So its week since Fidelity had its RIF. My boss is gone, as are two colleagues I known for over a decade. Two other colleagues have husbands who lost their jobs and a woung women who works for me found out her husband had lost his job with another company only a couple of hours before we sent into the meeting she thought she might learn she was losing hers (she was never in any danger). Pause for thought.
A couple of months ago my SVP was usherd out, last week it was my boss. Next quarter Fidelity is laying off another 1,700. Pause for thought.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
...or is the answer 44
Crick, B,
1. I'm starting my citizenship papers tonight, since a pretty good number of you Americans have fended off what was starting to look like a fundamentalist Christian government.
2. That's largely due to a large number of young voters like you coming forward to take the country in a new direction and that can only bode well for future elections. Those over 64 are one of the few demographics that stuck with McCain and they will start to die off with ever increasing frequency. You young folks will shift the balance if you stick with it.
3. Just in time, we are going to have a president who can restock the Supreme Court with younger progressive judges to replace the older ones who will retire (as they surely will during his first term). With any luck he may need to replace one of the older judges of the opposing persuasion.
4. The resounding victory has given him some pretty good coat tails, that leaves other legislators indebted to him somewhat, while they helped sweep others out of power. So all of his initiatives should have a "relatively" easy passage.
5. I will be able to listen to a presidential State of the Union, or other public message without cringing or being embarrassed.
1. I'm starting my citizenship papers tonight, since a pretty good number of you Americans have fended off what was starting to look like a fundamentalist Christian government.
2. That's largely due to a large number of young voters like you coming forward to take the country in a new direction and that can only bode well for future elections. Those over 64 are one of the few demographics that stuck with McCain and they will start to die off with ever increasing frequency. You young folks will shift the balance if you stick with it.
3. Just in time, we are going to have a president who can restock the Supreme Court with younger progressive judges to replace the older ones who will retire (as they surely will during his first term). With any luck he may need to replace one of the older judges of the opposing persuasion.
4. The resounding victory has given him some pretty good coat tails, that leaves other legislators indebted to him somewhat, while they helped sweep others out of power. So all of his initiatives should have a "relatively" easy passage.
5. I will be able to listen to a presidential State of the Union, or other public message without cringing or being embarrassed.
6. I can look forward to:
- A better Supreme Court
- An economic fix to our current problems, based in reality, recognizing that a huge deficit means me and my older compatriots are passing on our debts to you two and others of your age group
- A stimulus package that shifts large parts of the economy towards addressing the crisis of climate change and rotting infrastructure
- A healthcare system that becomes a civic right rather than a profit center
- Civil discourse within our country, strong accords with our partners overseas, and even a dialogue with those who the current administration has demonized
Of course its not all a rosy picture, but I'll save that for after the inauguration speech, when its clearer what "change" #44 is talking about.
With love - Rod, Dad
Monday, May 5, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Building Your Own Theology Credo (May 2008)
Spirituality, god and religion. The three big words that carry so much baggage with them from childhood that we often can’t think of them in any other way than when we were in our parents care. That is, I often have difficulty thinking of them in any other way. Spirituality means you need to believe in a fairy tale. God is the supernatural being that Michelangelo first drew on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Religion is something people kill each other for in Northern Ireland.
I think I’ve at last got them under control. The words that is. Or should I say that I have the feelings they engender within me under control. Maybe even enough to use them on my own terms and not the world’s terms. We’ll see won’t we? So let’s see if I’m brave enough to define them for myself, today. Of course as a good U.U. I reserve the right to change them at any time in the future – even while reading what I’ve written on this page.
Spirituality is easy – it’s the word I’ve been working on for the longest time. Spirituality is the knowledge that there is more to you than you. There is more to you than what you see, feel, smell, taste and hear. Why is the view of Red Tarn from the peak of Helvellyn in the English Lake District so beautiful? Why does the touch of your lover sear your mind? Why does the smell of baking bread take you back to a different place and time? Why does a cheesecake taste like heaven when it provides no wholesomeness whatsoever? Why does Beethoven’s 9th, Tubular Bells, or Bat out of Hell touch our souls. Well that’s where spirituality comes in, in fact that’s what it is, the ability to appreciate the gifts.
Religion is the toughest one for me because I’ve worked on it less than the other two. It’s also the one that holds the greatest worldly dangers because of its main actual requirement. It fundamentally requires a group for it to exist. The power of a group or religious people is an unstoppable force. But power can just as easily be used as evil as it can for good, I haven’t even decided if it’s abused more than it’s used for good. All I can say is that I have found my religious group. I can’t say we U.U’s have never used our religion for evil purposes. All I can say is that I have not seen it abused to the same degree as have the other religions of the world. On the other hand religions have been tremendous forces for good throughout history maybe mine could be the greatest. It’s a major source of ministry to all individuals. Religion is what makes humans great – it a pity it is what can make us a disaster
And god for me gets easier all the time (even if I do refuse to spell it with a capital G). It’s the connection between the other two. It’s what connects the personal spirituality with the group religion and more. It’s that unknowable, tasteless, invisible, silent, odorless, unfeeling thing that connects each one of us to everything else in the universe. You to me. Me to the sunset, Us to the lilies’ aroma. Your response to your spouses touch. My will, to the cheesecake. Our souls to the rising crescendo of a glorious piece of music. God is poetry not theology, but my baggage still wants to use e e cummings unconventional orthorgraphy.
I think I’ve at last got them under control. The words that is. Or should I say that I have the feelings they engender within me under control. Maybe even enough to use them on my own terms and not the world’s terms. We’ll see won’t we? So let’s see if I’m brave enough to define them for myself, today. Of course as a good U.U. I reserve the right to change them at any time in the future – even while reading what I’ve written on this page.
Spirituality is easy – it’s the word I’ve been working on for the longest time. Spirituality is the knowledge that there is more to you than you. There is more to you than what you see, feel, smell, taste and hear. Why is the view of Red Tarn from the peak of Helvellyn in the English Lake District so beautiful? Why does the touch of your lover sear your mind? Why does the smell of baking bread take you back to a different place and time? Why does a cheesecake taste like heaven when it provides no wholesomeness whatsoever? Why does Beethoven’s 9th, Tubular Bells, or Bat out of Hell touch our souls. Well that’s where spirituality comes in, in fact that’s what it is, the ability to appreciate the gifts.
Religion is the toughest one for me because I’ve worked on it less than the other two. It’s also the one that holds the greatest worldly dangers because of its main actual requirement. It fundamentally requires a group for it to exist. The power of a group or religious people is an unstoppable force. But power can just as easily be used as evil as it can for good, I haven’t even decided if it’s abused more than it’s used for good. All I can say is that I have found my religious group. I can’t say we U.U’s have never used our religion for evil purposes. All I can say is that I have not seen it abused to the same degree as have the other religions of the world. On the other hand religions have been tremendous forces for good throughout history maybe mine could be the greatest. It’s a major source of ministry to all individuals. Religion is what makes humans great – it a pity it is what can make us a disaster
And god for me gets easier all the time (even if I do refuse to spell it with a capital G). It’s the connection between the other two. It’s what connects the personal spirituality with the group religion and more. It’s that unknowable, tasteless, invisible, silent, odorless, unfeeling thing that connects each one of us to everything else in the universe. You to me. Me to the sunset, Us to the lilies’ aroma. Your response to your spouses touch. My will, to the cheesecake. Our souls to the rising crescendo of a glorious piece of music. God is poetry not theology, but my baggage still wants to use e e cummings unconventional orthorgraphy.
Why I am a U.U (2-2-2005)
When offered the opportunity to speak today, I of course immediately said I’d love to - but then when I thought about the title I realized it wasn’t going to be as easy to explain as I had initially presumed. “Why I am a Unitarian Universalist” - my initial reaction was “ I’m not, I’m a U.U.”. Unitarian and Universalist are religious words used by spiritual people when what they really want is a faith that describes their belief or non-belief in god. It’s the words that get in the way. It’s the words that make communication difficult. Think about each one - spirituality, religion, faith, god. Before I can start to understand anyone else on this I need to take my definitions and throw them away. When I use the word spiritual it means something different than what you understand and when someone over here speaks about religion it’s not the same thing that someone over here hears. When lifelong U.U.s speak of faith they may not mean the same things as someone who grew up Catholic, Anglican or Jewish. And when someone speaks of god it will certainly summon up different feelings and emotions in each of us because it means something different to each and every one of us. Many people may not even spell it G-O-D. In my notes I certainly haven’t spelled it with a capital G or given it a gender.
In many ways I think that my first four or five years as a member of this congregation, probably leading up to the point where I actually felt comfortable describing myself as a U.U., were spent believing that I had found a way to escape those words. And I still think its true, except that for me what I am escaping from are the old childhood definitions. What I now realize I need are my own constantly shifting definitions.
I’ll start with spirituality. The more I heard people talk about their spiritual journeys the more I began to think about my own. Of course being a good U.U. I had to reject other people’s concept of a journey and come up with some construct of my own, and so I started to work on my spiritual jigsaw puzzle. A turning point came during a telephone conversation with Helen Cohen as she was working on her sermon that I had bought at a church auction. The topic I had chosen was simply “Spirituality” and as I described how I was putting my jigsaw together, occasionally completing a section of understanding, or connecting two large sections together, or sometimes getting lucky and finding a straight edge, she casually suggested that perhaps my jigsaw puzzle had no edges. The earth literally shook. Could it be possible that the question of “What is spirituality?” that I had attached such importance to, had no definitive answer? That was when I first started to understand what spirituality might be. Now that I know it has no edges I just carry on with the jigsaw for the sheer joy of it. If I can’t find a straight edge - I don’t keep on looking for it. If the pieces don’t fit - maybe they aren’t meant to. And maybe, just maybe it’s worth putting some of those nasty little pieces with squirrelly edges in the trash.
If you want to advance your own spiritual journey or start your own jigsaw puzzle there no better place to do that than with a covenant group. Sure you’ll get to talk some but more importantly you get to listen, and who knows you may come up with some new questions.
Sometimes those troublesome words - religion and faith - are presented as the nemesis of science. I’ve certainly interpreted them that way in the past, before I discovered Unitarian Universalism. But our religion respects science and we are comfortable using our faith where science ends. The scientist in me is able to explain how we can see the colors of a rainbow - but not why it’s beautiful. I understand human biology - but can’t explain why one person loves another, or hates someone else. My high school botany can explain how a tree grows but not why people flock to see the glory of Vermont in autumn. I have a degree in Zoology and have dissected more animals than I can count but that education won’t help me know why us soft skinned humans finds so much beauty in the striped coat of a large carnivore that could kill and eat them. Put two people together and you get more than the sum of the parts, put a group together and you get a symphony. Listen to a choir, watch a sports team, share an argument, hold hands with a lover, read a book. Our religion brings us together to share with each other. Our faith is one that recognizes the value of everyone and the interconnectedness of all things. This faith we share is a religion sorely needed by the world. Our voice needs to be louder, our presence larger and our congregations everywhere.
I’ve only seriously reconsidered the word god in the last couple of years. Although the first inkling I had that there was something about god I didn’t understand was about 11 years ago. Sally and I were youth group advisors and we took our junior high teens over to meet with the youth from The Church of Our Redeemer, the Episcopal church across the street. I remember cringing ever so slightly when one of our youth asked the question “What is god to you?” “Oh jesum crow!” I thought, “Here we go”. But what happened was astounding. The teens had an amazing discussion in which - had I not know who was who, I could not have told the difference between the Redeemer teens and our own. I couldn’t discern any significant differences between the two groups as they talked about what god was - and what god wasn’t.
If you want to be challenged, rewarded, take pleasure in the sheer joy of life, learn about the meaning of spirituality, know how to think about god and why you are a part of the U.U. religion, I would recommend talking to Lynne today to get yourself on the list to act as a youth group advisor. For the braver souls out there I’d recommend the Junior High.
Now, fast-forward 10 years to Cape Cod where I spent a weeklong retreat last summer with a large group of 40 U.U.s at the Northeast Leadership School. One of the exercises was to stand somewhere on a continuum that represented our understanding of god. The image of the white haired, white bearded god that Michaelangelo cemented with his fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling was at one end and a devout atheism was at the other extreme. We first stood on the continuum to represent the god of our childhood, and I was right there with Michaelangelo. The continuum and my new found friends from NELS stretched along the wall through the personal god of creation and control, through the impersonal god of universal design, through all sorts of people labeling themselves as theists and deists of different flavors. The line continued through agnostics, humanists and to the farthest end of the line where a couple of us vied for the very last spot on the continuum to represent our adult atheism. And yet the surprise for me was not that someone else was willing to fight harder than me to anchor that end of the line. It was the realization that were it not for the language of my childhood I would be comfortable aligning myself with that large group of people who stood a ways down the continuum and who felt comfortable speaking about god as connection, , god as the indefinable thing that’s something more than the purely physical world but something less than a sentient controller, or designer, god as the fabric connecting the known from the unknowable. And frankly, today, I’d still be fighting for that last spot on the continuum, but at least when I’m talking with other U.U.s I can hear the word god and translate it into a concept that means something I can connect with. If you need a diagram - here it is – I’ll leave it in front of the pulpit so you can look at it after the service.
Sally sometimes describes me as a contrarian. She says black and I say white. The worship committee invites me to speak on “Why I am a Unitarian Universalist” and I say “I’m not. I’m a U.U.”. I contemplate the title a little more and can’t help but think I should just get up in the pulpit and read Tony Larsen’s sermon “Why you should not be a Unitarian Universalist”. Maybe Sally’s right. I am a little perverse sometimes. But then again maybe that’s why I’m here in the U.U. faith. We are all willing to accept a little perversity from one another as long as we are willing to pass the high entrance requirements of our faith. Here, we don’t give anyone the answers. Here, the challenge of our faith is to ask yourself the right questions so you can help others answer their own questions and maybe form a few more. We mustn’t lower our standards so that just anyone can become a U.U. We must not hand out the answers to people unwilling and unable to ask their own questions.
In fact I am now realizing that the journey we are on as U.U.s, the spiritual jigsaw puzzle I am trying to assemble, is in many ways questioning the meaning of those words that I spent a good portion of my life trying to avoid. This transition in my own thoughts was painted on a large canvas for me only a few weeks ago during yet another junior high youth group meeting I was running with Scott Kyle. I floated the question “What is god?” What transpired, besides another great youth group discussion, was that two of the youth were arguing with each other and that argument could easily have been the “rabid atheist” Rodney of 1992 arguing with the “god as connections” Rodney of 2005. The eye opener for me was that I could agree with both sides of the argument - but now I don’t feel that the argument is necessary, both Rodney’s are correct..
Are you still wondering “Why is Rodney a U.U.” ? Well, where else can a spiritual man of faith find a religion where he can talk about god and still proudly profess his atheism? … and you’ll notice I formed that as a question.
In many ways I think that my first four or five years as a member of this congregation, probably leading up to the point where I actually felt comfortable describing myself as a U.U., were spent believing that I had found a way to escape those words. And I still think its true, except that for me what I am escaping from are the old childhood definitions. What I now realize I need are my own constantly shifting definitions.
I’ll start with spirituality. The more I heard people talk about their spiritual journeys the more I began to think about my own. Of course being a good U.U. I had to reject other people’s concept of a journey and come up with some construct of my own, and so I started to work on my spiritual jigsaw puzzle. A turning point came during a telephone conversation with Helen Cohen as she was working on her sermon that I had bought at a church auction. The topic I had chosen was simply “Spirituality” and as I described how I was putting my jigsaw together, occasionally completing a section of understanding, or connecting two large sections together, or sometimes getting lucky and finding a straight edge, she casually suggested that perhaps my jigsaw puzzle had no edges. The earth literally shook. Could it be possible that the question of “What is spirituality?” that I had attached such importance to, had no definitive answer? That was when I first started to understand what spirituality might be. Now that I know it has no edges I just carry on with the jigsaw for the sheer joy of it. If I can’t find a straight edge - I don’t keep on looking for it. If the pieces don’t fit - maybe they aren’t meant to. And maybe, just maybe it’s worth putting some of those nasty little pieces with squirrelly edges in the trash.
If you want to advance your own spiritual journey or start your own jigsaw puzzle there no better place to do that than with a covenant group. Sure you’ll get to talk some but more importantly you get to listen, and who knows you may come up with some new questions.
Sometimes those troublesome words - religion and faith - are presented as the nemesis of science. I’ve certainly interpreted them that way in the past, before I discovered Unitarian Universalism. But our religion respects science and we are comfortable using our faith where science ends. The scientist in me is able to explain how we can see the colors of a rainbow - but not why it’s beautiful. I understand human biology - but can’t explain why one person loves another, or hates someone else. My high school botany can explain how a tree grows but not why people flock to see the glory of Vermont in autumn. I have a degree in Zoology and have dissected more animals than I can count but that education won’t help me know why us soft skinned humans finds so much beauty in the striped coat of a large carnivore that could kill and eat them. Put two people together and you get more than the sum of the parts, put a group together and you get a symphony. Listen to a choir, watch a sports team, share an argument, hold hands with a lover, read a book. Our religion brings us together to share with each other. Our faith is one that recognizes the value of everyone and the interconnectedness of all things. This faith we share is a religion sorely needed by the world. Our voice needs to be louder, our presence larger and our congregations everywhere.
I’ve only seriously reconsidered the word god in the last couple of years. Although the first inkling I had that there was something about god I didn’t understand was about 11 years ago. Sally and I were youth group advisors and we took our junior high teens over to meet with the youth from The Church of Our Redeemer, the Episcopal church across the street. I remember cringing ever so slightly when one of our youth asked the question “What is god to you?” “Oh jesum crow!” I thought, “Here we go”. But what happened was astounding. The teens had an amazing discussion in which - had I not know who was who, I could not have told the difference between the Redeemer teens and our own. I couldn’t discern any significant differences between the two groups as they talked about what god was - and what god wasn’t.
If you want to be challenged, rewarded, take pleasure in the sheer joy of life, learn about the meaning of spirituality, know how to think about god and why you are a part of the U.U. religion, I would recommend talking to Lynne today to get yourself on the list to act as a youth group advisor. For the braver souls out there I’d recommend the Junior High.
Now, fast-forward 10 years to Cape Cod where I spent a weeklong retreat last summer with a large group of 40 U.U.s at the Northeast Leadership School. One of the exercises was to stand somewhere on a continuum that represented our understanding of god. The image of the white haired, white bearded god that Michaelangelo cemented with his fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling was at one end and a devout atheism was at the other extreme. We first stood on the continuum to represent the god of our childhood, and I was right there with Michaelangelo. The continuum and my new found friends from NELS stretched along the wall through the personal god of creation and control, through the impersonal god of universal design, through all sorts of people labeling themselves as theists and deists of different flavors. The line continued through agnostics, humanists and to the farthest end of the line where a couple of us vied for the very last spot on the continuum to represent our adult atheism. And yet the surprise for me was not that someone else was willing to fight harder than me to anchor that end of the line. It was the realization that were it not for the language of my childhood I would be comfortable aligning myself with that large group of people who stood a ways down the continuum and who felt comfortable speaking about god as connection, , god as the indefinable thing that’s something more than the purely physical world but something less than a sentient controller, or designer, god as the fabric connecting the known from the unknowable. And frankly, today, I’d still be fighting for that last spot on the continuum, but at least when I’m talking with other U.U.s I can hear the word god and translate it into a concept that means something I can connect with. If you need a diagram - here it is – I’ll leave it in front of the pulpit so you can look at it after the service.
Sally sometimes describes me as a contrarian. She says black and I say white. The worship committee invites me to speak on “Why I am a Unitarian Universalist” and I say “I’m not. I’m a U.U.”. I contemplate the title a little more and can’t help but think I should just get up in the pulpit and read Tony Larsen’s sermon “Why you should not be a Unitarian Universalist”. Maybe Sally’s right. I am a little perverse sometimes. But then again maybe that’s why I’m here in the U.U. faith. We are all willing to accept a little perversity from one another as long as we are willing to pass the high entrance requirements of our faith. Here, we don’t give anyone the answers. Here, the challenge of our faith is to ask yourself the right questions so you can help others answer their own questions and maybe form a few more. We mustn’t lower our standards so that just anyone can become a U.U. We must not hand out the answers to people unwilling and unable to ask their own questions.
In fact I am now realizing that the journey we are on as U.U.s, the spiritual jigsaw puzzle I am trying to assemble, is in many ways questioning the meaning of those words that I spent a good portion of my life trying to avoid. This transition in my own thoughts was painted on a large canvas for me only a few weeks ago during yet another junior high youth group meeting I was running with Scott Kyle. I floated the question “What is god?” What transpired, besides another great youth group discussion, was that two of the youth were arguing with each other and that argument could easily have been the “rabid atheist” Rodney of 1992 arguing with the “god as connections” Rodney of 2005. The eye opener for me was that I could agree with both sides of the argument - but now I don’t feel that the argument is necessary, both Rodney’s are correct..
Are you still wondering “Why is Rodney a U.U.” ? Well, where else can a spiritual man of faith find a religion where he can talk about god and still proudly profess his atheism? … and you’ll notice I formed that as a question.
My Spiritual Jigsaw
Since my first involvement in Unitarian Universalism I have heard people talk about their spiritual journeys. I have never felt that I am on a journey. A journey implies a destination or a purpose. So, for many years, I’ve talked about my spiritual jigsaw puzzle.
In 2004 I attended a weeklong session for UU lay leaders ran by the Northeast Leadership School (NELS). I spent the whole week during classes and outside of classes working on the doodle you see over there. One of the goals of the week was to write our own credo, and by the time we got to the end of the week I had decided that the doodle was in fact my credo. And more than that, I decided it was my spiritual jigsaw puzzle.
In my jigsaw puzzle, everything is connected to everything else: woman to man to animal to plant, to all living things, to the natural world, to the earth, to the universe, to history, to tomorrow, to ideas, to writings, to art, to music – to love.
The puzzle has no edges, it has no boundaries, and it can’t be completed because not everything can be understood or even analyzed. The most I hope for is to find new meaning, new truths and when I’m especially lucky - new connections. There are voids in the center of my puzzle that need other people to bring them to wholeness.
The interconnections are not simple. They twist and turn in all directions. Sometimes they may run parallel with other connections, sometimes they diverge, or cross, or disappear altogether, perhaps reappearing elsewhere. Some of them are clear and distinct, others hazy or blocked from view by anger or sadness or fear or some other emotion.
Some connections are soft, warm and comfortable. At other times they are hard, harsh, sharp and painful. They can be beautiful, but some aren’t. Look too close at some things and clarity is lost, but stand too far back from life and the details are lost. Things are connected in ways I may never understand, even if I see it all, but I certainly won’t see the connections if I don’t pay attention.
When I first encountered Unitarian Univarsalism, “spirituality” was one of those words I was uncomfortable with. It probably ran a pretty close third to God and religion. Over the years I have become more comfortable using all of those words even though they still come entangled with my own history. At three church auctions I have won the bidding on “a sermon on a topic of your choice”. Helen Cohen and David Boyer each preached on “What is Spirituality?” and I believe Rev Bill owes me one on the same topic. Although I’m still working on getting comfortable with the words God and religion, on the topic of Spirituality, I’m getting pretty close to being able to offer up my own sermon for auction on the that topic. I guess I’ve come a long way over all those years. I now just have fun working on this jigsaw puzzle that has no edges.
In 2004 I attended a weeklong session for UU lay leaders ran by the Northeast Leadership School (NELS). I spent the whole week during classes and outside of classes working on the doodle you see over there. One of the goals of the week was to write our own credo, and by the time we got to the end of the week I had decided that the doodle was in fact my credo. And more than that, I decided it was my spiritual jigsaw puzzle.
In my jigsaw puzzle, everything is connected to everything else: woman to man to animal to plant, to all living things, to the natural world, to the earth, to the universe, to history, to tomorrow, to ideas, to writings, to art, to music – to love.
The puzzle has no edges, it has no boundaries, and it can’t be completed because not everything can be understood or even analyzed. The most I hope for is to find new meaning, new truths and when I’m especially lucky - new connections. There are voids in the center of my puzzle that need other people to bring them to wholeness.
The interconnections are not simple. They twist and turn in all directions. Sometimes they may run parallel with other connections, sometimes they diverge, or cross, or disappear altogether, perhaps reappearing elsewhere. Some of them are clear and distinct, others hazy or blocked from view by anger or sadness or fear or some other emotion.
Some connections are soft, warm and comfortable. At other times they are hard, harsh, sharp and painful. They can be beautiful, but some aren’t. Look too close at some things and clarity is lost, but stand too far back from life and the details are lost. Things are connected in ways I may never understand, even if I see it all, but I certainly won’t see the connections if I don’t pay attention.
When I first encountered Unitarian Univarsalism, “spirituality” was one of those words I was uncomfortable with. It probably ran a pretty close third to God and religion. Over the years I have become more comfortable using all of those words even though they still come entangled with my own history. At three church auctions I have won the bidding on “a sermon on a topic of your choice”. Helen Cohen and David Boyer each preached on “What is Spirituality?” and I believe Rev Bill owes me one on the same topic. Although I’m still working on getting comfortable with the words God and religion, on the topic of Spirituality, I’m getting pretty close to being able to offer up my own sermon for auction on the that topic. I guess I’ve come a long way over all those years. I now just have fun working on this jigsaw puzzle that has no edges.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Spirituality - a poem
A quiet silence - so loud, it booms.
A stunning beauty - so fine, it blinds.
The perfect privacy - so lonely, it’s wrong.
The happiest party - so joyful, it’s bad.
A glassy pond - so still, it screams.
A roaring river - so fast, it’s still.
The birth of a child - so small, she’s awesome.
The death of a parent - so final, she’s born.
A job well done - so good, it’s scary.
A narrow escape - so slim, it’s funny.
The star filled sky - so bright, it’s fright’ning.
The rolling seas - so strong, they’re calm.
A soaring speech - so familiar, it’s new.
A strident poem - so harsh, it’s smooth.
The laugh of children - so funny, you cry.
The yell of a crowd - so scary, you flee.
A friendship at dinner - so warm, it glows.
A lover at bedtime - so honest, it burns.
The skin of a lizard - so sharp, it’s like glass.
The pelt of a tiger - so bright, it’s unseen.
A hive full of bees - so busy, it hums.
A world full of insects - so many, it’s theirs.
The veins of a mammal - so many, they’re hidden.
The shell of an snail - so perfect, it’s strong.
The hatred of bigots - so loud, it’s obscene.
The gods of the masses - so cruel, they’re wrong.
A bond within family - so tight, it’s unloosed.
A homeless old soldier - so wronged, he’s unseen.
The Spirit inside us - so strong, we shine bright.
The Spirit outside us - so massive, we’re dwarfed.
The Spirit that binds - so strong, we can’t see.
A stunning beauty - so fine, it blinds.
The perfect privacy - so lonely, it’s wrong.
The happiest party - so joyful, it’s bad.
A glassy pond - so still, it screams.
A roaring river - so fast, it’s still.
The birth of a child - so small, she’s awesome.
The death of a parent - so final, she’s born.
A job well done - so good, it’s scary.
A narrow escape - so slim, it’s funny.
The star filled sky - so bright, it’s fright’ning.
The rolling seas - so strong, they’re calm.
A soaring speech - so familiar, it’s new.
A strident poem - so harsh, it’s smooth.
The laugh of children - so funny, you cry.
The yell of a crowd - so scary, you flee.
A friendship at dinner - so warm, it glows.
A lover at bedtime - so honest, it burns.
The skin of a lizard - so sharp, it’s like glass.
The pelt of a tiger - so bright, it’s unseen.
A hive full of bees - so busy, it hums.
A world full of insects - so many, it’s theirs.
The veins of a mammal - so many, they’re hidden.
The shell of an snail - so perfect, it’s strong.
The hatred of bigots - so loud, it’s obscene.
The gods of the masses - so cruel, they’re wrong.
A bond within family - so tight, it’s unloosed.
A homeless old soldier - so wronged, he’s unseen.
The Spirit inside us - so strong, we shine bright.
The Spirit outside us - so massive, we’re dwarfed.
The Spirit that binds - so strong, we can’t see.
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