Or at least doing a segway from one to the other . . .
(Medical complications – for at least a week after today I won’t get out much into the blogosphere. I do expect to continue posting.)
Beyond Reward & Punishment Spirituality:
In traditional Christian terms:
Jesus gave his life for the sake of the world, not for the sake of getting to sit at the head of the table at the right hand of the Father.
The Father sent his only begotten Son into the world because God loved the world, not because God wanted to sit with himself forever at the head of the table after the ascension.
If Christians focus on something as narrow as scoring points for personal salvation, how can they claim to be followers of their God? Maybe God’s looking at placing a want ad for followers that at least bear him a vague resemblance.
If we were made in God’s image, maybe the reference wasn’t to a nose, mouth and white beard. Besides, not that many of us have the white beard.
And speaking of true leadership without a white beard . . .
Thanks to Hayden for inspiring (?) this long awaited (more than 12 hours) “poem” with her informed comments about stem cell research on recent discussion threads. The opinions expressed in this poem are not necessarily hers. Any resemblance between the stem cells featured here to any actual stem cells, living or deceased, is strictly coincidental, although they do look a lot alike. The poem is a collective “work for hire” based on contractual arrangement between the author and his brain cells. Offer void where prohibited.
The Great Stem Cell Debate For Hayden
I met a little stem cell Who said, “I’m human too. “It’s possible I could divide “And then feel pain, like you.”
“Right now,” I said, “You’re like… the same, “That is, as all your neighbors. “Undifferentiated as can be – “You’re lamer than an egg is.”
“An Egg’s not lame!” Sir Stem replied, “And no, nor Sperm Cells neither. “If they met, they would divide “And be like you and me are.”
“I’m not like you,” I countered, “Please note who wrote this poem. “Without my fingers at the keys “No words would you intone.”
“I am a full-fledged Cell!” cried Stem, “So stop your condescension; “I hold my rights unconsciously – “And in God’s name, I’ll mention...”
“But what of us!?” my cells rejoined, They really were dismayed; They’d multiplied already And had a lot to say.
“One hundred trillion of us live “In just one human being – “That is, the kind that walks and talks “And likes the taste of ice cream.”
“Without the needed research “We prematurely die; “You’re telling us God likes you best… “How come – is God a scientist?!”
“Maybe up in heaven, then, “God’s researching a fix “For fuzzy stem-cell thinking – “The kind that makes us sick.”
With that, my cells had had enough, We had to call it quits; By now we’re mostly bedridden Like Petri in a dish.
“Blessed are those for whom pain is a metaphor.” Of course, there are metaphorical pains that are bad too, and can even prove fatal, as when they lead to suicide. But to riff off the old jazz ballad, nothing says “My pain is here to stay” like the intractable physical pain connected with an untreatable progressive illness.
Remaining who we are can be tough. Real pain that is severe and protracted enough can make an animal lose sight of everything, including, at first, the human animal.
The human animal has one essential advantage over other animals when it comes to hell: we can keep our eyes open longer. When other animals would have reached the point of growling and groaning huddled in a corner of the room, we can still rouse the convolutions of the cortex and raise our fat heads, so to speak, to notice things around us and about ourselves, even as hell deepens.
We can overhear the happiness of others – and eventually, most of the time, with little to no jealousy. We can remember the sun, remember when we ran or laughed outside, and it becomes a moment of clear pleasure cutting a fine ray through pain instead of adding to it.
We can even describe hell, partly for the hell of it, or as a way of telling hell to go to hell just because we can – perversely enjoying our remaining potency to describe near impotence.
Hell! Go to hell, hell, even though you’ve got me where you want me. Go to the hell of me saying to you: I will be fully me until the end of me, until the fully unavoidable occurs. While in hell, I am Hell-Fighter, the flip-side of my coin – a calm blinder than rage whose name hell can’t contain.
And we can try to describe hell in order to tell people who don’t have to live there: do everything you can while you can. You have it good. Run with it. Run like hell. Run all together now like hell, seeing if some day we can pull this world out of the fire.
So finally you say something like, “Oh Lord, why have you forsaken me?” – but after that, there’s just this long silence lasting until the end of your life. One of the things about hell is that it defies your expectations, especially the religious ones.
In irreligious terminology, this is called, “really getting nailed.” But if you’ve managed to survive this long, you come down from your cross. And again, since you’re only human and this is hell on earth, you just quietly walk away. For you, there is no ascent into heaven or saving the world.
However, you now begin to be governed by the instinct above instinct. It tells you to stop howling. You walk slowly and carefully, picking your way over the flaming logs, trying hard not to stub your toe even though it’s on fire, or to unnecessarily hurt others by throwing flaming objects at them. You start being kind again and smiling sometimes. People think you are becoming yourself again. In reality, your self is dying back there on the cross. It was only after it got weak and lost a lot of blood that you were able to get most of it off your back to start walking around a bit again, even if, in some cases, the walking has to be figurative.
People think that you are becoming sane again. In a way you are, but in a way you aren’t. You could easily argue that from the perspective of being in hell, you’re acting crazy. Howling and wailing is truly “the way to be” in hell. All the devils do it. But once the fangs and horns wear down the costume party’s over. And there you are, in hell, but still human and with an instinct for it.
Hell is where nothing is as it should be, and all your concentration has to start going into remaining your most simple self.
Hell is where you let go of every expectation, every ideal - the way you would have wanted it, your personal favorites – in order not to let them weigh you down and drown you in the flames. Hell is the place of places in which to say: what the hell.
In hell, everything is instinctual and reflexive. Even this thought is instinctual and reflexive. Even your thoughts about your thoughts are instinctual and reflexive when you’ve been in hell long enough.
At first, however, you are ungovernable, governed by the instinct below instinct. You jump over flaming logs, your feet on fire, tripping, nearly falling off ledges. (Some do.) You are the anti-human animal, ranting and raving, threatening to bite off their faces – anyone and everyone’s. Because the world has let you down by sending you down here.
You roll around the hell-forest floor howling tears of abandonment and pain. Of course, no one comes. You are in hell.
Happily – kind of -- you can only weep, wail, and gnash your teeth for a limited amount of time. When your teeth start hurting from the gnashing, this is one of the signs that you really are in hell and not starring in a dramatic film of self-visualization.
One of the things about hell is that it has to last a really long time, usually eternity or until the end of your life, which can feel pretty similar. If it’s very much shorter than this and just feels like hell, seems like hell, or is miserable as hell, then be happy. It isn’t hell.
Nobody’s-Listening Spirituality: When Hell Isn’t Just a Place for Others Anymore
People don't generally like to hear about stuff like this. Still...
Hello Hell
Imagine a disease progression in its 15th year that affects your nerves, muscles, connective tissue and bones and that by now has you mostly bedridden and in widespread, intractable pain. Picture the associated losses, the least of which include career and friends. You’ve been unable to leave the house for over 3 years. You can’t sit to use a wheelchair and you almost can’t walk, spending your upright time kneeling at a keyboard, a lot of it holding your bladder because you can only make so many trips to the bathroom each day. Your reach has deteriorated to about the length of your forearms, and to make a long story a short metaphor that often works literally, your physical state puts most of life’s comforts as well as pleasures out of reach.
Helpful idea? You’ve tried it. Prayers, words of hope? Whatever you have - it's eluded diagnosis even at NIH and Johns Hopkins - is innately progressive, similar to MS or Lou Gehrig’s. Over the past 15 years, you’ve received more thoughts, prayers and positive energy vibes than you can count. You’ve had to come to terms with the fact that this thing has really happened to you.
Stem Cell Health and Wellness
While you know that no situation is literally hopeless, this one’s about as hopeless as a situation can get. The interrelated ways in which your body’s muscles, connective tissue, peripheral nerves and bones have been affected make it pretty clear that your best chance of a cure is when scientists figure out how to run time backwards. It might have been different if stem cell research hadn’t been blocked all these years. You’ll never know, but take comfort in realizing that generations of stem cells have continued to be lovingly nurtured and cared for until the fertility clinics holding them dump them out at the next bio-waste pickup. As the good book says, right in the middle of that long section where it op-eds on contemporary reproductive issues: “What greater love is there than this: that a man should give up all chance of recovery for the sake of other people’s ineffectual love of cells that lack a central nervous system?”
You learn that good things don’t come to all who wait, that sometimes bad things happen to good people – and you especially learn that this rule doesn’t get bent just because it’s you. You put yourself in perspective. You stop reflexively comparing yourself to people who are better off than you, learning not to ask “Why me?" but “Why not me?” – although occasionally you still go, “Why me instead of a stem cell?”
But finally, something like this is just the downside of ordinary life. Being mortal, sooner or later most of us get to some real pain. So some of the things that one notices when the heat gets turned up for a very long time may be worth mentioning.
Please note: In what follows, I'm not rejecting concepts like blessing, grace, or God's purpose for one's life; I'm rejecting what strike me as misunderstandings of these ideas.
Have you been good? Then you're so very special that God won't let YOU suffer!
In times of trouble:
Ask and you will receive. Receive what?
Guidance toward your soul mate, resolution of marital problems, a meaningful career, restored heath – or even, with “prosperity theology,” more stuff!
Grace, grace, abundant grace! Only open yourself up to it and all will be well.
Turn to the angels and no harm can come . . .
Only believe . . .
In good fortune:
I’m blessed . . .
Heaven and earth support those who pray to the Lord!
We’ve led good lives; God has opened doors for us.
I survived the crash because God has a special purpose for me - and apparently not for those other folks that got killed.
In Sum, and with reference to all of the above:
Blah blah blah . . .
Beyond Spiritual Materialism
Feel-good spirituality isn’t the real thing. Not all {Christians - or insert any other religious/spiritual affiliation} who get into car accidents find that they make a good recovery. Not all spiritual people are physically healthy. Not all prayers are answered. Believing in angels, saints, in Christian doctrine, or any other doctrine, is absolutely no guarantee of safety, security, health, wealth, or happiness.
If it were that easy, only the mentally incompetent would have (additional) difficulties. If ask and you will receive worked materialistically, then obviously any mentally competent person who saw all the believers asking and having and getting what they wanted would observe this, believe in it, and ask for and receive the things they wanted too.
Religion and spirituality have never been about people obtaining goodies, despite the fact that large segments of humankind have perennially tried to make it about that and supported each other in this delusion.
Blessed are those whose happiness is founded upon peace; woe to those whose peace is founded upon happiness.
On the previous post, a couple of people mentioned having a sense that a spiritual awakening is underway. Several days ago, I read a Jim Wallis post on his God’s Politics blog where he says the same while promoting his recent book on a clip that includes references to the civil rights movement. I questioned Wallis' Awakening concept – in particular, his idea that this is happening on a large scale – in a comment to his post that I’ve slightly revised as follows:
Not God’s Politics
From what I can see, there is religiosity on the one hand and authentic religion/spirituality on the other. The first is borrowed and proves either superficial or perverted - used for egoistic purposes. The second connects to first-hand experience and gives a person tremendous motivation and purpose, which is what my own book is about.
My book isn't directly about politics. That said, to me it looks as if the key political problem in America is that moneyed interests - large corporations and wealthy individuals - have essentially taken over our government. It's done via how we finance political campaigns - large contributions that have been protected since 76 as "free speech" – and by massive lobbying efforts.
First, do you also see this as the cornerstone of the politically problematic in America? Second, if so, how do you get people excited about this issue? It's a more abstract thing than watching fire hoses turned on peaceful protesters. Finally, if it were possible to get people marching in the streets over the role of big money in politics, would it matter, or has it reached a point where the hold of big business on the branches of government is too tight?
Sleeping the Dream
Do you see evidence for a Great Awakening in America, or anywhere else on earth? In America, in general, I seem to see what I would describe as a Great Materialism, a Genuine Indifference, and a Great Self Satisfaction among people who are “doing well” –and an aspiration to material excess among those who are not. We know, for example, that green branding isn’t going to convince God or nature. We know that we can label fixing it so the rich get richer “free markets” instead of “trickle-down economics” and that either way, poor children will continue to receive substandard educations. And yet the cost to our own descendants and the wider world of continuing to market image over substance is acceptable to us so long as we personally can continue living in comfort, convenience, and the everlasting hope of Luxury.
I’d say that the American Dream needs a massive overall in the direction of Martin Luther King’s. As long as our dream remains the narrow Dream of Getting Stuff, then we continue in our sleep to dig the grave of our grandchildren’s prospects. I wouldn’t call this an awakening and I wouldn’t call it the “pursuit of happiness.”
