Shining Spirit

The teacher told her fifth-grade class:
“The purpose of life is to learn so
you can be successful and happy.”

The Drill Sergeant told the new recruits:
“The purpose of your life is to do exactly
what I say…and fast!”

The professor of Theology informed the
graduating class: “As you leave this
place, remember that your purpose in
the world is to propagate the ontological
propositions of existential reality.”

My boss told me the other day: “Joe,
your purpose in this corporation is to
keep the money flow going so our
stockholders are happy and our bonuses
are big.”

I asked a guy on the street: “Friend, what
is your purpose in life?” He stood silent
for a moment, then replied: “Is this a
trick question?”

My good friend blessed me the other day
with a reminder that the poet Rumi
answered the question in the simplest
of ways: “Just to be in Your presence is
the point of my life.”

Simple. Profound. All encompassing.
True. Just to be in The Presence.
That’s all.

The lovely metal sculpture suggests that the Tree of Knowledge
is rooted in a book. Would it surprise you to learn that
it stands just outside a public library?
Lest we forget, though, people who follow the Way of Jesus
are also rooted in a book. Commentaries on the history of an
ancient people, poetry, narrative, stories that pack a punch.
It’s all there in this book.
Some people have put the Bible, a collection of sacred
writings, on the top shelf of the closet and forgotten
about it. The value of the Bible, though, depends on how one
approaches it: literal history, human commentary,
metaphorical meaning. Many who have put the book on
the shelf try to read the “words” and find it all illogical,
therefore irrelevant. I suggest that reading “through” or
“beyond” the words to a deeper meaning turns illogical
and irrelevant into inspirational.
People who try to walk in the footsteps of Jesus
are, indeed, people of the book.

Before I go out on a mountain hike, I read about
the trail in a guidebook. The experience of others is
helpful. A lot of people have walked the trail before me,
and their observations are valuable. In some ways,
the trail guidebook makes the journey more rewarding,
more exciting, more meaningful.
The Bible works the same way.

Do you think that God is through with us?
That he got on an outbound Greyhound bus
and never looked back at the mess we’ve made,
the ways we’ve polluted meadows and glades,
poisoned rivers, blotted out the sky?”
Why would God even want to try
to salvage our distortion of life?

Maybe we’re fully on our own.
We’ve certainly made it clearly known
that we prefer the rewards of greed and power,
the thrill of building Babel’s towers.
Justice and mercy just rode out of town
on a Greyhound bus that is probably bound
for a fresh start somewhere else.

It’s hard to believe what we’ve done to this place,
a dream that began with mercy and grace.
Now, the depth of our shame, the height of disgrace
when we look at each other face to face
and see not a brother of our flesh and bone
but an object we’d all too gladly own
and use with cruel disdain.

I’m surprised God didn’t leave a long time ago.
The human race is certainly slow
to admit that we’ve lost direction and cause.
My little friend Pogo gave me reason to pause
in a comment about humanity’s fall.
My cartoon friend really said it all:
“We’ve met the enemy, and he is us.”

I watched God get on that Greyhound bus.
I called out, hoping he’d look at us,
and finally he turned, after taking his seat
but by then the bus had moved up the street.
It turned the corner at Fourth and Main
and I felt the nails of our mutual pain.
Crucified one more time.

My friend walked right past this creature and didn’t see it. Granted, it is quite small, enlarged here for the photograph. And when I called him back to look, he said: “Just another bug.” Really? Later, when I showed him this picture, he changed his mind: “Look at that! It’s a work of art.”

Sometimes, when something is too little, or too common, too weird, too different, too challenging…it might be worth taking a closer look. What if you found a “work of art” upon closer, deeper examination? Be worth the time and effort. Absolutely.