The Art of Being Human

                                                  New Years week is the time when I  reflect on where I am, how I got here and where I’m headed. “What next?” she asks.  It’s not so much my making resolutions and setting goals as it is having a conversation with God and my spirit about what’s next in my life.   Last year I decided I wanted to know love, make that LOVE!  What I had in mind was a blue eyed guitar playing cowboy from Montana who paddles a red Caption. Yeah, that pretty much sums up what I thought love was. You gotta admit it’s original.  God must have had other plans because what I got was a 90 Day No Negativity Challenge that frankly kicked my ass sometimes. It seemed like a good idea at the time and in the end it was if I didn’t let my self think about it too much. I removed negativity and what was left was love,...

      I took my television to the curb today.   I couldn’t resist the impulse any longer. Sometimes these urges just hit me, bam! Then I’m off and running. I don’t always understand the hot pokes that I get, however I do trust them. It’s called faith, blind faith to be sure.   You would think that they would steer me towards some profound, deep meaning of life and sometimes they do. Mostly though they point the way in the ordinary tasks that make up my life, which might be same thing and I just too dumb to know it.   I do know that my life is better when I pay attention to the silence. I listen to the urge to make an extra box of cookies and a neighbor drops by. I follow the impulse to call a friend and it turns out she needs a ride that I can give her.   I jump off the couch and run to a jam at the last minute and have a blast. Never underestimate the value of a good time. It’s the secret to my success.      The little nu...

    Christmas is two days away.   The house is cleaned, decorated and the presents are wrapped. I’ve made brownies, six batches of Heath Bar Crisps, Potato chip cookies and I’m headed out the door to the farmer’s market to pick up the ingredients I need for   Christmas breakfast and Tim’s Ginger Cookies. You can never have too many cookies especially when you eat them with champagne for dinner.   I’m diggin’ myself and lovin’ my life. I am truly blessed.   I’ve always been blessed and deeply loved. It’s always been there even if I’ve haven’t been aware of it.  Keeping free of negativity helps me see the blessings that are in my life and there are more than I can count. Keeping free of negativity is a way of wiping mud from my eyes. It’s amazing how much goodness there is in the world when you can see clearly.      “Negativity is an addiction to the bleak shadow that lingers around every human form ... you can tra...

                There is a pivotal scene in To Kill a Mockingbird when a rabid dog comes into town. Atticus Finch is the only person brave enough and skilled enough to shoot the dog that threatens the town and his family. He tells Scout, “Go on in Scout,” then he shoots the dog. Unlike Atticus I don’t always know when the dog is rabid until it’s too late.   This week I came face to face with a rabid dog, a woman whose carefully crafted illusion of self came undone by her own failure to do what was required of her.    When a person’s self image is the only self they know they become rabid when it’s threatened. They will go to any means necessary to preserve it. They will snarl and snap at whoever gets in the way.    They become fearful and filled with fear, malicious.   Words get twisted and an enemy is created where there was a friend. You can’t talk to them and you can’t reason with them, they’re cra...

The Art of Being Human: The Purpose of Being Human

The Art of Being Human: Life Without Nouns

   The primary purpose of being human is to experience love, to give love, to receive love. It is not to eat chocolate and drink red wine, chase after guitar players and dance in honky tonks, or raise holy hell and hope we don’t get caught. As enjoyable as those things may be they are not our primary purpose.  Our primary purpose of being human is to reflect the love of God and bring that love into the world. “Love and only love produces miracles.” Marianne Williamson.   First we must stop waging war against ourselves and each other with negative thoughts and language. It is not necessary. It is not unavoidable. It is a choice we make. The Cherokee legend of Two Wolves  tells the story of that inner struggle well.  Grandfather told his grandson that there was a terrible war going on within him between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger and self righteousness, and pride. The other wolf is love, compassion and kindness. “Which one w...