A Pilgrim’s Odyssey

Breathe After My Own Fashion

I like yesterday’s quote from Henry David Thoreau so much I want to dig a bit deeper into it today.

But before I get to that, a bit more from Throreau:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. And see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Get focused on death, you’ll forget to live.

Thoughts like these take me back to years ago when I left on my motorcycle journey. The smells of the road still linger, things you ignore from a car, plane, or train. Especially in the morning or at dusk, the smell of dew on the grass, a setting sun and fresh rain. It is alive, you don’t need or want to be anywhere else in these moments.

“I will breathe after my own fashion.” That is the America spirit, or at least what America should be. It’s a risky ideal, a thin line between selfishness and the daring greatly to the be all that we were created to become.

It’s worth the risk. And if we lose it, we may never get it back.

The Mandalorian and Thoreau, Where Is Your Line?

“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”

― Henry David Thoreau, On The Duty of Civil Disobedience

 

When You Are Out Of Tune

I’ve been working this week on The Ladder UPP University. A teachable site where I’ll be offering free and low-cost training on the topics I talk about here on The Pilgrim’s Odyssey.

This week I have been focused on what will be a free, introductory course: Improving Self-Knowledge and Awareness.

It is so easy to get caught up in what other people are doing that we lose sight of ourselves, and our power to choose what we become.

One of my greatest influences on learning from the voices in my head was the great psychiatrist, Carl Jung. His writings taught me to think better and dig deeper into who I am. Today, we discuss some of his best quotes on listening to our inner voice and becoming who we were meant to be.

From the great Carl Jung:

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

“The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.”

"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune."

"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become."

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

Peasants, Stay Home! While We Feast

“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”
― Samuel Adams

“The true source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think... Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write... Let it be known that British liberties are not the grants of princes or parliaments.”
― John Adams

Let me start by saying, Covid is real. It kills people. It should be taken very seriously. Why did I do that? Because in the world we live in, it seems if you have an opinion that differs from the powers at be you need to preface your opinion, “no, I don’t want people to die.”

How did we end up with politicians doing things like closing down a small business by banning outside eating, while allowing a huge Hollywood production across the street to have a huge food tent? It might have something to do with the two quotes above.

Regions, states, cities, small towns, and communities are all different. Yet, citizens are limited and ultimately not trusted to make decisions for themselves. Combine this with a culture where if you have the “wrong” opinion you are silenced, it is a dangerous place to be.

People ask, “why do you questions masks?” I don’t question masks, I question how masks are used and where they are used. I question the data and how it is gathered and how it is determined. Well, I ask questions. And when people get defensive and angry when you ask questions, well, I get nervous. So should you.

Casinos open, churches closed.

Schools closed, Wal-mart open.

Small businesses shut down, big-box stores open and thriving.

Leaders in state capitols and big cities setting standards for small towns and rural communities.

Different opinions shut down and ridiculed.

When they dine in their mansions without masks, remember, they are treating you like peasants.

Mark Twain & The Disintegration of Discourse

"I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's."

"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable."

"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."

Concerns like these of Mark Twain seem to be more poignant than ever. The public, yet private, nature of social media makes it easier for people turn to discourse into a game of gotcha and emotion.

My suggestion, do more of the following: work on your listening, writing, and editing abilities. Make sure you’ve asked yourself, is this logical, is it supported, what is influencing my opinion? We teach our kids logic and latin from a young age. I believe this is one reason that while our oldest are now teenagers and early-twenties we still have great relationships and discuss things. We taught them how to think and talk and listen. We all can learn from that.

Pearl Harbor Moments & Fighting Back

79 years ago, at 7:55am on Sunday, Dec. 7th, 1941. Pearl Harbor was attacked by an overwhelming Japanese force. All 8 Battleships present were damaged and 4 were sunk. 8 other ships were damaged or destroyed. 188 Aircraft were destroyed, and 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 were wounded.

In a moment, in an instant, people’s lives were changed forever, the trajectory of our country’s history immediately altered. Seconds before that first bomb, people were drinking coffee and frying eggs, feeling blessed by a beautiful Hawaii morning. Some were getting ready for Church, others for a day at the beach, or lounging around the house. For those in the military, maybe a day spent on watch or some much appreciated time off.

But the bombs were coming and they had no idea.

Isn’t life that way? Whether it’s a car wreck, or death, or the consequences of a bad decision or just bad luck. One minute you are alone in the universe of your mind, and then next, BAM!

How do you recover? Like we did in 1941, all hands on deck, united, ready to do whatever it takes to fight back.

Finding Humility In Modern Life

The essence of faith is humility. The recognition we need something greater than us.

As I get older, most people I've seen lose their faith do so because of a lack of humility. While they may feel broken, their ego doesn't allow them to see a way out of their pain. We see hardship, we want things our way, and often we feed our ego by making proclamations on our creator.

But there is another way. As this humility led homesteaders in the 1800s to build churches and be there all day on Sunday. It can lead us to our knees, to our church, to our bible.

A Feast of Celestial Nourishment

Do you approach your day asking for spiritual nourishment?

Do you focus on things that feed the soul?

When I left home this morning my wife had been up early with our youngest kids. Mercy was watching a math video and my wife and our youngest, Julius, were curled up on the couch watching with her. As I gathered my things, my wife looked up with a smile and said, “I could stay here all day.”

That is the power of the spiritual, the things from God. They allow us to enter into the eternal. This is the life we were created for, this is what happens when we feast off of celestial nourishment.

The Freedom of Recognizing Bad Things

We have a path to reaching our potential, a potential in the image of God. But to begin this path, we must recognize one thing:

"all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God."

It is judgement and discernment that allows us to recognize this. Without discernment, we are slaves to the things that darken our souls. Without judging and discernment, we are hopeless.

When we recognize why and what we are judged for, all that is before us is a path to draw closer and closer to the glory God has created for us to follow.

Tilling The Soil of Peace and Happiness

What soil are you tilling?

From Ilias the Presbyter in the Philokalia, he quit his job as a lawyer to join the clergy and did so around the year 1100:

“You will not be able to cut down the passions attacking you unless you first leave untilled the soil from which they are fed.”

What are the passions you fight: gluttony, greed, lust, and other unclean thoughts and activities? What is the soil of these thoughts and activities – TV, internet, movies, music, magazines, media, the wrong people?

How do we till the right soil? It starts with the right mindset for gardening our soul.

From Ilias:

“Many may be stripped of the coat of self-love, but few of the coat of worldly display; while only the dispassionate are free from self-esteem, the last coat of all.”

What is the soil that must be tilled for the dispassionate, those free of the passions that attack us? It is the soil of prayer, the soil of fasting, it is the soil of love of others.

I’ve spent a lot of time meeting and working with those in recovery from drugs. One key point, if you return to the same environment where you used, you will most certainly use again. In many ways, finding a new environment is one of the hardest, if not the hardest battles an addict faces. This is exactly what Ilias is talking about, eventually, the soil we grow from is what we become.