March Moonlight and some thoughts

Last night before hitting the hay as they say in this neck of the woods, I took a glance at the moon out the back door. It was covered by a veil of haze and sitting right behind the cottonwood tree. Looking a bit like a Halloween picture.
I was struck by the stark beauty of it. Silver shining against the dark of night, with branches black as black can be. What I really wanted to do was paint this picture, but sleepiness took over and so I opted to just capture it on the camera. Funny, I was going to say, capture it on film, but my camera has no film. Changing times !
I used to want to fight some of the changes that come with time, the way things are done, holding on so tight to the way things were done in the old days that I was missing out on some good things from today. I will always love the civility of days gone by and the honorable way people behaved in the old days but one has to wonder if they behaved that way out of their heart or out of just something they had to do. There is a difference. I hate to think it was just because of fear of ridicule or being shunned by society, but the reality was, that was more often the motivator than that of a loving heart.
Being shunned stinks. Been there, had that done, still do to an extent, I just care less about it now. One visit to a Mennonite church as a non-plain dressing person can give you a taste of that feeling. Children stare at you as if you were a monster with three heads, 9 eyes and 17 noses. They are unabashed at their starring, that goes on for over an hour. Leaning right over the pew and gawking at you. Parents never stop them. The parents are a bit more discreet but certainly suspicious of you and most are less than friendly, more apt to look down their nose at you. Funny how you never think of them that way. You just imagine them quilting, baking, sewing and being gentle natured. Recently a friend shared her experience with me as she attended our sons wedding. She had an unfriendly experience much like what I just wrote about. In fairness, I think these plain folk don't even know they are being rude or unfriendly, just a bit righteous minded which they no doubt do not realize. At least I pray they don't know what they are doing.
People act strange in the name of religion. Any religion. There are some churches that will "wine and dine" any new person that steps through the door. Being kinder than kind, sorta like leaving honey out to trap a bear. They get you in and then move on to the next, leaving you to wonder where your new friends all went ! They are perhaps counting the stars they expect on their crowns.
There are religions that don't even allow any converts. Believing what you are born into is where you are meant to stay. There are many eastern religions that allow for you to be as many religions as you wish, all at the same time. It is not uncommon in Asia to meet folks that are Buddhist, Baptist, Followers of Confucius and perhaps even something else. On some islands you find folks being good Catholics and yet following some aspect of an old black magic.
Religion is a subject that starts wars, can create very heated discussions, and breaks up families.
Yet, the majority of religions teach peace and love.
But it seems to always come down to some basic man made rule of, "I am right and you are wrong."
The person who says they have the truth can be as nasty as can be, demanding you to accept their way, only what they are offering is so lost in the ugliness of the presentation.
I have no idea how this post developed from a picture of the moon. Maybe it came from the absolute joy of this past Sunday. A room of 40 people, all different religious beliefs, all kinds of differing philosophies, yet all were friendly and spoke to one another, taking interest in each other. Except for two people, who no doubt did not know just how stand- offish they appeared.
I don't want to sound bitter here, I am not. Just commenting on observations. Bitterness serves no one, but talking about the things experienced often shed some light where there was none. Ignorance always lives in the dark.
I am so incredibly happy with where I am in life. To be honest, I had no idea you could walk around day after day with this kind of joy. For the first time, I feel totally at peace in how I know God, understand the way in which he works, feel like I did finally have that visit on the sofa with him. Notice I say, "feel like". I had no heavenly visit ! But it feels like things have all come together for me. Faith is more real than ever.
Its a good feeling to be able to cast away the mantle of man made agendas and get to the honesty of it all. Not leave in fear of so many unknowns. My life is not motivated by some fear of hell, or desire for a life with golden streets. Its simply to be the best I can be now, no lay-away plan. I am wanting to live with abundant joy NOW, be filled with Gratitude NOW, feel love for God, no matter if there is a heaven or hell.
Live by the words of Christ and call that enough. Be happy for wisdom that is proved out to be wisdom and live by it too. It's perfectly fine in this country to quote Abe Lincoln, who was just a man, yet not acceptable in many circles to quote Buddha who was just a man too.
At any rate, my day needs to progress beyond this chair and key board and on to walking around outside, soaking in the morning air, breathing deep, meditating, praying, and then on to things like cooking and cleaning.
Life is abundantly good.
How is the blog working out for folks now ? The CBox and all that stuff are way at the bottom of the page but still working on that.