"Life is not a puzzle to be solved, but a mystery to be contemplated."
-- Anthony De Mello
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In the Celebration Circle we honor and nurture the Sacred in ourselves, each other, and all Creation.
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Photo by Gary O Smith
The heartbreaking images of suffering Haitians stranded in the wake of the massive earthquake came leaping off the TV screen and into our hearts this week. Not knowing what else to do with the knot in my belly that formed as I watched the unfolding horror, I sat down to pray and write the following piece in order to make some sense of what I was seeing.
Changing Channels
You stare at the silver screen
at scenes too horrible to comprehend,
torn, bleeding bodies, crushed and
battered beyond recognition as
belonging to the same species as you
and your loved ones.
You, the distant viewer, are safe in your clean,
warm kitchen, where the aromas
of a healthy breakfast and a fresh pot
of hot, jasmine tea fills the air
while your eyeballs get snared by the
god-awful images of huge concrete buildings
crumpled and tossed in a heap
much like the many, colorful
Lego blocks in your young son's bedroom,
the one you keep bugging him to clean up
"because it looks like a disaster area in here,
that's why."
You, whose eyes can't help but stare at
the very real catastrophe unfolding on TV
where the reporter is standing and
speaking about the staggering death toll
and damages caused by the savage
earthquaking
suicide bombing
volcano erupting
ethnic cleansing
tsunami flooding
hurricane blasting
disaster of the hour.
You, who are powerless to resist
the searing images on the blaring screen
because you must care,
as surely as you must eat and breathe;
because compassion was genetically hardwired
into your mammalian brain eons ago,
when survival of the fittest required
that the naked apes care for anyone in their
small tribe who fell down or fell ill,
because all available hands were needed
to till the soil, hunt for food, and
secure the common good against
lions and tigers and bears, with
hunger lurking everywhere.
You, who now live in a globalized village
alongside seven billion members
of your ever-growing clan.
You, who are carefully scrutinized and scanned by
countless, corporate hired hands
tasked with keeping your eyeballs glued to
The Screen, in all its many forms,
because it's their job to remind you
of your need to care
in order to make you stare
and sell you a greater market share of
more soap, more cars, more beer,
more cheerfully advertised goods and
services guaranteed to fill your mouth,
your house, your garage with more than enough
of all the stuff you'll ever need to succeed
in protecting yourself from the barrage
of very real seeming threats to your security
that come spilling out of the TV at regular intervals
heading straight for you, your home and family.
Yes, you, who watch, because
if it bleeds, it leads the newscast,
scrolls along the bottom of your screen,
invites you to download the podcast,
alerts you to stay tuned for further details of
this latest disaster in
Haiti
Bali
The Philippines
Palestine
New Orleans
South Africa
Rwanda
Peru.
And because you care
because these frightful sights and sounds seem
so very close by
because your heart rate soars and tears fill your eye
because you can't close the door in your mind
you find yourself standing at the threshold,
feeling numb
again.
But then, a little voice reminds you it's time to
fill your travel mug with a steaming hot beverage of choice
climb into your car, and head off into the very real war
which is urban rush hour traffic.
Crawling through this sprawling mess at
five miles per hour or less
you reach for the radio and tune into the news
then change channels to smooth jazz instead
so you can fill your head and heart with
upbeat affirmations of inner peace and prosperity.
You, who long to start your day on a positive note;
You, who believe you are free to see what you want to see,
and be who you choose to be;
You step on the brakes, take a deep, calming breath
or two, or three,
turn your face to see the rising sun
and pray that Thy Will be done on Earth, today,
through me,
not knowing what that could possibly be.
Amen.
Because it seems the airwaves have been filled with even more than the usual amount of suffering and sadness than usual recently, I particularly hope you can join us this Sunday morning in the Circle as we focus on some powerful, important Good News that also emerged from within and around the Earth this past week. I'm pretty sure that you'll feel as encouraged and uplifted as I was when I learned about these uplifting developments happening in Europe and Asia, as well as here. I really look forward to sharing the news (as well as some cool new tunes that Sarah and I have been working on!) with you this weekend - or soon.
With blessings,
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Sundays
THIS SUNDAY
January 24th
"Good News/Bad News"
Rudolf will reflect on some of the empowering, encouraging trends emerging in contemporary science and spirituality around the globe in response to the rising tide of socio-economic-climactic change. Rudolf and Sarah Bading are cooking up some extra special songs with the Circle Band for the occasion!
Sunday Morning Circle meets at 11:00 am
at the Jump Start Theater
located at the Blue Star Arts Complex
Building B
In the heart of King William
(near the corner of Alamo and Probandt) |
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Wednesday Meditation Circle meets from 7:30-8:30pm each week at the San Antonio Quakers' Meetinghouse, located at 7052 N. Vandiver, at Eisenhauer Rd., two blocks west of Austin Hwy. Come experience a calming, centering blend of sacred silence and guided meditations in one of the most beautiful sacred spaces in San Antonio. Sessions are led by Rudolf, employing Tibetan singing bowls, acoustic guitar, flute and chanting. Open to all: suitable for beginners and experienced meditators alike; drop-ins are always welcome. Love offering. |
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Abundant Gratitude
Our thanks to the MANY folks who helped make our 18th Birthday Party such a GREAT event, with special gratitude to our amazing friends, Jai Medina and Fredy Vortice Vasquez for organizing the party and generously sharing CircleSpace with us! And thanks to Gary O Smith for taking all the photos to share.
And 10 years of gratitude to Tommy Stephens, our Circle Band Drummer and a back-up vocalist, for Sunday Mornings, Special Events, many smiles, and so much more! Thank you, Tommy. We love you, We bless you, We see the light in YOU! | |
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