Saturday, August 19, 2017

Loving Your Enemies, But How?

How do you love your enemies? I don't know for sure but you might try seeing them as desperate human beings in search of  the right way to live. I try to do this and it often helps keeps my own emotions of anger under control.  I would like for this ability to love your enemies be something that  is true and comes easily.  It is not. Humans  aren't built that way. Self-preservation is a strong force and is upfront whenever danger is sensed.

We are advised by God to do so, however, and that makes the problem one to ponder over. And pondering over problems, in the right frame of mind and with the right intentions most often bring solutions; it's one little insight and then another and another. . . I am not an expert, only a desperate human being in need of understanding all the hatred I see floating over the whole world at present.

How do we react to such craziness? Do we grab a broom, a stick, a club, or, God forbid, something more lethal, and join the mob? No, if we are peace loving and God loving and believing, we do not. What then? We think. Why am I reacting thusly? What in my present or my past give me the right to be so forthright? Have I need to seek revenge over some past slight by someone almost now forgotten and am using this to quiet my frustration?

Whatever, sit down and ask God for help. You don't need a certificate of approval from anyone to simply confess your ignorance of the whole matter. Just say, God I need help. What is going on and what role am I to play? Should I  stay home and forget about it, or should I search my own soul and see exactly where I stand on this frightening matter. Who is right and who is wrong? Whatever you talk to Him about, be truthful. If the situation at hand have caused your own past  unsolved conflicts to surface, take them out of their hiding place and look over them. Be Truthful.

Whatever you do don't add to the national or world conflicts  by dumping into the heap your own inadequate self with all it's unsolved problems. First find out  what is causing the uprisings, determine your own mindset concerning the issues involved, get help from above as to the real issues involved and then, only then, take a stand. And by taking a stand you don't have to publicize your concerns and take one side or the other. Not presently, but you have to decide within yourself how to approach the problem when others ask for your views. It is quite all right to remain neutral when you don't know what the h--- is going on.

Why to that last sentence? Just say you don't want to talk about what you know nothing about but you will look into the matter. You will be off the hook and will have time to get some real facts concerning the bad news spewing all over TV, smart phones and the news media. And it will allow you time to understand how you can love your enemies while not loving or even liking what they are engaged in.

Decide that no matter how heinous the crimes being committed you will love the person while not loving or agreeing to what they are doing.  Instead of hating them, love them as possibilities for Christian enlightenment and on your side for a peaceful world. (View them as prisoners of their own wrongdoing and you as a visiting consultant as to the value of their possible self-improvement.) Take this as a clue as to the rightfulness of your action: In the Bible, somewhere in the New Testament, Jesus answers those who accused him, rightly, of eating and sharing time with sinners. He told them why bother wasting time (He used  other words, ones I can't quote exactly) with those who didn't need to change their ways, who were already on the right path onward, but who needed to improve their sinful ways.

That tells us that he loved sinners and if he did it, we should do likewise. Did he not say, take up your cross and follow me? While it's true you cannot learn to love your enemies, whether they be public enemies or personal acquaintances that cross your path occasionally and get your usual good reasoning ability out of order, they are human beings and as such are good candidates for improvement. (And if they are not and are more in tune with the  REAL ENEMY OF ALL HUMANITY you will know how to block them from your inner viewpoint. 

Am I being a hypocrite for not coming right out and taking sides against all the enemies of good common sense that we see being played out each day? Yes, sort of. But at least in my favor I am being truthful. I am not trying to be a know-all, end-all-sin kind of person. That is impossible. All things are possible with God but that is not so with human beings. We are here to do his work and to do what we understand to be what he wants us to do. And at this point in time, that could very well be, LOVE YOUR ENEMEIS. And if we listen closely and believe  in Him strongly and never waver from doing what our conscience tell us to do, we might also hear Him silently saying, "I AM TAKING CARE OF THE MATTER. Have Faith".

And before I sign off I would like to mention here that although I am writing as a Christian believer, I know that God has other people who love him in their own way. Their labeling and their reasoning may be different but if they love Him with all their heart, with all their mind, body and soul,  and are sincere, and if that's all right with Him, then certainly its all right with me. There is only one God and he has many friends and many enemies that I know nothing about that he also loves and protects. It's just that I was born into a Christian family and as such have grown up. And against the possibility of being misunderstood by some of my family who are sincere Baptists and are wonderful and sincere believers, I  will say, in my own defense, I was a sassy brat, sometimes, as a child. But I usually spoke my mind. A sample of my rudeness:

Once during a discussion of religion at our dinner table, Christian religion no less, I heard this comment. I don't know if I asked a question and got this answer nor do I know exactly why I replied in such a manner. But when I or someone else, but I believe it must have been an answer to my question whether other people of other religions would also go to heaven, someone said no. They all had to believe as they did.  I turned up my nose and said defiantly: That's ridiculous, it will certainly be a boring place. I grew up and married a Catholic, became one, and for a time tried to be like those whom I associated with.

PS:

Before long, however, they too became somewhat boring and uppity. I learned that they too sometimes sinned against the truths I had learned from their religion. I often found myself looking back to the beliefs of my grandparents whom I knew to be saintly. I did this while hanging on to the truths I learned from the Catholics. Then later on, I began to see my place in the overall picture of earth and heaven. I finally found God to be nearer than I had thought possible. He seemed to be there when I, after ignoring him for a while, needed him. At around the age of fifty, I let Him takeover and life ever since has been absolutely wonderful. It has not been without its crosses and its heartaches and its pain but it has been one long learning session. 

What about my distinction as a believer? Am I a Catholic or a Baptist or whatever. I don't know! I can't call myself a full Catholic, I can't eat wheat therefore can't go to communion. (I could go  and get gluten free wafers but why the bother. I reasoned if God created me not to eat wheat, then I would not eat it. I would not try to get around this problem with human solutions. But I believe the truths I learned from them wholeheartedly, and I love God wholeheartedly. I see all Christian believers in the same light. I see other God loving people as being true to their heredity. In other words I leave the matter up to Him. And in still other words, I am now more in understanding with my earlier upbringing and its common sense values I learned that have served me all my life.

Therefore, to conclude this How to learn to Love Your Enemies blog, I would advise to simplify your life. Learn how to be yourself, the person God created you to be, and learn how to love yourself first. Then loving those who are directly opposite to your beliefs may be easier. It may not be all in who is right and who is wrong, it may have a lot to do with loving yourself as your neighbor. And we all know  neighbors  who don't always act as we think they should act, are often unlovable. But we love them anyway, especially when we get to know them better. Why? It's simple! He created them for other reasons than that of our own. And the more we understand them, the more we will learn how to love them. Another way of Loving Your Enemies is to see them as lessons in kindness to be learned.

 









Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Mental Health and Old Age

Sometimes I feel so old I think I must abandon the effort of making known my views on mental health. Then, at other times, something surfaces that make me change my mind. That notion, I tell myself is too good to keep. That happened to me yesterday, July 17, 2017. I was, as usual, praying the rosary, something I've been doing for many years. Although my status as a born and bred Catholic is well known, my status as a practicing Catholic is often questioned. And rightly so, I do not go to church since I cannot drive, I do not share the notions of all those who I say worship the Catholic Church instead of God, but I love, absolutely, believe and honor the basics of the first Christians. Enough said. And I believe Pope Francis is on the right road.

Now the rosary, a short explanation first: The rosary takes me all the way through the life of Jesus. The first decade is the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel telling her she is to be an unwed mother. She ponders over this impossible event. How can that be? The second decade has her visiting her Cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist; the third is the Nativity, the birth of the savior and the fourth is concerned with her presenting Him at the temple forty days afterward. The Fifth decade is about Joseph and Mary leaving Him in the temple and having to backtrack to find. Yesterday was Monday and normally this is the Rosary dedication for that day and Saturday. Tuesday and Friday is concerned with the Agony in the Garden, The Scourging, The Crowning of Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross and Him dying on the Cross.

On Wednesday and Sunday The Resurrection, Him ascending into Heaven, The Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles, And the other two decades are about Mary and her anticipation  and her entrance into Heaven. Okay, basically that's it. But on Thursday modern day rosary praying people usually go along with the Luminous Mystery recommended by the recent Pope John Paul. Here, we find John the Baptist at The River Jordan baptizing Jesus, The Wedding of Cana, Jesus beginning his ministry, the Transfiguration the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven.  (During the recitation of the litany of the ten Hail Mary's one often finds their mind wandering. Often as I am contemplating the past events the present concern enter the picture, I wander off course, fall asleep if too tired etc. But that is not the point I want to make.

What then is the point? How we get messages from God. He has various ways and He has designed each of us for his purpose and it is for us to keep the gates, doorways and passages open. That is an almost impossible chore but as one gets older and one's eyesight dims, hearing is lost, ability to get from here to there becomes  more difficult.All one is left with is an inner vision. And wow, the joys one finds there! Trinket of the mind are scattered everywhere. Okay, so here goes, call me crazy if you  have a mind to, but it won't take away from yesterday's enlightenment:

My words as I probably uttered them: "Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Mary,  mother of God, pray for us sinners now and the time of our (did)" !!! What did I say? Why didn't I say death? Then, being playful as I am I pondered over the difference of the two words. What was the meaning of this careless mistake. Was I at fault for rapidly trying to get through the monotony of the repetitive words? "I am sorry, I first thought, for having been so careless.

Then wow! That's it, I thought. He is telling me why wait until death to make amends, why not ask for forgiveness as soon as an offense has been done. As soon as what I did. It's these little things, these little sins that accumulate cluttering up our minds, making us less mentally healthy as we would like to be. Get it off your chest now and decide never to do it again. Well, of course there was no real sin in what I said, the Lord knows my absent-mindedness and both He and I are comfortable with that, but I can almost hear laughter coming out of somewhere up there. :Why so rigid. Relax, take each minute as it comes, learn the lessons as they arrive and love the Lord with your whole heart. You do this by being a good neighbors and helping wherever you can. And yes, by listening in to what you say and how you say it. Who knows what might get slipped in under the door? And by sharing it.

(Holy Mary, Mother of, pray for us sinners now and at whatever thing we did whenever we should not have done it.) But of course at the time of death also, because we are all so imperfect here on earth that to error can also be called human. There is no reason, however, not to listen to every word we utter and look for any signs form above. Love you all, and be good, if you can, and if you cannot, at lease be truthful. That goes a long way on the journey onward.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Religion and Mental Health

What part does religion play in mental health? That depends on how you define religion. Religion is simply a teaching method about a supreme being, it is not in its self a supreme being. As an example, Christ taught his disciples while on earth the way to live better lives and the the way to get to heaven. He also instructed them in the way they were to instructs others after his life on earth was over. Therefore Christianity is a religion. It is about his teachings. Those who believe in what he taught are called Christians. There are other religions.

Therefore, whether religion makes a person more mental healthy has to do with a person's overall health. Do those practicing a particular religion live a better, a less traumatic life. Is their way of thinking linked with the truth of  'love your neighbor as yourself''; do unto others as you would have them do unto you; love your God with your whole heart and so on and so on. These quotes are from his teachings. On the other hand if a person is insincere and cares nothing for the truth but uses religion to further their own interests, then their thinking is not compatible with good mental health. Also if a person forgets, or has never learned the simple fact that life on earth is a journey toward a better life to come, uses religion to further their sinful life and to advance themselves in a secular way, then religion is not being what it should be to that person.

True, there is only one God. Only he knows for sure the truth of every situation and yet many people are sidelined by the actions and words of others. God is truth, beauty, love and he of course relays this message to various leaders. Yet those leaders, if they are earth creatures are prone, on occasion, to do less than what God expects. Yet if they are later truly sorry, he forgives them. And asking for this forgiveness is mentally healthy. It takes away worries and concerns and gets one back to the realities of life on earth, its purpose, etc. Christianity teachers that God is three persons in one. This is not always understood but as humans who know and understand that there must be a way of communication with him, they who believe in the Trinity, find this reasonable.

God alone is perfect. Seeing that people on earth was not living according to His Commandments  He became man and taught, as Christ. Some believed and followed and some did not. In fact they killed him. Yet while on earth he knew what he was here to do. Those who believed started the religion known as Christianity. He is the second person of God. The third person, the Holy Spirit (used to be known as the Holy Ghost) is the goodness of God roaming the earth answering prayers, seeing that help is given to those who need it or who ask for it. This is carried out by people, saints, etc. Those of us receiving these gifts from on high most likely have varying ideas about his goodness and how He gets messages across, yet if all is done with an intention of doing His will, then that's good.

Okay, okay, you might say, I understand all that. Then why is there so much bad being done. Only God knows, but those of us who truly believe know that the will of God is not for us to know, but for us to believe. But we know for sure He is not deceitful, He is straightforward, He loves all people and desires for them to be in touch with the truth and not a dealer of lies and wrongdoing. Yet, not wanting to force people to love Him, he allows people on earth a free will. Only each one, those who are of the age of understanding and of sufficient mental capacity to know right from wrong, must decide for themselves. Will they love Him or will they love only what advances their own lives here on earth, is for each one to decide.

Yes, and I can only speak for myself, religion, and even religion as scantily practiced as I'm able to do advances mental health. Had I not God to depend on each day, my life on earth would be quite miserable. Yet despite all, I am a happy person and I have no problem believing the goodness, the truth, and wisdom of God. I do all kinds of foolish things and say things I should not say, forget to do some things I should do, but He knows my heart. He loves me in spite of my flaws. Flaws I attempt to conquer and improve upon but being an earthling I have a long way to go.  And yes, what mental health I can claim as my own, I owe to Him.

God has a job for each of us. Often I see myself a big fool but that does not bother me at all. Once it did. I once was terribly temperamental and lacking in patience. Yet, now knowing I have always been somewhat a fool, was a laughing stock for others who didn't always understand me, I thank Him for keeping that knowledge from me until I grew old and could easily accept that truth. In fact, all that I am, ever hope to be, I owe to Him.