steve jacobsen – Page 9 – Steve Jacobsen, Ed.D

Letting Your Soul Catch Up With You

Perhaps many of you know this story, but I only heard it recently. Here is one version:

Westerners traveling in a foreign country hired indigenous people as porters to help carry supplies. The porters went at a slower pace than the Westerners desired, so after the first two days, they pushed them to go faster. On day three of the trek, the group went twice as far as day two. Around the campfire that evening, the Westerners congratulated themselves for their leadership abilities. But on day four, the workers would not budge.

“What’s wrong?” asked the Westerner.

“We cannot go any further today,” replied the lead porter.

“Why not? Everyone appears well.”

“Yes,” he said, “but we went so quickly yesterday that we must wait here for our souls to catch up with us.”

An easy place to begin is to affirm how busy we are and our need to slow down. We’ve heard that many times. What makes this story memorable is the spokesman’s reply.

Huston Smith said the difference between our soul and our ego is that our ego always feels a need to control our life, while our soul wants to experience it, whatever comes.

What happens when we slow down and let our soul catch up? Sometimes we become aware of an underlying sadness we’ve been evading. As Psalm 42 says, Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? (Ps 42:5) The writer then recounts memories of when his life and faith seemed well-aligned and the hope that he will experience that sense of wholeness again. But the first step to a satisfied soul is to acknowledge when it is “disquieted.”

This goes against our culture’s relentless expectation to be “happy.” But who can be “happy” all the time? Sometimes we have experienced hardship, loss, and disappointment.

I once collaborated with an academic colleague who was a psychology professor. She had grown up in Ukraine during the Soviet era. The government was always pressuring people to feel optimistic, despite what they were enduring and the official falsehoods that surrounded them. She grew to resent that pressure. After coming to America, she was annoyed with popular schools of thought that encourage us to be happy all the time. Sometimes we feel “cast down” and our soul is “disquieted.” We do well to let our soul reveal what we need to know.

On the other hand, there are times when we take time to let our soul catch up and we find a fresh awareness of blessings we’ve been too busy to acknowledge. Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book on Psalm 23. About the phrase “…surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…,” he asked why the writer says goodness and mercy shall “follow” us? Because, he said, we are often so busy that we have run out ahead of them. When we take time to let our soul catch up, goodness and mercy can finally find us and climb into our lap.

A few days ago, I realized I did not know where I’d left my iPhone. After looking in the obvious places, I took my iPad and brought up the “Find My” app. From the menu, I touched the “Steve’s iPhone.” I then heard the phone chiming. It turned out it was ten feet away — in the same room as me— but in a place I had never put it before. I wondered if there could be a “Find My Soul” app that would alert us when we are spiritually lost. What tone would capture our attention?

I was in Vienna in 2020. Ubers and taxis were available to get around town, as was the subway system. But there was also an old-fashioned electric streetcar system. You’d often see the trams patiently making their way around the city in a large circle known as the Ringstrasse. A city guide told me that Viennese often prefer to use the streetcars even though it’s not as fast as the other options; she said it helps them slow down between destinations.

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the author and his friend are riding their motorcycles cross country. At one point he thinks about the term “making good time.” When we say, “You made good time!” we usually mean “You made the trip about as fast as possible!” But when we rush somewhere to make “good time” we often arrive stressed out, tired, and oblivious to where we’ve been. Instead of opting for freeways and interstates, he preferred taking country roads and older two-lane highways. That way he could appreciate unexpected vistas and new experiences along the way. That kind of traveling may take more time, but one can enjoy the time while you’re doing it. For Pirsig, this was “making good time.”

“Making good time” means you haven’t left your soul behind in the pursuit of speed and efficiency. Your soul has a chance to be present with you as you travel. And maybe goodness and mercy will join you instead of being left in the dust.

Beethoven and the Barking Dog

A parishioner once posed this question to me: “I like the idea of loving my neighbor. But my neighbor has a dog that barks all night and the owner refuses to do anything about it. How am I supposed to love him?”

I don’t remember if I had a wise answer. But the poet Billy Collins does:

Another Reason I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House

The neighbors’ dog will not stop barking.

He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark

that he barks every time they leave the house.

They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors’ dog will not stop barking.

I close all the windows in the house

and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast

but I can still hear him muffled under the music,

barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,

his head raised confidently as if Beethoven

had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,

sitting there in the oboe section barking,

his eyes fixed on the conductor who is

entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful

silence to the famous barking dog solo,

that endless coda that first established

Beethoven as an innovative genius.

Random notes of absolutely no spiritual value:

Beethoven was deaf at the end of his life, so he wouldn’t be bothered by a barking dog.
When I was in Vienna in 2020, I discovered that Beethoven lived in more than 60 places in the city. He left some places to avoid paying rent, and others because he played the piano too loudly.
Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang’s father, wrote a “Hunting Symphony” that includes barking dogs in the third movement. Last year, the Danish Symphony performed it with three dogs who barked on cue. Here’s a video: The Hunting Symphony

Parts Wear Out

A good friend of mine shared words of wisdom he often heard from his father, a cardiologist. When patients would wonder why their heart needed work, he’d simply say, “Miles on the vehicle.” And I’ve heard a similar response at the office of an orthopedist, “Parts wear out.”

We know this is true with cars. With our Honda CRV, we faithfully follow the service schedule, and often it needs nothing more than an oil change and lube. But there are times of “major service” when key parts need to be carefully inspected and possibly replaced. Our mechanic says if we stick to the maintenance schedule, the car can easily reach 200,000 miles and beyond.

The same is true for furnace filters, water filtration systems, and roofs. We want them to last as long as possible but know they will eventually need to be replaced.

What’s true in the realm of mechanics is true of our bodies.

One of the joys of childhood was losing baby teeth. That meant you were getting older. It also meant you could exchange a worn-out part for some hard currency by depositing the tooth under your pillow. (This may be the last time we will show a profit from having parts replaced.)

Life goes on … parts wear out.

For several years, I had pain in my right arm that increased over time. I went through the usual exams and X-rays, and eventually an MRI. I met with a surgeon. He recited a list of what was causing my problem: bone fragments, torn tendons, arthritis, etc. I was surprised at how much wear and tear there was under the surface. But I also thought, “It’s pretty amazing all these moving parts have been functioning without complaint day after day for 70 years.” We scheduled the surgery. He made the repairs. I wore a sling for a month and went through the usual physical therapy. Now I’m pain-free. I can pick up our granddaughter with ease. Parts were wearing out, and I’m grateful for the repairs.

In the meantime, what of our spirit? Does our spirit wear out like our bodies?

One theory is that our inner awareness dies with our body. That may be the case.

Many spiritual traditions assume that the awareness that dwells within us does not die when the body dies. Neither does it wear out. It’s not a part we ever replace.

St. Paul was not only a scholar but also practiced an important trade in the first century: tentmaking. Roman armies required canvas tents, and all the ships that sailed the Mediterranean used canvas sails. Paul earned his income making and repairing them. As he cut and sewed, he must have had plenty of time to think about what wears out and what endures. In one of his letters, he wrote:

¹⁶So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, ¹⁸because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that, if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…⁵The one who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a down payment.

I’m not quite sure if there are heavenly houses for us out there somewhere. But I get the point: we live in our “tents,” but are not limited by them. Our true essence is this mysterious presence we call spirit or soul which is not subject to the same wear and tear as our bodies.

Native cultures assume that the spirit outlasts our “parts” and is fundamentally connected to our ancestors. In some schools of Buddhism, the practice of meditation can lead us into the limitless field of “open awareness” that is untouched by death. This field can absorb all our fears and pain and give us a sense of profound peace.

As I think about these teachings, I think of the concept of “agape,” a divine love that underlies all life. Our everyday emotional “loves” may ebb and flow, but “agape” is timeless. We do not create it or possess it; we access it through an open heart and mind and can experience a “peace that passes understanding.”

I bought a Prius in 2008. Five years later I used it as a trade-in for the CRV. When it was time to drop it off, I took all my personal possessions out and drove it to the dealer. We finished the paperwork, and I handed the salesman the keys. I started to walk away, then paused and looked back. I thought of how much life I had lived in that car, and now I was leaving it behind. I was struck by how worn and empty it looked. I wondered, ‘Is this what it’s like when we die?”

Parts wear out. But we are not just our parts or the sum of our parts. We are not our thoughts, fears, or feelings. We are something more. Something subtle. Mysterious. Wondrous. And beautiful.

“Eyes Wide Roaming”

Dear Reader:

This week I want to introduce you to a new blog: “Eyes Wide Roaming.” It’s written by a friend, Brad McCarter. Brad is a commercial airline pilot who flies internationally. When he has a 24-hour layover, he finds a spot like a coffee house or a pub and settles in. He studies the environment, the people, and his own thoughts and feelings as they arise. He then captures the essence of his experience in some beautifully crafted words and verses. Every two weeks he shares a new piece from somewhere in the world.

I enjoy seeing how Brad expresses his experience so succinctly. And after I read his posts, I feel like I’ve inhabited that space and time with him. This isn’t Lonely Planet or Rick Steves (both of which I enjoy.) This is soulful, personal, and fascinating. For me, reading his posts is a way to “travel” to places I hope to visit someday. It’s also about the inward journey we can experience when traveling. You can subscribe if you wish. (Like me, Brad isn’t out to “monetize” his work; it comes from a personal desire to observe the world and then share what one finds.)

I encourage you to take a look at his page and sample one of his pieces. Where would you like to go — Hong Kong, Munich, the Lower East Side of New York, London, or Tel Aviv (as it was before October 7?) Think about it — you don’t have to fasten your seatbelt, straighten your seat, or put the tray table back.

Here’s the link: “Eyes Wide Roaming”

Steve

(The top image is a pub in London, the lower a street in Hong Kong.)

We’re Skipping School and Making the Pilgrimage

On Wednesday, May 8, I’m taking our 6 and 8-year-old grandsons out of school for the day. It’s not for academic enrichment or to observe a religious holiday. We’re going to a Dodger game.

I chose this game for three reasons. 1) The game starts at noon, which is ideal for young kids since you’ll get home at a decent time. 2) Unlike the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, or Cubs – teams with millions of fans all over the country — the Marlins have few fans. As a result, I was able to get terrific seats for a fraction of the usual price, and the traffic should be light. 3) I love the idea of ditching school or work to see a baseball game.

The first time I made the journey to Dodger Stadium was with my father, 62 years ago. I’ll never forget the feeling of coming out of the tunnel and seeing the splendor of the emerald-green grass of the outfield, the red brick dust of the infield, and the perfectly delineated white chalk foul lines. There is seating for 54,000 people and everybody is happy as they find their seats. As a kid who loved baseball, I was in heaven.

We will be retracing those steps on May 8. We’ll take the same “Stadium Way” offramp from Interstate 5. Then, like pilgrims going to a sacred mountain, we will slowly ascend to the sacred site. After parking we will continue heaven-ward on foot, using escalators as needed. Then we’ll take our seats.

But this journey is not just about reliving childhood dreams. The deeper reasons for making this sacrifice of time and treasure were revealed anew to me this week as I read “Ballparking It,” an article in the April 1 New Yorker, by Adam Gopnik.

Gopnik begins by focusing on the history of baseball in New York City. He then gets philosophical, exploring why baseball and sporting events of any kind evoke so much passion in so many. Here is a sampling of his points with my comments:

Referring to the legendary sportswriter Damon Runyan from the last century: Runyan knew that these two things were true: the contests were epic in the enjoyment they provided, and they were miniature in their importance. That makes sense. Why would millions of people watch the Super Bowl, March Madness, or the World Series when the outcome doesn’t make any real difference in the world? Because they can be “epic in enjoyment,”

Sports are an artificial, deliberately narrowed activity that we create, in order to have moralizing stories to tell. I have a weakness for “moralizing stories.” Barry Bonds may have hit more home runs than anyone, but we knew he was a cheater who used steroids. We booed him when he came to LA. It felt great.

We live with our bodies and honor them by admiring ones nimbler than our own. There seems no way out or up from this preoccupation. It gets its grace by becoming common. Have you ever watched Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors play basketball? He’s as graceful as any ballet dancer, and he’s got five 200-pound guys chasing him. He makes it look easy; “grace becomes common.”

The strength of our moralizing instinct is shown in the vindictive nature of our assessments of right and wrong in sports. See the Barry Bonds comment above and the Houston Astros comment below.

Only in games do we pursue orderly means towards ridiculous goals: touching home plate with your toe is by itself a meaningless purpose, but we learned to do it in ways that are beautifully shaped and orderly and teachable. Both our grandsons play Little League. Every time they come around to score, there is a sense of victory. I know the feeling. You’ve been out in the world exposed to danger and now you’re safe; you’ve come home.

Sports are “an unstructured escape from responsibility…” Some might say it’s irresponsible for a grandfather to take kids out of school for a meaningless sporting event — they might miss some important instruction. But isn’t it important to teach kids that, if you do it well, occasionally escaping responsibility for a few hours can be good for the soul?

The fans regard the game as joyfully ridiculous, and the players regard the fans as deeply ridiculous, and there’s a fluid interchange between the game we see in the play we share. Who cares if a grown man can take a piece of wood and hit a ball 420 feet over a fence? It’s ridiculous. And it’s addictive. I hope we see some rockets.

That’s why diehard fans, on the whole, take losing harder than the players do. Pro athletes can often say, “They just played better than we did, “or, alternately, “That’s just the way it broke,” more serenely than the fans can. When we watch the players congratulate one another after the game and exchange warm words, the social ritual they are enacting is a way of turning a game back into some decent form of play: Hey, we competed, we all did well, see you next year. It’s been seven years since I sat in that stadium to see the Dodgers lose the seventh game of the World Series to the Houston Astros. It turned out the Astros were cheating. When I remember that game, I don’t experience serenity. I feel an emptiness that hasn’t gone away.

Go ahead, baseball, fill me with joy and hope, then break my heart. Coming back year after year is a discipline — one I hope to pass on to my descendants.

“Ballparking It: When America’s Pastime was New York’s.” By Adam Gopnik. New Yorker April 1, 2024

“Ungainly Resurrections”

We’ve had some intense rainstorms in Santa Barbara in recent years which have caused many trees to fall. This eucalyptus fell over San Jose Creek several years ago. I see it every morning when I walk over the bridge near my home. When it fell, one of its branches landed on the ground on the opposite side of the creek and became a support for the rest of the tree:

I’ve been fascinated to watch new growth rising skyward from the fallen branch. I remind myself that this branch began its life going vertical, then fell to its current horizontal position. But that unexpected event did not change its purpose — it’s thick with new growth.

I recently came across this poem from Catherine Abbey Hodges who lives in Springville on the western foothills of the Sierras. She witnessed something similar in her “neck of the woods:”

After the Flood

They looked like goners,

the cottonwoods and alders

downed when the river

went wild. And no wonder:

for two days we’d heard

the boom of boulders

above the water’s roar,

heard the crash and snap

of sturdy trees.

But now they’re sprouting

branches, new green

thrusting skyward

from prone trunks.

It’s a strange sight, hopeful

though not yet beautiful,

this ungainly resurrection,

early days of a miracle

etched in the seed.

I kept rereading the last stanza:

such trees are indeed a “strange sight” – something that defies our everyday expectations.
It’s “hopeful though not yet beautiful” — it’s impressive not because it fits some pre-determined idea of what it should look like, but because it demonstrates the raw power of hope.
It’s an “ungainly resurrection” – it looks more clumsy than graceful, yet the impulse to thrive and be reborn shines.
This “miracle” is manifesting itself day after day, but the power to do so was given long ago when a regenerating life force was “etched in the seed.”

I began to imagine how such trees are metaphors for the lives of many people I’ve known in my life and career.

Most of us begin life full of optimism, confident we will keep growing according to our plan as we reach for the sky. But storms come. Branches break. We fall. It’s tempting to give up. Can we find some new way to live?

The German mystic Meister Eckhart said, “The soul grows by the process of subtraction.” I take this to mean that when we are full of our selves and rigid expectations, there’s no room for soul. But when losses come and we break open — as our illusions are “subtracted” from our sense of self — the divine Spirit comes near to offer us a chance to experience new life that is “etched in the seed” of our soul. We may never stop grieving for what we’ve lost along the way, but shoots of regeneration begin appearing.

In my Goleta congregation, we would have annual retreats called “Crossroads” which would include 15 or 20 people. We’d begin Friday night by sharing a meal and getting to know each other. On Saturday morning we’d study a story from Scripture that I had chosen for its potential to offer insight into the experience of living. I’d then give everyone a large sheet of newsprint and a box of markers and ask them to go off for two hours to create a “life map” — a visual representation of how their life had unfolded. People would often draw a winding pathway with many ups and downs, then draw pictures or choose words to describe key events. (Some of our engineers were more comfortable with bar graphs.) You’d see things like, “depression” or “fell in love” or “divorce” or “new job.” When people were finished with their maps, I’d ask them to go back and mark any places on their road where they encountered God.

We’d regather. Each person had a turn describing their map and journey. They would then tape their map to the wall of the meeting room. When everyone was done, we’d take time in silence to survey the range of life experiences in our group. There was always a sense of awe at what people had been through and how, in many ways, they’d experienced unexpected growth and blessings.

The human spirit is like a seed, and etched into it is the potential to heal, integrate, grow, and adapt.

I once traveled with a group to Ghana. In many cultures, if someone asks, “How are you?” the response is something like “I am well” or “I am fine.” But our host said when someone in Ghana asks, “How are you?” a traditional response is “Yesu Adom,” which means “By the grace of God” or “By the grace of God I am well.”

I imagine standing on the San Jose Creek bridge asking my friend, “How are you doing, Fallen Tree?” I would not be surprised to hear: “By the grace of God, I am well. I have not given up. I am determined to thrive. Join me.”

By the grace of God, I will. May we all.

“After the Flood” by Catherine Abbey Hodges in Empty Me Full. (forthcoming by Gunpowder Press, 2024) Used with permission.

Our “Immemorial Feelings”

A writing teacher once said the difference between prose and poetry is that good prose keeps our attention moving forward, while good poetry causes us to slow down. I recently came across this poem by Wendell Berry. I had to look up a word I did not know, then re-read it several times to appreciate what it offers. It was worth the effort:

It’s the immemorial feelings 

I like the best: hunger, thirst, their satisfaction;

work-weariness, earned rest; the falling again 

from loneliness to love; 

the green growth the mind takes from the pastures in March; 

The gayety in the stride of a good team of Belgian mares 

that seems to shudder from me through all my ancestry.

— “Goods” by Wendell Berry, New Collected Poems, 2012.

What does the word “immemorial” mean? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it describes something that has been “existing or traditional for an extremely long time;” e.g., “She said it was the immemorial custom of the villagers to have a feast after the harvesting.” So, an “immemorial feeling” is something we can experience that is not new to the human condition but one we share with our ancestors. Wendell says he likes these kinds of feelings more than those that might be new. He then lists five. As I thought about each one, I wondered about my own similar experiences. I invite you to do the same.

… hunger, thirst, their satisfaction…

I think of times in the summer when my wife and I go hiking on a warm day and then stop somewhere for a cold beer. That first sip? Amazing.

…work-weariness, earned rest…

I think of times when I’ve done hours of yard work, completed it, and called it a day. What a good feeling to do the work and know I’ve earned a rest and may sleep well.

…the falling again from loneliness to love…

Maybe he’s thinking primarily of romantic love — one day we think we are isolated and the next day realize another person has captured our heart. Maybe it can also mean finding love in other ways, such as with a devoted pet (“Who rescued whom?”). Or maybe a new hobby or activity. But that feeling of feeling alone one minute, then aware you want to be deeply connected to someone or something else – it’s a kind of “falling” that comes like a gift.

…the green growth the mind takes from the pastures in March… 

I look out my window and see our redbud trees, Chinese Fringe Flowers, and yellow freesias in full bloom. After the generous winter rains, the naturally brown hillsides in Southern California look like Irish meadows. We can’t help but sense a fellow “greenness” in our minds, bringing hope and possibilities.

…The gayety in the stride of a good team of Belgian mares 

that seems to shudder from me through all my ancestry.

Wendell is a fifth-generation farmer in Henry County, Kentucky. His people knew the splendor of strong horses, which he instinctively shares and physically feels.

I do not know horses. What comes to mind for me is the ocean. I recently discovered that one of my family’s ancestral lines goes back to Bornholm, a small Danish Island in the North Sea, where they lived and fished for 400 years. Another line goes back to Halmstad, a fishing village on the Swedish coast. Another line includes one of my great-grandmothers from Denmark. After immigrating to America and spending her life raising her family in Iowa, they moved to Selma, California where she died in 1922. One of her sons wrote that in her last years she kept going back to fond memories of the beach in Copenhagen where she played as a child. Our mother loved the sea, and we scattered her ashes off the beach she loved in San Clemente. I guess it’s in our bones.

The five experiences Wendell names are not new for human beings. They existed before there were factories in China, televisions in our homes, or images on our digital devices. They did not need artificial intelligence programs. They are older than that – they come from “time immemorial.” And we have the privilege of sharing these with our ancestors. What a blessing.

It’s the immemorial feelings 

I like the best: hunger, thirst, their satisfaction;

work-weariness, earned rest; the falling again 

from loneliness to love; 

the green growth the mind takes from the pastures in March; 

The gayety in the stride of a good team of Belgian mares 

that seems to shudder from me through all my ancestry.

Bornholm, Denmark

Lead image: “Wendell Berry and his granddaughter plowing” “https://www.pinterest.com/pin/542613455076383854/ Ediblecommunities.com

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock Sneak Into the Oscars

One of the most popular television shows in my generation was Star Trek. In the year 2256 (“Star date 1207.3”), a multi-racial crew plunges into space to “boldly go where no man has gone before.” In some episodes, they find portals through which they can go back in time. More than once they would visit specific periods in American history like the Wild West or the “Roaring Twenties.” Before beaming down to earth, they would have to dress in a way that they would not be conspicuous when they arrived. They’d be transported down to materialize in some carefully chosen time and spot. They’d then explore, observe, and discuss how people were behaving – something like interstellar anthropologists. When their reason for being there was fulfilled, they’d beam back up to the Enterprise and to the future in which they lived.

I watched most of the Academy Awards this past Sunday. I’d seen some but not all the movies. As the ceremony progressed from category to category, I became aware of the wide variety of themes, issues, and emotions in our contemporary culture that were represented and tried to make sense of it as a whole. As I continued to puzzle over this, I began to imagine what it would be like for some outsiders like Kirk and Spock to show up at this year’s ceremony. What would they think of our culture in 2024?

To begin with, I realized they would not have to create disguises. They could materialize in some alley near the theater and then boldly walk the red carpet dressed in their Star Fleet uniforms. They’d pause for fashion photographers – Kirk smiling and Spock stone-faced — and the press would become desperate to know who designed their costumes. Unlike other such visits, Spock would not have to cover up his pointed Vulcan ears – that would probably become a new fad.

I imagined them sitting through the entire 3 ½ hour show. Here’s a sampling of what they would have seen:

Oppenheimer: a morally complex story of the creation of the atomic bomb and its potential to both win a war and destroy the world.
Barbie: a pink and pastel depiction of what the Barbie Doll has meant and how contemporary feminism can transform it into a message for liberation. They’d see two Barbie songs performed: “What Was I Made For” describing the yearning to find one’s true identity, and “I’m Just Ken,” an over-the-top, extravagant musical number lamenting the limitations of life as a Ken doll.
The Killers of the Flower Moon: based on a true story of the careful systematic murder of Osage Native Americans by greedy white men who want to steal their oil. They would watch a live and powerful of an Osage drum-circle ceremony. (“Wahzhazhe” – “A Song for My People”).
Poor Things: a surreal fantasy of a young artificially created woman who comes of age in terms of her sexuality and personal identity.
Zone of Interest: a group of privileged Nazi families living adjacent to Auschwitz and ignoring the suffering and incineration of countless innocent people while tending their gardens.
Maestro: a portrayal of the musical tour-de-force genius of Leonard Bernstein, with a focus on his complex sexual identity and relationships.
Nyad: the true story of an extraordinary female open-water swimmer.
Perfect Days: a Japanese man finds spiritual peace and meaning as he earns his living cleaning public toilets.
20 Days in Mariupol: the suffering of the Ukrainian people as the Russians needlessly invades their country.
The Last Repair Shop: the dedication of a small of people determined to keep music education alive in Los Angeles public schools.

They would see other vignettes that may have been a bit puzzling: a nude wrestler hiding behind a partition holding an envelope like a fig leaf, an apparent message criticizing the show’s host from the country’s former ruler, and constant shots of a dog named Messi sitting in a theater seat watching the show with greater focus than many of the humans.

I imagine Kirk and Spock skipping the Governor’s Ball and beaming back up to discuss and share their findings.

“What’s human life like on Planet Earth in 2024?” they’d be asked.

It’s full of darkness and tragedy, cruelty and violence.
It’s full of courage and heroism, a longing for justice and a yearning for peace.
It’s full of humor and delight.
It’s full of visual and musical creativity.
People are constantly trying to find meaning in what they do and who they are, and find many ways people to deal with their desires and duties.
It’s a wild and complex world with many moments of tender feeling and transformational insight.

The Enterprise had navigators, communication officers, engineers, scientists, security forces, and medical personnel. But I don’t remember any intergalactic spiritual counselors. If there was such a person, and he or she was asked what they made of this world, they might say:

“Human beings seem to be very complex creatures. In their best moments, they’re magnificent beings. In their worst moments, they’re beasts. It’s hard not to have compassion for them, and I wish we could give them guidance on how to live in peace and mutual respect. But our Prime Directive prohibits us from intervening in the natural development of other civilizations. Let’s hope they can figure it out.”

What Do We Know?

“Even though life is quite a sad business, you can have a good time in the middle of it. I like to laugh, and I think the unsung, real literary geniuses of the world are people who write jokes. Both the Irish and Jews are very fatalistic, but they laugh a lot. Only the Protestants think that every day in every way, life is getting better and better. What do they know? — American writer Mary Gordon (daughter of a Jewish father and Irish Catholic mother)

My beloved mentor Huston Smith once gave a talk at the Lobero Theater here in Santa Barbara. With a smile, he announced his theme: “Five Things You Won’t Agree With.” One theme was “There’s no such thing as progress.”[i]

Huston told the story of being a young American scholar in the 1960s when he was invited to speak on the future of society at a conference In Europe. He spoke glowingly of what he thought the century would bring. After he finished, the next speaker said, “Professor Smith has just spoken out of 200 years of American successes. I’m now going to speak from 1,000 years of European failures.” Huston listened and was humbled.

He went on to say that, to be sure, some things have improved in our modern life. Plumbing, for one. Public health, for another. And there has been some progress in human rights. But in many ways, our human nature has not changed. We have not outgrown the destructive impulses of our ancestors. No century in human history saw as many people die in war as the 20^th – somewhere close to 50 million. Some things are better, but we are a long way from having the world we would like to have. Those “Protestants” who “think that every day in every way, life is getting better and better – what do they know?”

This perspective could lead to being “fatalistic” – why bother trying to make anything better? I don’t think that’s an option.

Social teachings of the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and many secular traditions have always included a strong emphasis on “trying to make the world a better place.” Basic compassion and a spiritual calling compel us to do all we can to confront hunger, poverty, injustice, violence, and threats to human dignity. Here and there, there are signs of “progress.”

We moved to Santa Barbara in 1992. With our daughters active in athletics, we became passionate supporters of the UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team — along with many in my congregation. The team was having great success, making it to the “Sweet Sixteen” in 2004. One year we invited the outstanding center to speak at the beginning of our worship service. She was several inches over six feet tall, and it was striking to see her walk down the aisle and step to the pulpit with poise and ease. UCSB had just won a dramatic game against the University of Hawaii the night before, and someone asked her if she had prayed for a win. She said she did pray at halftime – but not to win. She simply prayed that she would do her best, whatever the outcome. Everyone sensed this young woman possessed great inner strength and character.

A few days later, I ran into Michelle, one of our members. I asked her what she thought of hearing the player speak. Michelle said she had wept. That surprised me and I asked her why. As a woman who was six feet tall herself, as a teenager she was constantly walking bent over with slumped shoulders so she wouldn’t seem as tall as she was. But on Sunday, when this tall, young woman entered to the delight and admiration of the congregation, she realized how much had changed in just one generation. Her tears that morning were tears of gratitude that maybe life for young women was improving.

On the other hand, I remember visiting the “Museum of Communism” in Prague in 2020. The museum was divided into three sections: “The Promise,” “The Reality,” and “The Nightmare.” “The Promise” told the story of the genuine idealism that had convinced many earnest people to support the revolutions in the early decades of the last century. “The Reality” displayed exhibits of how this social experiment was troubled from the start. “The Nightmare” showed how grim and heartless communist societies became. People hoped they could make society “better and better”, but it was not to be.

I believe we should never give up trying to make the world a better place. At the same time, we can recognize our human nature has a dark side that may resist and undo our best-laid plans and hopes. Along the way, we welcome the great artists in our midst who help us laugh:

[i] I previously wrote on one of the other points: “Living on the Back Side of the Tapestry”

Ever Feel Like You’re an Extra in Someone Else’s Play?

“Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.”

–Franklin Roosevelt

Years ago, I took a class on “Organizational Development.” We read a fascinating book, Images of Organizations, by Gareth Morgan. His basic point is that we often use metaphors to describe organizations. But it can be helpful to be aware of what metaphors we are using and to know that we can use different ones.

For instance, if we want to use “organic” or biological imagery, we might say “This place has come alive since she took over…” Or: “There’s a cancer in that organization and it’s growing.” If we use a mechanistic metaphor, we might say “This place runs like a well-oiled machine.” or “…he showed up and threw a wrench into the works.” Other options include a brain, cultures, political systems, and systems of domination. But my favorite metaphor was “psychic prisons” – a rather harsh way of saying that in any place we might work, everyone shows up with their private and personal agendas. (I might have preferred he call this “psychic dramas.”) What we do is determined by our job; but what our work means to us drives much of our behavior and sense of satisfaction.

Another way to put it is this: every day, each of us is writing a drama about our life in which we are the central character. I interpret what my boss or coworker says and does based on what is unfolding in my life. If I need affirmation, are they affirming me? If I’m climbing the ladder of success, are they doing what I need them to do to advance my career? If I’m looking for social support and companionship, is work a place where I can find friends and social relationships?

When I started in my career, I had high hopes for what I would accomplish. I wanted to do what I was hired to do and do it well. But I also wanted to put on a good “performance” so that my career would advance. Even as I genuinely respected others and wanted to serve them, in one way they were playing supporting roles in the drama I was writing in which I was the main character.

This perspective was helpful to me when I became responsible for a staff of employees. I found it enlightening to try to understand what each employee’s life script might be as they came to work so I could look for ways to support them.

It’s fun to consider the possibility that everyone is doing this – everyone has a script they are writing in which they are the main character and the rest of us are “extras” — everybody comes to work as both an employee and a private playwright.

This is also applicable to family dynamics. I had a colleague who described how stressful Christmas was for her and her sister as they were growing up. They lived in the same town as their grandmothers. During the holidays, the grandmothers would compete for the affection of the two girls with gifts and special parties. The girls could sense the competition and were often anxious that they would disappoint one or the other grandmother. Each grandmother was writing a play in which they were center stage, and the grandchildren were supporting actors.

FDR was a skilled leader and shrewd politician. He had a strong sense of what personally motivated other people and how to shepherd them toward a common purpose, letting both their self-interest and higher ideals come into play. He knew that even as president, he was “just an extra in everyone else’s play.”

As life goes on, the role we play in our life-drama can change. I do not need to “build my resume” anymore or impress an employer or board member. I don’t need to be center stage in my drama. Now I can focus on how to be useful to my community and my family, content with being a “supporting actor.”

A few years ago, I was wondering – and worrying — if my grandkids would remember much about the time I was spending with them. Then I realized I was making it about me, not them. They are now the garden where the future is growing. My job is to simply be compost in their lives; I don’t need to imagine my name in the long list of credits when the movie is over. This has become a liberating thought.

What does spirituality have to do with this? I believe spirituality has at least two dimensions: it begins with finding something greater than us that inspires us. We then feel a call to serve that greater reality by serving others. In the process, we find both a joyful humility and a clear call to action. We become part of a larger drama where we are not the star – we’re “just an extra.” But somehow, we discover we’ve never played a more satisfying part.