tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85954559394097990062024-03-13T05:53:19.064-07:00Our Spiritual WaySupporting personal commitment, individual insight, and listening for guidance
as we share our spiritual journeys together.Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-80910583336948657222022-09-08T10:14:00.000-07:002022-09-08T10:14:05.278-07:00Companion To History (Condensed)<p>Sometimes the Universe brings opportunities to us to assist
in navigating our spiritual journey. Other times it brings us to where we need
to be in order to assist others in pursuing their journey. Sometimes, it is
both at once – a shared experience. As I look back on the various twists and
turns in my life, there have been many instances of both types of such
interactions between the Universe and me. One particular track has been a
pattern of key travels, and finding myself at the right place at the right
moment in the right unique circumstance. The following is a personal example of
multiple such special moments.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*****</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev gathered for a first summit
meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on November 19-20, 1985. As an IT manager for
Bank of Boston, I was scheduled to meet in Geneva with its European branches. I
arrived in Geneva on the 20<sup>th</sup>, with tight security visible
everywhere I went. I had never seen or experienced such images back in America.
But the summit was successful, laying the foundation for future dialog and
strategic arms reductions. My understanding of a larger world beyond America
was beginning to be irrevocably changed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jean-Claude Duvalier became the dictator of Haiti – the
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere – after his dictator father died in
1971. On February 7, 1986, following growing street demonstrations by the
people, Duvalier fled the country. I arrived in Port-au-Prince a few weeks
after the overthrow (another bank trip). I saw the extreme poverty of the
citizenry, young men with military rifles patrolling the streets, but also the jubilation
of people celebrating their new freedom. I felt lucky to share in that moment
of national joy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1997, I scheduled a personal genealogy trip through the
United Kingdom and the Irish Republic. I arrived London/Heathrow Airport in the
evening of August 31. Going to bed early, I woke up around 2am, and turned on the
TV. The first reports of Princess Diana’s car wreck and death were just coming
in live. Thus would begin a week of all-consuming national mourning over her
death that served as the backdrop for my entire trip. On the day of Diana’s
state funeral, I was in the far northwestern corner of Scotland, alone in my
car, parked on a high bluff overlooking the sea, listening to the service on
the radio. I was glad I could be there to “participate” in person. These times
and events began a substantive reevaluation of the British monarchy that
continues to this day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Continuing on, I arrived in Belfast on September 9, 1997.
Northern Ireland has a long history of violent conflict between the Catholic
and Protestant populations. “The Troubles” had claimed many lives over a recent
twenty-year period. I visited the Stormont government building where peace talks
were being held intermittently. Sitting for hours on the lawn, I silently
wished success to all parties involved. My itinerary across Northern Ireland
brought me into visible contact with the many signs and structures of this
conflict. On October 7, 1997 a renewed effort began to negotiate a multi-party
peace accord. The result was the “Good Friday Agreement” on April 10, 1998, that
created a new shared governance structure that continues to this day.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As a young teen, I watched a 1930s movie titled “Lost
Horizons.” A man crashed in the Himalayas, and made his way to a fictitious hidden
civilization called Shangri-La, a land of perfect peace and communal harmony, modeled
after the very real land of Tibet. In my 50’s I vowed to see Tibet for myself.
I booked a solo trip to go to China <span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(</span>Beijing, Xi’an), and then Tibet in September-October 1999. I
hired personal guides for the China portion, and was scheduled to join an
international bus tour group upon arrival in Lhasa. Getting off the plane in
Beijing, my guide informed me that the city was closed for a week to celebrate
the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The next day
they put me on a plane to Xi’an, and then Chengdu, thereby advancing the Tibet portion,
doing Beijing at the end. So much for my carefully made itinerary planning.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my travel journal that I subsequently wrote, I described
in detail the daily events of this China/Tibet trip. I was traveling all alone
in two countries and cultures uniquely new to my entire life experience – and
no one back home knew where I was. I followed a series of local guides, continual
coincidences, and Universe-interventions that redesigned all original plans. It
simply required me to trust things to work out as the Universe intended for me.
By (thankfully) missing the bus tour, instead I was given a driver and a guide
to show me around. Being free of the bus crowd, I had the unique opportunity to
see and hear Tibet on a 1-1 “people” level. Similarly, the same people contact occurred
when I returned for the China leg. I enjoyed celebrating China’s founding
anniversary. I saw that same China in the process of destroying an honored
Tibetan culture and religion. I followed where I was led.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The weekend of June 30-July 1, 2001, I attended a Buddhist
conference in New York City. The event was held at a hotel/conference center
situated in the Twin Towers Plaza. I stayed in a hotel room that looked
directly into the plaza and into one of the Towers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2½ months later, on September 11, 2001,
terrorists destroyed the entire complex. “9-11” entered our lexicon, representing
world-wide terror, to be avenged and defeated. But I had a first reaction that,
in America, “9-1-1” represented our emergency call number and a plea for help.
We never responded to that possible perspective of “help.” Thus began decades
of involvement and war in the Middle East. Was a different opportunity perhaps
lost? I don’t know.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The modern version of Lebanon is a country of widely diverse
cultural/religious factions, requiring significant efforts to hold it together.
But in 1975-1990, civil war broke out. Afterwards, Lebanon began re-governing
itself as an independent country, but with neighboring Syria pulling the
strings in background. I was scheduled to do consulting work at a Beirut university
in February 2005. On February 14, 2005, a former prime minister was
assassinated in a car bombing; Syria’s secret service was blamed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The people took to the streets in protest
Syria’s involvement; it was a very tense time. My colleagues and I were given
the option to postpone our visit; instead, we opted to fly in as scheduled.
Thus was I at another significant moment of historical change, working
side-by-side with wonderful Lebanese people, while being exposed to yet another
distinctly different culture that exists in a significant place and time in
world history. Syria left Lebanon in April 2005; I made a number of trips back
over the next several years. The country has faced many tough times in the
intervening years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">***** In Conclusion …</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A one-time event is an experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two similar events are a possible
coincidence. Three or more similar structural events are a pattern. It is in
seeing the recurring patterns that have shaped our lives that makes possible some
of our most meaningful spiritual insights. I do not fully know why I found
myself at these particular locales at those particular times. But I know they
were important to my life path. Important for me to expand my horizons. I know
these experiences were brought to me not only by my own doing, but with the
assistance of the spiritual Universe. Which required me to step out of “control
mode,” and work with the Universe by being a trusting partner and willing follower.
Did I bring some tangible effect on others, on my “hosts?” I honestly do not
know. We rarely know the domino effects that our actions create for others.
Perhaps it was merely to be present. To simply bare witness to a significant moment.
My reward was to know these people, locales and cultures on a personal level
that remains with me to this day. Maybe that was a mutual gift enough. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Learn from the pattern. The pattern is a window into the
Universe. The Universe as Teacher.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2022<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>(NOTE: For a free .pdf copy of the original expanded essay
from which this posting is drawn, send an email request to
OurSpiritualWay@hotmail.com)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-66864627721053488252022-05-03T14:53:00.000-07:002022-05-03T14:53:08.324-07:00Some Things I Have Learned - Excerpt<p> In my book “The Divine Intention
For Our Human Life” (ISBN# 978-0-9895428-6-9), the perspective is offered that
the Purpose of our human life is to Learn. Learn as much as can be possible within
one lifetime about all that makes up this miracle of Creation within which we
exist … So it is worthwhile to periodically stop in the chaos and frenzy of our
everyday life, look back on what we have seen, what we have experienced, and
then examine more fully What We Have Learned on a broader, more general
perspective … To that end, the following narrative identifies some of the
Lessons I have been fortunate to learn over my current lifetime …</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I – <u>A Lifetime Journey<o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#1. Each of us walks a path that
defines the spiritual journey of our life. Over time, we move from one stepping
stone to the next, a series of adventures and milestones that constitute our
life adventures. It is a path unique to each if us, though we likely encounter
many companions along the way who appropriately fade in and out of our shared travels.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#2. Most of the stepping stones
we walk seem to be haphazardly arranged, a series of disconnected, accidental,
unexpected turns. Yet in fact the next stone in our sequence is the cumulative
result of the many stones we walked before … If we take the time to map out the
links and circumstances that have facilitated our journey to date, that map
will reveal a far more connected and purposeful life than we might have
assumed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">II – <u>The Structures Of Human Life<o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#5. Every physical form that is,
also exists in different variations within that form … This multitude of forms
and their variations is purposefully meant to continually illustrate to us the
vastness of all Creation, while demonstrating that life takes many forms, each
acceptable in its own right …<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#7. Conflict is an inherent part
of life … Conflict challenges us to look beyond easy answers, but rather to
look deeper into the source and impact of a given conflict, and then to reach
deeper into our creativity and accumulated knowledge for how to resolve that conflict
… This is to deepen our knowledge, notwithstanding the personal pain we may
experience.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#8. We are formed by the union
of a mother and a father. The result is that we are created both “male” and “female.”
Each of us manifests our dual female/male characteristics in varying ways … Yet
the male/female separation is simply for functional reasons, typically to
facilitate some of how we will function in this lifetime, some of the roles we
will play, and some of our life Lessons to be learned …<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#9. We cannot change what has
already happened. We can only learn from it, build upon it in our future
actions. There is no backtracking, no undoing, no wiping the slate clean. There
is only starting over from a new place, newly informed. We are best served by
cutting our attachments to our past, but only after its Lessons have been
learned.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">12. We are given a full range of
emotions to experience in our learning, arriving in sets of matched opposites. Love/hate
… happiness/sadness; success/failure … joy/sorrow; confidence/fear … etc. Each
partner in the match works together with the other so that we know both the
context and depth of each, by which we ultimately come to appreciate the unity
of the match itself. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">III – <u>The Search For Truths<o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#13. There is much for us to
learn as human beings, over a vast subject matter we call “Life.” In one
lifetime, we can only know and absorb a limited portion of all there is in
Creation. Our “knowledge” … should be continually humbled by respecting how
much we do not know.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#14. True wisdom is knowledge
(facts) gained by observation, which generates thoughts (opinions) which are
tested by experience, which are truly understood by reflection, which then
becomes the basis for new observations. It is a never-ending, repeating cycle.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#16. A Truth is unending. The
more we learn, more doors open for us as we revisit our Lessons and learn them
even more deeply. We pursue Truth to learn “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i>
Truth,” but our learning is never satisfied with a false completion. We would
like to see Truth as a singular “final” outcome, but such outcomes are only
temporary milestones of Wisdom. The pursuit of Truths continues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">IV – <u>The Decisions We Make<o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#21. Our decisions often seem
random and disconnected with each other. But if we trace them back, we are very
likely to find a connected thread that ties them together. One decision leads
to an action, which leads to another decision needing to be made, which leads
to another action, which leads to another decision to be made, which … Our life
is not lived in a straight line, but proceeds instead in a series of starts and
stops, constantly changing direction.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#24. Decisions have an
expiration date. A decision at a past point in time is not necessarily still an
appropriate decision for today … We need to learn when to “cut bait” on a
decision that once served us well, but no longer does so; when to let go of a
prior decision and its resulting actions so that we can move on to our next awaiting
adventure …<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#27. Our resistance to Change is
often overcome more easily when the topic becomes personal and directly
relevant to us. When seeking change in others, sometimes we have to help the
topic become personal and directly relevant to them in order to help motivate
those individuals to join in the Change effort.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">V – <u>Living Our Life<o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#29. Our inherent inclination is
to Love, but we are predominately driven in our actions by our Fears … Our
fears come from the mental and physical pain we experience … in interacting
with the overwhelming vastness and seeming superiority of all Creation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#30. … Each human life reflects
the sum total of one’s experiences, thoughts, opinions, interactions, and
decisions, made over time, occurring within a particular geographical and
community / cultural setting(s), synthesized in a mix unique to that individual.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#32. Our greatest opportunities in
life usually lie outside of our current view. We can only see them when we open
up to their possibility.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#35. I cannot save the world. I
cannot “correct” all that I perceive is wrong in this world. Nor can I ease all
of the pain and suffering I see in this world. But I can make a difference in
some small part of the world, in some manner that is available to me … I should
try.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">VI - <u>Relationships<o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#37. Treat others as you would
want your son or daughter to be treated. Ill-treatments run on a circular track
back to its perpetrator.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#39. …Very little of whatever
success we have in our life is due solely and entirely on our singular efforts.
… The “self-made man/woman” should be applauded for his/her accomplishments,
but there are many fingerprints on their trophy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#40. Every human being deserves
our best thoughts, our compassion for what they are going through, whether or
not their circumstances are visible to us. But their personal struggles do not
give them permission to act in unilateral ways to the inappropriate detriment
of others.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#42. Forgiving a person who has
wronged us can be hard, but it is warranted for our own peace. Ultimately,
their ill-considered actions toward us are best consigned to our past, lest we
remain a prisoner locked within their deeds.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#44. Do what you say you will
do. Keep your word. Be reliable. Those traits define character, and are foundational
for successful human relationships.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#47. A well-stated message, to
the right person, at the right moment, in a right context, free of any
expectations, is often the best-said message.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#49. We cannot substitute our
life and journey into another’s life. Each person must follow their own unique
journey.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">#51. To get, one must give. To
be heard, one must listen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">*****<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">Some of the many Lessons
learned. Yet so much still not fully understood. So many Lessons still to be
learned from experiences had and to be had. The process continues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;">“Nothing
ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—</span> Pema Ch<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ö</span>dr<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ö</span>n, Buddhist Teacher<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2022<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-41754683565994787852021-10-13T14:20:00.002-07:002021-10-13T14:20:30.586-07:00Blog On Hold<p>Thank you for visiting this Our Spiritual Way blog site.</p><p>Please note that, after 10 years of continuous writing, I am
temporarily not posting new essays to this site. Given the national and
international events of these past couple of years – cultural, political,
medical, and spiritual – I find myself in need of a break from my writing
commitment. For me, this is a time for reflection and renewal, a time to pause
and better absorb the words and actions that have gone down since 2016, better
understand their implication, and extract the underlying themes of what we have
witnessed. Only after this needed reflective time do I feel I will be prepared
and qualified to adequately resume the discussions to which this blog is
dedicated.</p><p>My Thanks to all of you for your generous support and
quality feedback over these years. Stay tuned – I will be in touch again when
appropriate!</p><p>Randy Bell</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-13088234782372032982021-07-15T21:37:00.000-07:002021-07-15T21:37:04.388-07:00Listening To Our Messages<p> “In a time of difficulty, maybe [the Universe] has sent you
not what you want, but what you need.”
—source unknown</p><p>Listen. Just listen. Watch. Just watch. Listen to, and watch
for, our messages. Our personalized messages. Our Life Messages. It is a tricky
business. Sometimes they arrive quietly, almost under the radar, here and gone
in an instant. Easy to miss. Other times they arrive with a bang, demanding our
attention, unavoidable. But often we nevertheless try to avoid them.</p><p>They are the spiritual Messages intended to give us guidance
when we are at a divide in our path, and we are looking for a new direction or
a new understanding. They point out our best choices for future directions.
They help us decipher how things truly work in our world. They help us to
understand what we have seen, heard or experienced but not fully understood.
They push us beyond the limits of our everyday world into an unlimited world of
being.</p><p>Every day, we are consumed with Doing. Doing tasks. Tasks
initiated by us, assigned to us by others, or inherent in the many roles we
have elected to take on. Absorbing words with our ears, images with our eyes, smells
with our nose, shape and textures with our hands. Concurrently, we go about the
care and maintenance of our body which makes this multi-tasking Doing possible.
We long for time and energy to pursue our own Thoughts on all manner of topics
to enhance our knowledge and move our life forward. All of these things taken
together make for an unrelenting bombardment in continuing assault on our Mind.
Each Doing competes for space, recognition; each Doing will likely get less
than its desired share; our Mind prioritizes and apportions attention as it
sees fit. Judgments of “good” versus “bad” are calculated; decisions are made;
actions are taken; new inputs arrive; the Mind reprioritizes. The cycle repeats
unendingly.</p><p>It is into the midst of this whirling vortex that our
spiritual Messages arrive. Against all of this everyday chaos consuming our
Mind, it is not a fair fight for commanding attention. Notwithstanding, these
are truly the most important claimants for our attention. Yet, more often than
not, they are subtle in their presentation. A word, a sentence in a paragraph
of conversation with a friend; a flash of an image occupying one small corner
of a panorama landscape; a particular smell wafting up in concert with dozens
of other odors; the feel and connection of a single touch with another person in
a day filled with similar but less-consequential encounters. In an already busy
day, an unanticipated event occurs that challenges our assumptions, conflicts
with our personal expectations as to what “should be,” perhaps blocks our
current path-in-process.</p><p>How does one filter, separate, extract these most critical
Life Message from the consuming weight, and demands for instant gratification,
of our daily chaos? Simply put, we open ourselves to receiving them. We will
never recognize our Messages if we do not first believe that such messaging
exists. We will not reap the benefits of these messages if we attempt to
cherry-pick which messages we accept – i.e. only the “good” and “easy” news
that fits our already existing and predetermined plans. (In fact, many Messages
are specifically intended to “make the comfortable uncomfortable.”) We will not
hear them if we are not open to changing our life in some manner, because our
spiritual Messages are inherently about provoking new directions or new ways of
thinking. We will not see their importance if we do not pay attention to those
moments when we are startled by a particular occurrence in our day. We will not
engage as long as we believe that our life is constructed entirely from our own
making, with minimal external interference. We will not be moved if we believe that
our “coincidences” are just random and unconnected events, curiosities but of
no meaningful substance.</p><p>In short, we pay attention. We pay reactive attention by our
awareness that every moment, every person, every event of our day can be a
vehicle for a Message. We pay proactive attention by setting aside time each
day to survey the content of our day, to identify any situations that may have
slipped by our awareness. In a day filled with Doings, we purposefully create time
and space for our Mind to sort through the stories of our day to find the
spiritual keys that can unlock the oft-closed doors within which we live. The
key that answers the question, “What new thing did I learn today?” The key that
tells us, “What am I unnecessarily holding on to?” The key that shows us, “What
do I need to see and understand?” The key that shows us, “What bad thing or
person in fact helped me to move to my next desirable step?” The key that shows us, “How are the many
separate parts and events of my life actually interconnected?”</p><p>In a quiet moment, we ask what Life (the Universe) is trying
so hard to tell us. Having posed our question, we blot everything else out. We
do not force a reply. Rather, we sit back and just listen. Watch the thoughts
go by. Withholding judgment. Waiting until that intended core Message we seek comes
through to us. We see anew. And then we act.</p><p><span style="text-align: center;">©</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">2021</span><span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;">Randy Bell</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-34214824700619051932021-05-25T19:30:00.001-07:002021-05-25T19:30:00.186-07:00A Really Big Small Thing<p class="MsoNormal">On May 8<sup>th</sup>, Spencer Silver died at the age of 80.
His death did not get much notice or attention at the time, a shame considering
his important contribution to societal progress. Whatever successes I may have
had in my professional and/or personal life, some portion of credit must be
attributed to the revolutionary tool he made available equally to us all.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Spencer Silver was the 3-M product developer who created the
Post-It Notes. Those little yellow 3” x 3” square pads ubiquitously scattered
about in home and office. The special sticky glue on one side allowed them to
be posted virtually anywhere, on anything, moved around or removed at will.
Upon them has been written the major building blocks of “things to be done” and
“information to remember” that has kept America undeniably running more
smoothly. No high-tech equipment are required when your pen and Post-Its are
immediately handy on nearby countertops and desks.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In my own case, as a strategic planner, they made possible
the easy collection of group brainstorming ideas, little visions of the future
captured in 3-5 words sharable with others. As a project planner, individual
project requirements and milestones could be easily identified, and scrambled
and sorted into variable options for consideration. The home “to do” list
covering all sorts of tasks-to-do are conveniently noted at the moment of
realization, then efficiently transported to the appropriate wall, mirror or
desk most appropriate to any household member you feel needs “reminding.”
Highly important is their use as a sleep aid – those minutes (seemingly hours)
you toss and turn in bed thinking about some “critical” idea, or brainstorming
a needed solution, or drafting a document to be written (e.g. a blog essay),
all in dialog with your over-stimulated mind in lieu of sleep. Finally, you get
up, grab your pen and Post-It pad on your nightstand, and write down those key
words that assure you that your ideas will not be forgotten come the rude
awakening of morning. Nervous energy turns into calm sleep at last.</p><p class="MsoNormal">For these and many other examples, we owe a debt to a guy by
the name of Spencer Silver. It is human nature to want to save the world,
change the difficult life conditions of humanity, accomplish “big ideas” for
the sake of future generations. Yet, in its own way, the Post-It note reminds
us that sometimes it is the small idea, the single step forward, that just
helps us along a little more easily. It is someone – typically unnamed – who
benefits us by sharing a moment of their inherent creativity. We should remember
that it is often the accumulated little steps we take that make the big ones
possible, so it behooves us to notice and acknowledge such contributions and
acts of kindness as we come across them.</p><p class="MsoNormal">For that reminder, we thank you Spencer Silver. And I now
consign to the paper recycle box the Post-It note written weeks ago reminding
me to write this statement. Task done.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">© 2021 Randy
Bell https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> </p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-55918611749969948432021-04-08T17:00:00.001-07:002021-04-08T17:00:00.207-07:00Family History And Heritage<p>In the mid-1980s, I was infected with the genealogy bug. I
had a desire to know more about my family history: who I came from; who those
people were; how their life unfolded; how I resulted from their journey. I
began by following the traditional route of family history researchers. First, we
identify the cast of characters by name in our ancestral pool, both direct
ancestors and their siblings and descendants. Next comes the basic, dry facts
of them: dates (birth, marriage, death); their relationship to us. Then their
geography (where did they happen; what were their movements). We interview extended
family members for their recollections, oral histories, and perhaps personal
documentation. We search the public records in federal / state / local
archives: census reports for each decade; wartime service records; business
directories; newspaper articles: state and local bureaus of official records.
We search the ancestry data resources available.</p><p>The stories in the history books find a place on our desk.
When we begin to connect the stories and events and dates within the school
textbooks to our emerging genealogical landscape, our accumulated names
gradually come alive as “real people.” People who were part of the historical
story; historical stories that were lived by the people. Over time, our own
life begins to expand. Expands beyond one’s usual day-to-day existence, our usual
focus on ourselves as the center of the Universe. Connection with our ancestors
helps us share connection and space with our contemporary companions.</p><p>Each step, each contact, in the genealogical journey yields
more pieces to the ancestral puzzle, yet also another research step to be undertaken.
Until a trail runs cold, and the next ancestor in the line disappears,
apparently lost into time. At which time we start down a new trail and repeat
the process. For all its time demands and inevitable frustrations, it is a
highly rewarding journey. If you are a White American. Preferably of Western
European descent.</p><p>If you are an African-American setting out on a genealogy
journey, you will likely travel a very different trip than the one described
above. Many of the above resources and official records created between 1900
and the present would be available, whether one’s ancestors came to America
post-1900 or before. But “story information” could be harder to come by, given
how much Black history in the 20<sup>th</sup> Century has been buried and
under-reported until fairly recently. If
you had ancestors in America during the post-Civil War / Reconstruction /
1865-1900 period, resources and information could be a mixed picture. Black
Americans were just beginning to be “officially” recognized as individuals in
the Census recordings, the Vital Statistics records, school records, etc., but
it would be very hit-and-miss depending on one’s individual situation within
the Jim Crow racial segregation and
oppression framework.</p><p>But it is the Civil War that rings down the genealogical
curtain, hiding an unseen civilization behind its silence, a curtain rarely
raised except for perhaps a quick peek. In the 245 years that Black America was
also slavery America, Black Americans were treated as non-human beings. There
were no birth certificates. If given a name, it would be one determined by the
slave owner. Death was routinely burial in a mass, unmarked grave, its
occupants identified by no headstones. If recorded in one of the census
listings, a slave could be noted as simply one of a number – e.g. “6 slaves,”
individually unidentified, familial relationships unstated, perhaps even with a
dollar value assigned. Further, our Constitution directed that slaves be only
counted as “3/5 of a person” for government representation. In short, slaves
were legally considered on the same par as farm livestock, sold and bought at
public auction, “property” literally chained to their owner, their existence
found (if at all) only in commercial records, not government recordkeeping.
These antebellum Black Americans may have been highly visible in the flesh
given their numbers, but the acknowledgment and substantiation of their
existence was invisible, lost to time. They are known only in the collective,
except perhaps the few “family oral histories” that have survived.</p><p>“Heritage” is the accumulated stories of our ancestors
reflecting their times and events. Stories often only partially true, historical
snippets that selectively pick out the “good stuff” while ignoring uncomfortable
omissions. But that is intellectually and ethically dishonest: we have to take
the good together with the bad before we can properly claim “our heritage.”
They are also stories handed down over potentially long periods of time,
increasingly impassioned with each tick of the clock.</p><p>There is much talk these days about “our heritage,” and the
need to preserve and defend it from supposed attack (e.g. the “cancel culture”
movement). The first problem with this call to arms is that most people cannot
define what their heritage is. At best, we get those romanticized ideas that
quickly come to one’s mind. The second problem is, whose heritage are we
referencing? White southern history; Black southern history; New England
history; Southwestern frontier history? Asian- / Italian- / Scottish- / Middle
East-American history? Each person, each group, has a unique heritage story.
These stories, collectively and interwoven, form America’s collective and complete
heritage. Which is why, when we talk about our own personal heritage, we are
obligated to remember that our personal heritage is not everyone’s heritage. My
story includes soldiers on both the North and South side of the Civil War. So whom
do I honor? What is my heritage? Black heritage is not my personal heritage,
but my personal heritage interacts with Black heritage to create America’s
heritage.</p><p>Can it be that the outcry we hear today about “protecting
our heritage” is not from the fear of potential loss? Rather, could it be the
growing pains of our national heritage expanding to include our many heritages
trying to live together? What I feel confident in saying is that there is no White
American who has an ancestor that was bought, chained, sold, forcibly separated
from family, and lived an undocumented life with no legal rights as a free
human being, and no safety protection from the State. My heritage is not your
heritage. But they are our shared heritage.</p><p><span style="text-align: center;">©</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">2021</span><span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;">Randy Bell</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-16930626838814550622021-02-24T17:00:00.001-08:002021-02-24T17:00:08.608-08:00Advice Regarding Advice<p>Advice. People have been giving and receiving advice ever
since the first human beings arose on this earth. There are people more than willing
to offer their opinions on a host of topics regarding what one should think and
do, and others more than happy to receive said opinions. They can be opinions
on major life decisions, or a simple task now in process over the next five
minutes, and everything in between.</p><p>Structurally, there are two sources of advice available to
us: “Institutional Advice,” and “Individual Advice.” Institutional Advice comes
from three principal providers: Government, though its constitutions, laws and
regulations; Religion/Church, through its formal dogma, rituals, and sacred writings;
and Culture/Society, through its codes of acceptable conduct within one’s
group. We may not think of these institutions as true “advice givers,” but
rather as the necessary and acceptable mechanisms for holding group societies
together. But given that – for better or worse – humans can accept or deny
these various institutional rules, and decide whether to follow them or not
regardless of any societal punishments, then realistically all of these
institutional expectations are ultimately simply advice from which we make our life
choices.</p><p>Then there are the more familiar Individual Advice Givers. They
are the friends, family, sometimes even strangers who give us their perspective
on some issue or activity with which we are engaged. The fundamental goal is to
help the Advice Receiver find from within him-/herself the solutions and
decisions appropriate to him/her; it is all about Self-discovery. When done
well and with purity of intention, such advice can be very helpful to us as we
plod our way through our daily lives. For the Advice Giver, it can be personally
satisfying that one’s experiences and opinions have some value worth sharing,
and satisfying to know that one has been helpful to another human being. For
the Advice Receiver, the ability to share one’s burdens, and having the benefit
of wider experiences from which to draw, can ease the burden of one’s personal decision-making.
But when done poorly and with impurity of intention by either party, advice can
make our already complicated and difficult life even more problematic; a
potential gift from the emergence of one’s latent creativity may be forever
lost. There are four key scenarios that disrupt well-intentioned and effective giving
and receiving of advice, and can in fact create personal friction in the
relationship between Giver and Receiver.</p><p>1. Receiver: “What would you do [in this situation or
problem]?” What I would do if facing your challenges is speculation on my part,
because I am not actually facing your very real challenges in your very real
circumstances. So my imagined solutions would be theoretical at best. My
desired outcomes are not necessarily appropriate to your aspirations. The real
question is, what are you trying to accomplish? What I think I might do is
irrelevant to your decision-making, other than perhaps illustrating some
options that you might consider for yourself.</p><p>2. Receiver: “What would you do if you were me?” or Giver:
“If I were you I would …”: I am not you. My life experiences, goals,
priorities, and circumstances are different than yours. My current situation
may have similarities with yours, but overall our lives are significantly different.
Without strong restraint, I will wind up describing what I would do for ME, not
you. The best I can do in this scenario is to surround my reply with full
disclosure of how I reached that conclusion for me. Thereby, you can determine
whether my decision considerations and objectives have any relevance to your
aspirations and concerns.</p><p>3. Receiver: “What should I do?” I do not know. I cannot
possibly know. What I do know is that this question turns the conversation on
its head. It effectively allows the Receiver to surrender control and
responsibility for making his/her own personal decisions. We each have to make
our own call in response to the challenges we encounter. We each need to take
advantage of the opportunities for personal growth, maturity, and learning that
come with making and assessing our decisions. As tempting as it may be in the
moment, those opportunities are lost when the Receiver avoids the decision and
leaves it to others to determine instead.</p><p>4. Giver: “You should ...” The two killer words in any
advice discussion. Nothing of real value comes from any words that follow after.
The Giver has moved from a position of “helper” to one of control, of dominance
over the Receiver. In turn, the Receiver has moved either into a position of
subservience towards “going along with the should,” or defensiveness in order
to retain the integrity of his/her Self. This is no longer a conversation, but
a lecture. It is not to be mistaken for advice, but rather a treat for the ego
of the Giver.</p><p>There is one check that is helpful to measure whether our
intention as an Advice Giver is in its proper place. When we give advice, it is
critically important that we detach ourselves from the advice itself. That we
retain no sense of expectation or judgment as to whether the Receiver takes our
advice or not. We were asked for our thoughts and opinion. We gave same. If we
take personally the Receiver’s ultimate decision, and are miffed if s/he goes
another direction, then we know that we actually attempted to make the
conversation about us, not the Receiver. The goal was for us to be humbly helpful
to another in their struggle by finding where their heart and mind are leading
them. It was not supposed to be about our own wonderfulness, the superiority of
our knowledge and supposed wisdom, and our life instead of theirs.</p><p>Which brings us to the final overriding and cautionary axiom
for Advice Givers: <i>THE WORST ADVICE THERE
IS, IS UNSOLICITED ADVICE</i>. Advice giving is a response function, not a self-initiated
function. Sometimes the best advice is to say nothing at all, but to just
listen; minding our own business can often be the best advice we can offer. Often,
what people really want is just to be heard. If our egos really call us to
offer advice not requested, then we would do well to at least first ask the permission
of the Receiver as to whether s/he wants it.</p><p>This is my unsolicited Advice Regarding Advice.</p><p>(With thanks to a special meditation group for stimulating
this essay.)</p><p><span style="text-align: center;">©</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">2021</span><span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;">Randy Bell</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-39732404091369983922020-11-24T20:51:00.003-08:002020-11-24T20:51:29.821-08:00A Time For Thanks<p> It has been a while – too long a while – since I posted an
essay on this spiritual blog. Like many others, my attention this year has been
on the many difficult social/ political/health events occurring all around me,
threatening many things that I hold dear and special. It has been an exhausting
and emotionally draining time. Now, as some of these currents began to slowly
ebb, it is a time to begin to restore and rebalance ourselves for what lies
ahead, even as that “ahead” may continue to be vague and ill-defined. We have
much work to do in order to heal the pains and divisions that have so consumed
our society these past several years, a task that can seem overwhelming. But we
must try. We must re-find our sense of confidence, our trust in one another, our
belief in our spiritual drive towards “betterment” and “can do” that has always
driven us. Perhaps, in spite of the many negative feelings we may have
accumulated of late, a new beginning can start with recognizing and expressing
our thanks to some of those people – our neighbors – who have voluntarily
stepped up to the plate at a time when most needed.</p><p>So we give thanks to the health care workers, working overtime
on the front lines of a seemingly unstoppable killer virus, fighting to save
the sick and afflicted. In hospitals, make-shift medical tents, nursing homes,
manning long lines at drive-through testing centers. Doctors, nurses,
maintenance and support staff, EMT/emergency personnel, working together with
too often inadequate supports from government and industry. Constantly facing
too large a swath of the public that disavows the danger (“a hoax”) of Covid-19
and flagrantly refuses to cooperate with preventive measures – until they wind
up in the care of those exhausted health workers. Health workers burnt out from
having turned the switch on life-sustaining machinery to “OFF” too many times,
working among the over-extended, often make-shift ICU beds. We thank them.</p><p>So we give thanks to the families of the sick, separated
from their loved ones, unable to hold their hands or say words of comfort to
them as their breaths of life slide slowly away. Loved ones taken too soon, too
unexpectedly. Leaving behind torn and devastated families searching for some understandable
reason that they can wrap their arms around – all the while working to hold the
family together as it moves forward to its new future. We thank those families
for their examples of resilience and courage.</p><p>So we give thanks to the parents of all our young children
as they try to adapt their lives – and their children’s lives – to a constantly
changing environment. Schools open / semi-open / closed / doing remote
learning. Parents providing ad hoc make-shift home care, while trying to
maintain careers and/or functioning in new “home workplaces.” We thank these
parents as they endure the many strains of parenthood within love, each day finding
new ways to “figure it out,” within circumstances never envisioned.</p><p>So we give thanks to teachers and educational staff who are
continually adapting to new programs, new rules, new methodologies, new
schedules for teaching America’s children – children who are also part of the “teachers’
children.” The commitment of these teachers to support their students – both
intellectually and emotionally – through their extraordinary efforts represents
the best of their profession. We thank these teachers for their devotion to the
littlest among us.</p><p>So we give thanks to those who may be threatened with, or
are currently, out of work, and the owners of small businesses unable to stay
open. They are our neighbors who spend each day in worry as they make constant
decisions about where the food will come from, how needed medical care will be
obtained, whether they may become homeless. And on the behalf those people, we
give thanks for the many volunteers manning the food banks and thrift stores, and
people raising funds or creating special programs of support. We thank those
people donating money or goods to help these many others in need.</p><p>So we give thanks to the many election staff and volunteer
poll workers who showed up to ensure that our democracy held together in spite
of the health crisis. To accommodate record-setting voter numbers, processes
were created ad hoc as needed. In spite of threats of violence at the polls,
and overt political pressures and attempted anti-voting antics by those who
should know better, there was no violence. There was no fraud. There were just
people committed to exercising their right to vote and run their own country.
We thank both voters and poll workers.</p><p>So we give thanks to those public officials and government
service workers who, in a time when public responsibility and the
Constitutional rule of law have teetered on the brink of collapse, have stood
up and reasserted their oath of office. We recognize that, for many, such
“standing up” has been injurious to their financial well-being and/or
reputation. We thank them for their courage to act nonetheless, and for thereby
inspiring us to act accordingly.</p><p>So we give thanks to the genuine “essential workers,” those
many often-invisible people whose work allows the rest of us to do what we do,
to live the life of “new normalcy” that we are experiencing. The farmers,
grocery workers, food workers, sanitation workers, gas station providers,
bank/ATM personnel, pharmacists, home repairers, and countless
under-appreciated others who are keeping our society running while we sort this
all out. We thank them all for their unheralded contributions.</p><p>Certainly we feel these desperate times all too acutely,
tired and frustrated by its seeming insolvability and interminableness. But at
this year’s Thanksgiving dinner table, regardless of the empty chairs and
smaller numbers, we would do well to remember and acknowledge those to whom our
thanks are due. Those original Pilgrims feasted not because times were great.
They feasted because they had faced hardship and had come through it, scathed
but survived. Having faith in each other, and the confidence in the always
inevitable greatest good, we will do the same.</p><p>As has been said, the sun is a ways shining, even when it
hides behind the clouds. It is on us to
have the steadiness and patience to wait for our time when the clouds will
inevitably clear.</p><p><span style="text-align: center;">©</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">2020</span><span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;">Randy Bell</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-57870397753028513592020-06-08T01:00:00.000-07:002020-06-08T01:35:59.045-07:00Our Family Stories<br />
Around 30 years ago, I decided to take up the adventure of
tracing my family history. As others have found, this exercise can be a
far-reaching, ever-expanding, near-consuming endeavor; a descent into a series
of black holes and dead-end brick walls as one continually opens new doors of
never-ending inquiry. But it is also one of the highly rewarding things we can
do in our lifetime, to see ourselves placed within the context of many others.<br />
<br />
There are three levels of discovery that come from family
research. The first level is the basic facts of one’s family: names, birth and
death dates, places; the vertical and horizontal relationships and
entanglements among each other. The second level is learning their individual
stories: how they lived, what transpired, what journeys they traveled. The
third level is placing the experiences of their lives within the larger
historical context occurring around them, sweeping them up, molding and guiding
their lives beyond what may have been their choice.<br />
<br />
Currently, over 1200 unique names make up my genealogical
family of the last 400 hundred years, with varying levels of detail known about
their lives. As I occasionally reflect on their lives and times in relation to
my life and time, several themes arise.<br />
<br />
To my knowledge, not one member of my genealogical family
was ever lynched in a vigilante hanging, or burned alive tied to a tree while
an “audience” applauded. Not one person was ever the property of another,
committed to a lifetime of unpaid service with no say in the matter. Since the
founding of America, not one man – and since 1920 not one woman – has been
openly denied the right to vote or run for office based on their skin color,
country of origin, educational level or wealth. Since the late 1800s, all were
entitled to a basic and equal education paid for at public expense. All of the
men could choose to serve their country in the military and advance through
rank based upon their service and abilities; my great-great-great-grandfather
fought in the Revolutionary War to create a united America; my
great-great-grandfather fought in the Confederate Army to try to break the
country into two parts; both of their stories are a part of me. Some of my
genealogical family were discriminated against in their jobs/careers due to
their national origin, but over time they gradually broke through those
barriers. My genealogical family was free to travel the country, settle where
they chose, live in any section of town they could afford. When they
encountered law enforcement officials or the judicial court system, they
intuitively presumed they would be treated fairly and respectfully, with equal
process as given to all others; generally their intuition was not disappointed.
My father never felt the need to give me special instructions on how to act if
I was stopped by the police. These are some of my family stories, experiences and cultural heritage. They are most certainly not everyone’s stories.<br />
<br />
As I moved into adulthood, the life expectations I took for
granted were not necessarily the expectations others could take for granted.
Doors of opportunity were opened for me all my life if I demonstrated
competency; others had doors slammed shut even before getting the chance to
show their skills and talents. The three pillars of access, education, and
resources helped me “get ahead” in the world; the absence of these have been
barriers to a better life for many. I left my hometown and its high school with
generally good memories, and the confidence that I was well-prepared to take on
whatever life adventure I would choose. I am doubtful that my contemporaneous Black
graduates at the segregated Lincoln High School – which sat next to their limited
and restricted housing enclave across town – had comparable memories, or felt
the same preparation and opportunities for their dreams of their upcoming life.<br />
<br />
Family histories are more than just names and dates. They
are the times families lived in and were affected by. They are stories long
told, of good times and bad times and sometimes horrific times, handed down and
reinforced over generations and centuries, even if now in just fragments of
memories. Stories that continue to permeate the thinking, expectations, and instinctive
reactions of persons today. Too often we judge others based upon our own life
experiences, which likely bear little resemblance to the experiences of others
– experiences we know little or nothing about. We all live in a bubble of our
own family experience, and our bubbles are not the same. Yet when we take the
time to puncture these bubbles, we can find a common core that can be shared.<br />
<br />
We know so little, have such a superficial knowledge, of
each other. Yet it only requires some time and sincere effort on our part to really
listen to one another. To hear the Family Stories that have shaped who we are.
To assume someone has lived a different life than ours, and thereby has
naturally arrived at different conclusions. To break out of our insulating,
protective bubble. It is only through such listening that we can find the unity
of our humanity. Why do we make acceptance of each other, respect for each
other, friendship with each other, so hard?<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2020<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-52150573365374380962020-03-30T00:28:00.000-07:002020-03-30T00:28:07.106-07:00An Afternoon Walk
<br />
I just got home from a short walk in my neighborhood on this
last Saturday in March 2020. Such a walk has not generally been a part of my
daily routine. But with Covid-19 keeping everyone home, and my regular gym at
the nearby YMCA closed due to the shutdown, it seems like a reasonable
temporary substitute for daily exercise. It is not a long walk due to my
physical limitations. But it provides a challenge to be accomplished, a
beneficial movement of the body, and makes the chocolate chip cookie reward at
the end even more satisfying.<br />
<br />
On this particular day, we are experiencing a summer day
preview: sunny, in the mid-80s, expected to last for a couple of days more.
Then it will be back into the normal mid-50s/60s mountain temperatures, with
more rain. It was a very mild winter, but I am still glad to have that season
behind us.<br />
<br />
We are preparing for a statewide “stay at home” order on
Monday 5pm, though we are already in a county/city version of the same. During
this walk I was struck by the abnormal silence of the city. Minimal traffic on
the roads, a few people out for a walk or jog, keeping a safe distance as they
pass one another. Meanwhile, the sights and sounds of the birds are more than
happy to fill the air space. The garden plants are gradually peeking out to
fill the eye space, perhaps dwarfed by the cascade of colors from the rainbow
of fruit trees that make their appearance at this time. There is much to see
and hear that is normally missed in our hurried busyness. Humanity thrashes
around in its self-made chaos; Nature follows its own timeline and routines
relatively undisturbed.<br />
<br />
In the quiet of that stroll, there is time and space to
think. To listen to my thoughts – thoughts different than those that arise
during a formal mediation sit on the cushion. The pandemic virus seeks to
consume much of our thinking time and energy. I feel the unavoidable concern
about my own well-being, yet offset by a calm that says “do only what you can
do when you can” – deal with what comes as it comes. Planning is good, but too
many “what ifs” are not helpful.<br />
<br />
I am aware of feeling intense anger at the erratic conduct
of our President, his pettiness and complete avoidance of taking responsibility
for anything. His untrue information. His lack of a cogent and coordinated
plan. His ineffectiveness in directing badly needed resources and support to
where it is needed most. But then that anger is replaced by a calmness and
pride when I consider all the people stepping up – either in their official
capacity or simply ad hoc, voluntary <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>responses. Governors, mayors, county/city
officials, health care providers, CDC scientists speaking truth. Public service
employees keeping our infrastructure running. Law enforcement officials, and numerous
first responders. Meanwhile, the overriding priority is to remember the anonymous
sick, the faceless statistics often known only to their family and loved ones, lying
alone in their bed, in pain and trying to stay alive, accompanied only by the
medical workers trying to keep them alive in the face of too many falsely-raised
hopes and broken promises. The lament continues unendingly: where are the test
kits, the masks, the ventilators?<br />
<br />
We also need to acknowledge the everyday citizens responding
to what is being asked of them. Voluntarily cooperating in what is a massive
upheaval to their lives – emotionally, economically, professionally, socially,
and daily family life. Most are improvising, making it up as they go into a
future filled with blind spots. Doing what needs to be done, adapting on the
fly, all because they care. Care about each other. Care about their connection
to others. And thereby, their responsibilities to each other. Individually and
together, they make us proud.<br />
<br />
I have written before about our connection to one another,
most recently an essay on this blogsite “A Slice Of Toast” (12/10/2019). Across
the globe, for the last several years we have been experiencing a drive to
separate ourselves from one another. To hunker down in our own cultural and
geographic pockets and keep out those who are not like us. When this pandemic
virus finally passes – which it ultimately will – things will not be the same.
There will be much retrospective analysis needed, questions to ask, lessons to
learn.<br />
<br />
One of those biggest lessons will most certainly be a
reaffirmation of our connection, our interdependence to one another. Indeed,
our connection to all forms of life, and the gift of Nature that makes it all
possible. Covid-19 knows no borders. Differentiates no race or ethnic group. Endorses
no religion. Ignores variations of age, gender, and lifestyles. None of these
labels affirms or exempts us. We can choose to respond by separating out of
fear, or coming together out of love. Underneath our words, our practices, our
costumes, our skin, we are all fundamentally the same. Equally vulnerable,
equally of great potential accomplishment, equally in need of each other to
survive and thrive. It appears that we need to continue to be reminded of that
periodically.<br />
<br />
These were my thoughts on a quiet spring afternoon’s walk.
What will you think about on your next afternoon’s walk?<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2020<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<br />Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-48291010225302157822020-01-01T06:53:00.000-08:002020-01-01T06:53:43.047-08:00My New Year's Wish
<br />
With a changing of the yearly calendar, this is the time
when expressions of “Happy New Year” and “Best Wishes for the New Year” abound.
For many, it is also an opportunity for a time of reflection on events past, an
assessment of time present, and determination of directions to pursue in the
forthcoming year. In that spirit of reflection, assessment, and determination,
I offer some ideas that may be appropriate for your consideration.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we reflect upon our myriad
ancestors and their stories, some known to us yet most unknown, whose widely
varied lives made our lives possible in this time, place, and setting – we are
because they were.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we strive to see our parents
simply as the non-idealized adults that they are/were, with their own everyday
struggles reflecting their own life experiences, that we may see them through the
adult eyes of our present rather than the childhood eyes of our past, a key to
living in the present not the past.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we thank our extended family for
the lessons and experiences of our childhood, some magical, some difficult,
that brought us to the threshold of our adulthood and sent us on the path we
have subsequently chosen to live.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we prioritize time for our
immediate family, for the love and presence that they give us as we struggle to
hold them close, yet free them to live and fulfill their own destinies.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we remember our many friends
encountered over the years, some but for a moment in time, others still
traveling with us on our journey, some more honest or dependable than others,
but all serving to enrich the life that we are living.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we recall the many teachers that have
helped to guide our lives, some in formal teaching roles and others simply by
their presence in our lives, some teaching from their knowledge, some inspiring
by their example, all providing a foundation upon which we seek to build a
“next generation.”<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we acknowledge and respect the
many mentors who have reached out to us, and opened opportunities and smoothed our
way, whether intentionally or by happenstance, without whom our life would have
meandered in wholly different directions with far different results.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we come to embrace the challenges
and regrets that have occurred on our journey, some smaller bumps in the road,
others extraordinarily difficult to pass through, many of which resulted in positive
outcomes only seen well after the moment.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we learn to live comfortably with
persons seemingly not like ourselves, to have respectful conversations of
differing opinions, and to no longer see each other as different but as diverse
reflections of the vast creative breadth of God’s Universe.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that we allow ourselves to have big
dreams, the confidence to strive for them, the ability to ignore the many
naysayers, and the courage to manifest them into our own unbridled joy.<br />
<br />
My New Year’s wish is that, as a result of this time of
reflection, assessment, and determination, we reconnect with our true inner
self, the self that transcends our daily life and our many roles, thereby infusing
the spirituality of our being within all that we do and to all whom we
encounter.<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2020<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<br />Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-5783985952032570442019-12-01T20:52:00.003-08:002019-12-02T07:24:58.033-08:00A Slice Of Toast<br />
<div align="center" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">“When we try to take out one
thing,</span></div>
<div align="center" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”</span></div>
<div align="center" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">—John Muir, western U.S. conservationist</span></div>
<div align="center" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We are a unique person in this world, different from all
others. We like thinking of ourselves as being unique, even as we may struggle
to identify that which makes us unique and then genuinely live that uniqueness.
But uniqueness can feel quite lonely, as our uniqueness also works to separate
us all from all others, from all things surrounding us. That separation thereby
creates barriers that oppose our concurrent desire for community. It is
Community that gives us the sense of Connection to all that surrounds our life,
and mitigates that aloneness we seek to avoid, that we often fear. Yet Community
demands that we surrender some measure of our uniqueness by seeing and
accepting our Commonality. Our uniqueness is actually only partial, a piece, of
a life that otherwise is shared with, and common to, others. Our life is a
balancing act. Our lives are built on a foundation common to all; our
uniqueness flourishes in the manner in which we live our daily lives. It is in discovering,
and living from, that common core, that our connection to one another will be
found.</div>
<br />
We are connected in myriad ways. For example, look closely
at the construction of our bodies. The miracle of the human form is a series of
separate body parts, cells, organs and fluids. Each component has a distinct
purpose and job, all intricately interconnected together to make it work –
mostly without our conscious awareness or doing anything. It just happens. All
of the parts create the singular whole. Are we the parts? Or are we the whole?
The elegant design of our interconnected body sets the theme for our
interconnection with all that is in the world.<br />
<br />
Look outside our physical self. When I fix a slice of toast
for my morning breakfast, do I stop to reflect on how many people, and how many
individual steps, were required for that toast to show up on my plate? The
farmer that sowed the seed and grew the grain and harvested the result – all
thanks to Nature who provided the dirt, the seed, the sunshine, the rain, the
bumblebee that interacted to allow the grain to grow. The grain wholesaler who
received the grain and then hired the driver to deliver the grain in a truck to
the baker – a truck made by hundreds of people in the parts and materials
chain. The baker that combined the grain with the other needed ingredients –
each of which separately followed a similar creation and delivery process
performed by similar people – to bake the bread. The next driver who carried
the baked bread in his/her truck to the grocery store, the various workers who
received the bread and put it on the shelves for us to carry it to the counter
person to pay for it. The people and materials who built the car in which we
took it home, to be put into the stove (manufactured by still others) that runs
on gas/electricity <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>provided by numerous
utility workers.<br />
<br />
All of these people and steps need to come together in order
for that simple piece of toast to appear on our breakfast plate. If we should then
choose to add some jam onto that toast, the entire cycle is repeated. We must
now consider all these additional people who have to get involved for our
benefit, just for that little extra added pleasure. It makes for a very large
crowd gathered around our dining table.<br />
<br />
All rivers from which we drink ultimately flow to the one
ocean that circumnavigates the earth – one interconnected ocean in spite of the
intangible names by which we separate them. All of the air we breathe moves
uninterrupted across man-made borders, respecting no boundaries – the woman in
Oklahoma sneezes and the man in China says “god bless you.” It is by taking the
time to look behind the curtain of our uniqueness that we find the many
Connections that truly make our life possible. Make our life worthwhile.<br />
<br />
We are not alone in this world, even when we may think we
are. For all the people, things and tasks that go into supporting us, we are
also simultaneously part of many similar webs that support others. The
obligation is on us to think about, to acknowledge, to connect to all those
people and things that make our life possible – in whatever form we may choose
to live it. We will always give attention to living our individual life. But it
is only when we live a life connected to all things that we can experience
God’s life – the life we are intended to follow.<br />
<br />
We are each singular; we are all plural. Interconnected with
all things – human, non-human, inanimate. Like the pebble thrown into the lake,
the ever-expanding ripple effects of my life ultimately reach far beyond that
which I can see. I am one; I am all. The whole of the Universe can be found in
a simple slice of toast.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
“How are we?”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">—Bishop Desmond Tutu, from t</span>raditional
African greeting of Connection</div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2019<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-2026621182367583792019-09-22T20:57:00.000-07:002019-09-23T08:16:03.486-07:00A Lifetime Of Change<br />
My great aunt, Bertie Ardelle Lee, was born in 1880. She died
in 1974, having lived a full life of 94 years. Over the years, I have often
thought about what her lifetime encompassed, the vastly different experiences
she encountered, and the extraordinary changes that occurred in America and the
world – all bookended by the dates on her tombstone.<br />
<br />
She was born into an era of Conestoga wagons and horse-drawn
buggies, and sailboats and paddlewheel ships. The railroad had only recently
connected the two coasts, bringing a new option for travelers and the
distribution of agricultural and manufactured goods. Combined with the
telegraph wires running alongside the train tracks, intra-national
communication could now be accomplished in days, rather than months.<br />
<br />
In Aunt Bertie’s childhood years, the telephone would
arrive, allowing real-time conversation across ever-increasing distances. As a
young married woman, she heard about human beings flying in the air, and
watched silent movies (“flickers”) in awe. As a fulltime mom, she sat in her
living room listening to the squeaking sounds of news and entertainment out of
a box they called a “radio,” or scratchy music playing on “the Victrola.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electric lights replaced the flames of
candlelight and the dangerous gas and oil lamps; automobiles replaced
horse-drawn wagons, thereby displacing most blacksmiths and
wagon-manufacturers.<br />
<br />
In her middle through late ages, she lived through the
prosperity and excesses of the Jazz Age, the economic collapse and poverty of
the Great Depression, followed by the greatest expansion of middle-class
economic growth and distributed prosperity due to the post-WWII boom recovery.
The big changes of her early life moved into their 2<sup>nd</sup>- and 3<sup>rd</sup>-generation
product cycle: silent movies became “talkies”; expanded automobile ownership
led to new roads crisscrossing the nation; rotary dialing phones replaced
switchboard operators. Television almost bankrupted the radio and movie
industries. Air travel – begun 20 years after her birth – went from novelty solo
flights into airlines moving passengers great distances in short timelines;
five years before her death, two men landed on the moon. Over the course of
her life, she also lived through five American wars.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the biggest and most
affecting change for Aunt Bertie came in the arena of social change, and the
push to expand true civil rights and equality for all. Born in northern
Alabama, the daughter of a Confederate Civil War veteran, surrounded by a
post-Reconstruction / Jim Crow segregated culture and legal system, she was
steeped in the ways of the Old South. As a young bride, she moved to western
Arkansas with its familiar system of African-American segregation in schools,
housing, public accommodations and services, along with limited voting and
legal rights. She became a local leader of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy, an organization dedicated to preserving “the old ways” and
glorifying “the Lost Cause.” I had left my hometown by the time the various
civil rights movements (e.g. African-Americans, women, gays) exploded into the
nation’s consciousness in the 1960s, so I never had an opportunity to talk with
her about whether she had moved away from her cultural heritage. Besides, these
were not conversations that one tended to have in family social gatherings –
Jim Crow being nurtured by a conspiracy of silence. Regardless of what her
thinking might have come to be, I suspect that an African-American being
elected President 35 years after her death would have been beyond her capacity
to even envision, much less comprehend.<br />
<br />
I have written often about
constant change being an inherent and unavoidable aspect of the human story.
Little today is what it was yesterday, nor what it will be tomorrow. The only substantive
discussion is how different the change will be, and how prepared one will be to
respond to it. Some changes are self-initiated by an intent to alter the
specifics of our life and to proactively move toward those alterations. Others
are brought on by outside agents of change: nature, social convention, the
aging process, cultural movements, decision-makers, or the spiritual Universe. Some
change happens due to our being part of a larger group; others are personal to
us individually. Whether sourced internally or externally, our reactions can be
either positive and welcoming, or negative and defensive, yet are often fearful
when anticipating as yet unknown outcomes. At times we simply dig in our heels
and adopt a “stand pat” posture – a bulwark of resistance to the impending
change – either because we disagree with the change calling to us, or this
latest change is just one too many to take on.<br />
<br />
I have seen many changes during my
lifetime. But my changes pale in comparison to what Aunt Bertie experienced. From
Conestogas to the moon, the world she was born into seems irreconcilable with
the one she left behind a lifetime later. The reality is that each living
thing, and all civilizations, move over time. The lifestyle, cultural
environments, and beliefs we are so enamored with today will virtually
disappear within a few short generations, so we should not unduly be held
captive by them. Our changes can be cumulatively dramatic; some prove to be minor
blips. Prioritizing the changes we take on; letting the little ones go by;
keeping our life structures flexible and adaptable; remembering that all life
is fleeting. These are tools that help us steady the boat as we navigate the
windstorms of our life Changes. This fundamental movement of Change is simply
the inherent way of things. So at any given moment, towards what will we choose
to redirect our life?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">©</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2019<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<br />Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-26390017805916490812019-06-29T06:15:00.000-07:002019-06-29T06:15:55.463-07:00Of Toothbrushes And Toothpaste
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The news from America’s southern border continues to go from
bad to worse. After all the efforts yielding minimal results over the past two
years, now it is the children – infants through grade schoolers – living in 3<sup>rd</sup>-world
squalor without basic sanitary provisions, sleeping on concrete floors. Many
hundreds of kids locked up in cages, sequestered in an out-of-the-way facility
designed for a fraction of that number, its contents kept secret.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
I fully accept that rational rules and processes should be
in place to regulate admission into this country. I also believe that our
obligation is to use those rules and processes to facilitate how many
immigrants we are able to bring in, not use them as a barrier to keeping people
out. This posture is in the spirit of the ancestors of each of us who
immigrated into this country from across the world, seeking the better life and
opportunities that America has always stood for – albeit an ideal not always
practiced in fact. Though I continue to have hope that long in the future our
aspirations for a world free of fear and filled with compassion for one another
may be fulfilled, I also accept that, in today’s world, adult human beings are
still capable of inflicting the most monstrous injustices and pain among one
another.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
But infant and growing children have no inherent
predisposition towards inflicting injustice and pain. Yet they are all too
often on the receiving end of such. Regardless of the decisions their parents may
have made; regardless of whether we agree or disagree with such things as a
“family separation policy”; these children have become the innocent pawns in an
unconscionable adult immorality play. If this kind of childhood suffering was
the result of some weather disaster or other emergency, FEMA, the Red Cross,
religious organizations, charity groups, and other “ad hoc do-gooders” would be
all over these victims, calling attention to their plight while bringing aid,
comfort and needed supplies. Instead, these groups are nowhere to be seen. Our
government claims “there is no money to cover these needs.” Yet boxes of
donated goods sit unopened at border gates, while government attorneys awkwardly
try to convince a skeptical panel of federal judges that toothbrushes and
toothpaste, soap and a bath, and clean clothing are not really required for
children.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
This situation is beyond malicious. It is cruel and inhumane
treatment towards a group of human beings unable to speak for, or defend,
themselves. We can let the adults continue to act out their political
stagecraft and carry on their interminable intellectual debates and speak their
untruths. But let every American parent take responsibility for the care of the
children that have been entrusted to our care – regardless of how they got here.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
This is not an argument about immigration. These actions are
a moral argument, a challenge to the truth (or not) of our professed national character
and our personal religious values that admonish us to “care for the children
and the orphans.” Whatever our political fights, taking it out on the babies is
indefensible. For those who say they are committed to the right of each child
to be born, Part 2 of that commitment is ensuring that each child is then
protected, nourished, and developed regardless of his/her circumstances or
nationality.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Yesterday I mailed an envelope with a copy of this essay,
along with a small toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, to the President of the
United States. That envelope and its contents will not solve this travesty. But
if that envelope should make it through the mail check process (questionable), maybe
someone will notice and care. Maybe some White House aide will send it along to
some scared, lonely, bewildered kid who needs it. Because we are better than
this. Better than the decisions we are making. The collective heart of the
American people is, and has always been, far better than this.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2019<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>https://OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-5592085339483104812019-05-23T07:06:00.001-07:002019-05-23T07:06:38.097-07:00What Are We Afraid Of?
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Fear. It is the dominant emotion of our life. It is the
primary driver for our decision-making, the basis for our reactive actions in
response to life’s circumstances. While love is our aspiration and can serve as
our defense against our fears, fear and love exist in a synchronized dance with
each other, rising and falling like playmates on a playground see-saw. One is
in ascendance while the other is in decendance, reversing from moment to
moment, event to event.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We fear tangible things we can see: a wild animal, a gun in
the hand of a stranger, a venomous insect. We fear intangible phobias to which we
give pseudo-substance: fear of germs, of heights, of confined spaces. We fear
mental constructs that upset our sense of being: the loss of a job, being
socially unaccepted, our lack of status. Fear of inflicted physical pain –
indeed loss of life itself – creates mental pain; mental pain can create
physical pain. Mind and body each feeds on one another.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Our laundry list of fears – unique to each of us – continues
to grow unendingly. Some of these have been with us for so long, we are barely
cognizant of them, perhaps do not even see them as “fears.” They have become part
of our life, a structural component of our lifestyle, rituals we perform daily.
But are we truly a melting pot of many fears that permeate our life? Or are
these familiar acquaintances simply the emotional children of a few overriding
fears, emerging from an original well that is our more fundamental source?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Ever since human beings emerged on this planet, we have all
begun our lives in the same manner. From our earliest cell form growing into a
fully developed infant, we exist physically connected to an enclosed,
protective environment totally constructed to meet our needs. We are nourished
on demand with no conscious effort on our part. Then, abruptly, we are
delivered into a wholly different environment, the one in which we will spend
the rest of our human life. A life no longer physically attached to its
protective habitat, where little of our needs are met and come to us
automatically.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
In that one instant of change, our life is turned upside
down and redefined. In that moment, our three fundamental fears are also
birthed: 1) we are alone, no longer interconnected to our world, a tiny speck
in a Universe vast beyond our comprehension; 2) we are powerless to defend,
much less nourish, ourselves; 3) by accepting the opportunity of life, we
concurrently accept the reality of our death at some unknown moment. At birth,
we are now dependent on the willingness of others for our survival, our cries
for attention the only tool in our arsenal. The scope of our absolute aloneness,
our helplessness, our littleness, our temporariness overwhelms us. The shock of
that recognition is more than we can absorb as an infant. So these fundamental
fears give rise to the litany of simpler, more identifiable fears that grow out
of the seedbed of our subsequent individual life experiences. Fear begets fears
which intensifies fear.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
And so we hold strangers at bay until they prove themselves
worthy of our trust. We band together, with people similar to ourselves, in
groups – social clubs, neighborhoods, tribes, cities, nations – believing that
there is “safety in numbers.” We fight with our society in various forms of
competition or control, believing “a good offense is the best defense” to keep
our fears at bay. Or conversely, we build fortresses of conventional lifestyles
within which we hope to go unnoticed and unthreatened. We erect monuments to
our Truths, and marble statues to our Self, intending that “this is who I am”
will be our armor against opposing assaults.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
In the end, none of these fear-based strategies truly work
for us. The more we rely on them, the more they wear us down (mentally and
physically), increase our isolation, and reduce our sense of self-sustainability.
That is when we are called to make the real choice – whether our life will be
lived in fear, or whether it will be lived in love. Love that accepts that
which is different; has confidence in providing for ourselves; and recognizes that
the list of genuine fears is indeed quite small. “Common sense” decisions about
reasonable risk replace the paralyzing power of fear.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It is in recognizing from where our daily fears come that
the opportunity arises to defuse them. In that moment, we are no longer alone,
we are no longer powerless, our death is yet one more of our many transitions. In
that moment, our freedom of thought and action arises within. In that moment,
we begin to truly live.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2019<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>https://www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-38008658857697578222019-04-15T10:05:00.000-07:002019-04-15T10:05:38.117-07:00The Self-Made Myth
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
“I’ve been on food stamps and welfare. Did anybody help me
out? No, No.” <span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Craig
T. Nelson, actor</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Americans love their Horatio Alger stories. Written in the
late 19<sup>th</sup> century, these are the stories of the singular individual
overcoming obstacles, surmounting disadvantages, often from lowly beginnings,
toiling out of view, yet rising to personal accomplishments and success. These multiple
stories came to serve as inspirational motivators and icons embedded in our
shared cultural framework. The lonely western cowboy standing watch over his
herd; the Mercury astronaut circling the globe; the tinkerer crafting
revolutionary inventions in his/her garage; the unseen student studying in the library
to earn that elusive scholarship. “Pulling one up by their bootstraps” is the opportunity
that still lives proudly in America.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Persons who succeed beyond their starting point, who
contribute significantly to the betterment of their community, that advance
through hard work performed within an ethical focus, are certainly worthy of
admiration. But to say that that person is “self-made,” that s/he did it “all
on my own,” is not only false in every case, but is also dangerous. Dangerous
to the individual; dangerous to the community in which s/he lives.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It may sometimes seem that some of our good fortune is
simply an “accident” of time, place and circumstances (although spiritually we
might question how much the Universe may have had a hand in our outcomes). In
these instances, the accomplishment appears to be an in-the-moment event to
which it was necessary for one to be responsive.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Yet in most circumstances, our seemingly singular
accomplishments are the direct outcome of the relationships and interactions
that others have had with us over the course of our lifetime. When we stop and
examine the people and events of our life that brought us to this place we now
occupy (mentally and physically), we no longer see it as a series of isolated
events. Events that are unconnected to each other, distracting us into
unexpected and/or undesirable side ventures. Rather, these events and people – of
a forgettable instant or a lifetime memory – all served to put us on that path,
to open the doors that showed the way. Charles Lindberg flying solo across the
Atlantic in his small, single-prop plane “The Spirit Of St. Louis”; John Glen
circling the globe alone in his space capsule; Thomas Edison toiling solitarily
in his lab trying over and over again to find just the right element to realize
his idea of an “electric light” – each had legions of people that brought them
to that moment or stood in support of their unique endeavor.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
One of the early lessons in our career life is the discovery
that almost no one “gets ahead” on his/her own. Simply being “head down” in the
workplace, producing good quality work, rarely by itself moves one to that next
step of opportunity. It is from being noticed for that work that doors begin to
open, opened by someone who decided to take interest in our skills, our
situation, our as-yet unfilled promise. Someone who possibly saw more in us
than we saw in ourselves.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Perhaps that someone gave us part of our education. Or
financing to start our new venture. Or promoted us into a position of greater
responsibility and visibility. We may aspire to be a CEO of a major business.
Yet in truth that CEO sitting in a corner office on the top floor is charged
only with a) making certain strategic decisions, and b) hiring the “right
people” to carry out those decisions. It is the person at the cash register in
the local store, the receptionist answering the phone, the salesperson who
knocks on a buyer’s door, the shop floor worker who assembles the product, the
truck driver who delivers the product, and the construction worker who built
the roads those trucks drive over – these are the people who determine whether
the CEO’s decisions are successful or not.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We are certainly entitled to pat ourselves on the back for any
hard work, dedication, and creativity we have contributed to “our”
accomplishment. To have been one of those who sought to lead our life rather
than react passively to it. But our contribution is given alongside all the
other contributors that ultimately dictate our life’s outcome. In humility, we
remember that our self-made life is, in fact, created through the supportive
efforts of many sharing, collective selves. Including those people unseen and unknown
to us that were willing to provide us with food stamps and welfare checks when
we may have needed them.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
“When you drink the water, remember who dug the well.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Zen
saying</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2019<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>https://www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-60445009057452309642019-02-15T07:20:00.003-08:002019-02-15T07:21:35.513-08:00Our Capacity For Change<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“Change is great. You
go first.” <span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>A
Friend</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
One of the fundamental tenets of Buddhism is the intrinsic
inevitability of Change. Change is ongoing from the moment of an object’s
creation, through its continuing existence, stopping only at its ending/“death.”
Change applies to tangible things: e.g. humans, animals, birds, plants,
mountains, oceans, automobiles, kitchen utensils. It applies to intangibles
that we treat as tangibles: e.g. nations, borders, institutions, religions,
cultures, races, time itself. It applies to purely intangible concepts: e.g.
ideas, philosophies, laws, science, logic.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
As human beings, we change physically at the micro level and
at our surface appearance. Changes occur due to our preordained growth cycle,
or by internal disease, or by external acts forced upon us (e.g. wars,
accidents, criminal acts). It can be subtle change; gradual over passing days;
sudden, as with a head-on automobile accident.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
We change mentally. Changes in our thinking come from the
teachings of our parents; the lessons of the classroom; the guidance of our
mentors; the result of our self-study. We learn a moral code, shaped by our
culture and religion. We factor in our personal experiences, “successes” and
“failures,” fears, aspirations, and definition of a “life well lived.” Most of our
beliefs are set in place by the end of adolescence, ingrained deeply and
rigidly having come from “authoritative sources” and therefore are not easily
changed. We then venture out into the Real World with our baseline thinking
regarding what life is about and how to interact with it.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
With a great rapidity, that Real World comes knocking at our
door with a loud shout, a tidal wave of new ideas and experiences that may bare
little resemblance to our pre-adult world. The further we drift away from the
familiar and protective cocoon of our youth, the more we expose ourselves to –
and invite – personal upheaval. Upheaval can come from the challenges of a
multitude of sources, and can disrupt any part of our overall existence.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Typically, we prefer to ignore these disruptions and go on
with our already busy life. Even within conflict, it certainly feels safer and
easier to stay with what we already know. But such avoidance can last only so long.
The disruption likely came about in the first place because we have been living
in opposition to some greater truth that we are not seeing or acknowledging. So
the disruption will continue to plague us, returning time after time in various
disguised forms, each time with increasing intensity. Ultimately, we either
give it the attention it demands, or we hide ourselves within a life deadened of
creative thoughts and honest emotions.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Disruption is the genesis force of Change. When it comes,
our first step is to determine if this is just a minor blip on our radar, or
the tip of a more meaningful iceberg in our life path. If the latter, we are
called to a time of personal reflection to fully understand what new turn is
being presented to us. As our reflection gradually unfolds, ideally we begin to
change accordingly – opinions, beliefs, circumstances, life roles, personal
directions. Appropriately. Deliberately. Without negative judgment or
self-criticism for where we have been before. We simply leave behind what was,
and allow Life to help guide us through our journey to our next intended place.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Disruption will present itself to us throughout our
lifetime, always conflicting with our desire to stay in our status quo. Some
Changes we will choose to explore and accept. Some Changes we will let go by,
either because we feel they will be too hard; or will take too much time and
energy; or because we are simply burned out from having undergone too much
upheaval too often.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Over the course of my single lifetime, I have witnessed a
remarkable sea change in lifestyles and thinking in American society. Changes
in equality of legal rights; racial integration into all segments of society;
mixed-race marriage; redefined nuclear families; multiple marriages and single
parenthood; women into the workplace; openness of LGBT relationships; new forms
of religious / spiritual belief and expression; advancements in technology and
communications; exposure to, and interactions with, people from across the globe.
These Changes in fundamental, bedrock grounded beliefs have created a modern
world with little resemblance to my boyhood society. Keeping up with so many
changes, across so many overlapping fronts, occurring in such<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>a relatively short time (versus the glacial
pace of change in centuries past), is almost impossible. That is why we see
periodic backlashes and resistance to Changes that have occurred – often from
older citizens who may simply feel that they are being asked to accept just one
Change too many.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Individually, there is only so much Change we are able make
in our one short lifetime, although each of us has a different capacity. That
difference is usually based upon our differing degrees of adaptability. The more
deeply our life is anchored in “the current,” the less adaptable we are. The
more lightly we walk our life’s path, the more adaptable we are able to be.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Our capacity for Change, i.e. our ability to be receptive
and adaptable to Life’s disruptions and lessons, is our choice to make, our
skill to develop. While it behooves each of us to be sympathetic and
compassionate to those whose capacity has been exhausted, we nevertheless
recognize that disruptions, and their consequential Change, will still continue.
And over the long narrative of human history, the overriding direction of these
Changes seems predominately clear – however many side trips are taken along the
way. Change comes to us – even as we may think we are warding it away – until
comes that greatest disruption of all: our death.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2019<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-45346442272931916852019-01-14T07:29:00.003-08:002019-01-14T07:29:20.173-08:00Joy In The Midst Of Suffering
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We are living through very difficult times throughout the
world today. Our goal during this period is to remain positive about the state
of humankind, and energized regarding our ability to make some difference in
its future. Nevertheless, trying to keep an appropriate balance in our life,
and not succumbing to despair or stagnation about the state of things, requires
a focused effort on our part. The following is an excerpt from “The Book Of
Joy,” a series of moderated dialogs between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and
Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Perhaps the perspectives of these two highly
recognized leaders, who have carried a lifetime of burdens on their
shoulders, will give us some guidance in our efforts. Indeed, perhaps even some
form of joy in the midst of the suffering we see everywhere?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
*****</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
[Moderator Question:] This question is for people who feel
interdependence [among people] profoundly and are so compassionate that it
makes them world-sick and heartsick. [A] person wants to know how she can find
joy in her life while there are so many who are suffering.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
“Yes. Very good,” [Archbishop Tutu] said, looking down and
reflecting on the question. “As an old man, I can say: start where you are, and
realize that you are not meant on your own to resolve all of these massive
problems. Do what you can. It seems so obvious. And you will be surprised,
actually, at how it can get to be catching.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
There are very many, many people – I mean, my heart leaps
with joy at discovering the number of people – who care. How many people walked
in New York City for the environment? I mean, it was incredible. Nobody was
going to pay them anything. But they were there in droves. There are many, many
people who care. And you will be surprised when you begin to say, well, I would
like to do something relating to the aged. You will be surprised at the number
of people who come forward and want to help. Why are there so many NGOs
(Non-Governmental<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Organizations)? I mean,
it is people who say, We want to make a better world. We don’t have to be so
negative.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Hey, remember you are not alone, and you do not need to
finish the work. It takes time, but we are learning, we are growing, we are
becoming the people we want to be. It helps no one if you sacrifice your joy
because others are suffering. We people who care must be attractive, must be
filled with joy, so that others recognize that caring, that helping and being
generous are not a burden, they are a joy. Give the world your love, your
service, your healing, but you can also give it your joy. This, too, is a great
gift.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
[Moderator Observation:] The Archbishop and the Dalai Lama
were describing a special kind of generosity: the generosity of the
spirit.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The quality they both have,
perhaps more than any other, is this generosity of the spirit. They are
big-hearted, magnanimous, tolerant, broad-minded, patient, forgiving, and kind.
Maybe this generosity of spirit is the truest expression of spiritual
development, of what the Archbishop had said it takes time to become.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The Archbishop had used a beautiful phrase to describe this
way of being in the world: “becoming an oasis of peace, a pool of serenity that
ripples out to all of those around us.” … </div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
In generosity, there is a wider perspective, in which we see
our connection to all others. There is a humility that recognizes our place in
the world and acknowledges that at any other time we could be the one in need,
whether that need is material, emotional, or spiritual. There is a sense of
humor and an ability to laugh at ourselves so that we do not take ourselves too
seriously. There is an acceptance of life, in which we do not force life to be
other than what it is. There is a forgiveness of others and a release of what might
have otherwise been. There is a gratitude for all that we have been given.
Finally, we see others with a deep compassion and a desire to help those who
are in need. And from this comes a generosity that is “wise selfish,” a
generosity that recognizes helping others as helping ourselves. As the Dalai
Lama put it, “In fact, taking care of others, helping others, ultimately is the
way to discover your own joy and to have a happy life.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
*****</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Sometimes, even if the water may be a bit cloudy,
nevertheless the glass really is half full.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-60807129000734524842018-12-31T21:30:00.002-08:002018-12-31T21:42:13.013-08:00Year Out, New Year In<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Yet another year comes to a close. Like all other years
before it, this year has told its own unique story, filled with its own unique
actors and actresses. Has there ever been before a year like this one? Our
history books may say some yes, perhaps some better and some worse. But our
minds remain doubtful; could anything like this experience have preceded us?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
As we ruminate over this latest movement in time and our
unique role in it, we do well to remember that this year that is ending is
2018. Meaning that there have been 2,018 years that have ended before this one,
each with its own story to tell. But even “2018” oversimplifies that
measurement, since it only<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>reflects the
Western/Gregorian calendar used predominately in Western Europe and the
Americas, thereby ignoring all the years, centuries, millennia and eons of the
past.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Time and calendars usually seem to be concrete concepts
around which our life is defined and structured. In reality, they are merely
insubstantial man-made gimmicks to help us better understand some piece of that
which is essentially unknowable. Our “western” calendar measures the length of
an era that has been passing since the death of Jesus of Nazareth 2,018 years
ago. The Chinese similarly measure their calendars based upon the beginnings of
eras of various emperors, their multiple calendars starting in variable years as
late as 2156BC or 2698BC. The Jewish calendar begins its new year 163 days
after Passover, celebrating the creation of Adam and Eve; this upcoming fall
will be the Jewish Year 5779. The Islamic calendar reflects a 12-month year of
354 days; August will begin the Islamic year 1440. What is inescapable is that
our one year 2018 is but one pebble in a vast sea of stones. Time may be a
reality, but our connection to time is entirely relative. Like many things in
life, our measurement of time is not absolute, but simply a human construct,
shaped and defined by how we choose to see it.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
By whatever calendar we employ, the end of one year
simultaneously gives rise to the beginning of another new year. A year that
will ultimately be what we choose to put into it – singularly and collectively.
For most people, those choices will be built on Hope. Hope for a better, more
peaceful existence on this ever-shrinking planet of diverse humanity.
Inherently, human beings are an optimistic species, even as their life faces continual
attempts to shatter that optimism. While we should be cold-eyed in our
understandings of life’s realities, it is Hope – the belief that life has the
potential to be made better – that keeps us moving forward in spite of the
grievances and disturbances that befall us. It is Optimism that moves Hope into
action, our belief that much more can be achieved if we just continue to try.
And Optimism leads us into Faith – which is Hope transmuted into Certainty.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Each new year offers us the opportunity to reflect on where
we have been, where we now are, and where life is opening for us to go next.
Our hope for a life made better, our optimism in its achievability, and our
faith in the greater purpose within which we live, carries us into yet another
new time of exploration, of doing. May your “doing” in this upcoming year bring
you happiness, fulfillment, compassion, and new understandings beyond your
wildest dreams. And may we be less judgmental and harsh, and instead be a
positive force in bringing happiness, fulfillment, compassion, and new
understandings to all.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2019<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-56863549711177290582018-12-06T09:02:00.001-08:002018-12-06T09:02:49.805-08:00I Am, I Do<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“Who are you when you
do not exist?<br />
Who were you before you were born – and after you die?”<br />
<span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Thomas Merton, 20<sup>th</sup>
century monastic and spiritual writer</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
When was the last time you updated your resume? I have often
recommended to people to do this whether or not they are in an active job
search. There, on one or two pages, is a succinct, outlined statement
summarizing some key parts of our professional life. It documents what we have
done; where; with whom; and when. It recounts what we learned, the skills we
acquired, and what we contributed to the well-being of others. If done on a
regular basis, it also points out the directions and changes in our life since
the last writing. A resume can be a valuable insight into how our life has been
unfolding.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Perhaps you have also incorporated personal, non-work
aspects of your life into a more complete highlighting of the various outcomes
of your life’s journey: decisions made, paths taken, the stepping stones of our
spiritual travels, and the consequences thereof. Such a resume reflects the
facts and chronology of our life, the basis of answers to a job interview, or
the awkward first date, or the social interactions at the cocktail party. Yet if
utilized openly and properly, it can also be a guide to assessing the growth
and maturation of our life’s spiritual journey.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Over time, we add a lot of “stuff” onto our resume, some by
conscious decision, some from “outside” consequences (often seemingly random
occurrences). As a result, we have accumulated many layers of “being” stacked
up over our lifetime. We have worn many hats representing the things we have
done, the roles we have played, the relationships we have maintained: child,
parent, sibling; student, worker, manager, leader; friend, confidante, lover;
donor, civic contributor. Some of these hats were worn for a long duration;
others were a mere blip in time. They all represent a ceaselessly busy, full
life of “doing.” Collectively, we believe they make up and define “who we are.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
But do these specifics really constitute who we are? What if
we reversed course, and read our resume backwards? What would happen if we began
subtracting, rather than adding, each of these individual line items, taking
off each one of those hats one by one? Who is left then?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Our resume shows us that all the roles and accomplishments
of our life were merely transitory, temporary stops in our overall journey. After
we strip away each singular thing of our life, who do we discover back at the
beginning of that resume? Who were we there at “Step 1,” when we were
spiritually naked, unadorned by the many costumes we accumulated later. What if
we had made different choices at the many forks we encountered in the road
traveled. Did our life choices change who we were at Step 1?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We spend much time and energy in pursuit of what we seek to
be – our “becoming” – rather than simply our “being” who we truly are. The
question we often grapple with – often unconsciously – is whether there is a
fixed “I” that runs through all of the subsequent versions of “Me.” In the
transitory versions of Me that play out in our life, is there one constant that
was there at the beginning? And if so, has our life journey been consistent
with that beginning I, fulfilling the promise and intention of that constant?
Or have my successes of doings buried me within a patchwork, crazy-quilt
version of Me unrecognizable and incompatible with my original I?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
What we “do” is not really who we “are.” Doing is a picture
we paint that overlays the original design sketched on our blank canvas. When
we scrape away the many layers of our self-applied paint, what tracing do we
see remaining underneath – that original I?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
When we remove all of the labels we have sewn onto our
spiritual vest like merit badges; when we take down the many billboards we have
built proclaiming to all who (we think) we are; when we stand naked in the
spiritual spotlight of our own True Self – who do we see? When we accept that what
I do is not really Who I Am, it opens up a vast expanse of creative opportunity
for Who I Am to explore.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2018<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-18206043999600074292018-09-14T06:47:00.003-07:002018-09-14T06:47:45.605-07:00Lest We Be Judged
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It is not easy to accurately judge another human being. Yet
we are subject to such judgments throughout our life, seemingly from first
breath to the last. Within the Abrahamic religions, judgment was a significant aspect
of early Judaism, which codified specific do’s and don’t’s, attached to specified
punishments. The idea of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cumulative</i>
judgment was also established, recording our history of “good” and “bad” deeds and
how they netted out over our lifetime.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Jewish law was initially the basis for God’s judgment of us.
But, human beings being as they are, these rules quickly became the basis for
human beings’ judgments of each other. Judgments that were highly susceptible
to human frailty and deviousness. Judgments that became exclusively dual: right
versus wrong; good versus bad; acceptable versus unacceptable. Either/or. No
middle ground. No gray areas.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A force such as judgment was also effective for creating
earthly power structures and maintaining group control. We have thusly become
very good at using this judgment tool for our own designs, even as we color it
in a “divine will” or “greater good” dressing. This judgmental framework flowed
naturally from its Jewish roots into Christian and Islamic dogma and practice.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Then Jesus came along into this structure and said, “Judge
not, that ye also be not judged,” (Mth. 7:1), thereby thoroughly upending the
accepted system in place. “Judge not” is hardly compatible with a power and
control social architecture. When we lose that convenient list of do’s and
don’t’s, we are called upon instead to go into that difficult personal territory
of compassion and humility. We have to make choices about how we live, rather
than being able to conveniently rely on an external manual of conduct. The
solid ground beneath our feet turns to mush, while our opportunity to grow as
mature individuals presents itself.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
To complicate this further, we are required to make many choices
every day over a multitude of topics just to transact the daily business of
life. We make choices about “things”: what foods to eat; what clothes to wear;
what purchases to make. We make choices about “intangible things”: whom to
marry; what career to pursue; where to live; what friends to make. We make choices
about “ideas”: our religious beliefs; our political opinions; our understanding
of Truth itself. Each of these choices potentially opens a door of judgment as
to their “rightness.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We also make – almost reflexively – judgments of others, by
judging the choices they have made for themselves. Yes, there are times when we
need to assess others, e.g. their job qualifications, or their output, or their
actions and culpability for same. But such assessments often slide into more
profound judgments as to one’s worth, one’s value, as a human being. Judgments
often made on the basis of what one would choose for him-/herself rather than
what is truly right for another. Mistakes, errors in decision-making, our individual
actions that cause negative consequences are all part of our humanness. All
part of our baggage we might like to take back and reverse but cannot.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Each of us is entitled to a reservoir allotment of excused “oops”;
hopefully we do not exceed that capacity. That reservoir is the source of the graciousness
and compassion we extend to our self and to each other. For our own benefit,
and the benefit of others, we would do well to be cautious and sparing in our
judgment-making. At the very least, we can hold our tongue from speaking our
negativity about the judgments arising in our mind. We can contain our judgment
to those most important of things that may arise, and not the trivial. We can
remember how to mind our own business when there are no real consequences to
us. We can acknowledge that there but for grace go I.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2018<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-31124400559810995202018-07-27T08:34:00.002-07:002018-07-27T08:34:24.359-07:00What Do I Really Know?
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
“I want to know all God’s thoughts; all the rest are just
details.” <span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Albert
Einstein</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
People have been telling me what to think all my life.
Starting from the moment of my birth, and continuing throughout my long life,
voices of “instruction” have been aimed my way. Much of it has been
well-intended: to keep me safe; to inform and strengthen my decision-making; to
open me to new experiences; to inform me of what has been and what now is; to
give me the skills to provide for my own existence. Yet some of it was not so
well-intended: to keep me within societal norms; to keep any of my differing thoughts
safely at bay; to fulfill others’ needs of me for their own benefit. Yet all was
given “for my own good.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
My teachers came in varying forms. Parents explaining the
world; older siblings passing on their learnings; school teachers offering static
facts across a variety of subject areas; employers dictating what will be
produced, and when and how; religious figures defining a specific moral code, reinforced
by an unseeable – and therefore unquestionable –greater authority. And so on.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It is a structure well-honed over millennia. The process starts
at birth, delivered by authoritative figures. The instruction, and our passive
acceptance of it, is ingrained in us before skeptical resistance in this
education has a chance to develop. We go along with it because it is the
accepted process for living, the way to get along with an often seemingly
hostile environment. Besides, there are times when we need information, and
proactively seek it out.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The problem is that, while we are continually taught what to
think, we are rarely taught HOW to think – i.e. “critical thinking” that
challenges accepted beliefs. Complex issues are thereby reduced to incomplete
simplifications. Our teachers rarely confess that what they are teaching us is predominately
limited to what they had been previously taught – information passed down
generationally over time. Even as broader information has continually been made
more accessible over the centuries, we remain far too unaware of divergent
opinions and experiences that offer alternative ideas to our set learnings. It
is too often easier to settle into any available handy truth rather than making
the effort to know many expanded Truths and their nuances.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Over time, the lessons embed themselves deeply within us,
familiar friends to console our minds as we encounter a bewildering array of
questions and challenges every day. We hang on to the lessons tightly, while
the source of them fades from memory. The teacher’s lesson morphs into OUR
lesson, rather than beliefs reflecting our own discovery of them. Until one day
we open our internal ear to hear that quiet voice inside that asks us, “Really?
Is that what YOU truly believe? How do you know it to be true, rather than
assuming it to be so? Whose thought are you really thinking here?”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The world has much to teach us. Indeed, learning is the
principal reason we are here as human beings in the first place. It is easy and
comforting to hang our truth on a readily accessible hook. But real Truth is
revealed against a backdrop of genuine personal thought. Thought that starts
with no preconceptions, and proves itself in the outcomes we see in our own personal
experience. Whether or not we may have been encouraged to “think for our Self,”
we will find very little Truth without deep introspection. How many once
rock-solid scientific, societal, and religious Truths have ultimately fallen by
the wayside over time?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We strive to live an ethical life guided by deeply seeded
principles, while also pursuing a continual quest to refine and expand those
principles. Ultimately, we come to realize that what we know, we know only in
this moment. We come to know that our knowing is only temporary; there is
always more to learn about all things. We come to know that much of what we
know we have borrowed from others – memorized, not discovered. We come to know that
what we truly know for our Self is dependent upon how much time we spend in the
pursuit and endeavor of discovering our true ideas. What do we truly know – and
believe – for ourselves? We know we do not yet know. We pursue answers
continually fueled by our curiosity. In that pursuit, we find joy in our unknowing.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
“Let your … beliefs come from your traditions, family,
ancestors, opinions, writings, reasoning, or a captivating spiritual teacher.
All of these can help inform you. But when you see all of these things in
action, and you see good results flowing from them, such that in your own heart
you know directly that these things are good – only then should you adopt such
teachings as your own.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>“Lesson from the Teacher
Buddha,” #35, by Randy Bell</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2018<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-31222374478758911482018-04-21T08:38:00.000-07:002018-04-21T08:38:10.786-07:00Logical Trail To Untruth
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
When I was a high school senior a few eons ago, I needed to
select a science course for my schedule. Biology and physiology were never my thing (then or now); dissecting a frog held minimal attraction for furthering
my education. However, I did enjoy chemistry, and was good with math. So I
opted for pre-engineering physics, taught by retired athletic coach John
Thompson.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Our pre-engineering physics course was built upon posing a
problem statement which was then to be “solved” by applying applicable laws of
physics combined with deductive (“logical”) reasoning. Work through the
step-by-step path, one statement at a time, and it will necessarily lead you to
the right answer. For each such problem I was given, I would dutifully walk
through the logic trail, confident in my disciplined thinking, and thereby
ultimately arrived at the answer. Except that as often or not, it would not be
the “right” answer – i.e. Coach Thompson’s answer. Even though my steps were impeccably
logical on their face, I would nevertheless often wind up on my own island of
reasoning, waving to my classmates faintly visible on Coach Thompson’s distant
shores.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
What happened to my navigational compass? I finally
determined that my “errors” were not in my application of logical thinking, a process
that orderly connects one thought to the next in a controlled and disciplined
manner. Rather, the problem would inevitably be in the scope of my inputs. I
would fail to include the consideration of some causal or relevant factor, or
would not include all of the physics laws that were applicable to the problem.
Yet working with what was within my scope of view, my conclusion – my answer –
was in/of itself perfectly “correct.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
In the immediacy of that high school moment, my primary focus
became doing what I needed to do to pass the course. Thanks to the good graces
of Coach Thompson, I did manage to get enough right answers a sufficient number
of times to get a “B” grade. Unsurprisingly, I did not grow up to be a physicist or
an engineer.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It was only years later that I realized the larger
significance – and lesson – of this experience. In the comfort of logical
conclusion, our personal fear is reduced; our desired surety of the future is
similarly assured. Yet there truly is something called “false logic,” which on
its face sounds like a contradiction of terms. If we choose to, and especially
if we (knowingly or unknowingly) actually have a pre-determined conclusion of where
we wish to arrive, we can most certainly create a sensible, logical, beautiful,
seemingly inarguable, and elegantly constructed rationale to get us there. We
can control that journey simply by limiting the scope of the input factors we select
to consider in plotting our journey of thinking. They may be inputs we are aware
of but simply deprioritize or turn a blind eye to. Or we may limit our inputs
to our existing personal experiences and accumulated beliefs; we make no
genuine effort to challenge those beliefs or to gain wider experiences and new information
about the subject matter. But by such limiting, we leave ourselves open to
arriving at the very false truth we were seeking to avoid in the first place.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
By instinct we are prone to be “lazy thinkers,” content in remaining
in our own truths and continually utilizing our skills to reaffirm what we
already believe. “Logical thinking” is highly prized in Western culture, both
for our own decision-making and for judging the decisions of others. But it
will only lead us safely through the thickets of the mind if we do our proper
homework, do the advance reconnoitering of the breadth of the territory we
intend to pass through. It demands that we first search out and accumulate broad
and varying information before we map out our step-by-step path to conclusion.
And then to hold that conclusion very lightly and skeptically, understanding
all too well the potential shortcomings and fallacies that often underlie our supposedly
logical reasoning.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Then there are those delicious times when we choose to rest
our mind and put it temporarily on the shelf. We discard the logical path altogether
because we sense it is not the best path for us after all. The call to the
illogical path may not feel the safest and surest, but it can oftentimes be the
most interesting, most creative, most instructive one to follow. Those are the
times that intuition, our inner voice, and our wisdom sense of “just knowing” jumps
us over the logic trail altogether, and forcibly pushes us into that place we
simply need to be.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“Don’t believe
everything you think.”</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
-Pema Ch<span style="margin: 0px;">ö</span>dr<span style="margin: 0px;">ö</span>n, Tibetan Buddhist
teacher</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2018<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-49091411549241548512018-03-12T08:15:00.006-07:002018-03-12T08:15:59.219-07:00What I Can Do
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“I am only one, but still
I am one.<br />
I cannot do everything, but I can still do some things.<br />
Just because I cannot do everything,<br />
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”<br />
—Edward Everett Hale, UUC minister</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
There are many times on our life when we feel overwhelmed.
Sometimes it is when difficult things happen to us directly, and we know not
why nor how to extricate ourselves from their power. Other times it is when we
look at our surrounding environment, and feel powerlessly unable to make a
difference. We may see so much that is wrong, so much that is in opposition to
our values, and is destructive to that which we hold dear. We wonder, what can
I do? What difference can I make? In a world of seven billion people, our
individual self is a pitifully-sized army. How does one move a mountain when
one can only lift a small stone?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
We start by questioning our own view. Is that which we are protesting
against, or advocating for, truly what we believe? If so, is that truly in our
best interest, versus just being stuck in our old unquestioned thinking? Not
all that looks “bad” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> bad; not all
that looks “good” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> good. If we get
clarity and pass that first step, our next question is, is it right for all
others in all circumstances at all times? We are not they; their life is not
our life. Is life a competition of winners versus sinners, or is life a
cooperation of companionships walking in and out of our life?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Assuming we make it past this self-discussion, what do we do,
if anything? Is doing “something” worthwhile, is it worth the perhaps seemingly
futile effort? The answer is almost always “Yes” – IF our efforts are truly for
the greater good toward others rather than just a cover story for our personal
good. It is a Yes that begs for realistic perspective, which thereby obligates
us to position ourselves properly and humbly.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“How can I help?”</div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Ram Dass, Buddhist
teacher</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Human beings are an impatient species. We are truly in a
hurry to reach an endpoint and “change the world” from our own efforts. Action
taken; objective accomplished; off to the next righteous goal. Yet the reality
is that, in the larger scheme of things, we can each alone do very little on
our own in this one lifetime. Lasting societal change and improvement in our
human interactions take many lifetimes to accomplish. That is why human history
teaches us that much of today is yesterday, and it has been this way throughout
the human story. Only the dates, places and faces are changed.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Yet in other ways, things are different for more times, in
more places, for more people. The march of civilization is a long march, but it
is always moving forward, even if it is in a slow-time cadence with many left
turns and temporary “about faces” along the way. In the larger course of time,
our life is barely one half-step in that long cadence.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
Our life can seem as of supreme importance; our lifetime a
vast expanse of time. Yet our life is a speck in the mosaic of human history, a
blip in God’s hourglass and calendar. So do we do nothing, out of despair that
we cannot do it all? No, we simply acknowledge that we are that one slow
cadence step, one more link in that necessary chain that drags human
civilization along to its next milestone. We find our little spot in this
landscape. We plant our seed to be grown there. Someone else may have to come
along in a subsequent lifetime to water and fertilize our planting. A further
somebody else may get to enjoy the forest that comes forth from our seedling.
Some will find their place illuminated in the spotlight; most will toil in
quiet anonymity. Understanding the inherent limits to our outcomes will keep
all humble, but not prevent our making the effort. </div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“A society grows
great when old men plant trees</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
whose shade they know they will never sit in.”</div>
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Greek Proverb</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
We place just one brick onto that rising cathedral that humanity
is building. We place just one stone in the footpath to the future. It truly is
about the journey, not the arrival. Our entire life is but one step in humankind’s
journey – importantly unimportant and significantly insignificant. With these
understandings, we give what we can, where we can, when we can. In that, we
find peace and comfort. It is in the giving itself, from a pure intention, that
we achieve. Just as the Universe intended.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
“Do not be daunted by
the enormity of the world’s grief.</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now.<br />
You are not obligated to complete the work,<br />
but neither are you free to abandon it.”<br />
<span style="margin: 0px;">—</span>Talmud</div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2018<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
</div>
Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8595455939409799006.post-31399804676817113922018-02-03T09:47:00.004-08:002018-02-03T09:47:32.514-08:00Change Others, Change Us
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
“God does not change the condition of a people until they change
what is in themselves.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Qur’an, 13:11</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
We spend a good deal of our time and energy trying to make an
impact on our surroundings. Perhaps it is even more so in these days that seem
so difficult to find our proper place in the world, a sense of alignment with
our values and our aspirations and our beliefs, and our connection with a Power
greater than ourselves. We may seek to make our impact in our role as a parent
responsible for a growing child. Or as a career person responsible for the
well-being of our colleagues, or the quality of products and services delivered
to customers. Or as an aid or charity worker bringing assistance to human beings,
creatures of nature, or to our physical environment. Or as an educator or
spiritual teacher bringing knowledge or opening creativity to growing minds and
hearts and souls. Or as an activist seeking justice in the rules and mechanisms
of our society and governments in the face of conflicting views about what that
justice should look like.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Unquestionably, there is much suffering that exists in the
world today. The degree of suffering varies widely across the globe and across
social groupings. It ranges from desperation for basic food and shelter and
clean water lost in wars, to the never-satiated pursuit of extreme wealth to
accumulate more “things” for their own sake.</div>
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In our efforts to make an impact of some kind in some sphere
of endeavor, our view is typically outward. “They” must be supported; “they” must
be changed; “they” must be reeducated; “they” must be redirected. The “they”
that we rarely see in our eyes is the “they” that is doing the seeing – that “they”
in the mirror. We are so often blind to the most significant “they” that there
is: ourselves. Significant not because of our supposed importance, but because
it is the one place where we are capable of making the biggest impact of all – and
likely one of the places that needs our foremost attention. Yet it is also the
place where we erroneously convince ourselves that there is the least need.</div>
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How many of our beliefs are not truly our own, but have been
simply copied from others over time, without proper questioning? How limited
has been our life experiences in the context of all the cultures and adventures
that exist within the world? How narrow is our perspective in light of over seven
billion people and 200+ nations across the globe? How much of what we believe is
because mom / dad / our community or a strong role model / mentor said it was
so, versus what we have seen and experienced directly? When we can come to accept
that our reality is not all of reality, it opens the door for us to make one of
the biggest impacts of all – transmuting our limited self to our expansive Self
where true insight and happiness await.</div>
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This is not to say that our efforts to impact the world are
not worthwhile or appropriate. Quite the contrary. We should certainly continue
to contribute positively what we can for our companion human beings, for our
community, and to the lives and fulfillment of our neighbors. But such happens
best if we have first brought the honest and needed change to ourselves that is
calling us. For it is in living a life exemplifying change that ultimately has
the real potential to bring change in “they.” Before we attempt to clean the
houses of others, we should be sure that we have first tended to the cleaning
of our own house as well. Have we the courage to encounter and see ourselves
for who we truly are?</div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;">©</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>2018<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Randy Bell<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>www.OurSpiritualWay.blogspot.com</div>
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Randy Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08631385549094410645noreply@blogger.com1