Let All the Earth Keep Silence

the church of which i am a part has been holding a brief taizé service on sunday afternoons that includes simple songs, scripture lessons, spoken prayers, and periods of silence.  there is no sermon, and the central portion of the service consists of ten minutes of silence.  for most americans that is an interminable length of quiet time, and it is quite uncomfortable for many.  i remember the comment of a friend at the end of one of these services.  she said, "i can't be still and quiet for that long.  my mind is just too busy, and i have to be doing something to occupy myself."

when i was a teacher, during the last part of each school year, i asked my students to enter the classroom silently and to sit in silence for the first five minutes of class.  after each period of silence, i would ask them for their reactions.  some said that they were most uncomfortable, that it was all but impossible for them to be still and quiet for that long.  others said that they found the experience quite enjoyable, that this was the first time they ever remembered being still and quiet for that long with no written work to occupy their minds.  many commented on the noises around them from outside the room, noises they had never heard before.  some would talk about the noise from the students who were having lunch in the courtyard below our room, suggesting they were much too rowdy.  some commented on the singing of birds outside the window and how beautiful their songs were.  some commented on the voice of teachers in nearby rooms as they conducted their classes.  my students realized that these noises had been there all along and were amazed that pausing to listen would reveal so much going on around them.

when we began our taizé services, i was grateful, because i longed for more silence in worship.  our normal sunday morning worship, while reverent and beautiful, leaves no "dead" spaces; every moment is filled with something audible.  this past sunday, i was the leader for the taizé service, so it was my responsibility to be the time-keeper for the ten-minute silence.  as i sat, i began a loving-kindness meditation wishing an ever-widening circle of blessing and happiness.  i was amazed at how quickly the ten minutes passed; i would have been glad to have more time to continue enlarging my circle of loving-kindness.

my prayer today is that each of us will experience periods of undistracted silence each day and that those moments of silence will fill each of us with open hearts and wishes of blessing and happiness.  shalom.

Let All Things Now Living

a few days ago i was driving down the highway looking at the trees that lined the road.  as i surveyed the beauty all around me, beauty i am often oblivious to as i drive, i began to think about the inadequacy of the word "god" to refer to That which is the creator of all the beauty in the world.  i thought of a blog post by tara branch on the wildmind site i read a while back (i highly recommend this site and bodhipaksa's blog "on practice" at this site).  in her post, she told the story of a conversation that took place an an interfaith meeting in which the term "Great Mystery" was the name that the participants, including christians, wiccans, atheists, and native americans, agreed was an acceptable name for what we commonly refer to as "God."

there is much to be said for calling God the "Great Mystery."  as st. paul said, we are looking at the Infinite as through a cloudy mirror or a lens that distorts our perception.  i would suggest that other forms of address, such as "First Cause" or "Great Mind of Love," are other possibilities.  it is so difficult to conceive of a mind that created all that is, that set the natural laws in motion, and that continues to observe creation with a benevolent love and compassion.  

as humanists would suggest, we are, in a sense, on our own here.  the universe continues to function without any intervention on the part of a creator, and the forces of nature move along with sublime indifference to either joy or suffering.  chance is an important factor in our lives, and we have no real control of the events in our lives.  

yet, we are not passive players in some cruel play.  we have the faculty of mind to chose how we perceive the random happenings of life.  that, it seems to me, is one of the great joys of creation.  this Great Mind that has planted goodness, love, compassion in our hearts and minds is a part of each of us, making us all one with creation.  the pulse of a loving heart courses through everything that is, despite our frequent failure to act with love.  it is, in fact, our choice to ignore the heartbeat of love that brings about so much suffering and cruelty in the world.

my prayer today is that we embrace the Great Mystery, the Infinite, the First Cause, the Great Mind of Love that flows through creation and that is embedded in our deepest being.  may we bless one another and may we seek happiness for ourselves and all beings.  shalom.

We Are One

each year since 1952, the usa has observed a national day of prayer (ndop). this year's observance took place a few days ago on may 2.   the day was mandated by congress, and the president issues a proclamation on that day calling americans of all faiths to pray for the nation.  the intention was that this would be a non-sectarian observance, but, over the past several years, the day has been taken over by an organization called "the national day of prayer task force," an organization comprised of fundamentalist christians based in colorado springs, colorado.  this group and local organizers associated with it refuse to allow non-christians to participate in its ndop functions.  in many cases, even christians of the "wrong" kind are excluded.

during the administration of president george w. bush, this task force was the official white house organizer of the ndop, but neither presidents clinton nor obama endorsed this group or participated in its ndop activities.  it goes without saying, that this group and its allies have roundly criticized both democratic presidents for their "shortcomings."  the task force believes that the usa is rife with moral decay, and its goal is to turn the nation "back to God," so that the usa will once more be God's favored nation.

in our area, as in many across the country, local observances are dominated by those who think as the ndop task force does.  one minister quoted in the local paper said, "the moral decline is everywhere, even on our economic and spiritual levels.  poverty, sin, divorce, all these things are on the rise.  churches are on the decline, the families are on the decline, the rate of marriage is going down, but the divorce rate is going up."  true, poverty is on the rise, due to our national economic policies, and the rate of marriage is going down, but the divorce rate has been declining for the past several years.  most of the rest of his statement is subjective, and his intention is to preach national decline that only prayer by a certain kind of christians and election of those who think as they do can reverse.  The idea is to pray away and legislate away all those "others" who disagree with the religious right so that all will be well in the usa and in the world.

the american humanist association has been sponsoring a "national day of reason" since 2003 in response to the religiosity of the ndop and particularly to the overtly fundamentalist christian tone that the day has taken.  the organizers of the national day of reason are sponsoring a petition urging the president to issue a proclamation calling for such a day, as is done for the ndop.  it is difficult to fathom why a "national day of prayer" should be needed.  those who wish to pray may do so any day of the year, and those who believe in the power of prayer should be praying for the welfare of the nation and its citizens every day.  for many, this requirement of congress to observe such a day infringes on the religious freedom of all, and the way in which it has come to be observed smacks of the establishment of one religion as the "official" religion, particularly when sectarian prayer services are held in the white house and other government buildings.

my prayer today is that we will see that we are all the same--north, central, and south americans, europeans, asians, africans, polynesians, buddhists, followers of islam, christians, jews, hindus, humanists, people of every race, language, and religion, as well as those who subscribe to no religion--all of us hurting some of the time, rejoicing some of the time, needing to break down the barriers that separate us and come together to care for one another, rather than looking for an "other" to make the scapegoat for the suffering in the world.  shalom.

A Ruler Once Came to Jesus by Night

when i was a child, i was taught that each person must have a direct encounter with God, a conversion experience, that would result in an abrupt change in the way one lived.  this "born-again" experience was to be the result of accepting certain beliefs as fact, not by any reasonable proof, but by faith.  in this system, all christians surrender control of their lives to God and accept jesus as the savior of the world and as "personal savior" without question or reservation.

for many years, i struggled with this sort of teaching, and, once i reached adulthood, i abandoned this kind of christianity completely.  this idea of accepting any teaching blindly leads to a closed off approach to the world, to a kind of narrowness that ignores the discoveries of science and the possibilities of a truth that is broader than any "faith-based" view of reality.  if one accepts a belief that cannot be proved, then many other beliefs follow, none of them reasonable or provable.  soon one lives in a world of fantasies, and the concept of what is true and untrue loses any meaning.

we see this in the willingness of evangelical christians to accept the wildest conspiracy theories as being possible.  already we are hearing suggestions that the tragedies in boston were the work of our own government, that the government is downplaying the possibility of a larger conspiracy because of the influence of the muslim brotherhood within our own government, or that what happened in boston is part of a larger plan by the government to stockpile ammunition for the coming declaration of martial law so that our citizens' guns can be seized and the christian religion suppressed.  it is no conincidence that those who can accept such ideas as being in the realm of possibility are the same who accept religious "truths" that can only be reached by blind faith.

we have minds.  let us use them!  a religion that teaches its followers to refuse to question, to deny the need for proof, and to accept beliefs that are unreasonable cannot be a true religion.  understanding comes gradually, not in a sudden conversion experience.  it takes patience and effort to gain true understanding, and the surrender of one's inteliigence in order to be "saved" is dangerous for oneself and all of society.

my prayer today is that each of us will use the mind we have to seek truth, that none of us will accept anything as truth that is unreasonable or unprovable, and that we will question more than we answer.  shalom.

This Is a Day of New Beginnings

the past week has been a difficult one.  there were killings and injuries in boston that seem senseless.  there was the tragedy of the plant explosion in texas.  on a personal level, our precious dog is gravely ill.  today one of our ministers spoke of the stories of resurrections in the bible, and, especially, in the new testament.  she reminded us that in the midst of death, life continues.

as i thought about the events in boston, i focused on the suffering of so many.  those who lost loved ones suffer, those who were wounded by the bombing suffer, the family of the young men who committed these horrible deeds suffer, and the young men themselves suffer.  it is easy to think about revenge and the justice of the death of one bomber and the injuries to the remaining bomber.  “didn’t they get what they deserved for such a horrific crime?” we think.  “how dare the parents claim that their sons were framed when the evidence is clearly to the contrary!” our aggrieved minds assert.

does it do any good for us to focus on these negative emotions?  i think of how i would react if my child had been discovered to be a terrorist.  wouldn’t i want to believe that it’s a terrible mistake?  i think, too, of the deep hatred that must be destroying the hearts of the two young men who did such despicable acts and wonder if there isn’t the possibility of ultimate redemption for them—for one in a future life and for the still-living brother in this life.

i think of the anger that many in west, texas, must be feeling about their losses—anger at the possible negligence of the owners of the plant, anger at the injustice of having their lives destroyed by a random accident, anger at a God who would permit such a tragedy.  i wonder if those who are suffering there can see past the anger to a future that renounces anger in favor of appreciating the good that is in each moment.  how easy that is for one who hasn’t experienced this tragedy to say.

i think of the suffering of our little dog who was discovered to be in great pain just hours after running happily through the house seeking someone to toss his bone or pat his head.  does this little creature who is so loving deserve this?  certainly not, yet the reality of life is that he hurts, nonetheless.  if i must give him up to end his suffering, how do i cope with suffering his loss?  i remember that an innocent creature who epitomizes perfection will not be gone, but transformed, and, because he is so perfect, his transformation will be to something more wonderful than his current form.

life is change, and life is filled with suffering.  yet life is also filled with great moments to be enjoyed, moments that will also be gone all too soon.  my prayer is that in the midst of suffering we will rejoice in all that is good, that we will let go of transitory attachments and relish the underlying happiness that is at the heart of existence.  shalom.

Teach Us to Care for People, for All Not Just for Some

this past weekend several hundred boy scouts from our area gathered in the park across the street from our home for the annual “scout-a-rama.”  as my wife and i walked in the park, i thought about the controversy over the admission of gay scouts and leaders to the boys scouts in the united states, as well as the scouts’ position on atheist and agnostic scouts and leaders.  it would be reasonable to believe that at least one of every ten scouts is gay.  what do the policies of this organization and the constant condemnation of gay people say to those closeted gay scouts?  how do children who are raised in non-believing homes feel when they see other boys enjoying membership in scouts while they are excluded?

perhaps the harm done to atheist/agnostic youngsters is not as great as that done to gay boys, because the former are prepared by their parents for the discrimination they will face.  young gays have no such support in most homes.  these boys learn early on that they must hide who they are and listen to jokes about “fags” from their peers.  they must keep secret their true selves while adults who are their leaders, and often their parents, talk about the “sin” of homosexuality and preach about the absurd idea that those who are gay are pedophiles or that they are bringing the wrath of God down on american society.

the difficulty of being a gay young person in our society was brought home to me as i watched these boys having fun at their event during my walk.  my heart went out to those among this group who carried with them the burden of having to keep the secret of their sexual orientation hidden in order to be included.  what a great weight it must be to be constantly reminded that something that is at the core of their very being is a source of ridicule and the most vile condemnation!

my prayer today is that our society will wake up to the great harm we are doing to thousands of young people by our unreasonable gay-bashing, that we will open our hearts to accept each person for who and what they are without judgment or persecution, and that each of us will do what we can in our daily lives to support those who are different from us, no matter what that difference may be.  shalom.

So When at Times the Mob Is Swayed

yesterday i read a review of susan cain's book, quiet, in arnie kozak's blog and followed his link to her ted talk.  it was gratifying to hear that i'm not alone in my need for solitude nor in sensing that american society is geared toward extroverts.  while i admire those gregarious folk who seem to be always at ease in crowds, who never meet a stranger, and who vigorously endorse the "team" concept, i have no desire to be such a person.  i abhor the compulsion of our society to form groups for every task, though i recognize the need to reach consensus in our decision-making.

today i watched a clip about richard gere and buddhism on youtube and plan to listen to all of the "everyman" videos that explore gere's beliefs.  i also watched an interview of judy dench that appeared on danny coleman's blog and which you can also find on youtube.  in both of these videos, i was impressed by the quiet, gentle approach of both actors.  as dench said of her quaker faith, and as gere implies of his buddhist faith, "it informs everything i do."

these videos came at the perfect time for me.  i have been immersed in the busy-ness of life, with the needs of others tugging at me constantly, what with houseguests from the local orchestra, houseguests from our church, my father undergoing surgery with me the only family member in a position to attend to his needs, in addition to the normal responsibilities of daily life.  it was good to have my need to have private time for myself affirmed and to be reminded that one is not wrong to step off the merry-go-round from time to time to carve out space for one's self.

my prayer for each of us is that we are true to our selves, accepting our introversion or extroversion, being accepting of others, and allowing ourselves the freedom to dream our own dreams and think our own thoughts.  shalom.