Real Live Preacher

Galactic Pyramid

November 16, 2006 - 3:46pm

Here are some signs of spiritual enlightenment:

The embracing of paradox.
The love of mystery in the presence of unanswered questions.
The acceptance of your small place in reality.
The willingness to engage in spiritual exercises without knowing how they will work or even what it would mean for them to work.
The increase of the love, grace, forgiveness, and patience visible in your life.

Every human being is on a journey to discover the meaning of life. You cannot avoid this journey. It is the price and the gift of self-awareness. You can be intentional about the journey. You can embrace the idea of journey, seek out paths in the spiritual wilderness, listen and learn about the journeys of fellow pilgrims, and find joy in all of the above. Or you can follow a straight path from birth to death, taking life as it comes to you and straining bits of enlightenment with the spiritual baleen that is a natural part of your psyche.

But if you are a human being – and of course you are - you will be gathering truth and meaning as you go. You’ll be putting it all together in your mind and in your heart. By mind I mean the center of your intellect. By heart I mean the center of your emotions.

Here is a hard truth. The journey of every person is filled with pain. We like pain. It helps us find the edges of reality. It reminds us that we are real. We inflict pain on others, willingly and unwillingly, and if we find no pain in ourselves, we will seek it out. We will gnaw, pick, pinch, and worry the places that hurt us. Pain, like dreams, plays some unknown but essential role in our development.

Joy is also part of the journey. Along the way, some things and some people will light you up like a Christmas tree. Sometimes you will know why you feel joy. Often you will not. I want to say that you should pay close attention to what brings you joy and pain, but of course you will pay attention. How could you not?

I think the journey of enlightenment is a gift offered to creatures that are aware of their own existence. And this gift is not given very often in the universe.

Do you suppose it takes an entire galaxy to support the development of one self-aware species? It may be that only a very small percentage of worlds develop life of any kind. And of those worlds, perhaps only a small percentage will develop complex life forms, like plants and insects. And of those worlds, only a small few will develop life with any recognizable form of intelligence. And of those, a tiny fraction will develop life that is able to ponder the nature and meaning of its own existence.

You can think spatially about our relationship to our galaxy. We exist on the tip of a spiral arm of the Milky Way. Or you could use another model and consider that we sit atop a vast pyramid of life and the absence of life. The base of this pyramid stretches from one end of the galaxy to the other. Stacked beneath us are countless dead planets and other worlds arrested at some point in their development. It is impossible to comprehend the unlikely nature of our life and journey. All of these worlds were needed to produce you and me.

We have won the grandest of lotteries, and yet many of us refuse to take seriously the journey that is our birthright. Instead we sit around in the evenings watching reruns of The Simpsons, bickering over issues that will develop and conclude in the time it takes a star to wink, and picking at the scabs of our old wounds.

rlp

rlp's blog

Essay | Personal Growth

Excellent post!

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 16, 2006 - 5:26pm.

Excellent post!

"We have won the grandest of

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 16, 2006 - 5:31pm.

"We have won the grandest of lotteries, and yet many of us refuse to take seriously the journey that is our birthright. Instead we sit around in the evenings watching reruns of The Simpsons, bickering over issues that will develop and conclude in the time it takes a star to wink, and picking at the scabs of our old wounds."

Good golly. You have just pegged me to a tee. Thanks for the wake-up call.

Love the post... and the

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 16, 2006 - 7:49pm.

Love the post... and the comment..."we have won the grandest of lotteries"(and I watch West Wing, not the Simpsons..but I take your point). Gail

You sure you're not a

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 17, 2006 - 3:48am.

You sure you're not a Buddhist?

Pretty sure. I mean, you

Submitted by rlp on November 17, 2006 - 6:45am.

Pretty sure. I mean, you know, fairly sure. I think.

I think they all kind of

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 22, 2006 - 2:40pm.

I think they all kind of meet in the middle, really.

Rlp's writing has provided a

Submitted by Lauren on November 17, 2006 - 8:37am.

Rlp's writing has provided a "path in my spiritual wilderness," and I am grateful for the help with my footing. And concerning Rlp's questioned Buddhist identity -- syncretism isn't necessarily bad thing; it's often a real live good-thing.

Lauren

This is lovely. It brings

Submitted by Tripp Hudgins on November 17, 2006 - 11:56am.

This is lovely. It brings to mind (as these things always do) Foster's work Celebration of Discipline. In our consumerist culture, we forget how to receive. We only know how to earn, purchase, or take. Our spirits are far more simple than that. We only need learn how to receive. And I am tired of talking about consumerism. Sigh.

RLP, I think you are dead on it here.

Tripp Hudgins

http://www.anglobaptist.org

Just taking a break from

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 17, 2006 - 1:21pm.

Just taking a break from working on an accompaniment for Mozart's Lacrymosa from his Requiem. Amazing and inspired music which, I think, is very much about human pain and tragedy within "the big picture". ( Have a listen to it if you get the chance.) So it was interesting to read this latest post.

Also, this week in our town, we lost an amazing pastor to a horrible cancer. I don't think that guy spent much of his life sitting around picking scabs..... His funeral was attended by a very wide range of people, from government officials to prostitutes. There was no special reserved seating for "important officials" and that definitely appeared to be a reflection of the way he lived.

Because he knew he was dying, he decided to make a video intended to be played at his funeral. It took an incredible amount of courage and, as Brennan Manning says, ruthless trust.

"Here is a hard truth. The journey of every person is filled with pain. We like pain. It helps us find the edges of reality."

Seems all the more true today. Good post, RLP.
Mich

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 17, 2006 - 2:25pm.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

In the last ten years my

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 17, 2006 - 3:34pm.

In the last ten years my life hit a wall, spiritually, physically, emotionally. Both times, in anger, I rejected God only to discover that all I had rejected was my concept of God. I discovered that the God of the universe cannot be rejected by me. Nevertheless, I jumped into the study of Zen Buddhism to explore this thing called suffering. I found the practice of Shikantaza to be very satisfying. That is, sitting meditation. Buddhism allows one to be Christian. Christians are less generous, as a broad rule.

As a Christian I am experiencing the reality of powerlessness. I focus on surrender and find that something so simple, is yet illusive. There is then, grace, which lies at the end of everything else. Suffering and Joy are two sides of the same coin. Emotions are real and yet based on concepts about reality which may be totally false. Perhaps in human experience there are levels of truth. Could it be that the clinging to concepts of truth creates suffering? My experience, as I sit here today, is that my clinging to an unshakable truth of morality causes me to be unloving in some other area. That to be loving I must allow to be, what is, and trust..

Falconbrother

RLP, Preach it friend,

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 18, 2006 - 3:15am.

RLP,

Preach it friend, preach it!

Ray
New Zealand

"We like pain." I think we

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 18, 2006 - 9:36am.

"We like pain."

I think we were created with a mechanism of pain, unpleasant, yet a necessary warning device. If one ignores the warning of pain, then great harm may result to the body or the mind or the soul. So, do we like pain? I would say we are thankful for the warning device, but like a parachute, or airbags, we hope we never need them.

Shalom,
Bro. Bartleby

Yes, well you have a healthy

Submitted by rlp on November 20, 2006 - 8:59am.

Yes, well you have a healthy outlook. But many people actually like their pain. And the truth is, we all push on the edges of our lives trying to find reasons to be miserable. Bill Gates is miserable sometimes. We sort of...seek it out...I think.

I think you and I are talking about different things. You're speaking of the basic, biological reality of pain. I'm talking more about emotional pain, I think.

I would think it all part of

Submitted by Bro. Bartleby on November 20, 2006 - 5:36pm.

I would think it all part of the mix. Later life emotional pain may find its genesis in early life imprinting or phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage). Thus so, and speaking bluntly, if the parents of a child are living a screwed up life, then the child will be imprinted by their abnormal behaviour, and in their minds what you and I would consider abnormal, is normal to them. An example would be the child that is beaten as a matter of course, that child may as an adult find pain a source of comfort (perverted comfort). So the abused girl will find herself as an adult strangely attracted to men who are abusive.

I think this is the curse of Exodus 20:5
"...visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"

If parents do not parent (by following God), then the children suffer generation after generation.

"Or you can follow a

Submitted by Bro. Bartleby on November 18, 2006 - 9:48am.

"Or you can follow a straight path from birth to death, taking life as it comes to you and straining bits of enlightenment with the spiritual baleen that is a natural part of your psyche."

A wonderful image! Sometimes I feel as a whale, hoping that the bits of enlightenment are in my path.

I agree, Bro. Bartleby. Mich

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 18, 2006 - 9:48am.

I agree, Bro. Bartleby.
Mich

This is precisely why I love

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 18, 2006 - 3:19pm.

This is precisely why I love teh_intertubes.

Thanks for a great post and for giving me a measuring stick to see that I am actually evolving as a human being, even though I often feel like a slug (an honoured part of creation to be sure.)

RLP: Have you ever heard

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 18, 2006 - 8:37pm.

RLP:

Have you ever heard anything about Michael Dawd? He follows evolutionary Christianity.

It's interesting: www.evolutionarychristianity.com

What on earth is wrong with

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 19, 2006 - 10:03pm.

What on earth is wrong with The Simpsons rlp? I will grant you that the show has dipped in quality in recent years but still all seasons considered it is one of the funniest shows of all time.

lol, Nothing is wrong with

Submitted by rlp on November 20, 2006 - 9:00am.

lol,

Nothing is wrong with the Simpsons. It's really the only show I watch. But it made a nice sounding example of the point I was making.

Or trying to make.

It's been a few days since

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 20, 2006 - 11:12am.

It's been a few days since I've checked your post, so I'm a little behind. But, whoa. This one hit home. We used to have a dog. He was such a wonderful dog, but when we moved from the country to town, he took it hard. He used to sit and lick a place on his front leg over and over until it became a raw, open sore that would not heal because he kept opening it back up, licking and licking it. How often do I sit, like that sweet old dog, and think on my old hurts, my not-so-old hurts, and the things that cause me pain. I think and think and think until my brain is sore, and nothing will heal, because I keep opening it up to look at it and experience it again.

But then, in some quiet moment, or in the silence of worship, I am given the most beautiful and profound "openings," such gifts from God that raise me from this sad and petty behavior, and lift me to heights of understanding that show me that I am capable of so much more.

I suppose that, if I am willing to embrace the paradox that is God, the universe, etc., then I must also be willing to embrace the paradox that is me, the obsessive neurotic, as well as the spiritually enlightened (if only for a moment) being. But, I think from here on I will try to be more intentional, to use my lottery winnings to focus on more positive behavior, and to allow my poor scabs to heal.

Thanks, Preach.

Thank you so much for this -

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 20, 2006 - 5:24pm.

Thank you so much for this - it says so much of my walk.......

Have printed it off to think about it more (so much easier when actually in my hands!) - and stuck it on my blog pointing folk here - hope that's OK!

Thanks,

Oops - the last one was

Submitted by anonymous4 on November 20, 2006 - 5:26pm.

Oops - the last one was me!!

xxx

hey, i like the simpsons. i

Submitted by Anonymous User on November 21, 2006 - 1:47pm.