The Landscape of Spirit
By Rev. LeRoy E. Zemke
Pastor, Temple of the Living God
There is one body, and one Spirit ... of us all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.
Ephesians 4:4-6
Isn't it strange that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common folk like you and me
Are builders for eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a bag of rules;
And each must build ere life is flown
A stumbling block or a stepping stone.
A New Look at the Bible
(Who or What Is God?)
Al Larsen
Across the changing face of religious expression, we are seeing an emphasis upon the theme of universality. This theme reflects the yearning in the very core of mankind to learn how to live together, how to work together, how to respect each other, how to learn to love people of widely different viewpoints and considerations of lifestyles, activities and religious persuasions.
To place such a task before us as a people is gargantuan enough, but to actually engage the men, women and children of major cultural differences, viewpoints and lifestyle needs in social, political, economic and philosophical environments requires an internal vision or overview that is big enough, broad enough, comprehensive enough to allow it to happen, to emerge or even unfold is literally beyond imagination.
To foster an embrace of The Landscape of Spirit:
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The face of change usually appears in our own environment, neighborhood, city, town or community. And here's where we can begin to participate. Volunteer to be part of a committee to foster better communication between peoples of diverse backgrounds. Join a citizens group for a meaningful community service. The purpose will be to discover how the needs of people across the community are amazingly similar to our own. Once we find a place to offer our voice, talent, or "treasure", we move outside the fear of those who are different from us by reason of skin color, creed, or lifestyle behaviors, to name only a few of the obvious differences that exist.
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Acceptance: The nature of acceptance essentially means to accommodate, to agree to, without internal judgment. In a more psychological sense, to accept implies allowing a given viewpoint without deciding the rightness or wrongness of it.
Applying acceptance to people of differing views or religious persuasions requires a very deep and clear strength concerning our own views, perspectives, philosophies and values.
In our current world circumstances, we are being asked to look at men and women from other cultural positions, religious convictions and behaviors that are quite opposite (at least in appearance from our own).
How do we love a person who decides that we are evil, whether they be from another country or from among our own friends, family members or associates in business, social or religious environments?
The answer isn't an easy one, but Jesus offered us the basic, fundamental teaching:
- Love your neighbor as yourself (love one another).
- Forgive your enemies.
Acceptance then is the deep, ongoing inner work that's required to make our individual "peace" or come to an internal place where we can see differences without trying to make them (the differences) wrong.
Life is about differences, changes, uniqueness of our human expression. It is not an easy matter to love those who do not love us back, or to allow others' lifestyles that appear hurtful to them and perhaps even to us.
Acceptance does not mean that we tolerate bad behavior, abusive or destructive actions. To be dramatic for a moment: If we are robbed by a thief (be it money, jewelry, our car, household possessions, or even our identity), shooting him/her to hurt them back, possibly even taking a life, is not acceptable behavior. As an alternative, we can pursue the thief in lawful ways, ways that do not harm them, or certainly not ourselves. Material things can be replaced. I am aware, of course, that there are many possible ways to view such a possible scenario and just as many ways to react.
When Jesus asked us to love our neighbor, as a Master he knew that his teaching would become an on-going spiritual assignment. Certainly it was a much-needed lesson amongst his people, tribes and communities in his time. And, increasingly, it is even more needed in our time wherever in the world humans interact with one another. It is no longer just a requirement of those who practice Christianity, but of all peoples across the globe who share the common journey of life. |
The Landscape of Spirit is then the opportunity we have to use the unique tools our individual lives bring to us in our city, town, village or countryside. It is our voice to sing or make speeches, to motivate others, to inspire, ennoble, educate and teach.
And what do we teach, or offer to educate, or reach to inspire?
We must use the basic raw material of our lives as the fabric. It's composed of our hopes, dreams and wishes, as well as our lost and faded goals, our failures, our woundings and our pain. Out of these materials arises the nobility of our soul's efforts in our work as potter or painter, banker or baker, gardener or grocer, poet, peace maker, saint and/or sage!
Our individual Landscape of Spirit is our soul's song. Our song is unique. We reveal it in our neighborhood, in our church or synagogue, temple or mosque. It's the way we act in crisis or in our moments of celebration. It is the essence of our selves as we play or pray, dance or dream, live and love.
The Landscape of Spirit embraces the many aspects of love as the song of our soul.
I close with the words of Swami Muktananda on love.
"The love that pulses in the cave of the heart does not depend on anything outside. It does not expect anything. It is completely independent. The love of Self is selfless and unconditional. It is not relative. It is completely free. It is self-generated and it never dies. This kind of love knows no distinction between high and low, between man and woman. Just as the earth remains the same no matter who comes and goes on it, so true love remains unchanging and independent. Love penetrates your entire being. Love is Consciousness. Love is bliss. It does not exist for the sake of something else. It is supremely free. The path of inner love leads a lover to God. As a person walks on this inner path of love he not only attains love, but merges in the ocean of love."
