(2) Light & Word

What I will be trying to say here is "darned difficult," if you will. It's
not something heavy or harsh, just something complex that has
been whittling its way in my mind forever so long. It's about both
knowing and not knowing.

Without going into a lot of detail, I've studied the history of Religion--
coming to understand the continuum of religious thought (at least
here in the West), ranging from the archaic to the modern. Within
this continuum the connections are fairly obvious.

But there's also a *disconnect.* At least I have experienced such.
Having studied contemporary science theory, having written about
these theories, working to blend them with a sense of spirituality,
I have had a lot of difficulty relating such to our archaic forms of
Religion.

These new theoretics, these ever continuing scientific revelations
about how our universe has evolved, how physical forms have
evolved, how intelligence has evolved, all seem so far removed
from the God/gods of our religious continuum. It has been
darned difficult making sense of where we have come from and
what we now have.

Consequently, I have moved into more vague and usually un-
explored territories that I can only label as "universal." But this
sense of universality doesn't seem to fit our standing religious
prescriptions. When I get into these archaic prescriptions, I feel
as if I'm driving a Model-T while sitting in my garage is a
Thunderbird.

I've pretty much stepped out of the Model-T, but I haven't yet
found a comfortable way to slip into the Thunderbird.

Over the years I have only found one religio-spiritual concept
that makes sense to me: the idea of the Cosmic Plenum. This
Godhead, sometimes called by both Pagan Philosophy and
Christianity the "Logos" or "LogosSophia" is (for me) a Universal.
Yet--today--in the world, in the Modern Mentality in which I live,
I have difficulty connecting our archaic spiritual legacies with a
Quantum World that is, in fact, an Evolutionary System.

I know that a goodly number of the Early Christian Fathers were
classically trained, indeed some were pagan converts bringing
their philosophical manuals right on into the Church. Many
Christians today aren't even aware of these spiritual connections
between Pagan Philosophy and Christian Thought. Yet,
historically, they are easily traceable.

Knowing this, I initially felt let-down. But "down" is not necessarily
"out." I've just begun reading Francis Collin's THE LANGUAGE
OF GOD. He's the Director of the National Human Genome Project.
He is finding God's code, in you will, written into our genetic script--
albeit presented somewhat from an evangelical or fundamentalist
perspective. Via my own studies, I also ponder the Double Helix
and the incredible information which it carries. I also have been
fascinated by the field of Memetics--a new discipline that is
probing mental genes now currently labeled "memes."

These are societal mental codes, not just ordinary ideas that come
and go--but, rather, these are great flows of information that are
like great currents that continuously wash over our minds, over
our Collective Mind. And I am playing around with what I call the
"MEME of all memes." Of course this is the GOD-MEME.

Again, working out of the traditions of the West, those parts that
can be universally applied, I lean towards two trends of memes
that might be God-inspired, that can evolve right along with us:
Light and Word.

The meme of Light has been with us humans nearly all through
our existence. It's ultimately about illumination, about ever
greater consciousness and comprehension. The meme of Light
has sparked not only our spiritual endeavors but also our pursuit
of scientific understanding.

As for the meme of Word, well it's through this that the meme of
Light is conveyed . Right up to our own day we have seen the
Word expressed by our great avatars, our spiritual warriors, our
probing philosophers, and our scientific questers.

So--though I have pretty much narrowed down into universals
the memes of Light and Word, I still have found it darned difficult
working with them outside of a traditional context. But more
perplexing for me is that I have found the traditional contexts
"wanting." They have stayed too much in place, not bending or
growing as continuously developing evolutionary systems.

Thus, I am into that unwanted place of "not knowing." It would
seem that we are on the edge of a Big Leap, but we haven't
yet been driven to that last foothold. But we will be. Else we
will fall backwards--and I pray to God that will never happen.
Though it has happened before.

As for the thought of the monk Thomas Merton, as for a lot of
current contemplative thought, I sincerely believe that this is an
area where we might probe--not just looking back, but looking
ahead. Contemplation is perhaps the "nesting place" for both
the Light and the Word. A place for birthing, for evolutionary
jumps in consciousness, and perhaps for a more universal
comprehension of the Lord of the Universe and Creation.

So--what with change in our midst, perhaps this might be
the time where new spiritual frontiers might be seen in the
distance, where we might explore and wonder, where we can
hopefully take our Spiritual Past into the Spiritual Future.