Spiritual Dimensions of Impact Mindfulness
OK I realize that the spiritual diversions that I frequently take perhaps turn off some people…
but realistically, are they “my people?”
Because, you see, impact mindfulness has to be (HAS TO BE) a spiritual concept.
Why?
If you’ve read much here you might have caught wind of a belief I hold dear to. And that belief kinda goes like this…
Why?
Well we’re going to examine that question in this very post. As well as the age-old non-spiritual argument that if God is good, why does so much bad happen?
The God
Many people condemn the lack of sheer logic in any belief in an unknowable and unsee-able being? Well, isn’t there something unknowable and unsee-able inherent in OUR being?
That is, our spirit.
You certainly cannot examine it under a microscope. But it’s quite hard to argue that it’s not there…isn’t it?
And it is from this spirit that our desire to do good…to have an impact…emanates. It doesn’t result from the flesh and blood material stuff…that part only gives rise to the need and quest for survival.
The flesh yearns to take, rather than to give.
But there is a part of us to which good does appeal…the spiritual part and I believe strongly that that part is connected to an intelligent force that is also spirit…call it “god” if you like.
In Revolutionary Misfit jargon, we like to call it Universe.
The Bad
Okay smarty pants…then what about all that badness that’s out there?
Well for now let’s focus on human badness…not the other kind of natural ugliness that occurs over which we really have no control. We’ll deal with that a little later.
Well, if you think about it the fact that a component of our being…the main one actually…is spirit kinda connotes the necessity of free will…doesn’t it?
I guess other life forms have some semblance of a spirit, but it’s not the same.
Other than some questionable examples, apart from humans, life forms really don’t have much choice between good and bad. That’s why I’ve heard it said that bad really doesn’t exist in nature. There are no Bernie Madoffs or Ted Bundys in the animal kingdom. Those cats just do what they do…its all about flesh and blood survival.
But when it comes to us…far different story. Like I said before, we alone have the capacity to do good and that capacity connects us all together and to God.
But that capacity also must have a flip side. Bad!
It must have a flip side because inherent in our spiritual-ness is the freedom to choose one course or the other. It must be…otherwise we are no different from all the rest of the animal world.
And we of course are…very different.
In other words, I’ve never seen a group of chimpanzees start an organization to protect the rights of their handicapped brethren.
You can slough that off and attribute it solely to biology…to enhanced brain function. But that same enhanced brain function also leads to some awfully despicable acts.
So, why the good stuff?
That, my friends, the good stuff, which unfortunately also must have it’s dark opposite side, is what separates us and what connects us to each other and to…
God.
I like to call it impact.
The Ugly
Okay then why would God allow earthquakes, storms and tidal waves that wipe out hundreds of thousands in a moment?
Well, maybe it’s because God, for all his other qualities, is a law abiding guy.
And thank god for those laws. Because without those same laws that give rise to the ugly stuff that kills us, we wouldn’t be here at all…now would we?
One of those laws is that our material state of being is in gradual decline and will meet its earthly end at one point or another.
And if you are spiritually inclined, you probably also believe that that end is really just another beginning.
It’s neither good nor bad…it may be ugly and messy, but it’s just the way it is and has to be.
I am sure this post has the potential of some severe feather ruffling. So, go ahead and take issue with any and all of what was said above.
If you noticed, despite the intensely spiritual bent of this post, I was able to pull it off without diverting into any religious dogma.
That’s because I just don’t believe, anymore, that it’s necessary to the equation.
Dogma is an impact blinder and a great big one at that…
And remember that we’re all about removing those.
image credit: Rufus Gefangenen via Compfight cc
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