December, 2013

Today we saw another Met Live in HD opera presentation.  It was Thomas Ades’sThe Tempest, based on the Shakespeare play of the same name.  The music is very modernist and the libretto has been modernized, with but a few of The Bard’s most famous lines surviving.  (“Those are pearls that were his eyes.”)  One character observes that “fortune, ’tis said, favors the bold.”  Certainly, as tomorrow is Veterans Day, we honor the boldest among us, a boldness motivated by love.

The Tempest is an odd story of revenge, forgiveness and release.  Prospero, a magician of fading powers, was Duke of Milan until his brother betrayed him and made a deal with the King of Milan to depose him and exile him and his young daughter Miranda to an enchanted island.  There he rules, served by Caliban (who believes himself the king of the island) and Ariel, a sprite. Prospero has Ariel arrange a storm (“The Tempest”) to bring his enemies to the island, where he plans to get revenge.  When they arrive, however, the son of the King of Florence, Ferdinand, falls in love with Miranda.  At first, Prospero tries to stop it, but they keep falling in love and eventually, he forgives his enemies and releases his daughter to marry the man she loves.  (A happy ending?  In an opera?)   Miranda and Ferdinand lead him there.  Prospero gets his dukedom back and Caliban gets his island back.

So what does The Tempest tell us?  Well, it tells us that as we plot revenge for those who may (in our perception) have wronged us, our power diminishes.  We’re out of alignment.  Things go wrong.  “The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve.”  And that is certainly the way things are headed for Prospero, Miranda, Caliban, and everyone else.  But when we forgive and release, all things are added. That which we’re working for is attracted to us.  But that takes boldness.  It’s somewhat counterintuitive.

So we accept boldness, forgiveness, and release, knowing that the ever-greater is always right at hand, that even as the great globe itself dissolves, Spirit is at work, bringing us ever-greater good.

Today we saw Oz the Great and Powerful.  Very fun movie — a prequel to The Wizard of Oz — and some interesting metaphysical lessons.

When we first meet the Wizard in Kansas (true to The Wizard of Oz, this part is in black and white), he is neither great nor powerful, but is a circus magician and something of a cad with his female assistants.  (Check out the name of the circus; I won’t mention it, but it’s quite a fun inside joke.)  He is doing magic shows for audiences.  Someone spots the wire on his female assistant that is holding her up, so he makes her disappear.  He explains that you can do anything if you believe.  A little girl asks him to make her walk (she is crippled).  He can’t, and he runs away.  The entire town and many of the circus performers are chasing him.  He hops in a hot-air balloon, gets caught in a tornado, and lands in a river.

A pretty woman comes along and explains to him that he is in the Land of Oz (convenient, since his name is Oswald and as a magician, he is billed as “Oz the Great and Powerful.”)  She tells him about a prophecy given by their late King when he was killed that a great wizard will arrive and save them from the wicked witch.  It turns out she’s a witch herself.

They begin the trip towards the Emerald City.  Along the way, they encounter a talking, winged monkey who is about to be eaten by a lion and Oz saves him.  The monkey becomes his devoted servant.  When they reach the Emerald City, he enters the palace, is shown the gold that belongs to the King, and meets the girl’s sister, also a witch.  She presents herself as the guardian of the palace.

Oz and his monkey go out to save the land.  Along the way, they find a china doll whose family has been shattered.  He asks her to walk towards him, but she can’t — her legs are broken off.  The wizard fixes them with a magical substance (glue).  She insists on going with him.

They encounter the witch.  The wizard was told that if he broke her wand, he could kill the wicked witch, fulfill the prophecy, and become king.  So he sends the monkey around a flank and sneaks up on the witch.  He’s gets her wand, then discovers that she is a pretty blonde.  She says she is Glinda the Good.  They team up to save the Land of Oz from the witch.

Meanwhile, back at the palace, the witch has seen in her crystal ball that Oz and Glinda have teamed up.  She plays off the jealousy in her sister (who wants to be Oz’s queen) to get her to bite an apple, which turns her wicked — and green.

Oz, Glinda, the monkey, and the china doll arrive in the Emerald City to great acclaim.   Unfortunately, the sister witches have an army and all Oz has is tinkers, farmers, and Munchkins.  But they gain entrance to the city, and using various tricks and tools that he has devised (which are nothing but pure prestidigitation), they save the city.

There are several metaphysical lessons in this movie:

It’s all about changing perception.  There is no way that the wizard and his ragtag allies can defeat the witches and their army, but he changes the perception and they do it.  Isn’t that what we do  — change perception and consciousness and thus change the circumstances?

There is greatness in everyone.  When Oz says he only wants to be a great man, Glinda sees the greatness in him, even though he is a self-described con man.

“Do all you can with what you have in the time you have in the place you are.”

You may not get what you want, but you always get what you need.  At one point, Oz says to Glinda, “I’m sorry I’m not the wizard you were anticipating, but I may just be the wizard you need.”  He certainly seems to be that, as his tricks save the day – just what was needed.

Never give power to your fear.  The people of Oz are living in great fear of the powerful Wicked Witch and are desperate to be saved from her power.  When you fear, you empower what you fear.

And the movie’s biggest theme — you can do anything if you believe.

 Today we saw The Great Gatsby.  It’s an excellent adaptation of the classic Fitzgerald novel. The Great Gatsby is about striving, dreaming, and trying to restore what was.  Jay Gatsby is a man who has remade himself from a penniless war veteran into a millionaire, all in pursuit of his lost love, Daisy, who is now married to Tom Buchanan.  Tom is old money. The green light at the Buchanans’ residence across the harbor represents the dream that is just out of reach for Gatsby.  At one point, he’s talking to his friend Nick, the narrator (and most likely Fitzgerald’s alter ego.)  He asks if his preparations are “too much.” “It’s what you want,” says Nick.

So what do we want?  Is it too much?  Is that dream just out of reach?  Are you standing on the dock, staring at that green light?

Time for action.

So …  Knowing that there is only One, that It is all of us, that everything is that One, knowing that, as Robert Browning said, “Man’s reach must exceed his grasp/Else what’s a Heaven for?”, I simply now know and accept that Life moves forward.  We cannot go back.  But dreams are always made real, if we focus and follow Divine guidance.

I am thankful for that beacon of light beckoning us all to reach for dreams and I am grateful for the knowledge that we can make of our circumstances whatever we choose to make them.  I accept this in gratitude, and I release it to Divine Law.

And SO it IS.

Tim Phares is a founding member of Celebration Center

A hundred million miracles are happ’ning ev’ry day,
And those who say they don’t agree
Are those who do not hear or see.
– Oscar Hammerstein III, “A Hundred Million Miracles,”  from Flower Drum Song

What are you doing right now? Silly question, of course: You’re reading this article. But have you contemplated the miraculous chain of events that enables you to read these words? I am sitting here at my keyboard, typing these words. A few clicks send them out and a few more clicks post them on this site. Then, with just a few clicks, you are able to read them. This is just one of the hundred million miracles each day to which Oscar Hammerstein’s lyric, quoted above, refer.

Recently, this song was played on one of our favorite radio programs, Footlight Parade: The Sounds of the American Musical. It’s one of many from the Broadway stage that promotes a positive, spiritual, empowering message.

The science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” How much of that magic does it take simply to create this article and for you to read it?

Well, yes, I hear you say, but it’s all science and engineering. It’s just a network of wires transmitting electronic signals. Not miracles, just technology. OK, then, what enabled that to happen? A Course in Miracles says, “Miracles are natural. If they are not occurring, something has gone wrong.”

Every day, we are surrounded by miracles. Remember Einstein’s rule. We can approach life as if everything is a miracle or as if nothing is. What do you think will yield better results – a happier, more inspired life, a more prosperous, productive life? I submit that we ought to live in conscious awareness of the miracles all around, of the hundred million miracles happening every day.

Practioner Tim Phares is a founding member of Celebration Center.