Preface — In all, I believe our reality is as real as we experience it — from our own bodies to all the galaxies observed in the unfathomable-incomprehensible space around us. In all, it (WE) is so strange — and not a peep from anywhere else in it all with life as we have it. Just silence and cataclysms of star-stuff in darknesses that certainly seems to have no concern for Earth’s happenings. Nowhere is there evidence of WHY there is anything at all. The need to fill-in that blank space is inevitable. I see nothing and have found nothing to convince me that we’ve even a clue to the answer. That answer we may never know, but how we answer for our existence as it is — is our blank-space to fill-in as best we can. It is our Manifest Destiny’s Odyssean Kairos (MDOK) — Our fate is a mortal journey to be at home–save our home–preserve our home–by seizing-hold of all the best opportunities as they best present themselves to us. THE HOLD of Life has given us this chance to hold-our-own — in our Earthborn-Planet Held context — for as long as we can midst all our findings of love, hope, dreams, justice, creativity, family, science and what it means, in all, to Hold-On so we can live to the fullest our humanity. All that we have that makes us the best that we are and can become — has a structural hold of Threshold-Home-Hearth.
1. GOD — I see no evidence in my living that there is a caring/forgiving/prayer answering personal god of any sort or sex as described howsoever by any historical religion or faith. The concept of a puppeteering deity playing with people’s lives and destinies is rather abhorrently absurd from the perspective afforded me by my existence. This does not, however, delete concepts of spirituality, the sacred, and belief structures of truth that are manifest in the immanence of our earthly presence. Therefore, I do not pray to or worship human creations in this category. And to a God Unknown? Why? It doesn’t sync with knowns such as sunshine, air, water, and human love.
2. THE GOD BEYOND GOD — This concept simply says there’s a greater comprehension which we do not have. With the continued advances in the sciences — this becomes ever more the case. We are such a speck of stardust in a vast darkness of billions of galaxies and possibly universes. Whatever is behind it all is an incomprehensible power. It shows no signs of being a power that picks special persons to give special revelations to. This is not to fault the quest for comprehension and the need to interpret moments that seem to possibly hold a clue. Theologians like this concept, because it keeps God in the formula. I do not think/believe that the way theologies conceive their “gods,” is applicable to what’s behind it all, which seems to function more from random catastrophe and furnaces of fire and death. Earth is its own cauldron, with its own bubblings in a vast-ever-vast-ever-flaming darkness that’s full of its own revelations that far-exceed those of past prophesies.
3. THE ETERNAL — The Eternal as in Everlasting, I conceive as the EVERHOLD. My concept of existence as THE HOLD is reflected here. Whatever the condition of now, past, future or the timeless — there is a structural holding pattern/order/dynamic whatever the condition of existence in whatever form it takes in any when-so-evermore-of-it-all-asitis.asitis. I “say” the term EVERHOLDION as another way of saying this…keeping with the ION suffix of active state/field/presence/Agency: indeed, what holds is what lasts and what lasts is what holds. The word RELIG — ION has attempted this in the past as an active holding on to what has been given as everlasting. But the holding changes beyond this institutionalized world of the past. THE HOLD of existence is too dynamic and changing to be so conceptually confined. Something holds in transformations, renewals, and new revelations. So it is that I find the concept/reality of COVENANT to be in sync spiritually-existentially with the EVERHOLD.
4. DOGMATISM — This, to me, is always a bad perspective on anything. It is a derogatory term with malfeasance built-in. The scientific world has given us the procedures of confirmation and falsification regarding the sharing/computing of data. And these with the ever-keen sense that the data is always expanding — so an open mind must persist as openings persist. Religious dogmatism is contrary to these proceedings and outlook. I’m an atheist regarding theism concepts that my life has falsified. I’m an agnostic in the sense of the avoidance of atheistic dogmatism, even though, existentially, one’s life may function best from an atheistic perspective. Or, one can live on the see-saw balancing of AGNO-ATHE. Or, scientifically, one, as I, can function atheistically, but always open to new data. Dogmatism is a stoppered bottle that’s lost its value of “pairing with”: the wine never breathing afresh its character in new contexts.. Alas, atheism merges-pairs with aestheticism with ease: agnosticism with poetries — humanism with spirituality. Dogmatists sniff around the cork. Not my way. Thus, all things considered in these beliefs, I cannot with integrity, or meaning, take the title of Reverend. For me it’s COVENEND, as in Covenend O’Kelly. The God-Dogmatists, JC Evangelicals, Gospel Biblicists of whatever Denomination or Non-Denomination, are the Revs. I’m a Cove. We are very different. Ministry doesn’t have to be about saving people to some eternal heaven and putting In God We Trust in public schools and on police cars. They got it on the money and in the Pledge long ago. The attempts to enforce such Biblical Christian beliefs on the public are increasing because there is political power in this as there is a decline in such beliefs. As I write this, DT45 is in the news daily as “God’s Chosen”– “the Most Biblical President.” So much of this is happening, now. This is not my covenantal truth and this is not my covenantal ministry. (See note below.)
5. DIVINITY — THE DIVINE — This term is for that which is more miraculous and what’s humanly possible and which, it seems, inspires what is humanly possible. The Greeks did mighty plays of this difference with their Gods and Goddesses — and their influencing and involvements with human existence: such as Zeus taking the form of a swan to impregnate mortal Leda with the divine-human mix that became the most beautiful of all women as Helen of Troy. The Greeks were filled with such stories of how the divine became a part of the human. Christianity did it with Jesus and many-most religious traditions made the connect by way of revelation to mortals such as Mohammed and Buddha, et al. Stories of the “immortals” and “fairies” in this regard — overflow the literatures of the ages.
6. THE TRANSCENDENT — &– THE IMMANENT — This “T” concept implies an Agency beyond normal existence, but which enters our normal existence to cause such revelations as mentioned above. I do not have a belief in such a transcendent Agency, howsoever conceived. I believe our revelations, knowledge, motivations, etc. are made manifest by the nature of this existence we have been born into and live because of. Our revelations like our consciousness and creativity come from this IMMANENCE — even our thoughts/feelings of what we term THE TRANSCENDENT. In the great IT of it all it is the T that comes from the I. Needlesstosay, the whole AGENCY of existence is transcendent of us and our comprehension of it. Mortality ever questing immortality as if, as from Leda&Swan, we are born to wonder why such beauty dies if the gods impregnate us with their divinity. Lot of great stories with no daily relevance.
7. AVATARS-SAVIOURS-BOHIDSATTVAS — Such are creations of our need to know the compassion and duty to live with death and enliven creations that enhance&aspire to live beyond it. That there is some justice of compassion that holds from lives that must die. I do not believe in supernatural visitations to grant such visions&accesses of salvation-redemption-atonement-nirvana or heavenly Jannah gardens for martyrs. Such are, to me, poetries of past spiritualities. Just as death is inevitable, so, too, are such poetries inevitable. But the Garden is this Earth&Us. The bees-birds-butterflies are all earthly emanations like the burst of blooms and berries from our beings being –bourne&bound –out of its own has been to what will be. Visitations of the Muse are from the music and rhymes we hear from the leaves in the wind — the waves on the shore and the tones of our breathing.
8. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD — This is the story of life on this planet as we are able to comprehend it as we live it and are it. From all we can tell from our sciences and creative thought about anything and everything — we are a miracle within this existence that extends through billions of galaxies and light year distances in between them. We are our own answer to WHY we live so. Constantly we are improving our understanding of HOW we and this planet have come to be as we are: and ever more the WHAT we must do to keep the miracle alive and well. The WHYSO-HOWCOME-WHATNEXT are the on-going chapters being ever-so composed of our story. This MIRACLE becomes a TIMES — Themes of-Immanent-Manifestations of Earths-Story. MEANING&DESTINY are of the TIMES. Our tale is to be told as heralded from within. THE WISDOM OF OUR STORY IS WITHIN. There is a Wisdom in Life that some call some God of their imagination and hope. That is such an easy jump to make out of earth boundedness: as if to deny our strangeness on a planet in a very strange environment. I find the greater motivation to utilize all that is workable-wonderful-fulfilling and futuring right from this Earthborn status.
9. LIFE-IN-DEATH//DEATH-IN-LIFE — This reciprocillating pendulamic palindromion ticks-its tock in all I write. There are different time-lines for rocks-people-sunflowers-suns-galaxies, etc. — but all will live to die at some future time. What is built-in to us is built-in to all else as well. So it seems from all we’ve experienced and comprehended so far. At some point to live means as some point to die. No matter who or what you are or wherever. Whatever the point of it all is — we are so destined. Amazing that we have evolved to be managers of this process so as to get the most from it and from ourselves. Because we live and breathe within the enclosure of Earth’s atmosphere, I have chosen cremation as the most proper ending of our bodies return to what still breathes and nourishes life, rather than confined to a box in the ground or concrete tomb of some sort. Whole intact-body interment has its history in the concept of the body being retained when one makes it to an immortal life heaven. You’ll be as you were. Well, nothing supports this idea in any way shape or form….except the need in some to believe it is so. That need is not in me and I do not expect any form of life beyond the one I have now. The EarthSky will hold me as it has for many-many billions who’ve died before me. Remains-Cremains stay home.
10. THE HOLD — On this website, I’ve written extensively about THE HOLD. I will be brief here, even as every day, it seems, the sciences unveil realities tending to support this concept: and I learn more about it every day. (I’ve added the newest next.) The best prophesy that I can make is that increasingly our human species will explore and refine this concept-belief within what I have called the Poetries of a New Spirituality-WeR (POANSWER). I cast it in the domain of poetry, because, classically/existentially, poetry seeks to interpret/express/display — make sound-linguistic-structure manifest — from structured thinking/composing — that which holds its moment of witness into a form that holds the essence of what needs to be held of that time-specific muse-grasp of THE HOLD.( See my poem IF I Could Hold You in GLISTENINGS.) This is why the best poetry is memorable and repeatable. Like the hearth of the home — it holds; like the balanced reasoning of a philosopher — a formula of a physicist: it rhymes, equates, and illuminates. Of course, it’s all the best things of life — beauty, justice, truth, a baby in one’s arm, a lover’s hands, hugs of companionship, compassion, love, family — and on and on to include all life’s wonders that hold us and we hold dear. THE HOLD is in all as much as a flower holds its petals or the banks the river: a mind its thoughts. MEMORY! Our planet is in a hold as is our whole solar system. Conceivably all that exists holds within THE HOLD. Like the holding pattern of in and out breathing as discussed in THE BREATH OF LIFE/THE QUINTETION, which holds life as a synced/dynamic reciproscillation. The key to mental health is living within what holds for one. Mental illness is when one’s holding pattern is lost or, by some means, in disarray. To have ourselves is to have hold of ourselves. To be is to be Beholden.
11. THE MIRACULOUS MEMBRANE AS LATEST MANIFESTATION OF THE HOLD’S ENCASEMENT OF RANDOMNESS — As indicated throughout, I believe in the sciences, the arts, and the mental creativities of our never-ending/ever-evolving human quest to understand our existence. In the great dialogue and reciprocillation of polarities, I’m finding this between THE HOLD & THE RANDOM to be one of the most intriguing ways to view it. Here’s the latest sampling, indeed brief, from the Science section of The Atlantic (8/12/19), by Ed Yong’s “A New clue to How Life Originated”:
“The cells that make up all living things, despite their endless variations, contain three fundamental elements. There are molecules that encode information and can be copied–DNA and its simpler relative, RNA. There are proteins–workhorse molecules that perform important tasks, And encapsulating them all, there’s a membrane made from fatty acids….all life–what scientists call a ‘protocell — likely had this same trinity of parts: RNA and proteins, in a membrane…. The bags — the membranes — were crucial. Without something to corral the other molecules, they would all just float away, diffusing into the world and achieving nothing. By concentrating them, membranes transformed an inanimate world of disordered chemicals into one teeming with…humans and hagfish. Life, at its core, is about creating compartments.” — As the article points out there is this assembling in spheres and “spheres within spheres.” It is these membranous bags that become THE HOLD that assembles/corrals THE RANDOM to coalesce/covenant into life forms. — So I give my bit of twist to these new findings, which are integral to the ongoing compartmenting of the holds of THE HOLD. So we “behold” that we need to “beheld.”
12. THE FUTUTRE — The future of humanity rests and emanates from that most effective sharing that got us to where we are today — RECIPROCITY. This has become, of course, how civilizations form and are held by economics/family — the reciprocal sharing of goods, services, companionship the future. This give and take quid pro quo became the holding dynamic of humanity and all species. Because all life forms have to exist off of other life forms — this has created a predatory/prey relationship. This has translated into many of humanity’s problems the greatest of which are wars and ceaseless conflict. Now we have climate issues caused by both planet and people. There is great worsening brewing because we are in an era of Great Denial. Greed&God are ever in control: the rich not only strive to get richer — they think they are chosen to control and be above the masses– and those believing in God believe all is under God’s control no matter what. Many are still more interested in saving themselves than saving humanity. Some are resistant, but we are now in the hug of THE HUGS –Humanity’s Urgent Globalization Summons. We are one family as EARTHARIANS. The faster we foster this identity and tend to our planet home as home owners in common — the greater the odds to minimize catastrophes and control the future for all. Tough times ahead as old holds-traditions–norms are challenged by reorientation. I won’t be here thirty years from now, but I think there will be great divides that many will fall into. Already the stresses are being played out with guns, suicides, various rants and rages. So much can break down so fast — if proper structures are not put in place to hold people in place so that they feel held. If we pass the test and a random asteroid doesn’t wipe us out — the sciences of the future will find astounding revelations and humanity will continue its ascent. But we are in THE HOLD OF THE HUGS at this juncture. The sacred covenant of humans and the earth is omnipresent with a flare of the ominous as the Amazon forests are being obliterated by fire as I write these words.
13. HOLDSHIP AS SACRED SELF-COMPOSURE COVENANTION –Here works the magic of THE ODDIONS, those structured portals/thresholds/arches that hold us in meditation-community-spirituality. Our shrines and temples. The sacred place/moment is a (most often trinitarian.) holding-corral. I do not see it as “worship” — that is directed towards some transcendent power-divinity we imagine. Holdship works for me. Like holding the candle in the darkness so it doesn’t go out. The secrets of such things are revealed to all who covenant with the SYMMYSTS OF SYZYGY and their “Covenantal Sacrality” with flowers and breathing — people and all Earth’s species. My spaces are full of altars, altarpieces, sacred things/places, music, vocalizations, poetries, etc. — and a primal trinity which will close this menu. Some call odd numbers primes, I just call them primal. With a keystone at the top and. equal pillars on either side, they epitomize the breaking of symmetry with new holds of symmetry that symbolize the threshold of passage.(Should I ever turn to painting, I would manifest these through vanishing points that passage to the next dimension.) Three (3) is the number-one classic of all existences because it manifests a HOLD from two opposites such as plus&minus (each of which has the other implied, of course). So: THE BOLD — THE HOLD —THE TOLD. –Being’s Own Life’s Desiring and Truth’s Own Living Destination– as corralled by THE HOLD — Humanity’s Own Living Destiny. In essence Being and Truth are in humanity’s Hold of their ever constant interaction and reciprocillation. OWN is what holds the candle and lights the way. Alas, we are on our COVENANTAL OWN as the BOLD IS TOLD IN THE HOLD.
14. THE HOLD AS KNOWN BY ACRONYM AND AMALGAM — The universe has its holding pattern and so do we. I think/believe our holding manifests out of the holding of all existence which I call THE HOLD. I don’t know how or why, but I needed to hear some words that truly hold the concept. Therefore, HOLISM’S ONTO-LOGICAL DOMINION seems to grab it significantly for now (for all time?). So, wherever I’ve used the phrase THE HOLD for the All of it All that’s the total All of existence, it will have this comprehension as, essentially, being’s power to hold itself together for itself in every dimension of its being what it is — and ever so. From this has come the triune hold above, wherein THE HOLD is Humanity’s Own Living Destiny. Our theatrum humani mundi of HAPE HOME — Home Address Planet Earth/Humanity’s Own Mother Earth — exists as it does because of THE HOLD as Holism’s Onto-Logical Dominion. Granted, there’s a play with verbal concepts here. But serious play–as we are, indeed, a holding pattern of our own HOLD within THE HOLD wherein we are held. Alas, as actors we don’t need to meet or know the source to play our parts….or why the dialogue of death-in-life/life-in-death plays as the play within the play — just as black holes gobble-up neutron stars, while galaxies collude and proliferate the darkness. What’s to say, but that so far, THE HOLD is holding as we speak sing, hold-our-breath: and holding hands hold our heads up. — The Universe is a Holdingverse. The HOLD is my pasture, my shepherd, my corral. By my Hold in The Hold, I am a voice, a meaning, a journey. Of The Verse, I am a coupleted Sonnet . . .Ode. . .Apostrophe. Midst the clashings, collisions, catastrophes; the randoms in the rumbles of the roll — I rhyme into memory my beginning and my ending: a journey’s keep that folds to the hold of sleep. So, my hold’s undone, but it has been held in The Hold — and it grasped the candle of how the phantasmagoria was a phantasmagloria! –mdok–8/25/19–
[PS– I returned to the composing of this on the third thru fifth day since my five day stay ( 8/16-20/19) in the hospital with gross connections of UTI and DB–Diverticular Bleeding. Meds, etc. And, yes, I’m holding on to what holds me in place as best I can. THE HOLD is real-time. As I hold to what holds for me, I live the rhyme of my beliefs. My covenants sustain and inspire. I’ve a pattern that’s still holding. — I’ll mention here, since I meditate regularly, that I don’t do so to lose self or ego, but to strengthen my hold-bond of self-ego. The root meaning of Buddhist “Dharma” — is “to hold, maintain, keep.” There is a cosmic order that holds. Dharma Yoga/Meditation is, for me, meshing one’s own hold to the sense of that — which I call THE HOLD.]
Note from # 4 above: I’ve shared this COVENEND and UUCOVENATION concept with three UUA departments. No response as yet. It needs to be discussed. We are deep in an era of hypocrisy, denial of the sciences — and various graspings of being spiritual but not religious. This liberal-humanistic-non-Biblical-science-reason based “faith” in “freedom of individual belief” with its worldly-human covenants — must not stay silent. The time is now for ministerial leadership. There is a kairosion tremor in the era-timing of this appeal. The courage to be — beckons. The title of Rev is so accepted — but it is wrong for those like me, who must opt-out of this identification — because it does not logically or honestly apply. I have no trust or worship for the Salvation God of the Christian Reverends. I do reverence the Biblical history of “covenant.” I’ll address this with the UUFM on 9/8/19. They’ll respond! They may even call me Covenend O’Kelly when I’ve had my say. Or……….??!!!
AHH! TO HAVE AND TO HOLD — TILL DEATH DO US PART!
sobeus
mdok