why do i believe in magick? (subtitled: the haj to *my* j.c.)
the opportunity arose just as vonnegut promised.
"i am going to meet my heroes."
"i am going to meet the people i admire the most."
"i am going to meet jimmy carter."
not exactly mantras -- but i've said them all and said them many times.
and on march 13, 2005 -- i watched jimmy carter teach sunday school at the maranatha baptist church in plains, georgia. afterward, i stood to have my picture taken with him (the photo didn't turn out, so i have this incredible memory) -- and i thanked him. he probably thought i was thanking him for the opportunity to have my picture taken -- but there was far more sentiment behind those two words that i didn't have the time to tell him. he is one of my heroes.
his message that day was about american values. he said he's writing a book about it, and he's been thinking long and hard about the attack on american values. jimmy carter said that our values are not under attack from outside the united states, they are being threatened by our own -- the divide that is growing between liberals and conservatives, religious and non-religious, rich and poor, republicans and democrats, etc. and that the attacks are growing more and more viscious.
and he recalled the teachings of jesus, especially the one about the good samaritan. i'm not religious -- and i'm not a christian -- but i do believe that there is righteousness in the teachings of jesus (and mohammed, and crowley, and aj rose [you'll see!], etc.). but this message, was spot on.
jesus reached out to the hated; he built bridges to the despised.
president carter had this way of teaching -- so very calm and so very accepting of everyone. he frequently would pause and ask the congregation, "do you agree?" he would make a biblical reference and pause short of the entire quote so that the congregation could finish it together.
and somewhere in his presentation, he said to everyone something along the lines of "those of us who are here and are christian, we worship the prince of _______." and the congregation collectively said, "peace."
and he followed it up by saying, "we don't worship the prince of pre-emptive war."
i choked back tears. there were something like 400-500 people (only about 150 us in the church -- many watching video screens in another building) who heard that message that day. and now i'm passing it along. magical current.
president carter teaches sunday school at maranatha church and anyone can go. if you believe in meeting your heroes, i recommend doing it. i had no doubt that i would meet jimmy carter some day. i put it into the universe and when i found out how to make it happen, i did it. magick.
so for those of you wondering where i've been, roger asked me on march 1 if i'd be willing to take some time off and go to sunday school with him. we left one week later by train. atlanta is a civil rights mecca... seeing jimmy carter was the highlight of the trip, but i also had the chance to go to the jimmy carter museum & library and the martin luther king center (among other places like cnn [i was there the day of the courtroom shooting], centennial olympic park, the world of coca cola and turner field). the king center not only tells about the life of the reverend doctor martin luther king, jr., but also of ghandi and rosa parks, and their civil rights battles.
so that's how i spent my spring vacation this year. it sprang up out of the blue, and i highly recommend taking advantage of "unexpected travel suggestions."
i danced with god.
in plains, georgia.