For Saint Ephrem

Saint of uncontainable joy,
You loved, and gently tip-touched,
The sacred mysteries of God.

You became one with silence
At the edge of sacred time,
And understood that all times
Are contained in every time,
That sometimes only the smallest can hold heaven,
And that eternity can often be found
In a grain of sand.

Delighting in the Bridegroom,
I see you dancing, forever,
On the perimeters of paradox.

Gargoyle

Soaring cathedral spirit high,
Surrounded by little monsters shy
In such a sacred, holy place,
Your presence seems so out of place.

And yet, somehow, you fit,
The veil between our worlds is slit,
And in stained-glass holy light
You speak of bonfires, and pagans, and
Ghost filled night.

Ferocious ancient gods of night,
Made small because of Christian light
Now smile
Adorning edge of sacred place,
'Round priest, and prayer, and saintly face.

Now we of scientific mind
Have left such darkened thoughts behind,
And cleansed our churches and hearts,
Of the monsters and demons of the blind.

But ancient gods not given place,
Return full-size with angry face,
And we bow down,
In war, and treachery, and sex,
Not remembering.

So let's bring back the little creatures
And let them be our constant teachers,
Reminding us
That though our spirits soar towards light,
Our earth-souls still belong to night.

Moab Coyote 2001

Oh my coyote,
They say you bring
Wisdom.
But I have watched you,
And I know you bring not wisdom,
But hell.
Just when heaven is within reach
You make sure its opposite
Is there to sting.
Like the desert.
The sting of hell
That no explanation
No consciousness
And no preparation
Can ever take away.

Oh my coyote,
When you destroy me
With your hell,
Please try to leave
A little something
Standing.

Fate, Destiny, and Character

Oedipus tried to avoid his fate. He tried to flee the fateful oracle that said he would kill his father and marry his mother. But Oedipus learned the hard way what all good Greeks knew, that you can't avoid your fate. For Oedipus, this was the beginning of wisdom.

Anakin Skywalker sold his soul in order to change fate. He gave in to the diabolical lie that if you sell your soul to the devil, you can get want you want in return=avoid fate. Anakin's journey is more like that of Faust than Oedipus. Anakin learned in the end that by selling your soul you don't get what you want. Instead, you destroy what you love.

Luke Skywalker tried neither to avoid his fate, nor to change his fate. He simply purposed to love his father and redeem him, or die in the attempt. Darth Vader tempted him to accept his destiny of following the dark side as his father had, but Luke would have none of it. He was not obsessed with his fate. Thus he fulfilled his destiny.

It seems to me that the difference, for all of us, between fate and destiny is character. We have all been endowed with genetic, family, and life factors that certainly seem like an oracle locking us into a predetermined path. If we try to avoid that oracle, we will fulfill it. If we sell our souls to avoid that oracle, we will destroy ourselves and those we love. But if we accept the cards that life has dealt us, and purpose in our souls to do the very best we can with who we are, then we move from fate to destiny. Fate looks backwards towards an oracle, or a dream, or a bad life situation. Destiny always looks forward. The difference between fate, and destiny, is character.

A Disturbance In The Force

Darth Vegas, my Sith friend, has seen Revenge Of The Sith twice. On consecutive days. The first two days. This is most unusual. A great disturbance in the Force there is. Twisted by the dark side she has become. Pouring money into Skywalker Ranch she will continue to do, as she searches the galaxy for Darth Tater. I don't know what has happened to her. She was my chosen one.

Simply The Best

I have seen Revenge Of The Sith twice. At this point I am thinking that, all things considered, Revenge Of The Sith may be the best of all the Star Wars movies. The first one was the most fun, and The Empire Strikes Back was the best made, and introduced us to the deeper mythological themes teeming in Lucas' mind. But for breadth of scope, emotional texture, action, mythology, and tragedy, Revenge Of The Sith is the magnum opus. It is the crescendo that all the movies either point toward, or look back to. And to end the Star Wars saga with the crescendo is great form. How often do you get that?

Homerun

All things considered, Revenge Of The Sith was a homerun. I had tears in my eyes at the end. This movie needed to have the most emotional impact of all, and it certainly did. What Anakin feared the most, in the end, he brought about. A true tragedy. Bravo!

Coyote Haiku

Crazy Coyote
Standing in line for Star Wars
Without your iPod

Sith Happens

Is anything better than the anticipation?

I hope Lucas hits a home run with Revenge of the Sith. But it seems to me that in many ways right now is the very best time for Star Wars fans. The anticipation is just wonderful. I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I will be at the 12:01 show with my two sons, and then at the 7:45 show that night with my wife, two nephews, and other family members. What a great ride it has been!

Yesterday a friend of mine showed me a movie poster he bought several years ago for two-hundred dollars. On the bottom it says Revenge Of The Jedi. Totally awesome. One of the holy grails. I think there are only a few hundred of these in existence. His talking Yoda is cool too!

The Jedi have a lot of problems. I think this movie will show that, for whatever reasons, the Jedi missed a lot of obvious stuff, and that knowing the Force does not necessarily bring wisdom. Sith happens.

And speaking of Sith, and knowing that Lucas is writing, somewhat at least, from a Joseph Campbell worldview, I think there is a lesson here that has universal psychological reality. What we deny and repress always comes back with a vengence. As a therapist I see it every single day in my practice, and I see it in my life and the lives of my friends. God has arranged the world so that our darkness never stays hidden for very long. No matter what our darkness is, whether it is an addiction, an attitude, a character quality, or something we have done, if we try to push it away, it always, always, always comes back. 100 percent guaranteed. Knowing this is the beginning of wisdom. We must acknowledge our darkness, we must embrace our darkness, and we must expose our darkness to God and to others. This is the ONLY path to healing. This is the only path that will bring balance to the Force.

So, the saga concludes. What great fun. I have grown up on these stories. I am sorry to see them end.

Stupid Coyote

Stupid Coyote

Every morning you wake up
And see your tail
As if for the first time.

Then you chase it
Over and over again.
Round and round you go.

Nobody should have that much fun.