My Sunday Thought for 050618: Got Life?

I loved the image I chose for introducing this post.  It reminded me of what I tell my group each and every Sunday morning, "Good morning!  Welcome to another glorious day in paradise and another chance to excel in life!"  Like the image says, each and every new day is another chance for us to make better choices and decisions in order to change our life, hopefully for the better.

I went to my favorite local beachfront restaurant cum watering hole the other day, in order to find some impetus for this post.  I had a beer and pondered my latest conclusion, that my body is getting a jump on my upcoming 65th birthday and has decided to start falling apart.  I have found the meaning of life, having eluded me for six decades, comes down to wearing tropical-print shirts, eating chargrilled oysters at half price, and drinking two-dollar wells, two-dollar bottled domestic beer, and three-dollar beers on tap.  You know, "happy" hour on the Gulf Coast.  The meaning of life really wasn't all that difficult; it simply came down to being happy regardless of circumstances.

As for that other burning question which eluded me, having to do with the meaning, definition, or the existence of God?  Well, I have come to accept it is what it is and there is nothing we can do, or say, or believe, which will have any bearing on a power which we cannot even grasp.  Faith tells me to accept what is and what might be.  Faith, and what I like to call "Parmenides Paradox," tells me that if I can think it, it exists.  Therefore, if we think of nothing as a void of non-existence, the void exists.  It pays, therefore, to think of myself as a stud.  How great is that?  Of course, I also think of myself as full of crap and constantly pressing the boundaries of good taste, so...

"There's some end at last for the man who follows a path; mere rambling is interminable."

-- Seneca the Elder (54 BC-39 AD), Roman rhetorician, writer

So, I'm on my second two-dollar bottle of beer, and I find my pen is writing slower than my brain is rambling.  Every time I stop to catch up, my hand stops too.  Damn my brain, anyway.  Multitasking might be my forte, but an inability to singletask dooms me to remain a paragraph ahead.  One would think I could ramble slower... and there I go, rambling again.

I entertained six people in my post-traumatic stress (PTSD) group on Sunday.  Six people is a good sized group to work with.  Most of them were, as usual, less than enthusiastic at having a chaplain address them on Sunday morning.  Everyone expects fire and brimstone, a boring "come to Jesus" meeting.  Their expectation of a religious sermon is short lived, however, and fifteen minutes into my spiel the majority were attentive and smiling, if not laughing.  Socrates once said, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think."  I lead off by telling them this quote, and I repeat it in most of my discussions with other folks.  After all, it would be a great waste of time to try and make someone believe what they don't wish to.  It is much easier to open a mind than to beat it into submission.

“Once you learn to love yourself first, you will be able to attract love and healthy relationships. What you feel inside is obvious outside. That glow, that radiance which you exude has a cascading effect on everyone around you. So love yourself first, love yourself freely and with all your heart. You will be able to love others much better and spread love all around.”

-- Latika Teotia, inspirational writer  

I think most people want to believe in something.  I think most people would like to have faith in something, even if it's just in them.  I like to start with the person.  Like flight attendants on airlines always tell us, put your oxygen mask on first before assisting the passenger next to you.  You can't truly love someone else unless you first love yourself any more than you can help someone before you help yourself.  You can't truly have faith in anything unless you first have faith in yourself.  Doctor, heal thyself! 

I have found most folks in group to be receptive to this selfish philosophy of "me first." They usually find it interesting that a person of faith would rather they believe in themselves first, have faith in themselves first, than to have faith in anything else or no faith at all.  Well, we all have to start somewhere, why not start with you?  Every new day is another day to make positive changes in your life.  Each new day means we have been blessed with yet another gift of life so we may continue to discover and travel our path.  Each new day is another glorious day in paradise to share with those around us.  The task becomes putting aside the selfishness of self and learning to share your knowledge and opinions with others while remaining open minded to theirs.

I tell the group stories they can relate to, in "colorful" language they can understand.  I talk about the need of finding, or rediscovering, their personal faith and, from that, their personal path.  I emphasize the importance of not asking, "What happened?"  It is more beneficial to ask "why" something happened, than "what" happened.  We already know what happened because it happened, and we are asking about it.  And, if we're honest when asking the question of "why" something happened, we will realize the answer ultimately lies with us.  Why did God abandon you?  Well, why did you abandon God?  Why did a child die?  Well, who put the child in a position to die?  Who desired to have a child?  Whose genes were faulty?  As long as we have freedom of thought and conscience, the target of our blame will always be on us and, in order to pick ourselves up and move forward, we need to own it.

“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.”

-- Anaïs Nin (1903-1977),  essayist, novelist, writer of erotica

Generally, I have found life is not as difficult as many of us make it.  Life simply is, and we should be focused on a way to constantly revel in the glory of it.  The only misery is of our own making, so if you don't like misery, get shed of it.  Our misery and happiness are products of our decisions and the choices we make in life, so make great decisions.  If you make a bad decision, living with the consequences is yet another bad decision.  It is better to correct a bad decision and mitigate the consequences of it before two or three more join in to create an obstacle you cannot get on top of.  This is when life begins to get really mucked up.

“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls your life.”

-- Akshay Dubey

The first reaction to this is usually, "Well, that's easy for you to say."  And, it is, because I've done it.  The only thing difficult in this would be owning the blame and making the effort to correct the fallout in order to fix your life instead of whining about it or constantly shifting the blame and looking stupid to everyone who sees you do it.  Fixing it is usually easier and faster than the months of complaining about something you're at fault for and refuse to own.  Crap happens.  Learn from it, suck it up, and continue to move forward.  Besides, if you have to be transparent, let them see your good ethics.

Life is pretty simple.  Relax.  The first thing we all need to wrap our minds around is... life is!  Life is only hard until you get used to the tempo of it, and then you'll start to tap your foot in time to the music, and then, you'll start to sing.  Don't bitch about how hard it is, find the beat or change the beat, and then embrace it and learn to make the music yours.  But, stop blaming everybody else for your life because... well, it is your life.  Our life, our path, is ours alone.  No one can walk it for us; therefore, it is incumbent upon us to own the path we walk.  We can share aspects of it with those around us, those we love, but we alone must take ownership.

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.”

-- Mexican Proverb

From the smallest seed of love we plant can sprout the faith of ages, we simply have to open our mind to the possibilities.  We simply have to think.  I would rather have someone find faith in anything, right now, and worry about them finding some faith in the supreme power in the universe, or a God, down the road.  Time is a human construct and patience is truly a virtue.  Good things come, sooner or later, to those who have a bit of faith. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

So, as I order my third beer, I notice a well-dressed older woman (older?) glancing at me from across the bar.  She sees me catch her looking and dons a large, gaudy pair of sunglasses.  I reevaluate my opinion of "well-dressed" and smile.  She smiles back and removes them, asking me what I'm writing.  Well, through the next beer, I find myself doing a dry run of this coming Sunday's group, on a beautiful Monday afternoon, with this woman, the bartender, and the guy's wife sitting around the corner of the bar next to me.  Nothing new; this is, after all, what I do along my path.  And, here comes beer number four.  Yep!  It is definitely another beautiful day in paradise!

Got life?

"Life on the practical level does not contain any subtle philosophy or subtle mystical experience. It just is. If we are able to see that isness, so to speak, then there is a sense of realization. We experience sudden enlightenment. Without a sense of hopelessness, there is no way to give birth to sudden enlightenment. Only giving up our projects brings about the ultimate, definite, positive state of being, which is the realization that we are already enlightened beings here and now."

-- Chögyam Trungpa, Buddhist meditation master, scholar, author

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with a world renowned Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.

It's All about Attitude

It's all about keeping a good attitude, and an ability to look at life through rose colored glasses; to still see the reality in front of you and to be happy in the face of adversity.  You have to be able to, at a moment's notice, put on a serious face and say, "Bring it!"  When the offenders draw themselves up short in response, smile and shoot them a knowing wink.  They'll probably back off in confusion... or fear.

I am asked, on occasion, how I can be so happy, whistling and singing all the time.  Well, the young lady in the photo, above, frightened me.  We struck up a conversation after I snapped her photo.  I was to find during our ensuing discussion, and as she smoked her cigar, she mirrored my own attitude about life - be happy.  Basically, what's the alternative?  Her life was going through some turmoil, yet here she was trying her first cigar while watching the cigar table on the front nine of the country club.  There will always be things in our lives which try to bring us down. Don't ignore them, hell, you can't ignore them, just say what's on your mind and rise above the bullshit.  We laughed and I told her she smoked the cigar like she knows what she's doing.  She said she was all about owning her actions; if you're going to smoke a cigar, act like you know what you're doing - own it.  She owns her troubles and she continues to live life and own that as well. 

As for me, I have trivial issues, by comparison to hers.  I have no patience for driving but, I love to drive.  I just wish everyone else would get off the road.   I'll cuss some granny out for creeping along and not putting her foot down on the accelerator, and then I'll smile to myself as I remember to add, "...oh, and God bless!"  I have to work on my patience, that's why I didn't take a car to Mexico when I retired there for a couple of years.  Let the bus driver deal with the aggravation.  My point is, why let it get you down?  Say what's on your mind then shake it off and get back to smiling.  Life is way too short, but life also cannot be denied.  Life is what it is and you can't let the crap which you have no control over have control over you. 

Besides, a knowing wink and a smile... it keeps them guessing.  It can also be infectious.  Look at that face.  You don't think she knows what I'm thinking?

She's about to wink.

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with a world renowned Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.

My Sunday Thought for 042218: "What's Auschwitz?" - My Response

“A shocking new survey (released, ironically, on Holocaust Remembrance Day) reveals that many Americans - particularly millennials - lack a most basic understanding of the Holocaust and its horrors. Among the survey’s most alarming findings was that 41 percent of Americans don’t know what Auschwitz is. Among millennials (people aged 18-34), that number was even worse: 66 percent. Nearly one in three Americans - and 41 percent of millennials - think that less than two million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. The actual number is roughly six million (and some experts estimate even more). Perhaps the survey’s only silver lining is the fact that only four percent of respondents fell into the category of “Holocaust deniers,” and an overwhelming majority think the Holocaust should continue to be taught in school.”

-- https://www.themonastery.org, "What's Auschwitz?"

(Note: My apologies to themonastery.org for the necessity of forming one paragraph out of three, for the convenience of space, in the opening quote.  I would also like to apologize to all for using the photo of the mass grave as an intro, but I can't.  If the only way to create discussion is by shocking one's sensibility, then so be it.  If this post is removed due to this photo, then I will repost it with flowers to appease the ignorance which infects the League of the Perpetually Offended who will only find offense at the photo but not toward the act which perpetuated it.)

For many, any mention of the Holocaust is a reason to turn the channel, mental or otherwise.  Why?  Well, many who have seen the atrocities prefer not to dwell on the horrors of our past.  A few people very close to me are part of this group, not because they don't care, but because it hurts their heart to see the photos of the women and children burned in the furnaces or buried in mass graves simply because of their faith or some Nazi "master race" perception of imperfection.  I think that, deep down inside, they know there is a possibility of it happening again.  When it comes to people who'd rather not look, I feel like the "Ghost of Christmas Future" in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, pointing an accusatory at the gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge and silently demanding that he look at his own future, were things not to change for the better.  In my humble opinion, the fact this Sunday is "Earth Day" makes discussion of the Holocaust apropos.

Millennials knowing little, if anything, of the Holocaust does not surprise me any more than university students pointing to Texas when asked to indicate the location of Russia on a world map.  It is an indicator of the state our American education system suffers from because of the general indifference and, perhaps, political influence the teachers bring to bear in their classrooms.  God forbid you display a personal opinion, as this is a certain way to fail your "education" cum indoctrination.  Truth takes second seat to rewritten histories pushed by socialist institutions of higher learning in order to create a kinder, gentler, view of our world. 

My response to the quote I used as the opener to this post... is sadness, sadness in my belief that what is written is true.  I invite all of you to please use the link, provided above, and read the entire article for yourselves.  Should the Holocaust continue to be taught in school, as the article suggests?  The question presupposes the Holocaust is taught at all, and Texas being confused with Russia brings into question the intelligence and credibility of teachers, as well as their ability to, well... teach.  

The world is not a kinder gentler place for all the efforts of our educational systems to create a better view of history.  We don't have to worry about horrors like the Holocaust happening again because, well, it never stopped.  The world is, through choice, denial, or lack of honest information, generally ignorant and indifferent to the "kinder and gentler" atrocities and genocide still occurring all around us.

The Holocaust is an event in our fairly recent past which stands as a symbol of how low the bar for humanity can be set.  As long as we continue to foster the view that "participation" in good enough in life and education, nothing will be done to curtail these kinds of events in the future.  We must take the initiative to do better, to be better, than the history behind us.  In order to do this we must, first and foremost, teach the facts of that history and not just the story others want us to hear.  We do ourselves no favor by taking down statues and flags or by changing the facts of horrific events as some way of believing they never happened.  We are so much better than this, and it's about time we acted like it.

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with a world renowned Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.

My Sunday Thought for 041518: Finding Faith

“Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths… all faiths… are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed.”

-- Dan Brown, author "Angels & Demons"

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”  This became known as the Socratic Method, a teaching method where a question is posed and the students direct and control the discussion of it.  I am a big fan of this method, as it makes the students think for themselves and develop their own ideas, solutions, and theories.  It is a method I use when discussing faith, and a method of which I have received positive feedback, from group participants, when ministering.  This method allows the listeners to participate and the speaker to learn through this feedback from these listeners.  The Socratic Method is a win-win method of learning; learning and not teaching, as both parties, the listener and speaker, can learn from each other.

I have found this method particularly valuable when opening alternate doors of faith and belief to those who feel they have lost their own or have been turned away by organized religion. In my humble opinion, there is nothing more devastating to one's self than losing faith in friends, family, themselves, life, religion, and/or God.  If we lose faith we lose our reason for being.

Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith.

-- Paul Tillich (1886-1965), Christian philosopher and theologian

What many don't understand is that doubt is nothing more than an element of faith, as light is an element of dark and good is an element of evil, you cannot have one without the other; the universe demands balance in all things. You can doubt your faith, but you will never know for sure if you even have faith until you seriously begin to look for it, at which point you evidence, by your very willingness to search, the existence of the faith you seek.

Every week I try to wake up the minds of those who attend my group meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, when I finally have their full attention, I stress the importance of doubting everything. Do not simply "go along to get along," believing everything someone says simply because they hold the title of teacher or preacher. Only you can heal yourself. Only you can walk your path. And, only you can find your own light so you can see the path you must walk.

“Doubt everything. Find your own light.”

-- Gautama Buddha (~500 BCE), ascetic, sage, teacher

Not holding to faith may be the very reason religions are considered flawed.  Religion requires faith, but faith does not require religion.  Some would say you must have faith in God before you can find salvation.  I say you must first have faith in self, for only then can you truly find faith in a higher power than yourself.  Help yourself before you can help others; heal yourself before you can heal others; love yourself before you can love others; find yourself and then search for your God.

The God of Abraham still endures misinterpretations by a multitude of heretics.  Each of the multitudinous faithful believes their interpretation to be right and all others to be wrong.  Some even lower themselves to the heresy of killing innocence and use their interpretation of God as an excuse for this sin against mankind.  If you are a member of one of the three Abrahamic religions, why do you think your cleric is any more important to God than you are?  No one is without sin, and yet, we place our "faith" in strangers where our own immortal souls are concerned?  Personally, I think I can go somewhere private, talk to God in silence, and I'll probably get better and faster results than pushing my desire for salvation through a flawed communication device with questionable connectivity... you know, clergy.

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”

-- Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), philosopher, theologian, poet

I cannot believe in organized religion, as I have no faith in it.  Questions demand answers and when there are no answers religion falls back on the faulty logic of demanding you simply have faith in what religion says is right, without any reasonable expectation of proof.  This sounds like the same rhetoric we hear from politics, and we've all seen how great that is.  Maybe we should combine church and state; combining that much confusion and bullshit in one place would certainly create a black hole to consume all the ignorance and lies.  Whatever is left must then be the truth.  Why?  Well, we just need to have faith... right?

Again, I'm not saying to discard your faith. What I am recommending is that you make certain it is your faith, and not someone else's faith spouted from the pulpit of clergy more interested in fame, fortune, and position, than in your immortal soul. I am suspect of any clergy who consider their questionable righteousness the holy "conduit" for God's grace or your salvation. I also question clergy who egotistically hold themselves to a higher station in order to judge others. Who do they think they are to judge the servant of another?  And yet, I see this time and time again as some clergy prefer their own congregation to others.  How is their congregation, their religion, their path of judgement any more righteous than any other humble offering of faith?  I think their judgement says it all.

"Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe."

-- Voltaire (1694-1778), writer, historian, philosopher

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with a world renowned Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.

A Personal Slice of Hell?

“I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity.”

-- William Blake

A little pain, a little pleasure; such is life.  Is life filled with the immorality of pleasure?  And, why should pleasure, immoral or not, be frowned upon in a life which many, including myself, equate to one's personal hell on earth?  And, who is to judge the immorality of one's pleasure if it is lawful, peaceful, and bothers no one?  It would seem the hell which we willingly put ourselves through is nothing but a respite from the hell which our fellow beings daily drag us into, kicking and screaming.  These are the same fellow beings who would dare judge us for our own actions, our pleasures, and our immorality, when their own morality is anything but laudable. 

We are told to prostrate ourselves before God and willingly put ourselves through our living hell as a way of showing worthiness to the Almighty.  There are beliefs which state we are not to derive any enjoyment from this hell, we are simply meant to suffer for the greater glory.  Images of self-flagellation comes to mind, that whipping of one's own flesh as a means of penance for sins, imagined or not.  And yet, if you dare enjoy this release from sin, you will be labeled a masochist.  Religion becomes a no-win in the minds of many faithful.  Well, is it any wonder organized religion and I don't see eye to eye?

In the first half of the 15th century, Saint bernardin de sienne Langeais would have commanded we deprive ourselves of art, music, cosmetics, mirrors, provocative dress, and any other small pleasures in life so that we might be seen as worthy in the eyes of God.  Religious leaders have judged the pleasure for their congregations since the beginning of time, and then violated these requirements when it came to their own pleasures.  Would that religious leaders like Bernardino of Siena fuel their daily requirement for a "Bonfire of the Vanities" by throwing their own bodies onto the pyre of flames, like so much cordwood, and show us how it's done.  We will surely follow their fine example, wouldn't we?

“The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.”

-- Bertrand Russell

If I have to be tortured for my perceived sins, then let it be by a buxom woman wearing a seductive leather outfit and high heeled boots.  Is this wrong?  Probably, but it will certainly be more fun than beating myself up over any sin and, while she's at it, she can also punish me for the very thought of having her punish me.  The Marquis de Sade would surely find this so very amateurish.

Hell is, after all, but a frame of mind.  What is one person's idea of hell might be another's walk in the park.  One person might find manual labor a torture to be escaped at any cost, where another might find mindless physical labor an escape from the mental struggles and stress of their daily life.  Who is to judge?

We all create our own hell here on earth, just as we create our own heaven.  It is simply a choice, a chosen frame of mind.  As long as our idea of heaven does no harm to others, why should others find reason to judge?  A judgment in this instance would almost seem an admission of jealousy on their part.  Why do we concern ourselves with the lot of others, if others are satisfied with their lot?  We can feed a man for a day or we can teach the man to fish, but teaching the man is totally reliant on his willingness to learn.  Choices we make are always followed by the consequences of those choices.  Better we should be concerned with our own slice of heaven or hell than to insinuate our own probable sense of misguided morality into the, otherwise, happy lives of others.

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock, it is opened.”

-- C.S. Lewis

We are what we choose to be because of why we choose to be it.  What we are is never in question, but why we are explains much about what we are or will become.  We are, in essence, the culmination of consequences created from the choices we make.  The poet Oscar Wilde once wrote, “We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.”  The flip side of this philosophy is that we are also our own salvation, and can make for ourselves a heaven here on earth.  If what we want is a living hell, perhaps we need to change our decision making paradigm.

Our personal slice of hell isn't other people, and hell isn't the consequences of someone else's poor decisions.  If we're honest in answering why our lives are hell, we will always find that the source of our grief is us; our decisions and our consequences.  If you come up with another scapegoat, you are not being honest.  A scapegoat is just that, someone made to bear the blame for others poor decisions.

“I believe I am in Hell, therefore I am.” 

-- Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), poet

That precious moment before we shed this physical shell often haunts the dying with the undeniable truth of their life.  It is this moment when the Book of Life is thrown open and we are confronted with our sins.  When we stand at the gates to eternity, many believe our life will flash before our eyes.  Our accomplishments, if they be honest, stand on their own as single line items, but our sins are wordy paragraphs with which paint the pictures behind our damnation.  English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) wrote that "Hell is a truth seen too late."  Perhaps Hobbes understood this better than we.  At the age of 91, on his deathbed, his last words were said to have been, "A great leap in the dark."  It is my fondest hope to leap into, at the very least, a faint light.

What is hell? Hell is oneself.
Hell is alone, the other figures in it
Merely projections. There is nothing to escape from
And nothing to escape to. One is always alone.

-- T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), poet, essayist, critic, playwright

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with a world renowned Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.