{"id":1322,"date":"2014-02-02T14:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-02T19:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2014-02-02T14:07:25","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T19:07:25","slug":"poem-i-will-join-the-one-there-is-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/02\/poem-i-will-join-the-one-there-is-no-other\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: I Will Join The One, There is No Other"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alone<\/span>
\nWhere is God in that?<\/span>
\nDoes salvation lie in community?<\/span>
\nWherever two or more gather<\/span>
\nIn character<\/span>
\nAt present will be God<\/span>
\nTherefore, I will join the one<\/span>
\nOne who was left behind<\/span>
\nThe one who’s going places no one else wants to<\/span>
\nThe one<\/span>
\nThere is no other<\/span><\/p>\n

This poem attempts to address the tensions between the mystical loftiness of spirituality, characterized by the elusive “oneness” present in many great faith traditions, and the palpable, practical, everyday realities of a broken and divided world.\u00a0 I find this tension ever-present in the inward-outward journey.\u00a0 We cannot be saved alone, as one, and be true to the demands of much larger realities, including the world we live in!\u00a0 Personal purity and piety become empty in larger contexts.\u00a0 One answer to this tension was demonstrated by Buddha, when he attained enlightenment and instead of “blowing out” — a literal translation of nirvana — he chose to return to earthly existence to help others on the path.\u00a0 Compassion for all living beings, at the center of Buddhist living, requires developing relationships or community with one another. \u00a0 Buddhists call their intentional community sangha<\/a>, which includes monks or nuns, and laypeople.\u00a0 Compassion is the prime characteristic developed in a relationship with The One.\u00a0 This “inward” compassion is then matched with “outward” compassion, becoming whole, compassion manifest fully.\u00a0 Compassionate living is most fully manifest when it enters into relationship with the most broken and divided aspects of all living beings’ realities.\u00a0 Joining those “left behind” or “going places no one else wants to” represents the highest level of compassionate living.\u00a0 Perhaps paradoxically, even sticking only to one’s community is a falling short.\u00a0 Active spirituality, rooted in compassionate living, is ever seeking to connect with out-groups.\u00a0 Spirituality inevitable creates a tension with one’s own in-groups, ever-seeking to expand, transcend, make more whole.\u00a0 This is why solidarity with outcasts is so essential to building authentic community.\u00a0 This is the very process where wholeness is nurtured, for both the individual, community, and beyond.\u00a0 This is why I see spirituality as fundamentally counter-cultural.\u00a0 Culture is what defines a particular group at any given time, with its particular norms and practices.\u00a0 Spirituality pushes both cultures and individuals to be more than they are.\u00a0 This is why spiritual “growth” is almost a redundancy.\u00a0 The vitality and dynamism that spirituality uncovers is the very nature of life.\u00a0 There is no such thing as static living — though perhaps reactionary.\u00a0 \u00a0 The status quo and the powers that be must perpetually be engaged and redeemed, made more whole.\u00a0 Jesus captured this perhaps most powerfully in his command to love your enemies.\u00a0 This command, which I consider the pinnacle of spiritual genius, literally instructs us to reconcile (apparent) opposites.\u00a0 Such an epic task can only be dared by developing a deep and abiding relationship with The One.\u00a0 Truly, we reap what we sew!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alone Where is God in that? Does salvation lie in community? Wherever two or more gather In character At present will be God Therefore, I will join the one One who was left behind The one who’s going places no … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,9,15],"tags":[554,435,331,339,289,516,104,555,432,485,65,24,408,359,273,444,13,379,323,494,556,658,94,110,114,491,557,423,279,30,545,406,113,529],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-buddhist","tag-character","tag-community","tag-compassion","tag-counter-cultural","tag-culture","tag-enemies","tag-enlightenment","tag-faith","tag-genius","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-journey","tag-life","tag-love","tag-mystic","tag-mystical","tag-nature","tag-opposites","tag-passion","tag-piety","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-powers-that-be","tag-present","tag-reactionary","tag-relationships","tag-solidarity","tag-spiritual","tag-spirituality","tag-status","tag-status-quo","tag-time"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: I Will Join The One, There is No Other | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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