Breathe in pain of the planet and breathe out courage, gratitude, equanimity
I recently cut the cable. Looking for ways to entertain myself in these COVID times, my TV app flipping began a journey of exploring unknown galaxies — all the many iterations of “Star Trek!” All are connected by this important question: Are we earthly humans relative or irrelative specks in the universe? Does our life actually have meaning? Is there a way to get a wider picture?
Theologians have been mining this same field for eons. From Michelangelo’s reaching a finger from the heavens toward Adam to “spiritual but not religious” we humans keep trying to find our place in the realms, heavenly and earthly.
Wisdom theologian Cynthia Bourgeault enters the conversation talking about a third realm, the imaginal. Calling to mind the mystics’ work that connects earthly senses to experiences that cannot be explained, she talks about “the eye of the heart.”
It is that which weknowthrough intuition or sensation.
In contrast to raising ourselves up by our own bootstraps, Bourgeault talks of the dance of cosmic bootstrapping: an understanding of the world where everyone and everything is dependent on everyone/thing
else. As in “Star Trek” cosmology, all universes are feeding each other providing energy points or food for the realms.
Getting far out? Bourgeault aligns it with traditional virtues such as in Galatians 5:22 fruits of the spirit. These are not nice moral qualities. Rather, energy packets that our world eats. Eugene Peterson describes fruits of the spirit: “muchthe same way that fruit appears in an orchard — things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”
That is today’s question. As we experience a pandemic, climate change, and grapple with racism. As we marshal our energies, are we giving out toxins or fruits? Is this life all I get so I better save my ownskin? Orcan wesee there are values more profound than physical death? Theenergy wegive off does impact the world.
Try this simple experiment. Walk down the street. Smile and say hello. Usual reaction? Smile, hello back, or at least acknowledgment with a wave. Or, walk down the street, frown, growl, mutter. General reaction? Avoid, silence, growl back.
Theologian Teilhard de Chardin posits three cardinal virtues in the divine milieu: parity, faith, and consistency. Faith is not equal to belief, but an operative, an action that shifts outcomes. These correlate with equality, action, and calm presence as we seek to address our world’s current toxic situations.
Whatweneedtofeedthe earth and universe is energy nuggets of courage, from the French “way of the heart.” We are embedded in the heart of the world and the heart of God. As Richard Rohr says: “Love is what we are made for and love is who you are.”
The world is at a turning point. Let us recalibrate how we live. Drawing our energy from the whole we receive nudges that tell us what to do next. If we have courage, we will be able to look at the wounds of the world so that healing may begin. Creation, the world, our hearts are calling us to action in two-forms. Confront our own fears, our ways that are toxic to ourselves and everything in the cosmos; second, work on inter-cosmic dialysis. Breathe in the pain of the planet; breathe out courage, gratitude, equanimity.
We are all going to die, regardless of our beliefs. So why not explore new horizons? In the words of Capt. Picard: “Engage!”