Jim Palmer's Blog, page 78

When we experience peace, we want more of it.

One of the biggest deceptions of life is that our happiness depends on the external circumstances of our lives. We are continually arranging our lives to either have pleasure or avoid pain. When we experience peace, we want more of it. When we experience pain, we avoid it. Though these responses our instinctive, they ultimately fail at producing emotional well-being or happiness. The problem with pleasure seeking is that pleasure will end at some point and cause disappointment. The problem with avoiding pain is that you can’t, and normally makes it worse. We seek to exert control in life that will gain pleasure and avoid pain. It won’t work because there are too many things outside our control in our circumstances. Trying to control what we don’t have control over only causes us to lose control inside.

We carry these illusions about happiness into religion and spirituality. We equate being “blessed by God” with our seek-pleasure/avoid-pain strategy. Being “blessed by God” means (we hope) that God will work out our circumstances to increase pleasure in our lives, and/or reduce our pain, difficulty, and hardship. Our “holiness” is the bargaining chip we use to move God into action. This is often the motivation for prayer – petitioning God to increase our pleasure and reduce our pain. On the other hand, sometimes in the name of “spirituality” we apply these formulas that we’re told are bullet-proof ways of getting what we desire in life. The “law of attraction,” for example, becomes the magic bullet, promising to give us whatever we want in life as long as we want it bad enough. Whether it’s God or the law of attraction, applying them inside the context of our happiness attached to our external circumstances, won’t work. It won’t work because the true source of our happiness and well-being is not our circumstances.

Right now your life may be rigged for unhappiness if you are depending on the pleasure/pain strategy to achieve it. So in order to be happy, the first thing you must do is change or transform your relationship to pleasure and pain.

God is always extending outward.

“God is always extending outward. God extends beyond all limits and boundaries and time. God also extends outward in time and space. It’s the first thing we learn about God in the Book of Genesis. We first see God extending outward in and through creation. We see God extending outward through humankind, created in God’s image.

But humankind became lost in a dream of separation. We mistakenly suppose we are separated from God, and therefore we no longer move outward in, with, and as the creative energy and essence of God. God decisively extended outward in humankind as Jesus of Nazareth in order to dispel this illusion of separation. Where people doubted this for themselves, Jesus invited them to believe upon him and to share in his unity with God until they realized their own identity and connection with the divine.

God created you by extending outward as you. Like a wave is to the ocean and a ray of light is to the sun, you are a human expression of the essence of God. Take a Dixie Cup to the ocean and scoop up some water. On the one hand, the entire ocean is obviously not contained in that cup. It is far too vast to be limited to a Dixie Cup. And yet, all the properties that make it the ocean are contained in that cup.

You are here to create… to extend outward… this is the energy and essence of God that is within you. Every moment, every circumstance, every relationship, every encounter… is an opportunity to extend yourself outward… in your thoughts, in your actions, in your relationships, in your creations, in your responses, in your ideas… in everything. There’s a reason humankind is continuously extending outward into ourselves, into space, into knowledge, into possibilities, into the not yet – it’s because that’s who we are.”

“The meaning of life is just to be alive.”

Alan Wilson Watts wrote, “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” We have difficulty comprehending and accepting these words, which is symptomatic of our woefully inadequate view of what life is.

Religion often doesn’t help the matter by focusing out attention on the afterlife, and more or less implying that attachment to the herelife is “worldly,” “ungodly,” and “sinful.” Religion’s apocalyptic view of the world’s end reinforces this further. Why bother if it’s all going up in smoke and flames anyway?

I find it interesting that Christianity puts tremendous emphasis on the birth of Jesus and his death/resurrection, and misses what happened in between… umm… like… his life! Joseph Campbell said, “We save the world by being alive ourselves.” We think of Jesus’ death/resurrection as the salvific part and forget that Jesus was saving the world all along by being alive himself, and showing us what this meant.

Harold Whitman wrote, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Religion so often wants to stir up a lot of drama around what people must do for God, which has included such things as animal and human sacrifices, martyrdom, self-denial and self-flagellation. And yet the Apostle Paul said our walking-around daily life is our expression of “worship,” which is closing the loop of giving what has been given. You have been given a canvas and a set of art supplies – this is your life. What you put on the canvas, what you create – each color and shape and swoosh and swirl is your worship.

Men are born free, but everywhere they are in chains.

“Jean-Jacques Rousseau said, “Men are born free, but everywhere they are in chains.” Bob Dylan added, “How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?”

We tend to think of freedom as escape FROM something. I’ve been thinking of it lately more as freedom TO something – mainly, freedom to choose. Freedom to choose… to be and express ourselves… to think for ourselves and honor our thoughts, views and deepest feelings… freedom to follow our path… freedom to listen to out intuition… freedom to create the lives we want.

Freedom means that we’re not imprisoned by anyone else’s words, deeds or thoughts. People have been trained to love permission instead of freedom. Can we break out of the cocoon of imposed thoughts or is that idea too frightening for us? William Wordsworth said, “We tire easily of Freedom.” And Kafka observed, “Sometimes it’s easier to be in chains.”

We are free. But being free is not so easy. We have been conditioned otherwise for many years. Embracing our freedom will often put as odds with the people and world around us. Rosa Luxemburg wrote, “Freedom is always and exclusively for the one who thinks differently.” Just think what your life would have been like if you were, as Alexander Dubek said, “As free as nature first made man to be!”

Jesus said that knowing the truth would set you free. What truth exactly is that? To re-phrase Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s quote, “Jesus offered freedom but everywhere Christians are in chains.” I think this is so because we miss the truth Jesus was referring to. Why? Because that truth is too threatening to the person we have been conditioned to be. It’s just simpler and more comfortable to settle for a lesser truth, and settle for a pseudo-freedom, and then conveniently pin our focus on the afterlife and wait to die to be free.”

And then one day, like Forrest Gump abruptly being done with running, I was suddenly done deconstructing my Christianity.

“And then one day, like Forrest Gump abruptly being done with running, I was suddenly done deconstructing my Christianity. DONE! I just fell dead to it. If I had to have one more theological discussion I was going to either commit a violent crime, start smoking, or become a Six Feet Under fan.

I didn’t care anymore. I knew I was supposed to care…I still didn’t. These were the really big, important litmus-test God questions that you should have the right answers for. I still didn’t care!

Something shifted inside of me. The best way I know to explain it is to say that I didn’t need to have answers anymore. It wasn’t necessary for me to arrive at some defined set of concrete and conclusive beliefs about God in order to keep living life or even be at peace or content inside. The big theological questions became increasingly irrelevant and felt more like a distraction. I was more interested in ground truth―the stuff you need to know on location in your life in order to navigate the twists and turns of daily human existence.”

If there was a red pill, upon swallowing it you would realize there is no separation.

“If there was a red pill, upon swallowing it you would realize there is no separation.

There is no separation between…

you and God,

you and life,

you and love,

you and peace,

you and freedom,

you and goodness,

you and acceptance,

you and wholeness,

you and happiness,

you and harmony,

you and security,

you and worth.

If you are not separated from these, you do not need to…

seek them,

earn them,

bargain for them,

achieve them,

attain them,

or

fear losing them.

Because you are not separated from them you have no need for a…

formula,

method,

rulebook,

philosophy,

or

religion

to have them.

The most common healing work of Jesus was the restoration of eyesight. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.” In other words, our only hindrance is that we do not see clearly. There is nothing that needs to be changed except our perception. That’s what the word “repent” (metanoia) means – a shift in your perception – namely, giving up the illusion of separation. Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of God has come, and is in you.” In other words, Jesus said, “The love, peace, freedom, goodness, acceptance, wholeness, happiness, harmony, security, and worth of God is here now and is inside you. The only thing left is for you to open the eyes of your heart and know this.”"

There are at least 14 Factors that influence what one comes up with in the Bible

“There are at least 14 Factors that influence what one comes up with in the Bible:

1. Your views regarding the inspiration of Scripture.

2. Whether you would favor a literal or figurative interpretation of a

given passage.

3. Your knowledge and awareness of other “related” Scriptures dealing with the same issue, including the immediate context and the broader context of the entire body of Scripture.

4. Your knowledge and understanding of the background and

motivation of the writer.

5. The way in which a given interpretation fits into your over-all

theological belief system.

6. Your level of understanding of the original language in which the

text was written.

7. The various interpretations and commentaries to which you have already been exposed.

8. The ways in which you process information. Some of you tend to

emphasize reason and logic, while others depend more on personal

experiences and intuition.

9. The degree to which you are willing to accept logical inconsistencies as part of your belief system.

10. Your willingness to change your views in the light of new

information.

11. The degree to which you are satisfied with your current views.

12. The amount of time you are willing to devote to your theological

study and inquiry.

13. The unwillingness to consider alternative interpretations that diverge from your religious tradition.

14. Your overall view of God that has been conditioned by many different life experiences and relationships.

Based on the above variables, does it surprise anyone that there are many different ways the Bible is interpreted? This is especially problematic because many people view the Bible as something to be “right about.”

The only absolute truth is God or truth itself, and our best interpretations of the Bible are only an approximation of it. God was God and Truth was Truth before there was a Bible and will continue to be after the Bible is no more. The Bible is not a theological landing strip for a particular belief system about God, but a spiritual launching pad setting us free to explore and enjoy ever-deepening and ever-widening dimensions of life, love, peace, goodness, beauty, and freedom.

Once I realized that the point of the Bible wasn’t to create a belief system ABOUT God the Bible became an invaluable resource for my journey WITH God.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge

3 Things You Should Know About Becoming Yourself

3 Things You Should Know About Becoming Yourself:

1. You’re not broken (and you don’t need to be fixed)

We all take on certain ways of being for the purpose of coping with the world we grow up in. Some of these ways are beneficial, while others are damaging. But at the core of these behaviors is a need for protection, not brokenness. There is never going to be a time when you are “fixed” or fulfill that “ideal” version of yourself you have in your head. Living authentically involves continuing to grow, which is true for every human being, including Jesus (according to Luke 2:52).

2. Reality Is Always Better Than Comforting Myths

As crazy as it sounds, we actually find comfort in the myth that we are bad, defective, inadequate, helpless, and lacking. As Marianne Williamson wrote, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” However difficult it might be, it’s best to know the truth about ourselves and our lives, rather than be anesthetized by myths, whether they originated from your they family, culture or religion. Becoming Who You Are is about helping you find your truth.

3. You Can Figure It Out

We are often made to believe that we are not capable of guiding our own lives, or lack the inner resources to create the life we want. In one way or another, many people are in search of a “Higher Power” or external source to supply what we suppose we don’t naturally have themselves. Meanwhile, the Bible says, “We have everything we need for life and whole living.”

We are all unique people, and each of us experience life differently. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. No one can figure this out for us, and there are no one-size-fits-all formulas. Our charge is to discover what inspires us about our lives, what does work for us – to listen, trust and follow our own internal navigation system. That is one of the most significant milestones of the journey – trusting ourselves.

You are perfect, complete and whole because you are as God made you.

“You are perfect, complete and whole because you are as God made you. Could it be any other way? God’s being is the source of your being, and it cannot be diminished, altered or corrupted. That ‘You’ knows the truth, is safe and secure, never threatened, content, and at peace. That ‘You’ remembers that life is happiness and the carefree thrill of pure Being. Do you get it? You don’t need to change anything. ‘You’ needs no improvement or could be improved. ‘You’ already lack nothing. ‘You’ have always been whole.

That ‘You’ is taking a human journey, which means it’s been given a mind and body. With them, we have imagined, constructed, and live inside a dream that is not real. The dream is all about separation, and we think we are separated from God, separated from life, separated from happiness, separated from peace, separated from freedom, and separated from well-being.

Religion doesn’t help because it’s busy trying to fix a dream that isn’t real, and thereby only reinforces the illusion further. There is nothing to fix because there is nothing wrong. All there is to do is to awaken from the dream. ‘You’ are perfect, complete and whole as you are. ‘You’ always have been and always will be. You are here to discover this, awaken to it, reconnect with it, and give expression to it.

That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “I AM the truth.” In other words, the truth is not an idea or construct about God. The truth Jesus was talking about is not accessed by words, language, ideas… or anything that operates on the level of the mind. The truth Jesus was speaking of was the truth of who he was, and Jesus said this same truth applied to and was just as real inside of us.

Although the cry of that ‘You’ is strong enough to yearn for our original state of Being, nevertheless our mind cannot, somehow, imagine that life is really like that – peace and happiness. We must face this state of mind courageously, and see it for what it is – s total state of confusion, a dream state of the mind. When Jesus talked about “dying to self,” he was basically saying to fall dead to that state of mind, that illusion, that dream. The mind is useful for all sorts of things, but it doesn’t get a vote on this.

Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Do you see? The only “work” is to believe the truth that Jesus was.”

The “God of justice” is not the one basking in the worship of his subjects.

“When you’re reading the Bible and you come across the word “righteousness,” think “justice,” which is a better translation of the Hebrew and Greek word. This is yet another example of how the true spirit of the Bible is lost because of the bias projected upon it. The way the word “righteousness” is typically understood conveys personal holiness, this obsession with our individual standing with God, godly behavior, and the idea of vertical relationship with God. The word “righteousness” tends to be more of am esoteric and religious word that a Bible scholar or cleric might use, but not so much a word in the common language in which the Bible was written.”Justice” is a word which ordinary people understand and use in their concrete earthly existence. The word “righteousness” tends to convey a heavenly piety which misses the earthy, robust call for concrete social ethics found in the Old Testament prophets. The core idea of justice is loyalty to a relationship. It’s being true to what God intended one to be, and devoted to this for all others. Justice is the ordering of things according to the divine intention. In the Bible, the kingdom of God and the justice of God are virtually synonymous terms. Justice is about our horizontal relationships. It’s about human solidarity. It’s about seeing every human being as a brother and sister, and a commitment to their well-being. It’s about seeking to build a world that works for everyone. The “God of justice” is not the one condemning people for their sins, but the God who tells the person to leave there heavenly worship at the altar, and go make amends with the person with whom this is broken relationship. The “God of justice” is not the one basking in the worship of his subjects, but the one who is nauseated by this worship because the people turn a blind eye to suffering around them.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge