What does it really mean to have a eternal life?
I, likely, grew up with a somewhat fanciful vision of eternal life. That’s not to say that vision isn’t true (at least, any of it). But, like many things perceived as a child, there is surely more to the notion of what eternal life is. There appears to be something embedded in the human psyche that has a desire for something eternal. And, we tend to like the idea of that being related to life.
Perhaps, if the truth really were told, that is more of a function of our notions about death, than it is about life. Large swaths of American culture have a misunderstanding (if not aversion) of the role of death in life. This may, in fact, be where the real fantasy exists. The one that is infatuated with the notion that we could somehow live forever. Of course, when we imagine that idea, we are largely doing so in the frame of living in one, persistent, universal form — pretty much how we see ourselves at our best moments in our lives...forever.
Of course, there are virtually no domains of existence that conform to this particular fantasy. Everything is born, grows, and dies (including Jesus, by the way, if that's where you're coming from on the question of eternal things). In fact, the ability for that very process to be perpetual is the feature of both life and death...and there is something eternal about it. Life does, in fact, go on. What goes on about it simply changes. DNA structures, for example, demonstrate this truth. Parts of us, at the core of who we are, live on (almost always), just not in exactly the same form. We can even observe this, without too much sophistication, in both our offspring and in people groups at large. We can see this in animal kingdoms. We can see this in plant kingdoms. In living things of nearly every kind, in fact. Something about the universe itself lives on, endlessly perpetuating, in spite of death. Life and death are not mutually exclusive after all.
Against that back-drop, life is rather...eternal.
Time (or, should I say, time-keeping), then, is mostly something like an accessory we came up with. We're rather fixated on it, again perhaps from our cultural affinity for desiring to live forever. But, eternity doesn't really work in that dimension. Time, in fact, from the viewpoint of nature is rather ambivalent about our point of view. We would likely do better to notice nature's perspectives on such things. It seems to prefer the measurements of things like day and night, celestial cycles, and seasons.
And then, there is the Christian Bible,
...the one who believes has eternal life.
-- John 6:47
The most obvious question then would seem to be, 'believes' in what? The answer would likely infer what the meaning of eternal life really is. What one believes in is a function of what one understands. In the context here then, I would take it that what one believes is the key to eternal life. Then, according to the plain language of the verse, it is something that (perhaps, somewhat surprisingly) one already has. In other words, it is the current believing that is key to the thing that one already has — in this case, eternal life.
And, here might be the greater clue. We often think of eternal things in the frame of something ahead of us. But, note that the present tense is the focus of the concept of eternal life. The idea doesn’t seem to have as much to do with the future, as it does the present. If you believe, you have whatever is eternal about life. It is not primarily as much something about what you will have, as it is what you already have.
So, if what is eternal is something we have now, then what does that look like?
Most of what we think about the eternal is related to our understanding of life and, in that sense, it is likely assumed that that life has something good (after all, why would you want something eternal, if it was bad?). So, if life is a representation of something that is good and that goodness has a quality of the eternal about it, then it would seem to follow that whatever is eternal now is about whatever is good…now. In other words, whatever is good about life now is something eternal — something that we would like…to last forever.
Have you ever had moments where something felt so good — so rich, so satisfying, so peaceful, so at harmony with all things — that you just wish it could...last forever? That is what we want both now and in the future.
Eternal life in original understanding had much more to do with a state of being now, than it ever had to do with how long we would live (exist in the future). When that state of being is the experience of what is truly good, it is...eternal.
When you have this understanding and you experience it, you have...eternal life.
I believe that defeat is life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you’re off course. There’s always some sort of hidden opportunity or lesson in each episode—a chance to build your character.
-- Sara Blakely, on not letting a temporary defeat turn into a permanent loss
Be the reason someone believes in goodness.
— from a local church sign
Kindness is not as much about being nice as it is about anticipating the needs of others.
We all have desire to grow, get stronger, and care for others — fostering that desire is another thing.
The needs most in need of your attention and care are those of the ones right around you.
What do you feel proactive about in your life?
Authoritarianism doesn’t start with laws. It starts when people stop paying attention. Continue here….
-- Sharon McMahon
Authoritarianism is not merely a matter of state control, it is something that eats away at who you are. It makes you afraid, and fear can make you cruel. It compels you to conform and to comply and accept things that you would never accept, to do things you never thought you would do.
Authoritarian regimes...can take everything from you in material terms—your house, your job, your ability to speak and move freely. They cannot take away who you truly are. They can never truly know you, and that is your power. But to protect and wield this power, you need to know yourself—right now, before their methods permeate, before you accept the obscene and unthinkable as normal.
We are heading into dark times, and you need to be your own light. Do not accept brutality and cruelty as normal even if it is sanctioned. Protect the vulnerable and encourage the afraid. If you are brave, stand up for others. If you cannot be brave—and it is often hard to be brave—be kind. But most of all, never lose sight of who you are and what you value.
-- Sarah Kendzior
I’m wondering…about purpose.
As we age, we may become more observant about the 'why' of things. Why do we do what we do? Are we just going through some elaborate scheme of cultural activity? To what end?
What is the purpose of our existence?
-- Rich Villodas
Why do you think we are advised by spiritual teachers over and over, and over again, not to BE afraid?
I saw a discarded beer can on the side of the road by a curb next to our local elementary school.
Fascinating? ...probably not.
Such a sighting is likely only one of millions across the span of our country. What was a little more interesting to me was my urge to pick it up and throw it away. My only real hesitation was there were no trash cans in sight. So, I would have to carry it, as I continued on my walk, for some distance.
I didn’t do it.
I realized, though, that I wanted to. But, why? What was prompting me?
As I continued my walk, I noticed a place where an old building had been, that had recently been taken down. It wasn’t in some far off abandoned place, but rather in the middle of a college campus. What really caught my eye was the fact that a rather large collection of glass clippings had been dumped where the building had been. It was pretty clear that the dumping was intentional. This got me thinking about the likelihood that someone was trying to use the decaying benefits to enhance the ground-soil in the area.
Somebody else was prompted by something they saw. And, they too wanted to do something about it.
I’m guessing part of the reason why I wanted to pick up the beer can was because of the unsightly nature of it and what that represented in the context of an elementary school in what is otherwise a beautiful little community. Perhaps, similar thoughts were going in the mind of the person who wanted to enhance the soil with grass clippings.
What is a community anyway? I’m sure there would be lots of different considerations in answering that question. At very least, it feels like something that a group of people desire to protect. That might be because it’s something that a group of people had previously desired to build. And when the results of that collective effort becomes something beautiful, it seems to naturally follow that it would be something a community would want to protect. It took effort. It was worth it. And the group doesn’t want to lose it.
It is Spring right now where I live and many people and organizations are cleaning and sprucing things up. Fresh mulch blankets the ground around freshly popped spring flowers. The early morning is filled with the sound of birds welcoming each other to the day. The air is cool and crisp and the eastern sky is draped in colorful hues announcing what looks to be a sunny, 70° day. Life feels alive. And, I was walking through the middle of it, taking it all in, allowing it to poke at the wonders of what it all means and where and how I fit in it.
I suspect that is the point. That I fit into something. Something larger than myself. Something beautiful. Something worth making a contribution to. Something worth preserving.
This Saturday morning, the annual farmers market and our little community will draw hundreds of people to fresh coffee, cinnamon rolls, pretzels, artwork, and fresh spring plants that many people will buy, plant, and do the best they can to remember to nurture. Some plants won’t grow because they aren't planted in a suitable spot. Some plants will be neglected, after their Spring-beauty wears off. But, some plants will also make it and will grow back the following year all by themselves; adding their contribution to the qualities of things like soil or food or visual beauty for passers-by to enjoy.
I’m still thinking about whether I should go back and get that beer can. I’m going to a T-ball game this evening. So, I’m guessing I’ll stop on my way to work and pick it up to dispose of it somewhere along the way. Nobody will likely notice. But, in its absence, just one person might say something like, "...this is a beautiful little community. I like it here".
As I finished up my walk, I passed the construction of a couple of new homes. Because of the focus on the building side of things, the grass and weeds were Spring-prolific all over the torn-up yards. Across the street, was a home that had been completed last summer. The grass in that yard was perfectly manicured and beautiful (no discarded beer cans in sight).
I’m not the only one, apparently, that wants to be a part of this community.
I'm not sure there is a playbook other than staying true to your values and a maniacal focus on the things you can control.
-- Howard Schultz
I’ve noticed…that I have more internal substance than I often realize.
What does that indicate…about things like narrative and awareness that operate within me?
There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.
-- Linda Hogan
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. -- Kahlil Gibran
One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken. -- Leonard Tolstoy
Prior 4 Observations (from Others).
The benefits of strength and connectedness are fundamentally enabled by health. Correspondingly, lack of health disables them (among other things).
So, what are the things that we need to be cognizant of, and disciplined in, that enable (or disable) our health?
For one thing, we have to be increasingly aware of how the economies we live in impact our ability to do this (not to mention, be healthy).
Learning is a key ingredient to our mental health — perhaps because of things it requires of us…willingness, curiosity, adaptability, humility. After all, look what happens to us when we stop being willing to learn. Not only do we lose knowledge and insight we could benefit from, but also our disposition toward everything in life changes. Spiritually speaking, I would go as far as to say that our willingness to learn IS the way we know and experience God...initially and perpetually.
Beyond our disposition to learning and awareness, health seems to require putting forth some actual effort. Simply knowing about something doesn’t do the trick. We actually have to do that something. Effort seems to reinforce what is true and makes what is true about it true. We actually have to, for example, not eat unhealthy things. Further, we also have to eat healthy things. It takes a kind of commitment to be healthy. We have to work at it (especially in our current economies).
Exercise is another example of something that is required of us beyond just knowing about it. We actually have to do things that strengthen us and we have to do them routinely.
Physical health enables mental health. Both enable emotional health. And, when we are healthy, our sense of connectedness to the world, and the people in it, is better (more healthy).
Health is actually a very broad concept. It is the womb from which all things are sustained and grow — enabling the quality of our relationship with the context that we’re in. It is important individually. It is important collectively — reaching and impacting nearly all dimensions of our existence.
Ever noticed...that nearly every culture has an Origin Story?
Have you ever wondered why?
Fear is contagious; so is courage.
Both Trump and Musk seem to think the federal government should be run like a company and, if it doesn’t, then it might as well be run like a kingdom — our government is neither…so far.
Spouses should get at least 2 hobbies — one with and one without their spouse.
Nearly everything you want in life is a function of growth — so, what is growth a function of?
Prior 3 Observations & A Question….
'Poem for the week' -- "A Prayer For Advocacy":
Help me to speak out for justice with a special desire fueled by a power greater than surface comforts and outdated systems.
Let me be a troublemaker to champion those I love and care for, and for those I don’t know intimately who need my help. Hire me to be a powerful voice for the change that heals, reconciles, forgives, and improves. Help me create time and space to lend support where it is needed. Transmit to me the passion to be bothered by violations of another’s rights to life, liberty, happiness, and their voice. Find me faithful and in service, riding shotgun to heart-led movements, and leading the charge when it is up to me to do so. Remove my feelings of hopelessness in what I perceive to be the opposition. Align me with action and channel my energy for others.
Bind me to the medicine of love. Let me affect the transformation that leads to needed change. Light the torch of revolution in my heart. Stand me upright on a foundation of faith while I take the next steps. Build my voice as an instrument for defending freedoms which provide equality. Keep my motivations clean. Grant me the tools to see near and far, and find me adjusting the lens often.
Help me to give a leg up to the underdog: to root for the one who doesn’t stand a chance. Help me to accept being unliked or misunderstood for positioning myself behind what I believe in.
Bolster my confidence and give me the understanding and empathy required for sustainable existence. Make tolerance my priority and give me the words and actions to fight violence with the sword of peace.
Orient me to inclusivity. Help me to stop putting individuals into dualistic opposition, rather focus me on repairing broken systems, and my participation in them. Dissolve my tendencies for cliques, partisanship, judgement, righteousness, bandwagons and the damning or idolizing of those I perceive to have more than me.
Help me to do my part to clang the bells of freedom.
When ten thousand are whispering, make me one who is listening.
-- Pixie Lighthorse
I’m wondering…about why it takes a few times before we get it.
Too often we hear such observations with overtones of expectation (if not condescension). But, since from the beginning of our receptivity to life, we are progressively able to embrace it, it might stand that there are reasons for why and how things sink in to us when they do.
For one thing, as we age, it appears that as much as our receptors grow, so do our resistors. There are things that develop in us over time that inform us to not accept everything at face value. That there is positioning of things for illicit gain. That there are those who are seeking to take advantage of something in us. In other words, we learn that we need to be able to resist certain kinds of things.
And this resistor-mechanism can become highly developed, with multiple kinds of layers. We can even detect things like wariness in others (and, in ourselves), not to mention cynicism.
So, perhaps it should not surprise us that not everything makes its way past all of this immediately.
Sometimes, it just takes a little time for the proof-in-the-pudding to be revealed. For us to sort the chaff from the wheat — to be able to more fully receive something.
…for us to get the things that are real and true and good.
Easter speeds up the reality that life outlasts death. It uses the bodily form to animate the spiritual reality that life continues beyond death.
Stunning us, Easter awakens us to the greater truth of our otherwise sleepy existence — death is never final. God’s power has seen to this all the way along, of course. But, not unlike Spring itself, it is especially manifest in personal form through Easter.
So, it is worth uttering the words of reality — He Is Risen!
Here’s a meditation on the meaning of Easter.
And, a reflection on Holy Week...not just for dog lovers.
Jesus’ state was divine, yet he did not cling to equality with God, but he emptied himself.
-- Philippians 2:6–7
In the overflow of rich themes on Palm Sunday, I am going to direct us toward the great parabolic movement described in Philippians 2. Most New Testament scholars consider that this was originally a hymn sung in the early Christian community. To give us an honest entranceway, let me offer a life-changing quote from C. G. Jung (1875–1961):
In the secret hour of life’s midday the parabola is reversed, death is born. The second half of life does not signify ascent, unfolding, increase, exuberance, but death, since the end is its goal. The negation of life’s fulfilment is synonymous with the refusal to accept its ending. Both mean not wanting to live, and not wanting to live is identical with not wanting to die. Waxing and waning make one curve. [1]
The hymn from Philippians artistically, honestly, yet boldly describes that “secret hour” Jung refers to, when God in Christ reversed the parabola, when the waxing became waning. It starts with the great self-emptying or kenosis that we call the incarnation and ends with the crucifixion. It brilliantly connects the two mysteries as one movement, down, down, down into the enfleshment of creation, into humanity’s depths and sadness, and into a final identification with those at the very bottom (“took the form of a slave,” Philippians 2:7). Jesus represents God’s total solidarity with, and even love of, the human situation, as if to say, “nothing human is abhorrent to me.”
God, if Jesus is right, has chosen to descend—in almost total counterpoint with our humanity that is always trying to climb, achieve, perform, and prove itself. This hymn says that Jesus leaves the ascent to God, in God’s way, and in God’s time. Most of us understandably start the journey assuming that God is “up there,” and our job is to transcend this world to find God. We spend so much time trying to get “up there,” we miss that God’s big leap in Jesus was to come “down here.” What freedom! And it ends up better than any could have expected. “Because of this, God lifted him up” (Philippians 2:9). We call the “lifting up” resurrection or ascension. Jesus is set as the human blueprint, the oh-so-hopeful pattern of divine transformation.
Trust the down, and God will take care of the up. This leaves humanity in solidarity with the life cycle, and also with one another, with no need to create success stories for ourselves or to create failure stories for others. Humanity in Jesus is free to be human and soulful instead of any false climbing into “Spirit.” This was supposed to change everything, and I trust it still will.
-- Richard Rohr
There are other nuances to the use of the word, provincialism. But, I'm going with this one today.
There are probably many words that could describe our collective state of being these days. And, while some of those appear to be not unsimilar terms that have been used for such things all along the way, it does feel like there is a timbre in the current set of language that is substantively different. And, the quality of that difference is noticeably disturbing.
Under the guise of populism, it is sometimes difficult to isolate what or who is exactly the fuel for many of our raging cultural fires. Is it a reflection of something important going on for everyday people? Or, is it a function of the charlatans who are stoking the flames of fear, common to everyday people?
It is against that backdrop, that I fear a word like provincialism falls woefully short of the description actually needed. But, for now, I’m going to use it as a means of getting to some of what appears to be involved. As I've mentioned, we recently recently traveled outside the country, and I was reminded again of the importance of doing such things. Sure, the vacationing aspect can be a lot of fun. But, it doesn’t take very much, even in that context, to notice things about the way other people live their lives that are important to consider; not only for their lives, but also for ours.
And, then, when you really talk to them, you get a whole lot of information about how they see things...and about how we see things.
Other people have fully functioning lives. Provincialism tends to be unaware of that. At the very least, it doesn't tend to respect it. It tends to have a high degree of respect for how 'we' do things. But, almost automatically, it has little space for the possibility that others do, too (especially when the way that looks is different). As the definition indicates, it elevates 'our' concern over that of others.
When you travel, you not only notice this, but you also sense that other groups of people having varying degrees of their sense of interdependencies in the world. The American version, right now, seems to be heavily focused on what we need...not what someone else needs (collectively and individually). It is our interests that should prevail, not only for what we estimate is best for us, but also over anyone else (unless it serves our interests).
People in Europe are very concerned about Russia (in particular, Putin). They have a visceral relationship with what is happening around them. This is likely due to the prices they have paid historically from the wars fought by their family members, on their soil. Our wars tend to be 'over there'. And, while we also have some similar fears about things like Russia, it is palpably not the same. Europe is highly sensitive to the powers that surround them in both the east and west. America largely disregards Europe's concerns.
Provincialism is like that. It tends to say things like, "that's not our problem..." and move on with our concerns.
Media can't bridge this gap. Experience can...and often does, especially when real human connection occurs.
I share some pics of our travels here (Top10...if you don't have all day) and here (Motherload...if you do), not for the purpose of thumbing my nose at the real problems of the world, including provincialism (effectively communicating something like, "sorry you got deported...sucks to be you. But, we're sure having fun..."). I'm sharing them to reveal some of the marvels of the way other peoples have adapted to their environments and live their lives...and for the questions that should lead us to.
The most important thing is to stay focused on what matters. Most little things ultimately have no effect on an enterprise. It's the big deals — and the big decisions that do. Don't spend too much time on little things. The important choices and opportunities are the ones that move the dial.
-- Larry Tisch
I’ve noticed…that while routines are in some ways essential. They also need to broken-up from time to time.
Certain efficiencies can lead to unintended consequences. Remaining open to new and disruptive possibilities helps us avoid becoming fixated and inflexible.
After a week of vacation, I returned this morning to my default daily routine. But, I also noticed that I had to think through some of the steps I'd developed and whether or not I wanted to continue them. Not a bad thing to do. A break from the routine allowed me to re-evaluate it. Do I want to fall back into the pattern I had developed? Do I want something else, because of having not continued? Push-ups — do I really want to do them? Yes, I do...because I need to. Bridges? Rowing? What about the other things? What has changed since I stopped for a while? Are my priorities still the same?
Besides, sometimes our routines themselves need to be altered. Because of the inertia that can so easily get involved, breaking things up a bit can be quite helpful (if not liberating). If nothing else, at least, making conscious choices (vs unconscious ones) is important from time to time.
There is a really deep well inside me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes I am there, too.... Dear God, these are anxious times.... We must help You to help ourselves. And that is all we can manage these days and also all that really matters: that we safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves.
-- Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life
Father Richard turns to Scripture and contemplation in the face of collective suffering.
In the wisdom of the Psalms, we read:
In God alone is my soul at rest.
God is the source of my hope.
In God I find shelter, my rock, and my safety.
-- Psalm 62:5–6
What could it mean to find rest like this in a world such as ours? Every day more and more people face the catastrophe of extreme weather. The neurotic news cycle is increasingly driven by words and deeds that incite hatred, sow discord, and amplify chaos. There is no guarantee of the future in an economy designed to protect the rich and powerful at the expense of far too many people subsisting at society’s margins.
It’s no wonder the mental and emotional health of so many people in the USA is in tangible decline! We have wholesale abandoned any sense of truth, objectivity, science, or religion in civil conversation; we now recognize we’re living with the catastrophic results of several centuries of what philosophers call nihilism (nothing means anything; no universal patterns exist).
Somehow our occupation and vocation as believers must be to first restore the Divine Center by holding it and fully occupying it ourselves. If contemplation means anything, it means that we can “safeguard that little piece of You, God,” as Etty Hillesum describes. What other power do we have now? All else is tearing us apart, inside and out. We cannot abide in such a place for any length of time or it will become our prison.
God cannot abide with us in a place of fear.
God cannot abide with us in a place of ill will or hatred.
God cannot abide with us inside a nonstop volley of claim and counterclaim.
God cannot abide with us in an endless flow of online punditry and analysis.
God cannot speak inside of so much angry noise and conscious deceit.
God cannot be born except in a womb of Love.
So offer God that womb.
Contemplation can help stand watch at the door of your senses, so chaos cannot make its way into your soul. If we allow it for too long, it will become who we are, and we’ll no longer have natural access to the life-giving “really deep well” that Etty Hillesum returned to so often to find freedom.
In this time, I suggest some form of public service, volunteerism, mystical reading from the masters, prayer — or, preferably, all of the above.
-- Richard Rohr
A lot of life is about calibration.
By nature, human-beings are, more often than not, reactionary creatures.
When it is no longer about right and wrong or good and bad, but about power, what do you do?
I Just Got Back From Europe. They All Know America’s a Mess and That He’s Nuts
Being embarrassed is the least of it…. What can possibly happen next? Well…:
When 60,000 Votes Don’t Count and Harriet Tubman Disappears
While most just don’t want to know, we will find out either way. So, wouldn’t it be better to engage (than it is to pretend)?
There is something about bells — here’s some from Rome:
The orchestration and playing of bells seems to hail something of significance. Often, it appeals to our sense of the historical. But, it uses sound to symbolize that something involved also meets the present. And, because of that dynamic, it extends something into the future. Perhaps, one the more significant points of history is what it speaks to us about today. Bells can call us to some of history’s voice.
Visual imagery works the same dynamic (even if not quite as effectively as sound). Here’s some we’ve seen this week:
Ever noticed...you often only really know stuff once you’ve actually experienced it.
Hatred corrodes the container it's carried in.
-- Alan Simpson
So many of these things are so wildly illegal that I think they’re playing a quantity game and assuming the system can’t react to all this illegality at once.
-- David Super, Georgetown Law School...regarding Musk's actions
We must pay attention to our inner states, so we don’t perpetuate the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion, and constant disorientation.
-- Daniel Hunter
I always thought that belief precedes action, and sometimes it does. But all too often, it is practices that shape us, that change our beliefs and help us internalize them in ways that are transformative. We learn by doing.
-- Karen González
Prior 4 Observations (from Others).
