Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
Readiness is a function of time and place,
and disposition.
"When the student is ready,
the teacher appears,"
but.
When the teacher is ready,
the teacher waits.
Obi wan Kenobi and Yoda
spent most of their lives waiting.
"When the flower opens,
the bees appear,"
but.
When the bees are ready,
they send out the scouts.
Jesus cursed the fig tree
because it wasn't ready when he was.
I know the feeling.
So do the bees.
As do the Obi wan Kenobi's and the Yoda's
of every generation.
But hurrying readiness is not ours to achieve.
We can send out the scouts
and open ourselves to the lessons
each moment is there to teach
those who are ready to receive
what the time and place of our living
have to offer.
The fig tree was Jesus's teacher.
If he was ready for the lesson.
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02
Lotus Flowers 2018 10
Common courtesy and mutual respect
are hard to find these days.
That's where we come in.
Exhibit it.
Extend it.
Expect it.
Be kind.
Let everything fall into place around kindness.
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01
Coming In 02/08/2013 — Bog Garden, Greensboro, North Carolina
Serenity is a function of sincerity.
Sincerity lives in light of what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
and lets that be that.
No willing what cannot be willed.
No forcing anything out of time.
No pushing things past their limits,
or disregarding boundaries,
or ignoring what fits
and what does not belong.
Just knowing what is called for--
where
and when
and how--
and doing that.
And letting that be that.
Without looking for anything in return.
In a "This is the way things are,
and this is what can be done about it,
and that's that"
kind of way.
Mothball Fleet 10/12/2013 — North Carolina Maritime Museum, Southport, NC
The Christ returns again in each generation.
This is the meaning in Jesus' declaration,
"This generation will not pass away
(Before the Christ returns)."
And this is what is wrong with theology in every form.
It locks things down.
It takes the metaphorical and the symbolic
and turns them into facts.
But they are not facts.
Ask a believer why they believe what they believe is so,
and they will say they take it on faith.
But.
They no sooner "take it on faith,"
than it becomes an absolutely rock-solid,
indisputable and actual in every way FACT
that everybody has to embrace or go to hell
(Which is also a literal FACT
that they take on faith).
None of it is a fact.
God is not a fact.
But.
God is an experience that cannot be denied.
The experience is a fact.
Not God.
What is experienced is called "God,"
but it is only evidence of "More Than Meets The Eye."
And more than that cannot be said.
Don't try.
Stop talking.
Ditch theology.
Open yourself to the experience of being alive.
When you open yourself to the experience
of being alive,
you open yourself to yourself experiencing
being alive.
Being open to yourself experiencing
is to experience yourself,
perhaps for the first time.
Experiencing yourself experiencing
is the path to what has been called
"enlightenment,"
"awakening,"
"realization..."
Once we start seeing what we are looking at,
everything is transformed,
and "pickles are green."
Wow.
Once we start seeing what we are looking at,
the way is clear for the Christ to return again
in each generation.
The Christ is the one who sees.
The one who is come
(Like the Buddha is "The One Thus Come").
The one who is simply who he, who she, is.
The one who is sincerely,
authentically,
themselves.
In each moment,
moment-by-moment-by-moment.
That transforms (you could say redeems) the world.
Seeing the world transforms the world.
Start seeing what you look at
and you will see what I mean.
But this is the end of theology and doctrine,
catechisms and creeds,
because being yourself,
as "The One Thus Come,"
means being you responding to the moment
in its unfolding--
not as you are "supposed" to,
but as you are called to do by the moment.
No one can tell us what to do beforehand.
The moment calls us into being in that moment,
and the next moment may call us to be the opposite
in that moment.
Our Being is a spontaneous,
improvisational,
impromptu,
extemporaneous
exhibition/incarnation/revelation
of ourselves "thus come"
in that moment.
The freedom to live that way is complete freedom.
Which is the meaning behind Jesus' word,
"You shall know the truth (of who you are)
and the truth shall set you free (to be who you are)."
The end of theology
is the beginning of life.
But you have to know what I mean
to understand what I'm talking about.
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02
Eagle in Flight 11/05/2014 02 — James River, Roanoke, Virginia
A life without character development
is like a mayonnaise sandwich
without the mayonnaise or the bread.
Character development is the missing ingredient
in life as we know it.
Doctor Who lives 200,000 years with no character development.
Sounds about right.
The Honeymooners had no character development.
Alice would still be getting hers one day
if the show was still on.
Archie Bunker?
Same story.
All of our stories are the same story.
We don't want our characters changing.
The Walton's?
Still saying goodnight.
Nobody grows up ever in our world.
Star Wars?
How many episodes until no one is killing anyone?
Who ever grows up in Star Wars?
Yoda?
No growth whatsoever.
That's because he's perfect, right?
Perfect means nothing changes throughout time.
Perfect means nothing changes.
What is perfect about nothing changing?
We live to get everything right
and freeze it in place.
Or just freeze it in place.
So that one day is just like all the others.
"There will be no growing up today!"
Or ever.
But growing up isn't something to achieve--
it is something to be doing forever!
We are never Grown Up.
We are (to be) always growing up.
But Never mind.
No one is ever growing up.
I was a Presbyterian (USA) minister for 40 years and 6 months.
I served 5 congregations.
Each one paid me to talk to them about God.
And none wanted me to tell them anything
they hadn't already heard.
You can't make any sense out of this.
And you can do it for 40 years and 6 months
only by refusing to take it seriously,
and telling them something new about God every week.
If anything needs changing it is theology!
Alcoholics Anonymous is the church of the future,
and the best thing it has going for it
is No Theology.
It's steps need revision, though,
and a 13th step added:
"After Sobriety What???"
With everybody working on that individually
for the rest of their life--
growing up some more again day-by-day.
But this is for another time.
Today's work is getting used to the idea
of tomorrow being different from today,
and doing what needs to be done today
to make it possible for tomorrow to be different--
and not just "another day."
Character Development has to be the goal of our life!
The goal of our churches!
The goal of AA!
The goal of politics!
The goal of culture and society!
Can you imagine?
Nothing would be more counter-cultural than growing up.
Nothing would be worse for the economy.
Nothing would be less likely to happen.
Which means it is up to us to make it happen--
by refusing to make Arrested Development
the life goal we are told it should be,
and spend our life in the service of Character Development
By living to see that it happens,
determining to make it happen,
with liege loyalty and filial devotion
to the cause of growing up some more again every day--
and living the pledge into being one day at a time.
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01
Moonrise 10/17/2013 07 — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
We think everyone has to be doing it right
for anyone to be able to do it right.
That everybody has to be on the same page,
serving the same values,
working for the same ends,
or it's all a waste of time and effort.
We waste a lot of time and effort--
our entire life--
trying to get all people to do it
like we think it ought to be done.
When not even we are doing it
like we think it ought to be done.
We get all depressed and mournful,
woebegone and undone
because They aren't doing it right,
and we let that keep us from doing it right.
We play the
"Woe is me!
Ain't it awful!
Everything is hopeless,
useless,
pointless,
worthless,
futile,
empty,
hollow,
senseless
and absurd!
So, so what?
Who cares?
Why try?
What good would it do?
What difference will it make?
Why go on with it?
I'm just going to lie down and die!"
game
without end.
Which lets us nicely off the hook,
and keeps us from having to do anything
we don't feel like doing,
and who could feel like doing anything
in a world as sorry as this one is,
with no one giving a wet noodle about any of it?
We talk ourselves into doing nothing
beyond complaining about how foolish
it would be to make an effort,
given the nature of our circumstances
and the quality of our situation.
Let me explain:
It is all useless,
hopeless,
pointless,
futile and absurd--
and coming to a very bad end:
We all die!
And:
How we live in the meantime
makes all the difference!
It is all there is!
Ever has been!
Ever will be!
It matters how we live in each moment!
If you are going to believe anything
(And everyone is currently believing
"Nothing matters so why do anything?"),
believe it matters how we live in each moment--
all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding!
And pick yourself up,
dust yourself off,
and do what needs to be done
right here,
right now,
moment-by-moment-by-moment,
situation-by-situation,
day-by-day
throughout the time left for living!
Everybody does not have to be on the same page.
Everybody does not have to be doing it right
before anybody can do it right.
Do it right.
Starting right here right now.
If the dishes need washing,
wash the dishes--
the way the dishes need to be washed.
With the right attitude,
in the right frame of mind.
And so on to the next thing,
all the way to bedtime.
And do it again tomorrow.
Get your feet under you
and on the right track,
and start walking.
Don't wait for someone else to go first.
Because how we live in the meantime
makes all the difference!
It only takes acting as if it is so
to make it so.
We find the anchor we seek
in the source of our original nature.
We are what we have to work with
in each situation as it arises,
in whatever circumstances
describe our station.
Returning to the Self
is remembering/realizing
the essence of who we are--
reaffirming our allegiance
and loyalty
to the service,
exhibition,
expression,
incarnation
of the grace,
genius,
daemon,
spirit,
character,
virtues,
and vitality
that have been ours
since before we were born,
and constitute our unique identity
among our kind.
Our identity "thus come"
(Which is what they said
about the Buddha,
"The One Thus Come"),
is who we are,
coming forth
to bless the time and place,
the here and now,
of our living,
moment-by-moment,
day-by-day.
If we are living in light
of some other purpose,
in pursuit of some other goal,
we are on the wrong path,
and we need to redirect
by simply returning to the Self
and bringing our Self forth
to meet what faces us
every day.
It is not what would Jesus do,
but what would our Self do
within the occasions
and circumstances
that compose each day.
Let us commit ourselves
to living to discover
what our Self would do
with the day.
Let us live to allow our day
to bring us out
like the drum brings out the drummer.
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02
Going Home
Seeking the center,
returning to the source,
present in the moment,
alive to the time
that is at hand,
we are ready
to respond as needed
to the occasion as it arises
without anxiety about,
or interference from,
the 10,000 things
afoot in the world.
Like the moon in its course,
or geese in flight.
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01
Ocracoke Lighthouse 10/20/2013 04 — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
We have spent a lot of time over time
as a species
trying to control what happens to us.
Trying to make happen
what we want to happen,
and to keep from happening
what we don't want to happen.
Considering that not one of us
intended to be where we are
here and now.
We are no more in control
of what happens and doesn't happen
than we are in control
of what we will dream tonight.
"Acceptably in control most of the time"
is the best we can hope for.
But.
Acceptability is a floating point on a scale
that is, itself, dependent upon the situation.
We are more accepting
of "out-of-control-ness"
in some situations than others.
If we expanded our acceptability
across all situations equally,
we would be much more in control
of our reactions to our circumstances,
and much less controlled by
our obsessive/compulsive need
to be in control of everything.
Control is an illusion.
A delusion.
It is not what we think it is.
Pick a day in the coming week,
maybe Sunday.
Not much has to happen on a Sunday,
at a particular time,
in a particular way.
We can blow a Sunday off from time to time
and not miss anything important.
So you might try the next Sunday that comes along.
Get up and step into the day
without having to control anything.
Live entirely out of your whim-of-the-moment.
Do what you feel like doing
when you feel like doing it.
Ease into every moment wondering
"What is this moment calling for?"
Not doing anything here in order for anything to happen there,
or to not-happen there.
Live throughout the day
with no thought of doing this so that will,
or will not, happen.
Just do this so this will happen.
See how things go without being micromanaged.
Live for the entire day without contriving anything.
Not-knowing what you will do next,
or why you will do whatever you do.
Waiting to see what is called for--
like going to the l00.
What has an urgency about it
similar to the "call of the loo"?
Wait for that.
Do that.
Moment by moment.
The entire day.
It will shift your perspective of being in control,
put control in its place.
And give you more freedom to be yourself
than you have ever had
anywhere in your life.
You can trust yourself to know
when to go to the loo
and what to do once you get there.
Just so.
You can trust yourself to know
what to do when,
or when to do what,
throughout your life.
Simply wait for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.
And see what calls you to do what when.
If you dare.
And, if you don't dare,
you might get to the bottom of that,
asking, "Who/what is in control of whom here?"
Water Rock Knob 09/02/2014 — Blue Ridge Parkway, Maggie Valley, North Carolina
The more serious something gets,
the more absurd it becomes.
The Right To Life movement
has proven itself to be unworthy of the title
by embracing Donald Trump
and allowing him to kill as many people as he wants
as long as he makes abortion punishable by death.
"We know he is a snake, but he will make abortion illegal--
and anything else he wants to do is fine with us!"
The position is absurd,
and deadly serious.
We live on a continuum between serious and absurd,
and have to strike a balance
between being serious enough
without being too outlandishly absurd.
Life in the extremes is untenable,
no matter what the continuum connects.
"Live toward the center!"
is the wisdom wrung from the ages.
"Back to the center!"
is the lesson every generation
learns the hard way,
because extremes beget extremes,
and no one knows where the center point is
until well after it is past.
We find the center
by moving back to it,
not by realizing where it is
when we are there.
We are always looking for the center,
though we do not often realize
what we seek.
Joseph Campbell said,
"That which you seek
lies far back in the darkest corner
of the cave you most don't want to enter."
That would be the center he is talking about.
Particularly the center of ourselves.
The heart,
soul
and source
of our own being.
Knowing who we are
in a "This is who I am,
and this is what I stand for,
and this is what is most important to me,
and these are my gifts,
my genius,
my daemon,
my spirit,
my virtues,
my character,
my values,
my vitality,
my energy,
my life--
and who are you?" kind of way.
Knowing who we are,
and being who we are,
in relationship with others
who are knowing who they are
and being who they are,
with mutual respect and concern,
acceptance and compassion,
in recognizing and embracing
our differences
and allowing them to be
is the sine qua non of community,
and the single most essential requirement
for living together
in ways that honor everyone's
right to be who they are
at the expense of no one else's
right to be who they are.
Robert Frost observed,
"Good fences make good neighbors."
Knowing where we stop
and our neighbor starts
is essential knowing.
Respecting/honoring the differences
that set us apart,
makes possible the attitude toward each other
that holds us together,
and makes life all it can be
for every one.
If the only way we can live together
is for you to do it like I do it,
or for me to do it like you do it,
we won't be able to live together
for very long.
Honoring our right to be different
makes life possible for us all.
Flip Wilson’s comedy role as Reverend Leroy of The Church of What’s Happening Now is the perfect precursor for the Church as it Ought To be. For one thing, he is comedic and doesn’t take himself seriously. For another, the Church of What’s happening Now is intently focused on, and involved with, the present moment, which, of course, is eternal and unending because it, in fact, never ends. It evolves, morphs, transitions forever into nothing more than the present moment right here, right now. Still. Some more. Again.
The present moment has everything we need to find what we need to rise to the occasion and do what the situation is calling for in every situation as it arises–using the gifts, genius, daemon, virtues, character, that came with us from the womb. To know that it is so, we only have to trust that it is so, and act as though it is.
The moment is equipped to bring us forth. Joseph Campbell said, “It took the Cyclops to bring out the hero in Ulysses.” Our moments do that for us. The Now is all we need to discover who we are, and find what is ours to do.
But, of course, there is a catch. We cannot impose our ideas for the moment on the moment. We have to enter each moment, and each situation as it arises, as innocent and as sincere–as empty of designs, and plans, and agendas–as a stream looking for the sea.
The wonder is that every moment is in search of something. Every situation calls for something to be done. Our place is to know what’s what, and what needs to be done about it, and how we might best respond with what is ours to give.
This requires us to see what we look at. To hear what is being said to us. And to leave contriving, conspiring, conniving, desiring and having to have at the door. We have to approach each new now, each moment, each situation, wondering what is needed here, now, and how we might be of help–without imposing our desires for the situation on the situation. We simply respond to the need of the moment, with nothing in mind beyond seeing where it goes.
This positions us to respond spontaneously, without thinking, to what is being called for–like the Prodigal’s father welcoming him home, or the Samaritan helping the man in the ditch. This attitude of sincerity and spontaneity is the center and ground of right seeing, right hearing, right knowing, right doing and right being. And it is the heart and soul of the Church as it Ought To Be.
Living in the moment, with the moment, for the moment, moment-by-moment-by-moment, is what the old Taoists meant by “living in accord with the Tao.” Living in accord with the Tao is being true to ourselves within the context and circumstances of our life. When we live like that strange things happen, “for no reason.”
Ulysses defeats the Cyclops, for instance, and David defeats Goliath. The moment opens before those who are open to the moment–without “being open to the moment” as a secret strategy for getting the moment to open before them. Miracles of pace and timing are always happening, but they cannot be manipulated into being, or made to happen with a certain outcome in mind–having anything at all in mind destroys the innocence and sincerity that is at the heart of oneness with the Tao. We cannot do anything with an eye on what’s in it for us and be one with the Tao.
“Tao” is another word for “Grace,” and “Dharma,” and “Synchronicity.” They are all words for the experience of things happening that we would never expect to happen, as if by magic, for no reason, out of the blue. They happen regularly in the presence of those who live innocently, sincerely, attuned to the time and place of their living, responding to what the moment is calling for with the gifts that are theirs to share for no reason. And Grace happens for no reason. There is a connection.
And that is all we can say.
That is what Lao Tzu said about the Tao. “The Way that can be discerned and designated as The Way is not a reliable way.” Trying to define it, explain it and set up rules to govern it is to ruin any chance we might have had of experiencing it.
There is something else about the Tao that has implications for us and the way we live our life. We cannot live our life as though our life belongs to us. We are born with a purpose, with a task, with a work that must be done.
Martin Palmer says, “The Tao Te Ching lays out a cosmological view of the universe wherein the Tao is not just the path of heaven; it is not just the purpose of heaven; it is not even the origin of all life within the universe; it it the origin of the Origin.
The Tao gives birth to the One; the One gives birth to the Two; the Two gives birth to the Three; The three give birth to every living thing.“
Palmer says, “The Tao begets the One–the Origin. From this, according to later classical Chinese cosmology, come the twin opposite forces of Yin and Yang. From these come the Three, Heaven, Earth and Humanity. And from these flow all creativity.” (Palmer is writing in “The Illustrated Tao Te Ching)
Human beings are from the beginning, The Middle Way between the Yin of Heaven and the Yang of Earth. We are built to bear the pain of integrating opposites, of incarnating balance and harmony, of living within the tension of mutually exclusive polarities and making peace where there is no peace–and no hope for peace.
We are the peace makers. The troth keepers. The negotiators. The diplomats. The masters of the right touch. The servants of the Tao, of Grace, of Dharma, of Synchronicity, of Miracle, of Magic.
And we do it using the basic tools at the heart of creation.
We do not step naked and alone into any moment, any situation, any context, any circumstance. We always go forth in the company of all that we need to find what we need to do what needs to be done–to do what needs us to do it the way only we can do it–in all times and places of our existence.
Here is what we have at our disposal: Our Original Nature; The Face That Was Ours Before We Were Born–Before Our Parents Were Born; The Gifts; The Genius; The Daemon; The Virtues; The Character; The Spirit; The Energy; The Vitality; The Balance; The Harmony; The Stability; The Source That Is A Reliable Presence Moment-To-Moment (And the origin of our knowledge of what is right for us and what is wrong for us, what is good for us and what is bad for us, where we belong and where we have no business being, etc.–if we would only Stop-Look-Listen, and know what we know, moment-by-moment)…
The Church Of What’s Happening Now is the truth of how things are that enables is to square up with how things are, and do what needs to be done about it, in each situation as it arises, all our life long–without theology, or doctrine, or dogma, or creeds, or beliefs, and nothing but our experience of the moment, and of all that is with us in the moment, to guide us and sustain us in the work of seeing and doing what is right in response to the time and place of our living, for as long as life shall last.
Becoming a Member of the Non-Subscribing Church of What’s Happening Now is a simple matter of embracing the Annual Agreements, which consist of two things:
1. Agree to financially support humanitarian causes that are dear to your heart throughout the next 12 months.
2. Agree to watch the Jon Kabat-Zinn YouTube Videos on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (The shortest ones first), and practice Mindfulness Meditation throughout the next 12 months.
That’s it. Upon making a Covenant of Agreement with yourself, you are an official member of the Non-Subscribing Church of What’s Happening Now for the next 12 months (Non-Subscribing because there is nothing to subscribe to, no Book of Doctrine [And a hymn book is a clandestine Book of Doctrine!], no Book of Worship, no Creeds, no Statement of Faith, etc.). Just you and your experience of the here right now, and what is being called for, what needs to be done, by you with the gifts you have to serve and to offer.
Membership is to be renewed annually.
There is no penalty for forgetting.
Welcome to the way and being on it, such as it is, such as we are!
Additions to this site will be forthcoming over time, so check back in periodically to see if anything is new.
–0–
The foundation for The Church of What’s Happening Now was poured in two books I wrote before, and just after, my retirement in February, 2011. Both can be purchased ($2.99 each) from the Kindle Store on Amazon, and both are available free on my companion web site here on WordPress, https://www.jimwdollar.com
They are, A Handbook for the Spiritual Journey, and, An Old Preacher’s Manifesto. These books lay out what is not working in The Church of Our Experience, and how things need to change for the Church to be what it needs to be in the life of the people, here and now.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 