To Be or Not to Be (Part 6)

To Be or Not to Be (Part 6)

In the end what is the essence of being? What is at the very heart of our being human? How do we really get a hold of a nature that is invisibly yet indelibly imprinted on us? Are we even capable of imagining or beholding this reality?

Are we even ready to really see ourselves for all we are? A human being. The penultimate of the creation of God. Higher even than the angels. Superior in craft and in nature. The pinnacle of God’s creative hand.

Are we ready to look in that mirror? Reflecting back at us is something beyond our ability to imagine, a mystery even to ourselves, the owner so to speak. In that dark reflection we can begin to embrace the profound stillness of being.

For a moment we are like Adam, the man made of sand, animated by the very breath of God. Suddenly from non-existence we are given life, being, consciousness. We are able to consider from inside ourselves as we in wonder gaze at his handiwork.

Ash Wednesday on one hand is such a morbid ceremony. With ash on the forehead we are reminded: “from ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” All these millions of particles that are being held together right now will slowly start un-connecting.

To Be or Not to Be (Part 5)

To Be or Not to Be (Part 5)

We must answer a fundamental question during withdraw, one that will change the orientation of our very life: to be or not to be? When we get away from all the crashing sounds and urgent pressures we understand the greater mystery.

Our life is silenced in the overwhelming flow of life. And we are really given the legitimate choice to be or not to be. Life could and will go on without us. We could with great monkish fervor go out withdrawing into prayer and meditation.

One understands in meditation that we are not essential. We learn our humble place in the universe which can leave us wanting. Yet we are still given the choice: to be or not to be? “What do you want?” still reverberates in the halls of our soul.

That is really the question. And there is ultimately no one else who can answer that question except us. There is no right answer, no best answer, no only for me answer. There is simply the lingering wait for our response. What will we do?

To Be or Not to Be (Part 4)

To Be or Not to Be (Part 4)

So eventually we must take a leap. We must literally move our feet in a direction in which we do not know the outcome. We must be willing to live in that state of ambiguity without guarantees.

That is the necessary risk-jump and every business or humanitarian effort has had to take. It started with one person willing to risk their own comforts in their own futures for the sake of a dream birthed in faith.

Don't give up because it is hard. Don't give up when it seems like you made the wrong choice. Don't give up when you feel discouraged, unsupported, neglected by those who have committed to serve.

Right around the corner is a break. Not all breaks are good ones but they all lead to increased clarity. That ultimately is what we're after. But we will not get there without a serious amount of determination.

*So we keep climbing. And we realize that the struggle for life is life itself. There is no better way to live, no greater use of our short time on earth, than to struggle on behalf of others with our gifts. There is nothing else to do.

To Be or Not to Be (Part 3)

To Be or Not to Be (Part 3)

There's an absolutely huge responsibility to know and foster the right sort of ideas, primarily because ideas become reality.  We become what we think. Or we create what we sync up.

It's the secret behind Murphy's Law. Once someone imagines that life is picking on them they literally start to create realities that line up with those ideas. And things literally do start to happen to them.

It's almost as if their thoughts go out and seek the kind of things that will vindicate or prove their suspicions.  Their thoughts will quite literally send vibrations into the universe seeking affinities. It becomes sort of a closed circuit of self-fulfilling prophecy.

What most do not realize in that state is that if they are able to change the way they think, realities will line up differently for them.  Our most valuable asset in the true sense of our freedom is found in our thoughts. We really are in charge of what we think about.

To Be or Not to Be (Part 2)

To Be or Not to Be (Part 2)

Discover, I did. Self-control is just what it sounds like: Control of the self. No one else will do it for us, Not even God. There are two things we must always protect and control: our thoughts (mind) and our heart (emotions).

All behaviors start in our minds. We let in thoughts through memory triggers and our brain’s powerful auto-flow. These thoughts create or utilize pictures and windows from our history to either inspire us or shut us down.

Like the brilliant animated movie Inside Out captures, our emotions can control which memories are triggered and can lock in windows in our mind that can ultimately shut us down. At least it feels that way. It feels like we don’t have control.

We do. We ultimately have the final say as to what pictures are allowed to be utilized and created. We can choose what we think about. Any unwanted windows can simply be closed. Another one will need to be put in its place.

To Be or Not to Be (Part 1)

To Be or Not to Be (Part 1)

Whether we live, or whether we die.... One is not necessarily better than
the other. There are those who fulfill their calling by negation, By what they give
up. Then there are those who do so by what they embrace.

The entrepreneur of course is one who embraces a vision, who with great
passion decidedly moves toward that vision, and making it happen. In such a strong pursuit it is very easy for their identity to be wrapped entirely around the venture.

The problem is, the matter how passionately we are committed to our work, it
cannot define us. It would be simpler, to some degree, if it could. But our work
alone is not enough to grasp the mystery of human "being."

The Gift of Sadness (Part 8)

The Gift of Sadness (Part 8)

So there it is, the hard cold truth may not actually be the hard cold truth. Not that
we get to dictate truth, but we certainly have the freedom with which to
apprehend it. Into do so in our own unique way.

Life is the mystery of learning everything we do not know. With that knowledge
we have the choice to trust in the universe or the one who holds the universe or
to believe there is nothing at all out there.

That choice will always be ours. And the end One believe cannot be pitted
against another. We simply must choose for ourselves. And face the
consequences. That is a great existential responsibility.