Glass Elevator

 

So I have made no secret about my admiration for eastern religions, and in a exchange with what amounts to be a total stranger to me at this point I quite frankly told them my reasons for choosing one faith community over another. The following texts protects the names of the faith communities involved for better or worse (regardless of the choices I make in the future with respect to faith communities I choose in the future)

i dont understand what do you mean by what am i interested in? are we talking about as far as service.......the degree to which a church serves the greater community around it....cause that was christ's true mission on earth: service....not that [unspecified faith community]  doesnt do that they do....i just didnt get the vibe is all i am sure if i go back it'll be diffrent. the curch i usually go to is in philly and the expiernces i have there are hard to come by in modern christiandom....i always look to shed my human layers so i can reveal myself to the creator...that just didnt happen for me at [unspecified faith community] .

In the end there I didnt intend on saying that much about what it was I was trying to say but I did. I feel like I went over; but it felt right so I let it flow through my fingers :) And if the hands are conduits of the heart then I guess I did well. Now back to this idea of man revealing himself to the creator, to in turn see and be seen. There is a Hindu theological term for this  I learned from a religion professor at IUP back when I was in college; it's called puja. 

Wikipedia defines puja as making an offering of gift to the likeness of a practitioners chosen deity, but this is not the definition I recall from my time in the classroom so long ago. But what I do recall is Dr. Mlecko defining  it as "observing god, and being observed by god." Pretty comprehensive definition wouldn't you say? So the link attached to the above is a better definition than what Wikipedia has to offer.

I participated in a ritual something like this when I went to Philadelphia during Holy Week; at the church I specified in the above email. The service was in observance/celebration of Holy Thursday; the night Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples. Having been raised Baptist I had never been to one of these, nor had I heard of it. so the sermon was good, brief and to the point but it was the ritual that tugged my heart. I received communion, and had my hands (in lieu of feet, it's faster and more sanitary) ritually washed by the clergy of the church. 

I guess the point I am trying to make is the places we place ourselves, can make us more or less open to what the ethers have to tell us; or what we have to tell the creator. i think sometimes the things we hear coming from the pulpit serves as an asset or a detriment to our proximity to the divine on the holiest day of the week. I know for me when I hear certain buzz words or phrases I am totally taken out of orbit with the divine, and back on this terrestrial plane with humans. To me places of worship should be ethereal elevators to the heavens to meet the creator, so we can share our joys and sorrows; and thank the creator for the opportunity to frolic in his creation. Like the ladders that Jacob saw angels descending and ascending, or the creature that Mohammad rode on his Night Journey to the Holy Land church should be just as exhilarating.

I wrestle with elements of the 'human condition' that I cannot grasp all the time, this isn't what drives me to church; cause Lord knows I have taken my fair share of extended leaves from the presence of the Almighty. But when I am in front of the creator I usually make it a point to shed my skin in the presence of God. I am not quite sure what happens in these moments. I will keep what I remember of these exchanges sacred, this is why I have chosen one faith community over another.    

There's No Place Like Home

Oh all the places I'd like to go on this earth in my lifetime (before i go to my TRUE home) from the majestic Wats of southeast Asia to the vistas on the northwest  of these United States there is not place I'd rather be than the Streets of Philadelphia. I love home and everything about it. I love to see my hometown grow and evolve from the place it used to be when I was a child to the place it has become in the 21st century.  A stroll through Rittenhouse park is a glimpse of heaven, and nothing I have seen to date quite compares; in the way of ordinary city folks fellowshiping together in a common city place. Ahh and the heart of West Philadelphia; what more can a man ask for; I don't think that place can ever get too hood for me. Muslim brothas pushing their intrusive fragrances on every other street corner; and the smell of black and milds in teh air. It's no paradise but it's familiar to me. The kind of familar honeybees must feel when they return to the hive to drop off what they have collected from the fields and medows. Damn I love home. Marveling at the West Philly's fresh new back drop forces flashbacks of the 90s in my mind's eye. I'll miss you when I leave, and come back when I am good and ready.   Being a wall flower in that mosaic is more than I can ask for. Flying S's whizzing past my head, and the aroma of street vendors cooking up their urban edibles for metropolitan on teh go is what I miss the most when I am in my new home on the other side of the state. While a slower paced; and a more amiable crowd I do miss the fire that comes from the folks here in Philly. It even rolls off the tongue beutifully: Philly.

My real purpose in coming home this week was really to get back in touch with my heart; that being my nuclear family and my church family whom I love dearly. In their own ways they help me put things in perspective. All the time spent alone, or more properly 'away' i lose focus and call out of orbit from my heart; or maybe better put my true center. The transition to Pittsburgh for me was more of a way for me to expand myself. and as we all know growing isn't always the most painless experience in the world. Evolution is even more excruciating than growth. All things considered I am glad to have had the chance to be back, and I look forward to returning to the steel city in a few hours. Go Flyers!

Mr. Brown Chills in Washington

The images of this city never cease to amaze me, and what they do to me are even more profound than me. A city whose surface function is to be the legislative and distractive mechanics of this beautiful society that we live in boosts an amazing array of cultural beauty. I love just sitting on the bus being a fly on the wall able to witness the exchanges between my fellow bus riders. It’s good to know that even in a city like Washington; living in the financial strenuous times like we are now people still have faith in God. It really makes my heart soar. It also gives me the strength to go on. As some of you may know Washington is a city that I used to reside in; but and alloy of timing and maturity made it impossible for me to live here. I am not sure if I could ever call a place like this home for a myriad of reasons. But I have a handful of loved ones here that I wouldn't trade for the world, and they make this sometimes cols city as warm a hand-woven quilt on an autumn day.

But I am addressing you, on this place because of the images, I haven’t even been here an entire 24 hours and already I have been touched by what I have seen. The first of these is a advert on the metro for the Humanist; it’s a magazine that publishes on a bi-monthly basis. I used to read it in the library all the time when I was living in Philadelphia. Most of the articles take a very secular human stance on most issues, they report on; mind you they report on a humanist not merely human stance. Thus they yield to the higher angels of human existence rather than the lower demons of human nature. But it’s hard to gather that if you just take the advert on the image and words alone. I have made no secret of my allegiance to the almighty on here, but I have also made no secret of my plurality, regardless of the close-mindedness of some of my brothers and sisters out there who’ve already condemned ‘non-believers’ to hell. But to be honest to deny yourself or your being of being open to some omniscient being is counter intuitive to human existence, but further from what I have read of the humanist it’s readers are usually open to love of nature and communal brotherhood of some kind. Which at the end of the day what most, if not all sacred texts are getting at, at least on a human to human level.

Juxtaposed on the other end is what may send others screaming to something other than a ‘God’ this is an image I saw not two hours after the above in a family member’s neighborhood. Images like these frighten me for a number of reasons. The most ranking is that it scares people into a relationship with a being that doesn’t relate to his children that way anymore. If I were a 1st century Jew I suppose this would scare the crap out of me (even if they don’t believe in the traditional ‘Satan’ that we do). It’s also very immature on the part of the clergy; it’s as if they are teasing the ‘unsaved’ by waving an effigies of  the living Christ in their face. In the NT St. Peter tells the readers of his epistle to live such good lives that even if they accuse you of doing wrong they see the good you do. Actions brothers and sisters speaks volumes more than words ever could. But our words can cut as deep as the sharpest blade; turning one’s heart cold as ice. The vibrations of our songs can pierce the sensitive ear drums of those who need it most. Regardless of intention we can water from the mouth of Hagar’s crying child. So it is my suggestion that we (you/they) stop spooking the Almighty’s starving children, with their blurred view of  the gospel.

The Hearts of Men

Okay so I read about as much of the grand jury report as I my belly could bear; having read the contents, my position remains the same. The base of my case remains’ with victim #2 and the incident the occurred with graduate coach Schultz who walked in on a child being raped. From a legal stand point the fact that he walked out on a child being raped could imply he was implicit, or that he was protecting Sandusky. So Schultz calls daddy and he’s told to ‘come home.’ and From there Paterno is informed, and they take Sandusky’s keys; after an eyewitness account! So Paterno tell his people that one of his grads walks in on  Sandusky raping a 10 year-old child, and all he does is call his supervisor (and I find it very hard to believe that J. Paterno has a traditional supervisor. as in he really answers to anyone).


It really looks to me like a group of men (if I can call them that) were working very hard to protect a dynasty, and another man’s job because of his contribution to that dynasty. Paterno is a coward he shirked when his better judgment should’ve been in the driver’s seat. He appealed to his lower demons, and ignored his higher angels. It is my belief that he and the other gentleman Schultz should hang from the gallows with that Sandusky fellow. No he did not ’do the deed’ as a friend of mine commented but his crime of silence was of the same spirit as his darker codefendant. It’s very cut and dry to me; when you live in a culture where men are allowed to act like children for as long as society will let them things like this happen. I think our Jewish brothers and sisters had it right ushering their young people into adulthood via Bar-Mitzvahs and Bat-Mitzvahs.  Unfortunately we live in a culture where people have more of a romance affair with a game then they do for the condition or treatment of children in the institution that they revere so much, There is no reason PSU’s sports program should not be boycotted for the crimes they let scatter under their watch; that boils down to no more than human trafficking.

If these men had the same heart for children as the mission of Second-Mile was supposed to be then they would have resolved this over 10 years ago and this would have been a 2-7 minute sound bite, with Sandusky doing the perp-walk away from Beaver Stadium…but here we are.

Fresh Breath of Life

For the first time in my life in quite a long time things have seemed to find a rhythm, I guess once you escort all the chaos out of your life equilibrium and gravity seem to take their place. Regardless of all the craziness that I have confronted over the past 5 years, and countless cast of characters (some I kept others were asked to leave), one thing has remained constant; and I guess that one thing can be simply defined as my mission in life, and my hopes and dreams for a world that I have been thrust into. Suffice to say I am glad that I have reached this place, and hope that this trajectory continues. It is a trend that I can get used to; not to say that I am ill equipped for the valleys and canyons that I only expect in this journey called life. I can only hope that the best of the best are sitting shotgun with me when I meet those obstacles. So far in life I have not been deprived the company of saints, and it is my only wish that I accumulate even more upward thinking individuals.

In summation Pittsburgh has been really good to me, and I am thankful for this place, and the people in it. Especially my friends that have made my ride a lot smoother than it would have been otherwise, oh and I can not forget the kindness of strangers. It’s the heart of the stranger to the left or right that has made the adjustment to Pittsburgh that much easier. I also dig how “have a nice day” is a welcome way to see a stranger off; it’s a welcome change from places that I have lived in the past where abrasiveness is just a survival mechanism. But I am in Pittsburgh during football season five days before they play one of the region’s biggest rival. Still don’t quite get the STILLA CONTRY thing but perhaps I’ll be able to wrap my head around it before my time is up. Not promising that I’ll be a Steeler fan. Iggles ALL DAY SON!!!!




Love + Peace

The Urge to Snap

Today(29 JUL 11) while in downtown Pittsburgh i saw an outspoken catholic gentleman w/ a life-size crucifix hanging across his chest; holding a huge sign that read something to the effect " America Kills Babies" in huge print. Conjuring images of Wesboro Baptist Church I could only smile as I tried my best to shroud my discomfort with the confrontation unreaveling around me. A woman stopped at a traffic light begins to scream and rent back at this man who was addressing the general public; informing us of the ills of planned parenthood and how it was the single cause of our country's decline. At one point the woman in the car is screaming at him "you're not a Christian!" Now you maybe asking yourself so what is the take away here Bikim? Well for one this was a first for me; being a Philadelphia native a heretic like this would've been ignored on the streets or in any other public place. But put quite simply it was pure culture shock to me. I was kind of glad to see someone challenging this man who was bullying everyone within ear shoot of him.


I don't have really have anything to offer in the way of biblical commentary other than the architects of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were indeed men of God but at a bare minimum I would call them deist. And that abortion and the life of an unborn fetus aren't issues that were at the forefront of their minds and i do not think that it should be at the forefront of ours either. I will offer you this in the true spirit of those premature lives crushed before their existence could even began.....

"How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers." 
— Mother Teresa

Now I am neither pro-life or pro- choice but I takes these sorts of things on a case by case basis; it just so happens that my government has an open policy on this specific procedure. I can't imagine to know what it is like to carry a life inside of me, but I know what irresponsibility looks like. And I can say that those who engage in acts that have the potential to produce life and snuff out the natural repercussions of their union should consciously reconsider their options, and where what they have done has left them.

With all the financial decline occurring here in America, and the rash financial markets are leaving across Europe, I feel like the most dilapidated unit in the whole of america as far as I can see is the family unit. I can almost guarantee I am not in agreement with my demented brother on that Pittsburgh corner, I will offer you that tears in the 'so called american fabric' can be linked to fractures that exist in the modern american family. To illustrate the staggering number of single mothers and divorce rate. Obviously single mothers aren't running to abortion clinics- and I have always said that single mothers are my personal heroes because they do it all alone, and play the role of two parents while (somehow) maintaining their sanity. In summation let me be clear, I have nothing against a woman's right to choose.


For now that is all I have...

Love + Peace

Cause the Sun Came Out

Just stopping in to say hello, I guess this is one of those rare occiasions where I feel like my spirit is dancing in heaven, yet my body is anchored to earth still allowed to frolic among creation. My tea tastes better than it did the day before, and the sun; well the sun is shining a bit brighter than it did yesterday as well. The music sounds more beutiful, and I feel like a true child of God whose inherited treasures that my immature mind can't quite phathom. I could kiss the sky, if I haven't already done so. For those of you not in teh know I am officially claiming the 'Burgh as my permanent place of residency. After reviewing teh tapes, and looking over all the pro's and cons, it only make sense. The art scene is bustling the skyline is divine (to see in plain view of the rivers that weave in and out of the city). The way that the water and metal dance throughout the urban backdrop sends my heart swooning on and off the Pennsylvana turnpike to recover what I left in Philadelphia; and at the summits of the Pocono mountians. Keep me in your high thoughts and prayers, and I'll do the same for you brothers and sisters....I promise :-)


Love + Peace