The Film Farm

Across the universe

jclements — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:17:01 +0000

If all things are connected. If God is everywhere. In your cheery pie. Your swimming pool. Your child. The sunset. The river. The laptop. The toy red truck. The IV. The headstone. The baby’s breath. Then all is sweet and good. I am sweet and good. You are sweet and good. And we are all God. And if we are all God than nothing can separate us from God. Try thinking/feeling this. Once I realized that I was part of God and everything around me was too I felt such peace. I belonged. The universe is good. And together. With me inside of it, I am part of something delicious and holy. We are all that.

J Clements

Toying with God

jclements — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:05:12 +0000

I can remember being a child and playing a game in my mind about proof of God’s existence. I was on my bed watching clouds go by. If God existed then RIGHT NOW the cloud would pass over the sun. And sometimes it did. And sometimes it didn’t. Not a reliable sign. My little games ceased when I was sixteen. At that age I had a near death experience. The white tunnel, the bright light, the feeling of falling towards God in other words the whole shebang. I was ecstatic; a joy with no name. But then I thought of my mother, and my dog, and I knew I could not leave. The second I realized that everything went in reverse. When I woke up I felt utterly, infinitely euphoric. It lasted for days. I no longer needed to play the proof game. God was here all right. I suspect that the Beloved plays with us more than we return the favor.

J Clements

Planned anarchy

jclements — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:56:44 +0000

Man oh man. Sometimes life tumbles at me like a rolling stone. Problems. Sadness. Pain–physical and other wise. Sometime the most sublime situations become rife with complications. Why? Is my lesson that things can never stay the same? Check. Is it that I am not in control? Check. Is it that what seems soooo good always has a cost? Check. Is it that the situation is part of a greater whole and so my wishes, beliefs are minor or even minute? Check. Is it that I was just fooling myself and it was just never that great in the first place? Check. I get it. But sometimes I don’t remember it. It is in Your planned anarchy that I swim. You provoke me. You prod me. You won’t let me rest.

J Clements

In God I trust

jclements — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:45:07 +0000

Justice. Sometimes justice loses. Sometimes justice is replaced by righteousness.In my town the public fear the police. In my town it feels like the newspaper crusades against people before proven guilty in the court of law. We invade a country with our armed forces. Justice? We spread our crass commercial culture–the worst of ourselves–tv, gross satire, nudity, violence in a dominating spread over ancient cultures. Justice? Water becomes a commodity, not a right. Justice? Though we have many wonderful attributes about our government and our country–let us not forget that our country was founded by injustice. In God I trust–that You show us the way. Please. Now.

J Clements

Starsky and Hutch

jclements — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:28:56 +0000

In our “enemies” we encounter God. Why? Because we are forced to find their humanity. In our despair we find God’s grace. In our suffering we are touched by the hand of God, and given an open door to the Beloved. Dearest Beloved–you are the thief in the night, you are the dark night before the dawn, you are the masquerading prankster, the giver and the taker, the party host and hostess, the pilot, the ‘bumbling’ clown, the drummer boy, the baby in the manger. You are in everybody and in everything. Starsky and Hutch undercover.

J Clements

Grace happens

jclements — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:51:05 +0000

There is grace every where I turn. Am I worthy of it? Of course not. Maybe grace just happens. Like the flaming maple tree the color of tomato soup that stands outside my bedroom window, waving in the wind. Maybe it is the call in the morning from a friend who offers a walk. Maybe it is as simple as spying a quarter on a floor when in despair over our economy. Hope, follows grace. They are twin sisters. But if blind to the presence of grace, you’ll be blind to hope. May I always greet these two in my darkest hours.

J Clements

Dancing to God

jclements — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:55:37 +0000

Some people carry the good book around with them. Or the Koran. The Torah. Or we wear crosses. Or special hats, scarves, veils. These are tools reminding us of our respective devotion. Though I have images of Tara and Buddha in my home I am sad to write that I have not utilized them in this manner. My visual sense gets wrapped up the beauty–and I am forever sidetracked there. I think I might need more visceral tools. My walking, dancing–maybe those are my tools of devotion. And–this project.

J Clements

Recovering

jclements — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:46:45 +0000

Recover from our human births. Uncover our relationship with You. Recover from the darkness of the world. Uncover our innate joy. Recovery. Uncover. Recover. A moving target that never settles. We only know that we are continually recovering from something, and uncovering something. One step at a time.

J Clements

One

jclements — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:18:05 +0000

I saw the film The Mighty Heart –a narrative feature based on the true story of journalist Daniel Pearl and his terrifying murder by fundamentalist Islamic extremists in Pakistan. The absurdity, arrogance, aggressiveness of believing that your god is the only true god hit home after watching this astonishing film. God did not make every one the same—why would there just be one religion? Who is to say that the one true God is not made up of the various different beliefs of the various different cultures. The world is nuanced. It encompasses shades of grey not just black and white. In the multitudinous ways of reaching us God is one. The many in the One.

It is one thing to believe that one is right, another to believe that others are wrong and will go to hell, and another to think that those who are destined for hell might as well be killed for being infidels. It is a slippery slope when one starts to restrict God. As the bumper sticker says—God is too big for just one religion.

J Clements

Quintessence

jclements — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:15:27 +0000

The scent of vanilla. The sharp green eyes of a youth. The deep eyes of a dog, the head turn of a cat. The ants carrying heavy loads of food for the benefit of all. The coyote howl. The shape of the leaf from a ginkgo tree . The hot pink of a zinnia. And when you read this—are we together? Are you in this with me? I hope so. This coming together with words can become as quintessential as the taste of an autumn apple fresh from the tree.

J Clements