Abstract Associations #005
"Holiness" as approached from 4 different points of view
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What holiness is(n’t) —
Is a holy land holy only when sheltering you from harm,
silencing the tongues of friends and foes. Is harm only holy if and when
it’s deliberate. Is fear holy if we fear God and the Evil Inclination, but otherwise indulgent. Are holy words always ancient and demotic speech treif, or is slang the truest sign of belief. Do the mute reach God or does God hear the mute. If I strike a rock for water, will water bear the mark or will I.  Â
A Cohen spreads his fingers in a Spock like manner, blessing the congregation. How far does this blessing carry. If his fingers do not splay properly, is the blessing unholy. Can missed blessings absolve an unpracticed tongue. Â Â Â
The youngest daughter or son has questions for the Seder. Adult talk turns to bondage and freedom, Moshe and tablets and idols, plagues and pillars of fire. How many bridges did and do the engineers build across canals and rivers, how many walls and roads, checkpoints and fences, how many arms must they extend to retake the redoubts and build the Third Temple.
Jerusalem next year. Death of the first born.
Before the children open their mouths, someone says Drink! Eat! It’s how you grow! There’s a time for chanting Four Questions, but these children cannot read Hebrew. The Four Sons are merely sons. The Four Daughters, abstractions (egalitarian innovations). Â
When does honor thy mother and father mean interrupting the proceedings. Can I circumcise a doll rather than kill my own child. Is such desecration of mass production the populist equivalent of Here I am.
©2025 Jeremy Nathan Marks
The Holy and The Damned —
Strike me down, Lord.
Am I a sinner?
I was damned from the first commandment,
for I pray to many gods.
My soul never destined for holiness.
They beg you, strike her down, Lord.
You watch the judge and jury-
your name on bumper stickers
used in the name of a politician's control.
Honk! if you hate abortion.
You strike them down, Lord.
Are they the sinners?
Do they strive to honor their
m o t h e r s while our f a t h e r s f e a s t o n w a r ?
Bedtime stories like b o m b s outside their windows.
Is it you who strikes us down, Lord? or we?
Our neighbors drown to cross our borders.
But we offer no salvation, only
protest, greedily coveting our
o w n s t o l e n land.
Who decides our forgiveness?
C a n w e a b s o l v e o u r s i n s a n d s a v e
o u r s e l v e s ? M u s t w e cower a n d
seek repentance? from who? from you?
Under what God and whose holy text?
Aren't we the holy? or
are we the damned?
Hypocrisy drips red on pressed
white c o m m u n i o n d r e s s e s.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
But, I don't read the Bible.
©2025 Laura Catanzano
Holiness Less Divinity —
Honour thy neighbor reverberated from the Word of God
eyes on the ambo sitting in pipe organ framing while in
shadows the martyrs tallied donations organizing lists naming
those who’d earned the weekend’s spiritual acclaim. A child
Stands at the Book of Scripture, pure in heart but choked
by fear by hypocrisy by love by not adhering as children serving
a man cloaked in white bearing powerful symbolisms cast
blessings with a hand upheld or upturned or elevating the gold
Of material possessions. Questions stirred, the serpent’s hiss
(warnings) devil in my ear anathemas of the seductive kiss of
condemning and damning filling my soul with misunderstandings
when all I could see was the contrasts and the beauty. A child
Sits in the arms of wilderness where sunlight paints trees and the
rustling leaves whisper truths in simpler toned songs a Latin that
seized quiet communion— Deus in silvis, in rivis, in omnibus.
Sicut flos crescit, sic Dei gratia patet. As the flower grows the
Grace of God is in me. Free from restraints and sanctimonious
preaching, nor bound by judging, seeking the sacred in-dividual
in-tricate in-dividuation path unfolding unveiling quintessence
fifth element spirituality truths transmuting alchemy. A woman
Meditates, breathes breaths of a cosmic sea answers no longer
in such rigid decree listening to the elements the light in her veins
mantras and kirtans glories of holy knowing processes of harmonizing
with deeper truths. The spirit finds it’s way beyond walls that define
And whispers back to stardust, "I have always been divine."
©2025 SylviA 🌞 KalinA
Jestem Lux Mystica Krwi Ogniowej
Key:
"Deus in silvis, in rivis, in omnibus." God is in the forests, in the rivers, in all things.
"Sicut flos crescit, sic Dei gratia patet." As the flower grows, so the grace of God is revealed.
Return to Sender; Return to Source —
..
A
Be
Ing
Came
Forth
Beside
Outside
the web of
Conscious
Light n Dark
Spirit n Soul
And everything:
Pomegranates and fig leaves
acacia trees and honey bees
locust and mustard seeds
A criminal redeemed;
The forsaken forgiven.
A boy with a water jug leads eleven
to the house for the new age
to prepare the body for the spirit.
The chains of Pleiades.
The belt of Orion;
Hold it down.
Keep it up.
One-eyed woke;
Two-eyed slumber.
What happens
when the guardian
of the mountain
clocks out for the night?
Who tends the fiery stones?
Set chases the sun across the sky...
Free will to exercise.
Love resides under all will
and suffering from it
leads to salvation with it.
Resent the suffering
and it will be sent back;
Forgive the suffering
and you will be saved.
Forgive yourself,
and forgive others,
as you have
forgiven yourself.
Redeem yourself,
and teach others,
as you learned when
you totally redeemed yourself.
Can I get any dumber?
Can you be any holier?
Is reincarnation social reciprocity?
Is it a thing? Or is it a place?
Can it be a person? What is it?
Holy moly donut shop?
Friday night lights
when the sun sets;
Figure in black—
Break the fast...
Wash your feet
Narrow paths
Magi mystic
Zartoshti
Vitamin G
Holiness
Healthy
Hippie
Happy
Open
Let
Y(J)
.I.
©2025 Jozef Cain
 | A guest post by
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 | A guest post by
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I have so much admiration for the talent and the community Jozef and I have been so privileged to grow with here.
Jeremy, Thank you for the inspiration that launched this particular collaboration off! Your fearlessness in bringing the hard topics to the forefront is something I always will admire. You are an incredibly powerful voice, are uniquely written and always position rich perspectives. It's been a huge compliment for me to have you along for the adventure since the early stages when I had a little crazy idea to do some things while not being so sure how the things would all go. Thank you for being you. Thank you for your commitment and support.
Laura, words cannot express how wonderful it is to have you joining me and Jozef in these projects. I remember first coming across your work and being so in love with the ease and fluidity with which you seemed to write and the beauty of your words. You are not only a beautiful mind, honest and pure writer, but you are also such a beautiful person to know and work with here. We both thank you for trusting us and joining us whenever we bring something new to the table. It's an honour to be able to show off your work with us.
And to Jozef...what more can I say that I haven't already said? My work here is all the richer for your energy and strength, all ideas coming to fruition, your unwavering commitment to the work--to me--no matter how much I might be driving you crazy with my ideas and all the extra work since we have come into each other's life--you are still here. I have so much love in my heart for you and it is one of my greatest pleasures to be doing this together beside you. Thank you for sharing the vision and the dream with me.
I'm obsessed.