Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Sort of Spiritual Writer I Want to Be

What kind of spiritual writer could I be when I grow up? I really do not know. When I think of spiritual writing, I conceive of a genre of documentation that helps people. And when I say "helps people," I don't mean self-help work. There's tons of that sort already. And I don't mean theology books either. There's tons of that already too. Nor do I mean philosophy or psychology books either - there's tons of those as well. Yet, spirituality books have elements of self-help, theology, psychology and philosophy. They are books that talk about an individual's human search for a spiritual meaning to life. They contain cheat-sheets to the examination called life, where God himself is the examiner. 

A good spirituality book is written in popular language. It is written in such a way that a janitor with no education can read and understand it, but also a university professor with tons of education can read and not get bored by it. The ideas contained in the sort of spiritual writing I mean are the loftiest of ideas, but they are explained in such easy-to-grasp terms that everyone can understand and appreciate them. And apply them to their daily living - which is the point of it all: applicability. I want to write stuff that people can apply. Remember I said that happiness is epistemology plus ethics. I don't want people just to read my books (epistemology); I want them to also put their contents into practice (ethics). I want people to be happy.

My books will come with workshops. What this means is that after writing a spiritual book and hopefully getting it traditionally published, I'll design an accompanying workbook. This workbook will be used during workshops, which are forums where people gather for three-hour-long sessions each to talk about the ideas contained in the particular book, and devise ways for applying such ideas to their daily lives. What I mean is this: Let's say I write a book, call it X. I get it traditionally published, and it starts to sell. I would then craft a human development training workshop based on the book, which I would subsequently take with me and travel from location to location to give three-hour-long human development workshop sessions. People who have read the book and desire practical ways for applying what the book says to their own lives would pay a fee each to attend these workshops and benefit from it. The workshops will take place everywhere, from Arctica to Australia. And through the healing messages contained in the books and the workshops, lots of people will derive consoling freedom from the travails of depression, insecurity, pain and grief.

I want to be a spiritual writer because firstly I have the gift of writing. I've always had it. But I don't want to use it in fiction writing - been there, done that. I want to do something that will help people. Personally, I have had a very difficult life. I mean, if we were to grade human lives on their level of difficulty, I'd say I'd get a cool B+, if not an A. I've been through a lot in my life - a real lot. And in this difficult journey called my life, I've learned a lot. Most of these things, nobody taught me. Of course in the course of being a student and a church-goer, I picked up cues from science, philosophy, psychology, theology and self-help material, but the personal ideas I developed in my growth process were largely self taught. And I want to share this strand of human development with the world.

So yes, I want to be a human development writer. In other words, my books won't be called self-help, or psychology, or theology, or philosophy books - rather, they will be called human development books. People seeking to develop and grow and mature in life will benefit from them. People who are passing through serious stuff, or have been through serious stuff, will similarly benefit from my books. They will hunger for my work, and when they read my books and soak in their rich teaching, they will be anxious to attend the human development workshops associated with them; where they will learn practical skills for putting what they have read from the books into practice. They will be motivated, inspired and encouraged to apply what they learn to their life, in such a way as to make them free from spiritual, emotional and in some cases psychosomatic physical pain. 

If the teleological end of all humanity according to 'Totle is happiness, my books and workshops will contribute to human happiness. They will give people the knowledge and the skills to work out their own happiness, in the following ways: They will inform people of ideas developed for the purpose of helping people think in freeing ways. They will encourage people to develop a positive view of the world. They will provide a freeing vision to counteract the vision of pain and suffering that is the predominant worldview of very many people in a world that is ailing and suffering. How people are suffering! And many people can't place a finger on why they are suffering. You see someone with money and power and respect and good looks and everything else: god job; importance in society; beautiful spouse; awesome family - everything. Yet, they feel depressed. They feel emotional pain. They suffer. Why is that? They don't know. 

My books will help people to look inside themselves and find the peace they crave. My books will help people to open themselves up to spiritual healing. My books will enable people to put their pain in perspective, and embrace concepts such as: sacrifice, disembodied-embodiment, peace and tranquility, and positive thinking, to mention but a few. My books will allow people the liberty to live in participatory frameworks that are reflective and reflexive; to reach our in love and fraternity to others; to promote humanity in its best shade, and to enable countless people to join in the global dance of liberty and peace. My books will bring joy to countless hearts, and will encourage people to take one further step along the road to genuine, holistic human development. They will do this not just for themselves, neither, but also for the ones they love and need in their lives. 

So, that is the sort of spiritual writer I want to be. I don't want to write self-help, or philosophy, or psychology, or theology books. The books I want to write contain aspects of all these things, but are more properly called human development books. They will contain ideas that people can live by. They can learn these ideas, and put them into practice and in such a way become happier and freer persons. They can benefit from the books, as well as the human development workshops that come together with the books. These workshops will be based on the ideas contained in the book and will afford practical skills for applying such ideas. I believe that many people will benefit from all of this in their teleological search for human happiness. And as many individuals as are searching for happiness and consolation, my career as a spiritual writer will give them the mechanism to find such happiness and consolation. 

Friday, August 30, 2013

What's the Deal With White People Anyway?

I've been through a lot with Black people in my life. The uncles I resented for many years; the scary people I encountered growing up; the people who once broke into my apartment and beat up my roommate, and many other terrible human beings I met growing up - all these were Black people. By the time I was leaving Nigeria in 2008, I was convinced that all my troubles were sourced from Black people and that, if I could just relocate to a place where majority of the population was White, I'd be well and good. That was five years ago. I now live in a country where most of the people are White, but my troubles remain. I have come to know White people that are at least as horrible as the Black ones I knew back in Nigeria, if not many times worse. The more I get to know White people as a Black person, the more I wish I could live in a place where I would not necessarily have to ever encounter them. Yet I realize that this was the same attitude I had about Black people and, since I now feel similarly toward White folks, I realize that no race of people are perfect. Jesus himself said: "No one is good at all, except only God" (Mk. 10:18).

What's the deal with White people anyway? Why do many of them hate Black people for no reason? I may be wrong on this, but I do think that White people are the singular most racist people ever created by God. Just take a memory cruise down their history road and marvel at what they've done in the name of racism. The classic case is the Holocaust. Movie after movie; book after book; documentary after documentary - no one it seems has been able to capture the savagery of the Holocaust. I mean, the people who organized and perpetrated the mass murders of millions of innocents - were these people human? It's a legitimate question. What manner of humans fleece other humans - and I mean, literally fleece them like sheep and other animals: stripping them stark naked; shaving their heads so as to use the hair for fuel; draining their blood for use in laboratory experiments, and eventually burning them whole. White people alarm me by their genocidal propensity. Each major genocide in human history can be linked directly to White people. 

Take the Rwandan Genocide for one example, supposedly a Black genocide. Before the Belgian colonists arrived in Rwanda, the Tutsi and the Hutu peoples lived in peace with one another. They engaged in mutual trade, civic participation, and intermarriage. Some Hutus had Tutsis for best friends, and there was no inter-tribal threat to any. But when the Belgians came, they introduced a vicious race-based classification second to none, and typical of their divisive spirit. They actually went about measuring people's noses, skin color and hair type - can you believe this! I need to repeat that in other terms. I mean that Belgian colonists came to a peaceful Rwanda; lined the natives up, and with measuring instruments began to measure their noses; with other instruments began to document eye, hair and skin coloration, and make all manner of racially motivated classifications, dividing an otherwise united people into enemy factions. And because the Tutsi were largely of lighter skin, leaner nostrils and sleeker hair, the divisive Belgians elevated them in the Civil Service, and gave them technocratic control of Rwanda. And the Hutu, with darker skin, broader nostrils and nappier hair, were demoted and devalued. And so, when the Belgians left after Rwanda's Independence, the enraged Hutu turned on their Tutsi siblings, turning Rwanda into a blood bath for three months. But the size and impact of the Rwandan Genocide did not match the extent of the Holocaust by any means. 

I cannot begin to claim to understand White people. I cannot begin to understand their savagery. What makes them hate so? Why do they hate Black people so much! Look at what they did in South Africa, for Jesus' sake! In an interview with Oprah, Nelson Mandela once said that when he recalls some of the things White people did in South Africa, he gets unbelievably angry. Remember in this regard that Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Ellie Wiesel once told Oprah as well that the crimes the Nazis committed against the Jews made him want to "shout." White people did abominable things not just in South Africa, but in all of Sub-Saharan Africa. Their hatred knew no bounds. They came to South Africa and were initially received with goodwill and enthusiasm, the sort characteristic of Africans. Native South Africans ate and drank with them; gave them land to build on and thrive; showed them all manner of courtesy. And then what happened? White people gradually crafted a country wherein the original inhabitants were enslaved and subjugated; a country where the minority 10% lorded it over the majority 90%. With Apartheid and many other racially-motivated abominations, these devils plunged South Africa into deep distress for many years. They incarcerated Mandela and other freedom fighters and disenfranchised a whole race of people, for no just cause. White people also colonized and fleeced the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa to such a degree that these African nations are still struggling to exist. Europe is at least 75% responsible for each problem faced by Africa. It is the same in Native Australia, India and all the "third world." 

Sometimes I just feel tired of associating with White people. I have yet to meet one White person one-on-one that did not have some element of racism in them. Who created them to be that way, please God! Why are White people the way they are? I don't know. Sometimes, in trying to explain it, I say it's like the case of the lion and the goat. The lion is naturally, biologically programmed to want to eat the goat. The goat need not have done anything to provoke the lion, but the lion just has this natural inclination to devour the goat. Perhaps White people are like that: They are naturally programmed to hate "colored" people. They are naturally programmed to endeavor to subjugate others and promote a demonic ethnocentrism - they are biologically wired to devilishly act in racially-motivated, divisive ways. They cannot help themselves, just like the lion cannot help wanting to kill and eat the goat, or the cat chase and eat the mouse. White people will always hate Black people and desire to be separate from them. And while I wrestle with this reality, I myself will never hate anyone, White or Black. But I will try my best to avoid as much as possible; to have as little dealings as I can with people I know cannot love me because they simply cannot. 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Why I Keep a Blog

Why do I keep a blog? You know, sometimes it's good to figure out why you do something; to understand the motives for your behavior. I guess it applies to everything, including keeping a daily blog. So why keep one? To me, a blog is like an online journal. It's a forum where I can come and talk to myself, and to others as well. I can say anything about anything - it's not like a term paper or anything where topics are selected for you by a professor and you have to observe certain guidelines in writing them up. Here, it's pretty much free style. No grades, no pressure. I love keeping a blog. It's my thing, something I can absolutely call mine. It is something that I own; a record of my daily reflections, thoughts that shape who I am - thoughts occasioned by everyday living; thoughts that build and shape attitudes, and which inspire me toward action. What are some of the other advantages of my keeping a blog?

To begin with, keeping a blog will help me to improve my writing. When I was in middle and high schools, I used to do a lot of fiction writing. I wrote plays, poems and novellas. I would write them in notebooks, and distribute them to my classmates to read. They would wait in line to read my releases. If a certain classmate was in possession of one of my releases and another classmate wanted to read it, they would have to wait until the one who had it was done reading it. I used to feel honored that my classmates loved reading my work. I was like a one-man library, with every volume in my stacks authored by me. In college, I continued to write, mostly poems this time around. I think I wrote roughly 400 poems in my college days. These poems covered pretty much every theme in human culture: happy poems, sad poems, sensual poems, moody poems - all kinds of poems. I was an amateur poet extraordinaire in college, and I enjoyed it. I think I won a couple honorable mentions in international poetry competitions. 

After college, I continued to write, this time in grad school. I wrote poems, in addition to plays and novellas, just like in high school. This time though I wanted to get published. I looked for an agent; actually interviewed with one, and submitted my manuscripts, but no one wanted to get them traditionally published. And so I published them myself. I currently have about 8 titles: 3 collections of poems; 3 novels; 1 collection of plays, and 1 collection of short stories. One of these 8 titles is in hardcover edition, and so that makes 9 books self-published. But largely obscure. Self-publishing without promotion leaves a writer obscure indeed. And poor. But the thing is: I don't want to promote my titles. A lot of their content came from a place within myself of personal struggle. They detail my struggles with identity and autonomy. They explain my frustrations with my family and my country of birth, and indeed myself too. They are not the usual works of fiction which, though autobiographical in some sense, represent the author's effort to please their readers. My books don't necessarily please, even though they may entertain. 

My books are also like psychology treatises wrapped in fantasy. Painful fantasy. But over the years I've been breaking away from the trappings of personal fantasy and melodrama, leaving the psychology bit only. But I don't speak the language of empiricism, and so what others would call psychology, I'd call spirituality. And that's the sort of writer I want to be going forward. I want to be a spiritual writer. By this I don't mean self-help or inspiration, even though what I write will necessarily contain both. I also don't mean theology, even if what I write will similarly contain theology. My interest is in writing stuff that will explain to people in prose what life is about: God, destiny, relationships, sacrifices, devotion, meditation, and so on. I want to educate and inspire, as well as analyze and entertain. I want to use my poetic gifts in oratory-style writing, so that reading my books can eventually please, without provoking - except maybe the thoughts. But not the emotions. I mean, it's emotions I'm trying to sidestep. I want to write for the intellect; for the seeking soul; for the individual interested in practical epistemology and ethics. I want to write material that will benefit the spirit and the soul ever so richly and powerfully; and so, keeping a blog in this regard will help me to hone my skills and become a better writer. 

One more thing concerning my desire to be a spiritual writer: If I become a priest, I will be willing and able to promote the books I will write then, even if I publish them myself, because they will be books right up my alley, books I am interested in. They would be books I'd like to be associated with, not books with all the identity and personality crises that my 8 titles contain. They will be books I'd be proud to market, because they would help people, and would fill people with hope and joy. Yet, I would strive to get them traditionally published, so they can reach a wider audience and generate more income. They would contain messages of triumph. In them I'd tell people that every problem has an expiry date. I would tell people that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I would tell people that God is able to turn our darkest night into the brightness of morning; that if he can turn my troubles to peace, he can turn theirs around as well. From these books would flow spirituality and human development workshops. People would pay money to have me come and give speeches and talks at their various parishes. I would travel all over the world and deliver healing workshops to as many people as require the messages contained in my book to come alive. And for the books to succeed so, they must be well written. It's the only way.

Still another reason I keep a blog is to track my intellectual progress, hoping of course that there would be some to track. On reading the sorts of things I wrote in a year, and comparing them to the sorts of things I write in say, five years from then, I could estimate and see if there has been a change in content, and if this change has been for the better. It's the sort of thing you can do with a journal, and a blog is an online journal. I want to, like pretty much everyone else, develop as a person. If I'm going to be a successful priest, I cannot not grow. I need to develop my charismatic gifts so that I can give of them to others. It's important that I embrace the call to develop and mature, because it is in this maturation that I will find the peace that my soul seeks. I am ready to continue. 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

About a Spiritual Attack

Yesterday, something happened to me: I was sleeping when I witnessed a scene that seemed more like a vision than a dream. A voodoo priest, dressed in the traditional attire worn by witch doctors in Africa - with Kente cloth done up like a toga; with feathers sticking out of his hair; with beads and chalk-markings, and with all the accessory objects typical of the outfit - accosted me suddenly. Before I could say hey presto, he smacked me across the head and shoulders, with a very evil expression in his manner and eyes. He was of average height and very dark skin, and he seemed very angry indeed. And as he struck my head and shoulders, he seemed to mutter a curse under his breath. Immediately after this dark encounter, I woke up briskly. The first emotion I felt as soon as I rose was anger - a mighty dose of ferocious wrath. I knew I had been attacked spiritually. 

Spiritual attacks are very common in Africa. Adherents of African Traditional Religion (ATR) endorse this sort of behavior with significant frequency. It is a form of contemporary witchcraft, the type that plagued Europe in the Middle Ages. A person for example may feel envious or angry at a neighbor or relative; perhaps the relative recently got promoted, or won the lottery, or experienced something good happen to them. The envious person consequently feels indignant. They are upset that their neighbor or relative should have anything good happen to them. So they go to visit a voodoo priest in his or her shrine. They say to the evil witch doctor, "My neighbor or relative has had this or that good thing happen to them. I want you to cast a spell on them, so that they may fail at whatever they do; so that good things may stop happening to them." The voodoo priest asks for a payment and then proceeds to cast a spell on the client's victim. 

There are many ways of casting spells. The voodoo priest for example could hold a mirror up to his face and call the name of the client's victim three times. As soon as an image of the fellow appeared in the mirror, the voodoo priest would stab at it with a knife, and wherever the victim was he or she could fall dead, suffer a heart attack or experience some other misfortune. Another thing the voodoo priest could do is make an effigy of the client's victim, and tie the effigy with twigs or strings, and mutter words to the effect that the victim's progress would be similarly tied up. The victim would then experience very many upsets and frustrations in the course of their life. Still another spell a witch doctor could concoct is take up some powder in his or her right hand, call the name of the victim, and blow the powder off into the air, muttering curses in the process. All these and many more are the sorts of spells witch doctors in Africa cast. 

Now, I am not saying definitely that an enemy or two went to see a witch doctor on my behalf to cast a spell on me. I am not saying definitely that someone or some people who are very angry that I am now in my second year in the seminary went to visit with a voodoo priest and asked for a spell to be cast on me to block my progress. But I am not either saying that they did not. I mean, it is all too possible. It is in fact possible that a person or some persons did go to visit a voodoo priest and say, "Please, there's this young man in the seminary somewhere in DC. He is so proud of himself, saying how he made 4 A's in his classes and all what not. I want you to take him down a peg. I want you to make life miserable for him. I want you to make him fail. Here is some money for your trouble." The voodoo priest then took the payment and set about casting a spell on me. This is very possible. I don't know who did it, and I honestly do not care. Whoever did it hates me, and hates my progress. But - and this is as true as God's existence - I do not hate them back. I completely and holistically forgive them.

Now, the fact that I was able to see the attack quite like a vision; the fact that I was able to see the voodoo priest enter my seminary room without opening the door; the fact that I was able to see him so clearly as to discern his complexion, dress and manner, means that God made me definitely conscious of what was happening. And why would God do that? God wanted me to fight back, to defend myself. You see, to be able to counteract something, you should know about its existence. For example, if a gang of thieves were approaching to attack a man, and his wife saw them coming and, out of love for her husband, ran quickly to alert him, the man would promptly get up and use every means at his disposal to fend off the attack. If however he is not alerted of the approach of the gang of thieves, he would be powerless to help himself when they surprised him with their sudden onslaught. So, we alert our loved ones whenever they are in danger of an attack. But why would God want me to know of my attack? A loved one only alerts a significant other of an impending attack if the loved one knows that the significant other can defend himself or herself optimally. If the loved one did not feel that the significant other could properly defend himself or herself, the loved one would call the cops or look for other means to fend off the attack. But if the loved one went ahead and informed the individual concerned, it definitely means that the loved one believed in the significant other's ability to defeat the attackers. 

God knew I could defeat my attackers with prayer; and so, after he had allowed me to see the horrific vision, he made me awake with such a great amount of righteous anger that I immediately began to pray passionately. I did not pray softly; no, quite like the modern day Pentecostals and Evangelicals, I stomped and shook and danced about with fists in the air and thrown asunder, shouting words of vehement prayer and repeatedly saying: "back to sender." You see, the spiritual attack that had been sent to me was like a package. And when you receive a package, you can either accept it and use its contents in your life, or you can repackage it - if you've already opened and inspected it - and send it directly to the return address on the box or envelope. Similarly, I had inspected the spiritual attack package my enemy had sent me; I decided I did not want it in my life, and so I promptly through vehement faith-filled prayer - a sort of spell casting in its own right - sent the attack package back to whoever it was that initially sent it. I do consider myself spiritually capable of doing this. I don't need a pastor or prophet or - God forbid - another voodoo priest to counteract the attack. I just use my own well of faith and pray against it, and it goes directly back to the sender. 

I think what upset the most about the spiritual attack is the audacity of the one who sent it. Some people are so idiotic and so foolish that they don't think. They see someone doing well, or they hear that someone is progressing. They have no idea of what the person is passing through; they have no idea for example of the many hours spent studying; the many lonely nights spent in thought; the many excruciating sacrifices rendered, all in the bid to succeed - in short, they have no idea of the sufferer's tears. All they wait for is to hear the news of eventual success and they get promptly jealous and angry, and begin to concoct spells aimed at destruction. It's so annoying. What makes these individuals think that anyone would want to be destroyed or that anyone would willingly accept another individual's power over their lives? The only real power over my life is God, and no other person; least of all a hater. I refuse to be intimidated. I will continue to share news of my successes on Facebook and wherever else people share such news. And whoever feels jealous or angry - pardon my language - such a person can go fuck himself or herself. "I shall not die, but live to declare what God has done for me" (Psalm 118:17). In spite of the haters. 

How do I know this? By faith. The bible describes faith as "the assurance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). A crucial word to note here is evidence. You see, when a spiritual attack is sent a person's way, such an attack is like a software program uploaded in the person's soul-computer. The software begins to make the person act according to its program. The actions the person performs, motivated by the spiritual code embedded in his or her soul, leads to the intended result of the spiritual attack. So for example, if the intended result of the spiritual attack sent to me yesterday was my failure in the seminary, the attack program - if it were to succeed in my life - would then begin to motivate me to do things that would jeopardize my stay here. I could for example begin to miss prayer, or mass, or class; or begin to fail at tests, or exams or anything required of me by the seminary. I could also subconsciously or unconsciously - because the soul's province includes the unconscious and the subconscious, and the spiritual attack microchip is embedded in the soul-computer, remember - begin to attract to myself the conditions and experiences that would ultimately lead to my dismissal from the seminary. So that, if I am eventually dismissed, the authorities could say my dismissal was owing to such and such an actual situation, and not an esoteric spiritual device that no one can empirically experience.

And so the evidence of the successful operation of a spiritual attack in a person's life is the person's overt behavior as well as the unconscious and subconscious experiential manifestations consequent on the spiritual attack module in the person's everyday life culminating in their ultimate failure, as originally intended by the spiritual attack program. How can this be tested? The individual or those around them can observe the behaviors and conditions of the individual's life and notice how - if the spiritual attack was successful - these behaviors and conditions were leading to dismissal, because they were in fact the sorts of behaviors and conditions that usually led to failure in that respect. The individual or those around them can similarly observe the behaviors and conditions of the individual's life and notice how - if the spiritual attack was unsuccessful - these behaviors and conditions were not leading to dismissal, because they were not in fact the sorts of behaviors and conditions that  usually led to failure in the same respect. Faith is displayed in observable behavior. The faith that defeats a spiritual attack is displayed in actions that are contrary to those intended by the spiritual attack, especially because "to work is to pray," and prayer is a counter spell to every spiritual attack - all of this is contained in the book of James.

One of my aunts told me that the only reason my dad walked up to our room, drove us out and killed himself there on our bed was because a spiritual attack motivated him to do so. A spiritual attack computer code had been installed in his soul laptop, and was programming him to kill himself. On a psychological level, we could simply say he was depressed because of something or another, and in the depression took his own life, in spite of the fact that he was very gainfully employed at the highest levels in the Civil Service; was wealthy by international standards; married to a beautiful Army officer and had four healthy sons. Just like we could say that my vision-like dream was simply owing to a feeling of anxiety or insecurity or paranoia - or any of the many names psychology comes up with when it speaks about otherwise spiritual things in the language of empiricism, like I said in an earlier post. In such a case, one would quote Sigmund Freud extensively and exhort me to eschew anxiety in any of the ways proffered by psychology, like counseling and so forth. All of this is well and good. 

Whatever the case, be it mere psychology or spirituality - and I lean toward the latter, by the way - I know one thing for sure: I am not my father. Anybody sending spiritual attacks my way is wasting time. It is too late for them. I am not that weak. For every attack I am sent, I will fight back and return to sender; fire for fire. All the voodoo priests in Africa combined cannot undermine me. I will smash them all. Psalm 118:12 says: "They compassed me about like bees; they blazed like a fire among thorns, but in God's name, I smashed them." I spiritually smash all my enemies like cockroaches on the side walk. "No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper, and all those who rise up against me shall fall" (Isaiah 54:17). So, I am not afraid. I will keep going to class, reading my books, saying my prayers and keeping my place in the seminary. I will not shake. I am serious - enough is more than enough. Let my enemies leave me alone. I want to be a priest. I want to be a priest. I want to be a priest! I believe that whoever sent me the spiritual attack yesterday will go back to the voodoo priest, and the priest will tell them: "I'm sorry; the lad is too strong for me."

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

"All Things Bright and Beautiful"

As an elementary school student growing up in Festac, we used to sing this song:

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all

The day is bright and beautiful today. It's a fall-like summer day. It's not too warm, and it's not cold. It's just right. It's like the little bear's porridge which Goldilocks tasted and declared to be just right, unlike the papa and the mama bears' porridges that were too hot and too cold respectively. Like Goldilocks, I'm soaking the day in. I think it's going to be a good day. Black Eyes Peas sings to confirm it. I, like he does, have a feeling of optimism about today. It already has started well. I woke up at 6 a.m. prompt, thanks to my alarm system. I then hit the showers and did all the morning clean-up ritual. By six-thirty I was in the sacristy setting up for mass, which started at seven and at which I served on the altar with Fr Godwin. I'm now in my room writing this and preparing for classes later today: Modern Philosophy and Foundations of Catholicism. It truly is going to be a good day - I do feel it!

All things remain bright and beautiful. The birds are flying still in the blue sky above; the rodents and all creatures of the land still crawl about their daily businesses; we humans are still teleologically positioned in our search for happiness; a search that does not tire us out; a search that consists in epistemology and ethics; a holy search, proposed by Aristotle the eternal wise man. Speaking of 'Totle, I'm going to be learning a lot from him this semester. About 80% of what we're going to be doing in Metaphysics is going to be about him. I remember that the question Fr Adegbite asked me when he was trying to dissuade me from becoming a priest was: Can you do metaphysics? Back then I told him I could, even though I hadn't the slightest idea what metaphysics was. Now, I do, and I'm facing it head on for the first time. How hard can it be? I'll find out in these four months. I mean, all priests have at some point in their career taken a class in it; not to mention all philosophy majors and professors. Nevertheless, I've heard it's quite the toughest class to take in philosophy - practically everyone says this. "Phew! Save me O God, I trust in you." 

I'll stop by the library and the bookstore today and, between these two halls, I'll arrange for all the textbooks I'll be using this semester. I didn't read at all this summer - how lazy of me! Now though, I've got to hit them books, as they say. Lazy people never thrive. And I do want to thrive. I want to succeed well this semester. Starting early to prepare is the best way to succeed. There can be no doubt of it. Let me quickly just say though that I love my school. I love Catholic University. It is challenging and interesting at the same time. The professors do a hell of a lot, and they inspire me. Smart, professional, talented - these individuals endeavor to bring out the best in their students. God bless Catholic U! I've enjoyed each day I've spent here. I'm making new friends everyday and retaining old ones. By the way, I saw Emanuel yesterday - you know the one I said I would ask about World Youth Day when I saw him on the day school resumed? I did see him. Apparently, we'll be in Metaphysics together for the entire semester. Good guy, Emanuel. Easy to like, and easy on the eyes, for the benefit of the ladies if you know what I mean (winks). 

I have another classmate also in my metaphysics class. His name is Akolla. He was in about three classes with me last semester: Logic, New Testament and Medieval Philosophy. He's a Franciscan Capuchin friar; a funny, happy-go-lucky, soccer-playing, bright-eyed African chap, originally from Cameroon. He, like Emanuel, is easy on the eyes for the ladies. He has a funny way of talking, and whenever I talk with him, I have to switch codes, from regular English - the kind I speak with Emanuel and my other local friends - to pidgin English, the kind I speak with internationals. It's fun. For instance yesterday I was walking toward the library from metaphysics class with Akolla, and we were conversing in pidgin English, and then Emanuel caught up with us and immediately I switched from the pidgin I had been speaking with Akolla to regular English so I could converse properly with Emanuel, and then back to pidgin again when I wanted to resume conversation with Akolla - how dramatic and interesting. Life indeed is funny and complicated. Who was it that said we wear many faces in the course of the day in order to adapt and perform in various life situations? The person - whoever he or she was - was right on. I do wear many faces, and hats too, in the course of my day, and as I wear each I hope to God it fits. 

All things will stay bright and beautiful. Another wise person did say that for every person that wishes us well, there's probably someone that wishes us ill. The devil, the worst entity ever, also wishes us ill and consistently sends us attacks, so as to make us join him eventually in hell. For me then, the devil will try everything so that I never become a priest; so that I end up in hell with him. He and his cohorts - the persons that wish me ill - will continue to send spiritual attacks and negative voltages my way, so as to deter me from my chosen vocation and obfuscate the life path God has designed for me. But God and his own cohorts - the persons that wish me well - are daily countering the attacks of the devil. My job is to do the best I can to play on God's team; to wish myself well, and see whether God and the rest of our team will win against the devil and his team. I mean, it's really going to be a hell of a game: God and his team - of which I am a member - and the devil and his team, to which all those that wish me ill belong. Let me see if God is as strong as I am told he is. Let me see if God will prevail over the devil. Psalm 46:10 commands: "Sit still and realize that I am God, supreme upon the heavens, supreme over the earth." I'm sitting still; I'm testing the veracity of this verse of scripture. It's true research, believe me. 

"Life will be victorious." With God on my team, I am optimistic about the future. The brightness and beauty of the days to come will astonish us with their intensity. We will "rejoice and be glad." We will succeed in all we do, and God will "bless the work of our hands." I believe and I hope, and I want to keep working at it. I want to play well for my team. I don't want to be in my own way, playing inadvertently for the opposite team, even while still a member of mine. I don't want to be like the soccer player, Andres Escobar. May his soul rest in peace. Pray with me then, please: Dear God, in your infinite mercy, grant me and all those who wish me well the grace and fortitude to play loyally and resourcefully for our team, a team of which you are captain, so that we may always realize who it is we are playing against - the devil and those that wish me ill - and never confuse our team mates with theirs. Help me never to inadvertently play against our team: may I never get in my own way, or do anything that would jeopardize our team's chances of winning this all-important game. Grant this prayer through your son, our teammate Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you together with the Holy Spirit that makes all things perennially bright and beautiful in an endless world like ours. Amen. 

Monday, August 26, 2013

School Starts Again: A Day in the Life of a Catholic Seminarian

It's only a few minutes before 3 a.m. and I still can't fall asleep. I don't know if it's excitement or nervousness or a combination of both. After three months of summer holidays, school starts again today. It's Monday, August 26, significantly for me the birthday of a woman who has been a great blessing to me, Patricia Dooley. May God forever bless her. May all her wishes come true today. Amen. I'm not sure if I'll get to fall asleep again this morning. By the looks of things, when I finish writing and editing this blog post it may well be after 4 a.m. And two hours after that, my day is pretty much set to start. I'll get up, say a brief personal prayer, and get to the showers. I'll wash, brush and clean myself up. This may take about thirty minutes. By six thirty, I'll get to the sacristy and set up for daily mass. I'm sacristan this week. I'm also altar server, which means I get to wear my cassock and surplice and serve at the altar with the priest. I think it's Father Brian saying mass this morning. The mass starts at seven, and so all the setting up should take no more than thirty minutes. Other seminarians help out at mass by being cantor, reader, acolyte and congregation. The mass itself is combined with liturgy for morning hours, and so lasts a little less than an hour. By 8 a.m. seminarians are expected to get to breakfast.

Weekday breakfast consists of the usual: bread, cereal, beverages and fruit. There's butter, jam and cream of course; but it's Saturday's breakfast that's the big deal: in addition to the cereal, bread, fruit and beverages characteristic of weekday breakfast, there's also scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and pancakes with syrup - yum! It's actually something to look forward to, Saturday morning hot breakfast. But we're still talking about the weekday schedule. So, after breakfast, seminarians retire to their chambers to prepare for classes. Typically we go to Catholic University or Dominican House of Studies for classes. Today for example, as a student at Catholic U, I'm scheduled to be in class by 11:10 for Metaphysics; 12:40 for Spanish, and 2:10 for Synoptic Gospels. These are all going to be new subjects for me, and expectedly I'm nervous. I sincerely hope I do well. My last class ends at 3:25 p.m. At that time, I'll begin to return home. I might reach the seminary at say, 4 p.m. especially if I walk - it takes about 30 or so minutes to walk from Catholic U to the seminary where I live. Other means of transport are bus and any of the cars available to us students here at the house.

On reaching the seminary at about 4, I'll have an hour to rest and prepare for evening prayer, which takes place in the seminary chapel at 5 p.m. prompt. It's in the same chapel that the morning mass I described earlier takes place. It's a beautiful chapel, with good light and sound systems. There are window and ceiling artworks, and etchings in Latin and Greek on the galleries. The sacristy is adjacent to the chapel itself. In the sacristy there are many objects used in liturgical worship. The evening prayer that starts at 5 is said from the liturgy of the hours, also called the breviary. It is a seasonal book with tons of psalms and other prayers said by the entire church. It is through these chants that the church officially prays. The system for praying the liturgy of the hours developed over the years consists of dramatic participation by individuals praying the offices collecting themselves into two groups; one group reads a stanza of a given psalm and the other reads the next, and then back to the previous group and so forth. The participatory aspect of praying the psalters makes it interesting and collective. 

In addition to the official prayers contained in the liturgy of the hours as given by the church - notice I called these prayers by different names: liturgy of the hours, breviary, psalter, divine office, and so on. It sure is a popular collection of prayers among Catholic clergy and seminarians - we here say our particular community prayers. In them we pray for our benefactors, parishioners, deceased members and friends. We rededicate ourselves through these additional prayers to our mission and our goal of bringing Christ to the people we serve; the congregations and people that God has entrusted to us. We face perilous times, and the faith of many Catholics is being tested. We are the ministers charged with the mandate of bringing these suffering souls to Christ. We need prayers for the strength and the courage to discharge our duty and responsibility to the Christian population. These prayers also reflect the mind of our society's leaders, our able superiors general, priests that have led us for the many years we've been around.

Evening prayers end at 5:30. Supper begins immediately then. We leave the chapel and make our way to the refectory, the same large room in which we had breakfast. Supper varies from evening to evening: on some evenings, we might have pork chops, or pork loin; on some other evenings we might have salmon or tilapia; we could also have beef stew, or chicken or ribs or stake; in addition, we could have our choices of sides, such as rice, cole slaw; different types of salads, and a whole bunch of vegetable and other dishes. There's usually also iced tea, lemonade and other drinks provided; ice creams, cakes, custards, cookies, fruit salads and many other lovely desserts are to be had as well. We have about five religious sisters that cook for and take care of us here in the seminary. These amazing women are a rich blessing and a splendid addition to our local religious community. Supper is also a time to sit at table with the other members of our seminary community and talk about most things of concern to us: we talk about religion, the church, the weather, and our personal issues. It is a period of bonding and sharing.

At about 6:30, supper wraps up. We help carry the used dishes to the sink in the adjacent kitchen - the architectural design of this awesome seminary is right on point - and put them away for washing. We also package leftovers for future use; wipe the tables clean, and help set them up for future meals. Setting up for future meals means that we place napkins, tumblers, saucers, and cutlery neatly on the tables for breakfast and lunch the next day. This done, we repair to our rooms to do some study. Homework, assignments, reading - anything we need to do for school, we do it during this period. We may also recreate by watching television or videos - there is a recreation room downstairs we might use - or playing games such as ping-pong, billiards and many other indoor games. Night prayers are said in private, and are contained like other liturgical prayers in the breviary, or divine office. And after night prayers, we retire to bed. The day is then done. It usually is a busy one. 

Being in the seminary is a dream come true for me. I am happy and grateful to be here. I do want to be a priest. In a previous blog post I've explained why I want to be a priest. It's something as serious as life itself. I believe I was put in this world to be a priest and if I fail to become one then I would have missed out on the one thing I was created for. This is tantamount to hell for me. You can see then why it's such a serious thing for me. St Paul urges us to "work out our salvation in fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12). Believe me when I say there is fear and trembling in my heart each day I spend in the seminary. I fear and tremble that something might happen to rob me of my being here. Oh God, please let this not happen. I want to be here. I want to keep my position. I want to do my time successfully in the seminary and, when I'm done, I want to be ordained a Catholic priest. Please, pray for me. 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Explaining the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Continued)

"The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’ Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matt 25:8-13). Let's continue our discussion of the ten virgins. We said yesterday that because the bridegroom delayed in coming the virgins slept. We also said that the use of sleep here indicates death. Jesus did use sleep as a metaphor for death. Recall what he said concerning Jairus' daughter (Lk 8:52b), and Lazarus (John 11:11-13). In both cases, he said that these dead individuals were only asleep and at his call - just like with the virgins - they did in fact resurrect. 

We also said yesterday that the foolish virgins, unlike their wise counterparts, did not have any oil left in their lamps and so could not light them. We explained that this was so because they had lived vulgar lives; had refused to set themselves apart from the debauchery of the world; had neglected to pursue knowledge of God and, consequent on their want of a positive spiritual attitude, they did not possess the light of good deeds. At the judgment nonetheless, and confronted with their lack, the foolish virgins desperately reach out to the wise ones and ask for oil. "Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out," they plead. Faced with the reality of a beautiful eternity and realizing they are on the verge of being perpetually excluded from it, and further realizing that the only way to get in is to acquire a positive mental attitude, they ask the wise virgins to share their positive mental attitudes with them.

The only problem with this though is: How do you begin to share a positive mental attitude with someone? For the wise virgins, it took a whole lifetime to develop a positive mental attitude. They began at home; their parents may have been the ones to first introduce them to the truth about God and the afterlife. Then they went to school and learnt there as well about God and the last things. They tested all they had learned in the course of their lives; acquiring positive experiences; letting the trials and the joys of everyday living shake the faith they had acquired, while watching the faith stay strong. For the wise virgins, acquiring a positive mental attitude was not a crash-course-given event. It was a lifelong process of epistemological discipline. To obtain a similar positive mental attitude, the foolish virgins would have to live their lives on earth all over again. There could be no other way. This is why the wise virgins protest to the foolish ones: Sorry, we simply cannot share this sort of thing - it's not of the kind of thing that can be shared. Indeed, another way of conceiving of the five foolish virgins' request is imagining that these unwise damsels were asking their wise colleagues to give them their lives. Since the positive spiritual attitude possessed by the wise girls was wound intricately together with their very life experiences, their very beings, to give their positive mental attitude to the foolish girls would be to give them their lives. 

And so, the wise virgins say instead: Go to the sellers of oil and buy some for yourselves. In other words, the wise virgins are saying to the foolish ones: "Return to the earth. Be reincarnated and live again." The world is the market place, where we can trade our time for wisdom. If we use our time and resources in studying and seeking out truth, we can obtain it. The agents of our socialization on earth are the sellers of truth, the vendors of oil. Our currency, with which we purchase from them the truth, is our time and resources on earth. And this trade of our time for wisdom can be done only by ourselves. Recall the parable of Lazarus and the rich man as contained in Lk 16:19-31. When the rich man in hell asked Abraham to let him go to his brothers still on earth and warn them of hell, Abraham objected, saying the rich man's brothers had to work out their own salvation themselves. Indeed, St Paul would say: Work out your own salvation! (Phil 2:12). And so the souls of individuals who are unready to enter heaven because of their lack of a positive mental attitude and concomitant good deeds have to stay in purgatory while their spirits are re-enfleshed so that the resultant new souls can sojourn in the world again in hopes of exchanging the new lifetimes with wisdom and good deeds. 

But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. While the spirits of the unready souls are reborn on earth to try to acquire oil and light (understanding and good deeds), the souls themselves are kept out of heaven. This is what "the door was shut" means. The souls of the ready however go in. "Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!'" (v11). What does this verse mean? Now, when the spirits of the unready souls are reborn on earth and live entirely new lives, new souls result. These new souls are not the same as the previous souls. Hebrews 9:27 says: It is appointed for people to die once and after that comes judgment. And so, knock as they might, the previous souls cannot gain entry into heaven. Souls in purgatory cannot help themselves attain salvation. 

For these souls, there are three scenarios: The worst case scenario is that their spirits re-enfleshed and reintroduced into the world fare worse than they did and appear at heaven's gate even less prepared than the former soul, making it even more impossible to enter heaven, leading to yet another lower reincarnation, with a progressively decreasing possibility of ever attaining heaven; literally a hellish experience. A middle case scenario is that the new spirit re-enfleshed and reintroduced into the world lives a similar life to the previous soul and ends up at the judgment seat in a similar state of preparation and still cannot get in. The best and rarest case scenario is that the new spirit re-enfleshed and reintroduced into the world leads a better life and appears at heaven's gate worthy enough to lead all previous souls in its spirit family to heaven. This third case is the most unlikely because for every time a bad soul fails to make it into heaven, its spiritual capacity is reduced, taken up as it were by deserving spirits. In other words, its place in heaven, its potential for actualization, is assumed by more deserving spirits. Recall in this regard the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30), where the master had the one talent taken from the lazy servant and given to the one who already had ten. This is why even when the new souls return to heaven's door after passing through the world they still cannot get in. And so, we must make the best of this current lifetime we have. It is the only one we are sure of. 

And if we are wise, if we use our time here well, if we look for God's truth by engaging in epistemology and then act well, even if we don't make it to heaven, the possibility of making it in the space of one more lifetime is greatly increased, because we were wise, and our oil was not too little to warrant greater currency to buy a sufficient amount at the market - our time in purgatory would be lesser than if we were foolish and had so little oil that we needed greater currency to buy a sufficient amount. In other words, to the extent we behave foolishly in this life is to the extent we make it progressively impossible to ever enter heaven, because we would perennially be increasing the distance between ourselves and heaven's door; progressively making it difficult for God to recognize us and let us in. To the extent we waste our time and resources living lives of dissipation, to the same extent do we make it quite impossible to ever enter into heaven. We must therefore be vigilant and reflective. We must engage in epistemology and ethics, wary of the limited time we have at our disposal and realizing that now is all we have. 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Explaining the Parable of the Ten Virgins

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of the virgins were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra olive oil with them. But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. When the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’ Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matt 25:1-13).

At our baptism, the priest gives to our Godparents a candle and asks them to make sure its flame never goes out. The priest also anoints us with the oil of chrism. Through the sacraments of initiation, we new members of the house of God are given the oil of acceptance and the light of salvation. These images justify our being called children of God. But what does it mean to be a child of God and a citizen of heaven? The first line of the parable of the ten virgins says that there were ten virgins that took their lamps to go out and meet the bridegroom. In many passages in the bible, the kingdom of God has been described as a wedding feast, for example in Matthew 22. The wedding is between Jesus the bridegroom and the church, the bride. As members of the church, we all are marriageable virgins, and we prepare to meet with the bridegroom, to whom we are betrothed. But the bible says that five of the virgins were wise, whereas the other five were foolish. What does it mean to be a wise or a foolish virgin in this context?

The wise virgins were said to have extra oil, while the foolish ones did not. Now, oil refers to anointing. Like the oil of chrism administered on the day of our initiation, it is a sign that sets us apart from other people in the world. It is a signpost that reads: special, dedicated; unique. In ancient Israel, kings were set aside for their special role by their anointing with oil. The prophet Samuel used oil to anoint Saul king in 1 Samuel 10. He subsequently anointed David to replace Saul, also with oil, in 1 Samuel 16. Oil sets us apart as royalty, as children of the greatest king of all, God, and heirs to his holy kingdom, children of a great inheritance to be obtained by our marriage to God's son Jesus Christ. As long as we possess this oil, we hold on to our uniqueness, to our being set apart; to our royalty, and our membership of God's kingdom. By this oil, we no longer belong to the world. Rather we are separate. We are "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, preserved so that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Pet 2:9).

The people of the world do not belong to the kingdom of God. The people of the world are not wise. They do not have the oil of salvation. They live in the kingdom of the devil. They do not recognize God as their master and savior, and God in turn does not recognize them. Because they are unwise, they act foolishly. They do not possess understanding, and their actions show their lack of understanding. They are not prudent; they are not kind; they are not honest with other people. They are insensitive, irreligious, slothful, depraved, unholy - in short they practice every kind of evil. And this is because they do not have oil. They are not set apart. They do not have wisdom. They are unhappy, and they belong to the devil. The members of God's kingdom on the other hand have oil, because they are set apart. They live in the kingdom of God, and recognize him as their lord and savior, and God in turn recognizes them as his own. Because they are wise, they act wisely, and show in their actions that they possess understanding. They are prudent, kind, hardworking, honest, devoted, holy and just - in short they are possessed of virtue in all their deeds. 

How can you identify a wise person? In other words, how can you identify a person who belongs to the kingdom of God? Still another way of asking this question is: How can you identify a person that has oil in their lamp? The first and easiest way of knowing if a lamp has oil in it is to see if it is burning brightly or fading away. If the lamp is burning brightly and you can see its light, then you know that it has oil. If on the other hand, there is not flame on the wick, then you know it has no oil. Wisdom is a mental attitude that we cannot see. The only way we know it's there is by observing the overt behavior of individuals. When we observe how a person behaves, we can tell if the person is wise or foolish. When a person is behaving irrationally, without restraint, imprudently or unkindly, we know the person is unwise. When on the other hand the person is behaving moderately, carefully and kindly, we easily conclude that the person is wise. Matthew 7:16-17 states in this regard: "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit."

When we were talking about happiness and the way to obtain it, we said that happiness consists in two things: certainty of knowing, and proper conduct consequent on such knowing. We also said it was a species of wisdom, or epistemology plus ethics. Now, certainty of knowing is a mental attitude. When we acquire understanding or knowledge or wisdom, we don't just stop there; we go on and act. Similarly, we don't just have oil for oil sake; we use it to light our lamps, so that it can inspire others. Matthew 5:14-15 says in this regard: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." Also, when we talked about Rhonda Byrne's Secret behind the universe, we said we did not just have a positive mental attitude by our possession of positive thoughts and feelings, we also said we needed to act on our positive thoughts and feelings to bring them about. It is always about epistemology, and ethics. Now, replace wisdom, or knowledge, or positive mental attitude, or understanding, or epistemology, with oil. Then, replace ethics or proper acting or proper behavior or proper conduct - all of which are consequent on the previous positive mental attitude - with light. Now, if we already have said that happiness is synonymous with the kingdom of heaven in a previous post, and that happiness is epistemology plus ethics, then we can logically say that (entrance into) the kingdom of heaven is having oil and light in a person's lamp. 

In the parable we are dealing with, that of the ten virgins, we're told that the wise virgins brought oil with them, whereas the foolish ones did not. What this means is that in their daily lives, the wise virgins had preserved their uniqueness. They had realized that they were set apart as royalty, as heirs of God's kingdom. They had persevered in their positive mental attitude; they had persistently engaged in epistemology. They had pondered the word day and night. They had reflected on the mysteries of the kingdom. They had studied the gospels. They had acquired wisdom, understanding, knowledge, philosophy - they had not wasted their time and talents on debauchery. The foolish ones on the other hand had not spent time in the bank of the spirit. They had busied themselves with things of the world: carnal pleasures, licentiousness, greed, sex, wealth, material things - they had not sought out wisdom, knowledge or understanding. They had failed to engage in epistemology. They had not studied the gospels, or invested in a positive mental attitude. 

The bridegroom is always late in coming. What this means is that there is on average about seventy or eighty years between the time we are baptized as babies and first given the oil of chrism and the candle light of good deeds and urged not to extinguish them, and the time we die. Psalm 90:10a says in this regard: "Our lives consist of seventy years, or eighty for the strong ones." In this period of living on earth, wise people seek out knowledge of God; they seek out wisdom, philosophy, understanding; they seek to have a positive mental attitude. Foolish ones on the other hand focus on material things of every kind, refusing to seek out any wisdom or knowledge or understanding at all. Wise ones set themselves apart by their interest in God, but foolish ones blend into the world of materiality. Psalm 53:2 says in this regard: "God has been looking down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone that is wise, anyone who seeks after God." So, wisdom is seeking after God's truth, or simply epistemology. And how does God know there is no wise person in some of the places he has been looking? The very next verse of Psalm 53 supplies the answer: "But every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" (v3). So just like we've been saying, the only way to know a wise person is through their observable behavior. 

The parable we are treating goes on to say that everyone grew drowsy and slept. This means that everyone eventually dies. After seventy or eighty years on average, both the good and the bad, the wise and the foolish, die. And after death comes judgment (Heb 9:27). The judgment is the coming of the bridegroom. St Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4 heralds this second coming with the sound of trumpeting. It resembles the shout: "Look, here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him!" At this shout, everyone, good or evil, presents himself or herself to God. And God separates them like sheep from goats (Matt 25:31-46). The wise virgins will be judged based on their good behavior (ethics), consequent on positive mental attitudes (epistemology) while they were one earth (their possession of light to justify possession of oil); while the foolish virgins will be condemned based on their bad behavior, consequent on a lack of understanding. This all becomes obvious when the virgins get up to trim their lamps, to see if there is oil in their lamps; if there is spirit in their bodies; if they can be observed to have good souls, good track record of behavior; ethics consequent on epistemology. The wise do have light; not so much the foolish ones. In tomorrow's post, we'll discuss the rest of the parable, beginning from where the foolish virgins ask the wise ones for oil. 

Friday, August 23, 2013

Concerning Participatory Frameworks, Part II

We live in a participatory world, one where we use our frameworks to interact with others at the terrestrial, cosmic and celestial levels. Participatory frameworks that have been developed at the material, soulful and spiritual levels tally with these three framework rungs. We talked about all this yesterday. In the task of preparing our participatory frameworks for optimal use in the family, in society and in international situations, we need to observe the codes of behavior that exist in different cultures and human communities. To begin with, when it comes to socialization, we need to learn to respond to the substance and method of education and the transfer of information from an older generation to a younger one, for the purpose of imbuing in the latter the attitudes of the culture. In particular, a father socializes his sons, and a mother her daughters. This primary socialization takes place in the home. 

Secondary socialization takes place in the school. The teacher, after the parent, is the one that teaches the child to claim  its place in society, and to surge up in the world. Teachers are becoming an indispensable part of modern society. We need good teachers in our classrooms, to be able to point our kids in the right direction and give them the skills with which to face life victoriously, and prepare them for the challenging situations they will sometimes encounter as they go through life. Tertiary socialization occurs after school, and consists in the lifelong lessons a child will learn in the workplace, and in any other situation that forces the individual to think critically and comprehensively. This sort of socialization helps the individual to test old assumptions and make a conscious effort to keep improving the self on the road toward actualization. All these forms of socialization benefit the participatory framework an individual has. Socialization in the home, which teaches commonsense coping strategies, such as hygiene, domestic work and self preservation, is useful in developing our material participatory framework, which is used at the terrestrial level. Socialization in the schools, which teaches nation building and trade acquisition, is useful in developing our soulful participatory framework, which is used at the cosmic level; and socialization after school teaches life lessons, which help us to journey along the road to self actualization. 

We already talked about the necessity of selecting good teachers, individuals that are responsible enough to carry on the task of socialization effectively. Bad teachers can ruin the socialization process by not teaching well; not teaching the right stuff, or not caring enough for those they teach. We talked about some of this when we discussed St Augustine's The Teacher. We saw the epistemological value of having good teachers. Good teachers expose to their students the correct stuff; they also set good examples for such students to follow. Good teachers care deeply about the progress their students make in trying to apply what they've been taught to their everyday situations. Good teachers care about goals and means as well; about the good their socialization efforts can bring to society, but also about the welfare of their students, those who are charged with the task of bringing this good about. A good teacher is a priceless jewel. 

In the home, parents are the first teachers. They are the ones who initially give the child a sense of direction and participation. For boys, a good father is quite indispensable. He shows his sons how to be boys: how to do the rough and tumble; how to fit in with other boys at school and on the playground; how to build a positive, masculine self image and how to take care of the body, and be pleasing to the opposite sex. A father can often take his son hiking or skiing or driving, or to some sports event or another. A father can teach his son how to shave, or grill or do any of the macho stuff boys and men do. A father is very important indeed in the life of a boy, especially because he is a male role model. This is why Freud has said that the biggest loss a boy can endure is the early loss of his father. 

For the girls, it is the mother that serves as role model. The mother teaches the girl how to be female: how to cook; how to sew; how to knit and darn; how to tend a vegetable garden, and so forth. The mother encourages the girl to know and preserve her body especially in relating with boys. All of this socialization which takes place at the home with parents is material. When children who are properly socialized move on up to school, they begin another long training through elementary, middle, high and college schools all the way to the workplace. They learn soulful things, and not the material things which they learned at home. They learn how to think critically; how to calculate with numbers; how to write letters; how to analyze, critique; create campaigns, and so forth. They learn how to be nation builders and good citizens. They learn science and art; economics and law; mathematics and philosophy. They widen their intellectual horizons. They also learn to interact with so many other people; a much wider group of people than the members of their own family. They learn to be grownups like their parents; to become responsible and contributing members of society; to demystify the influence and protection of their parents, and to progressively take charge of their own lives in a mature and creative way for the good of society. 

Children are prone to seeing their parents as Gods. Because of the relatively long period in which the child stays with and needs the parents, fathers and mothers sometimes feel indispensable, and kids sometimes relate to them that way. Kids are often in awe of their parents; fear them, and believe they are nothing without them. Cosmic level socialization in any case begins to put paid to such parental adoration by informing kids as if for the first time that they can provide for themselves and don't need parents all their lives. As parents grow older and weaker, this realization becomes all the clearer and crisper.

Celestial level socialization is such that individuals acquire skills with which to interact with a diverse world. In the workplaces after graduating from school; in the seminar rooms across the nation and the world; in churches - practically everywhere, individuals interact with people that do not share the same demographic characteristics with them; with people who do not have the specific participatory frameworks they do. With good participatory frameworks developed in the contexts of home, school and workplace well-adjusted adults can have good and productive interactions with others. For example, a Black, Christian man can interact meaningfully with an Asian, Buddhist woman at a local fundraiser for autistic children, or during events that bring them together. Especially by using whatever brought them together in the first place, the two diverse individuals can build meaningful relationships with each other. By highlighting their similarities and seeking to understand their differences, such individuals can negotiate a good working relationship in spite of having different participatory frameworks.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Concerning Participatory Frameworks

There are many people in the world. The population of humans on planet earth keeps growing. There are different kinds of people: young people, old people, tall people, short people, Black people, White people, rich people, poor people - diverse peoples. All of these people associate together. They try to survive. Different people live in the world, and they all try to survive. But how? How do the different peoples living in the world all get round to surviving? How do they live without simply destroying one another or even the earth itself? Co-existing with diverse groups of people can be challenging and confusing, because there are avenues for dispute and discomfort embedded in such situations. Individual differences surface and tempt with dissatisfaction and distress. We need understanding to triumph in spite of them. We need a whole new perspective on life. We need what I call participatory frameworks, which are the very things that help us to survive and thrive in a multicultural world. 

A participatory framework is a unit of living human energy that is charged with the responsibility of co-existing with other humans in a given realm. There are levels and stages to the growth and development of the participatory frameworks that are formed in the socializing situations of their fostering. In other words, a person's participatory framework is formed in the socializing scenario of the environment in which the person grew and was nurtured. If a person grew up say, in Africa and had poor parents and suffered a ton of violence and inter-ethnic conflicts and the like and had to move from place to place to try to catch a break, the person would have a different participatory framework than someone who grew up in Los Angeles to very wealthy parents; had a smooth and event-free upbringing; went to the best of schools, and had pretty much everything in life handed to him or her. The former person may feel bitter toward life situations, while the latter person may feel entitled. Their outlooks on life would necessarily be different. Any of you that have watched the movie, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, recall the scene where she said concerning luxury: "I just expect it." She expected it because she was used to it and grew up in it - it became her participatory framework, the pattern of living she was socialized into. 

There are three levels of participatory frameworks: the level of the body, or simply the terrestrial level. This is the level of participatory framework that we need to participate in families. Be they nuclear or extended families, we need terrestrial participatory frameworks to be able to participate with the other members of our family. Ordinarily, it may seem that we do not quite need defined terrestrial participatory frameworks for after all one might think that all the members of a particular family are pretty much the same. This is not so. Mariama Ba, African novelist, said: Being siblings with someone is like waking up with them in the same room; that same morning, each finds their own way. Even the people that have been socialized in almost the exact same way because they shared the same parentage and family experiences still have different  participatory frameworks. This is because participatory frameworks include both nature and nurture. The talents, gifts, personalities and inclinations of an individual necessarily differ from those of even a twin brother or sister. In one and the same family, a member may self define as gay, and another as straight; this diverse self definitions automatically places them into two different culture camps.

The second level of participatory frameworks is the cosmic level. This is the level of the soul. It is the level of country or society. We embody the socialization gained from our entire community: family, clan and town. A person from New York has a different participatory framework than a person from LA; a person from Wilmington is different from a person from Dallas. Within the same country, there are different participatory frameworks. This is because there are different socialization experiences in the different parts of a single nation. There are many aspects to both the terrestrial and the cosmic frameworks; each individual's participatory framework, like the family or the nation itself, is made of very many elements. For example, one person may be straight, and rich, and White, and sporty, and this and that; such a person's participatory framework is made up by compounding all of these characteristics together. This combination of attributes differs from another person that is Black, and poor and gay and so forth. Participatory frameworks are complicated at the terrestrial and cosmic levels, but even more so at the celestial level.

The third and last level of participatory frameworks is the the celestial or global level. This is the level of the spirit, that is ideally conscious of the entirety of the human species. It takes place at the level of the entire globe. It is formed for interaction at the international level. Participatory frameworks formed in the context of individual nations are needed for participation in the world at large. Participatory frameworks formed in say, Shanghai are different from those formed in Berlin or Lagos. A person from Addis-Ababa has a different participatory framework than one from Johannesburg or Dayton. We need cosmic frameworks to participate in international situations. Global participatory frameworks are the most complex of the three. They are also prone to the most conflict, because the people that have them are the most different from one another, the more the elements in the pools that make them up differ. Someone living in Africa would be expected to have a different worldview that someone living in Europe, and so forth. It is here as well that issues of race and religion, two of the most tricky aspects of humanity, surface the most. Many of the people living in the same family or the same nation tend to be of the same race and religion: for example, Saudi Arabia and Italy; it is when these individuals step out of their natural communities that they most encounter people from other persuasions and nations. This is why global or celestial participation is the most complex. 

The task of homophily in a global village like ours is ever more challenging, and people must work hard to embrace opportunities for peace. The stages of development of participatory frameworks coincide with the rungs on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The hierarchy of needs points to what motivates and individual to act in a certain way at a certain time. The first is the physiological need. This refers to food and clothing and sex and shelter. The second is security. This refers to safety needs. Both these rungs may be combined to one stage of the development of participatory frameworks, called material stage or bodily stage. The material stage corresponds to the terrestrial framework. When the individual is born, the individual needs only physiological provisions and security - it gets all of this from its participation in the family. It is unaware of any more complicated relationship dynamic. When a baby is hungry, all it does is cry for its mother. When it feels threatened, all it does is run into the arms of its mother. The body of such a baby is its primary concern, and keeping safe and taken care of physically are primary.

The second stage is the soulful stage; that of belongingness, according to Maslow. This is the framework that is needed to participate in nations. When the child grows up, it seeks out an identity. Boys want to be sure they can relate on equal footing with other boys. They want to know that they can join the football team; play soccer and other sports, and date girls in the cheerleading squad and so forth. Girls in turn want to know whether they can try out for cheerleading or do some needlework, or take home economics and so forth. They begin to learn this from school. They join clubs, where they meet with peers and study, play and work together. They begin to take in the culture outside the family. But they need to be grounded first in their families to be able to effectively participate in the national drama. When a child's home life is problematic, there would be difficulty participating on the national stage. Such a child would have issues with trust and genuine teamwork. Such a child would have issues claiming their own identity and getting along with others. Even in the workplace, when the child is all grown up, the child would not be able to fit in with other colleagues and workmates. This is very likely why in elementary schools for example, teachers always inquire if there is a problem at home when a child is misbehaving at school. These teachers understand that it is when the child is not grounded in home life that the participatory framework of the soul is underdeveloped. In other words, a poorly developed terrestrial participatory framework leads to a poorly developed cosmic participatory framework, and vice versa. 

The third and last stage of the development of participatory frameworks is the celestial stage. This is the participatory framework required to act in international situations, like at the Peace Corps after college; at an international seminar in another country; at a multinational summit, and so on. This stage coincides with Abraham Maslow's artistic rung. It is a delicate stage that requires sensibility and sensitivity in dealing with different individuals. People who are not grounded in their own sense of identity find it hard to deal with others who are very different from them, and so cannot manage potential conflict situations properly. But individuals who have no problems with their identity find it easy to relate on international levels. A well formed cosmic framework leads to a well formed celestial framework, and a badly formed cosmic framework leads to a badly formed celestial framework. The level of participation required for all three frameworks have relationship with one another. 

Participatory frameworks are used for acting in social situations. Terrestrial participatory frameworks are used to participate in families. They are material in nature. Cosmic participatory frameworks are used to participate in national situations. They are soulful in nature, and celestial participatory frameworks are used to act in international situations. They are the most complex of the three and are used to interact on the spiritual level, a level that embraces all of humanity. The stages of development of participatory frameworks refer to the periodic processes of development of the capacity within oneself to act in different degrees of challenging social situations. We all need fully developed participatory frameworks to perform optimally in different social situations. We also need to understand other people's participatory frameworks. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Leaves on a Flowing Stream

Sometimes, the things we gripe about are the things that keep us safe, but we don't realize it. It's the classic glass-half-full, glass-half-empty scenario. Everything that affects our feelings is founded on perception. I can say about a situation: This thing is very annoying; it is driving me crazy. Or I can say about the same situation: This is keeping me safe, and without it I'd be truly lost. Life is only as hard as we make it. Think of the worst situation you think you could be in. Do you realize there are probably a hundred people that already passed through the same situation? Plus, many of these situations we actually create for ourselves unconsciously through our mental processes. Remember all we said about the power of positive thinking and how our thoughts shape our reality. 

Perception is so powerful that it literally determines exactly what and how you feel at every point in time. Perception gives us the way to negotiate the emotions we feel in such a way as to select from a menu of them what we would like to feel. It reminds me of the prophet telling the Israelites: I have set before you death and life. Please, choose life (Deut 30:19). Another image of what I'm talking about is watching a situation comedy in another language; not knowing what's funny owing to not being able to hear anything said, but going ahead to laugh each time the laugh track is inserted into the routine. We can choose to be happy in spite of situations that threaten to make us sad, and vice versa. Sometimes I think of the slaves in the bottom chambers of the ships sailing from Africa to the new world. How did they survive such unimaginable pain? Or I think of the Jews in those concentration camps in Auschwitz. How on earth did they survive! Who can know the power of the human spirit? 

We must never shortchange ourselves by imagining that we are powerless to respond positively to the situations around us. We must rather choose to smile and laugh at every seeming discomfort. As a child, we used to chant: "Smile, Jesus loves you." It is true there are trials and tribulations, but Jesus says concerning these situations we experience: "In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world" (John 16:33b). So, in spite of all the troubles we face; indeed, because of them - since we don't know how the things we gripe about are actually keeping us safe - we should rejoice and be glad. Jesus repeatedly urges us to do this. He talks about our emulating the sparrows who do not work for food; our copying the example of the field lilies that do not toil or spin; the hairs on our head having been counted by God, and so forth. We are looked after by Divine Providence, and so we need never worry a bit about whatever it is we find distressing or challenging. God is in charge. 

Certain psychologists have come up with a practice known as the leaves on a flowing stream meditation. To practice it, you just close your eyes and picture yourself at the bank of a stream. The water is flowing past you. You may not see where the stream originates or where it ends, but you see the segment of it directly before you, in your vision range. There are leaves on the stream. These leaves represent our negative emotions, such as: fear, anxiety, sadness, insecurity and so on. Sometimes we observe the leaves flow past, or flow and return, or not seem to flow at all. We may be detached from the entire process. We can notice the leaves very closely and critically; we can inspect the progress of the stream. We can allow the progress of the stream represent the progress of our emotions as they journey from our heart to our head so we can think about them, and then speak words of reason to them and watch them flow quickly away, inspired by our speech. We can also insert ourselves into the stream and be with the leaves there, because the Buddha wants us to stay in our feelings and find salvation from what is. We can see how we are sometimes our own worst enemy; how we sometimes get in our own way. We can see the stream carry our old self away with the leaves; we can then see a new self sitting at the side of the stream.

The valence for most of the negative emotions we have come from our past, from the origin of the stream and the leaves, both of which we may not see because of our limited vision. but remember that we don't need to see the beginning or the end to be able to make progress with our healing. We just have to see what is obtainable in our vision range. For me, my greatest negative emotion is insecurity. I fear that good things in my life may not last; that things might happen to upset, change or take away anything good happening in my life. This state of insecurity is not good. I know its valence. It is my father's suicide when I was 5. A father is a boy's salvation. He is the one that gives a son the latter's place in life. A father teaches the son how to be a man; how to understand himself and negotiate all the nuances in life. When a father takes himself away from his son's life, when the latter is but 5 - imagine the loss for the son! The firm foundation; the solid rock; the pillar of strength the son should otherwise have leaned on is removed and the son is left suffering the consequences. Especially because it was the father that removed himself, and not any other person. He committed the ultimate betrayal, and nothing can excuse the act.

But no worries. The son himself grows up and has to decide what it is that he himself will do with his own life. He cannot change the past. He must forgive. He must "let go of the hope that the past could have been any different." Having done this, he must sit at that stream and watch the leaves of insecurity and fear and anger flow on by. The leaves will flow away as he lets go of the hurt within. The first law of thermodynamics says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but converted from one form to another. The hurt within may be converted to joy and passion for industry. In public speaking we tell our students that nervousness is good, because it can be converted to adrenalin and used to make a good speech. In the same way, the fear and insecurity could be converted to scruples and ambition and be used in diverse quantities to achieve laudable goals. So it is a question of both quality and quantity: quality in the sense that the nature of the energy is sometimes changed, and quantity because the amount of it used differs depending on the situation that calls for its use. The bottom line in any case is that the negative emotions are driven far away from the individual heart, like the leaves, which ideally should flow on by and past.

Slowly but surely, when the leaves have flown on by, the water becomes clearer and brighter. The stream becomes purer and cleaner. The sun glistens on its surface; birds chirp about, and all is calm and well. In the same way, when we've let go of all the negative emotions that torment us, we begin to feel cleaner and purer and happier. Situations around us are joyful; our perception of reality is better, and we live fuller and richer lives. We find it easier to choose happy and hopeful situations. We embrace the healing montage of joyful progress and bliss. Our song resembles this: "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down here in my heart, down here in my heart, today!" It all feels good. We feel very glad, and close to God. Life feels good; is good - and we rejoice in such a blessed reality. We trust indeed then that life will remain victorious.