Sol's Inner Vault

You can call it a conversation, but it's gone on for a millennium or longer, no one is certain how long. The difficult dialogue between two tethered states of being continues because they are forever parallel to each other, no points ever intersecting, intellect and faith: "You've stressed your ways of blind believing for a thousand years by now. Do you have no other rationale for your path? You are loyal, that is certain, even beyond strange and contradictory Scripture that puzzles even you. But, who can follow your logic? Even the incomprehensible doesn't generate one ion of doubt? Then you, Faith, are unshakeable!"  "You misunderstand me so grandly, Intellect, but it's clear the cause, using logic as compass can still get you quite lost. But, I am a bit shakeable, yet the point of all faith is 'Don't Break'. A little shake makes me stronger over time. To comprehend who I am, you have to feel me, not think me! Feel me?" "Not exactl

It's in between the small shadows that separate us, a crevice rarely seen but influential, the essence of all that binds us into one type of human, beneath the superficial quarrels or feigned differences of trifles, a certain kinetic power that electrifies our very being, some call it the soul for shorthand, an idea that has certainly endured.  Forget there's no evidence at all you could submit to any court, yet the echo of our spirit follows us thru every valley of resonance and common experience, the soul as every man and woman's twin, beyond the hard proof of facts is the intuitive realm of deliverance, the intrinsic laws we didn't know, but always knew by other names and languages lost to the ages, buried cave symbols and drawings that describe the soul as something real with wings, who then doubts these timeless things?

Cherish the wild for its purity, its wisdom beyond word. Untouched by human influence or distortion, the wild roams on in our dreams, or remains shrouded in mists of wonder and rapt silence. Blessed are the wild souls untied to worldly pleasure and worry, free from the drudgery of time, turned only by direction of instinct, driven by secret gravity of order, unknown and known both gone, forgotten in a blink of momentary haze through the stands of trees, a seamless symmetry, if not for the eternal wild, all of us wander lost.  

This must be written backwards. Last to first, deceptive time passes in fast-slow illusion, or not at all. There was choosing before you were you, before you had a name and face, before your DNA became the human who is living in the world as if you've never been. Then your choosing began, go this way, go that way, deciding who you should be while a world nods its acceptance-- it's a daily reverie! It's been your destiny, your story written as you constantly create the identity most inclined to your unique frequency, no one else is that authority.  It's been the mission, the assignment, the reason to believe each new day is worthy of passing in its own quiet glory, this old universe so full of dark mystery.  It has been the path of your life, you are still on it, it is still before you, still the unknown to discover.

It was obvious my close friend was annoyed. It wasn't the answer he wanted or expected, the question being: is humankind intrinsically good? He says no chance of that being true or even possible. In fact, my friend thinks the opposite--that humans are basically not good by nature. My answer: there is no compelling evidence for either good or bad. All I really know about our kind, homosapiens, is that we are, thus far, survivors. That's all I know. Whether we are good or bad is more driven by our own survival, and the survival of loved ones. There's no higher code than this, and our actions at any given moment are governed by the circumstances at hand. Very often, the protection of those we cherish supercedes our own instinct to live, so we sacrifice for them willingly. Our life for theirs, the selflessness that only makes sense to the specie's generational memory, and the greater good. The qualities of our better angels can be so illusive in daily life. Simple charity o

We cannot lose ourselves. We cannot ditch our shadow. So, can we ever see things as they are? Aren't we always included in whatever we try to see clearly? There is no true clarity, we are the lens, focus, and image all at once.  Our own unique influences are part of any observation, analysis, conclusion, or any process of comprehension. We are in what we see, so we can't see reality without being part of its scenery. Human objectivity is impossible even for a single moment in time, because we always come along instrinsicly, reflexively, hopelessly attached to the subject in sight. So, reality becomes only a temporary agreement between observers tethered to their respective space. We agree this is a tree, that is a house, there is the sky over us all. Flimsy agreements at best, so you'd think the general instability that seems to be the fabric of existence would harbor our mortal humility or something like grace. Yet, no signs of that as thousands of mindless missiles from h

Jesus of Nazareth was many things, and someday all will be revealed. Yet, one characteristic certainly framed his powerful persona and astoundingly enduring influence: Jesus was no fool. With unsentimental, keen awareness, he knew exactly where he was, the moment in time which was Rome's moment, and the hard political reality of his people. Some among his rapidly expanding followers-- the restless or angrier men-- wanted Jesus to take up the sword of revolution. They wanted challenge or conflict with the regional authority, even combat to regain their autonomy. Jesus, carpenter by learned trade, and prophet-teacher-rabbi by natural inclination and talent, was not a soldier that way. He knew too much about the selfish hearts of men, the bitterness of hatred, and God's redemptive salvation.  Loving and forgiving are more powerful than fighting, Jesus believed in his heart, even though he too had his moments of grave doubt or confusion. Jesus took no comfort in the Mosaic traditio

Isaiah 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! ... " "So, here's your so-called prophecy, an unlikely story! Hasn't changed much over the countless millenniums. You want us to just believe- on faith alone- in a God who so far still remains hidden, who allows random suffering of innocents, and who then offers up only an unknowable promise of life after mortal death. Is that right?  I thought your God was powerful and all-knowing, the greatest force in the universe! So then, why allow a schoolroom full of children to be blown into death's oblivion? Why allow mass famine, cancer, world wars? Why allow pain? Why allow senseless, irrational death and loss to occur for no reason? Your omnipotent God can stop it all instantly, but doesn't? Why? That's the aloof God you worship? Indifferent to human suffering, all so unnecessary or horrific? Why?  Why would we bel