The cacophony of today's noises cause me to revisit these thoughts from 20 September 2008 ...
“Is this what gives meaning to your life?” A question that I have oft asked of myself. “Is the energy of this moment the defining power of your living?” “Is the music, inspiring your life’s dance, the melody that most honestly speaks the desires of your heart?” “Are you being true to all that is the precious core of You?”
I do not grade or rank the worth of the task or activity in which I am engaged. No, Dear Friend … I, instead, weigh the merits of my heart’s intention‘s in my engagement in any enterprise. And … only then … do I ascribe my own quiet appraisal of value in my endeavor.
I will not accept anger as my life’s meaning. Nor hate. Not even irritation. And certainly not malice. How dreadful I would feel if I felt that my life’s meaning could be defined as any one of those or their miserable cousins; bitterness, contempt, hostility, or vengefulness. I can not even consider carrying the burden of such as my daily baggage. For I opt, to the contrary, for a daily walk made lighter by the lifting spirit of a heart made glad by contemplation of all that is good. I am, you could say, made lazy by my addiction to easiness of spirit.
I write of these things today, in response to what I have recently seen and heard in the lives of some with whom I share my life path. I have witnessed the pain of their insistence on dwelling on all of those crippling voices of dark considerations. And I cannot bear the destructiveness of such a walk. Finding myself in proximity to such an environment of negative waste tears me down and renders me weak and useless. So I remind myself … as I refresh your memory … in the recollection of one of my favorite scriptural formulae:
“Whatsoever things are true;
Whatsoever things are honest;
Whatsoever things are just;
Whatsoever things are pure;
Whatsoever things are lovely;
Whatsoever things are of good repute;
If there be any virtue;
If there be any praise;
Think on these things.”
Philippians Ch4, V8
There you are! What, I ask you, could possibly be simpler? For how can we allow a seed of anger to be “planted” in our mind … and then ask why we are not reaping joy? Can we rationally expect peace to be the fruit of our allowing hatred to take root in our thinking? Does frustration and anxiety render a harvest of satisfaction and contentment? Please, My Dear Reader, permit me to suggest the beauty of the simplest and most rudimentary of formulae. Only cling to what you want to embrace as worthy of your life’s meaning. And gently turn your back on all of the world’s encouragements to devalue yourself with tabloid noise.
In the hope that you find a bit of encouragement in these considerations, I remain (as always) your loving and caring Friend and willing Servant.
Unless expressly stated, all original material, of whatever nature, created by J. Michael Brown (John-Michael) and included in this weblog and any related pages, including the weblog's archives is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
7 comments:
John-Michael you are too perfect for words. Everyone feels saddness, anger, discontent from time to time. Its human to feel these this. How do we know we are alive if not for emotions & feelings?
You, Dear Anonymous Friend could not be more right ((save the suggestion of anything remotely "perfect" in me) ... to feel is wonderfully human and natural ... to choose to dwell ... well, Dear One, that is a matter subject to willful choice.
Lovingly ...
as a man thinks so he becomes
I find that biblical Truth to be ever-so reliable, my Darling Lime.
Namaste ...
I make note, here, of my deletion of a "comment" left by an anonymous reader.
Its only content was to direct our attention to a blog that I found (after I looked it over) to offer only impersonal and arbitrary dogma that lacks any personal regard or respect for individual perspective or preference.
I respect and enjoy individuality (along with its incumbent responsibilities) ... but, most certainly, do not promote or encourage dogma. (As you may have noticed.) I have wasted far too many years of life to the slavery of dogma.
dogma [noun]
a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertible.
I, too, am drained by the dwelling on negative thoughts, and I especially mean when it is being done by someone I know to be a tremendously intelligent and capable human being. So much beauty in life, it's a shame to sit in a mud puddle and complain of being dirty and wet.
'Does tend to grate on the nerves to listen to the moaning emanating from One who elects to reside in the comfortable familiarities of their miseries ... when freedom from those miseries is awaiting their choice to overcome the fears inherent in change. Especially with so many readily evident demonstrations of folk, in our world, who have no options to their sufferings available to them ... yet they forge on with a resilient spirit of gratitude for just being able to forge on.
I thank you, dear SulDog Friend, for the joy that your Presence brings to my heart. 'Sure do love Ya Jim ...
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