The Kabbala, the Jewish Books of the Mystics, teaches that it is God’s wish to be good and transform ego and conquest into a “will to receive and bestow on others.” By performing good deeds and exhibiting altruism, human beings elevate sparks of divine light, completing tikkum olam (spiritual repair). His wish was to bring human beings into alignment with the divine nature of unconditional love (think of Jesus Christ). You who hate others; beware, in the Kabalah, God promised to return and strike cruel people and haters down with fire. I can’t say I believe in God, but I can say I love reading the Kabbalah, and there is something to it. Look out for smoke, those who preach hate.
I love the Kabbalah’s way of looking at it. God wants humans to mirror his nature, characterized by kindness, compassion, and giving. (Blasphemy is everywhere, worst among the most religious.
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Note: Today, the first flower art photos were taken outside in my new and smaller garden bed on the back porch. If any flower speaks of Spring, it’s the Pansies.
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My assistant got a better offer.
It seems to me that mystics across all religious traditions and expressions have quite a shared affection and share a common language, which is often that of acceptance, love, peace, coexistence, contentment. They share far more with the mystics in other religions than with the fundamentalists of their own, who themselves seem to share values with other fundamentalists which do not promote both personal and community good. Jon, your voice, which I “hear” so clearly in your photographs, speaks the language of the mystics rooted in the earth.