Black Religion: Hurting or Helping Us?

It seems we're at a point where we cannot advance without dealing with "The Spiritual." And no, I am most def NOT talking about religion. (Well ... I'm not recommending it, nor am I advising it.) Spiritual to me is a part of my body and my personal psychology. Take Yoga for instance. If my "life nerve" is tight, then my thinking is also tight... easily angered and reactive.

At my age, I'm forced to reflect that without mainstream Christianity, I would never have gotten sober and remained sane all these years. But I also see the limitations of the Black Church and ask: "If Christianity needs reformation--again, then do I have time to wait on it?"

• I reject the concept of a god that loves Baptist and hates Hindus. (What kind of god is THAT? That sounds more like the guy in the corner market down the street.)
  
  
• I reject the abomination of "Prosperity Christianity" that puts money at the forefront of God... even higher than the necessary concept of learning to love and accept ourselves so that we can love and accept others

• I reject the Christianity of The State ... this vile "religion" that tells us we must now kill Muslims ... because God wants us to have their oil. Naaa... don't sound right partna.
  
  
• The Christianity I got was almost a "Boogie-Man" religion. God wasn't just there to punish me, He didn't want me to think too much and would send me to hell if I took a Yoga class. ("Hmmm... if God created everything ... how come I can only put my money into the plate at the "JUmPin' JiviNg" Church"?)
  
  
• I love Gospel music ... but there's far too much externalization in service. Where's the time to, "Be still and hear my voice"? Meditation isn't owned by anyone. East and Western traditions do it. Jesus was both praying and meditating in the Garden of Gethsemane when they came for Him. And if Jesus is all of God, who was He praying to and why when we are to enter Heaven, are we expected to find Him sitting on the right hand of God The Father?? Bad theology for those who teach it and lazy theology for those who accept it.

To be a "Spiritual Warrior" means to go out beyond the fence line ... out beyond the boundary the "overly religious" warn you to stop. It is there we find the need to have faith because it is there we confront the archetypes of our minds and listen, learn what The Cosmic Christ ... the Great "I Am" is trying to teach us.

I advocate that we shed the limitations of the religion slaves were given by slave owners.
Explore the Eastern philosophies from whence our Western spirituality came from.
Accept yourself fully as you are... shadow and light... made in God's image...
Seek out people and places to guide you to your heart ... your own INNER Light and from there, connect to the One Soul that unites us all.

If "The Garden of Gethsemane was a state of mind ... a state of agony, then I likewise believe that "The Garden of Eden" was also meant to be a state of mind ... of innocence, virtue, and love. I want to spend more time ... "getting back to the Garden" than being lost in lust, pride, greed, envy, anger(fear) and sloth.

It's from here we can begin to rebuild bridges to each others hearts and minds... and begin to climb out of the dark prison that we've been locked in these past 30 years... or more...

Post-Obama: Still Addicted to Negativity?

I left the room after hearing his first press conference, and breath an unconscious sigh of relief. For the first time in 30 years, I did not feel like my government was persecuting me. ("Phweeeph"!)

So it's been a little over a month, and there is still a lightness in the air. The California Bay Area hasn't felt this good since the 70's. Yet, already, the bloggers, writers, and media reporters are re-hitching up their little wagons to stars of hatred, fear and resentment.

It's like half the population is addicted to being the victim. Literally ... addicted. In his book, "People of The Lie," Dr. M. Scott Peck speaks to the fundamentals of "Evil."

I guess I'm alarmed at how quickly people can go from elation, hope, and joy ... to returning to the slop of their "Lazy Thinking" ... blaming others instead of getting to work on creating the society ... the culture ... and the individual lives we most want to experience.

It's been easy to point fingers at all the many sources of evil that has came at us these past 30 years. OK ... longer ... but there's been breaks... and it's during these "breaks" that the greatest change can occur. The 60s was a wonderful break. That decade gave us Dr. Martin Luther King, an end to institutionalized Jim Crow, and privileges like the right to vote. And now, as President-elect Obama prepares to enter the White House, we all stand, at a threshold of another unique time in history where great change can happen ... if we only become aware of how the trauma of racism has become a habit in our thinking.

"Since they must deny their own badness, they must perceive others as bad. They project their own evil onto the world. The evil attack others instead of facing their own failures. Spiritual growth requires the acknowledgment of one's own need to grow. If we cannot make that acknowledgment, we have no option except to attempt to eradicate the evidence of our imperfection. Strangely enough, evil people are often destructive because they are attempting to destroy evil. The problem is that they misplace the locus of the evil. Instead of destroying others they should be destroying the sickness within themselves."

I suppose what I'm challenging everyone ... blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians, et al ... is to begin ... quickly... to think about what each of us as individuals can bring to the table to make this a better place to live. Stop looking at the faults of others for a minute, and begin thinking about what they need. More, what do I need to be fully happy, healthy, joyous and free ... and what am I doing to stop that from becoming reality in my life? That is the work and the great opportunity of this moment.

Here are some quotes by Dr. Peck ... food for thought...

Books by Dr. M. Scott Peck