Last night, after getting home from a day with family, I settled in on my couch and watched James Cameron's movie, "Avatar". I saw it twice when it was in the theatre and loved it. Watching it again last night, I remembered so many of the reasons why. At first, it was just because the film is so visually stunning. Cameron crafted a world that is so beautifully detailed. Just watching it again, I found myself thinking how cool it was to see. A feast for the eyes, for sure.
My thinking brain went on to be amazed at the technical achievement of it, how almost the entire movie is a creation from out of the computer and yet seems so real. I love the story, too. An outsider from another world learns the ways of a 'primitive' culture and discovers they aren't primitive at all, just different. He sees the errors of his own culture's ways--how might makes right doesn't, and ultimately takes his place among the native people, choosing to live the spiritual life and abandoning his former culture.
There's a lot of metaphor in this movie. It speaks real strongly to my perspective and my personal & political views. A powerful military that destroys other cultures? Check. A greedy corporation that will stop at nothing in their pursuit of profit? Check. But this blog really isn't the space for me to pontificate about the United States' bullying of the rest of the world, the wrongheaded pursuit of material things, or the genocide of the native American population.
In 'Avatar', the people of the alien planet have a spiritual knowledge--every living thing is connected. Cameron throws us a science bone on this to show that it is real, not superstition. But for me, this concept isn't a matter of science, it's one of faith. Maybe that's why I love this movie so much. For me, it describes the way I see the spiritual world here and now. I don't believe in a God that's watches over us from above. I believe in a spiritual essence that is part of us--not just every living thing, but every thing, period. Me. You. The animals. The trees. The rivers, streams, and sky.
The program teaches us to build a spiritual relationship with a power greater than ourselves. Many call that power 'God' but not everyone. I know people in Recovery who prefer the native American term 'Great Spirit'. I knew one alcoholic who called hers 'Big Blue'. There's a great joke about making a doorknob or a chair your higher power and letting that be your guide because at least then you won't have your idiot self running things anymore. But you know, even that makes sense to me because I see the spiritual as a power (or a force, or an energy) that is everywhere.
Another way I don't see the spiritual is as good versus evil. There's a great short story out there by Isaac Asimov where all the angels--including Satan--are servants of God. I talk occasionally about how right and wrong, good and evil, are human inventions. They are perspectives. I'm a fan of Christian Gnosticism. One of the books that wasn't included in the Christian bible, the book of Mary, talks about how we humans are the ones who create sin. Now, not everyone subscribes to this idea of moral relativism. Some people believe very strongly that right is right and wrong is wrong, period. But I have found than any example someone might give me of a concrete 'right' or 'wrong' can be easily countered. Murder? Totally wrong. Unless you're at war, in which case it's your sacred duty to kill. Incest? Evil shit. Unless you're royalty and concerned with continuing your blood lines. Stealing? Don't ever do that... unless you're starving and need to feed your family.
I dislike using the word 'God' to describe my higher power, but I do it because it's convenient. I'm human, limited. There really isn't a word for 'all of everything there ever was, is, isn't, will and won't be'. And I also have a hard time thinking of God as something outside myself. The spiritual is in me, is a part of me, not separate from me. I'm reminded of the Sci-Fi classic 'Stranger From A Strange Land' when the main character, after much deep searching, finally realizes he understands God and then proceeds to go around telling everyone he meets, "thou art God!" Again, it's the same theme: we are all connected; the spiritual is in us. It is us, and we are it.
Maybe I'll start calling my higher power 'Infinite All'.
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