The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Twelve

"That's how you came here, like a star
without a name. Move across the night sky
with those anonymous lights."
Rumi

From the Editor: One of the first rules of navigation required that one keep in sight of familiar landmarks. Early seafarers kept to the shore. The Phoenicians and the Polynesians turned their gaze to the heavens and made the stars their fixed points. Currents, trade winds, Astrolabes and Sextants. The compass and its mystical attractions. Lodestone, maps and now, the GPS. All giving us greater points of focus. But as Helen Keller said, "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." As such we must let loose the moorings that tie us to the shores of our familiar lands. We must run the risk of sailing off the edge of our known worlds. In every moment.

"Just One Particle" (detail) 2008
From "The Spidey-Hole Series"

“Interferometer”

“Oh, does God remember back in the day when God was the Judgmental God, but still liked a good joke and would be all like, “Order in The Universe!” and “Tighten that Asteroid Belt there, Mister”, reminisced The Universe. “Good times. But really, God. There must be Order in The Universe or The Universe would implode into Chaos, right?”
“God recalls when a young The Universe feared even the concept of Chaos”, said God. “But Order is a generic term. Vague. A specific order aspires to a full Ideal, which then, must include Disorder. The attainment of a generic Order that does not include Disorder is, of course, only partial and there we are galaxy deep in Disorder.”

“God is Out of Order!” bellowed The Universe. Then laughed timidly and said, “Yeah, good times.

"Angel Oak Study #5" 2010
Digital Photograph

“The Essence of Concrescence”

“The Universe is curious if God is satisfied”, said The Universe, fishing. "The Universe means this is a spectacular circumstance in which to be an Entity!”
“God comprehends the question”, answered God. “But in this moment, God is aware that if an Entity is aware of the Entity’s own satisfaction, then the satisfaction would become a component in the process of being satisfied, thus altering the satisfaction.”

“WOWZA!’ exclaimed The Universe. “That’s some crazy data embedded in God’s proclamation!”

"Things to Forget" (Detail) 2008
From "The Spidey-Hole Series"

“Ontological Mapping - for Joe Spencer”

“So, The Universe”, queried God, “The Universe stated a belief that movement was a type of progress - heading ever forward. Is that still the case?”
“Oh yeah, totally”, responded The Universe quickly. “Isn’t that the way of things? A trajectory of understandable causal events.”
“But doesn’t that leave out the ebb and flow of Becoming and Collapsing?” asked God, politely.
“Got it, God. Events transpire like a sine curve - regarding not an overarching mediating agency……..right?” replied an immediately tentative The Universe.

“More like a sign curve, to God”, laughed God.

Sly & the Family Stone Public Rehearsal 1973
"Everybody is a Star"


“Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt degeneration:
it is inherent in the very texture of human life.”
Alfred North Whitehead



Source: Hubblesite.org



This concludes Week Twelve of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".


All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"The God and The Universe Conversations" Movie Series

Empathinc. and the Educational Center are partnering to conduct a five movie film series. The winter/spring theme is "Living Authentically. We will be exploring the spiritual costs and promises of living what Parker Palmer calls the "undivided life".

The series starts January 21st. We will begin at 6:30. Discussion after viewing. Snacks provided. Suggested donation of ten dollars per person. Reservations suggested. Call Mellisa Thomas Meyer @ 704-375-1171

Our first film is:

“Imitation of Life”
Directed by Douglas Sirk, 1959

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Strength to Love 1963

It may be considered the height of audacity to remark that Dr. King’s brilliant observation on the linearity of problem solving might be the ultimate template for a Soap Opera. But in watching Douglas Sirk’s 1959 movie, “Imitation of Life”, it seems incredibly appropriate. At its release, Sirk’s movie was critically panned as another weepy “woman’s movie”, even though it was wildly popular and garnished two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner. And yet, in a daring and timely turn, Sirk was able to reckon with powerful social maladies while still maintaining the interest of the mainstream audience. In part, what makes this movie so fascinating are the strategies and choices that Sirk employed to achieve this seamless connection of scathing critique and popular culture.
Essentially, this is a narrative concerning the ambiguous nature of being authentic in a world that is delineated in terms of black and white. Based in an American culture that is racially segregated, this tale dares to explore the very meanings of what it is to be Black and what it is to be White. While this conflict is depicted in grand sweepings of caricature, simplified dialogue and explosive color, Sirk still manages to capture a depth of anguish and turmoil as our characters struggle with issues of Being. Being clear and strong with their convictions. Being clear and strong within themselves and in their inter-personal relationships. And being clear and strong with their specific desires and life goals. It rarely goes well, these struggles.
Virtually everything we will later come to understand in depth is depicted in the first scene of the movie. Coney Island, 1947. A cacophony of sound and sight. Strategic reds create a composition of swirling passion – swimming trunks, umbrellas, signs. The frivolity of a holiday that sets the mood for the dichotomy of celebration as an Imitation of Reality – for reality is confined to the shadows. Our heroine, Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) has lost her child in the crowd. Within three minutes, Sirk sets up the theme of loss and narcissism that will weave throughout the plot. Bumping into strange men as she seeks assistance, Lora’s pattern of looking for and ignoring masculine guidance will reverberate time and again. A roving photographer (Steve Archer, played by John Gavin with cardboard good will and earnestness) records Lora’s panic in a series of still shots. Steve and the police escort Lora beneath the boardwalk where the errant daughter, Susie (played later as a teen by the doe-eyed Sandra Dee) is found enfolded in the nurturing care of Annie Johnson (Oscar nominee Juanita Moore). Susie has found a new friend in Annie’s daughter Sarah Jane (with Susan Kohner vamping through this part as a young adult). Sarah Jane is light skinned (like her Daddy – “He was practically White”). Her mother Annie is Black. Immediately assumptions are made about Annie’s relationship as Lora asks, “How long have you been taking care of her?” Annie blithely replies, “Why, all her life.”
Both women are single parents. Annie is homeless. Soon the two women enter into an arrangement, and Annie becomes the angelic helpmate that assists behind the scenes as the determined Lora doggedly pursues her goal of being a famous actress. Together they migrate over time and success from a cold-water flat to a series of ever more elegant homes.
But as Dr. King predicts, their progress is precarious. The patterns of Being so succinctly set up in the opening scene, collapse one problem into another, like errant Tinker Toys on a three-legged card table. We the viewer watch helplessly as any one problem solved yields no real solutions. And with no sustainable solutions, the string of linked problems then becomes maintained and even nurtured by habitual and rehearsed responses.
Sirk makes sure we “get it” with broad strokes. The orchestration cajoles and waltzes us into the proper emotions. Mirrors and glass reflect gestures so that we are sure to understand the duplicity and complexities of each character’s struggle with their identities. And the costumes! High couture defines sophistication. Capri pants and a perm signify maturity. Sequins and garters the uniform of the troubled harlot. And Mink becomes a bookend manifestation of temptation and successful frugality.
At movie’s end, it is the stalwart character of Annie that is rewarded with release from her exhausting burden. Beneath the cloak of her culturally imposed invisibility is not the visage of an angel, but rather, the authentically human compilation that is friend, benefactor and participating member of the larger community. Her model – but more significantly – her release, may be the one thing that may offer redemption to the damaged family that she had gathered around her.
Director Douglas Sirk was able provide this Holy, uncommon ground for his characters to potentially resolve the crippling divisions that tormented them. Perhaps, his vision as an artist may give us cause to consider our particular lineage of problem reaction. To ponder our stance on our own Holy, uncommon ground. And to remove our collective shoes, as is required.

First Scene of Movie: fascinating choreography!

The series continues on the 3rd Friday of the month with: Far From Heaven (February). TransAmerica (March), Batman Begins (April) and The Secret Life of Bees (May). Please join us! Out of town? Don't worry - we are creating a prototype to be shared on the World Wide Web! (WWW!). Talk to us, comment, eavesdrop, stop by, wave, honk, drop off intriguing packages!
Tom Schulz and Sheila Ennis

Links:
Intrigue
Context
ART

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Eleven.

“We have to relax the spiritual cramp which knots us
in the painful “I” that is all we know as ourselves.”
Thomas Merton

UNTO US, ALL IS GIVEN

Tomschulzartist

Today's Editorial: "On Justice and Righteousness and Empathy"

Milton and Bernice have been stopping by my house over the years. Primarily as the temperature turns off cold. Milton is a veteran and Bernice is deaf. Milton and Bernice have made some poor life decisions over the years. Over the years, I have given them directions to certain social services and given countless gifts of twenty dollar bills to help assuage their various hungers and needs. It's not much, all in all. But it is something. I have listened to their stories. Their stories have remained constant in that they include a downward spiral that has left them bereft of much of their dignity. But the years and circumstances have not yet stolen the all of who they are. They are sad. And orphaned by their choices. Milton has cancer. Bernice has no heat. Where is their ladder that will help them climb up out of adversity? They just want that ladder.

Posted Direct from the Spidey-Hole.


"My heart and my mind, fill with peace."


"Water Labyrinth #11"© 2010

“Unbounded Extension”

“The Universe is experiencing great joy in this moment!" exalted The Universe.
"That experience of The Universe's impacts God in such a favorable way", purred God.

"Really?" grinned The Universe. (Oh yes, The Universe can grin). "Sweet."

"For Unto us a Son is Giv'n."

"King"
Tokyo - based Artist Isaac Schulz

“Symbolic Transference”

“Here's a question for God", started out The Universe. "What happens when an Entity perishes?"
"Good one, The Universe", responded God. “In the sense that time is perpetually perishing, an Entity has perished when it is complete."
"But then God is saying that an Entity is always at the same Time Becoming and Perishing?" asked an incredulous The Universe.

"That is precisely what God is saying", said God precisely. "And that is what God refers to as an Entity with spatial needs."

"The increase of his government
And peace shall never end."

Albert Einstein on World Peace


THE READING

"In the newness of the world God was a young man, and grew indignant over the slightest thing. In the newness of the world God had perhaps not Himself realized the ramifications of His Laws, for example, that shock will spend itself in waves; that our images will mimic every gesture, and that shattered they will multiply and mimic every gesture ten, a hundred, or a thousand times. Cain, the image of God, gave the simple earth of the field a voice and a sorrow, and God Himself heard the voice, and grieved for the sorrow, so Cain was a creator, in the image of his Creator."

Marilynne Robinson "Housekeeping" 1980

This concludes Week Eleven of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Ten.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Ten.

“It is no good casting out devils. They belong to us,
we must accept them and be at peace with them.”
D.H. Lawrence

"Duck and Cover"
Civil Defense Film 1950

Today's Editorial: "On Context, Tides and Empathy"

An acquaintance recently asked, "If one friend is worried about the tax bill and I cut my finger, which matters more?" Intriguing question. One that points out that no relational equation can have an answer that is insulated from the prevailing circumstances. A new wave forms behind the wave that is in collapse and all waves are similar. It is the Tsunami that reeks havoc on a large scale, yet even the smallest wave is an agency of erosion. Perhaps empathy is not about understanding or about comparatives. In this moment, let us consider that empathy is a method of recognizing each circumstance as essentially linked and then embracing that beyond our own personal traditions of being.

Posted Direct from the Spidey-Hole.



Seabrook Island, SC.
Preparatory Study for "Contemplative Tides"© 2010

“Res Vera”

“Excuse The Universe if The Universe appears not able to think 'outside the cosmos', but it seems that time would have to be a definable order of successions if Becoming were as significant as God lets on", intoned The Universe in a display of munificent logic.

"For the purposes of argument, that is an extraordinarily clarifying statement", replied God. "In a static reality. But in fluid time formats, the progression of Becoming is interactive with both continuity and potentiality."

"Dang, God - God has an answer for everything!" fumed an exasperated The Universe.

Jack Matney Memorial Labyrinth.
Presbyterian Hospital. Charlotte, NC (detail)
Photo by Mary de Wit, in2Wit.

“Realitas Objectiva (or: Clothes Make the Man)”

“So then, God", continued The Universe, "is there any point for an Entity to make a plan? The Universe means, given the input of non-local potentialities and all."

"Plan away, by all means', soothed God. "Plans are great comfort to many Entities. Just keep aware that as soon as an Entity implements a plan, it has always already long begun. And when a plan is completed, it may be in the midst of casting out countless galaxies."

"What a beautiful awareness", sighed The Universe.

Seabrook Island, SC.
Preparatory Study for "Contemplative Tides"© 2010

“Intermittently Rational”

“The Universe considers that The Universe is capable of sustaining persistent qualities", flexed The Universe unabashedly. "And that these qualities fundamentally define Nature!"

"Gosh, that frozen logic works in theory", God mulled. " But a Monistic Universe then only embraces the illusion of change. A Pluralistic Universe, however, might consider the alternative view of Nature as a society of diversities."

"Yeah, yeah - that last thing God said", replied the Universe with animation.

"From Here to Eternity" 1953
Directed by Fred Zinnemann

"All my thoughts, words and deeds
Were only bringing me closer
To universal embrace:
Here I am resting joyfully in myself,
Wrapped in deep silence on all sides,
And my heart beats in the rhythm of everything
Which surrounds me.
Enough. No need for words.”
Julian Tuwim


This concludes Week Ten of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Nine.

"The God and The Universe Conversations". Week Nine

“Meaning is not in things but in between them.”

Norman O. Brown

"In Both Worlds (Firmly Planted)" 2007
Sam M. Walton School of Business, Fayetteville, AR

Today's Editorial: "On Conversations and Empathy"

A cursory investigation found several resources defining empathy as the projection of one's own personality into the personality of another in order to understand the person better. Other definitions followed a similar vein of thinking: the idea that we may best understand another person’s plight by impressing our own sensibilities upon them. Which is not an exchange and not a conversation.
Odd, really.
If the one language we speak is the Language of Me, then how are we to understand anyone at all? Maybe a vital part of defining empathy would be the awareness that understanding another person must indeed, include the other person.

Posted Direct from the Spidey-Hole.

"The Abundant Universe" 2006

“Change and Doctrines”

The Universe had been really busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. God stood by (as much as God can stand by) and observed all the frenetic activity. "Hey there, The Universe!", interjected God, "That looks like quite the adventure of evolving actual things. Got any concept of what will come out of all this busy-ness?"
"God", replied The Universe, "it is what it is."

"That's cool, returned God, "whatcha gonna do when the is-ness becomes Being?"

Mystery Photo (attributed to John Schulz)

“Antecedent States”

"The Universe was wondering how the Historical Reality could exist along with the Contemporary Reality, if indeed it even does", pondered The Universe out loud. "Slow day?" laughed God. "Well, no - don't laugh at The Universe", pouted The Universe. "The Universe means, God acts as the linking datum of existence in a continuum, right?"

"Yeah", replied God, "But still the extensive divisions of potentialities can mess with that. Mess with that bad."

"Arabesque" (detail) 2008
From the "Inter-faith Prayer Painting Project"©

“The Category of Transmutation”

“The perceptions of "images" in the presentational immediacy must be like looking at the light of a particular star and enjoying in in the moment, even as an Entity understands that the star may no longer exist", stated The Universe with just a touch of smugness.

"Fascinating!" responded God. "And then by following relevant historical routes, then that perception of that light may form a corpuscular society and become a galaxy which then is the 'real' galaxy."

"Whatever, God", barked a petulant The Universe.

Scene from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" 1927

"People spoke the same language, but could not understand each other."

O

"That which has form emerges from that which has no form; that which has no form emerges from that which has form. Therefore the path of supreme spirituality cannot be sought in being
and cannot be fathomed in non-being;
it cannot be lost through movement
and cannot be gained through stillness."
Ming-Chiao, "Five Houses of Zen"

A Lass: Babble On

This concludes Week Nine of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"The God and The Universe Conversations." Week Eight.

One must have chaos within oneself, to give birth to a dancing star.
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Photo by John Paul Schulz

“Actual Occasions”

“God, when The Universe perceives that there is something other than what The Universe experiences, then what should The Universe do with that information?", asked The Universe.
"God is into the concept of being a radical empiricist", replied God. "Entities require a broad field awareness that involves much more than utilizing sense perceptions".

"So the light at the end of the tunnel includes the tunnel and the creation of the tunnel and the trajectory of the light and the beginning of the tunnel, and the recognition of place in the tunnel?"

"Yep, that's the Journey", nodded God.

Photo by Mary Geitner, 9-Volt Design

“Flux of Forms”

“Oh God", said The Universe. "Does God remember when The Universe was a tiny Little the Universe and played with the comet tails?"
"Has The Universe been looking at the after images again?", asked God

"Yeah", answered The Universe, "it is The Universe's special stamp of creative emphasis on the determinations of efficient cause."

"Chaos and Order: Caution"© (detail) 2010

“Finding Ourselves in a Buzzing World”

“God, why does God refer to The Universe as The Universe instead of Universe?", asked The Universe completely out of the Void."
"This is kinda tough", considered God. "See, the particular is necessarily a part of the universal, but the universal doesn't always speak to the particular. An entity is concrete cause it is such a particular expression in the universe. And God considers The Universe an Entity. Ergo, The Universe."

"God, no disrespect, but isn't the word ergo like, so eons ago?"

"Delete Magnify Silence"© marker on vellum 2000

“The Imposition of Conformity”

“The Universe has a question for God", said The Universe quietly but directly. "Does God ever keep secrets from The Universe?"
"No, not really", replied God. "Everything that God is part of, so The Universe is part of the same".
"Well, The Universe keeps plenty of secrets!", bellowed The Universe.

"Yeah. God knows that The Universe keeps secrets", acknowledged God. "Except God refers to them as Choices".

Video by podpeopleproductions - Hashaleena N. Wright

“Conduits”

“Know what, The Universe?", asked God of The Universe. "A lot of entities think the just because God knows everything, that maybe God can't be surprised, or..or impacted by the behavior of other entities. God, God's self is radically moved and changed by that behavior."
"Yeah, The Universe experiences that as well", chimed in The Universe. "It's like the Cosmos is really just a neighborhood - a community."

"Totally."

And really the purpose of art - for me, fiction - is to alert,
to indicate to stop, to say:
Make certain that when you rush through you will not miss the moment
which you might have had, or might still have.
Jerzy Kosinski

This concludes Week Seven of
"The God and The Universe Conversations".

All art and writing by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted, or unless it is so cool
he will try to get away with claiming it as his own.

"Almetto Howey Alexander Labyrinth"

"When we are in the center, we can see the big picture."
Mrs. Almetto Howey Alexander

Mrs. Alexander presents a check to The McCrorey Y. 10/29/2010.
Charlotte, NC
Lending from her own funds, Almetto selflessly insures
that work may begin on the Labyrinth.

Through the sale of these prints, we hope to reimburse her by year's end.

Almetto Alexander Labyrinth Study "Mud Cloth #2"©
Image #1. 18" X 24" Giclee Print on archival watercolor paper
limited first run edition of 100.
$100.00

HEALING.

"Almetto Alexander Labyrinth Study / Mud Cloth 1"©
Image #2. 18" X 24" Giclee Print on archival watercolor paper
limited first run edition of 100.
$100.00

MEDITATION.

"Almetto Alexander Labyrinth - Study"©
Image #3. 24" X 18" Giclee Print on archival watercolor paper
limited first run edition of 100.
$100.00

EDUCATION.

Video by Mary de Wit, in2wit. Thoughtful Information Design and Publishing.
"A Moment in History" August 21, 2010


COMMUNITY.

"Spider Labyrinth 2"© Dust Landscapes
Autumn Missed Subset

Based on research relating Africa's "Spider Stories" and fabric and basketry patterns
once seen only as decoration, this painting shows how the image of the Labyrinth weaves into the oral traditions that contain the significant and symbolic meaning of Mythical life lessons and interactions.

Almetto.org

“Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events,
not of words. Trust movement.”
Alfred Adler


For information on purchasing one or all of the three giclee prints shown above,
contact Tom Schulz
617-359-7158
tomschulzartist@gmail.com

After the first twenty prints are sold to cover printing costs,
100% percent of the sale of each print will go directly to the building fund.

Art Enacted. Empathinc.

Print production by Clyde Baumwell, Baumwell Graphics

All artwork by Tom Schulz unless otherwise noted.