Approaching Zion: Walking with God

[Artwork in this post by Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, 1862 - 1944) 

Previously in the Approaching Zion Series:

Childlike Consecration
Polygamy
Beauty and the Beast
The Doctrine of Christ
The Pure in Heart
One Heart and One Mind
A Refuge from the Storm
Go Ye Out of Babylon
The Seventh Seal
Watchmen and Waste Places
The Seven Heavens
The Kingdom of God on Earth
The Destiny of America
The Mystery of the Atonement

Pinky Promise
​
   Do I contradict myself?
   Very well then I contradict myself,
   (I am large, I contain multitudes.)

  ​― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Are you familiar with the concept of a "holarchy?"

A holarchy is a system composed of autonomous and intelligent individual "wholes" which combine to create the larger system.

But the interesting thing is these individual holons are not 'top to bottom' or 'bottom to top' (as in a hierarchy).  Instead, holons at one level are made up of the holons at another level.  In this way the holons are equal because they indwell each other.

Take your physical body and consider its constituent parts: "you" are composed of numerous systems, organs, cells, and processes that make up "you."  A single clock has many gears.

But you are also part of a larger ecosystem (think of your families and societies and spiritual systems).

In other words, each person is a "whole" that is comprised of smaller parts, while at the same time contributing to the workings of a greater system.

A pine tree has countless needles, and becomes itself a needle in a broader forest.

But are "you" your pinky?  Well, yes and no.  Your pinky is a part of you: if it hurts, you feel pained.  But you are much more than just a pinky!

This microcosm-macrocosm connection shows that all things are mirrors pointing towards the infinitesimal in one direction and towards infinitude in the other.

We look up and behold God.  We look down and behold God.  We look outside of ourselves and see God.  We look inside of ourselves and there He is.

   For there is no space
   in which there is no kingdom;
   and there is no kingdom
   in which there is no space.

(D&C 88:37)

We should understand that these kingdoms are not independent of one another, but are cascading mirrors on a spiritual scale. 

The "higher" kingdoms depend on the lower as much as the "lower" kingdoms require assistance from the higher.  There is balance in all things; these kingdoms interpenetrate and infuse one another.

God is everywhere, in all.  But while God is "above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things" (D&C 88:41), these "things" (here's the tricky part) are autonomous; they have agency!

Imagine if every cell in your body had a mind of its own.

  This is the mystery of God.

The Puzzling Aspects of God
​
​   And as to me, I know nothing else but miracles.

  ​― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

If there was only infinity, and nothing else, then there could not be infinity.  This is a paradox.

If infinity was all that existed, it would not be infinite because "infinity" can only be discerned against the backdrop of finitude.  A thing's opposite creates its mirror.  We are known through our reflection.

And so it is, with pleasure and pain, good and evil, light and darkness.  We call this "duality."

In a painting, the shades of color allow us to discern the objects on the canvass.  It is contrast that reveals the contours of a thing, as light silhouetting a shape.

Kingdoms are created as mirrors through which we see God in all His forms; it is through the contrast that we comprehend Him.

For who can gaze into infinity and see anything?  Infinity is incomprehensible; in its embrace all things lose individuality and uniqueness and identity; there is no "self" because there is nothing but infinity itself.

Therefore, an Infinite God can only be known to finite minds through His finite parts (and is the reason He remains hidden).

Thus we see God in a sunset, and in a baby's smile, and in the smell of cinnamon and baking bread; in the taste of lemon and peppermint; in the touch of a mother; and in the weeping of the leper and broken-hearted. 

   Unto what shall I liken
   these kingdoms,
   that ye may understand?

   Behold, all these
   are kingdoms,
   and any man who hath seen
   any or the least of these
   hath seen God.

(D&C 88:47)

Do not dismiss the face of God merely because it looks like our neighbor's.

The Danger of Plateaus

   This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless.

  ​― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Now, let's stop thinking God is confined to the Celestial: for in God all of His kingdoms are reconciled as One.  (We need to think beyond our simplistic, hierarchical view of heaven).

The reason the Terrestrial and Telestial kingdoms do not receive the fulness of the Father is not because His presence is not fully manifest here (for it is): it is because our limited perception (spiritual awareness) is unable to comprehend Him, just as our eyes cannot perceive infrared and ultraviolet colors ― even though our eyeballs are inundated with them.

Now my point: the way we Know God is not by seeing Him; anything we "see" is simply a piece of Him, a finite Form.  The way we Know God is by enlarging our spiritual minds to comprehend Him.

We do not come to know a person by "seeing" them (do your coworkers who sit next to you at the office, and see you every day, really "know" who you are, your true self?).

Seeing has very little to do with "knowing" (and in fact, can become a stumbling block because our eyes can deceive us).

   He who came unto his own
   was not comprehended.
   The light shineth in darkness,
   and the darkness
   comprehendeth it not.

(D&C 88:48-49)

Our LDS culture is a bit obsessed with material manifestations of God (perhaps because we preach a fanciful version of the First Vision that has a bit of Hollywood mixed in).

Consider the following:

"Seeing or speaking to angels often has negative consequences, and this is why there are strict rules restricting their interaction with [us].

"One’s progress is markedly retarded once they 'see' angels or the 'face of the Lord' . . . because when we 'see' them . . . it is easy to get distracted [and stop progressing toward] higher and higher spheres."

(Lance Weaver, "Seeing the Face of God," Gathered in One, at https://gatheredin.one/3177/seeing-the-face-of-god)

I wonder how many times I've "received" a spiritual experience and thereafter stopped seeking, short of the mark (which mark is, of course, the Most High God).

A New Take on the Kingdoms of Glory

   Do anything, but let it produce joy
   Your very flesh shall be
   a great poem

  ​― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
​
The Celestial kingdom is here; it is now!  The Celestial kingdom is constituted and vibrant and alive and active; you don't need to wait to be resurrected to enter into it.

Time collapses in the gravity well of God's love, while space expands forever along His heart strings.

God is no more "seeable" in the next world, or in the higher kingdoms, than He is here-and-now.  We "see" God when the eyes of our understanding are opened.

   You shall see me
   and know that I AM―​
   not with the carnal
   neither natural mind,
   but with the spiritual.

(D&C 67:10)

With this understanding, we begin to appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things, at all levels.

The "higher" kingdoms emerge from, and depend upon, the "lower" ones (just as we rely on our knees to walk).  And in turn the higher kingdoms guide and direct the lower ones (telling the knees which way to go).

These kingdoms form one great whole; they are not at odds.  It is not a contest.  They are not separate as we suppose.  They are One: mirrors of the same Being, who is God, at different levels of comprehension.

No wonder God asks us to have "pure" hearts ― for how could we ever see Him in a mirror caked with mud?

The Moon Walk

   You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light
   and of every moment of your life.

  ​― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

What's fascinating is that, as matter acquires sentience, the "higher" levels provide a framework for lower levels to develop and mature and grow, which in turn contributes to the evolution of the whole system.

This works in both positive and negative aspects, as Paul taught:

   And whether one member
   suffer, all the members
   suffer with it;
   or one member be honored,
   all the members
   rejoice with it.

(1 Cor. 12:26)

There is no glory God enjoys that we cannot share; and there is no pain we experience that does not move heaven.

The goal of God is to achieve a state of unity and harmony and integration at all levels of creation, which compose the body of Christ. 

We call this His "work" and His "glory" (Moses 1:39).  Simply stated, the work and the glory of God is to reconcile all of creation, all kingdoms, as "one."

We "walk with God" as we achieve harmony and balance between the lesser and greater parts (for if your knee is sore, you will not walk; if your head is asleep, your knees won't bend).

For did you think to "outgrow" the telestial?  We do not outgrow it as much as we increase to receive far more, and weightier, glories: but these are added upon the telestial.

Using the symbolism of D&C 76, just because we are alive in the light of the Sun (Celestial) does not diminish the beauty and wonder of the stars (Telestial); just because the stars do not exert a gravitational force upon the earth like the moon (Terrestrial) does not mean the stars are not able to provide light to those in darkness.

To "walk" with God is merely being "one" with Him, where you are, as you are.

Enoch showed us this in his anointing (remember "unction").  ​When he was 65 years old, he heard a voice from heaven saying:

   Enoch, my son . . .
   Behold my Spirit
   is upon you . . .
   thou shalt abide in me,
   and I in you;
   therefore walk with me.

(Moses 6:27, 34)

We are able to walk with God as a consequence of Him abiding in us, and us in Him.  Here, now.

This, then, explains how God can be "above" all things while also, at the same time, being "in" all things.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I have attempted a crude illustration of this principle, a spiritual holarchy, showing how we can be "in" God" even though He is greater than all.

Zion is the Pure in Heart?

   Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
   You must travel it by yourself.

  ​― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

I have decided Zion is here, now.  Among the pure in heart.

Zion is not the heritage of any earthly organization or church, for Zion is the heritage of the Lord ― and the promise of all who are pure in heart.

Purity of heart is the issue ― not any particular affiliation or identity.

   For this is Zion―
   THE PURE IN HEART.

(D&C 97:21)

Notice that Zion exists now, timelessly.  It is found in the lives of the pure in heart who stand in the presence of God, in whose eyes we see Him reflected.

What is the opposite of being "pure in heart?"  Well, that's what contrast is for: what does  "impurity of heart" look like?

I think we all know what physical impurity looks like (they taught us the signs in 9th Grade Health class).

The scriptures, though, are more concerned with our spiritual health.  Here is what they warn us spiritual sickness looks like:

   1. Channeling a spirit of fear; nurturing a negative mindset (in contrast to Jesus' optimism and hope)

   2. Wanting to exert authority and control over others (in contrast to Jesus' example of eschewing titles and being the least of all)

   3. Preaching principles of division; pointing the finger at 'wicked' groups; promoting separation and anger (in contrast to Jesus loving all people)

   4. Justifying inequality; believing the end justifies the means (in contrast to Jesus turning aside Satan's temptations on the Mount)

   5.  Rigid, fixed forms of thinking; extolling obedience to dogma and the commandments of men; subservience to hierarchical structures (in contrast to Jesus' example of pleasing His Father by choosing faith over Pharisaical rules)

   6. Seeking for riches; using our spiritual gifts and talents for gain; extorting tithing for temple tokens and covenants (in contrast to Jesus' example of poverty and sacrifice) 

Well, the prognosis isn't good: by every metric and measure, our churches have become impure ― or, to use Moroni's words:

   [Our] churches,
   yea, every one,
   have become polluted.

(Mormon 8:36)

But it's okay!  Let me explain why I remain cheerful, even as our churches have fallen into the embrace of Babylon, dancing a tango in the Cultural Hall, imbibing her punch ― even the wine poured out of the mouth of the Mother of Abominations, which is greed, corporatism, elitist hierarchies, inquisitional spirits, and meritocracies that mock the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Despite all that, we can proclaim from the rooftops, "Peace"; we need not be troubled.

Why?  Well, I used to think maybe, just maybe, God would right the sinking ship of religion; I hoped Jesus would send one mighty and strong and set things in order; I prayed for leaders like Captain Moroni who would raise a modern title of liberty in this kingdom of king men . . . .

But that's not how it works.  I was waiting so long for God to do something ― for God to fix things ― that I didn't realize that Christ had already fixed things.

While I was wringing my hands, waiting for external saviors to give us marching orders, I failed to see that the power of God unto salvation was already in me ― and it's in you!

I know now the truth:

   By faith,
   [we can] lay hold
   upon every good thing.

(Moroni 7:25)

I had become so programmed to hone in on keys and others' spiritual entitlements that I had allowed myself to become a slave, to be led away captive by the wiles of the devil.

But now Christ has liberated me from this error (don't worry, I have other issues I'm working on, it's a long list).

Because Christ has brought us "every good thing" (Moroni 7:22), we lack for nothing.  Well, except, perhaps, for faith to believe that in Him we "can do all things" (Phil. 4:13).

Let me assure you that everything we need, Christ has provided us already.  The power is within us, for God is in us.

Why do we look for someone else to tidy up this mess, when God has given us a broom and agency?

No more blame.  Let us take responsibility for our own walk with God.

   If we walk in the light,
   as He is in the light,
   we have fellowship
   one with another,
   and the blood
   of Jesus Christ his Son
   cleanseth us from all sin.

(1 John 1:7)

Remember, my friends, there is no such thing as "running" with God ― for He is in no hurry.  He has all the time in the universe.

Therefore, walk with Him.