The movie Angels and Demons comes out Friday and my wife and I are looking forward to seeing it. We enjoyed the Da Vinci Code and the book versions of both. It is interesting to me how a certain belief system/religious institution was attempting to control the release of this movie. Why do people with very clearly defined beliefs feel threatened by other people’s points of view? Why would someone become so reactionary to those who think differently than they do? This all smells of ego/arrogance to me, how about to you?
I came upon the workings of the Opus Dei (from the Da Vinci Code) in an article I saw on the web last night. It was about this Bishop in Kansas City, a member of this secret ultra right wing militant Catholic group Opus Dei, who was basically declaring war on everyone who thought or believed differently than he does. The article called Bishop Finn an intolerant inquisitor ready to fight for his religious supremacy. Here again the self-righteousness of this radical Bishop sounds like ego and arrogance from someone who thinks he is right and most of the rest of us are wrong?
This radical self-assurance seems to me to be the opposite of what we learn from life. As I have gotten older, I questioned things more and instead feel like the more I know the more I realize how much there is still to learn. It all feels more uncertain and adventurous to me. Maybe my mind and heart show the vulnerability of being open. I prefer being vulnerable than closed down and safe.
How about you? Do you feel safer in a comfort zone of what you can control or are you open to the flow of knowing what comes from living out there in the unknown, taking risks, and experimenting with the moments you live? Sure life’s lessons teach us lots and we may feel more confident but does that mean we don’t still have much to understand? What new and improved ways are you looking at to interact more successfully with your family and others you have relationships with?
Today I talked with one of our staff that had just returned from a month long meditation experience through his school. He said it was a real challenge hanging out in silence with who he was as he viewed aspects of himself that he has yet come to feel fully ok about. That to me is the depth of the real journey, the searching and being present to you in the muck and in the bliss of the moment. It seems those that are so sure of what they believe to be the truth have spent so little time in the mystery of silence.
As I write my first draft I am looking forward to my mindful walk under the quiet and contemplative starry night. Let silence draw you in so you can see the ever expanding light of those who search for the truth.