I'll have a cup of God, Please

They were talking yesterday on the radio about "Soul Issues". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but the response from the young man about or to whom they were speaking was, "But I go to church every week." Think about that. "I go to church every week." Are we so incredibly blinded by 'religion' that we think 'going to church' is the answer to our soul issues? Before we begin this, let me state emphatically that I think going to church is a good thing and I am in no way opposed to it, BUT going to church isn't ever going to deal with any issues of the soul. The only way to deal with issues of the soul is to discover your conduit to touching the Face of God. I believe that we as humans are created with a certain need, desire, longing to connect with something that is much bigger than we could ever imagine. To capture Joy in a bottle if you don't want to call it God. Having given this some thought I began to realize the obvious. We are so busy filling our lives with junk food time wasters that we don't have time to see that we have forgotten our quest. We play the Wii, we watch "The Girls Next Door", we cruise the internet, we drink, we do drugs, we find anything we can do to avoid being alone with our own thoughts. We seek so desperately to fill that 'soul emptiness', which craves fullness, with anything that comes along. Some people will eat themselves to death to be filled. We all do something. Going to Church is only another thing we do that we think will make us feel full, but for some it only lasts as long as we are sitting in the pew. When we walk out the door it now becomes our responsibility to find that conduit. I know people who don't go to church who will tell you that they know God intimately through skiing. Of course. How awesome to look down on the perfect run on a crisp winter day in the midst of a glorious creation. Imagine taking that deep breath before you push off. How AMAZING! My personal conduit is music. I feel the presence of the holy, the Joy, the Creator, or whatever you wish, when I listen to, sing or write music. It often brings such joy to me that I can't control my emotions and I know that there is something bigger than I am flowing through that sound. Some people write while others paint. My mother rides her horse. Tibetan monks meditate and find that connection in silence. There is something in all of this that is common. There is nothing false or contrived about any of these things. They are creative, introspective or touching nature in some fashion. It is time for us to take a break. Stop right now and take a deep breath. Find your Soul Healing in that conduit. Find your path. Your soul will be satisfied.

Is this Success?

For the second day in a row the Dom and Jane raido show gave me something to think about. Here is my letter to them:

I never have time to call when you guys have the BEST subjects, but it gives me time to think and absorb the gravity of certain things.
While I was contemplating the definition of success I came to a startling conclusion that actually brought a tear to my eye. Let me tell you a true story.
My brother’s girlfriend, whom he loved deeply, contracted ovarian cancer. By the time it was discovered it was much too late to treat. For 6 long and agonizing months she suffered while this nasty disease ravaged her body. In the waning moments of her life the last word she spoke was “Finally.”
Her success was in leaving this life. She was finally released from pain and suffering. She was living for that one moment when she could let go. I came to realize in an epiphany moment that sometimes 'success' is death.
I realized that in our society we mostly think on success as the material. I have nothing against success and money. GOD no! I love money! But my success comes from other things. Watching my baby smile as I come in the door, taking the perfect picture, learning a new skill. My success is the living of life. To others it’s the attaining of the goal. To some it’s leaving this life and moving on to another.
But no matter how we define it success can be life or death and it’s just that simple.

Too depressing? Call me Captain Bring Down.

Soul Mates

This was my response to a discussion that took place on a local radio rpogram Dom and Jane on MIX100. A woman called in and said that everything that happens was meant to happen and

there is really no free will:

Soul mates & meant to happen. WOW! I love this kind of mind candy!
If you believe in a grand design or a designer, call it God, the Power, the Creator, or the Beginning of all things, there are things that are meant to happen or exist. The rotation of the earth, weather and gravity to name a few. Without such we are without life as we know it and the Creator meant to make these things happen. BUT just because weather is meant to be doesn't mean that tornados are meant to rip apart Midwest towns. It doesn't mean that droughts are meant to cause the deaths of millions of people a year. Gravity is not meant to cause airplanes to crash or children to fall out of trees. My supposition is this, things are not meant to happen, but things might happen for a reason. Better stated maybe all of the things that happen have a purpose. This thing that happened…not 'Why did it happen?', but rather "What is there that I can take away from it?". Example, I was in an abusive relationship that ended up with me in the hospital and her in jail. I take full responsibility for the choices I made to get me to that place. IT DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN. I may not be to blame, but we all have a certain amount of responsibility in getting ourselves into certain situations. I digress. My choices are this,
Do I let this ruin me for life and make me a bitter victim….or do I choose to learn from all of it? The pain, the humiliation, the violence are all a portion of what happened. I don't think this was meant to happen, but there is a lesson, purpose, reason I can find to change me for the better?
I was at the train station thinking about exactly the crux in all of this and I came up with the oldest question in the world. "What is the meaning of life?" My answer (for me) is this. The meaning of life is living. Making choices and not having them made for me by some big hand in the sky. There are great things to be learned and explored and enjoyed. The more I live these things the closer I am to that Higher Power let's call it Joy. Not God or etc…. But Joy. If I can find good lessons in bad things that happen then I live closer to Joy. BUT I can also say the egg broke because I dropped it not because anything is destine to occur. I accept my free will and move on with my living life for the purpose of Joy.
Not all people live for Joy and that's fine. It makes things interesting. The meaning of their life is still living. Maybe they are living for Anger or Grief. Unfortunately, these people's lives that are angry and grief stricken sometimes makes it difficult for those of us living for Joy to have a good time. BUT when those bad living people do things that affect good people….we have to find a good thing to take out of it.
And No, it doesn't always work that way. I'm not pie in the sky, but I am out to let eggs get broken and make scrambled eggs.

Kandis