Tony Benn - Anger against injustice coupled with hope !

Philomena

Saw the British film Philomena at the cinema this morning. It's a fantastic film, sad, true and magnificently played by both main actors Judy Dench (Philomena) and Steve Coogan (Martin Sixsmith). The film is based on the true story that was published in book-form entitled 'The Lost Child of Philomena Lee', written by Martin Sixsmith. I always appreciate a true story and this was no exception.

Philomena gave birth to a son out of wedlock ( 'out of wedlock' sounds so old hat these days) - but back then in the 50s in strict Catholic Ireland giving birth outside of marriage was a shame for the family of the girl (the father of the illegitimate child had no worries !).
Philomena was sent to a convent, gave birth to  Anthony, signed away her rights to him and subsequently her son was adopted without her knowing who the parents were.

Philomena gets older but everyday she thinks of her son, his whereabouts and what he could be doing.
On Anthony's 50th birthday Philomena decides that it's time to tell her daughter about Anthony and then (to cut a long story short) gets Martin Sixsmith, the shamed Labour adviser and journalist to find her son.

They end up in America where Anthony was sold (adopted) to a rich American couple. Anthony's name had been changed to Michael Hess who had become a chief official in the Reagan administration.
He was also gay. He died of AIDs. Philomena was devastated when she learned that her son was dead.

There are some interesting points that can be highlighted from the story.

Philomena forgives the nun who kept the secret about her son's identity and whereabouts from her. The jounalist could never forgive the nun. Philomena comments that because of this he's crippled with anger and bitterness. Philomena forgave and through forgiving was released from a potential  bitterness that unforgiveness brings.  Forgiveness brings freedom.

The institution of the Church (in particularly the Roman Catholic Church) is seen in a negative light. The Church that is called to be a Light, is seen as darkness. Hiding the truth and financially profiting from the sale of babies and slave labour of young girls who had become pregnant. Unfortunately the Church often fails to live out the teaching and life of Jesus, whom she professes to follow.

I respect the character of Philomena and I can learn from her example. As already stated she readily forgives those that have trespassed against her. Forgiveness is tough, especially when you've been deeply hurt by someone. Philomena is open-hearted and continues to love and think highly of her son - even when she learns that he was a homosexual. This may not be such a big deal for most of us, but the fact that Philomena is an elderly Irish Catholic I think this may have been a large step for her.
She is 'uncomplicated' , she has a real faith, though sometimes 'deformed' by the education she'd received... actually keeping faith with such a deformed and ungodly education is admirable.

A very good film, filled with emotion and honesty.

My Religion is Kindness

Here's another meditation by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr: 

I think the genius of the Dalai Lama and of Buddhism is that they do not get lost in metaphysics and argumentation about dogmas and doctrines. They stay at a different level and thus avoid much of the endless disagreement that we find within Christianity. They do not argue about “what” but spend all of their time on “how”—which we have tended to neglect while we argue about “what.” As the Dalai Lama says, “My religion is kindness.” We could dismiss that as lightweight theology, until we remember that Jesus said, “This is my commandment: you must love one another” (John 13:34). Kindness is supposed to be the religion of Christians too!

(Adapted from Susan Hines-Brigger’s interview of Fr. Richard Rohr,
St. Anthony Messenger magazine, May 2013.)

As we continue to mature, we come to a sure sense that there is a deep okayness to life. “All will be well, all will be well, and every manner of things will be well,” as Julian of Norwich put it. We can live more and more within unitive consciousness and know the Divine Life itself is flowing through us. Your life is not about you; you are about Life! Life, your life, all life, the one life that we all share, is going somewhere and somewhere good. You do not need to navigate the river, for you are already flowing within it. For some reason, it takes a long time to get where we already are. Our goal is to intentionally participate in this mystery of what has always been our True Self. The Great Ones all agree on this: This one life, this True Self that lasts forever, is Love (1 Corinthians 13:8, 13). And we practice for it by being kind to everyone now.

Gateway to Silence:
My true self is love.

Elysium

Elysium is a futuristic science-fiction movie that was released last year (Aug 2013). I watched it on DVD last night.

I enjoy a good, action-packed film and I was not disappointed with Elysium. The Earth is diseased and those that are rich and elected can escape the polluted decaying planet to live on Elysium. Elysium is a manufactured 'planet' that can be seen from our dear planet Earth.

Max De Costa (Mat Damon) a poor earthling who was brought up by catholic sisters,was told by the nuns that he was born for a special purpose, destined for a particular reason. 

He works in a plant which manufactures androids that police earth, keeping the impoverished population in check by brutal means. Max is contaminated while working in the factory and has only 5 days to live. If he manages to go to Elysium he can be cured, for on Elysium there are machines (which resemble sun-beds) that can heal any disease. In fact, thanks to these machines one can virtually live forever.

The plot thickens when Max visits an old (air-pirate) friend who agrees to take him to Elysium. On one condition, that he downloads the data from an important elite into his own head. Max agrees. Things get wild and furious at this point. Max has also been operated on and has become a semi-robot with extraordinary strength.

Max eventually lands on Elysium after battles with those who want him killed. I forgot to mention an important element. Max has the codes to Elysium in his brain. These codes had been downloaded. 

Max dies at the end in order to open the gates of Elysium to all. 

The film evokes reflection on several issues including; the environment and our duty to look after planet Earth. Also the issue of immigration. The heaven-like realm of Elysium is an exclusive sphere reserved for the rich and elite. Our world is also divided into the haves and have-nots. The insiders and the outsiders. In my last post I spoke about citizenship. I believe that we are all to be equal citizens on planet Earth, where there is no elitism and no favorites. We are all to be valued, no matter where we come from. With this in mind I believe that our immigration policies should not be seen only to favour our own personal interests but as citizens of planet Earth they should also favour those that are more unfortunate as ourselves. Those that are fleeing misery and hopelessness should be welcomed.

Max is heroic. He consciously lays down his life so that all can enter Elysium. Now I may be stretching this, but there is a clear parallel to the life of Christ, who voluntarily laid down his life so that we can all enter into a new life - now and forever. There is no elitism, no favorites - we are all welcome into the inclusive Realm of Grace. 

Turning Consumers Into Citizens

Reading Jim Wallas' book On God's Side (what religion and politics hasn't learned about serving the common good). Saw Jim Wallas at Greenbelt last year, an inspirational speaker, who teaches with authenticity because he practices what he preaches...

In the book i came across this phrase: 'turning consumers into citizens'.
We live and breath in an acute consumer society - i'd be the first to confess to being brutally influenced by the need to spend, consume, spend, consume, spend, consume...and the contented feeling after buying the stuff. The albeit short-lived contented feeling.

So the vision of being transformed from a 'consumer' into a 'citizen' is a vision that I cling to with clutching hands that seem to be forever slipping...never seem to hold on to with much success.
I persistently refuse to be defined by the things I buy. I'm made in the image of the Creator. The free, all -Loving-Gracious Spirit who breathes Her love upon us, revealing to us that we have worth, we are valued for who we are and not for what we possess.

Refuse the consumer identity and take hold of our true identity of citizens - citizens of the Grace-filled Realm, citizens of the All-embracing, all-inclusive Grace Realm.

Cross in Movement, Tattooing an Ancient Practice

A few years ago I was seriously thinking about getting myself tattooed.
Tattooing is an ancient practice and has been around for thousands of years. I recently saw a short documentary where a discovery of a frozen body was found near Italy. The body was fully intact with fingers, toes, organs and skin. The man is the oldest human ever to be found, allegedly 5300 years old. What is interesting is that the corps was covered with 59 tattoos.
So just to say - the art of tattooing is very old.

A few years ago after considering the possible pain of being tattooed (I hate pain, and faint easily at the sight of blood!) - I decided that tattoos were not for me.

Recently I started thinking once more about having a tattoo. A tattoo is for life (don't thy say that about getting a dog for Christmas???), so you have to be sure that you like what gets put on your skin.
Tattooing is an art and like any other art there are different reasons for doing it. It can express beauty, symbolism, or a truth (and much more).

So after much reflection and a little impulsion I decided to go visit my tattooist with a drawing that I liked. He seemed nice (I've got an inbuilt radar that detects the nice and the not so nice), and this guy seemed nice. I showed him the motif and explained the concept behind it.
He told me that he could do it - so I made an appointment to have it done 4 days later. So I'd actually plucked up courage. The courage to conquer my fear of physical pain, but also the courage to do something that I believe in, knowing that some people are appalled by tattoos - and may think less of me because of that.

So I did it!

Here it is...

The concept is simple. A celtic style cross. The cross: a reminder that my Lord had to suffer on one in order to reconcile us to Father and to break the cycle of violence...
The motif is in movement - the movement of the trinity; Father, Son, Holy Spirit, in constant flow, within herself and connecting and flowing down to us and through us. The Presence of God.

A New, But Really Old Software

The early but learned pattern of dualistic thinking can get us only so far; so all religions at the more mature levels have discovered “software” for processing the really big questions, such as death, love, infinity, suffering, and God. Many of us call this access “contemplation.” It is a non-dualistic way of seeing the moment.  Originally, the word was simply “prayer.”

It is living in the naked now, the “sacrament of the present moment,” that will teach us how to actually experience our experiences, whether good, bad, or ugly, and how to let them transform us. Words by themselves invariably divide the moment; pure presence lets it be what it is, as it is.

When you can be present, you will know the Real Presence. I promise you this is true.

And it is almost that simple.

Richard Rohr