Category: Podcast

Released on the Spark My Muse podcast

Neda, Iranian martyr for freedom

Nedo means “voice,” and this week this women who wanted freedom for her country was murdered as she cried out for her people. The scene has been capture on video, sent out of Iran, and circulated around the world. The government has forbade mourning for her, under threats of grave punishment. Her death has put a face on the cause of freedom the Iranians desire, and has galvanized their protests against the current government, and recent dubious election. They chant, “Live free or die!”

CBS article with pictures and video.

The Rut of the Insular

aloneincrowd

When the rain is coming sideways 

And the fog is inching near

Many times the universal feeling is alone-ness

But if it is universal, how can it still be true, completely?

It is a paradoxical, yes?

 

Somehow we can be crowded and still alienated, apart.

Never touching another in the way that is the least bit beneficial (in those times).

The gap to someone else feels like miles, becuase real interiors are too protected 

Fortified. Insular.

Like a walled city that starves itself into extinction, we can get into a rut like this.

What’s it like for you?

[polldaddy poll=”1750624″]

Birds of a feather…or opposites attract?

Maybe both are true. Maybe at different times, each one is true. When I see a pack of mean girls at the mall, I think, “birds of a feather…,” or “misery loves company.”

mallgirls

On the flip side, in certain instances we are drawn to others with characteristics absent in ourselves, and, to me, this is a good thing. A sage/spiritual director, a mentor, a spouse, or a friend, may seem more intriguing because they posses traits and qualities we admire, but have not quite yet mastered. From them we learn a lot, when we are willing. And if they are wise, they also learn.

The comfort from being around people like us can be soothing, and smoother sailing, but it will not produce the kind of growth that healthy conflict can. The smoothing of the rough edges happens best during the interaction of dissimilar personalities. When there is mutual respect, very beneficial outcomes, personal growth, spiritual growth, and learning are the consistent result of contrasting personalities.

Reflection question:

Who has been the most beneficial in your life who was not like you, and what was the lesson from them that you appreciated most?

(feel free to leave a comment.)

Our reactions betray us

roar

 

At first blush we might assume circumstances cause our reactions. I say circumstances betray us more than the situation in which we find ourselves. Our amounts of self-control, maturity, self-awareness, compassion, humility, are revealed on the proving ground of life, in the difficult situations, and oddly enough, in the successful times.

So, when someone is raging, icing over a cold shoulder, or enjoying a lot of self-satisfaction, it really reflects his or her character more than anything else. We can consider how circumstances undermine our best, and enslave us. They can also be opportunity to grow, and know who you are in reality, so you can focus on those very areas for growth and betterment.

Embrace the challenge.
Release yourself from your reactions.
 

photo credit link

Confusing God with the dad you got

bad_dad

 

It’s amazing the gut level response of people with problems against God, and those who believe in him, who fail to see how much their over-reaction gives them away.

God isn’t a man in the sky. He isn’t a “he”. “He” doesn’t pee on people, he doesn’t zap people, stand around glaring, or torching people. He doesn’t sleep through disasters, get kicks from evil acts, or remain aloof when humans encounter poverty, disease, or suffering. It’s a bit more complex.

This view is quite common, but also quite infantile as view of the spiritual of reality. However, we all begin somewhere. Essentially, the problem of understanding something–like the spiritual nature of existence, and a supreme Creator,–which is beyond the scope of eyesight, earshot, etc. and our full comprehension, involves first letting go of the physical assumptions we cling to. We continually thrust these suppositions on how the world MUST be and work, from our  human-ego standpoint.

No, one cannot “prove God” with weights and measures. One can’t prove ideals either, but hardly anyone is ridiculous enough to toss those away. Is anyone going to toss out ultimate Justice? What about Truth? Or Beauty? Or Goodness? Or Hope? Are they just fiction? Well, we can’t really prove them. If we take them away, a black hole is created, right in the middle of us, and what we hold dear. It’s nihilism. It assures its adherents that there is no point to existing, and many of its true loyalists end up killing themselves. Its not exactly a philosophy for bettering the world, and making it a happier and more beneficial place.

But just look around. One can’t waste the gift of life like that. Yes, it’s short, and pain and turmoil are found in many spots, but there is beauty and joy to be found as well. There is goodness, and one can do good. There is redemption, and hope. There are people to love and help. And, in the end, God, in a sense, “looks” like the dad everyone wished they had, as we carry out love in Spirit. But, yet “he’s” Other and not really like a human after all.

Reader response invitation…

Did you have a good dad, a good enough dad, or a crap-tastic one?