Day 22,066 - I Ching: Earth/Earth [.....x] to Earth/Thunder

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Day 22,066  - 2012 0101
Belov-ED Days - 4977
Sunday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 64: Embracing, Nature, Earth, Creation, Responding
01 ---  ---  Earth (Valley, Canyon, Plains, Desert, Plateau, Womb)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Embracing, Creation, Substance, Foundation, Nature

08 ---  ---  Earth (Valley, Canyon, Plains, Desert, Plateau, womb)
16 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
32 ---  ---X The Embracing, Creation, Substance, Foundation, Nature

changing towards

Hexagram 32: Returning, Repeating, Turning Back
01 ---  ---  Thunder (Lightning, Storms, Viper)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Embracing, Creation, Substance, Foundation, Nature

08 ---  ---  Thunder (Lightning, Storms, Viper)
16 ---  ---  Feet
32 --------  The Arousal, Catalyst, Movement, Surprise, Action

Day 22,060 - Images from the I Ching: Earth [The Embracing] over Earth [The Embracing] (Hexagram 64 - Embracing, Nature, Earth, Creation, Responding) changing towards [.....x] Earth [The Embracing] over Thunder [The Arousing] (Hexagram 32 - Returning, Repeating, Turning Back ) -- Earth over Earth is a welcome image for me. It is an image of embracing, creation, substance and protection. With the Earth I feel safe, stable and centered. As a Leo I am all too familiar with Fire and all that comes with it: power, heat, clarity, vision and total consumption if energy through the use of that power. At the time of my birth Aquarius was rising, so I am familiar with the abyss that comes with Water. Last month (December 2011) I was surround by a lot of Fire, Water, Thunder and Wind, a stormy, agitated context. It was a month of struggle within me and around me. Challenges abounded and continue to press upon the horizon of this new year. I really needed the centering force of the Earth, and there it was: Earth. Within me and around me, Earth arose from the stalks and established a strong presence for this first day in the new year. It felt good to feel the Earth within my fingers, body, spirit and intellect.

The Venetian Star (la mia Stella di Venezia), my daughter from the Universe, greeted me from Italy. The Contessa awakened and requested her espresso. At 60, waking up each morning genuinely does become a joyful experience. To be surrounded by friends who welcome me as I am is a plus. To see Earth over Earth unfolding within the stalks is a particularly special way to start any day, not to mention the first day of the Year and the birth day of the Contessa. So I am brought to think of things that center me as I stand upon the Earth. I think of the substance that enters my consciousness as I touch that which surrounds me and find comfort that it all came from the Earth ... like me.

As my eyes lose their grip on the world, my fingers are revelling in their heightened significance, as are my ears, my tongue and my nostrils. The smells and touch and sounds and tastes of the Earth are everywhere and now there is very little vision to eclipse their potency, so I experience these new dimensions of the Earth with joy. I practice clicking my tongue when I walk down the hall or descend steps with my walking stick, seeking and embracing the "sense" of my location without vision ... My brain has discovered that there is so much to sample, even from the wind on my face that grazes the skin with subtle variance as it channels and skirts around buildings, trees, bus shelters and cars ... My nostrels seek the substance of that which inhabits the air. My tongue embraces the ensembles of flavors that greet me with each bite, sip, swig and swirl. In some ways, the images that form in my brain, behind the hazy curtain of my eyes are becoming richer, even visually (cognitively), because the brain adds the brilliant tapestry of hue and shade that the eyes are no longer capable of transmitting. My dreamscapes are becoming palpable.

It is more than a little ironic that our human world of vision saturation is really only a glossy pop-up page of experience, compared to what can flow in from the other senses. so the presence of Earth over Earth is welcome as I "look" ahead into this year where all of the paths opening up to me are extending towards the Earth's horizons through terrain that is completely unfamiliar. Wherever these paths lead I am fully aware that I will never fully understand them visually, directly. I will have to feel my way through these new landscapes in much the same way that I extend fingers, elbows, hands and hips to discern my way around the house.

There is one aging, changing line in this image of Earth over Earth, and that is in the most fundamental position: the first line, the innermost and significant of places. This changing line moves the inner Earth towards the inner Thunder, leaving the image of Earth over Thunder, an image of tremors within the Earth. The Earth moves in the presence of earthquakes and volcanos, nature's catalysts for change. So this first day of 2012 possesses the image of not only change, but also a turning point, for Earth over Thunder is the mid-point in the Fu Hsi sequence of the I Ching, step 32 in the 64 step sequence. It behaves in a manner similar to the Tarot's Wheel of Fortune. When the Wheel of Fortune spins it can change the course of many things in ways unexpected, so it is important to keep in mind that even though I may want things to be different than they are, there many ways that "different" may manifest in ways that are difficult.

I will use the image of the stabilizing Earth as a centering point of concentration as I prepare for the unfolding passages of this new year and look forward to travelling with those sharing the path with me ... let the thunder roll within the the depths of the Earth ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

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http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,065 - I Ching: Lake/Fire[..xx..] to Water/Thunder

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Day 22,065  - 2011 1231
Belov-ED Days - 4976
Saturday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 18: Revolution, Uprising, Renovation, Abolishing the Old
01 ---  ---  Lake (River, Lake, Well, Pond, sea, Ocean)
02 --------  Mouth
04 --------X The Joyful, Expression, Language, Gossip, Praise, Insults

08 --------X Fire (Sun, Lightning, Hearth)
16 ---  ---  Eyes
32 --------  The Clinging Fire, Clarity, Divination, Warmth, Burning

changing towards

Hexagram 30: Difficulty, Beginning
01 ---  ---  Lake (River, Pond, Sea, Ocean, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
02 --------  Mouth
04 ---  ---  The Joyfull, Expression, Language

08 ---  ---  Water (Fog, Mist, Rain, Floods, Haze)
16 --------  Ear
32 --------  The Abyss, Danger, Nourishment, Mystery

Day 22,060 - Images from the I Ching: Lake [The Joyful] over Fire [The Clarity] (Hexagram 18 - Revolution, Uprising, Renovation, Abolishing the Old) changing towards [..xx..] Water [The Abyss] over Thunder [The Arousing] (Hexagram 30 - Difficulty, Beginning) -- The Joyful Lake over the Clinging Fire is a recipe for turmoil ... Water can douse a Fire ... Fire can boil away Water ... They are opposites and equal in power and in their capacity to transform. This transformation can manifest itself in ways that are centering as wells as unsettling ... balance and unbalance ... comfort and discomfortable ... Without Water there would be no life that serves as the fuel for Fire ... Without Fire/Sun/Heat there would be no evaporation to fill clouds that release rain to nourish and sustain life ... The tension that arrives from this clash of opposing, but equal, forces is a revolutionary activity and it is through such dynamic powers that we encounter the most profound of changes.

This is the last day of this year ... Although the end and the beginning of a year are somewhat arbitrary, there is a very real point in which the Earth completes one rotation and begins another. We as humans have chosen the cycle of the Sun as our historical marker of time ... An interval we call a year ... In the same way we have chosen the Moon as a way to segment the Year ... Our languages, our bodies, our cities, our rituals and much of our personal behavior (and the Earth's behavior) are influenced by and calibrated with these two celestial entities. Water (the Moon) and Fire (the Sun) are the two mission critical elements in our life-sustaining ecosystems. Earth, Sky, Thunder, Wind, Mountain and Lake form the raw materials and contexts that Water and Fire act upon. Lakes (rivers, ponds, streams, seas, oceans, etcetera) contain and channel the force of Water and carve out the shape of everything thing we see. When we look across the Earth towards the horizon we are seeing the result of all this "revolution", "turmoil" and "imbalance" in our lives.

It is tempting to interpret such "change" and "disruption" as destructive, evil, catastrophic and the handiwork of some kind of evil/good dualism ... but I don't see the usefulness in this perspective ... To attribute an event we like as "good" implies that an event we don't like is "evil" ... Being human we want to believe that this "evil" and "good" activity is the byproduct of some action taken by some entity greater than us ... But if we look at all events in the Universe as simply an oscillation between balance and imbalance ... comfort and discomfort ... fruitful and unfruitful ... it is easier to look at all changes in the Universe as possessing both balance and imbalance ... depending on the context. A flood can be seen as destructive, but it is also nurturing and enriching to the soil, the Earth. Earthquakes and volcanoes can also be seen as destructive, but it is from this same activity within the Earth that we see the birth of Mountains. As a species, humans want to think that their work is "permanent" and "good" and think that anything that disrupts what they have created is "bad". But to the Universe we are hardly a spec in the sands of time or even a drop in the sea of life.

As we await the arrival of spring, now that the Sun(Fire) is rising once more, with the beginning of a new revolution it may be helpful to understand the origin of the word "revolution", with is simply a new beginning.

Within this image of Lake over Fire, there are two aging lines that will shift polarity ... This time they are both Yang/Seeking lines. One changing line takes the outer Lake in the direction of Water, the Abyss. The Other changing line shifts the Fire in the direction of Thunder ... This is Water over Thunder. It is the Abyss, danger and nourishment of outer Water over the Catalytic, Arousing force of the inner Thunder ... This image of Lake over Water moving in the direction of Water over Thunder is a most appripriate set of images for this transition from what _was_ to what _will be_ ... Revolution launches us into a new beginning, an encore year. We can celebrate this New Year because the Universe has allowed us to embark on it. The difficulty will be (as always) in the living of it. New paradigms. New Relationships. New skills. New words. New challenges. Not to mention maintaining all that is still there, unchanged.

For some reason, for me, I think that this coming year of adapting to decresing vision, problematic finances (no job), uncertain health care and many changes in how I procede with my "encore" life is somehow "worse" or more challenging than any year before. But a close inspection of my life would reveal that it has never been guaranteed that any particular year would be "balanced", "fruitful" or "enjoyable". So we find ourselves back in the mode of seeing the balance and imbalance that all of life flows through in the course of every year, every day, every second. We can't spend all of our time in the Past or we will fail to appreciate the present or prepare for the Future. We can't spend all of our time in the Present or we will forget the lessons of the Past as we Prepare for the Future. And we can't spend all of our time in the Future because the Future will depend on how well we have learned from the past and how we apply that learing in the Present.

So reflect on the year just passed, and all of the years before that. Celebrate the act of waking up and breathing this morning, in the Present. Then, breath deeply of the air that surrounds us and look towards the horizon where the Rain (Water) and Thunder are creating some serious havoc ... When the storm passes, there will be a freshness to the air (Sky) and a moist richness within the Earth that will fill our nostrils, frolic within our ears and inspire our souls ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

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http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,059 - Ching Reflections: Water over Lake[xx....]--changes--Mountain over Lake

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Day 22,059  - 2011 1225
Belov-ED Days - 4970
Sunday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 14: Restraint, Limitation, Restricting, Moderation
01 ---  ---X Water (Fog, Rain, Mist, Haze, Floods)
02 --------X Ears
04 ---  ---  The Abyss, Danger, Confusion

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, Expression, Language

changing towards

Hexagram 15: Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing
01 --------  Mountain (Cliff, Tower, Building)
02 ---  ---  Hand
04 ---  ---  The Keeping Still, Shelter, Barrier, Antiquity

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, The Expression, The Language

Day 22,059 - Images from the I Ching: Water [The Abyss] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 14 - Restraint, Limitation, Restricting, Moderation) changing towards [xx....] Mountain [The Keeping Still] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 15 - Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing) -- Water over Lake places the external Abyss over the internal joy. This is a context where our inner happiness, expression and language can be muffled, limited or drowned by the overwhelming presence of uncontrolled Water in the form of floods, rain, mists, fog and other confusing, dark mystical phenomena. For me, the imposed seriousness, the expectation for some kind of joy and the drive for fulfillment of some desire are all pressures that can destroy the genuine joy and happiness that may well be lying within that inner Lake.

I think it is important to focus on the joy that lies within and ignore the complexity of demands swirling around us. There is very little that I resent more than to be _told_ to do something that I would have otherwise done on my own. It is almost as if many want to claim the "joy" that they try to command out of us. The entire end-of-year madness is full of this kind of confusing powerplay from relatives, churches and the culture at large. This might be the best time for some personal time. Or if there are activities it may be important to _not_ feel like we need to be the life of the party. We all have joy needing to be express. Don't let the fog and confusion of Water destroy it.

I have often contemplated why Water in the cosmology of the I Ching is associated with the Ears, and then when I think about how we tend to complicate our lives when we try to take action (Thunder) or say something (Lake) in a dangerous or confusing context I realize that perhaps in times such as this it is better to sit back, be reflective and _listen_ (Ears). When confused and uncertain, observe and listen ... don't act!.

The two changing lines in this image of Water over Lake doesn't remove or even reduce the stress evident within these images, it actually sustains and perhaps even amplifies the stress, for the following image of Mountain over Lake highlights the potential for reduction, loss of energy and a decline of opportunity, or at least the potential for decreasing accomplishments. The great Mountain is being worn away by the depths of the Lake at its base. Even the Mountain needs to be aware of its own impermanence. However, as always, no one element in the Universe is everlasting, yet all elements in the Universe will be continually present forever, if in different form. The Mountain becomes topsoil from which life grows within the Earth and new Mountains will rise.

With aging, I am continually reminded of my own decline. In this time of economic stress, the abrupt ending of my career, the loss of my eyesight, and the loss of many relationships over the years I feel I have become intimately familiar with the Mountain dissolving, slipping, cascading into the depths of the Lake. The inevitability of it is palpable. I am continually, increasingly, drammatically aware that each and every word I write could be my last. This, of course, puts a great deal of pressure on each decision on which word to write, which person to visit, which step to make, which course to take. At times I yearn for that youthful indifference to the presence of time. In my youth I actually embraced time, wanting it to flow past at a feverish pace to get beyond wherever I was at the time. But now my Mountain doesn't seem so vast and longlasting.

So, does that mean that we should stop writing words, taking steps, making new friends, visiting old friends and thinking new thoughts that could lead to new projects? Whithin the Universe, there is no shortage of phenomena that last for only a pico second. There are species of animals that live for only a few hours. It occurs to me, that the real value of life is that we actually live it, for ourselves and all that is around us, regardless of how short or significant that life is.

An Italian journalist and writer Tiziano Terzani ( http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiziano_Terzani ), who died of cancer in 2004 and who I have come to appreciate with each passing second of my own life, continued to write with a flourish right up to the moment of his death. For many years he embraced many elements of eastern philosophy. In an interview, his son Folco Terzani was asked (about his father Tiziano) what was his father's greatest teaching. Folco said "That your life is yours, and it is up to you to live it. The rest is a side dish: you are alone." («La tua vita è tua, e sta a te farla. Il resto è contorno: tu sei solo.»)

I guess I have come to understand that until that last grain of soil within my Mountain dissolves in the waters of the Lake, I will continue to write, I will continue to fill the Caffettiera with coffee grounds and bring a hot cup to the Contessa and I continue to tap my way around street signs on the sidewalk ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

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http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

Day 22,058 - I Ching Reflections: Mountain over Lake[x…..]->Earth over Lake

Day 22,058  - 2011 1224
Belov-ED Days - 4969
Saturday
James Oliver Smith, Jr.
http://josjr.com/
http://ichingreflections.com/

I Ching images

Fu Hsi Sequence
Hexagram 15: Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing
01 --------X Mountain (Cliff, Building, Tower)
02 ---  ---  Hand
04 ---  ---  The Keeping Still, Barrier, Protection

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, Expression, Language

changing towards

Hexagram 16: Approach, Promotion, Approaching, The Forest
01 ---  ---  Earth (Valley, Canyon, Prairie, Desert)
02 ---  ---  Belly, Solar Plexus
04 ---  ---  The Creation, Substance, Foundation

08 ---  ---  Lake (River, Stream, Sea, Ocean, Pond, Marsh, Swamp, Well)
16 --------  Mouth
32 --------  The Joyful, The Expression, The Language

Day 22,040 - Images from the I Ching: Mountain [The Keeping Still] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 15 - Decline, Loss, Reduction, Decreasing) changing towards [x.....] Earth [The Creation] over Lake [The Joyful] (Hexagram 16 - Approach, Promotion, Approaching) -- Mountain over Lake is an image of greatness, or success, or that which is considered "permanent" under stress. Its strength is being drained by the depths of Lake. On December 24 we are all brought into a time of reflection, regardless of whether the images are that of the Solstice, with the sun's three day journey into death and resurrection, or the symbolic start of the historical/mythical journey of Jesus. It is the beginning of winter in the northern Hemisphere and the time of darkness, loss of light and often depression. Whatever we each thought 2011 was going to be, we are brought into thoughts about what it, in fact, became.

Rarely is a year, in the end, exactly what we expected, so we need to take stock of how we feel about what actually happened and learn from it. There is always something that we can hopefully apply in the coming year. But we can't do that unless we have some sense of what adjustments could be made, need to be made or that we would like to make.

I started the year realizing that I was probably not going to have another job as I had known it in the past. My forty one years of work (from 1969) starting to shift dramatically. Survival was going to require some new strategies with my eyesight significantly weaker. But at this time last year, I wasn't totally convinced that my career as a software developer was completely over. I still held out some hope that I could perhaps do something with software professionally. But my post-surgery hopes of at least a vision profile as good as before the cataract has pretty much disappeared. Now I have to spend a significant amount of time learning how to accomplish what I want and need to do with vision that does not provide the accuity needed to do what I have been doing for thirty five years, that is, writing software.

I have found that I can still do some programming, design ebooks, publish ebooks and write (but at a speed significantly reduced) with the help of many tools (epaper devices such as the Kindle, in particular). So the mountain of skills that I have accumulated over the past forty years has started to collapse with my vision into the depths of my glaucoma Lake. It is from the depths of this Lake that I will need to rise up into some new reality. I had no idea how dependent we are on our vision for most of what we do. The new pathways with compromised vision are significantly different and require new attention, new skills, new energy and new strategies. This was a very different year than the year I expected and I am turning to the new with a cautious optimism that I am moving in a useful direction, as long as I can avoid running into too many sign posts or stepping in front of a car.

I remind myself that a Mountain can be seen as a protection as well as a Barrier. There is still the mountain of my creativity and the agility of the rest of my body which is starting to step up and compensate for the loss of my eyesight, and my creativity will be central to my efforts in writing. So working from home, writing, digital publishing and ebook design will become my focus for this year. I like to think that although there will always be mountains, there will also be passes through those mountains.

Within the Mountain over Lake image of the I Ching, there is one changing line, in the sixth position, which will move the image to Earth over Lake. This brings to mind the image of an underground Lake breaking the surface of the Earth, becoming visible, accessible and nourishing. I like to think that this new reality of my unvision is erupting into new flows of creative and productive energy in this time of Solstice, Advent and a new Year. I do indeed plan to drink from this new Mountain-over-Lake spring ... il matto ...

http://ichingreflections.blogspot.com/

http://www.KindleBlog.josjr.com
http://www.IlMattoblog.josjr.com
http://www.LifeBlog.josjr.com
http://www.PerlBlog.josjr.com
http://www.WritingBlog.josjr.com

http://Addewid.blogspot.com
http://CyberPoetPlace.blogspot.com
http://IlMattoVero.blogspot.com
http://josjr69.blogspot.com
http://PerlCatalyst.blogspot.com
http://CyberKindle.blogspot.com
http://panspiritualist.blogspot.com/

http://www.CyberPoet.com
www.addewid.com
www.fracturedparadise.com
www.roseannlloyd.com
www.cyberkindle.com
www.perlcatalyst.com
www.ciriad.com

UnChurch Proposal for Spring House Worship Center

UnChurch Proposal for Spring House Worship Center
-------------------------------------------------

"'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where--' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long
enough.'" Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Once upon a time, three churches came together in a strange and mysterious forest. They decided to explore the forest together, thinking that they may be able to find their way more cleverly together than on their own. Then, once they had set out on their adventure together there was one question that kept bubbling to the surface of the sparkling waters that flowed within the Spring House: just exactly, where do we go from here? We have come from so many places and we are all so different. Should we go "North"? Should we go "South". Or, should we go to the "Garden"? "Ah", said the Cheshire cat,
  "what makes you think there
  are only three ways for the
  waters in the Spring House now to flow?
  For I can see that there are many ways
  for all of you to go."

It struck me as I thought about returning into something like a "church" again that I was not all that sure about how comfortable I would feel going "South" into a world of stained glass and organ streams, or "North" with a giant cross floating in the sky, and who knows what's going to grow in the "Garden". Then there's the thought of rotations, hymn singing and special holy days. We are all different and bring many memories with us into the Spring House, and although we all cherish our communities there are certain days, particular icons and specific activities that we would just as soon not engage. So what is our choice, if we feel we just cannot enter our assigned space on a particular Sunday? Usually, we just stay home.

What if there was an alternative for those times of discomfort? Times when we may need or want to be in our spiritual community but not in the place or in the way that is planned for a certain Sunday. Perhaps there is a place for a kind of "Unchurch" that doesn't try to be anything specific for any of the three communities present. A place that is open to all, but is different from all and yet a part of all? In other words, a place where you can go, in which it doesn't matter which direction you go, you _will_ go somewhere.

What if there was such a place in the space between the "North" and "South", the "South" and the "Garden" and between the "Garden" and the "North"; a "thin place" in the cracks; a place where anyone experiencing discomfort can go during those times of incompatibility and incongruity?

I am proposing that one of the rooms not normally used during the regular worship services be used as an "Unchurch" space, to which individuals can come when they are simply not mentally, spiritually or emotionally in alignment with the activities taking place in their community or in the space itself.

This space would not need to have (and probably shouldn't have) any particular decorations, furniture or arrangement. Perhaps a sign at the entrance and a sign on the door to the room would help those seeking the "Unchurch" would be helpful.

This is _not_ a replacement for any of the three communities, nor will it have a "membership". I personally will still consider myself a "member" of the Lyndale UCC community. But that is not a question that would be asked in the "Unchurch". It would simply be a space that wouldn't otherwise be used at that time that would be made available for those who feel that they just can't participate for some reason on a particular Sunday.

Obviously, a person could just sneak into some unused space and be there. I, personally, would like to have a designated place that I could count on and be secure in. Using myself as an example I know that I don't like to be present for Christmas and Easter services. I don't like hymns at all, so if there is a service that is particularly focused on hymns, I would just as soon not be there. Also, I consider the Lyndale Adult Class to be my _real_ "church" time. Formal services in general are secondary. But I don't feel comfortale going home after the class is over. If a particular topic is interesting to me and someone is present who wants to continue the discussion I would consider the "Unchurch" a place where that could be done. Or I could just go to the "Unchurch" and reflect more on the discussion that had just taken place in the Lyndale UCC Adult Class. On the other hand, there are times when I like being in the common space with my community, like on the Sunday of the stone ceremony of the first sunday of the year.

I also know that I will never feel comfortable going to a service in the stained glass ("South") space. When Lyndale is in that phase of the rotation I will probably not participate much, if at all. At the same time, I don't want to cast a pall on the joy that others feel being in the same space or the comfort that they feel when participating in activities that I, personally, am uncomfortable with. So, should I stay home during the third of a year that Lyndale UCC is in the "South" space, or go to the "Unchurch"?

I would probably be less tempted to stay home or leave early if there was a space set aside for such "Unchurch" activities. I'm not as familiar with the histories of First Christian or Salem, but at Lyndale UCC there are many who have experienced abusive behavior in other religious contexts, contexts associated with some activities, images or artifacts that may be brought into use in services in the "North", "South" or "Garden" spaces. I would like to think that a space would be available within the Springhouse Ministry center that would fill in the space between the cracks bretween the "North", "South" and "Garden" spaces. I would hate to think that someone was falling through the cracks.

So, if there is a room that is not targeted for use during the time of the three main services I would very much appreciate having a place that could serve as a "thin place" between the "North", the "South" and the "Garden". Although I know that walking over to the IAM Coffee Shop would (sort of) serve as an adequate substitute, I would like to communicate to others experiencing similar spiritual needs that they are not alone and, even better, are supported by the Spring House Ministry Center.

As a former ordained minister (Southern Baptist and Assemplies of God), I kind of like the idea of being an "Un-minister" and at times being present in an "Unchurch" space.

.. il matto ...
(a.k.a Un-reverend James Oliver Smith, Jr)
josjr.com

SpringHouse Mathematics

SpringHouse Mathematics
James Oliver Smith, Jr
2011 1205
http://josjr.com

When I met with Don Portwood (pastor of Lyndale UCC in Minneapolis, Minnesota) in the fall of 1997 I was trying to get a better sense of who I was. I had just become divorced after twenty five years and had actually considered totally eliminating anything resembling a church from my life. Forty six years of trying to fit into a spiritual tradition of some kind had become a weary process. They all seemed hell-bent on convincing the world that they were right and the rest of the world was wrong. Up to that point everything in my life was influenced, dictated or judged by some element associated with the "church". The "church" had come to represent intollerance, inflexibility and judgement, despite the lipservice given to abused terms and phrases concerning "love", "compassion" and "peace". What I wanted was community. A truly open, embracing and seeking community.

I had come close concluding that I would never find community in a church, at least as my "self" since every church I had encountered previously had some idea on what my "self" should be. The problem was that growing up in a Christian fundamentalist home that expected complete commitment to the church, with no respect for any other perspective on the universe and no apparent respect for personal boundaries, left me with no sense of what the alternatives were, or could be. I wanted to find a spiritual community where anyone could be what they are, regardless of the spiritual perspectives held, with a collective desire to explore all aspects of human spirituality, social interaction, sexual orientation and sexual identity.

I had heard that the United Church of Christ held "liberal" views and I felt that I was ready to come out, openly, as a "liberal" perlson. So, a quick (pre-google) internet search revealed that there was a UCC close by my apartment in Uptown. I walked into the "church" on 31st and Aldrich in Minneapolis, despite is rather traditional, if not gothic presence to see just exactly what was waiting for me in Lyndale United Church of Christ (where UCC is affectionately and ironically interpreted as Uniterians Considering Christ).

What I found was a community of lifetime members, recovering fundamentalists, recovering catholics, gays, lesbians, people comfortable with the 'J' (Jesus), 'C' (Christ) and 'P' (Paul) words and those uncomfortable with them. This was (and still is) a place where discussions on the "gender" of god, the relationship between religions and the nature of humanity can all be vibrantly discussed with respect and openness.

When the cost of the physical building became became too burdensome for the community, a solution was sought. The Universe revealed opportunities that a more rigidly defined traditional church would have rejected outright. The path selected was to join together with (ultimately) two other spiritual communities from different spiritual traditions. I will call it a "path" rather than a "solution" because a "path" is on-going. A "solution" implies something said-and-done. If there is anything I can say definitively about Lyndale UCC, it would be that there is _nothing_ "said-and-done" in the context of this spiritual community.

This "path" that has witnessed the converging of three spiritual communities into a single path with three separate identities is an interesting twist on the three-in-one paradigm that so many spiritual traditions have explored for millenia, from the triple goddess to the christian trinity ... three in one ... one in three ... it is a mystery ... it is mysterious ... it is mystical --- mythical --- and completely non-mathematical ... but ... this is a spiritual community that thrives on such curiosities as (1 + 1 + 1 = 1) and ((1 / 3) = 1) and (3 / 1) = 1 and yet (1 * 1 * 1) = 3) ... In other words 1 = 3. Or in culinary terms, each of the three pieces of the pie, is a whole pie. Even JC and Buddha and all of the other spirit guides who decide to travel this path would find the journey exhilerating.

So, what would such an entity call itself? ... There is an answer now ... 1 + 1 + 1 = Spring House (Ministry Center). Not a pump house (for water siphoned mechanically to the surface). Not a warming house (for ice fishing and hockey players). Not a church house (for browbeating and brimstone) ... but ... rather ... a _Spring House_, a place built around an artesian spring well, a place taking advantage of that which occurs naturally, a stream that bubbles up from the Earth with the waters that nourish us all. The spring doesn't check for appropriate credentials from each creature that arrives for sustenance. It is there for all of life that has sprung from the womb of the Earth and all that will survive on the plant and animal (spirit) life that is nourished by the waters beneath the Earth.

One aspect of my emerging spiritual journey comes from the synchronistic elements that spring from the ancient Book of Changes, also called the I Ching. In the context of this system of archetypal images (Earth, Sky, Fire, Water, Thunder, Wind, Mountain, Lake) there are 64 different relationships. "Springhouse" brings to mind the image of Earth over Lake. Earth represents the belly, the center of our existence and the creation of all life. Lake represents the mouth, joy, expression and water that has gathered into the cavities and riverbeds upon and within the Earth, a kind of circulatory system of arteries, veins and capillaries that distribute life throughout the Earth. Earth over Lake is also one of the 12 tidal signs representing the ebb and flow of seeking (yang) and embracing (yin) forces across the twelve complete cycles of the moon. It is associated with January and the approaching end of winter and the beginning of spring.

My stream of life, my journey, my path, has flowed into the path of Lyndale UCC, just as the stream of Lyndale UCC [http://www.lyndaleucc.org] has converged with the streams of Salem Lutheran [http://discoversalem.com] and First Christian (Disciples of Christ) [http://fccminneapolis.org] and will soon break _from_ the ground into the Spring House, from which many will drink alongside others who have drunk and continue to drink. Lois will be there, just as Ko, Joann, Michael and many others from all three streams. Many will be drinking in the future and there will be no checking of spiritual credentials before someone can lower the ladle and lift the music and joy and warmth and vibration that has sprung from the Earth from the inner, Lake of life-sustaining water ... 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 ... "That's very curious!" [Alice] thought. "I think I may as well go in at once." And in she went ... into the SpringHouse ... il matto ...