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dare audiences to look away. For them, this is very much at the core of their being, certainly as much as Michael Jordan’s jumping ability marked him for his kinesthetic abilities. But there is a cost: feeding the ego first, leaves the soul neglected. Embracing a greater spirituality requires careful, moderate satisfaction of earthly pleasures (our primate urges), but these must not be allowed to become the goal to our existence.
Broader goals envision connection, possibility, truth, and a deeper morality. People who see beyond themselves may engulf cultural and individual problems in a higher consciousness that finds fulfillment in the doing. Even the smallest of our activated capacities pull up, bring forward, expand vision, and improve society. Although I would love the opportunity to make a lightning strike of goodwill in my life (making nations choose peace or violence irrelevant), I am just a man: a man with the best of intentions, but still lacking genius and verve to make sweeping change. So it is through small capacities we the common people build big dreams. God may act through you, a simple janitor, to clean up life’s spills while distributing good will. When the common among us recognize the dignity of others merely for their humanity, or demonstrate honesty for the sake of being honest, we distribute a higher purpose.
Being God does not require building universes or parting Red Seas, but a capacity to be the representative of good in each moment. An applied consciousness – through you – to reach others. Being a good listener, holding the trembling hand of a grieving relative, watching out for the safety of neighborhood children will not only contribute to a livable future, it will activate those elements of hidden spirit that take us beyond a bipedal ape or religious automaton with a computer. Engage your greater self, and the reward will extend beyond through generations. Be God, live God.
Some other Activities
Throughout my Year of 50 I sketched significant happenings in a journal.
I learned to screen a simple t-shirt. This is much harder than it looks.
Every community has interesting activities. Here I'm visiting dino remains in Bozeman.
The Dreaded Colonoscopy
When I turned 40, I remember thinking this sucks, but at least I have a decade until I need a colonoscopy. Enter 50 ten years later and the small forest of candles was barely out before my wife started bugging me about scheduling my first colonoscopy. I mean, getting mailings from AARP was bad enough, but a camera in my ass was something I was really trying to avoid until the last possible moment. Eventually I caved and made an appointment, then cancelled, made another appointment two months off, then tried to forget about it.