Broken Father/Breaking Family/Some Unbroken Thoughts

I am on death watch tonight. My father is dying in his home in Kentucky and I am unable to be there. His body has been broken by cancer and his organs are shutting down: one at a time, like someone shutting off each light in some ordained sequence at a sports venue. His wife and my family are breaking, as all families break, when a loved one is passing over. 

This is part of the human experience. I did not sign on for this part but then again, nobody asked me to give my approval to this last part of life on this plane. I voted for eternal life on this earth and healthy bodies for all of us which last forever.

My thoughts, positive vibrations, and support are with Dad, his wife, and the rest of our family. I am intentionally diverting my personal pain and my nearly constant awareness of my Dad's pain as he undergoes this final torture on this plane of existence. Love you Dad! Go unafraid and unapologetic to the light that does not judge or condemn or demand praise and songs of its glorification. I am with you and so are your other kids, your wife, and many others. Get on the plane and have a beer, out of pain, and without regret. I love you.

WHAT I THINK

1. Life does not end with the ending of this body

2. There is no celestial deity with a chalkboard keeping score.

3. Well-intentioned prayers that people be healed are nice and come from some gentle loving souls. However, God does not sit on his golden throne while some heavenly score keeper tracks the number of incoming prayers for someone to be healed. When the right number of prayers are tabulated, there is no buzzer that echoes through Heaven. God does not roll his eyes and say "Well, that last prayer from Tupelo Mississipi put Mrs. Jones over the top. I really wanted to kill her but now I guess I have to wait. The good people have spoken!" As Wayne Dyer and many others say "God is not a withholding God."

4. Energy, including soul energy, is never created or destroyed. It is merely transformed. To pass to the next phase of this amazing journey does not require the stamp of approval by a Pope, a preacher, a gate-keeper, or a committee of spiritually superior human beings. Moving on to the next phase is a guarantee and is not tied to taking Jesus Christ as your personal savior, making the right number of payments to charities, or dragging enough old ladies across the road whether they want to go or not.

5. Christ, Buddha, Mother Theresa, and the homeless person under the nearest overpass all have lessons to teach us. Their words, their lives, and their spirits are letters from God. Some of these (the Christ, Budha etc) manifested here directly from the creative Source intelligence to show us what God is and what we can be when we are in alignment with God. There is no punishment for being out of alignment. Life just kinda sucks when we are. Also, sentient beings (I include our furry friends and all the plants and animals we share this earth with in this) are here to teach us something and they deserve love and to be able to give us the love they have. Note: I know this and know I am a hypocrite because I eat some of these animals and many of these plants. I am still evolving. AND I am okay with that and so is my Creator.

6. When we start down the path toward enlightenment and find our passion, we are given the opportunity to find our unique path of service. To be of service and remain unattached to the outcome is the ultimate realization as humans of the God within us. I stole this from Wayne Dyer's "Power of Intention".

7. I did not manifest any of the words or thoughts in 1 - 6. As the Bible says "There is nothing new under the sun".

8. Dogma is not beneficial to spiritual growth. Buildings are no better at invoking love or God's presence than forests or filthy alleys. Religious laws can be beautiful and comforting but they become tainted as man sullies them with politics, greed, corruption, self-glorification, and institutionalized judgment of who is right and who is wrong and who is going to get wings and who is going to burn and who is going to get 13 virgins and who is going to get the shaft.

9. God does not choose sides in wars or football games. Sometimes (think WWII), we may be forced, regretfully, to use force to stop the unevolved from carrying out horror. But no death on a battle field should be celebrated. Each death caused by a nation, even if the cause is just (and this is rare) should be somber and all involved should feel sad that diplomacy and understanding failed. A battlefield is a funeral, not a football field. God does not have a favorite country or a favorite beer, either.

A Couple of Awesome Quotes

"Man was made for joy and woe;

And when this we rightly know;

Through the world we safely go.

Joy and Woe are woven fine.

Clothing for the soul divine"-William Blake 

"Fill your bowl to the brim

and it will spill.

Keep sharpening your knife

and it will blunt.

Chase after money and security

and your heart will never unclench.

Care about people's approval

and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.

The only path to Serenity."

-tao te ching, translation by Stephen Mitchell (1988)