Blog #77--Spirituality Is As Spirituality Does

It is not my place to tell other people how to live their lives. I have enough trouble simply looking after my own and my family’s needs, and I know we can’t change our creator’s plans for us despite our strong desire to do so. Others aren’t responsible for my life either. We don’t know all the factors that influence our own daily existence, let alone understand the complexities influencing others throughout their lives.

But in these troubling times, and these are indeed extremely troubling times for billions of people on Earth, many of us reach out for answers that have so far eluded us. The best I can do is offer moral support and ways of looking at these problems that might make more sense to us and allow us opportunities to grow into spiritual fulfillment. It is up to each individual to figure out what is best for him or her. No one else has a right to decide that for us.

There are a few people on Earth who appear to be reaping all the benefits from Earth’s bounty, often at the expense of the rest of us. It is easy to assume they should be our role models, examples for us to copy. That is often their wish as well. Many consider themselves especially “chosen by God” and are naturally superior to the rest of us. Of course, they lose all their wealth and power upon their deaths, but they try not to worry about that until they have no other choice. They’d rather have temporary wealth than risk a possible long-term reversal in a less-understood eternal afterlife.

They may not admit it to the rest of us, but they suffer in their own way. Their fear of dying is especially tantamount for the above reason. Their need to draw more and more wealth and power to them is secondary to a feeling of deep emptiness within them that can never be satisfied totally. No matter how much money they make, it is never enough. No matter how much power over others they gain, they always fear someone else will come along and knock them off their perches. And most lack the ability to love and feel love from others, which limits them greatly.

The more pain they feel, the more they take it out on the rest of us. Through all sorts of manipulations and deceits, including tactics such as buying elections, changing laws secretively to help themselves at the expense of others, buying media outlets and then repeating propaganda to frighten the general populace, false flag terror, torture, emotional blackmail and myriad other selfish and often cruel behaviors, they work diligently to maintain hold on their power. There have always been people like this in the world, and there always will be.

I feel sorry for them because most cannot appreciate the everyday joys of life available to many others. The rest of us might find joy in a sunset, a beautiful flower, a touching moment with a loved one and an infinitesimal number of other small but potentially significant events in our lives. We may not have wealth, but that doesn’t stop us from surviving, for awhile at least. We know how much we can do without, while they try desperately to prevent learning such a simple lesson. In many ways, we have a strong survival advantage over them.

If we also have a spiritual basis for our existence, we often have the strength to face major setbacks in our lives with dignity and understanding. I don’t believe we gain spiritual awareness simply by attending religious services regularly or repeating memorized prayers daily. I don’t believe we get into “heaven” just because we tithe or read our holy books on occasion. The power-mongers can do this also. Many so-called “leaders” in our world are most visible of all in pretending to be righteous as a front to gain acceptance from the masses and thus maintain their power base.

However, we are given many opportunities to practice what we claim to believe. As they say, “Put up or shut up.” We are hypocrites if we claim to follow God’s laws and then persecute those with whom we disagree. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, said we are all created equal because it is the truth. Would any creator worth his or her salt create us all from the exact same stuff and then favor those who kill off or persecute their fellow humans? That makes no sense whatsoever, and we were all given the ability to be logical and rational.

So when we find one segment of the population fighting against another group that is its equal, are we able to forgive both sides? That is what a spiritual person would do. When we are faced with repeated fear-inducing events designed to make us irrational so we can be manipulated, do we remind ourselves to remain firm in our beliefs and not give in to the temptation to react violently against potential enemies?

History repeats itself endlessly, and these types of situations are common throughout the history books (except those revised to exclude inconvenient truths). We may get caught up in one or a series of events over which we have no control and suffer for it. But if we can see through all the lies told to us by our own egos as well as those of our leaders, we have a chance to grow spiritually. Suffering can be minimized through understanding, forgiveness and acceptance.

That is why it is often said, “The last shall be first.” I believe this means that, if we are among those most persecuted while on Earth, we have been given a golden opportunity to learn more about ourselves and our world. If we take advantage of it, we will be more ready to embrace the afterlife. We can graduate to a higher plane of existence, unlike those who are too busy trying to make heaven on Earth to see how fleeting their victories really are.

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