To God or Not To God…That Is The Question
March 25, 2012; 0000
Hey Gang!
Welcome to my life…
Where anything is possible and nothing is as it seems. I’m Freedom and I’ll be your host, coming at you from within…
The Depths of Geistopiaaaaaaaaaa
Velcum to my Life ees a prochect, un experiment een Life unt ART, A liwing storyboard, if you vill. Eet’s premise ees zat you can, and do, experience za life you choose. Eet ees based on za Veel of Life unt za ARTs for za New Millennium as life building tools. Ya. Eet’s true.
Welcome to my Life is an ITV Studios/Geist…House production. JustUs Productions, the parent company, would like to give a ‘Shout-Out’ to the following for their ongoing, and oft times unknowing, inspiration and support:
Princess Cuddlebug
Princess Sunshine
Craze & Co.
The Shaman
The Pillar
The Entire Putt-Putt-Putter Clan
FaeriePrincess
G-Man
Berton
The Baker of the Cornbread
The VanMan (may he R.I.P.)
The Messengers of the Galactic Federation
Osteen, the Son
The Sitter
The WhiteRose
The Fallen Angel
Punky Brewster
Sir Thomas
Jojo Dancer
Mr. NiceGuy
Senior Swankypants
Da Boyz from da Hood
The Witch Dr.
The ‘Original’ Mr. Baggins (and His Wife)
The Socialite
B-Lo
The WhiteGurl
“Ronnie’s Boy”
CH-Eckhart
LisaLisa Monet
The Ziatonic Antagonist
Otto
Prof. Siggy Chong
Pasturizer
The Piz-Nifer
Dancing Queen
Downtown Donny Brown
Mama Rabbit
And, of course, a very generous sponsor who pretends to want to be anonymous.
(*Semi-Legal mumbo-jumbo jargon fine print – my thoughts, my words. Bug off if you think you theivin’ them.*)
It is Sunday, March 25, 2012. Time….Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
So…this is the third Sunday since my last post.
Perhaps you noticed.
I had actually started this post two weeks ago – and tried again last week - and was unable to finish it. In a way, I am glad. Though I’m not exactly certain why yet. LOL.
There are so many things I could write about this week. So many stories and tales and updates. But, I am faced with something greater this week – the title above.
It is something that had come up during the meeting – if that’s what you can call it – with the 3 Musketeers.
(More like the 3 Stooges.)
It was Daddy ‘D’ that had brought it to the forefront. He scoffed and mocked that I give so much credit in my life – both the good and the bad – to ‘God’…
(The Goddess…Allah…Brahman…Great Spirit…The Universe…Life…The One True Spirit….Whatever…)
More specifically, I believe he was trying to quote something I must have said at some point or another…
“I have the work that God has given me…”
That’s right.
That’s completely unrealistic…
This is something that has come to me many times before in my life. I deal with the exact same scoffing and mocking from my family. It usually comes in one of two forms. Either I am asked…
“How can you think God has anything to do with it?”
(Or some variation of that.)
Or, after proclaiming the Power to God I quite simply receive an…
“Oh Bullshit!”
This is fine. Belief and faith are not for everyone, I suppose. However, take a little walk with me along those paths for a moment and let’s just see what happens….
So often throughout the day one can hear some proclamation or another of faith or belief.
Thank God
God Bless
The Lord works in mysterious ways
I have faith
I believe
Even something as simple as
Everything happens for a reason
It seems all of us draw on something in some way or another. We all pull on a belief that tells us at the end of the day…it’s all ok. It doesn’t matter to me how you dress it up, everyone’s got something. Whether you are praying to God, thanking The Goddess or praising Allah. Even atheists have a belief that they draw on – science, randomness, the power of the self.
Everyone’s got something.
Everyone believes. Everyone has some degree of faith. Whether you believe in God, or something else…or nothing at all there are certain undeniable truths. For instance, a person does not take a risk unless they believe there is a chance it will all go well.
I believe that is Faith.
(Although, there is one way to find out…)
There are so many words in our language that are ordinary, everyday and commonplace. It seems that after so long of just using them and “knowing” what they mean we begin to lose some of the subtler nuances of the definition.
So, I like to look words up.
be·lief
noun \bə-ˈlēf\Definition of BELIEF
1
: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing
2
: something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group
3
: conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
1faith
noun \ˈfāth\plural faiths
Definition of FAITH
1
a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2
a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3
: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs <the Protestant faith>
So, there you have it. These are the definitions by which we will gauge ourselves.
So what do I believe?
I believe there is a higher power, a force, a spirit or energy…
(Or, using the definitions above…’A Phenomenon’…)
…that flows through and around all things. I believe this force moves in amazing ways constantly spinning into motion things – events, failures, successes, relationships, etc. – that will help us realize the true nature of ourselves that we so desperately pursue throughout our lives.
I do not know what to call it, but I know it is divine.
(Perhaps that is another word to define…)
1di·vine
adj \də-ˈvīn\di·vin·erdi·vin·est
Definition of DIVINE
1
a : of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God or a god <divine love> b : being a deity <the divine Savior> c : directed to a deity <divine worship>
2
a : supremely good : superb <the pie was divine> b : heavenly, godlike
— di·vine·ly adverb
Ze definishunz are taken from ze Merriam-Vebster online dichunary
It most certainly is supremely good, whatever it is.
While researching, and experimenting with, this ‘Phenomenon’ I discovered that it does seem to work within a set group of Principles. And, it does so, consistently.
You always have what you need
Ask & Ye Shall Receive
(So, be careful what you wish for)
Everything happens for a reason…and is always perfectly timed.
(Even at the last moment.)
Follow the flow…
And on and on and on.
I have seen these things at work time and time again.
And it doesn’t seem to matter who you are, or what system of belief you choose, these things are constantly at work for you. If one opens the eyes and looks around, one will take notice that we are always in the right place at precisely the right moment,
How can that be anything but divine?
And, that is what I believe.
That there is SOMETHING at work, enveloping us and infusing itself into every pore of our lives…as much as we will let it.
I don’t know if God is the proper term for it, but it’s the one I go with.
And, I try to go with it faithfully.
This is not always as simple as I would like it to be. I struggle from time to time in my own faith. I have carried doubt. I have questioned and wondered and rationalized. I think we all do…or can. It’s so easy to have faith and to believe when things are going well. But we must carry them in the dark times as well. And…I have had plenty of dark times.
Over the past year, I was forced to look at my beliefs and the amount of struggles I have faced. I carry these beliefs and have they really done anything for me? I believe…but do I live?
I have spent a great deal of time looking back on my life – the places I have been, people I have known, and things I have experienced. In particularly the past 16 years. It has been an absolutely amazing journey. At times unfathomable, surreal.
Easily 65% of the stories I could tell you you would never believe. I call them my collection of ‘Things That Make You Go Hmmmm. Sometimes I have trouble with them myself.
But, as I looked back, there was something very consistent – No matter what was going on, no matter how bad it seemed – in the end, it always worked out perfectly. And, as I looked back and took notice to this pattern, I had to ask myself – if it’s that consistent, that constant, then why ever doubt in the first place? I mean, it’s not like we were ever promised a life without struggle or strife.
The Buddha said that, “All of life is suffering.”
The Bible tells us that God, most certainly, will inflict suffering on us…
(Because that which does not kill us…makes us stronger.)
It was in one of our many random pow-wows that ‘The Pil-Man’ put this into perspective.
“But aren’t you stronger for it. Know more?”
Yes. Absolutely. Folks….I know things now, many valuable things, that I hadn’t kno-own before.
And I am content in it.
I have done and seen so much that some days it is hard to keep track of. Some of it has been short lived – such as my time on the radio – but I did it. One more thing off the list.
But ALL of it has been amazing. So, it comes to this…
If all of the ancient teachings tell us that life is good, that this ‘Phenomenon’ – T.O.T.S. – is there and working for us at all times; If they all review the same working Principles; and, if I have seen these Principles and this ‘Phenomenon’ at work so often – then what is there to doubt and why do I not stand in it stronger?
How do I stand in it stronger though?
I can only assume by living the Principles.
Ask & Ye Shall Receive
No matter how long it may seem to take…once you put it out there, it will return to you. I see it everyday, sometimes in the smallest of ways.
Do Not Rely On Your Own Understanding
I think sometimes we forget just how complex the inner workings of life can truly be. There are so many variables in any one equation. How we could think that we will ever truly know, or understand, how it all fits together or will work out is beyond me.
Who has ever made a plan, of any kind, that has gone exactly to the T?
I mean…besides Hannibal.
And yet, despite the disruptions and discords, the plans all seem to come together in the end…
(I love it when a plan comes together…)
…and more often than not, we had very little to do with it.
Something knows better than us, and puts all of the right pieces into play. Usually before we even know we need them.
Follow The Flow
(Wherever it may go…)
This is both the easiest and the most challenging Principle for me to follow. Some days I follow it without really trying. Other days I struggle to rationalize the choices I want to make as opposed to the choices I am being led to.
Yet, when I give into the flow and let it guide me, I find I always end up exactly where I needed to be when I needed to be there. No matter what.
Stuart Wilde once wrote something in regards to this. I wish I could remember the exact analogy – but I know it involved a tiger. And, the basic premise was that we do not live life by thought. We live it by instinct.
Everything Happens For A Reason
This is the Principle that most will claim to be ‘A cop-out.’ This is the easy, lazy and irresponsible approach to life.
For instance – me living at my parents.
If I am here, then there is a reason.
An outsider to my life – like my father – might say, “The reason is…you don’t want to work.” But anyone that knows me should know this is an untrue statement. In fact, I probably ‘work’ too much. DancingQueen always used to say that I was the only person she knew that was always doing something but never seemed to get anything done. Even ‘The Pil-Man’ have pointed out that I try to hard.
I have tried countless times and in many ways to bend reality to a place where I wasn’t here. I have, in fact, been out several times. And yet, no matter what I do, no matter what I try, no matter how I push…here I remain.
The reasons could be many – and have been argued several hundred times.
But…everything happens for a reason and I do not understand everything, so who am I to question what is when what is, somehow leads to what I asked for?
HEHEHEHE.
To Thine Own Self Be True.
Need I say more?
And perhaps my favorite Principle of all -
Do As Thou Wilt; Will Through Love
So much trickier than it seems at first. But it truly is The Whole of The Law.
So this is what I believe. No. It’s more than that. It is what I know. So I must live it – wholly, truly and faithfully. All I can do is face each day as it comes and accept what is put before me – making the most of it that I can. Why? Because we always have exactly what we need when we need it. It all works out in the end. Everything truly does happen for a reason. And I will never really understand how it all works so seemingly miraculous.
I am currently facing this miraculous ‘Phenomenon’ in my life.
I have very little money available to me this coming week. I need to make it to Friday before I see a significant change in funds. I have very little gas in the van. I have a lot of work. Work means driving.
I looked at this situation about midway through this past week and immediately put it out “there” that I needed to get to Friday. Since I put it out there several things have happened – I found $4; A $12 payment came in, much earlier than expected; I rediscovered some metal I have been saving for the scrap yard; I stumbled upon an old lottery ticket or two; My driving needs for the past several days were significantly decreased; I realized I can bend a good portion of my schedule so that I can do my heaviest driving after I get paid on Friday.
And, along the way, there is potential for income on Wednesday.
Basically, as far as I can tell, I’m gonna make it. It won’t necessarily be easy, but it will be done. Everything has fallen into place – naturally and of its own accord. I had very little to do with any of it. I have just been led in the right direction to see what was right before me in the first place. How could I NOT feel blessed by this? How could I call it anything except divine?
So, I have no choice but to turn it over to this ‘Phenomenon,’ whatever it may be. And if I am going to hand over credit for all of the good then I must also recognize it’s hand in those things I would consider ‘bad.’ There is no choice. When it comes to faith/belief there is no halfway. Either you believe what you say you believe or you don’t.
(There is Do or Do Not…)
However, if we are going to turn over our lives to this ‘Phenomenon’, credit it with all of the ‘hidden’ works, then we must also adhere to the teachings of how to work with this ‘Phenomenon.’ The most basic and common of which is Live and Love.
That’s it. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Live your life – wholly and fully.
(To Thine Own Self Be True…)
And…Love. Love everyone and everything. This is where I think we all fall short. There is far to much criticism, too much judgment, too much hate floating around out there. And, I can’t think of a single doctrine or philosophy – spiritual or otherwise – that teaches us that is ok. Not one.
Yet, so many of us – myself included – run around so righteous in our beliefs that we fail to see what we are missing, that we are falling short.
It’s all or nothing.
I do not ask that anyone believe this with me…or even for me. I believe it – and now must live it – because it is what I have experienced. It is what I have learned. And, as a wise magician once told me, “You cannot unlearn what you have learned.”
(Believe me. I’ve tried.)
I am not even going to ask that anyone respect it.
I am, however, going to demand that you accept it. It is what it is. I am that I am and I am as Life has made me.
You do not have to like the answer, but know, that if you ask me, “Why,” the answer will most likely be, “Because it is God’s will.”
Comments
Post a Comment