When God Invites You In

I read an inspiring little blog entry by my sister on her daughter's Caring Bridge page about God's Fingerprints.

The gold nugget of her story was that she had a deep sense that "God's got this."  That this is in HIS hands.

Now, from the perspective of a Believer, the belief is that "God's got this" (GGT) in ALL things, ALL the time, and someone who believes that should theoretically have that deep sense of everything being grace, and the plan, bigger than ourselves, ultimately out of our hands, and God is good.  But they don't.  So much for faith.

Why are some times special?  Why does God "invite us in" to his garden just sometimes to feel deep in our soul the truth what we try to believe in all the time?  And is there anything I can do to get on the list?  And how can I stay there (even as I go about the daily routine of my life)?

I know from reading, from testimony, and from personal experience, that there are people who have a lifetime free pass to that sense of peace and contentment of abiding in "God's got this."  And you can follow any of (a hundred?) disciplines to do it, but they all amount to a few singular ways.

• Regular and frequent Meditation, Meditative Prayer.  Not the type of prayer where you try to get something, but the type where you still your mind and allow that quiet voice inside to learn to communicate to the part of you that lives in the regular world.
• Deep thought about the nature of the universe and our place in it.  I'm never surprised anymore when people of the most fundamental science (physics, evolutionary biology, cognitive and brain science) reach the edge of the known/knowable, and still wonder, and get a little bit loopy about some sort of divinity.  Maybe not the exact sense that stems from someone reaching that point from the religious side of things which anthropomorphizes God, but similar enough that it might be mistaken in the emotional centers of the brain.  Years of thinking of ourselves as deeply part of the universe, and one with it is eventually going to have a likewise deep impact.
• Earthshaking events that occur when the mind happens to be in some particular state of openness.  The event creates a rift that allows or propels or forces the truth of existence into the protected areas of our psyche.  Something that induces the deep thoughts about the nature of life (see above), and results, often quite suddenly, in arriving at that same place.  "All is good, GGT."

Having a "lifetime pass" doesn't mean that there is an awareness every moment of GGT, but the path to get there is available anytime it's needed, and the door is always open, should they want to spend a little time there for whatever reason.  As life takes us through its valleys of darkness and across its arid deserts, it can sometimes take a few moments to find our way back, but with enough time abiding there, it's like you can take a wardrobe of it with you, and step inside no matter where you are.  The physical space of a garden metaphor breaks down a little here, because, of course, the whole place exists always inside us all the time (yes, Wizard of Oz is a classic for a reason), but the mental familiarity with the path down into that part of ourselves is what makes it easily accessible.

I'm glad my little sister got to spend a time there when her need was great.

Pinky Time

It fleets by and leaves, the pink or golden sky

Those early evenings, still warm from earlier sun

It comes through throwing out candy as it goes by

And soon, even the last tinge of flavor is a memory

It'll be back, are you going to be around 

To take a look and drink up its gift --

This rounds on him.

And so it is with everything.

News -- You Can Turn It Off A Lot and Get Back to Your Job

If you're over 30 and if you've been reading and listening and watching the news for the last couple decades, you will have seen a steady stream of more of the same.  The Republicans are being fussy with the budget, a country is being overthrown by a revolution, countries are considering boycotting a major world sporting event, terrorists have blown up something with a bomb, shooters have shot up a bunch of people, major weather and catastrophic natural events are wreaking havoc on areas of the globe, buildings are collapsing, workers are striking.  New foods are found healthy and others are deemed unhealthy, diseases are disappearing and others emerging as epidemics, aide workers are helping to turn around third world countries, and medical advances are helping to treat diseases that before were death sentences, infant mortality is down, stress and sleep are found to be important to better or worse health. . .

Clearly I could continue ad naseum.  The world news cycle is predictable after enough time.  Same with local news stories: a police chase ends in a shooting, a murder-suicide is discovered in a condominium, children and dogs are left in a car and die, the New Year's Day baby is born, a tussle about religious symbols somewhere in the public arena ensues, the price of gas goes up and down, weather happens, the local sports team triumphs and falls, the mayor goes up against city hall,

It's the daily drone that you can do without.  It's nice to be informed so you can vote and have opinions but reading magazines, in-dept analysis, books, and other media that avoids the fabricated hype is better than wasting your time daily over-newsing oneself.  Getting the weather and local events when you need them from the internet (pulling rather than yielding to the push), and catching one round-up news show every few days, and following up on the interesting topics from your favorite sources is better than clicking on the 6:30 TV News everyday.  Flipping on the news as you change clothes or do the dishes?  No problem.  But come ON!  It's the same news as yesterday, yesteryear, and when you were a teenager.  Time to move on.

Sitcoms, talk shows, video games, etc. -- same thing.  After a couple decades (times will vary by the boredom toleration threshold of our individual intelligences), the stream of infotainment can be stemmed and ones attention and life-force can be applied to more novel and productive endeavors.  Live, as it were.

Syria and the Common American

As an exceptional country, i.e. as the worlds premier super power, one who has the financial and military support to act with its own volition, we are obligated to choose.

1.  The issue is like any major geopolitical issue: super complex, existing in the chaotic and unpredictable environment of a multi-faceted connected globe.  We have personal, economic, treaty and organizational, governmental and other types of connections, all of which provide their own pressure on decisions.  The consequences of actions cannot be forecast a year out, say nothing of what ultimately could result decades hence, so pretending to know what is the best course of action is folly.

2.  As an exceptional nation, what ARE our guiding principles?  What's right?  What's in it for US?  Our global reputation, noting that the same decision labels us both true to our word (we act when we say we will) and an interventionist state, meddling in other's affairs?  What do we do when those principles contradict each other?

As a regular American, trying to understand even the broad scope, immediate issues are time consuming.  What evidence have I SEEN that tells me it was the government and not the rebels who used gas?  How much do I trust the intelligence and government message versus what could be a ruse by the rebels to incite anti-(Syrian)government sentiment from America?  What are the implications of different types of punitive actions?  How do they jibe with my view of what I want for America?  Again, I haven't even tried to predict the future eventualities of just one of those, when there are scores of different tacks we could take.

What's clear is there is no obvious rights or wrongs among the possible reasonable actions our nation could take.  And how much muddier it gets when a person IS actually able to immerse themselves in the morass of historical president, regional history both ancient and recent, international law and convention, analysis if similar actions in many different scenarios that have played out over the last hundred years...  Those simpletons who are holding their signs have almost as much "right" to their say as the Middle Eastern Policy Specialist within the governments of prominent states, professors of foreign policy at the world's premier universities, and the heads of state, themselves.

In the end, I go with the most underlying principal:  I believe our country should act in the moment with our best knowledge, to be able to wake up the next day with no regrets, being able to say, "We did what we thought was best regardless of what anyone else thinks."

Filner

No way.  The leader of a big city who is using his position to behave in a way that is universally understood to be reprehensible.  At least with Clinton, no one accused him of coercion to get sex.  It's bad enough when someone who is clearly bestowed a position of great power and trust acts in a juvenile manner, with lewd comments or sexual innuendo.  If you can't use the Mayor as a role model, who then?  But to use the position of authority for personal gain of any kind (including financial or sexual favors) needs to be intolerable.  Corruption is a blight capable of bringing down a government.  Everywhere possible, it needs to be met with unequivocal resolve: Not in my (community, city, state, country)!  No second chance for Filner.  He blew his big chance to be trusted.  It wasn't just a single or isolated incident. It's who he is.

Travon

I have a hard time with someone aggressively following and approaching someone, armed, inciting a fight, starting to get beat, shooting and killing their target, and then calling self-defense or "stand-your-ground."  That's neither in the spirit of self defense or stand your ground in my opinion.  Zimmerman was clearly the original perpetrator, harassing a person who didn't deserve it.

There's no way he can be justifiably exonerated.  He may not be guilty of pre-mediated murder.  (He may, but I don't know of any such evidence aside from going out armed, looking to get in a tangle.)  But he's guilty of being an asshole, starting a fight, and killing someone as a result of his actions.

A Poem by my daughter

I snub my noise at your labor of love, spit it out onto your clean floor
I want to throw dirt on you, rub my grimy hands on your freshly washed linen.
I want to rend and rip and tear its head off.
I want to throw it on the ground and smash it with my foot
I want to squish it under my thumb and grind its guts into the concrete.
I want to smear its beauty with crimson and black and blue.
I want to pinch his skin from his body and bite off his ear.
I want to rage and curse and smash my fist into your face.
I want to twist it until it severs, dig my nails into your eyes and scratch your cheeks until they bleed.
I want to grab you by the hair and pull with all my strength.
I want you to suffer the deepest horror life can muster.