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If
we're going to make war on a noun, why don't we try making war on something
that is a much greater threat to us than 'terror': in fact,
let's not train our army to fight
'terror'... let's train it
to fight 'greed.'
If we did that, the names and faces on the first deck of cards would likely be familiar,
or at least easier to pronounce, and we wouldn't have to travel half way around the world
to find them. They wouldn't be hiding in caves either.
Of course, we can't arrest someone for being greedy, but we can
arrest them for breaking the law, if they do. And we can
remove them from office if they are unfaithful or
untrustworthy. These things are only possible if we
remain vigilant and responsible.
So why not volunteer for that army. We don't even have to leave home, go overseas, or carry a
gun... hopefully we will never need one.
I have in my writings now offered some ideas on how to find the enemy and how
to defeat it. It appears now, that in the past, we've
been our own
worst enemy. It is both irresponsible and unwise to expect
someone else to decide who our enemies are and fight our battles for
us while we sit back and do nothing, remaining comfortable,
unchanged, and uninformed.
If we continue to follow and vote for leaders who do not love
us, we can easily
figure out what will happen... all we need to do is put our nose in a good history
book and review just about any hundred year period. The
same issues come up again and again. Let's see... who
was it that said something about a wolf in sheep's clothing?
Our government went out into the world and created enemies that they now want
us to defend ourselves against. And those who made themselves rich in
our name are now telling us that it's the guys who attacked
the WTC on 9/11 who are the bad guys. But those "bad guys" weren't really attacking
us; they were attacking the
so called "good guys" — the thieves and murderers who
committed crimes and atrocities in our name when we weren't
looking. And those "good guys" now expect us and
our children to make the ultimate sacrifice... to defend
against reprisals that they knew would inevitably come. Why do you think they work so hard to take
our money to build and stockpile weapons? Because they figured
we're going to need them. And of course for them the risk was always worth it...
they knew that they would reap most of the rewards and profits, while
we or our kids would pay whatever price
in blood or tears that came due.
But don't be smug. We were all negligent. We weren't paying attention... we didn't want to pay attention.
And we are not innocent either. We are accomplices, in fact. We
regularly look the other way, happy to get our cut of
the booty without caring or wanting to know where it came from
or how it got here. That's greed too.
Well you are almost right about one thing: Jesus
saves. And he already tried to save you. He gave you
what he thought was important information: "God is closer to you than
your own breath." But telling you that doesn't give you
the experience, even if you believe him. What he proved,
unfortunately, is that giving other people good information
and even being an example for them might not be enough to have
them understand. To really understand requires a certain
state of mind, a certain level of consciousness if you
will. You can't fully understand another person's
experience unless you experience it for yourself. How do
you explain being in love to someone who never was? So
the best he could do was point his followers in the right
direction. It was up to his followers, if they really
wanted to understand what he was talking about, to walk down the path in the direction
he was pointing. In other words, believing is only a
first step. Believing is religion. Knowing
is something else. Jesus was not religious.
What you don't understand is that God speaks to all of us... He
just doesn't tell us all the same thing, or at least not at
the same time, or in the same way! Why?
Because each of us is only able to understand new information within
the context of our own current set of attitudes and according
to what we already know or think we know.
God believes in freedom, so he will allow us to learn our lessons at
our own
pace. He knows that sometimes we will have to confront
great pain or even death in the process, often self-inflicted.
But He has great compassion. He keeps giving us experiences that lead to
the insights we need to help ourselves and others... if we have the courage and integrity to integrate them into
our
consciousness. If we're not quite ready right then... well, God has a lot of patience... an awful lot.
He does not look at us as being wrong for being where we are.
So He intervenes in our lives every day by giving each of us the
opportunity to learn something new, (if we are willing to learn something new,
and if we really want to know the difference between the truth
and an illusion.) The path to knowing what is true versus what is illusion is the
same path one takes when one decides to be something true,
instead of being an illusion.
Everything we experience or confront is an opportunity for greater learning and
growth so that in time we can each advance from simply being a human being to being an
enlightened human being. A person becomes an enlightened human
being, I think, when he or she becomes trustworthy. Being trustworthy doesn't mean
you know
everything. It doesn't mean you don't make
mistakes. But surely it means, among other things, that
you're willing to
learn something new.
There is a difference between believing there is a God and knowing there is a God. God reveals to us
as much of Himself as we are ready to know and understand. It is not wrong to
have faith. Sometimes you have to have faith before the
truth can be revealed. To tell the truth, to have
courage, compassion, honor, dignity, love... well, sometimes
it takes faith to believe in these things.
Praying... going to church, a mosque, or synagogue... putting on a robe or listening to someone who wears a robe is no
guarantee that we are in a position to tell other people what is what.
And even if millions believe the same as we do, and have for a thousand years, that is not proof that any of
us knows or ever knew what we were talking about. Religious leaders once believed the earth
was flat and people were murdered for saying otherwise.
That practice is still going on in some places, although now
not usually for simply confusing what is round from what is
supposedly flat.
If you read the bible, go to church, a synagogue, or a temple
to pray... will you find God there? Of course
you will. He's there. But if you go out into your garden, He's there too. Go to the movies,
ride a bike... find God. He's everywhere. There's a
chance you will find God every place you
go looking for Him. He might even show up when you're not
looking for Him. You never know when He might surprise you. He's even in school and in the court room
whether or not we pass idiot amendments to the Constitution, the implications of which most of us don't understand.
You may have profound emotion and what you feel is yours to feel. You may even believe that you know
something and maybe you do. But if you are trustworthy, you will know or come to learn
perhaps, that there is an even
deeper understanding to what you once knew... an understanding
that only more experience can put you
in touch with. If you keep trying to tell the truth, don't be surprised if
one day you find yourself in the middle of a circumstance that seems impossible... have you ever been in a situation
where no matter what you say, at some level, it will still be a
lie? Then what do you do?
One option is to keep your mouth shut. Another is to
simply say what you think might be most helpful in the moment.
God is not stupid, I can promise you that. And chances are, you are not
smart enough to out think or outwit Him. I know I'm
not. And if you want to question who I
am... who gave me the right to say these things. God did,
although our ancestors, when they wrote and signed the first
amendment to our Constitution, agreed. Just as others did
when they signed the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. I thank them for that.
You should too. Something worth honoring I would say. Anyway, I am simply someone who is somewhere between where
I once was and where I'm going... just like you. I'm not
asking anything of you. I'm just sharing. I'm a friend, if you can
allow the possibility.
Mark A. Goldman
www.gpln.com
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