Life {re}Defined

here is a reminder that among all the political and economic decisions that are in front of us, the most important decision in our lives is whether to live by hope or by Faith...

"There are two kinds of people: Those who believe their lives are determined by forces outside themselves, and those who believe that their lives are determined by a Divine Force inside themselves. The first live by hope and are swayed by the winds of change; the second live by Faith, knowing that no matter what happens, they are always alright."

Our beloved America -and planet earth on a whole- is an airport, nothing more and nothing less. Many of us are getting so caught up in who we want to run the airport that we are losing sight of our eternal destination. Yes, the airport experience is important, but not important enough for us to segregate ourselves by political-party affiliations and skin colour; nothing in Life requires that, only our own insecure fears.

The foolish person seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under their feet.

Here is an invitation to enjoy your ever unfolding journey of Life...
To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with Spring.

...is one of the greatest fallacies ever perpetrated upon women, the family, and upon humanity, and is one of the biggest lies put in the mouth of God by His followers and anyone else.

And no wonder, since it is a notion essential to the undermining of Divine personal worth, the institution of marriage, and society in general.

It is amazing to me how many of us have been so well programmed that we can read a paragraph that clearly says,"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it"...

and no matter how many times we look at it and reread it, what our brain sees is...

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is ahead/better/smarter/more Divinely favoured than the wife, even as Christ is ahead of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be under their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, and in payment you get to do whatever you want whenever you want with impunity."

What is the difference between the Truth and the lie? There is a huge difference. What God is saying is simply that wives and husbands should love each other to the exclusion of others, and that women are wired on a conscious level to do this by giving all of themselves only to the man they are married to and that men are wired on a conscious level to do this by being willing to protect his wife with his life. You see, a woman can know that she is completely and truly in love with a man when she gives him all of herself: her heart, her past, her present, her future, her pain, her joy, her masks, her friends, her hopes, her dreams, her tears, her fears, her triumphs, her failures, her bare naked uncosmetized self. And a man can know that he is completely truly in love with a woman when he knows that he would die to his ego and to himself and even physically for her without hesitation.

So God is simply saying the same exact thing twice, "Love each other completely" but He is saying it in the language that each gender understands. Isn't He wise?

Now let's take this a step further and see how dangerous the concept of "the submissive wife" truly is...

First, let us assume that no husband is perfect. So now if a wife is truly submissive, then she would have to actually withhold her gifts, talents, advice, wisdom, intelligence, insight, experience, and her Divine connection from her husband. And in so doing isn’t she actually allowing or even creating opportunities for her husband to fail on earth and eternally. You see, the submissive wife is actually doing the exact opposite of what God wants her to do: she is withholding herself instead of giving all of herself.

God is not a respecter of husbands and not of wives. He did not give men both the brains and the brawn, and leave the woman as the pawn.

But here is what I don't understand. Why would any sane man be interested in having a submissive wife? If for no other reason than the selfish reason of 'not wanting to mess up', a man would -out of the need to survive- accept all the help he could get instead of just help washing his socks. Why would a man who is not proud and who does have self-esteem and self-respect want a wife who will tell him only what he wants to hear and stroke his ego and does what he wants even if it is wrong?

My wife and I and our children sat down and talked about these issues before we decided to get married. I shared with them that I had no intention of marrying a submissive wife and that in God's dictionary(the only one that counts) there is actually no such thing because "submissive" and "wife" are mutual exclusive words. She shared with us that she would never think of marrying an unprotective/unloving husband. My wife freely gives me the good news and the bad news, compliments and criticisms, praise and correction, acclaim and admonishment; she communicate with me. She gives me the Truth when I need to hear it, not if and when I feel like hearing it. I am her head and so I use that vantage point to watch out for her and protect her and she makes sure that my head doesn't get too big for my helmet of salvation or so small that my helmet falls off. She is the heart that pumps blood into me and our children and gives me all the nutrients with which God has blessed her.

My wife and I Love each other in the Biblical way and we wouldn't have it any other way.

I have been ill and basically in bed for the past 3 weeks. My illness was due to part genetics, part ignorance, and part fate. There were times when the 'ignorance' aspect really got to me and caused me to tamper with self blame and anger towards my uninformed destructive choices. But God was always there reminding me through my family and through subtle small ways, that no matter what happens, I must stay committed to the Peace that passes all understanding. One of these small reminders is a man I once read about.

A monk was incarcerated for 18 years as a political prisoner of the Chinese. After he was released, an interviewer asked him if he was ever in serious danger. "Yes, about three times", the monk explained. "How so?", the interviewer asked him. "Were you tortured?" ... "Yes, but the torture is not what I am referring to", the monk replied. "I am referring to the times when I grew angry".

The monk was affirming that his primary commitment was to Spiritual Peace, and he evaluated his success in life by how much he stayed connected to that Peace. His body could be incarcerated, but not his soul.

You and I have our "to-do" lists which determine what we would like to get done in a day. Yet it maybe equally (or even more) valuable to create a "to-feel" or a "to-be" list that sets our intentions for the kind of experience we want to have during out day, regardless of the outer events.

As spiritual beings, it is the Spirit in which we live that satisfies us. Even if you get angry or lose your center, see how quickly you can return to your sense of joy and clarity. Then you will find yourself in less danger and more safety every day. I did.

The horse looks very concerned.