Words Fall Short

This morning's poetic greeting from Panhala is "What's in the Temple" by Tom Barrett.

I enjoyed the whole poem and particularly these sections-

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...The poets speak in obscure terms pointing madly at the unsayable...
The monk sits pen in hand poised to explain the cloud of unknowing.

I am reminded when teaching classes this fall that we are always describing the invisible and the mystery and postulating our belief how it works. This section reminds me of describing the 'unsayable'

Put your ear to the wall of your heart.
Listen for the whisper of knowing there.
Love will touch you if you are very still.

Although there is no recipe for hearing this whisper it does happen. When you listen, the attention moves from the brain to a larger knowing, which some would say comes from the heart. I think the heart is a word that just means, 'from within' It is amazing because this inner voice comes with loudness and clarity. 'Love touches you'

If I say the word God, people run away.
They've been frightened--sat on 'till the spirit cried "uncle."
Now they play hide and seek with somebody they can't name.
They know he's out there looking for them, and they want to be found,
But there is all this stuff in the way.

I love this section- People come from all different backgrounds of religious and spiritual training. In order to move ahead to a deeper understanding of the mystical each person must come to peace with where they have come from- what they learned first and then 'all this stuff' falls away.
Words we have learned in the past can be accompanied with strict interpretations- e.g. faith, heaven, hell. I have learned to speak using language inclusive of Divine qualities- infinite, joy, trust, support, peace, kindness. The choice of words helps to bridge old history and old beliefs into being present today to the Divine ideas.

I can't talk about God and make any sense,
And I can't not talk about God and make any sense.
So we talk about the weather, and we are talking about God.

This is my favorite. From Emerson's 'The Transcendentalists' we walk as idealists and materialists at the same time. And the weather, the sun, clouds, wind and rain help us bridge that which can be challenging to articulate.

God in America PBS

I have really enjoyed this week's PBS six hour presentations on God in America. Europeans coming to the new world attached significance to this new place, the journey and the challenges to unfolding and manifesting a Divine destiny. Christian sects embraced the freedom to follow their own religious interpretation without persecution.

Right now you can watch the series on the program's web site. Let me talk about two parts I was impressed with. First, having an evangelical training I related to the circuit meetings where preachers would travel the circuit and preach the word with zeal.  Second, I have been studying more about the great spiritual awakenings in our country and the associated great desire to spread the word and convert people to your own religious perspective.  It seems that whenever there is dismay or disappointment a spiritual awakening effort was organized to get people 'back on track'. Using inspired preachers explaining the promise of eternal salvation some meetings attracted over 7000 people in the Kentucky wilderness.

The third segment was particularly interesting to me as it highlighted the influence of Billy Graham on the society and how that period was one of the greatest periods of church attendance.  That segment also presented the role of Martin Luther King and his focus on injustice between races and how that is linked to being a moral society. MLK was scorned by local ministers for his activating black awareness. From his jail cell in Birmingham he wrote a letter to those clergymen thoroughly outlining his mission in Birmingham and the role of civil disobedience in the crusade for equality and fairness.

I highly recommend viewing the series.

A Whole Operation

You know, our body is very integrated in its intelligence. So the liver cannot be liver without spleen, pancreas, kidney, and all other organs knowing what is going on. So I know that the whole body is lifted to what has always been true. The body  remembers and shows up now as the highest intelligence- the clearest thought of how it works. It operates in and as perfection.  Surgeons, hospitals, nurses and teams have come together and represent God's downloaded App of Intelligence. They manifest as mind, hands, electronics, facilities, tools and wisdom. They operate in Divine flow; working seamlessly and with ease & grace always knowing the highest and best is in operation. This team is God's hands at work. 

You are so well cared for. Imagine resting and being supported wholly by the hammock of the Universe. The woven rope under your back; surrounded by the white light of pureness and healing--- revealing wholeness; Every woven hammock string supports you, resting you. And I know that light and that hammock, this Universe, is all ways present- today, tomorrow all day, in surgery, recovery and in strength. This I know to be True. It is now so and So It Is!