How is your soul?

“The soul is like a wild animal”

How is your soul?

Someone said recently that they had been asked this question and didn’t know how to answer it.  I mean, how would you answer it? What does it even mean?

It seems to me that when people ask this question they are trying to create a dualism. Either your soul is saved or unsaved, found or lost, whole or broken, good or bad. They are trying to create a problem to be solved.

The way I answer this question is to say that the soul is the part of us that holds all those things at once:  wholeness and brokenness, good and bad, finding and losing, knowing and unknowing.

The mind and the ego look at the soul and divide it up into good/bad categories but the soul knows no such divisions.

The soul just is.

The soul holds it all, infinitely, eternally and without judgement.

How is your soul?

It is everything.

“The soul is like a wild animal—tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.” Parker Palmer

Parables for a Pandemic - the two sons

He was young and felt there was little danger to him.

Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons.  The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your estate.’ So the father sold off assets and liquidated his estate so that he could divide the estate between his sons. Soon afterward, the younger son gathered everything together and took a trip to a land far away. In that land there was a pandemic.  The son was interested only in having a good time and couldn’t be bothered wearing a mask and sheltering in place, so he went out to the bars and hired prostitutes and partied with his friends.  He was young and felt there was little danger to him.  

“Some time passed, and the son he had used up his resources.  The pandemic had caused an economic crisis and he could not find a job.   Soon, the son began to be in need. He hired himself out to a meat packing plant, who sent him into the factory to process pork.  He longed to eat his fill from the scraps that fell on the assembly line, but no one gave him anything and his wages barely covered rent and a diet of beans and rice. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s workers and servants have more than enough food, and I’m starving to death!  I will get up and go home where there is no pandemic.  I will say to my father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.   I no longer deserve to be called your son. Take me on as one of your employees.” ’  So he got up and went to his father.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. His father ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then his son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.’  But the father said to his employees, ‘Quickly, clear out the corner office and get him set up in it.  Hire some caterers and a DJ, and we will throw a fantastic welcome home party!   This son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ And they had a party. 

“Now his older son had been away on a business trip and when he returned the party was in progress.   He called the head of sales and asked him what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has arrived, and your father has given him an executive position and the corner office.  He hired caterers and a DJ to throw this party because your brother is safe and sound.’ About a week later, the son became sick and learned he had contracted COVID19 at the meat packing plant.  His father and many of the workers at the party became sick as well.  The older son was furious and said to his father, ‘Look, I’ve served you all these years, and I never disobeyed your instructions.  You never gave me the corner office, or a party. but when this son of yours returned, after gobbling up your estate on prostitutes and you gave him everything.  He knew the risks when he returned and took no precautions and now you and half your workforce are sick because of him.   Then his father said, ‘Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.’”

The Anti-Christ Gospel - The Light of the World

Social media is the key to letting your light shine before others

 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”  So, be sure to be as obnoxious, outspoken and abrasive as possible, especially on social media.  Remember, “Outrage over Outreach!” Don’t waste your time with acts of love and service, no one will see those.  Social media is the key to letting your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven

Parables for a Pandemic - The Babies

I was terrified and you gave me peace of mind

There was a family with two twin babies.  These babies had been born prematurely and were in fragile health.

While these babies were small and fragile, a pandemic broke out.  If the babies were to contract the disease it was likely they would not survive.  The mother could not continue to work because the babies’ daycare closed down due to the pandemic.   The father was a clerk at a pharmacy and picked up extra shifts at his job to try to make ends meet. 

At the father’s job, the employer did not require the store staff, nor the customers to wear masks.  Every day people who were well and people who were sick came into the pharmacy.  Some with masks and some without. 

The father wore a mask and a face shield each day, but lived in fear of bringing the disease home to his babies.  He washed his hands diligently throughout the day and took off his clothes and his mask each day when he came home before he touched his wife or his babies. 

The County Judge issued a law requiring businesses to post signs requiring customers to wear masks.  Fines were issued for businesses that did not comply and for citizens that did not comply.

The judge caught the disease and died. 

In heaven, Jesus said to him, “Well done good and faithful servant, for I was terrified of bringing that disease home to my two vulnerable infants, and you tried to protect me and gave me peace of mind”

The judge asked, “Lord, how could you have been terrified of the disease, and how could you have two vulnerable infant children?   I don’t know what you’re talking about!” 

 “He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.’

The Anti-Christ Gospel - The Salt of the Earth

no longer good for anything

 “You are the salt of the earth.” …This does not mean you should enhance all the lovely and varied flavors of the earth and preserve what is nourishing in life.  This means you should combat evil and sin.  After all, if a person sins, how can they made pure again?  Forgiveness you say? Grace? Nonsense! They are no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Parables for a Pandemic - Two Miles

Go two

His followers came to Jesus and complained, “Lord, the corrupt government has hatched an evil conspiracy plot that will impoverish us all and take away our freedoms.  They have commanded us to close our businesses and wear masks in public places.“

Jesus replied, “If they force you to wear a mask in public places, go not only that “one mile” that they ask, but go over and above what they ask and “go two”.   Give to those who ask, and do not resist an evil person.”

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The Anti-Christ Gospel - The Beatitudes

Pursue happiness.

Now the Anti- Christ saw the crowds and all the social media followers and got on the internet to speak to them saying:  

“Don’t let anyone make you feel poor in spirit or hopeless,  the kingdom of heaven is only found by the strong and hopeful.   

Don’t mourn or let anyone make you sad.  Grief and mourning are for the unspiritual.  Pursue happiness!!  Search out gurus who will teach you how to be happy.  

Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.  Meekness is a mistake.  Speak up and be forceful, it will take power to change the earth  

Those who are hungry are hungry because they haven’t worked hard enough.  You are full because you made all the right choices.  It’s a sign of god’s blessing that you are prosperous.

Don’t allow sin in the world.  Find it and call it out.  Cut yourself off from sinners and be sure to speak the truth publicly about their sin. 

Don’t worry about purity of heart.  If you or your leaders are corrupt, that’s OK, it is God’s work to keep America strong and powerful. 

Don’t be fooled.  Peace is not practical.  It is OK to wage war against the enemies of god. 

Don’t allow anyone to persecute you.  Stand up for yourself! Fight back!

Don’t let anyone insult you, persecute you or falsely say any kind of evil against you because of me.  If some so-called prophet comes along and speaks truth to injustice and corruption in society, be sure to speak evil of them and post a lot of insulting things on social media.”

Mercy not Sacrifice - again

No matter how good a thing is, it can always be better

Why do we sacrifice?

Usually it’s to get something that we consider will fill the void and make us who we want to be.

·       We sacrifice our time to get money so that we can be secure financially

·       We sacrifice our money to buy possessions so that we can be housed, fed, clothed and maybe even show off just a little.

·       We sacrifice our time so that we can be good parents, good lovers, good friends, good moral people.

·       In religion, we sacrifice in order to be good Christians, good Jews, good Muslims, good Hindus, whatever.  We sacrifice to please god or the gods.  We sacrifice to go to heaven. 

We often think that the other guy has what we lack.  The money, the relationship, the spirituality.  We want a house like his house, we want a body like her body, we want a wife like his wife, kids like her kids.  We want to be spiritual and zen like she is.  We want to powerful like he is.  We want to be intelligent and informed like she is. 

In ancient religious rituals, the idea of sacrifice was very literal and embodied.  They took an actual goat or a sheep or even a person.  The “sins” of the people (all the ways that the people fell short, all the ways they didn’t measure up, all that they lacked) were placed upon this sacrifice and when it was gone, the lack was gone. 

Supposedly. 

This is why it’s called a “scapegoat”.  It takes the blame for everything.  So long as it can be the problem and we can get rid of it, we don’t have to actually face the lack inside ourselves and our societies.  We can absolve ourselves of it, rid ourselves of it. 

For a bit.

Until it’s time for another sacrifice. 

The scapegoat is alive and well today. Not only can we direct our feelings of lack onto another person, like the president for example; but onto whole categories of persons. If only those liberals, conservatives, whites, blacks, women, men, christians, jews, muslims, immigrants, millenials, democrats, republicans, would just CHANGE! THEN we’d have the society that we want to have!! THEY are the problem!

So we make the sacrifices to get what we want. The house, the car, the relationship, the president in office, the amendment to the constitution. And when we sacrifice and get the thing we were hoping to get by making the sacrifice, we are left with two outcomes:

1)      The realization that there is only more to be acquired, so further sacrifice is needed

or

2)      The realization that the sacrifice was complete and there is no more to be gotten.

We almost never get to #2.  In fact, #2 is intolerable for most.   If we ever reach it, we have to face the lack that we feel with nothing left to do about it.   

• We have climbed to the top financially only to find that we still feel insecure.

• We have the spouse, the kids, the house, the car, and we still feel inadequate or lonely.

• We lose the weight and still don’t like our body.

• We do the good deeds and still don’t feel like good people.

• We give the sacrifices for god and still feel separated from god.

• We won the legal/political battle and the world is still a shit show

And if we have truly given all there is to give, we are left sitting with our lack with nowhere to go.

Most of us, at this point create another thing to strive after.  Another thing to obtain or attain in order to satisfy this lack.  After all, who has ever truly given ALL there is to give?   In capitalism it is ever increasing wealth with no stopping place.  In Christianity, it is spiritual perfection – becoming “like god”.  With our bodies, it is continued dieting, exercise, enhancement, surgeries. 

No matter how good a thing is, it can always be better

There is a parable told by a philosopher:

There is a man looking for a treasure in a field.  He keeps turning over rocks in that field in the hopes of finding the treasure but never finds it.  Rather than let go of the notion that there is a treasure, the man will find a rock so large that it cannot be turned over, just so he can maintain his idea that the treasure exists. 

But Grace.

Grace is a concept that confronts this cycle we get ourselves into.

Grace says that NOTHING more is needed. 

Grace says no sacrifice is needed.

None. 

Grace says – there’s no special thing to be obtained that will make it all OK.

Grace says your neighbor doesn’t have the special thing either.

Grace says there’s no scapegoat to blame for not having it because there’s nothing to be had.

And then…  only then….  When we’ve admitted that the “other” does not have the secret, special thing… can we love the other. 

As long as I believe that there is more that is needed and that you have more of the special thing than I have:  more zen, more money, more love, more peace, more knowledge, more power. I cannot love you. Not really. As long as I believe that you are the reason why I can’t get what I want, personally, politically, societally, I can’t love you. Not really. As long as I am in a position of sacrificing to know the secret that you seem to have and I don’t. I can’t love you. Not really.   

First grace

Then love.

“I desire mercy (grace) not sacrifice.  Go and learn what this means”   Jesus. 

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Parables for a Pandemic - the Neighbor

What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man?

“Teacher, what must I do to gain eternal life?”

Jesus replied, “What is written in the Bible? How do you interpret it?”

 “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”[a]

Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”

 “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied, “There was a pandemic in a faraway land. A poor man with a lung condition did not have the privilege of working from home.  He worked at WalMart and had to continue to do so to feed his family.      It just so happened that a Christian came to the store without a mask on, and approached the man to ask where in the store to find the dog toys and treats.  The poor employee directed the man to the place. 

Next a priest came to the store without a mask. He approached the man to ask where the office supplies could be found.  The poor employee directed the man to the place and the priest coughed a little and went on his way.

Finally, an atheist came to the store wearing a mask.   He asked the poor employee where to find drill bits.  The poor employee directed the man to the place and the atheist went on his way.

What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man with the lung condition?”

 “Go and do likewise.”

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Doing nothing

Sometimes rest is more work than busy-ness

Sometimes it’s harder to just do nothing.

Sometimes just holding space inside yourself, for others, in relationships and waiting for things to drop into those spaces is harder than filling the space.

Sometimes sllence is harder than speaking.

Sometimes rest is more work than busy-ness

Sometimes a void is more frightening than a full space.

Sometimes solitude is harder than a crowd.

Sometimes openness is harder than closed-ness.

Sometimes vulnerability takes more strength than toughness.

Sometimes unknowing is scarier than knowing.

Sometimes doubt is more sacred than certainty.

Sometimes it’s harder to just do nothing.