Some of us cannot move our thoughts beyond what happened, could have happened, or should have happened in the past.
Some of us dream only of the future, relationships to come, jobs and wealth we could acquire, places to visit.
Seth Godin has pointed out, “The best reason to think about the past is because it gives us the opportunity to improve the future.”
Most important—we live only in the present. This decision of what to do right now, in this moment, that is where life exists.
Arnold Schwarzenegger observing fitness behavior. The people who find joy in the gym are the most likely to keep showing up to the gym. Fitness is supposed to make us feel better, but many people decide to stress about it.
I see the same thing on the nutrition/weight loss side of the equation. People look at “dieting” in order to lose weight as punishment.
That won’t work. Maybe short term. But not for life.
Best is to find the joy of eating wholesome, tasty food in smaller portions. Thousands of recipes exist. One needn’t feel deprived. Heck, have an occasional ice cream.
These practices form the foundation for further spiritual practices. When we feel better, we are more awake to study or finding God’s voice in our prayers and service.
Ancient wisdom—You become what you think about.
Shane Parrish writing in Brain Food, updated the thought. You become what you scroll.
Don’t be like the loser in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade about whom the Last Crusader remarked, “He chose poorly.”
I was on a Board of Education in the 1980s. Another member and I pushed for restriction of smoking on school grounds. Another member was a purveyor of tobacco products at the wholesale level.
That member brought a stack of documentation at least a foot high purporting to show the positive health benefits of smoking.
They thought they had the right of free speech to promote ideas contrary to nearly unanimous research about the hazards of smoking—both to the smoker and to others around them.
My wife and I were considering European vacations. People in many cities of western Europe are rebelling against tourists. It seems that people are buying many apartments at a premium price in order to rent them to tourists through AirBnB or equivalent companies. The unintended consequences include housing shortages for natives and increasing prices for property rendering them too expensive for locals.
AirBnB issued a press release saying the real cause was hotels, because that’s where 80% of tourists stay. (Hmmm?) Do hotels contribute to the situation by buying properties? Probably some. But let us not be duplicitous.
Some oil companies just sued under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech to be able to contradict overwhelming evidence garnered from scientific research conducted globally that show direct links to burning fossil fuels, air pollution, and climate change.
The men who wrote the original documents of the US government including the First Amendment discussed the necessary corollary to free speech—responsibility.
An entire industry exists to massage words such that a client can appear to be innocent even when not.
Many companies and people, on the other hand, have discovered the fruit of the moral value of owning mistakes and improving.
Let’s hope that you and I can avoid the temptation of lying in favor of honesty—even if it hurts. And calling out those who fail. Be aware of what you read.
Treating others with kindness can seem like a chore…or it can just be a reflection of who we are.
Spiritual practitioners and teachers have taught people to begin by treating themselves with kindness, practicing gratitude, recognizing our shortcomings with objectivity and desire for change.
Some people whom we might describe informally with narcissistic tendencies seem to be so assured. Yet, inside they cannot treat themselves with kindness while hoping for others to treat them that way.
Others of us have been brought up not to expect kindness from others. Those people are shocked or suspicious when someone is kind to them, since they cannot be kind to themselves.
Blessed are those who treat their shortcomings with kindness. They find spiritual growth. And the ability to serve others in ways great and small simply as an extension of that kindness.
We can all learn to step back, becoming aware of our situation, practicing loving kindness meditation. We become a spiritually integrated child of God.
I had developed two core principles before I had made it to high school. I am not sure why given where I was born. Stories of violence and hatred toward black people in the US South deeply affected me. Therefore, the justice part. Since this was prior to Viet Nam, the peace part must have come through teachings of John Wesley in my Methodist church. Or stories of my Seventh-Day Baptist preacher uncles.
Our country has declared yet another unofficial (not authorized by Congress) war. I’m glad I was never in the position to make decisions to kill thousands of people in the name of peace. It’s like my pacifist leanings toward any violence. The mother of a girl I used to talk with decades ago used probe at what point would I resort to violence in order to protect myself or another. I wrestle with that question some 60 years later.
I pray for peace. I cannot stop the bombing. I cannot stop the hatred and egos and power yearnings of others. I can act with kindness spreading peace and justice where I am.
I will do what I can letting the egos and hatred of others play out into their own destructions. I feel great sorrow when I sit and consider the many places where bombs are falling on innocent people and soldiers are sent to the front to their deaths.
This is my personal meditation. You consider your own fears and concerns making your own decisions. I don’t tell people what to think or do. I merely try to reflect the teachings of Jesus that have so deeply infused my being.
I have a small international readership. If you are somewhere protecting your homeland from destruction, my prayers are with you.
Worry…Worry, worry, worry, worry
Worry just will not seem to leave my mind alone—Ray LaMontagne, Trouble
My mother was a worrier. She passed this trait along to her four sons. My barber from long ago was researching his genealogy. It was German. He told me that Germans were worriers. My mom’s father spoke German, but he was Alsatian speaking a dialect of German. There was no correlation. I doubt that you can classify a tribe or culture as worriers.
But worry can invade many people in a culture. Especially so in this day of social media algorithms. Conspiracy theories abound. Wonder why? Just look at what “news” item suddenly appear in your Facebook/Instagram/Xitter/TikTok feeds. TV News? I tell people it has little to do with liberal/conservative or red/blue. The real differentiation is hype/more hype/most hype.
I talked with an engineer on the host company’s AI team. He’s worried about AI.
We could always quote another song, Don’t Worry, Be Happy—Bobby McFerrin
An extension of lifelong meditation practice entails intentionally diverting my mind the moment my awareness recognizes worry. It works.
We could infuse this thought into our thinking along with Mark Twain (quoted by President James A. Garfield), “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, most of which never happened.”
I believe. Help me in my unbelief! Desperate man’s response to Jesus.
One of my favorite interactions in the story of Jesus. It is so honest and open.
She asked me such a simple question. What is faith? Followed by, how do I get it?
I’ve thought about this. I did some additional research. I could probably write a book.
The deeper I thought, the more I discovered that this question leads into the reading I’ve done over the past year into how people get sucked into the vortex of conspiracy theories.The latest book now on my desk is titled Wrong. More on that after I’ve finished it.
There seems to be an element of awareness. Maybe not complete knowledge, but an awareness of things just not right within my soul.
Then comes trust. Usually from a community—whether physical or online. I trust these people to guide me toward faith in something.
Community plus trust leads to action. I begin to act out my faith.
Much of this thinking has come while sitting at a coffee shop alongside the casino of the Fontainbleau Resort (hotel) in Las Vegas while attending a technology conference. The casinos are so quiet these days—not like even a few years ago when the noise was deafening. I doubt that my thinking was influenced by the spirit of greed surrounding me 😉
Try thinking on these things:
More could be written, but I don’t want to write a book. I wish for us to think.
We recently visited Williamsburg, Virginia. One museum displayed a history of “ducking.” It seems that Colonial people (men? Other women?) frowned upon people (women?) who degraded people’s reputations through gossip.
One group of guys decided to take action. They rigged a chair at the end of a long pole with a strategically placed fulcrum. (They knew their elementary high school physics, I guess.) There was a woman who was a notorious gossip. They strapped her in the chair. They would then “duck” her into the pond. Wait a bit. Then lift her out. “Do you confess to your sins?” No answer. Duck her again. The story goes that after a few ducks, she confessed, pleaded mercy, and swore to never again gossip.
Forced confession has a long history. Salem witch trials. Stalinist Soviet Union. McCarthy anti-communism trials in the US Congress. The Grand Inquisition of the Middle Ages.
But…
I’d like to take the concept of confession into a different direction. One that I believe the authors of New Testament letters would approve if they lived in our time.
The purpose of “confession” is to result in “repentance.”
Let’s parse these words into modern American.
To confess is to tell my story of where I’ve been and where I am, and perhaps also, where I’d like to be. First comes awareness. I’ve come into a realization that where I am is not a good place.
The New Testament writer (and brother of Jesus) James, tells us to confess our sins to others, but he also tells the others to pray for that person (not to “duck” them). The desired result is healing.
Or how we might define the word repentance as changing the direction of our life.
Forced confession is simply a power game. Something that Jesus expressly opposed.
True confession is generated from within. We become aware that how we are living is destructive—to our health, to our relationships, to others broadly, perhaps even to the community or broader. We seek the help of others who will walk with us to help change our direction. It’s a process—one that requires helpers.
Do you need to confess something? How is your story?
Or, do you need to help someone along their journey?
You’ve got to make the morning last.—Paul Simon
Or, if that’s too mellow, try the opposite:
I Can’t Drive 55—Sammy Hagar
I live in a 55+ community. You’d think that retired people have nowhere to go in a rush. But, if you saw where few stop at stop signs and most are far over the 25 mph speed limit, you’d think it was a 25- community where all the young people are in a hurry.
It took me years to learn to pace myself. The 5 minutes that I “saved” by driving too fast really didn’t matter. The frustrations of doing 3 or 4 things simultaneously resulted in shoddy, partially thought-out work.
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy
Gary Mintchell
Faith Venture 