Sermon Library
“Bless Me Ultima”
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
April 20, 2008
Service Theme: Easter V - 2008
Easter V – 2008 April 20, 2008
Bless Me, Ultima
Review by Gregg Anderson
In the words of five year old Antonio, “I was happy with Ultima. She taught me to listen to the mystery of the groaning earth and to feel complete in the fulfillment of its time. My soul grew under her careful guidance. I had been afraid of the awful presence of the river, which was the soul of the river, but through her I learned that my spirit shared in the spirit of all things. But the innocence which our isolation sheltered could not last forever, and the affairs of the town began to reach across our bridge and enter my life. Ultima’s owl gave the warning that the time of peace on our hill was drawing to an end.”
Spirit Of All Things
For Antonio to learn that “his spirit shares in the spirit of all things” is a wisdom which either exists in the faith and innocence of a child or a seasoned sophistication of an aged sage. To realize life’s absolute interconnectedness and our vast mutual interdependence is a consciousness which only exists on the broadest and deepest level of perception of Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics, for example. In more primitive perceptions which exist around the life of Antonio within the sacraments of a traditional church, evil curses, and indigenous magic, life is simplistically separated into good and evil, right and wrong, black and white, heaven and hell. Ultima, however, has a bigger picture, connects the dots in life a little differently, lives within a symbiotic surrounding and gently shares her shamanistic spirituality with Antonio. And Antonio perceives her rightness and lightness, not only in what she says, but more importantly how she lives.
The Inquisitor
Very quickly in this novel, young Antonio witnesses the death of Lupito via the caballero justice system of his small town. “Life destroys the pureness God gives” says Tony’s father, Gabriel, after the shooting. Tony asks Ultima, “How can the man who shot Lupito go to communion after this? How can he take God in his mouth? Will God forgive his sin and be with him? What was it you gave me to make me sleep last night? And did you carry me to my room?’ Ultima laughed. “I am beginning to understand why your mother calls you the inquisitor,” she said. “But I want to know, there are so many things I want to know,” Tony insisted. “A curandera cannot give away her secrets,” Ultima said, “but if a person really wants to know, then he will listen and see and be patient. Knowledge comes slowly.”
Ultima Saves
Antonio asks question after question throughout this novel. Eventually, he receives knowledge beyond the church, beyond the magic and beyond his age. Ultima is his teacher, mentor and shaman. Ultima saves Lucas and Tony asks Ultima, “Why didn’t they call you sooner?” Ultima answers, “The church would not allow your grandfather to let me use my powers. The church was afraid that – “She did not finish, but I knew what she would have said. The priest at El Puerto did not want the people to place much faith in the powers of la curandera. He wanted the mercy and faith of the church to be the villagers’ only guiding light. Would the magic of Ultima be stronger than all the powers of the saints and the Holy Mother Church? I wondered,” thinks Antonio.
In the end, it is stronger. This is a statement for all the Antonios of this world and, I might add, for the church. It is interesting that the Pope is visiting America today. The Roman Church has spent more than a millennium trying to be the strongest power in the world, at least in control. The Roman Church has been one of the strongest powers in the world, but a half a millennium ago, many people protested the authority of the Roman Church and now there are almost as many Protestors or Protestants as there are Catholics. The Pope is still very powerful today, but not as powerful as he was a thousand years ago, five hundred years ago or a hundred years ago. What role will the Pope play one hundred years from today? It could be stronger or perhaps infallibility may not be on the resume.
Good Is Always Stronger Than Evil
Meanwhile, Ultima’s inner and humble strength prevails. When Antonio asks her why she is not afraid of the greatest evil as portrayed in the person of Tenorio, she responds, “I will tell you why,” she smiled. “It is because good is always stronger than evil. Always remember that, Antonio. The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant. There is no need to fear men like Tenorio.”
“The power of the doctors and the power of the church had failed to cure my uncle, thinks Antonio. Now everyone depended on Ultima’s magic. Was it possible that there was more power in Ultima’s magic than in the priest?” Again, the answer becomes yes. Ultima sees and lives a bigger picture of life. In one of Antonio’s dreams he hears, “The waters are one, Antonio. I looked into her bright, clear eyes and understood her truth. You have been seeing only parts, she finished, and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all. Then there was peace in my dreams and I could rest.” (p. 126) Again, Ultima sees the ultimate and shares it with Antonio.
More Questions
Moments of realization are good, but do not suppress all the questions, the constant questions. Antonio is talking to Florence who also has questions. “Why don’t you believe Florence?” asks Antonio. “I don’t know,” he kicked at a rock. “My mother died when I was three, my old man drank himself to death, and my sisters are whores, working at Rosie’s place.” “So I ask myself, how can God let this happen to a kid? I never asked to be born. But he gives me birth, a soul, and puts me here to punish me. Why? What did I ever do to Him to deserve this, huh?” responds Florence.
The questions Florence had posed were the same questions I wanted answered, thought Antonio. Why was the murder of Narciso allowed? Why was evil allowed? Florence continues, “God is supposed to know everything, all right, then why didn’t he make this earth without bad or evil things in it? Why didn’t he make us so that we would always be kind to each other? He could of made it so that it was always summer, and there’s always apples in the trees, and the water at the Blue Lake is always clean and warm for swimming – instead He made it so that some of us get polio when we go swimming and we’re crippled for life. Is that right?”
Being Like God
“I don’t know,” Antonio shook his head. “Once everything was all right in the Garden of Eden, but we sinned. They wanted to be like God. God punished them because they wanted knowledge.” Florence smiled. “That doesn’t seem right, does it? Why should knowledge hurt anyone? We go to school to learn, we even go to catechism to learn. “Yes,” Tony answered. There seemed to be so many pitfalls in the questions we asked. I wanted answers to the questions, but would the knowledge of the answers make me share in the original sin of Adam and Eve?
“Maybe God comes in cycles, like the weather,” Antonio answered. “Maybe there are times when God is with us, and times when he is not. Maybe it is like that now. God is hidden. He will be gone for many years, maybe centuries.” I talked rapidly, excited about the possibilities my mind seemed to be reaching. Antonia thinks. (p. 208) Our finite minds keep thinking about the infinite, but we too often limit the infinite with our finiteness. We have been particularly limited with primitive images of God and out-dated dogmas.
Images of God
Like Antonio, I would like to encourage all of us to be excited about the possibilities our minds can reach when it comes to religion and faith. Even though this novel is not a book of theology, it brings up a number of theological questions, page after page. I can only think that this is not only deliberate by Antonio, but deliberate by the author. The author did not use the phrase, “images of God,” but he constantly raises up and questions many images of God. It is very important that the contemporary readers of Bless Me, Ultima are aware that there are thousands and multi-dimensional images of God. They have always existed and more images exist today. Contrary to what a minority of people perceive today, there is an immense plurality of God images expressed in this very beginning of the twenty-first century.
Some still profess there is only one true image of God and of Christ. This narrow image of God exists within this novel called Bless Me, Ultima. It has an over-whelming influence. But Antonio will simply not allow it to be blindly and blatantly accepted. Antonio, thank goodness and God, keeps being the inquisitor and keeps asking his questions of faith and seeks a model that is real and meaningful.
Rudolfo Anaya’s Personal Motivation
In fact, the author, Rudolfo Anaya, does state personally, “My mother was a very religious person, much like Antonio’s mother. I grew up completely imbued with the Catholic cosmology. Later I discovered there are many religions in the world, many spiritual paths. These paths are part of our inheritance as Nuevos Mexicanos. They stretch from Mesoamerica to the Indian Pueblos of the Rio Grande, but the Catholic church in Mexico and in New Mexico had tried to wipe out the indigenous religions. Bless Me, Ultima begins to uncover the indigenous myths and teachings of the New World. Antonio is learning not only his Catholic Spanish heritage, but through Ultima he is discovering his Native American side. He must bring these divergent views together, i.e., create synthesis instead of opposition. That sense of discovery of a spiritual path has been my life’s work. Readers will find the theme in all of my books.”
Antonio, the Progressive Theologian
Antonio is our contemporary and progressive theologian. This certainly is why I identify with this very young man. I have as many questions about life as Antonio. And I want to know the answers as passionately as does Antonio. I have also come to realize, along with Antonio, that answers are slow in coming and ultimately do not exist on the same level that we imagine they could exist. The questions exist eternally. Any answers exist temporarily. Such answers help briefly, perhaps existentially, but not eternally.
To Question Is To Care
To question life is to care for life. To not question life is to be submissive to life and to succumb to life versus to live life. It is good to want to know, even when the end of such questioning is to know that we can never fully know. But that is really part of the way of knowing. As Rumi said, “Those who think they know, do not know. It is only those who know that they do not know, know.”
Antonio has not quite come to this truth yet. He still has many, many questions, more questions than anyone can ever answer including his mother, father, friends, priest and even Ultima. His search never stops, nor should ours, but his search is placed into a greater and bigger perspective thanks to Ultima, La Grande. Her very name coaxes all of us to think beyond any individual or simplistic answer. We need to keep looking and keep listening.
First Communion
Antonio has apparently been told and believes that all his questions will be answered during his first communion. Antonio had been preparing for some time for his first communion. It was to happen on Easter Sunday. “Then suddenly the priest was in front of me. I caught a glimpse of the small, white wafer, the risen Christ, and then I closed my eyes and fled the host placed on my tongue. I received Him gladly, and swallowed Him. At last! I flooded the sticky piece of bread with hot saliva and swallowed it. God. Now I would know the answers! I bowed my head and waited for Him to speak to me. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I had just swallowed Him, He must be in there! All the questions went through Antonio’s mind, but the Voice within did not answer. There was only silence.”
Ultima’s Magic
“Growing up is not easy sometimes,” said Antonio “There are so many dreams to be fulfilled, but Ultima says a man’s destiny must unfold itself like a flower, with only the sun and the earth and water making it blossom, and no one else meddling in it.” Antonio asks his father, “Can a new religion be made?” “Why, I suppose so,” he answered. If the old religion could no longer answer the questions of the children then perhaps it was time to change it.” “Understanding does not come that easy, Tony,” said his father. “You mean God doesn’t give understanding?” “Understanding comes with life,” he answered, “as a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, plays, meets people – sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end understanding simply means having a sympathy for people,” Papa said. “Ultima has sympathy for people, and it is so complete that with it she can touch their souls and cure them. That is her magic.” Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
Aspen Chapel
0077 Meadowood Drive
Aspen, CO 81611
970 925 7184, ext. 102
http://www.aspenchapel.org