Who Would I Be? And Faith

Over the weekend, I caught myself purely in the presence. Aware of the park, the kids playing, the breeze brushing against the body, the smells, and everything else that comes with living in the moment as it is.  It was quite freeing and alive. Then I caught the thief wanting to rob me of such freedom.  The thief is the thought.  The thief wanting to take me into the future, the past, anywhere but living and breathing here.  The thief worked very hard, and was convincing with its smooth talking, stories, and yet as I was aware of the thief, another thought emerged from the valley of the my soul, “Who would I be without thought?”

When thought wasn’t present I felt alive and free. Then the thoughts came and I felt tired, worn out.  Everywhere we walk on this planet people are talking, thinking, debating, wanting to be right, have opinions, want you to be their way, convince you that you are not good, fit in, need a partner, go inside, etc…and yet it is all thought. We are addicted to thinking. Flat out.  The world wide web is filled with blogs,  opinions, untrue facts, news that is not researched, you can say anything and do anything and if you believe it, well then it must be true.  In all of this we are yearning to discover who we actually are.  The temple in our being is so noisy that the minute we spend time in any bit of silence or stillness, we panic, we feel guilt, with “should” “have too” and “need”.

Who would I be without thoughts?  We are simple in nature. Thought is simple when used in the presence.  For example, I have run out of shampoo, so I go get shampoo.  Simple. And intellectual is glorified thinker.  We seem to feel uncomfortable in now.  We actually feel like the now is hostile, against us, and that the world out there is some parent. Yet, if we are honest with ourselves and get real, you will discover that it is or has never been anything out there, it is our ideas, thoughts, and feelings in here, in you, that are dictating the hostility.  As we become comfortable in now, we lose hostility and develop humility.

We are designed to evolve, change, move, take action, and  we are also capable now.  That means that true faith, is thoughtless, story-less, and pure aliveness now. Faith is to be still and know that the right answer is here and will give you the right thought all the time on  how to deal with the situation as it is unfolding.  It is partly the reason why Psalm 23 and The Lords Prayer are effect tools in remembering what pure faith is. Psalm 23 and The Lords Prayer have nothing to do with any organized religion, it has to do with our responsibility to the whole.  Reminding us that we are nature itself. Faith is about living presently now.  Faith in now, even when things are falling away, let them fall. Something is growing up.

Smell the roses.