The Battle of Ultimate ConcernAs revealed to Reverend Jack Ditch
First presented at the Channing-Murray Foundation There is no faith without a content toward which it is directed....[Yet in words] like "ultimate," "unconditional," "infinite" [and] "absolute," the difference between subjectivity and objectivity is overcome....This is symbolically expressed by the mystics when they say that their knowledge of God is the knowledge God has of himself...God can never be object without being at the same time subject. Even a successful prayer is, according to Paul, not possible without God as Spirit praying within us. The same experience expressed in abstract language is the disappearance of the ordinary subject-object scheme in the experience of the ultimate, the unconditional... The more idolatrous a faith the less it is able to overcome the cleavage between subject and object. For that is the difference between true and idolatrous faith. In true faith the ultimate concern is a concern about the truly ultimate; while in idolatrous faith preliminary, finite realities are elevated to the rank of ultimacy. The inescapable consequence of idolatrous faith is "existential disappointment," a disappointment which penetrates into the very existence of man!...The ecstatic character of even an idolatrous faith can hide this consequence only for a certain time. But finally it breaks into the open, [and the idol crumbles.] --Paul Tillich, "Dynamics of Faith" I saw through my mind's eye, As upon a spiritual high-definition television Broadcasting ten thousand channels All the people of the planet With all their joys and concerns, Fighting and celebrating and dying. I walked among them As if surfing a metaphysical world wide web Prodding their deepest fears and passions With the click of a finger. And wherever I tread, there arose conflict, discord and strife As people fought for their very lives in the Battle of Ultimate Concern. I saw people fight with fists, guns and knives Shattering bodies and filling graves To gain access to the fruits of the Earth Her water, her metal, her oil, her bounty of food her soil, her sky I saw people fight with voice and ballot, to decide Which man in a suit can tell them what to do What may be put into and taken out of our bodies Who may go where, and who may own what People fought to be comfortable, and they fought to be happy, Yet even when they were in charge of the world, People were not content to cease fighting, but rather Bound themselves together into even greater armies And continued to build their machines of war For no other reason than to assert This is the way you must think This is the God you must worship This is the family you belong to These are the laws you must obey These are the rights you must respect These are the people you must Love. Brothers turned their backs on sisters Mothers abandoned their sons And family divided Instead proclaiming loyalty to great beasts of power Idols that went by names like Wal-Mart and The Democratic Party; The People's Republic of China, The American Civil Liberties Union, The Roman Catholic Church, The Ku Klux Klan and The Unitarian Universalist Association (to name but a few) I watched as if from a mountaintop as these monsters of human social organization Reached their strong arms across the land Refashioning cities in their own image Toppling mountains and filling valleys For the greater glory of their cause. "Save the Planet!" They cried. "Save the Unborn!" "Give us Liberty!" "Give us Security!" "Give us Technology!" "Give us some room to breathe!" They battled like Giant Fighting Robots towering over skyscrapers Giant Fist meeting Giant Metal Face conflict whittling them down until only the best remained. I thought to myself, "Blessed are those who find victory in this battle!" For it seemed that the strongest, the wisest and the luckiest Became like Gods On Earth Smaller beings cowered before the Winners And paid them tribute for their might Singing them songs in praise Thinking their mercy greater than their wrath. For the Winners had vehicles that transported them across continents in mere hours. They had computers that could asnwer any question. Their poor were fat, and their rich were skinny. They did not have to work so hard that it was unpleasant But instead relaxed and celebrated, Isolated within the walls they had built To keep at bay the teeming chaos outside. Life seemed peaceful for those who dominated, and I thought to myself, "With hope and luck, someday, I'll be a Winner, too!" But even then I watched as those in the path of these Gods on Earth joined together, not in loyalty, but in common self-defense Tearing down the illusions of the comfortable swarming upon that which once overpowered them like hundreds of rats overtaking an elephant. The bodies of the Giant Fighting Robots went crashing to the ground crushing innocents, mindlessly, needlessly, As the forces who brought them down disbanded, unable to hold together without a common enemy to fight. "Things fall apart, The center cannot hold" The imposition of order creates greater disorder, and the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Thus I saw Every person, tribe, and institution Every nation and corporation Each with its own Greatest Joy It's own Ultimate Concern Struggling and suffering against those who would Stand in their way And all of them--each and ever one-- in the end, dying in the attempt. "Oh, ALAS!" I cried. "Woe to you, humanity! What is this that has been revealed to me? That life is suffering? That human conflict is inevitable? That every rising star must someday fall? Each of us fights for a better world, But the very act of fighting pulls taut The chains which bind us. What is better for some is worse for others One person's joy is another's concern And those who play the part of judge today Will be the first to be judged tomorrow. Desire leads to conflict, suffering and misery. It would be better if we were to give up the battle completely Detach from desire, and Escape from suffering. This is the only Nirvana, to leave existence behind entirely-- The only rest is to be found in Nothingness." And my heart sank in despair and surrender. It was then that my guide appeared to me. I saw him standing beside me in three-dimensional virtual mythology: In dirty robes and well-worn sandles Hair down past his shoulders A look of hope and pity in his eyes I needn't name him, for his name is unimportant (It starts with a J)
But I recognized him immediately-- Radiating kindness and trustworthiness Though feared and misunderstood. Finding him there, I fell to my knees weeping Lamenting all I had just seen: "We're born, we fight, we grab what brief pleasures we can and we die. Is there more to life than this?" The hippy looked upon me with compassion and said with a voice that can calm stormy seas: "People Fight, Idols Fall, Things Fall Apart, Yet Something Remains Behind: "Some folks may seek only escape from this existence of suffering And there's nothing wrong with that, if that is what you want to do. "But those who remain behind and face the suffering "Are able to direct the tension and conflict to get what they WANT not letting go of desire but grasping and embracing desire And calling it by the name of Love." And with these words he stretched out a hand and I saw the Battle with new eyes. I saw a man and a woman, shouting and screaming at one another tears and spit flying But between them ran a fine wire of light pulled tight as each tried to go their separate ways causing them pain yet holding them together And I knew that light was Love. I saw other strands connected to that couple, ties to family, friends and society and each of these people were likewise connected in a great web that stretched to the horizon. Pulling humanity here and there, keeping humanity restrained. Bound to the world, and bound to suffering, And I was shocked that this was Love. I drew back further As if in an astral flight simulator Until the whole globe of the world lay within my view And I saw how great societies formed, twinkling across the continents with a zillion strands of light Vast oceans of desire, a Gordian Knot of conflict And even in the immensity of the worst of human wars Even between the gunshots echoing across the desert The fire ripping through the jungle And the soldiers frozen, starving, in their trenches There blazed the chains of Love. Love that keeps people tied to this world Love that prevents them from falling into Nothing Love of such strength that, even as people die, the light of their love remains, binding generations to come in the same passions the same struggles the same Greatest Joys and the same Ultimate Concerns. "Do you see?" said the one whom I styled my Savior, "Though human concerns last only awhile, waxing and waning in the currents of human drama snuffed all too soon by the briefness of their lives The Love which drives them never ceases to burn It stretches from Beginning to End Alpha to Omega Shining out into the Void." Then he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder Turning me to look out upon the infinite darkness of the night And there I saw the brilliance of the battle behind me projected into the emptiness as onto the screen of eternity As if looking into a vast mirror All of humanity's love and judgment reflecting back in such perfect synchronicity That I could not say which was the image of the other. My guide proclaimed, "Behold! Creator and Created. "You fight to make manifest your own vision of God And you can't help but die in the attempt While the idols you build duke it out, What remains-- The Face of God. "The summation of all of your hopes and your dreams, your passions, your loves, your conflicts and battles, Echoing out through eternity long after the tinder that lit them expires. "This is why you fight You fight for the Ultimate Concern Though you call It by many names you all fight for the glory of the One True God." My mind whirled, and I grasped to comprehend All that had just been revealed The only thing I could say was, "Wow, that's really SOMETHING." Because that's when I passed out and the vision ended. |