A parable, allegory -- more correctly put, an apologue. The origin and concept belong to Sr. Miriam MacGillis (links to an interview) founder of Genesis Farm. Here's another interview. I'm borrowing and expounding to share concepts influencing me at this time in my spiritual journey...
It's like fish in a lake. Their entire world view is only what lies below the waterline. Light shines "down" from the "sky" in patterned intervals. There are other fish similar in appearance yet with subtle differences in size, coloring, habitat, diets, communities and ways of interacting in their environment. There are also completely different life forms -- the whole making up an interacting eco-system. The small community the hero of our story lives in teaches its young, from birth, there is no other reality beyond what they experience and understand in their closed-system world.
But one day a brave, foolish fish decides to do something courageous and risks to see what, if anything, might be beyond the boundaries of the existence it knows. Swimming to the water's surface, pushing an eye just above the waterline it takes a peek.
What it sees is too unfathomable, too magnificent, too overwhelming to take in but for a second. The fish quickly dunks back below the water's surface, frightened by what it had seen. It was foreign and contrary to all the teachings. It swam back to the security of what's always been known and believed. The brave, foolish fish remained silent about its experience. No one would believe anyway. They'd judge it as simply an illusion, over-active imagination or fantasy. Yes, it's best to forget the whole thing and continue life as "normal"... (to be continued)
What did the fish see?
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
creed
"Those who have most power and wealth
treat the planet as a thing to be possessed,
to be used and abused according to their own dictates.
But the planet is a living organism*,
a Great Spiritual Integrity.
To violate this Integrity
is certain to cull forth disaster
since each and every one of us
is an inherent part
of this very organism.
All attempts to control the world
can only lead to its decimation
and to our own demise
since we are an inseparable part
of what we are senselessly trying to coerce.
Any attempt to possess the world
can only lead to its loss
and to our own dissolution
since we are an instrinsic part
of what we are foolishly trying to possess.
The world's pulse is our pulse.
The world's rhythms are our rhythms.
To treat our planet with care, moderation and love
is to be in synchrony with ourselves
and to live in the Great Integrity."
*(emphases mine)
Now here's a creed I could recite with all my heart, soul and being.
Can you guess when it was written and by whom (without googling)?
If you wanted to "Christianize" the last phrase (not that I feel a need to), it would be...
"is to live in God and God in us."
(There's a bit of scriptural truth)
treat the planet as a thing to be possessed,
to be used and abused according to their own dictates.
But the planet is a living organism*,
a Great Spiritual Integrity.
To violate this Integrity
is certain to cull forth disaster
since each and every one of us
is an inherent part
of this very organism.
All attempts to control the world
can only lead to its decimation
and to our own demise
since we are an inseparable part
of what we are senselessly trying to coerce.
Any attempt to possess the world
can only lead to its loss
and to our own dissolution
since we are an instrinsic part
of what we are foolishly trying to possess.
The world's pulse is our pulse.
The world's rhythms are our rhythms.
To treat our planet with care, moderation and love
is to be in synchrony with ourselves
and to live in the Great Integrity."
*(emphases mine)
Now here's a creed I could recite with all my heart, soul and being.
Can you guess when it was written and by whom (without googling)?
If you wanted to "Christianize" the last phrase (not that I feel a need to), it would be...
"is to live in God and God in us."
(There's a bit of scriptural truth)
Sunday, April 16, 2006
20 Things That Make Me Smile
I've added a P.S. for those that have already seen this post once
:-)
1) Simon's love for playing 'Rock'
2) Simon when he lies on the floor belly up doing the 'see me!' wiggle
3) Simon when he's sleeping in a puppy-cute position
4) a good pun
5) bird song at sunrise
6) a student greeting me in the hallway at the school
7) Sr. CJ in her optional 'angel' nun headgear
8) all my sisters' senses of humor (necessary to survive life in community)
9) Simon when he (almost daily) bolts out the door to greet the UPS driver (who gives him a cookie)
10) the full moon, when she follows me wherever I go.
11) having my scalp massaged
12) Simon, when he slowly and gently 'sneaks' up in the one-foot space between two people on the couch, then curling his body up in the space and putting his head on a lap
13) when my friend gives a caring touch on my shoulder/back as she's passing by behind me
14) seeing my best NY friend's face, and my sisters who live in the city, and being in their presence after a long absence.
15) watching squirrels chase each other
16) newborn and young of all species
17) smiley faces, smiling faces
18) preparing a fire outside with only nature-collected items and successfully lighting it with just one match
19) snow -- it's still a wonder to this Texas girl
20) a sunrise -- and especially late morning sunshine after an early morning cloudy and dreary rain
How about you?
P.S...on 4/18
Sr. Claire Joy said I needed to "get a life" because one quarter of the things that make me smile had to do with Simon. Well...if you lived with Simon all the time you would experience this unusual companion and be smiling at all the things he does and ways about him.
But, in order to show I do have a life outside of Simon (I lump everything I said about him into one item, and I add the following list of five things that make me smile:
1) Ramona Quimby stories by Beverly Cleary
2) a crossword puzzle with a great theme (one of the neatest crosswords I ever worked was by (not just edited by) Will Schultz (sp?) where the letter 'e' was not used one single time in the puzzle. It was amazing!
3) going to the ballpark and seeing a baseball game live and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballpark" at the 7th inning stretch
4) piano music
5) old Gilda Radner skits
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Not Always So Obvious
Ok..does this thought ever cross your mind?
"I would think it'd be obvious."
And, if I'm going to sit like a lump on a log and wait for someone to figure out how to be sensitive and compassionate and ask me, by god, I'm going to be sitting a long time not getting help.
Must I ask EVERY single morning..."Could you please help get me something to eat for breakfast?"
I don't know...I'd think if I was sitting in the kitchen at breakfast time with crutches in hand, twiddling my thumbs, that another coming into the kitchen might ask if I'd had breakfast yet and would like help. I haven't been able to get my own breakfast since having foot/ankle surgery last friday. I'm non-weight-bearing (crutches or wheel chair) for six weeks!
So...if you came into the kitchen and saw me sitting there (and it's the scheduled time for breakfast and I'm not eating anything), would you go about fixing yourself a bowl of cereal then sit down and begin eating, completely ignoring me, not saying a word? Or would you perhaps think to ask as you're pulling your cereal bowl out of the cabinet if I might want some as well?
Stubborn ass that I am at times...ok, too many times...I sat there to wait and see what would happen, and refused to ask for help.
"I am not going to ask. I shouldn't have to ask! I'd think it'd be obvious, unless you're so self-centered you think of nobody else but yourself and YOUR needs."
But she can't read my mind. And maybe she thinks I've already had breakfast or am not hungry. And even though if the roles were reversed I'd have the wherewithall to ask 'have you had breakfast yet,' that doesn't mean she has that skill.
My friend said I've been using situations like this to justify old tapes that I don't deserve to be taken care of when I need help (the message my mother clearly gave me, in ways I won't go into here).
My friend is wise. What a HUGE insight!
And, then, I'm also frustrated. I don't like having to be dependent on others, for the very reason that they may find helping me a burden, an inconvenience, irritating, an interruption in their life. It is so hard for me to ask for what I need. My mother trained me well not to ask.
My sisters are being lovingly patient as I go through this recovery process, both physically and emotionally.
Ugh...the next five weeks are sure to be agonizing growth opportunities. And I simply need to lighten up a bit on myself and others, and keep humor close at hand to see me through it. If you know a good joke, send it to me.
"I would think it'd be obvious."
And, if I'm going to sit like a lump on a log and wait for someone to figure out how to be sensitive and compassionate and ask me, by god, I'm going to be sitting a long time not getting help.
Must I ask EVERY single morning..."Could you please help get me something to eat for breakfast?"
I don't know...I'd think if I was sitting in the kitchen at breakfast time with crutches in hand, twiddling my thumbs, that another coming into the kitchen might ask if I'd had breakfast yet and would like help. I haven't been able to get my own breakfast since having foot/ankle surgery last friday. I'm non-weight-bearing (crutches or wheel chair) for six weeks!
So...if you came into the kitchen and saw me sitting there (and it's the scheduled time for breakfast and I'm not eating anything), would you go about fixing yourself a bowl of cereal then sit down and begin eating, completely ignoring me, not saying a word? Or would you perhaps think to ask as you're pulling your cereal bowl out of the cabinet if I might want some as well?
Stubborn ass that I am at times...ok, too many times...I sat there to wait and see what would happen, and refused to ask for help.
"I am not going to ask. I shouldn't have to ask! I'd think it'd be obvious, unless you're so self-centered you think of nobody else but yourself and YOUR needs."
But she can't read my mind. And maybe she thinks I've already had breakfast or am not hungry. And even though if the roles were reversed I'd have the wherewithall to ask 'have you had breakfast yet,' that doesn't mean she has that skill.
My friend said I've been using situations like this to justify old tapes that I don't deserve to be taken care of when I need help (the message my mother clearly gave me, in ways I won't go into here).
My friend is wise. What a HUGE insight!
And, then, I'm also frustrated. I don't like having to be dependent on others, for the very reason that they may find helping me a burden, an inconvenience, irritating, an interruption in their life. It is so hard for me to ask for what I need. My mother trained me well not to ask.
My sisters are being lovingly patient as I go through this recovery process, both physically and emotionally.
Ugh...the next five weeks are sure to be agonizing growth opportunities. And I simply need to lighten up a bit on myself and others, and keep humor close at hand to see me through it. If you know a good joke, send it to me.
