Can You Get There From Here?

The search for enlightenment seems to be in the forefront of many minds today. Thereareyyy Many have turned to non-Christian religions, finding Christianity rarely practiced except in judgmental and exclusionary forms. Many people spend much of their lives drifting from church to temple to guru seeking the truth that will set them free. The very fact that we do this kind of journeying encourages me.

As an elder, it is exciting for me to find so many people ready to live with the kind of uncertainty that opens one to enlightenment. I do not, by the by, claim enlightenment for myself. I am a mere student. I have met those I consider to be enlightened, one of whom is my very own sister. She would deny it strongly, but she shines like the sun.

I do recommend a constant pilgrimage along the “road of happy destiny” as AA calls it. There is always more to be learned, more that will be shown to us as we continue to follow the One Who loved us first. For me, this following includes prayer and meditation. I spend a lot of time just sitting in silence with the One I call God, who not only inhabits the very space between the molecules of my body but points out to me the beings all about who are singing and crying out the glory of God.

This pandemic has put many of us squarely in the path of suffering and death. These are not things Americans like to deal with, never mind other peoples. We deny death, fighting it off with fierce energy. We pretend we will live forever. We sometimes prepare for our own demise so our children won’t have to make tough decisions when we die. We sometimes don’t do any such thing, since we prefer not to consider our own death as an inevitable event.

The sorrow...the sheer horror of the idea of 100,000 dead is overwhelming. The need to blame someone or something is human, and often entertained online. Politicians seem to be master manipulators of the game of “let’s you and them fight.” I pray we will not play that game. Let us instead accept that we are not the center of the universe, either individually or collectively. Let us calmly consider whether perhaps we can restrict our birth rate regardless of male privilege, and not so overburden nature that she has to kill us all to save herself.

I have little doubt the planet can handle her infestation. The wealthy have considered this. Why else are they considering a return to the moon, or living on mars? Not that the poor will be given any such chance, except maybe with 20 year employment contracts to do service or dangerous jobs such as mining. Their lives will belong to the “company store” as they will be charged a percentage of their wages for the very air they breathe while they labor to terraform the planet.  

This is not to suggest that I love the rich less than the poor...I simply know that money and power corrupt.  Corruption precludes regarding the less fortunate as human beings with equal rights to life, liberty and happiness.  As clerics, we are called, are we not, to regard the marginalized and therefore the poor as just as holy as anyone else.  We are commanded by Chrst to see them as Christ themselves, and to treat them accordingly.  This is a fearful calling in a world that punishes truth telling and justice.  

So, how do we become creatures like Christ, who though mortally afraid of suffering and death, still went to Jerusalem?  I believe we can do this by way of meditation and prayer.  We can live in conscious contact with the God of our understanding.  We can do this by choice, or we can wait until God pushes us, or rather pulls us, via the road of suffering.  Do not doubt that you are called.  You are loved.  You are seen as holy and brave and pure.  Therefore, you are called to love your brothers and sisters and all other beings as you love your God.  You are called out.  Called to action.

What action will you take today?  Will you wear your mask when you go out, in order to protect others?  Will you say a prayer for or with someone who is feeling less than strong?  Will you say your rosary alone or in company with others?  Will you say your daily devotions for the sake of others, as well as for your own needs?

You can indeed “get there from here.”  You will in fact do so.  I know this because I can do it.  So can you.  I am merely an amateur, and I can and do live in conscious contact with God.  You can be a saint, and shine like the sun.  You can change your world. You are beautiful and free.  Just don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable in the attempt.  Fear can only last about ninety seconds before it stops firing in the brain unless we deliberately dwell in fear.  Let us instead watch it pass through and over us, and then proceed to our joyous duty of love.