Being vs. Doing

I once heard a convincing sermon on being vs. doing. The emphasis centered on man having been created as a human being first and foremost, not a human doing.  We often move through life with the attitude that we must do in order to justify our existence.  That was certainly my M.O.

A friend who is a practicing Christian told me once that guilt was his primary motivating force.  That without guilt he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning.

Is the God we worship a god who capitalizes on guilt and coercion to influence his children?  I know this to be untrue.  God is rather nudging us from deep inside in a different direction.

Since the essence of God is love, compassion, and presence, it is impossible for Him to try to influence from negative motives.

Man as well as all the rest of creation was pronounced good.  Man, in fact, was labeled very good.  So where did this sick mentality come from that says we are only as good as the good that we do?  that we are only good as we produce?

I suggest that mentality comes from what might be called our antichrist—the consciousness that has been separated from our spiritual source.  Let us reconnect with our Center, our goodness, our Self.

Ann G. O’Dell

28 July 2015

God’s Beautiful Handiwork

Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudi disdained Christianity as a young man.  As he developed, however,  into a keen observer of nature he began to recognize beauty everywhere.  He came to attribute all to God’s creative energy and sought ways to honor and publicize what he had found.

Project after project repeated his narrative of beginning in the darkness and moving upward to the light.  He sought to demonstrate the natural world in interior as well as exterior architecture, using forms and lines from nature and an extraordinary play of natural light through stained glass.  Magical whimsy became his hallmark as he invited viewers to enjoy the playful fungiform structures and mythological reptile creatures he produced.

May we follow Gaudi’s lead, observe the activity of our Creator’s energy in nature, and see ourselves as His beautiful handiwork as well.