Tag Archives: innocence

Baseball!!!

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I’m currently watching the 7th game of the 1952 World Series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers.  I was seven years old when this game was played and would not “discover” baseball until a decade later when Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were caught up in a home run chase…without the aid of any pharmacology!  Mantle was a 20 year old rookie in 1952 and I was delighted to watch him hit a home run.  But now there is no “live” baseball.

 But that was then, this is now!  Sure the wonderful game has changed drastically as has the whole of life.  The were no over-paid players in 1952, no  tyrannical and arrogant team-owners, and no collective bargaining strife that occurs from time to time.  But there is still that magical “crack of the bat,’ the pop ot cow-hide smacking the gloves, the smell of pop-corn and the cry from the venders in the stands crying out, “Get your pop corn, get your peanuts,” and the thrill of “my team” winning the “ole ballgame.”

But I reiterate, “That was then, this is now.”  Life has changed dramatically and fundamentally.  Today Covid 19 has shaken us to our core, our welfare is deeply related to the whims and fancies of the stock market, microwave ovens are a common place, rotary dial phones have been buried in the dustbin of history, and we have an American President who publicly needed to reassure about the size of his penis.  It is so tempting to despair, particularly with the virus but also the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of our political leaders.  I’m’ not for sure  why I still take delight in life, still having nagging memories of “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”  My childhood insecurity, hyper self-consciousness, and vulnerability still whisper in my ears daily and persistently.  I guess wisdom does comes with age, allowing me to recognize my continued “denial system” about reality, no longer allowing this “denial system” to offer the solace of certainty with its accompanying arrogance.

Today, I am just here…as in “here.”  It is only this “here-ness,” this present moment which you and I share even as you read this, is the only moment.  “Past” and “future” do exists as a necessary contrivance, but it is only the present moment that we have, described as Eckhart Tolle as, “The Power of Now.”

Paean to God’s Little Children

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Last year I substitute taught in public schools with young children ages 5-8. I have noted here before how deeply moved I was by the experience, learning anew how precious and beautiful they are. These children were so very alive, not yet having been deadened by the “thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir too”…most of them anyway. (There were some who, sadly, had been deadened and it was horrible to see. Their “life” had been taken from them already, their spiritual vitality missing or depleted.)

The “life” present in these children, though, really galvanized the spiritual reawakening I have experienced the past few years. My “inner child” was stirred deeply by the innocence, vulnerability, neediness, and love of these children. And, I might add, these children loved me too which should be the highlight of my resume henceforth for there is no accomplishment of which I am more proud.

This experience made me often think of these words of Jesus regarding children, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:16-17)” Jesus recognized in the children of his day the same qualities I noted in my classes last year, seeing that they trusted openly from the depths of their heart, not having learned to do otherwise. He was telling us that he wanted us to trust Him, our Source, just like these children were trusting. The trust that he had in mind was not a rational experience as much as one of the heart, not something that was carefully thought out, the conclusion of a research project of sorts. This trust was just a spontaneous flow from the depths of the heart.

And most of us have a hard time getting this “flow” underway as the “research project” method of faith that we were inculcated with is hard to shake. It sure has been for me and still is at it is an ongoing process. Getting the flow to going is a matter of being willing to peel off the layers of our social self, that contrivance of the ego, and get down to the core of who we are, to our “be-ing” itself. And, when we “be” we are going to have to entertain at some point the “Be-ing One” (as in Yahweh’s ‘I am that I am’) in some fashion, though our conception of the experience might be different; for, conceptions are culturally determined where as Being (the “Being One)” lies beyond the realm of conceptions and is, by the way, That which ultimately unites us all.

These thoughts were inspired by Richard Rohr again who continues to almost daily steal my ideas and never gives me credit for them! Damn him!

PEACE OF MIND IS A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS

“Beginner’s mind” is actually someone who’s not in their mind at all! They are people who can immediately experience the naked moment apart from filtering it through any mental categories. Such women and men are capable of simple presence to what is right in front of them without “thinking” about it too much. This must be what Jesus means by little children already being in the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3-4). They don’t think much, they just experience the moment—good and bad. That teaching alone should have told us that Christianity was not supposed to be about believing doctrines and moralities. Children do not believe theologies or strive for moral certitudes. They respond vulnerably and openly to what is offered them moment by moment. This is pure presence, and is frankly much more demanding than securing ourselves with our judgments.

Presence cannot be easily defined. Presence can only be experienced. But I know this: True presence to someone or something allows them or it to change me and influence me—before I try to change them or it!

Beginner’s mind is pure presence to each moment before I label it, critique it, categorize it, exclude it, or judge it up or down. That is a whole new way of thinking and living. It is the only mind that has the power to actually reform religion.

Adapted from Beginner’s Mind (CD, DVD, MP3)

The Daily Meditations for 2013 are now available
in Fr. Richard’s new book Yes, And . . . .