March 7, 2013
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How To Contact God – Part XIX
How To Contact God – Part XIX
Shortcuts
In the previous post (about which I am not totally content, and may therefore edit) I said things are going to turn Catholic. Frankly, I think that is a bit of a cop-out. Since access to God is a universal human right, we can go farther along the general path that we have been traveling – before having to deal with the Jews, and the Catholics.
There are certain “shortcuts” that we may take at this juncture – if they may be called such – (because, you know, shortcuts have a funny way of taking the long way around).
For instance, as when God starts flaunting His gifts, and really sort of hiding behind them. Let me give you an example…Suppose you are not greatly deprived…you are not in an internment camp, or starving, or homeless…but you are part of a society that is pulling together (not like the USA with the blacks obstinately pulling in other undefined direction, sinking the ship) and getting along on this planet at least above the level of mere sustenance. That’s our: Given.
You sit down, as is our custom, to commune with God in your dark room. Hey, this is great. This place is now very well established, in fact, it seems as if your dwelling were composed AROUND this meditation place!
There He is, fortified in His dark obscurity; and there you are, in your slimy weakness, surrounded by relative opulence – that you realize is a gift from on High. He has given you all this. It is your: Given. God, the author of all that is Good has poured out all this stuff so that you can climb the mountain of your easy chair and sit vis-a-vis Him, the Maker of the Universe, your God, your Designer who has designed you.
It has been difficult to get beyond this point. Good deeds are an important factor…. Just as you see God being generous, and kind, forgiving and patient, so you have been – in your puny, weak, tiny imitation. What you are doing and what you have done is not enough to save the planet, hell, you can’t even save your children…. In fact, all you have done amounts to nothing or almost nothing. As Bob Dylan sings in his most recent album, Tempest, “ALL THESE WASTED YEARS.”
So, you can’t compete with God as far as His works go, His gifts inundate you and overflow to the point that you feel…well… inadequate. Which is not a nice feeling….
This choice of a shortcut is sort of forced on you by the general situation you find yourself in, vis-a-vis God.
So, here’s what you do…you take a shortcut! You NEGATE all the Gifts. You nix them off, effectively eliminating them from the playing field.
You refuse His Gifts….not because they are defective in any way. But because they are not Him. In fact, you view them as TRIVIAL, compared to Him. (He who still remains invisible, and hidden.)
This is a bold move. From God’s point of view it represents a necessary progression, a progression BEYOND the confines of this Universe; but from the human point of view, it is outright insanity.
But you have in a single stroke cleared off the table. A sudden impulsive act. Now, it’s eyeball to eyeball. He grins. Or doesn’t.
* * * * * *
to be continued
This shortcut is exactly what Elijah did in the Old Testament when he threw everything off and hiked out to a cave in the wilderness. He threw off a wee bit too much, not even bringing food along with him. So God sent a bird to bring him bread. duh. Finally, after eliminating all the things that people generally associate with God, Elijah was able to contact God, finding Him in the “still-small voice” of conscience – a voice that none of us hardly ever hears BECAUSE our minds are too cluttered with the debris of daily life. NEGATE IT! Thus Elijah is the father of the Carmelites, a religious order, and a spiritual path of negation, that live in stark simplicity, seeking God alone, and nothing else. It’s like putting all your chips on RED21 and hoping to break the bank at the casino. Except that God is real and will not let you fall off the cliff or vaporize into nothing. However, it gets really really close to that. This method of negation is not for everyone. Each person has to appreciate and experience negation, but to permanently commit to that spiritual path for the duration of one’s whole life is a radical choice that only a few make. Buddha did not even stay on that path permanently, neither did Jesus.
But God’s silence and opaqueness can tend to drive seekers to absolute extremes. This is not good, and not what God generally wants. Allow me to recommend other “shortcuts”…..
