What do you EXPECT
Okay I have deleted this blog four times. Not because it was wrong, but because it wasn't right. I, like many, stumble through life, never allowing our true self to be revealed. When I say true self, I am referring to the voice in our head that continually feeds whatever emotion is confronting us at the moment. As I sit here writing this blog it became apparently clear that I WAS NOT writing what I felt or thought, I was writing what I felt would be popular. In essence I was not being honest with myself. That begs the question, what do I expect out of life or people if I don't have the courage to be honest with myself?
I'll never forget the few weeks I was attending a particular church. The pastor was rather charismatic, which I do not mind, yet his message was lost or accentuated in his fiery rhetoric. That would depend on where you were focused, I suppose. If you were taken in by his theatrics then you might have found yourself in a situation you would later regret. However if you listened, instead, intently to the message you would have discovered an underlying bit of judgmental bias that queued you to the fact that his belief was the only one that was factual and true, in his eyes.
To some this was not a problem at all. Yet I was in search of life meaning and where faith, religion, and spirituality could enhance that trek. I'll be the first to admit that it is easy to get lost or caught up in the doctrinal or dogmatic belief that is inherent in many religions. Some would say that it is important to have that because it unites people. I, on the other hand, see that as a way of excluding the very people they claim to reach. It's as if the unspoken claim is BELIEVE OR LEAVE.
I wonder what people expect with this kind of cloud hanging over their affiliation. We, as human beings, created by a deity that desires us to spread love instead of hate, should not be easily persuaded to tread the trodden path. We cannot unite by partaking in actions that divide. Bridge building has so much more lasting power than ditch digging. I often wonder why we are so fixated in digging down instead of BUILDING UP. Give that some thought.
Please do not read this as though I am writing in offense to a particular religion. I am writing to encourage myself to be honest with the person living in my body. I have questions. You have questions. Collectively we have answers and I bet they are basic and simple if we could be courageous enough to explore them. What do we expect when we suppress who we are.
Stare, if you will, at your greatest competition. Yes that is the image in the mirror. Seriously, take a couple minutes and get acquainted with the person staring back from the glass. There lies the problem and the solution. Whatever you are facing you contain the answer to the equation. How can I say that? I found the courage, that's how. For me I desired to find every aspect of love that enhanced us as beings all the while challenging everything that drove a wedge in that agape passion. Confusing? Absolutely, but also simple. If God is love, which I truly believe, then I also can't help but to believe that love is and always will be in our hearts. The question becomes what do we do with it. I could liken that to burying money in the backyard. It has NO VALUE buried, yet the risk of investing is scary. You could lose it all. But you also stand to gain, but only if you invest. What do you expect?
The same goes with love. If you bury it there is no value at all. If you invest it, you have a chance for it to grow. Sure you could lose, it is a risk, but it is a risk worth taking. Regardless your experience, your environmental conditioning, it is important to LIVE your life, for and in search of love. The sands in the hour glass will not quit falling. Your life has value. Do not loose your core being to a belief you do not agree with. Do not go with the crowd if you think they are going the wrong way. Take the low road, go your on way, go the extra mile, I promise it isn't crowded, but it is filled with amazing scenery and reward.
I realize this blog is as random and crazy as any I have written. I started off writing to myself, then invited you to the party. Now that you are heading out on your own journey I once again am left to myself. I will further my quest to find ways to accentuate love in my actions and words. No doubt I will offend others along the way. It will not be purposeful and if I know it I will apologize. I ask myself often WHAT DO I EXPECT out of life. I have what I have, I am where I am. If it is to be it is up to me. I choose from this point forward to be the expression of love I hope to see in others. HOW? By being honest with the inventory I have been entrusted with.
God bless
Dale
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