The Wild Things of God

Into the wild

I could write a thousand-word review about this movie. I could call it the Walden of our times. I could tell you how it is an ode to the beauty of America as The Constant Gardener was to that of Africa and Spring, Fall, Summer, Winter… and Spring was to that of Asia.

I could tell you that its five chapters, Rebirth, Adolescence, Manhood, Family, and The Getting of Wisdom, form a remarkable portrait of renunciation and self-discovery in the mystical journey. I could tell you how it reminded me of my teacher’s wise counsel to me when I was “hell-bent” on getting enlightenment as soon as possible. (And, of course, I just did.)

But there’s something about profound experiences that demands a restraint of the tongue, a savoring of the sublime, and a respect for silence, so that the fewer the words, the better.

You see, watching Into the Wild is a sacred act. It is prayer. And, as prayer, there is nothing to say afterwards but “Thank You,” or “Amen.” Thanks to Trev for pointing me to this inspiring, but insightful and honest examination of one man’s incredible journey.

The Quieting Blogosphere

OK, I’m blogging less, and I’ve admitted it. But what about you? Out of my formerly blog-active friends only Carl and Bob keep on at their impressive posting paces. It seems to me that most of my blogging friends have slowed down, just as I have.

So, just curious:

• Is it my imagination, or are you blogging less?
• Is it just my circle of friends, or is this a broader phenomenon?
• What’s the reason?
  • Too busy?
  • Said it all already, nothing left to say?
  • More real-world and "wetware" activity?
  • More online community / social networking activity?
  • Changing interests?
  • Lack of interest / comments from others?
• Assuming this is a trend, what is it’s implication for the Web? What takes its place? Is it a negative phenomenon or positive?

Talk to me!

Wordpress woes

This is the second time in the last two weeks that I’ve lost a long post that I was working on just a bit before I was going to click the "Publish" button. Somehow, it seems to happen in between the auto-saves and, yes, I AM too dumb to remember to manually hit "Save" every 5 mins.

Also, the Akismet spam filter is getting annoying… I’m being asked twice a day now to manually flag absurd random spam posts which any spam catcher should be able to recognize.

WP and I have come a long way, but our relationship is going through some difficulties now. We’ll get through this, I’m sure.

Thomas Merton Square

The Louisville Metro Council last month named the intersection of 4th and Muhommad Ali Blvd. "Thomas Merton Square," in honor of Fr. Thomas Merton’s epiphany.  To my knowledge, this is the only occasion of any government recognizing an event related to awakening. The occasion was reported in the Lousville Courier-Journal, .with some excellent writing that actually understood Merton and the meaning of his experience.

As Carl McColman at The Website of Unknowing observed: "It’s rather neat to see a landmark named in honor of a mystical experience!" I’ll say! And I’ve never seen a secular newspaper report so well the meaning of a mystical experience. The times, they are a-changin’! Thanks, Carl, for letting us  know about this wonderful news!

Fun

I never imagined that turning 47 would be as much fun as it was

I awoke this morning

I awoke this morning
a poem flowing out of me
taking me from dreamland to morning light

An acknowledgement of all the Shadows
and the rightness of all the things I hide

A poem that wouldn’t end
because everything is part of it
A poem I couldn’t share, wouldn’t dare
for fear no one could understand but me.

A cat nuzzled me awake
Odor of an acrid litterbox
All perfect.

Before my feet touched the floor,
I realized
I am the poem I dreamed,
My life is the poem
written not for forty-seven years
But written from the first breath
I breathed,
the first body I owned.

Now there are billions
as much me as I am
living life in different circumstances
As I live life in mine.

All rage is mine, all love is mine,
all indifference and confusion mine.

I somersault naked off of water buffaloes behind the Taj Mahal,
And in Norfolk share the laughter.

I’m not alive
I’m life.

I’m awake.

© jon zuck // march 20, 2008 // norfolk, virginia

What are you looking here for?

Julie has said all that needs to be said.

We Manipulate God for YOU!

OK, I grew up (mostly by choice) in Evangelicalism, and when I started branching out from that I became aware of the abuses of that kind of religion, as well as of religion in general.  To put in bluntly, I’ve seen a lot. So much so, that I didn’t immediately get that this is a joke site:

Christvertising takes a whole new approach to marketing your brand. We skip the strategic deliverables. We pass  on the matrices, the payoffs and the metrics. We ignore any viral functionality. We focus on the ultimate end-user: God.

Christvertising manages a network of creative, innovative, and pro-active believers, who will help you, through intensive prayer, improve your brand in the eyes of the Lord. If God loves your brand, it will become stronger and more successful. Christvertising helps you access the power of brand-targeted prayer (BTP^TM) using our unique, isoceles approach to marketing: Reach, Connect, Pray.

On another page, the good doctor claims to "have 1,664,000 people ready to pray for your brand," but another page tones that down to choosing a "brand-prayer alignment" and a "targeted and structured prayer channel."  Finally, his "Where" page challenges you to ask yourself if your brand "is in God’s good books?"

This is a great parody, in fact, a little too good. Design maven Andy Rutledge was fooled by it as well. Later I realized how similar the tone was to the award-winning Santability site, that I realized it’s a joke. (April Fool’s on me early!).

Here’s a Christvertising video that’s a little more obvious. And J-Walk explains it all.

Filed under Jesus/Christianity, Humor, Seen on the Web, and bad use of the word "isoceles."

Sometimes it amazes me …

That so many people have yet to discover yerba mate. In Norfolk, Fair Grounds is the only place I know that serves it. Fortunately, it’s not so hard to get the yerba mate leaves. I’ve been brewing my own now since last fall. This weekend I bought a French press. It really makes a great difference… so much better than tea bags.

Mate, like hookah, is just one pleasure I can’t do without.

You think that…

I recently saw a video of Eckhart Tolle teaching at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. One of the stories he shared was of another teacher, Byron Katie, who was visiting some patients in a cancer ward. She stopped in a chatted with a very depressed woman who had a massive tumor on one of her legs.  The prognosis wasn’t good; she was probably going to die.

Byron Katie asked her why she was so depressed and said, "I don’t see what the problem is."

Needless to say, that angered and depressed the patient even more.  "Here," she said, throwing off the sheet, "Look! My right thigh is twice the size of my left!"

"Oh, " Byron Katie said, "Now I understand. The problem is that you think that your right thigh should be the same size as your left!"

And for the first time in months, the woman with the cancer laughed.

Isn’t it interesting how insignificant most problems shrink when viewed in just the light of the present moment without  that odd imaging we call the  "future?"