Friday, July 6, 2018

RECOGNZE




Hi There !

So, some family

and friends

do Yoga.

I dare not.

I'd snap in two,

fall to the floor

a heap of parts.

In my own way,

     though,

   I do share

Yoga's practice of

   "Namaste."

It's the Hindu greeting,

fingers pressed together

like a church steeple,

held at the heart

and then extended

toward the heart

of the other and saying

       "Namaste,"

 "The divine light in me

        recognizes

   the divine light in you."

        God in me

        recognizes

       God in you.

 You and I are sparked

       into being,

   sustained in being,

        by God -

    the divine light.

The deepest in me

          and

the deepest in you

     are divine.

   At our core,

   foundationally,

we are splendidly one

         in God.

     We grow out

uniquely and divinely

       from there.

   We are like a tree.

The same life branching out

so variously and magnificently.

 "I am the vine, you are the branches."

                                            John 15:5

The same and different.

 One and yet unique.

          Paradox

an apparent contradiction

that happily just isn't.

       "Namaste."

God in me recognizes

all that in you - in us.




This "recognizing"

is way more than

notice and nod.

It is an expansive awareness

of our base and unity -

a divine recognition of itself

that we sense and express.

It is an acceptance and embrace

of our "us-ness" in God,

a loving and a living of it -

God happy to be us, and

 "the feeling is mutual."

The divine in me recognizes

    that every being is

             "us"

in a singular, creative way.




More and more I try to greet

everyone and everything with

my own modified version of

               "Namaste"

 "The divine light in me recognize

        the divine light in you."

Let me underscore

"...with my own modified version..." 

Quite frankly,

greet children in the park,

or the crowd around you

at a Yankee game,

in the Hindu mode

of "Namaste"

and it might just get you

 a black eye,

or a ride in The Paddy Wagon !!

Partly that's because we are at such

 an embryonic stage of evolution,

of consciousness, of awareness

and of sharing divine recognition.

In our embryonic stage,

both soulful unity and real difference

scare us a bit to a bunch.

Sometimes we throw up walls,

push, punch, call the cops.



More often and operative, though,

it is simply a matter of finding

a culturally appropriate,

personally apt,

mode of expression

to say and show soulful recognition.




As we mature and mellow spiritually,

we find ourselves in God and God in us

in two basic ways.



The terrain of the first is a nothingness,

no need of thought or word,

the naked abandon of being in Being,

the enfoldment, the flowing into each other,

the "inter curro" of  oneness.

We're darn lucky if that happens

every third Tuesday!




The more everyday experience of

God recognizing "Self in Other"

happens in our fusion with God present

in all people and all things -

loving, treasuring, serving,

sharing, caring for them

right out here on Main Street.



So, how do we deal with

this more common way

of divine recognition out here

on this street of everyday living?

We wake up.

We lighten up.

We let go.

We freely and fully flow

with God's recognition in us

and in the other.

We see self and  God

          in all,

           one

        with all.

Then we let that recognition

be expressed in the manner

best suited for the "Other Self."

So, we don't launch into

a metaphysical discourse

on divine oneness and recognition

with a ten year old.

We play checkers with the ten year old.

That allows for a "recognition"

in practice and personal experience.

Most folks would run for cover

if I walked up to them,

folded my hands at my heart

and then extended my hands

 toward their hearts and said

           "Namaste."

Culturally, socially, practically,

I find it best to express

          "Namaste,"

not in the Hindu manner,

but through a smile, a hand shake,

a look of recognition and/or appreciation,

a wave, a greeting as simple as

"How's it going today?",

"Good to see you,"

"How's your baby

(new job, college, mother in law)?"

Often a simple "Hey!",

a high five, a hug does it.

Packed into whatever

the mode of connect

is God's  recognition

and mine of

the divine in them,

and our union there.

Sometimes there doesn't seem

to be any awareness or response

on the part of the one greeted.

That's rather rare.

It's amazing how often people

in their own way gesture back,

recognizing the divine in me

and our union there.

Hardly ever would it be put

in those words,

but what those words mean does happen.

It's mostly quiet, subtle, understated,

and so, well,

delightfully divine!! 

Soulful contact is made,

often in an indirect,

almost subconscious,

but real way,

Sensitivity and authenticity

are the keys here.

So, with people

of completely different

politics, religion, life style,

we go for a hike and a picnic supper.

That being together "speaks " together,

recognizes something good ( God ),

not fully, but we're on our way.

There's unspoken,

but real recognition and union.

When someone is boring us,

or boring into us,

we face that and keep at it

until we face, we recognize,

the divine in our discomfort or pain.

In these sort of situations,

when someone is hurting us,

returned recognition is often denied.

So, we just "love on 'em"!!



The best ever model of

        "Namaste",

that I know is Francis of Assisi.

He lived a lie for years -

arrogant, selfish, abusive.

When he "woke up" to Reality,

he dropped his phoniness,

fashion fixation, selfishness.

He fell in Love, as "God is love."

He was "in" Love

with everyone and everything.

He delighted as the divine in him

recognized the divine in other and all.

It wasn't always sentimental and sweet.

Often it was sweaty and smelly.

He sought out, embraced and cared for

the rejects and lepers of his day.

He washed them, fed them,

spent time and self on them.

Messy and divine. 

He recognized God in them

and his union there.

Francis found God

in all of creation.

The divine in him recognized

the divine in them

and their foundational oneness.

He sang with the birds,

was on a first name basis with

 "Brother Sun," "Sister Moon."

He got excited about every form of being.

His example invites our excitement

at recognizing the divine in "things" -

a sunrise, a dandelion, a poem, our supper,

a pillow, an airplane, the internet, a novel,

our lawnmower, a painting, an ice cream cone,

a quiet meadow...

It never stops and we don't have to either.
 



Our everyday spiritual life is

mixing it up with everyone

and everything,

as the divine light in us

recognize and connects

with the divine light in them.

They may or may not respond,

but we get to recognize union,

and be there, be one in/with God

        at the center of

every person, place and thing.

More and more we find ourselves

in the midst of God and

God in our midst.

This is the mystical life

out here on Main Street.

We are are filled

with wonder and gratitude,

all wrapped up in God

present in all around us

and within us.

It might be a friend.

It might be the fibers of a new coat.

It might be a symphony.

It might be our supper.

It might be The Eucharist.

It might be holding a baby.

It might be supporting  the fourteen year old

shattered at his parents impending divorce.

It might be the digital pulsations

that get this blog from me to you.

The joy is that what might be can be.

It's a wonderful Trinity -

      Them
              Us
                 God

three ways of being one.

Definitely a higher math.

What a recognition.


Before we go,

a word of welcome to

our newest participation

from Croatia.



          "Amaste."

"The divine light in me recognizes

    the divine light in you."

            John Frank


              *****


If you're up for more, here it is.

If not, see you next week.

               *****



   
           OUTTAKES





 Reference to Francis:

"He sought out, embraced,

cared for the rejects and

lepers of his day."

  ( this issue of "frankly speaking" )

Some of the Rejects and Lepers of Today:

     - the thousands in Africa  being dumped

        in the desert to die because

        they want to migrate to Europe

      - the many more thousands drowning

        as the try to migrate

        from northern Africa to Europe

       -the 700,000 Rohingya men,

        women and children escaping

        ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and

        living in squalor in Bangladesh

      - those migrants walled off from

        their children at our border

        and where are those children?

      - right now, according to the

       United Nations Refugee Agency,

       there is the highest level

       of displacement in the world

       on record  - 68.5 million

       forced from home,

       25.4 million refugees,

       half of them under 18 years old

  - it's a huge issue with many elements,

    and no simple, quick fixes.

 - are we concerned and requiring

  our religious and government leaders

  to address remedy rather than

  just reject and exclude?

- "I was a stranger, and you welcomed me."

                      Jesus

               Matthew 25:35

 -"When an alien resides with you in your land,

    you shall not oppress the alien.

    The alien who resides with you shall be to you

    as a citizen among you; you shall love the alien

    as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt:

    I am the Lord your God."

                              Leviticus 19:35

 - Does the divine light in us recognize the divine light

   in these millions of suffering people,

   recognize it enough that we will do all possible

   so that the need is addressed and worked on,

   even if it means we might have to

   significantly modify our level

   of economic advantage

   and our life of privilege???

                     *****


- "Recognizing" the divine

   in another

  when it's hard to see it:

  How about that pesky neighbor

  who parks his "shuttle car"

  (the one he uses to get

  to the station work days),

  that junker 1992 Oldsmobile Achieva,

  right in front of your house

  not in his own driveway.

 Can we come up with

 the clarity and openness

 to see the divine in him

 and  our oneness with him there

 and have him over

 for a beer once in a while?

              *****


Rather than sit home

and stew about the world order,

o.k., "disorder,"

we want to recognize the divine

in all sorts of people

out there,

whether they do or not.

We want to be one

with them in God's Love,

praying for them :

   - Valimir Putin, Xi-Jinping,

      Donald Trump,

      the world's power brokers

   - The media merchants polluting

     minds and spirits with trivia,

     distraction, shallowness,

     "Unreality" shows

   - The folks responsible for hate radio

      and those duped by them

    - Religious leaders attempting

       to build shrines

       to institutional success

     - Gangs, cartels, terrorists, all abusers

     - Some corporate and political leaders

       favoring the few,

       forgetting the common good,

       raping Mother Nature.

    - All the children of the world

      as they start to bud and blossom

    - College students and young adults

       trying to figure out themselves,

       life and purpose

     - Those working to build

       relationships and families

     -"Forty Somethings" trying

       to re-calibrate their lives

       and relationships

     - The elderly as we decline so as to ascend.


                        *****


God in Us and Us in God:

- " Do you not know that you are

   a temple of God and that

   the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

            I Corinthians 3:16

- " For we are the temple of the living God."

           II Corinthians 6:16

                   *****



A Touch of Theology

Pantheism: The understanding/belief

that God and the universe can be equated;

that God is the universe.


Panentheism:The understanding/belief that

all is in God, that the divine

interpenetrates all aspects

of the universe and transcends it.


Panentheism is

the theological understanding

operative in this blog.


*******************************************************************************




"frankly speaking "

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              *****