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PEACE IS INTERSTELLAR

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Hubble_deep_field

 

Each moment has its life and its death; otherwise, existence is impossible.

The Tao.

 

I saw the movie, Interstellar, last night in IMAX and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a Sunday morning, and I should be in church, but I am still thinking about this movie instead. I keep thinking about how so many seemingly random and unrelated things in this movie turn out to be inextricably intertwined and, in fact, dependent each upon the other. I keep thinking about the vast number of spiritual parallels to this theme.

The film is almost indescribable in its artistry and overlapping themes, but David Brooks of The New York Times writes a stunningly beautiful review of the movie entitled, Love and Gravity, that is, I think, a work of art in and of itself. In his review Mr. Brooks points to the movie pointing to this interconnection of seemingly mutually exclusive things: science and faith, and science and our love for each other. In fact, they are intertwined, and faith and love become their own field and dimension.

And so it is, I think, with Peace. It can be a super- power, but it is dependent upon and intertwined with so many other things. Like the movie, it is dependent on our attraction to and seeking out of something or someone out there we cannot see, who spans time and space, generations, life and death—a God who is invisible but is still reaching across time and space to be with us. It is impossible to connect with him if we don’t extend ourselves to meet him. That is the cosmic, fun side.

There is also the mundane side of peace– muscle memory. Peace is a practice.

I suffered a brain injury as a result of a car accident about two years ago. I am now ok. Before the accident, I was a fairly accomplished pianist and was in a band singing and learning the guitar. I lost my memory of how to play these instruments. Because I lost the intellectual memory to process these things, I didn’t even try. Because I didn’t even try, I lost the muscle memory. When my intellectual memory of the chords and notes returned, my hands and my voice would not respond to the commands. Once I just started moving my fingers it was terrible at first, but within a couple of weeks, the music began to sound like something a human being would want to hear. I played a tape of a friend singing to teach myself to sing again. I thought that regaining command of my instruments was dependent on my mind but it was dependent on my love for them and their need to be played.

Peace is like this. If I wait for it to just happen to me, I won’t experience it. To have peace I have to surrender to the partnership with my unseen creator, and for that to happen, I have to practice being mindful that there is a partnership It is dependent on my love for my creator, his love for me and my ability to practice this, if only for a few moments a day. Peace, and the lack of it, is related to control, powerlessness and fear, but especially self worth and humility.

I can’t have peace if I am afraid of the future, regret the past, or don’t approve of myself. I can’t get rid of these afflictions unless I practice peace. I can’t cure my mind and it’s ridiculous thought patterns with my mind. Back to the partnership and the eternal dance.

“THE FIRST THING WE DO, LET’S KILL ALL THE POETS!”

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Shakespeare 5 REASONS WHY WE CAN’T.

1) There was an article in the New York Times very recently that was actually about the status of poetry in an age of prose. It was basically good news.

But, along with prose, we also live in an age of talking points and fake news, fake investigations, and reality shows that aren’t real. Personal offense and outrage often completely replace reasonable discussion and debate. Poetry is one of the last vestiges of un- sanitized and articulate language.

 

 

2) It follows that poetry is the language of the truth- teller. You shall know the truth and it shall set you free, but only if someone tells it. People complain about the ridiculously unintelligible poems that have been foisted upon us as simply too high- brow for mere mortals to understand. Some of them are hilariously indecipherable. But, metaphors are a delivery system for conveying the often brutal and ugly truth. The whole world is mourning Maya Angelou for a greater reason than she wrote pretty poems. She had supremely important things to say and did so perfectly. She made us understand and care.

 

ranchonedaisy3) Poetry is the language of protest and rebellion. Pick practically any of Bob Dylan’s songs and you will find a blend of protest and prophesy. There are too many to name, but “ Hurricane”, “ Desolation Row”, “ Like a Rolling Stone” and “ The Times They are a Changing”, come to mind. I am not a rabid Dylan fan, but how could “Tangled up in Blue” be anything but pure poetry?

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It follows that a song is a poem that happens to rhyme. Lyrics are a delivery system for protest and rebellion that makes them not only palatable but beautiful. I don’t mean to insult all of the Pulitzer Prize winners and poet laureates out there, but some of this brand of poetry is amazingly poignant. There is a song by Lily Allen called “ The Fear” that is so richly and sadly satirical it will leave you breathless, particularly the second verse..

 

4) There is a language deep in the soul that cannot be conveyed with perfect grammar, sentence structure and sanitized language, and poets are fluent in and understand soul-speak. With the exception of the “Begats”, poetry is also the language of the Bible. Whether one believes in the literal truth of the words contained in its covers or not, the cadence and beauty of them can be inspirational in and of itself. The Psalms, The Song of Solomon and Proverbs are pure poetry. But, so is the rest of it. Isaiah is replete with gorgeous poetry. Case in point:

 

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my

covenant of peace shall not be removed…O afflicted one,

storm- tossed and not comforted, behold, I will…lay your

foundations with sapphires. (Isaiah 54:10)

 

5) Ever been to a Poetry Slam?

Poets are warriors, wearing their hearts on their sleeves and doing battle to defend them.

They are necessary insurgents, becoming catalysts for reform, change, honesty and transformation.

They are conduits to spiritual healing, growth and transformation, speaking and interpreting soul and spirit- speak. This is the very infrastructure of humanity and progress- not fluff.

We are everywhere; not just on some remote Isle of Tweed and Berets, or hanging out at Starbucks. We might even be your neighbors, you never knowJ

We are society’s detoxifiers, like a great big cleansing and centering breath.

 

 

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