God Does Not Equal The Authority

Yesterday, I finished reading the third in the "His Dark Materials" series by Philip Pullman, which includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. I found them to be wonderful, compelling stories.

Philip Pullman is a self-avowed atheist. There was a big, silly brouhaha when the movie version of The Golden Compass came out, all kinds of people saying that Christians shouldn't go see it because it is anti-God. I doubt that more than a handful of people made it through the series to the last one and had any inkling about the true nature of the books. The first one just barely touches on religion; it's just a little bit anti Church but not really anti God. The second one is more anti Church but, again, doesn't say much about God. The third one, though, is very surely a rant against God. But you know the funny thing? It's very against God the Authority but it is very Quakerly in it's beliefs, anyway. This is from the last page of the book (**Warning-Spoiler**):

(Lyra is speaking with her daemon, Pan)

"I remember. He meant the Kingdom was over, the Kingdom of Heaven, it was all finished. We shouldn't live as if it mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place."

"He said we had to build something..."

"Thay's why we needed our full life, Pan. We would have gone with Will and Kirjava, wouldn't we?"

"Yes. Of course! And they would have come with us. But-"

"But then we wouldn't have been able to build it. No one could if they put themselves first. We have to be all those difficult things like cheerful and kind and curious and patient, and we've got to study and think and work hard, all of us, in all our different worlds, and then we'll build..."

Her hand were resting on his glossy fur. Somewhere in the garden a nightingale was singing, and a little breeze touched her hair and stirred the leaves overhead. All the different bells of the city chimed, once each, this one high, that one low, some close by, others farther off, one cracked and peevish, another grave and sonorous, but agreeing in all their different voices on what the time was, even if some of them got to it a little more slowly than others. In that other Oxford where she and Will had kissed good-bye, the bells would be chiming, too, and a nightingale would be singing, and a little breeze would be stirring the leaves in the Botanic Garden.

"And then what?" said her daemon sleepily. "Build what?"

"The Republic of Heaven, " said Lyra.

(Oh, I'm all verklempt again over the ending. It's so sad and sweet and hopeful.)

Many people seem to confuse The Authority with God. The Authority is The Church. God is Spirit, Life, Love, Truth. I understand the confusion. The Church speaks with authority saying it speaks for God, saying it knows the will of God. But it doesn't. The Church speaks for it's own power. God speaks quietly to the hearts of us all, letting us listen and hear in our own time, when we are ready. God is best represented in these books as the daemons which each character has, the spirit of each person. The Authority is no more God than mulefa can fly.

Yippee!

Here's why riding a scooter is so much fun:

When you drive in a car, you basically only use your eyes and your ears (and you don't even use your ears if you're listening to the radio too intently). When you scoot, you use all your senses(well, maybe not your sense of taste so much), sight, hearing smell, and touch. And then there's the balance/kinesthesia thing. Good riding is riding from the hips. I'd forgotten how it feels to be one with a ride; how it seems that the scoot just goes where I want it to go based on slight movements of my hips. I used to have a good friend who rode a Harley. He said that good passengers make good lovers (and bad=really bad). I understand why. It's about movement and flow and responding to your partner as in horseback riding; in this instance, my partner is my People. There's a groove centered in the root chakra that happens when one rides that makes it good. Yes, it's a sensuous experience.

Riding a two-wheeled vehicle requires all of your focus. At least for me, at least thus far, my entire concentration is taken by riding, nothing can be taken for granted. I'm sure that as I get more comfortable and more experienced I will relax and not pay as close attention but I will still be using so much more of my awareness than I ever do while driving a car. I love the feel of the air and the smells of whatever I'm near. I understand why bikers call car drivers "cagers"; there is a freedom in riding a scooter that you can't know in a car, even with the windows all rolled down and the sunroof open.

I'm sure I could use this experience as a metaphor for spiritual awakenings but I'm not going to: Sometimes a scooter ride is just a scooter ride.

The painting is from this website of artwork by David George Marshall: http://www.marshallimage.com/index.htm

Chicago, Chicago...

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for work training in Chicago (a Department of Energy project). My plane leaves at 7:15. My best friend, Pookers, will be picking me up at Midway and we'll hang out together. It's so nice that my job takes me to where she lives once or twice a year. I love her and we don't see each other nearly often enough.

Yesterday, the temp was in the low 60s and I got to ride my scooter and let me tell you, it is so much fun to ride in decent weather! I went to the store and bank in the afternoon and then rode to the meetinghouse and home in the evening (after dark!). It was great!!! Fun!!! And funny. People pull up next to me and beep and give me the "thumbs up". Everywhere I go, people ask me about my People. I tell them I get 84 mpg and they say they're gonna look at scooting more closely.

Today is primary voting day. I'm gonna go check the box for Barak Obama.

I'll be in Chicago until Sunday. On Monday, my supplies should arrive and on Tuesday I'll begin working this project. I probably will not have a lot of time to write for the next couple of weeks. I'll check in here when I can.

GIL February

We had our small Growing In the Light group meeting last night. It was wonderful. It was my turn to facilitate. I have been struggling with "what is God", so that was what I asked us to contemplate and share about. Nothing like a light, easy topic (or maybe Light, not so easy). I asked that we allow a lot of silence between speaking. We took turns talking about our perceptions, and to a small extent, our experiences of God. My dear friends were accepting of the question, although there was some amount of frustration in trying to communicate about Something Indescribable. The only way to attempt is through metaphor or allegory and even then there is so much unspoken, unknown.

I feel (yes, I'm gonna say it) blessed to have this group. I can ask a question that is so huge as to be overwhelming and I am held with love and answered from each person's heart with utmost sincerity. Each of us has concerns, problems, frustrations and we are all LISTENED to and truly cared for. If we don't understand, we wait and keep listening until at least one of us says, "yes!"

The first hour, we spoke out of silence about God. The second hour we talked more freely about where we are in our spiritual development. I talked a little but listened more. It was good. God (whatever, whoever, however God is) was with us, uniting us, guiding us. I am touched to be with a group of people who desire to know, to feel, to experience Spirit in each moment.

Before we went into the warm room that we call the grotto, we talked a bit about Meeting for Worship for the Conduct of Business. Sylvia has been reading "Beyond Consensus" and said that we should do a class for everyone using it and also hand it to newcomers when they come for worship on business day. I told Sylvia that what Barry Morley describes in that pamplet is what I'd been trying to express to her months ago: That I want my every action to be a prayer, and that it can be if my intentions are to glorify God. Before, she couldn't quite get what I was trying to say, but now understands. Kit said that just coming and sitting in silent worship, holding our meeting in the Light is a gift for everyone. Geoffrey explained how he had been very opposed to combining the business with worship but his attitude has been transformed by his experience. Andy, who has avoided MfWftCoB, said he is willing to give it another shot.

My Prayer for Today

Dear God,
Dear Father, Mother, Creator,
oh, Holy One.
Let me be a channel for your love today.
Keep me and hold me and guide me to do your work. Use me. Let my mouth be your mouth. Let my hands be your hands. Show me how to let go of my attachments to my self so that I may use what you have given me in your service. Most of all, let me see You in all* whom I encounter today and help me to open myself so that your light and love shine through.
Mary Linda
(*including my father-in-law)