See That My Grave Is Kept Green

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhNJED8yfdE

I didn’t know until today that there was a song called “See That My Grave Is Kept Green.” It was written by Gus Williams in the 1870’s. Bela Lam and the Greene County Singers recorded it in 1927, and the Carter Family recorded it in 1933.

I realize that people have certain traditions and customs about preserving the memory of the dead. And yet, given that humanity is in a race to save human civilization, given that humanity is facing a global emergency, everything has to be open to re-evaluation.

See that my grave is kept green

Oh the day will come to you darling
When no more on earth I’ll be seen
There is one little wish darling grant me
See that my grave is kept green

By “green,” I don’t mean “covered with well-mown, chemically treated grass.” By “green,” I mean something that is pliant, supple and alive. By “green,” I mean something that is contributing to the world long after I’m gone. There is one little wish please grant me, when my time comes to pass. Please grow food on my grave, don’t waste it growing grass.

When from this world I go
Leaving forever the scene
While others are dead oh will you then
See that my grave is kept green

See that my grave is kept green. And yet, I realize some people might not appreciate this arrangement. Perhaps a compromise would be to have my ashes be the nutrient in which the seed of a tree can grow. The Bios Urn and the Spiritree are instances of this. I know some people who go on and on about the need for carbon sequestration, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Who knows, they might be right. But we already have highly efficient carbon sequestration devices. They’re called trees, and planting more of them, and cutting down less of them, generally speaking, is a good thing, in my opinion. Perhaps it would be a good thing if more people became trees after their deaths.

Tell me you’ll think of the happy past
Think of the joys we have seen
This one little promise keep for me
See that my grave’s kept green

algae-lamp See that my grave is kept green

See that my grave is kept green. I would like to offer another alternative. I would like my grave to be lit. Not in a way that consumes energy, but with an algae-powered lamp that absorbs carbon dioxide 200 times more efficiently than a tree. Who knows, maybe one day they will be call Callejas, in honor of the inventor Pierre Calleja.

Oh the days will come to you darling
When no more on earth I’ll be
Oh the days will come to you darling
When no more on earth I’ll be seen
One sweet little wish darling grant me
See that my grave’s kept green
See that my grave’s kept green

In the revelation “The Global Emergency,” the New Message from God teaches:

“Do not think this will be easy. Do not think it will require only a few things to alter the course that humanity is currently on. Do not think there are easy and basic solutions. There are a thousand solutions that will be needed, and you only have a few. You will have to find the others, and it will take great human effort and collaboration to make this possible.”

I’d like to think I’m helping by offering some possibilities.

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Astonishment, Rejoicing, Gratitude

Step329-field-of-sunflowers Astonishment, rejoicing, gratitude

Loving a world that is full of error and its consequences takes some work. I’ve been told to beware the world’s persuasions. And yet, I’ve been told the world needs my efforts to become a better and stronger person.

Astonishment, rejoicing, gratitude

When much is required of me, I find poetry to be a great consolation. I have shared four poems by the American poet Mary Oliver so far. The poem “Messenger” appeared in the book “Thirst,” published in 2007.

Messenger

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird — equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect?
Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium. The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes, a mouth with which to give shouts of joy to the moth
and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam, telling them all,
over and over, how it is that we live forever.

Astonishment, rejoicing, gratitude. I have taken the liberty of making two versions of this poem, one without music, and one with music.

Astonishment, rejoicing, gratitude. The speaker for each species must say something to that species. Can I tell a dying species how it is that we live forever? All I know to say at this point is “I’m sorry” and “Please forgive me.” I’m not as pure as Mary Oliver yet, but I’m working on it.

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

What Is The Song That The Singer Must Sing?

jane-goodall-birthday-80 What is the song that the singer must sing?

I was recently having a conversation with a friend regarding a Bible passage. The passage in question was in Genesis 22, where God is declaring the great blessings Abraham would receive in response to his great victory of faith and obedience. One translation renders one of these blessings as “…in you [Abraham] all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3, English Standard Version). My friend said something to the effect that maybe when God said “families,” he was not only thinking about all the human families of the world, but all the plant and animal families as well.

What is the song that the singer must sing?

That conversation sparked something in me. Some time ago, I dreamed a beautiful dream. My dream is for every plant and animal species on earth to have at least one human advocate, one human singer. For example, I consider Dame Jane Goodall to be an excellent advocate for chimpanzees and other great apes. I believe the world needs a few million more Jane Goodalls to advocate for other species. I’ll settle for a few thousand more at this point. I haven’t picked a species yet. Perhaps I should just to set an example. But what came to me recently was the idea of the responsibilities of such an advocate.

What is the song that the singer must sing? Article II, Section 3 of the U. S. Constitution says that the President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;” This is the Constitutional basis for the annual State of the Union Address. I am telling you this to tell you that the advocate for a given species has the responsibility of giving from time to time information of the state of that species, and recommending to the consideration of the world such measures he or she deems necessary and expedient.

What is the song that the singer must sing? I would like each day of the year to be a day where the annual State of the Species address for at least one species. Unlike the State of the Union Address, which has become a bloated exercise in political pageantry, I would like the State of the Species address to be relatively succinct. Something like “Here’s where the species is thriving, here’s where the species is struggling, this is what’s causing the species to struggle, and here’s what the world could do about it.” I would like there to be a limited number of bullet points in each category, to ensure that the advocate focuses on what is truly essential.

What is the song that the singer must sing? I believe you get the idea. I realize this is a dream at this point. Of such I dream, my world! And yet, I consider it a beautiful dream. It is a little dream on the way to the bigger dream of a humanity that is no longer a reckless, adolescent, destructive race. I hope that when you see me, you will find me working on this dream.

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

I Wish To Recall Peace Much More Than War

Japan-2013-1008_web-lrg I wish to recall peace much more than war

The New Message from God teaches that our world is emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. Students of Steps to Knowledge, like me, are instructed to take an inventory of our thoughts and feelings regarding such an idea. As I pondered this, what came to me is that in order to make this transition successfully, humanity must overcome its divisions of ethnicity, nationality and religion. I’m not trying to say they should be erased, but I am trying to say they should not be considered worthy of killing people and breaking things. If I believe this, then I wish to recall peace much more than war.

I wish to recall peace much more than war

I have a modest proposal. I consider war memorials to be part of the problem. Even a victory is a funeral. Both China and South Korea condemned the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine was condemned as a justification of war And yet, people need a way to remember the courage and gallantry of their countrymen who served in war.

I wish to recall peace much more than war. If it were up to me, I would put a statute of limitations on war memorials. I would require that war memorials be removed a certain number of years after the war began. For example, I would require that all American Civil War memorials be removed, as all the combatants are long gone. Why do we wish to look fondly on a failure? We should not celebrate a war, even if we won; we should rather regret that we were not able to prevent the war in the first place. Abraham Lincoln expressed this sentiment to a certain degree in his Second Inaugural Address.

“On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.”

I wish to recall peace much more than war. And yet, it has been brought to my attention that as an American, I have a certain interest in letting the past speak freely, without filtering or censorship. Therefore, perhaps my original proposal isn’t such a hot idea. I have a second proposal, and I hope this one is better. The proposal is to create memorials to peace treaties between nations. Here are some examples.

Signing_of_Treaty_of_Ghent_(1812) I wish to recall peace much more than warI wish to recall peace much more than war. The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24, 1814, ending hostilities between Great Britain and the United States. The United Kingdom and the United States have been at peace for over 201 years. Now that’s something to celebrate! I would like there to be monuments to that peace in both London and Washington. Furthermore, I would like there to be memorials in places related to the war. Since the United States attacked Canada during the War of 1812, I believe the city of Detroit, so close to Canada, would be an excellent location for such a peace memorial.

entente cordiale 1904 - 3 I wish to recall peace much more than warI wish to recall peace much more than war. On April 8, 1904, the United Kingdom and France signed the Entente Cordiale (“cordial agreement” or “cordial understanding”) ending centuries of hostility and rivalry. The United Kingdom and France have been at peace for over 111 years. Now that’s something to celebrate! I would like there to be memorials to this in both London and Paris. I would like there to be memorials to this in Dover and La Havre. I would like for April 8 to be celebrated in England and France.

Camp_David,_Menachem_Begin,_Anwar_Sadat,_1978 I wish to recall peace much more than warI wish to recall peace much more than war. On September 17, 1978, Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, ending 30 years of various levels of hostility between the two nations. Israel and Egypt have been at peace for over 37 years. Now that’s something to celebrate! I would like there to be memorials to this accomplishment in both Jerusalem and Cairo. I would like there to be a memorial somewhere along the border between Israel and Egypt. I would like this day to be celebrated with bourekas and rugelach, with roz bil-laban and qara’ ‘asali..

I wish to recall peace much more than war. I believe you get the idea. I realize this is a dream at this point. Of such I dream, my world! And yet, it is a beautiful dream. It is a little dream on the way to the greater dream of a unified humanity. I hope that when you see me, you will find me working on this dream.

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.