An exercise in honesty
I began this blog/journal entry with the goal of exploring “manning up”. What I needed, as is frequently the case, was to exercise honestly with myself.
This morning my spiritual intention was “Be open to learning no matter what the source.” I knew I was attending a men’s breakfast at a church with my nephew. Thoughts as I joined him and others were:
Some of what I heard this morning was:
When I practice this exercise in honestly I remain teachable. When I do not, I disconnect from myself, others and the god of my understanding. When I am teachable, I, as Father Greg Boyle would say, return myself to myself. When I return myself to myself I reconnect with the god of my understanding and, thus, with others and mother earth
Written February 5, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
I began this blog/journal entry with the goal of exploring “manning up”. What I needed, as is frequently the case, was to exercise honestly with myself.
This morning my spiritual intention was “Be open to learning no matter what the source.” I knew I was attending a men’s breakfast at a church with my nephew. Thoughts as I joined him and others were:
- I love spending time with my nephew and am honored that he wants to spend time with me
- I believe all the men who attend these breakfast events are sincerely looking for something.
- I have a habit of listening for areas of disagreements rather than agreements; for differences rather than similarities especially in religious setting which I perceive as requiring a limited view of God and of our role as humans.
- I have a long history of hearing what I need to hear to grow emotionally and spiritually from sources I was prepared (consciously or unconsciously) to discount.
- There is no place in this church for a gay man.
- There is no place in this church for a man who believes the Christian concept of God and understanding of Jesus is just one of many possible frameworks for a god who is expansive enough to contain all human attempts to conceptualize a framework.
- I am thrilled that the leaders of this church are tackling such often-ignored subjects as porn and other addictions.
- I think we should all “people” our posts. If in a marriage/committed relationship we should do this together not with one person being a leader and the other a follower.
- Obviously there are situation in which one person will need to take the leadership but this should not be based on gender.
Some of what I heard this morning was:
- We all have valuable skills and talents.
- We all do better when we have each other’s backs.
- We are community. All we do should honor that community.
- We all sense that there is more to success than making money or having possessions. Success is a spiritual prac tice.
- I have more in common with this group of men than I have differences.
When I practice this exercise in honestly I remain teachable. When I do not, I disconnect from myself, others and the god of my understanding. When I am teachable, I, as Father Greg Boyle would say, return myself to myself. When I return myself to myself I reconnect with the god of my understanding and, thus, with others and mother earth
Written February 5, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
RSS Feed