Back to Back to the Basics

Here’s a repeat of a post I did back last summer called Back To Some Basics that I think bears repeating.David Richo has a BOOK out: The Five Things We Cannot Change: And The Happiness We Find By Embracing Them (Shambala, 2005). He claims that there are certain facts of life that we cannot change, unavoidable “givens”. They are:

1) Everything changes and ends,
2) Things do not always go according to plan,
3) Life is not always fair,
4) Pain is part of life,
5) People are not loving and loyal all the time.

I so appreciate these points. They are a sobering tonic in the face of all the syrupy platitudes that seem to abound today, especially in Western Christianity. Many refuse to go here. In the words of Jack Nicholson, “we can’t handle the truth!” But we must go here to get to the joy we all desire. Karen Armstrong asserts:

“All this world’s faiths put suffering at the top of their agenda, because it is an inescapable fact of human life, and unless you see things as they really are, you cannot live correctly” (The Spiral Staircase, p. 272).

I truly believe that this is where we need to begin. Back to the basics!

The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Jorgen Klausen.