A “mystical death” entails dying to one’s false self –
That is, to the “ego,” and becoming “enlightened.”
This is difficult to do, however, because most of us
Have never known anything else.
It’s a death-defying “leap”
Out of a cherished, comfortable, and manipulable ego
Into an evanescent and ecstatic “true self.”
Listen, before jumping –
Don’t bother even thinking about it –
Since, in truth, in order to “come alive,”
You simply have to “do it”!
It’s more generous than sunshine,
More unstoppable than a runaway coal truck,
And more important than a room full of Presidents.
What is it?
Love, of course, the instant it touches a human heart –
Who or what could stop it?
Every human being has experienced this.
So what’s recently been restricting it to a trickle –
Why isn’t it still fire hose strong –
Rushing and gushing into the world with all the force of a springtime flood?
Perhaps, we take love for granted –
Like air –
Believing it’ll always be there because it’s so essential.
But that would be a mistake –
Because real love is not free –
It has to be worked for.
Since it’s so wonderful, we believe it should be a gift,
So when it’s not –
Futilely, we attempt to buy, and sometimes, even steal it –
This is why a life without love
Often turns out to be so painfully expensive.
God comes in many colors, many flavors –
A fan opens:
Purple dragons
Breathe fire down from dark mountains above –
Flipping the fan over –
Brilliant angels
Are dancing in a perfect circle –
At the center of that circle
A lone deer drinks.
God knows everything by “knowing” nothing –
God doesn’t need to “know” – because God simply is.
So, isn’t it true that, sometimes, we can learn the most about God
When we’ve forgotten God entirely.
Pulling on our boots, we decide to go out –
Where are we going?
To find God, of course, the God of many colors,
Many flavors –
The God who we no longer remember
Because, unfortunately, we somehow, somewhere, have misplaced
Our true selves.
We need your disciplined wildness,
Your sober intoxication,
And a return of the Holy to our postmodern world.
We need your appearance –
Because we’ve almost forgotten what it means to be human
In spite of our ancient collection of male-centered religions
That we’ve been so carefully preserving.
Law and the Political
BUILDING ALTERNATIVES FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET: News and reports from the grassroots on worker and community coops, land trusts, participatory bufgeting and other explorations in mutual aid
Diner Mystic 