Open Your Mind (Updated from 1/20/2015)

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”

-- Marcus Aurelius

 

"Open your mind."  It is a phrase much maligned by those with concrete beliefs, and it usually follows the other favorite, "You are so stubborn!"  But, is this wrong?

No, not necessarily.  It speaks to you having an opinion, your opinion, but at least you have one. Having an opinion, nowadays, isn't so much an oddity as it is evidence of self-deception.  People believe what others think and have become lazy and incapable of thinking for themselves.  It seems like more and more people enjoy having the opinions of other people, which is fine except they don't know why they have the opinion... because it isn't theirs.  Saying you feel the way you feel because so-and-so feels that way, and it sounds good to you, aren't reasons.  It's kind of like voting for the political party, not the candidate.  It might also be like having faith in Holy Scripture.  Is it your faith, or the ministers?  If he told you to drink the Kool-Aid, would you?

"I believe in having a more open mind and including others who don't share your faith and having dialogue with them.  And just having a pure heart and being a good person can bring you closer to God.  Because once you believe in one particular religion fully and not others, that requires you to start disliking people who don't share your views."

-- Ishmael Beah

People take Holy Scripture on faith, which is why they call it faith.  Whether they had religion spoon-fed to them when young, or found it when they matured, faith in scripture can be a good thing.  It can be a good thing.  It can also have you moving in circles or stopping you in your tracks, which might not be a good thing.  I don't think the intent of omnipotence was to have us hold up a book as a focus for our faith.  I don't have faith in the Bible, I do have faith in God.  God supposedly gave us stone tablets with commandments on them.  I never read that God delivered the Bible from on high.  The Bible has way too many issues for me, too many contradictions, and it leaves itself open for too much interpretation by divisive ministers whose agenda is to convince you their way is the only way.  What?  I thought God's way was the only way.  What would Jesus do?  Hello?  Better yet, ask why Jesus would do it.  We tend to muddle the obvious with too much philosophical discussion and ministerial ego.  The obvious is what it is.

I try not to detract from the importance of Holy Scripture.  I think it has its place in kick-starting belief and giving one a reasonably good foundation.  But, a foundation without a building is incomplete and a waste of the tools God gave us - our minds.

"Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds.  I have always kept an open mind, a flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for the truth."

-- Malcolm X

Being open doesn't only mean being open to other ideas and change. You can just throw open your mind to the universe. You can sit in your car and view the pristine setting in the woods, the wildflowers, pine trees, and the steam flowing through it, or you can get out of the car and open your mind to the smells, sounds, and texture of what you only see from the comfort and safety of the car. 

This is what I mean by being stopped in your tracks. You have been put on a path from birth. If you allow yourself to be spoon-fed faith, you risk not moving down that path or walking someone else's path, believing someone else's faith. Your path, like your faith, needs to be your own. If it happens to run parallel to someone else's, let it be a happy coincidence.

Open your mind to the wonder that is reality.  If you want to call it God, Mother Nature, Creation, Gaia, or Energy, have some faith in it.  Above all, question everything, even your faith, for it is through questioning we expand our knowledge about the universe, our reality, ourselves, our path, and our God.  Through knowledge, we can strengthen our faith.  And it doesn't matter if you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed.  You don't have to be a rocket scientist to grasp the obvious, it usually escapes most of us anyway. Even the intelligent.

"I don't believe complete assimilation is possible, at least not for anyone who has an active, open mind.  Every step, every entry into the flow of existence can be seen as a beginning, a commencement of a brand new way of seeing oneself in the world.  This is the case for everyone."

-- Chang-Rae Lee

Open your mind, and you'll find you've been searching way too hard to find what is right in front of you.  Stop trying so hard to be happy, you're already there.  Stop trying so hard to be saved, you already have been.  Stop trying so hard to understand, it is right in front of you.  If you don't think anybody loves you, stop and ask yourself why you don't.

Just take a moment, and open your mind.  You will find the path ahead is very clear.  Now... move!  Time to get on down your path, for as Mark Twain once noted:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

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 view any more right or wrong than the other. Opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form their own opinions, 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 an alternate viewpoint.

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning those opinions offered. After twenty-three years of military intelligence, I believe that engaging each other in this manner, and in this arena, is a 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 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Following his service career, he spent 17 years working with the premier and world-renowned Western Institutional Review Board, helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. He also served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Angela J. Bowen Foundation.

Ordained in 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As a weapon for his war on intolerance, he chose the pen. He wages 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 personal, spiritual path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony at: tolerantpastor@gmail.com