Presence Transcends

Presence transcends

Drowned in family tragedy, despairing, distraught--
that morning earlier;
thus down encumbered,
he came to worship meeting, but not speaking
of his family’s severe circumstance, kept that hidden;

But in the midst
of open expectant communion, Transcendent Light, broke through tragedy— when another Quaker suddenly started singing,
a cappella spiritual chorus--
a deep songing deepening within;

intense meaning lifted us gathered in invisible communion--
vivid encouraging Hope;

That sacred chorus didn’t negate shattered-glass
lives, nor end countless distraught
circumstances and heartaches--
but
Oh, what Hope
Fulled us up within.



In the Light of the Good, the True, the Just,

Daniel Wilcox

Be a Rainbow

Rainbow in the storms.

"A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection,
refraction and dispersion of light
in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light
appearing in the sky."
Wikipedia

They always show up in the sky opposite from the sun, appearing as multi-colored arcs.

rainbow: "a curved line of different colors...in the sky when the sun shines through rain"
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Be a rainbow today to others drowning in tragic circumstances.

Let the Light shine through you to them.

Reflect truth, goodness, hope, and light.


"I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."
Martin Luther King Jr.


"But I am here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It's wrong to hate, Its always been wrong and it always will be wrong."
Martin Luther King Jr.
from speech, "Rediscovering Lost Values," February, 1954

from current bumper sticker:
"God bless the whole world, no exceptions."

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Freedom to Choose

At tragic times like the present when destruction, heartbreak,
debacle, and slaughter 'reign' down--
when the ocean of darkness
seems endless and abyss'd,

remember the gravely etched truth
of the psychologist Victor Frankl who lived at Auschwitz:
















The wonder of being human, of being consciously aware, of experiencing
and living in the transcendent, of seeking the good,
of sensing the 'ought' of every ethical truth
is that each of us understands
(except for determinists of course)
that every human, everyone of us, all of us--
no matter how difficult our troubled life path,
no matter what our difficult circumstances,
no matter our weeping heartache,
no matter how chasmic deep our tragedy--

we are free to choose alternatives in the very midst of the evils,
to reject the horrific wrongs,
to song hope and justice,
to turn toward the Light,
to reach out to others and empathize,
to act compassionate,
and
to care
hell
down
and
out.

"I am not...my circumstances, I am...my decisions."
Educator Stephen Covey

"Any person, regardless of the circumstances, can decide what shall become of them--mentally and spiritually.
Victor Frankl

"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become."
Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl G. Jung

Let us choose each moment.


In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Part #3: What Is Purity of the Heart?

Mind and Heart continuing:

After rejecting the wrong—
pornography, propaganda, emotional pollution,
obscenity, and other destructive actions,
what is the first positive step
into purity of the heart?

#1 Love what is transcendent, first.

What is finite—needs to be an also-ran,
coming in very secondary.

Everything that pollutes the heart comes from imagining,
choosing, and acting as if some finite thing
is most importance. As Plato emphasized
so long ago, and many thinkers since, love the Good.

#2 Realize that seeking the Good, the True, the Just
the Beautiful, the Loving is the first step
into each
moment,
each minute,
each hour,
each day,
each month,
each year,
each lifetime,
not one goal among many other concerns.

Purity of heart
is the true path to everything else.

#3 As good as career, projects, achievements, and success are,
choose in the present now to put humans first.

That’s called humanism, altruism, benevolence,
friendship, empathy, compassion, and so forth.

#4 Remember, that commitment in marriage is continual
choosing,
continual action,
and continual promise.

Feelings come and go.
Circumstances come and go.
Understandings come and go.
Distractions come and go.

But purity of the heart is coupled to covenant.

This is when two lovers
are one in caring and sharing in the midst of their
many differences, disagreements, and mistakes.


To be continued--



In the Light,


Daniel Wilcox