Archive for the ‘spiritual practice’ Category

Holding Beloved Community – part 2

Posted on: February 20th, 2012 by Thorn 35 Comments

This morning, as I checked comments on yesterday’s blog post, one thoughtful commentator inquired as to how one could say that another was “in error” when one was not part of that person’s tradition. I left the following response, and realize now that my real “error” in first announcing that I would sit in silence last night was that I may not have been clear enough in my intentions. My hope is that this reply to my interlocutor will help to clarify, and further the discussion. If you have not read part 1 of this post, I request that you do so. Blessings, love, and respect.

What I feel is “in error” is not the holding of a Dianic ritual for cis-women only. It is not that this ritual occurred at Pantheacon. It was that — after the events, pain, and discussions of the last year, with so many of us doing our level best to learn from one another — we had this ritual led by a public figure who has made hateful comments which she had not retracted, or even apologized for. That this was her only offering to the Pantheacon gathering this year made it feel like even more of a slap in the face to me.

True pluralism is not simple tolerance. Pluralism requires us to make honest attempts to listen to each other and learn from one another, especially in the midst of strong disagreement. We cannot form a healthy, viable community if we only ever agree, or if we only ever say “you do your thing, I will do mine, and mostly we will ignore each other in the name of mutual tolerance.”

If we want to work toward love and justice, we must hold each other accountable sometimes and say, “This cannot stand.” Sitting in silent meditation last night was the best way I could think of to peacefully and respectfully say that, despite Z’s potent contributions to the community, the hate speech has gone on for too long.

Last night, I heard the pain and confusion in Z’s voice as she attempted – and failed – to get through her prepared statement to those gathered. I can be with her in that pain and still want to hold her accountable for words and actions. Public figures, by our sheer weight of influence, hold an even greater responsibility to do our level best to keep the Beloved Community in mind. Z’s influence, as we know, is large. This is not, therefore, only about privately held views and personal religious rites. This is about public discourse.

Pluralism requires open discourse, helped along, when possible, by private conversations. It is up to all of us to steer this process, contributing as best we can. 

Last night, instead of speaking, I sat in the public square, as it were. Eighty nine others – of mixed genders and sexual preferences – sat as well. We sat in silence, and we prayed. Some also wept. 

Love Builds a Bridge with Courage

Posted on: February 13th, 2012 by Thorn 7 Comments

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My heart feels pensive. If the heart can think, then today, mine is preoccupied. Not quite sad, though tinged with sadness, but moving between heaviness and lightness, between sorrow and deep joy, between optimism and unknowing.

Thousands of Americans are living in tent cities right now as homes stand empty. 47 million live below the poverty line. People repeatedly ask the Occupy movement what its demands are. No one asks these other tent dwellers for their demands. They simply hope that they will fade into obscurity, and that the rest of us won’t share their fate. Few want to look poverty in the eye or shake its hand, fearing its contagion. This fear impoverishes us all.

Last Friday I went on retreat with the Interfaith Tent at Occupy Oakland. By the time I joined this group, they were tentless, because of tents, umbrellas, shelter canopies and altar objects being repeatedly taken away, as Occupiers are arrested, and icons, bells, and candles thrown into the trash. We built a small altar for the day together. I brought a picture of the Weld Angel, a situationist beauty from Tasmania, white gown and wings that rose high into the canopy of trees. I also brought the replica of an ancient statue of the Goddess Freya. Goddess of love, sensuality, and prosperity, she also rides a battle boar – sometimes said to be her human lover in disguise – and has first choice of those slain in battle, taking heroes to her hall. She herself is a hostage, having been traded, along with her brother, Freyr, to keep relative peace between the homes of Gods and Elves. As such, she builds a bridge between love and battle, and a bridge between otherwise warring realms. In her strength, she keeps the peace.

We can call upon her to help build bridges too. We can build a bridge between heart and mind. Between love and action. We can stand up for what we cherish. We can build bridges with and among each other, bridges of courage and love.

Greece is on fire. Nigerians live in poverty while their government thrives. Drones, long seen in Pakistani skies, are soon to fly over the U.S. Peaceful protestors are gassed and beaten. Children starve. Forests are decimated. Fish are gasping. Whales, confused.

Yet all is not bleak, says my heart. There is still art made, and songs are rising from our throats. Ravens call. Children chase each other. Flowers bloom. Kindness is offered and connection made. We can build bridges with and among one another. We are.

Some things tear us apart. Can we name them? Some things feel frightening. Can we call on courage, and look them in the eye? This is a time of tearing down and great rebuilding. What can we till, and plant, and sprout? What bricks can be laid, or tents raised in sunny fields?

What heroes can we be, to live for love, and ride this love to battle? Some things are just worth fighting for, with love. Least you think I speak of the violence of guns, molotov cocktails, or rocks, know that I do not. I speak of fighting with our hearts, our minds, our bodies. I speak of fighting with our art, our music, our poetry. I speak of fighting by standing, arms linked, against the powers that would suppress us. I speak of simply looking at a stranger, and saying “Hello.” Of offering help when we might otherwise walk away. I speak of learning that we are mutually obliged to love one another, because without this love, community falls apart, and then the world.

Where are you fighting petty skirmishes that can be lain down? What is the greater task you can pick up and work toward? Come together. Come to grace. Come to beauty. Come to love.

We can learn to take care of each other, governments be damned (or as we work, perhaps transformed). We shall govern ourselves, by daily choosing to ride love into the battle for what matters.

Will you? With me. Hold out one hand. And then the other. We encircle a world.

Loving Rain, Loving Self, Loving World

Posted on: February 7th, 2012 by Thorn 3 Comments

 

Today, I welcome rain falling to the sidewalks, plants, and streams. I wish for shelter for all in need.

As a Californian, who has often lived with drought, who sees the fights for water rights to green the lawns of desert, grow food in dry valleys, and dam great rivers for electrical power and to drink, I always welcome rain. As someone who has worked with the homeless population of San Francisco off and on for 20 years, I am ever aware of those who sleep outdoors, on scraps of cardboard, under makeshift shelters, or simply rolled in a blanket on concrete. Rain makes stark the needs of land and people.

There is injustice here, and issues too myriad to trace without years of thought and long conversations among friends. There is also a reflection of our place in things. What in our lives is both a blessing and bringer of discomfort? What do we desire that may cause pain? In interlocking, flowing systems each thing affects another. What is our relationship to this flow? How do we live and move in joy when we must eat? We find a way. We acknowledge that we must do our best to be in right relationship and that this will never look like perfect activity. There is no purity here in this gorgeous manifestation. There is only the ant, carrying a crumb back to the hill. There is only the child, born into love and strife. There is only the tree, growing proudly from polluted soil. There is only you, finding a way to live, today.

Let’s choose to live our best in every moment, as we can. Let’s free ourselves from punishment and shame.

Enjoy what you can, and work to heal the rest. Both are vital.

Exalted One! (a Prayer for Brigid)

Posted on: February 1st, 2012 by Thorn 3 Comments

A prayer for the Goddess Brigid, on this, Her day:

Exalted One!
You who kindle flames on every hill,
For you, we light the fires.

Exalted One!
You who give the thirsty ones to drink,
To you, we proffer water.

Exalted One!
You who shape the silver and the gold,
To you, we give adornment.

Exalted One!
You who inspire poetry and song,
To you, we sing.

Exalted One!
You who tend the birthing of the lambs,
For you, we give thanks!

Exalted One!
You who heal our bodies, minds, and souls,
For you, we dance!

We raise our cups of water, wine, and beer. In the light of glimmering candles, we feast, read poetry, and dance. We raise our voices, to praise your name: Brigid of the greening land, Brigid of the morning bright, Fiery Arrow, Protector, Blessed One! We offer thanks for all the gifts we now possess, and the gifts that are to come. Hail!

—-
This poem is part of the 7th Annual Brigid Online Poetry Festival.

The Divine Twins, Occupy, and Us

Posted on: January 29th, 2012 by Thorn 9 Comments


We love the Dark Twin so much. S/he is very dramatic, compelling, and causes our heart to race, whether in anger or desire. S/he pumps us into frenzies of emotion, clouds our thinking, takes us over.

We love the Bright Twin too. S/he is beautiful and sunny, filling us with thoughts of love. She paints the world in gorgeous colors, and causes spontaneous bursts of laughter or dancing.

But somehow s/he doesn’t hook us in quite the same way as that dark sibling.

This was evidenced on Saturday, as I met my compatriots from the Interfaith Tent at Occupy Oakland to support the group that wanted to utilize an abandoned building to build a community center, with a library, art space, and a food kitchen. The day was filled with sun, children with balloons and brightly colored signs, music, dancing, and smiles. The Bright Twin was there.

The City of Oakland had other ideas. I cannot claim to know them all, but the first polarization was already occurring in that the City claimed the Occupiers were set on vandalizing a building, and planned to stop them. Different viewpoints were in play before the day even began. The Divine Twins walked among us.

Hundreds of photos were taken – including my own, dozens of times – of the smiling faces, the music… the Bright Twin showing hir face. Not one of those photos made it into what we call “mainstream media”. Why? The Dark Twin can seem even more beautiful than hir brother/sister. Photos of smoke bombs, tear gas, flash grenades and things on fire capture our hearts in a way that smiling children just don’t seem to. There is an excitement about it that we don’t see every day. There is money in it.

But it isn’t just about the unusual and monetization. It is about ourselves. How many times have you sat around a table with friends, discussing theology, philosophy, politics, your community, or your kids? How many times has the conversation changed to one filled with complaining? In struggling toward a world we want to live in, it is common to focus on what feels irritating or troubling. It is also common for that to take over our thoughts and conversations. The allure of the Dark Twin catches us once again.

Least you think I malign the Dark Twin here, know I do not. Both twins are gifts from the seamless whole, each reflects a face of God Herself. Without them both, showing us varying facets of this dance of life, we would have a hard time learning and growing. We need the push and pull, the tears and laughter, the lust and love, the joy and anger. We require it all to become strong.

The Divine Twins rest within each of us, and they also walk among us. They are in the riot police. They are in the children, carrying balloons. The are in the diesel party bus and the stalwart walkers. We don’t honor them enough. If we honored them more clearly, we could recognize their faces, and not begin to demonize that which we think we know. We don’t know, because we fail to see the reflections of our own faces, right in front of us.

So, at the end of a bright and beautiful day, what is left? Images of fire, and smoke, and conflict. What will I remember most? That in the midst of that, were people singing.

I am writing about life, of course, but also want to caution us to read any news with a critical gaze. Ask yourself: “How are they trying to hook in my emotions? What are they not reporting? What skews their view and manipulates mine?”

This happens all the time. I saw it on Saturday in Oakland, and I saw it last Friday in San Francisco, where every few blocks was another street party, more music and color. I saw two large bank headquarters shut down for a whole business day. I saw interfaith leaders coming together. I saw dancing and laughter. I saw courts occupied and people educated at corporations. What was reported by mainstream news? That the day was a failure and ended with broken windows and a stand off between police and protestors after dark.

The Dark Twin wins many battles in the contest for our minds and hearts. The Bright Twin has just as much strength, and is present every day, all around us. Which do we notice more? Which do we preference? Can we hold them both, within ourselves, in love?

“We are unstoppable. Another world is possible!” All it takes is love, and time.

—-
Middle photo by Stephen Lam of Reuters. Other two from my camera

EDIT with Important Update:
My post was written from a spiritual/philosophical viewpoint. Below is a really good recounting of the day from someone who was there from start to finish. I was at the march from the beginning, through the convention center and street “battle” near the Oakland Museum and left right before the marchers reconvened at the Plaza. I can attest to the truth of this report up until the night marches – which I only followed on livestream. The description of the night marches sounds accurate to me also, from what I saw on livestream and from reports from Interfaith compatriots who were caught up in the arrests. If you want more information on the activity of Saturday, please read Boogie Man’s account.

And here is a non-mainstream account of Friday’s festival in SF.

Two other notes: I was teaching all day Sunday/today so did not make it to the Plaza, but heard that the Bright Twin arrived in the guise of a large contingent of ministers from a local African American church who came to show solidarity and bless Occupy Oakland. Also, one of my interfaith compatriots spoke at the gathering. She was thrown to the ground by an officer who ground her head into the sidewalk, leaving a large red welt. Her offense? While in the kettle, she asked him what he was doing. One of our interfaith group was not yet released from jail as of this writing.

May we work with love and peace, for justice.

Choice Abounds (with Love)

Posted on: January 26th, 2012 by Thorn 2 Comments

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Anxious? Find what you love.
Ecstatic? Find what you love.
Sorrowing? Find what you love.
Angry? Find what you love.
Hopeful? Find what you love.
Despondent? Find what you love.
Determined? Find what you love.
Peaceful? Find what you love.
Complacent? Find what you love.
Joyous? Find what you love.
Dying?  Find what you love.
Alive?  Find what you love.
 

(Inhale… Exhale… Open.)

Don’t Give Up

Posted on: January 23rd, 2012 by Thorn 10 Comments

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Let your soul rise to meet your life. Let body, emotions, and mind shift toward this matrix of union. You can be whole, and reflect a more clearly ordered world. You can weave the chaos into light. When you choose to be continuous, you choose to change the world. You choose freedom over complacency. You choose revolution over comfort. You choose to shine instead of hide. You choose to polish the places where grit has accrued, and learn something in the pain and joy of polishing. You are gorgeous and complete. Let your pain and suffering become places where the waters meet the shore. Things live in that liminal space that live nowhere else on earth. Let these things grow. The context for your life is the cosmos. The iron in your blood comes from the stars. Stop thinking small, unless you think of atoms. Dive toward that sort of smallness, ever multiplying, so small it becomes vast. The small view that causes us to forget both stars and atoms is a smallness we can no longer afford. We are simple: part of Hir body. We are human. We are those who know and those who perform tasks. Angels and demons, animals and Gods. We are everything, if we allow ourselves to be. Look inside, and look around. Can you gaze on self and other with eyes now cleansed by love? This is how we heal, repair, and grow: we allow that which has been ruptured to come home. Home is everywhere.