INTERFAITH - MOVING THE BOULDER
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From: Bruce S.
Date: Saturday, August 5, 2006, 9:07 AM
Subject: Interfaith - moving the boulder
Reply to: 256099
ID: 253677

Good morning, White Feather, and anyone...

Thanks for this comment, WF. I appreciate your insight. Clearly, you are someone who is familiar with these issues and has given all of this a lot of informed attention in your life....

And yes, it's a subtle question regarding whether there is some "urgency" in any of this. There are lots of ways to consider the question -- and for some, people I respect, we might simply say, "It's in the hands of the divine, all is well..."

But for me -- a view like this might further involve the idea that "we are the hands and feet of the divine" -- and that our collective "conscious evolution" may involve -- or demand -- conscious and intentional and articulate human action.

I have been writing many messages on these themes lately, and taking one out of context, and forwarding it here, as I did with this "boulder" message, involves a certain risk -- that the context will be inadequate, that the surrounding detail is simply not there, etc. One of the triggers for me last night, that suggested I should send that message, even at this risk, was your statement regarding the bridge of non-exclusion --

I had written something yesterday, in almost those exact terms, talking about "building a bridge of safety" for everyone, and the patience that we must maintain for those who are not yet ready to cross that bridge. So, I thought to myself -- this White Feather -- she understands these things, in very articulate ways. I am going to post this....

And the reason, I think, that I am pursuing this issue this morning, is that these abstract "theological" elements point directly to the level of "human responsibility" in the the situation. What are we to do? Should we act? Is there a way to act? Must we do something?

And for me -- this is just my view of things, how the picture forms in my mind, how all of these myriad factors come together to create a sense of my own role in the way things work -- there is a strong sense that human beings bear a strong responsibility and obligation to the cosmos and to our own evolution -- to become knowledgeable, to become mature and realized "universal human beings", to build bridges of understanding, to create conscious and articulate networks that interconnect us all, to create an intentional channel and path for the "salvation and redemption" (to use charged words) of this lovely teeming thing we call human civilization....

*

So, for me -- there IS a "boulder". And it needs to be moved. What is that boulder? Well, it's a lot of things. Maybe all bundled together, it is "all the forces of un-love and ignorance" -- not to mention the conscious forces of less than beautiful motive, that take advantage of the situation. I am not a "conspiracy theorist", and I don't particular want to "assign blame" in any direction if I can avoid it -- but, as I see it, regardless of "immanence" -- there is something that we must collectively overcome....

We must learn to love one another. We must learn this skill. We must find ways to talk to each other. It is not enough that the various contending theological forces in the Mideast are held together in a transcendent unity of God's love, at some highest level of abstraction. We also must concern ourselves with "conditions on the ground". We must heal the injured, feed the hungry, stop the destruction, transform the anger....

And for me -- this is one of the heroic tasks of "the women's movement" -- that these forces gathering in circles are providing an emerging new form of leadership -- that groups like the URI, with their direct on-the-ground contacts in locations everywhere -- can learn from.

Let me comment, if I may, on some of your well-expressed theological observations...

*

WF: You anguish over how people can act as a collective spiritual and moral force when the diversity includes Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese..."each one with a personal story of blood and injury and outrage". You struggle to reach the "breakthrough".

Bruce: Well -- I suppose we can "leave all of this in the hands of God" -- and hope that the slaughter stops. I am worried that we may be looking at a "war of attrition" -- that only stops when everybody is dead. I have heard historians describe the Civil War in the USA in those terms -- that north and south simply kept fighting until all the young men were sick or wounded or in the grave...

I don't believe, I can't believe, I can't accept -- that civilization is meant to unfold in this way. We can do better, we must do better. We must learn, we must create new ways. This is a human responsibility, that we must accept. Yes, we must be guided by the divine -- following all these precepts that you have outlined -- that "no one is excluded from our common unity and our common humanity". But into that context -- we must find a way to live together, that works in detail, that works in particular contexts, that works "on the ground".

WF: Our common ground is our humanity.

Bruce: Yes.

WF: Religion is a human construct. All constructs are tombs. The reality that we observe today is held in place by a "Collective Agreement". When a critical mass is reached and people no longer support the consensus that constitutes our shared experience of reality, the agreement that has held us enthralled is broken, the stone is pushed aside and we see it was but a single grain of sand...a "speck in the eye that obstructed our vision"...

Bruce: Hmm. Well, Dear WF -- I don't want to directly challenge you, because you put this very well. But let me offer a slightly different point of view...

Yes, I agree that "religion is a human construct". No doubt about it -- religions tend to be framed and constructed out of language.

And if by "tomb" you mean that there is an ongoing and omni-present tension between "the letter of the law" and "the spirit of the law", I would agree with you. Some will say that "the letter of the law is dead" -- in this sense, a tomb.

But I do not accept -- that human beings are destined -- at least in the short term -- to "move beyond constructs".

All of civilization depends on language -- everything we do, everything we have created, every agreement we have made -- at most intimate levels, in our families, at regional and national levels, in our governments and businesses, at international levels...

In the great magic presence of being -- in the "I AM" -- it may well be that all divisions melt, that all discriminations blur and dissolve into One -- that all that is not unity transforms and is seen as "maya" -- as illusion.

But for now, it seems to me -- we DO live and breathe and have our being at this level of reality -- where houses are built, agreements are formed, food is purchased in markets -- and theological disagreements and doctrines out there in the world -- "constructs" -- are leading to human devastation.

So, I am persuaded that we must accept the task of negotiating these constructs -- that this is one of the tasks of our "sacred circle". Yes, we might agree that "We are all One" -- and this is a great place to start. And then -- we have to figure out how we're going to make it work in the real world...

WF: Each individual must make a moral choice to either continue to invest in the "Collective Agreement" that is destroying us, or to surrender to the greater possibilities that shall be revealed as we embrace our shared humanity. The "truth shall set us free"... to paraphrase one teacher.

Bruce: This is a subtle thing, and yes -- this is an individual choice. But I, for one, would be very cautious about opting out of the "collective agreement". I would say that doing any such thing -- could be psychologically dangerous, and very isolating -- and indeed, carry in that choice certain consequences that may fracture or injure the very connection to "the One" that is so critical and so life-sustaining.

So, for me -- life is very much about working within the collective agreement -- even if that agreement carries with it a degree of discomfort, a sense that things are too often stupid or ignorant or unnecessarily painful. It may be that "the truth shall set us free" -- but I don't want that freedom to be achieved only at the cost of death. I want to make it work at the level of life -- of shared companionship, of intimate human trust, of connection, of "body chemistry" -- where we truly jostle along together in intimate physical connection -- and make it work, in a spirit of love, at that level.

And truly -- if we want to stay alive, if we want a beautiful planet, if we want to realize our highest destiny, if we want to fully unfold our human potential -- we don't really have any other choice. This is something, in my opinion, we are called to do, and we must learn to do.

WF: The lotus rises from the mud...from the darkness of the deep...

When we can honor the fact that the divine spark is in all...equally...we redeem the material world and ourselves.

Bruce: Yes, I agree with this. And, I would say, something like this could very well be part of any collective agreement we might hope could emerge from our "grand circle process".

WF: Our salvation is not to be found in emmanence.

Our salvation is immanent...here...now...this Earth...these bodies...each other...each simple choice...to see things as they are...holy...

Bruce: Beautiful. Let us encourage every sort of awakening to this holiness....