Why Bother?

Many say:

"I don't watch the news.

It's too depressing."

Yes, it can be.

The creative violence

of humanity's darkness hurts,

and it pains me, too.

I cry and wonder why, too.

My heart breaks

for the pains of the world.

So why do I bother at all?

Why do I want to know about it?

Because we are all connected:

The Korean who is killed

for her political views.

The Swede born at high noon.

The Italian suffering

the aftermath of a quake.

The joy of newlyweds in Ohio.

Even the likes of a Trump.

or a Gandhi,

or a Putin,

or a Cuello,

or Papa Fran,

or a fox,

or Fiona the cat.

We are ALL connected.

I feel them,

I feel for them.

I watch and listen because

I want to know.

I watch and listen

so I can reach out -

in prayer,

to console,

to commend,

to praise,

to heal.

agd

So Many Words

I am grateful

for the company

of the raido,

faceless voices

relating, arguing,

emoting, judging,

singing, laughing.

I know, too,

if I shut off the radio,

silence the TV,

muffle the music,

stop the ticking clock…

I have words to write.

So many words

pouring through

this filter named Allen G. Dec.

(Only one channel of so many)

It is a constant flow,

like the music,

or like like the blaring tinnitus

in the never-present silence.

So many words

pouring through me,

cataracts of letters

tumbling, with no ethic,

no morals, no judgements, none,

but coalescing into a torrent

of ideas and inspirations,

images and forms

-- meant for the world?

-- or just for me?

And will the world be any less

if I, me, do not press

graphite to pulp,

if I, me, do not speak it in public,

if Allen doesn’t tweet or publish?

Some things are meant

to be seen and heard by all,

and some are not,

but all and everything co-exists

in the Heart and Mind of the Beloved.

Live in that Heart, and enjoy.

agd

Duped

I know this is not paradise -

far from it.

Every second in this flesh

is a struggle for survival.

Yet we are seeded with hope,

hope for a life of peace and pleasure,

to wonder and experience,

fulfilling purpose and promise,

working to preserve and honor,

playing Vishnu,

all the while in the midst

of the darkness of Shiva

breaking down and destroying

so Brahma can rebuild,

and Vishnu …. etc.

An endless cycle it is.

A beautiful, stunning Life it is.

"We" are caught in the spiral of Time,

and believe it. Don't.

We've been duped.

How did we forget?

Why do we want to believe?

Bueno, it's part of my program,

my DNA, to believe

in the integrity of

my individual being,

to observe and report

from my center of the universe.

And though I am one,

I AM - ONE.

Salt

From the shadows

of depression,

tears stream down

my forehead,

blurring my vision,
flowing over my dry lips,

quenching my thirst

for being.

But even a tear of pain or sadness

contains the spice

which enhances,

gives flavor,

satisifies.

Hidden in every challenge

the quarks of being blaze,

illumining one step

striding into the next.

Hidden behind the smiling mask,

within the universe of dark matter

beats a glowing star,

the blazing soul.

Here is our only safety,

our real salvation.

Rest in the glow.

agd

The Only Law You Need To Follow

Gospel Mt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Cross That Line

"CROSS THAT LINE" by Naomi Shihab Nye

Paul Robeson stood
on the northern border
of the USA
and sang into Canada
where a vast audience
sat on folding chairs
waiting to hear him.

He sang into Canada.
His voice left the USA
when his body was
not allowed to cross
that line.

Remind us again,
brave friend.
What countries may we
sing into?
What lines should we all
be crossing?
What songs travel toward us
from far away
to deepen our days?

Sons and Daughters of God

Link:    Bishop Spong on our divine inheritance.

May I add - We are ALL sons and daughters of God! 2Cor, 6:18, Romans 8:16,  Psalm 82:6. 

And yes, in Jesus, the fullness of Being resided, but it also means, and he taught, that we, too, can evolve to his status - "and you will do greater things than this.." John 1:50, John 5:20  We get too stuck in this material world and forget our real status in the Life of Being (God, Universe, whatever). Don't dummy down what and who you are. There is no separation of divine and not divine - all is divine - own it.

Apropos

History always repeats itself.

Reading 1 Jer 14:17-22

Let my eyes stream with tears
day and night, without rest,
Over the great destruction which overwhelms
the virgin daughter of my people,
over her incurable wound.
If I walk out into the field,
look! those slain by the sword;
If I enter the city,
look! those consumed by hunger.
Even the prophet and the priest
forage in a land they know not.

Have you cast Judah off completely?
Is Zion loathsome to you?
Why have you struck us a blow
that cannot be healed?
We wait for peace, to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.
We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,
the guilt of our fathers;
that we have sinned against you.
For your name’s sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your glory;
remember your covenant with us, and break it not.
Among the nations’ idols is there any that gives rain?
Or can the mere heavens send showers?
Is it not you alone, O LORD,
our God, to whom we look?
You alone have done all these things.

Visions

Quan Lin weeps for her children

and Francesco

begs for relief.

The Green Beauty is shocked 

as the West disappears

and white waters rush

at her feet.

The world is in mourning,

and some will play on grief.

Peace will come,

but later, much later.

      agd 6.29.16

A Closer Walk with God

God cannot be explained in human words. God is an experience. 

"The best we can do is to walk daily in the experience of God. We walk without road maps; we never find security. Certainty is not a possibility. Does God disappear in our inability to capture the divine in the words of the human? No, but idolatry disappears. Perhaps the best we can do is to pray for “a closer walk with God.” That is the mystical path. I choose to continue my journey into the Source of life, the Source of love and the Ground of Being without any clear or certain answer."

John Shelby Spong

The Precipice

The Precipice

I'm leaning,

leaning over

the edge of tomorrow.

It's so high up

I can barely distinguish

the distant terrain.

But why wonder about tomorrow?

Today has enough

to entertain and to wonder at.

And if I jump over

the edge of tomorrow,

will it not still be today?

Tomorrow never comes.

Today is all there is.

Live it.

agd

Grace and Healing

" The word “grace,” so freely used in religious circles, means the recognition that we are ultimately not self-made people, but are dependent on another for both life and love, which for me are synonyms for God. .....

The task of the would-be healer is to enable every person, no matter how badly he or she has been wounded by life, to find the courage to be all that he or she can be."  

Bishop John Shelby Spong

Grace and Healing

" The word “grace,” so freely used in religious circles, means the recognition that we are ultimately not self-made people, but are dependent on another for both life and love, which for me are synonyms for God. .....

The task of the would-be healer is to enable every person, no matter how badly he or she has been wounded by life, to find the courage to be all that he or she can be."  

Bishop John Shelby Spong