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

SPRING EQUINOX

The term Easter comes from Eostre, the Saxon goddess celebrated at the spring equinox. The equinoctial feast actually goes back to prehistoric times, suggesting man has celebrated balance ever since his conscious awareness allowed him to recognize the equal length of day and night.

And what fortune that Christianity chose the term to celebrate its highest holy day! Celebrating the balance of humanity and divinity in Jesus. And the potential of celebrating the same in ourselves—in this life.

Imagine! A balance in our personalities–of introvert and extrovert traits, of thinking and feeling functions, and of all the other opposites that pull us in two directions.

God designed this balance for all of us—a balance of work and play, of compassion and introspection, of words and silence, of activity and rest.

And beneath that balance a sense that God was/is/will be intertwining all the traits of our personality in exactly the tapestry design that He always intended.