Eternal Present
Letter from Mexico | April, 2002
In this little town, high in the mountains of central Mexico, a lull has set in. This is the time between the fresh, crisp mornings of early spring and the soothing, monsoonal afternoons of summer. During these quiet, elongated days, San Miguel seems caught in an eternal present.
Reading the international press, it appears that a kind of lull has set in, also, around the world. But this lull is different: it is almost as if the whole world were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Uncertainty, expectancy, and apprehension are in the air; they are almost palpable. A poll last week concluded that 73% of the American population would surrender personal freedoms to defeat terrorism. Government leaders are putting up a brave front, dutifully marching under the 'business as usual' banner. But then someone discovers an errant screw on the floor of an airplane's bathroom, and alarms are sounded, flights are rerouted, airports are evacuated -- and the culture's blood pressure spikes.
We have what used to be called a case of 'the nerves.'
SCANDALS
In the midst of this jittery time, scandals are raging like out of control forest fires -- blazes that stretch from Boston to Rome, from to Palm Springs to Bethlehem.
When I was living monastic life in the 1960s, the word 'scandal' was a term used to define an act performed in public that might lead another into sin. Specifically, for a professional religious person such as I was, 'giving scandal' meant to engage in questionable behavior, thinking or unthinking, that another might see and, because of it, be led down a wayward path. Scandal pertained to matters large and small, from running off with the housekeeper to walking into a bar. The act might not have been sinful per se (cruising the red-light district, say), but the context of how or where it took place (cruising the red-light district in religious garb), made it scandal.
Giving scandal was a sin in itself, and an especially pernicious one, since it tended to erode the innocence of the guileless. We took it seriously: Once, on a train in my black suit and Roman collar, a fellow Brother scolded me for giving scandal by reading "The Catcher in the Rye" and laughing aloud at some of the passages.
I was reflecting on that meaning of the word 'scandal' the other day as I read about the epidemic of American pedophile priests and the long litanies of their shocking indiscretions -- and added to that the huge inventory of secret information on those priests withheld from the public by their religious superiors. Enjoying a J.D. Salinger novel on the train seemed ludicrously quaint next the story of the Boston priest who bought (with his diocesan pension money) and ran an all-male party hotel in Palm Springs where poolside shenanigans were encouraged.
The scandal is not over, by the way. In fact, some are saying that what we know now about abuser priests and their bishop protectors is just the tip of the iceberg. And it is not confined to the United States: already a Polish archbishop has resigned over allegations of abuse and cover-up, and voices are being raised elsewhere in Europe, and in Africa.
CELIBACY AND SEXUAL ABUSE
I am not one of those who blame the priestly promise of celibacy for these flagrant examples of scandal. Celibacy (it has two meanings: the state of not being married, and the abstention from sexual intercourse) is difficult, but not impossible, and it does not have to erupt in hedonistic criminal behavior. I lived celibate for eight years under monastic rule, and all during that time never carried on with the gardener's daughter or sponsored orgies for altar boys.
As I write this, twelve of the thirteen American Princes of the Church are at the Vatican listening to the Pope denounce the giving of scandal. American commentators, meanwhile, are speculating on whether the promise of celibacy will be lifted to ensure that sexual abuses of children will stop. How like our quick-fix culture to suggest that priests will end their sexual tyranny over children if the ban against sex is removed. It is like saying that we would have vastly lower prison populations if only we would legalize murder.
The real issue in all this is not celibacy -- or homosexuality, as some are insisting -- but personal responsibility and accountability. These explosive disclosures of sexual abuse by priests and their cover-up (and sometimes their exacerbation) by bishops are about men who have misused their power. People misuse their power all the time, but in this case, the power that is being misused is, or at least poses as, Divine Power -- which extends from this life into the next. This is power over not only the body, but also the soul. The scandal of these scandals is that they were perpetrated by 'men of God.'
ANOTHER SCANDAL
While the Roman Catholic Church is doing damage-control, two of the other Great World Religions are locked in another kind of scandal. Muslims in Palestine and Jews in Israel are nose-to-nose in what we still refer to almost ironically as the Holy Land: Bethlehem, the most sacred of towns, is today the scene of a horrifying life-and-death standoff. Their heads of state, who, remember, are religious as well as political leaders, given the theocratic nature of those societies, are expressing the most rabid hatred for one another. Everything has gone out the window -- diplomacy, philosophy, civility, moderation, even common human decency. One side blatantly refuses to budge off land it stole from the other; the other side, to retaliate, sends its own people into the ranks of its enemy strapped with bombs. Each is calling for the destruction of the other -- and invoking the name of God to bring it about. And, again, that is the scandal.
THE WIDER PICTURE
Why should these atrocities be emerging at this time? People who watch the heavens for signs tell us that we are undergoing a particularly transformative passage in the evolution of our species. Saturn, the planet of 'the father,' of the establishment, of rules and regulations, of institutions, and of religion is opposing Pluto, the planet of powerful transformation, of unearthing what was hidden, of death and resurrection. The planet of institutions, in other words, is facing off against the planet of "change...or die." (Interesting to note that the Boston Cardinal who presided over the opening of the sexual abuse can of worms is named LAW -- the law, also, is Saturnian.)
This astrological configuration began last August, and will continue through this May, but its effects may be felt for several more months. September 11, which shattered our culture's image of itself and forced us to face issues of misuse of financial and military power, is a perfect example of this cosmic confrontation. Questioning of the world's religious patriarchies is another; unmasking the corruption of institutions, whether nations or corporations, such as Enron, is still another.
The energy of Saturn/Pluto is about plowing up everything that had been concealed so we can look at it and decide what is worth keeping, and what should be cast away as dishonest, degenerate, and useless. This needs to happen if we are to evolve into the next, higher stage of being human. But while it is happening, it seems like an endless scourge, and it keeps us in a constant state of turmoil, fearful, uncertain of tomorrow, expecting the worst. The old is crumbling away, but the new is not here yet.
HUMANKIND BEHAVING BADLY
We may have to put up with the specter of humankind behaving badly for as long as it takes to purge ourselves of our toxic beliefs, mindsets, attitudes, of our unruly egos and childish abhorrence of personal responsibility and accountability. Great destruction is going on -- and great reconstruction. You and I, since we are also human, are participating in these grand dynamics. We are both players and witnesses to upheaval and renewal on a planetary scale. We do not have to do anything to bring it about -- and there is nothing we can do to prevent it from happening. All that is asked of us is that we be awake and aware of this tremendous Turning as it is taking place...so that we do not fall victim to this power surge of human evolution, but can in fact help to direct it upwards.
I believe we do that by taking full responsibility for our lives, and vowing to not hurt anyone or any thing in the process.
All of us at the retreat center send you our affectionate regards,
Joseph Dispenza
LifePath
San Miguel de Allende
Mexico
NOTES
Scandal. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edit
Scandal:1. A publicized incident that brings about disgrace or offends the moral sensibilities of society: a drug scandal that forced the mayor's resignation. 2. A person, thing, or circumstance that causes or ought to cause disgrace or outrage: a politician whose dishonesty is a scandal; considered the housing shortage a scandal. 3. Damage to reputation or character caused by public disclosure of immoral or grossly improper behavior; disgrace.
Celibacy. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
As a group, they're like the Taliban. If you want to succeed in this system, you never talk about the ordination of women — and abortion and birth control are like the third rail. It's all coming home to roost. They're not capable of dealing in a more diverse community.
— Boston Diocesan Priest, April 2002
Get It Straight - The hypocrisy of blaming gays for sexual abuse by priests.
Church and Congress
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