Greetings Friends,
I am in the process of moving my blog to a new location. I am still working on the site but if you are interested in catching up on some of my work. You can see it here: http://www.bluediamondjournal.com
In the meantime, please know that I have absolutely not forgotten you. And I won't. I am just trying to sort out some old programming stuff. Hang in there and keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Those connections matter.
Mark
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
The Eagle's Eye and The Tiger's Heart
We are meant to be free. That's all there is to it. We are meant to live and explore and see and rejoice and imagine and shatter illusions. We are meant to be with others or spend some time alone. We are meant to eat the finest manna and breathe the freshest air. We are meant to swim with dolphins and whales and understand what they are talking about. What they are trying to tell us.
The sheer image of a tiger in a cage or an eagle with diminished wings--is it not enough to break a thousand hearts. And mine is ready to be healed. Can we not see the wings of the Eagle? Can we not and feel the heart of the tiger. I see them. And I feel them because they are mine.
I am looking for the alliance today. I am listening for the voice of the ancestors. I am looking for the comrades of the universe. Those who have shed tears or made plans on behalf of wings and hearts. And yes they are ours. The majesty and the passion. The vision and the soul. This is our majesty and passion. It is our vision and soul crying out from that quiet place that can never be silenced.
Do we not know? Do we not understand? The tiger accepts the cage only to show us that he does not belong there? And neither do we. The eagle cries to us from the sky, calling us to wake up and join her.
Won't you help me? Won't you remember your brothers and sisters who are standing just beyond the waterfall? Waiting for that last full dose of sunlight. Yearning to be reborn into that fuller, brighter splendor.
I know that I am free. What else could I be? Surely I have the heart of a tiger. And maybe something beyond even that. Something that will somehow allow me to return the blessing in some way. To thank and honor those who have roared my spirit back to consciousness when the sounds of the sand dull the ears.
The tiger is roaring this morning. I hear it. It is not the roar of a tiger in a cage. It is the roar of a tiger that could never be caged--not with a thousand chains. Can we not hear it? Listen with your heart! He is calling to the ancestors. Calling to the comrades of the universe. Roaring without compromise and reminding us that those wings were never really burnt away.
Say a prayer today. Say a prayer for the tiger, who misses the jungle. Say a prayer for the eagle who is watching closely. Say a prayer for the dolphin who agrees to give up the ocean so that we can move an inch closer to understanding. Say a prayer for the angels who walk among us and for the men and women who are loving us back to consciousness. Say a prayer for you and me that our hearts and minds would break free from the illusions, and that our souls would shine forth in the unbounded ways in which all Creation was meant to shine.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Divergent
My daughter is an avid reader. She went through a stretch where it seemed she was reading three or four books at the same time. For a stretch, it was mostly dystopian fiction. (I never pronounce that word correctly.) Each of those stories told some story about how earth or another earth-like planet had morphed into some kind of utopian world gone wrong.
One of these books was entitled, Divergent. (I see that the story is now a major motion picture coming to a theatre near you.) Divergent tells the story of a futuristic society that is essentially divided up into five groups of people, each focused and dedicated to one of five specific virtues or areas of expertise. Here is the Wiki summary: This story takes place in the city of Chicago in the near future. The city is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, meant for the selfless; Amity, meant for the peaceful; Candor, meant for the honest; Dauntless, meant for the brave; and Erudite, meant for the knowledgeable. On a given day each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an aptitude test that will tell them for which faction they are best suited. After receiving the results of their test, they must decide whether to remain with their family or transfer to a new faction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergent_(novel)
You might notice that the term, "Divergent," is not one of the five factions or virtues. And, indeed, that is precisely what happens. The main character has strong indicators in more than one area. An interesting development, yes? In a world so meticulously divided, what happens if a some one does not really fit cleanly into one specific category?
Divergent raises other questions as well. For example, which is preferable? To be supremely adept in a single virtue or to be solid or above average across several? And, more subtly, what might be the purpose of even having a society like that, a society that makes it a point to categorize people like that? One might argue that this is simply "natural." That this is what is happening all the time anyway. Humans historically setting up their camps and fencing off their neighbors, and often for much less civilized reasons. So why not streamline the process and simply tighten up the focus, and allow these natural tendencies to take hold according to some kind of science?
As you might have gathered, I am a little cool on overly managed worlds. I am not a big fan of fences. And even though there are some folks that I might just as soon leave to some mono-thematic rigor, I just can't bring myself to like the idea of perfection through labeling and division. (Ironically, my daughter's most recent reading was Romeo and Juliet.) I just like lots of different things?
In a world of excellence through division, I think I'll take divergent. Granted, it might take a little longer to cover the coursework and mastering more than one virtue is certainly a tall (and maybe even vane) order. I just don't want to have to choose between things like knowledge and peace?
Besides, don't we need at least a few renaissance folks, to serve as translators or something?
One of these books was entitled, Divergent. (I see that the story is now a major motion picture coming to a theatre near you.) Divergent tells the story of a futuristic society that is essentially divided up into five groups of people, each focused and dedicated to one of five specific virtues or areas of expertise. Here is the Wiki summary: This story takes place in the city of Chicago in the near future. The city is divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, meant for the selfless; Amity, meant for the peaceful; Candor, meant for the honest; Dauntless, meant for the brave; and Erudite, meant for the knowledgeable. On a given day each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an aptitude test that will tell them for which faction they are best suited. After receiving the results of their test, they must decide whether to remain with their family or transfer to a new faction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergent_(novel)
You might notice that the term, "Divergent," is not one of the five factions or virtues. And, indeed, that is precisely what happens. The main character has strong indicators in more than one area. An interesting development, yes? In a world so meticulously divided, what happens if a some one does not really fit cleanly into one specific category?
Divergent raises other questions as well. For example, which is preferable? To be supremely adept in a single virtue or to be solid or above average across several? And, more subtly, what might be the purpose of even having a society like that, a society that makes it a point to categorize people like that? One might argue that this is simply "natural." That this is what is happening all the time anyway. Humans historically setting up their camps and fencing off their neighbors, and often for much less civilized reasons. So why not streamline the process and simply tighten up the focus, and allow these natural tendencies to take hold according to some kind of science?
As you might have gathered, I am a little cool on overly managed worlds. I am not a big fan of fences. And even though there are some folks that I might just as soon leave to some mono-thematic rigor, I just can't bring myself to like the idea of perfection through labeling and division. (Ironically, my daughter's most recent reading was Romeo and Juliet.) I just like lots of different things?
In a world of excellence through division, I think I'll take divergent. Granted, it might take a little longer to cover the coursework and mastering more than one virtue is certainly a tall (and maybe even vane) order. I just don't want to have to choose between things like knowledge and peace?
Besides, don't we need at least a few renaissance folks, to serve as translators or something?
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
An Open Letter to the Universe
I've been praying a lot lately so this might be redundant. But just in case:
WE ARE STILL HERE! We are working very hard to hold, shine and anchor. Honestly, trying to set records or something. So don't give up on us. Or, if you are holding some kind of grudge, then you might want to give up. Because it turns out that we are pretty resilient.
We believe in mutual love and respect.
We believe in freedom.
We believe in cooperation.
We believe in spirit. And in Spirit!
We believe in oceans and mountains and trees.
We believe in dogs AND cats.
We believe in creativity and in Newness.
We believe in learning and growing.
We believe in healthy bodies and expansive minds.
We believe Heart and Soul.
We believe that we can help; we're just not sure the best ways to do that sometimes.
We believe in forgiveness and hope.
We believe in clean water and fresh air.
We believe in connections and the free exchange of ideas, and we know that some of these come from your side of all this
We believe in human potential; some of us even believe in the inherent goodness of people.
We believe in sunshine and rain and wind and courage; love and light and knowledge and wisdom; we believe in friendship and loyalty, faith and faithfulness; we believe in life and in living things.
We believe...
So keep up the faith. Keep up the help and keep those communication lines open. Keep working at those fences and we will do the same. Expect good things. And you will see them. Expect us to overcome every obstacle and we probably will. Be generous in your hope and dare to offer a blessing or two that might seem outside the stadium. You can say the humans made you do it.
Like I said, probably a little redundant. But I trust you understand.
Have a miraculous day.
Mark
WE ARE STILL HERE! We are working very hard to hold, shine and anchor. Honestly, trying to set records or something. So don't give up on us. Or, if you are holding some kind of grudge, then you might want to give up. Because it turns out that we are pretty resilient.
We believe in mutual love and respect.
We believe in freedom.
We believe in cooperation.
We believe in spirit. And in Spirit!
We believe in oceans and mountains and trees.
We believe in dogs AND cats.
We believe in creativity and in Newness.
We believe in learning and growing.
We believe in healthy bodies and expansive minds.
We believe Heart and Soul.
We believe that we can help; we're just not sure the best ways to do that sometimes.
We believe in forgiveness and hope.
We believe in clean water and fresh air.
We believe in connections and the free exchange of ideas, and we know that some of these come from your side of all this
We believe in human potential; some of us even believe in the inherent goodness of people.
We believe in sunshine and rain and wind and courage; love and light and knowledge and wisdom; we believe in friendship and loyalty, faith and faithfulness; we believe in life and in living things.
We believe...
So keep up the faith. Keep up the help and keep those communication lines open. Keep working at those fences and we will do the same. Expect good things. And you will see them. Expect us to overcome every obstacle and we probably will. Be generous in your hope and dare to offer a blessing or two that might seem outside the stadium. You can say the humans made you do it.
Like I said, probably a little redundant. But I trust you understand.
Have a miraculous day.
Mark
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Signs and Wonders
I am presently hopeful. And grateful.
Earlier this afternoon, I looked out the window of our house to see a number of birds flying rather enthusiastically around a single tree in the center of the turn around here in the development. I watched for a few moments to see if I was not making more of this than was actually there. But, sure enough, these birds were having a serious go of it. Flying in and out of the tree as though they might be excited--very excited--about something.
And then just a few moments ago, I walked to the window looking out over the small pond behind the houses. At this point, I realized that all the birds that I was watching were robins. They were bathing in the pond with the same enthusiasm I had seen prior. I watched as twenty or thirty robins were cleaning themselves while others darted in and around the neighborhood. It was a delight and surely some kind of sign. If only that robins are alive and well. Perhaps preparing for something grand! My sense is that it might be something more. And I continue to pray for the eyes (I just noticed that "eyes" and "yes" have the same letters) to see, the ears to hear , the heart to feel and the mind to comprehend such wonders.
I am reminded today of one of my visions for the kingdom. It is a thinning of the veil between the realms. That is a sharing in the joys of Creation and the wonders of the Creator. There surely must be much that we cannot yet comprehend. But with the coming restoration and our capacity to behold, embrace and enjoy it, perhaps our limited sight will begin to give way to the great wonders that are just beyond the limits of our present vision.
In any case, I wish everyone a blessed day today. I hope that you too will enjoy those wonderful reminders that something wonderful is never far away and, perhaps, nearing.
I feel like a bath may be in order. Or, at least a shower.
Earlier this afternoon, I looked out the window of our house to see a number of birds flying rather enthusiastically around a single tree in the center of the turn around here in the development. I watched for a few moments to see if I was not making more of this than was actually there. But, sure enough, these birds were having a serious go of it. Flying in and out of the tree as though they might be excited--very excited--about something.
And then just a few moments ago, I walked to the window looking out over the small pond behind the houses. At this point, I realized that all the birds that I was watching were robins. They were bathing in the pond with the same enthusiasm I had seen prior. I watched as twenty or thirty robins were cleaning themselves while others darted in and around the neighborhood. It was a delight and surely some kind of sign. If only that robins are alive and well. Perhaps preparing for something grand! My sense is that it might be something more. And I continue to pray for the eyes (I just noticed that "eyes" and "yes" have the same letters) to see, the ears to hear , the heart to feel and the mind to comprehend such wonders.
I am reminded today of one of my visions for the kingdom. It is a thinning of the veil between the realms. That is a sharing in the joys of Creation and the wonders of the Creator. There surely must be much that we cannot yet comprehend. But with the coming restoration and our capacity to behold, embrace and enjoy it, perhaps our limited sight will begin to give way to the great wonders that are just beyond the limits of our present vision.
In any case, I wish everyone a blessed day today. I hope that you too will enjoy those wonderful reminders that something wonderful is never far away and, perhaps, nearing.
I feel like a bath may be in order. Or, at least a shower.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
no deal
Some day they'll open up your world
Shake it down on a drawing board
Do their best to change you
They still can't erase you... "Hand Me Down" Matchbox 20
God must have incredible eyes. To be able to see past all the numbers and probabilities like that. To be able to see how we will fall so far and so hard, and yet still have the nearly insane capacity to get up again and again.
I saw "Billy Jack" when I was about ten years old. I saw "The Hiding Place" before that. I think my mom took me to it when I was five or maybe seven. Today, something like that might be considered abuse. Truth telling feels like that sometimes. I am not sure which came first--the impression those two stories had on my identity or the identity that greeted them when they arrived.
The picture above has been on this site for a long time. On the one hand, I feel a little bad about this because I used to work hard to match the picture with the blog entry. But today it feels kind of right. That strange looking bucket of bolts is the "Serenity." It is the ship from the film of the same name, inspired by the brief TV series, "Firefly." The ship carries a modest crew. Seven (or eight if you count Inara) live on board the Serenity. They live in-between. They neither serve the empire nor are they overtly raging against it. Being an outlier is not easy but it does have it's benefits. Hence the name of the ship.
The ships captain is Mal Reynolds, a very human ex-soldier who has seen and suffered enough of the trappings of waging someone else's war. He does his best to keep his ship and friends clear of the prying eyes of the empire and the trouble of such entanglements.
Romans 13 (by no means my favorite chapter of the Bible) states, "owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." Wisdom, indeed, in a world where debt binds tightly, and so undermines serenity.
In the film, there comes a time when Mal has to make a hard decision. It is Hollywood in that regard. But the story doesn't end with the battle, but with its conclusion when Serenity takes to flight again. And the handful of in-betweeners are allowed to be, and to go their way into the multiverses without the chains and prying eyes of someone else's defining.
Here's a blessing: A live version of "Hand Me Down."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HZ3dS-GnuA
Shake it down on a drawing board
Do their best to change you
They still can't erase you... "Hand Me Down" Matchbox 20
God must have incredible eyes. To be able to see past all the numbers and probabilities like that. To be able to see how we will fall so far and so hard, and yet still have the nearly insane capacity to get up again and again.
I saw "Billy Jack" when I was about ten years old. I saw "The Hiding Place" before that. I think my mom took me to it when I was five or maybe seven. Today, something like that might be considered abuse. Truth telling feels like that sometimes. I am not sure which came first--the impression those two stories had on my identity or the identity that greeted them when they arrived.
The picture above has been on this site for a long time. On the one hand, I feel a little bad about this because I used to work hard to match the picture with the blog entry. But today it feels kind of right. That strange looking bucket of bolts is the "Serenity." It is the ship from the film of the same name, inspired by the brief TV series, "Firefly." The ship carries a modest crew. Seven (or eight if you count Inara) live on board the Serenity. They live in-between. They neither serve the empire nor are they overtly raging against it. Being an outlier is not easy but it does have it's benefits. Hence the name of the ship.
The ships captain is Mal Reynolds, a very human ex-soldier who has seen and suffered enough of the trappings of waging someone else's war. He does his best to keep his ship and friends clear of the prying eyes of the empire and the trouble of such entanglements.
Romans 13 (by no means my favorite chapter of the Bible) states, "owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." Wisdom, indeed, in a world where debt binds tightly, and so undermines serenity.
In the film, there comes a time when Mal has to make a hard decision. It is Hollywood in that regard. But the story doesn't end with the battle, but with its conclusion when Serenity takes to flight again. And the handful of in-betweeners are allowed to be, and to go their way into the multiverses without the chains and prying eyes of someone else's defining.
Here's a blessing: A live version of "Hand Me Down."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HZ3dS-GnuA
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Advent Wisdom
I have a friend. At least I think that I do. She and I seem to flit in and out of one another's lives from time to time. She has a deep wisdom that has been forged over time. It has been forged in experience as well as knowledge--the kind that is gained through reading and handed on from generation to generation.
Wisdom is something that is hard to measure. It's is a treasure. But treasures can become diminished if they cannot be rightly (and lightly) carried. On the one hand, it is good to be wise and wisdom is one of those things that carries you, especially in those more difficult stretches. However, it can also feel like a burden. Like a backpack that you take with you even when you are going on a short hike. Like a reliable backpack, experience and knowledge are not easily set aside, even in moments of rest. But that can be cumbersome at times, a bit like bringing an encyclopedia to book club.
Sometimes we need to just be. Just sit and laugh and enjoy the moment. This too is wisdom, though wisdom of a different kind, I think.
Advent is a season of preparation. The wise (like the wise men) follow the star. Yet, when they arrive, they find a very modest scene. They set down their gifts and humble themselves before the mystery. As far as we know, they do not feel the need to speak or expand on all the lessons that their wisdom has taught them. It is apparently enough simply to be there. And to offer their respective gifts.
Today I am thinking of my friend. I am thinking of her journey and of mine. I know that we carry our blessings and that they are sometimes burdens. I know that we both want to carry wisdom rightly and lightly. And I hope for both of us to find those moments where we are blessed to simply be there.
May we all be blessed as we once again prepare ourselves for the mystery of the ages.
Wisdom is something that is hard to measure. It's is a treasure. But treasures can become diminished if they cannot be rightly (and lightly) carried. On the one hand, it is good to be wise and wisdom is one of those things that carries you, especially in those more difficult stretches. However, it can also feel like a burden. Like a backpack that you take with you even when you are going on a short hike. Like a reliable backpack, experience and knowledge are not easily set aside, even in moments of rest. But that can be cumbersome at times, a bit like bringing an encyclopedia to book club.
Sometimes we need to just be. Just sit and laugh and enjoy the moment. This too is wisdom, though wisdom of a different kind, I think.
Advent is a season of preparation. The wise (like the wise men) follow the star. Yet, when they arrive, they find a very modest scene. They set down their gifts and humble themselves before the mystery. As far as we know, they do not feel the need to speak or expand on all the lessons that their wisdom has taught them. It is apparently enough simply to be there. And to offer their respective gifts.
Today I am thinking of my friend. I am thinking of her journey and of mine. I know that we carry our blessings and that they are sometimes burdens. I know that we both want to carry wisdom rightly and lightly. And I hope for both of us to find those moments where we are blessed to simply be there.
May we all be blessed as we once again prepare ourselves for the mystery of the ages.
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