Welcome!  I am glad that you are reading my blog, and listening to my thoughts today.  I hope that you don’t find my content to be unusual;  but for the last several months I have encountered much sickness, and/or death all around me.  I guess this is why, when I was at the book store one day, I sat down beside a book called “Why Your Life Sucks”.  Now this is probably not a book that I would have picked out myself.  I don’t even know what category this book would be in; but I found it to be very interesting.  It got me to thinking.  The following is an excerpt:

“The purpose of life is not to arrive safely at death.  It is to live so well that death or the fear of it cannot remove your JOY.  It is to have such a good time that you don’t even notice death when it comes.  You just close your eyes in one room and wake up in another.

We have heard so many fear-based pitches about what happens after death that we spend much of our life resisting it.  Some of the horror stories have not scared the hell out of us; they have scared hell into us.  You can become so preoccupied with the afterlife that you miss the DURING LIFE ( your now).  If you have ever watched someone die a natural death, the experience can be very illuminating, even beautiful.   The whole process can be very natural and well-orchestrated, and I realize death can be an exercise of deep wisdom.  The process is not horrible, but liberating.  We all know how to do what we need to do when we need to do it, and death is no exception.

Of course, we all want to live long, happy lives, and there is no reason to glorify death, or go looking for it.  We have a purpose here, and we shall fulfill it.    During our life we need give death no more attention than to bless it as a natural evolution of our life cycle, and use its reality to inspire us to spend our time on earth well.

Every great spiritual teaching has confirmed that death is not the end of life;  it is simply a transition to another state of consciousness.  The Twenty-Third Psalm affirms, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”  The operative word here is “shadow.”  The appearance of death is but a momentary obstruction of the light.  Although clouds may obscure our vision of the sun, the sun is still there.  And while death seems to come between us and life, it does not;  it simply takes us by the hand, and leads us to another room in a great mansion.  Where could you land, but in the arms of God?

Death has power over you only if you fight it.  You cannot worship death (by your fear of it), and enjoy a glorious life.  Any belief of loss gives reality to the illusion of death, and bestows a blood sacrifice at its dark altar.  In truth, everything that leaves your life creates a space for something new to enter.  And what has gone is recycled to show up in a new form, and serve elsewhere.  Loved ones who die do not go very far at all;  they are just on the other side of a curtain (veil).

I do not feel sorry for people who have died; I know they are in a good place.  I feel sorry for the people left behind.  They mourn not for the deceased, but for themselves.  Yet, if they recognized that life is eternal,l and not limited to a physical body, their grief would give way to deep solace.  Of course it is natural to feel sad when a loved one leaves, and it is not healthy to try to squash, or deny feelings of grief.  Let yourself feel what you need to feel, then let the healing power of love lift you to freedom.  Your beloved has set out on a great adventure.

You, too, are on a magnificent adventure.  Where it ends up is not as important as where you are in it. (I personally think both are important).   If you are true to yourself as you go, you will arrive at a place that is true to you.  Your destination is more meaningful for the route you choose to get there.  You can take the well traveled path or colorful side roads.  In the end, the only thing that matters is that you follow your own path.  In the teaching of Don Juan, a Yaqui Indian mentor,  taught that there are just two paths of life:  the path with heart, and the path without heart.  If you choose the path with heart, when you come to its end, you will bless your  life.  If you follow the path without heart, when you come to the  end, you will curse what you have done. 

At every moment you are choosing a path with or without heart (to me that means with or without God/Christ/love).  No one knows your path with heart better than you do.   If you are true to your visions, dreams, and values, your life will shine.  If you deny them, your life will suck.  In the end, the power lies in your own hands.”

So, I was just thinking, that it sounds to me like we need to “live” our lives, and live in the now.  Live knowing that we are one with God;  that we are the righteousness of God in Christ;  and that we are accepted in the beloved.  God is good – therefore, life is good.  CHOOSE you this day whom you will serve. Aas for me, and my house, (my earthen vessel, my temple of the Holy Spirit) I will (choose to) serve the Lord!

Make wise choices!

I have eternal life, so I am just going to look to Jesus, and live!!!  I shall live a healthy, happy, joyful, Christ centered life, no matter what!  And I pray that you do, too!

 

Think good thoughts – Brenda!