Rule one, RELAX

RULE ONE, RELAX

I read a short story once, B. Wordsworth by V. S. Naipaul. It is a beautiful tale of an old man and a young boy doing the thing no one has time for anymore, self-examination. Almost twenty-five hundred years ago, Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

When was the last time you laid down on the grass to look at the stars and wondered, like Black Wordsworth, “What am I doing here?”

There is no empirical proof of continued existence after physical death. On the other hand, empirical data only exists in the physical world, and the only connection between the physical and the spiritual is "faith." Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen." My physical self DEMANDS a scientific answer, my spiritual self is comfortable with Kierkegaard's “Leap of faith.” When Shakespeare the “inventor of the human being,” said humans are greater than the sum of our parts, he is simply recognizing our mind/soul/spirit as real. Think of the concept “faith” in the same terms as “love,” neither have physical properties, but both have profound effects on the quality of human life. The concept of a soul having an existence as a separate thing from the material world is the hope of all religions… all people. No one WANTS to disappear as though nothing happened. This way we are not plagued by mass suicides every day all the way to extinction. Life is uncomfortable at its very best, full of pain and suffering most of the time, and with just enough joy to keep us going, so why do we put up with it? Why not just jump off a cliff when there’s not enough money for rent this month? Why do the homeless keep going, the victims of war, disease, famine? Maybe it is the cry from our souls to fulfill a purpose, to ease someone else’s burdens, or experience enough of life that we have something to carry over.

The Christian emphasis on reward and punishment is one of the reasons there is so much doubt and atheism these days. It is why Western religion is on the decline… as though the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE sits on a big chair with notepad and pencil saying “Gotcha!” The concept is absurd in the extreme and serves religion, but not our spirits, much less, God’s. Just think, If the church taught what Jesus taught, “I came to give you life, and that more abundantly,” how much more attractive the Bible would be to non-believers” or, just these two things, “Love God, love your neighbor,” the only things required to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is so simple, so easy, but once again, as humans, when we find beauty, our first impulse is to break it.

I’m seventy-five years old, fairly healthy, but at best, I have maybe ten or so years to go. When I die, what if that’s it, THE END, inert darkness forever? Sitting in this chair, typing this, I could not be more irrelevant. But what if I move into a realm of awareness where all things are revealed… truth, beauty, love, the essence of life, the absence of time, the full realization of ME as an entity… or, as Tolkien put it….

“PIPPIN: I didn't think it would end this way.

GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.

PIPPIN: What? Gandalf? See what?

GANDALF: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.

PIPPIN: Well, that isn't so bad.

GANDALF: No. No, it isn't.”

Well, to recant a little… It makes all the difference because hope makes the rest of it worthy of every breath I take.

Vol

P.S. I have largely left the story of my personal guide, Christ, out of this, I figure anyone who takes the time for self examination will figure that part out for themselves.

Reviews

[Lorry]

But if you're wearing a space suit and you fart, is it there or not and if not, then what is making you're eyes bleed?
I have lived my life putting it into the hands of hoping for the best, aka wishy thinking and I'll be damned if I'm gonna give it up just because I catch a little death!
And asking me questions about the bible when I don't even know if I'm agnostic or just too dumb to see it, but I reckon its a bit too wordy for most... like thar bit about he begat him, who begat that... it goes on for hundreds of chapters just to prove someone is related to someone else.... just tell us they're related and get on with it. And do we really need ten commandments when "if you can't be good, br lucky" would suffice.
And why was God angrier in the old testament and more laid back in the new? That's not how age works, even if you're the messiah!
But saying I don't get it doesn't quite cover it because I'm about to contradict myself by saying the older I get, the more chilled I am about the whole thing. Who knows, maybegod had pmt in the old testament! 🤔
(And don't worry, it's me that's going to the bad fire, you were only reading it!)
😃