Interfacion

Interfacion:  my term for the act of interfacing with other(s) cultures, people groups, ideas, resources, and art.  There is such energy, renewal and possibility kindled in this type of life-chapter.  I learn much about myself as I mingle & coexist with others:  I am always amazed at how alike we are.  We spend our young lives in the company of the familiar and the familial, unaware of the canvas upon which we paint the "bigger picture" of our lives.  As I travel, ever farther from the familiar, I am constantly reminded that, though we may appear to be different, with a minimal effort, the surface tension is removed and what is left is organic humanity.  Alike in so many ways, yet manifesting these likenesses in an ever-changing parade of uniquity.

Have I travelled here before, or is this the outward manifestation of a dream that has been mine for ages?  The journey seems a common one for many who dare to travel, but the player does not "tip his hand" until the last moment, bringing a needed sense of adventure.  The shopping malls are filled with the same people:  clerks and customers fighting over the same cash: each feeling satisfied when the exchanges are made.  Food derived from the same soil and sea bring a sense of nationality to an otherwise necessary, at times mundane ritual, repeated several times each day.

Particularly pleasurable is the flood of ideas that offer themselves as banter for discussion among the pantheon of possibilities within the cerebral corridors of my mind.  I take as my chief souvenir from this beautiful reality, a sense that somehow we are all a part of the same dream.  I hope that as we interact, each of us will be filled with a sense of wonder and joy in the progress that "We" have made in the world.  I pray that you will continue to teach me that "I" am part of a reality where we each proffer solutions to the problems we devise.  I come away convinced that "love is all we really need".

August 2008

Searching...__

Can we Find a place--

A special place of Freedom?
Free from Fear--
Without remorse
__judgment broken?

Oh that the fate of maN
commands my intention;
I wander, from
obtuse to acute
And find meaning where
I land.

How can I keep a
fragile sanity
when the gates of man's
Hellbent demise
Unleash their ravenous fury
To imprison my
Creativity?

No longer in temporal
Realms--my life moves
Ever nearer the reality
of the oft-veiled Spiritual.

Oh Love---the
Great, Universal Power,
Give me courage to
stand for
All that I feel.

And watch over the
Hearts and Dreams
of those who live in
my Soul.

Heal the broken-ness that
is

ever-present
Amid our human conditions;

That life now can
Re-unite with the Eternal
Perspective.

I Am as You intended.
Perfect me
in the Purity of my Purpose
(not the power of my person),

And give me leave to
Dream in the Eternal
City, as part of the
Universal Consciousness.

...v'sion

I see mostly chaos
around me.
Frantic lives addicted
to tangibles;
The inaudible screaming of
the world-mind
To connect___
Not possess.
What arbitrary fate
Has provided such
spectacles---
To view Reality as it
Is Dreamed--?
Waiting for Truth to
Be Re-Covered...

The Paternal Side of Faith

Most of us leap in
courage, (not faith)
Into a hidden future.
It is the validation
Through perceived alignment
With our subconscious
That we declare as Faith.
Hope drives me to be
Courageous and act upon
the unconscious groanings
perceived by my conscious-self
and reinforced by the empirical word--these
Counted as Faith. How often
the dark world pulls me--a child of light,
Toward a dark Gnosis.
If the Paraclete is as I believe,
then He is continually Re-incarnating mankind and
pulling us in so many new
directions.

Is this the end times' curse we are promised?

Or is this
the New Incarnation foretold by the
Symbolic Revelation of Christ's-Love, John?:
That a New World will come to our
Unconscious and unite with the empirical
to find completion for our conscious-self?

As Christ the

God, became Man--so to bring

Man to become the Son of God's own

inheritance--now made incarnate by

the Holy Spirit imparted to believers:

Oh, how great a plan!--that God would

desire me as fellow and bring

to us--His own Being. The Mystery

beyond all Mysteries! I lift my

eyes to you in exaltation of the Great

Revelation.

Protestantism began with the introduction
of Empirical Science to the European mind,
Ripe for Argument.
The Paternal side of Christianity is ever
The Revolutionary.
Without something to protest, there is no
Reformation!

One must thank the ritual

of the Catholic Church, the Christian Maternal,

for sustaining and nurturing both

"Ave Maria" and the soul-nature of

Mankind.

Dunns River Falls

Janet and I climbed up, that's right, UP the Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica today. Dunn's River is one of the 150 freshwater rivers that flow in Jamaica. It was beautiful...and exhausting. I can't help but think about how "unnatural" it is to climb up, a fall? Yet, every step of the way I was reminded of the incredible power of nature. Battling the rapidly flowing water that has cut its way through the limestone mountain on its way to the Caribbean, it took sure feet, helpful hands, and a savvy guide! And yet, my appreciation for the work of nature took on a slightly more obtuse bent: She made me work for this perspective! At the end of this afternoon-long hike, as we were settling back onto our air conditioned tour bus, I watched two Rastafarian men bathe in the river. Wearing boxers and using only the water from the spring-fed river these men made cleaning and refreshing their bodies a ritual. They seemed totally immersed in their own life, and were not mindful of the hundreds of people that were walking, driving, or riding their bikes past them. Bearing my tired muscles and bruises as medals of valor, I wondered if I had been given the opportunity to be a part of something really special today? When I travel for pleasure, my goal is always communion of some kind. Jamaica has opened up more of its treasure each time we have visited, and this time was no exception. Jamaica's national past time seems to be pleasure. I see very little judgment in the Jamaican nationals...very few laws, either. These people are relatively care-free and seem to be genuinely happy. I want to be more like them. I took steps to that end this week; but I have a long way to go. Maybe that is the end of life...that it is all just a means.

Too far

Seems like we live too far from nature...
Too far from each other;
And too close to fear.

We manage one another with labels
and control is the game of our age.

Our needs bring us satisfaction and happiness
While our wants bring only a materialistic lust for more.

Companionship connects us through the reflection of ourselves
In those we love,
To the world in which we live,
Amid the dreams of mankinds' promise.

Never too far...
Never too lost...
Never too close....

Time

Mostly, it just takes time. Time to remember who you are, where you are going, and why it is you decided to take this journey in the first place. My time in Jamaica reminds me of several things.
1. Slow down. There is a natural rhythm to all of life. Get outside of this rhythm, and stress, frustration, or disappointment will be there to urge you back into the life-pulse of your unique rhythm.
2. Nature is powerful. When I get close to the natural order of things, I feel empowered, yet small. I see that beauty, happiness, love, and friendship make our lives, livable. I see in the blue beauty of the Caribbean, the awesome power of friendship. The warm, gentle breeze that is blowing caresses me like the love of my youth. The sun brings life and power to all of us who bask in it's warmth and nourishment. The music that is everywhere moves me to inner depths of thought and reflection.
3. Fear is the enemy of mankind. As we accept the possibilities of our lives without fear attached, we find true meaning and connection to life, our friends, our purpose.