December 08-B, 2022

Ramsey Creek 02 11/07/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Greenbriar District, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cosby, Tennessee
My advice about what to do with Christianity
is to keep the metaphors and symbols
and throw away the theology.

God, for instance, is a metaphor,
not a fact.

A metaphor for "More than words can say."
Like the Tao, in that 
"The Tao that can be said/told/defined/explained,
is not the eternal Tao."

Or, perhaps a better translation of the Chinese,
"The path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path." (Martin Palmer and Benjamin Hoff)

The metaphor for both God and the Tao
is an aspect of our unconscious,
which we call our interior universe/cosmos
because we are not--and cannot be--
conscious of it,
but, there is more to the interior
than there is to the exterior
(My personal theory,
but if you will spend some time 
exploring your interior,
you will know what I'm talking about).

All of the metaphors/symbols of Christianity
are perfectly charming
and are set to help us do the work of 
aligning ourselves with the invisible/unconscious world
that has always been understood as the ground,
the foundation,
the source,
of this world of visible, concrete, apparent reality.

But.
We have to understand them as such
and know how to read them in ways
that lead us along the way.

This is the appropriate place of the church
in our life,
but the church is as clueless as the rest of us
regarding how to work with metaphors and symbols,
and insists on facts, facts, facts,
when there are only metaphors
(And that is all we need).

So, we have to find our teachers
and learn what they have to show us.

Joseph Campbell is one of the best.
Classic Taoism is a wonderful source of insight.
Zen is what happened when Taoism met Buddhism,
so Zen apart from Buddhism is a helpful resource.
Both Zen and Taoism are grounded in metaphor
and have no theology,
nothing we have to believe,
just things we can do,
like emptiness, stillness and silence, for example.

Anything that connects us with the unconscious
and gets out of the way is helpful,
and Carl Jung has some things to offer here.

Jon Kabat-Zinn's early book, "Wherever You Go,
There You Are," is a good guide for tapping into
our unconscious.

Our task is to learn how to live symbolically,
metaphorically,
in waking up,
realizing what's what
and what needs to be done in response to it,
and to do it,
in each situation as it arises.

"In each situation as it arises"
is an early (That is to say, Classic) Taoism phrase
capturing the essence of what we are about.
Each situation is different from the last one
and unlike the next one,
and no system of theology/ethics/morality
can depict what is to be done there.

"The spirit is like the wind that blows where it will,"
and not even the spirit knows what it will be doing next.
It all depends on the situation
and on the circumstances impinging upon the situation.

We live moment-to-moment
and know what to do when, where and how
by being on the path that cannot be discerned as a path,
listening to "That Which Knows" within,
and responding spontaneously,
authentically,
with sincerity and integrity
to what is being asked of us
in each here/now of our existence.

Living light on our feet,
riding loose in the saddle,
ready for anything,
contriving nothing,
striving only to be aligned with,
in accord with,
the unconscious,
moving in conjunction with the mover,
and loving every minute of the life we live.

Amen! May it be so!

–0–

December 08-A, 2020

Mt Rundle 09/19/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Vermillion Lakes, Banff National Park, Alberta
Being empty is the best way I know
to find your way through whatever
is in your way.

Overwhelmed is the end of the way.
Emptying ourselves of all that is overwhelming
is the beginning of the way.

No one ever found their way through overwhelmed
by being overwhelmed.
We find our way through overwhelmed
by emptying ourselves of the overwhelming,
which includes emptying ourselves of everything.

Try it, right now.
Take a deep breath,
exhale slowly,
and in the space between breaths,
empty yourself of everything.

Inhale normally,
exhale,
and in the space between breaths,
be aware of being empty of everything.

Do that for five more breaths.

That is all it takes to be empty of everything.
And that is to be open to all things.
Be empty and be open at the same time,
and wait there to see what arises
in the form of encouragement and hope
to comfort and sustain,
and see what may come of that.

In the silence between breaths,
we are not alone.
We only have to create a space
for encouragement and hope
to stir to life
and come to our aid.

In the silence between breaths,
we are helping our self,
our soul,
our heart, 
our unconscious...
help us,
presenting ourselves as the moved
to the mover,
being present to that which is present to us.

It is a different way of dealing
with being overwhelmed.
Breathing our way to doing what needs to be done
one moment at a time.

Empty and open.
Is the best way to be.

–0–

December 07-B, 2022

Rocky Mountain Autumn 09/22/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Jasper National Park, Alberta
Freedom/Liberty, Truth, Justice, Equality
are the Four Pillars of Democracy. 
And Freedom/Liberty is always
being sacrificed in favor
of the other three.

We restrain, restrict, deny ourselves
in serving Truth, Justice and Equality.

We let our claims to what we want go
in honor of everyone's rights
to Truth, Justice and Equality.

We even sacrifice our right to Freedom/Liberty
that others might be free.

Democracy demands/requires,
"All for one, one for all"!

Refusing to acknowledge/respect/honor that
is the first step toward fascism.

And it all goes toward 
"Me and those like me!"
after that
faster than time can record.

And so the need for
emptiness/stillness/silence
in which to see what's what,
especially in our own heart,
and do what needs to be done about it,
before things get out of hand.

Calling ourselves back into the service 
of Freedom/Liberty, Truth, Justice, Equality
is an ongoing and everlasting requirement
of those whose allegiance is to Democracy
at all costs forever.

December 07-A, 2022

Mane Cascade 09/26/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Grafton Notch and Screw Auger Falls, Near Bethel, Maine
Partnering with our unconscious mind
is largely a matter of 
making ourselves available to it
in a routine and regular way,
simply by being aware of the presence
of "the other" within.

Carl Jung referred to the unconscious
as "The ten million year old person within."

That "person" is not primarily verbal
but communicates via images,
as in dreams at night,
and through metaphors and symbols.

That "person" is also not primarily
logical, rational, analytical,
but is sentient, intuitive, instinctive,
musical, rhythmic, artistic, poetic,
feeling based and oriented.

And is attracted to natural settings
and objects--water, rocks, feathers,
butterflies, etc.

You might take up the practice
of taking your two million year old person
on walks through nature,
feeling/sensing her/his presence
and channeling his/her emotional response
to the sights and sounds of your environment,
tuning in, turning on, and being with 
your inner other
and learning how to commune with,
comprehend,
and understand this side of ourselves,
and lay the groundwork for a viable partnership
for finding our way to--and along--the way 
that is ours to walk together.

–0–

December 06-B, 2022

Grand Teton and String Lake 06/26/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming
The Practice is
emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
sitting,
waiting,
watching,
listening,
looking,
for something
to stir to life,
arise,
emerge,
occur,
fall into place,
as realization,
comprehension,
understanding,
hearing,
seeing,
knowing,
calling us to rise
and do what needs to be done,
when, where and how 
it needs to be done,
as often as it needs to be done,
no matter what.

(Which can be shortened to
"Look, Listen,
See, Hear,
Know, Do,"
and applied wherever we are,
whenever we remember it.)

And repeating this process
as often as necessary
throughout each day.

This is so simple 
anyone can do it,
and everyone ought to.

Why not?

–0–

December 06-A, 2022

Marsh Grass and Pamlico Sound 10/29/2008 — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Sentience is a quality of perception,
of being able to perceive something,
on a level beyond sight and sound--
a "sixth-sense" type of awareness.

We know more than we know how we know.
We know more than we know that we know.

There is too much noise,
complexity,
movement
and drama 
about our life
than sentience can compete with.

In order to be sentient,
we have to be empty,
still,
silent--
and develop the ability 
to "fall into emptiness,
stillness
and silence"
while walking about
and participating in life
like everyone else.

And we have to overcome,
by setting aside,
the immediate objection,
"What is it good for?"
"What can you do with it?"
"How will it help us get what we want?"
"How can we use it to have our way?"

Always the angle,
the leverage,
the advantage.
"What is it worth?"
"What is its value?"
If there is no practical,
immediate benefit,
we are not interested.

These current times are going to have to
play themselves out
before anyone will be a fit candidate
for a conversation about sentience.
I'm afraid I won't be around for that.

So, I will say that sentience opens the way
for perception of a universe filled with possibilities
we do not know exist,
and what that means for us
is beyond imagining,
but a day there will be unlike anything
that has ever been experienced,
and it will leave us completely out of the loop
until we have learned a new language
and a different way of living
and comprehending what life consists of,
and is about.

I look forward to knowing what I can of it
from wherever I may be 
and whatever "I" may mean,
when it all comes to pass.

–0–

December 05-B, 2022

Lobster Boats 10/12/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Stonington Harbor, Deer Isle, Maine
Hope is having enough money
to pay the right bills--
which is assisted 
by having the discipline
to incur the right bills
and not the wrong ones.

And it is also a matter
of being lucky.

Savvy people position themselves
to be lucky,
and while they trust their luck,
they never push it.

Living to be lucky
is knowing what to trust,
when, where and how.

Mostly, we have to learn to trust
our own inner sense of what needs to happen
in each situation as it arises
and do that without caring
what it means for us personally,
or whether it will be lucky or not.

The luckiest people do not care 
about their chances--
they are focused only on living their life
the way it needs to be lived
in the here/now of each moment.

Nothing is contrived.
There is no playing for the advantage,
gaining the leverage,
working the room.

There is only seeing what needs to be done
and doing it,
when, where and how it needs to be done.

It is amazing how lucky people are
who live in the service of what needs to happen
no matter what--
who say "Yes!" to whatever comes
from doing what needs to be done--
who don't care about the consequences.

They seem to be charmed,
but they are not living to be charmed.
They are living to be square
with themselves
and with their life.

With them,
conscious and unconscious 
are united,
are one thing.

They are aligned with the Tao
and in accord with the flow of Yin and Yang.
And they aren't doing anything special.
Just looking and seeing.
Just listening and hearing.
Just knowing and doing.
Just living to be at one with themselves
in all that they do.

Luck tends to favor people
who live like that--
but they do not live that way
in order to be lucky.

Sincerity is the best kind of savvy.
Integrity is the sine qua non 
of a life lived that way.

And is lucky even when it is not lucky.
We can't think our way there
even if we try.
Living our way there is the only way,
and it is The Way.

–0–

December 05-A, 2022

Smoky Fall 11/14/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Unconscious and conscious have to get together,
singing the same song,
walking the same path,
living in conjunction with one another,
one mind, one body.

For conscious to live at odds with unconscious
is to be cut off from the wellspring of life
and to wander without guidance and direction
through the wasteland of discontent
all our life long.

To live aligned and in accord with unconscious
is to be at one with our essential nature
and our innate virtues/character
in saying and doing 
what needs to be said and done
in each situation as it arises.

And it is to be at one with the spirit
that is like the wind, blowing where it will.

This means we make it up as we go,
and are free to respond to each moment
in ways appropriate to the moment
without keeping any commandments,
or walking the straight and narrow,
or trying to please those 
who think they know best
and must be pleased.

Living as those who are free to be
who we are needed to be 
by the conditions and circumstances
of our life,
moment-to-moment,
day-by-day,
is the freest kind of freedom,
opening us to the possibilities 
and opportunities that are present
in each here/now
to know and to do 
what is being asked of us--
that cannot be known in advance
or done according to some system
of rules to live by,
except the rule that declares
"There are no rules to live by
except the rule to be true to yourself
and to the good that is truly good
in every moment of your life!"

May it be so of each of us always
and forever! Amen!

–0–

December 04-C, 2022

Barred Owl 01 04/09/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — The Bog Garden, Greensboro, North Carolina 
Opposites and contraries,
dichotomies and contradictions,
form the essence of life.

It is our place to bring unity
from duality,
to harmonize/balance Yin and Yang,
to make the peace
by taking two and forming one.

Our work starts with conscious and unconscious.

We are two becoming one.
How well we pull this off 
tells the tale.

Conscious must learn to read/see/hear/attend unconscious,
and bring unconscious to life
within the here/now of the life we are living.

Unconscious knows what needs to be done,
but has no clue as to how to do it.
Conscious knows the limits/restrictions/requirements
imposed by the context and circumstances
within each situation as it arises,
and does the work of integration,
of negotiation,
of working out
the needs of the unconscious world
within the possibilities and limitations 
of the conscious world.

Our conscious ego stands between both worlds
and works to merge the worlds
in ways that honor each world
and enhances each with the inclusion of the other.

Unconscious comes with potentialities
appropriate for every manner of context/circumstance.
It can be utterly ruthless
and completely merciful.

It is the place of conscious 
to apply what is possible
in ways that are needed
by the specific sitz im leben 
of each time and place
of each here and now,
knowing that "there is a time
for every purpose under heaven."

What is called for when,
where
and how is the question
that conscious must constantly answer,
drawing lines,
setting limits,
reading the situation
and knowing how much of what
is called for in each moment.

The conscious must do its job well
in applying the powers/tendencies/proclivities
of the unconscious
to the particular needs of each here/now.

This is where the metaphor 
of the Gardens of Eden and Gethsemane 
comes full force
into the steel and concrete world
of each here/now.

Whose interest do we serve
with the choices we make
in doing what is done?

We have the option of doing 
whatever we please.
What do we please?
What do we seek?
How good is the good we call good?

The weal and woe that constitute
life in the world through time
reflect the appropriateness 
and the inappropriateness
of conscious' choice
for the application of unconscious' capabilities.

There are those who choose wisely and well,
and those who choose selfishly, 
greedily,
ruthlessly.

And, we all step into another moment
in which we make the call,
one after another,
all our life long.

Momentum is karma,
and our tendency is 
to choose to do in each moment
what we have chosen to do
in all moments preceding this one.

How free we are to choose
in each moment
is a reflection of how courageous we are,
standing as we do between our Adam/Eve side
and our Christ side,
with the future in question
and everything at stake.

–0–

December 04-B, 2022

Cane River Sunset 08/04/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana 
The Bible is great for its supply
of metaphors for the spiritual life,
but it falls apart in that they are all
presented as facts to be believed.

They are symbols to be embraced
and explored.

And have to be reclaimed as such,
received as such,
resurrected as such.
In that way,
we bring them to life
and they bring us to life,
and the entire cosmos
is thereby brought to life.

The church needs to wake up to its task,
and stop talking about the Bible
as literally true,
and start mining its metaphors
as the treasures they are.

For instance, where has the Garden of Gethsemane 
come to life for you in your life?

It is a part of every transition point
in all of the stages of human development.
The agony of growing up.
The dilemma of giving up this to have that.
The trade-offs that demand
our metaphorical death
and result in our metaphorical resurrection.

The work of being human
is the work of balancing Yin and Yang.
This is the essence of the Garden of Gethsemane
(And the metaphor for the failure of that work
is the Garden of Eden--they are the same garden
with different lessons,
different outcomes).

The entire Bible is about us.
To be read by us
as a mirror reflecting how it is with us
at various points along the way
to the way,
of the way.

The bread of affliction
is the bread of life.
The cup of suffering
is the cup of salvation/restoration.

Everybody of every age
in the history of the world
understands these things,
and the Bible has to be understood in this way.

The church finds itself and is saved
by that which has failed to apprehend
all these years.

The stone the builders reject
is--and always was--the chief cornerstone.
The pearl of great price
was a part of the jeweler's collection
of costume jewelry from the start

They held the key to reading
the unfolding of the path
and thought it was a tale
about someone else's path--
and missed the journey that was theirs,
and kept others off the voyage that was theirs,
and no one was better off for it,
no, not one.

–0–

December 04-A, 2022

Spring on the River 04/05/2008 Oil Paint Rendered — Oconaluftee River, Cherokee, North Carolina
Sages and gurus have such a boring life.
We could not follow the Dalai Lama
through his day.
He never goes to Wal Mart.
He orders nothing from Amazon.
Yet he makes on over enlightenment.

Enlightenment is not very entertaining.
Yet, enlightened people smile a lot.
And say very little.

It isn't a life style that commends itself
to those who are Harry Styles fans,
or competes well with the Super Bowl
or March Madness.

It is a completely different way of life,
with emptiness, 
stillness
and silence
occupying much of each day.

Focusing on the moment at hand,
seeing what is called for
and doing what needs to be done about it
in each situation as it arises
does not lend itself
to noise,
complexity 
or drama--
and would need to be guided
step-by-step
through the DMV's driver's license 
application process
if the spiritual adepts ever wanted to drive.

It is an amazing blend of worlds,
quietude and Tiktok.
We cannot expect to be one
without some radical mind-shifts going on.

And so it is said,
"We have to be at the end of our rope
before we can change our mind
about what is important."

–0–

December 03-B, 2022

Camden Harbor Morning 09/23/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Camden, Maine
Growing up is changing our mind--
particularly about what is important.

Growing up is changing the way we think.

Changing the way we look at things.

Changing the way we see things--
seeing everything as though for the first time
all of the time.

Growing up is waking up
some more
again
every day.

The Buddha, it is said,
died from eating bad pork.
How enlightened was that?
Just saying.

Just saying enlightenment
is not one and done.
But always,
hourly,
minute by minute,
forever.

We are always waking up,
being enlightened,
seeing what we look at,
moment by moment,
throughout our life.

How long has it been since
we looked at what we see?

How dare we hold anyone at fault
for not seeing as we do?

No one sees as we do.
Around the table,
across the board,
universally,
throughout time,
backwards and forward.

See?

No one is ever grown up.

Pretenders are everywhere.

Make it your goal 
to see something today.

Every day.

–0–