(7) A New Song

"Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the
earth: Let the sea and what fills it resound, the coastlands, and
those who dwell in them. Let the steppe and its cities cry out...
the villages...and shout from the top of mountains. Let them
give glory to the Lord..."
[ Isaiah 42: 30-32, THE OLD TESTAMENT ]

Comment: The word "Glory" has various meanings, like
renown, giving honor, beauty and magnificence of a place,
that which provides pleasure. Words are stock full of
representations and actions. As for "Song," it usually means
a poem set to music. But it also can refer to those musical
phrases we detect from birds, whales, and insects.

So considering these different meanings of these two words,
perhaps I was right thinking about God's relationship with not
only our good Earth but of all of Creation when it came to
reading these particular lines from the book of Isaiah. In a
sense the "New Song" could indeed be connected with our
recent discoveries about the universe and our consequent
appreciation of such. For those who believe in God, a fairly
new approach can be found in the following new words: the
New Cosmology, Deep Ecology, and Panentheism.

Basically the New Cosmology represents our contemporary
knowledge-base about our 13.7 billion year-old universe.
It's an unfolding universe, beginning with the cosmic event of
the Big Bang. It's about the discovery of an infinity of galaxies,
of great galactic clusters, star nurseries. And just in our galaxy
alone there are surely a myriad of planets circling millions of
suns, floating in space under which is the implicate world of
Quantum Physics.

Deep Ecology is about a newly emerging worldview. "It sees
the world not as a collection of isolated objects, but as a
network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected
and interdependent. Deep ecology recognizes the intrinsic
value of all living beings and views humans as just one
particular strand in the web of life."
[Fritjof Capara, THE WEB OF LIFE: A NEW SCIENTIFIC
UNDERSTANDING OF LIVING SYSTEMS, Anchor, P.7.]

As for Panentheism, it is a belief that, yes, God is greater than
the universe, but also includes and interpentrates the universe.
If so, this means that God is constantly present to ALL of us,
who live in and share in Creation. It adds meaning to the idea
that whatever we do, or how we treat the "other", we also treat
God. God is Everywhere, in Every One, threaded Through and
Through.

So than, what might this "New Song" mean to us as we stand in
the midst of our relatively new knowledge-base about God and
the Universe in which we all live and have our being?

It's still natural for us to lift our voices in song, to think and feel
the beauty of poetics. Perhaps with more and more conscious
comprehension of who we are, of the Who in which we exist
and are a part, we can bring ever more joy into the New Song.
It's perhaps about the aspect of "pleasure" in the meaning of
Glory.

(6) Priorities

"First, God; Secondly, the World; Thirdly, Man."
[Book 1, THE CORPUS HERMETICA.]

Comment: This short saying stresses the priorities. What more
can really be said? Probably only the "how to," that has evolved
over time. And that fills reams and reams of tomes, rules,
instructions, and even threats.

Of course lots of these approaches, both positive and negative,
depend on not only our God concepts but also the god-imagery
that reflects such. The Imago Dei at least sometimes becomes
more sophisticated as we grow more conscious. But always we
do have to ask if our god-imagery accurately depicts the Reality
of God? It's an open-ended question, I'm afraid, that keeps us
standing not too easy. In the end I imagine we will come to
recognize that God depends on our becoming ever more mature.
It's like an equation, in that our maturity will eventually come to
comprehend God in ever more sophisticated ways. God is not
the shapeshifter, we are!

As for the World, well when the first small light of consciousness
entered our brain, no doubt we were scared silly by what we saw
of the world at that point. The world was out to get us! Kill us!
Survival was always of prime concern. Eventually we saw spirits
behind every tree, thus we placated these spirits. Hence Animism,
later Polytheism, eventually Monothesism, ultimately--maybe--to
Panentheism. Regardless our choice, we link God and the
World and ourselves together in a variety of ways.

Man once was the Center of the Universe, especially when we
were entertaining Anthropocentrism. What with recent scientific
discoveries about the universe, more specifically our solar
system, most of us have sadly come to realize that Humanity
is no longer the most important element of the universe, though
we still crave to call ourselves the Rulers of the Earth. Alas,
our Rule has become ruinous!

So here's hoping that eventually we get these old Egyptian
Hermetic priorities right. They would seem to point in the
right direction.

(5) The Light Shining Through

Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: frrom
me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood;
I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
[Nag Hammadi Library, Gospel of Thomas, para. 77.]

Comment: As a matter of introduction, we need provide a small
history that stands behind the above statement. In Egypt, during
the year 1945, an Egyptian peasant stumbled upon containers
in the desert. Cracking them open, he discovered "codexes"
which can be likened to ancient books. The peasant took these
old books home, kept them a secret, but eventually Egyptian
authorities got wind of this discovery.

Scholars quickly went to work on these ancient texts. They
believed that the jars (or containers) came from an ancient
monastery library that existed in Nag Hammadi--the region
where these books were discovered. Probably the monks
decided to hide these old codexes, because they contained
"other" gospels as well as additional theological material that
could be dangerous as heterodox documents. This occurred
some two or more centuries after Christ, and some of the
documents--but not all--were considered Gnostic writings
perceived as heretical in the eyes of Orthodox Christianity.

As for the Gospel of Thomas, scraps of this early writing had
been discovered from other sources; but with the Nag Hammadi
discovery, this particular gospel was far more available in its
entirety. As for the author of this gospel, it cannot be presumed
whether he was a member of the Gnostic sect or not. Regardless
this gospel is not a narrative, but rather a collection of Jesus'
sayings--many of which correspond to the stories in the Orthodox
gospels found in the New Testament.

But the above saying is not in the biblical gospels. It is different
and *exciting.* And it implies a variety of interpretations.

1. Panentheism: a belief system that implies that God exists in
every part of Nature. Going beyond pantheism, panentheism
implies the "the whole is in God." In other words, "God is everything
in the universe, but God is also greater than the universe."

2. Panpsychism: a view that the whole universe possesses a mind.

3. The Logos: In the biblical Gospel of John, the Logos is
described as the Word. As put, "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with
God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without
him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and
that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but
the darkness has not understood it."

John--as well as the early Christian Fathers--believed that Jesus
was the "Incarnation of the Logos." But the concept of the Logos,
considered the Cosmic Plenum by even earlier ancient philosophers,
had the following meanings: 1. Order or Pattern. 2. Ratio or
Proportion 3. A Discourse, Articulation or Account. 4. Reason,
both in the sense of rationality and in the sense of an articulation
or the cause of something. 5. Principle or Cause. 6. A principle of
Mediation and Harmony between extremes.
[David Fiedler, JESUS CHRIST SUN OF GOD: ANCIENT COSMOLOGY
AND EARLY CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM, Quest Books, 1993, p. 38.]

Ruminating over this, I think the particular paragraph in the Gospel
of Thomas (cited above) is an amazing synopsis of incredibly
sophisticated thought.

(4) A Pattern ?

As Jesus put: "I have given you glory on earth by finishing the work
you gave me to do."
[Gospel of John 17.4]

Comment: Captured above, in that single sentence, are the words
that has grabbed ahold of imaginations for some two thousand years.
The life of this man embodies the great Hope of humanity. But this
Hope requires faith.

Considering our modern knowledge-base, it's easy for many to cast
aside this need for faith--especially a faith that professes that the
Son of God came to our planet and through incarnation became a
human being. Though not very profound, oft the answer to this
phenomenon is that "God can do anything."

Well, maybe so! We have a God that set off the Big Bang, has
rolled along with Creation for some 13.7 billion years, until Now.
And what little we do know about Cosmology, it really has been
an incredibly impressive roll.

But, for me, I am more inclined to wonder about God in terms of
Mind and Consciousness. Creation, itself, is *en total* a Complex
System composed of a myriad of complex systems *infinitum.*
Of course some look at Creation and see nothing but Random
processes; but others, like myself, consider an Intelligence that
stands behind the Cosmic Process.

Early Greek philosophers, later Christian Fathers, believed that
there was a Plenum--a Godhead--that stood behind and
throughout the unfolding of the universe. And they called this
Cosmic Plenum the "Logos." The Logos--the principle of
Divine Reason and Creative Order--became the "Son of God,"
there from the beginning of Creation.

The Trinity is a formulation of the human mind--and more than
often it is confusing for many of us. What it seems to be are
our human considerations of the different aspects of God, as we
are able to comprehend. Perhaps more simply put, God as the
Creator is the "Father," God as the Cosmic Plenum is the "Son,"
and God working through all of Creation is the "Spirit."

Perhaps a deep Intuition? Since the dawn of human conscious-
ness, there has been a deep-felt need for a Savior. Why ever this
need to be saved? Because we are vulnerable. When we first
opened our eyes and were able to see the world in which we
lived, it very likely scared us silly. Survival meant constant
vulnerability that somehow we had to face. And we needed Help,
and still do unto this very day.

So did an aspect of the Godhead, the Logos, hear our prayers,
heed to our needs? Well we presume that we know the Mind of
God, or we deeply hope that somehow God is also Mercy. We
show so little of mercy among one another, but we need it
nearly constantly.

Again, only faith alone, but we pray that God will come and
help us. And some two thousand years ago, a man came
into our midst--and his followers declared him the "Incarnation
of the Logos," the Son of God.

Impossible? Possible? There's the choice to be made.

If possible, well what does the man Jesus mean for us?
His words are wise, though they have been said before.
Maybe his life is a blueprint for successful living? It's
inclusive, expressing a loving openness to one and all.
And if one investigated closely, there seems a pattern
to this man's life.

Beyond this, I'm willing to believe that if we investigated
even deeper that we might discover this "pattern" spread
throughout over Time, expressed by other special souls
as well. In the end, maybe this Pattern is God's way of
communicating, communing with us, drawing us forth
towards a certain Completeness.

Lots of Mystery in these thoughts, in these circumstances
that we take upon Faith.

(3) Genesis Revisited

Let us take a small look at Genesis--and see how it compares
with the Big Bang and modern astrophysical cosmology.

"In the beginning of Creation, when God made heaven and
earth, the earth was without form and void, with darkness over
the face of the abyss, and a mighty wind that swept over the
surface of the waters, God said, 'Let there be light,' and there
was light..." [Genesis 1: 1-4]

Out of Mystery came a glowing ball of energy, compact and
heavy beyond comprehension. This ball held within itself all
the enfolded information that would forever fuel the unfolding
Cosmos. This little ball, virtually a particle spatially small
enough to be held in one's hand, contained the enfolded
information of all the world that would bloom forth into cosmic
reality.

"...and God saw that the light was good, and he separated
light from darkness..." [Genesis 1: 4-5]

This primordial ball exploded, unfolded simultaneously
everywhere. Every particle rushed away from every other
particle. The explosion filled all space.

Eventually the frenzied particles calmed dissolving into a
great scattering, and the Cosmos began to transfigure itself.
It fashioned the galaxies. These gigantic, self- organizing
systems pinwheeled and clustered across the outer mantle
of the Universe.

Feeding on helium and hydrogen, brillant stars and planets
were born. The early planets bubbled forth as moltening
gaseous soups that cooled into planetary crusts. Chemical
creativity began to churn away. And on one of the planets,
the Earth, the first living cell arose.

"God said, 'Let the waters teem with countless living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of heaven.'"
[Genesis 1: 20]

Gathering hydrogen from the oceans, releasing oxygen, these
primal cells built the land and the atmosphere of the Earth. In
time multicellular organisms arose. They began as corals,
became worms and insects and fish. They wiggled and flashed
about in the sea and on the land. They multiplied into many
life forms. Experimenting, they discarded some forms and built
upon others. And about two hundred million years ago mammals
entered into the life of the Earth.

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image and likeness...'"
[Genesis 1: 26]

From these mammals came the first glimmers of consciousness,
a sense of emotional sensitivity and self-awareness. In due
time the human brain unfolded.

"So it was; and God saw all that he had made, and it was very good..."
[Genesis 1: 31]

(2) Order & Necessity

As put "Providence is Divine Order" and "Necessity is the
Minister or Servant of Providence."
[From the First Book. THE CORPUS HERMETICA.]

Comment. Allegedly the Corpus Hermetica was written by
Hermes Trismegistus, who (according to legend) was the
builder of the Egyptian pyramids. Considered by many, the
Corpus was thought to be sacred writings originating in
Pharaonic Egypt. However, most of the Hermetic books
were lost during the burning of the royal libraries in ancient
Alexandria--but some books supposedly survived. Scholars
speculate that the surviving texts of the Corpus Hermetica
were likely redacted between the first and third centuries c.e.

What gets me is how sophisticated these two ideas posted
above are when it comes to Order and Necessity. Pharaonic
Egypt goes back fairly far in historical time, but here we have
these impressive ideas being put forth-especially in terms of
how they seem to relate to modern science theory.

In today's world scientists have introduced new perspectives
when it comes to Order, in that it more than often is connected
with Chaos. One can look at this linkage on two levels.

There's Providence, who can be considered as God who
bestows protective care upon us, or Nature as a spiritual
power. Unfortunately these dictionary accounts reflect our
old tendency to dichotomize, essentially separating God from
Nature, or Spirit from Matter.

But both scientists and theologians have begun to grasp hold
a new "holistic" perspective. And even out of the milieu of
the Sacred, there's now systems thinking. More than often,
scholars now are looking at the universe as one gigantic
System consisting of systems infinitum.--yet a Whole! Also,
some scholars are endowing the universe with Intelligence.

If so, this brings us back to the very archaic idea of Providence.
Thrust into the milieu of Religion, we have long declared the
existence of God or Spirit in a myriad of ways. But especially
here in the Corpus Hermeticum God is perceived as Order.

So what seems to happen when we look at Nature from this
perspective? In Chaos Theory there's the following outlook.

The cosmic explicate order is made-up of non-linear dynamical
systems, and some scholars believe that there is creative
potential embedded in non-linear systems. In other words we
are talking about "Cosmic Creativity."

An example of this Creativity, from a systems perspective, is
that eventually a non-linear system will eventually reach a
chaotic situation and is forced to make a shift in direction. It
either does or does not. If it does not, well the system will
fall more and more into chaos and eventual destruction. On
the other hand, there's a point of a possible shift--called the
"bifurcation point," when a "fork is created and the system
takes off in a new direction."
[John Briggs & F. David Peat, TURBULENT MIRROR: AN
ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO CHAOS THEORY AND THE
SCIENCE OF WHOLENESS, HARPER & ROW, 1989,
PP. 143-144.]

And the internal feedback in some non-linear systems is so
"complex that there is a virtual infinity of degrees of freedom."
For Ilya Prigogine, the late Nobel laureate, thermodynamist
and systems theorist, Nature is built by feedback among all
levels. Once again Peat believes that "this is an assertion
of Nature's creativity." Each new level of organization creates
something fundamentally new. It almost seems that Nature
has a choice of orders. And it is Prigogine's opinion that
this "mixture of necessity and change...constitutes the
system's creativity."

Admittedly, discussing Chaos Theory is dreadfully difficult
in terms of straightforward understanding. But it all boils
down to Creativity and Choice. Providence would seem
the fundamental Order in Nature, but out of Necessity it
need face endless Chaos out of which to rise unto new
levels of Be-ing.. So, as microcosms to the Macrocosm,
as individual non-linear systems, it's no surprise that we
humans face the same circumstances.

Long ago our ancestors must have intuited what scientists
today are discovering. Order is a Constant, ever continuing
over Time. And Necessity serves as the Spark of Survival.

(1) A Special Name

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus actually provides God with a special
name--in that he says "Hallowed be thy name."

Comment: Maybe strange, but sometimes I relax by reading
the dictionary. So I'm going to do a little exercise in regard to
this special name by linking meaning upon meaning, employing
the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE.

• Hallowed: (1) Made or set apart as being holy; sanctified;
consecrated. (2) Highly venerated; unassailable; sacrosanct. 


• Hallow: (1) To make or set apart as holy; sanctify; consecrate.
(2) To honor as being holy; revere; adore. 


• Holy: (1) Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a
divine power, sacred. (2) Worthy of worship or high esteem;
revered. See "kailo" in Appendix. [Kailo: Whole, uninjured,
of good omen. Old English-wholesome, health, to heal,
holy, sacred.] 


• Whole: (1) Containing all component parts; complete.
(2) Not divided or disjointed; in one unit, (3) Sound; healthy;
restored; healed. 


• Wholesome: (1) Conducive to sound health or well-being;
salutary. (2) Morally or socially salubrious. 


• Healthy: (1) Possessing good health. (3) Indicative of a
rational or constructive frame of mind, sound. 


• Sound: (1) Free from defect, decay, or damage; in good
condition. (3) Having a firm basis; solid; unshakable. (7)
Deep and unbroken; undisturbed. (8) Free from moral defect;
upright; honorable. (9) Worthy of confidence; trustworthy. 


• Salutary: (1) Effecting or designed to effect an improvement;
beneficially corrective; remedial. 


• Heal: (1) To restore to health; cure. (2) To set right; amend.
(3) To rid of sin, anxiety, or the like; restore. To become whole
and sound; return to health. See "kailo" in Appendix.

Well it looks as if our small word-game has come around
full circle. It's really interesting "what's in a name." :-)

However, what interests me is not so much the most correct
linguistic interpretation, but rather how this particular name
can be seen in terms of our own life. Whole, complete, stable,
sound, holy--all these words seem to beckon in terms of
emulation. These words almost seem like a promise, in that
there is a goal that seems to attract us forward.