About Elephants and Truth

Before I retired, people who visited my office would often question me about the number of elephants I had around the room.  There were carved elephants of wood, stone, even solid coal.  There were crystal elephants from Denmark and brass elephants from India.  In addition to the elephant figures on my desk, bookshelves, and other places around the room, there also  were elephant paintings and photographs on the wall.  Some of my visitors asked if I were a Republican (certainly not!!!), or why I did not have “religious art” instead of these dozens and dozens of elephants.

Elephants have been my personal totem, if you will, for many years.  As a child I was fascinated by the size and grace of elephants.  Elephants are noted for their intelligence and loyalty, to family and to tribe.  They tend to live long and to maintain strong, positive relationships.  In some very ancient traditions, elephants symbolize the removal of obstacles and barriers.  There are a lot of reasons why one might select elephants as an object to collect.

For me, however, the elephant is not the object, however fascinating and wonderful it may be.  I collect elephants because of the nature of Truth which is illustrated in the ancient Hindu story about the blind men and the elephant.

You no doubt know this story.  It tells of several blind men who approached an elephant from various directions.  Each touched a different part of the animal and attempted to describe the “truth” of their discovery to the others.  One touched a leg, round and rough and tall like a tree.  Another touched the tail and, to him, the elephant was like a rope.  Still another touched the side of the elephant and insisted that the elephant was just like a stone wall.  As each man touched a different part, each described the animal differently.  Each told the truth.  Each experience of touching was valid.  Yet, none of them, because of their limitations, could experience the total truth of the elephant.

This story has great meaning for almost every situation, but especially for religion.  The “truth” of the Divine is so far beyond the limits of human experience and understanding, it cannot be known in its totality.  Each of us may have a religious experience or a spiritual insight that, for us and for that moment, is fully “true.”  But another person may have an experience or insight that, while is seems contradictory to ours, is equally “true.”  Gaining an understanding of “Truth and Elephants” is a first step toward leaning how to feel comfortable within one’s own religious context while being able to affirm and enjoy that of others who come at the Divine from different directions.  My truth and your truth are both true, just not the total truth.

Even the elephant itself cannot know the total truth of what an elephant is, because the elephant only understands the “truth” of being an elephant from the inside.  Of course, those who are not elephants can only understand the “truth” of being an elephant from outside, so they, too, only know part of the truth.

The next time someone tries to convince you they have “the Truth,” remember the elephant.

My Thanksgiving Prayer for 2012

Let us give thanks, not only with our words, but also with our hearts and with our actions of generosity to our neighbors around us.

Let us be thankful for the sky, the seas, and the very earth.  It is here that we live and thrive.  Let us be thankful for those with whom we share this earth.  We are blessed by the diversity of people, traditions, cultures, and faiths that can so enrich our lives if we are open to all of the bounty that is before us.

Let us be thankful for the food that gives us energy and also pleasure.  We do not forget the labor of those who cultivated the fields, cared for the livestock, collected and transported, and finally prepared this food so we can enjoy it and benefit from it.  Nor do we fail to give thanks for the living creatures of the earth whose lives have been given as a sacrifice for our benefit.

As we gather with friends and family to give thanks for our many blessings, we remember that there are many in this world who have no abundance of food, or of shelter, or of loving community.  We seek divine strength and courage to work together for a world society that is more just, where hunger is not known and where those who suffer from disaster receive prompt and loving care.  May we learn to work together to build a global society that is filled with peace, freedom, an abundance of resources shared according to each person’s genuine needs.  May we come to know that the Divine Spirit that we each worship in different ways, is the same Spirit of love and of justice even when called by different names.

And so with great thanksgiving, we join together as one human family to share meals,  fellowship, and joyful time together.  May it be so, now and forever.

Voting Against the Principalities and Powers

So Billy Graham is urging voters to vote for candidates who support what he calls “Biblical values.” Of course, his list of Biblical values is quite limited, and he leaves out virtually all the ones emphasized by Jesus, such as:  caring for the poor, seeking justice for the oppressed, etc. His rather blatant endorsement of Mitt Romney extends to suddenly removing the long-standing condemnation of Mormonism from his website. How strange and pathetic. As for me, I’ll vote the values of Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Vivekananda, Mohammed, and Bahá’u'lláh this election.  That means that I will vote against the “principalities and powers” and so far as possible, for justice and mercy.

Who Will Govern America?

Who Will Govern America?

Don’t be misled. This election is not about leadership, or the economy (at least yours and mine), or morality. It is about just one thing: whether the people will own and govern this country or whether huge multi-national corporations will own and govern.

For four years the Corporate Party has worked diligently to undermine every positive effort of the Obama administration, with just one goal: to assure the failure and ultimate unseating of Obama. This cynical behavior was not personal, however it may seem. It was calculated and part of a long-term strategy to take control of this democracy.

Just look at what has been going on in Wisconsin, where corporate powers have used their power to undermine unions, reduce taxes on corporations at the expense of public education and programs that serve common people, and to attack what they call “job killing regulations.” What are these? A quick look at what is being done in North Carolina by the recently empowered corporate party makes it very clear.

Here in North Carolina the Corporate Party is making efforts to cut public education while allowing corporations to avoid paying state taxes by “donating” their taxes to “nonprofit organizations” that in turn provide “scholarships” to kids going to private (corporate) schools. Guess who will get the lion’s share of these “scholarships?” The rich children of corporate managers. They get a huge tax break for giving however indirectly money to their own children so they don’t have to go to the under-funded public schools. Who will make up the tax shortage when corporations no longer pay state taxes? The People, who will see their taxes increased in a variety of ways and their services cut dramatically. What else are they doing to “create jobs?” They are attempting to undo environmental protections by weakening or eliminating clean air and clean water laws. These laws protect people, but they get in the way of corporations. They also have been systematically trying to make it harder for unions to organize labor. It’s OK for corporations to work together, but not for labor.

If the Corporate Party manages to get control of the US Congress and the Presidency (they seem already to have a tenuous control of the Supreme Court), they will have unrestricted power to remake America into a corporate- rather than people’s-democracy.

This is what this election is about. Please don’t be deceived. It is not about jobs, or taxes (at least yours and mine), or marriage equality, or any other hot button topic. They will try to make it seem like those are the issues, but it most certainly is not. It is about who has the power to make policy for many years to come.

Who will govern America in the 21^st Century? Will it be the people, or will it be multi-national corporations. We are just one election away from finding out the answer to that question.

Hurray for Greensboro!

I’m really proud of Greensboro voters! For too long our town has been caught up in a divisive and ultimately destructive pattern of politics. Great harm has been done to our spirit and our reputation. Now, with a very clear mandate from the citizens, we will have a mayor and a city council that is not only unified, but also progressive and positive. My hope is growing once more. The potential is great for getting some long festering problems solved. Moreover, at least some members of our new council are visionary people who can help us develop a sense of common ownership for this city. Maybe now, for the first time in recent history, we can move beyond the “good old boys” who have run this town like a private club. Finally we have the capacity to build an inclusive democracy. I hope and pray this type of political trend will extend to the national level. It would be so good to rid ourselves of the obstructionist, self-serving types who have done everything they could possibly do to keep our nation in an economic pit in hopes of unseating a President who scares them, most likely more because of the hue of his skin than for any political philosophy he represents.

Salt?

Have you ever thought about that little talk Jesus gave to his followers in which he told them to be “the salt of the earth”? He talked about how salt can get polluted, and therefore is only useful as something to be thrown onto a path. I have often thought about how important and valuable salt is, both to flavor food and to preserve it. Yet, too much salt will ruin the flavor and too much will literally destroy the worth of the food. It seems to me that most church leaders have either ignored or failed to consider this point. Jesus seemed much less concerned with numbers than with loyalty and faithfulness. But today, the churches that claim to be following Jesus seem totally focused on getting as many members as they can, even if in doing so they water down the demands of the faith to the point that joining the church is no more significant than joining a gym or a social club. For many, perhaps even most church members, this is what they have joined: a social club. Social clubs have value, and everyone should belong to some kind of association that provides structure, access to fellowship, and engages in positive activities in their community. I have nothing against social clubs of this type, and if that is all a church can be, it still has positive value. But what our society needs right now is a few, just a few folk, who really take seriously the call to follow Jesus (or Buddha, or Baha’u'llah, or any of several other godly teachers) and be for our world “salt.”

America the Beautiful

7,766 miles. In the past few weeks, that’s how many miles my wife and I drove throughout the amazing American West. We saw so much of this great land and met many interesting people. We experienced the raw beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the wide, hot plains of middle America. We felt the 100+ degree heat of Oklahoma and the sub-freezing cold of the Montana and Colorado highlands. Along the way we were almost run over by a stray moose and followed a very stubborn bison as it ambled along the middle of a highway bridge. Breathtaking views of incredible waterfalls were almost matched by the examples of human creativity along the way. We marveled at the ingenuity of the Soo Locks at Sault Saint Marie, Michigan where 1,000 foot long ships loaded with iron ore are dropped 27 feet as they pass from one great lake to another. The awe inspiring sight of the Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer, South Dakota was one of the highlights of our trip, but perhaps the “craziest” sight was the House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Throughout our journey, we intentionally avoided most large cities. We wanted to see the small towns and villages, somewhat off the beaten track. We explored many back roads and scenic byways. At times our breath was taken away by the beauty of what we saw, and at times our breath was taken away by the tight turns and sheer drops just inches away from the roadbed. There were times, especially in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado when we saw more deer and prong horned antelope than other cars along the way. We stood at the

View of the Tetons

very beginning of the Mississippi River in the beautiful town of Bemidji, Minnesota, drove pass mile after mile of sunflower fields in the Dakotas, watched prairie dogs play in the Badlands, hiked around geologic marvels at Arches National Park, and searched for dinosaur fossils along the Green River.

Stopping in out-of-the way museums, we learned much about the early days of this nation. There is much for which to be proud. Unfortunately, there is also much for which to feel shame. The intentional, overt, and systematic cruelty of our nation toward Native Americans continues to haunt us. The policy of placing profits ahead of the protection of our environment has deep roots that continue to infect and threaten large parts of our nation’s natural wonders.

We met many delightful and gracious people along the way. However, once we had left the Scandinavian-influenced cultures of the upper mid-West, we observed a clear and thriving culture of individualism that bordered on outright hostility toward any attempt to regulate, tax, or limit one’s right to do as one pleases, regardless of its impact on one’s neighbor. Make no mistake, small town America is solidly “conservative” in the best of the “Know Nothing” tradition. I often thought as we traveled, of Woody Guthrie’s famous folk song, “This Land is Your Land.” For many of the people we met along the way, this land is “my” land and the “your land” portion of the song is totally anathema.

Ours truly is an amazing, beautiful land. It is easy to understand how Katherine Lee Bates was inspired, while looking across the mountains and plains that can be seen from the top of Pike’s Peak, to write the lyrics to America the Beautiful. I pray that people of good will can continue to work together to make our society as beautiful as the land itself.