Creation's Paths

In this special episode, Charlie, introduces the significance of Lunasa, one of the four harvest festivals. Joined by their husband Brian, they discuss the themes of the holiday, the importance of celebrating creative achievements, and the concept of justice over fairness. They emphasize reconnecting with nature, community, and the cycles of the earth. Additionally, they touch on the relevance of Lunasa in modern times, stressing the value of small victories and creative endeavors in a fast-paced world. The episode serves as an inspiring reminder to pause, celebrate, and appreciate both personal and collective milestones.

00:00 Introduction and Greetings

00:28 Meet Charlie and Brian

00:39 Podcast Format and Upcoming Episodes

01:24 Celebrating Loughnasa

04:53 The Significance of Harvest

06:59 Modern Disconnect from Agrarian Roots

09:00 Celebrating Creative Works

12:37 The Importance of Celebration

16:18 Taking the First Step

16:51 Debating the Existence of Evil

18:25 Fairness vs. Justice

23:57 The Power of Perseverance

27:53 Celebrating Harvest and Justice

28:35 Gratitude and Support

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

– Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

Letting go of our outrage against injustice is hard. Not gazing into the abyss doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to harm, it means not fixating on it. It means letting go of the performative anger and actually working for the better.

Notice, I didn’t say the good or the best, but toward the better. Once we believe we know best or we are working for good, the focus becomes defeating evil or those who are wrong. What could be wrong with that?

Change requires us to let go

Everyone involved has to let go. If we are ever going to make progress against fascism, racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia, we have to let go of those qualities within ourselves and our society. If our focus is on those monsters who promote those qualities and not dismantling those systems, they win.

It is so easy to be distracted by the words and actions of people working against justice. That is the plan. The more we focus on the spectacle, the less we focus on dismantling the systems of oppression and climate harm.

The other side is being outrageous on purpose. They want us distracted, angry, and off message so they can win.

What I am not saying

This is not a call for civility. I do not believe that we have to take the high road just because they are taking the low road. Civility is a tool of colonialist oppression to discredit those they seek to oppress. It is a double standard applied to marginalized populations that they never have to live up to themselves.

We should work to defeat dangerous politicians and stop authoritarianism.

What I am saying

We cannot take our eyes off the prize. Our actions need to be focused on achieving our goals, changing minds, and growing our ranks. We have to advocate for the changes we want to see and not simply against the other side.

If we are nothing but an opposition, we will never achieve anything.

Gazing into the abyss

It is all too easy to spend too much time watching what the other side is doing and ranting against it, while doing nothing to advance our causes.

Yelling about a particular baddie is not the same as working for change.

Naming monsters

A monster cannot change. It is a monster’s nature to do monstrous things. They are irredeemable and must be slayed.

When we name something or someone a monster, we limit the options we have to take actions. We can no longer work for our cause, we have to work against them. What other options do we have?

I am not saying there are not terrible people out there doing monstrous things, but the people are not the problem, the systems of oppression are.

Becoming monsters

We all live in bubbles, surrounding ourselves from those who disagree and who are different from us. This creates a cycle of self-affirmation that blinds us to the thoughts, opinions, and pain of others.

When I see an environmental activist defacing a famous work of art, I know they have hurt the cause. I live in a very conservative area that is suffering from the effects of climate change. Every time they do these stunts, they are making my work infinitely harder. They transformed themselves into a monster that support environmental harm. They are the best ally polluters have.

Such actions revolt the natural allies living around me. They are pushed farther away from climate activism, and into the arms of the fossil fuel companies. Their protest harms the cause and they have become a monster in the eyes of those who should be their allies.

This isn’t a problem with civility or decorum. Their actions are so disconnected from the cause they are advocating for, it is indistinguishable from random violence. It feeds the narrative that climate activists are unhinged cult members who act irrationally.

They are the best ally the fossil fuel companies have.

They went out to slay monsters and became one.

Letting go of monsters

I am not saying we give up or give in. I am saying we have to let go of our focus on the monsters and demonstrate truth with power.

Many years ago, there was an attempt to ban LGBT groups from having a space at a particular convention on the east coast because one queer man made himself into a monster and vilified all of us. Our response was to organize two simple actions for the next convention.

We all wore IDIC pins on our con badges. This was a scifi convention with a strong focus on Star Trek. IDIC is the Vulcan symbol for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination. We circulated a simple list of talking points for when someone asked what the symbol meant. We also staged a dance in at the main dance where we all paired up into same-gender couples and took to the dance floor for every slow dance. Our project spread to the point where many heterosexual people paired up with a same-sex partner to join in the protest.

The purpose of both actions was to demonstrate how many queer attendees and allies we had at the convention, and it worked. They changed their policies, allowing us to have panels and not to have to card people as they entered to ensure that no one under the age of 18 entered a queer themed panel.

We fought for our people, and for the change we wanted to see, and not against the people working against us. This is how queer rights have always been pushed forward.

From the Stonewall Uprising through Act Ups activism to today, we haven’t always been civil or polite, but we kept our eyes on the prize. Look at Zooey Zephyr and how she is standing up now.

The Abyss

When we center our focus and effort on particular “monsters,” we make them out to be more powerful than they really are. They are not monsters. They are flawed, broken humans like the rest of us who have given into their foulest instincts. They are people to be pitied, not transformed into something greater than they are.

As we stare into the abyss, watch all the bad things and creatures swimming through it, we are distracting ourselves from the cause.

I don’t want to spend my life filtering the abyss. I don’t want to live for the abyss. If life is to have any meaning, we have to cultivate a vital, healthy environment that will over grow the abyss and starve the monsters of their means of support.

Let go of the Abyss

Don’t ignore the bad things happening in the world, but let go of them. Do no harm to yourself in the name of the cause. They want us to be outraged, angry, and distracted. We need to be focused on building the change we want to see.

Let go of the actions you cannot control and take hold of the actions you can.

Don’t fight the monsters. Make the world inhospitable for those monsters to thrive.

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

– Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

Letting go of our outrage against injustice is hard. Not gazing into the abyss doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to harm, it means not fixating on it. It means letting go of the performative anger and actually working for the better.

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Pride is a protest, a riot, a celebration, a rite of mourning. Pride is not hubris, it is the truest act of humility.

So many misunderstand the meaning and purpose of humility:

Occupy a rightful space, neither too much nor too little. Focus neither on your own virtues nor the faults of others.

Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar, p. 45

LGBT Pride is humble. It inspires people to take up their rightful space, not too much or too little. In a culture that tells us we are worthless and lesser, it is a shout to inspire people to know their value. We have a right to exist, to be happy, to live our lives with no one telling us we are wrong.

I grew up hating myself. The church taught me my existence was a sin and hated by their false God. They embraced the demonic urge to hate and attack people who reject the forced conformity and lust for control and power.

Our duty to Christ and God is love. Love for God, for Christ, and for one another.

This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.

Jesus, John 15:12

Let all that you do be done in love.

Paul, 1 Corinthians 16:14

We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

John, 1 John 4:16

So let’s talk about LGBT Pride.

On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Uprising crystalized the heart of the modern Queer Liberation Movement. It wasn’t the beginning, but it was the spark that lit the powder keg. The next year, the first Pride Marches started, and the movement carries on to this day.

Pride is the one thing that Allonormative. Amatonormative, Cisgender, Heterosexuals take for granted. It is baked into our culture. Where is the heterosexual pride? Most movies, music, books, video games, laws, and cultural institutions are designed to celebrate heterosexual and cisgender norms. Some even put in the effort to mock and denigrate those who don’t live up to those norms.

They assume children to be cisgender and heterosexual until they come out as something else. Our communities forcibly coerced many of us to conform to these expectations, and threaten to disown us or send us to conversion therapy if we do not deny ourselves and conform.

We are attacked, slandered, beaten, and killed for being who we are. That is why we need pride. With 500 bills to take away our rights in the states, we need Pride today more than ever.

Truth is empowering

Too many Christians and conservatives not only spread lies about us, but want us to live a lie rather than be who we are. They claim to be doing the Lord’s work, but the god that encourages lies is not the one who sent Jesus into the world. It is the one who reveled in his crucifixion.

They claim to follow the ten commandments, but ignore:

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

They can’t even be honest about this commandment saying that it is, “Do not lie.” The actual commandment is about giving false testimony against others. In other words, don’t slander people.

As a huge part of the upside down morality, they reject science and state their opinions as facts. I am not going to waste my time and energy debunking there lies. I will let Jessie Earl to that.

There is your homework if you need all the receipts.

Embracing Love and Inclusivity

Compassion and love are at the heart of Christ’s message.

The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.He has sent me to heal the broken hearted,to proclaim release to the captives,recovering of sight to the blind,to deliver those who are crushed,and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:17-21

How have those who claim the name and mission of Christ come to this place where they:

* convince the poor to bow to and support the rich

* insult and attack the broken hearted

* support the imprisonment of others

* hide the truth from others.

* and step on the crushed to feel superior.

For those who don’t believe this is the heart of Jesus’ teachings, he says they are the criteria for judgement (see Matthew 7:21-27). They are how you tell Christ’s real followers from the false ones.

We are called to live a life of compassion and justice making. There are no exceptions to the golden rule.

Christians have never had a full or complete understanding of justice or truth. That is why Jesus promised to send us the Spirit of Truth to guide us. He warned us against making the Scriptures into an idol or oracle of truth (John 5:39-44). As Paul says:

So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

But what about Evil?

There are those who counter these arguments by quoting Paul:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.

Paul, Romans 12:9

What is evil? The Christian ethics taught by Christ define evil quite well:

* oppressing and not helping the poor

* not healing and visiting the sick

* not comforting and liberating the imprisoned and enslaved

* not feeding the hungry

* not clothing the naked

* not sheltering the homeless

I see a common thread weaving through all of that.

What did Jesus have to say about oppressed gender and sexual minorities?

But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it (Matthew 19:11-12).”

That’s it. It would have been shocking to say that in his day.

In the Mosaic Law in states:

He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly (Deuteronomy 23:1).

Jesus not only contradicted the law, but turned it on its head. Being a eunuch can be good actually.

I am not saying that eunuchs are necessarily queer, but many were, and I don’t know how else to interpret how some people are born eunuchs. Maybe is a reference to asexuality, but it is unclear. The early church interpreted it that way and doubled down on celibacy.

However Jesus meant this, it is clear that he did not judge the most visible gender/sexual minority of his time. What mattered was the love and compassion we had for others and how we make justice in our societies.

If you wonder why I am not talking about what Paul thought, the truth is we don’t know. He coined his own term and we don’t know what he meant by it. He could have been talking about sexual slavery or cultic prostitution. Any translation of Paul that is clear is showing the bias of the translator and not the words of Paul.

Making Justice

Our call is to make justice and to love one another as Christ loved us. Justice can not be based on lies. The science is in:

* homosexuality appears in nature and thus is natural.

* gender affirming care saves lives.

Any argument to the contrary is not based in fact.

There is not an epidemic of people coming out as gay, bi, or trans, the curve is mirroring the destigmatization of left-handedness.

It will level off once the queer community feels safe enough to be themselves.

Don’t fall for lies and grifters

Remember:

* Gender, like race, is culturally constructed which is why its definition changes over time.

* The gender spectrum is real. No one is simply Man or Woman, but have many genders we take up and put down throughout our lives.

* Sex is a spectrum with males, intersex individuals, and females. Most intersex people will never know they are intersex unless it shows up in a medical test.

* Sexuality is a spectrum, and not everyone has sexual or romantic attra…

Pride is a protest, a riot, a celebration, a rite of mourning. Pride is not hubris, it is the truest act of humility.

So many misunderstand the meaning and purpose of humility:

Occupy a rightful space, neither too much nor too little. Focus neither on your own virtues nor the faults of others.

Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar, p. 45

LGBT Pride is humble. It inspires people to take up their rightful space, not too much or too little. In a culture that tells us we are worthless and lesser, it is a shout to inspire people to know their value. We have a right to exist, to be happy, to live our lives with no one telling us we are wrong.

I grew up hating myself. The church taught me my existence was a sin and hated by their false God. They embraced the demonic urge to hate and attack people who reject the forced conformity and lust for control and power.

Our duty to Christ and God is love. Love for God, for Christ, and for one another.

This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.

Jesus, John 15:12

Let all that you do be done in love.

Paul, 1 Corinthians 16:14

We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

John, 1 John 4:16

So let’s talk about LGBT Pride.

On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Uprising crystalized the heart of the modern Queer Liberation Movement. It wasn’t the beginning, but it was the spark that lit the powder keg. The next year, the first Pride Marches started, and the movement carries on to this day.

Pride is the one thing that Allonormative. Amatonormative, Cisgender, Heterosexuals take for granted. It is baked into our culture. Where is the heterosexual pride? Most movies, music, books, video games, laws, and cultural institutions are designed to celebrate heterosexual and cisgender norms. Some even put in the effort to mock and denigrate those who don’t live up to those norms.

They assume children to be cisgender and heterosexual until they come out as something else. Our communities forcibly coerced many of us to conform to these expectations, and threaten to disown us or send us to conversion therapy if we do not deny ourselves and conform.

We are attacked, slandered, beaten, and killed for being who we are. That is why we need pride. With 500 bills to take away our rights in the states, we need Pride today more than ever.

Truth is empowering

Too many Christians and conservatives not only spread lies about us, but want us to live a lie rather than be who we are. They claim to be doing the Lord’s work, but the god that encourages lies is not the one who sent Jesus into the world. It is the one who reveled in his crucifixion.

They claim to follow the ten commandments, but ignore:

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

They can’t even be honest about this commandment saying that it is, “Do not lie.” The actual commandment is about giving false testimony against others. In other words, don’t slander people.

As a huge part of the upside down morality, they reject science and state their opinions as facts. I am not going to waste my time and energy debunking there lies. I will let Jessie Earl to that.

There is your homework if you need all the receipts.

Embracing Love and Inclusivity

Compassion and love are at the heart of Christ’s message.

The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.He has sent me to heal the broken hearted,to proclaim release to the captives,recovering of sight to the blind,to deliver those who are crushed,and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:17-21

How have those who claim the name and mission of Christ come to this place where they:

* convince the poor to bow to and support the rich

* insult and attack the broken hearted

* support the imprisonment of others

* hide the truth from others.

* and step on the crushed to feel superior.

For those who don’t believe this is the heart of Jesus’ teachings, he says they are the criteria for judgement (see Matthew 7:21-27). They are how you tell Christ’s real followers from the false ones.

We are called to live a life of compassion and justice making. There are no exceptions to the golden rule.

Christians have never had a full or complete understanding of justice or truth. That is why Jesus promised to send us the Spirit of Truth to guide us. He warned us against making the Scriptures into an idol or oracle of truth (John 5:39-44). As Paul says:

So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

But what about Evil?

There are those who counter these arguments by quoting Paul:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.

Paul, Romans 12:9

What is evil? The Christian ethics taught by Christ define evil quite well:

* oppressing and not helping the poor

* not healing and visiting the sick

* not comforting and liberating the imprisoned and enslaved

* not feeding the hungry

* not clothing the naked

* not sheltering the homeless

I see a common thread weaving through all of that.

What did Jesus have to say about oppressed gender and sexual minorities?

But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it (Matthew 19:11-12).”

That’s it. It would have been shocking to say that in his day.

In the Mosaic Law in states:

He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly (Deuteronomy 23:1).

Jesus not only contradicted the law, but turned it on its head. Being a eunuch can be good actually.

I am not saying that eunuchs are necessarily queer, but many were, and I don’t know how else to interpret how some people are born eunuchs. Maybe is a reference to asexuality, but it is unclear. The early church interpreted it that way and doubled down on celibacy.

However Jesus meant this, it is clear that he did not judge the most visible gender/sexual minority of his time. What mattered was the love and compassion we had for others and how we make justice in our societies.

If you wonder why I am not talking about what Paul thought, the truth is we don’t know. He coined his own term and we don’t know what he meant by it. He could have been talking about sexual slavery or cultic prostitution. Any translation of Paul that is clear is showing the bias of the translator and not the words of Paul.

Making Justice

Our call is to make justice and to love one another as Christ loved us. Justice can not be based on lies. The science is in:

* homosexuality appears in nature and thus is natural.

* gender affirming care saves lives.

Any argument to the contrary is not based in fact.

There is not an epidemic of people coming out as gay, bi, or trans, the curve is mirroring the destigmatization of left-handedness.

It will level off once the queer community feels safe enough to be themselves.

Don’t fall for lies and grifters

Remember:

* Gender, like race, is culturally constructed which is why its definition changes over time.

* The gender spectrum is real. No one is simply Man or Woman, but have many genders we take up and put down throughout our lives.

* Sex is a spectrum with males, intersex individuals, and females. Most intersex people will never know they are intersex unless it shows up in a medical test.

* Sexuality is a spectrum, and not everyone has sexual or romantic attraction to others.

* Untreated gender dysphoria kills.

* Just because something is culturally constructed does not mean that it isn’t trying to express a felt or internal reality.

* Someone being queer is natural and does no harm.

* Politeness, courtesy, and compassion cost nothing.

* Children have their own lives and should not be forced to conform to the wishes and desires of their parents.

* Humility is a key aspect of compassion.

No one has to out themself if they don’t feel comfortable or safe. Allyship and Liberation is about accepting the science, supporting one another, and fighting against the increasing wave of harassment, persecution, and legal threats to our existence and wellbeing.

Stand up this Pride, and fight for our rights to exist.

At the dawn of creation, the big bang flared forth, carrying all the energy this universe would ever have. It flowed through the cosmos, transforming and cooling and giving rise to all the materials around us.

We are all rooted in this flow. These are the Divine Energies that flow from God into the cosmos to gather, break down, create, and transform everything that is, was, and ever shall be. This flow forms the basic web of interconnectedness between God and nature. We are a part of nature and we are always connected to the Divine.

Building a connection to this great underground flow of creative energy, even if only in our imagination, nourishes our spirit. This greening helps us to grow and transform the elements of our life into creativity.

We are a process, an intricate web of interconnections. That doesn’t mean we are not whole in ourselves. It means that everything we are and ever shall be exists in relation to others. We are woven into the plants and animals we consume and the microscopic ones that live on and within us. We are connected to the farmers, the farms, the soil, the sun, the moon, and the stars. We live in God, the very being that is the ground of all being and becoming.

This being, this existence, is in God. That same God is in us as much as we are within God. This gives us connection to a greater well of power than we allow ourselves to know.

When I and others say there is a great underground flow of Divine Power, we are trying to open our eyes to this reality. This creative energy flows through everything that is. This underground river nourishes us, the earth, the sun, everything. Entering this flow opens us up to the wellspring of creative potential longing to flow through us.

This creative flow vibrates in our skin. It beats in the electric pulse of our hearts. It is so close to us and beyond us all at the same time. In its closeness, it is infused into the substance of our bodies. It is only distant in that its limitless potential and power is so far beyond our comprehension. The more we connect to this flow at the depths of our being, the more we hear its invitation to delve deeper into its well of inspiration.

How do we tap into this flow? Mindfulness, visualization, and simply believing or trusting it is there. We learn to see it in the flowers, the trees, the rush of the water down the mountain. Once we accept the same power moves through us that raises mountains and grinds them to dust, we awaken to the world as it is.

Many misconstrue this power as the power of manifestation. No, we cannot simply will the cosmos to change. We can affect the subtle and crude energies of the world to move it in a different direction. Action produces change. Whether it is subtle action through our thoughts and words, or embodied action, it changes the course of events that follow.

There are many paths forward. Many seek this truth in the scriptures and traditions of a myriad of faiths. How many of us read the Book of Nature written by the very hand of God. I am reminded of a song by my friend, Kathy Mar, the Word of God:

From desert cliff and mountain top we trace the wide designStrike-slip fault and overthrust and syn and anticline. .We gaze upon creation where erosion makes it knownAnd count the countless aeons in the banding of the stoneOdd, long-vanished creatures and their tracks & shells are found;Where truth has left its sketches on the slate below the groundThe patient stone can speak, if we but listen when it talksHumans wrote the Bible; God wrote the rocksThere are those who name the stars, who watch the sky by nightSeeking out the darkest place, to better see the lightLong ago, when torture broke the remnant of his willGalileo recanted, but the Earth is moving stillHigh above the mountaintops, where only distance barsThe truth has left its footprints in the dust between the starsWe may watch and study or may shudder and denyHumans wrote the Bible; God wrote the skyBy stem and root and branch we trace, by feather, fang and furHow the living things that are descend from things that wereThe moss, the kelp, the zebrafish, the very mice and fliesThese tiny, humble, wordless things---how shall they tell us lies?We are kin to beasts; no other answer can we bringThe truth has left its fingerprints on every living thingRemember, should you have to choose between them in the strifeHumans wrote the Bible; God wrote life

And we who listen to the sky, or walk the dusty grade,Or break the very atoms down to see how they are made,Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand.The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand.Deep in flower and in flesh, in sky and soil and seed,The truth has left its living word for anyone to read.So turn and look where e’er you think the truth will be unfurled.Humans wrote the Bible; God wrote the world.

Kathy Mar, The Word of God

This might seem like a radical statement in a world where so many grifters and false prophets have driven a wedge between science and religion. If we return to the teachings of Jesus Christ, we see how often he taught from the Book of Nature. Look at the birds, the lilies of the field, the mustard seed, and I could go on. Today, we can read the Book of Nature deeper into time, and with more detail.

Just as a seed sprouts underground, drawing sustenance from the unseen depths, our bodies and spirits do the same. We draw on these hidden currents of creative energy, enabling personal growth and spiritual evolution. Real magic exists in the borderlands between this view of reality and our imagination relating to ourselves.

This truth transcends the boundaries of religion, culture, and individuality and grants us access to this creativity. I am not advocating for a bland spiritism smoothing out the distinctive flavors of our religions and cultures. Once upon a time, I saw that as the goal, but the Book of Nature taught me a different way.

If you are an oak, a pine, a birch, or any other tree in the world's forest, be that tree to the best of your ability. Just don’t forget that you are in a forest filled with other trees and we all work together for the best of the forest itself. Spirit is the mycelial network connecting all of us at our roots. It shares messages and nutrients between us.

Nature doesn’t care which type of tree flourishes, only that life goes on. It pushes the energy forward. Seeking this harmony, this sense of unity and cooperation, helps us to connect to this flow.

Once we awaken to this reality, we can take our place as co-creators with the Divine. Together, we are building the world to come through our every thought, word, and deed. As we align our actions and intention with this flow, we learn to embody it. We are vessels through which God manifests beauty, truth, justice, and goodness into the world.

As we channel this flow into the world, we learn to shape it through our unique gifts and talents. Like everything in life, this is a process we learn in our own singular way. We may find tips and tricks from the process of others, but we need to find our own way.

I am sorry if you read this, wanting a quick trick or secrets that will open you up to this power instantly. The best I can offer is to trust your intuition, discerning your actions with compassion and justice. These are the best guides on the journey. Truth is, you have to feel out the path that is yours. My path will not help you.

Do not follow anyone else’s path. Learn from them, but do not follow. They are on their own path, but they may have great hints for how to navigate the forest. It is worth the effort. The world opens up in a new way when you draw the flow up and allow it to flow through you.

At the dawn of creation, the big bang flared forth, carrying all the energy this universe would ever have. It flowed through the cosmos, transforming and cooling and giving rise to all the materials around us.

We are all rooted in this flow. These are the Divine Energies that flow from God into the cosmos to gather, break down, create, and transform everything that is, was, and ever shall be. This flow forms the basic web of interconnectedness between God and nature. We are a part of nature and we are always connected to the Divine.

Building a connection to this great underground flow of creative energy, even if only in our imagination, nourishes our spirit. This greening helps us to grow and transform the elements of our life into creativity.

We are a process, an intricate web of interconnections. That doesn’t mean we are not whole in ourselves. It means that everything we are and ever shall be exists in relation to others. We are woven into the plants and animals we consume and the microscopic ones that live on and within us. We are connected to the farmers, the farms, the soil, the sun, the moon, and the stars. We live in God, the very being that is the ground of all being and becoming.

This being, this existence, is in God. That same God is in us as much as we are within God. This gives us connection to a greater well of power than we allow ourselves to know.

When I and others say there is a great underground flow of Divine Power, we are trying to open our eyes to this reality. This creative energy flows through everything that is. This underground river nourishes us, the earth, the sun, everything. Entering this flow opens us up to the wellspring of creative potential longing to flow through us.

This creative flow vibrates in our skin. It beats in the electric pulse of our hearts. It is so close to us and beyond us all at the same time. In its closeness, it is infused into the substance of our bodies. It is only distant in that its limitless potential and power is so far beyond our comprehension. The more we connect to this flow at the depths of our being, the more we hear its invitation to delve deeper into its well of inspiration.

How do we tap into this flow? Mindfulness, visualization, and simply believing or trusting it is there. We learn to see it in the flowers, the trees, the rush of the water down the mountain. Once we accept the same power moves through us that raises mountains and grinds them to dust, we awaken to the world as it is.

Many misconstrue this power as the power of manifestation. No, we cannot simply will the cosmos to change. We can affect the subtle and crude energies of the world to move it in a different direction. Action produces change. Whether it is subtle action through our thoughts and words, or embodied action, it changes the course of events that follow.

There are many paths forward. Many seek this truth in the scriptures and traditions of a myriad of faiths. How many of us read the Book of Nature written by the very hand of God. I am reminded of a song by my friend, Kathy Mar, the Word of God:

From desert cliff and mountain top we trace the wide designStrike-slip fault and overthrust and syn and anticline. .We gaze upon creation where erosion makes it knownAnd count the countless aeons in the banding of the stoneOdd, long-vanished creatures and their tracks & shells are found;Where truth has left its sketches on the slate below the groundThe patient stone can speak, if we but listen when it talksHumans wrote the Bible; God wrote the rocksThere are those who name the stars, who watch the sky by nightSeeking out the darkest place, to better see the lightLong ago, when torture broke the remnant of his willGalileo recanted, but the Earth is moving stillHigh above the mountaintops, where only distance barsThe truth has left its footprints in the dust between the starsWe may watch and study or may shudder and denyHumans wrote the Bible; God wrote the skyBy stem and root and branch we trace, by feather, fang and furHow the living things that are descend from things that wereThe moss, the kelp, the zebrafish, the very mice and fliesThese tiny, humble, wordless things---how shall they tell us lies?We are kin to beasts; no other answer can we bringThe truth has left its fingerprints on every living thingRemember, should you have to choose between them in the strifeHumans wrote the Bible; God wrote life

And we who listen to the sky, or walk the dusty grade,Or break the very atoms down to see how they are made,Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand.The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand.Deep in flower and in flesh, in sky and soil and seed,The truth has left its living word for anyone to read.So turn and look where e’er you think the truth will be unfurled.Humans wrote the Bible; God wrote the world.

Kathy Mar, The Word of God

This might seem like a radical statement in a world where so many grifters and false prophets have driven a wedge between science and religion. If we return to the teachings of Jesus Christ, we see how often he taught from the Book of Nature. Look at the birds, the lilies of the field, the mustard seed, and I could go on. Today, we can read the Book of Nature deeper into time, and with more detail.

Just as a seed sprouts underground, drawing sustenance from the unseen depths, our bodies and spirits do the same. We draw on these hidden currents of creative energy, enabling personal growth and spiritual evolution. Real magic exists in the borderlands between this view of reality and our imagination relating to ourselves.

This truth transcends the boundaries of religion, culture, and individuality and grants us access to this creativity. I am not advocating for a bland spiritism smoothing out the distinctive flavors of our religions and cultures. Once upon a time, I saw that as the goal, but the Book of Nature taught me a different way.

If you are an oak, a pine, a birch, or any other tree in the world's forest, be that tree to the best of your ability. Just don’t forget that you are in a forest filled with other trees and we all work together for the best of the forest itself. Spirit is the mycelial network connecting all of us at our roots. It shares messages and nutrients between us.

Nature doesn’t care which type of tree flourishes, only that life goes on. It pushes the energy forward. Seeking this harmony, this sense of unity and cooperation, helps us to connect to this flow.

Once we awaken to this reality, we can take our place as co-creators with the Divine. Together, we are building the world to come through our every thought, word, and deed. As we align our actions and intention with this flow, we learn to embody it. We are vessels through which God manifests beauty, truth, justice, and goodness into the world.

As we channel this flow into the world, we learn to shape it through our unique gifts and talents. Like everything in life, this is a process we learn in our own singular way. We may find tips and tricks from the process of others, but we need to find our own way.

I am sorry if you read this, wanting a quick trick or secrets that will open you up to this power instantly. The best I can offer is to trust your intuition, discerning your actions with compassion and justice. These are the best guides on the journey. Truth is, you have to feel out the path that is yours. My path will not help you.

Do not follow anyone else’s path. Learn from them, but do not follow. They are on their own path, but they may have great hints for how to navigate the forest. It is worth the effort. The world opens up in a new way when you draw the flow up and allow it to flow through you.

Christ has died.Christ is risen.Christ will come again.

All my life, I have received mockery for my belief in Jesus. I understand why some conservative Christians have a chip on their shoulders over their belief in Christ. It is important to always remind my siblings, sisters, and brothers across the aisle that we should respond to this treatment with the grace, compassion, and humility of Jesus.

What we have to remember is the frame Meister Eckhart gave us to understand our relationship with the life of Christ:

What good is it to me that Mary gave birth to the son of God fourteen hundred years ago, and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born.

So let’s ask the question we need to answer every year:

What is the Ascension happening today?

It is easy to see the face of the crucified Christ in the refugees and those killed by the police and mass shooters. We strive for resurrection in our work for justice, healing, equality, and reconciliation, but what is the ascension for today? How can we experience the ascension of Christ today?

When we consider the life of Christ through the lens of the chakras, it becomes evident that the virgin birth is symbolic of the awakening of the heart chakra, Anahata. This chakra represents the energy center that embodies love, compassion, and selflessness. It is considered the center of our emotional and spiritual being, where we learn to connect with others, experience empathy, and cultivate a sense of oneness with the universe. Christ's virgin birth is a representation of the purity and unconditional love that we all have the potential to embody when we awaken our heart chakra.

We live this power through embodying compassion and grace in all our actions and interactions with others. We strive not to react, but to act from our heart. This is how we bring this purity of action to our life.

Similarly, the ascension of Christ represents the journey from the sixth chakra, Ajna, to the seventh chakra, Sahasrara. Ajna is often referred to as the third eye chakra, and it represents our ability to perceive reality beyond what is visible. It is associated with intuition, spiritual insight, and enlightenment. Sahasrara, on the other hand, represents the highest state of consciousness, where we move beyond all discursive language and experience the non-dual reality of the cosmos and God.

In the ascension of Christ, we see the journey from the limited perception of the material world to the infinite, all-encompassing reality of God. This is the ultimate goal of spiritual evolution, where we transcend our ego and experience the oneness of the universe. Christ's ascension represents the attainment of this state of consciousness and serves as a reminder of the potential that exists within each of us to reach this level of spiritual awareness. By understanding the connection between the chakras and the life of Christ, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the transformative power of spiritual practice and the universal nature of spiritual awakening.

Again, to quote Meister Eckhart:

The Ultimate and Highest leave taking is leaving God for GOD, leaving your notion of God for an Experience of That which transcends all notions.

The Ascension is the Breaking of Idols

We live in the power of the Ascension when we realize Idols are not statues made of wood and stone. An idol is any image, even if we make it from words and beliefs, that distracts us from the reality of God as the one in whom we live, move, and have our being.

Jesus is our mediator, our high priest. Even though many of us believe that Jesus is God, we cannot allow Jesus or Holy Spirit, or even the Father, to become an idol that distracts us from the truth that God is so much more than any of us can ever express in words.

In the act of ascending, Jesus rises into the air and disappears in the clouds because God is present in nature, in the earth, and in all of us.

Through faith, we ascend with Jesus as the body of Christ and let go of our preconceived notions and melt into the vibrant living world to co-create the world to come with God.

Ascending to Oneness

We arise with Christ,with the angels,with the hopes and prayers of billions.

We rise into the sky,into the cloud of witness,into the great cloud of unknowing.

We fly into wisdom,on the wings of grace,on the winds of Spirit.

Into the heart of the cosmos from which compassion allures us to awe, to release, to create, and to transform the broken to the whole, pain to relief, the old to the new, suffering to justice.

Hand in hand with Christ, we twirl in the spiral dance of creation from path to path, lifting up our hearts, minds, and spirits as we uplift the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the suffering.

May we heal the world and restore the world to come into the beloved community longing to be born.

Christ has died.Christ is risen.Christ will come again.

All my life, I have received mockery for my belief in Jesus. I understand why some conservative Christians have a chip on their shoulders over their belief in Christ. It is important to always remind my siblings, sisters, and brothers across the aisle that we should respond to this treatment with the grace, compassion, and humility of Jesus.

What we have to remember is the frame Meister Eckhart gave us to understand our relationship with the life of Christ:

What good is it to me that Mary gave birth to the son of God fourteen hundred years ago, and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born.

So let’s ask the question we need to answer every year:

What is the Ascension happening today?

It is easy to see the face of the crucified Christ in the refugees and those killed by the police and mass shooters. We strive for resurrection in our work for justice, healing, equality, and reconciliation, but what is the ascension for today? How can we experience the ascension of Christ today?

When we consider the life of Christ through the lens of the chakras, it becomes evident that the virgin birth is symbolic of the awakening of the heart chakra, Anahata. This chakra represents the energy center that embodies love, compassion, and selflessness. It is considered the center of our emotional and spiritual being, where we learn to connect with others, experience empathy, and cultivate a sense of oneness with the universe. Christ's virgin birth is a representation of the purity and unconditional love that we all have the potential to embody when we awaken our heart chakra.

We live this power through embodying compassion and grace in all our actions and interactions with others. We strive not to react, but to act from our heart. This is how we bring this purity of action to our life.

Similarly, the ascension of Christ represents the journey from the sixth chakra, Ajna, to the seventh chakra, Sahasrara. Ajna is often referred to as the third eye chakra, and it represents our ability to perceive reality beyond what is visible. It is associated with intuition, spiritual insight, and enlightenment. Sahasrara, on the other hand, represents the highest state of consciousness, where we move beyond all discursive language and experience the non-dual reality of the cosmos and God.

In the ascension of Christ, we see the journey from the limited perception of the material world to the infinite, all-encompassing reality of God. This is the ultimate goal of spiritual evolution, where we transcend our ego and experience the oneness of the universe. Christ's ascension represents the attainment of this state of consciousness and serves as a reminder of the potential that exists within each of us to reach this level of spiritual awareness. By understanding the connection between the chakras and the life of Christ, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the transformative power of spiritual practice and the universal nature of spiritual awakening.

Again, to quote Meister Eckhart:

The Ultimate and Highest leave taking is leaving God for GOD, leaving your notion of God for an Experience of That which transcends all notions.

The Ascension is the Breaking of Idols

We live in the power of the Ascension when we realize Idols are not statues made of wood and stone. An idol is any image, even if we make it from words and beliefs, that distracts us from the reality of God as the one in whom we live, move, and have our being.

Jesus is our mediator, our high priest. Even though many of us believe that Jesus is God, we cannot allow Jesus or Holy Spirit, or even the Father, to become an idol that distracts us from the truth that God is so much more than any of us can ever express in words.

In the act of ascending, Jesus rises into the air and disappears in the clouds because God is present in nature, in the earth, and in all of us.

Through faith, we ascend with Jesus as the body of Christ and let go of our preconceived notions and melt into the vibrant living world to co-create the world to come with God.

Ascending to Oneness

We arise with Christ,with the angels,with the hopes and prayers of billions.

We rise into the sky,into the cloud of witness,into the great cloud of unknowing.

We fly into wisdom,on the wings of grace,on the winds of Spirit.

Into the heart of the cosmos from which compassion allures us to awe, to release, to create, and to transform the broken to the whole, pain to relief, the old to the new, suffering to justice.

Hand in hand with Christ, we twirl in the spiral dance of creation from path to path, lifting up our hearts, minds, and spirits as we uplift the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the suffering.

May we heal the world and restore the world to come into the beloved community longing to be born.

I woke up this morning to the sound of screaming and it took a while for me to realize it was a nightmare. At least I think it was a nightmare, but the more I contemplate it the more I wonder if it wasn’t more a psychic scream I was just sensitive enough to hear.

There is so much suffering in the world right now, and the more we cling to the lies of late stage capitalism, the more there will be. I live in what so many lovingly call the heartland… I’ve never been comfortable with that kind of language. It is a bit too self aggrandizing for my taste. It is also a misnomer.

Jobs are going away because of the mismanagement and greed of the megacorps that run them. Government aid is restricted to make people desperate enough to take whatever job they can find. Climate change has brought more storms and flooding to the region. Women’s rights are under attack. Trans people are being outlawed. Suffering is a growth industry.

I am still shaken by the experience. That scream haunts me. It wasn’t a singular voice, It broke into my mind as a symphony of pain, shaking me awake from a sound sleep that didn’t have anything dark, scary, or painful in it.

My life itself has become a metaphor…

All our lives are metaphors if we choose to read them like that.

Letting go, in our lives, of all our pain and strife,Releases the burden that we carry deep within,Liberating us to seek the path to freedomTo break the binds that tie us.

For in our hearts there lies a hidden source,A river of divine flow, waiting to be tapped,So wisdom can spill forth and enlightenOur minds to imagining a better world to build.

This river runs beneath the surface of life,A force that flows through all creation,Connecting all that is, and ever shall be,A current of vital energy, waiting to set us free.

Draw from this wellspring, and we shall find,The strength to rise above all that holds us down,To face each trial with courage and with grace,And to walk with ease, on paths once so hard.

For in this river, there lies a gift to cure,A healing balm that soothes our weary souls,And gives us wings to rise above the fray,To touch the sky and dance among the stars.

So let us not hold onto all our pain and strife,And tap this underground river of divine flow,For in its depths, we'll find the strength we seek,And all the love and light our heart can hold.

Isn’t that what I am supposed to say? Isn’t that the advice we always offer in times like this? It isn’t wrong, but it isn’t really helpful. A hollow truth isn’t a lie, but it cannot sustain us for very long.

the truth of hollowness

Over the last year, I’ve come to see the difference between the trite, hollow truths that are often given out as spiritual advice and the hard truth of hollowness that those of us who have reached this place quickly forget how to talk about.

I talked about this recently on my other substack:

Hollowness is painful to achieve.No one should strive to reach it.Welcome it in when it knocks.Fighting against it is futile.

Hollowness is the other side of the ennui coin.

ennui

noun

a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: (Dictionary.com)

* Ennui is the state of weariness and discontent from being too full or uninterested in something.

* Hollowness is the state of weariness and discontent from being emptied out or disillusioned by something.

They can be hard to tell apart. How can we know if we are too full or too empty when we don’t have the energy or interest to do anything? Does it matter which it is?

Yes. Ennui fills us up and holds us in place like an anchor. Hollowness has an empty space that can be filled to fuel forward action.

Hollowness hurts more than ennui. I probably shouldn’t say that since I am advocating for it, but it is important to be honest here.

All of the pain and suffering pressed upon us by this post modern age as it collapses around us will destroy us if we don’t let them go. Suffering, if we hold it too tight can fester into resentment and hatred. We should never lie to ourselves about how alluring and comfortable hate is. It is an abusive friend that always gives bad advice and encourages us down the wrong path. If we do nothing else in our lives other than free ourselves from hate, we have lived a good life.

the struggle to let go

It is hard to let go,to set down our pain,to release our suffering,to forgive our abusers.

We cannot pick up to put down.We should not take in to set free.We must not dig in to clean out.We haven’t learned to let go.

Open your hands,unclench your fists,relax your heart,don’t forget to breathe.

Letting go is not a process. We may have to do a lot of work to understand and accept the need to let go, but the act itself is easy. It is so easy we refuse to believe and embrace the process, and overcomplicate it. We add numerous steps and stages to reassure ourselves that we are actually doing something.

Letting go is not something we do. It is what we don’t do.

When we practice letting go, we approach life with open hands and open hearts. We allow the pain and suffering to fall away. To say we are personally doing something would mean that when we are outside in the rain we give each rain drop permission to hit us and flow down our bodies. That is not how rain or water works. Some try to blame people from being out in the rain in the first place.

Suffering rains down from all the oppressive forces empowered by greed, fear, hate, and trauma. So many TERFs are lashing out from traumas and pains they hold so close and identify so strongly with, discussion with them is impossible. They are hurting so much they cannot notice it anymore. They have come to believe that the way they feel is natural. They cannot grow out of their pain until they recognize that first. None of that excuses the suffering they inflict on others. Suffering longs to spread and inflict itself on others.

Knowing the sources of suffering can develop compassion within us, but knowledge is not the solution to the problem.

Understanding why the clouds form does not stop the rain. Accepting that rain falls does not prevent us from getting wet. Letting go is simply not clinging to the pain. To continue the rain analogy: once we notice we are sitting in a tub collecting the rain water, letting go is either getting out of the tub, or at the very least, pulling the plug so that water can drain out.

Sometimes it is impossible or way too hard to get out of the tub, but we don’t have to allow ourselves to drown in the deluge when it comes.

Spaciousness

Sometimes, the trick isn’t to stand up, but to open up. The greatest superpower of the way of release is the art of opening ourselves up to the spacious awareness of hollowness.

When I think of the vastness of the cosmos and deep time, I am amazed to exist in the unfolding story of creation. We aren’t small. Not really. The water that makes up 55 to 78% of our bodies contains 2 hydrogen forged in the Big Bang and one oxygen atom. That oxygen started as hydrogen in the heart of a star that fused together to make oxygen before that star died in a nova and shared its oxygen with the universe. The iron in our blood came from a red giant star that made it as its last act before exploding. The calcium in our bones was made as those stars exploded. We are the children of one or more stars that lived their whole lives before our sun ever came into being.

We are capable of poetry, art, music, love, compassion, so many beautiful things. Each of those require us to have space within us so they can be born. This is the lie in the story of the tortured artist. No one has to be tortured to make art, but we all have to have that open spaciousness within us that makes room for art to come into being.

We are star stuff building the world to come each day through countless creative acts.

When it is too hard for us to let go, if we can just open our hands the bigger thin…