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Sunrise Musings

by Jacqueline Ehninger-Cuervo, 2007, all rights reserved

Dear Reader, do you ever talk to yourself? I talk to myself a lot. In fact, I dont just talk to myself, I have very deep, philosophical discussions with myself. Hopefully some of you can relate, so I dont have to feel like the lonely loonie What Im about to share with you are my personal reflections, things that go through my head during quiet moments, when I allow my mind to wander and Im not preoccupied with all the day to day stuff. You could call them my midnight thoughts and sunrise musings; and these are ideas that Ive never really communicated in so many words to anyone. Many of them revolve around spirituality and coming to terms with what is really a changed world order, where you have great personal liberties in some ways and some places and terrible repression and dogma in others. You see, when I look at world religions and the things that are done in the name of God, I cannot help but wonder. If I hear about people who are very fervent and even fanatical about their belief, my mind takes off into some imagined conversation with a person like that and the conversation goes something like this: Ill say: Forgive me, but when you are talking about your God, are you talking about the one true God, the Creator, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, the One who made all there is and all there ever will be? And they will say: Yes, of course! Are you sure? You are NOT talking about a god that was created to serve the purpose of men? You are indeed talking about the creator of the universe, the One whose essence flows through everything there is, the one true divine power? Of course I am! Why are you asking me this? Because then we believe in the same god. And if it truly is what you believe in, then how can you tell me in the same breath, that you, or any man, or any woman, can know this divine powers will? Its true name? And above all that this power, maker of 10,000 billion stars needs YOU to defend it? The God I believe in, and that you claim to believe in, IS everything there is and so does not need anything from anyone, although I could see how perhaps this God would cherish our love and respect. Well exactly our respect you just said it! my imaginary discussion partner will reply, as they wave their book of rules in my face and THIS is how it must be done!!

Forgive me, I would say, but books, including the holy ones, just look so human, so man-made. And were right back to some man, even a very wise, knowledgeable and respected man, knowing the will and desires of the one true God, the maker of the universe! I dont think God needs you to do anything, rather I think you feel the need to do something for God! Now, if you told me: I read my holy book and I go to church, or the synagogue, or the temple, or the mosque, and I perform the rites that my wise men have given me, because I believe that for me this is the way to express to the Divine my love and my respect now Im in full agreement with you, even though I may decide to worship quite differently, perhaps by going into the woods to try and find God there. Of course all my arguments would fall onto deaf ears if I were speaking to a true fanatic, the sort that used to head up the inquisitions, because such is the nature of fanaticism. Dear Reader, do you have children of your own or nieces and nephews? You know of course that all these children are different, they all have their own individuality. Now just imagine for a moment that you have three children. The oldest is an artist, and he draws you wonderfully colorful pictures to show you that he loves you. The middle one is a very practical child. She sees how busy her parents are and so she tries to help around the house. She wipes the kitchen counter, whether it needs it or not, and bakes cookies for you. And the youngest one just loves nature, this child is a little sunshine, so it goes out and picks you flowers. It knows enough not to behead the peonies, so you usually get bouquets of daisies and dandelions. The fact is that you love your children and you are happy to know that they love you. Now imagine one day, you are coming home from work, tired and worn down, and you are looking forward to greet your children, to feel all this happy energy flowing from them, you are looking forward to hugs and kisses. Youre thinking of your harmonious home to restore your soul. Imagine your shock, your dismay, as you walk through the front door and all you hear are sobs and screams. And there, on the floor in front of you, lies a torn and crumpled painting; you come into the kitchen and flour is strewn everywhere. Finally you reach the living room where a little vase is upturned on the coffee table and little daisy blossoms lie wilting on the floor. Your children are sitting in their rooms, crying, scratched and bruised. Thats the scene that greets you. Are you happy? Of course you investigate. Your children, it turns out, got into a fight, over can you guess? thats right: Over who pleases you the most. About whose presents you like best. Over whom you love better. As if your love were carefully measured out in pinches and there wasnt enough to go around; when in fact you love them so much, that you would gladly lay your life down for each and every one of them. Are you happy now? After all, theyve been fighting for your love. Does it please you? If we really are all Gods children, isnt that the picture we present to our heavenly parent every single day?

You wouldnt be pleased, would you? You would be shocked, sad, hurt and disappointed. The fact is that you do NOT need another picture to adorn your fridge, you do NOT need another batch of burned cookies, and you do NOT need another dandelion bouquet with stems too short to fit even your smallest vase. You dont need any of these things. What you wanted were your childrens love and respect, and harmony in your household! What do you think God needs from us? How can anyone, even the most exceptional of us, know the heart and mind, the will or desire of God? Surely, if this divine entity were to reveal itself to anyone, even the most pious and pure, it would reveal only the merest fraction, only a drop of the infinite, divine essence, because surely, any more would tear us little humans apart. And yet every faith insists on owning the full truth, on being the only true way. Is it not presumptuous, is it not prideful to assume that we can fit God into one book? Is it not possible that the different scriptures reveal just different facets, different faces of the one true divine power? Ask yourself who is served by keeping people apart through their faithit is men, not God. The world has seen incredible technological advance over the past few centuries, and it has grown, has it not? It is no longer just a flat disk with the sun, moon and starts revolving around it. We, as humankind, need to spiritually grow alongside our world and reach a new level of awareness and maturity. Rather than taking each word we find in our holy books literally, we need to find the deeper messages that were hidden there for us. Rather than blindly following dogma, we need to consider carefully what rings true in our own heart and live accordingly - and let everyone else do the same thing! And if your current faith does that for you, it is a wonderful thing rejoice, because you no longer have to search, youve found your way; just realize that your path is not necessarily the right one for everyone else everyone has to find their own path to God. It is my belief that once we all realize this and lose our fear of one another, humankind will take a quantum leap forward. We would have a world where I could go out into nature to feel Gods presence and express my gratitude to the Universe and I would not look down on, or be looked down upon, by my neighbour who faithfully goes to church on Sundays, or my colleague who observes the Sabbath, and neither one of us would feel threatened by women choosing to wear a veil. Nobody would be burned, or stoned or excommunicated or shunned for choosing their own path. Rather than shrinking with fear and closing our minds and seeing enemies everywhere, we would grow and expand and blossom in a kaleidoscope of colours and faiths and languages and traditions. That, dear Reader, is my hope for humanity as I stand on my balcony and greet a new day.

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