Singing in the rain

Starry Night, Arles by Vincent Van Gogh

Sing, laugh, dance a little jig down the hall to your office, talk to strangers, smile at that grouchy old man who grumbles, walking with his head down in the rain, never seeing the rainbows.


There is so much beauty right in front of us.  If only we could see beyond our worries and those cares that loom so big that we can't even see the rainbows.


I guess we could take back our power and stop and choose to see the beauty. When things aren't quite up to par, maybe we could stop for a moment and see if we could find another word for it. And, then, in that second, maybe we would change our whole day and even whole life.  I know things aren't always the way we'd like them. That's obviously because we're not in charge of the world.  But, the One who is, loves us all so much.  He never wanted us to be like this. He must think all our little worries are so silly in comparison to the gorgeous gift of life He's given us.


From the very beginning, over an incomprehensibly long time, He made us to be free, creative, powerful, and very much like Him.  We were free as the eagle and had intuitive, psychic (for lack of a better word) and mental powers that we have so long ago forgotten.


Insidiously, over these many long millennia, we slowly slipped into bondage due to a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding that held us under the spell of whomever (or whatever) had the biggest weapon - whether it was the threat of losing your life if you failed to worship as one religion thought you should, or if you were born the wrong racial color, or the wrong sex, or just because you were a kind of soft, moody artist who just couldn't fit into this harsh linear world.


We became controlled by our fear, aroused by those who could (and usually did) kill us if we didn't do as they ordered and we carefully taught our children how to live so they too wouldn't be punished by that ancient foe.  We have long forgotten who set up this scenario, but we learned that we would be punished if we didn't comply and so we complied.  History is too bloody and too full of stories of the fate of those who didn't comply.


In fact, we all have cooperated in trying to out wit that ancient fear and in that effort became cowardly, powerless and fearful, slipping under the wheels of the conquer's chariot.  And, in that fear, we created systems and cultures, whole world institutions and a myriad of other structures that  promised to protect us, but as soon as they were powerful enough, they too enslaved our minds and our lives.  They allowed us to continue to live, but only in their playgrounds with the toys they provided according to the rules they made.


If we could see beyond the illusionary sandbox we all play in, or the large and small dramas we think are ruling our lives, if we could see there was something so much bigger, so much more beautiful, something so much more real, then we just might get up the courage to live according to our own hearts and finally be free. The puppet masters of the illusionary sandbox would chase us out of the playground, put us in a dungeon or on a burning stake or a cross or something that would teach anyone else not to challenge the way things are. Sure they would, but they can't put the whole world in prison, not if we all decided in our hearts to love and smile and be happy and free no matter what is going on around us or even to us.


A story from the Old Testament often tugs at my heart reminding me of this ancient call to remember who we are and of the innate power we have been given by our Creator.  The story of Daniel who chose to pray regardless of what the king's latest edict said.  And, yes, they tried to kill him, but even the lion, fiercest of all beasts, would not touch this man with so much courage, and faith, and most of all - power.  


Today, there are so many who take this big huge drama on Earth so very seriously.  In fact, they take it so seriously, I wonder if they ever smile, if they ever look up at heaven at night and see the stars sparking in the night sky and remember that those stars just might be God winking back at us, reminding us that joy is the gift He gives us and the measure of our acceptance of this beautiful gift of life He has given us.


I don't know why we're here in this life, on this planet at this time.  I don't play theologian any more.  But, I do know that since God loves us so much and only asks that we free ourselves from whatever oppresses our free spirits, our joyful selves from the misery and heaviness so many wear on their faces, that we must be here to learn how to love and help free each other from the bondage of our blind complacency and apathy.


I just know that we're here to taste the wine of being alive and in that wine, lose our false sobriety to the sheer bliss of unreasonable joy.  


So, my dear ones, just don't take it all so seriously.  Yes, feed the poor, help the elderly, but remember to love yourself at least as much, and try to remember who you really are, you beautiful bright radiant children of God.  We are all together on this beautiful earth and all we really have to do today is to smile and love each other.  All else is just not all that important.