have a lot to do. My task list the last couple of days has been impossible and has left me very tired and drained. On top of that, I have my children this weekend and I feel both the kids and I have been robbed of precious time. Add to that the weight of two big projects with time restraints which make me feel like I may "shrug".

What's does your task list look like? I hope yours has been more manageable.

When modern life becomes over taxing I look to the pre-moderns for help. I found Lady Julian of Norwich's task list from the Middle Ages.  She says the soul has three duties or tasks and her list looks like this:

___ To reverently wonder

___ To be surprised

___ To gently let go and let be

I think I want to trade in my task list for hers. I might could handle her list.  I wish all of us, including the church and all our institutions, could learn from her.

Stop The Presses

One of the most significant accomplishments in human history might be the invention of the printing press. The result was an explosion of information and knowledge that carried most of the world into the enlightenment. However, there is a shadow side and a cost to our advancement. It seems to me that we have become overly attached to our  "words" and to "text" - rather than direct experience. Words are symbols - not the real thing. We often project onto the "text" and live in confusion believing the "text" is the real thing.

The Cosmic Christ has now been reduced to a book. The Bible has become an idol.  The eternal "Word of God" has been reduced to squiggly lines on a page. Addictions to the "text" fuel fundamentalism. Christians are addicted to the Bible, to doctrine, to "text". Muslims are addicted to the Kuran. Political ideologues are addicted to the US Constitution. Atheists are addicted to the "word" of Christopher Hitchens and Michael Shermer. The result is a reduction to us as people; a reduction to life itself. I am very concerned how much of our lives are now lived virtually. The "text message" and the "email" and the "inter-web" continue our flight away from the direct experience of the real thing. We need the will to "Stop the Presses".  Put the book down, put the computer down, put the tablet and the smartphone down; interact with something and/or someone that is "real" and "present".

For my Episcopalian friends. I love the liturgy of our church. It is one of the major reasons that I'm an Episcopalian. However, and with that said, I feel our liturgy is way too wordy. Three lessons, the psalm, the sermon, the creed, the prayers of the people, long Eucharistic prayers - words, words, and more words.  I dream of a post modern liturgy that would provide less talk and more time for silence, for mystery, to breathe, to reflect, to interact, to move - for direct experience.

Hamlet, Act II, Scene II
     LORD POLONIUS:  What do you read, my lord?
     HAMLET:  Words, words, words.

If "God Talk" Was Gonna Save The World Then We Should Already Be In Paradise

I estimate that I've heard about 10,000 sermons in my lifetime; some good and some really bad. I estimate that I've preached about 5,000 sermons myself; some good and some really really bad. Multiply those numbers many fold because there is practically a church on every corner of every community. Don't forget about Christian radio. There are also more Christian channels on cable than I can even keep up with.  Add to that the babbling of the hyper-religious, "Jesus this and Jesus that", "praise God this and praise God that". And don't forget to throw in a few "hallelujahs" here and there. If "God Talk" was gonna save the world then we should already be in paradise.

Meister Eckhart said, "The most beautiful thing which a person can say about God would be for that person to remain silent from the wisdom of an inner wealth. So, be silent and quit flapping your gums about God.”

If I ever get the opportunity to hang out with you, I really hope that you will not waste our time by regurgitating a bunch of religious clichés. Look me in the eyes. Tell me about you. Tell me about your life. Talk to me about your own thoughts and feelings. Be present to me and let me be present to you. Maybe we could even drink a beer together and share paradise.

I make my living as a full time religious practitioner. So what I'm about to say is not very good for my job security. I actually believe the world would be a better place if we closed a lot of churches and opened more pubs where we could hang out and share a beer. Cheers!