A Wider Window To Life

 We’re all born to this world with individual wonderment of the same universe. And, sharing gives life to that wonderment. Human nature is revealed on the face of an innocent child where love comes first, shown with a smile. Life is an individual journey.

“The Nature of Reality in the Conscious Mind is thru Stories.“ said Deepak Chopra.

What better excitement of your finding the beautiful flower, smelling it’s unique aroma, adding to the joy by telling a friend who delights in your story?

A fundamental question of Life’s adventure, when and where is the line drawn on the depth of Parenthood?  I find it difficult to share life with adult children who are distant. The sharing of life’s wonderment goes beyond a calendar.

As parents, we went through the stage in life and had the ‘Baby Thing’.  Our children grew up, but as adults they decided to be distant. That’s their choice.  We did the ‘Baby Thing’ by raising our children with love and a bundle of care.

The gateway to happiness is held in the hands of Humanity with the Key of Love. Let Love keep us at the top of this tapestry of humanity.

I find wonderment in life with the love of animals.  Watching the little creatures keeps life simple. Sniff, look, feel, hear, taste, all reminded about what’s important, and gives us a wider window to life.  

What motivates us? Remember, life is an individual adventure. Some grow up with a competitive effort to conquer the same universe that they were born to and cleave to greed, while others are grounded in sharing, love.  

“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.” - Tagore

 A reflection from a spoken Native American, which harmonizes with this theme of wonderment, saying their religion is not Faith Based but real. You can feel it, taste it, breathing the air, drinking clean water, seeing the sun, feeling and smelling  the earth, living plants and animals in harmony - living, loving, sharing.

“One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.” - James Baldwin 

“We are all tourists, God is our travel agent who already made our itineraries, bookings and destinations...Trust him and enjoy LIFE.  Life is just a journey! Live today!”- Charles Chaplin

We sit in awe of the wonderment of the miracles of Nature. My wife Bobbi grows butterflies, from picking itsy bitsy caterpillars on dill from the backyard garden, placing them in a cage, feeding them dill / parsley until they’re big enough to form chrysalis. Then 7 to 10 days when they emerge as butterflies is a miracle.  

Further mystery is the time when the chrysalis stops evolving at Fall Equinox, waits through winter to then emerge in the Spring as Butterflies.   It’s Life’s Wonderment.

I'm reminded of Rumi who said:  "Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life."

The Religious Right Is Wrong

James Madison, fourth President of the United States, in his Federalist Papers No. 10 explained that factions, alliances, were the natural state of man, that the like minded would form in groups.  But he warned of the inherent danger when these Factions tuned political to the detriment of the public interest. 

The adherents of the Religious Right focus on the “me” society rather than the “we” society.  Therein lies a major conflict with the Bible: Matthew 25:45 “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”  

Trump canceling 500 tons of emergency food aid, enough to fee 1.5 million malnourished children, and having it incinerated instead is a great anthesis to Matthew 25: "feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger, clothes the needed, tend to the sick, do for this least of these."

A big difference between the members of the Religious Right and mainstream Christian Churches is the former are political, and Republican.  Moreover, these gospel grifter groups claim to be Christian by taking passages out of context from the Bible and twist the meaning to further their agenda.

There are many issues with so-called Religious Right Christian views.  They justify their hate, as evidenced to me by a religiosity weirdo making disparaging remarks about Jews, and others, including me, which gives me the creeps.

In his acceptance of the Ecumenical Council of 1960-1965, Vatican II, Pope John Paul II asserted that as a descendent to the throne of St. Peter, the true message of Jesus was all inclusive, that all people of the world were saved.  I believe all main-stream Christian Churches believe the true message of Jesus was love for all religious communities since all mainstream religions believe and practice the same love. 

Former President Jimmy Carter, who in 2000 officially severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention after the SBC declared its opposition to female pastors and reiterated its calls “for wives to be submissive to their husbands.”   He condemned the mistreatment of women by religious leaders, writing: “the words of God do not justify cruelty to women.”

In an opinion piece published “Losing my Religion for Equality.”  President Carter said that a “twisted interpretation of the word of God” taught by male religious leaders has been used to justify the oppression of women:  “The truth is that male religious leaders have had — and still have — an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.”

There are phrases in the Bible that exalt women and here is just a sample of many:  Romans 16:1New International Version (NIV) Personal Greetings 16 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae”; Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”; Romans 2:11 “For God shows no partiality”; Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”.

And, they want to turn our country into a theocracy.  The Christian Right’s plan is simple: dominate the courts, state legislatures, and push their twisted morality on all of us.

I refuse to live in their world.  A world where men are superior, where women are subordinate, controlled, and relegated to motherhood.  A world where anyone different from me are not only shunned, but pursued.  

What’s right is St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.  The Bible is replete with God’s message of Joy and Salvation for all religious communities of the world. Inherent in a gift is there is no payment in return.