Seeing the big picture, working the details

 Interior view from the International Space Station's Cupola module.
                                                                                                            Image Credit: NASA

It is abundantly clear to me that as much as the Divine is imprinted in nature, from the farthest galaxy to the tiniest most imperceptible particle of matter, it is equally present in our very lives.  It seems to so many of us that the Divine imprint, which scientists and theologians alike are realizing is evident everywhere - from our DNA to the way the Milky Way spirals outward and the million other ways it presents itself, are all based on an original single symbol of sacred geometry.  When I see it, whenever and where ever I see it, I just stand back in awe.  I see it often now, but earlier it showed up in a simple conversation.

Today, a friend and I were talking about a brainstorm we had about an awesome virtual multi-discipline project we wanted to launch. As our excitement grew, I immediately went "big picture," realizing the global significance of the idea and its ability to be a huge service to many people. 

As I reached for a weekend for one of our many meetings to explore our idea further with a group of other people who share our enthusiasm and vision, my friend said, "I'm game for this, but only as long as it's not in the morning that Saturday because I would have to ask for time off of work." I was still flying around the big picture, thinking of the awesomeness of the idea and nowhere near Earth, which meant pretty far away from times and what kinds of repercussions might impinge on the idea.  

I laughed and said, "Oh, I'm still on the space station," but realized another dimension of the picture that was emerging before me.  I assured my friend no meeting would ever be on a Saturday morning. I was a night owl and that afternoons were my morning, especially on the weekend. Even after our conversation, I continued to reflect on her quick trip to practical measures while I was still lingering on the idea. I thought how smart she was to be so practical, yet I still wanted to fly with the ideas. It felt good, like really flying.

As I thought more about her comment, I realized how wonderful that there are two kinds of people - those who focus on the details and those who are drawn into the big picture. 

If you're going into surgery, you hope to God, your surgeon can see the details. But, when you're talking to your doctor about symptoms, you hope he or she can see the big picture. We need both - the night owls and the morning doves, those who actually work on a Saturday morning and those who dream late into the night, even watching stars, wondering what Orion's belt looks like from Giza.  

The whole point of all this is, together we are a reflection of the divine.  

The ancient Hebrews, and it  most likely stems so much further back even beyond an ancestral civilization that left hints of its existence in pyramids and stone sculptures now deep under water, offer the world its sign for itself which is the sign of the Divine - the Star of David, the tetrahedron, which looks like two pyramids overlapped in opposite.  

It reflects the two natures of the Divine, the feminine and masculine, held in equilibrium - the horizontal of the feminine empowering all creation, and the verticle of the masculine overseeing, protecting and controlling all creation. Both, held in balance, in equilibrium, allows life to flourish. If either one is out of balance, suppressing the power or magnetisim of the other, creation is out of balance.

If we remove the gender qualities, but see the unique positions of each, we see how an idea can grow wings and enter our hemisphere, set down and grow roots.  

We need the big picture. We need to interpret it, and while we're still viewing it, receiving it, and interpreting it; we need to implement it, figure out the details to make it happen, to bring it into creation.

We need both.  One won't do it.  Both will.  I think the world may be polarized these days, both sides are struggling and pulling away from center.  When I look at our presidential candidates, I wonder if that's what's happening. How easy it is for us to take sides, or bail out, and not vote. But what a gift when we can see the value in consensus by bringing both into that balance. As we reach for consensus through the integration of our unique differences - to see the big picture or put the pieces together - we will find that the Divine is in the details as much as in the big picture. 

I am so grateful for people like my friend, because without them, pictures of space would not be observable down here on earth.

Magic everywhere

An abounding beauty, alive on so many levels, fills this remote place where I live these days. A living canvas of hummingbirds suspended in mid air ballet, hissing summer cicada, croaking frogs in the large pond my rustic home overlooks, and families of deer grazing nearby at the break of dawn and at sunset, leave me breathless. Despite the insufficiency of any technology, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

The days are busy with work, but at night, without any reflected light from anywhere, the stars pierce the blackness with their sparkling radiance. The planets, Orion's belt, the dipper, and other constellations are immediately observable. But, perhaps the most awesome, is the Milky Way stretching out beyond my rooftop and peeking through the large oak tree that overshadows my large yard.

Even on a rainy night, you can can glimpse the heavenly spectacle. In June, at the first sight of the firefly dance that lasted most of the summer, one night around midnight I stood under a canopy of sparkling stars as the fireflies flickered all around me, some even landing on my shirt and shorts. I felt immersed in a substance of sparkling light. I couldn't move, and didn't want to move. I stood there for a long time taking in the beauty of what was around and above me, realizing the awesome gift this all is.

______________________

In recent posts, I've talked about perception, having eyes to see, ears to hear. Now I would include all the senses - to smell and feel - and to experience with a deeper, more profound extra sense, an intuitive sense, a spiritual perception that is less intellectual and more soulful, perhaps a kind of ineffable awe. 

We human beings are profoundly blessed with the ability to detect what is in our environment, here and beyond, an interpret it and experience it on that deeper cognitive level. Maybe, despite our awesome ability, we may be so much wrapped up in whatever is on our plate at the time, we don't stop and look, listen to life itself surging its symphony of sight and sound all around us, completely unaware if we perceive it or not. It is what it is, a most beautiful creation, whether or not we perceive it.  

Yet, aren't we designed and consequently meant to perceive it?

Standing in solidarity

Last night's news (9.8.16) said there were as many as 5,000 Native Americans gathered to oppose the pipeline that is reported to be 50% completed.  How to solve this problem is not the Indian Nations' problem. This is tribal land.  It is their natural and inalienable right to defend and protect. It is also sacred burial ground, for which the United States government, even in its worst days more than 100 years ago,  had some respect. As for me, I stand in solidarity with our Native American brothers and sisters and join their call to protect the land, all of it, everywhere.

Washington State Indian nations join pipeline opposition 

Valerie Taliman, West Coast Editor
8/31/16

Yakama Nation Chairman JoDe Goudy speaks.
(Photo: Courtesy Steven Sitting Bear/Standing Rock Sioux Tribe)

(Photo below right) Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II welcomes eight nations from Washington State.

A delegation of eight Indian nations from Washington State  joined the growing opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline that threatens the tribe’s water supply and sacred places on Oceti Sakowin Treaty lands.

The Yakama Nation, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Lummi Nation, Puyallup Tribe, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Hoh Tribe traveled with a large delegation from the Pacific Northwest with a sacred totem pole to demonstrate spiritual support. After a blessing at the         

camp near the river, the totem pole will be permanently raised at the Turtle Lodge on the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba next week.

“Yakama is humbled and honored to stand beside our brothers and sisters of the Standing Rock Sioux. We’re observing a peaceful and prayerful gathering to move an entire country. We stand united in solidarity with the natural laws of this land, advocating for responsible decision making and honorable communications,” said Yakama Chairman JoDe Goudy.

“Together, we express to the U.S. government that now, more than ever, is the time to fulfill the trust obligations laid out within the treaties and historical interactions with the Native peoples of this land. Until such things come to pass, the spirit and voice of all peoples shall unite with Standing Rock. One voice, one heart, and one spirit to speak for those things that cannot speak for themselves.”

Carver Jewell James of the Lummi Nation said this is the fourth totem pole he has carved to unite people standing to protect the earth.

“This is about little people against billionaire corporations,” he said. “Standing Rock is clearly opposed to the pipeline, and I’m here to celebrate their clarity and their willingness to stand up.”

The tribes urged the United States District Court to rule in favor of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's request to issue an injunction that stops construction of the pipeline until the Tribe’s waters and cultural resources are protected.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is arguing in court that the Dakota Access Pipeline was fast-tracked by the federal government, which is a direct violation of the Tribe's rights as a sovereign nation because it will hurt the Tribe’s safe drinking water and historic and cultural resources. The Tribe has asked the United States government to conduct a more stringent environmental review to ensure the protection of the Tribe's treaty rights and sacred places.

Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby, who also serves as NCAI president, said, “We are a placed-based society. We live where our ancestors are buried. Our culture, laws, and values are tied to all that surrounds us, the place where our children’s future will be for years to come. We cannot ruin where our ancestors are buried and where our children will call home, uproot ourselves and move to another place. We cannot keep taking for granted the clean water, the salmon and buffalo, the roots and berries, and all that makes up the places that our First People have inhabited since time immemorial. Our futures are bound together.”

More than 150 tribes so far have sent resolutions and letters of support to show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux and the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota’s efforts to stop the pipeline.

“Words can’t express how thankful we are for all of the prayers, support, letters and donations we have received,” said Archambault. “It inspires us every day on our mission to protect this area for future generations and all who use it.

“We’ve seen the success our friends from Washington state have had in their battles to protect treaty rights against the transport of fossil fuels,” Archambault continued. “Their support is crucial in the protection of our land, water, and cultural resources, as well as all of our sovereign rights that we are asking Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy to honor.”

As they gathered on the banks of the Cannonball River to pray for water, several leaders spoke of similar challenges to their treaty rights, lands and ways of life. Some tribes in attendance won recent battles against proposed oil and coal export terminals that violate treaty rights, endangered fish and shellfish, and threatened the tribes’ very existence.

“I am here to stand with the Standing Rock people because my people are facing the same threats to bear the risk of development for the Puyallup Tribe,” said Councilman David Bean. “It’s an LNG terminal that will be built in the middle of our reservation and threaten our treaty protected resources.”

The peaceful camp near the river is the first time since 1875 that all the Lakota tribes have gathered at the Cannonball River. Their efforts to save their water have inspired hundreds of tribes, celebrities and activists from across the country to show their support. More than 180 tribes have written letters to President Obama and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking them to fulfill their trust obligation to tribes and reconsider the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“Everyone has heard that this pipeline would be more than 1,100 miles long and would transport more than half a million barrels of crude oil every day across our lands,” said Cedric Good House, a traditional leader for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

“What they don’t know are the irreplaceable sacred places across the landscape and the deep cultural and spiritual knowledge that is tied to them,” he said. “These are the places and the knowledge that make us who we are today as a tribe. I plan on telling my grandchildren about the time when tribes across the country stood up and fought for treaty, culture, and the future. And we fought for the future of safe drinking water for all Americans. No longer is the world watching us, the world is with us.”

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/31/indian-nations-washington-state-join-opposition-dapl-pipeline-165641

Reprinted from:

Aligned with the All

"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."

 Matthew 5:5

And, the reverse might be, "Unhappy are those who are proud, for they have removed their hearts from the source and richness of creation," in their pursuit of temporal power and material gain.

Who are the meek?  In our culture, sadly, meekness is not a valued quality.  If you were to say in a job interview, when asked what are your best skills, "I am meek, soft, gentle, and sway in the breeze of life, allowing the Holy Spirit to move through me," the search committee might, with subdued smirks, glance at each other, and say, "That's an interesting response, sir. We'll keep you in mind for this position." And, you'll certainly not hear from them again. You know what they want, and it isn't meekness. That which they want is complicated from twisted thinking for so long that to step away from the world's table could be a financially strategic error. Can you hear the weight of our current corporate language, heavy laden with empirically tactical words, laced with military-sounding concepts, goals and objectives?

Do you hear the softness of the heart, the whisper of the breath of life in the intentions of the proud and worldly-successful ones in our corporate boardrooms?  I doubt it.

"A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice." 

Isaiah 42:3*

Is there an invitation in Isaiah's words, an invitation to be like a reed that bends in the wind, or a lantern with a softly glowing spirit?

I sense that Jesus' gentle, soft meekness is a quality that submits to life, becoming like Isaiah's bruised reed. And, since life itself is comprised of universal consciousness, we are strengthened by our willful surrender to it. The intentional surrender of humility to life, to the Spirit of life itself which is God, is what makes us authentically strong, and consequently inheritors of a rich interior life.

Is that openess to the Spirit, that flexibility and natural surrender to All that is, weakness, as one assumes the search committee might have thought, or as our culture does think?

Obvioulsy, Jesus and Isaiah would say no. They seem to say God is the All that is, and there is a brilliant intelligence in that All, in that great I AM, who is the ultimate consciousness of the universe, from whom we draw our consciousness. The gift God gives us is absolute access to that intelligence, but only when in alignment with the All who is spread out throughout the Earth in every atom or quanta in everything. It is in the air that is moved by the wind because it is brilliantly interconnected with everything on our Earth. 

Why would anyone want to resist life, stiffen and structure one's daily existence to avoid this beautiful life?  Fear, maybe, but brainwashing by the global machine, for sure. Our media has seduced our will by making it look attractive. (Remember that scripture that describes the powers and rulers of Jesus' time: "Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, pretenders, who are like white tombs, which from the outside appear lovely, but from within are full of the bones of the dead and all corruption!" Matthew 23:27**)

I see us living in a perfect habitat of life, truly a garden of life, with a fluid ingenius network of consciousness, all created by and reflecting a supreme conscious intelligence that is awe-some.

If we are relying on our own abilities, which are very well honed by our culture to market ourselves and each other to profit something, somewhere, how are we any different than an intelligent predatory animal, seeking to fill its belly only to sleep in the sun until he gets hungry again?  How are we Divine beings of light and creativity if our lives and consciousness is so insularly and selfishly driven?

I hear in Jesus beautiful poetic language, a call to be like the golden grain in an American field, all of us flowing as one with the life all around us.  I also think that God - the ALL - does flow through our lives even while in the grip of the globally collective mind game in which we're caught, like that random fly in a spider's web. But, that's if we are tuned in to lifes' invitation to open up to the flow of life, which is a heart-opening to others, loving each other equally to ourselves. However, the world machine is selfishly driven which is a survival-driven, low level of consciousness, which isn't listening to the intuitive, inspired flow of life in the mind or spirit. Yet, I think, if we listen to our lives, we can and will hear it.

I think the Spirit of the All is so absolutely everywhere that as much as it permeates the most infintesimal particle of matter, it also penetrates all of our minds and thoughts, choices, intentions, actions and waits patiently for us to surrender our will to life itself, to the wind, to the very life itself.

The longer I live in this rural community deep in the Allegany mountains, which look more like hills when compared to the majestic Cascades of Oregon and Washington, the more aware I am of the ineffable beauty and genius of nature, and that all of it is both a gift from God and a reflection of God's Beingness. I know also that real power, real genius, is knowing that we are limited in ourselves, and that to surrender our need to control to the flow of life, the flow of life on the Earth, is the way to life. To even use religious language is like using military language, it's too structured, too intellectual for the experience of life itself which is more like a whispered awareness, a dim mysterious light that flickers and catches our attention in its softeness. It's there, in that bending reed or softly flickering candle light, that the portal to ultimate wisdom, which is ultimate life, is accessed.  Sadly, we miss it in the loud, cacophanous world of the global machine. I guess, we're lucky if we don't get that call back from the search committee.

By alignment with that gentle place in us, we discover - after the noise of the world is finally silenced in us - and not necessarily through meditation, but through surrender - that we can step softly into consciousness. There, the love flows, life peaks, and no longer do we care about weak or strong, success or failure, or obtaining anything.  Just being is the ultimate experience of life. And, that gift is right here in our beautiful garden which  begs us, and is begging us, to protect it. I guess we will protect it, when we value it. But as long as we're caught up in this non-living proud pursuit of selfish power, will we see its value?

* English Standard Version

** Aramaic Bible (in English)