Wheels Turning Inward

Śūnyatā - “Emptiness is Form; Form is Emptiness”

2011-12-04T07:48:00.004-06:00

emptiness
is a cupless cup
without shape
formless and lucid
luminous with light

precisely positioned
between
heaven and earth
where the space within
is completely transparent
unspoken, without words

where
a single raindrop
fragile and compliant
essential in form
falling quickly or gently
may be caught
and collected

to be seen
as a reflection
unstated in its purity
as a thought
arising out of
of our beingness

coming into being
faintly glowing at first
as the vividness
of daybreak
becomes brighter
and brighter

as we awaken

to each day
each thought, understood
explicitly expressed
guided by wisdom

in the mystery, which is God

which is creation
which is infinite
which is reality
which we create
from ourselves

where we hold
with breathlessness,
many new beginnings
being and becoming

where we hold
each new creation
in the holiness
of the heart

arising out of
each sacred moment
of the day,
in the smallest of things
in kindness freely given
and unasked for
accepted with graciousness

in compassion found
in the strangest of places
almost alien in encounter
in grace given
out of our desire

to heal and repair

each human heart
where all people
are one

where we empty

ourselves
to become
as one

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2009

The Kenosis Hymn - Philippians 2:5-8
Kenosis is the Greek word for emptiness.

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
⁶who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
⁷but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

In Buddhist philosophy, Śūnyatā (shoon-yuh-tah) is the voidness that constitutes ultimate reality. Śūnyatā is seen not as a negation of existence but rather as the undifferentiation out of which all apparent entities, distinctions, and dualities arise. Its full implications were developed by the 2nd-century Indian philosopher Nagarjuna and the school of philosophy founded by him, the Madhyamika (Middle Way), is sometimes called the Sunyavada, or Doctrine That All Is Void.

Genesis 1 (21st Century King James Version) - In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

A Mockingbird's Song

2010-05-16T06:44:00.020-05:00

There are moments,

like this morning,

when my heart is so full

it has become the song of the

Mockingbird singing outside our windows.

Who may sing at any time day or night, its song

of wonder and making.

Who is binding the world together

with each single and heart-making note, whose

songs are as bright as God's love for all of creation.

It is 4:42 AM precisely now,

at such and such longitude and latitude.

(29° 48' 22'' N 95° 23' 47'' W)

And I am sitting in a chair

typing as quickly as I can these

words arising out of the emptiness

of my own being, alive with wonder.

So that no single word may escape the

gesture of my mind, which in this

moment is like a razor's edge,
sharp and clearly defined.

The Mockingbird is still singing its song,

which you may easily imagine moving up through its

gentle heart, and throat, and out through

its voice, to spin again and again

up and around this fragile world, our home.

The song of its being is still winding its way

into the many mansions of my heart,

opening my heart to the mystery of its word and voice.

On Friday afternoon our neighbor delivered to Joanne,

a bouquet of lilies from her garden, Easter Lilies in May.

Oh, more than a dozen I can picture now.

And then yesterday Joanne brought home

even more flowers.

Carnations and mums for church today,

so the house is full of their fragrance,

along with the smell of my morning coffee.

If the self is constantly changing,

from one moment to the next

as my Buddhist friends tell me.

If the self is so impermanent as

to be not-self, or no-self, anattā (uhn-uht-tah).

Why is it then that I feel so

completely and utterly

alive in this very moment?

Why is it that I can still

hear the song of the mockingbird

entering my heart?

Raising it up again and again

like a sacrament,

to the wonders of creation,

to this gift we call life.

Why is it that this one song never

seems to leave me from

one hallowed moment to the next?

Why is the song more, much more,

than a vague and distant memory?

Maybe as the Buddha suggests, this is

a question we should put aside for now, not to worry.

And just to be as we are, to answer or say neither

yes or no, to live in the mystery perhaps.

Still, wherever you may be this morning, whatever

you may be doing, stop now. Stop and take one

deep breath, breathing in slowly and fully, and out once again.

Stop, and realize if nothing else, that you are alive.

And that within your own heart is the same song, of

the same mockingbird, in the very same tree outside our window

that is singing through our own hearts, binding us

together as one human family, a family of humanity.

Let this one moment become a beginning, a healing,

a grace, a passage from one human heart to the next. Where

the world is made new and whole, where we know who we

are with a certainty marked by compassion.

Where we come to see Christ, and even the Buddha, alive in one another.

Ron Starbuck

Mockingbird Morning

2010-05-06T05:42:00.019-05:00

Early this morning, I listened to the sound

of two Mockingbirds singing a duet,

with the composition of their song twisting

and spinning through the air

like brilliant streams of light.

When I looked up to find them,

I saw the waning moon bright with the

promise of dawn, framed by the branches

of our neighbor’s pecan tree,

heavy with new leaves from the spring.

On any morning we can go out

to one of our two porches

and listen to the clever and soothing songs

of Mockingbird, Dove, and Sparrow.

The Robins have returned as well, for now;

they always fly on when the heat of summer comes.

It is early May, and the warm humidity of Southeast

Texas is just beginning to edge up.

Each cool morning now is a gracious gift

we treasure, knowing that the hot days

of summer will soon be coming.

What I want to do most today is to

sit for the longest time listening to the

sounds of the morning, arising out of

the quiet emptiness of the earth. To simply close

my eyes and meditate on each song moving up

through the bones and marrow of my body,

and out again through my breath, binding together each

stray particle of my being into one coherent symphony. This is

what God must feel each moment across one universe to the next,

as endless galaxies and solar systems move timelessly through

the deepness of all creation, spinning out the

one clear song of this, his divine design.

If God, as many believe is love. Then I believe

it must be that our love added to others, is helping

to fashion his one song of creation.

And that if we ever stopped loving, really

stopped loving one another, then the world would

truly end suddenly and sadly with no warning at all.

This is why Christ gave us his two greatest

commandments, and Buddha taught compassion,

because they knew and wanted us to know too.

As long as one single person remembers how

to love and forgive anew each morning, like a child,

then the world is saved again and again.

Each morning becoming a new creation,

as God’s Holy Spirit moves across the waters

of our life, and we find our way home to Eden.

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2010

Hear what our Lord Jesus saith:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

Book of Common Prayer - The Holy Eucharist Rite One

Saying Yes to Jesus (Waiting with an Expectant Heart)

2010-05-03T16:53:00.000-05:00

Luke 1 (21st Century King James Version) – Annunciation and Magnificat

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her and said, "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." 30 And the angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS. 32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, 33 and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end."

46 And Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is His name.

Saying Yes to Jesus (Waiting with an Expectant Heart)

It’s the Christmas holiday season again Jesus.

Help us to know that it’s all about saying yes to you Jesus,

isn’t it; as your mother Mary said yes to God?

And it’s all about learning to share your love with others

and learning to wait for your coming

with an expectant heart.

How can we find the strength within ourselves

to give you that yes Lord?

Every day we wake up and there is always one more

thing that someone has added to our long list of

things to do, and the holiday season only

makes it worse you know.

Here we go again Lord, off to buy our families’ things

they can’t seem to live without; our spouse the

newest iPod, or our children the latest video game.

We rush around during the week and the weekends far

too much and far too fast to even hear

the announcement of your coming birth.

It’s a wonder we don’t miss Christmas Day in the rush of it all.

This year Jesus, will you please help us to slow

down and hear the angels singing?

Will you help us to hear the announcement during Advent

that you, the long expected one, are

coming now?

Will you help us to wait with expectation? Emmanuel – “God with us.”

Will you help us Jesus to see that now, here deep inside our hearts,

not tomorrow, but now; now is the time of your second coming

and that if we blink too fast we’re going to miss it all Jesus,

we’re going to miss it all.

And when Christmas comes, will you help us to hear the sound

of your voice crying as a baby and the sound of

angels in heaven proclaiming that birth?

Will you help us once again to understand the miracle and

mystery of your birth and what your birth actually

means to a world broken by sorrow?

Will you help us to say yes to God, our Father, as Mary said yes?

Will you even help us to give birth to God’s love within ourselves,

as Mary waited so long to give

birth to you in the little town of Bethlehem?

Will you please help us Jesus to feel and come to know the

holiness of this holiday season, from

Advent to Epiphany, and beyond?

Amen.

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2007, 2010

Wheels Turning Inward
http://www.friesenpress.com/bookstore/title/119734000000649053/Ron-Starbuck-Wheels-Turning-Inward/

Which or That

2010-05-02T06:19:00.006-05:00

I’ve almost always

preferred the word Which

over That.

I know it is in

writing a most

grievous sin

causing all sorts

of confusions and confessions

again and again.

So, I’m wondering once more, again.

Why I wish for Which, instead of That

and that is simply, well, and you know what

I’m going to say next,

don’t you, instead of,

Just That!

If we could all be clever, beyond

all telling, then one would

think that we could invent a new

Word, for both, like

‘Wthat’ or ‘Twhich’

Or even ‘Whichthat.’

And let all of us pick

one or another, of course

that leaves us where we started.

So, I’ll stay this old and weary

argument, at this, or is it That?

Tell me simply, which one to use.

Ron Starbuck

If you are still confused, please go to this page on which and that.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/which.htm

Sadie Lin

2010-05-01T05:56:00.006-05:00

Sadie Lin - Sadie Lin - Sadie Lin

Is coming, she is coming today

She is almost here you know

She is coming with a

Host of angels from heaven

Above, and will be guarded

And loved by a host of angels

Here on earth, and her name

Means wondrous beautiful loving child

Princess of light and love, and

She will have the smallest

Of hands and feet

With fingers and toes to match

And ears and nose and eyes to

Hear, and smell, and see this world

We call the earth and love so dearly

She will come smiling into the world

As God smiles on us all

With her mouth wide open

With a great cry and a shout

To let us all know that she has

Arrived, and she will arrive as a blessing

A blessing of love and a blessing of joy

Her eyes will reflect the stars of heaven

Her breath will be as sweet as heather

Her cries a sound to mark

The brightest passing of life

From the heavens above to earth itself

She will change the world forever

She will change your world and our world

She will rock the world with her

Very body and being

Even though she is one of

The smallest of creatures

To be born on God’s

Good earth today

And she will bring with her

The brightest visions of heaven

And a new love, unknown before today

Because this is the day of her birth

And the world has taken note

Of the miracle of life, of how this

Gift of life always calls out to life

While all of creation waits

With bated breath, to see

Her grow day by lovely day

Into the graciousness of God

Into the fullness of Sadie Lin

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2010

Sadie Lin Meek was born Saturday morning, May 1st, at 10:25. She is absolutely precious. She weighs 8 lbs. even and is 20 inches long. Mother and child are both doing great.

Rumi

2010-04-18T07:16:00.027-05:00

Beginning in the first moments

after the Sufi poet Rumi was born

pieces of him over time, began

dissolving into all the elements of earth

like sugar in water, and to this very day

he is with us still, we breathe his breath

in the air, we taste his words

in food grown from our good earth

we find the essence of his verses

floating like seeds of light

locked inside the molecules from his

body and being in the very water we drink

his verses when spoken out loud

are an invocation to the Holy Spirit

they ripen us like wheat

for a harvest of the heart

his words are written inside the chambers of our

hearts like a holy sacrament, he who searched for

God the beloved, or Allah if you wish, in church

and shrine and mosque, to find him finally

tucked inside the pocket of his own heart

can we as Christian, Jew, or Muslim

do any less, to bring an everlasting

peace unto the world, to be as one

Ron Starbuck

Luke 11:33-34 (21st Century King James Version)

"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they that come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light.”

Matthew 6:21-22 (21st Century King James Version)

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

Vassar Miller

2010-04-17T07:26:00.043-05:00

Ah, Vassar, tell me that it

was only yesterday and

not twenty five years

ago nearly.

When we were sitting

in your living room together,

while you listened to me

reading my first poor verse.

I loved our time together then,

drinking Coca Colas in six once bottles, you with

a plastic straw because that was easiest. Sucking

up life as much as you could with quiet desperation.

And I loved how your little dog

Cricket, would look at us

with the kindest of eyes,

knowing how good the company

was for us both. He was wise in dog

years and understanding then, as I loved

how he reminded me too of Toto from

the Wizard of Oz. Which was always

more than appropriate, since to the

world you were and are still

a wizard with words, spinning out

verse like golden threads and

weaving together each phrase

carefully and thoughtfully as if

they were made of fire and light

that could both burn and enlighten our minds.

You taught me how to listen, oh so

carefully, haltered as you were

in your speech, grinding out each word

with such loving labor, milling them down

to the finest of flour. I could see how

quick your mind moved, and how slow

the words would come falling out of your mouth

frustrating you beyond measure.

Still, you continued, the work was

that important, wasn’t it? Passing on

whatever you could from one

generation to the next.

If heaven is as bright and wonderful as we

wish, then my wish is for you is to be an

angel of verse, whispering in our ears a word or

two that will continue to heal the world.

Our world needs such healing still, we need

words that will lead us into the deepest

places of our being, where the stillness

waits with compassion and wonder.

Pain was your steady companion

all your life, and you faced loneliness

each single day, like a back pew Christian

no one notices entering into God’s holy house.

And yet, I suspect now, with your many tongues untied,

that you are shouting out verses across all

the heavens. Stitching together lines like sutras

and weaving together a tapestry of brightness

and light, that causes all of creation to take note

of you, and your voice. You have come home you know.

You have come home to the cradle of Christ, holding

the Incarnate Word like an infant close to your heart.

You who loved words and poetry so well, and spoke

with eloquence I am still grasping for now. I wish

your words would enter my mouth, spinning out again

and again a peace to repair the world.

Ron Starbuck

I first met Vassar Miller around 1987, when I signed up for a poetry writing class she held in her home on Vassar Street (named after her mother, Vassar Morrison), close to the museum district of Houston. She lived in a small cottage, in a neighborhood that her father as an architect and builder helped to develop back in the 1930's.

Vassar suffered from cerebral palsy. Her body was bent and her speech broken, you had to listen to her very carefully to understand each word as it fell out of her mouth. She attended both St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and Covenant Baptist Church in Houston, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. These two sacred communities were her lifelines to the world. I took her to church once at St. Stephens, and she may have had some influence on me later becoming an Episcopalian.

The last time I saw her was in 1991 or 1992, when I stopped by her home just to say hello and to share a new poem. She was always excited to have visitors, especially ones who were brave enough to share their poetry with her. Life has this way of picking us and taking us on new journeys and new adventures. I inevitably got caught up in my career at work and single life, until one day I met the woman I would one day marry. So, sadly, Vassar and I lost contact with one another in her final years. And that is something I still regret to this very day. Still, she taught me a love of poetry, her poetry especially; instilling in me a desire to write good poetry. Here I am years later, in another life outside the corporate world, trying my best to do exactly that and to write good poetry.

I like to think that she is smiling at my efforts and cheering me on still, as she once did when we first crossed each other's path. My experience of Vassar as teacher and mentor was one of great patience and gratitude. Not so much from me, although I was, but from her. She loved the company and the chance to interact with others, to build relationships, for her that was a true blessing.

If you would like to read some of the work of Vassar Miller, here is a link that will take you to several of her poems.

http://rinabeana.com/poemoftheday/index.php/category/vassar-miller/

Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassar_Miller

One More: http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0005&article=000531

A Vassar Miller Reader

Adam’s Footprint. The New Orleans Poetry Journal Press, 1956.

Wage War on Silence. Wesleyan University Press, 1960.

My Bones Being Wiser. Wesleyan University Press, 1963.

Onions and Roses. Wesleyan University Press, 1968.

If I Could Sleep Deeply Enough. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1974.

Small Change. Wings Press, 1976.

Approaching Nada. Wings Press, 1977.

Selected and New Poems, 1950-1980. Latitudes Press, 1981.

Struggling to Swim on Concrete. The New Orleans Poetry Journal Press, 1984.

Despite This Flesh. University of Texas Press, 1985.

If I Had Wheels or Love, Collected Poems. Southern Methodist University Press, 1991.

The Parousia (Divine Presence)

2010-04-13T05:58:00.001-05:00

how do you imagine it may happen

will it come all at once, suddenly

as so many say,

with the echo of Gabriel’s trumpet sounding

through the ears of all humanity?

have you ever anticipated

what you may be doing, at the moment

when Christ comes again

or is the Parousia something else

altogether, a newness of the spirit

we have never thought of before

something we can envision

and embrace even now

beyond all expectation, surprising

in the soft gentleness of its coming

O Lord, I have often imagined

Christ’s Second Coming

as something more than we may begin

to comprehend in this weary world

a binding of the Incarnate Word to

our soft flesh and hard bone

the inner meaning of God’s

deeper Word opening up within

the most vulnerable places

of the human heart

as tenderly and as wholly as a rose opens

under the warmness of sunlight

Christ is the rose then

blooming with brightness

filling us up with a newer light

a revelation if you will

an enlightenment even, that

welcomes him as this Second Coming

O Christ, let the Advent

of thy Second Coming

come upon us all like a great brightness

opening our hearts to your Word

the Word made flesh, this is what

we find in the celebration of the

Eucharist, the Great Thanksgiving

where you come to dwell in each of us

and we in you, and we in you

Ron Starbuck

A Healing Hymn (for Kylene)

2010-04-01T06:51:00.022-05:00

this is a poem, a healing hymn

a prayer most especially
for a friend with breast cancer

a reader and writer of books
a teacher of teachers, of many children
a wife and a mother of two

it is a prayer not just for her
but for all the women
who have struggled, again and

again with breast cancer
my aunt was one of them
and yet she lived a long and full life

generous in spirit
generous in love
generous in hope

there is a healing

there is a healing
there is a healing

I say this three times now
that we may all join in
it is a healing

of the heart, of the body
it is a deep healing
of the spirit and of the soul

it is a healing found, through
the compassion we give to others
to those we love and even the stranger

this is my prayer
this is my prayer
this is my prayer

I say this three times too
pray it with me, pray it
out loud with a strong sure voice

let the light of God’s love
the love within you each
be joined to flesh and bone

let such a love
enter into every cell and organ
let it rush in passionately and fully

through every vein and artery
through the blood and heart
down deep into every molecule

into genes and DNA
healing each single one
filling them with a light

a light of healing
that repairs the body
and transforms the soul

let this be a healing hymn
a hymn of praise and wonder, one
that echoes throughout creation

let this healing be the next
great thing, let these words
and thoughts shape such a reality

and teach us all, of the
infinite possibilities of love
found in life, the blessing of life

let life call out to life
and love call out to love
let it be so, always

this is my prayer
this is my prayer
this is my prayer

I say this again, three times three
pray it with me please, sing it
out loud with a strong sure voice

Ron Starbuck

Here is a link to Kylene's blog, where she is sharing the story of her journey. If you read this please say some prayers and send some healing thoughts.

As of Tuesday, 4-21-10, Kylene has been told by her medical team that she is 100% cancer free.

Life is a Conversation

2010-03-30T09:01:00.001-05:00

more than anything

life is a conversation

a coming together

of all our longings

a youthfulness of

knowing and being known

are you ready

for the next step

are you ready

to speak up, to sing out loud

with the voice of a

mockingbird, whose brightest songs

are spiraling out joyful threads

of light, mending together

the deepest sorrows

of the world

are you ready

to speak up, to listen to

a single child’s

cry of loneliness, or

an old gray haired woman’s

gay laughter, do you know now

how to look and to see

how the thread of each thought

leads you inevitably to

the next moment of your life

there is gathering

within me a great gratitude

of the earth (and all she teaches)

in these

early morning hours

when the world is

stillness itself

when unspoken words

begin forming the day

it is in these moments

of sanity where I begin

realizing the salvation

found in silence

I am the stillness then

singing out loud

from the quiet depths

a song which marks

the bright passing

of the self into the

world, becoming its own

kind of blessing, as the

earth breathes in once more

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2010

Thoughts on the Incarnate Word

2010-03-25T12:12:00.002-05:00

John 1:1-5 (NRSV) - The Word Became Flesh

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

Colossians 1:15-20 (NRSV) - The Supremacy of Christ

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross."

Thoughts on the Incarnate Word

When we, as Christians, look at Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Word and the first born of all creation, we are in a very real sense viewing Christ outside of time or within the eternal context of all creation. What that means in terms of salvation is that we are and always have been completely accepted by God, as the 20th Century theologian Paul Tillich so often pointed out. In short, we are the beloved of God.

What many Christians may not consider is that when we view Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Word, the word made flesh, we are looking at him as a mystery of all creation, where each letter of the word MYSTERY should be capitalized. We can even take this mystery to another level, when we view Christ as "the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation."

In terms of Christian soteriology, we are and always have been accepted and beloved of God from the very beginning of creation. Christ as the Incarnate Word, preeminent and preexisting, makes this possible. Your acceptance and my acceptance have taken place within and outside of time as a part of the Paschal Mystery; the passion, death, Resurrection, Ascension, and Exaltation of Christ. If this sounds like a paradox, it is, but God loves a good paradox. A good paradox keeps us on our toes.

Through the Paschal Mystery all of creation has been reconciled and made whole in Christ with God; Christ has fulfilled the perfect covenant of God. God's love is now shown to us as eternal and constant. Through Christ, who is the love of God actualized as the Incarnate Word, salvation has come and is now an eternal event. The core truth of the Pascal Mystery and of God's love is a truth that is still unfolding and a mystery that we are still trying to fully understand.

Through Christ, salvation for all humankind has become available from the very foundations of the earth and before. All that we have to do now, is to "accept that we are accepted" 2 and beloved of God. When we begin to understand God as love, and Christ as the actualization of God's love, our whole worldview changes. We change and our relationships with others change, these relationships become transforming. 1

To accept Christ, is to accept a new relationship with God and with all the other people we encounter in our lives. And in doing so, to place a value on these relationships which is always open and transforming. Our relationships take on a new form that sees God acting through us not as a noun, but as a verb that is transforming, life changing, even mystical as we begin to know and be known within the context of this mystery. God changes our hearts (metanoia) and in that process changes our lives and the lives of others. 1

We begin living as God wants us to live, we begin loving as God wants us to love and who God wants us to love.

Jesus tells us in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

And then Jesus points us towards another realization of his Kingdom in these verses from Luke 17: 20-21 - And when the Pharisees had demanded of Him when the Kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, "The Kingdom of God cometh not with outward show. Neither shall they say, `Lo, it is here!' or `Lo, it is there!' For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you."

Christians believe that God as the Holy Spirit is truly with us, in us, through us, alive in us, as the source of compassion, of loving-kindness, and wisdom. The Spirit of God moves daily all through our lives, and through the lives of the people we come to know. 1 When two or more are gathered together in his name, through a spiritual community and connection with one another, which we can view as the church and the body of Christ, we become and act together as a "People of God."

To believe this, to believe in Christ as the "Incarnate Word" 3 as a Christian does; points us towards a way of viewing God as a verb, in relationship and interconnectedness with all of life and all of creation. 1

This is the promise that Christ brings to us when he says; "I am the way, the truth, and the life," or when he tells us "I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly".

"Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Peace,
Ron Starbuck
Houston, Texas

1. Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian, Paul F. Knitter, Chapter 1, Nirvana and God the Transcendent Other, Pages 14-23. Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: Oneworld Publications (July 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1851686738
ISBN-13: 978-1851686735

http://www.oneworld-publications.com/cgi-bin/cart2/commerce.cgi?pid=443&log_pid=yes

See also a longer response: http://ronstarbuck-poet.blogspot.com/2009/08/god-as-verb-response-to-without-buddha_13.html

2. The New Being - Paul Tillich
http://www.religion-online.org/showbook.asp?title=375

3. Philo of Alexandria should also be mentioned, since his writings probably influenced whoever wrote the Gospel of John. Not to mention a whole host of other early Christian leaders and Christian theologians down the road. It is from Philo that we get the doctrine of the Logos, the Incarnate Word. Philo was a contemporary of both Paul and Peter, and their are legends that he may have known them both. To learn more about Philo go this URL.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/philo/

Ultimately, we find much of Philo's philosophy incorporated into the orthodox doctrines of the church.

For The Sake of Ten (A Poetic Midrash)

2010-03-19T18:39:00.061-05:00

once a long time ago, I can't really
say how long, a man and his wife
welcomed three strangers

by the oaks of Mamre, near Hebron
and in true hospitality prepared a simple
meal of milk and curds, with

bread and tender calf
and received in kind
a blessing of life

a promise of pleasure
and a son to come
too wonderful to believe

the woman when hearing this
laughed to herself and wondered
at such a marvelous claim

she (Sarah) who was old and barren of life
beyond all memory of delight, of
youth filled joys and sensuous nights

it was a promise kept, within a year
he who will laugh (Isaac) with joy
was born, as the Lord had spoken

then the story of the passing stangers
continues, and this may be my
favorite part of the tale to tell

when the three men passed on to leave
the man (Abraham of the Good Eye)
went with them for a while

only to question again and again
first for fifty, then forty five
then forty, then thirty

then twenty, and finally
for the sake of ten
righteous people

moved by his own sense
of justice, mercy
and compassion

he questioned the Lord of Hosts
as advocate, even in his fear he questioned
how can we do any less?

and yet, God who heard the outcry
was teacher here as well as judge
one who would know the truth

God invites such dialog
you see, he does not hide
he chooses to be engaged

and by doing so
seeks to guide us in
transforming our world

by the plains of Mamre
near Hebron, he came
giving birth to a nation

a people of God, chosen of God
through which all the nations of earth
will become blest

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2010

Azaleas II

2010-03-19T06:51:00.012-05:00

this year our azaleas

have come late
or
right on time
depending
on how you look at it

it has been a long winter

for Houston,
for me.

The azaleas

quiver in the air,
Like can-can dancers
their pink and fuschia skirts held high
their stamen legs kicking
corralling my attention
and beckoning me
to come closer
and inhale this solid mass
of buzzing blooms.

do you remember

that each flower has both
both male and female parts?
horticultural hermaphrodites.

there are two types of flowers:

imperfect and perfect.
the imperfect ones are always
either all male or all female
while the perfect ones
have both male and female parts.

Our azaleas are perfect.

Their silky magenta petals
Puff and sing their way through our home
revealing spring
in a chorus of floral angels.

Julie Macksoud and Ron Starbuck

Julie Macksoud is an internet friend of mine who is at Colby College up in Waterville, Maine. We’ve been friends for quite a while now, since before Joanne and I were married in 1997. Our initial connection was due to Nanci Griffith, we’re both fans of Nanci. Julie was inspired with my original poem about our azaleas at home and came up with this lovely version that I wanted to share with folks. She asked me if she could revise it some, as a gift. At the end of the poem, I put her name first, because ladies should always go first, and because she did such a lovely job of adding something special to the poem, with a certain touch of femininity. It’s fun to look over the difference and a lesson for me, I say this humbly, in how to compose good poetry. I say compose, because writing poems is probably more like writing music, than prose. Although, I do think that well written poems and prose, can both call to mind the feeling of a well performed symphony.

I get impatient with myself or the poem at times, and rush too quickly into print and publication. Perhaps that has something to do with instant gratification, something we all suffer from these days. There is a lesson in that too.

The original version is here. > http://ronstarbuck-poet.blogspot.com/2010/03/azaleas_13.html

Azaleas

2010-03-13T08:30:00.004-06:00

this year our azaleas

are coming late

or right on time

depending on how

you might want to look

at it all

it has been a long winter

a cold winter

here at home

I love the colors

they give off

floating there

in the air, like

can-can dancers with

their skirts held high

their stamen legs kicking

freely into the secret

spaces of our hearts

do you remember

that each bloom has both

both male and female parts

stamen, anther, filament (male)

pistil, stigma, style, ovary, ovule (female)

then petal and sepal (shared)

and did you know that

there are two

types of flowers

imperfect and perfect

the imperfect ones are always

either all male or all female

while the perfect ones

have both male and female parts

I’m happy to report that

our azaleas are perfect, and I wonder

if this is not some hint from God on how

we are to each reach godly perfection

you should also know that we have

the bright pink and deep fuschia

electric magenta ones, whose colors each spring

sing through our home, a chorus of brilliant angels

Ron Starbuck

Falling the Third Time

2010-02-10T09:35:00.007-06:00

Jesus falls again, for the third time

the dark skin of his hands and knees

raw and broken

blinded by blood

from the torn flesh of his brow

still, he moves on

so that we may be forgiven

loving us that much

A final kenosis, embracing emptiness

emptying himself completely, his blood

poured out upon the streets

of Jerusalem, for you, for me

this is what I want to know from you now

when will we do the same for one another

and I know you may say that it isn't needed

but I tell you that it is, at least in our hearts

we must learn again and again, how to die

for the sins of the world, how to give birth

to Christ's compassion, if the Resurrection

is meant to mean anything at all

we too must walk

the same hard and bloody road

through Jerusalem, as did Jesus

his road to our forgiveness

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2010

Trinity Jazz Fest

2010-01-31T20:21:00.009-06:00

Trinity Jazz,

I know you’ve heard that

some like it hot, and some like it cool.

But, how do you like your jazz?

Can you imagine it at all,

as Hot, Cool, and Holy too?

Another Trinity of sorts,

where the music sends and

lifts you to jazzy

states, sublime in the divine.

Can you imagine J.C. on piano or

tenor sax, transcendent, banging and blowing out

the clearest and cleanest notes

you ever heard?

With the Archangel Gabriel,

trumpet in hand, snapping his fingers and

cheering him on, saying “blow Jesus blow,”

sounding out notes, both high and low.

This is no prelude to the

last judgment I’ll gladly say,

but rather a celebration and an awakening,

a call to holiness and to life here and now.

This is a prayer, a mighty invocation of the Holy Spirit

who comes dancing through the air

and spinning into our ears, setting the

hearts of God’s chosen people a flame.

Here is salvation and enlightenment,

wrapped up in each single note

blowing through the sanctity

of the human spirit, tuning up our souls.

Here is a voice to set us on

fire, a personal Pentecost

if you will, from which we are moved

to transform the world.

Here is God, stretching out arms

so wide and loving, gathering and embracing

us all into one musical arrangement, in a sacrament

of spirit and sound.

A blessing of blessings in every note.

Ron Starbuck

the thing about gravity

2010-01-29T05:46:00.025-06:00

the thing about gravity

as we all know so well

is that it grounds us to earth

as an absolute truth

just ask newton

who was knocked on the head

and who dropped an apple

time and time again in wonder

and yet

the bright spaces within us

the places already

filled with God's light

and the clear transparent air we

breathe, calls to us each

calls us in spirit

to stretch out widely

to spread our wings

and take flight

from morning till night

until we rest from our labors

even our dreams

are lessons in flying

feeding flights of

our imaginations

you may not think so

but we are meant to

fly and fly and fly

and fly again and again

beyond all possible

worlds and realities

yes, we are meant to fly

forever

Go Go Go

and spread your wings

take flight

into the highest heavens

Ron Starbuck

When I Was a Boy

2010-01-23T08:19:00.020-06:00

when i was a boy

it was easy for me to imagine

living the cowboy life, like John Wayne

somewhere in Kansas

which is where i was born and mostly raised

or even further out west among the mesas and cactus

southwest of home by only a few hundred miles

my imagination ran rowdy in those days

we lived in the far suburbs of Kansas City

but on the close edge of a cultivated countryside

where small farms and ranches

were stretched and scattered between subdivisions

creeks and streambeds were our favorite play fellows

they were the wild companions and places of our childhood

and of my heart i believe still

there was a small field i once walked by on occasion

where two horses grazed, and where

i would often stop to say hello, they weren’t shy at all

about galloping up to the fence, anxious for me

to pet their broad foreheads and dive deeply into the

the black pools of their pupils

where sunlight and stars floated forever

speaking out loud with a neigh and a nod

whispering horse sense to my ear

my maternal grandfather and grandmother were farm folk

all their life, wedded to the land and the changing seasons

the rhythm of their lives guided

by the movement of earth and moon

and Sunday morning church at St. John’s Lutheran

where relatives and neighbors gathered weekly, some still do

i can still see my grandmother’s face and her secret smile

like Mona Lisa’s, knowing more than any child may imagine

and her soft loving eyes, wise with wonder for the world

her hands bent with arthritis, but never a complaint

as she snapped snap beans for dinner

or kneaded dough for bread

i can still taste the delight of those farm days

especially the strawberries and shortcake in summer

vine ripe juicy tomatoes exploding with flavor

into the back of your mouth and throat

and i can still see my grandfather too, so clearly even now

his hands especially, so strong and so sure

calloused from years of work on the farm, but so very gentle

i can remember as a small child, crawling up on his lap

as he sat in his rocking chair by a pot bellied stove, truly

and how he held each of us in turn,

all his grandchildren, joyfully patient

eyes twinkling like some dime store Santa

even though he was bald and beardless

wearing blue jean overalls with

brass buttons and snaps we’d play with

there was no safer place in the entire world you know

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2010

Winter Pays a Visit

2010-01-18T17:10:00.036-06:00

Early this January, winter paid us a visit
in Southeast Texas, quite cold for southern folk
as you may imagine,
temperatures plunged well below freezing to
some twenty two degrees or less overnight.

Literally landing on our door step
where several large terracotta pots sit on a side porch,
nursing delicate yellow and white pansies
along with purple kale.

Each plant wilted and drooped for days afterwards
and then by some miracle of nature
or divine design
came back, resurrected if you will
as healthy and wholehearted as before.

There was no fear of death
or dying involved
just life calling out to life, life does that you know
life calls to life and in doing so
makes death a terrible liar.

On warmer days you may
often see a squirrel or two
digging in our pots upon the porch,
to deposit or withdraw
some small treasure they have buried there,
cheered on by the local mockingbirds
and our dogs of course.

Who worry so, barking away at the window,
aching in their bones
to rush out the door
and chase their tormentors back up a tree.
Oh, how they do go on
with their antics and agitations.

Death may be long, forever even
or not perhaps,
but life I think is stronger still.
Life is always calling us back to life,
even back from death,
life belongs to life.

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2010

Eternal Life

2010-01-17T09:09:00.014-06:00

If you believed

if you really believed, in eternal life

what would that mean?

I think it would mean

that you live each moment of your life now

fully aware, completely awake, without hesitation

I think it would mean

that you see the world as it is

without a veil or tinted glasses

An echo of each single thought

flowing from a mind far too busy, to stop

and to see, the wonders of heart beat and breath

The wonder of relationships, and how each one,

forces us to find the other in our truest self, to see that we

are not two, or three, or four, or more, but one body

Flesh bound to flesh, bone grafted to bone

organ paired to organ, rib joined to rib

neuron matching neuron, our DNA dancing together

I think it would mean

celebrating each day as a Great Thanksgiving

a Eucharistic feast, hosted by God in top hat and tails, smiling

As we each smile back.

Ron Starbuck

Poets of Creation

2010-01-16T07:13:00.012-06:00

a friend once told me

that each artist must

develop a new language

this is true of poets too

words are more than words

as thoughts are more than thoughts

the power of poetry

comes through how each

word turns into a subtle reality

if I am to understand

the mystery of creation

then I think it is found

in the pain of others

in their own humanity and inability

to release themselves from desire

and to learn the language of poetry

to grasp it so fully and so completely

that they then become someone beyond themselves

they become a vessel of light and compassion

a torch burning brighter and brighter

a gentle flame moving from sun to sun

lighting up the visible universe (28 billion light years in diameter)

and beyond, becoming starlight that travels and bends

beyond all the distant horizons of time

creating new realities, infinite in scope

our imaginations can do that you know

as our lives move in a motion of poetry

becoming the first poem ever spoken by God

as such a poem God uses us to make and sustain creation

we are the poet and the poem out of which each moment arises

Ron Starbuck

A Trinity of Thoughts

2010-01-09T07:54:00.002-06:00

Genesis 2:7 –“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

God’s Holy Spirit travels upon each breath we breathe,

Breathe deeply my friends, breathe deeply.

With each breath, let light spread inside yourself,

As morning spreads in luminous waves across the heavens at daybreak.

Or as light refracts through the prism that is ourselves,

Revealed in rainbow spectrums brilliant with primary colors.

Mirroring the mind and thought and vision of God

As that vision pierces the mystery found in a human heart,

To fully comprehend each isolated soul.

And where we, we who are born from a word

Spoken from a tongue flaming with divine desire,

Become the intention and the passion and the sparks of creation

Meant to maintain and give birth beyond all measure.

Breathe deeply, and between each breath we breathe

Illuminate each passing whim and desire

Rushing unclearly through the mind,

With a radiant ray of transcending light,

Holding it there with calmness,

Until we discover the miracle in a fleeting moment.

To see with such a clarity, that we may arrive knowingly

Where the stillness of heaven begins and time is born,

From the emptiness of creation before thought is formed.

Let each thought like highly polished seeds, suffuse our hearts with joy

And bloom as a rose blooms with a radiance brilliant as a diamond, overflowing with

Wisdom and compassion, shaping our deeds and actions

To help repair and redeem a world broken by sorrow,

As God redeems the world through a divine word who dwells in us.

God’s Holy Spirit travels upon each breath we breathe,

Breathe deeply my friends, breathe deeply.

Let God’s sacred breath blow upon us and

With each inward breath we breathe feel light

Pour inside the body as a balm poured from the hands of God,

Ardent with anticipation, filled with love

From crown to foundation,

Clearing the mind.

Let light stream through

Every nerve and vessel

Flowing up and down the spine,

Transforming the cosmic dust of our souls

Into unimagined colors,

Shimmering across galaxies unending

In a universe of infinite possibilities.

Where illumination composes consciousness,

To expand from there,

Like the swelling of a symphony.

Entering each cell and organ,

To dance with luminous precision

Through nucleus, chromatin

Genome and DNA, renewing life itself.

Breathe in the breath of God,

Being and becoming children of the Most High,

Holding the light of a new creation

In the palm of their healing hands.

III

God’s Holy Spirit travels upon each breath we breathe,

Breathe deeply my friends, breathe deeply.

With each outward breath feel energy spring

From the stillness of creation,

Rising up through the silence

To encircle and enclose ourselves

Like coronal auroras surrounding the heavenly stars,

Reflected in the eyes of a thousand angels gazing into

A calm dark sea above a midwinter’s sky.

Witnessed by constellations beyond counting

Dancing across the deepness of space.

May the breath of God’s Holy Spirit rush in with a mighty force

To guide and fill us with such an illumination.

Let God’s righteousness be laid upon us

Layer upon Layer, Light upon Light,

Becoming vessels made from the dust of creation,

Fired with passion, filled with compassion.

O Lord, as such a people,

As a people born in the baptism of your Holy Spirit, and

As people shaped by thy Word.

Let us enter into thy Heavenly Kingdom

Here on this earth, at this time.

In this place where we learn,

Not only of love, but how to love.

And let your love grant us the courage and strength

To transform this world,

Filling it with thy justice and peace for all people,

Everywhere, Forevermore.

O Lord, help us to make …. “Thy kingdom come,

thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.

Ron Starbuck

Hannah's Smile (For Hannah who is wondrous gift of God)

2010-01-09T07:46:00.007-06:00

Hannah has a smile,

Hannah has a smile

as wide as the world!

When Hannah smiles, she smiles with the

smile of God. Hannah all by herself

is a perfect reflection of all creation.

(Bright with heavenly promise.)

Hannah is her own heaven,

a heaven of playing, and laughter.

A heaven of running and

gleeful (soul-filled) squeals spilling

out of her whole being.

Hannah’s smile is an infinite

smile arresting all sense of time.

Hannah’s smile makes time stand still

and angels bow with grace.

Hannah’s smile is a healing smile that

heals a tender heart.

Her smile is a joyful smile, boundless

beyond all measure, that

fills you with the delight of life.

Hannah is a heaven of kisses, of

small hands and feet

and gentle hugs

and arms to hold you tight with love.

Hannah is the love of two people

falling in love (always, may they fall further still)

who brought her (as God’s astounding gift)

into this world.

As a blessing for you,

and for me, and

for all the earth to see.

Ron Starbuck

Hannah, just so you will know, is my great niece. The daughter of my niece Heather and her husband Darryl who live in Houston, Texas.

The Person Who Is Awake - A Christian comments on the Dhammapada and the Psalms

2010-01-02T11:10:00.017-06:00

The Person Who Is Awake
has conquered the world.
How can they lose the way
who are beyond the way?

Like Christ and the Buddha,
like all enlightened people,
their eyes are open and
their feet are free.

Who can follow after them?
The world will not claim them
or lead them astray,
nor the poisoned nets of desire hold them.

They are awake. They are awake.
They find joy in the stillness of
prayer, contemplation, and meditation
and in sweet surrender to the Lord of Hosts.

They seek the highest consciousness.
They are free from fear. They are free to live.
They live in joy and in love.
They find their joy in love.

They live in compassion and loving-kindness.
They look within and are still.
They become still to know the Lord
and are renewed with a right spirit.

They are still, and know the Lord.
They are exalted with humility.
The Lord of hosts is with them.
They find refuge in the Lord.

They are washed clean,
whiter than snow.
Their flesh and bones, once broken,
are made whole.

Behold, they have found Thy truth
in the deepest and inward places of themselves.
Through these hidden places
they have come to know Thy wisdom.

With a quiet mind
they open their hearts to compassion
feeling the joy of the Lord's way.
They are delivered.

They are saved, and sing aloud
of Thy righteousness Lord.
Their broken hearts and spirits
are healed and made whole.

They rejoice. They rejoice.
Because they have seen the Truth
of Thy word, from the very beginning of time.
They rejoice, in seeking your pleasure Lord.

They arise. They arise.
And all about them the earth changes.
Compassion rules their actions.
Their hearts are open to one another.

They abide in love and
are known by the Lord.
They help to heal the earth
and to restore Thy people to Thy ways.

They have found that we are one.
They have discovered we are all Thy people.
They rejoice in righteousness and
offer themselves before Thy holy altar.

Thy Holy Spirit dwells once again within Thy people.

Ron Starbuck

January 2010

I will not try to claim a proper copyright on these verses, I could not, since all are based on my interpretation of scriptures and translations taken from both the Old Testament Psalms (46, 48, 51) and the Dhammapada (14, 15, 26) one of the earliest masterpieces of Buddhist literature, ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is surprising easy to combine verses and ideas from these two sacred scriptures. This is essentially what I did by reading each one back and forth, which was part of the creative process. Some verses however are completely new, ones I added, inspired you might say by the Holy Spirit, or at least by my seeing how closely they align to one another.

There are several different sources and translations of both the Psalms and the Dhammapada found on the internet. For the Psalms, I used the 21st Century King James Version found on the BibleGateway.com site. For the Dhammapada I drew heavily upon the 1993 translation completed by Thomas Byrom, which I found to be the most appealing, straightforward and easiest to read for a Western mind. On Wikipedia, there are several different sources for the Dhammapada, which I would encourage you to explore on your own.

In exploring both Judeo-Christian and Buddhist concepts about God and the divine, many scholars will agree that they each conceptualize God quite differently. They both begin in different places, within a specific historical, linguistic, and cultural context that goes back thousands of years. As the world we know today grows smaller and smaller and as ideas fly at the speed of light across a worldwide internet, we are all challenged to re-imagine our relationship with the divine in new ways. Many people believe that God is changeless, and I would agree that this may indeed be true, but it also seems that creation itself is constantly changing as is one moment from the next. If God is endless, has "no end", is "unending", in which "there is no end"; if God is boundless, has no "boundaries;" if God is "ineffable;" if God is more than the Alpha and the Omega of all creation; is not all of creation and how creation is changing, also contained within God, as in Panentheism?

I have intentionally used the word Lord, instead of God in the verses above, because the word Lord seems more intimate to me and can be widely applied to different religious and cultural concepts about the mystery of God and the path to enlightenment or salvation. But, in nearly all cases it also refers to a meaning of a monotheistic God, as in the Lord God Almighty, and the Lord of Hosts to put it into a more traditional Judeo-Christian conceptualization.

Theosis

2009-12-31T10:24:00.030-06:00

It is hard work

this praxis of union with God
who knows how long it will take

some say a lifetime
Buddhists and Hindus say several
theirs may be the longer road it seems

I am afraid that
I have no patience, of flesh and bone
to wait that long, God calls unceasingly

I know this
that each time I partake
in Holy Communion, Christ comes

Each time I hear the Eucharistic words
of thanksgiving spoken
each time I feel the mystery of
the Holy Spirit descending

Each time I open
my hands and heart
in stillness and sacrament
Christ comes

With a soft and gentle
intensity beyond all words
to tell

It is not a simple thing to tell at all
God it seems, is always waiting in the wings
such divine grace is always given
as a gift unearned

Whenever I open my hands, even now
in this very instant
as during Eucharist
Christ comes
in this moment of epiclesis

To land lightly in each palm
held upward in reverence, in prayer
becoming a reflection of holiness
that travels throughout my whole being
binding his spirit to my flesh and bone

Opening my whole self
filling my own broken body with a light, that blooms
to transform all truth, reality itself

Tongues of flame
burning brightly with a radiance
as on the day of Pentecost

To become one with Christ
as Eve was once joined to Adam
“bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh"

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2009

John Calvin the 16th century Protestant Reformationist and French theologian believed passionately that the Eucharist or Holy Communion is God's gift to us. God is the giver and we are the receivers of this divine gift. As Christians we are united to Christ in his body and blood by the Holy Spirit. This union is so intense, so very real, that we can rightly say we are "bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh (Genesis 2:23-24)." We are embodied in Christ, as declared in Ephesians 5:30: "We are members of his body." Both our salvation and redemption as Christians is found in this union with Christ.

When we look at Jesus as a teacher, revealer, and redeemer he came not so much to form a new religion, but to help us improve our relationships with God and one another. His two core commandments were to worship God, and to love and care for each other. And even though God has very high values, God understands that as human beings we can't always live up to those values. God still loves us all the same; God forgives us, and will let us make a new start, time and time again. Indeed, it is our common every day imperfections that make perfect our compassion. So too, must we learn to forgive one another.

Jesus teaches us that “Our Father (Abba) who art in heaven,” maker of all creation, who knows the position and state of every solar system and planet in the universe(s), every molecule ever formed, and even every subatomic particle dancing through space and time, cares deeply about us each. Christians believe that when Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Word, became human, he opened a door for us to become intimately connected with God. How this all happens is a divine mystery, but it does happen. It is happening now.

if you will only take a moment

2009-12-28T05:20:00.002-06:00

if you will only take a moment
to pause quietly, to close your eyes
in prayer
and to then imagine yourself

breathing out slowly, surely
and while doing so
letting go of all earthly desires
and distractions

all attachments, and anger
the relentless thoughts, frustrations
and fears of the day
until the body aches for air

starving for the divine spirit
which gives true life

breathing in again slowly, surely
welcoming the Holy Spirit
descending upon you, like a soft white dove
or a fire fiercely burning and bright,
as a blessing of Christ

consuming all suffering
into a moment of clarity
filled with light
surrounded by a peace

surrounded by a peace, which
is like no other, no other at all

which is like an understanding,
a oneness of Christ, the Word made Flesh
that transcends and
heals the whole world

your world

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2009

Snow Falling

2009-12-28T05:14:00.000-06:00

it is easy to close my eyes
and to imagine

snow falling
carefully and silently
in the evening stillness

like lace from heaven
perfectly formed in symmetry
and balance

descending everywhere like
a soft wintry breath

that touches my face
and forehead, a whisper from god
lightly landing upon eyelid and lash

each single breath
followed with a kiss
a grace given
a blessing even

a delight
warming my heart

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2009

there is something about being an episcopalian

2009-12-28T05:07:00.002-06:00

there is something

about

being an Episcopalian

that draws me

engages me

moves me forward

makes me think

and makes me quake

there is something there

something that defines me

embraces me

holds me wholly

and holy still

within thy stillness

something that rings true

across and through the mind

something that touches

that binds and almost breaks

that bends a heart

to hear a voice

that knows a love

and feels a joy

that sees a mystery

to which i smile

as you smile back

God in heaven

we are a community

that one day soon

i hope

i pray

will know no bounds

or boundaries

in this world

thy kingdom

comes

thy will

will be done

on earth

as much

as in heaven

unexpectedly

it may seem to some

in spite

of all we fear to do

or do not do

by your good grace

thy kingdom comes

ready or not

here it comes

within us

all around us

it comes with

or without expectation

time to wake up

now!

Ron Starbuck

The Maestros

2009-12-25T05:06:00.003-06:00

Like ancient warriors at war they turn upon the stage,

swirling and twirling through the light

as darkness swells out to surround them.

Here troubadour's birth their songs,

and here chants the lonesome hunter

emerging from raven's shadow.

Here at the forest's edge, where nature

mirrors the mind.

Here life is born from nothingness

and beauty is born from grace,

while compassion takes root in the song.

It is here where harmony folds time,

into the singers heart,

dismissing all discord.

While dancers pirouette in the palm of eternity's

hand, both sorrow and splendor their partner.

Sublimely they engage existence,

fencing with fate,

waltzing to and fro between winds of the

ethereal, touching the stars,

directing their destiny.

At other times they are very much like

Tristram and Isolde or

Abelard and Heloise.

lovers risking all,

giving and receiving,

lost in one another's healing arms.

Or like artists blending colors across canvas,

caressing and creating,

each partner helping to lead the other inward

into the warm full heart of God,

home of many colors,

where thoughts clearly sung give life to the soul.

Tenderly, fervently, passionately, wrapped in

patient joy they become joined together in their

exploration of spirit, sound, and sensuality,

here they are blessed,

here they are at one with themselves.

There is laughter here and

a prayer to speak of shared with tears.

Where wheels turning inward

induce one to marvel,

embracing the divine,

and touching the sacred.

Willfully they move as one possessed by the music,

And who can truly tell whether it is the

movement of the music

that fashions each soul,

or the movement of a single soul

who fashions the music.

R. P. Starbuck

Hail Mary (Luke 1:28-48, Luke 2:1-20)

2009-12-22T04:52:00.005-06:00

“Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with you.”

In this hectic upside down non-stop world,

help us Mary to be still, and to say yes to God.

Help us not to fear, you who in your own fear

saw what we only now see in part.

Help us to peer clearly through the dimmest

mirror, to know fully and to be fully known.

“Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”

Pray for us Mary as we stagger and stumble,

like wounded beasts towards Bethlehem.

To a humble manger filled with straw,

smelling of dung and dirt; to our own nativity.

To a miracle and a womb wondrous with child,

gladly giving birth to the Christ child within,

wrapped and swaddled in bands of cloth.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.”

To be born, gentle in heart and strong in faith,

on some still and unexpected night.

Let shepherds sing with untold joy,

and multitudes of holy angels rejoice.

Let the Lord of hosts shine all around us.

And let all who hear be amazed, at God’s astounding love.

“Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with you.”

Let such a revelation be at hand;

let such a holy night,

and such a birth be repeated once again.

Let it be revealed each single day

as we live in the light of Christ.

“Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”

As the angles tell, teach us Mary to fear not,

never again; treasuring God’s news of great joy

in our all too human and frail hearts.

Help us to become one with Christ,

“that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.”

Let the season of Advent come

tenderly and fully upon us,

pregnant with expectation.

Let the Word become flesh,

to live amongst us.

Emmanuel, God with us.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.”

Let us be born again and again

in the Bethlehem of our souls,

in the quiet stillness of God’s love for the world.

Ron Starbuck

The second stanza of the poem calls out to W.B. Yeat's poem, The Second Coming.

Yeat's poem - The Second Coming

Within These Eyes (For Colton – Who is a gift from God)

2009-11-25T08:29:00.010-06:00

Within these eyes

So blue, so bright
Floating in the stillness
Of God, out of which
All the heavens of creation
Are reflected.

Within these eyes
Is a light, which is exactly
Like the light of God.
A single white point
Pointing to the oneness
Of all creation.

It is a light
Like the Star of Bethlehem
That leads us to the
Christ of Compassion
And the fullness of God.

It is a light of
Unlimited potential,
Of stars and constellations
Stretching
Beyond all human memory
And imagination.

That imagines heaven
Found in a single breath,
Born from the breath
Of God, when the dust
Of the earth was made into man.

That imagines heaven
To be found in a
Mothers embrace,
And a kiss, so full of love
It heals a broken world
And worlds beyond
And worlds beyond.

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2009

Colton is my great nephew, the young son of my niece Jenny and her husband David.

Here is a picture of Colton and his mother together.

poets without punctuation

2009-11-01T09:26:00.001-06:00

there are some camps who believe that poetry is

best with proper punctuation

while others choke at the thought

saying that it stifles

creativity in all good forms

i love writing poetry whenever

punctuation is optional

although i will draw the line at spelling

even though e.e. cummings never did

thank god for spell check and word processing

the age of computers is a wondrous age

even when I mistype

not misspell mind you

the words are changed

instantly before the eye

commas colons and semicolons

question marks and periods

whichever comes first or last

simply doesn’t matter

to some poets

poets instinctively

know how to read

between the lines

and fill in their

own punctuations

although i will freely admit

that for journalists

novelist and essayists all

poor or exceptional writers

punctuation is a must

perhaps it is because poetry

is meant to be

read out loud

in public places

loudly or softly

we write not so much to

break the silence

or the stillness

but so you might stop

to enjoy a word or two

between each silent breath

prayer is like that you know

which is why each poem

spoken or read out loud

is very very much

exactly like a prayer

Ron Starbuck

Times Square

2009-09-11T05:12:00.005-05:00

TIMES SQUARE

BROADWAY AND 42ND STREET

Midtown Manhattan

Center of the Theater District

Here Broadway diagonally bisects the island

and 42nd Street cuts it in half.

Last Night, Eight blocks north of here

at the Winter Garden, I saw "CATS".

T.S. Eliot in New York City.

Could this be, his "still point

of the turning world"?

I am standing at the top section

of a narrow triangle. Surrounded by

people and buildings, buildings and people.

Behind me is a giant COCA COLA sign

flashing white on red, with letters

3 STORIES HIGH.

In front is a big blue and white

computerized sign reading:

MINOLTA ‑ CAMERA, COPIERS, VIDEOS!

Two sides of another building are illuminated

with FUJI COLOR FILM,

RED AND BLACK on a bright field of NEON GREEN.

A graphics display shows, "Network to Tokyo",

just below,

Far Eastern news PARADES across an Electronic

Ticker Tape 10 FEET HIGH.

Native New Yorker's call it the Zipper!

From this point, city streets become

Impregnated with a fury of sights and sounds.

From this point, the dance begins.

I turn to look downtown,

twin towers reaching upward

reflect our pursuit of affluence.

Wall Street and the surrounding

Financial District seems eons away.

A church band is playing on the square

Warm black African American faces singing and

flashing smiles instead of advertisements.

Yes, I know, in a way it is the same.

But, they are singing:

"This little light of mine,

This little light of mine.

Let it shine, Let it shine.

All the time, All the time."

For an odd reason it reminds me

of home and white wooden churches

in deep East Texas.

Can't you see those Gospel singing Choir members,

swaying in their pews, and dancing in the aisles.

The band members seem to be full of

such innocence and faith.

I am at once both humbled by and

thankful for their music.

I too want to be part of this dance and

I too want to be touched by God's Holy Spirit.

A Bag Lady off the street moves towards me

smiling and I smile back.

Her face is etched and carved with wrinkles

that map out the rough course of her life.

Our eyes touch, for a brief moment we connect,

and share a passing thought.

Even now I can see her half toothless smile,

brighter than a thousand neon signs.

She passes by and continues on her way,

Crosses Broadway towards 8th Avenue,

Not once looking back.

But I can hear her all the same;

Singing, softly singing,

"this little light of mine . . . . . ."

"let it shine, let it shine . . . . ."

I am doing the same.

R.P. Starbuck

September 2011:

One of these poetic images has changed forever now. Since September 11, 2001,
the "World Trade Center" twin towers and several surrounding buildings in lower
Manhattan no longer stand, and a new memorial and new towers are being
erected now. It's been nearly ten years and we will always remember the site
as "Ground Zero".

It is everlastingly etched in our national and global consciousness; we have
come to see it as a sacred place, marked as hollowed and consecrated ground.
Even as the rebuilding moves forward, ethereal images of the "twin towers" still
remain. We see them so clearly; achingly brilliant in our minds they reflect the
eternal spirit and memory of those who perished there, turning this part of lower
Manhattan into a sacred landscape.

If you listen carefully you can hear the power of each single soul calling us to let
our own light shine

"This little light of mine...
Let it shine, Let it shine…
All the time, All the time..."

Stillness

2009-08-22T17:22:00.003-05:00

In the enormous complexity of our lives,

between breathing in and breathing out,

before eyes open and muscles stretch awake each day,

in that secret place of the soul where dreams and reality join,

where God’s presence dwells and is known,

there is the stillness.

between the broken rhythms and compressed moments

involved in rushing to and from work,

between the head jerking abrupt stops and nimble starts

or frustrated cries and angry looks, with words

uttered under a tongue no one cares to understand,

there is the stillness.

between the action of cars racing from one

lane into another in a continuous motion

where two moving bodies

both try to occupy the same space

and all destinations eventually come together,

merging into what seems like a single parading line of lights,

there is the stillness.

between the slapdash after school and weekend itineraries,

when parents taxi children from one

busy social activity to another;

from piano lessons to play rehearsals,

scouts to soccer, and baseball to ballet,

there is the stillness.

between the blurring flutter of a humming birds wings

as it darts from one brilliant blossom to another

or the quick smooth movements of a spider racing across

its web to descend hungrily upon the lost wayward fly,

or in the moment just before sunrise when light

spreads from east to west like a golden Japanese fan

folding out across a pale saffron colored morning sky,

or in the fluid graceful motions of a rainbow trout

swimming upstream to its spawning ground or

before the initial breath of a newborn baby when oxygen first

enters the small delicate pinked fleshed lungs

and marks the moment with a triumphant sound of outrage

and a puffed up rosy face,

there is the stillness.

before a small t-shirted blue jeaned boy playing marbles,

carefully takes aim at his opponents position and with a single

accurate thumb flick propels his marble across distant space and

then watches with delight as worlds collide, electrons swirl, and

singularities form to infinitely curve space-time,

there is the stillness.

or in the moment when a small young girl dressed in

a simple cotton dress, with patent leather shoes,

lace trimmed bobby socks, and a satin bow in her hair,

kneels down, before a Church’s altar,

on red and white needle point trimmed

cushions to partake in her first communion,

and with open hands and heart

receives first the wafer and then the wine,

and by that act also receives God,

there is the stillness.

And so the Psalmist writes,

"Be still, and know that I am God".

R.P. Starbuck

Earth Echoes

2009-08-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

Because they are so large and seemingly silent,
There are some who will never concede
That within a boulders center,
Larger than ourselves, larger than our small concerns,
Formed by the dried tears of God,
Layered one upon another, echoing the earth,
There is the sound of a beating heart.

Slow and steady, measured not by
The passing of seconds, hours, or days,
But rather by years, centuries, millennia, eons,
Each one being wrapped in its own color of time.

Those who will not listen, would not know, because
The rhythmic beating of our earth, is now beyond,
Beyond their hearing sense, and, not knowing
How to listen, how can they hear?

With ear pressed to stone, listen!
Listen for the echo of earth's voice,
Deep inside its heart, or listen to
The long pauses between each beat.

This is the silence of her song
And the anguish of her giving,
The dried tears of God
Layered one upon another.

R.P. Starbuck
Copyright 1991, 2002

"God as a Verb" - A Response to ""Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian" by Prof. Paul F. Knitter

2009-08-13T19:34:00.024-05:00

In his newest book, "Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian", Prof. Paul F. Knitter, who holds the Paul Tillich chair at Union Theological Seminary, speaks of God as being a verb instead of a noun or an adjective.

As a Christian, who has also studied Buddhism and who has many Buddhist friends, I've found this book to be both courageous and enlightening. You may as well. Christianity teaches us that where two or more are gathered in his name, God is present. I believe that whenever we come to together in an interfaith dialog, to share our experiences of God, then we are also coming together as a "People of God," regardless of our different cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds.

In looking at the nature of God, Prof. Knitter uses both a Christian and a Buddhist lens to image God as an experience. In doing so he ties together Christian mysticism and Buddhist practices, found in meditation, prayer, and the sacrament of silence. In the case of Buddhism these practices go back 2500 years, in the case Christianity they go back 2000 years.

The 20th century Christian theologian Karl Rahner once wrote: "In the future Christians will be mystics, or they will not be anything." In Christianity the primary adjective used to describe mystical experiences is unitive or in union with, meaning that such an experience is to feel "oneself connected with, part of, united with, aware of, one with, something or some-activity larger than oneself." In short, this is an experience of the non-duality of God that begins for Christians with kenosis, the Greek word for emptiness or to empty ourselves as Christ emptied himself, becoming a servant to all humankind. 1

Meister Eckhart – Emptiness:

"Where one is emptied of self, ideas, concepts, assumptions, images, and all else; God pours himself into the soul, and the light at the core of the soul grows so strong, it spills out holiness and radiates through the whole person."

"Therefore discard the form and be joined to the formless essence, for the spiritual comfort of God is very subtle."

"Only the hand that erases can write the true thing. "

Thomas Merton - Le Point Vierge (the virgin point) and Le Temps Vierge (virginal time):

"Again, that expression, le point vierge, (I cannot translate it) comes in here. At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely." [Thomas Merton: Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, pg. 158]

Le Temps Vierge: "The contemplative life must provide an area, a space of liberty, of silence, in which possibilities are allowed to surface and new choices -- beyond routine choice -- become manifest. It should create a new experience of time, not as stopgap, stillness, but as temps vierge [French: 'virginal time.'] …not a blank to be filled or an untouched space to be conquered and violated, but a space which can enjoy its own potentialities and hopes - and its own presence to itself. One's own time. But not dominated by one's own ego and its demands. Hence open to others - compassionate time, rooted in the sense of common illusion and in criticism of it." [The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, pg. 117]

Christian saints and mystics have described this encounter with God as putting on the "Mind of Christ", and Christian literature includes such expressions as "one with Christ," "temple of the Holy Spirit," "the body of Christ," the "Divine indwelling," "participants in the divine nature." 1 For anyone who wishes to study Christian mysticism, the first step begins with understanding Christ as the "Incarnate Word" and these verses from the second chapter of Philippians, known as the Kenosis Hymn.

Philippians 2:5-11

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

When I read this scripture or any others within a similar context, I do not view it as an exclusivist statement, but rather as a path we must all follow of selflessness, a path of compassion, a path of loving-kindness, and a path of wisdom; Karl Rahner's theology of an Anonymous Christian 6 which so influenced the Second Vatican Council fully supports such a view. This is "the way" of Christ, "the truth" of Christ, and "the life" of the Spirit that Christ asks each of us to practice. There is no exclusion intended or directed at others who may not know or recognize Jesus as a personal savior, only an encouragement to empty ourselves, to become as servants to one another, and to enter into the fullness of our humanity, and our full human potential to love as Christ loved. This practice of "kenosis," emptying for a Christian, is what it means to understand Jesus as Lord and to accept him as Savior. God bestows such grace in ways known to only God, and the mystery and light of Christ can become known and enhanced through dialog with other sacred traditions; the Holy Spirit is boundless, without boundaries.

On the Buddhist side there is the experience of Śūnyatā - Emptiness - Interbeing (Thich Nhat Hahn's idea of Emptiness) 2, dependent origination or arising, and that God is best understood as the "Ground of Being," an idea proposed by another 20th century theologian Paul Tillich. Prof. Knitter points out that Thich Nhat Hanh, "translates Śūnyatā more freely and more engagingly as InterBeing, the interconnected state of things that is constantly churning out new connections, new possibilities, new problems, and new life." 1

InterBeing is also understood as the essential interconnectedness of the universe, challenging us to look beyond our world of concepts and opposites. By looking deeply into the nature of the universe we see a profound interdependence between all things, and we begin to see that there is no separate self in relationship with creation. Our sense of reality and self is shape by this relationship; it is arising out of this emptiness in a universe that is constantly changing from one moment to the next. Another way to think of Śūnyatā is as "tabula rasa" or the "'blank slate" thesis in epistemology, a pure potentiality actualized through our relationships, through InterBeing.

Prof. Knitter argues that Śūnyatā may "open the doors to a deeper grasp of what Thomas Aquinas saw when he announced that God participates in creation, or that we participate in God's being." 1 While dependent origination or arising, places a whole new light for Christians, on the importance of relationships in forming our own experiences of reality, of God and creation. Prof. Knitter then goes on to say that "to experience and believe in a Trinitarian God is to experience and believe in a God who is not, as Tillich would say, the Ground of Being, but the Ground of InterBeing!" 1

Understanding God through relationships is critical in seeing how Prof. Knitter views the nature of God as the source and power of our relationships. "And for a Christian it all begins with the Trinity, God the three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or to use more gender neutral language; Parent, Child, Spirit, which expresses beautifully the importance of our relationship within the Trinity." Prof. Knitter points out that "all of this means that God's very being, or existing, or identity consists of relating, or inter-existing, or InterBeing, what theologians term the "internal Trinity" – God's inner nature." 1 When a Christian looks at Jesus Christ as God, we see the "Incarnate Word" the word made flesh. We see God who is present to the world through relationships, and these relationships are a reflection of, an echo of, even an actualization of the very nature of God.

God is found not only in the relationships we have with one another, but in our relationship with and throughout all of creation. "Relationships that are life giving, life affirming, life caring, life loving, nurturing, respectful, holy (imparting wholeness) and even reverent, inspiring, knowing and intimate, are relationship that bring forth and give birth to more life and existence." They are relationship driven by the presence of the "Holy Spirit." The importance of this concept is summarized by saying; "behind and within all the different images and symbols Christians use for God – Creator, Father (Abba), Redeemer, Word, Spirit, - the most fundamental, the deepest truth Christians can speak of God is that God is the source and power of relationships." 1

For any Christian, this also brings a deeper meaning to understanding and accepting Christ as our personal savior, and the savior of the world. Because when we do so, we are embarking on a journey in which relationships become the primary focus of our lives. "To accept Christ, is to accept a new relationship with God and with others, and to place a value on these relationships which is always open and transforming. Our relationships take on a new form that sees God acting through us not as a noun, but as a verb that is transforming, life changing, even mystical as we begin to know and be known within the context of this mystery." God changes our hearts (metanoia) and in that process changes our lives and the lives of others.

"To take this concept even further, up to the next level if you will, God as a verb is the activity of giving and receiving, of knowing and loving, of losing and finding, of dying and living that embraces and infuses all of us, all of creation. If we're going to talk about God, God is neither a noun nor an adjective. God is a Verb! God is much more an environment in which "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:29), or God is "above all things, through all things, and in all things" (Eph. 4:6)." 1

"The presence and Spirit of God "above, through, and in" can be imagined as a sustaining presence (an energy) that surrounds us all, and calls us into relationships of knowing and loving each other, sustaining us even when such relationships get rough, but also filling us with the deepest happiness when we empty ourselves (kenosis) for the sake of others, seeing and finding ourselves in others. So, loving others is not a question of "doing God's will" but, rather, of "living God's life." The Holy Spirit in her divine nature and creative role as the feminine side of God loves unconditionally; to love means to relate, to give of ourselves, to bring forth this InterBeing in the relationships we share in the midst of our everyday lives." 1 This also involves at a very intimate and spiritual level a commitment of "loving who God loves" and working towards social justice within the world, of "Tikkun Olam - repairing the world" to borrow from Jewish mysticism.

"God the Connecting Spirit" 1, points more to a sustaining presence or energy rather than to a particular being. Still, on a personal level, I feel, as I think others feel the very tangible and concrete presence of God as something close and personal, even visceral at times. In this process we feel God as both a person and as a sustaining presence that energizes or blesses us, that showers blessings upon us continuously. God in this sense is both an indwelling and an interpenetration moving us towards love and relationship. The more awake we are to this presence and this mystery, the more we will come to know God is there in this very moment, in the eternal now. This to me is the key and central message of Jesus Christ when he teaches us of his own relationship with the Father (Abba) as intimate and eternal.

Now, is the presence of God arising out of Śūnyatā - Emptiness - Interbeing (Thich Nhat Hahn's idea of Emptiness) 2, or is this Emptiness simply an aspect of God out of which thought, words, deeds, actions, and reality arise? I think that this is a bit of a mystery too, and that's okay with me. I can live quite comfortably with that mystery, I can accept the mystery. I can accept that it works and is at work in the world. But I would also like to name it Spirit, as in Holy Spirit, or as in we now worship God in spirit and in truth. As a Christian who encounters the Holy Spirit daily and within a community of faith, I accept that the Holy Spirit is also actively at work in the world across all cultures and all prevailing sacred traditions, "God as a Verb." You may call this a personal revelation if you need to name it; this is what God has written on my own heart, it is one way God has been revealed to me. I know that there are many other Christians who believe this as well, maybe the majority of Christians.

Jesus says in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

We know that our perception comes into play here, and that by shifting our perception and our focus, or just by simply giving our consent, as when entering into meditation and prayer, we will enter into and encounter God. This has been my own experience over the years. I believe that God is always waiting, patiently and with great longing, for us to do exactly that. To reach out and find rest and love in that sustaining presence, and then share that love in relationship with, well, with just everything, with all of creation.

This is what our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to practice, and in my mind it is a very big part of the "Good News" of the Gospel, and his message of salvation. In other words, through and by the love of God, we are accepted fully and completely. We are intimate participants in the Reign of God, the Kingdom of God, across all of creation.

Luke 17: 20-21 And when the Pharisees had demanded of Him when the Kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, "The Kingdom of God cometh not with outward show. Neither shall they say, `Lo, it is here!' or `Lo, it is there!' For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you."

"A better image of creation might be a pouring forth of God, an extension of God, in which the Divine carries on the divine activity of interrelating in and with and through creation." 1 In which the Divine carries on InterBeing and Interconnectedness, out of which all creation arises. This act of creation is continuous, it hasn't stopped, you could even say it is self sustaining through our relationships with one another, and through each other with God. This pouring forth of God is the engine or fuel of creation, but we as a "People of God," created in the "Image of God," are also a part of this pouring forth. How this all works is also part of the mystery. 1

"God as Spirit is truly with me, in me, through me, wondrously alive in me, as the source of compassion, of loving-kindness, and wisdom, all through my life and the people I find sharing that life." And when we come together in and through a spiritual community and connection with one another, we become and act together as a "People of God." This is the promise that Christ brings to us when he says; "I am the way, the truth, and the life," or when Christ tells us "I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly". "To believe this, to believe in Christ as a Christian, points to a way of viewing God as a Verb, in relationship, and InterBeing. When anyone begins to look through a Buddhist lens of InterBeing and Interconnectedness, the following scriptures may even take on new meaning as it did for me." 1

"Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." 3

John 10:10-18

"10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again." 4

If I remember this right, the poet Archibald McLeish once said; we have all the answers, we just aren't asking the right questions. In a recent sermon, Professor Knitter points out that, "new questions lead to new discoveries - that, according to Paul Tillich, is the way theology -- really Christian life - unfolds: it's a constant facing of new questions that reveal new opportunities for new answers, new discoveries in the Bible and tradition." 5

As a lifelong Christian, I have been taught my whole life that "the way of Christ" is a way that calls me to love others unconditionally with great compassion and loving-kindness. For myself, this is a call that I must answer by loving others in all their diversity of beliefs and ethnicity, and in showing them through that love, how Christ lives and dwells within my own being. It is certainly an approach that I think all Christians should apply when engaged in an interfaith dialog with other spiritual traditions. It is the approach I know, not believe, that Christ wishes me to take; it is also a path marked by great humility, with no hint of hubris.

When someone from another tradition sees this humility and love working in me and other Christians, then they have an opportunity to come to know Christ as the Incarnate Word, as I have. So, for me this is a dialog we must always engage in with mutual respect. By loving them (accepting them) as I believe Christ does; I am living the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Christ. I am living a life of Christ, and of Christ as my personal savior; I am discovering the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in great abundance by being in relationship with others, with all of creation.

Ron Starbuck - Houston, Texas

1. Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian, Paul F. Knitter, Chapter 1, Nirvana and God the Transcendent Other, Pages 14-23. Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: Oneworld Publications (July 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1851686738
ISBN-13: 978-1851686735

http://www.oneworld-publications.com/cgi-bin/cart2/commerce.cgi?pid=443&log_pid=yes

2. Śūnyatā - Emptiness - Interbeing (Thich Nhat Hahn's comments on Emptiness as InterBeing): http://efipaz.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/interbeing/

3. The Book of Common Prayer, Copyright 1979. Church Publishing Corporation.

4. The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

5. Sermon by Professor Paul F. Knitter, from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, entitled "Jesus: The Way That is Open to Other Ways". http://www.tcpc.org/library/article.cfm?library_id=518

6. Anonymous Christian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_Christian

Wisdom Comes So Slowly

2009-08-08T15:56:00.023-05:00

why is it that wisdom
comes so slowly

teach me Lord to ask
the questions of compassion
as you did Parsifal

who served the grail
who healed a king

who walked the
"pathless path"
long before i was born

like Parsifal
let me too
meet the Fisher King

turn my thoughts
towards waiting
towards patience
towards healing

as i wait
in the darkness
which is not darkness
only a veil of shadows

as i too wander
on a path
in a forest
which is only illusion

for that one moment of clarity
in which we begin
to see that our

self inflicted pain
is the next step
towards a wise mind
a world of wonder

and a couragous heart
which is open and free
to love the mystery

reflecting from us all
created as we are
as images

arising out of the
stillness and
the silence

and the emptiness
where wisdom rests
waiting for
wakefulness

waiting to serve
the Fisher King
answering the questions
of compassion
let me become such a brightness, where

"the night is as bright as the day"

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2009

The Book of Common Prayer, Daily Evening Prayer Rite One

If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night," darkness is not dark to thee, O Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to thee are both alike. Psalm 139:10,11

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

My Dearest Darling (for Joanne)

2009-08-02T16:06:00.006-05:00

my dearest darling
i who was an awkward child
(and awkward even more so now, as time may tell)
can find no words, of poetry or prose
from which to speak, with any eloquence
to you my dearest one.
while you my beloved
speak more movingly
with a single smile,
and a knowing glowing look
people discern
the moment you enter
(with joyful hope filled grace) any room,
or cast a welcoming glance
seeing with eyes (bright with Godly affection)
that compels heaven’s own compassion

your voice, vulnerable and strong,
friendly with the deepest intimacy,
touches people with warm delight,
while your smile lightens the heaviest
places of our hearts.
your laughter, riot with infection
helps heal this world,
and then your beauty,
beyond all measure
in these wise eyes of mine,
reminds me that
God in His good judgment
(clever beyond all knowing)
knew from earth’s beginning
you were to be and are still now
an answer to my prayers
before wishes were formed
or words first spoken between us.

in years spelled out with clemency,
we have nearly learned to see and
speak each other’s thoughts, often
understanding what the other means
in quiet moments
through silent gestures and knowing nods,
tacit with expression.
so well it seems, that words
spoken with haste (quickly now who speaks first)
may often slip through our tongues and
choke our speech
listening is a learned art
i am learning still.

yet, such love as ours
knows no boundaries in time
or space for that matter.
it is a patient love, an enduring love
meant to bring, a quiet peace unto the world
where dreams are bred, and heaven is born,
you my heart are God’s gift to me
and i to you it seems.
He told me so you see!

I bow to you now, as Texas bluebonnets
bow graciously in a warm spring breeze
blooming with color, as you bloom with light.

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2007

Grounded in Perfection (Tathata - Suchness)

2009-06-28T09:11:00.013-05:00

such as it is
all of creation in which we dwell,
everything, is perfect in this single moment,

in exactly what this moment offers us now,
grounded in the infinite light and mercy of God.

whose compassion
lives in
our hearts where we rest
in an embrace that transforms
all thought and image,

into a sacrament of stillness
and silence.

in which
we may perfectly mirror
created as we are
as an image of God.

in which
we may perfectly mirror

God who is Love,
who is Holy,
who is Spirit,
who is Truth,
who is Known,
who is Worshipped.

who is Incarnate
as Christ
as the Word
made flesh

who "Redeems Us"
through love
by calling
our name

whose most gentle
loving-kindness
rains upon all
humankind

"Fear Not"

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2009

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine" Isaiah 43

"Tathata as a central concept of Mahayana Buddhism, expresses the appreciation of reality within a unique moment. As no moment is exactly the same, each one can be savored for what occurs at that precise time."

This poem was inspired by the teachings of Geshe Michael Roache and Lama Christie McNally; the writtings of Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki and Thomas Merton; the writtings and teachings of the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault, Dom Thomas Keating, Dom John Main, and Dom Laurence Freeman; the theologians Paul F. Knitter, Marcus Borg, Paul Tillich, and many others. The poem touches on practicing meditation as a sacramental act, which is something Buddhists have been doing for over 2500 years, and Christians since the time of Christ and the early days of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

Answering God’s call to hoilness (wholeness) through a sacramental practice of meditation is one way to experience the “Reign of God” in the present moment. Sacraments are an “outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace” whereby the Spirit of God becomes present to us; sacraments are a means of grace and a vehicle for the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives. Dom Thomas Keating has often said, “that intimacy with God requires not effort, but simple consent.”

Here are some suggested books to learn more about these peactices and the intefaith dialog between Eastern and Western spiritual traditions:

The Tibetan Book of Meditation by Lama Christie McNally

Without Buddha I Could Not be a Christian by Paul F. Knitter

The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind--A New Perspective on Christ and His Message by Cynthia Bourgeault

Jesus: The Teacher Within by Laurence Freeman

The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus by Dalai Lama, Robert Kiely, Geshe Thupten Jinpa, and Laurence Freeman

Transforming Suffering: Reflections on Finding Peace in Troubled Times by His Holiness the Dalai Lamma, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Thomas Keating, Joseph Goldstein, Thubten Chodro

The Heart of the World: An Introduction to Contemplative Christianity by Thomas Keating

The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton

The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century (Shambhala Library) by Thomas Merton

The Eastern Path to Heaven by Geshe Michael Roach and Christie McNally

Confessions of a Cowboy Christian and Practicing Buddhist

2009-06-20T19:58:00.000-05:00

Beyond miles and miles of Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert
Criss-crossing the Southwest and Northern Mexico,
Where local folks know how to stand “tall in the saddle” as they say
Across a landscape that seems to go nigh on to forever
Even beyond the Boundlessness of you, O’ God,
Here imaginations may touch the beauty of all creation
And horizons meet the very edge of eternity.

Here you may see from Terlingua to Tuscon,
Marfa to Manhattan, Edna to El Paso
Across vistas of high desert plains,
Mountains, valleys, arroyos,
Streams and rivers merging together.
Where fingers of saguaro cactus
Point upwards in prayer,
While honey and velvet mesquite,
White-thorn acacia,
Althorn, ocotillo, lechugilla,
Agave and creosote bush
Bow with grace when touch by the breath of God
Traveling on windblown currents.

O Lord, let such a landscape echo back through each of us,
Expanding our sight, to become a vision
That comes to see heaven reflected
Through your divine made eyes.

May such a vision arise in us each
As it did for Christ and the Buddha
To echo, again and again
As we view heaven
Through divine made eyes.

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2009

The Jesus Prayer Flag

2009-06-12T12:29:00.007-05:00

this morning, quite early
in fact,
an hour or so after dawn
while walking to my office

i saw a parking garage attendant
in the courthouse district
of downtown Houston
waiving a red-orange
traffic flag
back and forth
back and forth
with the word
JESUS
written there

there he was
waving Jesus around
for all the world to see
he was waving Jesus
like a
Tibetan Buddhist prayer flag
flying in the wind
stirring up the Holy Spirit

he was waving Jesus as a message
as a hope
as a charity
as a blessing
as a reminder
in remembrance
so that we might
wake up and
remember too

if you listen
along with me
carefully
clearly
you can hear
the voices
of the homeless
the poor
the imprisoned on parole

the weary

like voices from heaven
as they too pass
by

saying ...

Come, Lord Jesus
Come, Lord Jesus
Come, Lord Jesus

uttering his name without pause
as a prayer, as a song, as a thought

in the back of my mind I can hear them singing

"Jesus loves me this I know,
so the Bible tells me so" ...

i'm sure it is a prayer
a cry from heaven even,
it must be
for i hear the voices too,
the voices of angels
appearing and arising
as unexpected messengers
as strangers

and

i think i see Jesus smiling,
i'm sure i do,
in the smiles on their faces

as i pass by looking, seeing
but staying quiet all the same
not a whisper crossing my lips
not even a small hello

but certainly a smile, and a hint of some
blessing unasked for
grace given freely
freely accepted

a witness to
God's compassion
at work
in the world
the Kingdom
of God
coming closer
and closer
each day

Ron Starbuck

Copyright 2009

The Harris County Courts District is at the northeastern edge of downtown Houston, Texas, quite close to Minute Maid Park. Within the district are several social services organizations, various county agencies and courts, the Harris County Jail, as well as Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), and Annunciation Catholic Church. The district includes a diversity of people. It is quite common to encounter the homeless, the hungry, and even the sick; or county prisoners dressed in orange stripped suits working outside the jail for the day; various professionals involved in the courts or county administration; and the public at large going to and from an Astros baseball game. Harris County, Texas, is the third most populous county in the United States; which makes it larger than half the states in the Union and many countries throughout the world.

God's Longing

2009-06-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

It isn’t known when it began,
God’s longing,
Certainly no one mortal knows.
The angels might know,
But for most, it is still a heavenly secret,
A mystery of mysteries
Long hidden.

Some would say that it was always there
Has always been there
From the first instant,
Long before the big bang,
Banged!
Leading up to the first
Thought that caused
Creation to explode suddenly
Out of the emptiness and nothingness
Of all reality, which is still expanding,
Still growing
Still arising within us each.

Many would say, and I would be one,
That God’s longing is eternal.
It is a deep longing, a true longing,
A longing that lingers slowly
And perfectly
Stretching out far past our own imaginations,
However far back or forward we are able to imagine.
It is almost as if God suddenly awoke
And being alone,
In knowing loneliness from the beginning
Sighed deeply, sighed so deeply
In that loneliness,
That in breathing out
Some portion of God’s breath left
His body and being
To seed all creation.

Perhaps it was then, in that moment
When the breath of God first moved
Across the waters of earth
Or moved through the depths of
Nothingness giving birth to creation.
Or gave breath to both Adam and Eve,
And then to all humanity.

Sometimes a thought crosses my mind
A single thought born out of my own breath
As I breathe in deeply during meditation
And out once again quietly and stilly.

Sometimes it comes to me then, in a split second
That this was when God’s Holy Spirit first appeared
And continues to appear throughout all history.
I even imagine that in some secret way
My own loneliness and longing are helping to give birth
To God’s Holy Spirit
And the compassionate loving-kindness
That follows God’s gift to all humankind.
I know this much, that God’s longing for us runs so deep
And so true
That He gave up His only begotten Son, even unto death
So that we might come to know Him and He us.
And that by this miracle of love
God’s Holy Spirit comes to dwell and rest in us.

Ron Starbuck
Copyright 2008

On the Third Morning - John 20: 1-18 & Luke 24:1-12

2009-06-06T23:14:00.000-05:00

On the third morning
The women came first,
Somehow knowing in their wisdom
As women often do!
Anxious with sorrow,
Walking in the stillness of night
Just Before dawn
And the movement of day.
They came,
Looking for their Lord.
Where they found the stone turned,
Rolled from His tomb.
Their Lord’s body gone,
Taken away!

Two disciples came later, to learn
That this was more than an “idle tale,”
Of women, unbelieved.
When entering the tomb, they too saw
The linens that once wrapped His body,
Lying where he was laid. Then
Returned home in amazement,
Not recalling the scriptures
Or the words of Jesus,
Even the one whom he most loved.

While Mary stayed, weeping outside, to
See angels sitting in the tomb
Where once her Lord’s body lay.
Jesus speaks, calling Mary by name after asking;
“Woman, why do you weep?
Whom do you seek?
The living are not
Among the dead.”
She sees him now, Rabbouni, her teacher,
Moving to embrace him, at last knowing his face and voice.
He says; “Hold me not, for I must ascend to my Father.
Go, and tell my brothers, what you have seen and heard.”

He has Risen, He has Risen!
He has risen from the places of the dead and dying,
He has risen from the solitude of the tomb.
He has Risen, to his Father and our Father.
He has Risen, to his God and our God.
Hallelujah, Christ is Risen!

Let us rise as well, above the noises and distractions of life
to understand that God calls us too to death and resurrection.
Calling us to die immeasurable times;
To die daily in ourselves.

Let there be a death to our egos and selfishness,
A death to our poverty of spirit and faithlessness,
A death to doubt, hopelessness, and sorrow,
A death to grief where grief can no longer be borne,
A death to intolerance and “the wish to kill,”
A death to violence and war, and fearful hearts,
A death to abused and unloved hearts.
Let there be a death to it all!
Let the illusion and suffering of life be washed away
by the Passion of Christ, creating in us the mind of Christ!
So that we me may join with Him
In many Resurrections,
Let there be Resurrections upon Resurrections
One after another and another,
Let there be Resurrections without end.

R.P. Starbuck
Copyright 2007