Contemplation from the Pope

It has been much quoted this week that the Pope in his final speech had said that he had sometimes wondered whether God had been asleep on his watch. What an extraordinary thing for any Pope to say and indicative of just how extreme are the goings on in our time.  It struck me as a very brave thing for him to say ... and I admired his frankness.  Struck me too how strange it is to reflect the mess which humans can make, back on to God ...perhaps a more sensible way to think is that God, the universe and humans too ...  are all in a growing situation .. not perfect ..but with the ability to grow and refine and to move forward ....surely this is the greatest gift of all  ... and in a world which is so full of problems...perhaps one simple goal is to be a positive player within this unfolding situation..whatever our race or creed ?

Expendable?

Had an odd little wake up call this week....Small domestic incident but really made me think !My kitchen swing bin has been driving me nuts as the lid kept coming undone ...and each time, it happened it was a bit irritating and I kept putting it back together and thinking , must remember to get a new one ! Then I stopped and looked again and though how ridiculous..you haven't even tried to mend it .. which I then did within five minutes and with only a piece of thread! Perfect job and back in working order...and so satisfying ! Thing is, it made me think how quick I am to throw anything away at the drop of a hat ..this attitude that everything is expendable and throwaway so permeates life today  ... and I just thought to myself, I do not want to think like that because with it comes a lack of value, and lack of creative thought !  

Grave to Irreversible

I went to a lecture recently on sustainable issues. In relation to climate change, it seems scientists have a chart which goes from grave, very grave, runaway to irreversible ... and their current assessment of our situation sits between very grave and runaway. If we don't take urgent action now, it will be in the irreversible category by 2050.  The forecast being that without strong steps being taken within 20 years, the climate will be 4-5 degrees hotter by the end of the century.  Pretty serious situation, especially when so many governments are what he referred to as sustainable illiterates! It's a strange thing .. and I've felt it myself at times, that one can hear the facts ...yet they don't really register in real terms of evoking a response.  Why is that ? Are we just so flooded with information and imagery .. often horrendous things like violence and famine...that we've developed this ability to shut off from the impact of the truth staring us in the face?

The Love of Power into the Power of Love

It was inspiring this morning to read in my mail,  some words by Edgar Mitchell, one of the many astronauts who had a life changing experience upon seeing our beautiful blue planet from space. He described himself as "a pragmatic test pilot, engineer and scientist"  Yet after his "breathtaking experience of seeing planet Earth floating in the vastness of space" from Apollo 14 on the moon, he had an instant direct knowing that life in the universe is no accident.  His vision of the future reads like this :- "The union of head and heart, insight and instinct, will ensure that science comes to comprehend the non-material aspect of reality as well as it knows the material, our knowledge will become wisdom, our love of power will become the power of love, and the universal human of cosmic consciousness will emerge."

It's fascinating that so many space travellers come back changed people...and fantastic that we can now all visualise our planet from space .. and perhaps reach for that universal perspective, in whatever form it may take!

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!

I turned on the radio in the car in time to hear a well known (now retired) politician being asked what would be his favourite song. He said with no hesitation 'What a Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong. I loved his choice and even more his reasoning!  He spoke of coming out of high powered political meetings, and seeing the daffodils in spring, the roses in summer and feeling the stability and beauty of nature .... of the value for love and friendship between people...and of making opportunity for the next generation to learn and improve ....  That, I thought was the most sensible thing I'd heard from any politician in a long time!!! And in a fast changing and often disturbing world, how important to work out what is really important in life.

What's happened to religion?

Had an email from a friend yesterday talking about a recent Dawkin's program on religion, morality and sexuality. His point was that 'religious peoples' behaviour when it came to the so called sexual 'taboos' was exactly the same as the non religious. The only difference being that 'religious' folks lied about it and felt guilty! Whilst I could see where they were coming from, it made me feel very sad to see how easily the flaws in all the major religions, where politics, power and control are often more of the driver than a simple love of God and life, so easily puts people off the idea of religion itself...that very simple  relationship between a person and that amazing intelligence which both created and maintains life, including our own!

The Human Deal

Had a get together last night with some good friends. We were discussing what is the basic deal for humans on earth - good question!  What are some of the issues that face us all, whoever we are and wherever we are born?

Some of the ones we talked around were these:-

1. We all find ourselves alive on the planet in a time which is teeming with possibilities but also full of problems.
2. We are all born  knowing nothing ... like an empty computer!
3. We start to fill up with information ...and this can either lead to a life which is refining itself or getting more crude, more course...the choice being up to us ( given personal circumstances do make this easier or harder)
4. Somewhere along the line, we decide if  life, in our view,  is a one time shot, or is this life part of a spiritual journey - and this  makes a huge difference to how we live our life and think about absolutely everything!

5. As people, no-one is an island unto themselves and to think so, is to cut ourselves off from the sense that we mix and merge with the influences of other people, different energies and influences all the time  .... and this is a fundamental part of what we are and who we become.
It was a great evening and felt really refreshing to be spending time together casting our mind over some of these really profound questions ! 
Love to hear some thoughts from other bloggers!