Political Correctness
You would have to admit that we live in a very politically correct time. Just watching the primary over the last few months has certainly brought that point to the surface. We saw seasoned political veterans that tried their best to run a politically correct campaign, as has been done for decades, only to find themselves suffering defeat by the one person who refused to abide by the rule of correctness. For the record this blog is not about politics, it is about living life with our head in the sand. I just chose to use an analogy we are all familiar with. Many of you, myself included at times, have believed that WE SAY WHAT IS ON OUR MINDS. Or "I am who I am like me or leave me". You know what I mean. But the true reality is much different. We all protect ourselves from the environment in which we live, which means at times we all say and do things out of political correctness.
Whether it is in our personal relationships, or work life, or our spiritual life, we all at some point in time say what is politically correct more than saying how we feel. It is our human nature to avoid confrontation in an effort to keep peace. That is not a bad thing mind you and there are times it takes great maturity to just walk away or to simply agree to that which you may not believe. It is called compromise. But there are areas of our lives that we may compromise externally all the while being destroyed or confused and depressed internally.
For three years I wrote blogs about my absence from organized religion. It wasn't my absence from faith or spirituality just religion. To say I went against the establishment would be an understatement. I threw political correctness out the door. What I found was something interesting. My blog readership soared, I was getting emails from people thanking me for writing the things they were thinking. All the sudden I tapped into an area most people feared to tread. I questioned everything about God, creation, Christ, the Bible, life, death, heaven, and hell. Again, it wasn't to prove that God didn't exist, it was merely to find my spiritual bearings without the influence of religious correctness. What I found wasn't just an experience of a lifetime it became a life style. I found peace, the true power to forgive, the depth of love, the strength of unity, and the gift of the present. I found myself and I loved what I found.
A couple days ago I spoke in depth to a friend that I admire more than most people. This fine lady is a stalwart of faith. She lived her belief, not just in words, but in action as well. At the young age of 51 she now finds herself in bed, at home, with hospice. Her body has given up yet her mind is as strong as ever. In a private conversation she shared something with me that I would like to share with you. She said that during her journey with cancer, especially the last few weeks, she prayed to a God she never could see. She prayed for a healing that never came, she prayed for comfort yet her pain grew worse, she prayed for understanding yet all she got was more confused, she prayed for life yet she is dying, she prayed for anything and everything and got nothing. She told me that she spent a lifetime never wavering in her belief that heaven awaited our departure from earth, but now she questions everything she believed. She said that she was so sick and tired of everyone saying "oh we will pray for you" or others just reciting scripture as though it was some sort of proforma that made them feel better.
To say I was feeling her struggle would not be doing this story justice. She put the reader in the room as they say. I was feeling every fiber of her journey through the pits of cancer hell. She finally had the courage to throw out political correctness and question the very core of belief system. She allowed her humanity to come boiling out of the pot and overflow on to the floor. No longer was she caring what others thought, she wanted to reveal her feelings in such a way that I understood. When all the emotions finally settled, she was sweating profusely. Her hands were clammy and cold, her eyes bloodshot, yet a smile was on her face. It was as if a divine peace had come over her body. She looked directly at me and said "God is real, I feel his presence for the first time in my life". You have to understand, I just witnessed a total melt down of someone dying and all the sudden as though the heavens parted she now felt the proverbial peace we all hear about.
Me being me I couldn't just leave it at that. I asked her what she was feeling, what changed. She said that it wasn't anything she could explain, it was just a feeling, it was comfort. I walked out of her house that afternoon feeling like I had fought the devil. The lesson I learned was something I will carry for life. Fear does not stop death, but it does stop life. We must have the courage to question that which we struggle to believe. Whether it is in our relationships, our religious belief, our spiritual bearings, our political affiliations, heck it may be our own sexuality. We need to bring to the surface the very things we have been taught to hide. This is your life, it is your story, it is your book, write it as though it has the ability to be a best seller.
Yes we live in a politically correct time, but we also live in a time when people are finally rising up and saying NO MORE. It isn't being politically correct that will unite it us, it is love and acceptance that will bring us together. Do not fear being yourself, fear instead that you will die with your dreams and music still in you. Sometimes when we choose to stay the course, or stay connected to that which we do not believe, we in turn find ourselves extremely disconnected with the person we were created to be. View your life as a beautiful portrait not some cheap print. Your life isn't to be lived through the eyes of others, it is to be lived through the hopes and dreams of yours.
My friend may have questioned everything about her religious upbringing but in the end she found the answers she sought. It wasn't through conventional religious ideology, it was her own self discovery. I believe she found the peace and love of God in ways we all hope too. Give yourself the courage to respectfully challenge political and religious correctness. In doing so I bet your life will open up in ways you never imagined. You will discover that the path to life has so many more roads than the one's you have been lead to follow. Allow love to guide you. Respect others for who they are, not who you desire them to be. Most of all respect yourself for who you can be not who others have formed you to be.
peace and love
Dale
Whether it is in our personal relationships, or work life, or our spiritual life, we all at some point in time say what is politically correct more than saying how we feel. It is our human nature to avoid confrontation in an effort to keep peace. That is not a bad thing mind you and there are times it takes great maturity to just walk away or to simply agree to that which you may not believe. It is called compromise. But there are areas of our lives that we may compromise externally all the while being destroyed or confused and depressed internally.
For three years I wrote blogs about my absence from organized religion. It wasn't my absence from faith or spirituality just religion. To say I went against the establishment would be an understatement. I threw political correctness out the door. What I found was something interesting. My blog readership soared, I was getting emails from people thanking me for writing the things they were thinking. All the sudden I tapped into an area most people feared to tread. I questioned everything about God, creation, Christ, the Bible, life, death, heaven, and hell. Again, it wasn't to prove that God didn't exist, it was merely to find my spiritual bearings without the influence of religious correctness. What I found wasn't just an experience of a lifetime it became a life style. I found peace, the true power to forgive, the depth of love, the strength of unity, and the gift of the present. I found myself and I loved what I found.
A couple days ago I spoke in depth to a friend that I admire more than most people. This fine lady is a stalwart of faith. She lived her belief, not just in words, but in action as well. At the young age of 51 she now finds herself in bed, at home, with hospice. Her body has given up yet her mind is as strong as ever. In a private conversation she shared something with me that I would like to share with you. She said that during her journey with cancer, especially the last few weeks, she prayed to a God she never could see. She prayed for a healing that never came, she prayed for comfort yet her pain grew worse, she prayed for understanding yet all she got was more confused, she prayed for life yet she is dying, she prayed for anything and everything and got nothing. She told me that she spent a lifetime never wavering in her belief that heaven awaited our departure from earth, but now she questions everything she believed. She said that she was so sick and tired of everyone saying "oh we will pray for you" or others just reciting scripture as though it was some sort of proforma that made them feel better.
To say I was feeling her struggle would not be doing this story justice. She put the reader in the room as they say. I was feeling every fiber of her journey through the pits of cancer hell. She finally had the courage to throw out political correctness and question the very core of belief system. She allowed her humanity to come boiling out of the pot and overflow on to the floor. No longer was she caring what others thought, she wanted to reveal her feelings in such a way that I understood. When all the emotions finally settled, she was sweating profusely. Her hands were clammy and cold, her eyes bloodshot, yet a smile was on her face. It was as if a divine peace had come over her body. She looked directly at me and said "God is real, I feel his presence for the first time in my life". You have to understand, I just witnessed a total melt down of someone dying and all the sudden as though the heavens parted she now felt the proverbial peace we all hear about.
Me being me I couldn't just leave it at that. I asked her what she was feeling, what changed. She said that it wasn't anything she could explain, it was just a feeling, it was comfort. I walked out of her house that afternoon feeling like I had fought the devil. The lesson I learned was something I will carry for life. Fear does not stop death, but it does stop life. We must have the courage to question that which we struggle to believe. Whether it is in our relationships, our religious belief, our spiritual bearings, our political affiliations, heck it may be our own sexuality. We need to bring to the surface the very things we have been taught to hide. This is your life, it is your story, it is your book, write it as though it has the ability to be a best seller.
Yes we live in a politically correct time, but we also live in a time when people are finally rising up and saying NO MORE. It isn't being politically correct that will unite it us, it is love and acceptance that will bring us together. Do not fear being yourself, fear instead that you will die with your dreams and music still in you. Sometimes when we choose to stay the course, or stay connected to that which we do not believe, we in turn find ourselves extremely disconnected with the person we were created to be. View your life as a beautiful portrait not some cheap print. Your life isn't to be lived through the eyes of others, it is to be lived through the hopes and dreams of yours.
My friend may have questioned everything about her religious upbringing but in the end she found the answers she sought. It wasn't through conventional religious ideology, it was her own self discovery. I believe she found the peace and love of God in ways we all hope too. Give yourself the courage to respectfully challenge political and religious correctness. In doing so I bet your life will open up in ways you never imagined. You will discover that the path to life has so many more roads than the one's you have been lead to follow. Allow love to guide you. Respect others for who they are, not who you desire them to be. Most of all respect yourself for who you can be not who others have formed you to be.
peace and love
Dale
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