ROAD LESS TRAVELED

                         There are two roads that diverged in the wood.
                        I took the road less traveled.
                        And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

Indeed, what a difference that choice has made in my life.  Thus far, the journey on that road less traveled  has been fraught with both deep sorrow and deep joy. There has been massive confusion and brilliant clarity along with unspeakable darkness and magnificent light.  Loneliness of the most pervasive type is very frequently a companion. Yet there is no contemplation over whether I have chosen wisely, for once chosen there is no turning back.  Who is the one who did the choosing?  The soul, of course, with the reluctant personality scrambling in a futile attempt to maintain its control. I move forward, not knowing where I am going or even certain if I am going in the right direction, yet I keep my eye on the Promise. An occasional and simple nod from the soul keeps me focused on this road less traveled.

Do You Push The River?

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DO YOU PUSH THE RIVER?

What does it mean to “push the river”?  Imagine that you are sitting on the banks of your favorite river watching the river doing its own natural thing. Then suddenly you decide that you want the river to flow in a different direction. Wow! Can you make it happen? Not in a million years. You can not push the river for the river is governed by immutable universal laws. Well, Katheryn, that seems pretty mundane, don’t you think? Yes, in fact it is so mundane that it escapes us, especially when we speak metaphorically about the river of our own life.

Do you ever try to push the river? Of course you do. I know that because that is what humans do. Life is not treating us “right”. Things are not fun, they are not fulfilling, they are not promising and in fact, they seem pretty grim at the moment. Sometimes that lasts a day, sometimes it lasts a week and sometimes it lasts even longer. We long for something that feels good. We look around us and we see others who seem to be feeling good, whose lives seem to be moving along quite well. We feel stuck and so we begin to resist. We want out of this place NOW and we mean business. It does not occur to us that the river of our life is moving in exactly the direction it needs to move. Neither does it occur to us that there are amazing spiritual jewels to be gotten from this uncomfortable place in which we find ourselves.

Sometimes we can not see the obvious/mundane which is our universal truth. The flow of our lives can not be altered. It is said by wise ones that we don’t have a choice as to what we are given. A small amount of reflection will make that truth obvious. What we do have is complete control over how we respond. Often we respond by getting into the touchy business of trying to push the river, a hopeless endeavor. We are unhappy and even frightened at times by the situation in which we find ourselves. It is a rare human being who would welcome reversal into their life.  Yet at some point we must embrace the message hidden within the challenge in order to grow and move on. So it was that I came across this quote which is mundane and simplistic unless you look more deeply.

For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

RESENTMENT AND ANGER NOT SYNONYMOUS

Anger and resentment are not the same and words matter very much.

We must be very careful with our words, if we are intent on changing the world in which we live. It reminds me of my favorite George Carlin joke from many decades ago:

A woman walks up to a man and a dog. She remarks over what a lovely dog it is. She asks the man: Does your dog bite?”  The man says no. The woman reaches down to pet the dog and the dog bites her. She says to the man “I thought you said your dog doesn’t bite!”  The man says “That’s not my dog.”

Resentment is like a cancer. It can eat you up inside. It has no productive quality except to inform you that you are off base. Resentment wants you to believe that the person or thing you resent has something you can’t have and want badly. It makes you feel powerless. If you are in pursuit of your truth, you will learn that either you can have that with applied effort or that it is not something you need or even want in this life time. Either way, you must release this highly toxic feeling of resentment for your own health.

Anger is a vastly different emotion than resentment.  Anger can propel you into a much needed and justified action if it is owned and then used correctly. Unlike resentment, it has an energy that is highly useful unless it is left to fester unused/unclaimed by you. For instance, in the time of Jesus, He expressed a righteous anger when he went to the temple and saw the displaced use of commerce. In his justified anger, he overturned the tables and denounced the wrongness that was taking place. Using His example, we can effect change in our world with regard to injustice by focusing our anger into appropriate and peaceful change.  

Resentment  and displaced anger are dangerous to your psyche and unchecked they eat away like a cancer.  Righteous anger, on the other hand, must be addressed for it speaks of human unfairness and a need for change.  It is this injustice that must be addressed if we are to gain Peace on Earth.

Are you too old to make a difference?

My blog is truly reflective of me. Like all of us, I am so many things. I am a soul. I am a human being. I am an activist. Is it okay to be multi-dimensional? I think so. While it is true that one never knows what topic I might address, the name of the blog speaks for itself. At The Heart of Being Human is our capacity to be highly committed to many things. So today I am talking about age which naturally impacts all parts of being a human.  It also brings in the soul which determines our purpose and life course.

Age is an interesting thing. For me, I think it is important to be aware and accepting of my age. On the other hand I can not be ruled by it.  The reason I think I need to be aware and accepting of my age is that there are things associated with that fact that can not be denied or avoided. The reason I can not be ruled by the fact of my age is an awareness that chronological age is a fact of my physical body and does not make a statement about my emotional, mental or spiritual body.  So when I am addressing anything physical, that fact must be considered. Otherwise it is irrelevant and unique to each of us.

So, please, if it is in your heart to do something for our suffering world, please proceed.  The world needs your participation!

BECOME THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE

So it is the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012.  Much has been said about the coming year and humanity’s theoretical demise, most of which has been based on the Mayan calendar. Have we given up on humanity? Is that why there is such an almost fervent wish in some quarters to have it end?  I wonder what you think of the idea that the world will end in 2012 according to some and be forever altered according to others. Actually that is just a sneaky way to lead into what I think.

We are the stewards of our earth and it is our responsibility to be here. While our world does not need to end, there is so much in our world that does need to change:  Poverty, excessive materialism, lack of compassion to the ordinary human condition, lack of interest in honoring our planet, misplaced spiritual values, inadequate food-shelter-medical care for many humans to name just a few. These are problems we have created as human beings through greed, apathy and ignorance of spiritual laws. Therefore these problems are ours to change. I do believe that it is our destiny to create a new and better world. I believe that we have the capacity to do so and in fact we will make those changes. We must!

Margaret Meade, a highly respected American cultural anthropologist, spent her life studying civilizations including ours. Her studies led her firmly to the following conclusion and I quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

The important thing to understand is that we have the power to make these changes.  Slowly but surely, we can take responsibility and charge for the way our world is. If, as Margaret Meade stated, the only thing that has ever changed the world is small groups of citizens, then we must begin.  What is holding us back?  Is it an overwhelming fear, a sense of powerlessness, even confusion about what needs to be done?  We need to break those patterns. At the very heart of being human lies the power to succeed.

I think we do know what is wrong and what needs fixing. We must act, each of us in our own way. We must stop looking at others and sincerely ask ourselves:  Am I part of the problem or am I part of the solution?  Be truly honest in your appraisal of yourself, and from that honesty will slowly come the recognition that just as each of us have been a part of the problem, each of us can be a part of the solution. We have the power to effect change and we will do that.  Why?  Because we are human beings and the capacity to effect change for the good is our birthright.

Village of 100 people

I read this some time back and it has a way of putting things in perspective. I regret I can not name the source.

                                         A Village of 100 People

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.
There would be:

• 57 Asians
• 21 Europeans
• 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
• 8 Africans
• 52 would be female
• 48 would be male
• 70 would be non-white
• 30 would be white
• 70 would be non-Christian
• 30 would be Christian
• 89 would be heterosexual
• 11 would be homosexual
• 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would
• be from the United States.
• 80 would live in substandard housing
• 70 would be unable to read
• 50 would suffer from malnutrition
• 1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
• 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education and 1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for both acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.
The following is also something to ponder... If you woke up this morning with more health than illness... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or wrath... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world, about 60% of the world population.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still alive and still married... you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

We're a fortunate group of people...

AND THERE IS MUCH TO BE DONE!

We The People

Vaclav Havel, a poet, playright, politician and human rights advocate  died a few days ago. He was a brilliant man who led Czechoslovakia out of communism and in to their multiparty democracy now known as The Czech Republic. Why should we care?  Because he understood things about human nature that have a deep impact on our quality of life. I first learned of him when I read his following quote:

“By nailing a man’s whole attention to the floor of his mere consumer interests, it is hoped to render him incapable of appreciating the ever-increasing degree of his spiritual, political, and moral degradation.”  Slowly but surely the degradation he spoke of has come upon our country as we have sought out bigger and better two door refrigerators, more expensive sneakers, and vacations just a little bit better than our neighbors. One only needs to see or read the daily news to find the moral degradation and the spiritual bankruptcy that is upon us.

The good thing about bankruptcy is that you get a chance for a fresh start. I believe that what we really want are basic human rights for all. Shelter, food, medical care, clean water and air to breath  are all natural human rights.  Still the most precious human right is the right to think and choose.  We must stand up and make clear to our leaders what it is we want and will have. After turning ourselves around, we can lead the rest of the world in right human relations. WE, THE PEOPLE, have the power. We must wake up now. This is our hour!