I and the Father

In the Arena

Doing the right thing … has never been more difficult in these times. Our societies appear … to have so exalted the frailties of the human condition … that … even though … we know its the thing to do … we create an avoidance. In mitigation … we apply ourself with a socially cultivated panache … with regards to the … justification of our actions. To ' suffer fools gladly ' … is the pinnacle … to such an avoidance … but is there another way?

In the days following the 9-11 incident … a student of mine … kept after me to make a comment … about the issue. I responded simply with … ' its a criminal act of aggression … and the law provides for restitution.' But … strangely … that left a great deal of issues that appeared unsaid. He continued to sit in front of me … with the promises of a lesson in communication … that I teach in management class.

And so I strove to provide the possibilities … ' the gap between innocents and protagonists is getting smaller … in our acts of aggression ' … ' it was well planned and executed ' … ' its surprising that the Americans missed something this big in the pipeline ' … ' it appears like an event for which … the fall of the Roman empire is precedent ' … ' with about 80 passengers on the plane … nobody rushed them?'

What do we then say … about the men and women … who are engaged in a life threatening situation … and about their ability to create a response. The old swamy in the village … trained to deal with the many … mysterious ways of the lord … sums up his attitudes to life as … the will of heaven. In staring at the sun for too long … we are accustomed to deal with its life giving properties … and thereby unable to cope with its instruments of death.

And yet when our boys and girls from our societies … start to deal with it … its always with the angst of the shock … brought on by the event … that is reactionary … but not well informed … or guided by social principles. Churchill described Ross Sterling of the SAS as … ' the gentlest man to slit a throat or sink a ship.' Here we witness the thoughts and acts of a man … engaged in duty … with a clear head as to achievement.

Surprisingly … we find that we are trained everyday … on our responses to situations. The creative energies … containing in themselves … the collective will of society … engages us from the moment of waking … to create the right responses. But a peculiar instrument of self aggrandizement … steps in to influence our will … as if to imply … that we are especially favored … to receive such incredible knowledge and understanding … and it goes to show … I am special.

But what is it that does that? In the insight applied by the Indics … and the Greeks on the issue … it leads to a summation of findings … that forms a strange conclusion … about the will of the universe. Its intrinsic personal nature … refers to itself as the most perfect instrument in the whole universe … and none else … none … who will equal its incredible majesty. Here's where we ask the the obvious question … ' how on earth does that express itself in my life … as the lone individual ...who survives … and becomes the grand proprietor of the heritage of the universe?

We notice in such a willfulness … a point not unlike incredible grace. In a beautiful woman … it creates the jaw-dropping … admiration for the way she expresses herself … and never backing down from any argument. Its beautiful! And in the content of her expressions … we find the will … that goes straight … in the direction of her fulfillment … but alas … what that seeks … is the perfect one … that has not yet been created.

It forms the argumentative … conclusion in our minds that … the creative instruments on the one hand … and man on the other … are the perfect couple. And such a man looks into the face of creation … to assert his own intelligence … and claim to be an equal … to the vast treasures of the universe … he encounters. I figure … that … its what the universe expresses in its own willfulness … but is surprised that man … declines the same appellate insignia of equal.

Will we ever learn to do that? I think … yes … but not by being spoon fed … but through the instruments of creation … that creates the best possible opportunity … both for man and the instruments of creation .. to see that in each other. Newton's principle of … ' every action has an equal and opposite reaction ' … assures us that we will.

In the incredible act of confronting the universal creative energies … on the issue … we find that … conventional thought … swears to the possibility of our total and complete … annihilation. But where we may have had occasion to do so … we are surprised by the outcome. The universe it appears … is just as fearful for itself … as we are. And that points to something … in the valleys of the yet unknown … about our relationship … where even angels may fear to tread.

The way that this plays out in the world … and in our friendships … it brings the curios suggestion of … collaboration … in the high cause of achievement. And it promises everyone so engaged … an equal opportunity … to work that into fulfillment. Our experiences today … brings a new view to the saying by the Christ … that ' I and the father are one ' … referring perhaps to … man and the universe. But will we rest laurelly  on the promises of heritage … or move to its accomplishment?