Mothers

I will not leave you orphaned.
John 14: 18
According to James Fowler (former developmental psychologist at Emory University)(which is where I went to school, so his credibility may be up for grabs), a mother is absolutely crucial in the development of faith for her child. Fowler writes in his book, Stages of Faith, that faith for a human begins as an infant being put in a cradle alone and learning to trust that mother will come back. Will always come back. Take away that early childhood experience of mother returning and the future adult will have a tough time developing any trust or faith whatsoever.

The good news, of course, is that in any given lifetime, a person may only have one birth-mother, but might be blessed with a whole gaggle of other mothers. Teacher-mothers, neighbor-mothers, grandmother-mothers, even Father-mothers. Mothers are nurturers, after all. From the umbilical to the nipple to the swaddle and cuddle, mothers are all about reminding you that you are not alone. That you are loved. That someone in this crazy and often terrifying world cares deeply about you – and is there for you, come what may.

Whether or not you’ve ever had a child or ever will, it’s not too late for you to be a Mother to someone: to hug, to listen, to offer a little compassion and forgiveness. A little get-down-and-boogie nurture. Mothers’ work in this world is never done. Never. And good Mothers are everywhere. You may be one to someone this week. Ain’t no better way celebrate Mother’s Day.

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Howard is excited, pumped and all stirred up emotionally as he heads for Boone, NC, this weekend to watch his daughter,Kelsey, graduate from Appalachian State University. Immediately after getting her sheepskin, she heads for the University of Miami to start work on a Doctoral Degree in Physical Therapy. Howard gladly admits that there’s no prouder Papa in the world than he is these days.

Enthusiasm

Shout to God with loud shouts of joy!
- Psalm 47
The Jew says, “Sh’ma Israel, Love God with all your heart.” The Christian says, “Let Jesus come into your heart.” The Dalai Lama says, “The heart of the Buddha is service to others.” The Hindu says, “The heart of Hindu is union with The Supreme Brahman.” And Lao Tzu says, “If you want to know me, look inside your heart.”

Spiritual folk do a lot of heart talk – a lot of yabber about how the spiritual life is really an inside job. Holy stuff appears to be not so much a matter of the brain as it is the heart. The basic message from the sacred side of town is, “Think all you wish about God; but if The Big Numero Uno ain’t running around inside you, Lil’ Buckaroo, it don’t mean diddly.”

So what happens to you when you open the door and allow the Grand Wazoo to settle in? For some, it means you’re eternally saved. For others, it gets you through the hard times. Some scoot their blessed butts into a monastery. Some, to religious studies. Others pour themselves into service to others. And, then, there are a few, I suppose, who simply go around each day with a big goofy smile.

Some let God inside and then get obnoxious and pushy and try to convince everyone else to join them. But, for most folks, the result is joy, peace, assurance, trust.

The dictionary definition of enthusiasm is “eagerness, passion, gusto, zest for living.” Pretty admirable qualities, indeed. But word coming from the Latin, en theo, literally means, “God within.”

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Howard is headed into May Day/Beltane with a big smile on his face and soul. Both his daughters, Windsor and Kelsey, are living large and his LadyLove, Joyell Smith, is having a magical time in South America. Howard says, “It makes a man want to run out on May Day and kiss somebody.” If you’re in the Asheville area, look out!

Fullness of Life

Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.
- John 7:38
When you call the Spirit from the four directions in the ancient traditional sense, you are calling everything that is or isn’t. Everything that was or shall be. You are calling birth and death. Pleasure and pain. Giving and receiving. Waking and sleeping. Old and young. Republicans and democrats. Boogers and Batman. Lady Gaga and Laura Bush. You are calling it all in. Calling the whole shootin’ match. You are calling for fullness of life. You are calling the Infinite.

However, for most of us, fullness of life feels a lot fuller when we’re not feeling empty. We forget, of course, that emptiness is part of life’s fullness. Ain’t that a grunt! We all like fullness of life, of course, but would just as soon drop the pain part, thank you very much. We like our fullness to be pain free. And doubt free. And confusion free. And trouble free. And struggle free. And terror free. And… excuse me, God, are you listening?

Fullness of life – both the yuk and the yum – is part of life’s legacy to us, however. No one can take that away. No doctor, teacher, lover, guru or goofball can strip you of that legacy. It’s yours to receive and make of it the best you can. The good news is, that somehow, in some crazy way, it all works together. It’s all part of your story.

13th Century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Rumi, writes this:
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.
Welcome and entertain them all even if they’re a crowd of sorrows.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

When calling the four directions or calling for love or calling for wisdom or guidance or fullness or abundance, it’s always good advice to remember what you’re asking for and remind yourself that, no mater what, God is in it all.

Unity

…so that they may be as one, as we are one.
- John 17:11
It’s been the dream of world reformers, politicians, utopians, religious potentates, spiritual gurus and community organizers. It’s been the focus of every meeting at the United Nations, every speech of every political rally. It’s emblazoned on T-shirts and billboards and magazine ads. There’s even a religious denomination in the United States named after it.

Unity – as elusive as it seems for us two-leggeds – is actually rampant in the world at large. Creation, itself, is up to its flora and fauna in unity. Any eco-system is all about unity. In any healthy bionetwork, air, water, nutrients, plants, animals, bugs and microbes are all dancing together to some unheard band. Migrating birds know when it’s their turn. Flowering orange trees know precisely when to step out. Clouds know how to catch a jet stream for a wild ride across a continent so they can chill or warm, drench or dry some other part of the landscape.

We humans are not so good at piling our act in one place. We get all territorial, protective and defensive. We distrust people who don’t worship, eat or mate like we do. We’re cynical of those who imagine the world living in peace. We’re far bigger on bombs than bonds.

Be that as it may, the Earth continues to live as one. Mother Earth’s been trying to teach us how it can work. She keeps offer unity as a legacy. Someday, perhaps, we’ll realize what a life-saving gift it is.

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Howard just spoke at a big church festival in South Carolina, this weekend. At one point, they brought the kids to the stage and asked him to sing, “I Wanna Have Dog Breath.” Wasn’t part of the program, but that’s never bothered Howard. He had the kids and 500-600 adults wagging, panting, scratching and howling. The experience again confirmed one of Howard’s mantra’s: Silliness is next to Godliness.

Connecting

I am the vine, you are the branches. – Jesus
If the tongue doesn’t connect to the chocolate truffle, there’ll never be groans of delight. If the bee doesn’t connect to the flower, there’ll never be honey or more flowers. If the foot doesn’t connect to the ball, the soccer player will soon get benched. If the sails don’t connect with the wind, that boat ain’t goin’ nowhere. And, if lips don’t meet sooner or later, the lovers will eventually part.

Connection of the synapses is how we think. Connection of Point A to Point B might just lead us to C. Maybe. If the human species made a business card telling what our business is, It might well say, “Connecting.”

Mother Earth makes her connections with us every moment of every day. Each breath we breathe connects us with far-away rainforests and rivers we may never see. Each glimmer of light that hooks up with our retina connects us with sun, stars, moon and image after image of the world around us. And each of these images, of course, links up with our memory, emotions and consciousness. We are connecting fools.

Religion and spirituality offer a connection with what we can’t see, hear, touch, taste or understand. And, it’s that inexplicable connection to The Inexplicable which often enables us to more fully and meaningfully connect with the tangible world around us.

Connection is our legacy. We are bequeathed a bit more of it every day. Not a bad idea at all to continue that legacy with a smile, a touch, a hug, a wink and a big, deep breath. Without connection, of course, life would be impossible. And incredibly dull.

Wanna hold hands?

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Howard had a spiritualist medium come over last weekend to see what she might pick up about Hanger Hall – The Residence – which he shares with 15 other good folk. Ever since the “reading,” Howard has been humming Frank Sinatra’s tune, “How Little We Know.” Howard has also been smiling big time since he saw the April 9, 2012, Newsweek Magazine Cover. In big print: FORGET THE CHURCH – FOLLOW JESUS.

Legacy of Restoration

You restore my soul. – Psalm 23

You can restore law and order. You can restore confidence. You can restore trust, Victorian furniture, optimism, blighted neighborhoods or the economy. Vegetarians claim that meatless diets restore health. Multi-vitamin labels claim their pills restore strength. Workout gyms claim to restore childhood bellies and buns of steel. Weekend gurus claim to restore self-esteem and sexual incapacity – when you’re feeling impotent and not important.

The season of spring is one big honkin’ restoration carnival. Organizer Mother Earth pulls out the stops and throws a restoration party like no other. Trees that were butt-naked just a few weeks ago start slipping into the gaudiest green garments around. Grass and shrubs, which, days ago, could have posed for a doomsday movie are now inviting kids’ Frisbees, picnic munchies and lovers’ blankets.

And what we so often forget, of course, is that restoration is our legacy. We are each and all personally invited to this Big Restoration Party. We’re part of it. Integral to it. And, if we are willing to join in the festivities, chances are, the spirit of the revelry will rub off and we’ll feel our selves – from the inside out – being restored. We might even want to slip into something green and gaudy, grab a Frisbee and dance our buns and bellies off.

 

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Howard is feeling excited and honored, having been chosen to speak at the Annual YMCA Atlanta Good Friday Prayer Breakfast. He’s hoping the participants will be willing and able to sing and laugh so early in the morning. He’s also thrilled that both of his daughters will be coming home with their boyfriends for Easter.

Legacy of Assurance

If I make my bed in hell, you are there. — Psalm 139:8
You got your sun in the morning and the moon at night. But that’s just the beginning. You also got your spring, summer, winter, fall. You got your tides, your wind and your rain. You got flying birds and crawling bugs. You got artichokes, anchovies and amoeba. You got boogers in your nose and jam between your toes. So much consistency in this world. So much constancy and reliability. Steadiness and stability. So much assurance that, no matter what, life goes on.

So, why do we so often get our panties in a wad when things don’t go our way? Why do we regularly freak out with the assumption that life is going to hell? And why, oh why, do we continue to waste our imagination on worry?

Assurance is, indeed, part of the earth’s legacy to us. So how is that we habitually ignore the gift? Maybe, we think we know more than God. Maybe we figure we’re smarter than Mother Earth. Maybe it’s our arrogance that keeps us from lapping up the assurance that gushes from the river of life.

Maybe if we offered a little more compassionate assurance to the folks around us even every now and then, we might just remember to notice how the sun in the morning and the moon at night are offering the same to us.

 
Howard is looking forward to April Fools Day. Always. And on a Sunday! Fortunately, the folks at JUBILEE! Community (where Howard is minister of ritual) love a good joke; and always have a few up their sleeves. With all the goofy kids’ songs Howard has written and recorded and all the belly laughs he has enjoyed with friends and family, Howard definitely agrees with Tom Robbins when he wrote, “A good sense of humor is far superior to any religion yet invented.”