I AM, Therefore I Think

For all of you that are thinking that I have that backwards, I apologize, but for me this is how it works... not the way Descartes put it. He said, I think, therefore I am." Which is the same as saying, the fact that I am thinking is proof that I exist. So profound.

I know I exist. I existed before I had my first thought. After I thought, I became a creator :O

Aristotle is quoted as saying, "But if life itself is good and pleasant (...) and if one who sees is conscious that he sees, one who hears that he hears, one who walks that he walks and similarly for all the other human activities there is a faculty that is conscious of their exercise, so that whenever we perceive, we are conscious that we perceive, and whenever we think, we are conscious that we think, and to be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious that we exist..."

You will notice his opening line of thought, "But if life is good and pleasant..." Well, sometimes life is not good and pleasant, but it is what I think it is which is to say I created it the way it is. Many of you will say, "There is no way that I created all these problems in my life!" And I cannot argue with you, but I do humbly disagree. I have a thought about something, and I am thinking about what is and no matter how much I don't want a certain thing, the more I think about it the more it lingers. What I have learned is to change my thinking and then I find I am creating the new thing that I do want.

I can't get into all the physics of it, but these days there is no shortage of those of us who place a lot of emphasis on what thoughts run around in our minds and how those thoughts constitute our reality. Some can explain the details of it. I am less interested in the how, because that is God, or fate, or the process. It is of the utmost importance to me that I become the master of my thoughts and spend my time participating in the end result that I am seeking. Visualizing what I want to ultimately experience, even though I can't see it yet.

That is faith.

You can say I am leaving God out of the equation, and to some degree you might be right, but can we agree that no matter how much faith I have in God, or Source, or the Universe, little if anything happens unless and until I get involved? I mean, I believe in God, but I have prayed, begged, and pleaded for many things that were very important and nothing... absolutely nothing happened. In fact, things sometimes got worse. That does not discount Divine involvement, it implies that I have been asking without really participating in the realization of my prayer. God gave me the mind to use. It is part of being created in her image. I have to use the mind to participate in the intended power that my thinking possesses.

I think, therefore I create. I AM no matter what, and I am creating my world with my every thought. By monitoring my thoughts and keeping them in line with the intended result, I play the most important role I can in seeing the thing come to fruition. Does that make me God? Nah, that's too much responsibility for me, but it does make me a co-creator with God. Like it or not, that is a truth that is as real as rain.

Don't stop praying, just be involved in your prayers. Don't wait for someone else to change your reality. Begin in your own mind seeing the reality you desire while in the process of praying, and I believe you will see that reality come to you quickly. Have faith. It is good to have, and it is better than saying a prayer and just waiting... wait all you want, but I AM getting up, getting out, and getting on with my life fully awake and aware. I AM fully participating in my prayers being answered. What are you doing?

Peace, love, and faith-filled thoughts. -- jb

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I Know Nothing... Nothing!

I don't know about you yet, but I personally don't know a thing when it comes to the absolute truth about everything there is to know about everything that is. In fact, I am so glad of that fact that I am compelled to write about it so you can tell me if I am crazy. I was thinking just now, what would be your job title if your job was to be the One with all the answers? Would you work out of your house? Who would be your boss? (there seems to always be one) And can you imagine your cell phone bill? Oh my...

I was just dwelling on the thought that right now, I really don't know all that much when it comes to all-certain-there-is-no-error-possible type knowing. The fact is, I do not know, and I am actually cool with that. The next thought is really the impetus that started as the thought that led to my rambling in public once more.

So my question of myself is: Why am I not freaked out about not having the remedy for my current state of affairs? Why am I actually finding freedom with not being in control of "how" it all works out until it manifests as what I really want? Is it patience, passivity, complacency, sacrifice? Or is it trust?

Trust.

It matters little to me if you are a Christian, an Atheist, a Buddhist, or a Pimp, at some point you have to trust something, or someone, even if it is yourself. So the question that follows is: What level of control am I willing to relinquish in order for my dream to become a reality?

Place your trust somewhere.

I trust God but I also trust myself because I have learned to trust the innate instinct that comes from being alive and awake in this physical element we call human being. I am aware that animals ran for higher ground before the terrible Asian tsunami in 2004, while humans took pictures. Yet I am equally certain that while you and I are curious by nature, we also possess all it takes to have a trust level in our own instincts that cannot and should not be throttled by the teachings of the ones, whether they be professors or preachers, who would keep you from your completely and totally becoming who you really are.

Who are you really?

One way you can really know is to let go of the fear of asking the questions that are burning in your heart even as you read these words. You know which ones I mean, the ones you know that to ask them and then get certain answers could and would change everything. Just your asking could change everything. If only you would ask.

Here's the deal: It is the awareness of the question that is the hint of truth that there is truth that has not yet been offered. Trust the question and in the asking lies the answer. You deep down already know the answer, and you just need to get it out in the open and decide how you feel about it. There is freedom in asking. There is even more freedom in getting the answers. It is good to ask. It is even better to insist on the truth.

Let the chips fall where they may.

So in our asking we are making the conscious choice to challenge the system that we have known up to the point of the asking. This choice will lead to the beginning stages of discovering who you really are. Don't let popular opinion make your decisions for you. Don't let anyone lead you away from what your heart tells you is true. Truth is not always the same for each and every person... and that is quite by design. Truth is personal. Think about it.

Think. About. It.

Think! My friend, your opinion is important. It should be heard, for without your opinion there might never exist a reality called world peace. Without your input it might take longer than necessary to get this planet (and its management) on track with what's best for our Earth.

God bless her.

You know, it might ultimately be proven that I know nothing. I may have to adjust my thinking as new information comes along, but for today what I know is that as long as I make an intentional choice to press for truth, never settling for anything that leaves me less than completely satisfied, I can wait for the answer as long as it takes. Time is an illusion anyway, so it may just work itself out overnight.

Peace, love, and happy thoughts...what else is there? -- jb

Satisfaction Guaranteed... Right?

Is there any such thing as satisfaction guaranteed when it comes to our wants and needs? I believe the answer to the question is yes even though I have days when I think it's the absolute farthest thing from possible. What I am learning is that no matter what I think, that is exactly what I get. In other words, whether I think I can or I can't, either way I
am right.

Get it?

The Universe is full of natural laws, and we bow to them without thinking about them. Gravity, time, weather, etc., are just a few, and we never really think about them because they just happen. Well, don't get in a wad when I submit to you that there is another law that is equally natural, but I do have a choice in how it operates. At least to the degree that I believe it :o

That law is the Law of Attraction, and it is getting renewed attention even though it is, was, and will always be just another natural law. The cool thing is that by participating in its power and cooperating with it, we come one step close to accomplishing all we have ever wanted to be, do, or have. The paradox for me is that it has the same effect in the opposite fashion when I look for things to feel negative about and then just unconsciously "allow" it to bring me all the things that kind of energy produces.

My parents raised me to pray to God and I do. At the same time, these days I have enhanced my prayers by becoming a willing participant in the outcome, and it has changed my outlook on life irreversibly. I meditate on peace and I find it. I know I am created in the image of God as the book says, and I can do all things through Christ (not the man Jesus, but the anointing he carried is equally available to me -- look it up!) and I believe it. I say positive things. I think positive things. And when I do, good things happen. When I don't, well... I don't need to elaborate, do I?

Friends, try it today. Change the way you look at your situation, and I guarantee that if you really believe in the new way, your situation will change, and you will see positive results.

Satisfaction guaranteed. Gotta run... Peace -- jb

Was that Love's intent?

I love to drive. I have some of my most creative moments while passing the time behind the steering wheel. Today, I made a trip to Tuscaloosa to deliver some things to my son who is going to school there. It has been unseasonably cool for August and when you live in Alabama, that news puts a little spring in your step. So, I spent most of my alone time on this trip thinking about how thankful I am and how I wish the "church" wasn't so divided. (strange combo, I know)

Now, thinking and thanking do go well together. I'm thankful for many things and I think about it a lot, but the church is another story. At the same time, lately I have been forced to confront my deepest feelings about the whole idea of church or a community of faith, so that issue has been on my mind as well. I guess the reason they were blending today is a result of the time spent with my closest friends last night at one of our regular Sunday night events. Some of us even hang out every Thursday night too. Thursdays have become a ritual and I look forward to every opportunity to spend my moments with my friends. I like being with these friends whom I happened to have met at church, but I don't feel as warm and fuzzy about being at the church we share in common... why is that? Thanks for your patience. Through my rambling, I am trying to get to the point of this post --

God is love so Love made us. Was it Love's intent for her creation to be divided against itself? I will do my best to talk in general terms on this subject but it is difficult. I have many thoughts but I don't have time for that kind of rambling tonight. I have to get up really early tomorrow. I just decided to throw out an idea or two to get us thinking and to see what happens.

We've got basically four major religions and a bunch of sub categories that extend ad nauseum in direct proportion to the number of splits within a given group. Speaking of divided churches, I will talk about Western Christianity since it is the religion with which I am most intimately familiar. If you live in America, have you ever noticed how many churches we have? There are so many different ways to just name a church that it seems there should be some competition for that naming and the names just seem to speak to a deeper issue; one of judgement and pride with no room for cooperation or dialogue. Someone responds to that comment by saying, "Free will says that I can have any kind of church I want"... Ok. Great argument. But wait! Was this God's idea? Are we justifying our intent to further the illusion of separation by playing the free will card? We may have been given free will but that freedom wasn't intended to be directed at another person or group of persons. Free will is based on the assumption that the one exercising that will has some ability to coexist with others. If not, we throw you in jail. Some of the things I have heard people (including myself) say about people they disagree with is quite troubling. My friends, we are not created to free will ourselves into isolation from the rest of our brothers and sisters.

If love made us then why do we hate what we don't understand? Was it love's intent for us to just assume that because a Buddhist, or a Muslim, or a Hindu doesn't follow the Christian way to God that they will burn in some big ass flaming lake of molten lava that just burns but never burns the heretic up? The imagery gives me the shivers. No, not the hell thing... There is no hell. Just the idea that someone thought all this up so that we could scare the rest of the world into submission. What kind of arrogance creates an illusion of fear so hateful and then directs it outward to every other living human on the planet that doesn't agree? It just makes me think that somewhere we lost our way to God and decided to blame everybody else instead of ourselves.

I once read a great illustration and I will do my best to repeat it here in the hope that by doing so, this post will not offend or confuse anyone. I am a peaceful person and I have no intention of offending or confusing, only challenging. So here's a picture story: If everyone on earth stood side by side, in a circle, hand in hand, and God was in the middle, we would all be able to see God. We would all be able to reach God. We would all have the ability to understand God. We would all have a clear perspective of God from where we stand. Just because you might be standing in a different place and God might look a little different to you from your perspective, does not make your perspective inferior to mine... just different. Different. Not wrong. Different. Not pagan. Just different.

Just because I see God differently from my sister does not make our Gods different. There is truly only one God and that God is Love. I think Love delights in the variety of methods we use in describing our perspectives and I also believe Love is always hoping that we will choose to see each other the same way that we see God and the same way we are seen through the eyes of God.

May we all have eyes to see each other as we are seen by God. May we choose to see each other as worthy of the love that created us. And may we choose to exercise that love in new and creative ways today. Peace -- jb

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