Sunday musings – December 31, 2017
As 2017 closes out I am filled with gratitude for all the loving people in my life. It would be easy to focus on doom and gloom in 2017. Many of “the boys” (and a few women) who are in powerful positions of leadership over countries with weapons of mass destruction have been busy in 2017 with verbal threats and/or using their weapons to systematically kill each other. Millions of refugees have fled violence or threats of violence. Mother nature has, at the same time, left many reminders of who or what is really in charge.
Addiction to power, sex, money, stuff, alcohol and other drugs, continues to dominate and too often steal the lives of many individuals, families, communities and nations.
In many so called developed places in this universe Alexa and other similar virtual helpmates have become honored guests whose only demands are power sources, a Wi-Fi connection and the most delusional of all inventions, a charge card.
Much too often we have deluded ourselves into believing that if we can just label and punish “them” that “us” will be just fine, “Thank you very much.” Despite a world wide increase in Buddhist thought which suggest that we drop the delusion of dualities – us and them, right and wrong, bad and good – we hold steadfastly to solutions which will rid us of “those” – refugees, criminals, addicts, sexual abusers, men, women, republicans, democrats and many other artificial constructs. Above all else, we shun truth of the mirror, which reflects our own image back at us.
It would indeed be easy to easy to believe that God or the Gods, depending on one’s point of view, have abandoned us.
Yesterday, given that New Year’s Eve is on a Sunday, I had a day with few outside commitments. I set aside existential angst regarding the “larger” issues and even the very immediate personal concerns over which I have no control and cleaned house. I took down and put away holiday decorations, set aside the baskets of cards and family photos to savor again later, and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. I also cooked comfort food – a chocolate pie, meatloaf, and yummy vegetables. At the end of the day I sat down feeling pleased and comforted with not only the food but also the smell and shine of the clean orderly house. Again, I am reminded of the power of the advice of folks such as Reinhold Niebuhr, the minister and theologian who is probably best know for The Serenity Prayer. Most people know the first part of the prayer, which is simply:
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
The second part is not as familiar to many.
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your Will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Oh my! I have just spent 3 hours thinking about, researching and writing another 600 words. My self-imposed limit is 600. Highlight! Cut! For today what can be changed in my “need” to go on and on and on.
Happy New Years Eve.
Written December 31, 2017
As 2017 closes out I am filled with gratitude for all the loving people in my life. It would be easy to focus on doom and gloom in 2017. Many of “the boys” (and a few women) who are in powerful positions of leadership over countries with weapons of mass destruction have been busy in 2017 with verbal threats and/or using their weapons to systematically kill each other. Millions of refugees have fled violence or threats of violence. Mother nature has, at the same time, left many reminders of who or what is really in charge.
Addiction to power, sex, money, stuff, alcohol and other drugs, continues to dominate and too often steal the lives of many individuals, families, communities and nations.
In many so called developed places in this universe Alexa and other similar virtual helpmates have become honored guests whose only demands are power sources, a Wi-Fi connection and the most delusional of all inventions, a charge card.
Much too often we have deluded ourselves into believing that if we can just label and punish “them” that “us” will be just fine, “Thank you very much.” Despite a world wide increase in Buddhist thought which suggest that we drop the delusion of dualities – us and them, right and wrong, bad and good – we hold steadfastly to solutions which will rid us of “those” – refugees, criminals, addicts, sexual abusers, men, women, republicans, democrats and many other artificial constructs. Above all else, we shun truth of the mirror, which reflects our own image back at us.
It would indeed be easy to easy to believe that God or the Gods, depending on one’s point of view, have abandoned us.
Yesterday, given that New Year’s Eve is on a Sunday, I had a day with few outside commitments. I set aside existential angst regarding the “larger” issues and even the very immediate personal concerns over which I have no control and cleaned house. I took down and put away holiday decorations, set aside the baskets of cards and family photos to savor again later, and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. I also cooked comfort food – a chocolate pie, meatloaf, and yummy vegetables. At the end of the day I sat down feeling pleased and comforted with not only the food but also the smell and shine of the clean orderly house. Again, I am reminded of the power of the advice of folks such as Reinhold Niebuhr, the minister and theologian who is probably best know for The Serenity Prayer. Most people know the first part of the prayer, which is simply:
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
The second part is not as familiar to many.
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your Will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Oh my! I have just spent 3 hours thinking about, researching and writing another 600 words. My self-imposed limit is 600. Highlight! Cut! For today what can be changed in my “need” to go on and on and on.
Happy New Years Eve.
Written December 31, 2017
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