Kindred Spirits: Alice Walker

In her 1989 book The Temple of My Familiar author Alice Walker wrote The Gospel According to Shug.

Shug, to remind readers, is the flamboyant and loving jazz singer in Alice Walker’s 1983 novel The Color Purple that won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into the 1985 film and later stage production by the same name.

The Gospel According to Shug is written in similar form to the Christian Beatitudes found in the Gospel of Matthew that recounts Jesus’ teachings in The Sermon on the Mount promoting mercy, spirituality and compassion.

Though a non-Christian, I have always liked the Beatitudes because, paradoxically, in the Beatitudes groups of people who are typically thought to be unfortunate or disenfranchised are named as blessed.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

But then, roughly two thousand years later, the Beatitudes are colorfully renewed by Alice Walker here in The Gospel According to Shug.

Enjoy.

HELPED are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be constant.

HELPED are those who love the entire cosmos rather than their own tiny country, city, or farm, for to them will be shown the unbroken web of life and the meaning of infinity.

HELPED are those who live in quietness, knowing neither brand name nor fad; they shall live every day as if in eternity, and each moment shall be as full as it is long.

HELPED are those who love others un-split off from their faults; to them will be given clarity of vision.

HELPED are those who create anything at all, for they shall relive the thrill of their own conception, and realize a partnership in the creation of the Universe that keeps them responsible and cheerful.

HELPED are those who love the Earth, their mother, and who willingly suffer that she may not die; in their grief over her pain they will weep rivers of blood, and in their joy in her lively response to love, they will converse with the trees.

HELPED are those whose ever act is a prayer for harmony in the Universe, for they are the restorers of balance to our planet. To them will be given the insight that every good act done anywhere in the cosmos welcomes the life of an animal or a child.

HELPED are those who risk themselves for others' sakes; to them will be given increasing opportunities for ever greater risks. Theirs will be a vision of the word in which no one's gift is despised or lost.

HELPED are those who strive to give up their anger; their reward will be that in any confrontation their first thoughts will never be of violence or of war.

HELPED are those whose every act is a prayer for peace; on them depends the future of the world.

HELPED are those who forgive; their reward shall be forgiveness of every evil done to them. It will be in their power, therefore, to envision the new Earth.

HELPED are those who are shown the existence of the Creator's magic in the Universe; they shall experience delight and astonishment without ceasing.

HELPED are those who laugh with a pure heart; theirs will be the company of the jolly righteous.

HELPED are those who love all the colors of all the human beings, as they love all the colors of the animals and plants; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.

HELPED are those who love the lesbian, the gay, and the straight, as they love the sun, the moon, and the stars. None of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.

HELPED are those who love the broken and the whole; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves, shall be hidden from them.

HELPED are those who do not join mobs; theirs shall be the understanding that to attack in anger is to murder in confusion.

HELPED are those who find the courage to do at least one small thing each day to help the existence of another--plant, animal, river, or human being. They shall be joined by a multitude of the timid.

HELPED are those who lose their fear of death; theirs is the power to envision the future in a blade of grass.

HELPED are those who love and actively support the diversity of life; they shall be secure in their differences.

HELPED are those who KNOW.

Please pass Shug’s gospel along to anyone who may need her wisdom on this day.

Posttraumatic Growth, Jesus & the Lotus in a Spiritual Democracy

I read a news story this week that made me feel like I am actually now living in Margaret Atwood's famous novel, that was recently made into a television series, The Handmaid's Tale.

The title of the article on NPR.org was "Court Puts A Hold On Order That Approved Undocumented Teen's Abortion."

The article told the story of a 17 year-old girl who left her home country by herself to enter the United States without immigration papers, and she was in early pregnancy.

Now in a detention center in Brownsville, Texas, according to court records, the minor stated that the U.S. federal government "forced me to obtain counseling from a religiously affiliated crisis pregnancy center where I was forced to look at the sonogram."

And even though a Texas judge had already approved the 17 year-old girl's right to an abortion earlier in the week, the U.S. federal government stepped in with an appeal to stop it.

Hearing this extremely disturbing story left me feeling vulnerable to my own capacity for more cynicism and despair--which I believe are fruitless rabbit holes that help no one--rather than inspired to continue to persevere, and do my part, to push our little green and blue globe in the direction of a spiritual democracy.

This vulnerability of mine has led me to think a lot more about the potentiality of the scientific evidence for something called Posttraumatic Growth, and how it overlaps with ancient spiritual, religious, philosophical, and literary ideas like enlightenment, and maybe democracy too.

Researchers in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte define Posttraumatic Growth as a:

Positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with a major life crisis or a traumatic event.

And researchers in this area of study identify 5 areas for potential transformation:

1.) A sense that new opportunities have emerged from the struggle, opening up possibilities that were not present before.
2.) A closer relationships with some specific people, and they can also experience an increased sense of connection to others who suffer.
3.) An increased sense of one’s own strength – “if I lived through that, I can face anything”.
4.) A greater appreciation for life in general.
5.) A deepening of spiritual life, which can also involve a significant change in one’s belief system.

If you or anyone you love have ever had the misfortune to go through a traumatic event, then you know first-hand that the toxicity of the awful event can continue to live inside you long after the event is over and done with; it is like a residue that corrodes your insides.

Yet, almost by a miracle (except that it is far more often and more common than a miracle), for many, this traumatic event is actually converted through the alchemy of Posttraumatic Growth into life opportunities, connection, strength, and appreciation.

So, what does Posttraumatic Growth look like? Who are these people?

In the public sphere, they are the Maya Angelous's. The Nelson Mandela's. The Christopher Reeve's. The Michael J. Fox's. The Malala Yousafzai's. The Gabrielle Gifford's. The Viktor Frankl's. The Robin Robert's.

And in your own life they are the aunt, the friend, the coworker, or the neighbor who you just completely admire and stand in awe of by the way they not only not survived, but actually thrived after a traumatic event.

What's interesting too, is human beings have been doing this for millennia.

Just listen to the words of Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi's 13th century poem called "Childhood Friends."

...An empty mirror and your worst
destructive habits, when they are held
up to each other,
that's when the real making begins.
That's what art and crafting are.

A tailor needs a torn garment to
practice his expertise. The trunks of
trees must be cut and cut again
so they can be used for fine carpentry.

Your doctor must have a broken leg to
doctor. Your defects are the ways that
glory gets manifested. Whoever sees
clearly what's diseased in himself
begins to gallop on the Way.

There is nothing worse
than thinking you are well enough.
More than anything, self-complacency
blocks the workmanship.

Put your vileness up to a mirror and
weep. Get that self-satisfaction flowing
out of you! Satan thought, "I am better
than Adam," and that *better than* is
still strongly in us.

Your stream-water may look clean,
but there's unstirred matter on the
bottom. Your Sheikh can dig a side
channel that will drain that waste off.

Trust your wound to a Teacher's surgery.
Flies collect on a wound. They cover it,
those flies of your self-protecting
feelings, your love for what you think
is yours.

Let a teacher wave away the flies
and put a plaster on the wound.

Don't turn your head. Keep looking at
the bandaged place. That's where the
light enters you.
And don't believe for a moment
that you're healing yourself.

The timelessness of the wisdom of Posttraumatic Growth is even written on the UNC website where the Posttraumatic Growth Research is being made public:

The idea that human beings can be changed by their encounters with life challenges, sometimes in radically positive ways, is not new. The theme is present in ancient spiritual and religious traditions, literature, and philosophy.

Therefore to me, it is utterly fascinating to investigate all of the age-old spiritual metaphors and language that invoke several of these same 5 areas of transfiguration described by the more modern scientific research.

Take for example these words by Jesus Christ from The Gospel of Thomas:

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you  do not bring forth will destroy you.

Ever since I was introduced to these words, probably over 10 years ago now, they have taken on new, deeper meaning and resonance as I have thereafter lived through multiple events that very well could have altered my life in a very detrimental way.

And how about the lotus?

The lotus, or the Nelumbo nucifera, is a type of flower that is an aquatic perennial who's roots are planted in the floor of a pond or river bottom, while the flower floats on the surface of the water.

In Buddhism the lotus is a metaphor for the enlightenment, purity and beauty (the flower) that can be born of suffering and pain in the form of attachment and desire (the mud or the soil), and in both Buddhist and Hindu texts and images, the lotus flower is frequently presented as a symbol of this spiritual promise or opportunity that is available to us all (deities and humans alike).

I don't know about for you, but when I hear god-awful stories like the one in Texas with the Federal Government interfering in the personal healthcare decisions of a 17 year-old girl, I need the scientific ideas like Posttraumatic Growth, and the words like those in The Gospel of Thomas, and the images like those of the lotus in Buddhism to help me remember that this moment in history will not be in vain.

Because as much as Posttraumatic Growth and enlightenment are possible on the micro level of the individual, in a spiritual democracy, they are also possible on the macro level of community, nationhood and the earth itself.

In fact, if we as a people, including our future generations, are to not only survive but to thrive, I would argue, global Posttraumatic growth and enlightenment are actually a necessity.

In that way, we may be able to embody writer, Civil Rights Activist and feminist Audre Lorde's inspiring words:

That visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which is also the source of our greatest strength.

May it be so.

Spiritual Lessons From Nature Part IX: Mutuality

I never liked geese much growing up.

In my childhood, my dad kept a small group of them in the coop next to our hen house, and whenever I went down the small hill from our house to see if there were any chicken eggs to bring inside, the geese who lived just next door would scare me with their intimidatingly large bird bodies (I was a bit of a peanut) and brash, vulgar honks.

But this past summer, while on a 5-day silent meditation retreat, I learned a little bit more about geese that I found quite intriguing.

Though I can't remember now how the retreat teacher weaved this in, during one of their many dharma talks, they shared with us how geese engage in mutuality as a group in such a way that has an essence of interconnection, inclusivity and integrity.

For example, when geese fly together in a V formation, the formation itself allows each goose to gain additional lift and reduce air resistance for the goose flying behind it. Thereby, any goose who drops out of the V formation very quickly learns that flying alone requires more effort and energy to fly.

Also, geese rotate leadership positions. 

When the goose flying at the front of the V formation grows tired, it will move to the back of the formation where there is less air resistance.  This allows the tired goose to be carried in part by the larger group while its energy is depleted, and another goose will take the lead for a time.

But my favorite goose factoid of all, was this one...

When one goose drops out of formation because it has become ill or injured, two other geese will also leave the V formation to act as companions and protectors for the weakened goose. The two geese will remain with the incapacitated goose until it is able to fly again or it dies.

I have to say, ever since I learned these little golden nuggets about the interconnection, inclusivity and integrity of geese, I now can't look at them in quite the same way when they fly overhead my house.

It also has forever changed the way I read American poet Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese."

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Depending on where you live in the world, perhaps the next time you spot a group of birds flying in V formation (or any other), you may take a moment to acknowledge the elegance of nature's illustration of mutuality.

Paths to God

In the past year, I have seen this billboard all over the roadways of New England where I live,

and it has been driving me a little bit crazy.

The reason is simple.

As a human being (who happens to also identify as  Unitarian Universalist) living on a planet of over 7 billion people in a galaxy among hundreds of billions (possibly trillions) of galaxies, the belief that there is "only" one path to god is not at all congruent with my own beliefs and values.

Therefore, each time I caught a glimpse of this billboard on the side of the highway as I commuted to work on 91-South or on the drive to my in-laws house through the backroads of New England, I would have a pretty intense reaction to the words "Jesus...your only way to God."

(Oh, and if you didn't already guess, the reaction was anger.)

The reaction was so strong in fact, I actually began to form a whole defensive position in my head against them- the mythological narrow-minded, arrogant people I had concocted in my head who paid for that billboard.

(Oh, and yes, I got quite righteous and judgmental too!)

So first, I headed to my books to get more evidence to back up my position.  Because I was after all: right.

I started with the opening lines to the Introduction of a great 20th century contemplative D.T. Suzuki in his book Buddha of Infinite Light: The Teachings of Shin Buddhism, The Japanese Way of Wisdom and Compassion.

Buddhism speaks of 84,000 paths to supreme enlightenment. The number symbolizes the countless ways that can lead us to the world of liberation, freedom, and peace.

84,000 paths to supreme enlightenment.

See, I thought to myself in my most know-it-all fashion, how could someone possibly believe there is one way to god? 

And as I cemented my position (without one iota of irony just yet mind you) I kept going through my library until I got to Merton.

Thomas Merton, another famous 20th century contemplative who was a Christian monks and author wrote in New Seeds of Contemplation:

A 'faith' that merely confirms us in opinionatedness and self complacency may well be an expression of theological doubt. True faith is never merely a source of spiritual comfort.  It may indeed bring peace, but before it does so it must involve us in struggle. A 'faith' that avoids this struggle is really a temptation against true faith.

And then he even commented on Christian proselytizing which had been my experience of the billboard.

What about the men who run about the countryside painting signs that say 'Jesus saves' and 'Prepare to meet God!' Have you ever seen one of the? I have not, but I often try to imagine them, and I wonder what goes on in their minds. Strangely, their signs do not make me think of Jesus, but of them.  Or perhaps it is 'their Jesus' who gets in the way and makes all thought of Jesus impossible. They wish to force their Jesus upon us, and He is perhaps only a projection of themselves.  They seem to be at times threatening the world with judgment and at other times promising it mercy. 

Jesus...your only way to God.

But then, by the grace of I don't know what, I began to see the irony, the hypocrisy, of my argument.

I began to see that the more defensive I became, the more consumed I became with being right, the further I was moving from my own experience of god.

When I began to wake up to this reality, the same Merton reading started to look a little different. 

In any case, their Jesus is quite different from mine. But because their concept is different, should I reject it in horror, with distaste? If I do, perhaps I reject something in my own self that I no longer recognize to be there. And in any case, if I can tolerate their Jesus then I can accept and love them. Or I can at least conceive of doing so. Let not their Jesus be barrier between us, or they will be a barrier between us and Jesus.

I then realized that I could just as easily have been accused of being, what did I originally call "them?" arrogant and narrow-minded, in the one way I had chosen to read the billboard.

This led me to look into how many other ways this billboard could be read or interpreted that might help me with the barrier between us that Merton spoke of.

Though not a Christian, I started with the Gospel of John itself. What does it actually say?

I am the way...no one comes to God but through me (John 14:6).

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (John 4:8).

This led me to remember some of the writing of Christian-leaning author and Unitarian Universalist minister Kate Braestrup who I frequently return to:

It is entirely possible, that is, that the God I serve and worship with all my body, all my mind, all my soul, and all my spirit is love (1 John 4: 8). It’s enough. It’s all the God I need. 
-Here if You Need Me

God is love, John’s Gospel tells us. That’s a whole theology in three words. The practical application of that theology—God is love—is nearly as simple. Be as loving as you can, as often as you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you live. Why should you do this? Because.
-Marriage and Other Acts of Charity

I also found an article online at Huffington Post called "Jesus said, 'I Am the Way...' But What Does that Really Mean?" by an author an lecturer named Steve McSwain.

In the article which chronicled pieces of the author's own personal journey with Christianity, spirit and god he wrote:

One day, I finally just gave up. That is to say, I quit believing. I quit trying to “believe” enough to make it with God. I gave up the fruitless effort to find God through words, or confessions, or the “right” beliefs. And, when I finally gave up, that’s when the transformation seemed to happen. To this day, I do not know what to call it. I’m not even sure how to describe it. But the mystery of grace was born in me. All the fear I had known disappeared. Since that day, I have never felt separated from God again. And, this is not because I finally found the right set of beliefs. Further, it is not because I had finally attained to a higher level or better quality of believing.

Not at all. In fact, it might be precisely the opposite. Not until I quit believing did I start living. Not until I gave up trying...gave up searching for the “right” beliefs about God that I discovered the Source of Mystery within.

I have since come to know that spirituality...that is, knowing the Divine...has little if anything to do with what you believe...Spirituality is really all about how you live, not about what you say...about the WAY you live, not the WORDS you say.

Reading the words of Merton, Ms. Braestrup and Mr. McSwain helped me loosen my grip on my need to be both righteous and right, and opened me back up to a space of connection and inclusivity with others which is in fact the essence of my own theology of god.

I suppose anyone who has a light-hearted sense of god with a healthy sense of humor might argue that someone as thick as me needed that very billboard to show up in my life multiple times for over a year in order for me to get the message...

Okay, message received.

Poetry 117: Nothing More

Nothing more.

The silhouette of my son's trampoline

in the dawn of day.

The grandiose

(and reliable) Big Dipper

in the night sky

that guided Harriet Tubman

to freedom.

The luscious bite

of this perfect peach

in 95 degree summer heat

with my lover standing by.

The first ten seconds

of bedtime when

my animal body makes that delicious

direct contact

with fresh, clean sheets.

What more

could I ask for?

The bare naked

purity of that which

surrounds me

is whole(some) and complete.

I need not add-

or subtract.

The clarity that comes

from that Emersonian Awakening

of heaven on earth.

Meaning.

Magic.

Merriment.

Mysterious and romantic

they are.

And on more than one occasion,

I'm there, in full;

bathing in the fantastical,

sensual pleasures

of the mind's

creations.

Yet, as Pure Land

would suggest,

we may just

have everything we need.

Nothing more.

-Me