WILDWOOD
loving the Earth & all her inhabitants
loving the Earth & all her inhabitants
loving the Earth & all her inhabitants
Page 4 Writings and blogging
Easter Essay:
Resurrection: Zombie-ism or A Different Reality?
I've been looking at Easter videos on You-Tube just to see what inspirational music is out there and what images people have put together to express their faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some move me and give me hope, some not so much. I still think you can't beat Joy Williams' Here With Me, which, yes, I know, is a Christmas song, with some absolutely great film footage behind it. Somehow the simplicity of that song absolutely jerks me out of this same old, same old worldly reality into something totally beyond, something wholly other. I hope you also have some songs, or experiences that can do this for you.
"Arise, my Love" by Newsong is also a good song for getting us to another place. One video version I saw had Jesus pretty beat up and bloody on the cross, looking to be in abject despair and for all practical purposes, already dead. Then as the chorus starts, "Arise, my love!" he lifts up his head, ecstastic joy on his face, and you know he is not going to die--at least not for long--and is living again. Even though it's sort of weird for him to be resurrected before he is buried, I greatly prefer this video to another that has him all wrapped in gauzy material like a mummy that suddenly sits up and the hands pull at the wrapping first off his hands, then at his face. Maybe I've seen too many zombie movies, but I expect a dead face with skin hanging on it and empty eye sockets to then appear. While I was relieved to see the Sunday school Jesus face with clear complexion come out of the gauze, this did very little to lift my spirits. Maybe I need a less graphic resurrection. Maybe you do, too.
I don't know how to find the words to express what I don't just believe to be true, but experience in my heart and in my spirit: the idea of Jesus, the human, filled with the very being of God's Spirit, God in the flesh, God-born, Messiah, the Christ, dying and then living again in the context of this world we all inhabit. You don't have to believe it happened this way or that way, or suspend all your rational thought, in order to get this.
Music can help, video can help, sunrise in a beautiful natural setting can help, a near-death experience can help, even death of someone you love can move you out of this reality into the other larger reality. I love this world. I love the ones I love. I love my dogs, and my cats, my horses, my human friends. I love where I live, and the daffodils, and the trees budding new leaves. I love my warm bed, my books to read before falling asleep. Hot showers, and warm Chai tea. I love working and running, and feeling my muscles move to accomplish tasks, and I love being able to think thoughts and write words, and sing and speak. I am comfortable here, most of the time. And I will HATE to leave it all behind someday.
But I know I must. And where will I go? Was all this just a brief encounter with some reality in which I moved and acted in a series of scenes written by some random movement of molecules and shifting objects?
Or is there another reality? Something bigger, something in which this smaller physical reality is enmeshed? The story of Jesus' rising from the dead is a story that shakes us out of the smaller reality of lifetimes and then death. You can look at yourself in the mirror, or look at a tree, or your dog, and see just the thing, the three dimensional shape, and you may think you are seeing, or feeling all there is of it. But can you see the thoughts inside of you, the dreams, the hopes, the pains, the fears? Can you see your dog's desires, or what she's planning to do next (well sometimes you can anticipate this if you really know your dog, but still there is that unexpected lurch after a small animal invisible to you), or even the tree, can you see the life coursing through it, do you know what it has experienced in the years and years it has stood in one place?
So likewise, can you see what is beyond the physical reality you see as you travel through this world of objects and natural forces? If there were a force so much greater than the forces of nature around us, even greater than tsunamis, or leaked nuclear fallout, or earthquakes, even greater than your fears, and disappointments…if such a power existed, would you expect it to conform to the ordinary so-called laws of nature?
If there were a reality bigger than this reality of the cycle of life and death, wouldn't you expect it to break the law of death and elevate life to something larger than this life of eating and drinking, working and playing, planning events and , for some of us, just trying to survive?
If you saw an example of this reality, or of this power, would you believe it existed, or would you try to explain it away with your good scientific mind?
You don't have to be an anti-science fundamentalist to entertain the belief that there is a larger reality than this one. It is actually more open-minded to entertain such thoughts. It is adding another dimension to your world-view. Another plane of existence, another dimension, a parallel universe, if that image helps you to get what I am talking about.
Hold onto that image--of a reality greater than the one we live in on a physical plane--and then sift this in: this power that exists in the reality beyond, that in fact formed it, as well as formed this physical reality, is like us, having formed us. Is like us in our capacity to make choices and to care about each other, care for the animals we love, care for the plants and trees we love, in fact like us in that we have the capacity to love. This power of the greater reality in fact is the origin of love. And the capacity to love is infinite. That is the power. When love is so great that it knows no bounds, then it had to become manifest in this smaller reality we call our physical life here. It burst out of the larger reality and flowed into our own history when it found a human being who could accept in his physical life the full impact of infinite love.
It should come as no surprise that in a world that is a temporal representation, that is, subject to death and decay, and just not very permanent at all--I mean nothing lasts forever here, not even energy, which will some day burn itself out--so is a temporal representation of the greater reality-- that this world is incomplete, unfinished, unfulfilled. Imperfect, in that sense of perfect that means whole and complete. In an imperfect world, that which is perfect--complete and whole--cannot exist except briefly and at great cost. The perfect, like the brightest meteor in the upper regions of the sky, when falling into this atmosphere of mixed gases and particles, burns out as it enters this plane of existence. It should come as no surprise, on the emotional level, that if a human was born, who embodied perfect love, that the other humans in their imperfect understanding, and in their fear, which is the opposite of love, would not be able to stand in the presence of the love-filled one. In fact would seek to destroy that one, because the brightness of perfect love makes the imperfect, fear-filled ones feel grossly inadequate, and filled with either hatred toward the bright one, or utter remorse and hatred toward themselves. But the brightness is so painful, it must go.
--unless the bright one gave some of the perfect love away to those who were willing to receive it.
But for those who could not, or would not, accept the gift of pure love offered, they had to destroy the source of it. And so they used the method that they understood as their own way to ending human existence--death. The one of light could have laughed at such an inadequate method, but for the fact that their intention was an expression of hatred. Hatred hurt when love was all that was offered. It could not destroy, or even diminish, perfect love, but still it hurt.
But of course, death, being of this plane of existence, could not hold the greater reality of the larger reality, where perfect love resides. And so the physical containment of that love in this world, burst forth, earth moved, stones jostled on their tracks, a dead body was re-enlivened, and briefly, again, perfect love walked upon the earth.
The cool thing about Easter, is that if you missed it the first time, or if you have a hard time understanding the idea of a human embodying perfect love and a dead body rising out of a tomb and living again, the cool thing is that the power and the perfect love is still around, not so far away as you might think. Not as inaccessible as you might expect. It's just over there--behind that clump of trees, just beyond the purple violets, in the dew of the morning, in the warmth of your favorite pet, in a warm apple pancake sizzling on your stove on a cold morning, in a song that suddenly lifts your spirits, in a wild and unexpected joy that seems to come on a soft and gentle breeze when you had all but given up on your life.
Don't pass this feeling off as a nothing. For it is hope; it may be the beginnings of a faith in something far greater than you have even known. Don't let it die away because you are too "practical" for such notions, but pursue it with all your strength. Follow it through all the wildernesses of your life, through all your struggles, through all the temporary pleasures that bring short happinesses, through the ups and downs of relationships, but don't lose sight of it. It is far greater than anything you have ever known. It will accompany you and make bearable all the bad stuff of life and make you laugh out loud in joy at the good stuff. And when you must face the end of this physical life, it--which is perfect love--will carry you over to the greater reality, and you will still be you, but you will be transformed into the perfect you, free to love infinitely, with no fear and no sorrow.
This is the promise of Easter.
back to Homepage
Resurrection: Zombie-ism or A Different Reality?
I've been looking at Easter videos on You-Tube just to see what inspirational music is out there and what images people have put together to express their faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some move me and give me hope, some not so much. I still think you can't beat Joy Williams' Here With Me, which, yes, I know, is a Christmas song, with some absolutely great film footage behind it. Somehow the simplicity of that song absolutely jerks me out of this same old, same old worldly reality into something totally beyond, something wholly other. I hope you also have some songs, or experiences that can do this for you.
"Arise, my Love" by Newsong is also a good song for getting us to another place. One video version I saw had Jesus pretty beat up and bloody on the cross, looking to be in abject despair and for all practical purposes, already dead. Then as the chorus starts, "Arise, my love!" he lifts up his head, ecstastic joy on his face, and you know he is not going to die--at least not for long--and is living again. Even though it's sort of weird for him to be resurrected before he is buried, I greatly prefer this video to another that has him all wrapped in gauzy material like a mummy that suddenly sits up and the hands pull at the wrapping first off his hands, then at his face. Maybe I've seen too many zombie movies, but I expect a dead face with skin hanging on it and empty eye sockets to then appear. While I was relieved to see the Sunday school Jesus face with clear complexion come out of the gauze, this did very little to lift my spirits. Maybe I need a less graphic resurrection. Maybe you do, too.
I don't know how to find the words to express what I don't just believe to be true, but experience in my heart and in my spirit: the idea of Jesus, the human, filled with the very being of God's Spirit, God in the flesh, God-born, Messiah, the Christ, dying and then living again in the context of this world we all inhabit. You don't have to believe it happened this way or that way, or suspend all your rational thought, in order to get this.
Music can help, video can help, sunrise in a beautiful natural setting can help, a near-death experience can help, even death of someone you love can move you out of this reality into the other larger reality. I love this world. I love the ones I love. I love my dogs, and my cats, my horses, my human friends. I love where I live, and the daffodils, and the trees budding new leaves. I love my warm bed, my books to read before falling asleep. Hot showers, and warm Chai tea. I love working and running, and feeling my muscles move to accomplish tasks, and I love being able to think thoughts and write words, and sing and speak. I am comfortable here, most of the time. And I will HATE to leave it all behind someday.
But I know I must. And where will I go? Was all this just a brief encounter with some reality in which I moved and acted in a series of scenes written by some random movement of molecules and shifting objects?
Or is there another reality? Something bigger, something in which this smaller physical reality is enmeshed? The story of Jesus' rising from the dead is a story that shakes us out of the smaller reality of lifetimes and then death. You can look at yourself in the mirror, or look at a tree, or your dog, and see just the thing, the three dimensional shape, and you may think you are seeing, or feeling all there is of it. But can you see the thoughts inside of you, the dreams, the hopes, the pains, the fears? Can you see your dog's desires, or what she's planning to do next (well sometimes you can anticipate this if you really know your dog, but still there is that unexpected lurch after a small animal invisible to you), or even the tree, can you see the life coursing through it, do you know what it has experienced in the years and years it has stood in one place?
So likewise, can you see what is beyond the physical reality you see as you travel through this world of objects and natural forces? If there were a force so much greater than the forces of nature around us, even greater than tsunamis, or leaked nuclear fallout, or earthquakes, even greater than your fears, and disappointments…if such a power existed, would you expect it to conform to the ordinary so-called laws of nature?
If there were a reality bigger than this reality of the cycle of life and death, wouldn't you expect it to break the law of death and elevate life to something larger than this life of eating and drinking, working and playing, planning events and , for some of us, just trying to survive?
If you saw an example of this reality, or of this power, would you believe it existed, or would you try to explain it away with your good scientific mind?
You don't have to be an anti-science fundamentalist to entertain the belief that there is a larger reality than this one. It is actually more open-minded to entertain such thoughts. It is adding another dimension to your world-view. Another plane of existence, another dimension, a parallel universe, if that image helps you to get what I am talking about.
Hold onto that image--of a reality greater than the one we live in on a physical plane--and then sift this in: this power that exists in the reality beyond, that in fact formed it, as well as formed this physical reality, is like us, having formed us. Is like us in our capacity to make choices and to care about each other, care for the animals we love, care for the plants and trees we love, in fact like us in that we have the capacity to love. This power of the greater reality in fact is the origin of love. And the capacity to love is infinite. That is the power. When love is so great that it knows no bounds, then it had to become manifest in this smaller reality we call our physical life here. It burst out of the larger reality and flowed into our own history when it found a human being who could accept in his physical life the full impact of infinite love.
It should come as no surprise that in a world that is a temporal representation, that is, subject to death and decay, and just not very permanent at all--I mean nothing lasts forever here, not even energy, which will some day burn itself out--so is a temporal representation of the greater reality-- that this world is incomplete, unfinished, unfulfilled. Imperfect, in that sense of perfect that means whole and complete. In an imperfect world, that which is perfect--complete and whole--cannot exist except briefly and at great cost. The perfect, like the brightest meteor in the upper regions of the sky, when falling into this atmosphere of mixed gases and particles, burns out as it enters this plane of existence. It should come as no surprise, on the emotional level, that if a human was born, who embodied perfect love, that the other humans in their imperfect understanding, and in their fear, which is the opposite of love, would not be able to stand in the presence of the love-filled one. In fact would seek to destroy that one, because the brightness of perfect love makes the imperfect, fear-filled ones feel grossly inadequate, and filled with either hatred toward the bright one, or utter remorse and hatred toward themselves. But the brightness is so painful, it must go.
--unless the bright one gave some of the perfect love away to those who were willing to receive it.
But for those who could not, or would not, accept the gift of pure love offered, they had to destroy the source of it. And so they used the method that they understood as their own way to ending human existence--death. The one of light could have laughed at such an inadequate method, but for the fact that their intention was an expression of hatred. Hatred hurt when love was all that was offered. It could not destroy, or even diminish, perfect love, but still it hurt.
But of course, death, being of this plane of existence, could not hold the greater reality of the larger reality, where perfect love resides. And so the physical containment of that love in this world, burst forth, earth moved, stones jostled on their tracks, a dead body was re-enlivened, and briefly, again, perfect love walked upon the earth.
The cool thing about Easter, is that if you missed it the first time, or if you have a hard time understanding the idea of a human embodying perfect love and a dead body rising out of a tomb and living again, the cool thing is that the power and the perfect love is still around, not so far away as you might think. Not as inaccessible as you might expect. It's just over there--behind that clump of trees, just beyond the purple violets, in the dew of the morning, in the warmth of your favorite pet, in a warm apple pancake sizzling on your stove on a cold morning, in a song that suddenly lifts your spirits, in a wild and unexpected joy that seems to come on a soft and gentle breeze when you had all but given up on your life.
Don't pass this feeling off as a nothing. For it is hope; it may be the beginnings of a faith in something far greater than you have even known. Don't let it die away because you are too "practical" for such notions, but pursue it with all your strength. Follow it through all the wildernesses of your life, through all your struggles, through all the temporary pleasures that bring short happinesses, through the ups and downs of relationships, but don't lose sight of it. It is far greater than anything you have ever known. It will accompany you and make bearable all the bad stuff of life and make you laugh out loud in joy at the good stuff. And when you must face the end of this physical life, it--which is perfect love--will carry you over to the greater reality, and you will still be you, but you will be transformed into the perfect you, free to love infinitely, with no fear and no sorrow.
This is the promise of Easter.
back to Homepage
HONEST ELECTIONS: AN OXYMORON??
In keeping with our mission of promoting justice for all, the following report of election auditing in the state of Ohio is here published, because without honest elections, we have no Democracy, and no Republic.
(report coming when I figure out how to load a file!! Not intuitive, GoDaddy!)
In keeping with our mission of promoting justice for all, the following report of election auditing in the state of Ohio is here published, because without honest elections, we have no Democracy, and no Republic.
(report coming when I figure out how to load a file!! Not intuitive, GoDaddy!)
