pondering
Jim March 13th, 2008
are feelings part of the transitory world, which means by nature they rise, change, and go away. as we say, “feelings come and go.” if that’s true, should we be seeking “good feelings” as a barometer or outcome of spiritual reality? if not, is there something beyond feelings? if there is, maybe we shouldn’t even try to understand and define it. is it necessary to do so? maybe that’s what gets us into trouble. is “peace” more of a tacit understanding of the true nature of all things, or just a happy feeling?
(photo by zoo gal)
- Wide Open Spaces , questions
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Jim
It seems often that “Happy” is often confused with “Joy”. “Happy” changes with circumstances and “Joy” is constant and, unchanging ; Just as God is.
LOVE LIKE HIM,
G.B.U.
Michael.
I would agree with the former suggestion, that peace is understanding -better yet- accepting the truth of nature, creation, humanity, etc… and appreciating it for what it is. Peace may feel good, but it doesn’t have to. Peace is not conditional on circumstances, it is a conscious choice. For example, we have a gecko named Lizzy. Lizzy eats crickets, but not very quickly. For several days, there is incessant chirping throughout our home until all the crickets in Lizzy’s domain are eaten or die. I can choose to be irritated about the noise and blame my grumpy disposition on the crickets, on Lizzy’s laziness, or on my kids for insisting on having a gecko in the first place. Hopefully, instead, I’ll choose to think “the chirping of those crickets reminds me of wonderful times camping in the woods with my father” and enjoy the memories. As a nation; as a people; as individuals, we cannot wait for peace to just happen- it never will. It is a chosen way of life, and it starts with me.
i love nicci’s reply….. i think it is quite brilliant…. really.
For me peace is a result of knowing I’m unconditionally loved, accepted and desired by all, even by those who don’t act that way toward me…they may not know it but I do, and peace results from that knowing.
Peace is also a result of knowing I’m free, even in the midst of circumstances that seem imprisoning like broken relationships, crappy job, physical inabilities and financial struggles. I can experience Truth (God) no matter what my circumstances which is incredibly freeing for me.
Positive thinking is different. It says black is white. My crappy job isn’t crappy. My crappy marriage isn’t crappy. My crappy relationships aren’t crappy. Some dude beating me in the face with a sledgehammer isn’t crappy. Nope…those things are crappy…but I can still be at peace and free in their midst if I know the above.
Here’s a fun experiment.
The next time someone is crappy to you. The cashier at the convenience store, the person who just cut you off, your significant other when they push that button they so know sends you into a tizzy…in that moment…know they love, accept and desire you perfectly…they just don’t know it in that moment.
Oh, you’ll smile…and not in that condescending I know something you don’t way, rather because you’re experiencing peace and freedom!
“Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God…”
This is a quote from “A Course in Miracles”
I like Nicci’s comment too. Our feelings are generated by our thoughts, I think. Sometime the feelings come so hard and fast that they are not very obviously connected, but whenever I slow down and do an autopsy on why I just blew my stack at my 5 year old son, I realize that my emotions were far more about what I was thinking than what he was doing.
I don’t want to live with the belief that my feelings just happen apart from my ability to manage them. They can happen before I manage them, but I can choose to think of the “cricket noise” as a positive experience. Peace that passes understanding.
I find it incredibly liberating to finally ‘get’ that peace is a CHOICE. Sometimes I forget that…it’s nice to be reminded. Whenever I get stuck in traffic, worry about my long ‘to do’ list, get sucked into political debates on TV, or just anything that becomes annoying, I can always remind myself, ‘I can choose peace instead of this’. Wow!
Me too jane, me too…don’t know why I get it ’sometimes’ but I’m certainly thankful I do.
Maybe that’s the good news ‘you have a choice’…It was certainly good news when I realized I could choose.
One of the things that I learned in counseling, we should be focusing more on what we are “learning” in the journey – not necessarily what we are “feeling”. I know I have made some of the worse decisions of my life based strictly on my “feelings”. And, I have learned that there is a fine line in learning the difference between “feeling” a certain way about a situation or circumstance and “knowing” that God is speaking to you (or confirming) regarding that situation. Wow, did that last sentence make any sense? :0
BTW, Jim – I have only gotten into the first chapter of “Divine Nobodies” – cannot seem to put that book down! I keep trying to read it out loud to my husband – and give my commentary at the same time! Poor guy, he is so confused! Ha!
We are spiritual beings having a human experience. When the body dies, the spirit is left. I happen to like peanut butter — so when my body dies, will my spirit like peanut butter? I am a man, so do I have a male spirit? Thinking, feeling, and personality are largely (if not completely) rooted in the brain, and the brain dies with the body. What can there be about *me* that is unique, that is still there when the brain is gone? Scientists can observe the electrochemical processes of thinking and feeling going on in the cells of the brain. I am led to think (that is, my brain is led to think) that there may be no difference at all between *my* spirit and *your* spirit. Perhaps we all have the one spirit in common. My brain is inclined to think that feelings, thinking, and personality are part of the transitory, physical world.