Making Life a Light … ( 07 / 29 / 2008 )
Making Life a Light … ( 07 / 29 / 2008 )
More than few folks have asked me what I am doing for my vacation this year -- what I am going to do to " enjoy myself ". And they have invariably expressed some degree of shock -- if not a touch of downright dismay -- when I tell them that I am using this time as a period of creative solitude ; that I will be primarily " holed up " at work ; writing & being & writing some more .
Of course , such a choice is anything but " depressing " or " boring ", and it actually has nothing at all to do with ascetic denial or self-deprivation . To the contrary , with no less than a great touch of irony , this particular decision is one that will inevitably bring me the greatest degree of pure Bliss during these holy-days .
For you see , true Joy in life is NOT found in " fun " or " entertainment " or " fellowship " ( though these things do make for fine times indeed ). No , for each & every one of us , true Joy comes only in those moments when we are giving others the unique gifts that each of us has to give ... true Joy only comes when we are being used for a Purpose we recognize as a mighty one – - one far greater than our own selfish wants & wishes ... true Joy only comes while booming our true Selves forth as true Forces of Nature -- not pandering to our ego ' s feeble bag filled with complaints & longings , mewling meekly that the world will not devote itself to making us happy .
No , for the last decade of my life I have known a very different Truth -- namely the Truth that my life does not belong solely to myself ; that my life actually belongs fully & completely to the entire community of Heaven & Earth . And as such , as long as I continue to live it will continue to be my honor & indeed my privilege to do for the entire Universe whatever I can -- be that spiritual work for the Cosmos as a whole , environmental work for the planet in general , ethical work for my animalian brothers & sisters , or liberation work for the rest of Humanity .
Frankly , I don ' t want to be found one day laying on my deathbed with resources still left over & energies still left unused . No , when I die I want to be thoroughly spent for the causes I hold most dear -- the causes of Love & Peace & Freedom .
And so I regularly give myself the greatest Gifts anyone could ever give -- * In serving my community I give myself the gift of Meaning ; * In caring for the less fortunate I give myself the gift of Purpose ; * In being Kind to strangers I give myself the gift of Contentment ; & * In sacrificing for my enemies I give myself the gift of Joy .
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