Sunday Musings – July 2, 2017
It has been a pretty routine week although, of course, there are always logistical issues to which one needs to attend- Wi-Fi router issues, appointment with eye doctor, and professional issues including course work to keep as up to date as possible. It occurs to me, once again, that all these and other routine issues such as cooking, cleaning and laundry are symptoms of the luxury of my life. Obviously, if I was homeless, a refugee, in prison, in a nursing home or rehabilitation facility, I would not have to deal with any of these routine issues.
Despite the fact that I set aside daily time to reflect, write and to count my blessings, I still seem to take so much for granted. I sometimes whine and complain about what is working or not working, how many chores I have to do, or what I can or cannot do. I could easily get rid of all my stuff and live very simply. Yet, I do not do that. I do briefly consider it at times. Of course, I would want to do it on my terms. Perhaps if I had more money I could live in a hotel or I could live in a hotel until I had no money left. And then …. Perhaps I could find a rooming house. Do rooming houses still exist or are they all Airbnb’s. I could live in a tent. Well, as long as Wi-Fi was available and there was a place to charge my laptop! I could donate my services to the Peace Corps, Vista, Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross or some other organization which provides help to people in many parts of the world. I could volunteer my services to a refugee camp. I could join an intentional community.
It seems that the list of options is endless. Yet, no matter what changes I make I would still know that they were by choice. I have not because of war, addiction, disease, oppression or other forces outside my control been forced into a crisis living situation.
While it is true that I have made choices each step of this journey, it is also true that the place and condition of my birth was outside my control. (For now I will ignore the arguments which suggest that our spirit has made choices before we arrived for this journey on this planet.) I get no credit for this accident of birth. Neither do I get credit for looking Caucasian despite having some Native American blood and, I am sure, ancestors of all or most races and cultures. The fact that I am male has also given me entitlements not available to females or even some males in this and other cultures.
I was not born into wealth which can carry with it a set of burdens which may limit one as much as being born into abject poverty.
There are many factors which contributes to my current life status and the abundance of luxuries which I, and not many others worldwide, enjoy. The question which has long been with me is whether or not I have accepted the mantle of responsibility which accompanies these privileges. No, I do not mean that I sit around obsessively worrying, not accomplishing anything and not enjoying these luxuries. I give daily thanks for running water, electricity, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, the ice maker, electric refrigeration and my gas cooking stove. I could certainly live without them but I choose not to do so.
I am also surrounded by a host of those who give me unconditional love (and a few whose love is a tad conditional). Again, the fact that I am surrounded by this love has nothing to do with what I am able to give or not give them. True, I do my best to love unconditionally, although I sometimes fall short and
“disowned” or in modern terms “defriended”. Even then I have more than my share.
Perhaps I could quit thinking in terms of routine less I fall into the traps of entitlement and/or attachments. The moment I become attached to any of these luxuries I am no longer free to make choices or even to experience gratitude. The moment I fall into the trap of entitlement I have lost the connection with my humanity.
It has been a week of blessings – yet another week of blessings and opportunities.
Written July 2, 2017
It has been a pretty routine week although, of course, there are always logistical issues to which one needs to attend- Wi-Fi router issues, appointment with eye doctor, and professional issues including course work to keep as up to date as possible. It occurs to me, once again, that all these and other routine issues such as cooking, cleaning and laundry are symptoms of the luxury of my life. Obviously, if I was homeless, a refugee, in prison, in a nursing home or rehabilitation facility, I would not have to deal with any of these routine issues.
Despite the fact that I set aside daily time to reflect, write and to count my blessings, I still seem to take so much for granted. I sometimes whine and complain about what is working or not working, how many chores I have to do, or what I can or cannot do. I could easily get rid of all my stuff and live very simply. Yet, I do not do that. I do briefly consider it at times. Of course, I would want to do it on my terms. Perhaps if I had more money I could live in a hotel or I could live in a hotel until I had no money left. And then …. Perhaps I could find a rooming house. Do rooming houses still exist or are they all Airbnb’s. I could live in a tent. Well, as long as Wi-Fi was available and there was a place to charge my laptop! I could donate my services to the Peace Corps, Vista, Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross or some other organization which provides help to people in many parts of the world. I could volunteer my services to a refugee camp. I could join an intentional community.
It seems that the list of options is endless. Yet, no matter what changes I make I would still know that they were by choice. I have not because of war, addiction, disease, oppression or other forces outside my control been forced into a crisis living situation.
While it is true that I have made choices each step of this journey, it is also true that the place and condition of my birth was outside my control. (For now I will ignore the arguments which suggest that our spirit has made choices before we arrived for this journey on this planet.) I get no credit for this accident of birth. Neither do I get credit for looking Caucasian despite having some Native American blood and, I am sure, ancestors of all or most races and cultures. The fact that I am male has also given me entitlements not available to females or even some males in this and other cultures.
I was not born into wealth which can carry with it a set of burdens which may limit one as much as being born into abject poverty.
There are many factors which contributes to my current life status and the abundance of luxuries which I, and not many others worldwide, enjoy. The question which has long been with me is whether or not I have accepted the mantle of responsibility which accompanies these privileges. No, I do not mean that I sit around obsessively worrying, not accomplishing anything and not enjoying these luxuries. I give daily thanks for running water, electricity, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, the ice maker, electric refrigeration and my gas cooking stove. I could certainly live without them but I choose not to do so.
I am also surrounded by a host of those who give me unconditional love (and a few whose love is a tad conditional). Again, the fact that I am surrounded by this love has nothing to do with what I am able to give or not give them. True, I do my best to love unconditionally, although I sometimes fall short and
“disowned” or in modern terms “defriended”. Even then I have more than my share.
Perhaps I could quit thinking in terms of routine less I fall into the traps of entitlement and/or attachments. The moment I become attached to any of these luxuries I am no longer free to make choices or even to experience gratitude. The moment I fall into the trap of entitlement I have lost the connection with my humanity.
It has been a week of blessings – yet another week of blessings and opportunities.
Written July 2, 2017
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