THE APOTHEOSIS OF HUMAN SPIRITUAL ENVY

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When Jesus first appeared
Speaking as if he was related to God – personally –
And implying he might even be a human embodiment of God –
It wasn’t just the Romans and Jewish high priests
Who viewed that claim as a threat.

Regular, everyday religiously-faithful people,
Reacted badly as well –
To the audacity of placing himself ahead of Moses,
Greater than David or Solomon,
And even surpassing Isaiah, Elijah, and Jeremiah. 

They murmured, “Just who does hethink he is?”

Jesus appeared among everyday “good” people
Who, potentially, had the ability to make a spiritual “leap”
Directly to God
By accepting him like his disciples did –
But they refused –
In fact, he made them as angry as possible –
Which resulted in their secret wish for the authorities stop him.

And that wish was fulfilled.

What made it possible for “good people” to desire the destruction of Jesus –
A human being who, correctly, believed he was speaking for God?

The answer is what eventually became the Crucifixion/Resurrection myth.

They hated him so much for his apparent “hubris”
That they wrenched away his humanity
And replaced it with a “Christian myth”
So they could sleep soundly again
And never need reflect upon what an acceptance
Of Jesus’ (as well as their own) “human/God” life
Might mean.

WHAT A GIFT – JESUS’ REAL DEATH

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Doesn’t the splendor and meaning of Jesus life
Derive entirely from his death –
The actual one – the one he accepted
At the hands of Roman soldiers and Temple officials?

So, how could his death become more meaningful
By refusing to acknowledge it –
Playing the Roman game of power trumping power?

The truth is that if Jesus ever decides to come again
It would have to be spiritually, not materially,
After all, even now, isn’t he “alive”
In the hearts of people grateful for his gift –
Not as the prime source of some Pauline super-cult
But only as a human subject –
Since subjects are the only type of human beings
Free enough to make a decision to physically die
In order to spiritually live.

If Jesus knew he was going to be resurrected
Wouldn’t his “death” have been pointless –
Since such “risen life” would have undermined
The meaning of his actual death –
The gift he had decided upon.

Jesus “became” God upon achieving the freedom to die for God
As well as for the rest of us –
So his gift would become available for future generations
By his spirit becoming generally available –
And God’s Kingdom, by that reason, starting to achieve reality here on earth
Among all people.

What a gift – that real death!

PLENTY OF ROOM FOR ONE ANOTHER

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What a year!

Who could have foreseen more than half a million Americans dead of covid
Guided into an epidemiological swamp by the first American fascist President –
Also, who could have imagined white police officers
Snuffing out innocent black folk like mosquitoes on the porch.

Never would I have believed nearly a third of American hearts
Could grow as hard as granite –
With minds, however, at the same time, warped and wavy as silly putty.

Where are our nation’s best virtues found today – religious, political, and moral –
Or, have we just degenerated, at base, into a retro-Evangelical/Capitalistic world
Charged up by thrashing male patriarchalism
That’s growing increasingly violent –
Before drifting off to expire, one day, in abandoned and sad solitude?

Isn’t that why we need a fresh flood of femininity into society
Brought about by large numbers of enlightened women and mothers
Able to enjoy their beauty without any accompanying objectification.

So, when the world starts becoming more natural through its “second birth” –
That is, when every person can achieve their “true self” –
(As a single brilliant “dot” in an infinite human fresco) –
There’ll arrive a “new world” of joyous young people –
Free and mature –

Who’ll be careful to leave plenty of room for one another.

GREAT GOOD GLADNESS

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As I get older, the world appears to be getting worse –
But this is a mistake
Because things are actually getting better
The younger you are.

The young can’t remember anything they haven’t yet experienced –
So, to the young, now is always now,
The sun’s usually out,
And they’re certain love is on the way.

The young cherish clutter and rubbish –
Because it gives them plenty of “stuff” to clear away
When, eventually, they go out to make the world a better place.

There’re far fewer tragedies in the world of the young
Because everything is constantly getting better –
The Beatles knew this – singing: “Here comes the sun!”

The young are fresh, original,
With perfect skin and glistening eyes –
So they don’t need to pay attention to shadows
In their elders’ eyes.

Perhaps we got it all wrong –
That God was never an “old man”
Sitting on an emerald throne – dispensing iron justice –
But, always, simply, a beautiful child
Radiating life and joy
And, in general, great good gladness.

TIME PUSHES THROUGH THE BODY LIKE A BABY

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God isn’t found in any scientific theory
Because God’s alive in hearts – not unraveled in the mind.

God lives totally in, and actually is, the Spirit
And won’t be uncovered by computer algorithms.

God is simply a dance.

Also, God is Beauty, as to the presence of which
There’s simply nothing more to say.

God hums and we start humming along with her
So, when we picture any external threats,
We understand they’re going to  be met by the drawn sword
Of a gentle young girl.

God arrives right before the “second birth” of every human being –
First there is raw attraction,
Then, an amiable and patient waiting,
Consummated by intense pleasure/pain
Opening up one’s body, soul, and spirit
As God bursts through the doors of our being.

It’s unceasing, this pounding on the doors of life,
When time pushes through the body like a baby –
Or even the birth of God herself!

IT’S THE LIFE IN THE EYE THAT COUNTS

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Where is beauty?

In a passing person’s face
Especially her eyes –   

Sparkling!

It’s the life in the eye that counts
Whether love, joy, or ecstasy –
The look that sees you as the center of the universe –
And as a manifestation of God –
You remember that passing-by look
For the rest of your life.

Tragedy, on the other hand, is when an actor isn’t aware he’s acting
Doesn’t know he’s in a play
And follows a script without the sense that he’s reading one.

He hears a smattering of applause, starts to bow –
And then
And then –

Wakes up.

THE MIND BUILDS ROADS

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The mind builds roads
That go both somewhere and nowhere –
Also, the mind likes to place stone blocks in strict order
So people know where to sit.

On the other hand, the heart flies –
The heart is the sky –
And knowing God,
Has nothing to fear.

Philosophers cherish their large paper collections
While churlishly competing for second place –
The cheering stops as soon as they start wearing
Learning like brass and silver medals
Covering proud European chests.

It’s true that God actually hates theology
And dismisses, out of hand, the latest philosophical trends –
Instead, God prefers to dance –
Before eventually changing into a fountain of joy.

Today, I take my little whisk broom
And brush away dust
From the books in my library –
But, the best thing of all,
Is the expansive green space outside medieval windows
Where the lawn is held close within surrounding stone walls
Like a green heart deep inside ancient wisdom.

A LITTLE MORE JUSTICE

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The point wasn’t Jesus being a child of God –
The point was that all of us are required
To turn the world into Heaven –
And for God to appear in everyone
In order to preserve human joy from fading away.

Of course, there had to be a first –
And that was Jesus – standing on a towering mountain of Jewish Spirit –
When, not long afterwards, the rest of us decided to move over
To keep Jesus and God company.

It’s like rain – one drop doesn’t make it –
Nor does a single kiss, by itself, make a baby.

God started out with absolutely nothing
But has been working diligently for over 13.8 billion years
To become you –
Yet, obviously, there’s still a long way to go.

Children are playing outside
There’s a lot of new construction going on nearby
Bells are tolling
Celebrating a new election –
In a country where every citizen can be free and prosperous –

All it takes is a little more justice.

GOD CREATING GOD

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Each of our lives is a part
Of the lengthy process of the universe
Gradually waking up and becoming aware of itself.
                                           Thomas Nagel

God is a rabbit in a hat
As well as the magician who owns both rabbit and hat
Along with an audience raptly watching.

When the lights go down
God appears
Pulling himself out of himself –
Even God is surprised
At what he’s been able to accomplish.

God, hat, and rabbit –
Are monistic –
Since through Spinoza’s eyes they’re identical
Along with the audience
Cheering or groaning
Depending upon where they sit.

God, when empty, became lonely for himself –
So sparked an inorganic universe
Of whirling, expanding particles
Bursting into existence –
Which eventually changed from original black/grey to “all” colors
On its way to organic life –
And then changed again upon achieving consciousness –
Where, finally, God was able to kiss God
On the lips
Then, God changed one last time
Creating cognitive human spirit –
Where, at its peak, Jesus came to life, beyond any colors
Up on a mountain, transfigured, face shining like the sun –
Garments “white as light.”

WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED!

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“You must die before you die.”
                                    Rumi

It’s a race against time –
Like a river filling up,
Drowning you, and then leaving you behind.

We begin life swimming upstream –
Towards birth, towards an unfolding life, and, then, towards death –
Which comes like a wave –
Or an unfinished song.

There is physical life
And spiritual life –
But they don’t start at the same time
Or travel in the same direction.

The physical life starts out strong but over time winds down
Spiritual life may also get old quickly –
However, “dying” to discover the next life
Sometimes can be useful –
Getting born a second time before dying the first time –
Entering a spiritual world –
Eyes wide open –
Prepared for a birth into love and joy.

Life is such a surprise –
So unexpected –

Who would have guessed!