Christmas Thoughts, From Rumi and Me

Christ is the population of the world

and every object as well.  There is no room

for hypocrisy.  Why use bitter soup for healing

when sweet water is everywhere?

(Rumi)

and from me:

As Christmas ends,

here on the other side of 12 21 12,

make change in the world, dear friends,

by being the Jesus in yourselves. . . 

wishing you a blessed holiday,

every single day.

And again, from Rumi:

Lovers think they're looking for each other,

but there's only one search: wandering 

this world is wandering that, both inside one

transparent sky.  In here

there is no dogma and no heresy.

The miracle of Jesus is himself, not what he said or did

about the future.  Forget the future.

I'd worship someone who could do that.

On the way you may want to look back, or not,

but if you can say There's nothing ahead,

there will be nothing there.

Stretch your arms and take hold the cloth of your clothes

with both hands.  The cure for pain is in the pain.

Good and bad are mixed.  If you don't have both,

you don't belong with us.

When one of us gets lost, is not here, he must be inside us.

There's no place like that anywhere in the world.

(Rumi - both translated by Coleman Barks)

(both photos taken at Cheestnut Ridge Park, 

in Orchard Park, New York)

True Communion

( from: Food52 )

There are words we pass

To pass the time

And words of civility,

And words, like coins,

That fill that rhyme,

And too many of acrimony.

These words we spend

Without a thought,

Disregarding the ceremony

That occurs each time

We pass a word,

Like bread,

From mouth to mouth.

There is a wordspring,

Deep inside, where

Language lingers,

Brooding,

Aching to bond the hearts and minds

Of each sad, solitary human.

So we must treat the sharing of words,

As it should be, as

Communion,

Because in sharing words,

Like bread,

We find immortal union.

(From: Chopra )

bushels

via texasbasket

. . . and Jesus said, lest you be dead

don't hide your light under

bushels.

That bushel, friend, is the skin

you're in:

the woven textured artifice

often

mistaken

for who we are meant to be.

The light, dear friend, grows dim each time 

you deny its luminosity.

It guides yourself

to your

Self,

It is the christ within.

As long as you resign your Self to pine

away in the vehicle given

for living and doing on

the earth,

you are destined to

die,

and live and

die,

and live and 

die

again and again.

via artnet

the work of Artist Shoichiro Matsuoka, found at createyourcosmos

Meditate.

Dive in.

Have no fear,

when you let your light shine,

the body, too, 

will follow,

magnificently

Also with gratitude to createyourcosmos - a fabulous blog! and the artists Daniel Franke and Cedric Kiefer 

Peaceful Christmas Wishes To The World, from Makropoulos

Whether you believe the story or not,

the sentiment of it is important:

Peace on Earth,

Good Will To All --

on this Christmas,

during this tumultuous time,

may we all find the Jesus within us all.

As I've said so many times before,

if only we could all do that,

Jesus would come

again, 

or truly,

for the first time.

You, Me, and Junot Diaz

steinski

Just in case you're wondering where the heck

I've been, 

well,

my response is:

when a woman is my age, she should be allowed some lapses --

I get lost--

in thought,

in dreams,

in space,

whatever,

where-ever --

and then the rest is silence.

This is not to say my heart isn't beating.

I hope yours is, too.

2.

Well, tonight I read an article that made my heart skip a beat,

in the UTNE Reader.

Now, seriously, folks, 

I haven't looked at an UTNE Reader

in a couple of decades,

but there it was, and I started reading --

and found this article:

Dispatches From the Apocalypse

(by Junot Diaz)

In this provocative article, Diaz contemplates how the catastrophe in Haiti

embodies Apocalypse,

indeed, it is Apocalypse

for the people of Haiti.

At the same time, 

it - and all other disasters -

reveals the true Haiti --

"Apocalyptic catastrophes don't just raze cities and drown coastlines;

these events, in journalist David Brooks' words,

'wash away the surface of society, the settled way things

have been done.  They expose

the underlying power structures,

the injustices, the patterns

of corruption and the unacknowledged inequalities."  And,

equally, they allow us insight into the conditions

that led to the catastrophe, whether we are talking about Haiti

or Japan."  (Diaz)

He proceeds to discuss how these disasters help us see first

the "true face" of a country:

as Katrina exposed "America's third world,"

Haiti exposes "the third world's third world.'

In many instances, these Apocalyptic disasters reveal

the way that humanity has defaced 

the planet, and in so doing, made it more vulnerable,

and susceptible

to disaster.  

The problem is,

according to Diaz,

that we just won't see the writing on the wall,

or on the planet --

I urge you to read this article.  I feel

uncomfortable summarizing and quoting it all.

Suffice it to say I agree with Diaz when he says:

"After all, apocalypses like the Haitian earthquake

are not only catastrophes; they are also opportunities;

chances for us to see ourselves, to take responsibility for what we see, 

to change."

Recently, we have been receiving our fill of

mini apocalypses,

disasters that have left thousands,

even millions,

of people dead, and entire regions

decimated.

They stay for a day or two in the news,

then fade away from public attention.

But this does not mean they fade away

in real time and space --

locally, in Haiti and in Japan and elsewhere

the dead are still dead,

the dying still dying,

the destroyed still rubble,

etc. etc etc..

As apocalypses propagate, 

the true apocalypse

may be just around the bend,

and when it does,

the potential for salvation

and second coming,

ends up lying soully

and solely

in us and us alone.

I sing along with Diaz when he says:

"One day something terrible will happen,

and for once we will heed the ruins.

We will begin collectively to take

responsibility for the world we're creating.

Call me foolishly utopian,

but I sincerely believe

this will happen. 

I do.

I just wonder how many millions of people will perish

before it does."

Chalice

( gath )

If the body is a chalice

and the breath we breath

produces

the bloody wine

that fills it --

we are each 

              potential Jesus

the living bread.

Fear not,

             we

need not

          eat

each other

                   only BE

Jesus-like:

act as 

Jesus would act

if he were suddenly beamed to Earth

in nearly 2012

Everybody:

Be

the living sacrament, and then

No One

will be required to be

a sacrifice

again.

( beautifulflowerpictures )

Dvinity and the Diva in You

aspireauctions

Divinity is the 

                                  imperfection of God;

but it is still the

                              perfection of man.

(Hazrat Inayat Khan The Unity of Religious Ideals, page 119)

Divinity, according to Hazrat Inayat Khan,

is "God personified"

Divinity is the physical manifestaion

of the divine idea

held within the mind

of every man and woman.

"Divinity is reduced God and enlarged man."

Divinity in this equation is

the intersection point,

the intermediary, 

between God and humanity.

Divinity is of God but it is not God.

layoutsparks

God is total

unutterable

all,

inconceivable

in words,

capable of conceiving us,

but we

are not capable of conceiving g-d.

The Divine is our route,

it is the nearest we can get

to conceiving the unknown and unknowable

g-d.

The Divine

is God Captive

in the Realm of Humans;

it is the seed planted and engendered there,

by the spark within each of us,

and when we open

our hearts

our mouths

our wombs

to produce our understanding of the 

divine,

we produce

divinity.

In reality, divinity is

the expansion of the human soul;

divinity is human nature

in God. . . . (Inayat Khan, p. 116)

umich/limitedforkatlas

Thus, there are as many deities as there are

perceptions of the divine.

And that is why

we should not,

we must not

chastise another,

              if her

              or his

divinity looks different from our own.

We are all responding to the same compulsion

to represent something sacred,

we who seek the divine are all listening

to the diva inside of us.

ourscience

Each human carries the seed

of divinity within --

Some religious authorities have tried to recognize the divinity

of Christ while ignoring the divinity of humanity.  They

have tried to make Christ different from what

may be called human; but by doing so they have not been able to keep

the flame alight, for they have covered the main truth that religion

had to give to the world, which was that divinity resides in humanity,

that divinity is the outcome of humanity, and that

humanity is the flower in the heart of which

divinity was born as a seed.

 (Inayat Khan p. 118)

-- I fear these words as much as I see the absolute sense in them.

I know some people may read them and immediately

leave this blog and never return.

That's the risk I take

when I write these nutty entries.

And yet, I write these words here, these words that indicate both

the absolute humanness of Jesus

(who was also divine)

and the potential divinity

of each human.

And it is true.

When Jesus said that the only way to salvation 

is through him,

he didn't mean to deify him,

he meant to work

through him,

through the metaphor he offers

in the script he provided.

It is important to note

right now

that Jesus never wrote down words.

He acted.

His script was one of deed;

it shows us how we all should

act and do if we intend

to embody the divine that dwells

in each of us.

Do not worship Jesus,

worship is a passive act.

Rather,

if you find his story to be a story

that fits your perception of divinity,

well, then,

imitate him,

walk in his shoes,

for the argument Jesus poses

is the most convincing argument

for the end of violence.

Notably,

(and I've said this a few times already)

in our current world

people who do take Jesus' words and actions

literally and live then literally

suffer one of two fates:

* we kill those people, perceiving them to be dangerous

* we chastise and alienate those people, condemning them as ignorant.

The time has come

it is now

to stop killing and chastising

the lovers of peace and truth;

the time has come

to join them.

I am not lying.

I never lie.

We have had our second chances.

The time is now.

My charge is clear; my message, simple:

if we could all just stop this bullshit

and find the divine within ourselves,

and embody that divine, then

without a doubt,

Jesus would come

Jesus would be here.

In that sense, one may call man

a miniature God, and 

it is the development of humanity

which culminates in divinity; thus

Christ is the example of the culmination of humanity

(Inayat-Khan, p. 119)

bobtowery

a star shines bright every night: a channelling

~

OK

it's been a little while since

ol' Makropoulos has done

one of her extended

arias,

so there may be some folks out there

who might prefer

to ignore this one;

I can go places right now

that the ordinary

parochial

mind may find

a little

                                                        out there.

I know that.

But my mind goes there.

And somewhere in my heart I know

there is an iota of truth

in what I write.

I am grateful for the readers

I have,

and I realize sometimes

one of my extended pieces

can be tiring.

Hell, they're tiring for me.

But here goes:

11//11/11 11:11

The more I think about it, it's the way to go.

Yes, wouldn't it be a dream if

on 11/11/11 at 11:11

everyone

decided, that for the next year

or so

that is, until

12/21 2012

when the Mayan Calendar ends,

we all just started being

nice

to each other?

~ * ~

I wrote that once,

and I'll write it down again.

11/11(2)11 11:11

Every morning I wake up to more news,

and it makes me think,

as I lie there in bed:

is it Armageddon yet?

I mean seriously folks,

how bad does it have to get

before we all stop trying

to destroy each other?

I mean seriously,

folks.

~ * ~

Because that's when Armageddon

\

will come.

At that moment when

we all

destroy each other.

Hell,

at the rate we're going,

we may do it

before  December 2012.

That's right.

We're doing such a damned good job of hating

each other

that we might just succeed

at wiping all of us out

before we even get to December

2012.

,

so

the great proposal

is this:

stop it, will ya?

As of 11:11(2)11 at 11:11

start being nice.

If you do that,

I'm telling ya'

Jesus will come

in the hearts of women and men

Jesus will come.

( colliedoscope )

At this point, let

me please insert a channeling I received

on the morning of February 16:

I wake up every morning and I ask myself:

is it Armageddon yet?

How will we know 

when it's here?

Will there be trumpets?

(            I say no

--

no trumpets.

)

Just a deafening silence

as the apparatus (this world)  produced

by men and women

to sustain themselves

                                                       flickers off.

(webecoist )

There may be screaming

-

a collective scream

-

of horror as we realize we

cannot turn it on 

again.

There may be, if we believe

that that is what we need 

to survive.

There may be looting, and

mugging, and murdering

as the disaffected and 

                         down-trodden

assert their form of justice

over the judges and the lawyers and the abusive

law enforcers.

There may be unspeakable horrors

as humans are left

                            in the darkness

to discover the darkness

they harbor 

in themselves.

There may be.

But may be

not. 

( somali )

What of Jesus?:

will he come again?

And how will we know,

will we learn by word-of-mouth

       

                          or radio

that somewhere in Bethlehem

in a stable 

was born to a virgin

( apod )

and a star shone bright?

And the relief will be great

because we will recognize Him.

But history shows

that Jesus does not come in the clothes

we expect him to wear.

No,

not at all.

That is the true test:

recognizing Jesus

where we least expect

Jesus

( picturesofJesus )

I'm fairly consistent

in my message

in this regard:

that yes, Jesus will come

if we let Jesus come

and the miracle again will be

\

the manner of Jesus' birth.

Jesus will be born,

to each of us, if we can conceive

of the notion that Jesus lingers

inside of each of us, that we are all Jesus

in disguise.

Jesus can and will come

and conquer the world

if everyone could be

Jesus,

if everyone dared to discard

their home and family

and a couple megolamaniac churches

and followed these teachings.

( apod )

I've said it before;

I'll say it again:

many would feel that

only an idiot -

a fool -

would follow the teachings of Jesus

literally.

I mean

literally.

Love one another?   (literally)

Don't judge one another?    (literally)

Do for the others as you 

would have them do

unto you?

(literally)

Turn the other cheek 

rather than

fight back?

(literally)

Only an idiot;

only a stupid Fool

would act that way

unabashedly and

sincerely

in the modern world made by men.

I know, because I've tried.

And I have learned I have to keep a wide

open 

eye

to the ones who feel

that those who love unselfishly

are here for them to use and abuse.

I fight back bitterness and keep looking for that place where I found

utterly forgiving 

love.

I won't give up on love;

it is the one thing that keeps us human

:

love, and laughter.

And I firmly believe

that to sustain humanity,

we must enact love

with a vengeance.

And if we try

we will see

that it's a very wise

Fool

who plays the card

of Love.

Merry Christmas

On this day, we celebrate

his birth --

He whom so many call

the Savior of the World

While making cookies

tonight, I listened

to all the same old songs,

sung by aging rock n' roll artists

again, and I thought about

the mystery they celebrate:

If you can get past

the flashing lights

and the department stores,

it is a baby they celebrate:

an innocent child,

and this holiday nearly

fetishizes

the purity and truth

and innocence

of a newborn child.

Our favorite songs

speak of glory and majesty arriving

with a tiny child

But the problem with babies,

and Jesus was no exception,

is

that they grow up.

Jesus continued to answer

questions

with the blatant, even brutal honesty

of a child.

Through the stories we tell of him,

the grown-up Jesus

  has become the embodiment

of being strong enough

to stand up for what 

is good and true.

And His Life is theembodiment of how

the world will squash that,

over & over again.

Those who say the truth,

do it at the risk

of their own lives.

( sonofthesouth )

Most humans live a life of lies

and anyone who challenges

them to be more honest

is more of a threat

than a savior.

In the world today,

you're best to kill the honest one

than you are

to follow him

or her.

 ( scienceblogs )

And so it was with Jesus:

the man who challenged us

to be true to ourselves

and to our neighbors.

The man who challenged us

to love

and forgive

all --

if we met Jesus on the street

could we tolerate

the honesty we'd confront

in the penetrating mirror

of his gaze?

Or would we kill him

again?

Over and over

again

would we kill him?

~~~

indeed, we do

( telegraph.co )

~~~

On this day, we celebrate

his birth --

He whom so many call

the Savior of the World

 

And yet

we keep killing Him

again and again

in the vicious circle

of human history.

(sciencenotes)

 Each year the celebration

of His birth comes around

and brings with it

the challenge

t truly live by His words

And we always abide by that challenge

for a week or two,

then return

materialistic lives,

poised to annihilate

or discredit

any Jesus

who dares to challenge us

( africawithin )

( smashinglists )

I've asked this before;

I'll ask it again --

because our time

is growing short:

why can't we truly 

listen and live

by the words of Jesus?

This Christmas,

why can't we

do it differently,

and truly put on his robe

and walk

His 

walk?