DARE to be HUMAN - healing our inhumanity to man (revised) ?2024marktyoung[mty]

A WORK OF EXPLORING our human condition, common good, and healing of human kind's darkest intentions

Author: Mark Young ?2020mty

"HEALING OUR INHUMANITY TO MAN"

#compassion #empathy #leadership #Mindfulness #Meditation #Neurogenisis #Neuroplasticity #CBT #Health #MentalHealth #Awareness #Anxiety #Depression #OCD #LinkedIn #Judgement #Reconciliation #Propitiation

(some thoughts to get from here to there)

PREFACE

The linked blog (“What Black Parents Tell Their Sons About the Police”; “GAWKER”, by Jazmine Hughes), reminded me once again of incidents raising our awareness of ongoing tragedies to those who have been disenfranchised, disrespected, and outrageously discriminated against (another in the long tradition of our broken humanity).

To know more about this blog article before reading further, please visit this blog, “What Black Parents Tell Their Sons About the Police”; “GAWKER”, by Jazmine Hughes.

The following are personal comments triggered by others who have commented on this blog.

8/21/14 9:37 am

The following are two responses to Jazmine’s blog and inspired the personal response that follows them. It has now gone way beyond the initially intended article.

#1: John Smith @Jazmine Hughes: "I wouldn’t have kids.”

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#2: Sharp1e @Jazmine Hughes:

"As a white person who is increasingly aware of all of this, with a partner who is getting a doctorate in African-American history (with a focus on black power) this almost makes me want to have kids more. As if, maybe, all the non-racist, non-terrible people just procreate more and instill in our children a sense of justice, that maybe in a couple of generations we can just outnumber the type of people who defend Darren Wilson. I say this because honestly, I don’t know what the fuck else I can do to change things, and it makes me feel hopeless.”

*** "Inspiration is a gift to all from the One Who gives life to all things."

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"Healing Our Common Human Condition Very Often Simply Requires the Ability and Willingness to Empathize with the Similar Experiences of Another"

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BEING FULLY HUMAN - A STATE OF BECOMING

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A PERSONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE

The feelings about having children, or not, shared in the two responses noted from the blog, is a human empathetic response by each person to the conditions of our world today. They are opposites in perspective but struck very close to home. If each of their perspectives is something they believe can make a difference they ought to move forward honestly and with a brave heart.

However, these two responses brought to mind personal experiences in the area of Significant Mental Health Differences, SMHDs; as well as, perspectives gained directly from the lives of others, working with their own.

"We are all concerned about maintaining our own personal mental well-being. In this time bound imperfect existence, SMHDs are simply, through no personal fault, a different set of difficult circumstances than those with which others may find themselves working, in their own lives."

A great opportunity was found in developing mutual trust and respect among others working with their own unique SMHD. Some became comfortable enough to ask this question:

“I wonder whether I should have children?”

The two people cited from the blog comments must have been wondering, in a similar way, how to resolve this same question, given the realities of their dilemma.

"SMHDs are very often genetically passed forward to innocent others."

Many who have become deeply troubled about having children have come to ask this question of themselves, out of their true agony. And they deserve an honest response.

But how do you respond in a way that can even begin to touch such a difficult personal reality? How is it possible to respond in a meaningful way without the ability to come from some similar personal space?

When asked, the following is the only honest personal response that might have any helpful meaning and provide some sense of hope. And it comes from a similar personal experience:

"I have asked that question so many times, but a little differently. Before I already had 4 children, I was unaware of my differences and the possible significance of their genetic nature. As a result, I can only share how I feel about it now:

“I simply cannot imagine this world without the presence of my four children in it. They are influencing and blessing it in ways I cannot comprehend or do myself.

"And no matter who we are or how we are put together, we can make a great difference. We all have our unique nature to bring to and influence the world.” mty

It is not possible to know the fullness of all we create throughout our lives.

Not being aware of these realities before having children has been a personal blessing. If these ominous risks were known, the decision to have children might have been very different. For, these risks are very capable of carrying forward serious destructive consequences.

Will my children live perfect lives? No. But, without question, every child can make a difference and create great value in this oldworld.

It will happen because we do bring them into a world where everyone has this same potential; to accomplish these things by simply living out a personal life story in whatever ways are true to the unique person each of us has been created to be and become.

And, in living out our own stories, some of us will encounter difficult circumstances involving others connected through their personal life journeys. This might require accepting the responsibility to help support another person's well-being by sacrificing personal life preferences.

These are the circumstances that test our common human capacity for empathy in choosing to sacrifice some of the life we may have preferred, and, instead, live for others in the hope of enhancing the quality of the world around us.

In many instances of our personal life stories, as sentient and empathetic beings, we all have choices to sacrifice some of "how" we would prefer to live out our story. How we choose, can have great significance, not just to our well-being but to that of others.

The "who" we have been created to be and choose to become—as we live out our stories—depends much upon personal expectations of ourselves. But it also depends upon how we view our expectations about others and the world in which we all share.

To what degree is our commonly held, innate, basic human nature telling us the keys to the quality of life we all share?

We all are dependent upon the expectations of one another and how we choose accordingly.

—Please visit the linked

The personal stories we create for ourselves have everything to do with the shared quality of our lives. For, one of the innate basic elements of our common humanity is that we are created to live in healthy healing relationships with others and the world around us.

We cannot make a single choice in life without effecting our world. This includes everyone who touches our lives in some way no matter how significant or slight.

A world in such great need of caring and loving positive forces requires taking advantage of whatever options are presented to us. And it is:

"...this capacity for empathy[3] toward others and the ability it empowers to address the needs of another, [is what] makes us capable of living lives apart from a life of inhumanity to man."

It is crucial to have true faith in the belief that we all do our best (subjective). We are all created to do just this. We all do our best in each moment of life; given our common human nature, unique set of differences, gifts, skills and resources, individual experiences, circumstances, the environment around us, and any other of the "stuff" of our lives whether aware of it or not.

This currently shared temporal existence is an individually and commonly held experienced environment. And, it is one humanity has created out of its own personal choices over the eons of time.

TAKING ON THE COMMONLY HELD RESPONSIBILITY TO ONE ANOTHER

We all have serious responsibility for how we respond to the consequences of our choices and what future we intend to create for ourselves and others.

We take on this common responsibility to one another by simply committing ourselves to continually do the best we can.

We were given the sole responsibility to protect our world and prosper in it. We do this by utilizing all we have been given in our “best” way possible; to enhance the world in which we all have this same awesome responsibility.

"This perspective can in no way diminish or enhance the value of any other person. We all bless this world and create great value in it, as counter intuitive as it may sound."

Perhaps this opportunity was made available to my children only because of a personal lack of awareness; not having the perspective of the realities of genetic influences on our children.

Life circumstances sharpen focus, resulting in a greater capacity to recognize the significance in our individual priorities, unperceived hidden realities, choices and their consequences, and life outcomes, unique to each of us.

We had our children prior to this knowledge.

Whether to have children, is a common question of great significance to all of us. It is a question that seems to highlight a common focus in life. Perhaps it only becomes visible when life forces the recognition of this significance. My personal awareness came only after having our beautiful children and learning the difficult reality of a life working with SMHDs.

And I found that I was not alone. I found so many others, some in great agony over this same question. And they were asking it honestly and bravely.

The human condition contains built-in meaning, purpose, and a compelling need to live out our lives using what we learn from each previous individual moment. Answering this single question can be one of the most difficult decisions in life.

“The hope is that we all can see past our imperfections to glimpse the true value possible in each life and the ability of each person to find and create great value in it, no matter how ominous the circumstances may seem...”

For we all have been designed and blessed with our own ways to pass on this opportunity. We all have an innate ability to create even greater things; passing them forward to those whom we parent or mentor, teaching and molding others, humbly accepting each option as it arises to build upon what has come before. Without this one aspect of creative design, we would not be able to carry out the Designer’s purpose.

Who of us would not find ourselves seriously considering these same or similar questions had we known the real possibilities of having our own children?

I truly hope that I would have made the same choices. I hope I would have had the same faith and belief in others that I do now. That is a faith that others too are doing the best they can at any point in time (each momentary, infinitesimal space between what has come before and what is yet to be).

This leaves each unique future momentary slice of time, theirs, yours, and mine, to its own destiny, creating new opportunities for more best choices along the way. This is how we change and grow into the possibility of a future worthy of us all.

PERFECT IRONIES OF LIFE THAT JUST ARE

So many things in life end up in such perfect irony. One of our children had worked very hard in his own right to succeed in his personal life circumstances, particularly in relation to his own SMHD(s). He had created opportunities for himself to become more of the person he knew he was and truly wanted to become.

He was ready to create a future, learning to recognize his own imperfections, by taking hold of the responsibility to make it a world different from the one he had inherited, in his own personal true way. Tragically, his time in this temporal existence was cut short, and yet, somehow still full to the end. (This, however, has often been a source of personal anger with the world, God, why, for what purpose; always seeking some reasonable understanding for such a tragedy).

But this is what many do, who ask this same question; the question of having their own children. They have ardently and seriously considered it and the real tragedies that may possibly lie within its answer. They ask it of themselves bravely and honestly.

This choice is always a very personal one to make.

Do I know how those who have asked me this question chose and the results of their choices? In some cases I do, in most, I do not.

But regardless of the treachery, hurt and destruction in the world, such as it has been of the eons of time, it is a personal choice to believe it would always be a better world if we could all ask this same question. And when we do, bravely and honestly, do it with the firm belief that others ask it of themselves as well, in great hopes for a better tomorrow, humbly considering their choice to have children, or not, and the awesome responsibilities of our common life existence.

Hopefully, we are all finding ways to ask and answer our own unique set of questions as best we can, even in light of today's world.

And it is important to keep seeking these answers.

However, it is also important to recognize and accept that the best use of our gift of personal freedom of choice can only happen in healthy relationships with one another, the world around us, within the creative design.

We simply cannot “bravely and honestly” enhance this life experience, to accomplish our best, without healthy relationships. At the least, we can recognize their impact on one another, while also accepting responsibility for the part each one of us plays in the life of another.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO RECONCILE TODAY’S WORLD?

IN WHOSE HANDS ARE WE?

The lives of my children show me there is no greater proof that things are in the hands of Someone more powerful, loving, and caring than any of us could ever hope to be (in this temporal existence). And I have great faith that this same Someone will continue to love us into a world and a people truly worthy of it.

I believe in the blessings that can dwell within any honorable religious faith of great integrity and generosity of heart. That is, faiths that also view, as their greatest desired outcome, beliefs in a loving God, Higher Power, Creator, that has created and gifted us uniquely, and that has commissioned each of us to use these gifts toward the ultimate well being and righteousness of a world in which we all must live, share and be delivered.

I happen to be a Christian. I have no compunction or have any need to excuse my beliefs or apologize in any way for them. However, I also extend this same sentiment to anyone else who may have a different belief system than my own.

I am also fully aware that others too may have full faith in their beliefs, just as I have in mine. We have all come to our knowledge and best understandings through our own life journey.

Whether we arrogantly believe we have THE one true belief system, to me, does not remain true to our own common responsibility for having generated a wholly “imperfect” world; a world in which we all are held accountable for this imperfection. Therefore, any one of us could be just as fallible in judgment as to any other; fallible in the validity of our own belief system or any aspect of it.

So, as a Christian, I believe this Someone, Creator God, Higher Power, or any of many other labels, is not just any god. It is One, Whom we as Christians, are not alone in believing to be the one true God. This is the One Who willed all of creation into existence, Who always was and always will be, Who creates and sustains all things, and Who has the Power in Spirit to give life and existence to all of creation.

And I have a firm belief that these same truths hold true for all regardless of our individual differences.

LOVE: THE VERY ESSENCE OF ALL CREATION

For most Christians, God is three individual persons Who make up one united Godhead; always and forever being in perfect relationship with each other.

"They are a Godhead in such prefect relationship that the love they share is not possible for Them to hold within."

And it is this very Love, so unknowable to us, in all its fullness, that urges Them to share it. And They choose to express it outwardly, yet fully within Themselves and in ways we all can experience and marvel.

This is the ultimate image in which we have been created. We have been gifted to reflect this image in all we do, an unearned yet entrusted capacity, one in which we find the value of our very existence.

We have been gifted this existence as sentient beings to learn, grow and develop into the full maturity of our humanity. And this involves living in direct alignment of basic key elements within the structure of all creation.

Some of these elements, that are completely reliable in our common experience of their reality, are things that are in a constant state of change, of infinite diversity, existing within the One Who created all things, in constant relationship with all else, based in choices of freewill and discernment of intellect and grounded in the reflection of this creative Being.

All of these elements issue from and owe their existence to that great unbounded unknowable Love (in this temporal existence, forever a point of pure faith); a Love, by all its self-contained power, that exists within the One Who has created and sustains all that is and ever will be.

All of creation is the result of this perfect Love. They, Father, Son, and Spirit, are a Love fully and completely shared with One Another; a Love so powerful that it compels them to choose to create, in infinite diversity, all we experience. It is an experience so far beyond us that it is impossible for us to fully know (in this temporal existence, yet knew completely, originally, at the beginning of all creation.)

“We are commanded by the design within Their Holy Expectation to live out this opportunity, reflecting back to Them the very Love so freely shared with us.”

We are only able to do this by living it out with all our strength and everything that we have been gifted in healthy loving relationships with one another, as within Their Own Being.

[Mark 12:37-40] ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’?i 38?This is the first and greatest commandment. 39?And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’?

BEING IMMEASURABLY GIFTED

Knowing everything about all things is truly not possible for us, no matter how arrogant we may choose to be. This temporal life is only meant to gift us an opportunity to become beings once again capable of sufficiently appreciating the vast beauty existing all around and within us; and that of the very Source of all that exists.

We have been gifted in this way to learn what it is to be a trusted partner. We are yet, still entrusted, though “limited”, to use this awesome capability originally intended for us. We are ‘limited” from what we were originally created to be, caretakers and co-creators of infinite ability. We were meant to reflect back to the Creator a Love that has been and will always continue to be shared with us.

We were meant to use these most precious gifts, free choice (how) and intellect (why), and the means (what) to reflect the essence (being, who) of the very One Who has created all things; specifically human beings uniquely gifted to reflect all of Their (three in one united Godhead) own likenesses, by living out all that we are and do in choice-ful reflection of Their own Being.

This is a Love that forever expresses itself in an ongoing never-ending creative process. This process is forever expanding and contracting, recreating anew all that was and is, designing conditions for all that is yet to be.

It is in these beliefs that I find hope, no matter the blessings or messes for which we are all responsible.

HOW ARE WE ALL RESPONSIBLE, TO THE WORLD AND EACH OTHER?

Yes, all of us are responsible.

We are all responsible for the world as it exists today and will come to exist in all that is yet to be. A commonly experienced world that each of us, and all who have come before us, have helped to and continue to create. And it will continue with all its blessings and agonies until we grow and mature to bring about ultimate retribution and salvation to this temporal existence.

It is only without arrogance that we can accept this truth. And, in this acceptance, we can begin living one moment at a time. And, in the process of living out each moment, we learn to make better choices.

As we learn, we improve on our ability to form and live out the kind of intentions that will create a world ready to regain its original purpose; a world having moved beyond the imperfections of today to a more perfect tomorrow.

Seems unfathomable, impossible, without any basis in reality?

Perhaps, but not within the One, within Whom all that is exists only at Their pleasure. It is They Who has ultimate control, not us. Yes, we have free will to choose to do and be anything we wish; but not without great consequence.

A BASIC STRUCTURE WITHIN ALL THINGS

As our intentions become more aligned with the basic structure built into everything that exists, the capacity to make quality choices increases. This basic structure contains the only true constants in all creation. These constants are unchangeable, unrelenting, and unknowable in their completeness (in our current existence).

The more we are able to live out our existence in alignment with these basic structural elements, we will regain a greater ability to reflect the image (form) of the One Who has designed all that exists. We will exist in alignment with the essence (the Who) of the One having created all things.

We will eventually exist in a renewed world as originally intended, one of infinite experience, infinite time and without limitation. Our current world, to us, would no longer exist in its restricted time bound sense.

This renewed existence would be one forever offering us re-gifted opportunities to live out all the expectations of the One Who was, is, and always will be. We will again be in full alignment; able to perfectly reflect the image of the One within and through Whom we are created and Who sustains all that exists. This is the One, to us, Who is always becoming the greater and greater Love we will once again recognize, accept and appreciate in its full power and glory.

It is within this ineffable Love (as used here, ineffable: too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words), that we all learn what it means to be truly human, as a reflection of Whose essence we are created, Whose image we reflect and within Whom we have been gifted to enjoy our existence.

We will once again experience life in alignment with all that we were, are and forever are meant to be. We will be able to live an eternal infinite existence capable of creating, in full partnership with one another, and the One Who created the meaningful purposeful, and uniquely gifted legacy originally intended for us.

Everything that exists, remains only because it all reflects and remains true within all that has, is, and ever will be. It has been so designed.

“ It is within this ineffable Love, that we all learn what it means to be truly human, a reflection of whose essence we are created, Whose image we reflect and within Whom we have been gifted to enjoy our existence. “

THERE IS HOPE IN FAITH WHEN EMPOWERED BY THE LOVE REQUIRED OF FORGIVENESS

The One Who brings about all things knows what a folly a gift of free will and unlimited intellect can be. It is a gift freely given. But it is a gift that requires being used in ways always in tune with the structure of the One Who has designed it. Therefore, it has required a covenant to be entered into, by those who choose to receive it in humble acceptance of the responsibilities contained within it.

Since the very structure of this gift requires being true to its design, the gift itself carries with it requirements based upon the design of its Creator. This could only be given in sacred covenant; a covenant, in the human relationship with our Creator, to be forever true to our design, in the Image of They Who Created us.

In the beginning, within a single creative act, They had promised this gift of free will and unlimited intellect. We had all been so gifted, in covenant, never to be broken or taken aback, ongoing, forever and ever (Amen!).

Any one of us, to this day, can exercise this gift in the same ongoing way, but now “limited or imperfect”, within this world of our earned temporal existence. Yet these gifts of free will and intellect are the basis of our humanity, the basis of our Creator's own Design, and therefore still the basis of our design as well.

However, if this covenant were ever broken, by They Who created us, it would be a sure “proof” that there is no God or, at minimum, One in Whom we could never trust implicitly and forever.

Yet ironically, if this covenant were ever transgressed by our Creator, we would not be around to even notice that this promise had been made, or, ever broken. For it is this promise, this blessing, that seals the design of our unique nature among all of creation. It is this promise that sustains our existence as the “apple of our Father’s eye”.

“We were therefore, then and forever, to be in covenant with our Creator. A covenant which we had been forever uniquely promised, with our continued existence, and all the blessings that it would forever contain.“

This was truly a freely given gift, in covenant, which required honest mutual commitment. Nothing was “owed”. It was a gift. We had been created from the very depths of the unlimited unconditional Love from which all else has been created.

What was required was respect for the very design that had been built into the core of that gift and all creation. We had been created according to the image of the One Who created us.

We still carry the same design and must live in ways that will maintain the very nature of our being and to protect the design of all else in creation. The quality and safety of all creation demand that the perfect adherence to its structure be always and forever kept in all things.

We, created to be co-creators in covenanted partnership with our Creator, were, by our very design, perfectly capable of living out our covenant. Yet in our arrogance turned our faces from our responsibility with full knowledge of our role and the expectations of our Creator.

We had broken the very covenant that sustained our freely given ability to be the perfect image of the Very One Who had loved us into existence.

Still, we had put all else in creation in ultimate jeopardy. We could no longer be the trusted partner we were created to be. We were now “indebted” beyond our own capacity to repay.

It is this very "indebtedness" that is a constant "thorn in our side". It requires great humility and humbleness of heart to not only accept this reality but also, the existence and ultimate power of the very roots of our "indebtedness".

However, there is another difficult reality to accept. It is that fateful, one-time, momentary decision; the choice in which we utilized the gift of our reflective power of free will and intellect to foretell our "indebted" future relationship.

This power, in us, only “reflects” the Image of the One Who is the Power Source of all that exists. And it is only to this One that we now "owe" the whole of our existence; no longer seen as the true unconditional gift that it once was.

And yet, within this one instantaneous ominous choice, we had forever spoken tragedy; that is, the tragedy of the loss of trust in our capacity to act in perfect alignment with our own Creator’s design.

And we continue to speak this same tragedy to ourselves and all else to this day.

"This is the very source of our "indebtedness", by our own free will, of our own "willful choice", for which we will forever be in debt to They Who continually choose to will our existence and the very existence of all creation."

And if we wish to continue our own existence, we must recognize and accept this reality. For it is only through this acceptance that we can continue to exist, seeking the forgiveness of the original transgression that had "won" the very reason for our "indebtedness". And in so choosing, we can gain the opportunity to forever become, once again, all that They had ever intended.

WE HAVE BEEN CREATED TO FREELY CHOOSE

"...It is only within our own Creator's Design that we have any ability, and therefore the opportunity, to freely make whatever choices we wish."

For this "indebtedness" would have never come about if our original freely chosen decision had been to forever perfectly reflect the form of the One Who had designed us; in all that we would ever do, to freely choose to be aligned with the basic structural constants built into all that exists, by the ultimate Source, our Source, of all that is and ever will be.

This same outcome would have happened to any other creature who could have been endowed with such infinite blessings, making similar choices, not in alignment. And the earned outcome by this fateful choice would be the same for all. They too would no longer be in direct connection to the One in Whose very image we all have been created, nor would they enjoy Their full confidence.

And so we continue to make choices out of alignment, to be a pariah, an outcast, from a world truly meant for us, designed for us, one in which we find ourselves continually choosing to reject all that it was meant for us to be and become.

“And to this day, we are yet creating a world of our own irresponsible design, a world that no longer fits in perfect reflection of, not true to, out of sync with, its original Creator’s purpose, design and intent.“

WHAT ABOUT FREE WILL?

We had been blessed with the freedom to choose whatever we want. Why would we ever have such dire consequences if we simply acted according to the way in which we were designed; that is choosing freely according to our own “free” will; freely gifted upon us as an integral part of our common humanity, and covenanted to us by the very Ones Who created us?

The answer resides within the very design of all creation. For to act flawlessly within our own capacity to choose freely, without restriction, we were designed to also reflect the Intellect of the very One Who has created us and all else that exists; and that Intellect holds within it the very design and structure upon which we and all creation continue our existence.

For us to be gifted in this way and to reflect all that our Creator is, it requires perfect alignment with Their intellectual design and therefore the structure of all things.

"When we continue to freely choose to act out-of-sync with the One Who created us, we reject the very responsibility inherent within our design, the very same design that fully and completely reflects that of our Creator."

Each time we do, we reflect an out-of-sync image with the same inherent error of that one initial choiceful decision that began our current freely, now time-bound, "perfectly imperfect", chosen state of existence.

THE DEPTHS OF SORROW: “FREEDOM TO CHOOSE”

We can not comprehend the infinite depth of sorrow, from our own poor choices, inflicted upon the One Whose very image we have been created to reflect, chosen in direct arrogance to They Who has gifted us so.

This is a sorrow that results from our freely chosen actions, though, in reality, they are not always ones of sorrow; for we are still capable of making acceptable choices and reaping the blessings contained in their outcomes.

“Yet it only took one choice, fateful decision, out of sync, to trash our perfect relationship as originally intended.”

This is true to this very day; continuing to make decisions that we experience with the same results. This is true from our original choice of folly; as we are prone to continue to do even now.

This profound depth of sorrow experienced within the very One Who created us, a direct consequence of our actions, continues on in this world. This is a world that we have chosen to create of our own free will, one not fully aligned with the Intellect that we have been so freely gifted by our very Creator to reflect.

"The cause of this sorrow resides within each of our own personal choices."

These are choices that do not align (perfectly) with the basic structural design of all creation. Each of our non-aligned choices continues to inhibit our originally designed purpose. This is a purpose to extend faithfully, in full partnership, the essence of that unknowable perfect Love from which we had been created, each and every one of us.

"We cannot perfectly reflect what is not aligned with its own design."

How can we view ourselves in any way except being fully responsible to align, or not, with the design embedded, imprinted in the very core of our own being? We are meant to reflect it back in freely chosen, infinitely creative ways; but in alignment with the One Who’s image we must reflect perfectly.

This is how we were to remain true to our own innate design, in accordance with the fullness of our Creator’s perfect Intellect, the “Who” of our Creator’s very essence.

Their very Essence, perfect Love, was gifted in covenant, in full partnership with us, as a living extension of it. We had been empowered to freely choose, aligned or not, fully enabled with all that would be needed to live out our purpose.

"In arrogance, we lost the unlimited capability to perfectly live out that purpose."

Humanity lost in one flash of momentous choice the infinite trust to act in complete unfettered freedom; by our own freely gifted intellect, having had full knowledge of our purpose,, of our Creator's intentions.

We fully and completely knew the consequences of our own choices. We are, therefore, in contradiction of our capability to choose those actions that would reflect perfectly Their Image and Intellect. And we continue to be and do likewise.

Out of an infinite, direct relationship of love, that is now, to us, infinitely unknowable, we were unleashed to be the crown of our earthly existence, by the Source of all that is. An existence freely gifted to be in a direct loving partnership of limitless creative joy.

Yes, we had been in faithful covenant, gifted with individual, purposeful, unique qualities; all in meaningful unbounded hope of ever extended blessings; blessings upon us as well as all creation; a depth of love issued from within the Creator’s own Essence.

We had been created, gifted, chosen out of this unfathomable Love; to know fully the depths of the unknowable and empowered to forever return a perfect reflection of the very One Who gifted us so.

"We were created a perfect being of unbounded purpose and meaning."

– And then, everything was lost –.

We had chosen to turn away from this gifted opportunity in arrogant perverted (of a thing, having been corrupted or distorted from its original course, meaning, or state) betrayal, in full knowledge, unfaithful in our purposed responsibility for all things, in complete awareness that any choice not in sync with our Creator’s basic design would bear ominous consequences.

“We had become a “loose canon”, so to speak, acting without consideration of our built in reflective creative power, gifted upon each of us, by The Very One Who has loved each one of us into existence and Who generously continues to do so.

And we continue on without consideration of that which was so freely and lovingly gifted, unearned; and that only exists within and issuing from the One in Whose image we had been created.”

Such is what we have earned and are to this day fully unrepentant. So many of our choices are bearers of such great depth of sorrow delivered to the One Who has gifted us so.

Our only source of hope comes from the benevolent decision of our Creator, to honor Their covenant with each one of us, to continue to shower us with Their grace and love and mercy; no matter our choices.

"ALWAYS MAKING OUR ‘BEST’ CHOICES”

'Always making our best possible decisions does not mean nor guarantee that the outcome is always perfect, nor even made from a position of strength. These outcomes may not be anywhere close to how we may have wanted them to be – not in this temporal world."

-- Before continuing further, it would be helpful to gain, in this writing, a clearer perspective of, "ALWAYS MAKING OUR BEST CHOICE”. The link, HERE, will connect to a more in depth discussion. --

A SHARED SENSE OF HOPE LOST

Many responses to the subject of the original blog inspiring the sharing of these thoughts, speak of such a deep lost hope in ourselves, our country, and the world around us. This reflects our common personal struggles even while doing our "best" in each singular moment; to continue working faithfully and blessing one another in the wake of the lost capacity to perfectly live out a life of great hope.

Is there a meaning and purpose to all of this lost hope?

We can choose to believe there is, though coming to this perspective is not without its difficulties. For it is, at times, in joy, sometimes not, but always with constant uncertainty. This is the way in which we all struggle.

Whether we recognize this or not, to whatever extent, we work toward what we want (as originally intended), still freely choosing and continually moving into a time-limited world design that is, always imperfect, out of sync with its basic structural constants. This is true, because also, at times, by freely choosing, we are able to become a little bit closer to whom we have always originally been created to be and become.

So to our salvation, this freedom of choice provides the possibilities for restoration (IE, loving healing relationships, constant change, always making “best” decisions, love and forgiveness as our touchstone to stay grounded to who we are, freedom of choice, intellect...).

In “A Road Less Traveled”, the first three words are, “Life is difficult”.

And life is difficult in this temporal world that we experience perfect imperfection (we can always count on making imperfect decisions, therefore "perfectly imperfect"). This is made even more so by the historical decisions of humanity to be arrogant in the use of our gifts and stubborn in our unwillingness to stay focused and connected to the Source of our very existence.

Our great personal hope issues from the belief that we are always, not just capable of making, but always DO make our “best” possible decisions according to our own unique capacity to do so (a saving constant in this temporal existence and perhaps the one way in which we may still maintain some semblance of “perfection”).

making our "best" choices is only possible within each and every freely gifted, infinitesimal, temporal, present moment.

"Time is time, ever moving forward into each infinitesimal future slice of time. But the aspect of time itself never changes, it is part of the very design / structure of all things."

"In this temporal world, time is the greatest gift of forgiveness ever received."

Time provides each and every one of us an opportunity to come closer and closer to that originally designed creature, not temporal but infinite, not perfectly imperfect but perfect as originally intended, in every way; not limited but forever capable of choosing and doing according to the boundaries of our own set of unique gifts.

Time is a key constant, making it possible to reclaim all that we once had, and yet, in one fleeting moment of arrogant choice had lost.

Time is in itself an elemental constant built into the structure of all creation, ever advancing, ever wrapping around on itself into infinite time.

But time that is finite was only built into this temporal world existence to contain the “loose canons” that we had become.

"But time that is finite was only built into this temporal world existence to contain the “loose canons” that we had become."

Therefore, this limited sense of time is a constant that exists only in our current moment existence, resulting from that original most momentous decision that humanity has ever made.

Time is the constant that exists with a temporal beginning and end. It is intended to limit the boundaries of our perfectly imperfect capability to act, or not, in alignment with the very built-in structure of all the rest of creation. It is our one opportunity to earn once again the gift of infinite time, infinite everything as originally intended.

The one way out, the one road left to us, “the one road not yet traveled”, should we choose to take it, is one of learning the art of living in loving caring respectful relationship with one another; within the forgiveness of the perfect Love resting only within the One to Whom we owe our very existence.

However, becoming perfect is not intended to be the end result of our current temporal existence. For in this temporal existence we each do not have enough "limited" (finite) time to make it so.

“Becoming perfect is not intended to be the end result of our current temporal existence.”

The end result, however, is to have learned that it is possible to once again be in perfect direct relationship with the One Who willed our existence.

This one learned reality, in our acceptance of it, can provide us with the opportunity to regain the possibility to be aware and to eventually be able to choose once again our original destiny.

We will have earned the opportunity to learn the value of what we had originally been given; the unique gift of being the one creature of free choice and intellect, designed in the image of our Very God and Creator.

In this way, we are gifted, once again, the precious opportunity to freely choose to live in perfect harmony with the One in Whose image and intellect we have been created. We will have regained the capability to recognize, accept and forever choose to be in infinite alignment with the nature of all else that exists. Only if we so choose.

"This is the source of our reset, our one time opportunity to regain what we are truly meant and designed to be."

"We do not have to, nor can we make perfect choices now (we are perfectly imperfect), in this time limited existence."

"We only need to learn how to regain it, to believe it is possible."

So that, once again, we can have faith in ourselves and in the One Who created us; in the ability to live out our own freely chosen destiny, always aligned with the structure of all else that has been created.

“We do not have to, nor can we make perfect choices now, in this time limited existence.”

We will have learned that we are truly capable of choosing a timeless future of infinite blessing, that will provide us the opportunity, once again, to forever be in perfect alignment, perfect creative partnership, with the One Who has designed the basic structural constants built into all creation.

"And, in turn, we will again be enabled to reap the bounty of living out what it means to be and choose, in perfect alignment with the Will of our Creator God."

We will have earned the trust and confidence of our Creator once again to be partners, co-creators, always perfectly reflecting the true image of the One Who created us so. We will forever choose to exist in perfect relationship with all of creation.

This is a shared hope yet to be achieved and with difficulty to be sure; but with great satisfaction and rewards having done it within each “best” choice, in loving caring forgiven relationship with one another and perfectly imperfect alignment with the image and essence of our Creator.

THE POWER OF HEALTHY HEALING RELATIONSHIPS

In our current existence, healthy healing relationships of any form create opportunities for outcomes capable of moving all of humanity closer and closer toward our originally intended destiny; always and forever becoming that perfect being, fully capable of reflecting, without arrogance, our Creator.

“All things being in relationship, is another pillar within the structure of all creation.”

However, healthy healing relationships are not assured. Relationships are subjective, relative and can take any form, from good to evil, in this imperfect existence.

It is only because we are always making our “best” possible decisions in any given moment, that we can live our lives with any semblance of knowing that we all share this common reality; that each of us is a product of our “best” choices, each current moment is the best we can possibly make it and perfection is always in a process of becoming and, so, still yet to be.

”...each of us are a product of our “best” choices, each current moment is the best we can possibly make it and perfection is always in a process of becoming and, so, still yet to be.”

This is a common uniting component of all humanity.

In this light, healthy healing relationships can take any form of whatever quality. But because we do make our “best” decisions at any given moment, no matter what the quality of a relationship or its outcome is perceived to be, we are always on some road to a future with others' “best” choices. And therefore any relationship is moving in a commonly owned step forward, together, with all its warts and blessings, toward an opportunity to choose perfection once again.

“... we are always on some road to a future with others “best” choices and therefore any relationship is moving in a commonly owned step forward, together, toward an opportunity to choose perfection once again...”

This is possible because we all, each and every day, have been designed to choose to do our “best”. And when we do, we are always keeping the process to perfection alive and moving toward our intended purpose. By example or by direct involvement, being in a constant healthy healing relationship is a means to moving beyond our “best” to our next “best”.

This is our constant source of hope in the belief that we can one day heal a broken world of inhumanity to man.”

BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE IS THE QUESTION

Because we are designed to always do our best, we are all capable of learning to build on and live out a meaningful and purposeful existence; learning, creating, recreating, reflecting an image of the One in whom we can personally choose to believe, or not.

“Because we are designed to always do our best, we are all capable of learning to build on and live out a meaningful and purposeful existence...”

The degree to which we do, or not, affects the quality of outcomes to our choices. Even so, each one of us will continue to move beyond a personal “best” choice to a future of even greater “best” choices (no matter how each choice, in every current moment, is perceived or impacts our common existence).

“Belief in a Greater Power that influences the quality of our existence connects us to things, s-p-i-r-i-t-u-a-l (trans-formative) things, beyond our temporal boundaries and of great meaning and purpose; beyond our arrogance of righteousness and “humankind can know and control everything”.

It is only arrogance that stands in the way of accepting the boundaries of our temporal existence.

Believing we are capable of knowing and doing all that is actually beyond what is the reality within this temporal existence, is a choice, in itself, of great consequence.

But until we can shed this belief and thereby its consequences, the true reality will always be right in front of our faces, unseen.

We are choosing to put ourselves at great risk in believing that we are all that, in truth, we are not.

In taking this view, we risk the power of the spiritual and all that is beyond our current existence, understanding, present knowledge.

For one reality is, whenever we look beyond this temporal reality, we can only see more questions unanswered. And arrogance refuses to accept this one given reality:

“...infinite is infinite and, to our finite temporal existence, it is the infinite (s-p-i-r-i-t-u-a-l) that will always be fully beyond our reach.”

Denying the realities of this temporal existence also puts beyond our limited nature, all the beauty, exceptional belief systems, and the opportunity to choose a life of great faith; as well as all the love and hope that it can truly open up to us within this current state of our existence.

It is in being open to choosing faith in all that is beyond ourselves, moment by moment, that opens us up to the possibility of all the value to our lives that lies beyond our limitations, the limitations of our current existence.

We all are capable of finding this exhilarating, the moving and issuing of a feeling of being powerfully blessed. Even though it is beyond our ability to envision or experience all that is not in the now, but remains in the unknown outside of this temporal existence.

(However, if we so choose, we can make that choice, or not, between the existence of God, Creator, Designer, Source of all existence; Someone that does have ultimate control, where we do not.

But depending on our choice, we choose to accept or reject a belief system that will provide grand purpose beyond our life of “life is difficult”; that can put us in touch with a deep abiding spiritual life, the very specter of all that is yet to be claimed once again.

The choice to believe is required to have faith and therefore the choice to believe, or not, sets up eligibility to choose faith (believing in what is unseen), or not (always dependent on first making a choice to believe).

Choosing to believe is a must. Without it, our ability to ever hope for an infinite ability to provide space and opportunity to forever live in a place of forgiveness and love is shut down – two ever-dependent points of grace critical in healing a broken world of inhumanity to man.

When we choose not to live a life in relation to a set of “beyond ourselves” beliefs and therefore opportunities of faith, it removes access to a huge segment and rich source of our human growth and maturity as a species.

A path of believing and therefore choosing to have faith, or not, can give so many meaningful and purposeful guides and paths to our temporal lives. But it can also give the strength that can come from a belief and faith in powerful images of things way beyond our current temporal capacities; things that are achievable, real, and manifest, in future limitless time.

“A path of believing and therefore choosing to have faith...can also give the strength that can come from a belief and faith in powerful images of things way beyond our current temporal capacities; things that are achievable, real and manifest, in future limitless time.”

THE SOURCE OF OUR POWER TO BE PERFECTLY HUMAN

We are all created with such a great power to love, forgive and care. We only have this power because there is One greater than we could ever possibly become and in Whose image we have been created and of Whose essence we have our existence.

This is the One and only source from which all power issues. This is the One by and in Whom we are created as a reflective image. This is the One Who continues to bless us with our existence no matter what choices we make.

But this opportunity, this temporal existence, is limited.

It is the “one-stop shopping” to gain an opportunity to retrieve all that we were forever meant to be and become; all that we gave away in arrogance, by our unwillingness to live in consistent respect of the very One Who created all things, of and within Whom we have our very being. It is our one opportunity to learn that it is truly possible to align ourselves once again, in all we choose to do, with the basic structure of everything within and around us.

(Perhaps this is one argument not congruent with multiple lives. Multiple lives, in temporal existence, portends the infinite, forever and ever without end. That is, an infinite that will ever be becoming within this temporal life (limited by time). In this sense, when would we ever get the opportunity to choose our original destiny, to once again reside in perfect harmony with our Creator? We would be contained within a forever “round robin” of temporal existences.

We have been created into a life freely chosen of intellect and free will. We are perfectly capable of recognizing our intimately intertwined existence with our Creator and ourselves. We can "best" accomplish this by choosing to respect our design and Designer, with all its blessings and, in so doing, believe in and have faith in our capacity to forever escape this temporal existence of perfect imperfection.)

This capacity to act in the image of the One Who is the very source of our existence has gifted us the ability to do things beyond any other thing or being in all of creation; the phenomenal unearned ability to do the kinds of things that reflect the very essence of our Creator.

They have created us, enabled us, to do and accomplish all we can envision. They have enabled us, way beyond any other being or thing, to fully commit ourselves to accomplish a redemption according to our individually unique design, within this temporal time-bound existence.

But it all must be in alignment, according to our best intentions, with the structure designed within all things, reflected in the form of our Creator, each to our own unique set of gifts, talents, skills, and resources. And this is possible only because of our unearned gifted abilities to reflect the essence of the One that causes all that is.

In the beginning, we had been created to live infinitely, to create and design without fetter, in tune with, in perfect harmony with all that we were each uniquely created to be. This unique nature is individual to each of us. We were each created with our own unique set of gifts, skills, resources.

We WERE created, gifted to act in any of the ways in which the One Who created us can act with an infinite capacity to do so.

We ARE created to reflect that very image, forever being, creating, loving in whatever ways we choose, within the boundaries of our personally crafted unique nature, free to choose; tempered only by the intellect so freely gifted upon us and still yet limited by our continuing "perfect imperfection".

However, we each being unique, means that we all have “boundaries” within which we, originally, could operate freely and of great intellect, unfettered, infinitely, within our “boundaries” of uniqueness (the source of the diverse nature of our basic humanity and all that exists).

It is only the combined qualities of all creation that could come anywhere close to reflecting the completeness of the One Who created us and all things.

Yet, in our arrogance, we believed we could do it all, on our own, outside of the very relationships of our Creator, others, and the world of our very existence. We have been made, each of us, an integral (relational) partner, not a sole all-powerful creative being.

“ We are not just capable, but truly, in every sense, able to, be, act, think, feel, relate, create, in life sustaining s-p-i-r-i-t-u-a-l connection with the One who created us.”

We are therefore able to always have our “best” shot to be in perfect concert and harmony with all things.

OUR COMMON STATE OF EXISTENCE

The current state of each individual human being is fragile, at best, within this time-limited existence. It can be so easily minimized, if not destroyed, within this shared, yet commonly experienced temporal world.

Power must yield to empowerment; viewing ourselves as greater than another, must yield to seeking the beauty in one another, the endowed free will and intellect of another.

This is how we all have been created to uniquely express the qualities that bridge our divides.

"Power must yield to empowerment....this is how we all have been created to uniquely express the qualities that bridge our divides."

We all express the nature of One Who is greater than any of us. And it is only in our arrogance that we reject this Divine aspect, our very source, our very essence. It is built into the commonly held nature of all humanity.

All is not well with this limited temporal world of our commonly held reality. It is imperfect when viewed together with the "original" all-powerful unlimited state of our initially created existence.

This incomparable difference between original infinite and current time-bound nature exposes a recognition of the common, but limited, time-bound nature of our humanity. It contrasts this temporal world's existence with the original state of whom we were and still are meant to become again.

When the power of our commonly held human existence (even though currently profoundly limited) is used wisely and with respect toward one another, there exists a hope of turning this world into one in which all can live and learn and grow by freely chosen, mutually discerned, appreciated and commonly respected expectations of one to another.

...it is important to remember that this is what all of us wish to be cherished about ourselves, by others, and what is expected by others from every other individual human being.

There is a long way to go in achieving this.

And it will certainly not be achieved by disregarding what has been uniquely and equally gifted to all.

For it is through our shared nature that we are fully empowered to demand the innate respect held within our common humanity. And in doing this, we allow our shared humanity to achieve its greatest expectations. (A discussion of this powerful aspect of humanity and its innate power to impact the lives, outcomes, and consequences of our choices is linked HERE.)

To accept our shared nature, is to recognize and accept our right to common human respect as an expected outcome of mutual inheritance.

OUR CAPACITY FOR DECENCY AND RESPECT

"Perhaps, the highest of human expectations can be achieved by simply respecting the shared nature of all humanity. For all of humanity’s greatest desires are contained within the combined nature of all human beings and holds the voice of all human expectations."-mty

However, achieving this requires, demands, cherishing the very existence of everyone and thing. In doing this, the “why” is revealed, of "how" (our best-laid plans) will utilize the “what” of all that has been gifted upon each of us). This is true of all human endeavors and, therefore, contains the seed of the very “best” that can be achieved.

This is what provides everyone the opportunity to express the diverse nature of our humanity and bring the "best" of each person's individual and commonly purposed realities into the world; each person, group, organization fully capable of expressing their own unique take.

To succeed in achieving our highest expectations, takes patience, respect, empathy and a desire to help others to achieve their own successes.

This is difficult to be sure of. All are less than perfect. But, how we choose to be in a relationship with others, of our own free will, either aligns us to achieve our “best” or inhibits our opportunities for mutual success. This freedom to choose is key to our capacity for shaping our relationships with one another as human beings and with all the rest of creation.

Our “best” can only be achieved through the intellect that has been gifted to all; permitting us to recognize and value our own gifts and the One Who has gifted them, in a healthy healing relationship with the gifts of others along the way.

And our "best" requires respecting and dignifying what is “best” within all of humanity. What is demanded of us, one human being to another, is the right to be respected by all others; an equally shared, human right held by all.

It is not a one-way street.

COMMON HUMAN RESPECT AND THAT WHICH MUST BE EARNED

Our common human respect for one another is unearned. Any other respect that we seek must be earned by life choices toward one another.

However, if our choices do not issue out of a respect for the commonly held nature of all humanity and the rights innate within, the choices made will not align with any expected “best” outcomes, of any given circumstances.

This is the way of the Love within which and from which all things have been created. This is true of all creation; even that which is not created human and which, never the less, is also created of the same essence and due the same innate respect.

There are always choices.

However, the quality of the choices that are made within the lifetime of every human being is fateful and carries great weight in consequence. And, it is these consequences that directly impact the world we all must live within and ultimately inherit out of the legacy of all those who have come before.

It is our individual choices and their resultant consequences that are left to those who follow whatever legacy we each leave behind, that speak to and deliver up the world in which we all inherit one from another.

Therefore, it is an innately inherited responsibility of all. It is rooted within the very structure of creation in which the relationship among every being or thing is a basic pillar within it. The innate structural essence of our relational existence is, therefore, a commonly built-in part of all beings and things; the interdependent relationship of all to all else.

The highest expectations of humanity cannot be won by disregarding the sanctity held within every person. The "why" of every choice of every human being that has ever existed (additional thoughts of the significance of the "why's" of our lives, here), has everything to do with the “how” that has directed the course of our very human existence.

And in turn, the life paths that we have set are the ways in which we "best" utilize, within each current moment of our lives, all that we have been gifted.

Therefore, the "why" of every choice drives "how" we use "what" we have been gifted to live out our existence. And these are the very choices that ultimately influence the outcomes charting the course we all will continue to travel.

When the innate respect, due one human being to another, is not respected to its full value by any one person or self-selected group and is made in willful disregard to the sanctity of all that exists:

...the greatest expectations of what could have been, fails for all, one fateful choice at a time.

THE “SINKHOLES” OF OUR OWN CREATIVE INTENT

When we divert from, act out of sync with, the constants integral to the basic creative structure embedded within all of creation, and therefore within our own selves, we create something of lesser design; something that lessens the degree to which we are able to be a blessing to all that exists.

We are all not just capable of inhumanity to man but are capable of being actual purveyors of destructive forces within all of creation. This positions us out of sync with the creative design and its intended purpose. As a consequence, depending on our choices, the quality of the outcomes that we can generate in partnership with our Designer’s intentions can distort, or not, the vast plan of infinite creative design.

There are “sinkholes”, the remnants of all previous choices, that await each one of us, throughout life. They are the results of our own and others' consequences, sourced in past choices influencing our current actions. They are constructive or destructive of whatever intention. They are the remnants of all our choices and their consequences. They still hold the capacity to impact our and others' future life decisions.

These various “sinkholes”, together contain the remnants of all previous human decisions, and, in turn, carry forward the consequences of past actions. They are capable of affecting our current actions, influencing future actions and their outcomes, and shaping all the new remnants that result.

"It is these “sink holes”,...remnants of all previous human decisions, (that) carry forward the influence of the past...influencing and shaping all of the current consequences of our actions and ultimatley all the future remnants that result.”

This is the keyway in which our past choices affect the constant ongoing impact of our lives upon all that exists. It is these “sinkholes” (positive or not) of blessings and all forms of inhumanity to man that sustain the power of the past to be a part of what we, of our own free will, have created. These “sinkholes” divert efforts toward or away from the intended creative design.

The consequences of freely chosen actions, according to our God-given natures, are fully capable, within every choice, to influence the value of future remnants for which we are personally responsible and that will await us and others.

And it is these choices, good or not so good, that the act of freely choosing to do and accomplish reflects the very nature of our Creator but not necessarily the Essence.

Our choices and so our actions are always in danger of being in contradiction, not to the nature but the Essence; that is the intent, meaning, focus, and purpose of all that we are created to be and become, as designed “perfectly” by our Creator.

We are the very cause of our own struggles and destructive natures, when acting out of sync (how) with our purpose and meaning (essence, who), and when we act out of alignment with the creative design.

“We have no one to blame but ourselves.”

THE ORIGIN OF CONSEQUENCES AND THEIR PURPOSE

Choosing our actions is the means by which we create personal consequences. They originate with the choices that are reflected in our actions. They move us into each future choice influenced by the outcomes/results of our previous one (and all other historical remnants). This is key to how we impact the degree and kind of influence that puts our lives more out of sync or into greater sync with the One Who has created us and thereby all the rest of creation.

When we choose unwisely, not fully congruent with our intellect, essence, the "who" we are, we become more out of sync with all that is not in alignment with a built-in common “human decency” owed, to one another, unearned. It is this very innate respect and decency, owed to one another, u-n-c-o-n-d-t-i-o-n-l-y, that is built into all things of value and therefore inherent in our basic human natures.

This is in reflection of the intimate makeup of our Creator's internal intimate relationships within Themselves.

“When we choose unwisely, not fully congruent with our intellect, essence, "who" we are, we become more out of sync with all that is not in alignment with a built in common “human decency” owed to one another, unearned...”

This “decency” is to be lived out with a “respect” that is actively modeled to us by the relationships within the united Godhead that makes all things possible. It is, therefore, a key ingredient to our own healthy existence as it reflects our Creator and is in sync with our own design.

This “decency”, unearned, to be lived out with “respect” for one another, is a key to living out our purpose and meaning and reflects back to our Creator Their true nature. It is incredible that this unearned decency is freely given, by purposeful choice, to each and every one of us.

“We all are created to live within the warmth of the decency of God and, therefore, all the beauty and generosity of heart that are built into all things”

When we choose to act WITHOUT basic common human (divinely sourced) decency, (which is u-n-c-o-n-d-t-i-o-n-a-l, something we all deserve by our very nature, are meant to enjoy, unearned, but freely given as a purposeful quality of Creator God), the consequences of these choices, activates the negative, unhealthy, destructive and moves us out of sync with the creative power of the One Who designed this quality within us, in accordance with Their own image.

Whatever choices we make, there are consequences. What these consequences look like and how they impact the world is the stuff that is human or inhuman about us. Whichever it is, it gets visited upon others.

Others are not responsible for the consequences we personally produce. They may be part of the equation but every choice requires some kind of action on our part, word, thought or deed.

“Whatever choices we make, there are consequences. What these consequences look like and how they impact the world is the stuff that is human or inhuman about us...others are not responsible for the consequences we personally produce...”

The consequences, of whatever personal actions we take, are on us individually.

THE POWER OF THE CREATIVE DESIGN

The Designer and therefore the design of all things reflects the very nature and creative structure/form (what) and essence/intellect (Who) of the Creator. This design reflects the basic nature built into everything we experience. It has been designed with purpose and meaning to sustain the well-being of each and every individual human being, as well as all of creation.

The design and therefore the structure of all that exists, guides and protects all else. It directs and sustains all that we experience and all that we can only hope to experience, let alone fully comprehend.

“The design and therefore the structure of all that exists, guides and protects all else. It directs and sustains all that we experience, let alone fully comprehend.”

We can choose to deny all we wish, the validity of the Source of our common humanity. And we can reject the same equal value of all others whom we choose not to include in our definition of what is human.

“But the very quality and security of all that we can do and experience is only maintained in alignment with its structure as designed. We were never created any other way.”

Our choices are only destructive when they are out of alignment with the design of our human nature as originally created. And it is only in our diversities, the individual uniquely designed natures within our common humanity, that help us, together, in healthy relationships, be the closest we can be to perfect in this temporal existence.

So, when all of creation is a reflection of the One Who has designed all beings and things, all designed with a common set of built-in structural constants, elements that must be reflected accurately, how can our actions and their consequences be considered out of alignment, out of sync, when they were created by we who reflect our Creator’s own image? How can our “out of sync” actions, which are ultimately destructive ones, be a reflection as well?

We all enjoy our common humanity. But part of that humanity includes significantly unique differences. No human being has ever been created exactly alike. We could not be “individuals” if this were not so.

When we take action, each act is uniquely different and so its consequences will be uniquely different, no matter how great or insignificant they may seem to be. No one can duplicate the actions of anyone else. They each carry their own unique imprint and therefore a unique consequence.

“ ... No one can duplicate the actions of anyone else. They each carry their own unique imprint and therefore unique consequence.”

This may seem absurd. The differences in our actions can be indistinguishable. But these differences are there nonetheless.

All our unique differences have been designed within and in accordance with these basic structural elements, by the same Source that wills and sustains all else. They meet the specifications of the creative structural design, each one, individually, in alignment. When our unique differences are enjoined with our individual human commonalities, all of us are aligned in common, though imperfectly, temporally, even as we are unique individual creatures.

In the end, the whole of our human nature and its value is true. We are only able to exist because of all our diversities. They are the source of our combined strength as human beings. We can not exist without bringing our differences along with us when we reach out in relation (as designed) to all else.

“Diversity is the basic structural constant that builds in strength and beauty into all that is, all that is in tune with all of creation.”

All of our individual unique natures act in harmony with one another (as originally designed, but not perfectly within this temporal existence). And this only continues to be possible within the power and blessing and grace and mercy of the One Who has designed it all, and in Whom we all owe our existence and ultimate deliverance.

CONSEQUENCES OF SELECTIVELY DISCOUNTING THE DESIGNER OF ALL THINGS

We can not be selective in our belief of the One Who created us, in Whose image we have been created, within Whose image any power we have exists. Our existence is beyond any doing of our own, purposefully, meaningfully, intentionally, and generously issued from within the same Love of which all creation has issued.

Therefore, it is up to us to choose to take on and use this power, personally attuned to each one of us, within the boundaries of our individual uniquely gifted natures; and not succumb to all that would have us do and be otherwise.

If we restrain our judgment of one another and choose to truly believe that we all struggle in the same brave fight and work continually to do just that, it is then that the acceptance, respect, caring and all those good powerful healing things, of which we all are capable, have a chance to come to be.

“If we restrain our judgment of one another and choose to truly believe that we all struggle in the same brave fight...it is then that...all those good powerful healing things...have a chance to come to be.”

Without all these good things, we could never successfully work with the myriad of difficulties with which we all struggle. These difficulties arise when we act out of sync with the Design and therefore the Designer. They are the fruits of choices “out of sync”. They are the very cause for us to question faith in ourselves, others, and our commonly held creative design.

When we lose faith, stop, or are unable to continue believing in what we have been destined to become, we lose our hope in the loving providence of the One Who created us and sustains us.

Without faith, we lose our ability to love one another in the ways we all were originally created to be.

“ Faith is our lynch pin to hope. It helps us sustain the Love which is the ultimate expression of our Creator and our power to reflect that image. Our faith is reflected back to us in unearned forgiveness, possible only by loving our Creator with all that we have been gifted and continually graced upon each one of us when we love one another.”

ALL DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LOST

However, all of our concerns can be overcome. It will be accomplished through faith. We have been promised this by the One who has ultimate control over all things. The One, Whose will it is to forgive, has the power to do so; the power to save us from ourselves, even given the sad and hurtful state of affairs for which we are solely responsible, that which we continually find ourselves creating.

This is our great hope. Not because we choose to do our “best” each and every moment of our lives (we have been designed to do just this), but because the One Who has the power to sustain all things is willing our existence and will continue to will it until we finally come to our true senses and will it as well, or not. We all choose to remain in covenant with our Creator, or not.

Yes, we all still maintain the ability to freely choose NOT to align with our very essence, unaligned, out of sync with the One Whom we are created to perfectly reflect.

“This is our great hope...(that) the One who has the power to sustain all things is willing our existence and will continue to will it until we finally come to our true senses and will it as well.”

We can choose freely to delay, as often as we like, not acting in accordance with our own creative nature. However, as the consequence, we put off the promised outcomes and inhibit those of others.

We are all irrevocably and forever in a relationship with one another.

If we really are all doing our “best”, each and every moment of our lives, as I believe we are created to be, we-will-work-this-out (all of our destructiveness).

“If we really are all doing our “best”, each and every moment of our lives...we-will-work-this-out (all of our destructiveness).”

However, this can only happen once we reject our arrogance, recognize our indifference, hold each other accountable, face our responsibilities to one another, and truly commit to living them out according to the basic design of the Designer, by loving our Creator in true empathy toward one another; empathy, the connecting sinews within all of creation, that which permits relationships of all natures and kinds.

It is up to us to continually make our “best” choices possible, to heal all the wounds and the consequences of our choices that are constantly positioning the negative, destructive “sinkholes” (past remnants of our choices) into our future. That is, the ones we alone have made. We are the only ones responsible.

”For we, who were created to be co-creators within the Creator of all things, are the only ones responsible for regaining that perfect existence for which we were originally designed and destined.”

THE DESIGNER’S MOST CHERISHED CREATIVE GIFT TO EACH OF US

The One Who has created us has done so with the most powerful gifts of all, intellect and free will, in Their own image. We are the only creatures in all of creation (to the extent of our knowledge as it is today) who have been gifted so profoundly in this way. We have the power to become aware of and recognize our own value and beauty as well as the One Whose image we are fully capable of reflecting.

There is no blame that we can place on the One Who has gifted us so. We are responsible. We are responsible for making the choices and creating the world within which we all find ourselves so gravely in dis-alignment. We are solely responsible for all the ills and blessings that we create.

We have no right to blame the One Who has provided us with the capacity to bless one another with such great treasures; treasures that are sourced from within the depths of all that we are created and meant to be; but, in our arrogance, also choose to use in ways that contradict and be destructive as well.

–As fellow travelers, let us choose to commit to the ultimate destiny that will be ours. And with great trust and confidence in one another, let us continue to help it along in our willingness to recognize and choose and believe, in each and every moment of our lives, that we and everyone else are able to do their very “best”, each according to their own capacity to do so.–

We are all so gifted!

WE ARE NOT INNOCENT

We are not innocent of the outcomes of our choices but have sole responsibility for them. As such, we will reap the consequences along the way, good or ill. We are all guilty of our own lack of and, all too often, inept responsibility for our choices. Even though they may be the “best” choices we can make at any given moment, they are choices that carry great weight in consequence.

It is this capacity of personally earned consequences that we all hold shared responsibility. It is the state of our existence in this temporal world of limited opportunity.

“Yes limited! It is temporary. It has an end for us all.”

But in this same capacity, we also hold the kernel of healing that provides the opportunity for the redemption that we all are destined to live out.

It is in using this opportunity to its greatest benefit for all, that we have the chance to be more than what we are now. It is only when we choose not to use each and every momentary opportunity, for the greater benefit of others, as well as ourselves, that we create a world as it exists today.

But isn’t this just where it really gets sticky?

SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR CHOICES

We all have shared (in mutual relationship) responsibility for our choices, good or not so good or even evil. For none of us escape this awesome responsibility. The only thing that gives us hope, in a better outcome, in the end, is our capacity to accept the responsibility we all owe to one another; in our role within each moment of our common life journeys.

For, it is because of this “who” we are (reflecting the very Essence of our Creator), that we have even a possibility to become all that we are meant to be. It is in each and every moment that we hold this unique opportunity. It issues of our own choosing.

It is only in having faith in the One who has created us all, that we can be confident in God’s own covenant with each one of us; that we will be seen through this existence into one of true joy. This is that very same joy that we once had right within our own grasp.

“It is only in having faith in the One who has created us all, that we can be confident...that we will be seen through this existence into one of true joy.”

And it is in this true joy that we will once again experience, not temporally, but forever, our great bounty, in destiny.

It is but ours to win or lose.

THE FACE OF TODAY’S REALITY

In the face of this reality, we live today where there is so much that is hateful and evil, where so many suffer unearned indignities, discrimination, the consequences of unequal power – even when equal rights are what we say we strive for, where there are disastrous outcomes from overwhelming fear – no matter what form it may take –, where there is so much undeserved death, destruction, mutilation or torture from the consequences of our actions, where greed and the destructive nature of pure indifference are so rampant, how can we possibly find it within us to see past our lack of simple empathy to face the realities that others suffer at each one of our expenses?

“In the face of the reality we live today, where there is so much that is hateful and evil,...how can we possibly find it within us to see past our lack of simple empathy to face the realities that others suffer at each one of our expenses?”

How do we, can we, abide all that is destructive, that we intuitively know is not “right”? How do we find our way to trust in one another beyond our ability to accept all that is not “right” and continue in our efforts to be more than we are today?

How do we do this without succumbing to blame and hatred and all that can stand in the way of healing, that which we so desperately want and need for the well-being of us all?

How can we possibly get beyond the downright destructive nature of the despicable, vile, unworthy, wretched, and evil in ourselves and others (collectively), and still create a new day; especially when we do see that it is so blatantly and clearly not of our best nature or simply not in our own best interests – except when and because we are blinded by our own arrogance and other means of greed, ignorance, distrust, and inhumanity to man?

How?

ACCOUNTABILITY IS THE KEY TO ALL SOLUTIONS

We can hold each other accountable, as painful and difficult as it may be, recognizing and accepting and willingly choosing to see in ourselves what we also see in others. For we all err and we all make the “best” choices that we are capable of making in any given current moment, as best we are able.

This is our salvation, to be held accountable, yet forgiving out of the perfect and ineffable Love by which we all have been created.

WE ALL FALL SHORT

“ I do believe there are those who may be lost forever and it may be you or me. In arrogance we say not me.”

But in truth, if we all are held accountable, we all face this same possibility. None of us escape it. For none of us have yet earned the right to return to an existence for which we were originally created, loved into existence by the One of Infinite and Perfect Love.

Yes, in reality, we are all, no matter how much we may choose to deny it, of the same essence and we all have, do, and will continue to fall short. It is only in our arrogance that we see ourselves as the one who does not.

“ The degree to which we all fall short is of no consequence. In the end it doesn’t matter, for we are all complicit.”

We all add to the heavy burden of sharing in this state of our existence.

FORGIVENESS AND LOVE, OUR TRUE NATURES

It is only through forgiveness and love, the two virtues that are forever bound together, that we can release our arrogance and hold one another accountable. This is how we can, by our best efforts, keep from tripping over our common inability to be all that each of us wishes or holds the other to be, but not ourselves.

We continue to blame others, holding the other to be, or be expected to be, or must, or without exception be, what we ourselves are not able or willing to be; not holding ourselves to the same personal accountability.

We must begin to see and accept this commonality and struggle to see ourselves in the same light as another, in forgiveness, and in the true unbounded love from which it springs.

“It is not possible to forgive without first choosing to love one another. These two things are forever inseparable.”

This is who we are. This is what counts. This is what will move us to a new day. This is what will, in the end, save us all from one another.

The saving graces of love and forgiveness.

OUR FLAWED SOCIETY, A SHADOW OF ORIGINAL INTENTIONS

We are all not exactly the same. We have been created uniquely gifted in many ways. It is one of our most powerful strengths within our common humanity. We all have different sets of abilities and different circumstances that affect our full ability to utilize these biological, cognitive, emotional/social, and spiritual differences, skills, gifts.

This gifted nature is how we were originally meant and still are created to be. We are still gifted to be and become again who we truly are; faithful and grateful children of the One Who has given us all that we have and the precious opportunity and capability to become again all that we were originally created to be.

Our society and the ways in which we have come to work within it are flawed at best. And it is when we live and judge and act as if it is not flawed that we use it as a weapon to prove ourselves to be something that none of us are. For we all, in this temporal world, are only shadows of what we were originally created to be.

“Our redemption does not reside in this temporal existence.”

It resides in the willingness to achieve a sufficient degree of knowledge necessary to recognize our Creator God. And in so doing, it requires accepting the responsibilities that are innate to our existence as inheritors of our Creator's Image. This is how we will once again regain, all that was meant to be ours from the very depths of our Creator’s Being, continually gracing and loving and showering us with Their mercies.

WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND YET THE SAME

“We are all so very different but in the end...that human being created out of boundless and ineffable love.”

We are all so very different but in the end, the same; in the ways that make us truly our best selves, that human being created out of boundless and ineffable love.

It is in this perspective, I believe, that we are able to keep on keeping on, having great faith and hope in what is truly meant to be, creating value, and making a difference in each and every infinitesimal moment of our lives.

“Yet, this is only possible if we choose to use all that we have been gifted, with our whole strength, as best we are able, to love the One who has created us for the good of all.”

And, perhaps, in so doing, in our best use of these gifts, we may just be able to love one another enough to succeed at becoming something well beyond what we are today.

Maybe, just maybe, we can succeed while never losing faith in what will ultimately become the one true reality, no matter how imperfect or unfair or evil or ??? (add your own perspective) this life is or we perceive the reality of it to be.

There is so much that gives us good cause to be jaded about others, the world around us, and every possibility of becoming something other than what we are today.

Is this our true reality? You decide.

It is overwhelming to be sure. It is beyond human ability to comprehend on our own, to do and become all that we were originally meant to be. And, from a personal perspective, there is definitely and truly no possibility without a healthy healing relationship with the One Who created us and definitely not without one another (all of our co-conspirators in this temporal existence).

We must get beyond what sucks the hope from us. We must get beyond all that urges us to give up on ourselves and each other. We must get beyond all that is, has, and will continue to tell us that we are alone, without hope, without any future. We must get beyond whatever causes us to lose faith in the One Who is worth the great struggle that it will take to make things permanently and forever different from what exists today.

For, without faith, and therefore hope of any hope, we will never have the ability to regain all that we once had and lost. We will never have the capacity to fully know and use the power of our Creator’s Love and the Forgiveness that issues along with it. We will never be able to forgive ourselves and one another, completely and forever.

We have a choice. We will always have choices. It is the way, along with the capacity for great intellect, that we have been created in the image of the One Who created us. The ability to choose in whatever way we want, to use our intellect to make our “best” choices possible.

For these are the roots of our salvation, to create and become a world very different from what we have created it to be to this day. For it is within the infinite Power of the One Who created all beings and things, the one and only Creative Source, the only designer and author within the basic structure of all that exists, that offers us any opportunity at all to succeed.

We are destined. We will become what we have always been destined to become, forever, in the depths of the Love from within the Heart of the One Who has willed our existence.

For, in the end, it is not in our control but in the control of the One Who is capable of all things; The One Who has structured all things to lead to all that They have intended all things to become. They have destined us and will ultimately cause our transformation into what we once chose to reject. This is the One that will bring us full circle according to our individually unique natures, by the redemptive ineffable Love within the very nature of They Who created all things.

When and how it will happen is totally within our choice. We are the only ones who can exercise the personal free will and intellect that issues directly from within the One Who created us all.

USING ALL THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIFTED

Let us use all that we have been gifted, to choose to view and accept that we all do our best in each given moment.

But, let us also keep, in full consciousness, what we must do. We must continually work to have great hope in the ultimate Will of the One who is truly the source of our power to do anything, and the source of all that has is and will be.

–What else could there be? Who else could there be? How else could what this world has come to be today, and each one of us in it, expect to lead one another in our efforts to fully regain our originally intended infinite reality of perfection (assuming we choose to desire it)?–

For this is our true quest. But it is a quest that will not happen unless we all can see the other in ourselves and the responsibility that we all share in the state of our mutual existence; a responsibility to lift up one another in love and forgiveness.

“….our true quest....[to] see the other in ourselves and the….[shared] responsibility to lift up one another in love and forgiveness.“

One of the key pillars in the structure of all creation is that all things are created and cannot exist in the ways originally meant to be, without healthy, whole, and healing relationships. We are lost without it, dead in our tracks.

For They, Who are of the One, Who are the source of our existence, exist within Themselves, in relationship with One Another, perfect in limitless Love and Respect toward One Another, and, in perfect tune with one another. This is within Whom we have been created to perfectly reflect Their Image.

We can still regain the power to do just that. It is within us and of our own personal choice to do so.

When we deny the makeup of the Creator in ourselves, we deny the very basis of our existence and all that we are meant to be. We can only regain our true destiny by working to grow our love for the One Who has created us. We must be diligent in living out our lives and assisting others according to the meaning and purpose for each one of us; even those whom we judge harshly.

“... We must be diligent in living out our lives and assisting others according to the meaning and purpose for each one of us; even those whom we judge harshly.“

We are to use the time allotted, however long or short, and all that we have been gifted, unearned, each one of us, to work toward living out our greatest meaning and purpose. We are of God and designed by God for the blessing of one another and all creation in the perfect reflection of They Who has created all things.

This is the source of any ability that we possess, to live in harmony and love in a healthy relationship with one another. For it is within the forgiveness, that only issues from great love, from which we all have our existence, that we are able to consistently choose to mutually accept all that we are meant to be and hope to become, through loving relationships with one another.

But it all requires, not just an individual, but a commonly held willingness to accept our responsibilities to the Ones Who created us and to one another with everything we have been gifted.

It has been designed just so.

WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND YET THE SAME

We are all so very different but in the end, the same; in the ways that make us truly our best selves, that human being created out of boundless and ineffable love.

It is in this perspective, I believe, that we are able to keep on keeping on, having great faith and hope in what is truly meant to be, creating value, and making a difference in each and every infinitesimal moment of our lives.

Yet this is only possible if we choose to use all that we have been gifted, with our whole strength, as best we are able, to love the One who has created us for the good of all.

“... this is only possible if we choose to use all that we have been gifted, with our whole strength, as best we are able, to love the One who has created us for the good of all.“

And, perhaps, in so doing, in our best use of these gifts, we may, just may, be able to love one another enough to succeed at becoming something well beyond what we are today.

Maybe, just maybe, we can succeed while never losing faith in what will ultimately become the one true reality, no matter how imperfect or unfair or evil or ??? (add your own perspective) this life is or we perceive the reality of it to be.

There is so much that gives us good cause to be jaded about others, the world around us, and every possibility of becoming something other than what we are today. Is this our true reality? You decide.

It is overwhelming to be sure. It is beyond human ability to comprehend on our own, to do and become all that we were originally meant to be. And, from a personal perspective, there is definitely and truly no possibility without healthy healing relationships with the One Who created us and not without one another.

We must get beyond what sucks the hope from us. We must get beyond all that urges us to give up on ourselves and each other. We must get beyond all that is, has, and will continue to tell us that we are alone, without hope, without any future. We must get beyond whatever causes us to lose faith in the One Who is worth the great struggle that it will take to make things permanently and forever different from what exists today.

Without faith, and therefore hope of any hope, we will never have the ability to regain all that we once had and lost. We will never have the capacity to know and use the power of our Creator’s love and the forgiveness that issues along with it. We will never be able to forgive ourselves and one another.

We have a choice. We will always have choices. It is the way, along with the capacity for great intellect, that we have been created in the image of the One Who created us. The ability to choose in whatever way we want, to use our intellect to make our “best” choices possible.

For these are the roots of our salvation, to create and become a world very different from what we have created it to be to this day. For it is within the infinite Power of the One Who created all things, the one and only key element in the structure of all creation, that offers us any opportunity at all to succeed.

We are destined. We will become what we have always been destined to become, forever, in the depths of the love from within the heart of the One Who has willed our existence. For in the end, it is not in our control but in the control of the One Who is capable of all things. The One Who has structured all things to lead to all that They have intended all things to be. This is the One Who has destined us and Who will cause our transformation into what we once chose to reject. This is the One that will bring us full circle.

When and how it will happen is totally within our choice. We are the only ones who can exercise the free will and intellect that issues directly from within the One Who created us all.

So, the ultimate critical question might very well be:

How long will it take us to:

• Turn things around, with great faith and so with hope so powerful as to make it true and real for all;
• Turn things around in ways that are:
• True to all we have been created to become,
• Will resolve all our struggles,
• Will utilize the power of the profound infinite diversity inherent in the very possibility of our success (infinite diversity, another pillar built into the structure of all creation);
• Turn things around that will resolve our differences, petty or destructive as they may be, but remain very powerfully contingent upon our restoration;
• Turn around:
• All that is,
• All that is our responsibility to create,
• All that will ultimately bring us to our true destiny?

How long?

To quote one of our own (as in our common humanity): “as always, keep the faith”. (Tavis Smiley)

Jasmine's blog in its entirety, HERE...

What Black Parents Tell Their Sons About the Police

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[1]: Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book, they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me When as yet there was none of them. (ASV);

[2]: Discussion of the reconciliation of all humankind (HERE); from the website: a humble thank you to all @ https://www.iswasandwillbe.com

[3]: ("EMPATHETICALLY SPEAKING - is it the chicken or the egg"; more about empathy HERE)