November 06, 2021

01

Capitalism is the end of democracy.
The mantra of Capitalism,
"Profit At Any Price,"
means goodbye to Liberty, Justice, Equality, Truth.
Money is all that matters.
Everybody has a price.
Congress and the Supreme Court,
and certainly the President,
can be bought off
with a billionaire's tip money--
and when the corporate Gang of Thieves
comes together with the common purpose
of making (In their mind) unlimited money
off of the carcass of democracy,
it's the end of the ride
for the Revolutionary Dream.

Think about what separates the revolutionaries
from us.
It comes down to maturity.
They were willing to sacrifice themselves
for the idea of freedom, equality, justice and truth.

Can you imagine walking into the Continental Congress
and saying, 
"How much do you fellas want
to just go on back home?"
But, say that to a member of Congress--
with "Do what I want done," 
in place of "Go back home,"--
and they line up 
with their hand out
docile and ready to do your bidding.

They never had an idea worth dying for.
What is the point of dying for money?
They want money to live high
as a money-making orbit around the earth.
And they will do whatever it takes to make it.

That leaves the rest of us
figuring out how to make the best of it
on the crumbs that "trickle down"
from their banquet table.

It is going to be a mess.

My best advice is get yourself
an idea that can see you through
the worst life can do,
and get yourself a community
of three to twelve people
who can join together in a pact
of balance and harmony
to assist each other
in riding out the madness of these times.

Everything I have written forever
is about these two themes,
the right kind of idea,
and the right kind of community,
and it's all free on my WordPress
companion site:
https://www.jimwdollar.com
It's an anchoring adamantine foundation
amid the clashing rocks
and heaving waves 
of the wine dark sea.
And it is a lot to read--
and it is meant to spark your own
inner realizations,
to ignite your own spirit and imagination,
in the service of what needs to be done
in the present moment
of each situation as it arises
in your life.

It all amounts to a "See and Do Workbook."
It is a way through the wilderness,
and it is a lot of reading.
And it doesn't matter where you start.

The way is not a linear way. 
Carl Jung called it 
"The process of individuation,"
and said it consisted of
"the circumambulation around the Self"
(That would be our Other Self,
the Psyche, our Inner Guide,
our Best Invisible Friend).
It is the round-a-bout way
of finding what we need
to find what we need
in times such as these.

Happy Trails!
Mind how you go!

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02

We have from birth to death
to do what is ours to do,
to do what we came to do,
to be who we are.

Too many of us are settling
for something else.
Call it "the Adam and Eve Syndrome."
They were handed paradise
and thought they could make improvements.
Thought they might be better off
somewhere else.
Thought they were one installment purchase
away from having it made.

They had it made and had aspirations
of Really Having it Made.

The were like "a man on a donkey
looking for his donkey."
Like a woman with here glasses on her head
looking for her glasses.
Like us looking for what we want,
not seeing what we have--
and what we are being asked (by our life)
to do with it.

What we have is never enough.
That's the story of the Garden of Eden.

Here we are.
Now what?

What will it take,
do you think,
to sit us down,
in the stillness and the silence,
and wait,
watching, listening,
for what, we do not know,
but trusting ourselves
to something hidden,
waiting for us to be available
and open to the idea
of being life-long companions
with what is waiting for us
in the stillness and the silence.

It only takes being quiet,
and still,
and empty
to know what I'm talking about.

"Empty" is the trick.
How do you empty yourself
of all the stuff that arises
when you sit still and quiet?

The rule for finding what the silence
has to offer is
"No Agenda And No Opinions!"

Sit still and quiet
refusing to be hooked by 
all that comes to mind,
or any of it.
Let it come and let it go,
as though you are watching leaves
floating by on a wooded stream.
Let all those thoughts 
be as leaves on a stream.
Here comes another one,
there it goes.

Sit still and quiet,
watching your thoughts come and go,
looking for one that is not "of you."
For one that stands apart from the rest.
For one that calls your name,
that draws your attention,
that compels your interest,
that knows where you live,
and will not leave you alone,
or go away.

It may scare you awake.

Joseph Campbell said,
"What you seek lies far back
in the darkest corner
of the cave you most 
don't want to enter."

This is Jesus in Gethsemane.

We live our life between the two gardens,
Eden and Gethsemane.
We leave Eden in the search
for something better.
We find our way back to Eden
on a path that leads
through the heart of Gethsemane
and across the face of Golgotha,
on the way to the Empty Tomb.

All those old Bible stories
are allegories 
about us and our life.
There is no coming to life,
no New Life,
no being Born Again,
without dying to all 
that called us from Eden
with its promises of sweet nothing
and its offer of glory everlasting.

Wealth and money is a lie.

Life is found within,
in being true to what 
is deepest, best and truest
about ourselves.

And it is like dying
to hand over the life we have in mind
for ourselves
in order to live the life
that has us in mind for itself.

In the stillness and the silence,
we meet firsthand the truth 
of what I am saying.
What we do about it
tells the tale--
the tale we are here to tell,
or the tale we would prefer to tell.

One is heaven,
and the other is hell.
Choose wisely.
Choose well.

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