Tuesday, March 30, 2010

My Portion & My Strength

"My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...
[A]s for me, the nearness of God is my good." Ps. 73.

"The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.
Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me." Ps. 16.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Identity, Ideology, Opinion Formation & Change

Many of us have lived a lot of life, some more than others. But all have managed to negotiate some of life's passages, and the challenges and growth experiences that go with it. And I expect most have changed their views about some things, perhaps even their ideological, philosophical or faith perspectives, to one degree or another. Of course, some amount of opinion formation and change has to do with the personality and temperament of each of us as individuals. And some of it cannot be understood without reference to one's emotional stake or personal interests in a particular position, ideology or philosophy.

But changes in our opinions or perspective also have to do with the range of different places we find ourselves across a period of time, places that offer different experiences, work or life with people with different expectations and ideas, that offer different information, different incentives, even different identity. If we are also moved by certain values and interests in addressing national and societal issues--and many of us likely are--it is important that we are open and respond to the need to personally examine each place, the people and their perspectives. It is important for us to learn more and understand more about them and how they address resolution of those national and societal issues--not just to debate them, but to understand how they have changed or might change our own perspective, even our sense of identity.

Many of us have walked personal career and life paths of many turns. And it changes you, or at least it often does. That's the point. It's difficult to walk those many and varied paths without doing some serious assessment and reconciliation of the very different views, ideas, thinking and identities assimilated or assumed in those different places, those different worlds. At least it was for me. And throughout those years, I felt compelled to examine those very different experiences and the more characteristic views, ideologies, philosophies or faith perspectives identified with them. And that covered a considerable spectrum of intellectual, political and spiritual thinking.

But even if one is a willing learner of such things--and not all are--that process usually takes quite some time. Yet, most of us soon or later recognize that every approach, point of view, or policy answer--certainly every ideology and philosophy--is defined as much by its shortcomings and failings, its incomplete or insufficient answers, as it is by its trumpeted virtues and correctness, its political, cultural or philosophical acceptability. And I could not help but carry with me a good measure of understanding and respect for each experience and each perspective as I moved from one to the next to where I am today. And it is a process that continues to work for me today. Perhaps it does for you, too.

A sound approach to national and societal problem solving first honors the strength and virtue of the principal philosophical foundations of this greatest of representative democracies and most effective of market economies. It honors the necessity for robust, intelligently regulated markets, but also providing for the important needs of people, especially those who are poor, unable, ill or aged. That's what responsible, advanced societies do, and in that way strengthen our national identity and social fabric while advancing and strengthening our economy.

But then, so far as we can muster and manage the balance and will, it is important that we begin the issue resolution process with a statement of the problem and available information, the alternative solutions or answers, and their likely cost and probable results--but without constraining adherence or reference to ideological, political or philosophical direction. It is more useful to speak of market mechanisms, incentives, strengths and weaknesses, than ideological understandings or dictates. It is more useful to speak of societal challenges, problems or needs and, again, the alternatives, the costs and benefits, the wisest answers for society and the economy, not considerations of ideology or political platforms. It's the only way we can feel at all competent or accountable in approaching such issues or problems responsibly.

And this approach also makes it so much easier to effect course corrections or reverse field with changed information, alternatives or goals--because it's based on the best information and problem-solving processes, all of which can and do change. And we are much freer to change with them. Certainly that has been my general experience, and perhaps the experience of many of you as well. It is the power of seeking the best, most complete and unbiased information about an issue, identifying and understanding the implications of available alternatives, and then dispassionately exploring that information and those alternatives for the better solutions or answers. That is difficult enough without the procrustean constraints, the polarizing and sobotaging effects, of narrow ideological or philosophical imperatives.

It is also easy to see that this approach or orientation more likely generates respect for, if not acceptance of, other views because there is understanding of and mutual respect for the process. And if you are like me, you are also likely to recognize a view you once held, or one you may yet support. When working with a common, credible body of information or facts, and similar understandings of alternative resolutions, it makes agreement on issues or problems more likely, or at least reduces the scope and depth of differences. There is more often a type of "regression to the mean" of resolutions or answers reached and agreed to when we mutually accept and respect a competent, open and fair process for reaching them. Let our identity be more that of competent, respectful and respected resolvers of issues and formulators of wise policies, than ideological drones. Integrated thinking and synthesis, informed and fair reasoning, transparent and respectful dialogue, must rule.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Messiah

Two millennia ago, I'm told, an occupied, dispirited Israel looked for a Davidic, conquering Messiah and deliverer from the Romans, a restorer of their nation and their independent cultural identity. They could not see or accept in Jesus another kind of deliverer, a spiritual deliverer, a restorer of their relationship with God.

In the same way today, aggressive expressions of cultural, political Christianity lift up a Davidic Jesus as their deliverer from secular humanism, liberalism, other spiritualities, even other Christian views. He would be their conquering, culture-restoring Messiah. And they, too, now appear unable to see or accept in Jesus another kind of deliverer, a spiritual deliverer, the restorer of a deeper personal relationship with God. Do they fear the real, the profound personal and cultural changes an indwelling Spirit of Christ might necessarily bring?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Going There, Love & Mary Oliver

Have you ever felt led to a transcendent sense of self, your relationships and circumstances in life? Ever felt moved in different, unknown directions? That wherever that leads, you might love as you need to love because you would be loved in that way, too? That you'd be more forgiving, compassionate and gentle than formerly inclined, more humble, more selfless than your identity had allowed? Isn't that where we're supposed to be going?

Mary Oliver, in Thirst:

A Pretty Song (edited)

From the complications of loving...

I think there is no end or return.
No answer, no coming out of it.

Which is the only way to love, isn't it?
This isn't a playground, this is
earth, our heaven, for awhile.

Therefore I have given precedence to all my moods
That hold [love] in the center of my world...

And I say to my fingers, type me a pretty song.
And I say to my heart: rave on.

Love is its own reason.

Mary Oliver, in Red Bird:

Not This, Not That (Edited)

Not this, not that, nor anything...
will alter

my love for you, my friends and my beloved,
or for you, ghosts of Emerson and Whitman,


or for you, oh blue sky of a summer morning,
that makes me roll in a barrel of gratitude
down hills,

or for you, oldest of friends: hope;
or for you, newest of friends: faith:

or for you, ...dearest of surprises, my own life.

 
 

Friday, March 12, 2010

On Prayer & Meditation: Thich Nhat Hanh

Those who understand the invitations accepted and the paths prayerfully explored in my spiritual walk, will not be surprised that the experience and wisdom shared by a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and writer--especially one like Thich Nhat Hanh--might resonate with me, a Christian. Those explorations have left me convinced that I have heard God speak from the reverenced writings and poetry of other faith traitions, in addition to the Scriptures of my Christian faith. But in addition to the Psalms, the Prophets, John's Gospel and Paul's epistles, and the writings and poetry of the Christian contemplatives (yes, the mystics) such as St. John of the Cross and the more contemporary Thomas Merton, I find most resonant the Sufi poetry of Hafiz and Rumi, among others, as well as some Buddhist writings and Haiku poetry. And now, Thich Nhat Hanh.


Thich Nhat Hanh may be best known to Western audiences for his disarming, endearing book, Living Buddha, Living Christ. But today I'd like to share with you some of his brief remarks on prayer and meditation offered in his Introduction to his good friend Thomas Merton's book, Contemplative Prayer, a succinct, insightful treatment I've found both instructive and comforting. Thich Nhat Hanh:

Our approach to prayer in Buddhism is a little different from that of Chrisitanity. We practice silent meditation, and we try to practice mindfulness in everything we do, to awaken to what is going on inside us and all around us in each moment... In real prayer, you ask only for the things you really need, things that are necessary for your well-being, such as peace, solidity, and freedom--freedom from anger, fear, and craving. Happiness and well-being are not possible without peace, solidity, and freedom... This kind of prayer is the light of God that shines upon you, telling you which way to go... 
In real prayer, you also touch the wholesome seeds in your consciousness of compassion, love, understanding, forgiveness, and joy. In prayer, recognize these seeds in you and help them grow... Our Christian brothers and sisters know that God is love. This prayer is a practice to help us touch love and bring it into our daily life:


THE NINE PRAYERS

1.

May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.
May you be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.

2.

May I be free from injury. May I live in safety.
May you be free from injury. May you live in safety.

3.

May I be free from disturbance, fear, anxiety, and worry.
May you be free from disturbance, fear, anxiety, and worry.

4.

May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.
May you learn to look at yourself with the eyes of understanding and love.

5.

May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.
May you be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in yourself.

6.

May I learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in myself.
May you learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in yourself.

7.

May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.
May you know how to nourish the seeds of joy in yourself every day.

8.

May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May you be able to live fresh, solid, and free.

9.

May I be free from attachments and aversion, but not be indifferent.
May you be free from attachments and aversions, but not be indifferent.




This kind of prayer is also contemplation, meditation, and practice. It generates spirituality in every moment of our daily life. In his wonderful book, Contemplative Prayer, Thomas Merton shares with us his own deep and nondualistic understanding of prayer and meditation...
But many Christians and many Buddhists do not practice, or they only practice when they are in difficult situations, and after that they forget. They support churches and temples, organize ceremonies, convert people, do charity work or social work, or take up an apostolic ministry, but they do not practice mindfulness or prayer while they act...

To me, mindfulness is very much like the Holy Spirit. When the energy of the Holy Spirit is in us, we feel truly alive, capable of understanding the sufferings of others, and motivated by the desire to help. Mindfulness and the Holy Spirit are both agents of healing. When you touch deep understanding and love, you are healed.

If we pray "in the Spirit," we are certainly not running away from life...prayer does not blind us to the world, but it transforms our vision of the world, and makes us see it, all men, and all the history of mankind in the light of God.
Postscript:


In the '60s, my earliest introduction and understandings of Zen Buddhism were found in the more ponderous, academic books and writings of Daisetsu T. ("D.T.") Suzuki. But those books and writings were often dark windows for me, providing only a measure of understanding and evoking a measure of resonance and respect, but not enough to keep me from leaving it all there and moving on. Yes, I still mused over the Zen koans and Haiku poetry of Basho, but it failed to move any closer to the center of my spiritual journey and identity.

But as I found the depth and range of Thomas Merton's writings calling to me more urgently, I happened upon his book, Zen and the Birds of Appetite. It is a respectful, unthreatened and unthreatening treatment of Zen Buddhism from the perspective of an American Christian monk. Remarkably, he finds much to suggest shared directions and common experience in the practice of prayer, meditation and contemplation--albeit with markedly different nomenclatures, philosophical frameworks, and understandings of purpose.

That small volume concludes with a wonderful exchange of ideas, understandings and explanations between Thomas Merton and D. T. Suzuki, who also became one of Merton's good friends. And you too might find it spiritually enriching to accept the invitation to share and learn what they shared and learned from each other.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Self-Indulgent Generation

We thought we were the greatest generation, Brokaw's book notwithstanding. We were the generation of promise and destiny. We were the generation of change, enlightened societal change and better social thinking. We were the '60s generation and the babyboomers.

We would author movement to higher ground: greater civic virtue, and elevated democratic and humanitarian principles. A new and better vision of society would be our gift to the great unwashed of other generations and other places. We would make this happen. And to a notable extent, we did.

But I don't know just when it became clear that the sense of promise would be unfulfilled, the sense of destiny a delusion. Perhaps it was the early promotion and exercise of license more than liberty, the self-aggrandizing presumption and self-indulgence, the selfishness and assumed entitlement. But we were the anointed; we were smarter, more self-assured than those who came before. We were not subject to the same constraints, the same disciplines. We were governed by a new, inspired paradigm of our own imagination and creation. It would play out in so many areas. We could not go wrong. We could have it all.

For me it is hard not to see the fingerprints of the baby boomers, and especially we '60s folk, our presumptuousness and collective self-indulgence, on the stock and housing market excesses, all the bubbles and busts of the last 15 years, the financial crisis, and great recession now weighing upon us all. And yes, the indulgences and indiscretions of Wall Street, on those too--and all this without any sense of culpability, only an individual and collective sense of impunity for all we authored or that unavoidably resulted.

For as a generation, we were never able to deny ourselves anything--and if unavailing, the system would have to be changed to provide it, whether those changes represented solvent, workable ideas, wishful thinking, or mere reverie. There were too few workable ideas, and too much wishful thinking. And now the chronicler of the other greatest generation, the real one, makes a few observation about we boomers and our generation at this most inauspicious time of reckoning about our predicament and our legacy. Mr. Brokaw:

Aging Boomers Face Stark Economics:
Decling finances, rising health care costs threaten a generation

Not so long ago, Michael Blattman lived in the upscale Washington, D.C., suburb of Potomac, Md., earning $225,000 a year as senior vice president for a student loan company. As he reached his 50s, it never really occurred to him that his job wouldn't last forever.

"To be perfectly honest, I didn't really go there," he said. "Yeah, there was always a risk. Everything in business is a risk." In January 2008, Blattman, along with 500 other employees, was laid off by his company. With an $188,000 severance, he wasn't worried at first. "The barometer was always something like five or six months until you landed something comparable," he said. "So I figured, 'Oh, OK, six months?' OK, I could do this for six months. And find the next one. Well, there was no next one."

As his generation confronted an economic storm of historic proportions, Blattman found himself humbled — and living in a one-room apartment. After applying for 600 openings and getting only three interviews, he was still looking after two years. Blattman gets some solace from the knowledge that he's far from alone. More than 4 million baby boomers are unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many, retirement at 65 is no longer an option. Facing shrinking nest eggs and mounting bills, they need to work, but they wonder if anyone will hire them again.

"Blattman starts every day checking out online job sites and sending out resumes for jobs that pay much less than his old salary. "I have applied for jobs that are one-fourth, one-third of my previous income level," he said. "And I would have been thrilled to get it. There are just too many of me and everyone else out there. I just wish there was a place for us, to kind of land."

It's a double whammy: no job and no health insurance. Many boomers are in far worse shape than Blattman. Some have turned to free clinics. It's just one indication that the health care crisis is really an economic crisis. And for the boomers it's only going to get tougher, according to Harvard financial historian Niall Ferguson.

"If they've done their homework, then they'll be afraid," he said. "Very afraid." Ferguson says it won't be easy to care for a generation with ailing bodies and many more years to live.

"The baby boomers have set us on a path towards a massive fiscal crisis," he said. "Which is going to hit as the baby boomers retire." The recession, though devastating, will pass. But rising health care costs as boomers age may bring lasting harm to this generation's financial well-being. By the time all boomers are 65, the senior population will have grown from 40 million now to about 72 million. Who will pay their medical bills?

--"Aging Boomers Face Stark Economics," by Tom Brokaw, CNBC as reported on msnbc.com (3.4.10)

This is the financial burden, the legacy lost we've visited upon our children, a generation with much less reason to expect greatness, and little sense of grand destiny. But more, we've presented them a polarized, dysfunctional political system and apparatus; an outsized, unworkably expensive and dysfunctional health care system; faltering, underfunded schools; huge, dispiriting levels of national debt; and the beginnings of national decline.

Of course, our slowly declining place and power in the world would likely have evolved subject to the same external forces, regardless. But we have hurried it all along, made the unlikely, likely, perhaps inevitable. And yet, so many of us are still in denial, attaching our accusations desperately, frantically to any other contributing culprits or events. Anything, anyone, but not we of such promise and destiny. For now our hope must be that our children, the next generation, are wiser, more disciplined than we, that they might sacrificially, heroically, join their grandparents as true people of promise and destiny, and visit upon America a prudent, disciplined, and responsible identity again.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35675368/ns/business-cnbc_tv/