What the Heck Just Happened?

Greetings my gentle readers to another week’s installment of the “be yourself, often” blog found at http://www.joelwlamoure.com. This is the point in time of the week where we are able to sit back and mindfully reflect on the moments that were and the impact that they have had in our lives.

This is our first blog posting of the past six weeks. Those of you who follow our radio show “prescribing spiritual hope” on WULC out of Carrabelle, Florida on the Spreaker network will also have observed we have been off the air for the past two months.http://www.spreaker.com/show/tuesday_prescribing_spiritual_hope I anticipate that not only will the blog be back to its normal weekly posting effective now, and our radio show be on the air again by mid-July at its usual time of 9 PM Eastern time and think all of our dedicated listeners and readers from around the world for staying with the network.

The past couple of months have been an exercise in journey into the deepest recesses and caverns that exist within the mind. A time within the wilderness where over the past 40 days and 40 nights opportunities have presented themselves repeatedly. Unfortunately, as we know in life, and that we as humans are not the divine architects of our own plans, most of the “opportunities” have had a negative flavor. However, the concepts associated with the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” are all well and alive.

These have been days of a death of dreams and recalibration of determining what is important. A time to realize that what one thought would be logical, in fact was illogical. There were birthdays forgotten by others, promises broken, expectations shattered, religious discrimination, hate crimes, decades of planning eradicated, disease and illness. A breach of confidence by confidents and friendly fire. Bullets that derive from close sources fired under the brave face of anonymity, send through an unwilling messenger. Sadly hypocrisy and vigilante justice is alive and well.

As such, based on what the title states, it leaves one wondering, especially a man of faith wondering why so many good people have been hurt while the sinful, wicked and evil continue to prosper in their lies and deceit, claiming to be and searching “enlightenment” themselves. I use the term in quotes as it is ego-centric enlightenment they seek, not Spiritual Enlightenment. My friends, these are days of learning the highest virtue, which is forgiveness. “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do…”

Within forgiveness, which is an easy word to say but hard action to do lies the resolution of inner turmoil. Resolution of the inner turmoil is not playing it out words and harming other people. Resolution does not lie by constant complaining, self harm, belittling, telling stories repeating stories, playing victim, hatred, or any of the other tools that were initially used against us. I believe, that is why true forgiveness takes longer… Perhaps truly 40 days in the wilderness.

It is about finding again what makes one happy and appreciating that we have the “free will covenant” and do not have to be the same as those that wrong us. It is not up to the courts to make a decision of judgment or forgiveness, but the quiet Light of Divination that says so much. To be able to not focus on stuff, and focus on the Light with clarity and intensity will allow us to be the spiritual being having a human existence and truly be yourself, often.

~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure June 2013

Dream Beyond the Expectations

Greetings my gentle readers to another week’s installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog. That time when we are able to step back, reflect, dissect and discuss the moments that have been what we called the week that was, all under the premises of advancing our humanity, spirit and power to learn in a way that begets more positives.

Along the way we should be aiming for a shoreline and a destination that we strongly believe in based in our own Belief structure.  We know well that our Beliefs will define our thoughts, which will impact our actions, which will change in a positive or negative way the outcomes that we receive. Certainly we know that not all outcomes are deserved, desired or what we had expected at the time, but it is balancing the concepts that everything is exactly as meant to be versus the human desires that we have.

Those human desires tend to be sold as a bill of sale as the expectations that we will be able to have in life. Even more, that illusion and challenge is becoming more robust as these fallacies often set us up for a fall… a major one. Why is that? We know that we cannot take it with us yet we hoard and express and demonstrate so many of Dante’s Deadly Sins. These sins all tend to root around the general concept of the self and greed.

Greed and the golden calf and the moneychangers at the table offer us a very valuable lesson. For we know what befell these civilizations and individuals. Yet, what of the individuals that was and is hurt along the way? What about them? As the divide becomes wider and the lines of reality become fuzzier, what eventually will transpire? One may hypothesize that the expectations and the world of stuff will become a non-issue. We move into worlds of karmic outcomes at this point and ultimately the actions of the individual…not the system will define their outcomes. Relying on the societal driven outcomes I worry may lead us to a form of group hysteria, or even worse if history is to educate us well.

It means that this is the time to help advance humanity at a critical point where there is risk of divide. There are those that are headed to evil acts behind the curtain and prosper and those that are wonderful friend who give and have gifts and talents that they share without remuneration and suffer. There is no set reason in this chaos theory, which reinforces the desire to come to a common ground of the bill of sale of the machine.

To dream beyond the expectations means that how would we act at the end days? What if we were actually in the proverbial foxhole and what would you do?  This should rule our actions in the here and now, even beyond a theological discussion and ties into basic kindness, humanities and ethics. For those that are able to look to that outcome, which will happen to all of us will obtain their desired goals. What do others think of you when you are gone? What sort of life are you living? Is it rooted in ego and you or rooted in humanity? How do you feel when you look at yourself in the mirror? Are you able to see the positives, or always denigrate others?

A goal I have is to give the incredible kindness and bounty of intelligent concern, love, kindness and positivity to others and advance the curve. The best curve on a person after all, is their smile.

Really, to dream beyond expectations means are you willing to hold the ladder to help others up, pull them out of the fire or do you push them in? We have the ability rich or poor to practice basic humanity for it costs little and to save the world and live the dream.  You can be positive or negative in approach and also feeding or dousing the fire… again, you drive your outcomes beyond the expectations offered in the now. Whatever you do, will return in aces and good or bad will define and become and be yourself, often.



                        ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure     September 2012