To believe the opposite requires believing that there is a depth which Grace does not reach.

It is a denial of the reach of Love.

We are both darkness and light, divine and flawed, transcendent and momentary.

Above all we are Loved.

And Love looked at us as a lump of clay and said, “Be.”

Love looked at us from a Roman torture tower and said, “Be.”

At every moment Love calls to us, “Be.”

No matter how far or deep we go, there is Love saying, “Be.”

It is enough.

The work was finished when it began.

The work was finished on a dark Friday and a bright Sunday.

The work was finished when we were formed and drew breath.

There is no work left, but to obey the voice of Love.

Be.

peace

Did they fail as a student?  Or did I feel as their teacher, leader, mentor, friend, and guide?

Me.

It is plain, simple, obvious, and inescapable.   When they are placed under my care wanting to learn and I do not teach, I have failed them.  If they do not care, are already defeated as a child, are afraid to risk new challenge and growth and I do not re-inspire them, I fail to live out my calling.  They are required to show up bringing who they are.  I am there representing the God of all power and love and it is my responsibility to love courage and strength back into the reluctant, to design experiences that teach what they are to learn, and to offer opportunities to demonstrate mastery of knowledge which fit the learner and the content of the lessons.  I stand before the throne bathed in mercy and seek new wisdom for the next round, the next students, the next subject.  But, I stand before God knowing each one is entrusted to my care for a season and that God cares very much about seeing the best happen for the “least” of them.

But, I do not see it happening in church.

I have seen us use people up, chew them to pieces, cast them aside and expect them to be grateful for the experience.  If years of sitting under sermons, lessons and trainings leaves people unchanged, deemed unworthy of service, or unfazed at our holiness and spiritual guidance, then the failure must be theirs.  They have sin in their lives, unrepentant lifestyles, spiritual barriers, or defiant hearts.  Heaven forbid they should have the nerve to become ill and fail to respond to our faith filled prayers for healing!  God forbid that should tell the truth that they are seeking something deeper than we ourselves know, have pains we do not even want to hear of, or are open enough to consider Truth beyond our walls.  We have the Truth, the power, and the saving doctrine.  And it is; well to be Biblical, it is a pile of dung — stinking, rotten, nauseating dung.

I watch a supposed pastor have people under their leadership, training, and care for years with true hearts of love and service to God, and at the end of it hear only belittling and dismissive words from this supposed shepherd, and I want to vomit.  I have no softer words.  I am no longer capable of pleasantries in the presence of it.  The situation that prompted this purging, the neglect of a departing servant was only reported to me, I was not involved, it had nothing to do with me.  But I know the territory, the pain, and the damage and I want to go as postal as an Old Testament prophet or Jesus of Nazareth with a whip.  It is wrong.

I cannot participate in a system that allows the pampered stateside worker with the decorated air conditioned office to oversee a budget of 6 or 7 figures while requiring field workers to raise their own salaries, refuse to train those who deeply desire to serve God, act in belittling and dismissive ways towards those of his own flock who are going to serve while praising his self chosen few.  I cannot participate in a place that claims to represent the God of all love and treats people in ways which deny them both just treatment and the power to speak the truth about themselves, their treatment at the hands of the organization, and the real personal and spiritual damage that has been done to them.  I cannot give material or spiritual support to an organization which cannot separate the Sustainer of the universe from their own cultural gods of business, power, politics, and warfare.

I am the failed student.  No, make that the expelled student! I understand them.  I honor their honest fury.  I can no longer even entertain the idea of behaving as if you make sense while you heap dung on the heads of those who seek the Lord.

If a student of mine ever left with those words, I would be before the throne dissolved before my Lord and King.  I would kneel before the Presence knowing I had failed in my responsibilities and use of my gifts.  I would beg for the courage to go on, to seek healing, to renew the one I failed.  If anyone from my old church reads this they will shrug me off as a sore-headed, self centered, ungovernable maverick with questionable theology.

Go with your gods then.

I go with mine and I am content.

And I pray for you if the day ever comes that you see beyond your ego into the eyes of the One who made, loves, and follows after every one you have failed to love and nurture.  Keep worshiping yourselves. I tried to come back to be with dear friends in the membership and on the staff.

I can grant you your humanity as I expect you to admit mine.

But, I cannot sit silently in the presence of the hubris that allows you to dare to speak your opinions, ideas, and prejudices as the will and Word of God.  If I am present, I will have to rebuke you.  If I thought there was a shred of a chance of being heard, I would risk your anger and your wounds for the sake of both our souls.  But, I see no ears that hear and I will not sow discord in the body even if the body is cancer riddled and abusive.  I leave you to it.  May God have mercy on our souls.

peace,

really; through all my disappointment, human frailty and disgust, I send you peace.

Just stay away from me.

I have reached a point where going, gone, or in residence; I am home.

Doing, undoing, or resting; I am.

At my core, I find,

me,

you,

them,

earth,

God,

deliciously whispering,

“I am.”

We are together in that I.

Blissfully, gratefully, lovingly home.

Now here,

no longer pining for no where.

Life came from chaos,

already home.

Life east of Eden,

has only felt alone.

Blinded by chaos and stress,

home is still with us.

When we’re gone from here,

we will still be,

Home.

I see through the veil translucent,

the nature of me,

the nature of God,

the nature of you.

See our divine mud,

spirits who wear flesh,

flesh that manifests spirit,

flesh that rejoices in the gifts of flesh,

at home in spirit,

at home in flesh,

We never fell from grace!

Grace reaches every pit.

Although we fear, deny,  lie, and hide.

Grace

has never

left us.

As close as breath,

as present as light,

as gentle as touch,

our only existence,

if we can see what can’t be seen,

know what cannot be taught,

love like universal power bleeding life,

love beyond __________________

words cease,

peace,

peace

If we really encounter the Universal in our own core, then all turning away — from anybody or any part of creation — must be a denial of ourselves.  If everything that is – exists from, in, through, and for God; then who or what is excluded from that central part of me where I find God?  And if everything exists from, in, through, and for God then doesn’t that same core already exist in all of God’s creatures?  Maybe we are most hellish when we try to act as if we can deny our own core.  We claim in misery not to know it rests there both in our own center and in the “other.”  How wonderfully the world sings when we recognize that common core in love and gratitude!

Again this week contacted  friends far away because they were on our minds and found that we were already on theirs as well.  Time and space shrink in significance in the world of the common Spirit.  How can I despise anyone or anything having become aware that its source, core, and destiny is the same as mine; knowing that the other also exists deep within me as I do in the other?  Analogies fail — human love, universes in atoms while made of atoms, light within light, “the inside of the stable is larger,” words hint, point, struggle to speak and fall short.  I do not have to know what happens someday in someplace.  I know unity of being all time and all places sitting still today in this place.

But, it is not some silly bliss.  The very real tears of a child who does not understand are my own tears.  The confusion of a special needs friend riding around on a hot bus because nobody is there at the bus stop, is my own confusion.  The isolation of the child who asks why do they keep saying I look Chinese is my isolation as well.  The world through divine eyes is at every moment over the capacity of both human laughter and tears.  Emotions are too small to contain or express it.  But felt, owned, and shared they become part of the wholeness today offers.

Heaven doesn’t look like I thought it would at this point in my life.  (The flannel pictures showed more hair!)  But, I am learning to recognize you, and me.  We see each other through dark glasses on the surface.  But in the brilliant inner light we encounter the fullness of we, divinity covered in mud, creatures containing creator, mutual expressions of transforming love in many disguises but all part of One.

There just are not words, the medium of speech leaves me sitting at a crumbling tower of long ago.  But, if you see me looking strangely follow my gaze along the beam to the beauty of your heaven filled self.

peace

When the covenant is made with Abraham, (even tough often applied to one half or the other of his descendants to the exclusion of all others), the narrative indicates that the blessing was already intended to be for all people.  The slaves in Egypt (the first of many Empires condemned for exploiting the other) cry out and are heard by God, rescued, blessed, and told again to welcome and bless all people.  Solomon built a great temple and dedicated it to the purpose of blessing all people with the knowledge of God.  Having reverted to Empire themselves, they fall and are carried of into exile where the new prophets, and recorders of much of what we call the Bible, emerge.  This time the prophecies are so obviously intended for all creation that gentile (non-Jewish, pagan, “other”) Christians have never doubted these beautiful passages apply to themselves.

(Sadly many chose a broken logic which said the promises no longer belonged to Israel, to whom they were spoken, or the rest of the world as is obvious in the passages.)

Jesus came and declared that God was in our midst, that we would now worship not in one place or another but everywhere in Spirit and in Truth.  And he directed his followers to take the news to the ends of the Earth.  Then John wrote a letter of amazing symbols, images, and poetry to some of the early churches (which many again stole and found a broken logic to apply only to themselves on some magic future day) declaring that after the times of suffering would come a world predicted by the prophets where all the people of the earth worship God in song completing the order intended since creation…

The term for a person who belongs to all people is Adam, human, Jesus.  The term for a person learning to follow this Way from Jesus is disciple.  It has always been intended as the Way for all — to walk humbly upon the Earth loving justice and helping the helpless.  It is what “human” should mean.

But we have twisted the narrative, cut and pasted the passages, stolen the heritage of others and applied them as solely our own.  In my own country we still cling to our pride of Empire claiming like the Romans that we bring peace to the world by conquest.  At times each street corner church seems to believe the descriptions of man in right relationship with God will come true in a special way for only those exactly like themselves.

And, my own country led the way in developing the capacity to destroy the world at one unspeakable command.  Now, we see that our excessive consumption and overuse of the ancient substances from deep within the Earth threatens to bring about nearly the same result more slowly and painfully.  And we, with hubris beyond any the world has yet seen, declare that we do not care as long as we can defend our borders, take other’s resources, and live our lifestyle as long as possible.  We choose ignorance of the facts as our claim of innocence while continuing to make war when and where we choose through both our military and our dollars.  But the fruit was eaten long ago and we are neither ignorant nor innocent.  We have placed all creation in peril by intentional acts of the will.

And still!!  There is a Spirit moving upon the face of the deep!  The voice of the oppressed is always heard and the time for revelation of Truth draws near.  People across the globe, many of them young, are waking up to the joy of each other, to a Spirit larger than their family, houses of worship, cultures or nations.  They are spreading the hope, truth, and love like fire.

Many of us have experienced the joy sung by the prophets in worship with those of other places, colors, and languages.  Join together with global friends in worship of the One beyond all the mind can comprehend and realize that difference makes no difference as voices raise in orchestral harmony, and you are forever changed.

We are outnumbered.

But, we are aligned with the power that holds the universe together.  It is time to unify with each other to pray, to hope, to sing, to dance until the walls again tremble and fall and people are free to be

HUMAN.

peace

• Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
• American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community attachment.
• Asian: A person having origins in any of original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
• White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

For starters what are origins?  Does it require more than one family member?  How long in the past are they allowed to be?  And what do “maintains cultural identification,” and “community attachment” mean?  I think these definitions leave the meaning and the choice up to the person who fills out the form and give no verifiable information about our make up.

I want to propose a mindful experiment.  Let’s explore our origins.  Scientists now tell us that humans emerged from the rift valley of Africa, that could qualify us all as black.  So could the Biblical narrative which is generally understood to include Ethiopia within the boundaries of Eden.  More likely the Bible would be used by most to claim we all emerged from the Middle East.  By these definitions, that would make us all qualify as white.  But, then anthropologists tell us that the tribes of Europe and the Americas traveled from Asia, so all of us with European or Native American ancestry could identify ourselves as Asian.  And finally authors like Michener have eloquently described, and the genome project has scientifically recorded how most of us are of very mixed origins.

Which brings me to our time using myself as an example.  I know that I have Scot-Irish and German ancestors, but have no idea how many generations ago they lived or who they were.  One grandfather always claimed that we were American Indians, but nobody in the family has been able to find evidence to back up the claim.

I also know that the Native Nations had stories of emerging from the ground of this continent.  And, I know scientifically that nearly every molecule of every member of my family for generations has been composed of the soil of North America.  How many generations does that have to be true before a human can claim to be a native of this land?

(If community attachment means living on the Rez and participating in the rituals, I do not have it.  If having my heart permanently stolen by the Lakota Nation and having a deep appreciation for the respect for Earth found among many Native Nations is community attachment then I do have it.  But, I am also very sensitive to the rip off of everything but identity from the Native Nations and I make no claim to their identity.  What I am saying here is leading to a claim of belonging to a new tribe.)

I believe that I am a wonderful combination of people groups by both genetics and culture and that my material body and my worldview are profoundly from this place.  I am an American.  If the government would give me that choice for my race and ethnicity, I would mark “American.”

For some I suppose that term would imply some sort of mythical racial and historical purity with some nativist and anti-immigrant or anti-multicultural perspective.  I do not agree with their views, but I think it is clear that they strongly identify themselves as Americans.

For me it would be a term celebrating my origins in a tribe that comes from every corner of the Earth bringing language, heritage, culture, story, music, and dance combining into persons with bodies composed of the stuff of this soil to make the complexity that is an American.

I contemplated whether there should be a box that just said human or global citizen.  I might be tempted to choose such a box having developed deep affection for Haiti, Africa and China after visiting and sharing small samples of their cultures.  But, I know my worldview, culture, and ethnicity are permanently marked by growing up in and of this place.  So, I believe the term American defines people like me.

I wonder if others would prefer to identify themselves simply as American rather than the old categories we use now?  Today, I asked a member of Congress to consider exploring whether our government would support giving us the option.  Would you take it?

peace

I do not believe the problem in American government is diversity of opinion.  I do not believe the problem is people who have opposite views to mine.  Our experiment with democracy has always included views and opinions that were in direct opposition to one another.  It should!  The diversity of honestly held beliefs about both aims and means helps us to avoid extremism from either side.  Getting the people’s work done only requires a few skilled persons who understand compromise as a means to achieve what is positive in both views.

But, now we have a party system where both sides seem to focus the vast majority of our elected officials time and effort on two nonproductive activities.  One is “getting yours.”  This does not have to be personal greed, but may be expressed in honest efforts to get governmental dollars spent in meaningful ways back in the home district.  This gets votes because people at home expect it as part of the job.  But, it has become the means of compromise.  Instead of working for action or inaction that is truly believed to be for the good of the country, we have a system of you vote for this and we will include these dollars for your district.  Conservatives love to point out how frivolous and wasteful too many of those projects are.  But, the truth is both sides of the aisle play the game for their voters and for their contributors.  It is wasteful beyond the dollars involved (and that is an unimaginable cost if it was the only problem!).  But, it does something worse.  It robs of us of honest debate and struggle to find real solutions to national problems.

The second method of working in government seems to be putting more emphasis on avoiding blame and manipulating situations to cast a negative light on the opposition than on identifying and solving real problems.  Politicians and campaign managers on both sides of the aisle have studied and practiced it to an art form.  They believe it works because you can win votes by placing the right spin on any incumbent’s record to cause people at home to choose change. It works because the national news media loves controversy that increases viewership and increases advertising dollars.

What it does not do is encourage working for common ground.  It does not encourage honest debate, even if heated.  It does not bring about solutions.  It does not encourage new government action where help is needed — nor does it help to reach new answers which include stopping government from doing things it should not be involved in while we all pay for it.  So it achieves no purposes of conservatives, liberals, progressives, or any other ideology.  It celebrates gridlock as long as the gridlock is blamed on somebody else.

Most dangerous of all these tactics have caused government to become more and more distant from the governed.  Conservatives may be pleased that huge new spending plans are hard to pass, but any amount spent on a huge governmental system which does not serve the people is too much.  Liberals may be pleased when they get spending on pet projects included as financial compromise, but spending this way does not accomplish their long term goals either.

What this system does is make some people quit caring at all.  Voting percentages have shown this for decades.  It is making others angrier everyday.  And the angriest, the ones already buying arms, have very radical agendas.  Our lawmakers and enforcers need to listen to what vocal people like the  Tea Party rank and file are saying while they are still using media and votes to communicate their message.  And they should listen to the underlying message, “We no longer believe ANY of you are building a better America with our tax dollars.”

As long as the response to that anger is positioning the other side to look the worst — with appeasement money for projects thrown in to buy votes and campaign dollars, our government is participating in bringing a storm I fear none of us will want to weather.

Here is to the Bayhs and Grahams of the world willing to try and bring back a government where very different views are strongly presented, both sides listened to, and meaningful compromise sought where ethically possible in order to build a stronger country.

Jesus never said the Way in life was to make sure everybody else looks worse than you.  While church and state are separated further and further each year, the vast majority of elected officials claim to be people of faith.  What would it look like if they practiced faith in action rather than party games?

peace