Ancient Teaching/Modern Learning: Centre, Wheels, & Core You

The discourse continues as Brother Jesus attacks the holy acts for the show of importance, not for where they are to come from. True concern/care for neighbour. Matthew 6 (full text at end) explores the idea of showy spirituality. The kind that is out to inflate the ego of the individual, that creates power base and authority. This is done through excluding people.

Think about in. The idea of fasting? Challenging for some due to health conditions, or socio-economics. Yet it was a “height of holiness”, but for this to be the case, you were looking to the already wealthy to show how “blessed” they were because of the power they had stolen by creating outcasts and others (hmm… televangelists, social conservatives, eco-extremists, any fundamentalist/extremist that creates a false us/them dichotomy). Jesus was using the practices that people pointed to show worth, and pointing out the hypocrisy.

Giving alms. How is it from a base of wealth giving to the poor, worthier, than the family subsisting that never turns away someone joining them for dinner?

Fancy words are not what prayers are made of for show? It is the affirmation of your own worth and love, and sharing from the core. Centering first, then living that matters. Not the show, and then raking in the coin. To moving into the place of treasure, some have always said it is in what one can amass money or possession wise, but truly if you have all the toys but no real relationships with another, have you any treasure? If the accumulation has filled you with such fear that you are wiring up bright lights and video cameras to “protect” and place your life on lock down out of fear, is it worth it?

If you have all this wealth, but have never seen another person as worthy of dignity, aid, health care, social assistance, pharmacare, education (the list can go) because they “are not worthy” and need to “earn” it…then are you truly resonating in humanity?

This portion is to take you deeper into your internal self to truly understand that contentment comes from residing fully with the cosmic spark within. It is the journey of the labyrinth to our core.

And being in the core…allows for us to reflect upon our lives, our core values, our own health. Much like a coaching wheel of self-care:

The centre is 0 the outer rim is 10, authentically mark out the areas from 0 to 10. How balanced is your life? What does your wheel look like? What is one area you want to focus on, one simple step to moving your number up one space?

I encourage, much like the discourse on the mount, this activity to be done in groups, so you can hold one another accountable, follow up in a week, two weeks on how the challenge is going to keep the momentum up.

As you grow, and transfigure. Know contentment will wane and come. The challenge is…

 

 

Will you risk being content?

 

End Note Matthew 6 (English Standard Version):

6 “Beware of ^rpracticing your righteousness before other people in order ^sto be seenby them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

^2 t“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocritesdo in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^ube praised by others. Truly, I say toyou, they have ^vreceived their reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let yourleft hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. ^wAndyour Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer

⁵ “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love ^xto stand andpray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. ^yTruly, Isay to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, ^zgo into your room andshut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. ^aAnd your Father who sees insecret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as ^bthe Gentiles do, for ^ctheythink that they will be heard ^dfor their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, ^efor yourFather knows what you need before you ask him. ^9 fPray then like this:

^g“Our Father in heaven,

^hhallowed be ⁱyour name.¹

^{10  j}Your kingdom come,

^kyour will be done,²

^lon earth as it is in heaven.

^{11  m}Give us ⁿthis day our daily bread,³

¹²  and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³  And ^olead us not into temptation,

but ^pdeliver us from ^qevil.⁴

^14 rFor if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,^15 sbut if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yourtrespasses.

Fasting

¹⁶ “And ^twhen you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure theirfaces that their fasting may be seen by others. ^uTruly, I say to you, they have receivedtheir reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, ^vanoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ that yourfasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. ^wAnd your Fatherwho sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

^19 x“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where ^ymoth and rust⁵ destroyand where thieves ^zbreak in and steal, ^20 xbut lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Forwhere your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

^22 a“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will befull of light, ^23 abut if ^byour eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then thelight in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

^24 c“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, orhe will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^dmoney.⁶

Do Not Be Anxious

^25 e“Therefore I tell you, ^fdo not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or whatyou will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, andthe body more than clothing? ^26 gLook at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reapnor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^hAre you not of morevalue than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ⁱspan oflife?^7 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how theygrow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, ^jeven Solomon in all his glory was notarrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is aliveand tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, ^kO you of littlefaith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For ^lthe Gentiles seek after all these things, and ^myourheavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But ⁿseek first ^othe kingdom of God andhis righteousness, ^pand all these things will be added to you.

^34 q“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious foritself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

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My Neighbour: ST: TNG Best of Both Worlds—What is your core?

The first cliff hanger of the Summer of 1990 (end of Season 3, beginning of Season 4), Best of Both Worlds, on par when Dallas did who shot JR… When Riker ordered “Fire” on the Borg ship with the newly assimilated Locutus (Jean-Luc Picard) on the view screen…cut to black. From June to September it was a long wait and with the introduction of Commander Shelby grade 7 me had to ponder was this the way to make Riker the captain?

                As cliff hangers go, it was well written. Yet these two parts, recently re-released on blu-ray as a feature length, set the stage to question. The Borg are Star Trek’s version of Cybermen-Daleks mixed together. Where Cybermen state upgrade, and Daleks state exterminate, the Borg inform species and individuals “you will be assimilated resistance is futile.”   They are a species that have created huge storylines (think I,Borg, where Hugh was discussed as having conscience or to be used as a bio-weapon to wipe them out. Or for Voyager fans, 7 of 9’s pursuit of her humanity once more).

Like good sci-fi though, it is more than just an invasion story with the Borg en-route to sector 001 (earth). It is the story of belonging, and what brings us to belong. It is the story of stripping away all the masks we need to function in our different roles of life, to be what we are truly meant to be. Nothing more relevant than the battle within Picard to return from being part of the Borg collective (assert his identity). The Borg are an allegory for cults or fanatical-extremist groups that remove one’s identity and ability to think outside of group think completely. Picard was assimilated- yet the Borg erred, much like the Cult leader who believes to groom a successor, the Queen desired a King and let some identity remain to bring an enemy low. Identity and name, not number were used.

This struggle was seen from the other side of the spectrum of extremes. Where Starfleet struggled with the idea of First Officer that refused to advance. Even in a world where money had been done away within the Federation planets, it seemed to stump people why Riker would keep turning down ships of his own to remain on the Enterprise. Not just a ship, but a community, a family, where he belonged, shared common stories and experiences. Others saw him as standing still while others shot past, yet here he was living the adventure of a lifetime.

Where the Borg had Locutus to challenge the extremist of collectivism, Riker was challenging the Federation’s extreme of individualism within the militarized wing of the Federation.

A duality presented to understand that in the middle outside of the bounds of extremes. A place where the Federation was a shining light, where peace existed, where one was truly free to pursue passions over survival. This is the ethos that drove Star Trek in the hearts of many others…a utopian future where there is still struggle, but where one could be who they are and the collective good was looked out for.

In case one forgets the dangers of extremism, there is stories like this that show all pieces of the political spectrum even in Utopia could create extremism. Today we must remember in the traditional political-religious spectrums there is extremism that has nothing to do with the core of the movements:

There are those in our world who watched Star Trek Deep Space Nine and believed the Cardassians to be the heroes of the Bajoran occupation, and Ferengi to be the moral compass of the universe.

Conservatives to facists to Neo-Nazis. Liberals to Communists to Stalinists (note how Stalinists and Neo-Nazis connect on the same hatred points—extremism creates weird bedfellows). Religiously seen in Islam to Al-Qaeda to ISIS, Christianity to IRA/Religious Right/PRO-LIFE Terror groups to the KKK.

But what is missed, is the joining floor, like the United Federation of Planets (our struggling version, the United Nations—religiously the Parliament of World Religions, World Council of Churches) where core values come through, common ground is found. Where individuals do not have to become assimilation spouting/doing automatons or climbing Jacob’s ladder to higher points of self-grandeur, whether warranted, but may not be what resonates for true vocation or readiness.

It is the moment Mary of Nazareth attempted to show us at the Wedding at Cana where she broke societal norms for hospitality, shattered patriarchy, and pushed her Son to be part of miracle to show the world…that things come in many different forms.

It is the challenge that history tells us moving into the before season of Easter Lent that builds to Palm Sunday, Jesus entry into Jerusalem. A day where Caesar would flex his might against the extremists of the Empire and force assimilation by having legions march in Jerusalem. It was also a time when the drive to climb the ladder kept families in power on their toes to constantly stay alive. Where the drive for power had one put aside family, friendship, belonging, and anything else that may be claimed to value to ensure the climbing up of the ladder. How the Herod family played all sides, how the religious authorities sold out their own belief systems to maintain power.

All this… and then you have the Riker/Locutus moment. Jesus, the peasant carpenter (labourer), born a bastard, raised in a small town where everyone knew Joseph wasn’t his Daddy (imagine the bullying) …rumours of the madness of Mary claiming God’s son, yet the whispers of gossip mill about the passing through Roman soldiers that had used her, and why Joseph was able to secure her. Shock that he stayed and had not turned her out quietly or stoned her.

Yet here he was, coming into the city at high holy time. A rabble of followers from the lower classes, those in the halls of power that may be curious only visiting by night to literally save their own necks.

While stallions and weapons were on the other side of town, flexing military might, entering along an entrance lined with crucified “terrorists”, “zealots” and “messiahs” with the power bases cheering.

Here was Brother Jesus, holding to his core beliefs of belonging, family, community, inclusion, hope, joy, faith, peace and L-O-V-E. Simply entering in such a fashion to shake the foundations and begin the ripple of what it meant to be neighbour. No more show, no more cognitive dissonance. Simply be. Simply do.

Are you ready for your Locutus/Riker moment?

Your donkey ride?

Are you ready to find your core?