Limit of Science

Rufus Jones, who wrote during the first half of the 20^th century, laments the fact that belief in science, reductionism and the scientific method was eclipsing the higher order, intrinsic and eternal ideals within humanity. In my opinion, that belief is much truer today, roughly one hundred years later. There is an imbalance between science or reductionism and spirituality, favoring science. Personally, I used to be a devotee of belief in intellect and am now quite aware of the void it leaves, the depth and meaning of life that belief leaves out. There is no question of the huge benefits we have gleaned from science — but it is limited. "The supreme attitudes too of a personal mind such, for instance, as conviction of truth, or joy in beauty, or awe in the presence of sublimity, or dedication to goodness for its own sake, or the personal surrender of all selfish interests for the sake of exalted love, are realities of an order quite different from changes in the orbit of a planet or from any movement of masses of matter in space."(Jones)

Loving Action

There is a fellow who attends the recovery meeting I go to on Mondays who is new to recovery, burps, farts, is loud and socially inappropriate in that he does not respond to social ques. I can also see the Love, God and well meaning in him just below the unpleasant surface. The human part of me is obnoxed by him and the God part would like to lovingly help him with his difficulties. He has not asked for my assistance so I keep to myself. "Whenever spirit appears, even in the finite form of our own personal minds, it always outreaches and goes beyond its given expression and embodiment. We always transcend ourselves. We always live beyond our margins. We leap beyond anything that is — the here and now — and we are by the necessity of our being concerned with a more yet that ought to be."

Understanding Is Not Required

Last Friday, January 19^th, having just parked our car outside the location of our recovery meetings, I noticed a beautiful but deadly adult female black widow spider in the middle of the sidewalk right in front of our car. After confirming the presence of a red "hourglass" on her underside, Maria transported her to a better location. I am not the least bit superstitious, but this is a highly unusual occurrence (adult female web-spinning spider wandering far from any web, mid January, around forty degrees, the middle of the sidewalk in front of my car) so it got my attention. It is not reasonable or logical, but it could be a sign or symbol indicating that there are dangerous waters ahead and I should be careful. "To understand better the value of silence in daily life, and its relation to this spiritual transformation for which we yearn, it is useful first to consider the limitation of language, of words.......It is next useful to contemplate the limitations of logical reasoning."(Daniel A. Seeger)

Holistic Health

According to the gospel of Thomas, Jesus said, "Let the one who seeks not stop seeking until he finds. When he finds he will become troubled; when he becomes troubled, he will be astonished and will rule over all things." Due mainly to the challenges of my alcoholism, pain and disability I have been led to a deep exploration of self, various spiritual traditions and life in general and I have, indeed, found what I found to be troubling and disillusioning. With respect to my own life, I have encountered power and abilities I did not know I had, especially in the area of health. I am still exploring my own capabilities and trying not to hold myself back. The medical professionals that I have seen just tell me to "keep doing whatever your doing".

Spiritual Path

today I spent some time watching about a third of the movie Never Go Back with Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher. The movie is a silly action, adventure with a standard plot line which I found to be very enjoyable and a bit amusing. I needed a distracting break from my "strenuous " pursuit of spirituality and the movie fit the bill. After my watching the movie Maria, my wife, commented that she had come to appreciate the quiet of a "media free" environment and I told her that in the future I would only watch movies when she was not here. I later commented that it was important for this to be a "retreat house" for each of us, if we were to each continue our lives of service and spiritual connection. "To undertake to live a discerned life, to endeavor daily to be attuned to authentic movements of the Spirit leading us into greater fullness of life, is a strenuous undertaking."

The Kingdom

During and through the many challenges I have experienced in my life I have encountered a feeling of peace, love and well-being which goes well beyond anything reasonable, a very strong feeling largely regardless of the circumstance. I consider that feeling to be the Kingdom Jesus spoke of. I suspect that others can experience it also. As Jesus said according to Luke’s gospel "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed, nor will they say; ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you." In my case, in order to continue having that feeling I have to continue the practices of service, daily prayer and meditation.

Love and Guidance

In the process of spreading love around I generally encourage people to listen to their own inner guidance, have strength and confidence and follow the direction of heart, an approach that works for many, including myself. I need to be patient and keep in mind that there are also many people who, at least for a time, prefer to follow the guidance of an authority figure. I can and do both. As an authority figure I need to keep my ego out of the way and be encouraging rather than authoritarian. "You create a path of your own by looking within yourself and listening to your soul, cultivating your own ways of experiencing the sacred, and then practicing it. Practicing until you make it a song that sings you."(Kidd)

Love

In the words of Rufus Jones; "God [Love] must have an instrument — an organ is perhaps a better word — for the revelation of His love and tenderness, just as his physical energies must have their coordinator and transmitter." In my move from AZ to MD I was choosing to be an instrument of Love. Now, using the sort of practices outlined in my book, I spread that Love in all my interactions, an invigorating experience. I do need to be conscious of taking care of my own needs but that Love sustains me. As Jones goes on to say; "Something more than a petty, tiny, private consciousness is expressing itself through my personality. I am the organ of something more than myself."

Choice

Yesterday I posed the question of "what’s next" and, as I say on my website and in my book, they could readily choose to act and believe according to Love and the God seed within. As I found out for myself, that life is waiting for them. Following a loving authority figure (president!) and life guidelines like I suggest in my book would help. Unfortunately people have selected a president who is both a good person with loving intentions and a self-centered, fearful, racist. We shall see what happens next. It is important for me to realize that, like many spiritual leaders have commented, we are in the process of learning to give and receive love. As it says in the Thomas gospel "His disciples said to him, ‘When will the resurrection of the dead come, and when will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.’". It also says in the gospel of Luke "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed, nor will they say; ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you."

What now

I was reading the Washington Post today and encountered Trump’s comment about "shit hole" countries, anti-immigration comments and reductions in healthcare to the needy. Those comments are not very loving and a long way from the realization that we are all connected, but also very human and understandable. They bring to mind the comments of Benjamin Friedman "When material progress falters........people become more jealous of their status relative to others. Anti-immigrant sentiment typically increases, as does conflict between races and classes; concern for the poor tends to decline." as quoted in (Healing The Heart Of Democracy: The Courage To Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit, by Parker J. Palmer). The question that comes to my mind is "where do we go from here".