Our brains have two hemispheres. The one that’s left by itself will not be right.*
This is too lovely here, for words to speak;
my boundary lines indeed have fallen in
sweet places. Oh creative love, I seek
you more, now that you saw and took my “sin” ¹,
my failures to be better (to grow up),
my immaturities that are so plain,
hypocrisies that seep out, or erupt,
you take them seriously, but then again..
..they are but fleeting things if I will join
with you, in seeing them for what they are,
acknowledge them, and name them, not purloin
or cover them, but throw them out°, as far
as one could throw a thing that was quite dead,
or maybe all that I can do myself
is nail them to Christ’s cross (my own) instead,
and let machinery of Rome, in health
do what it does, unswervingly, so well:
munch up it's “victims”, and then turn blind eyes
on outcomes of its work, it brought it's “Hell”
to Earth, as it ignored the way we prize:
the acting right ourselves, but giving space
for others to be like me, immature
and fail to live to what they think & say,
(so “sinners” in that sense, we are for sure)
and hearing them, allowing them to speak,
giving them a chance to say their bit,
then list-en-ing attentively, to seek
to truly understand their lives, and shit².
But yeah, I see, we need some good “wet wipes”
to clean things up, then fresh stuff to put on,
a fire (or way to rid them from our lives)
and things worth-while to do, like sing a song
that will remind me of what I’m here for,
& offer me a better model too,
a chance to swear allegiance to what's more,
much more, in tune with tiny babies, new-
-ly from the heart of that creative love
which keeps this Universe in tune in fact.
A word^ which speaks a thought that’s from above
us here, and follows through in speech (and) ACT.
* Ian McGilchrist’s book: on the functions and view-points of the human brain hemispheres, the Left, & Right Hemispheres: “The Master and his Emissary”. The Right hemisphere connects us the the world that is about us and allows us to live in this sensory world responding to immediate & perceived stimuli in a timely manner while utilising all the capacities of the Left Hemisphere which connects us to its model world, or virtual reality, that it has constructed to enable us to have data to discern likely outcomes or casual elements in past conundrums. If the Left is left on its own (maybe e.g. with a stroke causing Right Hemplegia?) it finds it much harder to learn to do those overseeing facial recognition, reading body language, sensing moods, though it may be fine speaking, reading, writing, and computing arithmetically. The Right Hemisphere however has the sense of morality and fair-play, & of empathy, and is often giving significant jobs to the Left Hemisphere to help in the executive functions that the Right Hemisphere alone must do for the sake of the whole person. This is a beautiful parable for me of the role that humans are to play in culture and country care overall thoughtfulness, while getting data from every helpful source, even animals and A.I., but never letting (as much as it is able) another person or animal, spirit, or thing, incapable of thinking of the overall, big picture, be in charge, that might lead to small interest groups being able to sway broad policies that are meant for the good of all. Reminded me of a sage’s answer to the question: “What is the most important teaching in our lore?”.. with there is one that is most important, but you never get the one on its own, for the second one involves an image of the first… so they have to go together. I find, and this seems to be born out by other evidence McGilchrist quotes, that my left hemisphere’s (truncated) world-view seems to “want” to oust the perceptions of the Right Hemisphere in areas that the Left has large stakes in the composition of it’s “well constructed” version of “reality”. This can be a problem.
° ask me about the story of a young man in a community I lived in - in Australia.. who modelled bad with a public picking of a fight in a grocery shop… also modelling (at least in part) a good way forward through it all afterwards. Beautiful to see.
¹ The Hebrew word for “sin”, I am told means to “miss the mark”, so often it neans “to fall short”. It was used in warfare, or hunting, or just target practice, to speak of an arrow, (or if someone saw a siege catapult being used they could have used this term). This influences the meaning of the Greek word harmartia then used to translate it in the Septuagint, and then to speak of it in the New Testament that was written in almost the same Greek. (Paul is speeling this out to the non-Jewish half of his audience in Rome when he says “”(Romans 3:23)
² I truly mean, all the stuff of their situation, including the “shitty bits”, their whole setting, their whole loss of the meaning structures in life, the parts that are messy and dirty, and sometimes shameful, but then who doesn’t have some (or a lot), and whose doesn’t stink?
^ the Greek concept of “the word”, along with the old Hebrew way of understanding “the word -of God”, having the power to create and order, to separate and open up, to make space for more to enter in, & to join again to make one new other unit, out of two different others. Having the word on a matter, meaning permission given, or judgement given and a clear way ahead, at least in principle, plotted. And the goodness of having leadership which will do that for the people under its care. Christians are identifying this chosen word, this leader of humanity in the lore sense, as Yeshua. We call him the elected, the chosen one, the anointed one who rightfully this land belongs to, and who will take up his rights, and prove them properly. Until that happens we all get to make our choice of him, or someone-else whom we think is a better leader (ourselves?; Albo.?; Uncle…?, Aunty …?, certain groups?). I am here as his announcer; Creative Love, Thoughtfulness that Acts, YHWH (the un-named one who just IS, and just WILL BE) has chosen Yeshua bar Natzaret as Leader of Humanity, by raising him from the dead, and taking him to the Spirit world to be sent back in charge at the appointed time in history. I affirm his choice. And you should too. Stop ignoring what you know of him, and blaming him for every “fuck up” you make. Get real! Get to know him, and be his ambassador in this (his) country, to care for it (and its people) well.
