An Existential Christmas!

There is something to an existentialistic Christmas.




There is a beautiful, ornate, antiquity filled cathedral, originally built in the mid 1800's, on the top of Nob Hill in San Francisco named, Grace Cathedral. This grand structure holds Episcopal services daily, weekly, and holiday services that have over a thousand attend to a standing room only congregation. Their inlaid marble floor of the narthex section (seen above, from above) of the church has a labyrinth for all to do meditative walks throughout the year.

Last night, there was a Christmas eve service at midnight to which I attended. The congregation was packed more than I had seen in the varied years to which I attended past. Perhaps everyone is searching for something during this changing time as we meander through the labyrinth in our own lives.

The Very Rev. Alan Jones, Dean, attended to preach his last Christmas service, as he is retiring next month. To this news he received a long standing ovation for his service to the church and community over the years. I like to go to this specific service as I thoroughly enjoy the music at these and last night they pulled out all the stops with the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys performing, along with a full orchestra. Beautiful...

They put on a good show there. With such ornate and wonderful, peaceful surroundings and artistic art and tapestries, the incredible music, the incense and so much more...

Mr. Jones began his sermon last night by saying, "For those of you who have stopped going to church, maybe go this night every year, or every other year, or perhaps haven't been in thirty years, this is a night for you."

(I will go on with this paraphrasing, but be close to his point throughout.)

"This whole Christmas thing with the baby, and the virgin, and the middle eastern politics of that day...it's not real."

Okay, now you have my attention.

"What's real is the story. We need stories in our life. Stories to give us hope and insight. But, this guy Jesus, who came to save the world and was the son of God who came to save the world...it's not real.

"How many of you believe in fairies?" There was medium applause. "How many of you here believe in miracles?" There was larger applause. "That's pathetic!" A round of laughter through the nave from the humbled congregation.

This guy still has my attention.

"We are all going through things right now. Serious things that we have never experienced and never thought the world would again. The world, at nearly every turn looks as though it is falling to pieces. Foreclosures, joblessness, global poverty, a global slavery crisis, Darfur, Congo, wars, global warming, battle of sexual rights and freedoms, political transitions, and so much more. That is what is real!

"But, is that your life?

"What you continue to dwell and perceive as your life, will be your life. Are you doing what you want? Have you created the life you want for yourself. Are you playing the victim due to all of this global mayhem? Do you feel paralyzed to the circumstances that the world has laid upon you?

"For you, tonight, I say that the Christmas story is not real, but it is a story to show you that there is a power out there, much larger than yourselves, that has made a day that can be recognized for us all to be reborn. To save 'our world' we make on a daily basis. To save 'the life' we create on a daily basis to live and interact in this world around us.

"What the Christmas story shows us is that anyone can overcome whatever life throws at them. When there is no place to sleep, to lay your head, to get out of the cold,; whether you are poor or rich, a societal outcast, an executive or a laborer, we can overcome the perceived reigns of the rulers of the world to create the world we want for ourselves despite what is happening everywhere.

"We have a chance to be reborn again. To make ourselves new, with new ideas and new visions of what it is we want to create for ourselves in 'our lives'.

"This is what Christmas is about. The fact that whether you perceive the story as truth or not you have already agreed here that you believe in miracles. You are a miracle. Through this vast universe you were created like none other. You were created to make your claim upon this universe. You were given a shot to make whatever you wish for your life. You were born and can be reborn, through this Christmas spirit, to begin anew.

"Christmas is a celebration of life. The miracle of you. The chance to make the life you are wishing for in this world of chaos. The life you make will be based upon how you perceive your world.

"Our world needs these new lives to breathe new vision into it. That is what Christmas is. To take this time and breathe new life into your life and bore from that breathe a new vision for you life to create that vision for yourself. To make your world, that part of the larger world, the world and life that you want and yearn for.

"Merry Christmas to you all. Congratulations on your new birth. Take your new life and make your world the kind of world you want to live. Make your universe your own individualist universe that was given on this day just for you."

Nice...


"Merry Christmas to all!"




This, the 225th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs

The people drank the tea

In 1773, a local crew of disgruntled English taxpayers decided to make a political statement to the English Monarch over their high taxes. The costumed men, dressed like native Indians, boarded the ships in Boston Harbor and dumped over 90,000 pounds of tea into the water creating a huge loss to the shipping and trading firm, as well as, a bay of free tea for those who wished to dip. This show of revolt against the oldest corporation in the world, East India Company, began the separation of the emerging upstart country called The Americas, into what was to become The United States of America and the continuing saga of rich versus the working class.

The United States was a country built on community and personal freedom. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere were the community organizers of their day alerting the community army, or minutemen, to rise up and who fought hard against the British Monarchy to make sure their dreams of change and freedom would win.

What has changed since this moment in time?

Thirty years ago this week, after speaking numerous times of an impending nuclear apocalypse, Jim Jones took his congregation of followers, called "The People's Temple" to Guyana, to escape the impending global catastophe. Just like the fear and insecurity that Bush spread to his "congregation", I mean country, only to find a path to their own demise, but this time there is no where to run and hide. To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is one of the largest such mass suicides in history, and the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the incidents of September 11, 2001. They drank the grape koolaide.

In 1773, The East India Company, to which the modern day corporate system was built upon, was used as a pawn by the people to show the power mongers of the day that the people will not stand for the corrupt system that was depleting them of their hard earned wages. Today, the power mongers approached the people on behalf of the corporations and said, "we need your hard earned future earnings in order to give to the corporations so that we can make sure that they don't fail. We are doing this all in the best interest of you the tax payer."

This time the people drank the tea. They bought the scherade hook, line and sinker. The corporations and the elitist power mongers of the day are laughing all the way to the bank. There are still a few that are open...mostly offshore.

When Noah was building the Ark, we hear no mention of other people coming to the doors of the ship asking for refuge. But, I'm sure they did. He turned his cheek as he turned away leaving them stranded to die in the coming storms. He took his stock portfolio(that two by two of every specie), and the few people closest to him(his cabinet), and loaded them onto the private jet of his day, in order to save the Chairman's business. He closed the doors to the rest of the world. Created the same isolationism that we have seen Bush hide behind. Noah was the ultimate CEO of his time asked by the ultimate Chairman of the Board to save the world's biggest enterprise, life.

Recently, the big three CEO's from some of the largest companies in the world, came to Washington to ask for some of the bailout money being thrown around. They came in their Ark's, those private corporate jets and limos to the Hill to ask for $25 Billion odd dollars of the people's money without any plan, strings attached, or outline as to how things would be spent. So, far the "people" or the officials in Washington, have said no.

Yet, when Bush and Paulson came to the Hill to ask for $700 Billion with no plan, but a promise it would go to fix the failed mortgages and get to the people so they can save their homes, the "people" or the elected officials in Washington eventually said Yes. Bush and Paulson lied about their proposal and gave the money to the corporations instead of helping the people.

It's raining, and the doors to the Ark are closing. We have a bit more than 40 days left of this corrupt administration to which the tax payers might be able to salvage what they blindly pissed away to the most powerful corporation in the world, the United States Government. The current CEO, Bush, is on his way out with his golden parachute still in tact.

On April 22, 2008, then Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom pleaded to Bush and the United States to sign a document for a cut in global greenhouse gas emissions, warning that rising sea levels could submerge the island nation of Maldives. As the water rises, just like Noah, Bush turned his cheek away as he shut the door of the Ark.

I think we should exchange Bush, his cabinet and cronies associated with the illegal power grabbing coup, the atrocities of the Iraq war, the stripping America of its personal rights, the failed foreign policies, the neglected national policies and blatant lies and deception, for the people of the Maldive Islands. These people work hard and will become great citizens of their new country. They will soon need a new home as it is expected that within the next twenty odd years these islands will be under water due to global warming.

We should give the Maldive people a ride on the private corporate jet, Air Force One, let them have a 51 foot ladder in order to scale the wall between North and South America so they can come in to the dry land.

Since Bush, our modern day Noah, has turned his back on every living thing on this planet, excepting those close to him (to which we might soon be seeing a blanket pardon for the crimes they all participated in) and their multiple billion dollar laundered bank accounts from the bailout funds, they should be left to drown by their own neglect of care and concern for others and this planet we all share.

Perhaps Barack Obama, the modern Paul Revere, our modern day great community organizer will find some restitution in giving the people the satisfaction of a modern day tar and feather display.

The water is rising and the people are drowning.




This, the 202th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs