Everybody is in a hurry today. Nobody has any time today. We do everything we can to keep busy today. The hell with everyone else. The hell with tomorrow. The hell with life. I am busy so you can just get out of my way. The roads are full of maniacs passing on double yellow lines. Other maniacs riding your bumper to the next stop sign about 100 yards away. Passing on the right, then left, then right again until they wind up next to you at the next red light. Where are the cops these days. Speed limits and time seem to have no meaning anymore.
When I first came down to Arizona, I would ask people “How are you doing?” “Living the dream” was a common reply. “What is living the dream?” I would ask them. “Well, I can golf everyday now.” Ah, yes, you retired so that you could stay busy hitting a little round ball around 18 holes. So that you could try like hell to hit the tiny ball into the tiny hole eighteen times. What a life! At first I did not understand. When you retire, shouldn’t you make some time to just relax? Karen says well maybe they relax by swinging their expensive golf clubs. I doubt it.
Years ago, I learned that one can be or do and life is a balance between each. Being involves spiritual activities that make us better people. It is meditating. It is going on a retreat. It is praying. It is reading a good book. Doing is moving. Doing is animated. Doing is hitting a pickle ball back and forth over a net. Nothing is wrong with doing but something is wrong with a life that is filled only with doing. I have met too many people that spend time doing but spend no time being.
“Hi, Paul, would you like to get together for a coffee next week?” “Gee, John, I would love to, but I am really busy next week.” “Well, than how about the week after that?” “Sorry, but my great aunt and her son are coming over that week and I need to get the house cleaned. Tell you what I will check my calendar and get back to you. Not sure but I think I have an opening next year.”
There is a mania in this country with going nowhere fast and doing something all the time. I rush to get somewhere so I can get busy staying busy. The business of America is more about staying busy than doing anything really useful. The country band Alabama penned a song many years ago which went as follows:
I’m in a hurry to get things done
Ohh I rush and rush until life’s no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
Even I’m in a hurry and don’t know why?
Don’t know why? I have to drive so fast
My car has nothing to prove
It’s not new
But it’ll do zero to sixty in five point two
Ohh, I hear a voice
That says I’m running behind
I better pick up my pace
It’s a race and there ain’t
No room for someone in second place
I wonder what life would be like in America if more people meditated and less people were in a hurry. What if people spent more time praying than watching TV? I would give you better than ten to one odds that if more people prayed and/or meditated that we would have less crime, less war, and less violence. Society and the world would be more peaceful if people spent more time meditating. We would have more time for friends. More time for settling differences peacefully.
The average USA citizen spends the following amount of time in each of these activities each day: — Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022
Sleeping 9.02 hours
Eating: 1.23 hours
Shopping: .66 hours
TV: 2.79 hours
Religious/Spiritual .13 hours
Volunteering: .10 hours
Educational: .44 hours
Working: 3.23 hours
You can see from the above chart that the average USA citizen spends approximately 8 minutes per day in religious or spiritual activities. I wonder whether this statistic would find any greater amount of time spent by the religious right in America doing prayers or meditating than for the average person. The time spent per person is just about enough time to say a blessing at supper time. To repeat what I said above “What if people spent more time meditating and praying and less time rushing to get somewhere?” Would we have a better country? I believe we would. We would probably have:
- Less road rage
- Less drug use
- Less alcoholism
- Less traffic accidents
- Less wars
- Less violence
On the positive side, just imagine how relaxed people would be. If people were more relaxed, there would be nicer people walking around. Imagine the following scenarios:
Ariana: “You just took the parking spot I was going to drive into.”
Alex: “Oh, I am very sorry. I did not see you waiting there. Just give me a second and I will pull out and park elsewhere.”
Ariana: “No, that’s ok, I can find another spot. There is plenty of spaces in the parking lot.”
President Biden: “Look, President Putin. I am sorry for all the names I called you in the past. I have so much on my plate and too much to do. Sometimes, my age gets in the way.”
President Putin: “I did not want a war with Ukraine, but you kept bad mouthing us and surrounding our country with more and more NATO members. We just want to survive like you do.”
President Biden: “I think it is time for peace talks now. We can back off and leave Ukraine alone if you can promise to pull troops out and restore Ukraine to its former territories.”
President Putin: “Lets start the peace talks now and see what agreements we can come to.”
Well, you can call me Pollyanna and laugh if you want but if Putin and Biden could sit down and meditate together and then pray together for peace, I seriously think the world would be a different place. Maybe we could even get Netanyahu to pray and meditate some.
The other is anyone who you do not identify with. It is anyone who is on the other side of the fence. It is anyone who does not belong to your tribe, religion, political party, sports team, demographics, ethnicity, country club, neighborhood, gated community, state, country, or hemisphere. It is someone who looks different than you do. It is someone who thinks differently than you do. It is someone who behaves differently than you do. It is a stranger from a strange land. It is a poor person who needs a handout. It is a rich person who does not have to work hard. It is a very educated person or perhaps a very uneducated person.
One of my best friends and I were recently discussing the current mania with “Identity.” There has been much talk these past few years over the issue of Identity politics. Identify politics has been defined as:
This mania with identity presents a problem in the political arena where compromise has long been a foundation of good government. The concept of Identity has so polarized people that they now view the “other” side as having no validity and even in many cases being EVIL. The problem of Identity has metastasized from the political arena to the wider social arena which includes almost every aspect of life on the planet. I think it is safe to say that Identity has always been at the heart of conflicts since the Tower of Babel and perhaps Adam and Eve. Did Eve feel inferior to Adam and want to one up him? Some recent headlines about the concept of Identity include:
Mark Twain wrote a famous story which he asked not to be published until after his death. The story was called “The War Prayer.” A church service is being held at which several soldiers are getting ready to go off to war. The chaplain has just given a prayer for the soldiers welfare and victory. A stranger enters the church and asks the chaplain to say a few words. Reluctantly the chaplain agrees. The stranger starts off by referring to the war prayer that the chaplain gave to instill morale in the soldiers. The stranger notes that there are really two prayers that have been said. One has been spoken and the second one unspoken. The stranger then says that he will speak what was really asked for in this prayer:
We have a world where humans have begun to take war for granted. It is either too easy to do nothing about war as we watch our favorite sports teams fight it out or Osho is right, and we crave the excitement that death and destruction bring to the planet. If we truly want to end war and violence, we must start to see everyone on the planet as a people that we are part of. There must be no “others.” We are all part of one large tribe. Just as the water, soil and air are part of a seamless whole, so is humanity. Benjamin Franklin said, “Either we all hang together, or we all hang separately.” I think we might say something similar for humanity. Either we all live together peacefully, or we shall all die separately apart.”
This theory says that happiness is dependent on other things happening in your life. You must have these other things going on or you will not be happy. If you have a good family, or good job or you have meaningful work, you will be happy. Contingency is like a correlation in statistics. The process of having a good family correlates with happiness but having a good family does not make you happy. Some things have a higher correlation with happiness than other things. Some people believe that having less things is more conducive to happiness than owning a bunch of things.
This could also be called the “Cause and Effect” theory of happiness. This theory says that certain things or activities will lead to the outcome of happiness. For instance, becoming an Olympic Gold Medalist may lead an athlete to happiness.
You will always be happy in proportion to how happy others are around us. If I have a great deal of money but my friends have more, I will be unhappy. However, if I have a bigger office than anybody else in the company, I will be happier than they are. The state of being happy will always be relative or in comparison to some other standard that I mark my happiness by.
This theory views happiness as something that has no limits. The sky is the limit. Extraordinary happiness awaits anyone willing to go for it. Every day will bring more and more happiness if you only believe it is possible.
A Rabbi, Iman, Pastor and Buddhist Priest were all discussing the issue of peace in the world and in particular peace in the Mideast. The Rabbi said there could only be peace in the Mideast if all the Muslims left. The Iman said that there could only be peace if all the Jews left. The Pastor jumped into the argument and said there would only be peace if all the non-Christians left. The Buddhist cleared his throat to interrupt the argument and said, “There will never be peace anywhere as long as there are Muslims, Jews, Protestants, Catholics and even Buddhists in the world.” 
The peaceful person does not use violence against others. The peaceful person is a diplomat who solves problems with his/her brain and not with tools of aggression. The peaceful person is confident because they have integrity. The peaceful person has serenity because they have no fear. Fear is the enemy of peace. When the world is on red-alert, people live in fear. People become fearful of others and fearful of living. Racism, sexism, discrimination, greed, and militarism create fear. With fear, no one can be at peace. 
We should all be grateful for peace. This means we need to appreciate peace and understand that it cannot be taken for granted. Peace is up to us to create. It is too important to leave to religious leaders and politicians. If we want peace in our lives and peace in the world, we must create it. There can never be peace for anyone if there is not peace for everyone. 
This week, you will hear from one Jesus of Nazareth. He has been called by many names including: Messiah, Emmanuel, Christ, Lord, Master, Logos (the Word), Son of God and by himself more often The Son of Man. He is often credited with being the founder or perhaps foundation for a popular religion called Christianity. Today, it is difficult to see the link between the teachings of Jesus and many of these so-called Christian religions. I have it on good authority that Jesus never ever preached killing anyone and yet many of these so-called Christian religions are continually waving a banner of mayhem and destruction at those who think differently than they do. Anyway, it is time to let Jesus speak for himself.
I am talking about greed here. I am talking about wanting more and more regardless of the effects it has on the earth. I am telling you that happiness does not come from having more of things. The only true happiness comes from helping others. It is better to share with others who are needy than to amass a fortune that you cannot take with you. Those who berate the tax collector and call him a sinner and cheat are no better than the tax collector. Indeed, those who refuse to pay their fair share for the life they are given are worse than the tax collector. 
I am talking about sin here. I am talking about grieving your mistakes and injustices towards others. No one can walk in this world without hurting others either deliberately or by mistake. But the people who will be comforted in the next world are those who regret their mistakes and injustices and ask for forgiveness. They are the people who acknowledge their sins and mistakes and try to make amends. I was not perfect, and no one born of this world is perfect. The good and just man admits his vices and tries to overcome them. The good and just man tries to make amends to the people he has hurt or abused.
The narcissist and the man full of hubris will do injustice to all they meet. The narcissist thinks that the world revolves around his needs, wants and desires, and is content to ignore the needs and wants and desires of others. The man of hubris is overly prideful and arrogant and thinks that he has earned the right to have more than others. Both feel that everyone else is there to serve their needs and that their needs come before the needs of anyone else. The injustice done by these beliefs amounts to a mountain of intolerance and discrimination towards anyone who is perceived as inferior or beneath their consideration. For this reason, I say “Do not look upon yourself as being better than others. Remember that there but for the grace of God, would you go.”
world. No one who is not seeking righteousness and justice can expect to find peace. I say that your task is to look for justice where there is injustice. To look for goodness where there is wickedness. You can never complete your search. Your hunger will never be sated. Your thirst will never be quenched. Each generation must take up the search because evil is in our own hearts. Only by looking to replace evil with justice and righteousness can the evil that is within us be banished. We are all born with original sin, but the righteous man is the one who overcomes their sinfulness by replacing it with a goodness that transcends earthly needs and desires.
Those who show mercy towards others will have mercy shown towards them. I lived in a time when lepers, Samaritans, non-Jews and many others were thought to be unworthy of mercy. Mercy was always for those in our own tribe. This meant mercy for Jews if you were a Jew. Mercy for Romans if you were a Roman. No mercy was to be shown to the poor for they were lazy. No mercy was to be shown to the sick because they were sinners. No mercy was to be shown to those of other religions because they were “non-believers.”
I say to you that the pure of heart are those with integrity and character. They are without selfishness and seek primarily to do good for others regardless of the cost to themselves. They are not opportunists who try to squeeze the most for themselves at every turn of events. Neither are they sycophants who yield their ideas and actions to others so they can creat more profit for themselves. The pure of heart are not greedy. They are not profit driven. They are not out for fame and fortune. The pure of heart care only about the good they can do for others. Others include the entire human race and not simply those who belong to their tribe or religion or country. Those who put humanity above patriotism, humanity above family, humanity above friendships and humanity above self will surely see God.
Rage, jealousy, ingratitude, intolerance, bigotry and fear are the enemies of peace. Those who want peace must be willing to beat their swords into plowshares. If you follow my Beatitude, you will disarm yourself. You will throw down your guns. You will deactivate your nuclear weapons. You will turn your armies for war into armies for education. There is no peace possible in aggression. There is no peace possible in hatred. There is no peace possible in defensiveness. The only path to peace is to turn the other cheek. How many times have I said you must do this to find peace?
Actions speak louder than words. All those who cry out “Lord, lord” will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. What good is the salt if it has lost its taste? Those who speak beautiful words will not enter my kingdom without beautiful deeds to match their words. I spoke out my ideas and thoughts. I challenged the powers that were corrupt. I was taken up to the mountain and promised fame and fortune and power by Satan if I renounced my beliefs, but I remained steadfast. I was persecuted and crucified, but I never renounced my beliefs. How then do you think you will be saved by being nice to others and by silencing your thoughts in the face of evil? No one who speaks my name should expect to escape persecution. There is no change without struggle and oppression.
Aging Capriciously 