Dear Pneuma,

I am perplexed.  Do we as humans desire completeness or oblivion?  Do we yearn to connect to other, or do we yearn lose sense of self?  Do we want to know the why of our beginning, or the what of our ending?  Is there a system which supplies all of these answers?  Is it answer we seek, or the joy of question?

I'd love to know your thoughts,
Cobalt Dreams

Dear Pneuma,

Ideas are born into human brains.  Then, the human chooses to share, create or discard the idea.  Ideas become experiential reality when the necessary resources are brought together and arranged in particular ways outside of the human brain.

So, the idea has first to be thought, then to be understood so as to be either shared with others or deconstructed into component pieces, and then (re)constructed in experiential reality.

What is the best way for human beings to organize themselves so that ideas can be brought into experiential reality?  Some of us are very good at birthing ideas.  Some of us are very good at communicating.  Some of us are very good at breaking large things into small things.  Some of us are very good at putting small things together and making big things.  Some of us are very good at perceiving the potential value of created ideas.  Some of us are very good at perceiving the potential harm of created ideas.

It seems that a quality of leadership is the ability to facilitate the growth and creation of ideas, by aiding in the organization of resources.  It seems that a quality of leadership is the ability to weigh benefits and consequences for the creation of ideas.  It seems that a quality of leadership is the ability to communicate ideas from one human brain to other human brains.

What happens to us when we believe each individual is responsible for each part of the realization of ideas: from birthing the ideas to gluing the pieces together?   What are various methods of organizing people so that strengths and weaknesses in the various aspects of idea realization can be accommodated?

Just pondering,
Cobalt Dreams

Dear Pneuma,

In the movies, the hero often defeats fear by killing it.  Rage takes over and he destroys the vile, putrescent thing utterly.  In the movie Pan's Labyrinth, the heroine resists evil by loving herself and others, and though it kills her, she is transformed, as is the world around her, into something more vital, more alive.

As I read articles online, watch the morning news, and listen to the pundits, fundits and ondits, I pick up fear and rage.  I pick up distrust and posturing.  I pick up hopelessness and defeatism.  People are wearing spikes and spitting daggers at one another.  I hear imagery of rape and destruction being used as a release valve for the frustrations and impotencies people are experiencing.  People shout names and hang slogans on one another-as though the playground rules society.

In their fear of drowning, my neighbors try to out-scream one another for rescue, while never once testing the depth of the water.  Voiceless people, tired of living in shame and defilement, find comfort and solace in the idea that death is the greatest equalizer in world, and as they step wired onto trains and busses, nothing seems to be telling them anything different.

After that movie where the hero/ine minces evil into tiny pieces, there is always a sequel: some part of the monster always survives to wreak havoc on the future.  After that movie where resistance to dehumanization transforms the hero/ine, there is only peace, and the future is an open sky.

Christ in you claims transformation over domination.  Christ in you claims belief in the ground over the depth of waters.  Christ in you knows that liberation from captivity can transform this time.  

Christ in us impels a response.  Christ in us says redeem the shamed, love the defiled, comfort those who mourn.   Christ in us says walk out the open door.  Christ in us says tomorrow is the better day.  Christ in us says we are not alone.  Christ in us says we are each others'.  Christ in us says act in trust.  Christ in us says choose relationship with our neighbors over possession of our own fields.  Christ in us says be willing to die thus-knowing that is how we live.

Dear Pneuma,

The world revealed as greedy hands, pulling, reaching, needing, grabbing.  People seen as believing they own me and the gifts I bring.  Cool Hand Luke screaming "stop feeding off me," Ted Neeley in the midst of wailing lepers, overwhelmed by not enough me, too much everyone else.


Is there a difference between pouring out my cup and being drained dry, or are they the same?  To whom am I slave?  From which am I free?  If I live for others is there still space for me, or can I even live for others until I lose myself completely?  


What solution do I want to this?  Approbation?  Acknowledgement?  Reverence?  Pride is the most frightening thing to lose.  Shame the hardest gaze to face.  I fear losing self more than I yearn for emancipation.


Yet how else to live free?  Free from the tongue lashes of why haven't you yet served me, and I know you have time coming, but I need you now.  Free to know my offering is perfect as it is, to resist the image of never good enough, to live accepting less of myself?  To live the life I've been given believing I am using it as intended? 


What is the answer in the symbol Christ?


It is through death with no fear.  It is surrender, immersion, completion.   It is to life, "Into your hands I commend myself."  It is to others, "Make me."  It is to self, "I love and trust you."  It is to Beloved, "I shall love as I am loved."  It is believing God is only ever Good.    


Asking for Faith,
Cobalt Dreams