It looks as if it might rain
And sounds like it’s already begun –
Given the wind moving through the treetops.
It’s getting dark, and then, even darker –
Chilly, and after a while, chillier –
It’s the kind of peaceful dark damp day
Comfortable
For staying inside.
I propose founding a new religion – for the “Nones” –
One that believes in “Nothing but God”
And has the kind of spiritual freedom people need –
That is, it’ll be democratic – without any prescribed theology –
Each person having an equal right to love God in their own way.
It’ll work best in cultures that value freedom –
And which have done the necessary work to root out social structures inhibiting it.
Today, however, there are many societies that “talk” about freedom
But which, from their beginnings, were structured to take it away –
So, I believe that everything related to freedom – especially in America –
Needs to be thought through again – “from scratch.”
Without freedom, a religion’s “God,” of necessity, ends up deformed –
Unfortunately, along with its followers.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the kind of freedom that can be used to undermine God –
I’m talking about the freedom to be a “child of God.”
Historically, there’s been a lot of good work accomplished on freedom –
It’s just that too many contemporary religions and secular institutions,
Visibly and invisibly,
Are still abrogating it – taking it away by force or trickery.
We need to be much clearer in our hearts and heads
To become more conscious about what truly helps us be free and what doesn’t –
From top to bottom –
We need a life of spiritual freedom –
The kind that, for now, pretty much only God enjoys!
God is invisibly visible –
Like a leaf from yesterday’s tree
Or tomorrow’s –
There no longer,
And, also, not yet.
It’s the same with our love –
Which gets strengthened both by distance
And absence –
Coming towards you when you’re no longer there –
And, sometimes, arriving before you’ve even come.
God is visibly invisible –
Like a momentary personal “joy,” and, yes, even the primeval “Big Bang”
When everything in the universe that now exists instantly burst out of nothing –
In some sense, aren’t they the same – both an absolute surprise?
It’s the same with how I love you –
Invisible, but more real than anything else in the world.
Running along through innumerable sunny days –
Suddenly, I wake up, next to you.
This is all I want in life –
To be invisibly visible –
Next to you.
On the porch
The blue water glass sitting on the table appears bluer
Against the outside green trees.
The blue glass is plastic – but appears luminous –
(Filled with light) –
Against that background of intense green leaves.
Our mind resembles a tumbling-down mountain stream –
So all we’re able to think about are interior “rushing sounds.”
How do we stop a tumbling-down mind long enough
To notice the shadows of leaves moving in the wind –
How “wake up” inside such an interior “commotion”?
We need to step back away from our rushing minds –
From these cinematic “selves” –
To rest a while in a country of peace –
Where “true reality” abides.
It’s difficult for us to experience love in a rushing-by life –
And almost impossible to enjoy peace when agitated –
We know it would be a surprise to discover God alive in our hearts during such times –
Since the only place God can ever truly “come alive” – is inside us.
For individuals, the heart is the equivalent of the solar system’s sun
Acting to center our lives – from beginning to end –
After all, isn’t “Love” what we like to call God when we finally understand
How truly “alive” God is!
The soul
Is the “true self”
Buried under an avalanche of ego.
It can free itself
Anytime it wishes
Just by saying the last magic word remaining in the postmodern world:
“God.”
Usually, one doesn’t meet God personally,
And, even in that case, ordinarily just by accident.
We pass by, and only later realize
Something happened –
Maybe just a momentary impression –
Like noticing stars looking like astral “white flowers”
Or a simple shrub beside the path, when hit by the sun, turning into a “star.”
It’s the joy arising in our hearts
That tells us God has just passed by.
Unexpectedly, we feel like dancing –
Even though the world might think us crazy –
And we are – but only for God.
Our heart starts beating an internal drum:
– Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy –
Our feet leave the ground –
And, suddenly,
We’re in the air!
Who says there’s no such thing as ecstasy
In North America?
People imagine a cartoon God
Because, too much of their time, they are living cartoon lives.
If true reality ever touched them
They might simply disappear.
Historically, it was easier to believe in a cartoon god
As a “drum major” for cartoon selves – that is, for our “egos”–
Rather than engage in an earnest search for a “real” God.
Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed all taught God was “spirit,”
And, given that a “true self” also is spirit –
And in the same sense –
There always existed a possibility of ecstatic “marriage” between the two.
If we believe God is a material God acting in a material world –
Then that is a complete misunderstanding of who God is – and what the world is.
Instead, God is “love,”
And that’s how we meet God – in love relationships.
God is “truth,”
Another good way to meet God – when we have the courage to tell the truth.
God is “justice” –
We encounter God each time we take a just action.
Finally, God is “beauty” –
So appreciating the beauty in our lives is another excellent way to experience God.
God, and our relationship to God, really, have nothing to do with “egos”
Or materialistic searches for “wealth,” “power,” or “notoriety” –
Instead, God is spirit and only spirit –
And that’s what the “true self” is too.
It gets lukewarm, perhaps too quickly –
But does ratchet up nervous energy –
One sip at a time.
Perfect for writing or reflection –
Before next thought –
A sip –
Energy and enlightment
Out of a dark blue cup
Of bitter-brown Ethiopian coffee!
Almost seven and one-half billion people are waiting for you
Little one –
Humanity’s morning star.
Are you, even now, a small child now running around in the grass and trees
Of Brazil, Argentina, or Peru –
Thinking about God
In your pure child’s mind?
As “the purest girl in the world”
You’ll be able to see reality – in other words, “God” –
You’ll “taste” love; hear the truth; and smell justice with your little nose –
Everything will come easy for your quicksilver mind
And no one will pass you on the street without noticing your intense beauty –
Your parents already aware of what a treasure you are.
Little one, we don’t ask too much –
Just tell us what God looks like through your clear eyes
And what God is whispering in your secret dreams.
You’ll have the confidence of the angels surrounding God’s throne
And be “born again” an infinite numbers of times – even as a child –
As many births as the number of stars in the sky twinkling in your dark hair –
Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed will all be in awe of you
Since you’ll embody Love, Truth, Justice, and Beauty –
A young South American woman as a true reflection of God.
Yes, God will soon send us “the purest-hearted girl in the world” –
To be the true Avatar for our age –
And who’ll explain everything to us,
Including how to get back to “Eden” – back before we developed egos –
Where it all began –
Back when we were still our “true selves.”
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 