Confusion

We live in a face paced world, where just about anyone's ideas can become global thought in just a matter of seconds. Everyone has an opinion, an idea, a belief and with the world wide web, we can all view hundreds of ideas on any one subject in a short period of time....the result can lead to confusion. A simple example is eating. Used to be a long time ago there was no confusion to what we ate, we ate what we had on hand, what we grew, what we could afford. There were not millions of supplements we felt we needed or a zillion diet plans, some that offer prolonged life, thinner bodies, more muscular bodies etc etc. There are folks out there that are so full of confusion on what to eat that they feel obligated to change the contents of their cupboards and pantries once a month or more just to keep up with what they just read. There is nothing simple about that approach to life and certainly nothing calming. It can be the very same thing for our religious expression. We think we are all set in what we connect to and then we read something new or hear a preacher on television or do a search on line for something and end up chasing a rabbit trail of different spiritual thought. A long time ago I decided that there was only one thing I knew for certain, that there was a God and he cares for us and helps us. Beyond that, nothing much feels set in stone. I went the road of being narrow minded, closed off, having some kind of smug, almost exclusive concept of who were God's people and you know what, that was me thinking, not Gods thinking. I dropped the idea that dress, hair, the kind of songs we sing etc, have anything to do with what God really wants from us. He wants us to be loving, simple as that. Shaking our finger at others is not loving, even if a person is a total reprobate, there is always hope for them to find peace of heart, know love, feel love, feel compassion and those things can change a person, but as long as we are shaking fingers at them, we cannot fold our hands in prayer for them or embrace them with mercy and compassion.

But, we are so pressed on all sides by peoples ideas of how we should behave according to their standards and not the simple commands given to us, love God, love one another. How simple is that in context, but so difficult in practice since in loving everyone we have to dump the ego. Leave the confusion behind, because it soon infiltrates every aspect of your life, I see it all the time. It spans a huge area from what to eat, what to wear, how to live with responsibility to the planet, what to worry about, what not to worry about. Will the world end in 2012, or will it be the point of a new era or is it simply nothing more than another wild idea ?

I think the end of the confusion comes when we know for certain that like Richard Carlson so wonderfully wrote about...."Don't Sweat The Small Stuff....and its all small stuff ". Live your life with that uncomplicated conviction that in the end, it will matter more that you loved your neighbor than if you dress a certain way or eat a certain way, or live in the city or in the country.