Judaism is the ultimate shamanism
One that has stood the test of time
of persecutions down the ages
that should have decimated us
Yet didn’t
From this I note that instead of trying to fit in
It may be best to opt out of all forms of religion
Hold onto only that which has my ancestors’ guidance
In real time
For time and space are merely constructs
And the customs that have grown up around the mitzvot
Are difficult to separate from each other,
Nor should an attempt be made
For pulling the weeds
When the wheat unripe remains
Destroys the wheat harvest…
Surrounded by a friend’s collection of possessions
Which over a number of decades she gathered,
I wonder what it is that I have
that no longer serves my purpose
Started emptying out my drawers
Taking out things that have stood for too long
Including food that has expired,
Just one tin of caramel really,
Yet this is too much
What serves my vision is what I am to focus on
This alone significant is
Everything else I may set aside;
My personal desires second place can take
My desires are to get the exterior
of the house damp proofed
And painted
An outdoor toilet
With a shower added
For those who visit my office
My home private remains,
Set apart,
Sanctified,
Jewish
In alignment with my inner guidance
In alignment with the desires of my ancestors
Who want a Jewish life for me
And for my family
A Jewish setting
That inviting is
That home is to my children.
Is this part of the vision to purify the air?
Or merely self-indulgence?
Just ancestors appeasing?
I sense it is part of the vision
For purifying the air starts with me
With my own family
In my own home
Clearing the space so that it’s pleasant to live in;
Adjusting how I interact with the elements
So that Earth First I place
Demonstrate what I mean by this
to anyone who interested is;
planting forests that harmonizes with the eco-system
that the house is but an element of
with food forests added with respect for carrying capacity
What is still missing is a photovoltaic system to run my electronics
Yet my vision to purify the air, literally and figuratively
Requires that whatever else I am part of
I attend to forest planting
And to inclusive communities’ building
I have arrived at the point where I know
without a shadow of a doubt
that Judaism is the Indigenous Knowledge System
that can walk us safely to the other side
the bridge from competitive destruction
to sustainability sowing,
not as a religion that expands in numbers significant
not in converts welcoming
Rather by the Noahide Code advertising
Noahide code living in diverse communal groupings
For it is this covenant that the whole human family binds
With respect for particularity
Not for me the preoccupation with Messiah hailing
For the Messiah preparing;
Or rather the only way to the Messiah welcome
Is by Noahide Code living
If a Gentile you are
The other stuff that specifically Jewish is
Is for Jews alone
A set of actions that remind Jewish people
That God exists in relationship with all lives
To retain this God consciousness,
This ubuntu-consciousness,
Is why the Torah laws are to be kept
By Jewish people across the ages
A safety net Torah is
that keeps us moving forward consistently
looking back only to remember the mercy that God has shown us
despite our forgetfulness to be humane.
Yesterday I caught a glimpse
of Judaism through a different prism:
what is Judaism without its ancestors
for a blessing remembering?
A way of life where the dead
With the living
Involved remain
Guiding,
Protecting,
Before God pleading
Mediating
Advocating on behalf of sinful folk
Who another chance must be given
Judgements set aside
Softened
Mitigated
God of the merits of ancestors reminding
God’s heart engaging
Holy ones’
Righteous ones’ visiting
Even if only at their graves added energy to pleas adding
It has taken me so long to get to this point
Of knowing that Judaism without ancestors honouring,
Without prophets, sages, teachers, judges and mystics long passed
Is bereft of wisdom
For the living and the dead are in communion
Both waiting for the resurrection of the dead;
The age of Mashiach
Their healing energies can be accessed by the living
To help transmute fear into hope;
Into love of life on earth
For heaven can wait
After all real heaven
on earth
is awaited
It is God that must come down
To earth
To transform it.
It is Jewish people on earth
Who the purely physical
To heaven must raise:
Men by praying together daily
In order to evil inclination overcome;
Women by taking care of their families,
Their homes…
Praying constantly as they work;
The prayer of presence
That the whole world raises
Like shamans
Breathing love of life into dead bones…
Judaism the key to world sustainability holds
For respect it has for righteousness
That transcends cultural differences
Respects races and creeds and philosophies
As God inspired in different ways
In different people
Has no need to impose itself on anyone
No need to converts make
No need to people’s specific ways of living bring to a halt
No need to empires build
No need to Roman Catholic be
Nor Messianic Evangelicals for that matter
No need to someone else mimic
Satisfied with how God made each and everyone:
Individual
And as part of a community with a specific purpose,
Each a particular gift to enhance life on earth
In this way
Heaven automatically follows
Makes its way down the Tree of Life
From (k)ether
To earth
Grounds godliness in the soil we sow seeds on
And from which we harvest
Nutrition
Medicine
Health
Longevity
Abundance
Despite death
Of bodies
As eternal soul we learn to muster.