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what authority?
Jesus went in and wrecked the temple. Of course, the priests and religious leaders weren't too happy about him publicly humiliating them and their religious structure - few are today - and so they asked Jesus who gave him authority to do such things.
His answer was classic Jesus - he didn't give one. Instead he asked another question.
Well what about John's baptism? Which, really, you could sub in a lot of things. What authority did this or that?
But the point was: Asking authority questions isn't going to get you anywhere.
Is it God? Is it human?
Can you even separate them?
I wonder if instead of asking Jesus how he had the balls to talk negatively about their religion, what would have happened if they had simply wondered why so many people were on board with Jesus when he was shredding them? And following the guy for something better? And seeing through their religious charade for what it was.
Once again, did this happen? I don't know. But I feel like it happens most every day all around me.
phone jacks.
Remember when houses had phone jacks? Remember when we needed to plug our phone into those phone jacks?
We've been repainting our house and we've been reminded of these holes in our walls with receptacles for a technology that is no longer useful because we've moved on to something better. We've changed. We've evolved. We created a new way and, because of that, the old way is dead.
We could find some old phones to plug in. We could ignore them. We could try to fill them in. If we build a house, we sure won't install them, but they're currently everywhere, like ancient relics in a church building.
Which brings me to church.
Start looking for phone jacks. They're everywhere.
And your religion.
They're probably in your company too.
And your mind.
What are you going to do with them?
palms.
The Divine comes in small things. On donkeys. Or in drug addicts and prostitutes and terrified minorities.
We tend not to see the Divine Mystery. We're still looking for some kind of Empire or Grand Religion to save us. Or at least a powerful God-King. Or at least a President to alter a Supreme Court.
And the Divine Mystery of Love, Trust, and Belonging weeps. And grieves deeply. Because we miss out on peace, on love, on trust, on mystery, on belonging and, instead, bring war, division, mistrust and loneliness.
Because we're looking in all those wrong places for all those wrong things and finding wrong gods while wondering where love is.
Did Palm Sunday really happen?
Yeah, just yesterday.
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
stop dividing.
In the West, we want to divide everything:
body/mind
sacred/secular
friend/foe
divine/human
work/play
The more we learn via Psychology, Physics, and a host of other branches of science, the more it seems, we're wrong. Where we want to divide, we're beginning to understand there is more connection, relationship, and dependency.
Just notice it for a week. Try resisting it for a week.
When you want to divide, unite. See what changes.
it's the little things.
There are about 25 million metric tons of spiders in the world.
Those spiders eat between 300 and 800 million metric tons of food each year.
There are about 400 million metric tons of human in the world.
Humans eat about 400 million metric tons of meat and fish each year.
We don't see them very often, we usually don't like it when we do, and yet, they consume as much food as we do meat and fish.
Yeah, it's not always the big noisy species driving around like they own the planet, that has the biggest impact.
i need more time.
You don't really need more time. None of us do. What we do need is to give up something else.
Instead of "I need more time" try "I need to give up something".
winners...
Gonzaga is in the Men's Basketball National Championship Game tonight.
Gonzaga is our local university.
Of course, the town is going crazy. Small-ish town, small school, big time.
I was talking to someone who had attended Gonzaga years ago and they couldn't believe how "into" it they were. They were almost sick watching games, afraid they might lose. They were wearing Gonzaga hats and shirts and they don't want to be "into it" but they can't help it.
Sports are so weird like that.
They reveal tribes. We love tribes. We can't help but take advantage of an opportunity to elevate ourselves by elevating our tribe above someone else's. Even if it silly, even if it is nothing, even if we don't really care, if we get a justified opportunity to be better than another tribe, we'll take and use it and love it.
It's fun with sports. But, let it reveal what is always just below the surface. My tribe is better than yours, which means I'm better than you.
We're addicted to the feeling and we'll find it in anyway we can. Resist it.
momentum...
There is that side of momentum that we sometimes don't like.
The rich get richer.
The good team, gets good recruits and then gets better and then better recruits and...
The best-selling artist has all the resources to create more art... and have more people see it...
The successful business owner draws the crowds which draws more business which... lets her risk, and fund, the opening of another business which draws crowds, which...
We don't like it, because it seems unfair and as though they are getting our slice. More than they are supposed to. And then it keeps getting easier for them to get more...
But, the good news of momentum is that once you get one...tiny...piece...of...work...done...
You too, have started the ball rolling. And once the ball starts rolling, you too start to pick up some energy and momentum and, sure, it's hard work, but, don't worry, momentum is on the horizon.
Instead of being jealous of it in others, start taking advantage of gravity for yourself.
more than enough fools.
It's April Fool's Day. The day when we purposely trick people. The day we say something we know is not true in the hopes of someone believing it, for our own pleasure or gain.
I was going to come up with something clever and amusing and then I realized that we live in April Fool's World right now.
You are being purposely tricked today. By someone. By more than enough people. For their gain, of course. At your expense.
So, instead, I'll just say this:
You're enough. Stop believing the tricks.
No lie.
the universe is a kiss.
Beautiful words from the physicist Dr. Carlos Rovelli. He goes on to say that we generally understand a universe with things - but we would be better to try and understand a universe with happenings.
It's all a matter of perspective. A stone is a happening if you look at it over a billion years.
You are not a thing. You are a happening. You are interacting with other happenings and other happenings are interacting with all of us.
Of course, I can't help but be reminded of an ancient holy book who described the divine of the universe as I am... or I am happening.
Don't just be today. Happen.
weapons.
When we are afraid, we feel threatened.
When we feel threatened, we have an enemy.
When we have an enemy, we are justified to harm the enemy.
When we are justified to harm the enemy, we need a weapon.
Unfortunately, many things that can bring life can also be used as weapons when in the hands of terrified and "justified" humans.
Fire. Water. Electricity. Drugs. The Bible.
the taste of water.
Imagine someone who comes to you very thirsty. They have never tasted water. They ask you "What does it taste like?"
Would you write some books to describe it? Would you tell them to read some books? Would you tell them to memorize descriptions? Would you tell them to be careful and to separate from people over their descriptions, that are different than yours? Would you tell them to read about people who have tasted water? Would you be afraid of describing water the wrong way? Would you describe the water differently if they were not very thirsty? Would you tell them about bad water - toxic water - that might make them sick? Would you tell them what to look for in good water and how to tell the difference between bad water and good water? Would you tell them that if they don't agree to some principles about water, and about what good water is, they might end up in an eternity filled with water and drowning forever?
Or would you simply point them toward the nearby river and not worry about anything else?
the harder...
The harder it is to get, the more we generally appreciate it.
The more work we have to put in, the more satisfying it often is.
Why are we always so insistent on the easy way?
Maybe it's why we are so often disappointed?
that's why.
At times, I wonder why we have a church. At other times, I know why.
Today, after church, two ex-military Christians were talking to two Iraqi Muslims about life, Islam, war, and democracy.
Later, an Iraqi and a Somali spread out prayer rugs in my house and bowed toward Mecca to say their prayers, after eating dinner with 8 Christians.
That's why.
It's not huge. It's not life-changing. It's not epic. But it's diverse groups of people, coming together to listen and learn, not to talk and convert and none of those specific events (and many others) would have happened without Branches yesterday.
That's why.
they aren't watching.
An actress, I believe, once said something along these lines:
In your 20's you're trying to impress everyone.
In your 40's you don't care what they think anymore.
In your 70's you realize no one was ever paying any attention to you.
I think one of the benefits of Yoga has been realizing this at a much faster pace:
Your first couple of weeks, you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of everyone.
You very soon don't care what everyone else thinks of you.
You then realize everyone is so consumed with their own practice, they're not even noticing you.
So, if you're still trying to impress everyone, keep going.
If you don't care what they think anymore, keep going.
And if you've realized, they aren't watching you, congratulations.
You can actually focus on the right thing now.
the big lesson.
There is a bigger lesson in what happened today in our country regarding Obamacare, beyond politics. No matter your political preference, the lesson is for all of us.
It's very easy to complain. It's even easier to complain when you don't have any chance of your complaints mattering. (Republicans voted 60 times to repeal Obamacare when Obama was President.)
It's very difficult to heal, to fix, to produce, to create... pick your word. (Republicans didn't vote once to repeal Obamacare when they had power - and now according to their speaker they are moving on.)
Again, take the politics out.
Stop complaining. That a good start for most of us. And we can just end there.
Start spending time healing, fixing, producing, creating. If you don't think you have the power to make a change, complaining is still worthless, instead, work on a fix so you know what to do with the power when you get it, or maybe realize, you don't really want that power anyway.
critical people.
One of the best ways to deal with a critic - and by critic, I'm not referring to someone you trust, who has criticism - is to simply ask a single question back:
Are you okay?
Chances are, they aren't. The critic has usually found something in you, that momentarily helps to assuage whatever is not okay with themselves.