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“Sometimes, I cannot find You, God. And the reason I cannot find You is simple: it is with that in me that eclipses You that I seek You”. John Moriarty, Dreamtime. (Yellow Belle’s signature quote)
I don’t know if anyone else reads the signatures attached to these posts. For my part, I find them instructive and revelatory of an aspect of the poster’s state of awareness. In the case of Yellow Belle, I found a real gem, and I feel that it is applicable to the resolution of the scandal we are addressing here, that scandal being, I sense, a simple symptom of a greater problem that only appears to include the Catholic Church and the Irish government as a momentary focus. Certainly, as Catholics, it is right and appropriate to address the issue as having been a manifestation within the Church. However, it may be more ultimately useful to look at this occurrence as a phenomenon capable of analysis at a deeper level. Some may say that there is no deeper level than addressing it in terms of the faith, but in fact, many of the terms and sanctions that might be used as treatment in that way would not wash on a global scale, which is the actual arena of this misfortune. I am implying very directly that this problem is not, and cannot be, separate from the human condition in general.
But back to YB’s signature. I am someone who believes that the Federal Aviation Administration ought to have a far larger part in our American government than it does, in terms of results stemming from analysis. You see, it is the job of the FAA to minutely dissect, reconstruct, and analyze the remains of a catastrophe with a view to implementing regulations, practices, and designs that will materially increase the safety of passengers. Though it is a far, far, simpler matter to get folks safely from A to B than it is to be a formative influence on the lives of our children, there is a proceedural attitude present in FAA methods that might serve us well in preventing the reprise of any such thing as happened in the situations that are the subject of the reported abuse.
Now I am someone who does believe that whatever it is that constitutes prayer, contemplation and meditation have an effect at least on “other” minds and may to some degree be noticed in whatever “spiritual” hierarchy there certainly must be. This is despite my sense that the Catholic description of all that, IMHO, is sadly lacking and tragically unfortunate. But so are those of other systems, both religious and secular. And that, together with their contradictions and momentums, is what needs to be gotten past. And whatever your opinion of my particular take on this, one thing does need to be accounted for: There *are *great differences in what different belief based groups, including governments, secularists, and scientists might bring to bear as their understanding of the roots of our current misfortune.
This is where YB’s signature and the FAA come together. If we are going to pray for the victims and perpetrators of these events, what is the point of our doing so, and what does the result look like? My concern is that if it is, as it seems to be, the unfortunate and prevalant state among religionists that “it is with that in me that eclipses You that I seek You” is operative, as we might well conclude from the state of the world and its beliefs, what universal points of agreement might we use to parse or tease out the entirety of our drama?
I humbly submit that my experience, and that of many I know both directly and indirectly, lead me to conclude that a strictly Catholic analysis of this tragedy is not the sole/soul avenue of approach. This is applicable both to the private mode of prayer and the assumptions behind it, and the public mode of prescribing faith formulas that are not universal in nature, save in the minds of believers. I firmly and completely believe by dint of my own decades long work on myself and the witnessing of the transformations of others, that the way to a resolution is in the honest, sincere, and scrupulous examination of what we use to find God. My conviction about this is so strong I feel that I can guarantee that anyone who delves into the origins and assumptions of their faith, be it political, religious, economic, or whatever, will come up with gems of self understanding undreamed of in the course of their “normal” lives.
I am further convinced that neither God nor Truth is harmed, bent, distorted, or abused by assuming and pursuing the idea that one’s personal understanding is fundamentally off. In fact, this attitude assuming ignorance is what might break the bounds of our necessarily parochial thinking into a greater acceptance of the world as it is, not as we think and believe it to be. As One man said “Admit that you do not know what you do not know. That is knowledge.” Such a statement has extraordinarily far reaching consequences that few have experienced, it seems, or there would be far greater agreement in matters of Spirit throughout the world. This inaccuracy in Spirit allows not only the kinds of things we now face on many fronts, but leaves us as well with not much other choice than to look to secular solutions in practical matters. Religious solutions seem, historically, to only cause, in great part, strife and enhance separation. Seemingly pertinent Biblical statements notwithstanding, this is not the purpose of religion. The results of such activity reveal the inefficiency of the premises adhered to, as is clearly evident. Some other course, founded on the supremacy of Deity, yet exclusive of religion, must be plotted and followed. That which we use to seek God which eclipses God, that must first be dissolved, then may our vision be clearer at least. Have you or I the courage to make such a Quest? Is not that Quest, though, the original reason for our beliefs in any case?
I don’t know if anyone else reads the signatures attached to these posts. For my part, I find them instructive and revelatory of an aspect of the poster’s state of awareness. In the case of Yellow Belle, I found a real gem, and I feel that it is applicable to the resolution of the scandal we are addressing here, that scandal being, I sense, a simple symptom of a greater problem that only appears to include the Catholic Church and the Irish government as a momentary focus. Certainly, as Catholics, it is right and appropriate to address the issue as having been a manifestation within the Church. However, it may be more ultimately useful to look at this occurrence as a phenomenon capable of analysis at a deeper level. Some may say that there is no deeper level than addressing it in terms of the faith, but in fact, many of the terms and sanctions that might be used as treatment in that way would not wash on a global scale, which is the actual arena of this misfortune. I am implying very directly that this problem is not, and cannot be, separate from the human condition in general.
But back to YB’s signature. I am someone who believes that the Federal Aviation Administration ought to have a far larger part in our American government than it does, in terms of results stemming from analysis. You see, it is the job of the FAA to minutely dissect, reconstruct, and analyze the remains of a catastrophe with a view to implementing regulations, practices, and designs that will materially increase the safety of passengers. Though it is a far, far, simpler matter to get folks safely from A to B than it is to be a formative influence on the lives of our children, there is a proceedural attitude present in FAA methods that might serve us well in preventing the reprise of any such thing as happened in the situations that are the subject of the reported abuse.
Now I am someone who does believe that whatever it is that constitutes prayer, contemplation and meditation have an effect at least on “other” minds and may to some degree be noticed in whatever “spiritual” hierarchy there certainly must be. This is despite my sense that the Catholic description of all that, IMHO, is sadly lacking and tragically unfortunate. But so are those of other systems, both religious and secular. And that, together with their contradictions and momentums, is what needs to be gotten past. And whatever your opinion of my particular take on this, one thing does need to be accounted for: There *are *great differences in what different belief based groups, including governments, secularists, and scientists might bring to bear as their understanding of the roots of our current misfortune.
This is where YB’s signature and the FAA come together. If we are going to pray for the victims and perpetrators of these events, what is the point of our doing so, and what does the result look like? My concern is that if it is, as it seems to be, the unfortunate and prevalant state among religionists that “it is with that in me that eclipses You that I seek You” is operative, as we might well conclude from the state of the world and its beliefs, what universal points of agreement might we use to parse or tease out the entirety of our drama?
I humbly submit that my experience, and that of many I know both directly and indirectly, lead me to conclude that a strictly Catholic analysis of this tragedy is not the sole/soul avenue of approach. This is applicable both to the private mode of prayer and the assumptions behind it, and the public mode of prescribing faith formulas that are not universal in nature, save in the minds of believers. I firmly and completely believe by dint of my own decades long work on myself and the witnessing of the transformations of others, that the way to a resolution is in the honest, sincere, and scrupulous examination of what we use to find God. My conviction about this is so strong I feel that I can guarantee that anyone who delves into the origins and assumptions of their faith, be it political, religious, economic, or whatever, will come up with gems of self understanding undreamed of in the course of their “normal” lives.
I am further convinced that neither God nor Truth is harmed, bent, distorted, or abused by assuming and pursuing the idea that one’s personal understanding is fundamentally off. In fact, this attitude assuming ignorance is what might break the bounds of our necessarily parochial thinking into a greater acceptance of the world as it is, not as we think and believe it to be. As One man said “Admit that you do not know what you do not know. That is knowledge.” Such a statement has extraordinarily far reaching consequences that few have experienced, it seems, or there would be far greater agreement in matters of Spirit throughout the world. This inaccuracy in Spirit allows not only the kinds of things we now face on many fronts, but leaves us as well with not much other choice than to look to secular solutions in practical matters. Religious solutions seem, historically, to only cause, in great part, strife and enhance separation. Seemingly pertinent Biblical statements notwithstanding, this is not the purpose of religion. The results of such activity reveal the inefficiency of the premises adhered to, as is clearly evident. Some other course, founded on the supremacy of Deity, yet exclusive of religion, must be plotted and followed. That which we use to seek God which eclipses God, that must first be dissolved, then may our vision be clearer at least. Have you or I the courage to make such a Quest? Is not that Quest, though, the original reason for our beliefs in any case?
. ****You mean you prefer to believe your own lies? Hmmm, there is a mental disorder that fits that description.
