2012 - The Final Frontier?

There is a great deal of speculation that the world will end next year, or that the apocalypse will happen. I can not say what the year holds; I truly do not know. I know 2011 was rough on many - vast numbers in areas of natural disasters, plus economic problems, changing governments, rise in international tensions, even very personal losses - ranging from home foreclosures to death of loved ones.

In my travels for the holiday, I do not think I have come across one person that didn't have some major loss (whether personal or part of a wide-spread disaster) this past year.

What will 2012 bring?

Many hope for the end; many believe they will be swept up in a rapture that will protect them from "hell on earth." Countless numbers wait with baited breath to see if Christ will return and the "evil ones" in our society will "get theirs." Sadly many hope for the end, for death's stillness seems more appealing to them right now than more of what they saw in 2011.

Tribulation is not "the end of the world;" it's a period of change. It can be as violent and traumatic as puberty. Yet, something more mature and a bit wiser rises from that. If we are in a period of "humanity's puberty" there are two things we need to keep in mind:

• We grow to become something better than we currently are. We have something to learn and need to change as part of it.
• We will continue; this is not the end..

While we enter into the new year, I have actually started to look forward with a positive outlook. I don't know if this will be when Christ returns. I don't know if I will see the Heavens and Earth dissipate and a new world begin. But I know we are taking some serious - and global - steps toward something new.

Change can be violent. Change can hurt. We may loose much - both in terms of personal possessions, ideals / goals, and thoughts / understandings. We may loose loved ones in this process too...

Yet, where we go really has a lot to do with our own mindset - each and everyone of us. This is not a "believe in Jesus and you will be saved" speech. This is practical analysis firmly grounded in both psychological and spiritual studies.

The more we are grateful for what we have, the more we value that which truly lasts - friends, family, connections to each other, love, and God. The more we value what lasts, the more positive our outlook becomes. The more positive an outlook we have, the more we can see our blessings and shake off our desires for material things and passing fame this world tries to sell us. The more we free ourselves from the fetters that bind us (a part of the Lord's prayer), the more we can establish further and stronger connections to the Divine and each other. The more we see good things in each other, instead of evil and enemies, the more we help each other become children of God. The more we help each other become children of God, only through mutual work, the more we become what God created us to be.

On the other hand, the more we focus on fear, the more we will fear each other. The more we fear each other, the further we become. The further we become, the less we understand each other. The less we understand each other; the more we see others as our enemy - lines are drawn. The more lines that are drawn, the more wars there will be. The more wars there are, the more people will suffer and die. The more people suffer and die, the more fear rises to our mind. And the viscous cycle repeats itself as the adversary laughs in delight at our misery.

Remember: Only together we achieve something far greater than the sum of our individual efforts; the adversary seeks to divide for that will block us from achieving God's will: being the Children of God.

In 2012, which will we focus on? Each and every mind DOES make a difference, despite the ego telling us we are too small; despite the world telling us we are not enough. We are enough - as long as we believe. God is with us. When we do God's Will; we will not fail, regardless of what we see with our eyes when the world resists the changes to come.

- ESA

Ben Stein Commentary

This is a copy of a commentary I found recently that I wanted to share with the posts above and below. This was written and read by Ben Stein on CBS Sunday Morning.

- ESA 

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My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees "Christmas trees." I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
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It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. it doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

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I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat!
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Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
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In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
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Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her, 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentlemen He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
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In light of recent events... terrorist attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
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Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide.) We said an expert should know what he's talking about. We said OK.
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Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'We reap what we sow.'
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Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
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Are you laughing yet?
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Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list beacuse you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
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Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
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Pass it on if you think it has merit.
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If not, then just discard it...no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
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Ben Stein

Child's Present

There are times we are given a moment or two, to shed our adult perspectives and see things around us through the perceptions of a child:

• The wonder of a birdsong before the dawn's first light
• The sound of trees in the silent night forest as they speak to one another
• The touch of the wind as it sails past with a feather-like touch or hurricane force
• The pastels of early springs gradually darkening to the full colors of summer
• The thrill of singing a song, alone or with others - even if not sung well
• The pleasure in being part of team, working and playing together side-by-side
  
• The joy in listening or telling a story
• The scent of flowers blooming on the trees or of the first baking of the day....
  

• The touch of God on a soul when one prays

A young child can live completely in the moment, without worrying about the future or comparing what is around them with the past.

God, too, is in the present moment.

While being present in the past when the past WAS the present, and in the future when the future IS the present, God does not exist in the past/future of our minds. We may think that is so, but God EXISTS in the present.

When we focus on the future or dwell on the past, we miss a good part of what is around us NOW. But if we allow ourselves to fully experience the present, we can also come to know we are not alone in doing so.

A child can live completely in the moment, and we should strive to never loose that ability.

Past is past, forever gone
Future is beyond, ever an eon
Present is the gift that goes ever on.

- ESA

Blind Goals

"Thy Will Be Done"

~ Words spoken in the Our Father / Lord's Prayer
~ Words felt keenly by Christ in the garden of Gethsemane
~ Words that are very difficult to live by, especially when I am blind to what God's Will is in my life


It is one thing to know a goal - whether or not I agree with it, find it difficult or even impossible - and work my way through whatever obstacles and challenges to reach that goal. It is another thing entirely to not know that goal... but still work my way blindly forward to achieve it.

Why would I work toward a goal I do not see or understand? Why would God place such a goal in my hands and expect me to reach it?

Two reasons:

First, I am not God. I am not all-seeing, all-knowing; there is a much greater knowledge and understanding of what is going on in everything from my small, personal life to the vast reaches of all Creation.

So if I try to reach a goal - I'll be doing it MY way. Many times the ends does not justify the means. Many times what I will do to reach a goal will actually hinder my efforts - or worse - harm another or their efforts in obtaining their goals. There is often a better way of reaching the goal, even when I'm not aware of it.

That leads to the second reason: TRUST.

If I don't know where I'm going or - more precisely - what I need to do in this world, I need to learn to put more trust in God that I will be guided.

It is hard. I get in my own way time after time. Often I see a glimmer of what I think is the goal and I take reins back and say, "Thanks, I'll take it from here" and wind up misdirected.

But whenever I run into a dead-end, God is there - sometimes laughing at me; sometimes laughing with me - ready to take my outstretched hand and guide me again to His Will in my life.

Yes, there is also the risk of being misguided by others. That is where prayer helps - an open two-way communication - AND walking with my eyes open even though I don't see the distant goal ahead.

Just because I am blind to my life's goals doesn't mean I am blind about my own actions and what is happening around me. I still am responsible for my own actions, the words I speak / write, the works of my own hands, and the times I've stood aside and did nothing.

In addition to the two aforementioned reasons, I've just thought of another.... How many times have I worried, thought about, planned, dreamed and imagined what the future will be like - anything from what will happen in the far distant future to what will I have for lunch today? Too often.

In my mind I often live in the past or the future and fail to live in the NOW. To simply "BE" in my life. But that is where my life really should be lived; the rest is just in my head. The present is where the biggest impact is made in life - mine and how I impact the lives of others.

So I should learn from the past
Let God take care of the future
And put my Trust in His guidance

- ESA