off in Right field

This belief of refraining from claiming to be right underlies my world view. You might say it is the very foundation upon which all of my values are built. When I wander astray, as I often do, this thought process always brings me back to center. In this particular instance I delved much deeper into the logic behind the thought. And, as often is the case, it began with a question.

How are we benefited by focusing on who is right or what is right? By even considering it to be something of any relevance? Alright so we've decided; we are right. Now what? Well, naturally, we go about proclaiming we are right (if not out loud, then quietly to ourselves in our minds), alienating those whom we now believe, by our decision to proclaim our own selves right, to be wrong. Through this alienation we may have consequently thrown away a potentially valuable source of new ideas, perspectives and knowledge. After all, who among us would be inclined to lend our thoughts to someone who deems us wrong? I'm sure we can all agree that we are guaranteed not to be right about everything (I would argue anything). That person we just alienated may have some great ideas about something we're struggling with; about how to save our marriage, get our kid to stop using, or help grandma recover from her stroke and remember who we are again. But there is much more to this than simply avoiding pushing away others who may have good ideas, or closing ourselves off to different perspectives. This 'not thinking we are right' business is more than just being open minded and reaping the benefits. What we are talking about here is the total inhibition of our ability to become what we were intended to be. Thinking we are right, about anything, keeps us from becoming fully human.

That's kind of heavy, so maybe we should shift down a gear and figure out what we're talking about. What on earth is fully human? How can we be more human than we are? We were born humans, not incomplete, half-humans; that would be absurd. This state we are in now, that's what a human is. We are what we are, are we not?

We certainly are. However, as a whole, we are mistaken about what it means to be human, about our inherent nature, and about the erroneous assumption about the state we are in now. It is widely held that human nature makes us inherently self-centered and prone to the lesser passions of pride, greed, hate, deception, revenge, etc. A simple experiment will show this to be absolutely false. First, let's start a terrible rumor about someone we don't like. Now, let's give this same person bus money on a day they didn't have enough change. Which of these acts makes us feel good? Therein lies our answer to what human nature really is; what being fully human really is. If it is our nature, then reason tells us it should make us feel good. Why would it be our nature to do things that, while maybe giving us a fleeting sense of satisfaction, ultimately make us feel bad? This perspective defies logic. We are not inherently 'evil' and self-serving. We are quite the opposite. Our natural inclination to feel empathy for one another is a glaring testament to this fact. But from a very young age we are taught by our society to forget this.

I am proposing here that life is a struggle to transform ourselves into what we were intended to be: pure love. We are obviously not there yet. Some may ask, "Why is it a struggle to be something that is supposedly in our nature?" Because we forgot our nature. We forgot how to be human. The struggle is in the remembering. Pride, arrogance, and the simple belief that our view is superior to another are road blocks to this cause. They are the experience and the perpetuation of the forgetting. Whether it is our intent or not, these thought processes put us on a perceived higher level than others, making it impossible to love. Can we agree that to love is to give oneself entirely to another? Is this a fair definition? If so, how can we possibly be able to love absolutely when we are lording something, anything, over the other? Even something as seemingly insignificant as believing our way of training the dog is the right way can put us over on another, and we will always see that person as slightly inferior. Love is not possible with this mindset. I'm giving all of myself to you...except for the dog training part, because you're wrong about that part. By the definition above, this is not love.

If our objective in this life is to become fully human and exemplify our natural and intended state of pure love, then wouldn't we be better served focusing not on who or what is right, but instead on what we're learning, who we can help along the way, and what is standing in our way? What is standing in our way?

On a macro level it is the very nature of our fallen state. Our fallen state is not our natural state; it is a state where we find it easier to be negative than positive, easier to judge than accept, easier to despise than to love. It is our forgetfulness of who we are meant to be. It is our separation from God, or Pure Love. We have forgotten how to love relentlessly without condition or discrimination. We are separated from Love Itself. It is not a permanent split, however, as we have been given all the tools we need for our salvation, for making our way back to Love: our thoughts, our feelings, and our free will.

On a micro level, or a personal level, what keeps us separate from love is our own pride--our own audacious belief that we could possibly be right and better and more worthy than anyone or anything. To be right is to make a judgement about someone or something. But who are we to judge? Does it not make sense that only a perfect, infallible being, incapable of being judged, is worthy of passing any judgement on anything and anyone? This is where our own audacity and arrogance is startling. We are so far from perfect, yet we pass judgement constantly, and act as if we are entitled to do so--as if there is nothing wrong with this equation. You show me my skinned knee; I'll show you your black eye. What have we accomplished here? Not a one of us is fit to judge even the tiniest of discrepancies when all of us have our own box o' discrepancies staring us in the face. Who are we to judge when we will not look in the mirror and promptly judge ourselves? This is what is meant by pointing out the speck in our brother's eye while saying nothing of the splinter in our own. The magnitude of the splinter or the speck is of no relevance. We are all fit to be judged, in other words, we all have our faults, our sins; and therefore we are all unfit to judge others.

We've posed the idea that it makes sense that only a perfect being is fit to judge anything, anyone, at anytime. Yet, even this statement is erroneous. Or rather, the implication that such a being would judge is erroneous. For if a being is perfect--pure indiscriminate love--then, by simple logic, this being would not pass judgment on anything. We can all agree now that judgment is not love; it is in fact completely contrary to love, yes? Is love not unconditional, eternal acceptance? So if a perfect being, God, is pure love (and He is), then God does not judge. God's 'judgment' is not judgment at all, but a personal decision we make followed by the natural consequences of that decision. We do not displease God.

Wait a tick, what was that again? That's huge. That statement can flip entire religions on their heads. Let's revisit that statement and let it really sink in.

We do not displease God...ever.

This means nothing we do displeases or angers or disappoints God in any way, shape or form. When we steal, hurt, lie, cheat, kill, rape, slaughter, blaspheme--God is not displeased. Well now wait a minute, those are pretty terrible things! How can they not displease God? Because God is Pure Love, and God is unchanging. He is, was and ever shall be. To be displeased or to disapprove is to cease to be pure love and to change; and God cannot not be pure love, or God would not be God. God does not judge because judgment is outside of love. Love always accepts. Always. Or it wouldn't be love at all.

So what's the point? We can do whatever we want and God will love us all the same? God will love the murderer the same as the priest? Absolutely. Well that's not fair! Isn't it though? Isn't it fair that every one of us is loved absolutely, with no exception? Fairness is a concern only to those who would pass judgment and declare that there is a right way. So yes, we can continue to do the things which make us feel bad, continue to judge and condemn, continue to separate ourselves from Love Itself and continue to live in suffering; and God will love us just the same. But the catch is that we will not experience that love as love. We will experience suffering instead because these things are contrary to love, contrary to God; and to be separated from Love Itself is to suffer greatly. It is in fact the cause of our current state. Life was not meant to be suffering. In fact there is no reason at all for any one of us to suffer. We need only to remember what we were meant to be and use our free will to deprogram ourselves back to our natural state. There is not a right way, but there is a way to Love and a way from Love. To Love will naturally bring happiness. Away will bring suffering.

Life was meant to be happy. So go make someone happy.

thank You and God bless

bryan