Posts Tagged spirituality
Behind the Veil: Avengers
Posted by annaldavis in Everything Else on May 29, 2012
Most of us know, or at least suspect, that we can’t see many of the things that really matter. We desperately want an unseen world to exist, and yet at the same time we fear its existence.
We speak of ghosts and haunted places, miracles and prayer, vampires and zombies. We toss these words around, maybe play a few video games, watch the Avengers, and then go back to our regular everyday lives based what we can see with our own two eyes. What we can quantify. If we can see it, measure it, size it up – then we can control it.
We feel safer that way. But it’s an illusion. Reality is behind the veil. Because behind the veil exists an unseen world far more beautiful and dangerous than anything we’ve ever seen with our own two eyes.
Behind the veil, I’m the hulk. So are you. Zombies walk among us, as do evil aliens from another planet. We’re locked in cages, held captive by our own minds and victimized by jailers who are themselves held captive against their will. It’s why we cheer for Captain America, why we tolerate Iron Man’s narcissism, why we feel a thrill when Thor holds his hammer up for the lightning. We like superheroes because we need them. Humanity is a mess down here. And we know it. Despite our many efforts to shirk our own humanity, we know we’re fallen and broken and desperately lost.
If you need proof of that, then you haven’t yet lived enough life. Or watched the news. Or thoughtfully examined the problem of suffering.
Behind the veil, our souls could starve to death. Loki and his Chitauri do their best, trying to turn us against each other. If all else fails, Loki will reach out and touch our vulnerable hearts with his scepter, making us like him.
But there is hope. Not everything behind the veil is lost.
Nick Fury: “And there came a day… a day unlike any other… when Earth’s mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat… to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand… on that day, The Avengers were born.”
Behind the veil, we’re the avengers. You and me. The angry hulk, egotistical Stark, conflicted Romanoff, lonely Captain America, Thor and his family struggles, human but skilled Hawkeye. There’s a little bit of each in all of us, I think. We could easily destroy each other. But if we work together…
Behind the veil, we can unite against evil and avenge what’s been lost. We can fall in line behind that one perfect superhero, and take up our weapons against all the forces of darkness. We can do this, because that’s what the Church was created to do. As Captain America said “There is only one God.” And if that God is for us, then who can be against us?
May we have courage to look behind the veil. And more courage still to LIVE behind it, to engage the battle that’s been raging among us. Unseen.
Traveling the Time In-Between
Posted by annaldavis in Cyberculture, Writing on April 11, 2012
Take a 15 minute time span and chop it up into small one-minute increments. How much can happen in one minute? Now imagine that time, while a linear quantity, allows small breaks in between – breaks in which the past and future hang in the balance, breaks in which time can bend.
That’s because what happens in the present moment will frame your perception of (NOT change!) the past, and influence the future. It is the present moment that enables us to travel through time.
Madeline L’Engle called it a wrinkle. C.S. Lewis called it Narnia. “This is the land of Narnia,’ said the Faun, ‘where we are now; all that lies between the lamp-post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea” (C.S. Lewis. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe).
For Lewis, Narnia encapsulated this idea of a world between – a place neither heaven nor hell, but some strange combination of both – a place that is unnatural, irrational, and yet strangely welcoming and more alive than the real world. Where light meets the dark, where humans crash face-first into the seductive lure of the White Witch, or take up the sword in battle against all the forces of evil.
The present moment can change everything. It’s the time that lies in-between. Shave a few seconds here and there, and you’ve gained another minute. Another in-between.
Here’s a practical example. You need to wash, dry, and fold five loads of laundry. Normally the dryer buzzes after about 30 minutes. For each load of laundry, what would happen if you took the clothes out of the dryer only three minutes early? Doesn’t sound like much, but if you add it up over all five loads then you will have gained 15 extra minutes.
That’s a lot of time. If you’re a fan of time-travel, you know that every little second makes a difference. Even one-tenth of a second can change your life forever. So how do you spend the time in-between? What will you gain by shedding unnecessary time-wasters and using the present moment more effectively? In this sense, we’re all time travelers – time bends to the present moment. Time bends when we understand the value of a few extra minutes.
Zombie Struck
Posted by annaldavis in Cyberculture, Everything Else on April 10, 2012
The other day, my new friend Steven said he likes to kill zombies. Raising my eyebrows, I looked to him for further explanation.
“You know,” Steven said, “like in Black Ops. I like killing zombies in Black Ops.”
Oh, I see – that makes sense now. A video game. A digital world where soulless bodies, bent on destroying all prey in their path, chase good guys across ever-changing landscapes – that’s the world of zombies.
But it’s also our world. Instinctively we understand this kind of carnage. Deep inside we know we exist on this earth in a struggle of good versus evil, mankind versus monster. Zombies provide an indulgent glimpse into the spiritual realm and a picture that sympathizes with the very real disconnect we see in daily life, when we can’t explain the puzzle given us, when jagged little pieces of our souls don’t fit and fall to the floor unnoticed.
That’s why the darker side of the spirit realm fascinates many of us. It’s mysterious. Welcoming, even. And zombies deliver, every time. I have yet to say the word “zombie” without eliciting an immediate reaction. For those of us who might not be well-versed in zombie culture, here are three basic requirements.
“They’re mindless and they know it,” Steven said. He told me that zombies are generally a ticked-off group, angry and bitter by nature. They might even be somewhat jealous of our ability to think and reason, since they’ve been reduced to mere killing machines trapped deep in the mire of animal instinct.
They want to feed on our brains. Like slackers who cheat off the smart kid’s test, zombies feed on the brain power of healthy humans. Their feeding process leaves the victim brainless. I could say quite a bit about this, but I’ll refrain until a later blog post. Let’s move on to the next point.
They’re physically alive but spiritually dead. According to Zombies: The Recent Dead, “the traditional zombie is a dead or living person stripped of their own will and/or soul who is under the control of a sorcerer.” The authors of this book then go on to say that our modern B-movie version of the zombie isn’t accurate because zombies are far more complex than the campy, ghoulish creatures on TV. They are spiritually and emotionally dead, even while their bodies live.
If that doesn’t resonate with you, then nothing will.
