Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
The View From Springer’s Point — Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer Banks, North Carolina
We are the source of everything that isn't a rock or a tree. Including God. We made it all up, right out of our own Psyche/imagination. We told ourselves stories that scared us into making up other stories to calm us down. Hate, anger, fear and greed are the origin of most of our problems with ourselves and each other. The gentle values, like compassion, empathy, sympathy and a noble heart help offset the violence and destructiveness we are capable of in the grip of emotions beyond our control. But it all is our responsibility, and due solely to being born without an instruction guide and nothing more than what we sense and tell ourselves to guide and direct us along the way.
The wisest/best ancestors I know of are the Taoist, Buddhist, Zen (And Zen is what happened when Taoism met Buddhism) Masters. Jewish/Christian theologians are brutal and ruthless, and their religion reflects that to the core.
Our Psyche is the true source of everything, with us projecting our experience with Psyche onto the outer world and finding Out There what we discover In Here. Awakening occurs when we put things together in an "Aha!" kind of way, but we are torn by wanting what we want when we want it, which is a problem because it clashes with what we also want, and has been a problem forever. Which is the real "Aha!" discovery at the heart of who and how we are.
We find relief from all that ails us simply dropping into the emptiness/stillness/silence and waiting for our questions to lead to realization/awareness over the course of the rest of our life, and guide us along the way.
I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing.
I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters, five granddaughters, one great granddaughter, and a great grandson on the way, within about ten minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.
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Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 