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Spiritual
Growth: Reflections
by
Dave
Hunt
|
Often I wonder, when driving along Dale Mabry or U.S. 19, --when will
I grow beyond the point of fighting for my beliefs? Isn’t Dale
Mabry MY highway or what? Isn’t this lane MY right-of-way, not
their’s? I am usually right about most things that I know of.
So, therefore they must be wrong. Don’t they know who I am?
And then, in a quiet moment, I reflect. Here I am moving along in
my life-journey, and this one thought keeps bugging me more with each
passing year: “Would I rather be Right or Happy?”
Which perspective tells me that I am growing spiritually? Am I growing
wise with age and experience, or dumb and dumber? You ever wonder
about things like that?
So now I am faced with another dumb or dumber question: shall I accept
the Starbucks segregationist coupon offering me two-bucks off the
admission to go see “Sacred Treasures of the Bible” at
the St. Petersburg International Museum? I say to myself, “I
really should go …. after all, these relics are a matter of
historical significance … this is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity
to see these ancient documents. And what-the-hay, these sacred treasures
of the Bible have been responsible for more death and destruction
than any other cause ever known on this planet!” I’ll
tell you what: let’s all go. We’ll meet there and go as
a group to support the continuation of the segregationist Ink and
Blood belief system that these documents have caused. And for anybody
who doesn’t show up for our group, we’ll have a secret
meeting to plan our revenge.
Will it add to my spiritual growth to support the sanctity of these
artifacts drenched in the blood of our ancestors who died because
they actually believed that their Religion was the Best, the Only,
the True One? Theirs was the “one true God?” Not some
heathen’s God; one of those religions practiced by people with
skin color different than mine, —oh no! Or those who went to
dome shaped buildings to worship instead of going to worship in buildings
with a cross on top? Were all the miraculous events that have occurred
to believers in God --from India? --and China? --and the Middle East?
–Africa, --were all their witnessed and recorded miracles only
fakes? They certainly weren’t brought about by their belief
in MY God, The Real God. Were they?
If your God is the Real One and My God is just a fake, then that must
mean that I’m a fake, too. I must be a fraud. Golly, I must
even be undeserving of the breath of life! I’d better start
holding my head down when I walk down the street. I’d better
not say anything out loud; certainly, not what I truly believe: that
whatever you believe is true for YOU. Isn’t that a bummer? All
of this time I’ve just been a heathen. No different than those
other fakes who go to Mosques, or Synagogues, or Churches with crosses.
Especially those weirdos who have the audacity to do nothing of any
true value on weekends but go to the forests and watch birds! —or
just sit and do NOTHING but stare at the ocean. How absurd those commoners
are! They’re even worse than ME!
I can only hope that someday I will come to my senses and believe
in one of their Gods. Because the God of my understanding sees every
human being as equal and deserving of all good, inner peace, happiness
and joy in their lives. I have come to the conclusion that I simply
do not fit into the present practices of the American dream.
But you know what? I really don’t feel inferior with my belief
system. My belief system is simply that everyone has a right to their
own belief system. It’s a real easy religion; I don’t
have to spend any energy convincing others they are wrong and I am
right. I don’t have to feel inferior or superior to any person.
The way I see it is that I’m just another one of the Creations
of the Universe. And I belong here; just like that tree belongs here.
I believe that the frogs have a right to speak their own tongue, which
must mean I do, too! What a marvelous revelation! My thoughts keep
growing broader as my body keeps doing the same. And my inner beliefs
keep growing broader, too. I certainly don’t believe now, the
way I did 50 years ago in Sunday class. Maybe I really am growing
spiritually.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Dave Hunt, for 15 years, has been
a leader of non-religious, international, interracial, global peace
groups studying A Course in Miracles and Kabbalah, in Clearwater.
Contact Dave at 727-463-5211 or receive attendance details by
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