Pro-life and Mortality

           A thought, God gave us our mortality. We, as a World Religious view, look at murder as something sinful. That is to say, it distances us from God, the God who gave us life. 

          These two, Pro-life and mortality, are important companions in our relationship with God. God gave us our mortality so that we may have a life to live. God gave us the “Commandments” to help guide us in a “Pro-life” manner. This gives us the chance to live a life without considerable fear of a
pre-determined death, or, of a random act of violence. 

          Abortion, the killing of a fetus (Latin for baby), is a planned death. The fetus’s life was not given the opportunity to live. And so it is considered a sin, or separation from God. Respect for life, in general, is a given, regardless of how high or low the life form is considered. 

          In Genesis, (chapter 1), God calls all life “good” until the creation of man, then God calls the birth of humanity, “very good.” Humanity is special to God. God blessed all creation, but gave “dominion” to humanity, to “care of Gods’ creations”. (Genesis 2: 15) 

          To CARE for God’s creations. God blessed Humanity and said “Be fertile and multiply”, and take care of God’s creation. The golden rule (Matt 7: 12), the greatest commandment (Matt 22: 37-40) and 1 Corinthians 13, where love is charity and charity is kindness to all. ALL! 

          It’s almost sad that God had to put in writing “shall not kill” and soften revenge with only “an eye for and eye” (Exodus 21: 24) and finally “turn the other one (cheek) to him as well”. (Matt 5: 39) These, however, are for those of us lucky enough to live and apply Gods word. An aborted fetus has no opportunity. 

          No opportunity to live. An innocent’s death should not be chosen out of convenience. Care should be taken by husband and wife to plan for children, not to plan how to rid of children. We should not be so quick to distance ourselves from God. The road back is hard. But not impossible. 

          The hard road is true for men as well as women. In Matt 1, Joseph wanted to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame. Exposing her to shame would have meant death by stoning for Mary and her fetus, Jesus. Instead he listened to the angel of God, and married her. And cared for them. 

          We are given our mortality to give us a chance to follow a road in life. OUR MORTALITY to experience life. Which road we choose, with its many forks and diversions, is a freedom God has given us. We must first have a life, before we can experience our mortality and our humanity to make these choices. 

May your choices come from a place of care and kindness. 

David E. Gonzales

…and we still don’t get it!

          It’s unbelievable. 2,000+ years and we still don’t get it. It’s been 2,000+ years since Christ came to teach us, and we still don’t understand the message. 

          Christ came by the power of the Father to teach us there is but one true God, and to be kind to one another. That’s it. He came to teach us that our relationship with God is, as is, our relationship with each other. As we mistreat each other, we separate ourselves from God. 

          And we still don’t get it! 

          As we continue to tear each other apart, regardless of how we self-identify, we drive a larger and larger wedge between us and God. The word used in the New Testament, or Christian Bible, is Love. The “Love” used throughout, is from the Greek meaning “charity” 

          Charity in its simplest form is “kindness”. This is the key to heaven or hell. When we fail in kindness and excel in hate, we fail. We fail completely. There is no room in heaven for hate. As there is no room in hell for love. Christ taught us, “Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven”! 

And we still don’t get it! 

          The New Testament may the most nonracial book(s) ever written. It’s about faith. It’s about how to express that faith between we the people, and as a people, with God. This relationship is intertwined. Our interaction with one another is intertwined in our faith without exception. 

       It is without exception, in all functional relationships, there is one foundation. This foundation consists of mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual care and mutual support. This is true regardless if the relationship is with the divine or with each other. For they are the same. 

          Mutual, not equal. I define it this way, “Equal can be written in law, mutual is expressed person to person”. Mutual kindness, it’s that simple. And it’s that hard. It’s been 2,000+ years and we still can’t or won’t do it. 

          We still insist in exalting ourselves one over another. We read the Bible to self-justify, instead of with a willingness to learn. We are indeed a “stiff necked people” [Acts 7:51-53] 

          We have been saved by Christ, but we can still condemn ourselves. We can throw away the sacrifice of Christ and the “place prepared for us”, [John 14- 2] or we can chose to live in our faith. We have the option to choose between good and evil, love and hate, kindness and cruelty.         

          Love nurtures love and hate nurtures hate. To me the options seem obvious.

And yet we still don’t seem to get it. 

May the peace of Christ fill your hearts and the love of God fill your souls. 

David E. Gonzales

9-11 / Covid-19

I’m self-isolated. I’m fine, just doing my part. I have a lot of time to think, good or bad, here is some of it.

            I see few aircraft flying through the sky. I see few cars on the road. I smell fresh air. I sense similarities between now and 19 years ago. After 9-11 air traffic stopped. Cars and trucks slowed to a crawl. The air cleared. There was both a calm and a tension.

            That tension was created by an unknown element. Then it was terrorism. Today it’s a virus. Then as now, both are setting a mood of uncertainty. The stock market doesn’t know how to react. Money’s not being made, but the underlining cause isn’t financial. The uncertainty is time and extent.

            The public, us, are also uncertain how to react. Suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar life style. A few weeks ago we were so busy and the virus was so far away, now it’s here. Today many of us have so much idle time. Time to think about “the virus” and all the effects it’s causing. Even those on the front lines, as busy as they are, are thinking about all the effects of this experience.

            In times of stress we could fall back on our favorite activities to help us relax. But now many of these activities are shut down or severely limited. Now we’re down to the core, or at least our core. Our families, our friends and of course our faith.

            Since most, or many, of the spiritual places we congregate are closed, we need to find options to find solace. The “E” world is filling a void, it’s good, but not the same. In reality it’s our faith, that which is in us, that we need to lean on. Not out of choice, but, instead, necessity.

            We have arrived at a time where it’s necessary to draw on the faith we profess. Whatever your faith, it’s time to trust in the promise. It’s time to understand what “living your faith” really means. Take a look at some of your favorite religious texts and see if you find new meaning in them. Or perhaps the solace you/we are looking for and need. I fill my need with ‘1 Corinthians 13’.

            As I read these verses I replace the word love with charity. I understand this is the root word used in the original texts. It reminds me that love and my faith are one of giving. To you it will most likely be a different verse, and it most likely it will just as personal, just as meaningful.

            We trust in the professionals to do their jobs. Now let’s trust in our faith and do our jobs, as well as we can. We are all different as to how we can contribute, some simple and some grand, all are meaningful and all are needed. So stop, breath, read, recite and bring your faith to a higher level of understanding. Bring your faith to a higher level of practice.

God’s peace be with you. God’s blessings, always.

David E. Gonzales

The Root of God

You do not have to believe in God to follow God or to do God’s work. The root of doing the things of God are kindness and charity. If you are being kind to those around you, whether you like them or not, you are following the call of the Holy Spirit. If you are giving to those less fortunate than yourself, either with a monetary donation or with your personal time and talent, then you are following the teaching of God and Church. Doing something good, is in part, the call of God.

When you boil it all down and reduce it to a concentrated teaching/philosophy, God wants us to reach out to each other with kindness and charity. If it’s not good, then it’s not of God. Goodness is understanding the beliefs of another, and not burning their books. Good is understanding the

humanity of another, and not condemning them, and certainly not harming them, because of their lifestyle choice. How a person dresses is as much a cultural standard as it is a practical necessity. Their clothing choices may tell you something about the person, but it does not give you reason to judge or denounce them.

We understand that not all people are good people, and that forces us to be aware of our surroundings. We usually extend to most people some degree of trust at the outset. And most people will either build or dispose of that trust rather quickly. Their “good” or “wickedness” will be fairly easy to see, especially if you listen carefully to what they are saying. As I’ve talked about in previous journal entries.

Usually we make conscience decisions. We decide what we will believe based on any number of things. Sometimes these decisions are firm, and sometimes they are more haphazard in nature. We also make subconscious decisions. These decisions are based increasingly on an inner awareness. That “gut” feeling we get on the occasion. That “right” thing to do, even if you really don’t know why. In either case I believe this is the Holy Spirit that moves us to do the “right” thing.

The “right thing” centers on kindness and charity. This is the root of God. This what the concentrated teaching of God is. Kindness and charity are two basic moral institutions that most have instilled in us from a young age. Simply by practicing kindness and charity you are following the call of God, whether you know it or not, as guided by the Holy Spirit.

Let us all be guided into kindness and charity.

by David E. Gonzales

I Express-

I write to express my feelings, thoughts, faith. I write as a matter of need, not want. I don’t write to become a master of the “like” button. I write to help myself and I hope to help others in my expressions. I believe that writing is one of the better ways to help me understand life. The true reality of my perceptions that surround me. It is through writing that I help to heal my damaged ego. It is through writing that I heal emotionally and psychologically, this is where I stabilize my mental state.

Writing isn’t for everyone. But for those who do write, even a little, it can be a big piece of keeping oneself in state of “being happy.” Being happy, getting happy, desiring to be happy, staying happy, for some its easy, for other it takes a little more effort.

Perhaps effort is really the key here. For nothing happens if you don’t try. Without putting yourself forth, nothing is going to happen. It’s a daily exercise of communicating with others and yourself. Understanding yourself is absolutely necessary to living in harmony with others. Writing is a wonderful way of clearing out the clutter and focusing your thoughts into complete lucidity.

This is not a one step or one day process. It’s also not an agonizing one. Or at least it shouldn’t be. And while writing down one’s personal thoughts isn’t easy, clarity can be shocking, responding to yourself can be most rewarding.

The response you have to your writings can and should be gaged on how positive the effects will be. And the effects should be, must be, positive in nature. Our faith, our relationship with God is, as is, our relationship with each other. This must always be positive! Our relationship with our faith and our relationship with everyone in our lives should be one and the same. If God is love, (expressed as charity), then our relationships should reflect that ideal as much as possible. Writing can bring to light the imbalance in our lives.

As we increase the balance in our lives, that “happy” feeling becomes increasingly consistent. Our personal lives and faith should and need to be, as much as possible, in harmony with each other. Writing allows me an outlet for my thoughts to be expressed in an ever clarifying manner. I’ve only been writing for a few years now, but I find writing an increasingly valuable tool in my life. Note: Not all my thoughts are published.

Writing is self-care. It is necessary to take care of yourself in order to care for others. You must be good to yourself in order to be good to others in a consistent manner. Otherwise you may find yourself in a state of emotional flux. Self-care is a necessary element in life. Everyone I know has this element in their lives.  

I hope that this expression, written from the heart, will help you in attaining balance you are looking for.

by David E. Gonzales

God and Tragedy

It’s always the darkest before the dawn. It’s in the lull before the storm that my fears are heightened. It’s after the storm has passed that I feel the calm of normality. It’s also here the love of God is most visible. After the danger has passed, after evil has shown its face, I feel relieved.

This event is over, they are dead, it can’t happen again. Not exactly like this anyway, and not in the same place. Awareness is heightened, and everyone’s head is on a swivel. Reacting to every noise, car out of place, backpack set aside. Evil recedes into the darkness waiting for another opportunity. It will not return until it feels safe, this when we drop our guard.

God becomes most visible in these tragic times. You see God in the mass outpouring of people helping people. They do not cower in their homes, or seek safety in a shelter. They venture out in the open, allowing themselves to be vulnerable for the greater good of humanity. This is true love, this is the Grace of God which is always present, devouring hurt to help others who have been hurt.

We, as children of God, put aside our differences to everyone, regardless of our faith, skin color, age, gender, language, in order to reach out to give aid, comfort, and spiritual healing. God does not create tragedy, nor does God cure the injured. At least not directly, that’s our job. God gives us the power, through the Spirit, for us to aid each other. The power to not cower after a tragedy

happens.

This gift of God is always there. We as a people take it for granted until something happens. Then we look to God and ask, why? Why did you allow this to happen to so many innocent people? Unfortunately to real question is, “Why did we allow this to happen to ourselves and to each other?”

We get comfortable in our everyday lives and turn a blind eye to our surroundings. We get comfortable with our faith, we forget that God has challenged us to be involved in the world through the work of charity. It is through this work that God is most prevalent. Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy for us to extend a hand outside of our comfort zone.

It’s difficult to reach out a helping hand where conflict may arise. But this is our challenge. This is the command that God has given to us, a command of unbridled charity. Yes, it’s hard to reach across the lines we have drawn for ourselves. I believe that if we, as a society, work towards this goal, this command, then we can limit these man made tragedies and live in an increasingly peaceful world.

Love is charity! Read 1 Cor. 13, and replace the word “love” with the word “charity” and you’ll get a better understanding of what kind of love (agape) is being defined in this most beautiful passage.

May God's love and peace be with you always!

David E. Gonzales

God Has No Plan

This post will undoubtedly upset some of you reading this. If you are, I will apologize in advance. With that said, I think this post has some merit that should be considered.

I’ve heard it said that “God has a plan for you”, or something to that extent. I think this is an incorrect, albeit, easy and common way to explain the hardships, we as his children experience during our lifetimes. It is difficult to answer questions as to the “why” in life. As in “He or she is such a good person, how or why did this horrible thing happen to them.” It is here I hear the answer, “it’s all in God’s plan.” I must disagree.

God doesn’t have a plan for our lives. This time between our birth and our death. God may very well know what is in store for us here. But that’s not the same as making a plan. One reason I don’t believe that God plans out our lives is that our lives are filled with hardship. God, and as our parents, don’t wish hardships on us. Also, I do not believe that God tests our faith through our hardships, although through our hardships our faith is lessened or strengthened.

There is something important about having us go through the process of life. There is something important about making the decisions, big and small, that make our lives what they are. I do not believe that God micro-manages our lives. God is not controlling our every step along the way. If this were true then we would be little more than robots, with no free will. God does not have a plan for us, but God didn’t leave us completely to our own accord either. God did give us a guide. Three in fact.

God gave us this guide to support us as we make our decisions, big and small, every day in our lives. This guide is the root of our faith. It is the root of almost every faith. This guide is called Faith, Hope, and Love.

Love, especially in the New Testament, is translated from the Latin word “agape” and this is where we get our word for “charity.” I have written in some of my other posts that our relationship with God is, as is, our relationship with each other. That every sin against humanity is a sin against God. And the simplest form of charity is kindness.

Faith, each of us understand our Faith in our unique way. Simply, Faith is offered to us by the Grace God to accept or reject, freely. It is through study, prayer and our life experiences we make our decisions. Our Faith may vary in depth, becoming weaker or stronger as we grow and mature.

Hope. It is Hope, in my opinion, that gives us the driving force to face tomorrow. It is persons without Hope that have no will to continue. All those with the gift of hope can face all the tomorrow’s that are in our time of life.

Whether your Hope is rooted on a Faith or is just something you feel welling up inside, it is Hope that that gets us through each day. No matter if it’s the best or worst of times. It is Hope that keeps us moving forward. It is Hope that gives us courage. It is Hope that allows us to expand our world beyond the confides of our physical and intellectual present.

It is Hope, not a plan, which God gives us. Faith and Love complete the balance in our lives. And it is truly our lives to live. And it is by the gifts of God that we are able to live it.

May God’s gift of Hope be with you always.

David E. Gonzales

Alzheimer’s, A Thousand Good Bye’s

           Each day, sometimes hour, there’s a new realization, a deeper understanding of this most egregious disease. Alzheimer’s is a slow and unpredictable demise of the afflicted and simply the most despicable type of torture ever devised by nature. No man could think up any method more emotionally or physically debilitating.

          Each day is a new good bye. And yet there he is, dad, sitting there, starring back at me. Sometimes he stares at me with a smile, Sometimes it’s as blank as night. I never know if there will be a dawn. Sometimes he speaks fluently, if only for a short sentence. Then it’s back to mumbling, fidgeting with is hands. He attempts to stand, only to wonder why. A customer needs help, a meeting needs to be attended, a car needs to be washed and readied for the customer to pick-up. But that was fifteen years ago.

          Time no longer matters. There’s no longer a difference between dawn or dusk, between Sunday or any day. It’s just today, it’s just right now, and it’s just never going to be the same. As his personality slowly vanishes, the reality of his mortality increasingly develops. After all. He is my hero, my mentor, that bigger than life guy I still remember from when I was a kid.

          And then there’s the dilemma of the end. I know what that means, for there’s only one end to Alzheimer’s. Except with Alzheimer’s there’s more than one death. I want so much for my father’s suffering to end. But that would mean a new suffering would begin, but this time it would be my mother who suffers. The suffering of grief.

          Grief, that despicable yet emotionally necessary process of healing. There’s no time limit on grief, and Alzheimer’s, that thousand different ways and days of saying goodbye grinds out every drop of emotional fortitude. This is grieving in advance, preparing for grieving post. It’s going to happen, my father’s death, I’ll miss dad, and I’ll be happy for dad, while hurting for mom.

          I thank God for his grace that allows me the strength to deal with the ever changing and challenging emotional and psychological drain this disease affects. I am thankful for my training in chaplaincy and religious study to help me, and hopefully my family, through this most difficult time. And to help us through the difficult time that is most certainly yet to come.

          I’ll never be sure when dad will leave us for good, I do know that he will leave us before he dies. There’s so much to say, ………. That will never be said.

by David E. Gonzales

“In his great love,

the God of all consolation gave us the gift of life.

May he bless you with faith,

in the resurrection of his Son,

and with the hope of rising to new life.”

Amen-

From the “Shorter Book of Blessings”

The Dust Has Settled

       Now that the dust has settled, now that the Christ has risen and the world draws back into the life it has carved out for itself. Let’s reflect back on what has just happened. For the events that have just been completed, tortured, died, descended, risen, ascended, these are the events that evolve Christianity distinctly from Judaism.

       The torture and death was a deliberate act of cruelty of man against man. The result of a power struggle where on one side it was the power of man over man and on the other side it was the power of God with man. Yes you read that correctly, God with man, not God over man.

clipartpanda.com

       God has been trying to be partners with man since the beginning of time. From one covenant to another to again another we, humanity, keep rejecting God’s attempts to be one with another. We, humanity, keep rejecting God as if we have all the answers, all the common sense, all the power to control all things. We, humanity, born from the breath of God, still think we are superior to God. And for our efforts we keep fighting each other because after all “we” know best.

       The other three, (descended, risen, ascended) are Christ putting his full and complete trust into the hands of his Father. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. (Luke 23; 46b) Our Christ didn’t descend into hell, rise from the grave or ascend into heaven by his own power. He knew it was by his Father’s hand he would be manifested as the Son of God and returned home to sit at his side. Full and Complete trust in his Father.

       And yet we, humanity, continue on our path, OUR PATH! Not the one God asks of us, but instead the one that we, in all our narcissism, carve out for ourselves. It may be true we know what we want better than anyone. But do we really know what we need better than anyone, or anything?

       And so we continue fighting, killing, raping, aborting, and dividing each other in new and horrible ways. We look to our governments to solve the issues of the poor instead of looking at ourselves to simply help as we can. As we can individually and through our churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and congregations of all types.

       The dust has settled. God has again, reached out to us. Our relationship with our God is, as is, our relationship with each other. How’s your relationship?

Scripture is from the NABRE

by David E. Gonzales

God Hates the----?

I must take exception with the all too common adage that God hates. I hear and read that God hates the sin but loves the sinner. It is my belief that God has no hate. God knows and understands hate, but God, as love in its totality, has and harbors no hate.

If we are to believe that God is love (1 John. 4; 8, 16), love in its totality, then I cannot believe God hates. I do not believe that God hates Lucifer, Satan, or whatever name you use, God loves all. Perhaps Satan is God's one true pain, pain for the one who can never be reunited in the kingdom. Then again, with God all things are possible. (Mat. 19; 26/ Mark. 10; 27)

We separate ourselves from God through sin, however, God does not separate from us. It could be said that God cries for us, extends to us his most divine mercy, but with no hatred. Perhaps this is how God can forgive us even though it is known we will sin again?

Why is this important? If we believe our God hates, or has hate, then we will emulate our God and extent this hate to others. If, however we believe our God does not hate or is without hate, and teaches us love is the answer to peace and harmony, then we will also avoid hate and extend our love to others.

If this is true, that God is without hate, then we as his children, must extend this same attitude of love to all people without exception. This is regardless of color, origin, religion, or sex, or any other designation man has devised to create classes of people.

Jesus gave us the greatest commandments, to love God and to love each other. Besides being in all four ¹Gospels it is read throughout the New Testament. To love one another is the single greatest message given to us in the whole of the Bible. Even the passion of Christ is rooted in the love God has for us. It is the common denominator from Genesis through Revelations.

God does not hate, God does not punish the innocent, God does not create pain and suffering, and God did not give us our mortality. Adam brought this into our being through original sin, and now we live to the best of our ability with the tools God has shown us. And love is the tool that trumps them all!

May the PEACE and LOVE of Christ be you now and forever!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scripture is from the NABRE

1 John. 4; 8, 16

8-Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

16-We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him

Mat. 19; 26

Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible."

Mark. 10; 27

Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God."

1.     1 - Mat. 22; 37-40 / Mark. 12; 29-31/ Luke. 10; 29-27 / John. 13; 34-35

Related blog: http://daedgo.blogspot.com/2012/11/no-god-didnt-do-it_5.html 

by David E. Gonzales

I Created God. (a story of faith)

I am the center of the Universe. The world revolves around me. I am the master of my destiny.

           

I awoke one morning to find it raining. This was not a good thing as I had much planned for this particular day. And so, I ordered the rain to stop, yet it continued on as if I wasn't there. I raised my voice and demanded in no uncertain terms that the rain stop. The rain continued on without a peep. It did not even take notice of me or acknowledge my rant. It just kept raining. It did not look at me, or explain why it was refusing to obey my orders. It just kept raining.

           

I finally accepted that the rain would not stop so I arranged my day around this stubborn rain and did other chores. As it turns out I repaired a water pipe that was about to break. Had it not rained this water pipe would have damaged much in my home. Could it be that the rain knew more than I? No, it can’t be so. It’s just water; it can’t think; it has no intelligence. Is it then just a coincidence?

           

I awoke on yet another morning and the sun was shining and it was hot. I had much to do on this day and my work was in the garden. This is my garden, my home, my domain. I told the sun to back off a little bit and allow the air to cool, but the sun did not listen to me. I tried to stare the sun down, but the sun stared back and it hurt my eyes; I had to look away.

I called for clouds to cover the sun, but instead the clouds faded and vanished until there were only blue skies. When I see these clouds again I will give them a piece of my mind, they will surely understand who I am. At that moment, the sun then shone even hotter than before as if to say, “Who are you?” I told the sun who I am; I yelled to the sun, “I AM!” I could feel the temperature rise almost instantly as if this sun was trying to tell me something. I gave in to this incorrigible sun and instead went inside to rest.

In my home, my domain, my world, I looked around miffed in apparent failure to control my surroundings. How could this have happened? Where did I go wrong? How did I lose control?

As I sat in my self-pity I began to feel oddly. The lights around me were fuzzy. I felt heavy, perhaps a little out of breath, even a little weak. I tried to get to my car, it always obeyed me, but I couldn’t find the strength. I called for help and soon there were men and women in uniforms with red crosses on their shirts pounding on my chest. What was happening to me, here in my domain, my world?

I awoke, and as I contemplated my surroundings I realized that I am not the master of my destiny. I understood that the world does not revolve around me. I now know that am not the center of the universe.

But if not me, then who? It can’t be the rain for the rain only comes around occasionally; it can’t be the sun for the sun gives way to the clouds and the day gives way to the night. The Universe is there, a wonder for all to see. The universe helps us tell time and helps to keep us from getting lost. But it only helps; it does not have power over us, and certainly not over me.  

Perhaps I should create something greater than I. I should call this higher power something, perhaps God would do. It would have the power that goes beyond the senses. Perhaps I should accept this God of mine as a higher power. But that would mean a power greater than me, could this be possible?

Can I really create something that is greater than me? Can I then follow the edicts of this God to help control me? I would have to bow down to the power of this God and listen to and live by the words of this Higher Power. What has this God of mine ever done for me?

The rain kept me in my home and I repaired a water pipe that saved many valuables, valuables precious to me. The sun chased me into my cool home where I was close to my phone, this saved my life. Could it be that this God of mine is already here? Could it be that this God of mine directed the rain, the sun and the clouds to help me help myself? Is this how a God works? Perhaps this higher power always was, is, and always shall be. …………............................................

I shall call this higher power God, for I am, I am his.

By David E. Gonzales and The Holy Spirit-

Just Spiritual? Can You Define That?

           So, you say that you're not really religious, that you're just spiritual. You also state that you really can't define what you mean by “just spiritual” only to say you don't belong to any organization, and you believe in some kind of a higher power. You just sort of go with the flow, wherever the spirit takes you. And that makes perfect sense. Loosely defined, religion is organized spirituality. So what you're really saying is that your faith is unorganized. You have no real direction except what feels right at the time.

           This doesn't seem very comforting and certainly not personally challenging, although it is spiritually convenient in a secular sort of way. To be spiritual is to live life within your faith. But how can you live your life within your faith if your spirituality is unorganized? Or at least undefined? Religion and its many denominations, along with the sense of community, are necessary to define and execute your spirituality. Some need this organization in great abundance while others are less inclined to be involved. I believe that the majority of us need some kind of structure to help guide us through life.

           We, as a people, are naturally sociable. We, as a people, are also naturally selfish. So how does God, Spirit, or Higher Power help us to overcome ourselves? This is done through the teachings of our God on how to live for the good of others; it is how we live a spiritual life. Another way to put it is to say that, how we live our lives is the relationship we have with our God, Spirit, or Higher Power.

           Jesus is quoted as saying;

Mark, 12; 29-31-

            Jesus replied, the first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

            Jesus is also quoted as saying;

John, 13; 34-35a

            I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

           These passages put things in as succinct phrasings as I have found. Love God, Spirit, or Higher Power first and foremost and do it by loving/caring for those less fortunate than you. To be just spiritual; perhaps it’s just human nature to think we can do it (life) on the fly. I believe that life is fuller and happier with the guidelines God put before us thousands of years ago. I chose these Christian passages above to express my faith, but regardless of your faith, religion, or denomination let love/charity be your guide, for this is the central teaching of all the major faiths of the world.

May the love and peace of Christ be with you now and forever. Amen

By David E. Gonzales

Scripture is from the NABRE

The Father and I are one. John 10; 27-30 - The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Our Christ has given us his word, the word that he is the Son of God. With stones in their hands, the crowds wait for a reason to throw these stones, and Jesus gives it to them. The crowd picks the rocks up from the street at hearing this blasphemy and still Jesus continues speaking. In their eyes he has committed a great sin. And so they attempt to bury him with the stones that lay beneath their feet. Jesus escapes “from their power”; I take this to mean the power of ignorance. For the people have heard but do not believe.

            Jesus has given us yet another example of what faith looks like in the reality of life lived. He has shown us the power of faith in him and the Father, who are one. Now it is our turn to stand up in the face of adversity, for our faith and with our faith.

by David E. Gonzales

Honestly! - Part One

 *Honest = honorable in principles, intentions, and actions, upright and fair

Spirituality = how you live your life in relationship to, how you understand your higher power

            So, just how honest are you? No, not with all those other people, just how honest are you with you? Just how well do you live a life that is in line with your spiritual beliefs? How consistent are you in practice? Are you comfortable in your own skin? If you didn’t respond with a resounding “VERY WELL” then please read on.

Many people have difficulties, or challenges that stem from their spirituality, or their lack of a practiced spirituality. Unfortunately, most people don’t even realize that the feeling they have of imbalance in life is very much in tune to the way they live their lives. One example may be; a man and woman are living together outside of marriage, one or the other or even both may have a conflict within themselves that causes conflict in the relationship. I use this example only due to its commonality. Their personal ethical, moral, or religious ideals do not reflect the life that they desire or believe they should be living. The solution then is to resolve the conflict between how they are living their lives and how they perceive their lives should be lived. They will have to make a physical, emotional and spiritual decision as to how they will bring their current situation into balance. These are hard decisions to make; but before they can make a confident decision that will affect not only their life but the lives of their family and friends, they need to fully understand themselves and their God.  Bringing your spiritual life in concert with your physical life can help with these decisions and bring tremendous peace into your existence.

The first key, as simple as it sounds, is to understand your God or, if you desire, your higher power. A person may believe that their God is a good and kind God, but then they ask God “why have you given me this pain to deal with”. They may not even realize that this is a conflict within their own understanding of God and it is causing them the emotional imbalance that they are currently experiencing. It is not God that is causing their pain, but conceivably it is simply the environment that they live in. How well do you take care of yourself? What kind of people do you associate with? What is the environment in your neighborhood, or your employ? Or it could be because of the decisions they have made in the past. You can’t change the past, but you can certainly shape the future.

            The next key is to understand you, and this is probably the most difficult. Can you honestly answer this; what kind of person am I? Now, can you answer this question in detail? For instance; when you are in traffic do you act as politely to the person that cut you off as you do when you’re with family? Are you as kind at home as you are when dealing with business partners or old friends? Is your God with you at all times, or just when it’s convenient? These could be the personal questions that you need to come to a conclusive understanding of. But indeed, you need to come to a conclusive understanding of yourself. The better you understand yourself and your tendencies the better you can react to all the different challenges that life will bring about. The better prepared you will be to not make the same mistakes again and again.

Remember God does not cause us pain. Sin, pain and death came into this world through the sin of Adam. These anxieties or pains can be caused by ourselves or at least by our environment, our entire environment, where we live, the people we associate ourselves with etc. And of course sometimes events just happen; unfortunate circumstances in many cases simply cannot be avoided. How we react depends in part to how we live and comprehend our existence in our relationship with our God. This requires an internal evaluation of who we are, who we really are. Not the ideal we wish for, but the true person that engages others in our everyday lives. This also requires the study of what each individual calls God. In order to live a life that is spirituality honest, you must first understand your God.

This is a brief illustration of being honest with ourselves in our Spirituality. By understanding who you are as a person and what you believe in, you can live a more peaceful and a exceedingly balanced life. Understanding yourself, your beliefs and how they work together is the key to finding a consistently happy life. You are an evolving being, as a lump of clay can be shaped into a fine vase; you too can shape your lived life and your spiritual life to be one in the same.  This is approximately one page of text that will inevitably lead to a lifetime of soul searching. Take your time; be honest with yourself and with others. Oh, and remember to smile as often as possible.

           

*Dictionary.com

By David E.Gonzales