I have a sisterinlaw, who has a sister I have never met. This is not unusual, as many families today are not in close contact or have knowledge except for those in some immediate circles. My husband and I are not in a particular immediate circle because we don’t believe like some in our family. We are not religious fundamentalists, hence we don’t belong.
But this ‘unmet’ woman expresses more of what I have come to believe what God calls us to do: attend to those who are abandoned, unfed, unclaimed, unwanted, and not socially ‘acceptable’ or with value.
Yesterday I stepped out in some sort of faith and called this sisterinlaw. We had not talked in two years and I didn’t know whether she would or not. My birth family is wanky like that, full of hurts, bruises and perceived insults. Some of them finding their marks, too. But talk we did, over the course of the day. It was good, it was a ‘reclaiming’ of a particular part of family, if only limited to her.
She is a fundamentalist Christian, and I am not. She is very much involved in the arguments of church and theology. She attempts in her own way to build paths to human hearts. She is what I would consider a ‘good’ theologian for a fundamentalist: she doesn’t beat you over the head with such finely wrought arguments that you are left dizzy. I believe she proceeds from love. I found, in talking to her, that I had missed our discussions, even if they are limited to her attempts to get me to her side of religious arguments. And then she told me about her sister in Florida, Diana.
Diana is just about my age, and lives in an area where there are many homeless and abandoned animals. She feeds probably two dozen cats, some of them hers, most of them not. She also feeds dogs, stray dogs, ducks that come from the nearby pond, a mother racoon and her kit, and Frank. Frank is a vulture, and Frank has been coming around for kibble for four or five years. Sometimes, Frank brings his friends to the porch for feeding.
I am left in a state of awe, wonder and amazement. Right now I am also left in a weakened state of tears: whether this is because it is early, and tears are a normal part of being overwhelmed by the beauty of the morning or because of what I am writing about, Frank and Diana and all her ‘the least of us’, I don’t know, but I’m not ashamed.
I have been giving a lot of thought recently about my own state of faith. We’ve just passed a season of outward love, and I am wondering how much of that really sticks. Churches are embroiled in theological issues, much beyond my simple understanding, or my wanting to be involved in; it seems that we have put aside, along with the Xmas tree and tinsel, our ‘good tidings’ to our fellow men, and what are we now left with? The forecasters of economical ‘good tidings’ are mostly happy with the glut of merchandise and the money spent on the Xmas season but still, where is the ongoing love and message of this season?
I have a particular problem with fundamentalism: to me it is anti-creativity, not respecting the individuality of a person, demanding compliance and conformity in a particular religious dogma. This goes for Christian, Jewish, etc. doctrine. I believe that we, those who think otherwise, should leave the churches to these fundies: give over the buildings, the candles, the properties, the altarcloths, etc. Give them what they are fighting for, as is shown in so much of the Episcopal brouhaha right now across our country, and outward. The rest of us should drop these battles and get on with developing our own beliefs and developing a community that is inclusive, not exclusive. I think we have a fine precedent in creation-based spirituality. We have Hildegarde of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Francis of Assisi, and these are just a few of the Christian ‘mystics’. People most fundamentalists never learned about.
We also have our own modern mystic, Father Matthew Fox, a former Dominican priest who is now an Episcopalian. People interested in this movement of Creation Spirituality should read him. It is inclusive, deep and to me, a joyful spirituality that proposes ‘original blessing’ rather than ‘0riginal sin’. Redemption comes to us, not as a power alien to own natures but as an ‘aha’ experience that transcends.
Diana is not a rich woman. She makes sacrifices to do what she does. I called just to introduce myself and to find out more about Frank and the rest of her flock. We talked and I am so deeply moved. I am impressed that this woman has cut through the arguments in life and just does what she does as an article of faith. She puts her actions where many put just their mouths, words. Oh, there are dangers to her and to Frank and all those she feeds and loves. The locals are not generally happy, and have threatened her and Frank and company, but Frank thankfully is protected by laws down there. So the taunts of shooting him would get the humans in deep trouble. As they should.
I was told by my sisterinlaw that when it gets cold down there in Florida, and it does, Diana puts a heater outside for those abandoned to huddle against and keep warm. It does take hours to feed everyone, and the miracle here is this is a real “Peaceable Kingdom”. Frank is eating from the same bowl that cats are eating from, and ducks are coming from the pond to join the table: It must be something to see a bunch of vultures eating quietly (??) with a bunch of cats. I would definitely call this God’s Miracle. I would rather sit and watch this miracle than listen to a book of sermons.
Sometimes Frank will eat from a bowl held out by Diana, and then he turns sideways and watches her. She is not afraid of these huge birds, carrion eaters, and I believe she is a special agent of God’s love. She has to be.
As we go into this season of Silence, Stillness, Scarcity and bone-numbing cold, I see the hope of life and love that is real in Diana’s actions. To some, foolhearty, dangerous, a ‘waste of time’, but to me, Diana expresses exactly what we are called upon to do: to set aside our own comfort and extend ourselves to others, even those who have no ‘value’ to most. Diana is a real example of God’s love, and what we are called upon this earth to do. We can froth at the mouth about all the theological arguments we want, but this is all about the head and a too-worldy ego. What Diana does cuts through to the real message we are called to embrace.
She cuts through to the heart of the matter, and that is good.
Lady Nyo
–
Ode to a Coopers Hawk
Come to me.
Come to me,
Winged celestial beauty.
Come to me with your notched
Mermaid tail,
Your silken roll of feathers.
Fly down into my hollowed-out soul,
Fill me with your sun-warmed glory
Nestle in my arms
And bring the curve of the horizon
Embraced in your outstretched wings.
–
I need no white bearded prophet,
No mumbled prayer, no gospel song
No hard church bench, no fast or
Festival to feel close to the Divine.
–
The glory of the universe,
Is embodied in your flight
As you tumble through heavens,
Ride the invisible thermals
Screech with joy at freedom
Fill your lungs with thin air
And play bumper car with an Eagle.
–
I, earthbound,
No hollowed bones to launch me,
Just tired soul to weigh down,
No soft plumage to feel the course
Of wind through glossy feathers
No hunting call to herald my presence.
Still my soul takes flight
The breeze lifts my spirit,
My eyes follow you,
And we will find that glory
Transcend a sullen earth,
Transcend a mean humanity
And soar together into the blue eye of God.
–
Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2011
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