Serenity?

[RonD1120 58]

To paraphrase Oswald Chambers, if you are able to handle all your problems by yourself then you have no need for Jesus Christ in your life. Jesus came for those who realize that they are facing something beyond their ability. A very common scenario is to attempt to use the mind to solve a mental problem; talking to yourself without resolution.

With that consideration, I offer the following excerpt from my forthcoming work, Spiritual Esoteric Psychology:

Think of human consciousness as a sphere completely surrounding the person. On the inside of that sphere is recorded all learned information and knowledge. Some of that knowledge is true and can be relied upon to produce positive results when applied. Some recorded knowledge is only partly true and therefore works only some of the time. Lastly, some knowledge is completely false and will never produce a positive outcome.

In order to grow, the human consciousness must access new information and then assemble it into knowledge and classify it as true, partly true, or false. That new information lies outside the sphere of consciousness, sometimes called the great void. In order to access this new information the consciousness shell must be cracked. This produces a flood of new information. The process is called cracking the shell of ignorance because it exposes what was not previously known.

Cracking the shell of ignorance creates an emotional reaction, sometimes pleasant. Most often it manifests fear, anger, pain, or sorrow. It is here that Jesus Christ can be called upon for guidance by His Holy Spirit.

 

 

[gowlerk 1,903]

Whatever works for you is good. I may be just one of the lucky few who stumbles through life without feeling a need for all the answers to all the questions. I long ago came to a realization that no one can attain what you seem to be looking for. I do not envy you for your struggle. I think I will now recite the Serenity Prayer one more time. I have never been in a 12 step group or felt the need to. And I don't believe in "God" the way you do. But I do love that prayer.

Edited January 6, 2023 by gowlerk

[wmw999 2,116]

My father was deeply believing, but in a more liberal faith tradition. He always felt that the most important part of a faith community was an environment where you could ask the questions that were bothering you, knowing that there aren't always answers.

Wendy P.

[billvon 2,380]

1 hour ago, wmw999 said:

My father was deeply believing, but in a more liberal faith tradition. He always felt that the most important part of a faith community was an environment where you could ask the questions that were bothering you, knowing that there aren't always answers.

Agreed.  The most important part of ANY religion is the community that religion builds.  It almost doesn't matter what you believe in, as long as part of that belief involves community, service and charity.  And most religions do have that as part of their belief system.

[kallend 1,621]

2 hours ago, billvon said:

Agreed.  The most important part of ANY religion is the community that religion builds.  It almost doesn't matter what you believe in, as long as part of that belief involves community, service and charity.  And most religions do have that as part of their belief system.

Western religions seem to have progressed a bit beyond burning heretics at the stake, but blasphemy is still a capital offense in some nations, and I believe a fair number of right wing "Christians" were involved in the Jan 6th insurrection (aka "legitimate political discourse") with bloodshed on their minds .

[gowlerk 1,903]

25 minutes ago, kallend said:

Western religions seem to have progressed a bit beyond burning heretics at the stake, but blasphemy is still a capital offense in some nations, and I believe a fair number of right wing "Christians" were involved in the Jan 6th insurrection (aka "legitimate political discourse") with bloodshed on their minds .

It is easy to justify almost anything when you have "God on your side".

[airdvr 197]

The only prayer I ever muttered was on jump run; "Please Lord don't let it be me who fucks up."

[billvon 2,380]

1 hour ago, kallend said:

but blasphemy is still a capital offense in some nations, and I believe a fair number of right wing "Christians" were involved in the Jan 6th insurrection (aka "legitimate political discourse") with bloodshed on their minds .

Well, that's a pretty silly argument.  I mean, I bet a few engineers and a few skydivers were involved in that insurrection as well.  But the common theme was not engineering or skydiving (or religion.)

[gowlerk 1,903]

4 minutes ago, billvon said:

But the common theme was not engineering or skydiving (or religion.)

White Christian nationalism was one of the common themes.

[Phil1111 908]

36 minutes ago, airdvr said:

The only prayer I ever muttered was on jump run; "Please Lord don't let it be me who fucks up."

I thought it was about you never going low?

[wmw999 2,116]

27 minutes ago, Phil1111 said:

I thought it was about you never going low?

No, that's "Please Lord don't let it be me who fucks up on video"

Wendy P.

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

1 hour ago, billvon said:

Well, that's a pretty silly argument.  I mean, I bet a few engineers and a few skydivers were involved in that insurrection as well.  But the common theme was not engineering or skydiving (or religion.)

Gonna guess there weren't any Muslims, Hindus or Sikhs in that crowd.

Trump courted the Evangelical movement very hard. Those fools made up a huge percentage of his base.

To pretend that there wasn't a common theme of a particular religion at the insurrection attempt is naive. 

I found this with a quick search:

Prayers offered on Jan 6. By both lawmakers and attackers:

https://religionnews.com/2022/01/06/jan-6-a-timeline-in-prayers/

As always, "God is on OUR side."

[headoverheels 291]

2 hours ago, airdvr said:

The only prayer I ever muttered was on jump run; "Please Lord don't let it be me who fucks up."

I didn't pray for the impossible.  Mine was "don't let it be me who fucks up first."

[murps2000 86]

2 hours ago, airdvr said:

The only prayer I ever muttered was on jump run; "Please Lord don't let it be me who fucks up."

That’s a variation of a prayer made by aviators for decades. Chuck Yeager & Alan Shepard come to mind. Better to die than fuck up.

[kallend 1,621]

3 hours ago, billvon said:

Well, that's a pretty silly argument.  I mean, I bet a few engineers and a few skydivers were involved in that insurrection as well.  But the common theme was not engineering or skydiving (or religion.)

Neither engineers nor skydivers make "peace on Earth and goodwill toward men" a central tenet of their existence while participating in a violent attempt at a coup. 

[riggerrob 558]

Good points Dear Billvon,

One of my grandfathers was an ordained minister in teh United Church of Canada.

My mother was a life-long "church lady" singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, serving on the broad of elders, etc. She was far from a "bible-thumper" and viewed a church congregation as more of a community.

Few of her children attended church as adults.

I seem to be the only member of my generation that attends church on a regular basis as an adult. While living in the Perris "Ghetto" neighbor Larry Yon suggested attending the Unitarian Universalist Church in Riverside. There I found a welcoming community with diverse interests. Since moving back to Canada, I joined Beacon Unitarian Church in New Westminster (a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.). I even served on the Board of Trustees! But I always viewed church as more of a community. None of the other congregation members are skydivers, but that does not prevent them from providing a variety of viewpoints. A good Unitarian sermon forces me to look at the world from a different angle. This brings us back to Ron's original comment about "Cracking the shell of ignorance."

No man is an island.

Sadly, COVID-19 has forced too many of us into isolation where we spin too quickly inside our own heads.

A Unitarian church provides "community" that came in handy when I needed three references for an application to a retirement home, three quick phone calls resulted in references from a retired medical doctor, a pharmacist and a retired Unitarian minister. 

Dear Gowlerk,

AA helped me quit drinking and I still find myself mumbling "the serenity prayer" because it helps me get outside of the thoughts spinning too quickly inside my own head.

[billvon 2,380]

2 hours ago, kallend said:

Neither engineers nor skydivers make "peace on Earth and goodwill toward men" a central tenet of their existence while participating in a violent attempt at a coup. 

Neither do most religions.

[airdvr 197]

17 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

I thought it was about you never going low?

All part of my definition of fuckin' up.

[Phil1111 908]

15 hours ago, kallend said:

Neither engineers nor skydivers make "peace on Earth and goodwill toward men" a central tenet of their existence while participating in a violent attempt at a coup. 

 

13 hours ago, billvon said:

Neither do most religions.

Serenity is lacking among religions now. Iranian mullahs are killing protestors and the Russian orthodox church has endorsed Putin's war. Then monks in Myanmar are supporting the military coup. Plus the US Christian right in the US supporting their barbaric leader, trump. See why evangelicals are calling Trump a “modern-day Cyrus.”

[gowlerk 1,903]

28 minutes ago, Phil1111 said:

Serenity is lacking among religions now.

Organized religion is about power. The more organized it is the more power can yield. It has always been thus.

[billvon 2,380]

 

52 minutes ago, Phil1111 said:

Serenity is lacking among religions now.

They could always just buy one.

 

 

 

[murps2000 86]

3 hours ago, billvon said:

 

They could always just buy one.

 

 

 

That’s actually a firefly. It was named Serenity, though.